Sacramental Discourses ON SEVERAL TEXTS BEFORE and AFTER THE Lord's Supper By JOHN SHOWER LONDON Printed for Abr. Chandler Sam. Clements and Sam. Wade at the Chirurgeons-Arms in Aldersgate-Street the Swan in St. Pauls Church-yard and Bible under the Piaza of the Royal-Exchange in Cornhill MDCXCIII Mr John Shower THE PREFACE THERE are Three Things especially requisite unto a Worthy Communicant to believe and own the Truths which our B. Lord would preserve the Memory of by this Institution and to have a lively sense of the Comforts and Encouragements that may arise from thence and then to perform those Duties of Love and Gratitude and faithful Obedience which result from our Covenant Relation to him and the open Profession of it The Doctrines and the Encouragements and the Duties of Christianity are admirably connected and joyn'd together The Principal of all these we are called to consider in this Sacred Ordinance Which yet is shamefully neglected by many who would take it very ill not to be thought good Christians who live from year to year in the Omission of it who make no Conscience of Remembring the Death of Christ in this manner As if they had no Saviour who dyed for 'em or he had not Appointed this way of Remembring his dying Love Or as if the Command Do this in Remembrance of me because spoken to the Apostles did only concern them and the Ministers of the Christian Church Whereas tho' our Lord sate down with the Twelve the Command is given to them as Disciples and Representatives of all his Church rather than as Apostles Or if the latter He gave it to them to d spense it afterwards unto Others not excluding their own Communicating for they who deliver the Elements as Ministers do partake of 'em as Disciples and Christians and Brethren What I have received of the Lord that also I deliver unto you saith the Apostle and if Ministers are bound to Deliver it the People are bound to Receive If our Saviour's words Do this in Remembrance of me relate to Ministers as such it is a Command for them to Administer the Lord's Supper and the same Command must be supposed to bind the People to Receive it that doth oblige Ministers to Deliver it There be some who omit it from Superstitious unbecoming Fears and Scruples as if our Lord were more to be Honoured by our absenting from his Table than by frequenting of it Many on the other hand are guilty of Presumption and Rashness by careless unprepared Approaching to it Several Cases are here spoken to which relate to both sorts though many more should be added As to the manner of performing this Duty we cannot come too humbly in a sense of our Ignorance and Weakness and Sinfulness owning that we are nothing and have nothing and can do nothing without his Grace that may be pleasing to him and that we have done very much to dishonour and provoke him especially by our late Transgressions that we deserve to be cast out of his sight and denied the Priviledges of his House and Family never to taste of the Childrens Bread But having renewed our Repentance before we come we are called to express our Love Gratitude and Joy When we view a Dying Saviour a Crucified Jesus before our eyes lifted up upon the Cross drawing all Men to him bowing down his Head and stretching out his Arms to embrace us as he appears all bloody to fright us from our sins so he opens his side that we may see his Heart flaming with Love He calls us to behold his wounded body with Hearts wounded with a Penitent Sense of Sin and a growing Love to the Redeemer He calls us to seal a Covenant of Fidelity to him and to accept the Purchased Benefits of a Gracious Covenant sealed back from him to us Here we behold the Lamb of God a Sacrifice for those sins we have so lately Repented of removing that Wrath which we so lately trembled at as having justly deserved and therefore we should Approach this Table with Gladness and Rejoycing Here we are called to give publick Expressions of the Love and Honour we bear to the Remembrance of Christ We do it in Thankfulness to him for all he hath done and suffered for us Here we profess our Faith and Hope and Trust in a Crucified Saviour We own him for our Lord and our Jesus we declare we are not ashamed of his Cross or of any Difficulties Trials or Sufferings we may be exposed to for his sake He needed not have cared whether we were Saved or no And yet how low hath he condescended to purchase our Happiness and Salvation and to Assure us of it What manner of love is this that the Eternal Son of God Incarnate should endure a Painful Ignominious cursed Death for us that we might not dye Eternally How wonderful and incomprehensible is this love How pleasant should be the contemplation of it Here is an Abyss of Love of Adorable Allmighty Love on this side Heaven but leading to it which we cannot fathom but are called to admire A Crucified Jesus represented and commemorated as a Sacrifice for us What more Glorious Sight can we desire to see How should this awaken all our Affections and in some respect puzzle not only our Passions but our Faith too As an Object too large for our narrow Thoughts too high for our Finite Minds too Great for our Wonder and for our little Love and Joy How delightful is it to be thus even lost in the consideration of this matchless condescension and Grace of our Redeemer When the Object is too big for our highest Raptures and Transports and we are swallowed up in silence and astonishment How should this Love constrain and draw forth ours When we consider for what vile and sinful creatures the Son of God gave his life and made his Soul an Offering How his Love to us Enemies and Rebels was stronger than fear or shame or death without bounds and without example When we Feast on this Sacrifice what can we do less in requital for this Infinite love than devote our selves Souls and Bodies to him as the Purchase of his Death And lay all our Affairs and dearest concernments at his Feet to be disposed of as he pleaseth How can it be but our love to him must be kindled maintained and encreased by such an Institution Remembring and considering his love to us till we are brought practically to conclude and determine that our love to him is too little if we love any thing besides him except it be by his order for his sake and to his Glory except it be according to the prescribed Rules and limits he hath set us And how proper is it here to Renew our Baptismal Covenant faithfully to promise to be entirely the Lord's to be obedient and resigned to him to be Treacherous to him no more but stedfast and resolved in his Service taking his Law as our Rule his will to be
