heavenly spirit We must remember Christ therefore as Nehemiah desires God to remember him by doing good or as we remember our Creator by a true subjection of all our faculties to his soveraign will Then we remember him as we ought when we get him formed in our hearts and have a more living image of him left in our minds when it stirs and is busie in our souls and awakens all other images and calls up all divine truths that are within us to send them forth upon their several imployments into our lives Now for the fuller understanding of this matter you must know that the Paschal Supper which is called by Greg. Naz. very elegantly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a more obscure type of this type was instituted for a remembrance and was a Feast of commemoration as will soon appear if you look but a while into the particulars of it And first you must observe that the very day of the Passeover was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for a memorial of their miraculous deliverance out of Egypt as you may read Exod. 12.14 and therefore they are bid Exod. 13.3 to remember this day in which they came out of Egypt out of the house of bondage c. Thence it was that they were commanded to eat the Lamb with bitter herbs Exod. 12.8 for a remembrance of their hard bondage in Egypt which made their lives bitter unto them Exod. 1.14 So was the unleavened bread the bread of affliction in remembrance that they brought their bread out of Egypt unleavened Exod. 12.34 and were there in great servitude Exod. 13.3 so that their soul was even dried and parched in them The later Jews have added the charóseth which is a thick sawce in memory of the clay and morter which they wrought in and they use red wine for a remembrance that Pharaoh shed the blood of their children To which may be added that God required there should be a rehearsal to their children of what the Lord had done for them that so this feast might be for a sign upon their hand and for a memorial between their eyes to all posterity as you may see Exod. 13.8 9. And thence it is that the Jews call that section of the Law or the Lesson which they read that night the Haggádah annunciation or shewing forth because they commemorated and predicated both their hard services and Gods wonderful salvation and the praises that were due to him for so great a mercy It is easie now to apply all this to our present purpose if we do but consider that this likewise is a holy feast Whence it is called the Lords Supper not only because he appointed it 1 Cor. 11.20 but because he was the end of its celebration and an entertainment at the table of the Lord. 1 Cor. 10.21 This Feast our Saviour first keeping with his Apostles who were Jews he makes part of the Passeover-chear to be the provision of it For he takes the bread and wine which used to go about in that Supper through the whole family to signifie his broken body and his blood which was to be shed Now this was to be in commemoration of a deliverance wrought by him from a greater tyranny then the Israelites were under which made all the world to groan and was ready to thrust us all below into the Devils fiery furnace And therefore as it is said Exod. 13.8 thou shalt shew thy son in that day saying This is done c. So the Apostle in a manifest allusion to that phrase saith 1 Cer. 11.26 that when we eat this bread and drink this cup we do shew forth the Lords death until he come So that we may conclude that in this feast in honour of Christ we are to make a rehearsal of his famous acts to proclaim his mighty deeds to speak of the glorious honour of his Majesty and of his wondrous works and to indeavour that one generation may praise his works to another Psl 146.3 4 c. and declare his mighty acts that they may speak of the glory of his Kingdom and talk of his power And indeed it should seem that the memory of a thing is by nothing so sensibly preserved and so deeply ingraven in mens minds as by feasts and festival joys For it hath been the way of all the world to send to posterity the memory of their benefactors or famous persons by instituting of such solemn times wherein men did assemble together and by the joys and pleasures of them more imprint the kindnesses and noble atchievements of such Worthies in their minds So we find among the Greeks their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in honour of Aeacus their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in honour of Ajax and in latter times their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and such like in remembrance of the merits of such persons and how highly they deserved of the places where their feasts were celebrated In like sort the Jews had their feasts in memory of some great and rare passage of divine providence though not of any particular persons lest they should be tempted to worship them as their Saviours according as the custom of the heathen was But all worship being due to our Lord and Saviour he thought fit in like manner to appoint this feast to be as a Passeover unto us a holy solemnity that should call us together and assemble us in one body that we might be more sensibly impressed with him and that all generations might call him blessed and he might never be forgotten to the worlds end Now of two things it is a remembrance and two ways we do commemorate or remember them I. It is instituted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin Martyr Dialog cum Tryph. c. for a remembrance that he was imbodied for those that believe on him and became passible for their sakes The bread and the wine are in token that he had a true body and that the word was made flesh For thence Tertullian and Irenaeus do confute Marcion who denied the truth of Christs flesh and made his body to be a phantastical thing because then real bread and wine could not be a figure of it and so Theodoret saith out of Ignatius Dialog 3. that some Simon and Menander I think did not admit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thanksgivings and offerings viz. of bread and wine in this Sacrament because they did not confess that it was the flesh of our Saviour Now with what affection we should call to mind this love that God would appear to us not by an Angel in a bright cloud not in a body of pure air but by his Son in our own flesh I leave your own hearts to tell you Methink we should wish that all the world could hear us proclaim this love and that even the fields and forests i. e. the most desolate and heathenish places might resound our joyful acclamations to him We should wish to feel something of extasie and
come to his house and table then that they may be tied faster to him with new cords of his love and that it may be made more impossible for them to unloose themselves from his service What is there more in the desire of a holy soul then to cease to be its own what greater pleasure doth it feel then in parting with it self To what would it be more engaged then to the pleasing of him whom it heartily loves Let me be bound hand and foot saith such a soul that I may never stirre from him Let me seal to him a thousand Deeds to convey my self unto him If he would have me sign the Covenant with my Blood every vein in my body shall leap to do him that honour But rather let him come and seat himself in my heart and let him take my dearest life-blood if it will do him any service I accept of a suffering-Saviour I take him as he is all broken and bloody If he will have me follow him with a Cross upon my shoulder I refuse no conditions behold O Lord thy servant do with me as seems good in thy sight Thus we are to address our selves to this Feast as will be better understood if we consider these five things I. If we look upon this action onely under the general notion of a holy rite which God hath appointed as an act of his Worship yet the very using of it is an acknowledgment of him and his Religion and an engagement of our selves unto him as our God He that was circumcised was bound to observe the whole Law and so was he that offered sacrifice to the God of Israel at his Altar engaged to own him that had appointed that Worship Just so the performing but of one thing which God hath appointed as a ceremony in the Religion of Christ doth tie us to observe the whole Religion which he requires who did appoint that Rite And you may likewise observe That there being a mutual action in this Sacrament of Gods giving something and our taking it doth express that we are fast bound in that Covenant of which this action is a part So the giving and taking but of so small a thing as a