thou hast of the nature and use of it Speak therefore on this manner to thy soul O my soul thou art now going to the Lords table doest thou know that God Nah. 1. Mal. 4. with whom thou haste to do who is a Lord of Anger and a consuming oven to approaching stubble and a God of mercy to humble souls Doest thou know thy sinne so farre as to hate it for drawing thee from thy God and making thee a stranger to the covenant of promise Doest thou know thy Christ who is the Covenant of his people Doest thou know the nature and use of the Sacraments which bindes God to thee on his part and thee to God on thine If thou do not thou wilt never desire to come unto the Sacrament as thou oughtest to renew thy covenant with God If thou knowest all this which is the ground of thy desires doest thou finde thy desires caried aright What doest thou principally desire when thou comest to the Lords Table doest thou not desire Christ Saist thou not Ps 42.1 2. my soul panteth after thee O God even for the living God Doest thou not desire all Christ a Jesus to save thee a Christ to anoint thee a Lord to rule over thee Doest thou not throw away what ever may hinder the comfort of the Sacrament He that desires to fill his hands with gold and silver will lay aside what ever baser matter he hath in them Doest thou desire to cast away thy old transgressions that thou maist become a new creature in Christ Doest thou finde that thou hast no contentment without Christ no rest till thou enjoy Christ and that when thou hast him he is all in all unto thee Then comfort thy self from thy fit desires Secondly thou must examine the fitnesse of thy Repentance Repentance The King never offers a sealed pardon before Delinquents are sory for their faults and promise amendment neither will God seal thy pardon in the Sacrament before thou do thus 1 Cor. 5.7 8. Exod. 12. Thou must purge out the old leven and then keep the feast The Paschal Lamb must bee eaten with the sowr hearbs of Repentance As the Jewes did not eat the Passeover before they had separated themselves from the abominations of the heathens Ezr. 6.21 22. so nor thou must come to the Lords table before repentance hath disingaged thee from thy sinnes Tit. 1.15 Hag. 2.13 14. Conscience defiled with any known sins corrupteth the holy thing of God to thee Now this Repentance stands in grief for thy sins past hatred also and loathing of sinnes past and present and an holy purpose and endeavour to forsake them This is that repentance which thou must examine Speak therefore on this manner to thy soul Vse O my soul Lam. 3.39 thou art now going to the feast of fat things and fined wines Doest thou search and try thy wayes that thou maist turn unto the Lord Dost thou know what sinnes of thine have made a separation betwixt God and thee and kept good things from thee Doest thou see how these things gape upon thee thy ignorance infidelity security deadnesse of heart prophannesse of spirit and the like Are these and other sinnes as pride hypocrisie gluttony drunkennesse whoredome envie hatred malice and all thy injustice so noticed unto thee as thou grievest to think that thou hast offended so good a God Jude and hatest the garment spotted of the flesh and resolvest never to do the like again Art thou full of care to forsake thy sinnes and to keep thy self from offending thy God Art thou full of clearing to pacifie thy conscience from wrath present to come The bloud of Christ rested on by faith 2 Cor. 7.11 Art thou full of indignation against thy sins and thy self for sin as David who chides himself so foolish was I and ignarant Psal 73. and as a beast before thee Art thou full of fear of offending God lest thou should fall into the same sin a 2d. time Art thou full of desire to walk with thy God and to do his will with all well pleasing Art thou full of zeal to run the way of Gods commandements and to purifie thy self from sin Art thou full of indignation to beat down thy body by holy acts of mortification to bring it into subjection to the will of God If thou art then thou hast this Repentance fit for the Sacrament Thirdly Faith thou must examine the fitnesse of thy faith The Sacrament is not appointed to begin faith but to encrease and confirm it Rom. 4.11 and therefore is it called a seal And as a man will not be such a fool as to set his hand and seal to a blank for then any man that hath it may put in any covenants and conditions so nor is God so unwise as to give a seal to thy soul where faith hath not written thy obligation and Gods promises Heb. 4.1 As the word of God profits not except it be mixed with faith so nor the Sacrament It is faith which is the eye foot hand and mouth of thy soul as I have said Besides when thou comest to the Sacrament thou drawest near to God and art at peace with him and thou must draw near to God by faith Heb. 10.22 and being justified by faith thou art at peace with him though not with his enemies Speak then my childe on this manner to thy soul O my soul now the fatted Calf is provided for thee in the Sacrament hast thou a fit faith to feed upon him Doest thou cast thy eye upon sinne and hate it because it is against thy word of faith Doest thou cast thy eye upon Christ and rest with confidence upon him for thy salvation Hast thou a license of Christ to rest upon him Thou knowest that every slovenly Clown with his dirty hands must not rest upon a King nor must every wicked sinner rest upon Christ There is not the wretchedst beast in the world but will say if he know Christ that all the world shall not beat him off from resting upon him But hath Christ given him a license If he have not he will say Touch me not Depart from me I know thee not Mat. 11.28 He doth give a license to some saying Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Doest thou labour under the burthen of sinne crying out with David my sinne is an heavy burthen too heavy for me to bear Art thou heavie laden to think that thou canst not be so good as thou would'st and therefore criest out with the Apostle Rom. 7.24 Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Doest thou finde that thy faith works purgation and charity True faith doth purifie the heart Act. 15. fundamentally in Christ derivatively from Christ Rom. 6.1 2 and argumentatively by drawing such reasons from the
he might be a fit Prophet Heb. 7.25 Joh. 1.18 Ephes 1.17 1 Cor. 1.30 Esa 53. Priest and King to perfect thy salvation As he was a Prophet he came out of his Fathers bosome to reveale his will unto thee that so he might be thy wisdome to shew thee the way to heaven by him Heb. 7. As he was a Priest Rom. 8. he offered himselfe in sacrifice for thee and still maketh request for thee at the right hand of God As he was a King he had all authority and power committed to him to rule over thee and overrule thy enemies Thus nothing lies in the way to hinder him from being the Prince of thy salvation by mortification as a King and Prophet by ransome as a Priest and by rescue as a King He is called our Lord Act. 10.36 Rom. 7.25 Phil. 2.8.9 10.11 as one that hath power to maintaine that salvation which he hath procured thee because by purchase from God for thee and conquest over the world the flesh and the devill he doth possesse thee as his owne 1 Cor. 6.19 20. and therefore must give an account to him Thus thou seest him that saveth thee from the Curse Vse Therfore my dear child build thy self upon Jesus Christ our Lord upon Christ for salvation for dominion All his garments smell of Myrrhe Aloes and Cassia Psal 45.8 That which covers thee and comforts thee frō Christ is preservative as Myrrhe compurgative as Aloes comfortative as sweet smelling Cassia Christ wil not only comfort thee from guilt but purge and preserve thee from the body of death Without Christ nothing can purge thee Mich. 6.6 7. Luk. 18.11 12. Esa 1.11 12 13 14. Hypocrites will runne to thousands of Rams and