shameful Cross and therefore retires here for Meditation and Prayer in order to it To bear the Curse of the Law and strugle with the Wrath of God the due Wages of our sin which he undertook to expiate And to Conflict with all those Sufferings Antecedent and Concomitant to such a Death needed such Preparation Yea the solemn Resignation of himself to the Will of God by Prayer in this Garden before he Offered himself upon the Cross was necessary as the accomplishment of a legal Type that prefigured it For all the Levitical Sacrifices were first consecrated by Prayer before they were burnt upon the Altar This Lamb of God the truth of all those Sacrifices the Substance of all those Types was first to devote himself to God by Prayer before he was nailed to the Cross And this Garden of Gethsemane being a solitary Place was fit for that purpose 3. I may add another reason He went thither because it was a place that Judas knew of where his Enemiâ—s might be sure to find him and so accomplish the eternal Counsels of God concerning his sufferings and Death Several times before this they endeavoured to lay hands on him but his hour was not come But now he was willing and resolved to dye And therefore knowing that Judas would betray him and having bid him do quickly what he intended to do he doth not go about to abscond and hide himself to prevent it He retires to this Garden which the Traytor was well acquainted with And when he comes with a Company to take him he tells them more than once He is the Person they seek for Let me make a few Reflexions on this particular As 1. Since our Lords Passion began in a Garden Let me caution you not to abuse your Gardens and places of Retirement and Recreation to vanity and sin but improve them by holy Meditation when you are walking there How often is Christ dishonoured in such places either when you are in Company or when are alone In company by intemperance in Banqueting or by vain or wanton Discourses or by uncharitable and backbiting Stories of others c. Or when you are alone by wanton and lustful thoughts by speculative uncleanness wicked projects c. But thus to retire into a Garden is to retreat from men and fall into the hands of the Devil Such persons imitate their Mother Eve in the Garden of Eden and hold a Dialogue with the old serpent Others who are less criminal are yet to be reproved that make no holy improvement of such places but only for Recreation and Pleasure to gratifie their Senses Every wise and good man loves sometimes to be alone and ought to be so for serious Meditation Now a Garden is a fit place for such a purpose and may be of excellent use to such an end And there is no Object can meet our Eyes or affect any of our senses there without giving us some Notices of God and directing us to some useful Instructions in reference to our selves if we did not want a holy heart and spiritual wisdom to improve them Especially in your Garden walks Meditate on the Garden of Eden and think of this Garden of Gethsemane Consider how Man sinned in the one and how Christ suffered in an Agony in the other First From the Garden of Eden you may take occasion to contemplate the State of Innocence the Entrance of Sin the Fall of our First Parents the Subtilty of the Tempter the Danger of Gratifying the Sensual Appetite from their Example in Eating the Forbidden Fruit the prevalency of Temptation when a near and Beloved Relation is the Instrument of the Devil to urge it c. Secondly Think of the Garden of Gethsemane too when you are delighting your self in some pleasant Walk in your own Garden Think how the Son of God lay prostrate on his Face in an Agony in this Garden of Gethsemane When you look upon a Fruit-tree especially a Vine or taste of a Grape remember the Blood of Christ that trickled from his Sacred Body If you are sometimes merry and chearful with your Friends in a Garden forget not how your Saviour was exceeding sorrowful My Soul is exceeding Sorrowful unto Death When you are cooling your selves in the Shade remember his Agony and Bloody Sweat under the Apprehensions of the Wrath of God due to your sin How his Soul boiled up as one of the Greek Expressions does signifie and his Blood broke out at every part of his Body with the extremity of the Heat You may consider how the First Adam was Tempted by an Evil Angel in the Garden of Eden and the Second was Comforted in his Agony by a Good one Adam's Sentence in the former was to get his living by the Sweat of his brows Christ by his Bloody Sweat in this procures our Life And let not such places be abused to sin and vanity that may so easily be improved to put us in mind of such Important Truths 2. In that this was a Solitary Place we may observe That it is fit to retire for Meditation and Prayer to some Secret Place from the Company and Observation of others There are many things which are proper enough and may become us in an Affectionate Prayer in secret especially for a Penitent which are not allowable in Social Worship or Publick Prayer with others As Prostration of our selves on the Ground Beating the Breast Extraordinary Sobs and Sighs Plentiful Tears and Passionate Expostulations with God c. which either Modesty or Prudence may restrain in publick may be used with greater Liberty in Secret where is no Temptation to Hypocrisie or vain-glory to abuse them And therefore our Lord directs us Math. 6. That we enter into our Closets and shut the door and then pray to our Father who is in Heaven who seeth in secret and will reward us openly 3. In that Christ retires here to prepare himself with the greater Solemnity for his approaching Death We may learn That whenever we have a Prospect of our Change at hand we should not content our selves with habitual preparation but use a more solemn distinct and actual preparation for it Our Lord no doubt was always in a Readiness for that which he knew was the great end of his Incarnation And yet the night before his Sufferings he retires into this Garden to prepare himself for that hour We should always so live as to be fit to die because every hour we make some steps towards the Grave Every thought every word is a Sand running from the Glass of Time We sleep every night in the outer Chambers of Death and should by Prayer prepare our selves for it even for that Image of Death And shall we not much more for Death it self when we have a Prospect of its approach in whose Arms we must rest Prisoners till the great Morning of the Resurrection If God give us Notice and Warning by Old Age or a dangerous Sickness or a languishing
Body or by any other method that we shall shortly leave this World Solemn actual Preparation in such a case is fit and necessary If God tell any of you by a Bodily Sickness your Change is near If the Decays and Infirmities of Old Age the most incurable of all Diseases tell you That you have not long to live that it is high time to set your Hearts and your Houses in order You ought actually to prepare solemnly to do so You that have one foot in the Grave already forget not this least the Devil trip up the other before you are Ready But you that have served the Lord from your Youth and have the comfortable Review of your past sincerity in walking with God you may rejoyce upon any such Summons that your Race is almost run Your warfare will shortly be accomplished you have but a few steps more of your pilgrimage to make a few Temptations more to resist a very little time longer of trial and conflict before you shall receive the End of your Faith and Hope and be for ever with the Lord. Should you not then with such a warning stir up the Grace of God quicken holy Desires strengthen Faith and exercise it about the Invisible World and solemnly resign your selves into the Arms of the Redeemer 4. Because this was the place that Judas knew of were he might find our Lord and betray him Let us take notice of Christ's willingness and Resolvedness to suffer Death and what an Obligation it lays upon us of Love and Gratitude to this Merciful Saviour This I shall a little urge as suitable to the past Solemnity of this