straw doth bind persons firmly to that thing whereof they are agreed and which they conclude in that manner Stipulation one of the strongest words which we have to signifie the confirmation of a Bargain by was anciently made by no stronger thing as the very word doth import which carries a straw in its name And so any other thing in the World may be used to the same purpose The giving and taking of six-pence to strike up a contract doth lay as fast hold of a man as ten thousand pound in hand Much more then this solemn giving and takeing of Bread and Wine being a piece of Christ's Religion and he so represented by them doth bind us as fast to him as if we should repeat every word that he hath said and profess our consent unto it We are supposed to know the tearms of that Writing that Christ hath left us containing our duty and his promises and it is presumed we are willing to enjoy those promises and so to perform those duties this Action then doth but more solemnly conclude the agreement and we hereby stand engaged as strongly as if Covenants had been drawn between us and our hand and seal were affixed to them II. But then if we consider this Action as a coming to Gods Table and partaking of his meat we shall presently discern that thereby we prosess our selves of his Family and declare to all that we are his Followers and Retainers and that we own the Religion of the crucified Jesus I confess that coming to Christian Assemblies in the first times was an owning of Christ because it was very dangerous but this Action which was in those Assemblies performed was a more express profession of their belief in him and friendship with him For the great stumbling-block of the Jews was the Cross of Christ and it was foolishness to the Gentiles To declare therefore this death and Cross of his to eat of his dead body and drink of his blood was as much as to say I believe in this suffering-Saviour I am a Christian and will live and dye in this Religion A stranger may come unto a mans house but the friends onely are they that sit with him at his board and he that is not true to him of whose bread he eats is the worst and basest of all Enemies The Psalmist could put no worse character upon an enemy then this Psal 41.9 That he who put forth his hand to eat of his bread had lifted up his heel against him By coming then to Gods Table we profess our selves his familiar friends in whom he reposes a trust and we can put no greater scorn upon him then by being false to him that doth admit us to such a nearness You may observe therefore in Scripture these two things First That eating of bread together is spoken of as a token of friendship and agreement as these two places among others will satisfie you Job 42.11 Jer. 41.1 Bread is never wanting at any Feast and so they expressed by it a friendly entertainment Whence Pythagoras gave this Lesson to his Scholars 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Do not break bread i. e. ne dirimas amici iam never break friendship but let it remain inviolable And so likewise Salt being never absent from any Meal and placed upon the Table it hath been used as a symbol of friendship and to have eaten Salt with a man at this day is proverbially as much as to be well acquainted with him which was a word as usual in ancient times among other people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristot. l. 8. Ethic. cap. 3. according to that speech of Aristotle We cannot know one another till according to the Proverb we have eaten a quantity of Salt together The Turks * Knolles in the life of Mahâ—met 1. at this day joyn both together and to say I have eaten Bread and Salt with sueh an one is an expression of having good acquaintance with him All which I but briefly touch upon to make it more sensible to us that this participation of Gods bread is a token that we are of his acquaintance and we do tell the World hereby That we profess all love and friendship to him The second thing I would have noted is That Covenants in Scripture story are made by eating and drinking together For which I need produce no other places but those in Gen. 26.30 Gen. 31.44 46. where Isaac and Abimelech Jacob and Laban conclude their Compacts with a Feast But you may add if you please that in Josh 9.14 where it is said the people took of the victuals of the Gibeonites and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord i. e. They made a Covenant with them before they consulted with the holy Oracle
angry at him that would save his soul Do we eat and drink this Heavenly provision and then rise up to play do we stand in need of such noble nourishment for the following of our trades and the encouragement of us in our worldly business O consider beloved Reader that lookest on these lines that an honest Heathen would do better things than these He that never heard of Christ and never tasted of this Heavenly food would be ashamed of such a life Philosophy which they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the nutriment of the soul would produce far more excellent works There is no need thou shouldest be a Christian if thou hast no more noble end Meer reason will breed up better Scholars and therefore go and sit with the Deipnosophists and come not unto the Supper of the Lord unless thou intendest to walk worthy of him unto all pleasing Col. 1.10 being fruitfull in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God Do but hear what they promised themselves from their Philosophy Hoc est quod Philosophia mihi promittit ut me parem Deo faciat Epist 48. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and then judge to what it is fit a Christian so divinely nourished should aspire This saith Seneca Philosophy doth make me promises of that it will make me a Peer with God This is that saith Cleomedes which preserves the Demy-God that is within us from being shamefully intreated which keeps it unmoveable and unshaken which gives it the better of all pleasures and pains which makes it intend some worthy end and receive all events and contingencies as coming from thence from whence it self came and above all which learns it to wait for the coming of death with a chearfull mind What man then deserves the name of a Christian that notwithstanding all the means of grace which God affords doth strive to make himself equal with a Beast that basely uses his noble part that is like a feather shaken with the wind and lyes down at the feet of every pleasure and cannot sustain the load of the least grief that vexes and frets at every cross as if the Devil ruled the world and trembles at death as a Child doth at a friend with a vizard on God expects sure that we should be men of another sort and that Philosophy should not beget more lusty souls than Christianity can We must be ashamed to live at a lower rate than a man that had been but at Plato's Compotation and we must make account the Blood of Christ is to nourish better Spirits in us than the very soul and spirit of reason if we could suck it in can be able to generate Let us look therefore into our hearts daily and see that he be there Whether we eat or drink or whatsoever else we do let us ask him if he be pleased Let us go to him constantly that he may know we love him And let us entreat him to tell us what he would have us to do and then let us do it with all our might VII Seventhly Let us maintain a longing in our souls after another such repast Let us strive every day to keep up a spiritual hunger after this food that so we may not neglect the next opportunity which God shall give us of Communion or if we should die before we have one yet Heaven may find us prepared for the Feast where the marriage shall be compleated Christ may find such holy longings after him that our souls may be taken into his bosome to dwell in him as he before dwelt in us When we cannot outwardly communicate yet we may in heart in spirit Though we cannot alwayes celebrate the mysteries yet we may have the thing signified in those mysteries as St. Bernard speaks at all times in all places i. e. We may with pious affections and holy actions receive Christ continually into our souls As the Sacrament saith he sine re Sacramenti without the thing of the Sacrament is death to the unworthy so we may conclude that res Sacramenti the thing it self without the Sacrament will be life eternal to the worthy Whensoever in remembrance of Christ thou art piously and devoutly affected into an imitation of Christ thou dost eat his Body and drink his Blood But then if we do constantly preserve such longings and hungring after this Feast and do at