tenne thousands of Rivers of Oyle Moralists will run to their civill carriages Formalists will runne to the outward acts of Gods Ordinances but nothing will doe thee good without Christ If thou seeke to Christ only then all things succeed to this end The Holy Ghost purgeth by way of infusion Faith by way of application Repentance by way of disposition Holinesse by way of repression and mortification Zach. 13.1 but Christ is the fountaine whence all proceeds Would'st thou have peace with God Rom. 5.1 It must be through our Lord Jesus Christ Would'st thou have joy Rom. 5.11 It must be through our Lord Jesus Christ Would'st thou have grace raigne Rom. 5.21 It must be by Jesus Christ our Lord. Would'st thou be justified Phil. 3.8 It must be by the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. Would'st thou walke in Christ Col. 2.6 As thou hast received the Lord Jesus Christ so walke in him Would'st thou have grace and peace 1 Thess 1.1 It must be from the Lord Jesus Christ Wouldst thou have any saving grace 2 Pet. 1.8 It must be by fruitfulnesse in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ Still whole Christ must be rested on or it will doe thee no good When a wise Physician gives a certaine quantity to purge rebelling humours thou must take it all so when God gives the Lord Jesus Christ thou must apply him all Christ cannot be divided Jesus cannot be Jesus except he be a Lord. He was anointed to be a King as well as a Priest and a Prophet and without the exercise of all his Offices he saves not one soule There is not the vilest sinner in the Church but would have Jesus He would runne to his salvation because he is convinced that he cannot be saved without him but they cannot abide the Lord Jesus who must rule and raigne Ob. It may be thou maist thinke that thou runnest to the Lord Jesus Christ daily Sol. If thou doest then as a man cannot plunge himselfe into a fountaine daily and not be cleanner or as a man cannot live among sweet odours and not be sweeter so nor can a man runne unto and use Christ daily but he shall be better Ob. It may be thou maist thinke that thou shalt not be the worse though thou lie under the burden of some sinne because we cannot be quite rid of the body of death But I would have thee know that there are three sorts of sinners Sol. 1 Some that neither know the sinnes they might know nor desire to know them These can not make use of Christ because they have no sight of their foulenesse and therefore they can neither renounce it nor goe to the fountaine to cleanse it Some know them and when they are convinced Deut. 29.19 20. sigh to know them yet live in them wilfully under hope of mercy These cannot look for salvation for God will not be mercifull to such Some are such sinners as Paul was These are in the way of salvation by Christ Rom. 7.15 1 Cor. 9.27 If thou aske what manner of sinner Paul was I tell thee that he was such a sinner as hated sinne and cared not who knew what was in him and practised great works of mortification Rom. 7.24 and accounted himselfe a base wretch the least of Saints the greatest of sinners and one that walked humbly under the sense of finne and one that made diligent search after Christ to save him and when he had found him thanked God for whole Christ even for the Lord Jesus Christ Be thou such a finner through Gods grace and I shall not feare the Curse of the Law which lies upon thee for sin Now tell me 22. Q. What is Jesus Christ A. He is the eternal Son of God made man This is also Gods truth What Jesus Christ is for when Christ was baptized and when he was transfigured a voyce came from heaven saying This is my well beloved Sonne Matt. 3.17 Matt. 17.5 And that he is the Eternall Sonne of God appears because he was in the beginning Joh. 1.1 that is when God made Time he was before God made that Time to wit in eternity and so was God This crowned Peters faith in the name of all the Apostles when he said Thou art Christ Matt. 16.16 Matt. 3. Luk. 3. the Sonne of the living God And that he was made man the Genealogies prove And tha the was the Son of God made man appears from Johns testimony The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us Joh. 1.14 and we beheld his glory the glory of the onely begotten of the Father and from the Testimony of the Angel who saith to Mary Luk. 1.35 an holy thing shall be borne of thee which shall be called the Sonne of God 1 Joh. 3.1 not nuncupatively by name onely but shall be the Sonne of God As Gods people are called the sonnes of God by adoption and are so so Christ by nature As borne of the Virgin so he was made man as the Sonne of God so was he God The Son of God must be thy Saviour Luk. 3.38 because he might give thee what thou wantest Thou wast
in Adam the sonne of God by falling in him Joh. 8.44 thou becamest the sonne of the Devil thy Saviour comes to make thee the sonne of God againe without which thou canst not be the heire of glory Now marke God cannot give thee what he hath not The Father is not the Sonne neither is the Holy Ghost the Sonne but the Sonne is the Sonne Therefore he becomes thy Saviour to give thee sonship The Sonne of God becomes the sonne of man to make the sonnes of men become the sonnes of God He is made man that he might be a fit sacrifice Man is a more noble sacrifice then a woman Mal. 1.14 for cursed is he that hath a male in his flock and offers a corrupt thing Vse Now ponder seriously on this my child with thy selfe that thy Saviour is the eternall Sonne of God I tell thee that if thou have but any ingenuity in thee it will make thee both hate and avoid sinne Hadst thou such a Plague soare botch or boyle about thee that nothing could cure but the heart-bloud of the Kings sonne and the King should be so loving as to kill his onely sonne for thy health would'st thou not hate such a disease and take heed that thou never didst fall into such a disease againe This is thy case Thy sinne is a soare wound and plague that nothing could cure but the heart-bloud of the Sonne of God God out of his infinite love did send him into the world to take thy nature upon him that he might be reviled for thee spit upon for thee scourged for thee crowned with thornes for thee sweat drops of bloud for thee be crucified for thee and shed the bloud of his hands feet and heart for thee and all to cover and cure thy finne Wilt thou not now hate thy finne and be carefull to suppresse it and never fall into the like againe I hope thou wilt or else thy latter end will be worse then thy beginning Goe on now and tell me 23. Q. What hath Christ Jesus done for thee A. He suffered the paines of death for me Thou hast seene what Christ was What Christ hath done for us and is now sadly consider what he hath done for thee Thou happly mayst thinke it little for him to be borne for thee to live for thee though it were infinite love but because the purity of his nature and perfection of his obedience have influence into the value of his sufferings therefore thou doest mention onely these paines of death Peter mentioneth these paines of death Act. 2.24 and Paul cals them Rom. 6.9 the Dominion of death Phil. 2.8 and his humbling of himselfe and becoming obedient unto death even the death of the crosse What paines and torments Christ endured for thee then is unexpressible yet they may be valued a little Heb. 5.7 by his offering up prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares to his Father and by sweating drops of bloud when he grovelled upon the ground in so cold a season as made Peter creep to the fire in the high Priests Hall Surely there was fire nigh which caused this sweat What may the cause then of these paynes and torments be Surely the sight of our sinnes charged upon him Heb. 7.22 and the sense of his Fathers wrath He stood a Surety in our roome and was to answer for all our sinnes to God and not be discharged till he had satisfied