day to make us Thankful who have been Partakers of the Memorials of his dying Love in the Sacrament of the Supper He was free and voluntary in Suffering He went to the place which Judas knew of though he knew Judas would come and betray him He freely offered himself in the Council of God to undertake our Redemption He voluntarily quitted his Fathers Bosom in the fulness of Time to assume our Nature and therein suffer and die He was not forced into a State of Poverty and Humiliation but for our sakes became poor that we through his poverty might become rich The necessity of his Death arose from his own holy will his free Act and Undertaking which doth not lessen his Willingness but heighten the Obligation of it It had been Injustice to punish an Innocent who was unwilling to suffer in the place of a Criminal But he gave himself a Sacrifice of a sweet smelling Odour unto God for us He was not driven by force and violence as the legal Sacrifices unto the Altar But he comes to the Door of the Tabernacle he enters into this Garden that Judas knew of He endeavours not to go out of the way to escape their Malice but chuses a place that the Traytor was acquainted with He had a Baptism to be Baptized with and he longed for its Accomplishment He walked forth of his own Accord over the Brook Cedron with his Disciples into this Garden where he knew he should be taken And when they came to take him he permits Judas to kiss him which was the sign he had given them to distinguish the Person He twice tells the Officers That he was He whom they sought for He would not suffer an Apostle to use a Sword in his Defence though he could have commanded Legions of Angels for his Guard He proves that he might have escaped if he would for he speaks but a mild word saying I am he and they all fall to the ground as if he had come to apprehend them and not they him After this he would not work a Miracle to gratifie the Curiosity of Herod and make him his Friend in order to his Deliverance Yea he was silent under all the Accusations of the False Witnesses and afterward bore his own Cross as far as he was able towards the place of Execution And then he poured out his Soul unto Death and rendred up his Spirit to his Father saying It is finished It is finished And that last Circumstance is very considerable to prove his Willingness For we read that when they came to break his bones and found him dead which prevented the breaking of his Bones and accomplished the Prophecy concerning him which says A bone of him shall not be broken they wondered he was dead so quickly So quickly indeed when immediately before he gave up the Ghost he cried with a loud Voice Which sufficiently declared that no man took away his Life but that he voluntarily laid it down For having cryed with a loud Voice and thereby given sufficient Proof that his strength was not gone that his Spirits were not exhausted but he might have continued longer alive he then bowed his head in token of Reverence to his Father and gave up the Ghost which was a Circumstance so considerable that a Centurion who stood by observing it was thereupon converted and gave God the Glory But it may be objected though his coming into this Garden might be a Proof of his Willingness yet what passed there seems to intimate the contrary why else does he pray so earnestly that the Cup might pass from him if he was willing to drink it I answer That even in the Time of his Agony when he seemed most Unwilling as Man even when he prayed that the Cup might pass from him yet was he still willing as Mediator The Text says he began to be exceeding sorrowful and sore amazed saying My Soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death The Original words are very emphatical to express Sadness and Fear and such Affections of the Soul His Soul not his Body nor his Soul with Sympathy only with his Body For he was here alone in the Garden crucified as it were without a Cross His Body here suffered by reason of his Soul The whole Nature of Man had sinned and the Soul being the Principal in the commission of Sin the Redeemer who was to expiate sin suffered in his Soul My Soul is exceeding sorrowful even to death Insomuch that Clods of Blood dropt from him though there was no visible hand to strike him Which makes him pray and cry in such a manner to his Father for the passing away of the Cup Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me Father save me from this hour Oh what Pain what Fear what Horror what dismal Apprehensions and cruel Sufferings must force such words of complaint from such an Heart as his But no wonder his Cries were so strong his Prayers so earnest his Complaints so loud and the Comfort of an Angel not sufficient for his support when the greatness of his Agony and the extream Sufferings of his Soul are above our thoughts to conceive who understand so little of the evil of sin and the vengeance due to it so little of the Terror of the Lord and the Power of his Wrath as a
the Grace of God make upon the Hearts and Souls of Men from what they were and what others are You were some of the most Abominable Sinners but ye are washed You were carnal but you are spiritual you were proud but now are humble you were Darkness but now are Light You were earthly and sensual but now are heavenly You did wallow in all manner of Impurities but now are Holy You were sick but now are healed You were defiled but now are cleansed You were at Enmity with God and Haters of him but now you love him and his love is shed abroad in your hearts You did love and delight in Sin and Sinners you now disaffect and loath it and them and are ashamed to think of those things wherein you once took pleasure Such were some of you but you are washed You were careless and vain and wordly as others but are now a selected chosen peculiar people zealous of good works You could before live without Prayer in your Clossets and Families for many Weeks but now dare not live a day without it You were glad when the Sabbaths were over and the Seasons of holy Worship gone but now you are as glad when they approach and think with pleasure before-hand that they do so c. Oh the mighty Difference that the Grace of God hath made between what you were and what you now are What manner of thankful Rejoycing in God have such cause for as are thus washed But this will lead me to the Principal Use viz. Fifthly To Examine and Enquire whether we are in the Number of such Whether any such Change of Heart and Life any such cleansing from the filthiness of Flesh and Spirit hath been experienced by us To assist you a little to understand this Consider First What have you ever experienced and known of any humbling Convictions of your owne Pollution and Defilment by sin How loathsome to God sin hath made you How odious and abominable to God's Holy Eye Have you been made to Loath and abhor your selves as in dust and ashes before God trembling before his Holyness and Majesty who hateth your sins with a perfect hatred being covered with shame and Confusion of face to think of your owne vileness That your Hearts are so disaffected to him the Author of your Being and the Fountain of your Felicity That you have so often affronted and provoked him to Anger by violating his Authority That you have Lived so long as without him in the World and would â—e content to live such a stranger