all times feast upon him we cannot pass by any occasion that God affords us of receiving him in that manner that he hath appointed and blessed and we cannot but be very forward to go to remember him when opportunity is presented in the Assembly of his people And therefore I shall not make it a distinct advice that you would come again when this Table is spread for you For this is but a just gratitude to God a sign that we like his fare and are well pleased with his chear and are ambitious of nothing more than such an entertainment And I think we shall shew our selves to have been very unworthy guests at the last Feast if we like it so little as to refuse to come the next time that we are invited In the beginning of our Religion they received every day Acts 2.46 Which proceeded from a great devotion and fervency of spirit when the holy Ghost like fire had descended upon them And this heat did not abate in all places for the space of 400 years but in some Churches of Affrica as St. Augustine writes and in Rome and Spain as St. Hierome tells us they retained this ardent love and continually remembred the dying of the Lord Jesus And it was proposed to St. Augustine as a doubt whether a person of business as a Merchant Husbandman or the like should every day Communicate To which he answered To receive the Sacrament every day I neither praise nor reprove but to Communicate every Lords-day I would wish you and exhort every one so to do And so St. Chrysostome exhorting of the people to build Churches in the Villages where they might hold Assemblies he perswades them by this Argument 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in cap. 8. Act. p. 716 edit Sav. There Prayers will be sent up daily for every one of you there God will be continually praised with Hymns and every Lords day will there be an Offering made for you And though the devotion of Christians fell from once in a day to once in a week and from thence to once in a moneth till at last the Church of Rome hath thought it fit to bind men of necessity but to once in a year yet I find a devout Papist thus speaking Fr. Sales Introd Though it be hard to say how often a man is bound to Communicate yet I think I may boldly affirm That the greatest distance between the times of Communicating among such as desire to serve God devoutly is from moneth to moneth And sure the strict observance
both witnesses of what he doth and also to make it more solemn and effectual to the sinner 4. But then if after this sort of admonition the party continue unreformed he must be rebuked before all as the Apostle tells us 1 Tim. 5.20 For as the private person was to do it by himself and then before others so is the Minister likewise to use a first and second admonition answerable unto theirs He is in the face of the Congregation to exhort him to repentance to pray for him that he may repent which in all likelihood will amend him or at least dum unus corripitur plurimi emendantur many will fear the like correction He that saith this is to defame a man doth himself defame Gospel and finds fault with the method of Christ to do men good He doth shame himself qui facit quod argui debet non ille qui arguit He that reproves another doth not defame him but he defames himself by deserving of reproof And it is a greater shame to commit it and continue in it than to be reproved for it and amend it 5. And if after these two admonitions of his and theirs he do not amend then let him be rejected and cast from the Communion of the Church as the Apostle saith Tit. 3.10 i. e. Let him speak to all the Congregation to avoid such a man as an infectious person and not keep society and converse with him Let him charge them to withdraw themselves from his company and not to maintain familiarity with one so incorrigible For you must know which people little consider That they that you will not hold communion with at the Lords Table you are not to hold converse with at your own Now what a desperate sinner must he be that we would thus use and how long should we wait before this severity be exercised And yet we cannot satisfie our selves as far as my weak understanding can judge in abstaining from his communion till this course have been taken with him And let me say it with as much confidence as it hath truth on its side That the way of the Church of God hath not been to gather the godly from among the prophane without any more ado but to cast out the prophane from among the godly after all this labour Believe it corrupt Members are of the body till they be cut off And no wise man will use such a sharp remedy till he sees it will gangrene and indanger the body He must first use corroding and healing plaisters sharp reproofs and mild admonitions But without any of these to suppose men ungodly and gather a select number out of them is a path which the People of God have not trod a practice which they have not been acquainted withall I confess the crime may sometime be so great that all these courses are not to be taken but an Adulterer a Fornicator or such like is to be debar'd Christian Communion without this process till he have given sufficient proof of his amendment But because we live in Faece Romuli and there is little order amongst us let me suppose that they to whom it belongs do not do their duty and take this course Yet IV. Fourthly Let it be considered both that it is no part of thy duty to judg concerning the state of other men and that thou canst not answer the neglect of thy duty because other men neglect theirs Christ bids thee to do this in remembrance of him if others will not do it so as they ought that is no just cause for thee not to do it How can another mans sin be a reason for thy sin Why should his not being removed be a cause of thy removing thy self If the Minister do not his duty in every thing do thou do thine or else you are both alike He is negligent in not admonishing of them that offend and thou art negligent in not remembring of Christs Death and deservest to be admonished also V. Fifthly Let it be considered also that when thou dost receive thy Communion is with the rest of the Church and not with him that receives not aright He only eats the Bread and drinks the Wine but receives not Christ and so thou dost not become one with him All the communion thou hast with him is only natural not moral nor spiritual His bodily presence is there and as to eating and drinking thou dost as he doth but when thou considerest the manner of the action which is the morality of it thou dost not communicate with him nor dost what he doth For thou dost all in another sort for other ends and designs than he doth so that in a right understanding there is no communion between you And then why shouldest thou sever thy self from communion with the body for fear thou shouldest have communion with a sinner which thou canst not have IV. Sixthly But if thou fearest that his bodily presence will do thee any harm why mayest thou not as well think that thy bodily presence will do him good Thy goodness may as much avail him as his sin infect thee You have influence upon each other as to harm or benefit both alike and that is none at all VII Seventhly But perhaps you fear that your presence with him is an approving of his sin and you shall be taken to allow his vices These are meer fears and groundless jealousies for there is no man that doth so interpret it It cannot signifie so much unless the Congregation so understand it which no wise man will do And if you cannot be otherwise satisfied go to the Minister and profess to him and as many of the Congregation as you please that you dislike the wayes of such a person and disallow of the sins wherein he lives and that you intend not to have any communion with him though he be present with you VIII Eighthly And if you fear that the sinner himself will make an ill use of it and think himself to be good because he is in good company you have a remedy at hand for that which is private admonition and reproof And I desire those that are so scrupulous seriously to consider whether they have by good counsell and advice laboured to reform this sinfull Neighbour If not then what hypocrisie is it to complain of mixt communions and that he is there when thou hast not done what thou canst to hinder it by making of him better He that saith he cannot with any comfort partake with such a person should rather consider with what comfort he can live in the sinfull neglect of such a plain duty as that is of admonishing his Brother It is the part of a Christian not to condemn his Brother but to labour to make him better Not to refuse communion with him presently but to associate himself with him to perswade him to amend IX Ninthly But if thou hast performed this duty carefully then he cannot presume thou lovest his sin though