for them all Look therefore as if a man were bound for a million of thousand pounds for other men when he was once attached his whole charge would be put in against him and this sight would be fearefull to him especially if he considered that they were his chiefe enemies for whom he was bound and a nest of unthankfull creatures who did load him with disgrace and obloquy Just thus was it with thy blessed Saviour Though he had the testimony of his enemies that never man spake as he did Joh. 7.46 Mar. 7.37 Act. 10.38 and that he had done all things well because the Lord was with him Yet when he was under arrests and executions Esa 43.24 he was made to serve with our sinnes and was wearied with our iniquities 2 Cor. 5.21 for he was made sinne for us who knew no sinne when all our sinnes were charged upon him and he was to make satisfaction to God his Father for them And whose sinnes were these The sinnes of those that were his enemies Rom. 5.10 the sinnes of his Disciples who runne away from him the sinnes of Peter who denied him and the sinnes of Jewes and Gentiles who crucified him The Jewes and Gentiles bare a world of enmity against him Eph. 2.16 yet he reconciled both unto God in one body by the Crosse having slaine the enmity in himselfe Thinke seriously whether this was not a torment and paine of death to have all the debts presented unto him of such sinners to be satisfied for Besides when God his Father saw him thus covered with sin in the State of a surety though the holinesse of his person was never polluted he withdrawes the blessed vision of the divine nature Wheresoever it shined abroad upon others yet though hee was personally united unto it it shined not upon himselfe but left him to sweat drops of bloud and his soule to be heavy unto death and his heart and tongue to cry out Psal 22.1 Mat. 27.46 My God My God why hast thou forsaken me Is not this an unutterable paine and torment of death Was it not enough for him to die but he must endure the sorrowes of death thus Use Oh my deare child forget not this point It will humble thee for sinne drive thee from sinne and comfort thee against sinne It will humble thee for sinne to think that it should present such a cursed visage to God that such a fearfull load must be laid upon thy Surety for it It will drive thee from sinne to thinke that if thou neglect so great salvation as Christ hath offered unto thee thou shalt be for thy sins in a worse case then he was He was able to slay hatred and enmity but thou canst not by suffering millions of millions of ages and therefore thou shalt have thy sinnes lye before thee for ever and the wrath of God will presse thee to all eternity It will comfort thee against sinne to thinke that thy Surety having endured this for thee it were unjust for God to impose it upon thee againe Onely be sure that thou keepe the Covenant of the Gospel that is when thou hast been translated out of the kingdome of darknesse into the Kingdome of his deare Sonne that thou honour the Father in the Sonne by beleeving in him with a faith working by love and then thou wilt have cause to triumph as Paul Rom. 7.25 I thanke God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now let me see what thou remembrest and
understandest of what I have said Tell me Q. Who must deliver thee from the curse of the Law A. Jesus Christ onely Q. Why is he called Jesus A. Because he saves his people from their sins Q. How many wayes doth he save thee A. Three by ransome by rescue by mortification Q. How by ransome A. By laying down his life for me Q. How by rescue A. By delivering me by strong hand Q. How by mortification A. By killing of sin in me Q. What means doth he use A. The Word of God Sacraments and Prayer Q. Why is he called Christ A. Because he is anointed Q. What is his anointing A. His having the fulnesse of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily Q. Why was Christ anointed A. That he might be a Prophet Priest and King Q. Why was he a Prophet A. To reveale his Fathers will to me Q. Why was he a Priest A. To offer himselfe in sacrifice and make intercession for me Q. Why was he a King A. To rule over me and over-rule my enemies Q. How is Christ a Lord A. By possessing me as his own Q. Why was Christ a Lord A. To maintaine his right in me and to call me to accounts Q. What is this Jesus Christ our Lord A. The Sonne of God made man Q. Why must the Sonne of God be thy Saviour A. Because he might give me what I wanted Q. Why must thy Saviour be a man not a woman A. Because man is the more noble sacrifice Q. Did this God and man sonne suffer for thee A. Yes he suffered the sorrows of death for me Q. What were these sorrows A. The sight of my sinnes and the sense of his fathers wrath Remember my child how farre thou art gone Thou wast made to serve God thou shouldst serve him as he hath commanded thou breakest all the commandements and so lyest under the curse of the Law Jesus Christ came into the world to deliver thee from this curse This Jesus Christ was the Sonne of God and though he were the Sonne of God yet becoming thy surety he suffered the sorrows of death to satisfie God and discharge thee It may seeme strange that the Sonne of God who is immortall should dye Tell me therefore 24. Q. Seeing Christ was God how could he dye A. He was God and man As he was God he died not but as man he died for my sinnes and rose againe for my Justification Here thou tellest me of the natures of thy Saviour How it could be that Christ could die and of the use he made of them for thy good As to his natures he was God and man as to his uses he used his humane nature to dye for thee and his Divine nature to rise againe for thy Justification First he was God and man Man he was certainly for in his whole course and carriage Phil. 2.8 he was found in fashion as a man not in appearance onely for as is here demonstrative of the truth of his humane nature As John saith Joh. 1.14 we saw his glory as the Glory of the onely begotten Sonne of God that is his glory was the glory of the true Sonne of God so in fashion as a man that is a true man Therefore Paul saith we have one Mediatour betwixt God and man the man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 Matth. 1.2 who is therefore often called the sonne of man the sonne of Abraham the sonne of David yea Heb. 2.16 the seed of Abraham according to the flesh He was as surely God For when he was given to us to be a Child a a Sonne his name is the mightie God Esa 9.6 Jer. 23.6 Rom. 9.5 and Jehovah our righteousnesse and over all God blessed for ever And John saith that this essentiall word of the Father who was with God was God Joh. 1.1 even from eternitie before and when God made the beginning of time Secondly As man Christ died Christ made excellent uses of these natures for thee of his Manhood he made this use to dye for thee For Christ suffered for thee in the flesh 1 Pet. 4.1 1 Pet. 2.24 and bare thy sinnes in his own body on the tree If the Sunne shine upon the body of a tree which thou hast a purpose to cut down thou canst cut the tree but thou canst not cut the shine of the Sunne that is united unto it and shines upon the gashes and dints thou makest in the bark heart sap and root So when Christ God and man was united for thee the unsuffering Divine nature could not suffer but the body of his flesh and blood that suffered and dyed for thee Man had sinned and man must dye It is not equall that another nature should suffer for man's sinne Therefore verily he tooke not on him the nature of Angels but he tooke the seed of Abraham that he might taste death Heb. 2.9 10. and be made a perfect Captaine of thy salvation through suffering Of his Godhead he made this use As God Christ rose againe Rom. 4.25 Rom. 1.4 to rise againe for thy Justification For he mightily declared himselfe to be the Sonne of God by the resurrection from the dead He was to deliver