drink of that Cup. In these words observe First the matter of the duty commanded that is to eat of that bread and to drink of that cup. Secondly the manner of doing the duty not only to eat of that bread but so to eat and not only to drink that cup but so to drink Thirdly the rule of direction how to come in a right manner to partake of it that is by examining of our selves Let a man examine himself and so let him eate of that bread and drink of that cup. Fourthly and lastly the benefit following that direction and that is in this word But But let a man examine himselfe He had said before He that eats and drinks unworthily is made guilty of the body and bloud of the Lord and he discerneth not the Lords body vers 27. But saith he as if he should say if a man would prevent this if a man would take order that he be not guilty of the body and bloud of Christ that he do not come undiscerningly to these heavenly mysteries but with comfort and title to the promises with hope and confidence and speeding there of the benefits of Christ exhibited then let a man examine himselfe and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. Now I will passe over some of these points namely that we are to eate that bread and drink that cup. There is a necessity that we should receive the Lords Supper I need not stand on this you know it is sufficiently proved by the Sacrament of the Law which was the fore-runner of this Sacrament that soul that did not partake of that was to die the death he was to be cut off from Gods people Num. 9.13 If the Lord was so careful of those Sacraments that were inferior to these and yet they were of the same substance as these that the man that neglected to come to them to partake of them was to be cut off to be excommunicated from the people of God and to be rent off from the Congregation of the Saints then how much more for these heavenly and weighty and glorious Ordinances of the Gospel which are far more glorious then them of the Law But I will not stand upon that I might here take notice too of the frequencie of the duty for so it hath dependance on those words formerly As oft as yee eat this bread and drink this cup yee shew the Lords death and so that is as oft as ye eate do it in this manner This is the command of God that we oft receive the Lords Supper In the Primitive times St. Basil observes that they ate it three or foure times in a week on Wednesdayes Fridaies and on the Lords day but that was a time of persecution I will not stand upon that I think it not needfull But it should bee often wee should not trust it only upon Easter and Whitsontide and Christ tide three or four times in the year Again I might observe here from this mystery received in that he cals it Bread I might observe against the Papists Transubstantiation that the bread received is not transubstantiated it is bread And against that of receiving in one kind So let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup he doth not say so let him eat of that bread only but he directs the command in both kinds But I let this passe and come to the seceond thing that is the manner how we should do this duty So let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. It is not first let him examine himself and then let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup But let him examine himselfe and then SO let him eate implying that examining a mans selfe helps or ought to help a man to a right manner and when he hath gotten a right manner then to eat that bread and drink that cup that he may do not only for matter that which the Lord commands but for manner as the Lords commands Beloved the Lord stands on circumstances as well as duties we are all racers wee run but we must so run that we may obtain 2 Cor. 9.26 So pray that we may speed so hear that we may be converted so reprove that we may be edified so behave our selves in our places and callings that we may glorifie God It is not enough for a man to run but he must so run if he mean to obtain Every man will be speaking and doing good things but so speak and so do Jam. 2.12 The Lord calls upon us to have a care of the manner of duties as well as of the matter of duties It is not enough that a man come to eate of that bread and drink of that cup but so to eat and so to drink of it he must partake of the Lords Table and so as the Lord enjoyns Now the Reasons of this are First because the same Lord that commands the matter commands the manner too The Lord he will have his service well done as well as done he will have the work well performed as well as performed It is not only the thing that the Lord stands upon but the right manner and kind of doing it When David perswaded his sonne Solomon to worship the God of his Fathers he bids him not only do the thing but do it in a right manner And thou my sonne Solomon know thou the God of thy fathers and serve him Is that all No but with a perfect heart and a willing mind 2 Chron. 28.9 He commands him to do it not only for the matter of it but in the right manner of it A man may serve God but if it be not with a perfect heart and a willing minde and with a chearfull spirit if he be not ready to every command if he do not open his eares to every rebuke a man doth not serve God at all The manner either makes all or marres all Secondly another Reason is because circumstances overthrow actions if they bee not rightly and duly observed As for example In Scripture prayer is an action commanded of God the Lord commands us to pray that we call upon his name duly every day in all our needs and necessities upon all occasions continually But now if we pray not aright not in that manner that the Lord hath perscribed if we pray either with a guilty defiled conscience with cold affections with a dead spirit or without departing from iniquity or without a pure heart if a man pray without the right manner of prayer he marres all his prayer it is a howling and not a prayer They did not cry to mee saith God when they howled on their beds that is when they prayed but because they did not pray in a right manner the Lord calls it a howling and not a prayer We roare as Beares in Isay 59.12 the Prophet nicknames it speaking in the person