be all the usual attendants and companions of such seasons Luk. 15.25 the soul will begin to leap and dance for joy it will awake Psaltery and Harp and all the Instruments of Praise And so the Apostle speaking I suppose of the Christian Feasts and Entertainments bids them not be drunk with wine Ephes 5.18 19. wherein is excess but be filled with the Spirit speaking to themselves in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in their hearts to the Lord. These two things did commonly finish the Heathen Meetings After they were well liquored with Wine they used to sing and roar the Hymns of Bacchus The Apostle therefore opposes two sorts of heavenly pleasure unto that madness bidding them not to gorge themselves with Wine but to crave larger Draughts of the Spirit not to fill the air with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Bacchus as the manner was but with Hallelujahs unto God Drunk they might be so it were with the Holy Ghost And chaunt they might so it were Psalms and Thanksgivings to the Lord. Psal 36.8 Inebriabuntur ubertate c. Vulg. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thine house saith the Psalmist and thou shalt make them to drink of the River of thy pleasure Even a heathen could say Pramium virtutis esse perpetuam ebrtetatem That the reward of virtue is a perpetual drunkenness But then we must distinguish of drunkenness as Ficinius doth who hath well noted That there is one Earthly and Mundane v. Argumentum dialogi 2. de Justo when the soul drinks of Lethe's Cup and is beside her self and unmindfull of all divine things This is it the Apostle speaks against in the beginning of those verses as a heathenish crime But there is another coelestial drunkenness when the soul tasts of Heavenly Nectar and is indeed out of it self because above it self When it forgets these mortal things and is elevated to those which are divine feeling it self by a supernatural heat to be changed from its former habit and state This is it which the Apostle exhorts unto this is it which we must long for when we are at the Supper of the Lord. This is that which the Spouse means according to some ancient Expositors when she saith He hath brought me into his banquetting-house or Wine-Cellars and his banner or covering * For they feasted upon beds Cant. 2.4 over me was Love The Septuagint make it a prayer and render it thus Bring me into his wine-cellar place love in order over me Which may be conceived saith one as the voice of the Church to the Apostles or Ministers Polychronius Prepare for me the Supper of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 set me down orderly at the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the feast of love There is nothing that holy souls can more desire then to be so satisfied with him that their mouthes may praise him with joyfull lips This is the fruit of the spiritual inebriation that the soul meditate spiritual songs and hymns to God And indeed the better sort of Heathens did in their feasts sing the praises of famous men which good Criticks make the true original of the word Encomium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And so the Apostle exhorts the Christians that they would break forth into their praises of God and Christ who were most worthy of all their hymns Before I end this let me observe That every one may sing such Hymns as the Apostle calls for and indite them in his own heart unto God because a Hymn is not as we ordinarily think onely praise in verse and metre but any words of Thanksgiving that set forth the merits of him that we extoll So a Heathen will teach us if we be still to learn it When a man saith Libanius hath any gift given him by God 〈◊〉 32. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he should by way of thankfulness return something unto God and some give one thing some another The Shepherd offers a Pipe the Huntsman a Stags head the Poet a Hymn in metre the Orator a Hymn without metre and in my judgment saith he a Hymn is more valuable with God then Gold and far to be preferr'd before it Now Love will make any one eloquent if our hearts be full of God they will run over Thanksgiving and Praise is the natural language of a pious heart and there is no such copious subject whereon to spend them as the Lord Christ and in the knowledg of Christ nothing so admirable as his death and therefore when we commemorate that the high praises of God must be in our mouths II. The Jewish Feasts upon their Sactifices do more plainly instruct us in this matter They that offered peace-offerings unto God were admitted to eat some part of them after they were presented to God and some pieces of them burnt upon the Altar And this is called partaking of the Altar which was God's Table 1 Cor. 10.18 Ezek. 41.22 Mal. 1.7 where they did rejoyce before him as those that were suffered to eat and drink with him So I observe That where there is mention made of their eating before the Lord which can signifie nothing else but their partaking of the Altar and feasting at his table they are said likewise to rejoyce before him Deut. 12.7 18. Deut. 16.11 in the later of which places after he had given command concerning the three great Feasts he adds ver 14. Thou shalt rejoyce in thy feasts And in the later end of King David's Reign when Solomon was crowned there was sacrifices offered in abundance for all Israel as you may read 1 Chron. 29.21 22. and the people are said to eat and drink before the Lord on that day with great gladness But the Psalmists words are most to be observed to this purpose Psal 116.12 13. where to the question What shall I return to the Lord for all his benefits towards me he returns this answer I will take the cup of salvation c. i. e. when I offer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sacrifices for salvation or deliverance that God hath granted me out of trouble I will remember the mercy of God with all thankfulness as I feast upon the remains of that sacrifice For it was the manner that the Master of the sacrifice should begin a cup of Thanksgiving to all the guests that he invited that they might all praise God together for that salvation in consideration of which he paid these vowes unto him And in those words the Ancients thought they tasted the cup of salvation which we now drink in the Supper of the Lord expounding them in the anagogical sence to signifie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Psal 116. the participation of the Christian mysteries For in them we are to lift up songs of praise to Heaven as we feast upon the Sacrifice of Christ and we are to laud his Name who hath done such great
else we shall do nothing at the Lords Supper but what we might do at any other time as well If it be onely beleeving and meer spiritual eating that here is exercised then we may feed so without this food And when Christ commands so frequently Do this in remembrance of me it would be no more sence then if he had said Do this which yet you may do without doing this This eating and drinking therefore must be a profession of our faith a covenanting solemnly with God and a receiving and giving of those pledges of love which we cannot have any where else V. And indeed the old Christians did so sacredly bind themselves hereby to their Saviour that Heathens were ready to suspect them of dangerous combinations and such conspiracies as might prove mischievous to the Commonwealth From which imputation whilest Pliny doth acquit them L. 10. Epist. 