thee from a world of evil and to bring thee to a world of good things The guilt of sinne the wrath of God the power of hell the fear of death were to be wrought from thee by him The pardon of sinne the power from sinne the Inheritance of heaven were to be settled upon thee by him How could he ever have done any or all of these for thee if his Divine nature had not influence into his sufferings to bring thee the righteousnesse of God Rom. 3.25 26. Phil. 3.9 Let him have done all this for thee thou couldst never have been justified if he had not declared himselfe to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead This settles the merits of his death upon thee and assures thee that they are accepted by his father for thy discharge because death hath no more dominion over him Rom. 6. but he comes triumphantly out of the prison of the grave whither thy sins had cast him Christ bare a double person for thee the person of a suretie Heb. 7.22 1 Joh. 2.1 and the person of an advocate What he doth for thee for the discharging thy debt and for the settlement of a full satisfaction upon thee as a suretie that he doth in thy roome and it stands in the Law of God and man as a discharge of thy score what he doth as an Advocate in appearing for thee pleading for thee and satisfying all offices in thy roome that is interpreted as thy act thou must stand to it and challenge it as thy own When thou seest therfore Christ dying a satisfying death for thee and rising a discharged resurrection for thee from further imprisonment thou hast a full quietus est or assurance that
lighted Candle in a clear Lanthorn as not to see Christ thorough the actions and motions of the body if he dwell in the soul But alas in how few is he discovered by life Secondly in respect of the adorning quality Pearls are accounted the greatest ornament but a pearl of great price is a greater yet therefore do you hang them out on head throat breasts and fingers So nothing is such an ornament to a Christian Eph. 3. as Christ dwelling in his heart by faith As Albinus for his worth was called Englands Library Athanasius the eye of his time Melancthon the Phoenix of Germany Augustine the Mallet of Hereticks so Christ is called the Glory of Israel Simeon could see in him nothing but salvation when hee was a childe Talk not of other pearls this is that onely one therefore Paul desired to know nothing at Corinth but Jesus Christ and him crucified Thirdly In respect of the preciousnesse of Christ pearles are accounted the most precious of things and a thousand worlds cannot procure Christ where he is not All gold and gaine cannot purchase his miraculous gifts Act. 8. much lesse himselfe and his invaluable merits Fourthly in respect of the breeding of pearles If Naturalists say true as all Divines of all sides observe pearles are bred in shelfish which lye gaping in the ayre This ayre breeds these pearles and by how much purer the ayre is that blowes then by so much more pure and generous are the pearles So If I say as Paul Gal. 4. My little children of whom I travell in birth again till Christ be formed in you you will aske me two questions What is meant by Christs forming in you and How he is formed By forming of Christ in you you may understand the framing of your Judgements affections and actions into the Image of Christ You know him in his natures uses and offices to doe you good Esa 53. You know this righteous servant to Justifie you and know this Sonne Jesus Christ to eternall life Joh. 17.3 You love him as the Saviour of his Church and Head of his Body and put your whole trust in him for all the worke which his Father committed to him to doe And you doe though not with equall paces as Christ your Husband did in all Morall Actions according to the measure of grace given And now when men look upon you in your state and course they may say that you are as like Christ as if you were spit out of his mouth as we phrase it in our Proverb Yea and you may say as Paul Gal. 2.20 I live but not I but Christ lives in me by faith If you would know how Christ is thus formed in you You open your mouth wide by enlarged desires going after him Joh. 3. and the winde that goeth where it listeth and no man knows whence it comes and whether it goes that is the spirit of the Father and of the Sonne the holy Ghost works it by the Gospel and by how much more purely it blows without intermixture of your flesh by so much more you are unlike to your selves and like to Christ this pearle of great price Fifthly Christ may well be called this pearle of great price In respect of the Comparison betwixt the best earthly pearles and the pearle Christ Earthly pearles make richer but no better for they that will be rich fall into temptation 1 Tim. 6.9 and a snare and into many foolish and noysome lusts which drown men in perdition and destruction Fulgent monilibus moribus sordent They that shine with pearles are too often sordid and degenerous in manners But this precious pearle Christ makes all better who doe enjoy him Eph. 3.6 If he dwell in our hearts by faith we are graffed with him into the similitude of his death Rom. 6. to dye unto sinne and into the similitude of his resurrection to rise unto newnesse of life Earthly pearls can give no true contentment As Solomon saith Eccl. 5.10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfyed with silver nor he that loveth aboundance with encrease But if you can get Christ Col. 3.11 Joh. 14. he is all and in all As Philip said shew us the Father and it sufficeth so say much more of Christ for us Col. 1.19 Joh. 1.16 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulnesse dwell and of his fulnesse have we all received and grace for grace Lastly In earthly pearles there is no assurance either we are taken from them or they from us But this pearl Christ shall be with us for ever Matth. 28. Joh. 10. and none shall take us out of his hands Use 1 Seeing therefore Christ is this pearl of great price place your riches in Christ lock him up in your hearts and forget not where your pearl lies First place your riches in Christ He that hath not Christ may in a carnall way say with Esau I have enough my brother but he that hath him may say with Jacob I have all things If a man were as high as the Sunne Psal 19. which comes out of his chambers and rejoyceth as a Giant to run his course and should see the courses of men he should see the souldier place his riches in half a crown a day and plunder The Commander in getting pay or half pay which is too much for prolonging warre The Gentleman in keeping his estate or using it to the best advantage he can The Tradesman in using a thousand shifts to bring in The Merchant in importation and exportation of the most vendible commodities The poor man in getting by hard labour meat drink and apparell for him and his The owner in making the most of his own and the Farmer in a cunning disappointing of him by pretence of rates contributions plunders excises and many such pretty devices But a few poor good Christians onely to place their riches in their Saviour Christ Be you I beseech you of this number It will bring in all the commodities of the world that shall do you good Math. 6.33 First seek the Kingdome of God and the righteousnesse therof and all other things shall be added unto you For if God make you rich in his Sonne Rom. 8.32 how shall he not with him also freely give you all things Use 2 Secondly lock Christ your pearl up in your hearts Many will croud him into the narrow room of their heads they are willing to know him Many put him into the narrower room of their tongues they will talk of him even of his great things and a man would wonder that there should be so much of Christ in their upper parts and so little any where else But do you good Christians lock him up in your hearts Matth. 6. If he be your treasure your heart wil be upon him if he be your pearl you will lock him up there Thence can his influences
