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A53963
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A practical discourse upon the Blessed Sacrament shewing the duties of the communicant before, at, and after the Eucharist / by Edward Pelling ...
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Pelling, Edward, d. 1718.
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1692
(1692)
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Wing P1089; ESTC R20512
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120,778
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284
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Promises at his hands THIS is enough to shew what a becoming and suitable posture Kneeling is at this Great Solemnity and how Naturally it follows where People entertain right Notions of it and come unto it with humble Minds Nor can I sufficiently admire that of all the Usages in the Christian Church this so Significant so Decent a Ceremony should ever become a stumbling-block and matter of Dispute Certainly it must be an ill sign of very Lofty Imaginations when there is such stiffness in Mens Knees BUT it is high time for me to proceed CHAP. XII Of our Behaviour after Receiving WHEN we have thus devoutly employ'd this blessed hour we must not imagine that our great Business is at an end that we may now drop those Religious Considerations which hitherto took up our time and thoughts that we may now go home leaving our Vows and Resolutions behind us in the Church much less may we think our selves free to fall afresh upon our former course of Life I must tell you the greatest part of our business is yet before us and to stop and rest here in the performance of those things which have hitherto employ'd our minds is the ready way to unravel our whole work and to defeat the design of this Heavenly Ordinance For this Rite of Eating and Drinking at the Lord's Table though it be of admirable use yet it is not naturally and intrinsecally good as those Acts and Dispositions of the Mind are wherein the Substance and Excellence of Religion doth consist but it iâ— a Relative thing instituted by our Saviour as a Means to promote and carry on that Noble End for which the Grace of God hath appeared unto all Men that denying all Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Tit. 2. 12. Here indeed we lay the Foundation of a life of Virtue by devoting unto God the Powers and Faculties of our Souls and the Members of our Bodies but as the Ground-work is in order to a Superstructure so are our Actions now in order to the further edifying and perfecting of us that we may be built up more and more in our most Holy Faith and being sitly framed together and compacted may grow and rise up by degrees to an Holy Temple for the Lord to be an Habitation of God through the Spirit THIS you will easily perceive if you observe 1. The Nature of the Ordinance it self It is first a Representation of the very Death of Christ a Representation exhibited to our Sences by the breaking of the Bread and the effusion of the Wine And what doth this mean but to awaken our Fears by shewing us the Terror of the Lord who for the expiation of the World's Guilt spared not his own Son nor would be reconciled to the World at a lower rate than by delivering him up to Torments and Death for us all What doth it mean but to set our Zeal a work upon mortifying all our Lusts and Affections and upon perfecting Holiness in the fear of God because Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all Iniquity and Purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good works What doth it mean but to make us ever watchful and circumspect lest we tread under foot the Blood of the Son of God Because if we sin wilfully after we have received the Knowledge of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sin Heb. 10. 26. It is secondly a Memorial of Christ's Love Love stronger than Death that made him give his life a ransom for the ungodly And what doth this mean but to kindle in our Hearts the most ardent Affections to Him again who so loved us as to die for us The greatest Affection this that 't is possible for any Mortal Man to express to lay down his Life for the Brethren But yet infinitely short of that which the Son of God expressed upon the Cross for his Enemies In this he commended his Love towards us above all proportion and comparison in that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us the Just for the Vnjust It is thirdly a foederal Solemnity whereby we renew the Covenant we entred into at our Baptism Vowing Promising and Engaging over the Symbols of Christ's Body and Blood and Swearing as it were with our Hands laid upon the Redeemer of our Souls that we will henceforth walk in Newness of Life And what doth this mean but to bind us with the most Solemn Securities and under the most dreadful Penalties to renounce the Devil and all his Works to deny all the Lusts of the Flesh so as not to follow or be led by them and not only to offer up our Hearts and Spirits unto the God of Purity but to present even our Bodies a living Sacrifice Holy and Acceptable to him And for the farthering of all these Noble Ends this Mystery is in the Fourth place the very Means of Grace and Salvation an Instrument that conveys to us the present Possession of all necessary and suitable Assistances and a Title under Seal to all the Evangelical Promises and particularly to this that he that persevereth unto the end the same shall be saved and that to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality God will render Eternal Life Rom. 2. 7. And what doth this mean too but that we should grow in Grace that we must not grieve the good Spirit of God whereby we are Sealed to the day of Redemption but that we should be strong in the Lord and in the power of his Might and give all manner of diligence to make our Calling and Election unto Grace sure and effectual by adding to our Faith Virtue or Courage and to Virtue Knowledge and to Knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness and to Brotherly Kindness Charity Charity in the highest degree to all Mankind and even to our Enemies Thus you see the nature of the Ordinance it self is such that it is not only highly useful for the present but of mighty Importance for the future it hath a tendency forward and it drives at mighty Ends which our endeavours are to be employ'd about after the Celebration of it is over that we may be more and more Partakers of the Divine Nature and come every day nearer and nearer to the Life of God TO confirm this still we may observe Secondly That those very Preparations which are required in order to our worthy Communicating do all look the same way and have a direct tendency to the same purpose Thus Faith or the hearty belief of the truth of our Religion upon those Evidences and Motives it carries with it is naturally productive of constant Obedience to the Precepts of it throughout the whole course of our lives For as it discovers to us the Folly the Shamefulness and the bitter Fruits of Sin so it shews
