Acceptableness Soundness and Sincerity And he that examines himself without Reserves out of a Christian Simplicity and with an Intent to become more like God and more like that Saviour whose Death is remembred in this Eucharist and more like the Friends of the Bridegroom the holy Apostles acts like a Person for whom is prepared a Feast of fat Things a Feast of Wines on the Lees of fat Things full of Marrow of Wines on the Lees well refined as it is said Isa. 25. 6. 3. With this Self-Examination must be joyned Earnest Prayers to the Father of Lights that he who sees in secret would give us the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding whereby we may see the Errours that creep in the Dark and are not so palpable as others are And he that hath Courage to tell his God Lord thou knowest my Heart and triest my Reins and thy piercing Eye is a Discerner of the Thoughts and Intentions of my Inward Man Thou knowest I do not wilfully hide any thing from my self and I am so far from harbouring any secret Lust or Vanity or Corruption that it is the ardent Desire of my Soul that thou wouldst discover to me what Impurity what Errour what Fault lies lurking in my Breast I am not afraid blessed be thy Name to know the worst of my self Let down I pray thee some of thy gracious Beams into my Heart whereby I may see the Defects which by reason of my Blindness I cannot as yet discover whatever it be O Lord though it be incorporated with my Profit or Pleasure or with my very Heart I am resolved to tear it from my Soul Let me but see it and with that Sight give me Strength and Spiritual Courage and it shall not stay in that House which thou hast pleased to chuse for thy Habitation He that thus dares address himself to God in his Self-Examination discovers the Sincerity of his Soul The preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I IF it be necessary to examine our selves before we eat and drink in this holy Sacrament then certainly the Churches heretofore were in an Errour that gave the holy Communion to Children They did it already in St. Cyprian's Time Innocent I. Pope of Rome established it It continued down to St. Austin's Days and the Custom was as soon as the Children were baptized to give them the holy Communion Under Charles the Great about the Year 800. after Christ they did not only admit Infants to Communicate in the Church after Baptism but kept part of the Eucharist at 〈◊〉 to give it to dying Children To this purpose â—â—segisu of Leigâ— tells us of a Canon made about that â—â—e viz. That the Presbyter or Priest should always have â—â—charist or Sacrament ready that in case a Person fell sick or a Child should be taken ill suddenly they might receive and not die without the Communion Among the Aethiopian Christians the Custom continues at this Day and they give the Sacrament to Infants as soon as they are baptized The Christians in Moscovy give it to Children of Seven Years of Age because they think that about that time Children begin to commit Actual Sins And Hospinian tells us of a Custom in Lorrain which continued yet in the last Century amongst some Papists as a Relick of that ancient Practice of Communicating Infants The Priest when he had baptized the Infant would fetch from the Altar a Consecrated Wafer and having taken it betwixt his two Fingers shew it to the People when he had done put it up again in the Box and then wash his two Fingers with Wine and put some Drops of that Wine in the Infant 's Mouth But as ancient and as common as this Custom was to give Infants the holy Communion yet the Church of Rome it self was at last ashamed of it and abolished it by a Canon in the Council of Trent That which moved some of the Primitive Churches to begin this Custom was that Saying of Christ Joh. 6. 53. Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood ye have no Life in you This made them think it absolutely necessary to Salvation and that Children dying in their Infancy might not perish they gave them the Sacrament But their Mistake lay here That they took the Spiritual Eating of Christ's Flesh and Drinking his Blood by a lively Faith spoken of in that Chapter for Sacramental Eating and Drinking or Eating and Drinking in the holy Sacrament 'T is evident that Christ instituted this Sacrament with an Intent we should use it in remembrance of him which Children are not capable of much less of Self-Examination And therefore even under the Law though Infants were circumcised yet they were not admitted to eat of the Passover till they came to the Use of their Reason Not to mention that this Sacrament being designed also for Reformation of our Lives which Infants have no Occasion for at least no Sense of during that State of Innocence they can receive no prejudice by not Receiving the holy Communion seeing there is not that Necessity for it in them in point of Amendment of Life that there is in the Adult II. Yet from the Necessity of Self-Examination before this Sacrament we may very rationally infer that as soon as young People are able to examine themselves they ought to come to the holy Communion There is an Emphasis in the Apostle's Words mentioned before But let a Man examine himself and so