rejoyce in nothing so much as in this that I love thee XX. O my bountiful Saviour O my loving Redeemer When when shall it be that I shall love thee perfectly Here on Earth I must not hope for this Happiness but in Heaven I shall O Heaven Heaven How desirable art thou Where the Love of Jesus shall eternally reign in my Soul Where my Love shall be perfectly pure perfectly Seraphick perfectly Extatical and Eternal Ages shall not alter it At present I am in Prison encompassed with a Mortal Body and must sojourn in a wicked World Oh when will that Day that Hour that Minute that happy Time come that I shall be delivered from this Dungeon and translated to that place where Love is all in all where Love knows no End no Decay no Period where it is pure without Mixture invariable without Changes eternal without ceasing Come Lord Jesu Come quickly Particular Acts of Devotion at the Acts of Consecration and Receiving of the Consecrated Bread and Wine At the Minister's pouring out the holy Wine into the Cup. O Jesu Who can think of the flowing of thy Blood without being desirous to be washed with it Or I fancy I do at this present stand under thy Cross and see thee bleeding for my Sins Or Oh. Let thy Blood flow upon my wounded Soul that I may become a sound Member of thy Mystical Body At the Minister's laying his Hand upon the Bread O Blessed Saviour Lay thy Hand upon my Soul that all my Distempers may depart from me Or Oh lay hold on my Soul as the Angel did on Lot Save me from the Flames and let me escape into the Mount of God that I perish not At the Minister's Breaking the Bread Lord Jesu In suffering thy Body to be broken for my Sins I see the Vehemence the Strength and Fervour of thy Love Oh make me all Love all Fervour all Charity Or Oh break the united Forces of my Sins scatter them by thy mighty Arm. Gather the broken Planks of Vertue in my Soul unite them make them whole and strong and secure against the Fury of Winds and Tempests At the Minister's pronouncing the Words This is my Body Lord Let me look off from these material Things and shew me Things invisible and Heavenly Or O Lord The Benefits of thy wounded Body my Soul longs for Oh say They shall be thy Portion At the Minister's touching the Cup. Lord Touch my Soul that it may feel the Power of thy Super-abundant Charity Or Oh! Touch me as thou didst the Blind of old that I may see the Bowels of thy Compassion and rejoyce in the glorious Sight At the Minister's pronouncing the Words This is my Blood Lord My Soul wants Wine of another nature than is in this Cup Oh wash it and cleanse it and purifie it in thy Blood Or Lord Speak thou to my Soul and say I will be thou clean At the Receiving of the Bread Lord Let thy Death be my Life And the Bread represented by this Bread feed me into Everlasting Life Or Lord As thou hast provided Food for my Soul so give me a Taste and Relish also of this Food and a Tongue to praise thy Name for ever Or Lord As thou hast given thy Body for me so I freely offer my Soul and Body as Living Sacrifices to thy Majesty At the Receiving of the Cup. Lord Nothing is more precious than thy Blood Oh! Let it warm my Heart that it may comply with thy Will wlthout wavering Or Lord Bid me look upon thy Blood and in thy Blood upon the Reconciliation wrought by it to the Comfort and Edification of my Soul Or O Lord I am heavy laden and my Pollutions are great And as thy Blood alone can remove that Burthen so free me from those Spots and Wrinkles which make me look deformed in thy Sight CHAP. XXVIII Of the proper Acts of Devotion after we have Received The CONTENTS The Time that is left after our Personal Receiving before all have Communicated not to be spent in Gazing or Looking about Acts of Devotion to be used after Receiving and relating to the Wisdom Mercy Liberality Love Goodness Greatness and Majesty of God to our own Vileness and Unworthiness c. IT falls out so often that when we have Communicated and our Souls have been fed at this Table a considerable Space of Time remains before the united Praises and Thanksgivings of the Congregation begin again This Time be it more or less must not be spent in looking about or in sitting still or in thinking of what Objects our Fancy is pleased to offer and present to us but in holy Aspirations And that the Communicant may know how to employ himself in that Interval it may not be amiss to set down some pious and proper Ejaculations whereby he may exercise his Mind according as Time will permit I. O God! Thy Love in Christ Jesus deserves to be praised admired and magnified There is all that in it which can engage a Soul to break forth into Praises and Hallelujahs There is Beauty Wisdom Condescention Mercy Liberality Sweetness Power Greatness Majesty in it and all these in the highest Degree which would force even a dumb Man to speak of thy Glory II. I adore thee O Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity for that infinite Care of my immortal Soul which I see in all thy Proceedings and Transactions and particularly in the Cross of my dearest Redeemer Here thou seemest to empty all thy Stores and pourest out thy Grace abundantly upon the Heads and Hearts of thy Servants Behold Bless ye the Lord all ye Servants of the Lord which by Night stand in the House of the Lord Lift up your Hands in the Sanctuary and bless the Lord. The Lord that made Heaven and Earth hath blessed us out of Zion III. O Charming Son of God! I alone am not able sufficiently to praise thee and therefore I wish that every Drop of the Ocean every Grain of Sand every Leaf of the Trees of the Field and every Sprig of Herbs and all the Creatures that ever were or are or shall be might be turn'd into Seraphick Tongues to praise thee IV. O Jefu When I behold thy wonderful Love how it hath bowed how it hath stooped to so mean a Creature as I am the Thoughts of it force my Soul into the humblest and deepest Prostrations Thou art Beauty I am Deformity Thou art Wisdom I am Ignorance Thou art Light I am Darkness Thou art Omnipotence I am feeble Thou art Purity I am Filth and Dung Thou art rich I am Poverty it self Thou art happy I am Misery it self Thou art Perfection I am Weakness Thou art All in All I am nothing V. O Blessed Saviour When I see how Men fall in love with a mortal and fading Beauty which to Day shines bright as the Sun to Morrow by Sickness or Death is all tarnish'd and decay'd how do I blame my self that I do not love thee better whose
serious Reflections on his Death and Agonies and the Bitterness of his Passion It being spoken to our Souls not to our Bodies to take and eat this Body the Soul hath no other Way to feed upon it but by a pathetick Consideration of the Particulars of that Death and the End and Design of God in it and the Comforts and the Benefits that thereby redound to Mankind and such a Consideration as affects our Souls touches them to the quick and puts them on serious Enquiries into our wretched State and makes them break forth into Flames of Love so that though Christ's Body was crucified above Sixteen Hundred Years agone yet a pious Soul can eat it at this Day swallow the Charity which appears in it with her Thoughts consider who it is that is so wonderfully concerned for her Safety look upon him whom her Sins have pierced and take a View of that Man of Sorrows who was bruised for her Iniquities and wounded for her Transgressions and admire the Miracles that are to be seen in all this 2. To eat Christ's Body is to apply the Benefits of his Death and Passion to our Souls and to rejoyce in them as our greatest Treasure As he that eats with his Bodily Organs applies the Food he takes with his Hands to his Mouth and Body and converts it into Blood and Substance so the pious Soul is pleased with this Spiritual Meat is refreshed by it and applies the Benefits of that crucified Body to her self and with the Thoughts of Peace and Pardon and Salvation which are the Blessings that drop from that Tree arms her self against the Assaults of the Devil and the Terrours of Death and believing without wavering that those Mercies were purchased for her in particular and that she hath a Right and Title to them stands up in the evil Day and in the midst of Temptations boldly cries with the Apostle Who is he that condemns It is Christ that died Rom. 8. 34. 3. To make this crucified Body a Persuasive and Motive to Holiness and Obedience To conclude from thence that if he gave himself for us to redeem us from all Iniquity then we must not frustrate his Expectation nor cling to that Iniquity which he came to free us from And if he died to purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous for good Works then we must not defile our selves after that nor wallow in the Mire any more with the Swine but cleanse our Minds from carnal covetous and lustful Thoughts our Wills from Perversenes and Stubbornness our Affections from Fondness of this present World and our Hands from Uncleanness His zealous Love to us must make us zealous for his Glory to him we must consecrate our selves and to be holy as he is holy must be the Business of our Lives and so to love him as to keep his Commandments must henceforward be looked upon as our bounden Duty He truly eats this crucified Body upon whom this Crucifixion hath that Power as to crucifie in him his known Lusts and Passions and to engage him to purifie himself from all Filthiness both of Soul and Body The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. IN all Writings both Ancient and Modern about this holy Sacrament there are various Rhetorical Expressions used which we must not understand literally but as Flowers strowed upon the Herse of our Blessed Redeemer and as Ornaments of Speech to represent the Greatness of the Mystery There is nothing more common among the Fathers than to call the Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper the Body and Blood of Christ and the Cup the Vessel in which Christ's Blood is contained And many times Christ is said to stand at the Altar and all the holy Angels waiting at the Table that Christ offers his Body to be bruised by the People's Teeth and dyes them red with his Blood that the Elements are changed and become the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus and that after Prayer and Thanksgiving they are no more what they were before and a Thousand such Expressions besides From which the Church of Rome presently infers that they believed a Transubstantiation or a Conversion of the Elements into the Substance of Christ's Body and Blood than which nothing can be more absurd For if a Man compare these Saying of the Ancients with other Passages in their Writings it plainly appears that they meant no more than that the Elements are representative of all this and that the Expressions they use are nothing but Rhetorical Flourishes to raise the People's Affections and to render their Devotions brisk lively servent affectionate and vigorous We do the same at this Day when we tell you that you come to feast with Christ that in this Sacrament he is crucified before you Eyes that you may see his Blood run down that you hear him groan under the Burthen of your Sins that you see here his Body hanging on the Cross that you are to stand under the Tree and catch the precious Gore as Balsam for your Souls All which is true in a spiritual Sense and we do it to make you more attentive and set this Passion out in such lively Characters that your Souls may be touch'd and enliven'd and as Things represented in brighter Colours strike the Senses more so we speak of these Things as if they were visible and perceptible to the outward Eyes that your Souls may more chearfully feed on the Kernel that lies in those Shells and with greater Life embrace the glorious Benefits which come to you by that precious Sacrifice II. By the same Way that Man was lost by the same Way he must recover He was undone by eating He must be made whole again by eating By eating he died By eating he must come to Life again That Day thou eatest of this Tree thou shalt surely die saith God And the same saith God of this holy Sacrament That Day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely live The Fruit in Paradise became a Savour of Death unto Death unto him The holy Bread in this Sacrament becomes a Savour of Life unto Life unto him That Eating brought him into Slavery This gives him a Title to the glorious Liberty of God's Children In eating that Fruit he thought to be like God and made himself worse than the Beasts that perish By eating of this Bread he is enabled to become like unto the Son of God by being changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory That Eating made him sick This is Health to his Navel and Maerrow to his Bones Prov. 3. 8. That brought the Plague This delivers from it That filled him with Wounds and Bruises and putrifying Sores This makes his Flesh come again like unto the Flesh of a little Child In a Word By eating God's Favour was forfeited By eating it is regained Let Israel rejoyce in him that made him let the Children of Zion be joyful in their King for the Lord takes pleasure in his People he will
beautifie the Meek with Salvation Let the Saints be joyful in Glory let them sing aloud upon their Beds let them praise the Name of the Lord for his Name alone is excellent his Glory is above the Earth and Heaven III. See here how rich a Meal God the Father prepares for our Souls even the crucified Body of his Son Shall we look upon that Celestial Food with dull and careless Thoughts Can we behold this costly Bread and forbear crying out Lord for ever give us that Bread Christian if thou meanest to be saved by the crucified Body of thy Lord thou must needs eat of it Not only thy Mouth must eat the Sacramental Bread and chew it but thy Soul must ascend and employ her self in eating of the crucified Body represented by that Bread Thy Soul thy Mind thy Will thy Affections must have the greatest Share in eating at this Table Thy Body hath little to do here that is only the Chariot that brings thy Soul to this Banquet Thy Soul not being engaged and busie here in Thinking Admiration Resolution Love and Joy the Cringes and Bowings of thy Body will be insignificant The End of our common Eating is Assimilation and in our ordinary Meals we therefore eat Food agreeable to our Bodies that it may be united to our Substance mingle with our Blood and become one with our Bodies So here our Souls must feed on the crucified Body of the Lord Jesus that we may become one with him All Creatures may be said to be one with Christ as he is God as he is their Creator in which respect he fills Heaven and Earth with his Presence and is not far from every one of us and in him we live and breath and have our Being Nay in a more particular manner every Professor of Christianity may be said to be one with him as he professes the same Religion which Christ taught his Disciples But this is not the Union aimed at in this Sacrament nor can the Union which respects our Profession only give any great Comfort to a Christian. The Union designed by this Sacrament is effected by the Spirit of Christ Jesus and the Soul that unfeignedly see◠here on the crucified Body of her Master gets the same Spirit that dwelt in her crucified Lord which produces the same Graces in her that shined in that great Shepherd of Souls and the same Mind the same Temper the same Disposition in substance at least though not in the same Degree is effected and produced in her by this Spirit as we see Rem 8. 11. Phil. 2. 5. And this is that Union every true Communicant is to aim at and from hence flows a Communion with Christ in all his Privileges and Glories whereby the Soul is raised up together with Christ and made to sit together with him in Heavenly Places though not by way of actual Enjoyment as yet but by getting a Right and Title to those Privileges as the Apostle informs us Ephes. 2. 6. By feeding on this crucified Body the Soul is nourished and gathers Strength against her spiritual Enemies becomes bold in Temptations resolute in Dangers couragious in spiritual Enterprizes The Soul that comes to feed on this crucified Body and comes not with this Intent comes in vain comes only to stare upon the Cross but not to be refreshed by it The Soul that after the Sacrament yields wilfully to the same Temptations it did before is ensnared by the same sinful Pleasure that ruin'd it before is led Captive by the same Lusts that intangled her before certainly feeds not on the crucified Body of the Lord Jesus because the Contemplation of that Crucifixion works no suitable Effects which if it did the Soul would unfeignedly destroy the Body of Sin according to the Apostle's Rule Rom. 6. 6. and offer up her Body a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God as it is said Rom. 12. 1. Make the Body obedient to Reason and Sense to Faith and the Flesh to the Spirit and it would keep under the Body and bring it into Subjection as St. Paul did 1 Cor. 9. 27. i. e. it would deny the Body those Satisfactions which are manifest Hindrances to the Things of the Spirit it would force it to Temperance to Hardships to Industry and Laboriousness in God's Service it would strive and take care that the Body might become a Temple of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6. 19. 〈◊〉 what the Soul doth in this Ordinance would leave such a Sense upon us as would not only enable but constrain us to glorifie God both in Body and Soul as the Scripture requires 1 Cor. 6. 20. These are the blessed Effects of eating the crucified Body of the Lord Jesus And the Soul that feeds on that Body will find these happy Consequences it will not go away empty from this Meal and though for the present it doth not see all these Effects yet there is that Impression made on her by this Eating that these Effects will afterward discover themselves in her Life and Conversation The PRAYER O My God! What Care dost thou take of my immortal Soul that it may not starve Thou hast made large Provision for my Body in the Earth in the Air and in the Water The Earth brings forth Herbs and Roots and Cattel to feed it The Air affords Fowl and Feather'd Creatures to nourish it The Water provides Fish for it But none of all these can satisfie my Soul that must have a spiritual Diet and rather than it shall want thou hast given thine own Son to be her Food O mysterious Love Can I after tbis have low and mean Thoughts of thy Goodness O sweetest Jesu if my Soul feeds not on thee if must die and be separated from thy glorious Presence for ever If it feeds on thee it is made for ever Oh! be thou my most beloved and most delightful Food Thy crucified Body alone can keep my Soul from fainting Thy Death must yield me Life Thy Sufferings must give me Joy Thy Agonies must afford me Comfort Thy Torments must work mine Ease Thy Nails and Thorns must be my Bed of Roses Nothing else can give my Soul Rest. When the Snares of Death and Hell encompass me I will lay hold on these Horns of the Altar here I shall be safe safer than in the Arms of Angels Thou that diedst for me livest for ever to intercede for me and having such an Advocate I may come boldly to the Throne of Grace O let me not survey this glorious Provision made for my Soul with carnal Eyes O let me ponder seriously not with flying and transient but with steady and fixed Thoughts how thou hast favoured how thou hast loved how thou hast dignified this miserable Soul of mine that I may rejoyce in thee for ever and ever Amen CHAP. XII Of remembring Christ in this Sacrament or doing what we do here in remembrance of him The CONTENTS The Death of Christ Jesus the principal thing to be
assert God's just Anger against Sin and keep off the fatal blow from Man at once defend God'ds Right and establish Man's Felicity and thereby put the poor miserable Worm in a capacity of becoming Heir to the Riches of God who was an Heir of the Treasures of Wrath and a companion of Blessed Spirits who had deserv'd to howl with Apostate Spirits a Child of Light who was a Son of Darkness and a Servant of Righteousness who was a Slave of Sin I say the Holy Ghost supposes that he that seriously believes all this will think nothing too good for God will not stand out against so great a Mercy will fight no more against so great and so good a Master but will submit to him be ready to run at his Commands give himself up to the Will of so great a Benefactor and will be hearty and sincere in serving him Now the unworthy Receiver being so far from doing this so far from turning to God with all his heart and with all his mind that he refuses the Dominion of God will be a Slave to his Sin still and had rather obey the Devil than this most bountiful Master who hath done so much for him by doing so denies that Christ's Body and Blood was sacrific'd for him for if he believ'd it he could not do as he doth and tho' he may protest by all that 's Good and Sacred that he believes it yet Words and Compliments will not absolve him and if talking were believing no Man that professes Christianity would ever be damn'd What doth a Malefactor's pleading at the Bar that he is not guilty signifie when the Evidences are strong and the Matter of Fact is prov'd against him Belief that doth not touch the Heart or renew the Mind or spiritualize the Affections is mere Infidelity and where this Belief is not to be found the Sinner is accused of denying the Mercy he pretends to believe And to this purpose saith the Apostle They profess that they know God but in their works they deny him Tit. 1. 16. So that the unworthy Receiver i. e. He that receives and yet will not reform whatever his Profession may be in his Actions he denies that Christ was Sacrific'd for him and therefore makes himself guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. 2. He Eats and Drinks unworthily makes himself guilty of jesting with the Body and Blood of Christ As the Fathers of the Council of Eliberis speak He plays with the most tremendous things for in coming he seems to confess that by the Death of the Son of God his miserable Soul was redeem'd and a Pardon purchas'd for him and the Heavens made to bow to him and the good Will of God procur'd to save him for ever and yet he doth not think all this worth forsaking a sinful Lust or shaking a pleasing Dalilah from his Bosom and what is this but playing with the Body and Blood of Christ Should a Man make a very curious Harangue in commendation of his Neighbour compare him with Salomon for Wisdom with David for Sincerity with Jonathan for Faithfulness with Josiah for Piety for Generosity with Moses for Chastity with Joseph for Patience with Job with St. Paul for Courage with St. Peter for Zeal with Absolom for Beauty with Zacheus for Charity with Abraham for Hospitality nay with Angels for clearness of Understanding and for Purity of Life with Seraphim And when he hath done abuse and reproach him or do that which he cannot but know must be offensive and irksome or prejudicial to him gives the Spectator just occasion to think that all that flanting Panegyric was only a jocular thing design'd rather as an essay of Wit than as any real affection to the Virtues of the commended Party The unworthy Receiver doth in effect the same for his coming to this Sament is a tacit Commendation of Christ's Crucified Body and Blood whereby he seems to applaud the wonderful Works that Christ hath done for him and to proclaim to all the standers by what an Obligation that Death is to mortifie the body of Sin and to be true and faithful to him that did not count his Life dear to do him good and yet having no real purpose within whatever external Declaration he may make to become a new Man but after he hath been at this Table when temptations assault him temptations to his former sins yields to them as easily as ever plainly declares he was in jest when he seem'd to magnifie this Munificence of his Saviour and from hence it must follow that he is guilty of playing with the Body and Blood of Christ. 3 He that Eats and Drinks unworthily seems to wish that Christ may dye again and upon that account is guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord for in that Christ's Death is not efficacious to pull down the strong holds of Sin in him or rather in that he will not let that death prevail with him to the mortifying of his sinful Lusts he seems to wish for an iteration of that Death which may be more powerful and have a greater influence upon the destruction of his Sin It is a Declaration as it were that the Death of Christ as the case stands doth no good upon him and therefore since the Death of the Son of God must be the means to break the power of Sin in him he stands in need of another death of that Saviour which may do greater miracles upon his Soul or sinful Temper Christ's Death indeed must break the reigning power of Sin but then a Person in whom this effect is to be wrought must apply that Death think upon it warm his Heart with the Consideration of it ruminate upon the Motives of it and upon the greatness of his own Sin that occasioned it and upon the vast Advantages that flow from that Death and be restless with God to make it effectual to his Soul For to think that this Death will do the work without our Labour or Industry or pondering the weight and moment of it is to imagine that God will deal with us as with Brutes that have no understanding As Christ died once in the end of the World so his Death spreads his Virtue to all Penitents from the beginning to the end of the World But wherever it works a serious Reformation it must be improv'd by Faith and Thoughts and Prayer and Contemplation and should Christ dye a thousand times if these means be neglected his dying so often would signifie little to the inconsiderate Spectator This is the monstrous Fancy of some Men that they hope the Mysteries of Religion will or must change their Hearts without any trouble of their own which Conceit must needs make them contemptible in the sight of an All-wise God who sees them neglect the Powers and Faculties he hath given them The unworthy Receiver therefore finding no good by this Death of the Lord Jesus for it makes no alteration in his
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
Repentance What Danger in doing the Will of God What Danger in performing our Duty What Danger in serious Endeavours to cleanse our selves that we may be pure even as God is pure What Danger in eating and drinking with a Lively Faith in the Promises of the Gospel What Danger in making the Love of God and the serious Contemplation of it a Motive and Occasion to grow in Grace If there be any Danger it is in the Unworthy Eating and Drinking at this holy Table and in that indeed there is as much Danger as there is in cutting our selves with Knives and Lances or in running a Sword into our Bowels And who but a Mad-man will do so There is nothing so good nothing so safe nothing so sound nothing so innocent but Men may corrupt it by their evil Inclinations So they may abuse God's Name and Day and Word and Ordinances and the Duty of Prayer and the Ministry and what not Unworthy Eating and Drinking is a sinful Eating and Drinking Let Men separate the Sinfulness from the Duty let them pare away that poysonous Rind and there is no Danger and you may eat and drink at this Table with as little Danger as you eat and drink at home there is no Danger here but what you make your selves The Danger rises not from the Eucharist but from your Hearts That which makes it dangerous is your Love to Forbidden Fruit while you eat and drink here This you harbour this you cherish and that makes your feeding dangerous But cast out that old Leaven and you may feed as peaceably as contentedly as securely as Children under their Father's Wings as People that sit under their own Vine and under their own Fig-tree The PRAYER O Jesu whom I see coming toward me in this Sacrament not with Balm and Myrrhe and Spices hut with that which is infinitely better even with the Balsom of thy Blood to anoint me to wash me and to make me whole to make this blind Creature see and this lame Man to walk this Dumb to speak this Deaf to hear and to dignifie this Beggar even me the weakest in thy Flock the poorest in thy House the meanest person in thy Spiritual Kingdom What shall I say of this Mercy What can I think of it Thou art both the Giver and the Gift the Feeder and the Food the Guest and the Feast the Offerer and the Oblation O deal with me after thine infinite Goodness I have deserved to be left to be forsaken to be rejected to be cast away from thy Presence But O! let not this miserable Beggar go away from thy Door without an Alms scatter thy Bounty and let me gather it The poorer I am the greater Object I am of thy Pity I bring my Heart to thee to reform it I come to offer my Soul to thee be thou intreated to renew it by thy Holy Spirit Bring me to a more lively and nearer conjunction with thy self that I may become a living Member incorporated into thy Mystical Body and may live not longer by mine own Spirit but by Thine which is the Spirit of my Spirit the Soul of my Soul and the very Life of my Life Thou art my Sun from whose Beams I must receive the Light of Grace Thou art my Fountain from which I must draw Living Water Thou art the Root from which I must receive Sap of increase Thou art my Head from which I must receive Life and Being O! let me feel the force of this Sacrament in my Soul Power against Sin and Satan and ability to serve thee Corroborate my Spirit that I may obtain Victory put off the anxious Cares of the World and put on Joy flowing from Remission and pardon of my Sins I am sensible that Thy Table is the strength of my Soul the Sinews of my Mind the Band of my Confidence my Health my Light and my Recovery Being sprinkled with thy Blood I shall be able to turn to fight the Armies of Aliens the Armies of my Spiritual Enemies and prevail against them and go on from Virtue to Virtue till I shall Hunger and Thirst no more in thy Everlasting Kingdom Amen Amen CHAP. XIX Of Bodily Sickness Weakness and untimely Death which is sometimes by way of Judgment inflicted on Unworthy Receivers of this Blessed Sacrament The CONTENTS Sickness and Weakness and Death are either Corporal or Spiritual Some Reasons laid down why God makes use of Sickness and Weakness of Body to Chastize the Unworthy Receiver How a Person may know whether the Sickness and Weakness of Body that is upon him comes upon him for his Unworthy Receiving How Sickness and Weakness of Body and an untimely Death can be said to be inflicted for Unworthy Receiving when we see that even the most worthy Receivers sicken and dye and sometimes suddenly and before their time and when it is evident that these are effects of Natural Causes The time of Adversity a time of serious Consideration The Soul that loves the Lord Jesus in sincerity hath no reason to be troubled when Sickness or Affliction comes as if it came for Unworthy Receiving Worthy Receiving the best Preparative for Death Those that neglect coming have reason to fear that all the Miseries which befal them come upon them for their neglect The Prayer I. HAving told you in the foregoing Chapter that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Judgment doth import both Temporal Judgment and Damnation and shewn how the unworthy Receiver makes himself liable to exemplary Temporal Judgments in general it 's fit I should in the next place in imitation of St. Paul speak of the particular Temporal Judgments the unworthy Communicant pulls upon himself whereof one is Bodily Sicckness Weakness and untimely Death for thus we read 1 Cor. 11. 30. For this cause i.e. upon the account of this unworthy Eating and Drinking many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep as if he had said This your unworthy Receiving brings Sickness Weakness and a preternatural and unusual Sleep upon you This must needs be meant here for ordinary Sleep or the usual Rest of the Body can be no punishment and to tell you that by Sleep in Scripture is frequently understood Death or separation of the Soul from the Body or dissolution of this natural Life were to tell you what all Men know that have but look'd into the Bible nor can any be ignorant that these Phrases are often used in a Spiritual Sense for Spiritual Weakness and Sickness and Death which will oblige me to take both significations into consideration And that God did in the Primitive Ages of Christianity inflict and visit unworthy Communicants with weakness and sickness of Body and with an untimely Death sometimes especially if they continued impenitent thereby to put them in mind of their Offences and to exhort them to amendment of Life all Interpreters agree and the same Temporal Judgments an unworthy Receiver hath reason to fear and look for at this
they help to prepare thy Soul for the Possession of that Inheritance which shall last for ever III. Worthy Receiving of the Lord's Supper is the best Preparative for Death No Man can die uncomfortably that makes it his Business as often as he comes to this Table to receive worthily Death cannot hurt him let it be natural or violent untimely or orderly for by this worthy Receiving he hath laid up a good Foundation against the Time to come Death may destroy his Body but cannot kill the Soul Death may fright him but it cannot undo him It may dis-lodge his Spirit but it drives it to a nobler Habitation It may expel the Guest but it gives him a Title to a better Building His worthy Receiving gives him an Interest in Christ's Death and because Christ lives he shall live also Death may come blustering and make a Noise but in that Whirlwind his Soul rides to Heaven Let his Death come by Sword or Famine or Torment or Fire or Water it makes no Alteration in his Happiness To him to live is Christ and die Gain And he knows who hath said I am the Resurrection and the Life The worthy Receiver never dies for he lives in Christ who abides for ever Christ will not suffer that Soul to perish in which he hath been pleased to make his Habitation He is concern'd to secure her Happiness and his Eyes are open upon her to do her good Her worthy Receiving arms her against the Fears of Death and scatters the Mists which Death doth cast before her Eyes Receiving worthily makes the Soul a sit Habitation for the Spirit of God and If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you Rom. 8. 11. IV. As the unworthy Receiver when Sickness or some other heavy Judgment lights upon him hath reason to believe that it is for his unworthy Receiving so he that wilfully neglects coming to this holy Sacrament may very justly conclude that all the Troubles and Miseries that befall him do in a great measure befall him for that Neglect 'T is hard to determine which is the greater Sin whether Receiving unworthily or not Receiving at all both will admit of great Aggravations And as these Sins are in a manner equal so it is not irrational to conclude that the Judgments threatned to the one may be inflicted for the other too As the Jews say of the Golden Calf that an Ounce of that Sin is an Ingredient into all the Calamities that came upon them so there is not a Cross that the wilful Neglecter of this Sacrament feels or endures but he hath reason to think that this Neglect contributes towards it and all his Miseries call to him though he will not hear the Voice not to neglect so great Salvation and if all these Calls cannot awaken him into a Sense of his Duty how must his Reckoning swell and how inexcusable must he be whom neither the still Voice of Prosperity nor the shriller Sound of Adversity can convince Take eat this is my Body and Drink ye all of this is a Duty as much as doing by others the same that we would have others to do us It will appear and be made out one Day that this was not an Evangelical Counsel only which the more Religious Sort that are ambitious of the highest Place in Heaven need only mind if they please It was said to all the Disciples that represented the Church-Militant And if thou professest thy self a Member of that Church thou art no more excused from the Performance of it than thou art from coming to Church and attending the other Ordinances of God But if these Motives cannot prevail God hath Enforcives which shall but from these Good Lord deliver us The PRAYER O God! When thou with Rebukes dost chasten Man for Iniquity thou makest his Beauty to consume away like a Moth Hear my Prayer O Lord and give ear unto my Cry hold not thy Peace at my Tears Oh let the Afflictions which have befallen me and which thou shalt hereafter think fit to send upon me help towards the strengthening of my Faith in Christ Jesus Thou hast sometimes laid thy Hand upon me thy Afflicting Hand and I have taken no notice of it Thou hast smitten me and I have not looked up to Heaven from whence the Stroak did come Thou hast corrected me and I have not been the better for it I have been like a Beast before thee so foolish was I and ignorant Oh teach thou me Let me read my Duty in my Crosses And whatever Trouble comes upon me let that Trouble direct me to the Cross of my dear Master the Lord Jesus Enlarge my Contemplations of the Cross of Christ by the Crosses that knock at my Door Let these make me more zealous to participate of the Benefits of the Cross of Christ. In these Crosses and Troubles let me find Motives to come with greater Seriousness to the Table of my crucified Redeemer Let these prompt me to run to the Tree which yields the Fruit of Righteousness Let not these discourage me from loving thee but rather inflame my Affections to make thee my Hope and Fortress my Light and my Salvation Let me look upon the Joy that all my Troubles will at last end in and take Comfort in all my Tribulations Imprint this Belief upon my Soul that thou knowest better what is good for me than my Carnal Heart I am apt to hanker after the Flesh-pots of Egypt but let me see the richer Table in thy Kingdom I am apt to be fond of these outward Comforts Oh quench my Thrist after them Let me see clearly that to feed on thy Love is better Diet than this Earth affords Give me thy Peace not as the World gives but as thou usest to give thine own People Oh! give me what I want Thou knowest my Necessities better than I. Give me better things than my Flesh desires even those which may preâ—erve me by thy Power through Faith unto Salvation through Jesus Cheist our Lord. Amen CHAP. XX. Of Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death the Second Temporal Judgment inflicted sometime on the Unworthy Receivers of this holy Sacrament The CONTENTS The Eucharist a Cure for all Diseases yet many continue weak and sick after it The Cause shewn to be in themselves The Signs of Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death God inflicts these Spiritual Judgments upon Unworthy Receivers by degrees The Justice of it vindicated in four Particulars Spiritual Weakness and Sickness proved to be a greater Judgment than the Corporal Of the End of our Eating and Drinking worthily at this Table which is Spiritual Health and wherein that consists Spiritual Judgments more common than Men think or suspect Our Souls are capable of Diseases as well as our Bodies Several Instances and Proofs given of it The Cure of Spiritual Weakness