to the God that made it and you That your corrupt Inclinations contrary to his Holy Nature Image and Law so long remain'd uncured That you have gratified those Inclinations so often for so many years c. Have you thereupon been heartily desirous to be purged and cleansed to be Sanctified and renewed to be delivered from the Power and Pollution of sin as well as from the Damning-Guilt of it If you have known nothing of such kind of Convictions you have no reason to conclude that you have been Washed Secondly What is your practical Judgment concerning Holiness and the Divine Image and Life and what Prevalency hath it with you Do you esteem and yeild conformity to the Image of God Is Holiness accounted your Honour your Glory your Pleasure as unspeakably preferable to all the Riches and Pleasures and Dignities of the Word Is this your fixed Judgment and does it put you upon the diligent use of Gods appointed Means to recover this Image and to be made partaker of his Holiness Does it make you watchful over your Hearts and sensual Appetits Passions Words and Wayes so far as ordinarily to prevail against the Power of Worldliness and sensuality I do not ask whether it keeps you from every sin but whether it prevail so far that you regard no Iniquity in your Hearts Is there no secret way of Wickedness you Indulge and continue in But you loath your selves in the Presence of God and Mourn in secret for those sins that none but God and Conscience can charge you with and carefully watch and Walk as believing sin to be the greatest Evil Is this your Habitual Frame and ordinary Course If it be thus you are Washed and sanctified Thirdly Examine your selves from what Motives and upon what Principles you abstain from those Sins you are otherwise inclined and tempted to Is it from the Fear of God and Love to him Is it from the awe of his Authority and gratitude for the Innumerable Obligations you are under by his kindness and Grace Is it because sin is hateful and displeasing to God and Christ as well as because of its miserable and destructive Consequences and Effects to you Is it from an inward Ruling Principle that makes the pleasing of God your daily and delightful Work Fourthly How do you stand Affected to the Impurities and Sins of Other Men Are you grieved at the Dishonour of God by the sins of others Do you pity and pray for your sinful Neighbours Relations and Acquaintance Especially when they fall into the same sins that you your selves have formerly committed and repented of And therefore endeavour what you can to promote the Repentance and Salvation of others in your place and station Fifthly How are you Affected to Heart sins and to the Remainders of Impurity in your own souls If the Fountain be cleansed and the Heart purified the inward motions of sin will be abominable and hateful to you Do you feel the Burden of the Body of sin and Death and complain of it Do you walk humbly under the sense of your remaining Pollutions The more you are Washed and the more Assurance you have of it the more you will mourn for your remaining Uncleaness Ezek. 36.25.31 I will sprinkle clean water upon them and they shall be clean I will give them new Hearts and new Spirits and they shall remember their evil wayes and doings and loath themselves for all their Transgressions Are you Diligent in the use of all Means for further Purification of Hearts Is it the grief of your souls that there is so much Filth yet remaining Do you not find that you are not cleansed enough Do you not goe to Sermons and Sacraments with this Desire and Design and Hope That you may be more Sanctified in Soul Body and Spirit Do you not beg that all Providences may be blessed and improved to that Purpose Can you not thank God for such Afflictions as you hope have been serviceable to this end c. Sixthly How are you affected towards the Temptations that would insnare you and defile you again He that is truly cleansed will take care to keep himself Clean. If Conscience be not tender to make you watchful and circumspect to avoid being defiled it is a sign you were ever truly washed If you can make as bold with Temptation as ever and are not afraid of entring into it and being overcome Seventhly How are you
his Blood that he might redeem you to himself that he might purchase to himself a People zealous of good works False are we to all this if we do not walk as New creatures There are but two Motives with which I shall enforce this The Text furnishes me with one And the Season of the Year with the other 1. The Motive in the Text Old things are done away Behold all things are become New I shall not consider it as amplifying the other expression and so refering to the Change of those that are iâ— Christ and consequently of like import with the Phrase a New creature but as an Argument to urge and enforce it And accordingly understand these words as relating to the Obligation of the Law of Moses That that is now ceased Those old things are now done away The Shadows of the Ceremonial Law are expired at the coming of the Substance which is Christ Colos 2.20 We are said to be dead with Ch ist from the Rudiments or Elements of the World Respecting material and worldly things either to do or forbear them For of that kind were the Ordinances and Institutions of the Ceremonial Law They were the first and lowest Lessons fitted to the Infancy of the Church But now the Kingdom of Heaven is come by the Erection of the Gospel-Church a Kingdom which shall not be shaken and the Orders and Institutions of it never be changed Now a more noble and spiritual worship is to take place those old things are past away No wonder if the Scaffolds of Ceremonies be taken down when the Church of God the Spiritual Building is brought by Christ to its full height Now all things are become new by Christ the Mediator of the New Covenant The Testament he left us is a New Testament He rent the Vail of the Temple in twain when he died and put an end by his own Sacrifice of himself unto all the Sacrifices and Services of the Jewish Temple And therefore it is observable that the first time he spake of his Death was in the Temple But after his Death he never entred into it though we read that he was in Jerusalem after his Resurrection We have a New Sanctuary an Heavenly one A New High Priest of a better Order than that of Aaron New Heavens and a New Earth as the. Gospel State is called A New Light to inlighten the World even the Knowledge of God in the Face of Christ A New Sun even Christ the Sun of Righteousness with healing in his Beams A New Adam after the Image of God the express Image of his Person and the Brightness of his Glory in whom all fulness dwells We have a New Coelestial Paradise into which the Old Serpent shall never enter A New Tree of Life whose Leaves are for the healing of the Nations A New Eve the Church of Christ Bone of his Bone and Flesh of his Flesh formed of his Blood and animated by his Spirit We have New Sacrifices New Sacraments a New Circumcision a New Passover a New Jerusalem a New Temple Behold all things are made New And shall not we that profess to be the Disciples and Followers of Christ by whom all things are thus made New Answer all this by being New creatures that we may serve him in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the Letter Rom. 7.6 That is that we being delivered