let him eat and drink Which imports not only that a Person who hath examined himself may come but withal that when he is capable of examining himself he ought to do it and so come to this holy Ordinance I reckon that as soon as young Men and Women are able to understand what Sin and what Holiness is what the Design of Christ's Death is and what Heaven and Salvation means they are capable also of Self-Examination and consequently of coming to the holy Communion And if the Creator be fit to be remembred in the Days of our Youth the Redeemer of Men can be no improper Object of that Remembrance It must be admitted indeed that the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by the Apostle in the Precept of Self-Examination is taken from Metallaries and Lapidists or Jewellers that make a very strict Examination whether the Precious Stone be truly Oriental or no and whether there be no Flaw in it And though it being a Word of such Import implies a very accurate Search into our Ways and nice Care to be found worthy which Young Men of Fourteen or Fifteen or Sixteen may be supposed not so very capable of performing yet they are able to discern such Sins as they find forbidden in their Catechism and have been taught to avoid by their Parents from whom they have learned their Duty to God and Man And as the Sins of that early Age cannot be supposed to be very numerous and a great many of those they have
then save them they are most ready to take and to embrace him But that is not the Acceptance I mean For such an Acceptance implies a Contradiction as being contrary to the whole Design of that Reconciliation For by his Death he was to destroy the Works of the Devil and therefore to accept of him and to cleave to those Works he came to destroy is to set Christ at variance with himself He that accepts of this Gift must express that Acceptance not only by his Hand but his Heart too and conform also to the Design of that Gift For Is Christ divided Shall I accept of a part and not of the whole Shall I receive him as a Saviour and not as a Guide and Ruler too Shall I stretch forth my Hand to put his Sceptre of Grace and Mercy to my Lips and break the Sceptre when I have done This is impious and unreasonable 2. We take the holy Bread with our Hâ—nds to testifie our Approbation of that Gift and that we take it to our own Use and Benefit as he that takes Food in his Hand doth it to feed his own Body and to strengthen himself And indeed Christ is willing that the Soul that comes to this holy Table should say Christ is mine for me he suffered for me he died for my sake he left Heaven and confin'd himself to a Cradle to a Stable to a Manger For me he was nailed to the Cross for me that precious Sacrifice was offered and I share in all the Benefits of his Death as well as my Brother my Sister my Friend and my Neighbour The Estate he purchased belongs to me I have a Right to it as well as St. Paul and St. Peter as well as Zachaeus and Mary Magdalene And there is no Dispute of it where the Communicant brings with him Mary Magdalene's Tears St. Peter's Repentance St. Paul's Admiration of God's Love and Zachaeus's Charity he may be as confident that Christ gives himself to him as if he heard Christ saying to him with an audible Voice in the Prophet's Language Fear not I have redeemed thee thou art mine He may justly believe he hears Christ saying to him Here Christian take that which is thine own even my self that Pardon that Salvation that Peace that Joy that Spirit that Comfort which my Death hath purchased and my Cross hath gained I am thy Portion and all that I have is thine I am thy Shield and thy exceeding great Reward Be not afraid to apply these mighty Blessings to my Soul for as great as wonderful as rich as magnificent as they are and as poor as mean as wretched and as naked as thou art take them and wear them tye them as a Crown about thy Head Look upon the bright the everlasting Mansions of Bliss and Happiness look upon all that Saints and Angels do enjoy and please thy self with the Thoughts of it for all is thine 3. We are commanded to take the holy Bread with our Hands to let us know that having accepted of this Gift and appropriated it to our selves we are to hold it fast and not to let it go again Then we let Christ go when we grow cold in our Love to him and to his distressed Members or to our Brethren in general Love stays that Bride-groom of our Souls Love preserves his gracious Presence Love chains him to our Hearts It was an excellent Resolution of the Spiritual Spouse and that Spouse are we Cant. 3. 3 4. The Watch-men that go â—â—ut the City found me to whom I said Saw ye him whom my Soul loves It was but a little that I passed from them but I found him whom my Soul loves I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my Mother's House and into the Chamber of her that conceived me This must be the Resolution of every Soul that is tender of spiritual Comfort The Way to hold him fast is to kiss him with our Thoughts to embrace him with our Minds to cleave to him with our Affections to cling to him with our Will and to caress him with our Obedience If he would go away from us these are the Charms that hold him And the Soul that with David hath Courage to say and sincerely intends what it says Psal. 18. 