hast thou had of thine own Worth And how hast thou undervalued the Man or Woman that have had to no other Crime but Poverty Thou hast thought thy Inferiors scarce worth talking to How unlike thy Redeemer is this Pride and Haughtiness Were Grace an Inhabitant of thy Heart what low Thoughts wouldst thou have of thy self How readily wouldst thou converse even with the meanest Saint How wouldst thou learn to esteem Men more for their Holiness than for their Riches And how lovely would a Creature that hath the Image of God upon him look in thine Eyes Far more lovely than the greatest Monarch or Lady that have nothing to recommend them but their outward Splendor 15. And he said unto them With Desire I have desired to eat this Passover before I suffer HOW doth God long for our Happiness How fervent are his Desires to do us good Yet how little have these Longings prevailed with thee O my Soul Notwithstanding all these Desires of God to make thee happy how hast thou longed after the muddy Waters of Sensual Pleasures Nay longed to be for ever miserable when in despight of his Intreaties not to neglect so great Salvation thou hast longed for the stolen Waters of sinful Delights coveted Death and been enamoured with Destruction How hath God intreated thee to close with him upon his own Terms and how hast thou grieved him with thy Refusal How hath the Almighty beseeched thee by his Ambassadors to be reconciled to him and yet thou hast stood out and baffled the Stratagems of Mercy 16. For I say unto you I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God CHrist rejoyces that the Shadows are at an end and that the Substance or Antitype is approaching for as the Passover was a Sign of the Jews Deliverance from Egyptian Bondage so that Deliverance was a Shadow or Emblem of our Deliverance from Sin here and our Exemption from all Misery and Trouble in Heaven which was now to be effected by the Death of Christ. But O my Soul how hast thou hunted after Shadows and left the Substance unregarded What are the Glories of this World but mere Shews Yet how fond art thou of them and how strangely hast thou been enamoured with them These Shadows intimate that there are more substantial Glories in the Everlasting Mansions yet these thou passest by and the other thou art delighted with See how thou dotest on those painted Coronets those Butter-flies those Airy Nothings while with the Cock in the Fable thou tramplest on the Pearl even on the Pearl of Price to purchase which the Spiritual Merchant in the Gospel sold all he had 17. And he took the Cup and gave Thanks and said Take this and divide it among your selves HOW thankful is our Great Mediator for every Mercy he received from his Everlasting Father Yet how ungrateful hast thou been O my Soul to thy mighty Benefactor What Mercies hast thou received at his Hands and what strange Returns hast thou made for them Thy God hath been kind to thee and thou hast been base and unworthy How hast thou fed on his Blessings and ascribed them to thy Wisdom and Industry How hast thou lived upon his Charity and spurned at his Laws Foolish Creature Dost thou thus reward the Lord thy God Thou shouldest not eat a bit but send some Thanksgiving-Ejaculations to Heaven yet thou contentest thy self with a careless Grace and never thinkest more afterward of God How little dost thou mind the Providences that are sent upon thee And while thou considerest not the Operations of God's Hands how canst thou be thankful 18. For I say unto you I will not drink of the Fruit of the Vine until the Kingdom of God shall come INdeed Heaven hath the best and choicest Wine even the Wine of Angels This Wine is the ravishing Love of God This transports the Understanding and wraps up the Intellect in Extasies of Joy and Comfort A brutish Man knows not this neither doth a Fool understand it And hath not this been thy Case O my Soul How weary hast thou been of thinking of this Banquet How soon have thy Spirits tired with meditating of that Love How ready hast thou been to think of the World and the last Night's Revel and how backward to reflect on this richer Entertainment What a Weariness hath it been to thee to survey these Glories to walk about that Jerusalem and to behold the Towers and Bulwarks of it 19. And he took Bread and gave Thanks and brake it and gave unto them saying This is my Body which is given for you This do in remembrance of me HEre begins the happy Institution of the holy Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood and the great Command to remember the Death of Jesus and together with that an Item of the greatest Love that can be shewn to poor Mortals Yet how backward O my Soul hast thou been sometimes to come to this holy Sacrament Thou should'st have longed for an Opportunity to remember this Death with the People of God What is this Bread but an Emblem of the Communion of Saints and a Representation of thy Communion with the Great Head the Lord Jesus Yet how little Delight hast thou taken in this Ordinance How often hast thou come out of Formality only How little have thine Affections been moved with that stupendous Love Either Sin or Malice to thy Neighbour or some Worldly Trouble hath made thee stay away The Thoughts of this Love should have thrown down all thy Strong Holds of Iniquity and left thee in a calm holy spiritual Temper But how hast thou preferred thy little Concerns in the World before this Feast And what Hazards hast thou run of being doomed to a Spiritual Famine as those Guests against whom the Master of the Feast protested that they should never taste of his Supper 20. Likewise also the Cup after Supper saying this Cup is the New Testament of my Blood which is shed for you AT how dear a rate was the remission of our sins purchased The Blood of the Son of God was the Price Greater Love hath no Man shewn than that he lay down his life for his Friends but here is one that laid it down for his Enemies that they may be pardoned How hast thou looked upon this pardon O my Soul sometimes without standing amazed at the height and breadth and depth and length of the love of God! How cold hast thou been in thy desires after this precious Blood Thou should'st have stood under the Cross waiting for the drops that trickled down But the familiarity of the joyful news of it alas hath too often wrought in thee a dis-esteem of it Nay how light hast thou made of this remission and by making so light of it thou hast profan'd it too when thou hast sinned because God is willing to pardon sinners and hast made that pardoning Blood an encouragement to indulge thy self in thy carnal
sometimes hast thou been from this exercise O my Soul when thou hast gone into dangerous company how loth hast thou been to arm thy self with Prayer When thou hast been in trouble how little hast thou thought of this Sovereign Remedy or if thou hast made use of it how cold how faint how superficial have been thy Supplications How often hast thou had greater confidence in the arm of Flesh than in the strength of God! Prayer hath chased away Armies turned to flight the Host of Aliens stopt the mouth of Lions quenched the flames of Fire made the Sun stand still and the shadow go back ten Degrees hath shut and opened Heaven and yet how slender how weak how indifferent hath thy Love been to this Spiritual Engine which hath conquered the Fort above and even forced the Almighty into Pity and Compassion 41. And he was withdrawn from them about a Stones-cast and kneeled down and prayed OUR Saviour when he means to pray most earnestly retires from all company yet how irksome hath retirement been to thee O my Soul What a burden hath it seemed and how glad hast thou been when company or Business have call'd thee away from that Penance and given thee a diversion How much more pleasing have crouds and mulitudes of business and people been to thee than privacy In serious retirements thou mightest have seen the brighter goings of God and had larger experience of his Power and Goodness but thou hast been afraid of meeting thy God in private and by that means deprived thy self of the gracious influences which he imparts to them that love his company Behold thy Redeemer bows his knees and kneels on the cold ground to offer up his Supplications to his Father How strangely hast thou consulted thine ease in Prayer How afraid hast thou been to kneel if thou hast had no Cushion How loth to put thy flesh to any trouble in God's Service Did the Son of God prostrate himself upon the Grass or Earth he stood upon and art thou afraid of hurting thy self in Prayer if thou hast not the accommodations of Softness and Luxury 42. Saying Father if thou be willing remove this Cup from me nevertheless not my Will but thine be done AN excellent Example and with the Example a Command to resign our Will to God's Will even in the greatest Troubles and Calamities And dost thou observe this O my Soul Art thou content with the Will and Pleasure of God when he lays affliction upon thy Loins Dost thou say freely and without murmuring It is the Lord let him do what seems good to him O how hast thou repin'd sometimes How impatient hast thou been under thy chain How unwilling to submit to the hand of God! How forced hath been thy Humiliation Where hath been thy belief of God's Wisdom and Goodness If thou believest God to be infinitely Wise and consequently that what he sends on thee is most wisely order'd why dost thou murmur If thou believest him to be infinitely good and therefore intending all that happens to thee for thy good why dost thou think the ways of the Lord are not equal 43. And there appeared to him an Angel from Heaven strongth'ning him IF this Blessed Minister of Heaven did comfort him with Words we must suppose he humbly besought him to look upon the Glory set before him and reflect on the vast good that would arrive to all Mankind by his Passion and that he encouraged him to go on with the great work of Redemption O my Soul And hath not thy God sent an Angel to thee a Minister of his Word in thy Afflictions and encouraged thee by the hopes of Eternal Glory to bear up and to be undaunted under all the Waves and Billows that went over thee Nay hath not thy God himself suggested to thy mind what benefit thy Affliction would yield what peaceable fruits of Righteousness what hatred of Sin what love to Holiness and what Humility it would produce And yet none of these have been able to keep thee from sinking How sensual is thy Mind How earthy are thy Affections What Polishing what Refining do they want yet And yet if Affliction which is the Furnace that must purifie the Gold will not do it what can be supposed to do it 44. And being in an Agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of Blood falling down to the ground SEE O my Soul how thy Sin presses the Son of God! see how great the horror of it is that it forced him into Agonies and these Agonies vent themselves in a Bloody Sweat He saw the Wrath of God that flaming Sword which hung over thee the revenging Arm that God shook against thee He saw the Hell thou hadst deserved the Torments thou hast merited the Agonies thou hadst involv'd thy self in He saw thy Sins in their full latitude and extent what encroachments they had made on the Divine Nature what affronts they had offer'd to the great Majesty of Heaven being very sensible of the infinite purity of God he saw the dreadfulness the monstrousness of thy Transgressions which had made War with that Divine Purity He saw the Fire and Brimstone the everlasting Furnace the burning Lake that was design'd to be thy Recompence He saw it and trembled He saw it and stagger'd He felt it being infinitely compassionate and feeling it laboured to shake it off and to get from under it and as he struggles with the Load his Sacred Body breaks forth in a strange kind of Sweat Didst thou ever consider O my Soul what thy Sins did cost Hadst thou considered it how couldst thou have been so merry so blithe so jocular in the Commission 45. And when he rose up from Prayer and was come to his Disciples he found them sleeping for Sorrow STrange Sleep should oppress People when they have Death before them Yet why wonderest thou O my Soul when thou hast slept securely at the very Gates of Hell in the Suburbs of Destruction How hast thou even shorted in Sin when the Messengers of God have cried out Fire Everlasting Fire over thy Head How quiet hast thou been how secure how jolly when the Fiends have been about thee as the Philistines about Sampson How hast thou played and laughed and smiled when the Eternal Wrath of God hath been ready to seize on thee How was it that thou wert not afraid How was it that thou didst not give a Start in the midst of thy Slumber What if thou hadst awaked in Hell 46. And said unto them Why sleep ye Rise and pray that ye enter not into Temptation INdeed Sleepiness and Idleness is the Devil's Opportunity to persuade us into Sin Had the Disciples prayed instead of sleeping 't is possible they would not have fled when they saw Danger nigh And hath not the Devil prevailed with thee by Idleness O my Soul When thou hast with David taken thy Rest and Ease hath not Satan brought a
Temptations were stronger than my Purposes and when they came I fell This Sickness Lord I am still apt to fall into and though by thy Grace I act sometimes according to my good Intentions and Resolutions yet how often do I miscarry in this point Lord give me not only good Inclinations but Courage to perform them too Oh let me not think it enough to entertain good Wishes in my Soul but make them so strong that the Good I intend and purpose may break forth like the Sun from a Cloud into a perfect Day 17. For of necessity he must release one unto them at the Feast VVHen the Paschal Lamb was to be killed the Jews had a Prisoner released to confirm the Memory of their Deliverance from the House of Bondage O Lamb of God! When thou diedst thou openedst the Prison-door for all Mankind to come out Thou didst proclaim Liberty to all Men captivated by Sin and the Devil O wonderful Release This makes me admire how Men after this Liberty procured for them by thy Death should yet be fond of their Prisons still and delight in Slavery and the Bondage of Iniquity Oh Bring my Soul out of Prison that I may praise thy Name The Righteous shall compass me about when thou shalt deal bountifully with me 18. And they cried out all at once saying Away with this Man and release unto us Barabbas A Monstrous Choice To prefer a Man before God a Son of Death before the Lord of Life a Malefactor before Innocence it self a Murtherer before the Saviour of the World Darkness before Light a Villain before the Son of God! Yet blessed Jesu such a sad Choice I have made too often when I have preferred the Cares of the World before the better part and while I have condemned these wicked Men and been in a kind of Passion to see and hear of their Impiety have unawares sunk into this Sin my self by preferring a Trifle before thy Will and a foolish Satisfaction before Rest in thy Bosom and an Interest in thy Favour and the Things of this World before a more glorious Reversion in another Life Pardon my desperate Choice And let me henceforward prefer thee who art fairer than the Children of Men before all that my Flesh doth promise or the World give For one thing is needful even thy Love of Complacency and if I have that it shall not be taken away from me 19. Who for a certain Sedition made in the City and for Murther was cast in Prison PRisons are fit Places for Malefactors not only upon the Account of securing Humane Societies from Enemies but also because such Sinners being removed from Temptations and Objects that enticed them to do ill and under pressure may think of God and reflect upon their wicked Lives and come to a sincere Repentance Yet when they are delivered out of their Durance their Lives very often are the same that formerly they were O my dear Redeemer Thou hast made me a Prisoner sometimes by Sickness and other Disasters in hopes that the Affliction might work upon me and the Fire I was in would make me a new Man yet when thou hast freed me from this Prison I have re-assumed my former Liberty in sinning Oh let it be so no more And seeing I am made whole let me take heed and sin no more lest worse things happen unto me 20. Pilate therefore willing to release Jesus spake again to them HEre I see greater Charity and Tenderness in an Heathen than in those who had the lively Oracles of God What a strange Sight is this to see Uncircumcision which is by Nature fulfilling the Law judge them who by the Letter and Circumcision do transgress the Law How many excellent Acts of Vertue do I see and read of in mere Pagans that had nothing but the Light of Nature to direct them Acts which I do not come up to that have the Light of Heaven to shine upon me O Jesu make me ashamed of my Backwardness and let my Righteousness exceed that of Men which do not call upon thy Name lest it be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in that Day than for me 21. But they cried saying Crucifie him crucifie him THis was the most infamous Punishment that any Man could be condemned to Ah Wretches Did not your Hearts smite you when you said so Will nothing serve you but the most ignominious Death a Death which none but Slaves were destin'd to What a brutish thing is Wrath and Anger It stops its Ears against all common Ingenuity and Reason It doth things in haste which must be repented of by leisure Lord Jesu I remember what unreasonable things I have done when my Passion hath been up things I am ashamed of now Oh leave me not to these Winds and Tempests Oh let me learn of thee for thou art meek and lowly in Heart that I may find Rest for my Soul 22. And he said unto them the third time Why what Evil hath he done I have found no Cause of Death in him I will therefore chastise him and let him go O Jesu 'T is very true thou hast done no Evil neither was Guile found in thy Mouth When thou wast reviled thou didst not revile again when thou sufferedst thou threatnedst not Thou wentest about doing good no Man could convince thee of any Sin Thou wast good and didst good even to those that now cried Crucifie him Thou camest to discourage Men from Evil it was thy Province to destroy the Works of the Devil and to make Men Partakers of the Divine Nature Goodness was in thy Nature and all thy Actions breathed of it Thou wast tender of Men's Good of the Good of their Souls and Bodies Oh make me conformable to thy Goodness Let me abhor that which is evil and cleave to that which is good Let thy Goodness be my Pattern and let me ever rejoyce in thy Goodness Make me steadily and invincibly good good unto Death that I may receive a Crown of Life Thy Goodness endures for ever Give mine the same Duration Oh touch it with thy Light and it shall burn bright for ever 23. And they were instant with loud Voices requiring that he might be crucified and the Voices of them and the Chief Priests prevailed THE Devil was let loose in these Sinners and see how he rages He makes them leap Bogs and Ditches and a Thousand Precipices to get their Wills accomplished The Damned in Hell were not more outragious than these Men. Lord Jesu What are we when left to our selves or to the Power of the Enemy Thou camest to redeem me from this Power Oh let me come under it no more Once I dwelt under that Tyranny I now serve a gentler Master Oh let me serve thee not with Eye-service as a Man-pleaser but as a Servant of God doing the Will of God from the Heart 24. And Pilate gave Sentence that it should be as they required THese Brutes threaten to accuse him
of it and in so doing have higher thoughts and reflect upon all the instances of his Love to their Immortal Souls and teach their Successors to do so too This Jesus who by wicked hands was Crucified and whom God hath made both Lord and Christ was the Master and Author of this Feast and from him it justly derives its Name 2. Because the end of this Eating and Drinking is to Commemorate the Death of the Lord Jesus As the end of the Passover under the Law was to remember the great Deliverance from the Egyptian Bondage and that of the Feast of Tabernacles their being guided through the Wilderness by a Cloud and their Ancestors dwelin Booths and Tents As the Feast of Trumpets was instituted either by way of Anticipation that they might remember afterwards how the Walls of Jericho fell or to refresh their Minds with Isaac's Sacrifice an Emblem of the Messiah's Death and the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost was ordained as a Testimony of their Gratitude for a Plentiful Harvest and to put them in mind of the Liberty they gain'd when God gave them the Law and entred into a Covenant with them and that of Purim to bring into their Memories how they were rescued from the cruelty of Haman the Amalekite and that of the Dedication to suggest to them the Rebuilding of the Temple So the Lord Jesus enjoyn'd and recommended the keeping of this Feast to his Followers that they might remember how their Master loved them and made his Death a demonstration of Love how he died to make them happy and denied himself in all the Contents of Life to make theirs blessed and glorious for ever how he submitted to the Power of the Grave to purchase their comfortable Resurrection and fell a Sacrifice that they might have hopes of Pardon through his Blood a Remembrance so just that if this Charity deserves not frequent Commemoration no Mercy no Benefit no Favour no Providence can deserve it for this goes beyond all that the Word of God calls glorious and beneficial to Mankind 3. It s the Lord's Supper because the Lord Jesus is Meat and Drink in this Feast Meat indeed and Drink indeed as the expression is John 6. 11. for though that Chapter speaks not directly of this Supper yet the Phrases and modes of speech used there may very piously be applied to what is represented by the Elements in this Feast for the Benefits Advantages and Emoluments of Christs Death are Food so proper to a Religious Soul and a gracious Mind feeds so savourly upon these that nothing deserves the name of Spiritual Meat and Drink so much as these and indeed these nourish and feed the Soul make her strong and lively these are her Cordials and Restoratives and in the nature of David's Oyl Psal. 104. 15. which make her Face to shine 4. It 's the Lords Supper because the nourishment and strength it affords or yields is by the influence of the Lord Jesus He sends his Spirit into the Soul that comes to his Feast hungry and thirsty and longing after the Riches of Gods Love whereby the Soul is inflamed to love him who bought her at this dear rate and that love produces Peaceableness and Gentleness and Faith and Purity and Sincerity and Delight in good Works which are excellent signs of the Souls growing strong in the use of the Spiritual Food The Holy Spirit of Christ destroys the reigning Power of Sin in her and the government of the Flesh for the leaner this grows and the more the authority of it is diminished the better the Soul thrives and the more vigorous and active it becomes in all its faculties III. Though to call this Feast The Lord's Supper when it is in most Churches Celebrated in the Morning seems to be improper yet the reason why it still bears the name is Because the same substantial Actions are still observed in the Celebration of it that were used by Christ and his Disciples at his first institution in the night and not only the same Actions but the same end and design is kept on foot which we find in its first foundation and whenever it is celebrated it 's still in imitation of that Supper and that Supper is still remembred in it The reason why Christ in instituting of it made use of the night which gave it the name of a Supper was because it was to be succedaneous to the Passover which according to custom was eaten at night as the Deliverance which the Jews remembred then was performed by the Angel at night and as the Passover represented the Old Covenant or Testament and this Feast the New so it was fit that the later should be instituted immediately after the Celebration of the former that both being set together their different signification might more plainly appear and Men might see what Mercies they might expect from the bringing in of a better Covenant This being the occasion of Christ Celebrating this Feast at night and consequently the reason ceasing with the Typical Passover the Christian Churches in process of time took the liberty of Celebrating it at all seasons as they saw it either necessary or expedient And though what I have said about the Passover is the Principal reason why Christ made choice of the night for this Institution yet for ought we know it might be with an intent also to hint to us how by this Sacrament the night of Ignorance which sat heavy on the minds of most Men would be dispell'd that by night is sometimes understood the night of Ignorance in Scripture is evident from Matth. 4. 16. Es. 9. 1 2. Rom. 13. 12. and that by the devout and religious use of this Sacrament our Ignorance is in a great measure cured experience is a sufficient testimony Hereby certainly our minds are signally enlightned and we behold the Wisdom Love and Goodness of God discover the methods and ways of Salvation get clear Apprehensions of the Mysteries of our Faith and see how inconsistent the Works of Darkness are with this solemn remembrance of the Death of Christ hereby we come to feel the Power of God toward them that Believe and find out the Secret of the Union that is betwixt Christ and his true Followers and learn to know that what is said in the Word of God concerning the tender regard of Christ to his Church and Friends is no Fable Add to all this that Christ made choice of the night possibly to put us in mind of his sudden coming to Judgment which is frequently expressed in Scripture by his coming in the night Mark 13. 35 36. Luke 12. 38 39. 1 Thessal 5 2. Rev. 3. 3. nor is this an unsuitable Reflection in this Sacrament to contemplate his coming to judge the World for though that coming may strike terror into Men that put the evil day far from them and prepare not for their Lord 's coming yet to a Soul enlightned and Sanctified it cannot but
afford matter of comfort to think at such times that the same Jesus who was crucified will ere long appear in Glory with all his mighty Angels to give those that have followed him in the Regeneration full possession of the purchas'd Glory However at the best the Celebration of this Feast at night was but a circumstantial thing and therefore the Church is not obliged to keep to it circumstantial things depending much upon conveniency or inconveniency which vary in several Ages and this was the reason that though standing at the eating of the Passover was a commanded circumstance Exod. 12. 11. yet the Jewish Church in after Ages varied from it even by Christs own Approbation and turned that posture into leaning as I shall have occasion to shew more largely in the Chapter about Kneeling at the Communion The Church therefore sins not in Celebrating this Feast at any other time especially in a circumstance barely related not commanded Yet as I said before because this Spiritual Feast kept up in all Churches is still in imitation of Christs Supper and that Supper is religiously remembred in it and the same essential things together with the scope drift and design of all are still preserved it is not unfitly called the Lords Supper still so that if any man seems to be contentious about the name We have no such Custom neither the Churches of God 1 Cor. 12. 16. IV. Yet this is no Argument but that it may also lawfully be called and expressed by other Names and this we find the Christian Churches have done from time to time Tertullian was the first that called it a Sacrament taking the Name from the Oaths the Roman Soldiers took that they would be true and faithful to their Emperor and the rather because we vow Allegiance and Fidelity in this Ordinance to the great Master that died for us Others have call'd it an Oblation because we offer up our humble Prayers and Supplications to the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ and our Souls and Bodies too when we remember this Beneficial Death Sometimes it hath been call'd a Sacrifice because it is not only a commemoration of the wonderful Sacrifice of Christs Death but we chearfully offer up the Sacrifice of our Praises for this inestimable Mercy The name of Communion occurs frequently in the Writings of the Ancients because all sincere Christians are hereby tyed in a bond of mutual Love participate of the same Bread are Fellow-members of the Mystical Body of Christ and have Communion with Christ their Head and enjoy all the same Benefits of his Death and sufferings The word Eucharist is used as often as any other because Thanksgiving and Magnifying the Goodness Mercy and Charity of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost are a great part of the Service here The name Mass which they of the Roman Persuasion and even the Lutheran Churches make use of as it was not known in the Church for the first Four hundred years after Christ so the Original of it was this When the Lords Supper was to be celebrated after Sermon the Deacon or some other Officer of the Church called to the People that did not or were not to receive in these words Ite missa est Depart the Congregation is dismissed In time that which was only a Preliminary circumstance of the Lords Supper was applied to the whole Office and the Service was called Missa or Mass a word which the Romanists make a great stir with and turn into a perfect Charm and a monstrous Sacrifice to the great disparagement of Christs Sufferings and the Benefits that accrue thereby to true Believers Some of their Writers make it a Hebrew word and fetch it from the Old Testament others derive it from the Greek others from the Northern Language and though it expresses less then any of those Names we mentioned before yet hath this swallowed up all the rest and the more superstitious in the Roman Church are almost afraid to call it by any other Name and the Mass is that which both young and Old both learned and unlearned among them have most frequently in their Mouths though few of the Vulgar know what it means I omit here many other Names appropriated by Writers to this Mystery such as Collect Oeconomy Liturgy Dominical Agenda Anaphora Synaxis c. partly because I intend no Critical History and partly because by the names I have already spoken of this Sacrament is usually known in the Western Churches That we do so often call it a Mystery is because the things discovered and imitated here do altogether depend upon Divine Revelation and are such as Flesh and Blood understand not and the Secrets of which none but a Person enlightned by the Spirit of God apprehends to any purpose and which transcend all the Arcana or hidden points of Heathen Divinity V. The name of the Lords Supper puts us in mind that this Holy Feast differs from Common Suppers 1. In that Common Suppers are for the support of Nature this for the support of Grace and Goodness in our Souls The former are intended for the strengthning of the Body this for the corroboration of our Faith and Hope and Love Our Common Supper represents to us the Ordinary Providence of God which opens its hand and fills the desire of every living thing This Gods extraordinary dispensation which shews at what cost and charges we are made the Children of God and fitted for everlasting habitations The former gives us an account of the Blessings of Gods Left this of the favours of his Right Hand The former bids us look into the nether this into the upper Springs of the Divine Clemency 2. In our Common Suppers our Spirits may unbend and our Minds and Tongues take liberty of thinking and speaking of things relating to our necessary Employments in the World in this our thoughts must rise mount up with Wings as Eagles pierce the Clouds and fix on the Riches of Divine Love retire from the World view God and his glorious Attributes and unite with that excellent object improve themselves into Contemplaâ—ion and adore the Mystery of Redemption In the former no other Preparation is required but what we are to bring with us to common affairs and businesses i. e. Gravity and Sobriety but in this the Heart must be prepared the Soul chafed the Affections warmed prayers offered Ejaculations press into Gods presence and Self-examination dispose the Soul for the visits of the Holy Ghost that it may be a worthy Guest at so great a Table and the rather because God is in a special manner present here for wherever Providence displays its brighter beams of Love there God is eminently present that makes Heaven what it is because there the Divine Goodness shines most gloriously In this Sacrament are set before us more then ordinary Characters of Gods Love the Angels of Heaven saith St. Chrysostom stand round about the Altar and while the Minister