97. he likewise instructs us for what end they met together at this feast They assemble themselves saith he in a Letter to Trajan the Emperor before day break and sing a Hymn to Christ as if he were God and then they do sacramento se obstringere bind themselves with a Sacrament or Oath not that they will do mischief to any but that they will not rob or steal nor commit adultery nor falsifie their words nor deny their trust c. And then after they have eat together they depart to their own homes Of more then this they protested to him he should never find them guilty and this was the crime of Christians in those first ages to engage themselves to commit no crime which they bound themselves unto by this Sacrament of Christs body and blood The Greek Christians at this day Christop Angelus rit Eccles Graec. when they take the bread or cup into their hands make this profession Lord I will not give thee a kiss like Judas but I do confess unto thee like the poor thief and beseech thee to remember me when thy Kingdom comes If we do touch the body of Christ with traitorous lips and embrace him with a false heart we stain our souls with the guilt of that blood which can onely wash them from all their other sins And therefore we must come unfeignedly to bewail our neglects and to settle our former resolutions of strict obedience It is grown even to a Proverb as Joseph Accosta relates among the poor Indians that have entertained the faith De procur Ind. Sal. L. 6. that Qui eucharistiam semel susceperit nullum amplius crimen debet committere He must never be guilty more of any crime who hath once received the Eucharist And if they chance to commit any they bewail it with such a sorrow and compunction that he saith he hath not found such faith no not in Israel But it would be very sad if we should be sent to school as far as India There are I make no doubt many pious souls among our selves that look upon it as a blessed opportunity to knit their hearts in greater love to God and that are more afflicted for an evil thought after such engagements then other are for a base and unworthy action Whensoever therefore we come to celebrate the memory of Christs death in this manner we must remember with our selves that we are assembled for to renew our baptismal vow and league and in the devoutest manner to addict our selves to a more constant love and service of the Lord Jesus We must look upon this feast to which we are admitted as a disclaiming of all enmity to him and a profession of our continuing a hearty friendship so as never to do any hostile act against him And thence indeed it is called a Sacrament according to Tertullian and others with him because we here take an Oath to continue Christs faithfull Souldiers and never to do any thing against his Crown and dignity as long as there remains any breath in our bodies We do repeat our Oath of Allegiance and swear fealty again to him or as we ordinarily speak we take the Sacrament upon it that we will be Christs faithfull servants and Souldiers against the Devil World and Flesh and never flie from his service Every act of sin then after such promises is not onely treason but perjury not onely the breaking of our faith but of our Oath yea not onely the violation of a simple Oath but of Oath upon Oath which we ought more to dread then we do to break our bones We esteem it an impiety of a high nature for a Minister to give a cup of poyson into a mans hand instead of the blood of Christ and we do deservedly abhorre that Priest that poysoned Pope Victor the 3d. Venenum sub specie sacramenti dedit vertens calicem vitae in calicem mortis with the Sacrament and him that poysoned Henry the 7th Emp. turning as Nauclerus his phrase is the cup of life into the cup of death But whilest our hearts swell in indignation at such a crime let us consider with our selves what a treasonable act it is to poyson our souls with our own hands and by a base treachery to God to swallow down curses and woes into our selves Better were it for us to be choaked with the bread of life or to feel the venome of Asps boiling in our veins after the holy cup then to take an Oath which we take small care to keep then to go on in a course of sin after such sacred professions of our duty and service unto Christ We are amazed to hear that men can touch the Gospels before a Magistrate and kiss the book or lift up their hand to Heaven and yet make good never a word that they swear We are apt to think that either these men have no souls or that they do not value them at the price of a rotten nut O let our very flesh then tremble to think that we should lay our hand upon the body of Christ and take it into our very mouths and solemnly swear unto him and yet not be faithfull in his Covenant nor heartily indeavour to perform our promises unto him For there is no forsworn person hath such a black soul as he whose soul is fouled even by the blood of Christ himself which washes the souls of others The world cannot but shrink at the thoughts of that fearful act of one of the Popes who making a League with Caesar and the French King divided the bread of the Sacrament into three parts with this saying scarce tollerable As the holy Trinity is but one God so let the union indure between us three confederates and yet he was the first that broke it and started from the agreement Far be it from us then after this action wherein we joyn our selves to God and unite our hearts to fear his Name and become as it were one with him to rescind our Covenants or stand again at tearms of defiance But let us have a care
that takes away the sins of the World Is not thy soul in him well pleased Is not his Body as really in the Heavens as the signs of it are here in our hands Hear good Lord the cry of his Wounds Let us prevail with thee through the virtue of his sacrifice Let us feel yea let all the World feel the power of his intercession Deny us not O Lord seeing we bring thy Son with us Hear thy Son O Lord though thou wilt not hear us and let us let all others know that he lives and was dead and that he is alive for evermore Amen And secondly It is a seasonable time to profess our selves Christians and that we will take up our Cross and follow after him This taking of the bread we should look upon as a receiving the yoke of Christ upon our neck and laying his Cross upon our shoulder if he think fit We embrace a crucified Jesus and we are not to expect to live in pleasures unless they be spiritual nor to rejoice with the world but to endure affliction and account it all joy when we fall into manifold temptations Protest therefore unto him that thou lovest him as thou seest him stript and naked bruised and wounded slain and dead and that thou art contented to take joyfully the spoiling of thy goods to be pleased with pains and to count death the way to life V. When we eat it is a fit season to put forth these two acts of faith 1. Let us express our hearty consent that Christ shall dwell within us that we will be ruled by his Laws and governed by his Spirit that he shall be the alone King of our souls and the Lord of all our faculties and that we will have no other Master but onely him to give commands within us Eating I told you is a foederal rite and therefore when we have swallowed this bread we should think that we have surrendred all up into his hands and put him into full power over our souls And we should think also that we have given him the possession of our souls for ever and engaged never to change our Master For eating is more receiving then taking a thing with our hands It is as it were the incorporating of the thing with the substance of our bodies and making it a part of our selves that it may last as long as we So should we meditate that we receive the Lord Jesus never to be separated from his service for ever to adhere unto him as our Prince and Captain as our Head and Husband wheresoever his Commands will lead us And as we open our hearts thus to receive him so let us now fold him in our arms and embrace him with a most cordial affection Let the fire burn now and make us boyl up yea even run over with love to him Now is the time not onely to give our selves to him but to make a sacrifice of our selves as a whole burnt-offering unto God Now should we lay our selves on the Altar of the Lord to be offered up intirely to him who made his soul an offering for sin That there may not only be a representative but a real sacrifice at this Feast unto Heaven i.e. that we may not only shew forth the sacrifice of Christ and represent it before God but we our selves may offer up our souls and bodies unto him and send them up in flames of love as so many Holocausts to be consumed and spent in the service of our God Then let us wish for the flames of a Seraphim in the love of God for the cheerfulness and speed of a Cherubim in the service of God and for the voice of an Angel that we may sing the praises of God Let us like our choice so well and think that we are so beholden to him that we may give our selves to him as to begin to leap for joy that we have parted with our selves and are become his And as a token that we give our selves and all we have to God we should now think upon those offerings we intend to make for the poor members of Jesus Christ and desire the Lord to accept of our gifts which we present him withall as earnests of our selves which we have consecrated unto him And perhaps now our hearts may be stirred with so great compassion and our bowels may be so feelingly moved