1. I will love thee O Lord my Strength my Rock my Fortress my Deliverer my Buckler and the Horn of my Salvation and my high Tower may expect as gracious an Answer The same we read of Psal. 91. 14 15 16. Because he hath set his Love upon me therefore I will deliver him I will set him on high because he hath known my Name He shall call upon me and I will answer him I will be with him in Trouble I will deliver him and honour him With long Life I satisfie him and shew him my Salvation The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. HERE we may take a View of the immense Bounty of our Master to his Church and People Our Saviour pathetically describes it Mar. 12. 1. 7. For according to the different Conditions of his Church he sent various Servants to check them to admonish them to warn them to represent to them the Joys and Torments of another World and though not a few of these Servants were persecuted stoned killed abused and some met with cruel Mockings with Bonds and Imprisonments yet that did not discourage him and having therefore yet one Son his Well-beloved he sent him also last unto them saying They will reverence my Son And this Son he bids us take and with him all Things that can make us truly happy And though it is true the covetous and sensual Man would have taken it more kindly if God had bid him take Chests of Gold and Talents of Silver rich Houses and richer Lands yet had those Gifts been very mean and unworthy of his Wisdom and Holiness His Gift like himself must be spiritual and great and in bidding us take his Son with all the Benefits of his Death he bids us take the most inestimable Mercy and that which must make us rich and great and glorious to Eternal Ages If he had bid us take the World and the Fulness thereof there had been no great Self-denial in that Offer But to offer the Son of his Love and to bid us take him as our own whereby we enjoy all his Wealth and Treasures the Self-denial is so great that the Sacred Writers know not how to express it and therefore use such Words as may serve to feed our Admiration So God loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son And the Word so implies so vast an Ocean of Love that the Understandings both of Angels and Men may lose themselves in the Contemplation or Survey of it II. Here I cannot but reflect on the Rudeness of some that take him indeed but it is as the Soldiers at his Passion took him by Force and Violence There are Thousands that will
for all the World clamour'd against them they were hated by Heathens hated by the Jews reviled by Strangers reproached by their Country-men and there was greater hopes to reconcile Fire and Water Light and Darkness than of reconciling some People in the World to them Yet did not this Hatred and Surliness of others make them unworthy Communicants If my Neighbour will throw himself down from a Precipice why should that hinder me from walking in a plain Path And if others will be wicked why should that be an Impediment of my being good 'T is true Christ Matth. 5. 23 24. tells us If thou bring thy Gift to the Altar and there remember that thy Brother hath ought against thee leave there thy Gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift Which Words seem to import that if another Man be not in Charity with us our Devotion cannot be accepted till he be reconciled to us But these Words of Christ must be explained by Vers. 22. which brings in the Discourse Vers. 23. for there our Saviour tells us I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his Brother without a Cause shall be in danger of the Judgment i. e. He that conceives Anger against his Neighbour and hopes to escape the Guilt of Sin must have a very just Cause for it viz. There must be a just Cause given him by his Neighbour and then it follows If thy Brother have ought against thee i. e. have ought against thee justly which thou hast given just Occasion for first be reconciled to thy Brother and then offer thy Gift So that it is not another Man 's bare having ought against us that makes us unworthy Receivers but if he have ought against us that we have been the just Cause of if we have kindled his Anger by something that we have injuriously said or done against him there till we seek to be reconciled unto him our Gifts and what we offer to God must needs be odious to him because they are offer'd with an Heart that is not right with him But where we have either done nothing that he can take just Exception against or have done our Duty and what became our Place and Station without any Intent of doing him harm or if in case of an Offence given we have by proper Means and Addresses sought to be at Peace with him and notwithstanding all this he will still have ought against us there his Hatred and the whole Guilt of it will fall upon his own Pate nor can his Insolence or Ill-Nature darken the Light of God's Love and Favour to us who sees we have done what became Christians and honest Men and though it will not satisfie the angry Man yet his Choler cannot deprive us of the kind Looks of our Father which sees in secret nor make us