not been for such forcible means or straits and necessities so that the Minister of the Ordinance may thank their Office more than their Religion that he sees them in that holy place And most certainly this is not Eating the Lord's Supper for nothing is properly an act of Religion but what is a free-will-offering and flows from an internal love of the Duty And what is here said of accidental Employments is too true of standing Offices of the Church A Minister or Clergyman may come to the Lord's Supper and yet not eat the Lord's Supper he may celebrate it as a Minister and yet not eat it as a sincere Christian he may eat it because his Office obliges him to administer it and yet not eat it with that sense which becomes a sincere believer And it is so with lesser Officers about a Church Custom may carry them a great way and for some years they may never fail to come to this Table and yet may not eat as they ought for they may do it upon the account of their Office only and because it is expected of them but the sense of the end and of the love of God may be wanting which defect makes it a very lame offering 3 Such Men however come and to this they are led by a fancy they are willing to entertain that other Men who come receive it with no greater sense or seriousness than they They consider not whether this will be a good Plea another day but it gives present satisfaction and this makes them espouse it Not to mention that it is great rashness and presumption in them to judge of other Mens hearts the secrets of which they are for the most part ignorant of and if other men should be no better than they yet that would be no excuse Men being to live by Precepts not by every Example that is before them yet thus Men love to delude themselves and by that means precipitate themselves into unspeakable Dangers For III. This not eating as they ought strangely hardens them in Sin If the Cross of Christ cannot open their eyes or make them sensible of their Errors few things can be supposed able to do it to their comfort If the Blood of the Covenant cannot supple their hearts other things must be believed to be ineffectual because God looks upon this as the most potent remedy to effect it nor is this to be understood only of scandalous sins but all such offences which Christ hath peremptorily forbid though the world takes no great notice of them such as are aversion from holy Thougts and Discourses and neglect of those Gospel Graces the Apostle presses upon such as would not be Christians in vain And hence it is that where Men do not eat the Lord's Supper aright our Exhortations to those nobler Duties of Religion are lost upon them and all the severe threatnings we rehearse and mention to rouze them from their Spiritual slumber are spoke into the wind and they continue strangers to that Spiritual frame which the Apostle calls Rom. 8. 5. minding the things of the Spirit By a Spiritual frame of the heart I mean a God-like Temper which is pleased with any thing that makes for the Glory of God and as Fire converts all things into its own substance spiritualizeth Objects or makes a spiritual use of them and is truly enamoured with the severer Precepts of the Gospel and looks upon them as perfective of our natures and consequently thinks no Commandment grievous Hence it is that such Men who are strangers to this frame their Religion turns into mere Formality and Hypocrisie and however it may look in their own eyes in the sight of God it goes for no more than Paint and Varnish mere Glow-worm light that shines but warms not glitters but gives no Heat blazes but doth not touch the Heart and like rotten Wood seems bright but hath nothing of Fire in it and this must necessarily cause very false Applications of Gospel Promises which at last produces such Self-deceptions that when they come to appear before the Bar of God's Justice they 'll not only wonder at the Cheats they have put upon themselves but tear their hair and smite their breasts and be ready to kill themselves to think how they have murthered their own Souls with kindness and by fair Words and Speeches enticed them into ruin IV. From what we have said it will easily appear what eating of the Lord's Supper doth import eating it I mean in a Scripture Sense 1. To eat it with a relish of the Benefits of Christ's Death and Passion even in our common Meals we find a great difference betwixt eating and relishing betwixt eating with and without an Appetite betwixt tasting the juice and delicacy of the Meat and fancying it to be no better than Chaulk or Ashes He that eats the Lord's Supper aright his Soul must eat as well as his outward Organs and as Christ saith John 6. 63. The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life so the Soul that eats as it should do the benefits of Christ's Death they must be Life and Spirit to her a perfect Cordial true Elixir real Sweetness comfortable Balm and sweeter than Honey to the Palate These Benefits are Pardon and Peace and reconciliation to God and Salvation and the Soul must be affected with them prize them value them practically above the Riches of the World and count all things dross and dung for the excellency of them and be willing to part rather with Father and Mother and Lands and Houses than with the Comforts of them and that is to relish and then the Soul eats indeed whereas a person that either thinks not of these Benefits or if he thinks of them hath no actual value for them so as to feel in himself how highly he esteems them and what a mighty veneration he hath for them though he may be said to eat yet he doth not relish them and therefore doth not eat aright 2. It is to eat with secret longings to be conformable to Christ Jesus in his Humility and Charity or as the Apostle expresses it to have the same mind in us which was also in Christ Jesus Phil. 2. 5. And this in another place is called hungring and thirsting after righteousness Matth. 5. 6. and was represented of old by the secret longings of the Spouse Cant. 1. 3. Draw me after thee and I will run Where there is no such longing to conform to Christ in these Virtues a Man doth not properly eat the Lord's Supper like a healthy man for he digests not the Food doth not turn into good Juice it doth not nourish him he doth not thrive upon it I call it longing for the desire after these Graces which were so eminent in Christ must be strong and vehement ardent and grounded upon the Beauty Loveliness and Amiableness of them such a longing as David expressed for the Lord's House and his
we receive may be prejudicial to some Constitutions which must therefore be indulged to eat something at Home Cautions and Rules to be observed in Eating before we Receive The Decay of Fasting among Christians of this Age an Argument of the Decay of Christianity To Fasting before we Receive must be joined afterward Abstinence from Sin The Prayer I. THat it is not absolutely necessary to eat the Lord's Supper Fasting will appear from the following Arguments 1. Neither Eating nor Abstinence do in themselves commend us unto God for neither if we Eat are we the worse neither if we Eat not are we the worse saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 8. 8. It 's not the Belly God regards so much as the Heart and the Frame of the Soul he ever respects more than the Bowels The Pharisee that lays the stress of his Religion upon an empty Stomach mistakes the Nature of God as much as the Pythagorean who fancies God will be pleased with his chusing one sort of Food before another Neither the former's abstaining from Swines-Flesh nor the other's Aversion from Beans is an Offering acceptable to him especially where they stand single and have no other Virtues to bear them company God being a Spirit loves to converse with Spiritual Natures and such are our Souls and an humble and broken Spirit prevails more with him than all outward Ceremonies whatsoever The Jews Es. 58. 3. were as much out when they cryed Wherefore have we fasted and thou seest not as those Luk. 13. 26. that said to Christ Have not we eaten and drunk in thy presence One Act of sincere Contrition is a more pleasing Spectacle to God than a thousand external Formalities and doing his Will a more acceptable Sacrifice than a rueful Face Fasting hath no intrinsick Virtue the Gracious Aspect God vouchsafes it is upon the account of something within that looks very lovely in his Eyes and that is a Conscience sprinkled from dead Works 2. Christ's Example is a convincing Argument that to receive it Fasting is not absolutely necessary Not only St. Matthew Matth. 26. 26. but the other Evangelists assure us that while Christ and his Disciples were eating the Passover or as soon as they had eaten it he took Bread and Blessed it and brake and gave it to his Disciples and said take eat c. Had it been a sin to do so we may rationally suppose the first Author of this Sacrament would have given no encouragement to it by his Example and though it 's true that may be sometimes lawful in a Prince which may be an Error in the Subject yet our Great Master laid aside that Piece of State and appeared in the Form of a Servant and became obedient to that Law he would have his Followers live up to He did not prescribe one thing and do another but like a watchful General put his Hand to that Plough at which he would have others labour and it 's evident enough that while he and the Disciples were eating or as soon as they had eated the Passover and consequently they were not fasting he bid them Eat and Drink of the Sacramental Bread and Wine which accordingly they did and we may be confident he would not have led them into an Error 3. The Apostles afterward we see were indifferent whether they gave it to Men fasting or to Persons who had been at a Meal just before so they were but studious of a pure and spotless Conversation and so much appears from what we read Act. 2. 46. After they came from the Temple i.e. after they came from the Common Prayer in the Temple which was at Nine of the Clock in the Morning and at Three in the Afternoon they break Bread from House to House and giving it in the Afternoon as well as in the Morning we may justly conclude they laid no stress upon Peoples receiving it fasting However it 's plain that the Corinthian Christians by St. Pauls Allowance and Approbation administred and received it after their Love-Feasts and while they observed the Rules of Decency Sobriety and Temperance and Charity and Seriousness in those Agapae or Feasts of Charity the Apostle found no fault with their Communicating after them but when they became luxurious and grew exorbitant and made provision for the Flesh more than the Spirit he justly changed his Discourse and turned his former Gentleness into sharp Reproofs and Apostolical Reprehensions and he had reason for these Doings would have soon brought this weighty Ordinance into Contempt and made Men abhor the Offerings of the Lord. II. Notwithstanding all this to receive it Fasting is a thing very convenient 1. Because it quickens Devotion That we are not to come to the Table of our Lord with an indifferency of Mind or looseness of Fancy or carelesness of Affections none can be ignorant The sublimest Mystery requires the sublimest Thoughts and a Mind as clear from gross and carnal Apprehensions as Mortality will let us but this is not to be done without Fasting Meat and Drink filling the Brain with Fumes and as you have seen a Cloud coming before the Sun intercepting and darkening the brighter Rays of that noble Planet so the greasie Steams and Vapours which feeding before sends up to the nobler Parts must needs in some measure at least obscure the Understanding the Sun in this Microcosm and hinder it from spreading and dispersing its kindly Beams and Influences and this was the Opinion not only of the Primitive Believers but of the Pythagoreans also and other Philosophers whose Great Maxim was That the purest Thoughts flow from an empty Stomâ—ch or Self-denial in Meat and Drink That the ancient Christians fasted so often the reason certainly was to give Wings to their Devotion and to make their Prayers fly the faster and with greater Alacrity to Heaven This way they found was most proper to plant a Spiritual Temper in their Souls and when they would mount up with greater Chearfulness above the Clouds they gave themselves to Fasting and Prayer And indeed in some Constitutions at least the Soul never acts more like it self than when the Body gives it no Divertisement by Eating and Drinking for a time The more the Body is fed the leaner grows the Soul and the leaner the Body is kept the fatter grows the Soul all which is evidence enough That to receive the Holy Communion Fasting is the way to receive it with the quickest and therefore most sutable Devotion 2. To receive it fasting is an Act most agreeable to the mortifying Prospect of Christ's Death and Passion What Look upon so dismal an Object with a full Stomach or a pampered Body which is enough to tempt us to say with St. Thomas in another case Let us go that we may dye with him John 11. 16. He that comes to this Sacrament comes to dye with Christ i. e. to dye to Sin and sure no sober Man will think Eating and Drinking to be a proper Preparative for
look on such Mercies with spiritual Reflections and Praises and these Praises are holy Thoughts Nay the Task is very easie and there is nothing lies more in our power than by taking a View of such Blessings to think This God hath done this is part of his Charity this is a Character of his Bounty What am I and what is my Father's House that God hath brought me thus far And as it is easie so it is profitable too for this will fill our Minds with humble Thoughts and teach us to have a low Opinion of our selves it being impossible to think our selves very unworthy of God's Favours and not to despise our selves II. I told you in the first Chapter of this Discourse that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper among the Ancients was frequently called the Eucharist Here we see the Reason of it for as the Word Eucharist imports Praise so Thanksgiving is one of the principal Actions and Offices in this Sacrament The Church of Rome will have it called a Sacrifice because in the Primitive Church it went by that Name We deny it not but then they meant by it a Sacrifice of Praise and this Sacrifice we exhort every one of you to offer when you remember your Great Master's Funeral Give Thanks for that Death when you are preparing your selves for this spiritual Feast Give Thanks when you feed at this holy Table Give Thanks when you depart from that Banqueting-house Give Thanks unto the Lamb that was slain bless him for his Wounds bless him for his Cross bless him for his Bloody Sweat bless him for all his Sighs and Groans bless him for his Merits for through these your Souls must triumph over Hell and Sin and Devils But then take heed of praising him at Church and affronting him at home These Praises must be uniform and equal and constant not that you are obliged in all Places to speak of his Glory whatever Business you have or that you must do nothing but sing Psalms to him where-ever you are but your upright and Christian Behaviour in all Places is a Glorification of his Mercy For you are a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar People that ye should shew forth the Praises of him who hath called you out of Darkness into his marvellous Light 1 Pet. 2. 9. The PRAYER O Thou who inhabitest the Praises of Israel our Fathers trusted in thee they trusted and thou didst deliver them they cried unto thee and they were delivered they trusted in thee and were not confounded Praise waits for thee in Sion Thou deservest my devoutest Praises my most hearty Thanks my loudest Celebrations Can I think of what thou hast done for me and be loath to praise thee What should I do but praise thee All that I see within me or about me is Mercy my Meat my Drink my Clothes are Mercies But Oh! what a Mercy is that Spiritual Food thou settest before me at thy Table Oh let my Mouth be filled with thy Praise all the Day long I am sensible not only of the Necessity but the Comeliness of it too It sets a Lustre on my Soul it is an Ornament to my better Part it makes me glorious in thy Sight Oh teach me the Art of praising thee Let me but love thee and I cannot but praise thee My Love will dictate Words and suggest Meditations and I shall speak of all thy wondrous Works Let this be my greatest Delight my greatest Joy my greatest Pleasure that I may praise thee at last with all the Saints and Angels to Eternal Ages through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. IX Of Breaking the Bread and the Mysteries of it The CONTENTS The Action of Breaking Bread borowed from the Jews used by Christ to put us in mind of his Crucifixion Of the broken State of Mankind Of his going to break down the Partition Wall betwixt the Jews and Gentiles Of the Communion of the Body of Christ Of our Coming to his Table with Broken Contrite Hearts Of his Readiness to comfort the Bruised and Broken Spirit Of the Vertue and Power of his Death in breaking the Force of God's Wrath against us Of the Miracle that was to happen at his Death in the Earth and Rocks c. And of the strange Divisions that would rise about this Sacrament The Action of Breaking the Holy-Bread doth not interfere with the Canon in the Rule of the Passover that not a Bone of the Lamb should be broken The Church of Rome is to blame for not Breaking the Bread Christ as well as the Disciples received the Communion Reflections to be made by Christians when they see the Bread broken The Prayer I. AMong the Jews as no Man durst eat Bread without consecrating it by Thanksgiving so no Man gave Thanks for the Bread but he broke part of it did eat of it and gave of it to the rest that were with him at the Table and the Master of the House if present was usually the Person that did all this gave Thanks and dealt the Bread about To this End the Loaves among the Jews were made with divers Cuts or Incisions that when they were brought to Table they might be broken with greater Ease by the Head of the Family and distributed to those that did eat with him Among the ancient Romans it was otherwise for though they had Cuts and Divisions upon their Loaves yet those Cuts were but four in all in the Shape of a Cross to the End that when they came to reach it to their Guests they might easily break it into four Parts Which was the Reason why they called the Portion that fell to one Man's Share Quadra or the fourth Part of a Loaf If Christ imitated any Custom in Breaking of Bread 't is most probable he followed that of the Jews from whose manner of living he used not to vary if their Actions and Customs had nothing of Sin in them shewing thereby how loath we should be Quieta movere to change or alter Things in a Church or Nation which through a long Succession of Time have been received provided there be nothing of Immodesty Superstition or Indecency or Irregularity in it The Unleaven'd Cakes of the Jews they use at this Day in the Celebration of their Passover are in all probability Relicks of that ancient Way among their Country-men of ordering their Loaves and making them with many Cuts and Divisions in them whereby the Master of the House took occasion to break off a just and convenient Piece for each Member of his Family But though Christ in breaking the Sacramental Bread might borrow that Right and Action from the Jews yet we must not suppofe that therefore he had no farther Design in it but rather sanctified it into a Mystery as he did the Washing of the Feet received among the Jews Joh. 13. 14 15. II. As Breaking the Sacramental Bread was an Action design'd to represent several Things of great Importance so
would to God it might be as surprizing to see one Christian fall out with the other 5. He broke the Bread to hint to us with what Hearts we ought to come to the Table of our Lord and to the Altar of the Cross even with humble broken contrite Hearts Such Hearts we might get if it were not for our Pride It was therefore prohibited in the Old Law to use Leaven in God's Sacrifices and Offerings Leaven was the Emblem of Pride which makes us unfit to appear before the humble Jesus I am broken with their whorish Heart which hath departed from me saith God Ezech. 9. 6. This was literally fulfilled in Christ And shall not we share in the Depth of that Sorrow Shall we see him bow his Head under the Weight of our Offences and shall not the Burthen appear heavy and insupportable to our Spirits Shall we see the innocent Lamb weep for our Stubbornness and be unconcerned at the Spectacle 6. He broke the Bread to let us see how ready he is to comfort the Contrite and Broken Heart Christian as great as the Agonies were thy Sins did put him to as great as the Torments were he felt upon thy Account as bitter as the Death was he suffered and tasted for thee yet if thy Soul relents and if that which made him die becomes loathsome and abominable in thy Sight if a deep Sense of thy Unworthiness fills the Chanels of thy Heart if the Fountain of thy Head runs with Water if thine Eyes gush out in Tears if the Weight of thy Sins presses thy Soul into an holy Self-abhorrency if his Passion can fright thy Sins into a languishing Condition abate their Courage and break their sturdy Necks and his broken Body proves a Motive strong enough and obliges thee to break loose from the Government of Hell behold those very Wounds thou madest shall be thy Balsam and the Blood thy Sinns did spill shall turn into Oyl to supple thy broken Bones with that precious Liquor thy Soul shall be washed and that which was his Death shall be thy Life and Antidote with that Offering of himself once made he will expiate thy Filth and perfume thy Services render them acceptable to God give thee a Right to Heaven comfort thee in all thy Tribulations and call to thy Soul Be of good chear thy Sins are forgiven thee 7. He broke the Bread to let us know that his Death would break the Wrath of God allay his Anger pacifie his Justice and satisfie for the Affront his Holiness had suffered from the Sins of Men and make way for the Penitent's Admission to God's Bosom This is St. Bernard's Observation and the Mystery is rational for by his Death he broke the Power of him who had the Power of Death Heb. 2. 14. This was the Devil who got that Power by Man's Apostacy which provoked the Almighty's Wrath and moved him to permit the Enemy to exercise that Power over Mankind who was therefore not only the Cause of Adam's Death but of all the Deaths that followed that for which Cause Christ called him a Murtherer from the Beginning Joh. 8. 44. And the Jews stile him the Angel of Death and if any extraordinary Judgments were inflicted on Men at any time he was still the Executioner Besides all this he had Power given him to fright Men with Death either violent or natural and the dreadful Consequences of it of all which Man's Apostacy was the Cause This Power given him by the Justice and Wrath of God against the Sins of Man was broken by the Death of Jesus who thereby gave all true Believers Power and Courage to undervalue these Fears and Terrours to look upon them as Bugbears and Things to fright Slaves withal since this wonderful Death brings Life and Pardon and Salvation to their Souls and makes their own Death a Passage to the full Possession of the Joys to come 8. He broke the Bread prophetically to fore-tell what Miracles would happen at his Death how the Veil of the Temple would rend the Rocks break and the Graves burst their Bonds and open even then when Men's Hearts would be harder than Flints more impenetrable than Stones more insensible than Adamants less tractable than the Earth more rigid than the Grave and less relenting than inanimate Creatures 9. He broke the Bread Why may not we think that hereby he signified the Breaches and Divisions that through the Passions and various Interests of Men would happen in future Ages in the Church upon the Account of this Sacrament What Strife what Bitterness what Contentions hath this Ordinance occasion'd betwixt the Eastern and Western Churches and in the Western betwixt the Papists and Protestants and among the Protestants betwixt the Lutherans and those that call themselves of the Reformed Religion Upon which Account I cannot but think of the bitter Language that both Luther and his Followers have given to the Zwinglians and Calvinists that differ'd from them in Opinion about the Supper of the Lord. Nor did the Fury stop here but in many Places where any of the Zwinglians were they were turned out imprisoned harrassed expelled driven into Exile and forced away to Sea in a severe Winter in Frost and Snow when the Winds blew hard and the Weather was exceeding tempestuous and all because they would not abjure these Six Propositions 1. That these Words Take eat this is my Body and Take drink this is my Blood must not be understood literally but typically and figuratively 2. That the Elements in the Lord's Supper are only Signs and Symbols and that Christ's Body is as far removed from the Bread in the Sacrament as Heaven is from Earth 3. That Christ is present in this Sacrament by his Virtue and Power and not with his Body as the Sun with his Light and Operation assists and refreshes the Creatures of God in this lower World 4. That the Bread in the Sacrament is the Emblem and Figure of Christ's Body and signifies and represents only 5. That Christ's Body is eaten only by Faith mounting up into Heaven not with the Mouth 6. That only true Believers do properly eat Christ's Body but wicked Men who have no lively Faith receive nothing but the bare Bread and Wine Those that would not abjure these Doctrines were used like Hereticks Fanaticks and Vagabonds By their usage one would have taken them to have been guilty of Sacrilege Murther Robbery Sedition Rebellion c. but the chief Crime it seems was because having imbibed Zwinglius and Calvin's Doctrine about the Eucharist they could not conform to the Lutheran Persuasion in that Point Wonderful Barbarity which one would scarce have expected from Heathens much less from Christians and Fellow-Protestants who together with them protested against the Corruptions of the Church of Rome Into such an unseemly Behaviour do Men precipitate themselves when they let loose the Reins of their Passions instead of becoming Repairers of Breaches they make them wider and
is for the healing of the Nations here fix though the Earth be moved here shelter thy self from the Wrath to come Christ the same Yesterday to Day and for ever will open Rivers in High Places and Fountains in the midst of Valleys When the Poor and Needy seek for Water and there is none He Prince of Peace wil hear them He the mighty God will will not forsake them He will plant in the Wilderness the Cedar the Myrtle and the Oyl-Tree He will set in the Desart the Fir-tree and the Pine and the Box-tree together that they may see and know and consider and understand together that the Hand of the Lord hath done this and the Holy One of Israel hath created it Ezek. 41. 16 17. The PRAYER O Blessed and Crucified Saviour How often have I broke with thee How often have I broke loose from thee How often have I broke the Silken Strings whereby thou hast sought to tie my Soul How justly mightest thou turn thy Face away from me How justly mightest thou look upon me as unworthy to be called any more to this Spiritual Feast But remember Lord Remember I am Dust remember my Frailty and do not shut up thy Tender Mercies in Displeasure O call after this Prodigal and bring him home again to his Father's House Make lively Impressions of thy Crucifixion upon my Mind Let the Torments of thy broken Body fright me from all known Sin Whenever I am tempted to any Thing that is evil cry in mine Ears or possess me with this Thought That that very Sin did help to break thee on the Cross A lively Apprehension of this will keep my Soul undefiled this will break and crush my former Delight in Vanity this will embitter my Sensual Pleasures this will make me weary of running after other Gods this will humble my Soul this will subdue the vain Imaginations whereby I have been wont to flatter my self into Misery O give me a View of the Riches that are to be found in thy broken Body that I may run no longer after broken Cisterns and may rely no longer on broken Reeds O let my Soul feed on thy broken Body by Contemplation Thou didst not count thy Life dear for my sake O let me be touch'd with these Thoughts that I may despise Death and Torments for thy sake and may with all Saints and Martyrs behold thy Face at last in Eternal Glory O Jesu Great Store-house of Delight Who hast the Keys of David Spread open thine Arms of Mercy and receive this poor miserable Creature Behold this straying Sheep beset with Multitudes of Wolves runs to the good Shepherd Protect me from the fiery Darts of the Enemy embrace me as a tender Mother doth her sickly Child with Bowels of Mercy Kill in me the base Desires of the Flesh and whatever evil Inclinations thou spiest in me root them up Extinguish in me the impure Flames of Lust. Give me an excellent Spirit a Spirit active in the Practice and Exercise of Vertue Raise the Powers of my Soul by thy Love that I may love thee with all my Heart that I may praise thee that I may honour thee and think nothing tedious or troublesome that may promote thy Glory Repair this shatter'd Tabernacle and vouchsafe to dwell in it I have wilfully ruin'd it by my Sins O make it whole again Remove the Poyson which hath infected all my Faculties Destroy the Serpent's Seed that lurks in the secret Corners of my Heart If Adam could not preserve his Integrity in the State of Innocence how shall I preserve mine in this State of Corruption without thy special Grace and Assistance Thy Grace is the Treasure I want thou hast promised it I beg it O let me not go without it O Jesu Thou didst love me when I was thine Enemy O hate me not now that I am made thy Friend When I was lost thou didst redeem me with thy Blood now that I am found O wash me with that Blood O let me not perish now when Heaven is bought and an endless Bliss is purchased for me Now that the Hand-writing against me is blotted out let me not run into new Dangers nor forfeit that Blessing which is so graciously tendred to me It is the real Desire of my Soul to serve thee and O that I might do it with Chearfulness with Alacrity with Fervency and with Constancy The Preparation of the Heart is of thee thou givest the Will O give me Strength to do what I desire What can I do of my self I am naturally defiled Original Sin sticks to me Proneness to Evil follows me thou must stop the Current nothing but thy self can dry up this Fountain of Corruption it is thy Work And whatever Good is in me from thee it comes from thy Grace it doth proceed Let the same Mercy uphold me that hath hitherto guided me and guide me so through the Briars and Thorns of Temptations that I may not only be more than a Conqueror through him that loved me but may at last receive the Crown and Recompence of such as overcome Amen Amen CHAP. X. Of Taking the Consecrated Bread with our Hands and the Mystery of it The CONTENTS In the Primitive Church the Eucharist was always taken with the Hand This Simplicity in progress of Time abandon'd and as the Veneration of External Symbols advanced the Bread received in certain Vessels and sometimes upon Linen Cloth The Superstition of the Church of Rome of putting the Bread into the Mouth of the Communicant laid open and the Vanity of it shewn The Mystery of Taking the Eucharist with our Hands set down in three Particulars viz. To put us in mind with what Alacrity we are to accept of the Mercy offered us to testifie our appropriating of that Mercy to our selves and to hold it fast when we have received it Of God's Liberality in bidding us take the best Gift he hath to bestow The Impiety of those that take Christ for their Redeemer and continue disobedient discovered The Prayer I. 'T IS certain that Christ said Take and eat which the Primitive Church understood of taking the consecrated Elements with the Hand And to this purpose saith Tertullian We receive the Eucharist from none but from the Hands of the President or Minister of the Ordinance It was for this Reason that in the ancient Liturgies the Deacons cried to the People or Communicants Extend your Hands And upon this Account it was that St. Ambrose expostulating with Theodosius about the barbarous Slaughter he had been guilty of tells him How can you stretch forth your Hands from which as yet innocent Blood drops down How can you with such Hands receive the Body of the Lord Nor do even the Papists themselves who will not suffer the Lay-Communicant to touch the Wafer with his Hand but put it into his Mouth deny it Whether every one in the Ancient Church did take the consecrated Elements with his own from the Priest's or