one can hardly tell which is a Saint and which is a reprobate If a man deale with a Saint and deale with a wicked man he seeth no difference between them Let a Saint do any action either pray hear or conferre let a wicked man do the like there is such deadnes such carnality such worldly-mindednesse such luke-warmnesse of affection that one can hardly tell which is the Saint and which is the hypocrite Beloved if the Saints did live like Saints there would be as plaine a difference between a Saint and a wicked man in their lives and behaviour as is hetwixt the Judge and the Rogue that is to be judged by him Hast thou not conâ—dered my servant Iob saith God how that there is none like him in all the earth Iob 1.4.8 If a man come to be a Saint indeed there is never a wicked man in the Town and Countrey that lives and doth as he doth and walks as he walks nor prayes as he prayes nor hears the word as he hears it nor that conferres or meditates as he doth that beleeves and repents as he doth that strives against his lusts as he doth there is none like him in all the world Thirdly it condemnes the scandalousnesse of many Professors in their behaviours and actions Oh how do wicked men insult and exclaim hereupon to see a Professor led away and overcome by some lust What say they are these they that are led by the Spirit of God Are these your devout men why they can covet and scrape as well as others they can cousen and lie as well as others I those that are your great Professors and hot spurres they are as covetous as worldly as cruell as others though they will not be drunk nor swear yet they will cousen and lie as well as others The consideration whereof made the Prophets heart to bleed in him and to pray Oh purge me from my murder and adultery and all other my secret sinnes lest I cast mire and dirt in the faces of thy children causing them to beare the reproaches of my sinnes Oh let not those that seeke thee be ashamed for my sake Psal 69. For thy sake that livest scandalously and offensively for thy sake that livest covetously and scraping after the world that art so unjust in thy dealings and promises mire and dirt scandals and reproaches are cast upon the children For thy loosenesse yea for thy carnall liberty it is that the true professors of Religion are reproached suspected and hardly censured in the world What did Jacob when he was to walk with the people of the Land Gen. 35.5.6 he purged his house and saith the text the terror of God was upon all the Cities hee made them all to tremble at him I tell you all the wicked in Ashford would tremble at the Professors that live therein if they did live and carry themselves like Saints indeed Oh if all those that did professe themselves to be Christians were Christians indeed and that professe themselves to be Saints were Saints indeed living in the power and sanctification of holinesse then men would say of themselves of a truth God is in these men Christ dwels in them and the Spirit of God leads and governs them indeed If thou wouldst judge the world take heed so as the world judgeth thee and so thou with the world be condemned eternally It is said that Herod feared John because heâ— was a just man Mark 6.23 So if all thy neighbours did know that thou wert a just man a holy and conscionable man in all thy wayes and in all thy actions and that cannot indure swearing lying and deceit but did see that thou wast just and one that feared God truly they would all fear thee THE PUNISHMENT Of Unworthy COMMUNICANTS At the TABLE of the LORD DELIVERED In a SERMON Preached Decemb. 7. 1628. By that vigilant and painfull Minister of the Word WILLIAM FENNER B.D. Sometime Fellow of Pembroke Hall in Cambridge and late Parson of Rochford in Essex London Printed by T.R. and E.M. for J.S. A SERMON OF Mr. WILLIAM FENNERS Upon this ensuing Text. 1 COR. 11.30 For this cause many are weak and sick among you and many sleep THE Apostle in this Chapter taxeth two abuses which were then amongst the Corinthians First the unseemly habit of women in the Congregation from the first ver to the 17. Secondly the prophane usage of the holy Communion both of men and women from the 17. verse to the end of the Chapter And herein from the 23. verse to the end of the 25. he sets down the Institution of the Lords Supper and thence raised a point of Doctrine Doct. 1 That whosoever would come to this holy Communion they must examine themselves that so they may come worthily else it were better that they never came So we read in the 28. verse But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup As if the Apostle had said Unlesse a man examine himself and search his own heart and find out his sinnes and dive into the secrets of his soul to bring out his hidden corruptions confessing them and judging himselfe for them before the Lord let him never presume to come unto this holy Sacrament And then he proves it by three Reasons Reas 1 The first is taken from the end of the Sacrament for it is the remembrance of the death and passion of Christ so it is in the 26. verse So oft as you eate of this Bread and Drink of this Cup you show forth the Lords death till he come It is a reason that the men of this world are not acquainted withall and therefore it was a good wish of a Reverend Father that the Sacrament should never be ministred but there should be a Sermon to teach men the nature of it and to instruct them in the Mystery thereof Wee approach unto the Sacrament hand over head living in our sinnes not showing by our coming that Christ is dead we say and we professe that Christ died for our sinnes and yet notwithstaning our sinnes live in us as if Christ had not died for us or as if we would proclaime that his death hath had no effect in us For were we dead with Christ then sin and the living occasions of sinne would be dead in us also My Beloved we should never come to this Sacrament but we should shew forth the Lords death thereby that is that Christ is dead or rather died for sinne and that sinne is also dead in us Reas 2 The second reason is taken from the damned wrong wee offer unto Christ if we come in our sinnes for we are guilty of the body and bloud of Christ as it is in the 27. verse nay thou sinnest against the Lord Jesus Christ not a jot lesse then Pilat that condemned him then Judas that betrayed him and the Jewes that cryed out Crucifie him crucifie him yea thou art as much guilty
as if thy own hand in thy own person had been imbrued in his bloud Now we know it is a horrible sin to be guilty of the bloud and murther of an ordinary man yea of a very rogue how much more is it a great and fearfull sin to be guilty of the body and bloud of the Lord Iesus Christ the onely and etrnall Son of God yet comest thou to this holy Communion and bringest no lesse then the guilt of the body and bloud of Christ upon thy soule Reas 3 The third Reason is taken from the wofull wrong and injury that man brings upon his own soule that comes unpreparedly without examination of himself in the 20. verse he eateth and drinketh his own damnation that is he maketh him selfe guilty of and liable to the same vengeance that the crucifiers of Christ had inflicted on them Good had it been for that man saith Christ of Judas if that he had never been born So may I say Good had it been for that man and that woman if they had never been born who come unworthily unto rhe Table of the Lord for when they eat of that Bread they eate their owne bane and when they drink of that Cup they drink their own damnation Vse 1 Then cometh he to make some uses of this point and first he condemns those that as they come so they goe away from the Sacrament no more holy no more gracious then before but as they come in their sins so they goe away in their sins they