MILK FOR BABES OR A. MOTHERS CATECHISM for Her CHILDREN Wherein chief saving Principles of Christian Religion through the body of it fit first to inform Children in are 1 Propounded 2 Expounded 3 Applied The sum of which is set down in the following Pages Together with the Questions and Answers which are the grounds of the Catechism Whereunto also annexed THREE SERMONS Preached at Andrews Holborn at a publike Fast and at Covent-Garden upon severall occasions By ROBERT ABBOT Preacher of Gods Word at Southwick in Hantshire PSA 34.11 Come ye children hearken unto me I will teach you the fear of the Lord. LONDON Printed by John Legate for Philemon Stephens dwelling in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the gilded Lyon 1646. I Have perused this Catechism intituled Milk for Babes and these three Sermons on severall Texts And approving them as pious and profitable I license them to be printed and published IOHN DOWNAME The Sum of the following Catechism may be conceived thus IT speaks to a threefold state of ours Our estate 1 Of Creation Of which you may finde two points 1 Our Creatour who is 1 Confessed Q. 1. 2 Distinguished from the Sonne Q. 2. Holy Gh. Q. 3. 3 Described 1 By his unity in Trinity Q. 4. 2 By his Sufficiency Efficiency Q. 5. 2 His end in making us which is 1 Propounded Q. 6. 2 Amplified by the 1 Manner Q. 7. 2 Meanes teaching Q. 8. 1 Commandement 1. Q. 9. 2 Commandement 2. Q. 10. 3 Commandement 3. Q. 11. 4 Commandement 4. Q. 12. 5 Commandement 5. Q. 13. 6 Commandement 6. Q. 14. 7 Commandement 7. Q. 15. 8 Commandement 8. Q. 16. 9 Commandement 9. Q. 17. 10 Commandement 10. Q. 18. 2 Of Corruption of which it sets down our misery 1 By sinne Q. 19. 2 By punishment Q. 20. 3 Of Renovation Of which it teacheth us 1 The means working it Christ Jesus Q. 20. Who is further described by his 1 Natures Q. 22. 2 Work for use Set down two wayes 1 By the greatest manifestation of it at the latter end where two 1 His Passion Q. 13. 2 His possibility to undergo it 2 By the efficacy of it both in respect 1 Of the end Q. 24. 2 Of the persons for whom Q. 25. 2 The means applying it Faith described 1 By the nature of it Q. 26. 2 By the working of it in respect of 1 The beginning of it Q. 27. 2 The growth of it by means 1 Without us which are two 1 The Word of Christ 2 The Sacraments of Christ Q. 28. which are described 1 By their Nature Q. 29. 2 By their Number Q. 30. 3 By their use both of 1 Baptism Q. 31. 2 Supper of the Lord about which 1 What use of it Q. 32. 2 To whom Q. 33. 2 Within us and by us Prayer Q. 34. Which is further described 1 By the nature of it Q. 35. 2 By the matter The Lords Prayer Q. 36. Expounded by the 1 Preface Q. 37. 2 Petition 1. Q. 38. 3 Petition 2. Q. 39. 4 Petition 3. Q. 40. 5 Petition 4. Q. 41. 6 Petition 5. Q. 42. 7 Petition 6. Q. 43. 8 Conclusion Q. 44. A CATECHISM FOR Children thorough the chief points of the Body of Divinity to prepare them for the Lords Supper 1 Question WHo made thee A. God the Father 2 Q. Who redeemed thee A. Jesus Christ 3 Q. Who sanctified thee A. The Holy Ghost 4 Q. How many Gods are there A. There are three persons and to us Christians but one God 5 Q. What is God A. He is that Almighty one who made and governeth all things 6 Q. Wherefore did God make thee A. To do him service 7 Q. How oughtest thou to serve him A. As he hath commanded in his lawes 8 Q. Which are these lawes A. Those tenne words which God wrote in two Tables of stone and are set down in Exodus and Deuteronomy 9 Q. What is the first Commandement A. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me 10 Q. What is the second A. Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven image nor any likenesse of things that are in heaven above nor in the earth beneath nor in the waters under the earth thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and shewing mercy to thousands of them that love me and keep my Commandements 11 Q. What is the third Commandement A. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vain 12 Q. What is the fourth Commandement A. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God In it thou shalt not do any work thou nor thy sonne nor thy daughter thy man-servant nor thy maid-servant nor thy cattle nor thy stranger that is within thy gates For in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it 13 Q. What is the fift Commandement A. Honour thy Father and Mother that thy dayes may be long upon the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee 14 Q. What is the sixt A. Thou shalt not kill 15 Q. What is the seventh A. Thou shalt not commit adultery 16 Q. What is the eight A. Thou shalt not steal 17 Q. What is the ninth A. Thou shalt not bear false witnesse against thy neighbour 18 Q. What is the tenth Commandement A. Thou shalt not covet thy neighhours house thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife nor his man-servant nor his maid-servant nor his oxe nor his asse nor any thing that is thy neighbours 19 Q. Art thou able to keep these commandements A. No let me do what I can yet I break them every day more then I can expresse 20 Q. What punishment is appointed for the breakers of Gods commandements A. Gods curse which is the everlasting destruction of body and soul 21 Q. How shalt thou escape this curse A. Onely by Jesus Christ our Lord. 22 Q. What is Jesus Christ A. He is the eternall sonne of God made man 23 Q. What hath Christ Jesus done for thee A. He suffered the pains of death for me 24 Q. Seeing Christ was God how could he dye A. He was God and man as he was God he died not but as man he died for my sinnes and rose again for my justification 25 Q. Are all men saved by Christs death A. No onely they are saved who have a true faith 26 Q. What is this true faith A. It is the resting of the soul upon Christ for salvation 27 Q. How must this faith be wrought in thee A. The Holy Ghost must work it in my heart
thou art subject to the miseries of this life and of the life to come The miseries of this life are all crosses to thy person comfort credit and state as sicknesses sorrows disgraces discomforts both within and without The miseries of the world to come are thy separation from the Lord and his Law the two principles of life for ever As when thy soul is separated from thy body a naturall death is made up so when thy person is separated from God and his word of comfort a spirituall death is made up which begins in this life and is continued for ever and ever Vse Oh my child feare and tremble under this burthen Thou art apt as all others to build up thy way to heaven with untempered morter saying to thy own soule that all is well when all is amisse This makes thee with an hard and impenitent heart to goe on in thy accursed courses But this doctrine of curses will teach thee that thou wert in danger before thou wast borne and ever since Thou mightst justly have been cast into hell before thou didst breath in this open world Thou hast all thy life been under the destruction of sinne and this hath enwrapped thee in the destruction of misery Thou feelest many paines and sicknesses which are but the light flashes of hell fire Thou art like a man condemned to a tormenting and dying death As if a man had a Caldron of boyling lead hang over his head and he starke naked under it First one drop falls upon his head another upon his shoulder another upon his arme another upon his hand another upon his backe another upon his belly another upon his legge upon his foot another which makes him start and shreeke but at the last the whole showre comes which makes him roare and tumble like a wild bull in a net So thou by this volley of curses art first nipt in one part then in another which makes thy joy to be interrupted and thy mirth many times turned into mourning But at last in death and Judgement comes an