that our Charity may overflow the banks that we had set it and the fire that is within us may require a fatter and larger offering then we designed But howsoever we cannot but deal our bread to the hungry with a more cheerfull hand and give our Almes with a freer heart when we have received the Bread of Life into our hands and hearts and felt what the huge Charity of our Lord was toward us most miserable and wretched Creatures 2. A second Act of faith which we should now exercise is this Let us really believe that all the blessings of the New Covenant are made over to us by this giving and receiving of his sacred body Let thy soul say My beloved is mine as I am his Be confident and well assured that if thou wast hearty in the former act of saith thou shalt as certainly receive pardon and grace and strength and salvation as thy mouth thou art sure eateth the holy Bread The former Act was a receiving him as our Lord and this as our Saviour Think therefore that now Christ dwelleth in thee and thou in him that as he must be Master of the house so thou shalt partake of all his riches of all his honour and pleasure And so begin to ransack his treasures desire him to spread before thee his inestimable riches pray him to shew thee if it be but a little glimpse of the glory of the inheritance of the Saints And what joy will this create in thy soul when thou thinkest that thou and Christ are one that thou art united to his most precious Body and shall certainly receive all the benefits of his Death and Passion O what ravishment should it be unto us to believe that sin shall not have dominion over us that the Blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all unrighteousness that the flames of Hell shall never touch us that death is swallowed up in victory that the grave is buried in the Wounds of our Saviour that we are sealed with the mark of God and consigned to a blessed immortality and shall inherit the joys of our Lord With what boldness now may we renew our requests to him and importunately plead with him for a supply of all our wants We may put up stronger cries now that we conceive he is in us and intreat him since it is his pleasure to be so familiar with us that we may be filled with all the fulness of God O my Lord may a soul say if thou lovest me so much fulfill in me all the good pleasure of thy goodness 2 Thes 1.11 and the work of faith
full Atonement being made because it is onely bread and onely Wine These things then having such a special reference to Christs Death the worthy receiving of them must needs be of great force 1. As an Antidote to take away the poyson and killing-power of sin The Blood of Christ doth wash away our guilt and takes off all obligation unto punishment and the consideration that Christ hath died for us expels the poyson from the heart which would make us faint and die It heals the wounds that sin hath made and takes away the anger of the sore it asswages the rage and heat of that sting which the fiery Serpent had sent unto us and suffers not the venome to undo us The pardon indeed is granted to us by vertue of the Covenant of grace when we unfeignedly repent and believe i. e. when we are converted unto God but now likewise it is further sealed to such persons That which was confirmed before by the Blood of Christ is now in a sensible manner applied to us and ratified by the representations of that Blood In the use of these things likewise we receive an increase of Piety and get more full victories over our sins and thereby feel more the virtue of the Antidote and have a sense of our pardon made as lively as if there was a new act of grace passed to settle it more surely upon us 2. It is of a Cathartical virtue also and hath in it a force to purge and cleanse our souls from their impurities As it takes away the killing-power of sin against us so it kills sin in us By our abiding in the Wounds of Christ sin is wounded and slain If any of you saith St. Bernard do not feel so frequently the sharp motions of anger envy or luxury c Gratias agat corpori saâ—guini Domini c. Let him give thanks to the body and blood of our Lord and let him praise the power of this Sacrament The blood of Christ quenches the fire of anger the heart-burnings of malice and envy the feavourish heats of lust the raging thirst after sensual pleasures Consider what thou art Dost thou delight in drink Here is a draught to quench thy thirst Art thou a glutton Here is a morfel that will make thee say Lord evermore give us this Bread Art thou worldly-minded Here is Christ dying to the world and leaving the world who will carry thee away with him in his armes Art thou fearfull to suffer any thing for Christ Drink the Cup of the blood of Christ that thou mayst be able to shed thy own bloud for Christ Calicem sanguinis Christi bibas ut possis propter Christum sanguinem sundere Cypt. Give saith Cyprian the Cup of Christ to those who are to drink of the Cup of Martyrdome Art thou affraid of the power of the Devil Christ O man comes here to take possession of thee And as he upon the Cross spoiled principalities and powers triumphing over them so mayst thou do also in this Sacrament of the Cross Art thou affraid of growing cold and dead in good duties Thou drinkest of Jesus that is full of spirit and will warm and enliven thy heart Whatsoever sin thou hast unmortified bring it hither and nail it unto the Cross of Christ till it be stark dead And unto whatsoever good thou wouldst be animated shew thy Lord thy desire to it and shew him his bloud to move him to bestow it Onely remember that it works not as Physick doth in a natural but in a spiritual manner It works as a Sacrament and requires thy inward rational and spiritual operations and then thou wilt find the profit of it to be greater then all that I have said Some of the old Heathen represented plenty and worldly happiness by a man with bread in one hand and a Cup in the other and a Crown of Poppy about his head which signified sleep and emptiness of care and trouble in the midst of abundance That man thou maist be for by this bread and Wine is exhibited to thee all plenty of grace and blessing of peace and comfort Thou maist lay down thy self in peace and sleep quietly not in the lap of the world and carnal security but in the bosome of our Lord folacing thy self in his love and saying Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their Corn and Wine encreased Psal 4.7 Let me say therefore to every holy and well-disposed Soul in the words of St. Ambrose Venias venias ad cibum Christi adcibum c. Come come to the food of Christ to the food of the Lords Body to the banquet of the Sacrament to the Cup wherewith the affections of the faithfull are inebriated and made drunken That thou maist put off the cares of the world the snares of the Devil and the fears of Death and that thou maist put on the comforts of God the delights of Peace the joys of Pardon more sweet than all the Pleasures of a Paradise And thou O Lord our God who dost provide food for all Creatures and hast given all Creatures to be food for Man and feedest not onely his body but his soul also and givest him for his soul not onely the holy Word but the blessed Body and Blood of thy Son Do thou cause all our hearts to burn with desires after thee who art so full of love to us Make every Christian soul to rellish and savour the things of God Prepare every one by a full digestion of thy Heavenly Word to receive likewise this divine nourishment of their Souls Stir up all their hunger after this Feast Excite all their longing-appetites after this Heavenly Manna And let this be the voice and hearty language of every one that reads this Book Give us good Lord Give us evermore this food Amen most gracious God for Jesus Christ his sake Amen CHAP. XIX AS the Sun and the showres make those Plants more tall and beautifull which have any living roots in the earth but on the contrary do putrifie and dry up those whose roots are dead So it is with this Sacrament which renders their souls more fair and flourishing who receive it rooted in love but those are more dried and hardned by it and tend more to corruption who have no life at all in them whereby to convert it into their nourishment Or as you see it is in corporal nutriment those meats which give a plentifull increase to sound bodies do more weaken and infeeble those whose stomacks are corrupt and the higher and fuller the nutriment is the more corruption doth it breed in those that are infirm and not apt to receive it So it is in this sacred spiritual repast the greater and more large stock of spirits and strength it is apt to afford to a soul that fits it self to receive it the more distempers and weaknesses doth it leave in the spirit of him that cares not what he does