unworthy Receivers 10. A Man's having as he supposes received no Benefit by this holy Sacrament and coming to it again doth not necessarily make him an unworthy Receiver For 1. A Man may really be the better for having been at this Sacrament and yet for the present may not be sensible of it because he may measure his not being better by the want of some particular Qualifications he is desirous of and over-look those Advantages he hath in good truth received by the holy Communion Many a pious Christian is the better for this Sacrament though he is loth to believe it for his coming to this Table either strengthens him in his Hatred of Sin and in his Love to Religion or advances him in Humility Patience Readiness to forgive Injuries and in Charity and yet because he feels not just after it those lively Desires those earnest Breathings after God that Fervour of Spirit that Ardency in Prayer he expected he may think he receives no Benefit because he doth not get what at present he most desires and feels not those Excellencies and Accomplishments which are most upon his Mind yet all this while there may be an actual Growth of Goodness in him his other Graces may be established his Cautiousness of offending a merciful Redeemer increased his Obedience and Self-denial advanced his Faith of another Life augmented his Resolutions to shun the very Appearances of Evil fortified all which upon a strict Search and View of his Inward Man he may find And therefore I may justly conclude that if he receives the Benefit God thinks sit for him though he receives not the Benefit he desires that that Supposition of his of receiving none at all cannot make him an unworthy Receiver 2. 'T is possible we may receive no Benefit at all by frequenting this Ordinance and we may know we do not if we are the same in our Lives we were before If the Cross of Christ doth not draw us after him if it leaves us without Desires to be like him or doth not check the Sins we have been fond of if it does not make us stand in awe of God any more than we did before if it work no Love to God no Charity to other Men's Souls and Bodies in our Hearts if after it we rush into Sin as easily as before if it prove no Bridle to our sinful Appetite no Curb to our covetous Desires if it restrains us not in our Affections to the World if it gives us no Courage to resist no Boldness to withstand those Lusts which were dear to us but still this is clearly our own Fault and for want of considering the Arguments and Motives the Cross of Christ affords us to die to Sin for want of thinking on the Design of Christ's Death and for want of taking pains with our selves for want of reflecting on the Force of Divine Love and for want of earnest Prayers and Addresses for the powerful Assistance of God's Spirit If it be thus with us we have reason to be afraid God will not rejoyce over us when he comes to view our Souls in this Ordinance However All this need not be an Obstacle to our Reformation If we have done ill 't is our Interest to awake out of Sleep and to redeem the Time If we have received no Benefit before upon our Amendment we may If we have done the Work of the Lord negligently upon our Reformation God may may turn our Captivity as the Streams in the South It is with this Sacrament as it is with a rich Mine which yields no Profit to the Owner till he works it The Benefit Men receive here is the Effect of Labour They must be disposed and qualified for this Gift and that which qualifies them is to quit that Slothfulnes they were guilty of 11. Communicating with Persons that receive unworthily doth not necessarily make a Person an unworthy Receiver For 1. Every Man shall bear his own Burthen Gal. 6. 5. If another be wicked how can his Wickedness unsettle my Faith or disorder my Devotion except I consent to his Impiety
Life for the better looks as it were for a new Sacrifice for Sin and since he will not be purged from his known Sins by the Blood of Jesus which hath been already spilt if he hath any hopes of being purified from his Sin in order to the obtaining of Eternal Happiness seems to desire a more effectual Death of that great Mediator which may against his Will drag him away from his sinful courses and thereby would have Christ suffer and be kill'd again and consequently makes himself guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. 4. He that Eats and Drinks unworthily kills the Lord Jesus You will say This is impossible Christ being in Heaven and incapable of any such Act of Violence No more could Saul if you understand it according to the Letter persecute him after he was glorified yet the voice that came to him in his way to Damascus said Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Act. â— 4. The same may be said of an unworthy Receiver he cannot strictly speaking kill the Lord Jesus yet being unwilling to venture upon a change of Life under all the Abjurations of a bleeding Redeemer that stubborness is Death to Christ as God said to the Jews Ezek. 6. 