please to take vp and embrace this saying of the blessed Apostle Heb. 12.14 Follow peace with all men and also holynesse without which no man shall see God and againe to the same purpose Ephe. 4.15 Let vs fellow the truth in loue and in all things grow vp in him who is the Head to wit Iesus Christ To call our religion in questioÌ„ is to doubt therof and to halt betweene two opinions in matters of saith is with the Luke-warme Laodicean to be of neither I know wee are commanded by the Apostle To make our election sure and taught by the Prophet Hosh 4.14 That the people who doe not vnderstand shall fall I likewise know that curiositie in matters of Faith and Religion is dangerous and that for being too curious in prying into the sacred secrets of God it is a fatall Rocke whereon some excellent iudgements have suffered Shipwracke wilfully and a world of weake wits ignorantly That Gods vnrevealed mysteries and purposes are as secret as sacred and as occult and abstruse as they are divine and that wee are positively told and taught by the Prophet Isa 40.28 That there is no searching out of Gods vnderstanding VVherefore as I envy no man for his religion so I prayse and blesse my Redeemer I am not so wretchedly instructed in piety as to deny mine to the world much lesse to dare to desemble it to God It shall suffice mee that I had rather beleeue the truth then quarell with it and farre sooner and with more alacritie and promptitude to embrace and follow it then to contend or contest against it As therefore wee cannot beleeue in God before wee first know him So wee cannot perfectly know this Sacrament of his blessed Supper except we first beleeve in it and in the pure truth and naked vertue and integritie thereof I am not therefore of the vnion or communion of those vncatholique Romanists who are carnall and not spirituall eaters of this blessed Sacrament and who tye their implicite faith onely to the bare letter not to the true sense and to the sight not to the figure or commemoration which this heavenly mysterie infoldeth and containes VVho can dispense with their consciences yea with their soules rather to eat their God then to obey him and daily to teare his blessed body in peeces with them teach as they doe hourly with their sinnes and who rely on their own poore wretched merits rather then on Christs rich promises or on the inestimable treasor of his blessed death and passion premised and prefigured vnto vs in the bread and wine of his sacred Supper But for my part I really and confidently beleeue that Christs owne words Take eat and drinke this in remembrance of me doth make this Sacrament of his holy Supper to bee a mysticall not a corporall a spirituall and not a carnall sacrifice But to leave Controversie and contention to those who love them in and about this divine doctrine of this Sacrament of the Lords Supper and to come to that which more neerly and narrowly concearnes our edification to Christ and sanctification by Christ I ioyfully affirme and averre That it hath bene a great part and degree of my earthly selicity to have heard many excellent Sermons and seene and read many comfortable Tracts vpon this sacred Supper of the Lord aswell on this side as beyond the seas and preached and written aswell by the Samts of God abroad as by our owne English Saints and Seruants of the Lord here at homâ—… who have most painfulâ—… and industriously travellâ—… heerein with much truâ—… glory to God with infiniâ—… prayse and honour to theâ—… selues and with a world oâ— consolation and happinesâ—… to their Christian Auditorâ— and Readers have piously chalked them out the truâ— and safe way to Heaven and most divinely pointed and shewed them the righteous path-way and glorious narrow way to God And now by Gods providence and mercy meeting very lately with a Sermon of that heavenly nature preached on Easter day last to the famous and flourishing assembly of the Protestants in the reformned Church of Paris at Charenton vpon these words of our Lord and Saviour in the blessed Sacrament of his last Supper This is my body By the learned and reverend Seruant of the Lord Monsieur Iohn Mestrezat the first Pastor and minister of that great and godly congregation and the worthy Successor of that famous divine Monsr P. Du. Moulins the great light of his time and Ornament of his Church I say I no sooner seriously perused and religiously considered it but finding it to bee pend in an elegant excellent phrase and digested and cast into a most spirituall order aâ—… method at last after â— short parlie with my soulâ—… and a little reluctation wiâ—… my resolutions God nâ—… only suggested but coÌ„maâ—ded me to teach it to speaâ— English and especially foâ— these two reasons and considerations I. That the translatioâ— thereof infinitly tended tâ— Gods honour and glory aâ— being a perfect and a promising way to draw many soules to God aswell by their seeing and knowing of it as by practising and putting into execution that sacred discipline and