thou lovest him nor will any sin which he afterward commits be imputed to thy neglect nor will the sin of his receiving unworthily be laid to thy charge because thou didst what thou couldst to prevent it It can only be matter of thy compassion and sorrow but not thy burden and trouble that another doth not do his duty when thou hast done thine And all Gods Servants in all ages of the Church have received comfort in such mixed communions and have patiently waited till Christs course was taken with men for their reformation And it is to be feared that such objectors seek for too much comfort in outward things and discomfort themselves in their own fancies Whereas their true comfort lyes in doing of their duty faithfully to God and to their Brethren and in the mercy of God in Christ And if they look for other comfort they will be deceived for the net of the Gospel brings both good and bad to the shore and where there is Wheat there are Tares many times also Let no man therefore plead this or that in excuse for his not coming to the Lords Table but resolve hereafter carefully to perform so necessary a duty Let the sinner quit his state of sin and death and so come and eat of the Bread of life Let the ignorant come into the School of Christ and proceed till they come to the highest form to the upper room where this Feast is prepared Let those that are in enmity with their Neighbours also come let them only first go and be reconciled to their Brethren and so let them offer their gift Let those that have a multitude of worldly employments come only let them leave them as Abraham did his Asses at the bottome of the Mount and so let them ascend to Heaven in their thoughts and converse with God Let the weak come that they may grow in strength and let the strong come that they may not grow weak Let them who have fears come that their hearts may be setled by the acts of a more lively faith and let them come who have hopes that they may rise to greater degrees of an humble confidence Let those who have leisure accept of this invitation because they have no excuse and let those who have but little leisure entertain it also that they may the more sanctifie their business and employments let the sad and sorrowfull approach that their hearts may be filled with the joys of the Lord and let those that rejoyce in the Lord alwayes approach that their joy may be full Do not send your excuses when you are called but resolve that a necessity lyes upon you unless you will be guilty of the foulest neglect of your duty and the greatest disrespect to Gods love If any man can be content to stay away after all these entreaties on to come but seldome when he may be so welcome Let him consider what a wrong he offers to his own soul how he robs it of its food and nourishment and how he pineth the most noble and excellent Creature in the world And let him consider what an affront it is to God to despise the choisest of his chear the most costly provision made by the expense of his Sons Bloud and the most kind and gracious invitations to it O foolish people and unwise do we thus requite the Lord do we thus slight the dying of our Saviour are we no more affected with his singular love Is this to commemorate the death of Christ to come once or twice in a year to this Feast The Lord have mercy upon us and help us How are we degenerated from the primitive practise how cold is our love to God and to his Son grown Unless we blow it up by a frequent remembrance of Christ it is to be feared it will quite go out The ashes and dust of this world will bury all the remaining sparks of it which are not yet extinguished Let Christ I beseech you see that you love him by taking all occasions to come to him by binding your selves faster with the cords of his love to all obedience and dutifulness toward him And let me but tell you these two truths and I shall put an end to this Discourse The way to have reformed us would not have been to leave off Communions but to make them more frequent Nor secondly To unite and consolidate Parishes but to make more Pastors in greater Parishes that by more personal instruction men might be better fitted for frequent Communion But so it is that zeal oft-times hath too much passion in it and too little knowledge The good Lord pardon us and be gracious unto us FINIS
as dear to him as his life Now whose heart would not faint and swound to think of being guilty of his most sacred blood There is no such load to the Conscience as to shed innocent blood Who then can have a heart strong enough to bear him up of being guilty of the body and blood of the Son of God 4. And that is the fourth thing I would have such persons to consider that they eat and drink damnation to themselves in a more spiritual sense than the Corinthians did that is they make themselves liable not onely to the plagues of God in this life but to his everlasting anger in the world to come You have seen already that in this Sacrament we make a solemn profession of our selves to be Christs Disciples we vow our selves to his service what doth he then but call for all the curses of God upon his head who takes no care to keep those engagements We here profess to believe the Gospel and to submit our selves to it now the threatnings of Christ are a part of his Gospel which we chuse here to fall under if we do not obey his commands We here receive Christ who is represented to us by the signs of Bread and Wine He therefore who embraces him with a dead faith which works not by love what doth he else but damn himself He professes Christ as solemnly as any Creature can do but he lives not according to him His own faith then and belief will condemn him And let that man think that he departs from the Lords Table exposed to all the mischiefs in the world that can fall upon a man unprotected from above The shadow of the Lord is departed from his head and he lies open to all the Thunderbolts of Heaven And beside he consigns himself over to eternal death he binds himself to endure the torments of Hell fire When a man can think of Christ of his death of his love and yet love his sin and keep the traytor in his brest it will at last prove a traytor to him and hale him to the most fear-full execution The flames of Hell will be the hotter because the blood of Christ will not quench them The Anger of God will be more incensed because men blew it up by their sins notwithstanding the stream of Blood which flowed from the side of his Son to slake it And you will see that he is in greater danger of Hell fire then other men and that he drinks damnation if you consider that which follows 5. Such a prophane person doth by this act more harden his heart in his sin and makes it more obdurate against all the methods of God It may be in the heart of some to say that there is no such danger of damnation for a man may repent and though he do not now leave his sin yet hereafter he may be out of love with it But this imagination will soon fly away if you set but the light of this truth and those that follow against it That a mans heart becomes more obstinate and unmalleable who is not softned by Christs Bloud and goes on in sin though he then perhaps entertained some resolutions against it This Bread will turn into a stone in such a mans heart and it will become as hard as the nether Milstone He that can sin though he remember often such a love that is in Christ and so great evil as is in sin and though he come and make engagements and professions of love to him must needs be very stupid and senseless And God withdrawing his Grace Christ departing away from such an unhallowed and impudent Creature must needs make his heart more seared and his condition more dangerous When he approaches to a soul and finds it a nest of unclean Birds he will take the wings of a Dove and flie away to a cleaner and whiter habitation Or rather if we refuse to hear his Law and obey his Word which is preached to us he will not come to us when we are so bold as to take this Covenant into our mouths and yet hate to be reformed And if he will not come to us what can follow but coldness and hardness by reason of his absence 6. The Devil enters into that heart which Christ leaves If the Lord can find no room in us we become fit for seven more foul spirits than dwelt in us before God leaves men more to the power of Satan when they offer such contempt unto his Son The powers of darkness rush with greater fury and