from the manifold difficult Impositions of the Mosaick Law all which we could not fulfil and from the Curse upon those which did not we should now serve God with new Hearts and Lives by the Spirit of Christ according to the Law of Grace 2. There is yet another Argument from the Circumstance of â—ime In the begining of the New Year which makes the Exhortation seasonable to press you to be New creatures And when may I expect to be attentively heard upon such a Subject if not at such a season when I may hope several of you have had serious reflexions this very Morning upon Time and Eternity from the Conclusion of the last Year and the beginning of another to awaken your Thankfulness for the Mercies of the year past and your Repentance for the sins of it and your good Resolutions and Self-Dedication to the Lord for the future It will be sad if the Experience of another Year do not teach us some Vnderstanding when day unto day uttereth Knowledg and night unto night might teach us Wisdom The very thoughts of our hasty Time measured by Years and Months and Weeks and Days should put us upon considering how irrevocable and past recovery is the last year and all our former years it being utterly impossible to call back Yesterday Almighty Power may stop the course of the Sun as in the time of Joshua but to make that which is past to be present and not past is a Contradiction and cannot be done And oh how small a point doth separate and distinguish that which is past from that which is yet to come They are divided by one Moment by an Instant that is almost nothing by that which we cannot speak of without losing it being gone while we open our Mouths to say the least word about it So near is Death to Life The very nature of Time it self may teach us this And certainly the changes of the year past should be very instructive and give us many Reflexions according to our Sins and Mercies according to the Trials and Exercises we have been carried through this last year May not all of you look back upon many Changes the preceding year of several kinds those especially which God hath made amongst us by Death We are called to review how many of them we knew and were acquainted with with whom we familiarly conversed not a Year since are now silent in the dust While their immortal Spirits are some in Heaven and others in the place of Torment And of the multitude that have dyed this last year could we but separate the corrupted putrifying Relicks of those Persons whom we Honoured Valued and Loved from the rest of the Deceased and view their Bodies as now they are How affecting would be the Spectacle to think what they were less than a year ago and to consider what now they are as to their Bodies and the greater change there is as to their Souls But even as to the former let us compare in our thoughts the Figure they lately made while acting their Parts upon this Stage as living Men and Women amongst us What a Change is made in a few Months as to every of them And the like may be our own Case within a few Months from this moment long before the end of this year we now begin For consider it Christians This last year that is now ended is one great step we have every one made towards the Grave Another such may bring us home O that we may be found ready Who knows but as the last Year carried off
many of our Acquaintance and Friends but that our Names may be amongst those who shall not out-live this It is true It may be you shall live to see the Conclusion of this New-year but it may be you shall not live till Midsummer It may be I may Preach a Twelve-month hence but peradventure you may hear a Sermon occasioned by my Death before that time Or your own ears may be stopped if my mouth be not You may die if I should live yet a few years more I cannot look round on this Assembly but I must conclude that of all this number it is past doubt but some one or more will dye before this year be over I believe I need not scruple to pronounce it There is none can question but if the number were much less one or more would dye within a year Therefore the Voice of God is to every one of you Awake and mind your Work Turn to the Lord and seek after Union to Christ and see that you be New creatures for you shall die before another year But you will almost All be ready to say To whom in particular do you speak this Sure not to me Yes I speak it to you to every of you whether in Youth or Age To you Parents and to you that are Children To you Masters and to you Servants To you Husbands and to you Wives To you before me and to you on either hand This Call of God is to every one of you in particular See that you be found in Christ for you may not be found alive at the end of this year Oh but I hope the contrary say such and such As for me I hope I have many a fair year to come I am in sprightly vigorous Youth or I am in setled confirmed Stength and Health or I am but just entred into the busie World or just now entring upon it c. But How many younger and more likely to live have died this last year and therefore why may not you be one of those who shall dye this Nay Elder Persons are ready to excuse themselves and say They have many Seniors to go before them That many who are Elder than they they see do yet hold out year after year Their inward thought is that they have escaped many Dangers and been recovered from many Sicknesses And though they are but weak and crazy and have many Infirmities and Pains to presage their Dissolution Yet notwithstanding these they make a shift to live and have rubbed on for several years under such weakness And several of their Acquaintance as weak and sickly as they have continued a good while for all that And so neither Young nor Old will admit the Supposition as to their own case Nor You nor You nor any body will believe they shall dye this year And so the next year I doubt not your Hearts will say the same as now for there will be the same pretence And therefore it is not unto you I must speak of Death but rather wish you Joy of the long Life which with so much confidence you reckon upon Well Shall I say then Go and enjoy this World and live as you list if you durst put it to the Venture Go and gratifie your Senses Appetites and Lusts for this year as you did the last and never think of Death or fear it You are not like to dye this year or the next But How unreasonable is such Security when some one or more of this Assembly you grant will probably or most certainly dye this year And how can you be certain that you shall be the Exempted Person Or that your nearest Relations and those you love best That they shall not dye this year Your Parents your Pastors your Husbands and your Wives and your Children and your Bosom Friends you will as hardly admit the thoughts that they shall dye this year But if some or other of those that now hear me that now look upon me that now listen and attend to what I say should be called away to Judgment before another year Why may not you in particular be the Persons or the Desire of your eyes those whose Lives are dearest to you Certainly To begin the year with such a Thought can do you no harm but may be improved to many useful purposes However I must tell you If after all the Changes which we have seen within a Twelve month and which every year brings fresh experience of we will not look forward to our