came drunkards and they goe away drunkards they came worldlings and they goe away worldlings they came mockers and they goe away mockers they came in theit wrath anger malice deadnesse hypocrisie and luke-warmnesse and so they go away still never the better but living in them as they did before As in the 17. verse You come together saith the Apostle not for the better but for the worse Whereas if they would have come worthily they should have gone away the better they should have received more grace and holinesse â—o walk with God more power and strength against sin and corruption yea the Lord would have ratified and confirmed his Covenant with them whereas living in contention and not coming with preparation they grow the worse by the Sacrament The Corinthians thought that the Apostle would have praised them for their coming to Church and receiving the Sacrament Shall I praise you in this saith the Apostle I praise you not Vse 2 Secondly He makes an use of terror against all those that dare come in their sinnes unto this holy Sacrament of the Lord for that man that commeth in his sinnes unto the Table of the Lord 1. though he may think he receives the communion yet he doth not for this is not the Table of the Lord but the Table of Devils It is true thou receivest the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ hut yet comming in thy sinnes thou receivest not his body and bloud as of a Saviour to save thee from thy sinnes Indeed thou receivest the body and bloud of Christ sacramentally but it is as the Iudge to condemne thee unto the pit of destruction for thy damned Impudency in coming so unworthily unto this holy Sacrament For that man cannot eate the body of Christ that is not a member of Christ therefore thou must be a limbe of Christ if ever thou wilt receive worthily 2. If a man come unto the Sacrament and come in his sinnes he cometh to his own destruction for though it be a sweet banquet for to refresh an humble and weary soule and to make it walk more cheerfully in the wayes of God all the dayes of his life yet he that commeth unto it in his sinnes and receiveth it in his uncleannesse speedeth thereby his own damnation and receiveth it as his viaticum to hell The Apostle compares Baptisme to the red Sea 1. Cor. 10. from which place Chrysostome saith that as the red Sea was a way for the Israelites to passe through to Canaan so it was as a grave to swallow up the Egyptians to their destruction So the Lords Supper is as a grave or open pit whereby many plunge themselves into eternall destruction but as a chariot to the godly to carry them to heaven Vse 3 Thirdly by comming in thy sinnes thou makest thy self liable to Gods temporary plagues and judgements as appeares in my Text For this cause many are sick and weak among you and many are fallen asleep For this cause which is not oneâ—y a note of conclusion but of the cause For this cause namely because they examine not themselves but come in their sinnes and receive it unworthily One man hath a disease in his body that he liveth not out halfe his dayes another sick and weak neer unto death a third is fallen asleep Wherefore why saith the Apostle for this cause of receiving unworthily the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Vse 4 Fourthly for instruction that because the people of God as well as wicked men are guilty of unworthy comming to the Lords Table therefore he exhorts them that if they would not have the Lord judge them that they would judge themselves as in the 31. verse For if wee would judge ourselves we should not be judged of the Lord. If we would sit down and search our own hearts and trie our own spirits and pry into our bosomes and out with our old corruptions and unclean lusts and enter into a new covenant with God of holy walking before him for after time if we would thus judge and condemne our selves and mortifie our sinnes comming with grace unâ—o this holy banquet then we might come with comfort unto this blessed Sacrament assuring our selves that wee shall escape the judgment of the Lord. For those of the Corinthians whom God struck with sicknesse weaknesse and death it was to instruct others that are well and in health that they venture not to enter upon these holy mysteries with unholy hearts and unclean hands Vse 5 Fifthly he concludeth with a use of exhortation in the 33. and 34. verses Wherefore brethren when ye come together to partake of the holy Communion tarry one for another As if he should have said Away with all your disorders and come not with a temporall but with a spiritual appetite provide not thy teeth but thy heart for these dainties for this is not a feast for the body but for the soul therfore away with all your disorders and unseemly coming unto thiâ— blessed Sacrament take heed and repent of this sin among you and of all other sins which you know your own consciences to be guilty of and so come unto this holy communion Now the verse that I have read to you is a part of that use of terror which the Apostle makes against the unworthy receivers of the Sacrament and it contains Gods severe hand and judgment against those that come unworthily wherein note three things First the cause of their
come to Church draw neer unto the holy Communion Will you so saith the Apostle No first Cleanse your hands yee sinners and purge your hearts yee double-minded As if hee should say never think of drawing neer unto God or setting foot on this holy ground and handling those holy mysteries of Christ unlesse thou first purge thy heart and cleanse thy soule from all thy filthy lusts and cursed corruptions lest otherwise thou coming in thy sinnes with thy uncleannesse on thee and so receiving unworthily thou eatest and drinkest thine owne damnation as our English translation hath it damnation to thy selfe and not to another No God forbid that thou shouldest by thy unworthy coming eate and drink condemnation to another for thou that art a child of God and comest unto the Table of the Lord with repentance and a sound measure of preparation though others that sit in the same pew with thee for their prophanesse eate and drink their own damnation yet thou shalt be sure to receive the seale and assurance of thy reconciliation and salvation with free acceptance of God through the Lord Jesus Christ for every man shall bear his owne burden Reas 4 The last Reason is in regard of the end of the Sacrament which is Christ also For as he is the efficient materiall and formall cause so Christ is also the finall cause of the Sacrament So it is in the 26. verse As oft as you eate of this Bread and drink of this Cup you shew forth the Lords death untill he come Not that Christ may be eaten with the teeth or corporally received in the Sacrament or as if he were there productively or transubstantially as the Papists say no the Apostle shewes that the end of the celebration of this Sacrament is for to shew forth the death of Christ untill he come Object I but say the Romists unlesse we eate