then save them they are most ready to take and to embrace him But that is not the Acceptance I mean For such an Acceptance implies a Contradiction as being contrary to the whole Design of that Reconciliation For by his Death he was to destroy the Works of the Devil and therefore to accept of him and to cleave to those Works he came to destroy is to set Christ at variance with himself He that accepts of this Gift must express that Acceptance not only by his Hand but his Heart too and conform also to the Design of that Gift For Is Christ divided Shall I accept of a part and not of the whole Shall I receive him as a Saviour and not as a Guide and Ruler too Shall I stretch forth my Hand to put his Sceptre of Grace and Mercy to my Lips and break the Sceptre when I have done This is impious and unreasonable 2. We take the holy Bread with our Hâ—nds to testifie our Approbation of that Gift and that we take it to our own Use and Benefit as he that takes Food in his Hand doth it to feed his own Body and to strengthen himself And indeed Christ is willing that the Soul that comes to this holy Table should say Christ is mine for me he suffered for me he died for my sake he left Heaven and confin'd himself to a Cradle to a Stable to a Manger For me he was nailed to the Cross for me that precious Sacrifice was offered and I share in all the Benefits of his Death as well as my Brother my Sister my Friend and my Neighbour The Estate he purchased belongs to me I have a Right to it as well as St. Paul and St. Peter as well as Zachaeus and Mary Magdalene And there is no Dispute of it where the Communicant brings with him Mary Magdalene's Tears St. Peter's Repentance St. Paul's Admiration of God's Love and Zachaeus's Charity he may be as confident that Christ gives himself to him as if he heard Christ saying to him with an audible Voice in the Prophet's Language Fear not I have redeemed thee thou art mine He may justly believe he hears Christ saying to him Here Christian take that which is thine own even my self that Pardon that Salvation that Peace that Joy that Spirit that Comfort which my Death hath purchased and my Cross hath gained I am thy Portion and all that I have is thine I am thy Shield and thy exceeding great Reward Be not afraid to apply these mighty Blessings to my Soul for as great as wonderful as rich as magnificent as they are and as poor as mean as wretched and as naked as thou art take them and wear them tye them as a Crown about thy Head Look upon the bright the everlasting Mansions of Bliss and Happiness look upon all that Saints and Angels do enjoy and please thy self with the Thoughts of it for all is thine 3. We are commanded to take the holy Bread with our Hands to let us know that having accepted of this Gift and appropriated it to our selves we are to hold it fast and not to let it go again Then we let Christ go when we grow cold in our Love to him and to his distressed Members or to our Brethren in general Love stays that Bride-groom of our Souls Love preserves his gracious Presence Love chains him to our Hearts It was an excellent Resolution of the Spiritual Spouse and that Spouse are we Cant. 3. 3 4. The Watch-men that go â—â—ut the City found me to whom I said Saw ye him whom my Soul loves It was but a little that I passed from them but I found him whom my Soul loves I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my Mother's House and into the Chamber of her that conceived me This must be the Resolution of every Soul that is tender of spiritual Comfort The Way to hold him fast is to kiss him with our Thoughts to embrace him with our Minds to cleave to him with our Affections to cling to him with our Will and to caress him with our Obedience If he would go away from us these are the Charms that hold him And the Soul that with David hath Courage to say and sincerely intends what it says Psal. 18. 1. I will love thee O Lord my Strength my Rock my Fortress my Deliverer my Buckler and the Horn of my Salvation and my high Tower may expect as gracious an Answer The same we read of Psal. 91. 14 15 16. Because he hath set his Love upon me therefore I will deliver him I will set him on high because he hath known my Name He shall call upon me and I will answer him I will be with him in Trouble I will deliver him and honour him With long Life I satisfie him and shew him my Salvation The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. HERE we may take a View of the immense Bounty of our Master to his Church and People Our Saviour pathetically describes it Mar. 12. 1. 7. For according to the different Conditions of his Church he sent various Servants to check them to admonish them to warn them to represent to them the Joys and Torments of another World and though not a few of these Servants were persecuted stoned killed abused and some met with cruel Mockings with Bonds and Imprisonments yet that did not discourage him and having therefore yet one Son his Well-beloved he sent him also last unto them saying They will reverence my Son And this Son he bids us take and with him all Things that can make us truly happy And though it is true the covetous and sensual Man would have taken it more kindly if God had bid him take Chests of Gold and Talents of Silver rich Houses and richer Lands yet had those Gifts been very mean and unworthy of his Wisdom and Holiness His Gift like himself must be spiritual and great and in bidding us take his Son with all the Benefits of his Death he bids us take the most inestimable Mercy and that which must make us rich and great and glorious to Eternal Ages If he had bid us take the World and the Fulness thereof there had been no great Self-denial in that Offer But to offer the Son of his Love and to bid us take him as our own whereby we enjoy all his Wealth and Treasures the Self-denial is so great that the Sacred Writers know not how to express it and therefore use such Words as may serve to feed our Admiration So God loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son And the Word so implies so vast an Ocean of Love that the Understandings both of Angels and Men may lose themselves in the Contemplation or Survey of it II. Here I cannot but reflect on the Rudeness of some that take him indeed but it is as the Soldiers at his Passion took him by Force and Violence There are Thousands that will
risen after he had been dead And how can any Man be sure there are such Words in the Bible as This is my Body if he may not believe his Eye-sight 3. This is my Body differs very much from This is Transubstantiated or Changed into my Body or Let it be changed into my Body This is my Body speaks what is already in Being not what may or shall be effective of something else To be and to be changed into a Thing are quite different Expressions And he that says a Thing is or hath a Being cannot be therefore supposed necessarily to say that it is changed or transubstantiated or shall be so for a Thing may be several Ways besides being changed That of which Christ affirms that it is his Body was the Bread he took in his Hand or that which he broke and that may be said to be his Body several Ways without being changed or transubstantiated into his Body Which very Thing hath made the wiser and more judicious Papists confess that these Words do not necessarily infer a Transubstantiation without the Decree Order and Explication of the Church upon which they chiefly build their Doctrine and Assertion And how ridiculous this Explication of their Church is any common Capacity may perceive that doth but understand Grammar and the ordinary Way of speaking in all Countries and Languages whatsoever For What can be more common than to say Such a Man is a Fox and Such a Person is a Lion and Such a Neighbour is a Beast and Such a Boy is a Tyger But doth any Man of common Sense infer from thence that such a Person is transubstantiated into a Fox or Lion or Tyger 'T is true God can do all Things but his Power is one Thing and his Will another and to believe he will do that which he hath no where said or promised to do is notorious Presumption And though we are not presently to reject a Thing because our Reason cannot comprehend it yet it is fit that what we cannot comprehend with our Reason we should be sufficiently assured of that God hath revealed it Such as is the Mystery of the Trinity the Incarnation of our Lord and the future Resurrection c. And if we had but as good Ground for Transubstantiation as we have for these Mysteries not only God's express Revelation but the constant Doctrine of the Church no wise Man would dispute it Transubstantiation is a Thing which neither the Scripture nor the Primitive Church did ever acknowledge And there being nothing in the Word of God to establish it and being besides contrary to all Sense and Reason we must be first given up to believe a Lye as some 〈◊〉 it seems are 2 Thess. 2. 11. before we can give 〈◊〉 unto it It were endless to repeat here all the Contradictions and Absurdities that this Doctrine may be charged with for Mice and Vermine will eat the consecrated Wafer if it lies in their Way It destroys not only the Nature of Christ's Body but a principal Article of our Belief too which saith That Christ is ascended and sitteth at the Right Hand of God whom the Heavens must receive until the Time of the Restitution of all Things Act. 3. 21. Not to mention that the Apostle calls the Bread in the Sacrament even after Consecration Bread still 1 Cor. 11. And that this Doctrine crosses the Nature of a Sacrament and is confuted by Christ's saying Do this in remembrance of me which supposes that he is absent as to his Body which was crucified c. Nor will that Place Joh. is 55. My Flesh is Meat indeed and my Blood is Drink indeed do any great Service to our Adversaries in this Controversie For if it be Meat indeed how doth that infer that the Bread must needs be transubstantiated into his Flesh since his Flesh may be Meat indeed several Ways For to all true Believers that take Comfort in his Death and are released from Sin and the Snares of the Devil by his Flesh that was nailed to the Cross he may be truly said to be Meat indeed and Drink indeed because their Souls are comforted by the Remembrance of it and preserved to Eternal Life and though he be only spiritual Meat to them yet he is so indeed and really and in a very good Sense As we say of a comfortable Word spoken to a troubled Conscience That that Word is Meat and Drink to it indeed and doth it more Good than all the Meat and Drink in the World would have done And that all that Discourse John 6. is to be understood of Spiritual Meat and Drink whereby the Soul receives comfort and refreshment Christ himself hath declared Joh. 6 63. II. As these words This is my Body do not infer a Transubstantiation so neither do they import a Consubstantiation a word as hard as the former and which hath been taken up by the Lutheran Protestants to express their Opinion that Christ's Glorified Body is in with and under the Element of the Bread in the Holy Sacrament or hid under it a Doctrine which they ground upon the Ubiquity of Christ's Body or being every where and in all places which Priviledge they fancy was communicated to Christ's Human Nature by its being joyn'd with the Divine a thing so irrational that hereby they confound the Divine Nature with the Human And to say that Christ had a Body which as all other Bodies must have Dimensions heighth and breadth and depth and length and yet to make that Body every where present is a conclusion so weak that I am apt to believe that if it had not been pitch'd upon by Luther in a heat or passion he would never have embraced it For indeed this was the infirmity of that excellent Man who tho' otherwise very much mortified in his desires after the Riches Honours and Glories of the World yet could not endure to be contradicted nor yield to another Man's Opinion tho' much sounder because himself was not the first inventer of it And by what I can see from History this was one great reason why he differ'd from Zwinglius in the point of the Holy Sacrament and embraced Consubstantiation which implies as is said already that the Body of Christ is hid under the substance of the Bread a Point that transported him into very great passion which made him afterward upon his Death-bed deplore That he had been too hot in his Controversie He that gave the first hint of this Opinion was John Gerson Chancellor of Paris who about the time of the Council of Constance not being able to digest the absolute Doctrine of Transubstantiation and finding that Assertion to be full of Blasphemy and Idolatry found out this expedient as he thought That Christ as he was a Creature and had a Body finite could not be at one and the same time in divers places yet being united to the Divine Nature in one Person the Human Nature by that conjunction had
remembred in this Sacrament What kind of Death it was shewn in four Particulars How this Death is to be remembred The Benefits of this Remembrance laid down Though the Death of Christ be the principal thing that is to be remembred in this Sacrament yet that puts no stop to other Remembrances Christ's Example makes it lawful to preserve the memory of any signal Mercy or Providence we meet with Those that do not remember Christ's Death in this Sacrament do very much forget themselves The remembrance of his Death a Motive to forget the World and the Vanities of it This Remembrance the best Defensative against Sin The Prayer I. AS these words Do this in remembrance of me do necessarily import the Bread in this Sacrament to be a Memorial of Christ's Crucified Body or that which is to put us in mind of it and consequently suppose that Christ's real Body is absent so how Christ is to be remembred here must needs be worth our serious enquiry What Christ calls Doing in remembrance of him the Apostle the best Interpreter of his words stiles Shewing forth his Death 1 Cor. 11. 26. So that his Death is the thing that is to be remembred here by all the Communicants And that this Death is worth our serious remembrance will easily appear if we consider what Death the Death of Christ Jesus was For 1. It was the Death of God According to the Quality of the Person dying so his Death is more or less surprizing hence the Death of a King makes a greater noise in the World than that of a Peasant The Death remembred here is the Death of the King of Kings and though as God he could not dye yet it may truly be said that he that was God did die not in his Godhead but in his Humanity not as dwelling in a Light inaccessible but as dwelling in a Tabernacle of Flesh. Plutarch relates that he had heard his Master Epitherses tells this Story How in the Emperor Tiberius's time under whom Christ suffered intending to Sail into Italy he went aboard of a Ship laden with many Goods and Passengers One Evening coming near certain Islands call'd the Echinades the Wind slackening and the Ship being becalm'd with a slow pace they arriv'd at last at the Isle of Paxae Several of the Seamen and Passengers sitting up that Night and drinking on a suddain from off the Island came a Voice calling to Thamus the Master of the Ship thrice When you are come as far as the Palodes proclaim that the Great PAN is dead The Master and his Company doubtful what to do whether they should do according to the import of the Voice or no resolved at last if the Wind favour'd them to pass by the Palodes and say nothing but if they were becalm'd about that place then to cry as they were directed So sailing on and coming to the place they found themselves strangely becalm'd whereupon Thamus call'd aloud That the Great PAN was dead which words he had no sooner spoken but great Howlings and Sighings and Lamentations were heard By PAN the Heathens meant the God of the Universe or him that rul'd govern'd and influenced all and it 's probable this Voice had relation to Christ Jesus who suffered about that time at Jerusalem and that upon the news of this Death Howlings were heard it 's very likely this noise was made by Fiends and Devils whom the Death of the Son of God filling all in all put into those excesses of consternation and sorrow And lest any Man should object That the Furies of Hell had no reason to mourn at his Death but might rejoyce rather that their great Antagonist was gone it must be noted That they feared the Power and Virtue of that Death such Virtue as in a short time would make all the Powers of Darkness tremble and destroy their Empire When Abner Saul's General was carried to his Grave King David follow'd the Herse and said Know ye not that there is a Prince and a great Man fallen this day in Israel 2 Sam. 3. 38. If such a death as Abner's deserv'd to be taken notice of what must we think of the Death of the Lord Jesus Not a Great Man only but one of whom it was said Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the Earth and the Heavens are the work of thy Hands Heb. 1. 10. How justly is this death remembred by his Followers And what a mixture of Passions Amazement as well as Gladness Trembling as well as rejoycing ought it to cause in all Christian Hearts to think that our God died for us A Captain hath his like a General his Fellow a Prince may be parallel'd with others a King may meet with others of his Rank and Quality but God hath no equal 2. It was the Death of a Person higher than the highest for his Enemies Regulus Codrus Mutius and among the Jews Moses had courage to die for their Country and the good of the People they were related to but still they were their Friends but here a Person ador'd by Angels worshipp'd by all the Host of Heaven the Comfort of Paradise the Joy of Seraphim the Terror of Devils the Lord of Life the Eternal Son of God the Brightness of his Father's Glory and the express Image of his Person dies for Men for Men miserable and wretched for Men that were Sinners for Men that were proper Objects of his Justice for Men that were haters of God acted like Enemies had affronted their Maker Crucified their Redeemer came out against him as against a Thief who took pleasure in trampling on his Laws rejoyced in their Disobedience had made a Covenant with Hell conspired against him who had given them their Being laugh'd on the brink of Destruction were Heirs of Hell and had no other Inheritance but Damnation for such this wonderful Person dies and this makes his death miraculous and astonishing Rom. 5. 8. 3. It 's Death that Nature and all the Elements were confounded at and Heaven and Earth seem'd to be at strife which of them should be most concern'd at it insomuch that we are told of Dionysius the Areopagite the Person mention'd Acts 17. 34. when he was yet under the Clouds of Paganism that beholding the stupendous Eclipse of the Sun which happen'd about the time that the Saviour of the World died brake forth into this memorable saying That certainly either Nature was going to be dissolv'd or the God of Nature suffer'd If ever Nature endur'd a Convulsion-Fit it did now The Sun disdain'd to look upon the barbarity of the Murther and hid his Face that he might not see his Creator die The Earth trembl'd as if it were asham'd to see Men stupid at the dreadful Spectacle The Rocks broke as if they would testifie against the Sinners that could stand under the Cross without broken Hearts The Vail of the Temple was rent as if it would chide the Wretches that could see the
Messiah suffer without rending their Cloaths and what is more tearing themselves for the crime they had been guilty of The Graves burst their Bands as if they were concern'd to see Men harden'd against all impressions of Compassion The Angels we may without danger of Heresie believe stopt in the midst of their Hallelujahs and if ever there was sadness in Heaven we may suppose it was at this time The upper and the nether World seem'd to go into Mourning because their Lord and Master gave up the Ghost Thus much we are told by the inspired Writer Matth. 27. 51 52. And this makes the Death of Christ Jesus surprizing beyond comparison and surely such a Death ought to be remembred 4. It is a Death whereby the Person suffering merited Eternal Life not only for himself but all his Followers too A mighty Blessing but such as was a just reward of so deep an Humiliation It was for this Death that the Everlasting Father exalted Christ's Humane Nature above Powers Angels Principalities and Spiritual Creatures and in doing so declar'd what those whose Nature he had assumed if they did follow him in the Regeneration might come to after Death viz. Eternal Life and Glory And what greater Blessing can be thought of to enjoy all Blessings at once and to all Eternity To see God and to be ravish'd with his Sight for ever to enjoy Riches Honour Glory Power Dominion Pleasure Recreation Houses Lands in a most eminent manner or to enjoy that which is beyond all these in inexpressible degrees and without interruption without ceasing without disturbance without envy without fear without danger of losing it What can be greater What can be more satisfactory What can be more comfortable This the Son of God hath purchased by his Death That Death is the Messenger of all these Glories In that Death all these Treasures are amass'd and heap'd and piled up together and then it must be worth remembring nay it is impossible not to remember it where all this is believ'd II. How this Death is to be remembred at the Table of the Lord will deserve our next consideration And most certainly a slight transient Remembrance such as we pay to our friends and acquaintance which are absent at our common Meals or at other times as we have occasion to discourse of them is not sufficient here for that 's not at all agreeable to the Greatness and Profitableness of this wondeful Death It must be such a remembrance as 1. Refreshes our Memories with that marvellous Love that shines in this Death This Love must be called to mind even the Love of God the Love that mov'd him to the Kindnesses we see and taste and feel and have experience of The Love that mov'd him to give us a Saviour the Love that mov'd him to take pity of us when we lay in our Blood when we lay in Darkness and in the shadow of Death Love Love Love must here be the Motto the Watch-word and the dear Expression And as the Martyr in Eusebius being ask'd divers Questions about his Name Kindred Relations Family Country Parents c. still answer'd That he was a Christian so if here we should be ask'd what we think what we speak what we mind what we come for what we design what our business is or what we delight in Love must be the Answer to all these Questions Love must be the burden of our Song even the Love of the Holy Trinity a Love in which our Life our Happiness and all our Hopes are wrapt up a Love which nothing above and nothing below can give us any tolerable Image of There is nothing among all the Angels in Heaven nothing in the Sun or Moon or Stars nothing among Men or Beasts or Roots or Herbs or Stons or Minerals that can be said to be truly like it all comparisons are feeble all resemblances faint no Language can reach it no Rhetorick express it no Oratory describe it no Pencil draw it it surpases our Reason transcends the brightest Understanding puzzels the very Angels in Heaven and perplexes the Spirits of Light and Glory It is all Sea all Ocean all Light it hath no Bounds no Shores no Limits and the greatest that ever was said of it or can be said of it is St. John's Expression 1 Joh. 4. 16. God is Love Love it self all Love all Charity all Goodness and nothing but such perfection could have loved such poor pitiful Worms as we are God looks upon our giving a cup of cold Water to a Righteous Man as an Act of Love O then what an Act of Love must it be in him to give us himself to give us the dearest thing he had even his own Son Jesus wept over Lazarus Joh. 11. 35 36. and the Jews said See how he loved him But these Tears were but drops of Water Here the Lord Jesus is seen to weep drops of Blood for us O then see how he loved us We were blinder than Bartimaeus lamer than Mephibosheth fuller of Sores than Lazarus poorer than Job no Comliness no Beauty no Form no Excellency appear'd in us Adam's Fall had disfigurred us defaced us ruin'd us in this lamentable condition God loved us and gave his Son to die for us and shall not this Love be remembred in his Death 2. This remembrance requires calling to mind our Sins which were the cause of that Death It 's true the Love of God was the impulsive cause but our Sins were the instrumental cause these brought him to the Cross and whoever remembers his Death must necessarily remember that whereby this Death was effected and procured this was our Sin and the Infection that attended it But then if I remember my Sins in the remembrance of his Death how can I remember them without detestation How can I remember them without abhorrency How can I remember them without arming my Soul with resolution and arguments to fight against them Can I look on my neglects and not charge them with this Death Can I remember my Love to the World and not accuse it of having had a hand in buffeting and reproaching of him Can I think of my Pride and Wrath and not bid them look on the Wounds they made in that Holy Flesh Can I reflect on my wantonness and lustful Thoughts Desires Words and Gestures and Actions and not be angry with them for having struck Nails into his Hands and Feet And what is said of these particular Sins must be applied to the rest that we are either guilty of or most inclined to they must be so remembred as to be represented to our Minds in their odious shapes as having been accessory to his Death and if this be done we cannot but proclaim War against them and maintain that War all our days 3. With this there must needs be remembred the mighty Redemption procured and accomplished by this Death even our Redemption from Slavery a Slavery so much the worse because we were not
And from hence flows the joyful Exclamation of the Apostle Gal. 2. 20. Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ lives in me and the Life I now live I live by Faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me For this Faith enlightens the Soul gives it clear Apprehensions of Christ's Love makes her active and lively and teaches her to overcome the World 1 John 5. 4. 4. This Remembrance is making Approaches to Heaven and Eternal Happiness Every fresh Remembrance is another Step to Paradise What an Encouragement is this to come to the holy Sacrament Every time we thus remember the Death of Christ we get nearer to the Throne on which the victorious Son of God sits triumphing over Hell and Devils For the oftner he is remembred thus the more our Souls are elevated and become more spiritual in their Aspirations and the farther we proceed in Grace the nearer we come to Glory Heaven in Scripture is compared to an Hill and is the Mount where God is seen Every time we come to the Table of our Lord and remember him thus we climb higher and mount up with Wings as Eagles till at last we reach the Top where there is a perfect Calm no Air no Wind no Tempest no infectious Breath to disturb the Conquerors IV. But though the Death of Christ be the chief Object of our Remembrance at this holy Table yet that is no Argument but that we may lawfully remember some other Things relating to his Person or Greatness or Holiness particularly 1. His Divine Life before he was Incarnate A Life which no mortal Tongue can describe A Life in the Explication of which the blessed Cheruhims themselves must fall short A Life known to none but to him who knows all who hath Life in himself and is the Life and the Father of the Spirits of all Flesh. How truly might he say to the Jews Joh. 8. 58. Before Abraham was I am He was indeed from all Eternity lived in the Bosom of the Everlasting Father and his Life was most pure some holy most peaceable most pleasant most glorious A Life of infinite Content of infinite Satisfaction of infinite Joy and of infinite Love A Life spent in Eternal Love of the great Fountain of Divinity the express Image of which he was A Life employed in kind Thoughts to poor Mortals and in Divine Contrivances how their Misery might be retriv'd their Bands loosen'd their Dangers overcome their Enemies vanquished and their Souls advanced to Celestial Mansions A Life undisturbed by the Noise of Wars unacquainted with Tumults free from all Annoyances unmolested by the Disorders of a giddy and confused World A Life of Eternal Calmness which no Waves no Billows no Wind no Storms no Tempests could discompose A Life of perfect Serenity and immense Sweetness A Life employed in the Eternal and Incomprehensible Enjoyment of his own Perfections and which the inspired King gives us a very lofty Description of Prov. 1. This life Christ lived before he was pleased to visit this benighted World with his healing Beams and it concerns us to remember this Life that from that Consideration his Humiliation in coming to dwell among us may appear in livelier Colours 2. To this may be added His laborious Life here on Earth after he was Incarnate A Life despicable from his Infancy contemptible from his Cradle A Life of Poverty a Life of great Misery of Distress and a Thousand Inconveniencies A Life he lived to let us know that the meanest and most miserable outward Condition is no Lett or Impediment to our being beloved and esteemed in Heaven A Life he lived to shew with what Patience and Courage we are to bear the Troubles that a merciful God lays or sends upon us A Life he lived to declare to his Disciples that through many Afflictions they are to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and are not to promise themselves great Ease and Rest here but are to look for a Recompence in the Resurrection of the Just A Life employed in doing good to shew that we are not to be idle here but to busie our selves in that Work which will give the greatest Satisfaction even working out our own Salvation with Fear and Trembling A Life he lived for our sakes to facilitate our Access to Pardon and the Throne of Mercy A Life he lived to make our Lives comfortable and the Remembrance of this Life must needs inhaunce our Esteem of his unparallell'd Goodness who could and would deny himself both in the Glory of his Divinity and the Comforts of this present Life for our Good and the Welfare of our Souls The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. CHrist's Example makes it lawful to set up Monuments of Mercies and to preserve the Memory of any signal Deliverance or Providence either by External Symbols or by keeping Anniversaries and Days of Devotion Indeed this was a very ancient Practice countenanced by God and warranted by his Approbation It was from hence that Moses preserved a Pot of Manna to put After-Generations in mind how God had fed his People in the Wilderness And Moses said This is the thing which the Lord commandeth Fill an Omer of it to be kept for your Generations that they may see the Bread wherewith I have fed you in the Wilderness when I brought you forth out of the Land of Egypt Exod. 16. 32. It was from hence that Aaron's Rod budding blossoming and bearing Fruit was kept in the Ark to tell Posterity how miraculously the Priestood was established in the Line of Aaron and for a Token against the Rebels as the Holy Ghost speaks Numb 17. 10. It was from hence that Joshua commanded Twelve Stones to be taken out of the River Jordan That this says he may be a Sign among you that when your Children ask their Fathers in time to come saying What mean you by these Stones Then ye shall answer them That the Waters of Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord when it passed over Jordan And these Stones shall be for a Memorial unto the Children of Israel for ever Josh. 4. 6 7. In imitation of these Precedents the Jewish Church afterward of their own Accord unanimously agreed to keep an Anniversary to remember their Deliverance from the Rage of Haman Esth. 9. 17. Both Eusebius and Sozomen tells us of a Statue which the Woman who was cured by our Saviour of her Bloody Issue erected to his Honour at Caesarea which lasted a considerable time till Julian the Apostate pulled it down and erected his own in the room of it After such Examples who can think it unlawful for a private Christian to keep either a Fast or a Day of Thanksgiving when either some signal Affliction hath befallen him or some remarkable Mercy hath happen'd to him and to spend that Day in Exercises of Devotion whereby he may either work his Soul into greater Detestation of
will upon that return let the still streams of his Promises flow in and Water his Soul again so that if this opportunity be neglected we know not the Treasures of Wrath we heap up against our selves for it looks like resolution to die and to be miserable VII That God consents to this Covenant unfeignedly we need not doubt and that what he promises he intends to fulfil we may be confident of since we have his Word for it and his Nature is such that he cannot lye The great danger lies on our side who are very mutable Creatures and apt either to equivocate in our consent or to consent only by halves or to forget the Terms we have consented to It 's fit therefore I should explain the Nature of that consent we give or are to give in this Covenant especially at the Table of our Lord where the Sacred Cup fill'd with the Blood of Christ at once represents Gods willingness to enter into a Covenant with us and invites us to accept of the Offer and our Drinking of it shews we actually consent to all the Terms of this Covenant Therefore to prevent Hypocrisie in this consent I must tell you that this consent must be 1. Deliberate and the effect of Consultation Sometimes a melancholy Humour seizes upon our Spirits and not knowing how to ease our selves we try whether Religion will not qualifie our trouble and then we are consenting to this Covenant though we cannot tell why or how whence it comes to pass that if Religion doth not presently cure our Melancholy we grow weary and throw it off again Most Men have sometimes a Religious Fit upon them and when either something hath cross'd their designs or a disaster hath put them into discontent they are during that Paroxysm resolv'd to consent But as it was a sudden Motion without a good Foundation so it soon withers and comes to nothing It's necessary therefore we should take pains to understand what this Covenant means what consent God requires how reasonable and just that consent is what a priviledge it is that God will admit us into such a Compact what the things are he requires on our part and how necessary it is he should require such at our Hands and after we have counted the cost and seen and thought and consulted what this unfeigned consent will stand us in and weigh'd both the Advantages and Inconveniencies then in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ freely and chearfully to agree to the Conditions requir'd in this Covenant this is a consent which in imitation of the great Planet of the Day is like to go on to a perfect Day 2. This consent must be hearty the intent strong and the desire vigorous to perform the Conditions of this Covenant such a consent as he gives that for a considerable Reward promises to do what we put him upon He fully designs it he knows nothing that should hinder him his Heart his Mind his Affections are bent upon the doing of it for the Reward presses upon his Understanding and the greatness of that gives force and resolution to his Will and Desire Here must be used no underhand dealings God is not to be put off with Complements The Young Man that said I go Sir but went not Math. 21. 28. stands branded for a Hypocrite A full purpose of Heart is requisite in this case as serious a purpose as Men have when under great hopes or fears which are most likely to make their purpose invincible To consent to walk as Sons of God to embrace the Lord Jesus as our King to prefer the Motions of Gods Spirit before the Suggestions of the Flesh I say to consent to all this and not to intend very seriously to act accordingly is to impose upon God at least to act as if we would do so and to slight his Omniscience or to carry our selves as if he did not know our down-sitting and our up-rising or did not understand our Thoughts afar off which is impious 3. This consent ought to be impartial and entire even to all the parts of the Conditions express'd or understood in this Covenant Here must be no accepting of Christ by halves but our Affections must embrace him both as a Ruler and a Friend To accept of the Sweets of his Sufferings and to refuse his Yoak to rejoyce in his Mercies and to reject his Law or to be willing to submit to some of his Laws and to take liberty as to others is to divide Christ and to part his Offices or to hold both with Christ and with the Devil A King had as good have no Subjects as disobedient Subjects and to what purpose had all that costly Method of the Son of God to purchase a People to himself been if the intent had not been to make them subject to his Will and Power That there might be no dispute about this point the Apostle hath left it upon record Heb. 5. 9. That he became the Author of Eternal Salvation to them that obey him And there needs no great Logick to infer from hence That no Man hath a Right or Title to Salvation till he actually and sincerely obeys him and obeys him in all that he requires For he that obeys partially doth not obey in a Scripture sense We our selves do not much affect Servants that are only for what they can get and care not how little Work they do and God to be sure hath no Reason to look upon those as true Confederates that consent only to be made happy by the Death of Christ but are loath to die to the Vanities of this World or to admit his Kingdom and Empire into their Souls So that he that truly consents to this Covenant must consent not only to enjoy the Comforts of a Saviour but that Christ shall be Master of his Will Desires and Affections that these shall be at his Beck move by his Order and be manag'd according to his Direction 4. This consent must not only respect our future Seriousness and Conscientiousness but express our present Designs and Inclinations As in Marriage so in this Covenant it must be a present consent that ratifies the Contract and as in the former I take thee for my Wedded Wife and I take thee for my Wedded Husband makes the Matrimonial Compact valid so in this present agreeing to the Terms propos'd and required makes a Man a welcome Confederate and unites and knits him to that God who enters into solemn Engagements in this Covenant to discharge the Offices of a kind Husband to us And O God the Father of Heaven I do here most humbly offer and tender unto thee my filial Affection O God the Son Redeemer of the World I am content to be thy Loyal Sabject and to be governed and ruled by thy Holy Laws O God the Holy Ghost preceeding from the Father and the Son I take thee for my Guide and my Counsellor by whose advice I mean to steer my course