own great change If we will not heartily concern our selves for our greatest truest Interest and prepare for an Everlasting State by voluntary vital Union with the Son of God I must tell you for a Conclusion That God changeth not And if neither the Voice of his Providence nor the Voice of Conscience If neither the Calls of the Word nor the Motions of the Spirit If neither the Experience of others nor so much as we have had of our own will awaken us to change our course You must know that the Holiness of God his Justice and his Truth are unchangable He will not alter the terms of Life for you and me He will not find another way for us to escape Condemnation than by being in Christ and being New creatures Therefore look to it that you be found such And in wishing and praying you may all be Such I do not only wish you a happy New year But a happy Life if it be for many years And withal a Blessed Eternity after Death which such as are now in Christ shall then Enjoy with him when Days and Years and Time shall be no more God grant it for Christ's sake Amen The Second Discourse â— Christ's passing over the Brook and Entring into the Garden After the Lord's Supper From JOHN XVIII 1 2. When Jesus had spoken these words he went forth with his Disciples over the Brook Cedron where was a Garden into the which he entred and his Disciples And Judas also which betrayed him knew the place For Jesus oft times resorted thither with his Disciples UPon Thursday the Day before the Crucifixion of our Lord he goes to Jerusalem from Bethany and there eats the Passover with his Disciples at the end whereof he institutes the Sacrament of the Supper and then makes a large Pathetical Discourse contained in the 15th and 16th Chapters Upon which followed his admirable Mediatory Prayer in the 17th Chapter Now having said and done this having said these words and sung an Hymn with his Disciples he goes forth with his Disciples over the Brook Cedron c. The Jews it is true did not go out of their Houses that Night after the Celebration of the Passover Exod. 12.22 24. Because of the Angels passing by the Houses of the Israelites when the first born of the Egyptians were to be cut off That the Israelites might not mix with the Egyptians at that time but sprinkle the Blood of the Paschal Lamb on their
Idols I say he leaves it unto themselves Verse 15. I speak as unto wise men Judge ye what I say That was the Case amongst many of these Corinthians they did not scruple to accompany their Unbelieving Neighbours and Acquaintance to the Banquets that they made in Honour of their false Gods They did not scruple to Eat with them of those things that were taken from their Execrable Altars as a Part and Remnant of those Sacrifices to Idols which were performed in the City of Corinth with all the Pomp of an Abominable Superstition This the Apostle shews to be unsuitable to their Profession of Christianity and that it could not agree with the Honour they had of eating at the Table of the Lord For these Heathens were seduced by Satan to make those Sacrifices and they were Devils whom they Worshipped as supposed Demi-Gods and in such Feasts they had a familiar Communion with them And I would not says the Apostle that you should have fellowship with Devils Verse 19 20 21. You cannot drink of the Cup of the Lord and the Cup of Devils You cannot be partaker of the Lord's Table and the Table of Devils In the Words of the Text he leaves it to them to judge Whether it be not a most horrid Impiety to pretend to joyn these Two together the Divine Body and Blood of Christ with the Impious Sacrifices of these Idolaters For he makes the partaking of the Lord's Table not only a Testimony of our Vnion unto Christ and our Communion one with another as his Members but also a Testimony of our Disunion and Separation from all Idolatrous Worship The Cup of Blessing that we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ And the Bread that we break c. Where we are to consider 1. The two Sacramental Signs the Cup and the Bread 2. What is to be understood by the Body and Blood of Christ 3. What by Commmnion in them 4. How the Cup and Bread in the Sacrament of the Supper are the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ And then I shall help you to Apply it 1. Concerning the Sacramental Signs the Cup and the Bread The Cup for the Wine in it by an ordinary Figure and the Bread which we break These are the two outward Elements in this Institution and neither of them must be omitted Whereas in Baptism there is but one outward Element here are two And there is good Reason for it 1. Because this Represents the Violent Death of Christ wherein his Blood was shed and separated from his Body It is therefore necessary there should be one Sign to Represent his Body and another Sign to Represent his Blood there having been a Separation by Death which is here to be Represented 2. The Lord's Supper being the Mystery of our spiritual Nourishment by Christ it was proper to employ both Eating and Drinking which are the two parts of our Corporal Nourishment and that could not have been entirely Represented by either of them alone The Cup of Blessing or Benediction which we bless or give thanks for i. e. Which we set apart by Prayer and Thanksgiving Blessing and giving of Thanks being often put one for another 1 Cor. 14.16 And in the Evangelical History Matth. 26. and Mark 16 What one Evangelist calls Blessing another calls Thanksgiving By vertue of which Blessing or Prayer by a Minister of Christ in his Name and according to his Example and Order That which before was common is set apart to an holy use and becomes the Sign and Seal of the Body and Blood of Christ The Cup of Blessing The Jews were wont at the Passover Feast or rather after it to drink of a Cup which the Master of the Family did bless i. e. Did pray over it or concerning it To distinguish this from that the Apostle says The Cup of Blessing which we bless which we Christians set apart in our Assemblies to shew forth the Lord's Death by And from this Passage of the Apostle this Ordinance is called by the Ancients the Eucharist upon the account of the Blessing or giving of Thanks Justin Martyr who lived but Fifty Years after the Death of the Apostle John calls it the Bread of the Eucharist in memory of the Passion of Christ Nay the Greek word for Blessing in this Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as well as the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 giving of Thanks is sometimes used by the * See Mr. Daille in loc Ancients as the Name of this Institution Among others Cyril Bishop of Alexandria does often call it by the Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Cup of Blessing which we bless and the Bread which we break At the Feast of the Passover the Jews made use of such Bread as was flat and round and so was to be broken and cut asunder And the unleavened Bread among the Jews to this very day is of this kind Now our Lord Instituting his Supper the same Evening after the Celebration of the Passover we may suppose made use of the same sort of Bread That is As he changed the Signification of this Bread from that of their unleavened Bread to be a sign of his Body so he imployed the breaking of this Bread to signifie his cruel Sufferings in that body upon the Cross This Cup and this Bread even