not now in a due manner Nay 2dly such Bold and Presumptuous Persons do draw a Curse down upon their Heads even in this World For this Cause saith St. Paul many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep Whence come many lingring Diseases many sudden Deaths Why it is very probable that many of them are owing to the Irreverent use of this Bleâ—â—ed Sacrament Certain it is that as God threatned under the Law Exod. 12. 15. to cut off those Souls that should eat Leavened Bread at the Passover so in the Primitive times of Christianity many were remarkably visited with Plagues and sundry kinds of Death and some People were possest with the Devil too by Reason that they came not to this Mystery well Prepared and Qualified for it as they ought to have been I shall say no more upon this Theme supposing that what hath been delivered now is sufficient to Convince Men of the Necessity of due Preparation And I had scarcely said so much but that it is a thing which lyeth before us in our way and I could not leap over it with an Honest Conscience In many other Cases Men need a Bridle rather than a Spur but in this Case a Spur seems to be more necessary than a Bridle because such is the shameful neglect of this Ordinance which many are Guilty of that we should rather use Protrepticks to provoke Men unto their Duty than Threats and Menaces to deter them from Receiving However that they may not make more haste than good speed it behoved me to shew what Cautions they are to take along with them lest they take a step towards their Perdition Keep thy foot when thou goest to the House of God and be more ready to hear than to give the Sacrifice of Fools as the Royal Preacher said Eccles 4. 1. Thus having made it appear that we are strictly bound to Communicate and to Prepare our selves rightly and duely in order to a Profitable Communion which was the first thing I was to discourse of upon this point I shall now go on according to this plain Method and Treat in the next place of the Nature and Quality of this Preparation and shew you wherein that doth consist CHAP. IV. Of the Nature of Preparation in general and in particular THIS is a Matter of great weight and Consideration though a very slight account is made of it by those whose great care and solicitude seems to be to whisper their Crimes to the Ear of a Confessor and to undergo or Promise some trifling Pennance and if after these little Practices they have the Absolution of a Priest who yet perhaps is equally involved in the Communion of Guilt with his Penitents they think themselves sufficiently purged from the Conscience of Sin and to be perfectly Innocent And this naturally followeth from the Principles of those Doctors who Teach that Confession and Penance are the necessary Preparatives before the Sacrament without making any the least mention of a Lively Faith in Christ And although they speak of the Necessity of Contrition or Attrition at least yet by those words they understand no more but a little grief for Sin with some few purposes at present to amend hereafter which they think to be sufficient because according to their Fancy the work of the Priest supplies and makes amends for the want of a true and Manly Repentance of the Heart Now this is so far from being a due Preparation for the Sacrament that 't is a Ridiculous and trifling Method made up of lucrative Arts and absurd Performances and serveth to Corrupt and Debauch Christianity and to encourage People in a Wicked and Irreligious course of Life as any Man may discern that will but observe the Natural Consequences thereof 1. THEREFORE for the Resolution of this point and for the Satisfaction of Mens Consciences in this particular we are first to Note in the general that Universal Sanctity and Purity of Mind is required of us in order to a Profitable and Comfortable Communion It was the Opinion even of a Pagan that such as meddle with things Sacred ought to be Chaste and Holy not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Demoth Cont. Timocrat for a certain number of days only but throughout their whole Life And certainly a constant course of Holiness is the best Prepaparative for a due Celebration of this Mystery because nothing can be presumed to be so acceptable unto God as a Life of Innocence Yet if a Man hath lost his Innocence either through the Practice of Habitual Sin or through the Commission of some Unlawful Acts his Repentance nevertheless is for Christ's sake accepted of in lieu of it if that Repentance be Hearty and Sincere NOW Repentance cannot be right unless the Heart be entirely good so as to be out of Love with every thing that is base and inconsistent with the Laws of Christ's Religion And therefore a Communicant's mind and purpose must be resolutely fixt upon the Practice of Vniversal Christian Piety Though some particular Virtues are here more especially to be Exercised because there are at this time particular Reasons and special Objects to Exercise his Faith Charity and the like yet there ought to be an Habitual Presence of other Virtues too the frame and disposition of our Spirits must be such as is Answerable to the whole Tenor of the Gospel Bonum ex integris malum ex quolibet defectu He cannot be said to be an entire Good Man nor a right Good Communicant that has not an entire and Universal Love of Religion in such a measure as by the Mercies of the New Covenant is now accepted of Each Divine Grace must contribute something to make up our Wedding Apparel the covering of Charity the Ornaments of a meek and gentle Spirit the clothing of Humility the sackcloth of Repentance and self-denyal the long Robe of Patience and Constancy the New Apparel of Mercy and Forgiveness In a word we ought to be so Perfect as to be Sincere and to be ready unto every good work according to the best of our Knowledge and to the uttermost of our Power All Affection and Love to Sin must be cast off and Mens Hearts must be Devoted to the observation of all the Laws of our Redeemer as his Spirit shall enable us by working in us and with us and by helping our Infirmities He that is not thus disposed cannot Communicate Worthily and so as to obtain a Blessing And the Reason is clear because as I have shewed at large this is a Covenant Feast under the Gospel as the Paschal Supper and other Sacrifical Banquets were under the Law By tasting of this Bread and Wine we enter into Solemn Engagements unto God as the Jews did by Eating of the Lamb. As they did by that Holy Rite addict themselves to the Worship of God and engage their Obedience to him conformable to those Laws and Ordinances which were Enacted then even so do we Christians