Open still new Springs of Love when I come to this Sacrament of thy Everlasting Love that the New Springs may still give new life to my Soul new courage to do thy Will new Power to tread on Serpents new resolutions to conquer all that stops my way And thus my dearest Lord transform me by the renewing of my Mind that I may prove what is the Holy acceptable and perfect Wall of God Amen Amen CHAP. XVI Of the Perpetuity of this Ordinance and the Necessity of its Continuance to the World's End The CONTENTS St. Pauls Command to the Corinthians of shewing forth the Lord's Death till he come not to be understood of Christ's coming to them in the Spirit but coming to Judgment This proved largely by many arguments The reasons laid down why this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is to last to the end of the World Christ's coming to Judgment proved to be a very proper object of our Contemplation in the Recieving of the Holy Eucharist and a help to Patience and Faith and confidence in the Goodness of God God's Marvellous care of our everlasting welfare shewn in tying us up in Bonds of Obedience in this Ordinance Men who look for Grace and Salvation as they are bound to make use of the means of Grace so they are obliged to make use of this The wretched state of those who neglect to shew forth the Lord's Death in this Sacrament The same temper required in Recieving the Eucharist that we desire to be in when we shall be summoned to Judgment The Prayer I. THat this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is a standing Ordinance and to last to the end of the World St. Paul expresly tells us 1 Cor. 11. 26. For as often as you Eat this Bread and Drink this Cup ye do shew or do ye shew the Lord's death till he come Whereby is plainly meant Christ's coming to judge the World and this hath been the unanimous belief of the universal Church since the Apostles time unto this day which makes us justly wonder at the boldness and ignorance of Quakers and other Enthusiasts who have presumed to abolish this Ordinance in their Conventicles pretending that this Sacrament was fitted only for the Infancy of the Christian Church but intended it should cease when Christ should come to them in the Spirit and having already received Christ as they fancy in their first Conversion and Regeneration they foolishly and ridiculously imagine that they have no need of receiving him again in the use of the outward Symbols tendered to Christians in this Sacrament Puffed up with this airy conceit they run into this Sinister and Childish Interpretation of the Apostle's words contrary to the sense of all Christian Churches as if Till he come were as much as Till he come to you in the Spirit to which impertinent Exposition nothing could possibly lead these silly Men but the Spirit of error and contempt of all human Learning and undervaluing the common dictates of Reason and a monstrous Spiritual Pride which not only swells them with an opinion that they are wiser than all the Christians in the World besides but tempts them to other insolencies and Prophanations of the Written Oracles of the Holy Ghost and therfore lest weak Capacities should be ensnared by such specious pretences it will be necessary to shew the unreasonableness of this interpetation 1. There is not the least Syllable not the least hint given us in all the New Testamenâ— that this Sacrament after it was once instituted was ever to be abolished which made not only the Apostles introduce it into the Christian Congregations while they lived but all the Churches planted and founded by them retained and continued it knowing nothing to the contrary but that this Ordinance was to be perpetual and Eternal and therefore as they had recieved the necessary use of it from those who laid the foundation of their Religion so they propagated the same to their posterity Nay among the Hereticks that left and separated from the Church there were very few but what preserved the use of this Sacrament in their Congregations and though they had the insolence of Blaspheming other Mysteries of Christianity yet this Ordinance they were afraid to abolish being sensible that it was one of the Corner stones of Christianity And who could imagine otherwise that considered how this Sacrament succeeded in the room of the Passover which was Item enough that it was to last for ever for as the Passover after its first Institution was to last to the end of the Jewish Oeconomy that expiring with Christ's Death so this succeeding was an argument that it was to continue while the dispensation of Christianity should last and that is to the end of the World 2. No Man will deny but that those three thousand Souls converted by St. Peter's Sermon did receive the Holy Ghost for St. Peter expresly promises them Acts 2. 38. Repent and be Baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the Remissions of Sins and ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost and this was very common in those days for true Penitents to receive the Holy Ghost immediately upon their Baptism and sometimes before their Baptism as Cornelius and his Company Act. 20. 44. 48. And though by the Holy Chost in those places are meant the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost speaking with Tongues healing diseases c. Yet it must be granted that in their conversion they had the Sanctifying Spirit of God sent upon them yet these very Persons that â—nd so received the Spirit continued in breaking of Bread and in Prayer as we are told Act. 2. 42. And that by breaking of Bread there is not meant sitting down to their private and ordinary meals is evident from hence because it is mentioned as a part of their Devotion and publick Worship to which their ordinary Diet cannot be referred and therefore it must be the Encharist or this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper that 's meant by it for by that Term it was usually expressed in the Primitive Church as we see 1 Cor. 10. 16. 3. Those very Corinthians to whom the Apostle writes in the place aforementioned and gives a Command to shew forth the Lord's death in this Sacrament till he came had already received the Spirit of God as we read 1 Cor. 2. 12. Now we have received not the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given us of God and to this purpose he adds 1 Cor. 6. 11. Such were some of you but ye are Washed but ye are Sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God These Men then had received the Spirit of God and therefore when the Apostle writing to them chap. 11. Saith that they should shew forth the Lords death till he come most certainly he cannot mean till he came
sensible of no higher Felicity than what a good Crop and a full Purse affords Now that to receive with no higher Aims or from no better Principles is to receive unworthily will appear from hence 1. Because such Persons receive without being affected and touched with the Riches and Treasures opened revealed discovered and offered in this Sacrament Treasures greater than those the Wise Men laid down at the Feet of the Infant Saviour Treasures beyond all Gold and Myrrh and Frankincense and all the Gums the Happy Arabia yields Treasures of higher value than those the Queen of Sheba brought to Solomon the Great Treasures richer than those the King of Judah shewed to the Babylonian Ambassadors To shew their Excellency above all Earthly Treasures were to prove that Light is better than Darkness and a Ball of Diamond than a piece of Turf or that the Wisdom of a Minister of State exceeds that of a Sucking Babe For if it be true as without doubt it is that God was crucified or that he who was God humbled himself to an ignominious Death for our sakes and that this Love with all its Benefits is proclaimed in our Ears and tender'd to our Souls in this Sacrament there is not a Child but must grant that all that this World affords must be mere Pebles to it And as this Treasure of the World's Redemption is the rich Mine discovered in this Sacrament so he whom Custom and Company only brings to it must needs receive unworthily because he sees not he feels not he is sensible of no such Treasure which if he were he would go to it as a poor Beggar almost starved goes to a rich Man's House there to receive a vast Sum of Money beyond his Expectation and come wondering at the Honour that God intends him wondering at the Favour God designs him wondering at the Riches he shall be presented with wondering at himself what God should see in him to be thus liberal and bountiful to him wondering to see what God hath provided for him 2. Such a Man eats and drinks in this Sacrament as if it were common Bread and Wine that is set before him he approaches and makes no more of it than if it were a private or ordinary Table he considers not what this Bread and Wine represent and as the Apostle's Phrase is discerns not the Lord's Body discerns not that the Body of him who was the Creator of Heaven and Earth is pointed at in these Elements 'T is true materially considered it is the same with the Bread and Wine set upon our Tables at home but the signification of it makes it Celestial Food separates it from common Use raises it above vulgar Diet and the Stamp God sets upon it makes it truly the Bread of the Lord and the Cup of the Lord. He whom Custom only carries to the House of God distinguishes not the Mysteriousness and Holiness of this Food which if he did he would touch it with the same Awe and Reverence that the Woman troubled with a Bloody Issue touch'd the He◠of Christ's Garment Quaking and Trembling Mar. 5. 33. 3. To eat and drink unworthily is to receive without true Repentance Where Men either do not think it requisite to leave their Sins or pretend that they do part with them when they do not where they mistake the present Damp that is upon their Spirits for a Change of Life or the melancholy and sullen Humour that hath surprized them for the new Nature Religion is to give them or forbear the external Acts of their Sins they have formerly hugg'd and run out into but are not resolved to mortifie their secret Desires after him where they mistake their Act of Preparation for the Act of pulling down the Strong Holds of Iniquity so that their Lusts and Love to Sin remain where they give the Devil leave to retire a while but are loth to take their Everlasting Farewel of him and therefore after the House is swept and garnished even after Receiving open the Door to him again Where it is so there Men eat and drink unworthily For 1. Such Persons instead of doing Honour to Christ affront him are still in League with that which killed him pretend Sorrow for their Sins yet secretly espouse them give out they have sent them a Bill of Divorce but still keep close Correspondence with them would make God and Men believe that they are Christ's Servants when they are still his Enemies would persuade others that they have brought their Necks under his Yoak when the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or that which bears rule in their Souls is their Carnality and Sensuality In this Sacrament a most solemn Profession is made and ought to be made of our Weariness of a sinful Life which is the reason why the Church in her Publick Office doth particularly address her self to such Persons as find it and to such that comfortable place of St. John is usually applied If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous 1 Joh. 2. 1. that is If any Man sin so as to be truly weary of it or if he hath sinned and feels such a Remorse that he detests himself for having done so and thereupon bids Defiance to the Works of Darkness We have an Advocate that will plead for us prevail with God not to cast us away because we have forsaken him and by his Merits make our Repentance valuable that it shall prove a Propitiation for our Sins But he that professes Weariness yet is not tired with his sinful Course not only mocks God but gives himself the Lye and seems to fancy that he who dwelleth on high sees not the secret Intrigues and Intentions of his Soul Which is Profanation of Religion 2. Such a Person destroys the End for which he pretends to come to this holy Sacrament for that End is Growth in Grace And how shall he grow in Grace that is unresolved to part from those Sins which do so easily beset him These things are and cannot but be Obstacles and Impediments to that Growth And Worms and Caterpillars are not more noxious to young Trees than these unrepented Sins are to this Growth and a Man may as well hope that an Elm in his Ground will within a few Years be tall enough to over-shadow his whole House when there is nothing but Rock at the bottom Unrepented Sins make the Heart mere Stony Ground Goodness may peep forth but having no Earth it must necessarily wither and come to nothing People may pull and hale a Ship with their Arms long enough before they can make it move while the Anchors are not taken up Their unrepented Sins are the Anchors that keep the Soul fixed to Earth and Hell and to think Grace will move or advance while that Anchor holds it is to imagine that an House will be built without Materials or a Field bring forth Corn that was never sown or never felt the Labour and
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
upon them that they make some attempts and use some trifling endeavours to resist but as this resistance is not an effect of an active Faith but only of slavish fear so it doth not preserve them untainted and undaunted in the hour of Temptation which is an Argument both of Spiritual Weakness and God's Judgment because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge as St. Paul speaks Rom. 28. 2. Spiritual Sickness the signs of which are as follows 1. Want of relishing the Things of God and the Mysteries of Religion By this we conclude that a Man is sick in his Body if the Bread or Wine or Apples or Meat he swallows seem to him Food or Drink different from what they appear to sound and healthy and by the same Argument we may infer that a Man's Soul is very sick when the Promises Precepts Commands Mercies Privileges and Immunities of the Gospel are insipid and unsavoury to him and his Soul finds no sweetness no agreeableness no juice no life no pleasantness no delight no pungency in them If these appear to her as common things and affect her no more than what the Great Mogol doth in the Indies or what Men talk on the Coast of Guinea If they raise no wonder no admiration no affection no appetite no strong desire in her if she can hear them read of them survey them think of them without being touch'd with the consequence and importance of them the Soul is infallibly under some great distemper and the whole Head is sick the whole Heart is sick grievously sick and the wound is dangerous and that this Spiritual sickness discovers it self too often in unworthy Receivers we need no other proof but what their known aversion gives us I mean their aversion from good Thoughts and Discourfes after they have been at the Table of the Lord. Reading the Word digesting it and endeavouring to see wondrous things in that Law and meditating of some part of it day and night is irksome to them tedious and when something savouring of Heaven and Eternity is propos'd to them they stand upon Thorns all the while nor can the goodness of God prevail with them to deny themselves in any thing they have a mind or strong inclination to a certain sign of their being sick and of God's Judgment upon their Souls 2. Another symptom of this Spiritual sickness is When a known Sin becomes habitual and the few single Acts pass into temper and come to be incorporated with nature and turn into constitution and complexion In this case the Soul may be judged very sick as sick as the Body that is troubled with the Stone or Gout and where the distemper or Morbific Matter is so dispers'd through the Mass of Blood and Joynts that tho' it admits of respite and lucid intervals sometimes yet as the Humours that feed it gather strength again so the Distemper returns And this sickness doth evidently discover it self in unworthy Receivers who were formerly but Punies and Novices in certain sins but after their unworthy Receiving harden themselves in the practice of them commence Graduates and drink them in as the Ox doth the Water and they become their Darlings their Benjamins as dear to them as their Right Eye as dear as their Foot or Hand than which there cannot be a surer sign of their being spiritually sick and lying under the weight of a spiritual Judgment 3. Spiritual Death And this also is to be known by symptoms which are these 1. When the Conscience smites no more When it gives over striving with the Sinner he is dead as that Body in which the Pulse hath left off beating So it was with the Prodigal of whom Christ expresly saith Though his natural life was sound and whole that he was dead No remorse no regret appear'd in his Soul All was still as in a Charnel-House no noise within to fright him All was turn'd into the silence of the Grave He delighted in his nastiness in his Mud and Dung and Filth and Swinish Desires nothing prick'd him nothing stung his Heart And that this Death is to be found in some unworthy Receivers is manifest from their Actions for they become stupid in their Errors and having bafâ—led their Conscience laid that inward witness to sleep and hush'd it into a fatal slumber It stirs not it moves not and they know not when they sin and when they do not To that insensibleness they bring themselves that when God calls they cannot see with their Eyes nor hear with their Ears nor understand with their Hearts 2. Another Symptom of this Spiritual Death is When the Sinner begins to look upon Religion either as a trick of Divines or Politicians or a needless thing This excludes all sense of another world the only thing whereby the Soul lives and therefore that being gone the Soul is dead and that he who hath the power of Death even the Devil hath killed and mortified all the good Seed that lay scattered in his Breast Indeed this is such a degree of Death which unworthy Receivers do not very ordinarily arrive to yet sometimes they fall even into this Gulph for what should hinder them from tumbling down so low that have lost their hold in a Crucified Saviour from whose Arms they have broke loose unwilling that he should have any thing to do with them but just to save them if he pleases The Bands of Love and Obedience are the only things that preserve the Soul from Death and the unworthy Communicant having made a shift to throw those Cords from him being loth to be tied and held by them he sinks into contempt of these things and from thence into scorning of Religion it self In all which the Judgment of God is clearly to be seen for though God doth not call by an audible Voice from Heaven that it is so nor set a mark upon the unworthy Receiver as he did on Cain whereby spectators may know that this is a sign of the Divine Judgment upon him yet it 's enough that we are told in the Word of God Woe to them when I depart from them Hos. 9. 11. III. And from hence it 's easie to guess how God inflicts this spiritual Judgment upon unworthy Receivers 1. By a gradual withdrawing his Holy Spirit from them This Spirit is called Oyl Heb. 1. 9. and Unction or Anointing 1 Joh. 2. 27. Whatever the quantity of that Oil was that was put in their Lamps as that abates so the strength of their Soul abates and from hence comes Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death The Spirit of God is the Pillar that supports the House if this Prop be removed the Inference is easie that the House will not be of any long standing There are general Gifts of the Spirit of God common to good and bad Men under the Gospel and there are some that are peculiar to those that walk after the Spirit and as in an unworthy Receiver we can suppose
none but general Gifts so even these upon his Abuse and misemploying of them are gradually removed as Men take meat and victuals away from insolent Beggars that throw their Gift upon a Dunghil and as a charitable Pension is withdrawn when we find that the Party which enjoy'd it spends it in Ale-houses and Taverns or in Play 2. By a gradual permitting the Devil to exercise his Power and Jurisdiction upon them God doth not very frequently suffer the Enemy to fly upon the Offender with all his force or to ruin him at once but he lengthens his Chain by degrees to see whether the Sinner will yet give himself leave to think and attempt to be freed from that intolerable Yoak and Slavery but that tenderness and patience of Almighty God becoming fruitless and ineffectual the Judge gives the Executioner greater liberty to darken his Mind to pervert his Will and to sear his Conscience Time was when but one Devil was permitted to Tyrannize over him but if instead of being angry and displeas'd at that single foe the unworthy Communicant embraces and makes him his friend then that Devil takes with him seven other Spirits more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell there and the last state of that Man is worse than the first saith Christ Matth. 12. 45. Nor is there any thing of injustice in these proceedings of God For 1. It is nothing but Lex Talionis a just Retaliation a Rule whereby God ordinarily governs himself in the execution of his Judgements Hâ—s 6. 4. He tells Judah and Ephraim Your Goodness is as a Morning Cloud and as the early Dew it passes away The Judgment therefore is made proportionable Hos. 13. 3. Therefore they shall be as the Morning Cloud and as the early Dew that passes away so here the Sin is spiritual the Judgment is so too The unworthy Receiver wrongs his own Soul and in his Soul the marks of God's Wrath appear 2. God in this case doth no more than what we our selves do and think our selves very reasonable and just for doing so A Father reduces his spend-thrift Son to a smaller Allowance and the ground that will not bear any thing after a world of Toil we Dung and Dig and Manure no more In this manner and for Reasons â—ike these God withdraws his Holy Spirit from the unworthy Receiver 3. As the Devil is God's Minister of Justice his Jaylor and Hangman so he may justly make use of him to judge and lash the unworthy Receiver the rather because he wilfully hearkens to the base suggestions of his sworn Enemy and who finds fault with a Prince or Magistrate for sending an Executioner to behead or hang those that have committed Treason or conspired against their lawful Sovereign 4. That God doth gradually send this Spiritual Judgment upon unworthy Receivers this speaks his Goodness Compassion and Patience and shews how loth he is to give up Ephraim how loth he is to deliver up Israel to the rage of the Enemy how loth he is to make them as Admah and to set them as Zeboim so that there is Charity mingled with the Justice and in the midst of his Anger he remembers Mercy IV. And this will give us occasion to enquire which of these two Judgments is greater the Temporal or the Spiritual And here if we consider the mischief done by them we must conclude and assert that the Spiritual is greater For 1. Pain and sickness of Body may yet bring a Man or drive a Man to a true Repentance and a sight of the Errors of his ways as we proved in the foregoing Chapter but this Spiritual Weakness makes the way and passage to Repentance more difficult and the more any thing doth hinder a Man from Repentance the more dangerous it is Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death supposes that the faculties which should be chiefly employed in the product of Repentance are out of order and violated such as the Understanding the Will and the Affections Bodily Sickness very often puts these into a new fermentation and a strong desire after Spiritual Things But when the very Tools whereby the Soul is to work are blunt and their edge rebated or are become rusty and useless the work is very likely to be left undone If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness saith our Saviour Matth. 5. 23. 2. The Spiritual Judgment is the more dangerous because it is less perceiv'd and taken notice of than Bodily sickness If a Man feel the smart and pain of his Wounds and Sores they oblige him to seek out for a Physician for Remedy for Counsel and Advice and so we find it is for the most part with all Diseases of the Body which cause anguish and grief and great inconvenience and disorder in the Body yet among these various distempers some there are where the poison creeps along in the secret parts and Men perceive it not till it seizes upon the Vitals invades the very Heart and tolls the Bell for Death and these we count the most dangerous Of this nature is Spiritual sickness and weakness It leaves the Body in the same temper it found it in causes no prickings in the Back no stitches in the side no disturbance in the Head It lets Men eat and drink and sleep and walk and do their business and as to the outward Man they feel no inconvenience which makes them think that they have nothing of a distemper about them that all is safe and they ail nothing For this Spiritual sickness cannot be perceiv'd without Thinking and Self-examination which being neglected Men feel it not whence it comes to pass that it spreads insensibly in the dark while Men are asleep and by degrees corrupts the Soul till all its goodness be consumed and consequently this Spiritual Judgment is greater than the Corporal 3. The Spiritual Judgment is a sign of God's greater anger too and though it will not enter into the thoughts of a sensual Man that it is so or that any thing can be a sign of God's Anger but what relates to losses and disappointments and crosses in the outward Man and in the World yet enlighten'd Souls have ever look'd upon Spiritual sickness and Death as a sign of God's heavier wrath and indignation because in this case God doth as it were let Men alone leaves them to themselves and his not punishing of them with Bodily troubles looks like an aversion from their Persons and so much we may guess from what we read Hos. 4. 14 17. The Preceding Considerations reduced into farther Practice I IF Christ and his Apostles press Eating and Drinking worthily at this Table it is because they would have our Souls be in perfect health and they are then in perfect health when they rejoyce in the Lord always Thomas Aquinas upon that saying Cant. 1. 13. A bundle of Myrrhe is my well-beloved unto me observes that as Myrrhe preserves Bodies from
corruption so Christ taken and contemplated in the Holy Sacrament preserves the soul from various Diseases Health is best known by Fruits and Actions and as a sick Man cannot perform what the healthy doth so that Christian that doth not act like a healthy Man can boast of no great matter he hath receiv'd in this Holy Ordinance This is intended to give our Souls the strength of a Lion the swiftness of Eagles the alacrity of Angels and the temper which was in the incarnate Son of God and if we Receive worthily we shall certainly feel these effects in some degree at least For it 's plain that they are felt by others that are worthy Communicants and what should hinder us from feeling the same if we come furnish'd with the same qualifications Those that are acquainted only with Men as carnal as themselves may possibly think that when we talk of things of this nature we speak Spiritual Romances and tell them Stories next to Fables But those that have been conversant with Persons whâ—â—ave chosen the better Part must needs perceive what health and vigor worthy Receiving adds to their Souls For what makes them that they delight in the Law of the Lord in the inward Man of 〈◊〉 What makes them afraid of the very appearances â—y vil What makes them converse with God so often 〈◊〉 Prayer and Holy Thoughts What makes them contented under their Misfortunes and Disasters What makes them take such comfort in the Cross of Christ What makes them silent and patient under private injuries What makes them stand up for the Glory of God when they see it profan'd and abused What makes them so ready to deny themselves What makes them so solicitous about their Everlasting State What makes them kind and tender-hearted and so easie to be intreated to that which is Good What makes them forgoe their Interest rather than wrong their Consciences Is it not their worthy Receiving And what better signs can there be of the Spiritual health and flourishing state and condition of their Souls Christ in this Sacrament doth not only communicate to them an empty Name or a fruitless Title but makes them fruitful Trees and it must needs be so for they that be planted in the House of the Lord shall flourish in the Courts of our God saith the Psalmist Psal. 92. 13. II. Who that seriously considers the Spiritual Judgment we have spoken of must not deplore the condition of abundance of nominal Christians that Receive worthily The Persons upon whom this Spiritual Judgment is executed are not far from every one of us To find them out we need not send you to the Sands of Africa nor to the Lybian Desarts nor to Barbarians nor to Negro's and Americans No these very Persons you may see and know at home and in the midst of our mixt Congregations How many have I known that have come to this Holy Sacrament and after that have grown worse than ever Their Drunkenness and Lewdness their Selfishness and Covetousness their Extravagant and Ungodly Speeches and Actions which before were but Embrio's and Infants after Receiving have become Gyants and strong Men What an argument is this of their unworthy Receiving What an argument of God's Judgment What an argument that God hath withdrawn his Holy Spirit from them What an argument that they are left to the power of the Devil O that they were sensible what a Judgment this is O that they knew what a fearful State this is O that their Eyes were open to see that they are in the very suburbs of Destruction O that the Vail were taken away that they might behold the death the ruin the misery the wrath the indignation of God they run into O thou that openest the Eyes of the Blind and raisest them that are bow'd down and loosest the Prisoners open the Eyes of these unhappy Souls that they may see the precipice they stand upon and turn back and save themselves from this untoward Generation III. Let us all very seriously believe that our Souls are capable of sickness and misery and death as well as our Bodies Indeed they cannot die so as to cease or to be annihilated for they are not made of Earth and matter and contrary humours and principles as our Bodies are but certainly they can die to God's Favour and to a sense of Eternity This Belief if it be sound and strong cannot but have a mighty influence upon our Lives If we believe this as we ought with apprehensions of the danger we are in we shall be as much afraid of things that will cast our Souls into sickness or hurry them into death and misery as we are afraid of going to a Pest-house where People lye languishing under their Plague-sores Ah! sinful Man how couldst thou neglect coming to the Supper of the Lord if thou didst believe that this neglect will bring a Consumption on thy Soul How could'st thou Receive with an impenitent Heart if thou didst believe that thy impenitence will kill thy Soul How durst thou venture on those sins that are poison and venom to thy Soul How could'st thou be so careless of the approaching Judgment of God if thou didst believe that this carelesness will infallibly bring a Palsie upon thy Soul How could sinful delights be so charming to thee if thou didst believe that they will throw thy Soul into a violent Fever Why shouldst thou make thy Soul sick when the great Physician offers thee health and Salvation The sickness of thy Soul is much harder to be cured than the most Chronical distemper of the Body Not but that God can heal it as easily as the other and need say no more than Christ to the Paralytick in the Gospel Arise take up thy Bed and Walk and thou art presently whole but he will not except thou be willing too This thy Spiritual sickness is wilful that makes Christ backward to remove it and if ever thy Soul be cured it must cost thee great Mortifications Rivers of Tears strong Throws and Agonies and Troubles in the inward Man and who would make work for such a costly and laborious Cure that may be well without it Let the Physician be never so skilful if the Patient will not follow his prescriptions what hopes can there be of his Recovery If thou wert but willing to follow Christ's prescriptions thy Cure might be effected even after thou hast brought thy Soul to the mouth of the Pit and to the brink of the Grave and if you ask me what these prescriptions are I must tell you that they are these following 1. Like New-born Babes to imbibe the sincere Milk of the Word that you may grow thereby if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is Gracious to whom coming as to a living Stone disallow'd indeed of Men but chosen of God and Pretious ye also as lively Stones are built up a Spiritual House an Holy Priesthood to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by