after Consecration For the Bread is not broken till after that is said to be the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ not his real Flesh and Blood For besides the Vanity of such a Sense and the Indecency and Uncomeliness of it yea the Contradiction and Impossibility of it It is against the express Testimony of the Apostle here and in other Places According to the new Doctrine of Rome Instead of saying here The Cup that we bless He would have said The Cup that we Transubstantiate and change into the proper Substance of the Body and Blood of Christ The Cup in which we leave not one drop of Wine But by pronouncing four or five little words fill it with the Body of Christ And is not this a strange way of blessing a Person or Thing to destroy the very Nature of the Thing that it shall be no longer what it was before The Bread was not blessed that it might be destroyed nor given to be eatâ—â—â— that it might cease to be before it was eaten 'T is to suppose God to put forth Miraculous Power to make his own Command of eating the Bread impossible The Bread that we break it is therefore Bread after it is broken after the Consecration and breaking it is Bread still For the Transubstantiation if there be any is upon the Consecration before it be broken But I hope most English Protestants are pretty well Instructed in this Truth and therefore I need not insist longer upon it 2. What are we to understand by the Body and Blood of Christ of which this is said to be the Communion
How is Christ's Body and Blood present in this Ordinance Our Lord is Ascended into Heaven with his Human Body and the Heavens are to contain him till the Restitution of all things And therefore as the Bread and Wine are not annihilated or not destroyed nor changed into the Flesh and Blood of Christ according to the Romanists So nor present with in and under the Bread and Wine according to the Lutherans So that we need not say that the Body and Blood of Christ are at all present there for they are in Heaven But the Bread and Wine are the Signs and Memorials of the Sacrifice and Sufferings of Christ The Death of Christ and his Sacrifice upon the Cross with the Fruits and Effects thereof unto us are especially to be understood by his Body and Blood And it is in these that we have Communion in the Ordinance of the Supper The Expressions therefore which some Protestant Writers have used about the Real Presence of Christ's Body and Blood in this Sacrament are very * See a Tract on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper by Mr. John Hales of Eaton Colledge in Oct. unwary For thereby they seem to make Mysteries where there is no need at all of any It is true in the next Chapter it is said of the Bread This is my Body that is the Sign and the Memorial of it Yet here the Bread broken is said to be the Communion or the Communication of his Body that is A Solemn Rite instituted by God to communicate to us the Fruits and Benefits of Christ's broken Body or of his Sacrifice and Sufferings Represented by it That as verily as we are Treated at the Table with Bread and Wine so the worthy Receiver shall share in the Benefits of Christ's Death This is Intelligible and Plain 3. This will help us to understand what is meant by the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ By this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Communication as it may as well be rendred that we have in the Body and Blood of Christ in the Ordinance of the Supper Two Things may this Import 1. Our Participation of the Fruits of Christ's Death and Sacrifice That we share in the Priviledges of Reconciliation to God Forgiveness of Sin Peace of Conscience and the Promise of Eternal Life by Vertue of Christ's Death 2. That Others share with us therein or that we Partake of these Benefits with others For so it follows in the next Verse That though many Members we are all one Body and one Bread for we are all Partakers of that one Bread That is We are all one Church and one Body of Christ by Covenant Union unto him And of him we do all Sacramentally and Spiritually partake in this Ordinance As many Grains of Corn make one Loaf and many Members one Body We being many are one Bread and one Body The Church of Rome from that Expression might have as well argue That all Christians are substantially changed first into the Bread and then into the natural Body of Christ by partaking of this Sacrament As well as that the Bread is changed into the Body of Christ for all Christians are said to be but one Bread and one Body by vertue of their Communion in this Ordinance 4. Hereby also we understand how we have Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ by the Lord's Supper How we and others partake in the Benefits of his Death and Passion And that two ways As this Sacrament is a Sign and a Symbol of it and as it is a Means 1. It is a Sign of it All that eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup do thereby Commemorate the Death and Passion of Jesus Christ and profess to own that the Body and Blood of Christ offered upon the Cross is the Food and Nourishment of their Souls to Eternal Life That Christ is their Saviour and Redeemer That they hope for all their Acceptance with God in both Worlds only upon the account of the Sacrifice of Christ They professedly declare that living and dying they are and will be his They hope for Victory over Death and the Devil by the Cross of Christ and for a Glorious Resurrection from Death as the Fruit of his Death and Resurrection 2. These Words do import further That the eating of this Bread and drinking of this Cup are the Means appointed by Christ for our Communion in his Body and Blood We share in the Benefits of his Death and Sacrifice and by due Attendance upon this Ordinance the precious Fruits of his Death and the Gifts and Graces of his Spirit are augmented and encreased in us in order to our full and final Blessednes in the other World which this is preparatory to and fits us for As the partaking of things sacrificed to Idols was a Fellowship with Devilss 1 Cor. 10.20 So the partaking of that which was sacrific'd to God is a Fellowship with him * See Mr. Charnock 's 2d Vol. p. 759. And of the Divine Attributes p. 638. Prayer is an Act of Homage and Praise of Gratitude but we have not so near a Communion with a Person either by Petitioning for somewhat we want or by returning him Thanks for a Favour received as we have by sitting with him at his Table partaking of the same Bread and the same Cup. In all Nations the nearest Fellowship consists in things of this nature Take Eat manifests a Communion It would be an empty Mystery and unworthy of an Institution by Divine Goodness if there were not some Communion with God and Christ in it There would be some kind of Deceit in the Precept Take Eat and Drink this is my Body and Blood If there were not a Conveyance of Spiritual Vital Influences to our Souls For the narural end of Eating and Drinking is the Nourishment and encrease of the Body and Preservation of Life by that which we Ea and Drink I might consider this Ordinance as a Sign and Means of our Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ or of our sharing in the Fruits of his Death And amplifie it several ways 1. By considering on what Accounts this is a likely Means of such a Communion And 2. How Faith must be acted that it may be so as to us As to the former 1. As this Ordinance is Commemorative of the Sacrifice of Christ and being to be observed in Remembrance of him 2. As it is an open Profession of the Cross of Christ that we glory in it and therefore shew forth the Lord's Death that way professing our selves not to be ashamed of our Character as the Followers of a crucified Jesus 3. As it is a Renewal and Confirmation of the Covenant between God and Us through Jesus Christ Renewing our Engagements and Obligations to be the Lord 's for ever In the Celebration of this Ordinance we have a Special Opportunity for this it is a principal part of our Work at this Table 4. As it