the body and drink the blood of Christ really and not the consâ—crated bread and wine how can any man by this unworthy communicating eate and drink his own damnation and make himself guilty of the body and bloud of Christ Answ I answer a man cannot bring this guilt upon himself by eating a peece of bread or drinking a cup of wine but the Apostle hath an answer so fitted for this as that all the Papists in the world shall never be able to gainsay and therefore I pray you to mark it for he hath joyned these two verses together As oft as you eate of this bread and drink of this cup you shew forth the Lords death till hee come Wherefore whosoever eateth this bread or drinketh this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and bloud of the Lord even for this cause because it is the shewing forth of Christs death till hee come Therefore if thou eatest and drinkest unworthily comming in thy sinnes and resolvest to goe on in them that as thou wert proud before thou camest to the Sacrament so thou art still as thou wert cholerick angry and impatient before so thou art still as thou wert luke-warme and dead-hearted in Gods service before so thou remainâ—st stiâ—l remember I pray thee that as oft as thou hast come unto the communion in those thy sinnes thou hast made thy self guilty of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ Therfore I beseech you to look to it and in time to repent and pray with the Prophet David Ps 51. Deliver me from blood-guiltinesse O Lord even from the blood of thy Sonne left one day it bee laid unto thy charge and required straitly at thy hands For for this cause many are sick among you and many weak Vse 1 Is it so then that the Lord doth so severely punish the unworthy receivers of the Sacrament Take notice I pray you then from whence commeth all sicknesse weaknesse and mortality and the reason why the Lord doth send so many kind of sorrowes crosses and miseries upon men namely because of the unworthy receiving of the Lords Supper So saith Mr. Calvin why doe you wonder to see such warres and rumours of warres that there is so many bloodsheds so many Townes and Cities ruinated and so many Countries sacked and depopulated so many calamities come upon the Churches abroad so many plagues and scourges to over-run Christendome at this day is not the cause plain enough men come unto the Table of the Lord carelesly and unworthily And beloved we shall never see the Lord take away his judgements here from the earth untill we betake our selvs to a more diligent and holy receiving of the Sacrament For this very cause there are so many strange diseases amongst us never formerly known or heard of untill these dayes as the French Pox the English Sweat as they call it that even the Physitians themselves are blunted at them and as Peter Martyr well observes hence are all diseases as plagues pestilences which were late amongst us dropsies bloody Flux Agues Apoplexies Convulsies burning Feavers and impostumes c. and all for this cause One man hath fallen into a Feaver and we wonder at the cause whence he took it but in truth the communion hath cast him into his Feaver and the Lord will avenge himself on him for the same Another is sick and he thinkes that a cold hath brought it upon him but it is the unworthy receiving of the Sacrament that is truely the cause of it A third man dieth before his time even in his full strength before in the course of nature he hath ended halfe his dayes but the cause is unworthy comming to the Communion which hath taken hold of him and cut off the thread of his life Many there be that expound these words in a spirituall sense Many are sick and weak and many are fallen asleep that is to say many have their consciences seared and their hearts hardned c. and this is true also that because men come unpreparedly they have their hearts hardened and their consciences seared and their soules plagued with many spirituall plagues But it is as true also in temporall judgements thou hast had many afflictions and much sickness laid upon thee but thank thy self for it namely because thou hast come unworthily unto the communion thou hast had much weaknesse in thy body which hath cost thee much mony and weakned thy estate but thy unholy comming unto the Sacrament is that which thou mayest thank for it Thou hast been reproached and contemned and endured much shame but take notice of it that it proceeds from the fore-going cause and that is a speciall reason why the Lord hath brought these and many other evils upon thee Thou canst say the commandements for the most part by rote but thou didst never know the mystery of this one commandement Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain Beloved the Communion is one of Gods own names and how many thousands are there in the world that take this
confirmes it with an oath Therefore if the Lord sweare thou shalt not how darest thou how canst thou hope or think ever to enter into his rest This was almost fourty yeares before he died that the Lord made this oath against them and God knowes how many thousands of them fel short not only of the land of Canaan but also of the Kingdome of heaven So God took Ismael an hundred and seventeen yeares before he died twenty yeares God offered him grace and repentance but he would not take warning a mocker he was and a mocker he would be for he mocked Isaac when he was a child of six yeares old and no meanes would reclaim him before he heard the voice Cast out the bond-woman and her sonne Out with him saith God for he shall never be heire with my sonne this was an hundred and seventeen years before Ismaels death And so God took Saul five and thirty or six and thirty yeares before he died according to Josephus Chronology if it bee true howsoever hee took him divers yeares before his death for so the Scripture makes it plain 1. Sam. 15.20 The strength of Israel will not lie nor repent for he is not a man that hee should repent Therefore because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord the Lord also hath rejected thee from being a King And do not think that thou by thy prayers and crying God mercie canst ever alter him for his councell is immutable and hee is strong in his decree and cannot change Hitherto Grace and Mercie have been offered thee which if thou hadst embraced thou mightst have found mercy from the Lord and the Kingdome should have been established and confirmed unto thee but now it is too late for the strength of Israel cannot lie God took Esau fiftie yeares before his death for so long he lived after he sought the blessing with teares but he was a hunting when God was a calling he was following his prophanenesse when God was wooing him to repentance At last when he called for repentance and sought it earnestly yea his soule was carefull for to get it yet he could never obtaine it though hee sought it earnestly with teares fiftie yeares before he died Now if the Lord so severely punish contempt of temporall blessings O how