9. I am broken with your whorssh Heart So may the Saviour of the World cry to the Communicant that comes to remember his Death and will not die to his known Sins Thou piercest thou woundest thou killest me by thy obstinate and refractory temper as we say of a tender Father that the ill course his disobedient Son takes is death to him because it is as grievous to him as if one should attempt to take away his Life The unworthy Receiver by being loth to conform to the Rules of the Gospel in his Practices even while he beholds as it were Christ Crucified for his Sins does an Act so unworthy so disrespectful so injurious that it is as much as if he made attempts upon his Life nay he kills the preventing Grace Christ affords him and slays the good motions whereby Christ lives in him Christ is said to be in us as we are Christians and the unworthy Receiver being desirous and willing to maintain and keep his darling Sins doth thereby drive Christ out of his Heart and kill him in his own Soul for Christ and Love to a sinful Life are inconsistent and incompatible things These destroy his Life in the Soul and therefore in this Sense also the unworthy Receiver makes himself guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. 5. He that eats and drinks unworthily consents to the Murther the Jews were guilty of when they killed the Lord of Life and approves of that barbarous and inhumane Act and therefore is guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. He is supposed to consent to that Murther that is not sorry for if And how can he be sorry for it that is not sorry for his Sins which were the principal Cause of it The unworthy Receiver being supposed to be one that doth not heartily shake hands with a sinful Life and is loth so to renounce his known Sins as to tear them from his Heart we cannot imagine that he is heartily sorry for them for his Sorrow hath not those Effects which Godly Sorrow is said to have 2 Cor. 7. 11. For this same thing when ye sorrowed after a Godly sort what Carefulness it wrought in you Yea what clearing of your selves Yea what Indignation against Sin Yea what Fear i. e. of offending God! Yea what vehement Desire Yea what Zeal Yea what Revenge The Tree is known by its Fruits And if Sorrow for Sin must be discovered by such Effects and these Effects appear not in the Communicant as he cannot be thought to eat and drink worthily so in not being sorry for his Sins he doth not appear sorry for the Murther the Jews committed upon the Body of our Saviour his Sins being the Cause of that Murther And doth not this look like Consent or Approbation of that Murther You will say How can any Man be sorry for Christ's Death when that Death is our greatest Comfort and what Consolations the pious Soul feels it feels by virtue of that Death Shall a Man be sorry for that which God had ordain'd appointed and design'd for the Relief and Redress of our Misery If Christ had not died we had been ever wretched and unhappy and must have looked for no Friendship from above and therefore to charge Men with being guilty of his Death because they are not sorry for it seems to be both against Scripture and Reason Is any Man sorry for a Treasure he finds in the Field Or sorry for an Estate that falls to him by the Decease of a Relation Or sorry for an Act of Oblivion which a gracious Prince imparts to Offenders whereof himself is the Principal But to this the Answer is very easie for the Benefit of Christ's Death and the Mercy God intended Mankind by it must be carefully distinguished from the Instrumental Causes whereby Christ was brought to his Death which were partly our Sins and the barbarous Cruelty of the Jews The Benefit that came by the Death of Christ a Christian most certainly ought not to be sorry for but hath reason to rejoyce in Day and Night But that he was so inhumanely murther'd by the Jews and that our Sins were such abominable things in the Sight of God that to expiate them God was moved to give up his own Son to the lawless Rage of those cruel Enemies this requires our Grief and Sorrow That the Jews did commit a very heinous Sin in crucifying Christ is evident from St. Peter's Discourse or Sermon to the Murtherers Act. 3. 17 18 19. For though God hath decreed that Death as an Expedient to reconcile Man to himself and decreed not to hinder the Jews in pursuing their wicked Designs and Purposes but to make that Death an Antidote against Everlasting Death yet that doth not excuse the Jews from the Guilt of Sin in killing of him whose Cruelty God was resolved to turn to the Good of all true Penitents and sincere Believers nor a Christian from an hearty Sorrow that his Sins were the deserving Cause of it So that a Christian may at once rejoyce in Christ's Death and be sorry for it rejoyce in the unspeakable Mercies procured by it and be sorry that those stubborn Wretches did with that Cruelty dispatch him or rather that his Sins did arm those desperate Sinners to put the Lord of Life to death for the Jews could have had no power to murther him but that the Sins of Mankind crying aloud for Vengeance enabled them and gave them Strength and ministred Occasion to do it So that he that is not heartily sorry for his Sins is not heartily sorry that the Jews did murther him and therefore the unworthy Receiver not being heartily sorry for the Sins he hath lived in consents to that Murther of the Jews and upon