whole Sea of them which makes weeping howling and gnashing of teeth Weigh it seriously before it be too late It may be that God will leave a blessing behind to make thee search after a deliverance which is the next thing that comes to be skanned But first let me try thy profiting Thou toldest me that thou breakest all Gods commandements according to which thou shouldst serve him Tell me therefore Q. How many wayes doest thou breake them A. Three wayes Q. Which be they A. First in Adam secondly in the pronenesse of my nature thirdly in breaking one I breake them all Q. But the seventh part of time comes but once a weeke how canst thou break the commandement which concernes that every day A. I breake it before it comes and when it is gone Q. How before it comes A. By doing that upon the week day which makes me unfit to keep it when it comes Q. How when it is gone A. By not learning Gods wayes and not walking in his pathes Q. Art thou in danger of Gods curse A. Yes both in my body and in my soule Q. How doth God curse A. By inflicting of punishment Q. What punishment doth he inflict A. A destruction of my body and my soule Q. How doest thou know thy selfe to be destroyed A. When I am not used to that end that God made me for Q. What follows upon this A. A subjection to the miseries of this world and of the world to come Doe not forget how farre thou art gone God made thee thou art made to doe him service thou shouldst serve him as he commands thou breakest all his commands and therefore thou art under the curse and so a more miserable creature then a toade or any serpent if thou be not delivered Tell me then 21. Q. How shalt thou escape this curse A. Onely by Jesus Christ our Lord. Thou answerest rightly Christ is our deliverer from the curse Act. 4.12 for there is no name under heaven whereby thou canst be saved but onely the name of Jesus that is no authoritie power vertue or merit Gal. 3.13 It is he that hath redeemed thee from the curse of the law being made a curse for thee Col. 2.14 15. It is he that blotted out the hand-writing that was against thee and tooke it out of the way nayling it to his crosse and having spoyled principalities and powers made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in himselfe on the crosse and therefore when Paul groveled under the burthen of his sinne he could find no rest for his soule but in the Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 7.24 25. and thus must it be with thee therefore it behoves thee to know him If thou didst owe millions of pounds yea and satisfaction to the law by death and hadst but one friend in all the world that would and could undertake to discharge thee from all thou wouldst know him or else thou wert unworthy to have benefit by him So thou must know Christ in his names natures offices and uses by which thou hast saving good by him or else thou art unworthy of him And because this is signified in his names thou must throughly know the sense and vertue of them for thee He is called Jesus Matth. 1.21 because he saves his people from their sins He saves thee three wayes By Ransome by Rescue and by Mortification He saves thee by Ransome by laying down his life for thee Joh. 10.15 Thou shouldst have died the first and second death for ever and ever Christ died the first death and overcame the second for thee He saved thee by Rescue by delivering thee by strong hand When God was satisfied thy enemies the world the flesh and the devill would not let thee goe Luk. 1.71 74 75. Therefore Christ saved thee from thy enemies and from the hands of them that hate thee that thou being delivered from them mightst serve him without feare of them all the dayes of thy life in holinesse and righteousnesse before him He saveth thee by Mortification by killing of sinne of thee least thou be killed in sinne When thou art ransomed and delivered yet sinne sticks closer to thee then thy skinne Therefore to perfect thy salvation Christ strengthens thee with might by his spirit in the inner man Ephs 3.16 17. Rom. 8.13 and dwels in thy heart by faith that thou mayst mortifie the deeds of the flesh by the spirit He is called Christ because he is anointed Psal 2.2 Col. 2.9 This anointing is his having the fulnesse of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily He was not onely made partaker of the divine nature as we are but he was full God and full man personally united Joh. 3.34 and so he received not the spirit by measure but was anointed with the oyle of gladnesse above his fellowes Psal 45.7 The reasons why he was anointed were that
all thy debts are payed If any man were bound for thee and cast into prison and after enjoying the libertie of a free subject thou mayst conclude that all thy debts are payd so mayst thou rest thy soule that God is well pleased and satisfied with what his sonne hath done for thee when thou seest by miracles acts and many testimonies that he is risen from the dead Vse Therefore my deare child feed thy soule comfortably with these natures of thy blessed Saviour and with the uses he made of them for thy good He was man to performe lowly offices he was God to performe exalted offices of love Is he to dye an accursed death He is a man Rom. 8.3 in the similitude of sinfull flesh Psal 24. Is he to rise againe He is the King of Glory the Lord mighty in battell who knows how to vanquish the last enemy 1 Cor. 15. death as well as any that appeared before He that is thy suretie so able so willing will satisfie to the utmost farthing He that is thy Advocate so faithfull so wonderfull in counsell will not leave any of thy worke behind till he have brought thee a Certificate of thy full discharge When thou repentest and art ready to be swallowed up of sorrow let thy poore soule rest here and thou shalt have joy by beleeving and come with confidence and boldnesse to the throne of grace But it may be that the extent of this benefit may something damp thy spirit Therefore tell me 25. Q. Whether all men are saved by Christs death A. No onely they are saved which have a true faith Right thus doth the Scripture teach If all were saved it were happy for the children of darknesse and sons of Belial Hell should soone be emptie and heaven fuller then ever God meant it God should be made the greatest tyrant in the world if he should require such repentance faith mortification Godly living of some and yet save all by Christs death who never touched any of Gods holy rules with their little finger Therefore certainly this salvation must be limited to them that beleeve Thus doth Christ Joh. 3.16.18.36 Whosoever beleeveth in him shall not perish and he that beleeveth on him is not condemned and he that beleeveth on the Sonne hath everlasting life and Luke saith That at Antioch when Paul and Barnabas preached as many as were ordained to eternall life beleeved This was the receit that Philip gave to the Eunuch Act. 13.48 Act. 8. Act. 16. and Paul and Silas gave to the keeper of the Prison and it must be thine For faith is the eye the foot the hand the mouth of thy soule yea it is all in all to give thee union with Christ for life and salvation It is the eye of thy soule therefore God saith by the Prophet Looke upon me and be ye saved Esa 45.22 O ye ends of the earth that is beleeve in me It is the foot of thy soule therefore Christ saith Joh. 6.35 He that comes to me shall never hunger that is he that beleeves in me It is the hand of thy soule therefore John saith Joh. 1.12 So many as received him to them he gave a free right to be the sons of God that is beleeved in him It is the mouth of the soule therefore Christ saith Except ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man Joh. 6.53 and drink his bloud ye have no life in you that is except ye beleeve in him Yea it is all in all for uniting thee to Christ therefore John saith 1 Joh. 3. Rom. 1. Heb. 10. Gal. 2.20 Joh. 14. He that hath the