some farther Prospect than this present Life and that he uses the Word not only to terrifie the unworthy Receiver with Sickness and Weakness of the Body and a Spiritual and Temporal Judgment but at the same time bids him take heed that in case any of the former doth not for Reasons best known to Providence light upon him or in case the Thoughts of the former do not work upon him and transform him into a better Man he doth not run himself into Hell-Fire and Eternal Misery It is plainly to tell him that since the Word includes both Judgments Temporal and Eternal he hath no reason to flatter himself that it will be only a Temporal judgment but may justly fear he shall in our God's Everlasting Indignation And therefore our Church retains both Significations of the Word in her Exhortation before the Sacrament So is the Danger great if we Receive the same unworthily for then we are guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ our Saviour we Eat and Drink our own Damnation not considering the Lord's Body we kindle God's Wrath against us we provoke him to plague us with divers Diseases and sundry kinds of Death II. How an unworthy Communicant eats and drinks Damnation to himself is the next thing we are to explain And this he doth this following Way 1. He makes himself obnoxious to the fierce Anger of the Judge that is to decide the Controversie of his Life and Death to all Eternity and this Judge is the Son of God Christ Jesus who hath protested that Not every one who saith unto him Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of his Father which is in Heaven and therefore will say unto them in the last Day I know you not depart from me ye Workers of Iniquity And there is nothing more certain than that the unworthy Receiver is resolved not to do the Will of his Father which is in Heaven whose Will is that Men should honour the Son as they do the Father Joh. 5. 23. i. e. believe in him as they do in the Father and come to this Sacrament like Persons redeemed from their vain Conversation resolved to war against the Lusts of the Flesh like Soldiers of the Cross and to remember the Death of the Son of God here with that Respect and Devotion they owe to God resolved to live and die with him like Persons who have listed themselves under his Colours with an Intent to fight against his Enemies and to take heed they do not dishonour the Son of God by an evil Heart of Unbelief in departing from the Living God This is the Will of God and since Christ the Judge of the World is the Person appointed to examine whether this Will of God hath been obeyed the unworthy Receiver dying in Impenitence and coming before him and it appearing that he hath nothing less than the Will of God professed indeed that he would do it pretended Service and Obedience to him and yet done his own Will though exhorted and moved to do the Will of God by numberless Arguments Arguments big with the greatest Charms what can his Obstinacy cause but Anger in the Judge Anger implacable since he would continue dead and unconcerned under the lively Oracles of Heaven and under the most lively Representations of the Love of God The Effect of which Anger is the Sentence of Everlasting Condemnation Depart from me ye Cursed into Everlasting Fire c. Matth. 25. 41. And for this Reason the Psalmist calls to all Kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the right Way when his Anger shall be kindled but a little Psal 2. 11. 2. He puts himself in the same State and Condition that other ungodly Sinners are in to whom is reserved the Blackness of Darkness for ever And that State and Condition is Wilful Disobedience to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what the Consequence of this State is St. Paul explains 2 Thes. 1. 7 8 9. The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with Everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power And that this is the unworthy Receiver's Condition is manifest from hence because he knows not God i. e. he will not know him nor obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He might know that God is an holy God and hath called him to Holiness and is not to be put off with blind lame and slovenly Devotion and yet he will not nor doth he obey the Gospel which obliges him by virtue of the Grace of God appearing to all Men to renounce Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts. This Ungodliness and these Worldly Lusts he retains and cherishes and makes much of notwithstanding his coming to the Lord's Table and so putting himself in the same State and Condition that other ungodly Men are no wonder if he makes himself liable to the same Damnation 3. He makes himself fit Company for the Damned and the Sufferers in Hell Those that are in that miserable State did as he doth and he doth as they did They suffer'd the Profits and Pleasures of the World to justle out a serious Sense of Religion so doth the unworthy Receiver They had a Form of Godliness and denied the Power thereof so doth he They some of them at least came to this Sacrament with unmortified Lusts with unsubdued Passions of Anger and Pride and with ungovernable Desires after the World and had no real Intent to become Proselytes of Righteousness so doth he They did not think that the holy Sacrament was such an Inforcive to a Change of Life as Divines talked of so doth he They made no great matter of this Ordinance but thought it expedient to comply with the Custom of the Country and the Usages of the Church they lived in and that was all and so doth he They made nothing of promising and breaking their solemn Promises to God no more doth he And being like them in Manners no wonder if he be like them in Torments too Being their Companion in their Sins 't is just he should be a Companion with them in their Misery Having been their Associate in Hypocrisie 't is fit he should have his Portion with Hypocrites III. But here the Sinner I know will be apt to clamour and say What Justice can there be in it that God for eating a Piece of Bread and for drinking a few Drops of Wine irreverently and unworthily without observing some Punctilio's and Nicer Rules of Divinity should inflict Eternal Damnation upon a poor Creature To which I answer 1. Every supreme and absolute Law-giver hath liberty to set what Penalties he thinks fit upon the Breaches of his Law If he will appoint a Punishment that is very dreadful for a certain
Offence the Interest of the Subject is to keep the Law not to quarrel with the Sanction At this rate a Man might plead What great matter is there in opening a Window at Night to get into an House to steal some small inconsiderable thing in the House And shall this be made Felony without Benefit of the Clergy All wise Law-givers have their Reason why they inflict severe Penalties upon Offenders and 't is fit that an Infinite Majesty should both threaten and appoint Punishments suitable to his Grandeur Where the Law and the Sanction of it is sufficiently known Men do not accuse the Law-giver of of Cruelty if the Offender runs himself into Danger but rather blame the senseless and foolish Man who knowing the Severity of the Sanction might have easily denied himself in his sinful Purchase and secured his Life and Welfare And the less the Fault is for which a severe Punishment is appointed the more easily might it have been avoided and not to avoid it when the Forbearance was so easie is an Argument of strange Presumption so that the Contempt and Presumption are so severely punished and not the Fault it self Let us apply this to the Case in hand The Supreme Law-giver thinks fit to inflict Damnation on the unworthy Receiver Either this unworthy Receiving is a very littâ—e Sin or a very great one If a great one the Punishment cannot be thought too great for it is proportion'd to the Greatness of the Authority which is despised and to the infinite and incomprehensible Mercy which is slighted not to mention that unworthy Receiving is a Complication of many Sins and more than one go into the Composition If it be little it is more easily shunned and then the Presumption comes to be very great and that Presumption is justly punished with great Severity Besides Who can judge so well of the Contempt and the heinousness of it as he that knows all things and can best judge how great the Indignity is which is offered to God in the Sin Nay the Greatness of the Penalty discovers the Greatness of the Impiety the Foulness of the Crime the deep Dye of the Transgression and the dangerous Tendency of the Offence A Christian from the Greatness of the Penalty is to conclude there must be more in the Sin than appears to his Eyes and to infer that if the Offence were not greater than ordinary so severe a Penalty would not have been laid upon it So that at the same time the Greatness of the Punishment serves to fright the Sinner from continuing in his Sin against he comes next to the Table of the Lord and is a strong Engagement to him to take nobler Resolutions to come with greater Reverence and with better Purposes that he may escape Damnation 2. That which makes the Penalty just is the Reason the Apostle gives 1 Cor. 11. 29. Because he discerns not the Lord's Body And what is it not to discern the Lord's Body 1. The unworthy Receiver discerns not that the Bread and Wine in this Ordinance set apart for an holy Use and consecrated by the Words of Institution represents the Body and Blood of the Son of God Which Consideration should over-awe him into the greatest Reverence and Devotion He considers not that by laying his Hands upon the Body of the Son of God he vows Faith and Allegiance to him and therefore refusing that Faith and Allegiance in his Actions is supposed to look upon that Bread as common which God hath made representative of the greatest Mystery He considers not that by eating of this Bread his Soul at the same time pretends to feed on the Body of Jesus Christ and to apply the Mercies and Benefits of his Death whereby he brings himself under an Obligation to live as a Member of Christ's Mystical Body not according to the Lusts of the Flesh but according to the Will of him that bought him at so great a Price And being at the same time unresolved to do so he mocks the Lord Jesus Christ and plays with Vows made in a place where Angels give their Attendance 2. He discerns not he considers not what it is for God to take a Body upon him for a poor Sinner's sake to redeem him from Damnation For God to take a Body upon him is a thing so astonishing so miraculous that if the greatest Prince of the World should voluntarily make himself a Beggar and wallow in Dirt and Slime to deliver a Slave out of Prison in a Foreign Country it is not so much nor a thing of that great Consequence For God to take a Body upon him that he might die for the Sinner and make him capable of inheriting Everlasting Bliss is a Mercy which runs so high that Reason is at a loss and it is enough to make the Mind grow giddy at the Consideration and consequently it is so great an Engagement to devote our selves to the Service of that God who hath done this that no Obligation can be thought greater or more likely to prevail with Men of Common Sense and Ingenuity And therefore for the unworthy Receiver not to discern or consider this must be a Contempt that is without a Parallel 3. He considers not that it is the Body of his Lord and Master that is present in the Figure in this Ordinance even the Body of that Lord whose Servant he is and owns himself to be He discerns not that in eating of the holy Bread he acknowledges Christ Jesus to be his Lord and Master at whose Beck he means to run by whose Command he intends to act and by whose Will he designs to be ruled So that the unworthy Receiver runs himself into strange Contradictions He acknowledges at the Receiving of the Eucharist that Christ is his Lord and Master and yet is not willing to be govern'd by his Laws his Lust and sinful Desires still continue his Masters the Devil is still his Master the World is still his Master and Sin still reigns in his Mortal Body Christ is only his Master in shew these in good earnest he in Complement these in sober Sadness And when this Contempt hath all these Aggravations in it who can complain that God is unjust in inflicting Damnation on the unworthy Receiver if he turns not IV. But still they were only the prophane Corinthinians against whom this Judgment is denounced Men who came drunk to this holy Sacrament And since no Body in this Age can be presumed or supposed to come in such a Posture to this Sacrament why should the Penalty mentioned by St. Paul be enforced upon Men now living who are not guilty of the same Sin and in no possibility almost of committing it i. e. of coming drunk and disguised to the Lord's Table To which I answer 1. Not to mention that Whatever things are written afore-time are written for our Learning 't is a great Mistake that the Apostle restrains the Penalty to being drunk with Wine or any other
strong Liquor in the Use of this Ordinance He applies it not only to this Sin but also to Want of Self-Examination and not to discern the Lord's Body as will appear to any Man that compares the 28th and 29th Verses in that Chapter I mean the 11th of the First Epistle to the Corinthians And besides Though their coming drunk to this Sacrament gives Occasion to the Discourse yet he makes a general Inference or Conclusion He that or Whosoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks Damnation to himself So that if there be more Ways of unworthy Receiving than coming drunk to this Ordinance it will follow that they all come under the reach of this Penalty 2. If one wilful Sin or Sin allowed of or Sin of Temper Custom and Inclination which a Man is not heartily resolved to strive against makes him an unworthy Receiver another must be supposed to do the same for all Sins allowed of are of the same Nature though the Object be changed And therefore whether a Man be loth or unresolved to part with his drunken Cups or unresolved to mortifie his Envy or Malice or Pride or Hatred or Revengeful Desires or Opprobrious Language or Injustice or Cheating or Lying c. the Change of the Object makes no Alteration in the unworthy Receiving and therefore no Alteration in the Penalty If a Corinthian Christian that professed himself a Member of Christ's Church had come drunk to the Lord's Table to Day and come again in the same Posture and in the same Disguise the Lord's Day following there is no Dispute of it but coming again with the same Sin upon his Back would have made himself an unworthy Receiver And if not parting with a known Sin against he came next made him an unworthy Communicant it stands to reason that he who is given to lying and to Cheating or to any other known Sin and comes to the Sacrament without a full purpose to reform it draws the same Guilt upon himself that the prophane Corinthians did 'T is true Coming with the Guilt of other Sins allowed of is not so scandalous a thing as coming drunk but with respect to God who is offended by it and against whose Laws the Sin is committed they are of the same Nature with Coming disguised or drunk to the Lord's Table and therefore such Men are liable to the same Penalty 3. Though a vicious Person in this Age cannot well come drunk to this Sacrament because it is commonly received in the Morning and most Men make some little Preparation and approach sober yet he may come drunk with evil Habits of Sin and then he comes drunk with evil Habits when he is so besotted with the Sins which Custom or Company or something else hath made sweet and easie and pleasant to him that whatever is feigned and pretended as to general Purposes to mend his Life before he receives yet he is not heartily resolved to part with such particular Sins as he is very prone to and all the Love and Charity set before him â—n the Lord's Supper cannot work in him a Change of Mind or an unfeigned Resolution to use the proper Means to â—hake off the Sin which is become natural to him And whether a Man come to the Sacrament drunk in a natural Sense or drunk in a spiritual Sense whether he come to it drunk with Wine or drunk with Sin there is no great difference in the Crime the Sin is still the same especially since all those who lay claim to the Promise of Pardon and Salvation are peremptorily commanded to cleanse themselves from all Filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit 2 Cor. 7. 1. The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. HEre I cannot but take notice how little the things which are not seen with our Bodily Organs though of the greatest Consequence are minded by the Generality even those that pretend to believe them Damnation is certainly the most dreadful thing imaginable yet most Men make so little of it that the Fear of losing Twenty or Thirty Pounds discomposes and disorders them more than the Apprehension that they shall lose the Light of God's Countenance for ever What can we imagine to be the Reason of it Surely it must be because it is not seen And therefore People do not heartily believe it nor seriously think of it And yet when a thing is very certain and God hath spoke it and we have all the Assurances that the thing is capable of that it is so though it cannot be seen with the Eyes of Flesh yet being certain the Thoughts of it surely might effect and work upon and discompose the Soul in a manner as much as Sight and Sense But here lies the Misery the greatest part of Men are unthinking Animals they believe but think not they think but not of that which concerns them most This makes Damnation only a big Word to set off a violent Passion but it frights not nay is so far from frighting that not a few do barbarously wish it to their own Souls yet still not only Faith but Reason saith there is such a thing and the Justice of a Supream Being requires so much So that he that will be frighted with Damnation must first deliberately examine the Reasons which may convince him of the Being and Reality of it and then reflect and ruminate upon the Terrour and Consequences of it And if this be done and the Divine Assistance which must co-operate with all spiritual Endeavours to make them effectual be heartily implored Sin Vanity and Lust and foolish Desires must necessarily fall and faint before it and a Change of Life cannot but follow and a Man's Carefulness to please God must needs be the happy Consequences of it II. The Penalty God inflicts upon unworthy Receivers shews how God would have us value and esteem what he hath done for us in Christ Jesus The Death of Christ for poor Sinners God looks upon to be so great a thing that he expects that every Soul upon hearing of it and sufficient Demonstration of the Truth of it should be so surprized with the Mercy as immediately to throw off the Works of Darkness and put off the Old Man with all his deceitful Lusts and to become an obedient Subject of Christ's Kingdom God sets that high Value upon it that he expects that every Soul to whom the News comes immediately lay Force upon the Kingdom of Heaven rejoyce that he is made capable of Pardon and an Inheritance incorruptible and for the Glory set before him fall to work and seek first the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof And therefore for any Person who professes himself a Christian to entertain this Message coldly lazily and with Indifferency is an Act so unworthy so derogatory from the Sublimity and Excellency of the Favour that we need not wonder if he lashes this low slavish and pitiful Temper of ours with the severest Vengeance Can we think because we have no
Christ's Merits This previous Meditation softens the Earth makes it fit for the Master's use and for his sowing the good Seed of Grace in it when the Soul comes into the Courts of the Lord. And as he that means to Pray with good attention in publick must not forget his secret Prayers at home so he that will reflect with comfort on his Saviour's Death at Church must meditate of it in his Closet one helps the other and if these go hand in hand together it is the way to put the Soul in an excellent Frame These private Meditations are the Dresses of the Soul she puts on at home that she may look more beautiful and amiable when she comes to stand in her bridegroom's Presence in the Temple III. How this Meditation is to be order'd and managed must be in great measure lest to the Wisdom and Discretion of the Party concern'd yet I should think that the best way would be to lay the Holy Evangelists before us who all have given exact account of their Master's Sufferings especially in the last Scene of his Life here on Earth and to make Spiritual Reflections either on the whole History in general or on some of the principal Points contain'd in it To give the Reader an account of the Proposal I will present him with a Scheme of Meditations on the XXII and XXIII Chapters of St. Lukes Gospel which I do the rather pitch upon because I think this Evangelist hath given us the fullest account of the Circumstances and Particulars of Christ's last Sufferings and I shall go from Verse to Verse not so much to prescribe mine own way as to give the devout Reader an hint how he may improve those Historical Passages and enlarge upon them according to the Gifts parts and abilities God hath given him The XXII Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel Paraphrased 1. Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread â—rew nigh which is called the Passover BEhold O my Soul How busie the Jews are to remove all Leaven out of their Houses against the Passover How loth hast thou been these many years to remove the Leaven of Vanity out of thy Heart when thou hast gone to meet thy Blessed Redeemer What excuses hast thou framed What Apologies hast thou made that thou mightst not part with that Apple of thine Eye What a Benjamin hath it been to thee How unwilling hast thou been to quit it Ungrateful Creature Canst thou name the Name of Christ and keep that which will render that Name and all the Sweets contain'd in it unsavory and insipid to thee 2. And the Chief Priests and Scribes sought how they might kill him for they feared the People AND hath not this been thy Case O my Soul Hast not thou feared Men more than God Hast not thou been more afraid of Dust and Ashes than of the Holy One of Israel How often couldst thou have dispens'd with God's seeing thy folly if it could have been concealed from the knowledge of Men And when thou hast avoided and shun'd a Sin hath it not been more for fear of blemishing thy Credit and Reputation in the World than of love to the Law of God Hath not Temporal Interest restrain'd thee from Sin more than God's All-seeing Eye Think how unkindly and unworthily thou hast dealt with thy best and greatest Friend and act for the future upon nobler Principles 3. Then entred Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot being of the number of the Twelve O My Soul Though thou hast not been guilty of the formal Act of Judas's Crime yet hast not thou too often open'd the door to thy mortal Enemy Hast not thou given him invitations to enter into thee by carnal Security and taking too great liberty in thy conversation When thou hast left thy self without a Guard and hast not watch'd over thy Senses hath not this been an Item to the Serpent to creep into the Garden and to hide himself among the Bushes Nay when thou hast given way to his evil suggestions hugg'd his temptations and embraced the evil he hath prompted thee to when thou hast harbour'd Malice against thy Neighbour when thy Heart hath swelled with Pride when thy Breast hath been filled with Envy when thou hast delighted in Froth and idle Talk have not these been Signs of Satan's entring into thy Heart When in hearing the Word in Prayer and in other Devotions thou hast admitted foolish impertinent frivolous Thoughts into thy Mind and kept out Considerations suitable to the Duty thou wert engaged in was not this to give the Devil Admittance into thy Bosom And shall so dangerous a Guest lodge any longer there Oh bid him be gone that thy House and all thou hast may be in safety 4. And he went his Way and communed with the Chief Priests and Captains that he might betray him unto them AND what pains hast thou taken O my Soul to betray thy blessed Redeemer when thou hast joyned with his Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil When thou hast lain in the World's Arms and solaced thy self with its Airy Pleasures in despight of all Christ's Calls and Intreaties to the contrary What hath thy living in Strife and Variance been but a Conspiring with the Devil against the Holy Jesus that Prince of Peace When thou hast been peremptory and resolute to satisfie the Lusts of the Flesh and its inordinate Desires hath not this been exposing the excellent Religion thou professest to the Contempt and Scorn of Men And how much doth this want of betraying thy Master that bought thee and thy God who redeemed thee 5. And they were glad and covenanted to give him Money HOW hast thou rejoyced in Sin O my Soul How hast thou been tickled with the Infirmities and Reproaches of thy Neighbour How merry hast thou been in ill Company How glad when thou hast heard of the Fall or Trouble of a Person thou hast had a Grudge against What Pleasure hast thou taken in fantastick Dresses in following the sinful Humours of vain Men and gratifying thy foolish Lusts How hast thou laughed when thou shouldst have mourned and sported thy self with Actions that should have drawn Rivers of Tears from thine Eyes How merry hast thou been among thy Cups And how much more hath idle Talk and sinful Lusts and prophane Jests raised and cheared thy Spirits than the most affectionate Sermon What strange Enterprizes hath Money tempted thee to What sinful Compliance what Contempt of the Will of God hast thou been put upon by the Hopes of Gain And how much more real Joy hast thou felt in a full Purse than a rich Conscience 6. And he promised and sought Opportunity to betray him unto them in the Absence of the Multitude HOW faithful is the unhappy Judas in performing his Promise Yet how many Promises hast thou made to God O my Soul and hast not regarded them What Promises of Love what Promises of Obedience what Promises of Reformation When thou hast been sick what Vows of
despise mean services in the Church of God! and how loth to be employed in things that make for God's Glory merely because thou hast been afraid they would blemish thy credit and reputation in the World How loth hast thou been to visit thy poor Neighbor or to dress his Wounds or to tend him when destitute of Friends or Kindred What a disparagement hast thou thought it to pay respect to thine Inferiors and how hast thou chosen the Upper Rooms at Feasts and other Meetings and loved the praise of Men more than the praise of God! 28. Ye are they which have continued with me in my Temptations IT is not enough to stand a blow or two but to hold out to the end To stay with Christ a few Weeks or Years and then to forsake him is base Cowardice yet how weary O my Soul hast thou been of thy Master's service How soon hast thou been tired with Devotion How dull hath Prayer made thee If thou hast been fervent for a few days how soon hast thou given over What excellent progress didst thou make in Religion when low in the World and how art thou changest since prosperous fortunes have flown in upon thee Or if thou hast believed and rejoyced in the light for a time how hast thou in the hour of Temptation turned thy back and like an hireling fled away The Fruit thou hast brought forth in thy youth how hath it decayed and withered in thy riper Age and in trouble how hast thou laid force upon the Kingdom of Heaven and yet upon thy deliverance as Flies in Autumn how hath thy Piety fainted and died away 29. And I appoint unto you a Kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto me WHat mighty Rewards doth God give for poor and mean services No less than a Kingdom for a few years patience in well-doing How should this encourage thee to work O my Soul How should it make thee strive to enter in at the strait Gate Yet how apt art thou to cry There is a Lion without There is a Bear in the way And what if there were Is it not worth a being torn by Bears and Lions to inherit an everlasting Kingdom What pains do Men take to get a little Money or to purchase a parcel of Lands which they know not whether they shall possess above a Month or two And yet thou hast not thought it worth toiling to inherit a Kingdom which fades not away 30. That you may Eat and drink at my Table in my Kingdom and sit on Thrones Judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel HOW will the Scene be changed e're long And those poor Saints which wicked Men counted Slaves how will the World wonder when they shall see them their Judges Yet how little dost thou think of that day O my Soul How apt art thou to put it out of thy Mind and consequently how unwilling to imitate those excellent Men that meditate in the Law of God Day and Night Didst thou think seriously of their preferment in the last day thou wouldst write Copies after them and be a much harder Student in that Holiness which makes them capable to Judge the World and the Apostate Angels Thou dost not thoroughly believe that mighty alteration Didst thou open the Eye of thy Faith and see what Glory will be put upon them in that day thou wouldst certainly be inquisitive how to participate of the the same priviledges and consequently be earnest in the pursuit of the same Virtues and Graces whereby they run and obtain the prize 31. And the Lord said Simon Simon Behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as Wheat HOW busie is the Devil to ruin a sincere Christian and hast not thou felt him busie in thy Heart O my Soul to deprive thee of the Crown of Righteousness which the Lord hath promised to them that strive lawfully Hast not thou felt him busie to poison thy Graces busie to infect thy Prayers busie to evacuate the Virtue of thy Holy performances and yet thou hast not resisted him How have all the Avenues been set open that that King of Darkness might come in How hast thou hugg'd his Temptations suffer'd him to revel in thy Breast yielded to his evil suggestions and been persuaded by his Arguments He hath but beckoned to thee and thou hast run How hast thou betrayed the Citadel of the Holy Ghost Prophaned his Temple and suffered the Sanctuary to be robb'd by Heathens and Infidels 32. But I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not THus Christ Prays for all true Believers that God may not forsake them Yet how dejected hast thou been O my Soul upon the least Storm that hath fallen upon thee How ready hast thou been to cast away thy hope How ready to say with Sion The Lord hath forsaken me and God hath forgotten me Dost thou think God doth not hear the great Mediators Prayer for thee Dost thou think he can refuse his intercessions whom he always hears When he heard his Prayers for those that Crucified him that God would not for that barbarous fact exclude them from hopes of Salvation will not he hear him dost thou think when he Prays for thee that thou mayst not be deprived of the light of God's countenance Therefore why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me Hope in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God 33. And he said unto him Lord I am ready to goe with thee both into Prison and to death A Brave Resolution For though he miscarried in the performance yet I doubt not but he really spoke at this time what he thought But how faint hast thou been in thy resolutions O my Soul How loth to resolve upon a Duty that hath had some hardship in it How loth to resolve upon leaving a sin in which thy profit hath been wrapt up How hast thou humm'd and haw'd when thou hast been to declare thy resolution to suffer for righteousness sake How hast thou been frighted at the smallest danger Thou hast may be resolved to suppress Sin for the present but not to reform it for the future To clip the Luxurious branches but not to pull up the evil Tree by the root And what pitiful half-resolutions have these been How unlike St. Paul who was ready not only to suffer but to dye also at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus 34. And he said I tell thee Peter the Cock shall not Crow this day before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me GOD sees that which Man cannot see Why then O my Soul dost not thou shun that Rock which God sees and says will split thy Vessel Thou wantest such a sensual pleasure God sees and protests it will undo thee yet dost thou believe thine own Appetite more than that God who sees all things in their first Principles He sees that such a Blessing will
offended what tremblings will invade them How will they quake for fear What pitiful shifts will they betake themselves to but all in vain O let that dreadful day be ever before mine Eyes Let the future shrieks and groans of impenitent Sinners even now in this my day sound in mine Ears that I may be frighted from Sin O let me think what their ways will end in and turn my feet away from their Paths O let me not follow their pernicious ways that I may not be condemn'd with the World 31. For if they do these things in a green tree what shall be done in the dry JUdgment must begin at the House of God and if it first begin at us what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God And if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and Sinner appear God is resolved to judge the World and even the best shall have a taste of his Justice The Afflictions that befall the good in this World are but the beginnings of his indignation against Sin and by the Blood of Christ they shall be saved from the wrath to come But if these be the beginnings of God's anger what will the progress of his Justice be and where will it end O blessed Saviour How fearful will the end of all ungodly Sinners be If I must be afflicted O let me have my share of it in this World that I may not sink under the burden of thine indignation hereafter 32. And there were also two other Malefactors led with him to be put to death VVHat an opportunity had these wretches to save their Souls even at the last moment of their Lives An opportunity the like of which never was before nor ever will be Here was an happy day for them to have secured Christ's Favour who would not have denied his Grace to them had they been but willing to accept of it upon this extraordinary occasion Kings and Princes bestow extraordinary Acts of Grace at their Coronation or upon some remarkable Solemnity Now had been the time for these Malefactors to have laid hold on Eternal life which they never had any hope of before But how do Men let slip the opportunities God puts in their hands So have I my Blessed Jesus many a time when I have been in a good frame when thou hast put good Thoughts and Resolutions in my Heart what opportunities had I to to make my self for ever But I have return'd to the love of the World despised these opportunies of Grace and justly deserved thou shouldst deny them me for ever Dear Saviour visit me once more with thy Salvation with the Day-spring from on high and I will admit thy Beams into my Soul that I may be enlighten'd edified sanctified and preserv'd for ever 33. And when they were come to the place which is call'd Calvary there they crucified him and the Malefactors one on the right hand and the other on the left HEre begins the act at which Heaven and Earth stood amaz'd What a spectacle was here The Son of God nailed to the Cross and hanging betwixt two Thieves Did not the hands of the Soldiers that nailed the Saviour of the World to the Cross tremble Did not their Hearts fail them when they tied him to the Tree No their hearts were flint and adamant No other could have been engaged in the Service O wonderful stupidity they knew not what flesh they touch'd They knew not it was a Body fram'd by the Holy Ghost and the fruit of the Virgin 's Womb Here O my Soul here the work of thy Redemption is commenc'd O look upon the Heavenly Creature that hangs here and think what Riches are treasured up in his Cross Here he shew'd himself a Mediator indeed hanging in the middle betwixt a Penitent and a Prodigal betwixt Heaven and Earth betwixt the Living and the Dead They crucified him What did the Angels think to see their Lord and Master thus used What dost thou think of it O my Soul Job's Friends seeing the greatness of his misery sate silent by him in the Dust seven Days Look O my Soul upon this object sit silent and admire for thy Lord's grief is great 34. Then said Jesus Father forgive them for they know not what they do LOrd Jesus What a Miracle of Mercy dost thou work here I know not which is the greater wonder those thou dist formerly when conversant on the Earth or that which I see now perform'd on the Cross. To pray for Men who had abused thee to a Prodigy To beg of thy Father to forgive their Insolencies and not to exclude them from the possibility of Repentance Can I think of this and not believe that this was to teach me how I must behave my self toward those that have done me wrong Canst thou forgive such injuries and shall not I forgive them that trespass against me One would have thought that these affronts and indignities which were offered to thee would never have been forgiven yet they are no sooner offer'd but thou intercedest for their Remission O let no injury that 's henceforward offer'd me seem too big for pardon O let me freely pass by the offence committed against me that my Father which is the Heaven may forgive me my Trespasses 34. And they parted his Garments and cast Lots VVHat a rich Spoil did these Soldiers get and they knew it not If a good Christian that understood the great Mystery of Godliness had got such a Treasure how would he have valued it what Joy what Comfort would it have been to such a Soul Not that there is any great virtue in the Cloaths of the Son of God A Man might have kept them and yet by leading an ill life have perish'd Eternally but Who would not have preserv'd these precious Relicks if he had known what Person it was that wore them It would have done him good to have looked upon them and admirable Reflections he might have made upon them But to Men that knew not God these things were of no value O my Soul Thou hast not priz'd the good Things thy God hath bequeathed to thee How little hast thou valued the Means of Grace thy Saviour left behind him Henceforward learn to make a better Use of them that they may be Health to thy Navel and Marrow to thy Bones 35. And the People stood beholding and the Rulers also with them derided him saying He saved others Let him save himself if he be Christ the chosen of God IT could not but cause strange Admiration to see him who had been known to be a Prophet mighty in Word or Deed come to such a doleful and dreadful End But for any Man to be so impudent as to deride him in his Misery this was extraordinary bold and insolent Yet Men that have done a very ill thing think themselves obliged to justifie it by their Gestures and Actions partly to keep themselves from Reproach and partly to