will he punish the contempt of proffers of grace and salvation I tell you God will be more strict in revenging of this sinne then of any other sinne he will come with Martiall law against all those that contemne his Gospell Joh. 3.18 He that beleeveth not is condemned already Doth Christ preach repentance and salvation and the Kingdome of God and wilt thou not repent and beleeve Martiall Law beloved martiall Law hang him up for he is condemned already Even like a souldier that rebels against his General forsakes his Colours they doe not cast him into prison and stay for the Assizes or Sessions but give him Martiall Law even hang him up So if the Lord sound his Gospell in thine eares and offers thee conditions of peace knocking at the doore of thy heart by his Spirit and thou refuse to open to him thou art condemned already for the Strength of Israel cannot lie nor repent Oh therefore take heed now whiles his word sounds in thine eares while his Spirit secretly whispers in thy heart to thee open to him for else thou art condemned for ever Take notice then that God doth commonly give men a day and no man or Angel doth know how long this day lasteth To some it lasteth to their last gasp to some to their old age and to some it is cut off in their childhood God gave the Angels a day the which because they neglected they are reserved in chains of darknesse untill the great judgement day God gave Cain a day Genes 4. During all the time of this day though Cain sinned again and again and went on in his sinnes a great while yet he heard nothing but a still voice If thou do well Cain shalt thou not be accepted but if thou dost ill sinne lieth at the doore But when no meanes will prevaile but Cain will go on adding sinne to sinne and murder unto all the rest of his sinnes and so let go the season of mercy the Lords tells him from heaven that the day of grace is past the gate of mercy is shut against thee for thou art now accursed from the earth As if the Lord should say Before I gave thee a day of salvation and offered thee mercy but thou wouldst not accept of it but now I have clapt a curse upon thy soul that thou shalt never claw off So God gave Nineveh a day to repent Jona 3. Yet forty dayes and Nineveh shall be destroyed God gave the Fig-tree a day even three yeares before he would have it cut down God gave the old World a day of an hundred and twenty yeares during this time God sent unto them Noah a Preacher of righteousnes to call upon them to repent and so set it down also that his Spirit shall not alwayes strive with man but his time shall be an hundred and twenty yeares yet one writes that the Lord cut off twenty of the hundred and twenty yeares because of their iniquities which were so grievous and provoked him so much that they hasted him to come before he would have done In all this space if they had repented they should have found mercy from the Lord but when this time was gone and the day of grace was out the Deluge came in upon them and God by his judgments overthrew the whole World Object You my ask me when this day or season of grace doth end or cease Answ I answer that neither men nor Angels can tell but this I say it may be yet this day of grace lasteth unto thee now it may bee God speaketh whom to thy soul now it may be God warms thy heart and givs thee good purposes resolutions now it may be the Lord Jesus passeth by thee in a good thought and desire lay hold on it for thy day may cease this very night for ought thou knowest Luke 17.22 The time shall come saith Christ when you shall desire to see one of the dayes of the Sonne of man and shall not see it Now is the day of Christ upon you now is Christ offering and preaching himself to you but if you let this day passe thou mayst desire to have one of the drops of that bloud that hath been offered to thee and yet never have it thou mayst desire to feele one rap of that Spirit that hath knockt at thy heart and yet goe without it thou maist intreat for one dram of that mercy that hath been offered and thou hast rejected but it shall never be granted to thee God may clap that fearfull sentence upon thee Now henceforth never grow fruit more on thee never repentance come into thy heart more If now thou wilt not repent and be
punishment which is the unworthy eating of the Communion For this cause many are sick and weak among you and many are fallen asleep Secondly the punishment inflicted for this sinne weaknesse sicknesse and mortality For it seems saith Peter Martyr that the Lord sent a sore plague and pestilence among them for to revenge himself of them for their abuse of the Sacrament for this cause Thirdly there is the delinquents which are you Corinthians Many are sick and weak among you and in them all others that come unpreparedly to the Sacrament Chrysostome notes here that our Apostle doth not fetch here an Argument or example of judgment from others as he had done in the former chapter but he brings it from themselves who sensibly felt the wrath of God upon them for this very sinne As if the Apostle should have said How is it O Corinthians that you dare venture to come unto the Communion so unpreparedly and that you have no more regard of so weighty businesse as is the receiving of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ See you not the wrath of God upon your dwellings and the curse of heaven to take hold of your towne you see it this very time that some are weak and very sick amongst you neer unto death and others have been struck with death before your eyes and the wrath of God is not removed but lies yet upon you What will you alwayes goe on and never cease to provoke the Lord to indignation and wrath against you for your sinnes untill his jealousie hath utterly consumed you and clean cut you off And howsoever many of you may think that this sicknesse weaknesse and mortality comes upon you by chance as from the infection of the aire or other secondary causes I tell you nay but it is for this cause onely even your unworthy comming to the Supper of the Lord. Whence we may observe this point of instruction Doct. 2 That God doth most severely punish the unworthy receivers of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper He punished the Corinthians here with sicknesse weaknesse feavers pestilence death temporal and God knows how many with death eternal Theodoret observes that the Apostle told them of a thing that was acted amongst them for if he had told them of such judgements as had been hid from them and not manifest before their eyes as if they had not felt the sicknesse in their bodies and heard the bels tolling daily in their ears they might have thought that the Apostle had but lied unto them So the people of Israel as we may read in 1 Cor. 1.2.3 verses they were baptized in the Cloud and in the Sea and they did all eat the same spirituall meat and drink the same spirituall drink yet as it is in the fifth verse with many of them God was not well pleased Nay God was so wroth with