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A58940
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A sacramental-question concerning assurance how far necessary to a worthy communicant, practically answered, in a sermon, preparatory to the Lord's-Supper, Saturday, March 2, 1699/1700.
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J. S.
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1700
(1700)
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Wing S223A; ESTC R7898
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20,918
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72
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A Sacramental-Question Concerning ASSURANCE A Sacramental-Question CONCERNING ASSURANCE How far Necessary to A Worthy Communicant Practically Answered in a SERMON Preparatory to The Lord's-Supper Saturday March 2. 1699 1700. LONDON Printed by J. Brudenell for John Fawkner at the Talbot on the Bridge 1700. TO THE READER HAving reason to believe the following Discourse was of some Vse to several who heard it to comply with their Desire and in hope of doing good to Others it is now Publish'd If it be objected That the Stile is too Negligent and Copious and the same things express'd over and over in different Phrases and sometimes the same repeated which may be well enough in Preaching to a mixt Auditory but more exactness should be used in Printing I have only to say That I apprehend the same Pulpit Stile will best answer my End as to the Service of those for whom I principally intend it May I find Mercy of the Lord to be Faithful whose I am and to whom I am devoted If any are brought upon their Knees seriously to bless God for what they Heard or shall now Read I shall more heartily Rejoyce in it than to have the Approbation and Applause of all the Witty People upon Earth who have not Wisdom enough to know themselves and consider their latter End and prepare for Death and Judgment which cannot be without seeking to Jesus Christ as the only Redeemer and Saviour of Sinners to reconcile us to God and save us from Wrath to come His Grace and Mercy and Love is above all we can think Oh be Humble and Thankful adore Him and admire His rich free and glorious Grace but abuse it not J. S. London April 17. 1700. A Sacramental-Question concerning ASSURANCE How far necessary to Worthy Receiving 1 Cor. XI 28. But let a Man Examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread IN this Verse you have it plainly suppos'd That 't is a Christian's Duty to partake of the Lord's-Supper The manner of the Performance is regulated but the substance of the Duty is presuppos'd viz. to Do this in remembrance of Christ He ought to eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup and shew forth the Lord's Death this way only take heed not to rush hastily without previous Self-Examination â— That solemn Preparation is necessary to the right performance of this Duty may be argued from the Instance given of one special part of that Preparation The due Examination of our selves Let a Man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread 'T is a Christian's Duty to partake of this Solemn Ordinance He must not do it rashly and unpreparedly And it is one special Part of necessary Preparation to Examine himself Quest. But some will be ready to say I have Examin'd my self and endeavour'd to know the true state of my Soul but I cannot come to a Determination Whether I have Sacramental Graces in truth and am partaker of Life from the Spirit of Christ or no and consequently how is it my Duty to come to this Ordinance for Spiritual Nourishment After all my Examination I cannot positively conclude that I am in a state of Grace at least I have many Doubts and Fears I have no Certainty no Assurance of my good Estate towards God May I nevertheless come Is it my Duty while I have so many Doubts and Difficulties unresolv'd and am so far from full Assurance and Joy This I shall endeavour to Answer by considering how far Assurance is necessary to our Worthy Receiving You will have my Thoughts of it in the following Particulars Answ First That in the diligent use of God's appointed means it may ordinarily be known Whether you have truly Repented of your Sins and do unfeignedly Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ And so whether you are sincere in your Christian Profession or no. By Self-Reflection and comparing your selves with the Word of God endeavouring to prove your selves and making use of the Assistance of Books and Ministers with Prayer to God to enable you to discern the true state of your Case you may ordinarily come to the knowledge of your selves and your Spiritual Condition I speak not of the grosly Ignorant or of such as live at that rate of Licentiousness that they cannot but know they are Impenitent or may easily know it on a little Reflexion but of such as doubt and have some reason for it Secondly He that endeavours not to know the true state of his Soul that with a prepared Heart he may joyn with his Brethren and Fellow Christians at the Table of the Lord liveth in continual Sin He that will not endeavour to come Worthily and accordingly Examine himself that he may be dispos'd and fitted for this Ordinance he continueth to disobey an Order of Christ 'T is not enough to say you have no Assurance or are afraid to come without it that will not excuse you from Sin Many keep off on such pretences lest they should Eat and Drink Unworthily and so Sin But consider not the Sin and Danger on the other hand of staying away upon such grounds as will not excuse them before God Consider therefore what is the faulty cause of your Ignorance of your selves and of your true state towards God Is it not Sloth and Carelessness Negligence and Remissness Earthly Cares or the Hurry of Worldly Business And if the doubts of your Sincerity arise from a faulty Cause you must not plead those Doubts as a sufficient Excuse for not coming to the Lord's Table There is a faulty Carelessness in some good Christians that they do not observe and record the Workings of God's Spirit upon their Hearts and so the time of His Love is not taken notice of nor remembred To allude to what God says to Ephraim Hos xi 3. When Ephraim was a Child I taught him to Go taking him by the Arm but he knew it not did not observe it You must reflect enquire and consider what God hath wrought in you and done for you Whether you have been brought humbly to acknowledge your Sin with Shame and Sorrow and Self-abhorrence seeing your need of Christ and His Grace have been perswaded thankfully to take hold of the Covenant to accept the offered Mercy of the Gospel and yield your selves to be the Lord's We lose much of our Comfort for want of bringing our Doubts to a Determination and this through Laziness Sloth and Carelessness 'T is true the want of Assurance will not argue a Man under the Power of Unbelief but it shews the Weakness of Faith and we ought diligently to clear it up whether we are in the Faith and whether Christ be in us or no and whether with all our Hearts we love Him Which for the most part may be known as well as our Love and Affection to Persons and Things in other Cases If we reflect and bethink our selves we may ordinarily know that we Love Are you not willing that Christ should be your