this World may'st bid me enter into my Master's Joy 44. And it was about the Sixth Hour and there was a Darkness over all the Earth until the Ninth Hour THE Sun loses his Splendour at Noon The Deed was black and Heaven draws a Curtain over it Yet notwithstanding the Miracle the greatest part of the Spectators continue obstinate When Men's Hearts are set upon Sin and the World how little do even Miracles prevail O my Soul How many strange Providences hast thou seen and yet thou hast not mended thy Life upon it Thou hast seen Miracles of Judgment and Mercy yet thy Heart hath been hard Oh learn to take more notice of God's Dispensations and believe that the strange things that happen to thee and others are Calls from Heaven to the Inhabitants of the World to learn Righteousness 45. And the Sun was darken'd and the Veil of the Temple was rent in the midst WHat a Motive was this to Men to rend their Hearts This was a Sign that God would lay the Inclosure open and that Christ was to break down the Partition-Wall and make both Jews and Gentiles one To this Rent thou art beholden O my Soul Thy Father was an Amorite and thy Mother an Hittite thy Ancestors were Heathens and Idolaters by this Rent they were brought to the Light of the Gospel and upon that Account thou enjoyest the Gospel now Remember how unworthy of this Favour thou hast walked many Years and how thou hast dishonoured this Gospel with thy Life Oh learn to bring forth Fruits as become the Doctrine which is according unto Godliness and let thy Conversation be such as may promote God's Glory and thine Eternal Happiness 46. And when Jesus had cried with a loud Voice he said Father into thy Hands I commend my Spirit And having said thus he gave up the Ghost NOW the Sacrifice is offered and this Death reconciles God to the sinful World This Death which had been so often foretold both by the Prophets and Christ himself is at last accomplished and Pardon of Sin and the Possibility of Men's arriving to Eternal Life by a true Repentance is hereby purchased This Death puts an End to the Curse of the Law And from this Death O my Soul date thy Happiness Though wicked Men who had an Hand in it were the Means whereby it was effected yet the Son of God would die and his voluntary Death is the meritorious Cause of thy Eternal Life Oh look upon it with Wonder and Admiration And while thou standest amazed at it see withal how thou thy self may'st end thy Days If thou livest like a Child of God thy Father in Heaven will receive thee when thou diest Thy Father will not send thee to Hell but being a Father he will stretch forth his Almighty Arms and receive thee to himself like a faithful Creator 47. Now when the Centurion saw what was done he glorified God saying Certainly this was a righteous Man TO make a right Construction of Things is the Way to Spiritual Wisdom This Man justly concluded that Heaven could not possibly shew it self so much concern'd about a Person if he were not an extraordinary Favourite He judged rationally and this brought him to a true Knowledge of Christ and to an open Confession and Declaration of the Sufferer's Innocence O my Soul Consider by what Miracles and Testimonies that Truth thou professest hath been confirmed and conclude it is Divine No Religion hath those Evidences of its Divinity and Celestial Original that the Christian hath and coming from God thou hast the greatest Reason to believe that all its Promises and Threatnings will be fulfilled and seeing that all these shall be fulfilled what manner of Person oughtest thou to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness 48. And all the People that came together to that Sight beholding the things which were done smote their Breasts and returned SMiting their Breasts was a Sign of their Grief and Anger of their Grief because so excellent a Person had been so inhumanely butcher'd and of their Anger against those bloody Men that had condemned and executed him See here O my Soul what Entertainment thou art to give thy Sins In looking upon them divide thy Affections betwixt Grief and Anger Grieve that thou hast offered so many Indignities to thy Blessed Master Be angry with thy self for being so base and ungrateful Grieve that thou hast forgotten the End for which thou wast created and be revenged upon the Sins that caused it And the best Revenge is this to see and take care that thy Degrees of Sin be truly answered by thy Degrees of Sanctification and Heavenly-mindedness 49. And all his Acquaintance and the Woman that followed him from Galilee stood afar off beholding these things THough it is some Ages since Christ was crucified yet in imitation of these Religious Women thou may'st stand afar off O my Soul and behold the Spectacle still When the Circumstances of it are left thee in Writing and the doleful Story stands upon Record thou canst ascend Mount Calvary and see those things acted as if thou hadst been present And Oh little dost thou think how much this Sight will edifie thee Look often upon the Cross and thou wilt find what a Damp it will strike upon all thy sinful Pleasures and how little reason thou hast to hancker after those things whereof so many good Men after they have been sensible of their Errours have been ashamed 50. And behold there was a Man named Joseph a Councillor and he was a good Man and a just IN the midst of Temptations God preserves this Man though his Riches Greatness Reputation and Friendship of the Grandes did strongly entice him to consent to the Death of the Lord Jesus yet he would not and was resolved rather to hazard all than have an hand in the Condemnation This was an Argument of a generous Spirit to bear up under the strongest Assaults and Enticements in the World and to keep an uncorrupt Soul in the midst of Dirt and Filthiness Thou livest in a very evil Generation O my Soul Dare to preserve thine Integrity in the midst of all the Floods of Ungodliness that surround thee And the more thou art discouraged from Goodness and Righteousness the more vigorously stand up for it and maintain it and thy God will be with thee 51. The same had not consented to the Counsel and Deed of them He was of Arimathea 4 City of the Jews who also himself waited for the Kingdom of God TO wait for the Kingdom of God is the Way to resist and to overcome Temptations He that is resolved not to lose his Share in God's Kingdom hereafter will not stand upon his Losses and Crosses here for he knows that the future Kingdom will recompense all No Nan will venture so much for Christ as he that firmly believes the Kingdom of God and fixes his Eye of Faith upon it O my Jesus Give me a clearer Sight of
Confessions specifies the particular Acts wherein he hath walk'd contrary to God discovers an earnest desire to grow in Grace and in this St. Paul shews us an example 1 Tim. 1. 13. where he doth not say I have been a great Sinner but a Blasphemer spoke ill of the way to Life a Persecuter afflicted oppressed and made havock of the Churches of God injurious done great injuries to St. Stephen and to abundance of other Christians In a word such a person by his particular Confession deals faithfully with his own Soul and by mentioning the particular Diseases that annoy him manifests his earnest desire of a Cure whereas General Confessions leave the Soul ignorant dull careless and unaffected with the great Concerns of Salvation And tho' a person every time he accuses himself or confesses his Errors is not bound to enumerate all the particular Sins of his Life he can charge his Memory with yet if he never did it before it 's fit he should do it at least when first he receives the Holy Sacrament and at other times confess such fins as he finds himself most inclin'd to and most apt to harbor in his Bosom 2. These Confessions must be accompanied especially the Confessions before the Sacrament with aggravations of our Offences and with shame and confusion of Face I joyn these two together because aggravating of them is the cause of that confusion and he that reflects in his Confessions what light what knowledge what checks of Conscience what motions of God's Spirit what goodness of God what mercy what patience what promises what threatnings he hath sinn'd against what time he hathlost what opportunities he hath neglected what a gracious what a merciful God he hath offended even love it self and sweetness and beauty it self and what blessings what priviledges what advantages what offers he hath slighted will find himself obliged to have very low and mean thoughts of himself This was the Publican's case Luke 18. 13. Who standing afar off would not lift up so much as his Eyes to Heaven but smote upon his Breast saying God be merciful to me a Sinner He was ashamed and confounded His Conscience told him how unworthily he had dealt with his Creator how strangely he had carried himself to God his best and greatest Friend how unthankful and how base he had been to his most gracious Benefactor and how strangely he had carried himself to the best of Beings He was confounded with the thoughts of his vileness and conscious of his guilt he â—ast his eyes to the ground unable to look his offended Father in the Face His Heart was full of grief Sorrow fate heavy on his Soul and though his Tongue could not express his particular acts of injustice oppression pride anger and greediness after the World yet his Mind confess'd them thought of them his Heart was ready to break at the dismal sight and this was a very acceptable Confession 3. These Confessions must be joyned with invincible purposes to endeavour after a better and more Spiritu-Temper So the wise Man tells us He that confesses his Sins and forsakes theâ— shall find mercy Prov. 28. 13. Without this Qualification our Confessions are mere Lip-services and rceive not one gracious Look from above nay are accounted no better than Israel's Devotion Hos. 10. 1. Israel is an empty Vine He brings forth fruit unto himself Why unto himself The reason is because in that fruit he aim'd not so much at God's Glory as his own Profit Nor was any Person the better for it the design was selfish it was just to satisfie the present terror within no love of God lay at the bottom the ground of all was self-love and God had nothing to do with it The same may justly be said of him that confesses but is not concern'd whether his Flesh be subdued to the Spirit or not Such a Confession is his own invention it is not that Confession which God requires If he confesses it must not be to himself for God regards it not and indeed till this actual endeavour to forsake them is added to the Confession our Sins continue still in God's Books of Accompt look still as black as ever not one of them is blotted out for the enmity against God is still maintained and whilst that lasts it naturally follows that God and we cannot be friends III. The second act of judging our selves is upon this Confession to condemn our selves And indeed if the Soul be truly awake and the Heart sincerely sensible of its errors and miscarriages the Penitent cannot but condemn himself and acknowledge that the Judgments threatned in the word of God are due to him and cry Ah! my God and my Lord Who shall deliver me from the Body of this death from this confluence of Misery I have deserv'd with Adam to be thrown out of Paradise and to be for ever forbid eating of the Tree of Life I have deserv'd to drown'd with the first World or to be consumed for ever as Sodom and Gomorrah I have deserved the sudden and unnatural death of Nadab and Abihu to be stoned with Achan to be struck with Leprosie as Miriam to be swallowed up â—live by the Earth as Dathan and Abiram I have deserv'd Manasseh's Prison and Zedekiah's Chains and what is worse the everlasting Chains of Darkness I acknowledge that I have deserved it should be more tolerable for Infidels in the Great Day than for me for I have seen the mighty works of God and continu'd a stranger to Repentance I have deserved to be called upon at Midnight as that careless Man Thou Fool this Night thy Soul shall be required of thee and whose shall be which thou hast provided To this Wretch that is before thee belongs nothing but Wrath and Indignation On this Head of mine thou mightest justly discharge the Ordinance of Justice and pour out the Vials of thy Wrath On me thou mightest justly rain snares and Fire and Brimstone I have deserv'd to be plagued with Diseases tormented with grievous Pain haunted by panick Terrors If any of these Judgments do not fall upon mee it is thy Patience not my Goodness and I may wonder I have escaped them all this while I have deserved to be made a Prey to that Devil whose Temptations I have swallow'd with Greediness Instead of rejoycing over me to build me up thou mightest justly rejoyce over me to destroy me Justly O Lord thou mightest send upon me trembling of Heart and fainting of Eyes and sorrow of Mind I have deserv'd that my Life should hang in doubt before me that I should fear day and night that in the Morning I should say Would God it were Even and at Even Would God it were Morning Mercy Lord I have deserved none The Crums that fall from thy Table are Blessings too good for me if I deserve any thing it is thy Rod thy Scourges thy Waves thy Billows and a horrible Tempest To condemn is the proper act of a
Oblation of thy dear Son and blot out all my Transgressions Accept of that incomparable Sacrifice and forget the Injuries I have offered thee I should be afraid of being sent away empty from thy Throne my Sins are so many and so great but that I know thy Sons Merits are greater than my Sins If my Sins and his Goodness my Transgressions and the Merits of his bitter Passion were laid in a Ballance together these would weigh for heavier than mine Offences What Crime so great that such a Sorrow such Affliction such Obedience such Humility such invincible Patience and what is more than all this such infinite Love cannot expiate What Iniquity can there be in the World above which the Death of Christ doth not preponderate O Heavenly Father I have nothing of mine own to offer thee But I offer thee my Saviour my Redeemer thine only Son with all possible Devotion and Gratitude Accept of his unspeakable Grief and Anguish known only to him and to thy self for my Sins and that Grief I should have and do not feel Accept of his bloody Sweat and Tears for want of my Tears Accept of his most fervent Prayers for my dulness and deadness in Prayer Accept of all that ever he did and suffer'd for my great and multiplied Transgressions I accuse my self for my Carnality I condemn my self for my backwardness to serve thee I am willing to inflict Judgments upon my self for my innumerable Follies yet even these Services will look dull and weak and imperfect except thou art pleased to look upon them through the Merits of thy dear Son O blessed Jesu who can comprehend thy Charity O pour into my Heart true Contrition soften my harden'd Heart into true Compunction give to mine Eyes abundance of Tears that I may bewail the many Indignities I have offered to thee Deal not with me after my Sins Let thy bitter Passion step in betwixt thy Father's Anger and my miserable Soul And whatever mine Iniquities have deserv'd let thy Death atone for them and let thy Blood wash them away O thou who hast overcome the World and the Prince thereof overcome all my rebellious and inordinate Affections Let nothing separate betwixt thy Love and me Remove and conquer that Disagreebleness that is betwixt my Nature and thy Holiness and as thou wast obedient to thy Father even to the Death of the Cross so make my Soul obedient to thee in all thing O let me see and feel that there is nothing so vile so abject so unworthy as I am and in this sense let me admire thy Love that it may appear great and wonderful to me and dash all those Excuses and Delays I have pretended too long to cloak my unwillingness to please thee What can melt my heart if thy Love cannot melt it O melt it by that Fire and purge away all my Dross and all my Tin that being purified by thee I may enjoy the Comforts of that Purity for ever Amen Amen CHAP. XXV Of Self-Resignation the Fourth Preparatory Duty in order to a Worthy Receiving of this Holy Sacrament The CONTENTS What Self-Resignation is and wherein it consists What makes it necessary Upon what Account it comes to be a Duty preparatory for the Holy Sacrament God likens himself to a Potter and why Our Perfection proved to consist in this Self-Resignation 1. WHat this Self-Resignation is and wherein it consists is no hard matter to guess 'T is in short to resign our Will to God's Will not only in being ready to do what God will have us do but in being contented to suffer whatever he shall think fit to lay upon us 'T is St. Anselm's Observation That God alone who is the Creator of all things can will and do what he pleases having no Will superior to his own to which he ought to submit But when Man will do his own Will he robs Almighty God in some measure of his Crown for as the Crown is only the Privilege and Prerogative of a King so to do what he pleases is God's only Property And as a Subject that should fly at the Crown of his Prince and take it off his Head would commit Treason and do his Sovereign the greatest Injury so a Man that will have his own Will attributes that to himself which is a Privilege appertaining only to Divinity it self And indeed this Self-Resignation is nothing but an Effect of sincere and cordial Love Love being the Bond that ties and unites the Person loving to him that is loved as Hatred dissolves and unties that Bond. This Love consists chiefly in the Will and if it be right it must necessarily oblige him that loves God to will what he wills and take his Pleasure and Will for his Rule whereby he governs his own Desires and Affections II. That which makes this Self-Resignation to the Will of God very necessary are these important Points 1. Hereby the Glory of God is signally advanced It is the most excellent Sacrifice we can offer to Almighty God The Glory of God consists in having his Will fulfilled And since we are both created and redeemed to advance God's Glory we commit a very great Errour in having a different Will from God's Will for we deprive him of the Honour due to him and which we are obliged to advance not only by our Obedience but by our Troubles and Dangers too And if it be such an Advancement of God's Glory to do what he will have us do and to follow him where he leads it can be no less Glory to our selves to have the Honour to fulfil his Will in all things That God who is far above us so infinitely exalted above our frail Natures should make use of such poor miserable Creatures to glorifie him and employ in the compassing of his admirable Designs such vile Worms when he might make use of far better is no small Dignity and Advancement If a King were to give Battel to a fierce and numerous Enemy and should quit or lay by a bright and Two-edged Sword and take a rusty Dagger with no Point or Edge to fight the opposite Army as it would be a Mark of his greater Courage so the Victory he gains by that means would be more renowned and glorious We are in the Hand of God no otherwise than obtuse and blunt Daggers are and that by such contemptible means he will compass his Glory is not only the Way to promote his own Honour but ours too When the Disciples of Socrates had all made their Masters very noble Presents Aeschines who was very poor came to him and told him Sir I have nothing to give you that is worthy of you and therefore take the only thing I have to give that is my self Socrates was extreamly pleased with this Offer And Seneca adds that by this Present Aeschines exceeded all the rich Gifts not only of Alcibiades whose Gifts were equal to his generous Mind but all the Presents of the rest A Man can
wise indeed when I shall learn to submit my self to thy infinite Wisdom then shall I know thee the only true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ to whom with thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen CHAP. XXVI Of Preparatory Devotions and Aspirations fit to be used in Private before we come to the Holy Sacrament The CONTENTS The conveniency of using Devotions suitable to this Holy Sacrament the Week before we Receive Prayers and Aspirations relating to the Afflictions of Christ to Christ's readiness to comfort Persons diseased and in distress to his Praying for his Disciples and those that should believe in his Name c. THough all the preceeding Prayers are nothing but preparatory Devotions and may be used as such yet for varieties sake which may be as delightful in spiritual as it is in temporal Things I shall add some other aspirations and breathings of the Soul after God in this Chapter as preparatives for the Worthy Receiving of the Holy Communion Extraordinary occasions as I have said often and short warnings when a Friend of Neighbour is indisposed and requires our presence and help and joyning with him in the devout use of this Ordinance may oblige us to alter our method but where no considerable impediment straitens us in Time it will be convenient the Week before we Receive besides our standing Devotions to address our selves to God in Supplications as both relate and are subservient to the great Work we intend for And such are the following Aspirations whereof one or two may be used together with our daily Devotion I. O wonderful Saviour What Afflictions hast thou suffered for me Heat and Cold Hunger and Thirst Labour and Miseries Give me an Heart to receive from thy hands chearfully all kind of Adversity Give me that excellent temper which was in thy Apostles whereby they rejoyced in Tribulation and counted it Honourable and Glorious that they had any thing to lose for thy sake I intend to look upon thy sufferings in the Blessed Sacrament O let the sight work upon me that I may be contented to suffer joyfully for thy sake II. Great Prince of Peace Who in thy Converse with Men tookest all opportunities to comfort the distressed and didst most mercifully cure their Diseases Give me a great sense of the Afflictions of my Neighbours that I may have as great a feeling of their miseries as if they were mine own and be ready to help them according to my ability I am going to behold in the Blessed Sacrament what Miracles thou hast wrought for me O let me not come away from thence without working a Miracle upon my Soul III. Great Counsellor of my Soul Who at thy leaving the World didst in Prayer recommend thy Disciples and those that through their means should believe in thy Name to thy Heavenly Father's Care Let me find the benefit of thy intercession Preserve me from this evil World and keep me by thy Truth Take care of my Soul that I may not be lost in the Wilderness of this World in the Holy Sacrament which I mean to be partaker of assure me of that care and that thou wilt not leave me nor forsake me IV. O thou who art Alpha and Omâ—ga the Beginning and the end Who didst suffer thy self to be laid hold of by the Sacrilegious hands of thy furious Enemies and when they bound thee didst not revenge their injuries but spake mildly to them Give me Grace to shew my self loving and mild to all mine Enemies to pardon them from my Heart and to look upon them as Ministers of thy Will and promoters of my Salvation To this end let the Holy Sacrament I intend to take strengthen my Soul that I may become conformable to thee in doing good to them that hate me V. O Thou who art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedeck who didst seck me when when I was a stranger to thee and calledst me when I knew thee not Now I know thee let nothing satisfie me but thy self Give me a flaming Heart a chearful Mind and an enlighten'd understanding O give me thy self for nothing less will content my weary Soul I will seek thee in the Holy Sacrament O let me find thee and say to me In the day of Salvation have I succour'd thee VI. O my compassionate Saviour whose Bowels yearn over the Penitent My Soul is miserable if it loves thee not or if it continues to love the World O let my Soul rest in thee and contemplate thee and shew forth thy Praises and be thou my Song in the House of my Pilgrimage O thou who art rich in Goodness Redeem this poor Captive give Meat to my hungry Soul even the Meat which came down from Heaven In the Holy Sacrament let me find it that I may live and not dye VII O thou who art the only life of my Soul I invite thee to my House I confess a shatter'd a broken and a ruinous House But be thou intreated to rebuild and beautifie it with thy Salvation Set up thy Kingdom in it and make my Flesh obedient to my Soul my Soul to Reason my Reason to Faith my Faith to thy Will Enlarge my Mind loose me from my bonds and let the effects of my coming to the Holy Sacrament be that I may become a Servant of Righteousness and may relish no Wisdom but what is from above VIII O my Redeemer kind unspeakable kind to poor Sinners I am going to remember the great Mystery of thy Death and Passion Establish my Mind with the sweetness of thy Presence Let my Soul feel that thou enterest into her and rejoyce before thee O Sacred Fire which always burnest O Love which always shinest shine in my Soul and Sanctifie that Vessel Empty it of Vanity fill it with thy Grace and keep it full till it be made worthy to Receive the fulness of Joy at thy right Hand for evermore IX O powerful Mediator Thy Love is sweeter than Honey more nourishing than Milk Rule my Soul direct my Understanding animate my Love attract my Heart and let it thirst after the Rivers of thy Pleasures Appease the tumults of my Flesh hush the noise of my Worldly Affections and let my participation of thy Love in the Blessed Sacrament give me confidence that where my Head and Master Reigns and Lives there shall I Reign and Live for ever X. Great lover of Mankind To love thee is a great thing Even so to love thee as to think of thee with delight to relish nothing like thee and to be conformable to thy Will O! Let this Love dwell in me Let this Love captivate my Soul By this Love let me be united to thee Let this good Angel visit me In the Holy Sacrament let this Love be setled in me that my angry turbulent covetous mistrustful and impatient Thoughts may cease and I may feel that calm which those that do entirely
love thee feel XI O Saviour Gentle as the Spirit that in the shape of a Dove lighted on thy Sacred Head Teach me that Meekness which look'd so amiable in thy Life Expel the evil Spirits of Wrath Anger and Pride and Envy out of my Soul Speak the word and these Winds and Waves will obey thee Let thy gentleness make me great When I shall have overcome my wrathful and proud Inclinations and O! let the Sacrament I am going to help me in the Conquest then shall I be great and glorious in thy sight XII Great Shepherd of my Soul whose Wounds are full of Sweetness full of Mercy full of Charity Let thy Wounds prove the most powerful Remedies to rid me of my Corruptions When any impure Thoughts rise in me let thinking of thy Wounds crush them when sluggishness in Religion assaults me let thy Wounds and the remembrance of them make me vigilant in thy service and when in the Holy Sacrament I think of thy Wounds let all my vain imaginations expire XIII Great Friend of my immortal Soul Such a friend is not to be found in all the World as thou hast been to me for thou hast laid down thy Life for me O let me make much of thy friendship and cherish it by being meek and humble and merciful and patient as thou wert that thou mayest be my Friend when I dye and after Death receive me to thy self O confirm and seal thy Friendship to my Soul in the Blessed Sacrament and let the same Spirit move in me which raised thee from the dead XIV O Thou who hast wash'd me from my Sins with thine own Blood chuse I beseech thee my Heart for thy Dwelling place adorn and replenish it with thy Gifts and Graces make me to loath all transitory things make me poor in Spirit cure in me the itch of Self-love throw down all pride and eagerness after the Riches of this World and make the Holy Sacrament I am going to a mean to adore thee in Spirit and in Truth and to persevere in Goodness to the end XV. Great Comforter of all weary and laden Souls Circumcise my Heart from all evil Thoughts and Words and Actions and Comunicate thy self unto me that I may never be separated from thee or ever be deprived of thy Comfort Draw my Soul after thee in the Holy Sacrament and let that Blessed Ordinance powerfully stir up my Heart to love thee XVI O Thou who art the door of thy Sheepfold By thee let me have access to thy Father's Love And as in the Holy Sacrament thou openest thy Bosom to me so let me run and seek shelter there Chain me to thy self by Bands of Love and let no Temptation defile me O keep me that I may never cowardly faint at any adversity XVII Thou who hast endured contradictions of Sinners against thy self Be thou ever in my mind and teach me to bear Calumnies and Reproaches with great tranquility of Mind Let me refer all difficulties to thee and with silence expect thy Grace and Comfort and let the Blessed Sacrament so influence my Soul that I may fear none but thee XVIII Great Captain of my Salvation I am going to learn to fight the good fight in the Blessed Sacrament of thy Love Let thy great example there encourage me to fight against all Ambition and Ostentation against Censoriousness and Uncharitableness against all Intemperance and Gluttony against all proud and covetous Thoughts against Guile and Hypocrisie against discontentedness and misitrinst of thy Providence Against such Enemies give me grace to fight over these let me triumph that having striven lawfully I may at last be admitted to the Glorious sight of thy Sweet Self and be charm'd with thy Love for ever CHAP. XXVII Of the proper Acts of Devotion when we come to the Holy Table The CONTENTS Private Acts of Devotion must be forborn while the Congregation joyns in common Addresses to Almighty God General Acts of Devotion relating to the wonderful Love of Christ and our Love to him Particular Acts of Devotion at the Consecration and Receiving of the holy Symbols I. THE following Acts are fittest to be used before the Prayers of the Church usual at the Communion do begin or before the Minister of the Ordinance comes to us with the sacred Symbols and while others are Communicating II. While the Minister of the Ordinance is engaged in the Prayers of the Church these Ejaculations must be forborn our Duty during the publick Devotions being to joyn with the Congregation in their common Addresses to God These Acts of Devotion are either General or Particular The General I call those which respect the Love of the Lord Jesus The Particular those which are to be exercised at the Consecration and Receiving of the Consecrated Bread and Wine General Acts of Devotion at the Lord's Table I. GReat Saviour of the World Thou art infinitely amiable worthy to be loved by all to whose Ears the joyful Message of thy Love doth come I rejoyce in the Knowledge of thy Love I count my self happy that I am born under the Shadow of thy Gospel in which thy wonderful Love to the Children of Men is manifested I desire no other Knowledge 'T is enough that I know thou hast loved me beyond Example I desire to count all things Dross and Dung for the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ. II. O my Jesus I am not worthy to love thee Yet because thou biddest me love thee and hast told me that my Soul was created on purpose to love thee I chearfully resign my Love and Affection to thee I desire to love thee I wish for nothing more than that I may passionately love thee Whom have I in Heaven to love but thee And there is none on Earth that I desire to love more than thy self For thou art altogether lovely and thy Love surpasses all the Love of Friends and the dearest Relations I have III. O my blessed Redeemer I desire to love thee with all my Heart and with all my Strength Thou gavest me this Heart and this Strength And on whom can I bestow it better than on thee the Author of it Oh that all that is within me might be turned into Desires and Inclinations and Sighs and Languishings and Breathings after thee For I cannot express what thou hast done for me What thou hast done for me is beyond all the Kindness that the greatest Men ever did or can do for the meanest and poorest Creatures IV. Great Advocate of my Soul Thou seest my Desire to love thee Make it strong and powerful Take a Coal from the Altar and give it Fire that nothing may hinder the Flame from mounting up that nothing may weaken this Desire nothing may break it nothing may tire it nothing may mingle with it that is unclean or contrary to thy Love V. Great Object of my Desires Make me a Martyr of thy Love Make me willing even to die for love of thee Raise a
mighty Hunger and Thirst after thy Love in my Soul Such an Hunger and Thirst that I may be unsatisfied with any thing but thy Love Let thy Love work upon me with that Efficacy that I may think my self afflicted and poor and miserable till I love thee fervently VI. Blessed Jesu Who would not love thee Who would not wish to be enamour'd with such Charity as thine is to the Sons and Daughters of Men If we love thee not it is because we do not know the Vehemency and Power of thy Love Had we a clear Sight of it our Souls would run after thee and nothing could stop them from clinging to so amiable an Object Lord give me that lively View of thy Love that nothing may charm me more than thy Love VII Great King of Saints pity me I would love thee but thou seest what Impediments come between thy Love and my blockish Heart Innumerable Temptations my perverse Will my Self-love my Passions and my other Imperfections Oh how these hinder me from loving thee O my Gracious Master Let me detest and abhor all these Enemies that would hinder me from loving thee Stretch forth thy mighty Arm and destroy these Foes that I may entirely love thee VIII O Jesu Thou art all Love all Goodness all Charity And Oh what Opposition do I find in my self to love thee O Love Divine Where is thy Strength thy Force and thy uncontrollable Power O my Lord Why dost not thou shew it Why dost not thou exert it for my Help Why do not thy Celestial Flames consume in me all that is contrary to thy Love Oh! When wilt thou establish the Life of Love even that Divine Life in my Soul IX O Omnipotent Love I leave my self to thy Management Enter enter into this frozen Heart and erect thy Kingdom and thy Empire there Undo what thou pleasest and build up what thou pleasest Let every Desire of my Soul become subject to thee Subdue every Imagination that would refuse to be at thy Command And make me willing to submit to any thing so I may but love thee X. Most lovely Saviour Shall any thing hinder me from loving thee Shall my Body I will subdue that Beast Shall my Sins I will drown them in thy Blood Shall the World or the Creatures here below No no I will renounce my Love to them I will despise them all They have too long excommunicated thee from my Soul I will make no more Account of my Praises of my Pleasures of my Vanities I will look upon them all as Dreams and Smoak and I will hate them as much as they have hated thee Great Centre of my Soul XI Great Sovereign of my Love Thou hast sent me into the World on purpose to love thee What a noble what an excellent what an holy End is this Think of the Honour think of the Favour think of the Dignity O my Soul that God hath laid upon thee That he that could have eternally enjoyed himself in his own Love should speak a Creature into Being and ordain that Creature to love him Oh how happy am I that God hath given me an Heart to love him O my Jesus Let me die a Thousand Deaths rather than lose thy Love XII O Love Divine Be thou the Life of my Life the Soul of my Soul the Spirit of my Spirit Let me think of thy Love and speak of thy Love and do Acts worthy of thy Love and let all my Conversation savour of the Love of Jesus Whatever I do let me do it for thy sake Let thy Love put me upon Acts of Charity and let every Vertue I exercise be the Product of thy Love XIII O Jesu Thou art my All All other things are nothing in comparison of thee And I would love nothing but in thee and for thee I would see thee in all things and love thee in every thing I do Thou art my greatest Friend my only Friend Thou art my Brother my Father my Husband and my Chief Thou art All in All to me And Oh that my All might be consecrated to thy Service XIV My dearest Saviour There is nothing in Heaven or in Earth so worthy to be loved as thou Oh how amiable art thou Yet the World doth not so much as think of thee They think of nothing but offending thee They hope to be saved by thee and yet do what they can to dishonour thee Let this very Consideration inflame my Love to thee Oh that I could love thee as the whole World ought to love thee XV. Great Son of God! I was bound to love thee as soon as I came to the Use of my Reason Yet how long hath it been before I thought of loving thee O my Lord how late do I begin to love thee How long have I hated thee How many Years together have I despised thy Love When I think of this I have reason to wish for a Sea of Tears nay for Tears of Blood to wash away my monstrous Ingratitude XVI O Beauty Eternal and Infinite If I were to live eternally here on Earth I were bound eternally to love thee How much more then during my short Stay here on Earth O my Lord consecrate my Life to thy Love Let every Day and Hour of my Life be employed in thy Love and make me ambitious of nothing more than to love thee to all Eternity XVII O thou Everlasting King At the Price of thy precious Blood thou hast bought every Moment of my Time that I might employ it in loving thee How much of that Time have I employed in loving the World and the Creatures How much of that Time have I lost in loving things I should not love 'T is time that I begin to employ my Hours about that for which they were designed And since they were given me to love thee Oh transform all my Desires into Aspirations and Breathings after thee XVIII O my Jesus Thou art so perfect and so lovely that if all Creatures in Heaven and in Earth should joyn their Forces together to love thee they could not love thee sufficiently and if I had a Thousand Hearts they would all be little enough to sacrifice to thy Love O then how am I oblig'd to employ that little Strength I have to love thee Oh that all Mankind might love thee Oh fill them all with a Sense of thy Love Draw them attract them unite their Hearts that they may love thy Name XIX O God of my Life Thou hast been always employ'd in loving me Thou didst create Heaven and Earth to testifie thy Love to me All that thou ever didst in this World for me was to shew how thou lovest me All the Spiritual and Temporal Blessings thou hast sent upon me tell me that thou lovest me But what greater Testimony of thy Love can there be than thy Dying for me As thy Love is perpetually exercised towards me so let mine be continually exercised towards thee And let me glory and