them that within the space of fourty yeares many thousands of them were destroyed by death here and God knoweth how many thousands of them in hell For God speaketh of hell as well as of death and their sin was so great that it made God confirme it with an oath that they should never enter into his rest And Saint Cyprian saith that the Lord hath shewed many miracles and declared many fearfull judgements upon the unworthy receivers of the Sacrament Judas who Ambrose thought received the Sacrament though Hilary and others that hee did not but only that he did eate the Passeover and was coming to this Sacrament also but see his doome John 13. as soon as ever he received the sop the Devill entred into him and so it is with all such as come to the Communion in their sinnes without repentance and unfained resolution of walking ever after worthy of the Sacrament I say unto all and every one of them that as soone as ever thou receivest the Bread and Wine into thy mouth thou receivest the Devil together with it as soon as ever it goeth down into thy body the Devill goeth after it and taketh more full possession of thy heart and soul Reas 1 Now the reason why the Lord doth so severely punish both with temporall judgements and with spirituall curses the unworthy receivers of the Sacrament is in regard of the author of the Sacrament who is Christ and that not onely as he was man as the Papists would make us beleeve but Christ as he was God did institute the same So saith the Apostle in the 23. verse The Lord Jesus Christ in the same night that he was betrayed â—ok bread and brake it when he had given thanks and said Take yee and eate yee for this is my body which is broken for you Now if the Lord Jesus did institute it what a cursed thing is it for any to defile it and so sin against Christ It is a damnable thing to sinne against God but to sin against God as he is God in Christ is damnably damnable The holy Ghost in the second Psalm exhorts to kisse the Sonne lest he be angry and so thou perish As if he should say Adore the Sonne Adore the Lord Iesus Christ and so come and eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup for if he be angry thou wilt surely perish and if thou sin against God and so go out of the way Christ upon thy repentance will set thee in again but if thou sinnest against God in Christ who is the Way the Life and the Truth thou shalt surely perish from the right way for there is no other way for to bring thee in again Acts 4.12 Therefore wofull is thy case and miserable is thy condition if thou sinnest against Christ prophaning his holy ordinances which he himself hath instituted and abusest and despisest that blessed Spirit of his that comes to seale unto thee the redemption that he hath purchased by his bloud Better had it been for thee that thou hadst never been born for if he be wroth blessed only are all they that put their trust in him and come preparedly unto his holy Ordinance and that by faith embrace the Lord Iesus Christ But woe unto all prophane persons that live in their sinnes if his wrath be but a little kindled then woe to all drunkards swearers and uncleane persons but blessed is that man that is come out of his sinnes For if his wrath be so terrible when it is but a little kindled O how much more fearfull will it be when it is deeply incensed Therefore if thou comest unto this holy Sacrament in thy sinnes without due preparation and examination what doest thou but even set the wrath of God burning upon thy soul and body from the very bottome of hell When the Lord Delivered the Law upon Mount Sinai he commanded the people to sanctifie themselves yea if a beast did but touch the mountain he must die for the same even be stoned to death or thrust through with a dart Heb. 12. Much more then now when
inward man is not reformed there is sâ—me lust in thy heart some pride in thy will some stubbornnesse in thy spirit some Idoll in thy bosome First cleanse the inside of the platter Matth. 23.26 There is never an ordinance of God that can bee done but there must be somewhat done first a man must doe somthing before As in the choice of Officers as Ministers or Deacons other Officers in the Church first they must bee proved before they be chosen so in all the Ordinances of God Would wee come to the Sacrament There is somewhat must bee done first we must examine our selves and root out all unsanctifiednesse and indisposition that cannot stand with the right communicating in the Lords Supper And so in every other good duty The reasons of this are First because naturally we are not invited guests wee are not such as are invited to the Lords Supper we are children of wrath and as long as we are in such a estate we cannot come aright to the Communion This is childrens bread and it cannot be given to dogges Christ whensoever he sets his dainties before his people he tels us for whom they are Take eate this is my Body that is broken for you This is the Supper that is made for you as it is in this Chapter verse 24. First we must prove our selves invited guests It is true the Lord Christ invites every man to the Lords Supper but he invites him methodically he must bee in such an estate but every man is not so fitted a man must be a member of Christ that means to partake of Christs death he must be one that is in Christ he must be able to prove that he is ingraffed into Christ he must bee able to shew the mark of the Lord Christ on him As it is with some of your great dinners and feasts in this Citie you have tickets and all that are admitted to the feast must shew their ticket before they are admitted So thou must be able to shew thy ticket that thou hast an invitation from Christ thou must have a mark and token from Chtist that thou commest and commest with his warrant A second reason is though thou be invited it may be thou art not disposed If a man will doe a thing that hee is naturally indisposed to there must be somewhat done before of necessitie So the Lords Supper it is a thing that naturally wee are indisposed unto therefore somewhat must of necessity be done first Naturally we are unholy we are unthankfull and carnall we are in our sinnes strangers from God and the Covenant of God and from the seale of the Covenant all this indisposition must be wrought out before we can comfortably come hither If Christ would have the very Chamber first trimmed before he instituted the Passeover and the Sacrament much more will hee have the soule disposed for him and the heart cleansed from all filthinesse If hee that ate of the Peace-offering being indisposed having his uncleannesse upon him was to bee cut off from his people Levit. 