God Don't you Believe from your Hearts that he is able to Reconcile you to God That His Blood can Cleanse from all Sin That you are lost and undone without Him That if ever you are Reconcil'd Pardon'd and Sav'd it must be by Him Don't you desire this above all things Are you not willing to take Him as your Saviour and Lord in all His Offices to be taught by His Word to be guided by His Spirit to be govern'd by His Law to depend on His Righteousness Sacrifice and Intercession for all your Hopes of Acceptance with God Don't you look for all your Supplies of Grace and Strength to conquer Temptation and perform every Duty from His Spirit as the Purchase of His Blood Don't you Believe all the Promises He hath made shall be fulfill'd and desire nothing more than that you may have a Share and Interest in the Blessings of the New Covenant purchased and promised by Christ And from your very Souls are willing to be His upon any terms so that there is no Sin but you would be free from rather than keep and accordingly are faithful and constant in following after Holiness You can't deny this and yet after all you 'll say you have no Faith because no Assurance Doth not all this argue true Faith You want the Knowledge of your true State but you don't want true Faith in Christ Therefore you ought to come to the Table Nay tho' you have not conquer'd all your Doubts about the great Truths of the Gospel and the Life to come and the Mediation of Christ if yet you have such a prevailing Perswasion of those Truths as brings you to consent to the Covenant of Grace to take God for for your God and Christ for your only Saviour and the Holy Ghost for your Sanctifier and Guide His Law for your Rule His Promise for your Security and the Heavenly Glory for your Rest and Happiness resolving by the Grace of God to forsake all that stands in Competition you are True Believers and ought to come to Eat of the Children's Bread Fifthly There is a vast difference as to the Lord's Supper between the Case of an Hypocrite who does not know himself to be one and the Case of a sincere real Christian who doth not know himself to be Sincere You must not imagine these two Cases to be alike The one has true Grace tho' he discern it not and consequently hath a right to the Blessings of the Covenant and is bound to know and discern his Title and so come and partake of the Privileges that belong to his State But suppose another Professor comes to the Lord's Table who hath no true Repentance or Faith and so his Heart not right with God but he is under the Reign Power and Dominion of Sin He hath as yet no right to the Blessings of the Covenant but is bound to know his true State that he may be brought to Repentance 't is a greater Sin for him do demand and take what doth not belong to him than to tarry away for a while in order to his Recovery and Preparation For if such a one comes he Hypocritically professes that Repentance Faith and Devoutness to God which he hath nothing of but is secretly an Enemy to God and Holiness He comes and claims the Childrens Bread with a Lye in his Mouth and Heart against the Holy Ghost and he takes the Name of God in vain There is a great difference in this Case from that of a doubting Christian who truly Believes and cannot say he is assured of it There is a further difference in point of Comfort for a real Christian tho' he come with many Doubts and Fears yet there are some secret Testimonies of the Love of God there is some Influence of the Holy Spirit to bear up his Hope which is much better than all the groundless Joys of Hypocrites in a false perswasion of the Goodness of their State The Penitent Upright Believer who wants Assurance hath a right to the Ordinance and is accepted with God tho' he can't affirm it or say that he unfeignedly Believes in Christ and Loves God with all his Heart yet he hopes 't is true He is willing to be the Lord 's on his own terms 'T is the favour of God in Christ that he values and seeks above all things This he aims at nothing else will content him he would rejoyce in it more than in any Earthly Prosperity if he could attain more certain knowledge of it Is not such a one accepted of God And supposing a competency of knowledge about the nature of the Sacrament to understand his Work and to discern the Lord's Body he hath a right to come tho' his timerous Scruples may keep him off a while yet they can't deprive him of his Right or disoblige him from his Duty to shew forth the Lord's Death this way He doth truly consent to the Covenant and should come to signifie that Consent and receive the Seal of the Covenant And remember this That the Covenant of Grace is mutual between God and You so that from your Consent to be the Lord's you may infer that He is Your God Your choice of Him is an Evidence of your Interest in Him by a Covenant-Relation The Relation is mutual equally and at once on both sides therefore as soon and as long as you can say Lord I am Thine and I desire to abide continue Thy Servant I would not depart from Thee As soon and as long as you find within you such a Disposition of Heart you may be assur'd that God is your God and will be your God for Ever and Guide unto Death Sixthly There is a true discerning of our Faith and Repentance which is short of Assurance upon which we may act tho' we are not fully certain There is true Love to Christ that is short of delighting and rejoyceing Love even desiring and mournin Love Tho' there be not the Witness and Seal of the Holy Spirit to give Joy there may be so much knowledge of our good Estate attain'd in a way of Duty as to prevent trouble and terror of Mind even a good Hope through Grace short of Certainty and full of Perswasion And if a Man may not act upon some good Hopes tho' he have not an assured certain Judgment concerning his State a great deal of God's Service in the Christian Church would be laid aside For Instance He only that 's Penitent should profess himself Penitent only he that truly desires Christ and His Grace should say he doth desire it only they that have received Saving Grace should give God thanks for having received it And yet if none should confess Sin and profess Repentance but such as knew certainly and with Assurance that they are truly Penitent and if none should beg Grace with a Profession that they desire it till they have Assurance of the truth of those Desires if none should give Thanks to God for Redemption