Sonne hath life and Paul saith By faith we live because it is that excellent Instrument which unites us to Christ who is both our way truth and life Vse Therefore my deare child be not beguiled with the deceitfulnesse of Satan as too many are who dreame of the saving of all Christians if they doe but professe to beleeve in Christ upon a generall knowledge of the grounds of Christianity No no thou must have faith and thou must have a true and a living faith if thou wouldest have thy salvation by Christ The faith that ordinary professors at large dreame of is an easie way to heaven They may swallow downe all their sins with greedinesse and goe thither at an houres warning It is but knowing and assenting to the truth of Christianity and saying upon presumptuous grounds that Christ died for them and they hope to be saved by him as well as the precisest of them all But thou wilt find it an harder worke to have a true faith of Gods elect For thou mayst find that when sinners are brought into the straits of death sometimes they can not beleeve and sometimes they dare not beleeve They can not beleeve for their lives as Francis Spira who cried out that he could no more beleeve then the Devill If a man will ever runne he will runne when he runs for his life and if a man will ever beleeve he will beleeve when he beleeves for his life But poore sinners when the sight of their owne unworthinesse and Satans temptations are let loose upon them can not beleeve for their lives Sometimes they dare not beleeve as wicked Christians who see they must lose all if they beleeve in Christ They must lose father mother wife children houses lands and all sublunary contentments if they beleeve in Christ As a man that hath gotten a great deale by greedy scraping ravening and holding dares not beleeve that Covetousnesse is Idolatry for then he shall be undone So dare not a professor at large beleeve in Christ Phil. 3. because he knows that he must account all things losse and dogs-meat for the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ and him crucified He must deny all his rotten grounds of confidence as I keep my Church I am neither whore nor thiefe I wrong no man I am a good neighbour I have a good heart to God-ward I have a good meaning though I doe not pray as others yet God knows my heart though I cannot say as others yet I know the way to heaven as well as the best I doe as I would be done unto and the like he must I say deny all these rotten grounds which he dare not doe for then he sees that he shall be a dunghill and hath nothing to please himselfe in Get thou therefore true faith even the faith not of the world but of the Gospel In this I 'le helpe thee as I can and therefore tell me 26. Q. What is this true faith of Gods elect A. It is the resting of the soule upon Christ for salvation Understand this well as thou lovest the life of thy soule What true Faith is Some will tell thee that it is an assenting to the truth of the Gospel It is not assenting to the truth Jam. 2. and in truth thou must agree to the
on of water that doth forgive thy sins nor doing of it in the name of the Father Son and holy Ghost but it is God that doth it for the merits of Christ and by the assistance of the holy Ghost and sealeth it to thee in the covenant of Baptisme if thou keep it according to the measure of grace given 32. Q. What benefit hast thou by the Supper of the Lord A. The body and bloud of Christ verily and indeed taken and received by my beleeving soul Mark this comfortable benefit by the Lords Supper The benefit of the Lords Supper Thy body receives the bread and wine Thy soul receives the body and bloud of Christ by beleeving God offers him in a promise this is my body this is my bloud and thou canst not receive a thing in a promise but by beleeving it If I promise to give thee houses and lands and seal a conveyance of them to thee thou canst not receive it but by beleeving my words and conveyance so it is with thee in this Sacrament Christ in respect of his bodily presence is in heaven for they are not to receive him Act. 3.21 till the time of the restitution of all things yet in the Sacrament we have his body and bloud taken and received As a maried woman hath her husband one flesh and heart with her though he be a thousand miles off Prov. 2. by vertue of the Covenant of God which they made so by vertue of the covenant and promise of God in the Sacrament though Christ be in heaven and thou upon the earth thou hast his body and bloud A man may be present in a place or to a place In a place as thou art here with me To a place as Paul was absent in body 1 Cor. 5. but present in spirit to the Corinthians that is by his Apostolicall spirit power and authority So is Christs body and bloud present to the receivers of the Sacrament faithfully When the Sun shines full upon our window we say that the Sun is come into the house yet it is not the Sun but the shining of it so we say that Christs body and bloud is in the Sacrament yet it is not Christs body and bloud carnally bloudily but the Rayes of his person and merits to the comfort of thy soul Every thing is received by us as it is perceived of us Thou receivest a colour by the eye because that perceives it Thou receivest a sound by the ear because that perceives it Thou receivest a scent by the nose because that perceives it Thou receivest savourie things by the taste because that perceives it Thou receivest the Revolution of the heavens by the understanding because that perceives it but thou receivest Christ in the Sacrament none of these wayes Thou seest him not feelest him not tastest him not hearest him not smellest him not understandest not how bread and wine both before in 1 Cor. 10.16 1 Cor. 11.27 28. and after consecration can be the naturall or glorified body and bloud of Jesus Christ and yet be bread and wine yet set thy faith on work upon Gods promise and thou canst truly receive Christ because thou perceivest him by faith and no otherwise He is given to thee as he may satisfie thee that desires him but thou desirest him to satisfie not a corporal but a spirituall hunger Joh. 6.35 36.62.64 Joh. 6.63 He is given as he may do the good but it is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing Ob. If thou think that though his naturall flesh profits nothing yet his glorified flesh would Sol. Christ tels thee that it is his naturall body that comforts thee in the Sacrament not his glorified for Christ saith this is my body which is broken for thee this is my bloud which is shed for thee and I am sure that his glorified body was not thus dealt withall Ob. If thou ask me why the bread and wine consecrated in the Sacrament should then be called the body and bloud of Christ Sol. I tell thee it is not because it is properly so but first because of the Sacramentall union between the signe and the thing signified by Gods pact and covenant If thou receive the signe faithfully 1 Cor. 10.16 thou shalt have a reall communion with Christ by promise Next because of the change of the bread and wine from common to holy use Though there be not a substantiall change of them yet is there a change in use in name and in honour In use it is not used as common bread and wine but as the Supper of the Lord. In name during the time it is not called bread and wine but the body and bloud of Christ In honour It is used by the faithfull to give a reall communion with Christs body and bloud Use Therefore my dear childe make speciall use of this sweet benefit Who would not joy in such a communion Who would not be glad when he comes unto it Who except fools or mad men would not cashier all wicked society for this with Christ Nay if thou love thy soul and thy Christ the Saviour of it thou must abandon it As David said Away from me ye wicked Psal 119. I will keep the commandements of my God so thou must say away ye wicked I will have communion with