Blood is for the healing of Mens Souls or what a Vine is to Men on Earth the same am I to my living Members and what an Husbandman doth to his Vineyard the same doth my Father to the Branches that shoot forth from me or to my Followers 2. This is my Body i. e This Bread is my Body as the roasted Lamb is the great Festival of the Jews was the Passover i. e. The Memorial of it This Sacrament of the Lords Supper being instituted immediately after the celebration of the Passover as hath been often hinted the Disciples of our Lord being acquainted with that way of speaking could not wonder at Christ's expression for thus the Jews used to say of the Paschal Lamb This is the Passover as we may read Exod. 12. 11. And there was not any so rude among them but understood by this phrase that by eating that Lamb they were to remember the Angels passing by the Houses of the Israelites in Egypt to save them from Destruction This Sense they imbibed with their Mothers Milk and when the Father instructed his Children he told them that by these words This Lamb is the Passover was meant nothing else but this Lamb is the Memorial or puts us in mind of the Passover for so God had himself explain'd it Exod. 12. 26 27. So that our Saviour in saying of the Bread he broke This is my Body brought in no new way of speaking but what the Disciples and all the Jews were already sufficiently acquainted with in Sacramental Discourses which makes Christ add immediately to shew that he meant no more by it but a Memorial Do this in remembrance of me i. e. As the Lamb put the Jews in mind of the destroying Angel's passing over their Houses so the Bread in this Ordinance puts you in mind of my Body that shall be nailed to the Tree of the Cross for the Life of the World and tells you how by that Sacrifice offer'd for your Souls ye shall escape the Everlasting Wrath of God and the burning Lake prepared for the Devil and his Angels as they did the Destruction prepared for Pharaoh and his People 3. That Christ's Church is often called his Body none can be ignorant that peruses these passages Col. 1. 18. Ephes. 5. 23 Ephes. 4. 12. 1 Cor. 10. 16. 1 Cor. 12. 27. And though that Sense we have already alledgâ—d be the principal thing aim'd at in these words This is my Body yet to shew how little need there is to have recourse either to Transubstantiation or Consubstantiation rather than run into such absurdities we might very well say that the Bread is an Emblem or Adumbration of Christ's Body i. e. of Christ's Church For as that Bread is made up of many Particles so Christ's Church of many Members and as those various Crums are closely united to th' other so the various Members ought to be link'd together in Love and Charity according to the Royal Law given by our Master Joh. 13. 34. A new Commandment I give unto you that ye love one another But this we add to shew rather what little temptation there is to run our selves into inextricable difficulties in the explication of these words than to express the immediate intent of this expression All Churches agree in 't That Christ's Crucified Body is meant here only the difference is how the Bread is Christ's Body and how Christ's Body is present in the Sacrament we say it is there spiritually as the Bread is a Symbol a Figure a Sign a Representation and a Memorial of Christ's Body which was offer'd for the Sins of the World and this Interpretation is so easie so intelligible so agreeable to Sacramental expressions and to the Analogy of Faith that one would think it should be impossible for Men to contradict it except they were resolv'd to defend an Opinion right or wrong merely because it is their interest to do so The Romanists indeed have of late years endeavour'd very much to perswade the World that the Greek Church in the Levant is of their Opinion in the Sacrament but not to mention the rudeness and ignorance of those poor Churches which scarce understand the Principles of their own Faith if the Protestants had but taken the same pains with the Modern Greeks that the Popish Missioners do i. e. bribed and paid them for their assent and consent to their Faith they would have been Protestants in this Article of the Sacrament as some of them are Papists at this present Cyril who was Patriarch of Constantinople in the year 1622 where-ever he imbibed his Doctrine certainly was not for Transubstantiation and though by the endeavours of the Jesuits he was afterwards strangled yet that doth not make him an Heretick And though several Synods have been held by the Greeks of late years which have establish'd Transubstantiation yet it 's sufficiently known that it hath been by instigation of those of the Roman Communion who spare no cost that they may bring them to say as they do However such Greeks as are not yet corrupted by the Roman Emissaries are so far from believing Transubstantiation that they know not what it is and as a late ingenious Travellr hath observed wonder any Man should think them such Beasts as to believe such an Absurdity But what doth it signifie whether the Modern Greeks who are sunk into gross Ignorance and Barbarism be of our Opinion or no 'T is sufficient that the ancient Greek Church is and hath been of the same Belief with us The Churches of the Levant at this Day as Learning is become a very scarce Commodity among them so their Opinion in a controverted Point is of no great Consequence Where they can give Proof of an uninterrupted Succession of their Doctrine it may be of importance else not The Church of the Aethiopians or Habessines as they have for many Centuries continued in the honest Simplicity of their Doctrine so their Testimony in this Point of the Eucharist may be of some use and by what appears they seem to joyn with us in this Sacrament For though they pray in their Liturgy That the Holy Ghost may descend and come and shine upon the Bread that it may become the Body of Christ and that the Taste of the Cup may be changed and become the Blood of Christ yet by what one of their own Priests confessed they believe no other Change but a mysterious or representative one or a Change of the use of the Bread whereby from common it becomes sacred And so much appears from the Exposition they give of the Words used by Christ for they say expresly This Bread is my Body and This Cup is my Blood IV. From what hath been said 't is easie to conclude what it is to eat Christ's Body in this holy Sacrament 1. It is to contemplate Christ's crucified Body and the Cause and Reasons of that Crucifixion to view all this with our warmest Thoughts to make
preferr'd before the lesser and Mercy many times comes to be a greater Duty than Sacrifice Ordinarily a Duty of God's Worship we have resolved upon ought to be preferr'd before a Duty of Civility and a customary visit is not to dash or hinder our intended Devotion God must first be pleas'd and then Man in things lawful and convenient yet Charity is of so great a value in the sight of God that many times he bids us prefer that before Devotion When my Neighbors House is on fire I am bound to run and endeavour to quench that though the hour is come that I use to enter into my Closet to pray to my Father in secret and my sick Neighbor wanting my help and assistance I may justly prefer a charitable Visit before my accustomed Suplications Nor is this all the Order that is to be observ'd in Duties The business of our calling must be begun with Prayer and concluded with Thanksgiving and he that when first he awakes in the Morning lets his first Thoughts be of God and when he is up and dress'd applies himself to singing of a Psalm or to meditating in the Law of God by reading a Chapter in the Bible with attention then kneels down to Prayer either by himself or with his Family and afterwards goes to his lawful employment and in the midst of that imployment forgets not that God sees and hears him but runs up often with his Thoughts to Heaven takes notice of God's Providences and before he goes into company arms himself with Holy Ejaculations against Sin and Infection and at night reviews what he hath been doing in the day-time such a person acts orderly and draws a Blessing down upon the work of his hands not to mention the Peace he thereby procures to his Mind and Conscience 2. He took this Cup after the Paschal Cup to shew that after the Jewish Oeconomy another and much nobler Dispensation was to follow a Dispensation not of Shadows and Types and Images but of Truth of Reality and Accomplishment a Dispensation not requiring Sacrifices of Lambs and Bullocks but such as press'd Spiritual Sacrifices and Oblations a Dispensation not of Bondage and Slavery but of Freedom and Liberty a Dispensation which should be large and diffussve not confining its Priviledges and Influences to a single Nation but spread them abroad to the comfort of all the Inhabitants of the World None drank of the Cup of the Passover but persons circumcised but the Cup Christ takes here all Nations both circumcised and uncircumcised were permitted to participate of all Penitents what Kindred People Tongue or Nation soever they were of 3. He took this Cup after the Paschal Cup to shew there was greater Virtue and Excellency in this last than there was in the first After me comes a Man saith the Baptist John 1. 30. that is preferr'd before me for he was before me So it may be said of the Paschal Cup after that came a Cup which was far more Excellent and Glorious and Beneficial than the other Christ came after Moses after the Law after the Prophets yet went beyond them all in Light in Knowledge in Virtue in Goodness and in bringing glad Tidings And so the Passover tho' it was before the Lord's Supper yet doth this Supper of the Lord transcend the other by many degrees and both represents and confers sublimer Mercies than the roasted Lamb could do for here the Blessed Trinity manifests it self in greater charms than it did in the Baptism of the Lord Jesus in which St. John saw the Heavens open and the Holy Ghost descending on the Son of God in the shape of a Dove and the Father compleating the stupendious Scene with an Acclamation This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased For in this Sacrament the Holy Ghost falls on the Souls of sincere Believers as Rain on the Mowen Grass and as the Showers that water the Earth The everlasting Father not only tells us which is the Beloved Son but by setting his Sons death before us shews that he loved us in a manner better than his Son in giving that Son to dye for us than which nothing can be more kind nothing more surprizing the Son himself invites us and offers to wash us from our sins with his own Blood and assures us That being sprinkled with his Blood we are fafe and secure against all the Curses of the Law and the Thunders of Mount Sina These things were Mysteries and Paradoxes in the Passover but this Sacrament which came after it opens the door and lets us in to see this Glorious Representation and consequently is a Richer Greater Holier Sublimer and more Heavenly Ordinance than the Passover The Preeeding Considerations reduced to Practice I. AMong the Heathen Poets there is much talk of Circe's Cup which transform'd Men into Brutes and Swine a Fable whereby they represented how sensual pleasure transform'd Men into Creatures void of Reason and Discretion But the Cup we speak of hath contrary effects and Fire and Water are not more opposite than the operations of these two For this Sacramental Cup transforms Brutes into Men again and changes Beasts into the Image of the Son of God Sinner make but a trial of it thou I mean that hast not had so much understanding as the Swallow and the Turtle and the Crane for they know their appointed times whereas thou hast not known the time of thy return thou that hast rusht into Sin as the Horse rushes into the Battle thou that hast wallowed in the Mire with the Swine and acted like a Creature made of Earth and Dung. Take courage prepare thy self for drinking of this Cup purifie thy Soul for profane Hands must not touch it confess thine iniquity make War with thy Lusts Fight with thy carnal Desires and drink of this Cup and thou wilt find how thy Reason will clear up how thy Understanding will be enlighten'd how thy beastly Qualities will die The Blood in this Cup hath such Virtue in it that it will transform thee by the renewing of the Mind and make thee prove what is the Holy Perfect and acceptable Will of God It 's true the bare drinking will not do it but drinking it with Contrition with contemplation of the Person whose Blood is in the Cup with consideration of the Cause viz. the Sins that spilt it with thankfulness for the infinite Mercy of him that thus freely parted with it and with resolutions to love him that did not think his own Blood too dear to let it flow for the good of his enemies Petrus de Natalibus tells us of a Woman who having labour'd many years under very great infirmities of Body was brought exceeding weak but drinking one day accidentally out of the Cup that a Holy Man Scion by Name did use to drink of she was restored to perfect health Though we cannot promise that this Sacramental Cup will work such a Miracle of the Diseases of the Body
yet surely it will transform a Soul sick to death into a lively and healthful constitution though with the Woman in the Gospel she hath lain under her distemper a considerable time II. Among the Scythyans as Herodotus tells us there was a custom for the Princes of the Country to meet once a year at a certain Feast where a Cup was set upon the Table a Cup of Honour which none durst presume to drink of but such as had signaliz'd their Valour in Battel and kill'd more or less of their publick Enemies Though this Sacramental Cup is too High too Sacred and too Lofty a thing to be compared with Cups used at the Feast of Barbarians yet I may take occasion from hence to tell you that this Holy Cup is fit for none to drink of but such as have either shewn or are at least resolved to shew their Valour against their Spiritual Enemies Christian if thou hast fought with the Old Serpent encountred the Hellish Dragon wrestled with Powers and Principalities exprest thy Courage against Temptations defied Goliah the Lion and the Bear the World the Devil and the Flesh or art resolv'd to be a Champion for thy God and fight the Battels of the Lord Thou art that valiant Man that may drink of this Cup Thy God will give thee leave to drink of it with other Hero's with the greatest Worthies with Men of whom the World was not worthy with Men whose Faith hath advanced them above the Stars and who are to shine as the Sun in the Firmament in their Father's Kingdom Let no despairing Thoughts no suggestion of the Devil no slavish Fear no pretence of Unworthiness discourage thee from touching this Cup or drinking of it It 's mingled for thee for thee it is prepared The King expects thee at this Feast thou art called to this Banquet Thus shall it be done to the Man whom the King of Heaven intends to Honour What If thou hast not slain thy Thousands with Saul nor thy Ten thousands with David What if thou hast not brought thy Two hundred Foreskins of the Philistins to thy Lord and Master thou dost a greater act in conquering thy Thoughts thy Desires thy Passions thy Appetite thy vain Imaginations than if thou hadst laid Countries waste ruin'd Kingdoms or bound their Kings in Chains and their Nobles with Fetters of Iron Such Honour have all all his Saints III. Hear this thou fainting Soul that groanest under the burthen of thy Sins goest heavy laden with Sorrow and like Rachel wilt not be comforted Behold thy Lord and Master touched with the feeling of thy infirmities and afflicted in all thy afflictions who waits to be Gracious and loves to converse more with a weeping Publican than with a jovial Herod he reaches forth a Cup to thee a Cup of Joy a Cup of Gladness a Cup of Comfort It is this Sacramental Cup. Drink of it thou thirsty Soul Why shouldst thou fear This Cup is design'd for labouring Souls they that have born the heat and burthen of the day are to taste of it It is design'd to recreate design'd to refresh desing'd to revive design'd to support their Spirits Dost thou believe this Christian Dare to believe it Take thy Saviours word for it and triumph in the Promise The Mercy may be too big for thee to ask but not too big for him to grant Thou hast a Master to deal withal who gives like himself like a King like a Prince whose Stores are inexhaustible Let no Senacharib deceive thee regard not what such a Rabshakeh says Hearken not to the frightful Stories of thine enemies who rejoyce to see thee discourag'd are glad to see thee forbear drinking of this Cup and think it their interest to keep thee from that which may and will give thee everlasting health I have read of a precious Stone of considerable value that dropt no Man knew how into the Holy Cup while the Priest was administring the Sacrament There needs no precious Stone to drop into this Cup to make it of greater value That which is in it is of greater worth than Ten thousand Worlds It represents that which neither Pearls nor Rubies nor Diamonds can counter-balance The Papists boast much of the Gifts of their Popes how Sylvester gave three Golden Cups to be used in the celebration of the Eucharist How John the Second gave a Cup of Gold weighing Twenty pound How Gregory the Second and Leo the Third presented their respective Churches with Cups all beset with precious Stones What if thou canst bring no such Presents to God thou bringest a better when thou bringest a Spirit a Heart a Soul lamenting and mourning because thou hast departed from him contented thy self with a form of Godliness and under the profession of Religion hast denied him in thy actions A Heart toucht with the sense of the unreasonableness odiousness and loathsomness of all this and finding a relish in the things of God and of Salvation qualifies a Man more for comfortable drinking of this Cup than if with the Wise Man he had offer'd Gold and Myrrh and Frankincense to Christ Jesus Is not this the Cup whereby my Lord divineth saith Joseph's Steward Gen. 44. 5. Christian by drinking of this Sacramental Cup thou may'st divine thy future happiness guess at what will become of thee hereafter make conjectures of thy Glory and conclude that thou shalt feel the comfort of drinking the Cordials of a Blessed Eternity The PRAYER O Jesu Great Fountain of all Goodness who didst drink of the bitter Cup which my Sins had mingled I am sensible there was no sorrow like thy sorrow which was done unto thee and wherewith the Lord afflicted thee in the day of his fierce anger How was thy Spirit disturb'd How sore amaz'd was thy Soul How dismay'd thy Mind To such an exceeding heighth of Grief and Sorrow did the Sense of the incumbent load of my sins and the prospect of calamities hanging over my head together with the reflexion on my wretched condition skrew up thy Affections innumerable evils encompass'd thee thou sawest the wrath of God flaming out against my Sin and trembledst Thou stoodst before the mouth of Hell which I had deserv'd and wast astonish'd Thou with thine own Heart Blood didst quench the wrath of Heaven O how am I obliged to adore thy Love O everlasting Father What Charity was it not to spare thine own Son but to deliver him up for us all What pity and compassion was it O thou Eternal Son of God thus to pour forth thy Blood What Affection what tenderness to my Soul O thou Eternal Spirit hast thou express'd in inspiring my Blessed Redeemer with Charity more than Human and in supporting him to undergo all pressures with invincible patience If I forget thy Love sweet Jesu let my right hand forget her cunning What an encouragement is here to believe thy Word which I see so punctually accomplish'd The antient Prophets foretold that Christ should
and Sicknesses laid down in several Particulars The Prayer I. AS Corporal so even Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death proves too frequently an Effect of Eating and Drinking unworthily at this Table Nay these Spiritual Sicknesses are more common than the other 'T is true they cause no Pain no Aches no Torments in the Bowels they are not felt as the Pleurisie or Cholick or Twisting of the Guts but they are Sicknesses still And because we find such Things and God manifests his Anger often against unworthy Receiving by such Symptoms we have reason to believe the Apostle aimed at these as well as at Bodily Diseases when he avers For this Cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep 'T is true there is not a more proper Medicine for all the Diseases of the Soul than this holy Sacrament To which purpose Albertus Magnus saith very appositely If in the Eucharist in the Remembrance of our Saviour's Passion we reflect on his Humility it will free us from the Infection of Pride If we think of his wonderful Charity we shall be delivered from the Evil of Envy If we consider with what Alacrity he went to die for us and to offer himself in Sacrifice for us it will be an Antidote against Weariness of his Service and Backwardness to Devotion If we ponder his Bounty and how liberally he gives us himself and all he hath we shall be rid of Covetousness If we lay his Meekness and Patience to heart it will be an excellent Remedy against Wrath and Anger If we remember how frugal his Supper was and how far from Pomp and Ostentation and how mean the Food was he made use of it will check our Gluttony and Voracity And if we cast our Eyes on the bitter Herbs he eat the Emblem of his bitter Passion we shall not be troubled much with Luxury And to this purpose was the Saying of Innocent III. That the Mystery of the Cross frees us from the reigning Power of Sin and the Mystery of the Eucharist from a Desire of Sin And if the Woman in the Gospel was cured of her Infirmity by touching but the Hem of Christ's Garment what Virtue may we suppose in his whole Body if it be touched by a lively Faith in this Ordinance If God hath given to the Fat of Vipers Virtue to expel Poyson shall not we think there is greater Virtue in Christ's crucified Body to cure the Diseases of the Soul If he gave Virtue to the Tree of Life in Paradise to prolong Age and to procure Perpetuity of Duration shall not Christ's Flesh represented by the Symbols here confer Life and Health and Salvation much more If he have given some Minerals Virtue to disperse Fumes and Vapours shall not we believe there is greater Virtue in the Incarnate Son of God to disperse the Clouds and Fogs that molest and annoy the Soul This cannot be denied and we may rationally believe that this Sacrament is intended by God to cure all the Distempers of the Soul But if that Medicine be not used as it ought the Soul instead of growing stronger becomes more weakly more sickly and draws nigh unto the Gates of Death II. What this Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death is will not be very difficult to discover If you mind the Apostle's Expression there is a Gradation in the Judgment he speaks of Weakness is a lower Degree of Misery than Sickness and Sickness a lower Degree than Death The first Act of God's Displeasure against Receiving unworthily is to inflict Weakness if that works no Reformation then Sickness and if this doth not make the Sinner rise then Spiritual Death 1. Spiritual Weakness And this may be said to consist in these following Particulars 1. In the Loss of Lively Apprehensions of Spiritual Things which were formerly vouchsafed to the unworthy Receiver Even Men that are Hypocrites in Religion and whose Hearts were never throughly changed have sometimes Flashes of Heaven or Hell coming either from without or from within Ahab certainly had a very great Sense of God's Displeasure and a Sight of Divine Vengeance surprized his Mind when he rent his Clothes and put Sack-cloth upon his Flesh and fasted and lay in Sack-cloth and went softly 1 King 21. 27. And some of us may have known some Persons who have been given to Drinking or Swearing or Lying or Uncleanness or Quarrelling when their Office or Employment or Station in the World or some such External Cause and Motive have put them upon Receiving the Holy Sacrament before they have come to this Table they have had some very serious Thoughts and you might observe in them a Demureness of Behaviour some Apprehensions of the Necessity of Repentance and sometimes their Hearts have been so touched that even a few Tears have dropped from their Eyes as a Testimony of their being moved at the Thoughts of Christ's Death and Passion but the Sacrament being over their Devotion hath been at an end too and they have returned to their old Sins which made them unworthy Receivers because this shews they were not heartily resolved when they came to this Table to subdue their Corruptions Their lively Apprehensions of Spiritual Things they formerly had have thereupon grown dark and decayed become languid and faint and no Foot-step of them hath been left Those Flashes of good Thoughts though short and transitory had they been improved would have signally strengthen'd their Souls and encouraged their practical Love to Christ Jesus But being careless and regardless of that Improvement God justly lets those lively Apprehensions decay and thence comes their Spiritual Weakness God could uphold those lively Apprehensions but they having no Love to them God by a secret Judgment lets them wear out And then What can be the Issue but Spiritual Weakness 2. Irresoluteness to resist Temptations is another Symptom of this Spiritual Weakness When the Soul is either unresolved whether it shall resist such known Temptations or not or resist them but faintly it is a Sign the Powers of the Soul are shaken and the Plague is begun in the Heart By Temptations I mean such Temptations as are agreeable to our sinful Temper and Inclination or such as our Calling and Employment makes us subject to He that observes and takes a View of such Sinners as Receive unworthily cannot but spy in them a very feeble and irresolute Resistance of such Temptations For notwithstanding whatever Resolutions they made before Receiving whatever Prayers and Supplications for God's Grace and Assistance they offered and put up before yet after they have been at this Table the old Temptations return even the same dear Friends that enticed and persuaded them to sin before their Resistance is very weak and they know not well what they shall do whether they shall displease their own and other Men's vain Desires or no. Perhaps some little horror or kind of damp the Sacrament for the present leaves upon their Minds hath so much force
Beauty like thy Crown is immarcessible Ages cannot change it neither Heat nor Cold can alter it Thou art beautiful in thy Body beautiful in thy Soul but infifinitely beautiful in thy Divinity Nothing deserves to be loved or praised if thou dost not VI. Oh how blind are poor Mortals who are so very fond of Honours Riches curious Palaces Gardens Pleasures Musick Rarities Colours Herbs Flowers Stones and Minerals Great Conqueror of my Soul Thou art more honourable more amiable more sweet more pleasant more agreeable more delicious more harmonious to my Soul than all these Thy Excellency cannot by searching be found out VII O Lamb of Gd With the Four and Twenty Elders I fall down before thy Throne and cry Blessing and Praise and Honour and Wisdom be unto the Lamb for ever and ever for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation VIII O God of Glory I beseech thee remove from me all those things which would hinder me from glorifying thee Remove from me an unsteady Mind that I may glorifie thee in Poverty as well as in Plenty in Adversity as well as Prosperity in Desertions as well as in Consolations in Disgrace as well as in Honour Let me look upon both Conditions as coming from the same good Hand of Providence and let that be an everlasting Motive to me to shew forth thy Glory IX O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ I desire to glorifie thee in this World and in that to come with Men here and with Angels hereafter Give me the Grace of Continuance in magnifying thy Name thy Goodness and thy Charity while I am in this barren Wilderness that I may not fail of being admitted to the Regions of the Blessed where I may praise and magnifie thee World without end X. O Jesu Why art thou so lovely so beautiful so amiable but that I might love thee But I cannot love thee of my self Thy Love must give me Power and sow the Seeds of Reciprocal Love in my Soul O Love O Desire of my Soul Oh do not do that Injury to thy infinite Perfections as to let me live without being passionately enamoured with thee XI O God who hast promised that the Needy shall not always be forgotten that the Expectation of the Poor shall not perish for ever Look upon me a poor needy Wretch and give me those Riches I desire and without which I must ever count my self most miserably poor even the Riches of thy Love which whoever does enjoy hath enough and more than the richest Princes can pretend to XII Who would not praise thee O thou great Redeemer of Men Seven times a Day will I praise thee because of thine infinite Charity Morning and Evening and at Noon will I praise thee because thou hast bought me with Blood Oh that Men would praise the Lord for his Goodness and for his wonderful Works to the Children of Men. The Lord liveth and blessed be my Rock and let the God of my Salvation be exalted He delivers me from mine Enemies yea thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me Therefore will I give Thanks unto thee O Lord and sing Praises unto thy Name for ever CHAP. XXIX Of the Life we are to lead after we have receiv'd the Holy Communion The CONTENTS The Life to be led after Receiving a Reasonable Service Wherein that Service consists The necessity of it Men that are in an unconverted State live below their Reason The Generality of Men very rational in Temporal Concerns but very unreasonable in Things belonging to their Everlasting Peace The Prayer I. THough from the Premises any Man may guess what life it is that a Christian who hath engaged himself to God in this Sacrament and vow'd Faith and Allegiance to the King of Saints is to live after it yet to make these instructions complete I shall briefly add some Memorandums that are to be observed in our future Conversation and though in the foregoing Discourse I have often occasionally mention'd such a thing as a REASONABLE SERVICE yet it 's time I should now press it with great earnestness there being nothing more proper nothing more equitable after such solemn engagements than this Service and if we examine what it is it will be found to consist In these following particulars 1. In an happy agreement of our profession and actions of our belief and practices of our Principles and Conversation where our Profession is of one colour and our Practice of another where our Tongues speak one thing and our Lives another there I need not tell you how we involve our selves in a palpable contradiction Things contradictory mutually destroy each other A thing that is cold cannot at the same time be hot and what is black at the same time and under the same respects cannot be white and consequently where the Actions contradict our Principles the Actions destroy our Principles and in God's account we deny the Principles too by denying the consequences which are the actions that should naturall issue from those Principles and he that hath very good Principles but allows himself in bad Actions cannot be partly good and partly bad but is wholly bad which makes the Holy Ghost call all those Vnbelievers which profess the true Worship of God and dishonour it by their Lives Heb. 3. 17 18 19. But where I do believe that God is my Supreme Governor and therefore prefers his Will and Favour before the Will and Favour of Men when these two interfere and are contrary to one another Where I do believe that neither Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God and therefore will not be perswaded by all the gain and profit of the World to venture upon any of these Sins If I believe that my Soul is worth more than a whole World and therefore will not wrong my better part though I might have the Riches of the Indies for doing it If I believe that if I am ashamed of the Gospel of Christ and of observing his Laws the Son of God will certainly be ashamed of me in the last day and thereupon take courage to act like a Man that believes it and stand up for the Glory and Honour of my God with Humility and Modesty in despight of all the reproaches and contempt of the World If I profess and believe that if I love not the Lord Jesus Christ so as to testifie my Love in my obedience to him I shall be for ever banish'd from the Glorious Presence of God and thereupon express my Love in thinking of him in Honouring and Esteeming him within and without if I believe that except my Righteousness exceeds the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees I shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and thereupon actually shun those Sins which the Pharisees made