7.20 what will God doe to such people as come hither in their uncleannesse and indisposition unsanctified and unqualified Thirdly suppose we were both invited and disposed yet this is not enough This is a solemn Ordinance of God and an ordinary disposition will not serve the turne Though every child of God bee ordinarily disposed to every good word and work to pray and to heare the word of God he is prepared and furnished to every well doing ordinarily and habitually but a man must be disposed further There is a solemne preparation required to the Communion as in Deut. 16.15 there were solemne feasts in the Law so there is this solemne feast in the Gospel and there are solemne preparations required thereto When we come to the Communion to eate the Lords Supper it is not eating and drinking in Christs presence for so may any reprobate doe and yet Christ may say to him Depart from me thou worker of iniquity It is not to come and sit in your Pewes and wait till the Bread come and take it and till the Cup come and drink it so many a reprobate may doe and the Corinthians did that did eate and drink their own damnation But there must be a solemne preparation to it to be sealed with the Spirit of Promise to be righteous by faith in the body and blood of Christ For a man to be humble and empty of his sinne to bee thirsty after the pretious blood of Christ to be fed and built up in the promises It is a weighty thing to come to the Communion a man must bee a worthy man or else he hath nothing to doe here As Solomon said of Adonijah If he be a worthy man not a haire shall fall from his head but if wickednes be found in him hee shall die 1. King 1.52 So if we be worthy men and women not a haire of our head shall fall to the ground none of the curses shall light on us that light on unprepared persons but if wickednesse be found in us if we be guilty of any sinne if we live in any lust not mortfied if there be any prophanenesse in our lives in our families in our courses and callings though we catch hold of the hornes of the Altar though we partake of these holy mysteries yet we shall be so far from having any mercie as that we shall hasten our own ruine we set a seal on our own judgment and make our case worse then it was before Let us take notice of it and never dare to rush on any of Gods ordinances You know what became of the foolish man in the Gospel that when they were invited to come to the marriage Supper he thought it was nothing but to come with them that came to crowd in with them and sit down among the rest he considered not what he went about that he might be prepared accordingly the event was this he was cast out into utter darknesse Matth. 22.13 It is dangerous rushing on any of Gods ordinances To rush upon prayer for a man to fall down upon his knees and to utter any thing before the Lord hastily with his mouth not considering that God is in heaven and he on the earth A mans word may damne his own soule and pull vengeance on his own pate his prayers may prove a curse his prayer for mercy may bee turned into vengeance So the higher the service the greater the danger As the servants of Abigail said to her Consider what you doe when evill was determined against them so consider what you doe when you come to the Sacrament you come to a weighty thing to that that will either set you neerer to the Kingdom of God or to hell and condemnation But I let this passe and come to the words themselves Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and
manner of doing duties that pleaseth God as in 1 Thess 4.1 As yee have received of us How yee ought to walke and to please God Mark there is the manner That yee may know HOW to walke and by that to please God It is not enough for a man to walke in good duties that a man may doe and not please God but saith he yee have received the manner HOW to walke and to please God It is the manner How that pleaseth God A man may walke to hell upon heavens ground he may go to hell in the wayes of God it is possible Suppose a man should go and take if it were possible all the surface of ground between this place and York and lay it between this place and Dover a man might go to Dover upon York ground So many a man laies the Ordinances of God in hell way he walkes in the way to hell and there he layes his prayers and there his hearing and his good duties hee prayes every day and hears every day and doth good duties every day and yet walkes to hell he goes to hell on heavens ground The reason is because hee doth the duty and doth not observe the manner how he doth it The third thing is the rule of direction how wee may come to the right manner of receiving the Sacrament that is by preparing of a mans selfe and the preparation is here set downe by the specification of it namely in examining himselfe Let a man examine himselfe and so let him eate of that Bread and drink of that Cup. The generall scope of these words and the Apostles meaning in them is this That Every man must prepare himself before he come to the Lords Table I cannot stand on this I will only name it As in the sacrament of the Passeover there was preparation to the Passeover In Joh. 19.14 it is said of the Disciples of Christ that they made ready the Passeover In Matth. 26. they made the Lamb ready and the room ready and themselves ready and the Table ready and every thing ready So in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper wherein Christ is the true Pascall Lamb when we come to eate of him wee must make every thing ready faith ready and repentance ready and interest in the promises ready and hunger and thirst after these spirituall dainties ready every thing must be ready or else like a man that comes into the field to battle that hath not gotten his sword or his weapons ready that is the way for himselfe to be killed so it is when we come to the Communion and have not all things ready it is the way to be damned The Reasons of this are First because the Sacrament is an Ordinance of God Now all the Ordinances of God require reparation they are all spirituall and naturally a man is carnall and therefore cannot be prepared As it is with wood there is never a tree in the wood but it is unprepared for building Is there any tree in the wood of the fashion of a Chimney or of a Lintell or a Doore It must first be prepared as it is Prov. 24.27 First prepare thy work without and then build thine house So every ordinance is to build a man up in the feare of God in the grace of God and in Religion Now man is naturally unprepared for it First a man must fell his wood and then cut it and hew it even and carve it and plane it fit and prepare it before he build So a man must hew downe his owne heart he must humble his owne soule and qualifie all within him and so be sanctified before hee be fit As for example In prayer a man must bee prepared to prayer before he pray he must prepare his heart and then Gods eares will hearken to it In Psal 10.17 The Lord will have the heart prepared before he heare the prayer So it is with the word of God a man must bee prepared before he heare it As a man that preacheth must be prepared before he preach as Ezra is said to prepare his heart Ezra 7.10 Hee prepared his heart to doe the Law and to teach it So a Minister cannot preach except he be prepared beforehand with a