the body and bloud of Christ Be of his minde that thought one dayes fellowship with Christ to be more worth then all the world But remember that thy soul must be a beleeving soul or else thou wilt never draw water out of this well suck honie out of this Rock There are thousands in the Church who presume to come to the Sacrament and think they may have fellowship with Christ yet keep their old sins their old fellowship also who never look what faith they have to carrie Christ home But what ever they do be thou sure to follow Gods will and my counsell about it forsake all and follow Christ If thou say that thou maist come to the Sacrament long enough before thou be assured that thou doest take and receive the bodie and bloud of Christ I le tell thee that I have observed two wayes whereby thou maist get some comfortable witnesse in thy soul of it First by the Spirit of Christ His bodie and bloud were never dis-united from his divine nature How we may be assured that we receive Christ in the Sacrament Ezek. 1.21 Therefore where his body and bloud goes his spirit goes along with it As the Prophet saith the spirit of the horses were in the wheels so the spirit of Christ is in his body and bloud to make them act for thy good Doest thou then finde his spirit Mark what Paul saith where the spirit of Christ is there is a killing vertue to subdue the flesh Rom. 8.9 10 11. and a quickning vertue to raise you from the death of sinne to the life of grace If it
Scriptures as may beat down sinne Doth thy faith work thus Gal. 5. True faith worketh by love and in truth it will work thee to love the word of Christ as the meanes Christ as the meriter and therefore thou must set an higher price upon Jesus Christ then all things else and the Saints Phil. 3. and members of Christ as those that are in communion with thee for salvation For we must not stroke the head and strike the members pretend to love Christ and hate those that are Christs Indeed thou must not so farre dote upon Christs members as therefore to suck in all errours and miscarriages in them who do but know in part 1 Cor. 13. and therefore may aym and practise imperfectly but so farre as we see Christ in them so farre we must love them and is thy faith thus then hast thou this faith fit for the Sacrament Fourthly thou must examine the fitnesse of thy thankfulnesse Thankfulnesse Luk. 22.19 This is one of the main duties of those that partake at the Lords Table and it will argue thy love to it and thy need of it and thy desire to enjoy the benefit of that for which thou art thankfull yea it is that rent Ps 116.13 Psa 107.1 and tribute which the Lord requireth upon the receipt of any favour Therefore thou must perform this both in word and work In word for before thou comest to the Sacrament thou must praise God who is pleased to ordain so familiar a means to confirm thy faith and give thee communion with Christ when thou art in the use of it thou must thankfully remember the Lords death which is signified and sealed unto thee with the fruits of it And when thou hast received thou must thank God for the benefit and comfort thou hast enjoyed by it yea though for the present thou feel it not Thou must be thankfull in work by a constant obedience unto his will 1 Sam. 15. for obedience is better then sacrifice In obedience thou might'st offer beasts and goods but in obedience thou offerest thy self Vse Therefore my childe put thy soul to the question here also O my soul hast thou this thankfulnesse meet for the Lords Supper Doest thou know the benefit of thy redemption of which this Sacrament is a seal Hast thou a secret joy in heart for it Doest thou admire the mercy providing and performing it Doest thou resolve to love God for it and to set forth his praises to him and his praises to others Doest thou resolve and endeavour by grace given to obey him in all things who hath comforted thee in this which is above all things unto thee If it be thus with thee then hast thou this thankfulnesse fit for the Lords Supper Lastly thou must examine the fitnesse of thy Charity Charity I would have thee know that there is no service acceptable without this charity If thou prayest thou must lift up pure hands without wrath 1 Tim. 2.8 If thou hearest the word thou must be slow to wrath Jam. 1.19 20. because the wrath of man doth not accomplish the righteousnesse of God If thou sacrifice thou must leave thy gift at the Altar and go Matth. 5.23 24. and be reconciled And thus it is by way of proportion when thou comest to the Lords Supper Yea mark that it is impossible that sound faith should be without charity The pulse of faith beats this way therefore James saith Jam. 2. shew me thy faith by thy works Yea thy very coming to the Sacrament doth require charity A loaf of bread is made of many grains and we that are partakers of one loaf must be one bread 1 Cor. 10.16 17. We come to have communion with Christ our head and when members attend for direction and comfort from the head there must be no jars The shoulder must not say to the arm nor the arm to the hand nor the hand to the foot I have no need of thee and thee The God of peace will fill thee with all peace by beleeving and practising this Q. If thou ask me to whom thy charity must have respect A. I tell thee first to God in Christ and next to all Christian brethren for Christs sake Thou must love God any way made known unto thee but especially in Christ thy Saviour 〈…〉 He that that loves not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be an execration Maran Atha What Not to love him that is an Advocate a Surety all in all to us in us for us Too great punishment cannot be inflicted on such too much unworthinesse to come unto the Lords Supper cannot be imputed unto them Next thou must shew thy charity to all Christian brethren both by forgiving and performing the offices of reconciled persons In forgiving thou must pacifie thy heart from all bitternesse Ro. 12.19 and desire of revenge Vengeance is mine and I will repay saith the Lord and thou must discharge them from the offence to thee though thou canst not discharge them from the offence to God Indeed thou art not bound to think and judge him good or a friend who by long proof hath manifested himself otherwise neither art thou alwayes bound to discharge a penalty if it be great for then Christianity should give a license to ungodly men to offer all manner of injuries to the godly but thou must discharge so farre from the offence as it may seem to deserve the least revenge For thou must not be overcome of the evill of thy enemy Ro. 12.21 or of thy own malicious heart but thou must overcome thy enemies and thy own evill also with goodnesse In performing the offices of Charity thou must labour to unite others by making them friends if thou canst that all our matters may be done in love and thou must communicate to the necessities of the Saints For thou receivest an inestimable favour from God and therefore thou must do good Heb. 13. and to distribute thou must not forget for with such sacrifices God is pleased Vse Therefore my dear childe reflect once again upon thy soul and examine it Hast thou O my soul that charitie which fits thee for the Lords Supper Hast thou a ground of all true charity to men the love of God in Jesus Christ Doest thou love to walk before him that he may see and correct all thy wayes Doest thou love his familiar presence above the greatest presences of the world Doest thou love to hear him speak unto thee in the word and to speak unto him in prayer Doest thou rejoyce when thou seest the tokens of his love in his graces and Sacraments come rowling upon thee Doest thou for his sake love all that are his his ministery his worship his ordinances and his Saints Doest thou love to have peace with all men Rom. 12. so farre as is possible and to be friends with Christs members as they are such Doest thou really