with a greater throng upon such a person that loves to be in darkness in the midst of such Heavenly light The Serpent may infuse his venome more into their spirits as well as sting their bodies and he gets a stronger title to them after they have offered such an affront and mockery to the Son of God 7. It must needs be hard for such a person to get a pardon because he sins even against that Bloud by which the pardon is to be obtained Upon what score can he sue for forgiveness who made so light of the Covenant of forgiveness What will he plead for himself who makes so little Conscience of keeping Christ commands that he breaks them all at once for he that doth not receive Christ when he is so tendered and submits not himself to him he refuses all the Gospel and rejects all that he says I tell you it will cost a man many a tear and a very sad repentance before he obtain the mercy to wipe off those stains which the Blood of Christ leaves upon the Soul He must be washed in that very blood which he uses so irreverently and which he can sin against so boldly and what a strong faith must he have that can think this so easily to be obtained Let no man then approach hither that is in love with any sin whose heart is not so broken for his Rebellions that he verily thinks in his Conscience he shall leave them Let him bring nothing into the presence of Christ which his Soul hates unless he intend to be worse then a Jew who did not own him to be the Christ And if any man do find upon good consideration that he and his sins are so saln out that they shall never agree again and therefore desires here to make an open defiance of them and joyn himself most solemnly in a friendship with Christ let him be infinitely careful afterward that he do not return with a Dog to his vomit after he hath eaten this sacred food But let me add this that I do not say all this of the danger that is in this thing that you may not come as St. Chrysostome speaks but that you may not meerly come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Hom. 24. in 1 ad Corinth For as to come on any fashion is very dangerous so not to come at all is certain famine and death As he may surfeit and kill
himself that is a glutton so it is most certain that he perishes who fasts and never eats at all If it be a duty to do this then there is a punishment annexed to the neglect as well as to the ill-performance of it There is a danger in not coming as well as in coming unworthily God is angry at one sin as well as at another and if he shall be condemned that doth this ignorantly or in love to his sins or in a half hatred of them so shall he be that stays away and will not get knowledge nor leave his sins He that eats irreverently is guilty by prophaning of Christs Body and so is he that eats not at all by despising of it and preferring his lusts before him As the one eats damnation to himself so doth the other by not eating judge himself to be in a damnable condition For if we cannot partake of his Supper here how can we think our selves fit to feast with him hereafter Many think that they are safe if they venture not upon these holy things and it disquiets them to come in their fins but it never troubles them that they stay away and continue in their sins These mens Consciences are but half informed and I seriously wish them not to endure in that condition wherein they judge themselves unmeet society for Christ and the faithfull Remember that you not onely live in sin but add this sin to all the rest that you do not come to remember Christ and shew forth his Death He that breaks one of the least of his Commandments and lives in the known neglect of it shall be called least in the Kingdome of Heaven i. e. shall be deemed not to belong to it Away then with this supine negligence James 4.8 Cleanse your hearts ye sinners and purifie your hearts ye double minded Purge your souls by hearty sorrow by humble confession by great contrition by a professed hatred and detestation of all your sins Col. 3.5 8 12 13. Mortifie your members that are on the earth fornication uncleanness inordinate affection evil concupiscence and covetousness Put off all these anger wrath malice blasphemy filthy Communication out of your mouth Lye not one unto another But put on as the Elect of God bowels of mercy kindness humbleness of mind meekness long-suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any man have a quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye c. And come hither to strengthen your resolutions and to confirm your purposes Come and renew your vows of holy living and protest in the sight of God and his holy Angels and before his faithfull people that you will be the followers of the Lord Jesus Do not weep and mourn and afflict your Souls for a day do not banish your sins for a little time that you may entertain them afterward with a greater kindness but give them an eternal divorce and bid them never return again Do not go a little back from your sins that you may take your rise and leap into them with a greater violence but fly from them as from the Devil and the mouth of the pit resolving never to cast a friendly look upon them any more And then come to Christ and cause joy in Heaven at the return of a repenting sinner And if thou takest upon thee his yoke why should there not be joy on earth too why shouldst thou not come and praise the Lord for his goodness to thee and make the faithfull rejoyce with thee that they have got more company at this holy Feast But I am very ignorant will some say and I dare not come for fear I understand not these mysteries I answer That it is very well if thou art sensible of thy ignorance for then there is hope thou wilt labour after knowledge And it is not hard to understand the meaning of these things but very easie for our Lord hath made his sufferings sensible to us in these signs that we might more easily remember them and be more quickly moved by them to due affections to him But I am affraid my heart is not right saith another and that I am cheated with the shadows of Faith and Repentance Let that man who speaks thus tell himself what he means by true faith which he would find in himself Is it a perswasion that God loves thee Is it a resting on Christ for salvation A thousand to one this is the mistake which troubles many But that Faith is another thing which the Gospel speaks of which will be soon understood if thou understandest what the Gospel is which thou art to believe The Gospel is to be considered either as a Narrative relation and report of what Christ Jesus was upon earth and of what he hath done and suffered of what he taught and what he now is in the Heavens It is an History of his Life and Death Resurrection and Ascention into Heaven there to sit at Gods right hand and it is a Sermon concerning Christs Doctrines of his commands promises and threatnings Or secondly it is to be considered as it is a call or proclamation an offer or tender of pardon grace and salvation to all that will accept of them on the conditions that they are propounded Now Faith is first an assent of the mind and heart to that report a firm perswasion that all is true that is said in the Gospel and secondly It is a consent to that offer an acceptance of that invitation an embracement of all that is there tendred by yielding up of our selves to obey the Lord Jesus in all things This is receiving of Christ this is believing in the Son of God And there are many acts of faith to be in thy heart before thou canst lay hold of the mercy of God And proportionably to thy sincere and hearty consent to obey him will be thy perswasion of an interest in that mercy If thy confident relying on him for salvation exceed other acts of a lively faith it is to be suspected of too sudden a growth and thou hadst best fear that it starts up too high But consider with thy self doest thou believe the Gospel doth thy heart submit to that way of salvation there proposed art thou devoted to the service of Jesus Then be of good comfort if not confident come and strengthen thy faith that thou maist still do as thou hast resolved This is one of the commands of the Gospel that thou dost believe and therefore if thy faith be true obey it But a third saith That he hath so much business that he cannot prepare himself But consider I pray you in the fear of God what greater business can there be than to work out our salvation Had not they business as they pretended of great import to whom the Lord said you shall not taste of my Supper Consider whether thou canst not bring thy business into a less compass or may it not be let