Forgiveness of Others If we have not had Love to our Fellow-Christians more excited in us to all that are Members of the same Body though they err and mistake though they diner from us though they be angry with us though they think hardly of us and speak hardly against us Yet if we have not had our Spirits brought to a Temper able to forgive them to pray for them and be ready to do them good c. We cannot say we have had Communion with Christ in his Ordinance For such Effects as these wiâ—l follow upon it Or rather it is in these things wherein a great part of our Spiritual Communion doth consist 2. If there have been any thing of this kind bless God for such a merciful Season For this is the Real Advantage and Good of any such Ordinance when it Rectifies our Spirits and betters our frame and subdues our Corruptions and recovers us from our back-slidings and gives us any thing more of the Divine Image and Likeness and makes us hate Sin more and love God and one another better This is the Real Advantage of such Seasons These are gainful Opportunities indeed where these Things are Attained where in any measure there are such Consequences of Approaching to the Lord's Table 3. Let us endeavour hence-forward to walk worthy of such a Priviledge and long for the Repetition of it Let us watch our Spirits this Evening and to Morrow and the following Week and Month that we may not presently lose the Savour of these things by secular and common Discourse and vain Converse When we go away from the Publick Worship let us spend the Remainder of the Day in such Offices and Exercises of Religion as may Assist us to prosecute our Great Design and may strengthen the Vows of God into which we have newly entred And let us shew we like his Fare and are pleased with the Entertainments of his House by desiring more such Opportunities and by Improving them when-ever they return One thing have I desired of the Lord says the Psalmist and that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord for ever By this means we should endeavour to become growing thriving fruitful humble self-denying heavenly exemplary Christians walking worthy of our High and Holy Calling purifying our selves more and more from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit That our Hearts may be more fixed for God and Christ against all Competitors and under all Discouragements That Christ Jesus may have the more intire Possession of our Souls and the Service of our Lives That his Love being shed abroad in our Hearts nothing may ever be able to separate us from it That whether we live or dye Christ may be All in All to us Who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood To Him be Glory throughout all the Churches for ever Amen The Fifth Discourse Before The LORD's SUPPER THE Sin and Danger OF Unworthy Receiving From 1 COR. XI xxix He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself SO deep and General is the Corruption of Mankind that it may truly be said of very Many whose Carriage and Conversation is fair and unspotted that they are rather restrained by the Fear of Punishment than of Guilt of being Sufferers rather than of being Criminal Such an Errour it is true is injurious to the Dignity of the Divine Law and to the Honour and Authority of God's Government Nevertheless God doth so far Accommodate himself to our State as to Rule us by Moral Arguments that are proper to Influence our Hopes and Fears and therefore employs Threatnings as well as Promises and punishes some as Examples of Severity to warn others from the like Transgressions This Method the Apostle makes use of in this and the foregoing Chapter when he designed to Reform the scandalous Abuse of the Lord's Supper which these Corinthians were guilty of After he had Explained the Nature of the Institution and opened the Design and End of it he had Represented it as the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ He tells them what most manifestly follows from thence viz. The Greatness of the Sin to eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup unworthily that if they do it without Self Examination they are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord They offend against the Lord Redeemer who hath appointed this Sacred Rite and even against his Body and Blood which are Signified and Represented by the Bread and Wine as the Memorial and Sign of it This to those that have any due Regard to the Authority and Love of a dying Saviour one would think should be Argument enough But least it should not besides the Declaration of their Sin he Denounces the Punishment of it in these Words That such do eat and drink Damnation to themselves Wherein we have First The Description of their Punishment who do unworthily partake of the Lord's Supper That they eat and drink Damnation to themselves Secondly the Reason of that Punishment intimated in the Nature and kind of their Sin That they discern not the Lord's Body Before I consider the Punishment of Vnworthy Receivers it will be proper to open a little the Nature of their Sin mentioned in the latter part of the Verse Not discerning the Lord's Body This may refer to the foregoing Expression of being Guilty of his body and blood and the one Phrase will give light to the other Such as receive Unworthily are Guilty of the body and blood of Christ because they do not discern and distinguish it aright They do not think of it as they ought They do not carry it suitable to its Excellent Nature and Vse and so they eat and drink Judgment to themselves by not discerning the Lord's body And thereby are Criminal against the Person of the Redeemer as cloathed with Human Nature and as giving the Memorials of his body and blood separated to betoken his Death and Sufferings For so we remember a crucified Saviour in this Ordinance It is therefore no wonder if such a Fault be severely punished That which we Translate Discern it is well known signifies to make a difference between one thing and another as Acts 15.19 So not to discern the Lord's body is not to difference and distinguish concerning it to look no further than the outward sense not to make a difference between common and sacramental bread not to eye the body and blood of Christ as signified by the Sacramental Elements not to remember or consider his cruel Sufferings which this should put us in Mind of This be sure is not to discern his body But few can be supposed so ignorant as not speculatively to discern and distinguish in this case But practically to do so is a greater mattâ—r it Imports to mind to attend to to esteem to honour to apply to use the body and blood of Christ and the sign and the Memorial