commission from God with preserving knowledge with a coale from Gods Altar with a spirit of wisedome and understanding with a law of kindnesse in his lips with meditation and with a Theam fitted in his mouth for the people hee must be prepared with a burning and a shining light or else hee shall not edifie the congregation So it is with all other ordinances For humbling of a mans soule a man cannot humble his heart except he be prepared to it Amos 4.12 Prepare to meet thy God he speaks of humiliation If a man would humble himselfe before God if he be not prepared if his heart be not prepared to let go the world his worldly profits and vain pleasures and carnall acquaintance his wonted lusts and former delights If hee bee not prepared to let these goe when he comes to keep a Fast or to afflict his soule and goes along to do the dutie to lay himselfe down before Almighty God some lust or other will stick in his teeth and intercept his heart hee shall never be able to doe it as Samuel said to the people If you will turn to the Lord prepare your hearts to doe it 1 Sam. 7. So it must bee in all the ordinances of God and much more in the Sacrament Secondly another Reason is because the Lord Christ hath made great preparations to provide the Lords Supper therefore wee must be prepared to eate it You know what a great deale of adoe there was before this Supper was made Christ must be incarnate and fulfill all righteousnesse he must conclude it upon his suffering he must tread the wine-presse alone and suffer himselfe to be beaten and rejected of God and men and suffer death the cursed death of the Crosse all these things were concluded upon before this holy and blessed Supper was provided Come saith hee I have prepared my dinner Matth. 22. Mark Christ is fain to prepare his dinner he makes a great Feast there was great preparation for it so there must be great preparation of our soules before we can come to this holy banquet It is true among men there may be great preparation for a feast and little or nothing for the eating of it Sometimes there are two or three dayes preparation for a Feast and it is eaten presently The reason is because man naturally hungers after meat and drink and he alwayes provides twice or thrice in twenty foure houres for eating and drinking But the Lords Supper is a spirituall banquet a man is every day and houre and moment naturally unfit for it and there is much adoe to put an edge upon mens appetites and a keennesse upon mens desires that they may bee fitted and prepared for it
Nebuchadnezzar was warned of his pride this yeare and the same time twelve month the Lord drove him from among men So in Acts 13.42 one Sabbath day the Iewes heard Paul preach and went out before the Sermon was quite done they were not able to stand to the blessing the same day seven-night the Lord made the Apostles shake off the dust of their feet against them and leave them to a reprobate sense Fifthly the Lord proportions his punishments to the place It is strange many times that the drunkard should get his death in the same Ale-house where he got his liquor In Judg 7. in that story of Oreb and Zeeb Oreb at the rock Oreb devised against the children of Israel and upon the same rock he was killed And Zeeb another persecuter of the children of God so the Psalmist calls them he at the Wine-presse of Zeeb took victuals from the children of Israel and in the same place his own life was taken away Just as Judges and Magistrates at this day they hang up men where they have done the villany As they doe with Dogs and Cats they carry them to the place to the Cellar or the Buttery where they do the mischeif But the beasts themselves though they have no reason are able to pick out the meaning of it The Lord punisheth sinners in the same place Here where thou hast been deaf to hear the word of God when thy heart riseth against the Preacher in the same place it may be the Lord will deliver thee up to a reprobate sense In the same place at the Lords Table where thou comest unworthily thou shalt eate and drink thine own damnation FINIS Poscript THe same Author hath another Book in the Presse entituled The Sacrifice of the Faithfull OR A Treatise shewing the nature property and efficacy of zealous Prayer Together with some Motives to Prayer and helps against discouragements in Prayer Together with seven Profitable Sermons on divers texts of Scripture Luke 15.17 Psal 77.16 The sum of the text Observe 1. We must not rush upon the sacrament Matth. 5. Matt. 7.5 Mat. 13.26 Reason 1. Naturally we are not invited guests Simile Reason 2 We are indisposed Levit. 7.20 Reason 3 Solemne preparations required to the Sacrament Deut. 16.16 1 King 52. Vse To take heed of rash performance of duties 2 Sam. 15.17 Parts of the Text. Necessity of receiving the Lords Supper Num. 9.13 The Lords Supper to be received often Basill Observ The manner of performance of duties to be regarded 2 Cor. 9.26 â—am 2.12 Reas 1. The Lord commands the manner as well as matter 2 Chron. 28.9 Reas 2. Circumstances overthrow actions as 1. Prayer Isai 59.12 2 Preaching 3 Receiving the Sacrament 4. Brotherly reproof Matt. 7.5 Gal. 5.15 5. Eating and drinking Mat. 24.37 Simile Reas 3. The right manner of doing duties gets the blessing Matt. 24.48 Reason 4. Christs example Jâ—hn 12. John 14.31 Reason 5 From Gods glorie Vse 1. To reprove those that barely doe duties without looking to the manner Vse 2. The reason why men regard the matter and not the manner of duties Reason 1. The matter of duties easie Reas 2. The matter of duties may bee done with a proud heart Acts 20 Reason 3 The matter of duties may be done yet a man be unholy Reas 4. The matter of duties brings not the crosse 2 Tim. 2.10 Act. 15.5 Vse 3. To labour to do duties aright Motives to perform duties in the right manner 1. Motive Numb 11.14 2. Motive Luk. 18.11 3. Motive Mat. 15 6. Simile Observ 3. Every man must prepare himself before he come to the Lords Table Reason It is God ordinance Simile Reason 2 Christ hath made preparation for us in the L. Supper Reason 3 Christ lookes for good entertainment Reason 4. It is part of Christs last Testament Observ 1. A guilty hardned reprover shall be destroyed Reason 1. It is against his office Reason 2 He cannot reprove to a right end Reason 3 Not in a right manner Reason 4. It is hypocrisie Reason 5. It makes inexcusable Reason 6 It is absurd Reason 7. It is impudencie Vse 1. Vse 3. To be unblameable ere we reprove Simile The seceond xposition Doct. The Lord doth not destroy men willingly God destroyes not but for sin Simile Observ A great mercy to be reproved Reason 1. Reproofes come from love Prov. 10.17 Reason 2 They tend to good Reason 3 It is brutish to reprove then Simile Vse 1. The misery to want reprovers * or Angel Vse 2. Against despisers of reproof The grievousnesse of standâ—ng out against reâ—roof Doct. God proportions punishments to sins Reason 1 To shew the eqvity of the punishment Reason 2. â—t stops a mans mouth