doctrine which it containes II For that the Author and Preacher of it is so worthy a Minister of Gods word as Saint Paul wished and counselled his beloved titus to bee to wit Titus 2.7 That his life is a Patterne and example of good workes and of vncorrupt doctrine gravitie and integritie for to my knowledge as also to all others who know him or his endowments and abilities he is so learned and of so meeke and Saint-like a conuersation that it is a disputable question whether his doctrine doe more crowne and grace his life or his life his doctrine And that thorefore it might well stand with Gods pleasure as it doth referre and conduce to his honour that the reading heereof might refresh and profit some Christians heere in England as well as the preaching thereof hath done many in France As also that as at my residence in Paris I have taken singular delight and comfort to have often heard him preach so consequently that others might doe the like here by visibly reading or tacitly seeing and hearing him preach in this his Sermon or Divine Pourtrait which so lively yea so truly at life representeth the Sacrament of the Lords blessed Supper vnto vs I being as confident of this truth as of this presumption That as in most of his Sermons hee excelleth and surpasseth others so in this that hee hath infinitly both surpassed and exceld himselfe And although Christian Reader I have formerly in this my Preface expressed and signified to thee that this little yet most excellent Sermon of his doth most sweetly shew thee the sure the righteous way to heaven and to God and with a happines peraduenture beyond expectation hath most fully performed and most diuinely acted thee that part whereunto I will referre and commend
thee in the Lord Yet because I am an humble Seruant to Christ both in my desires and affections aswell as I am the shaddow and Echo of my Author in this my translation Therefore I trust in the goodnesse of God and hope in the integritie of mine owne heart that I shall rather right thee then any way wrong him in presuming poorly to gleane after his rich haruest by aduenturing to propose and give thee a word or two of spirituall aduice and directions of mine owne vpon the receiuing of this blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper before I commend this Divine Pourtrait thereof to thee thee to it and you both vnto God When therefore thou resoluest Iam. 4.8 to draw neere vnto God that God may draw neer vnto thee by receiving and partaking of this his blessed Sacrament Thou must in the innocency of thy heart and the purity of thy soule 1 Pet. 5.6 first humble thy selfe vnder the mighty hand of God that hee may exalt thee Iam. 4.10 And cast thy selfe downe before him that hee may lift thee vp 1 Cor. 15.34 Thou must awake to live righteously and resolue to sinne no more but henceforth to become a new man and a new Christian Gal. 3.24 for they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the lusts thereof Thou must set thy affections on things which are above and not on things which are on the Earth Phil. 3.20 Anâ— thy conuersation must bee iâ— heaven from whence thoâ— must expect thy Sauiour eveâ— the Lord Iesus Christ Gal. 5.25 Foâ— if thou live in the spirit thoâ— must also walke in the spirit Psal 4.4 Thou must tremble but nâ—… sinne and thou must examinâ— thy selfe vpon thy bed Psal 68 1â— Foâ— God will try thee as siluer iâ— tryed Thou must not deceive thy selfe Galat. 6.7 for God wilâ— not bee mocked Thou musâ— not be hot in thy sinnes anâ— cold and frozen in thy devotion and piety towardâ— God neither must thou seeme now to bee that in thy humility and zeale which thou art not Because Hypocrisie towards God proves treacherie towards our owne soules But runne thou a Contrary Course with thy heart and soule at thy receiving of this great act of thy Saluation this blessed Sacrament for bee thou the death of thy sinnes and then God will assuredly be the life of thy Soule As for those who either vnworthily receiue or carelesly deferre or wilfully contemne the receiving of this blessed Sacrament they doe assuredly spin out the webbe of their owne damnation and so being dead in the Lethargie of their owne securitie and prophanesse they hood-wincked ride post to Hell Consider and remember with thy selfe Ioel. 1.15 That the day of the Lord is at hand 2 Pet. 3.10 And that death and destruction comes from the Lord as a Thiefe in the night That death the grimme Pursivant and Sergeant of the Lord dâ—th neither spare nor pardon any sexe or age but with his fatall Dart and Mace without respect or difference aresteth as well the King as the begger the Priest as the people and the young as the old Wee must not therefore put farre from vs the evill day Amos. 6.3,4,5 nor stretch our selues on our beds of Ivorie nor sing to the sound of the Violl wherby the Prophet meanes all excesse of riot and vnderstandeth all degree of obscene pleasures and beastly voluptuousnesse For if we love God we must honour him and if we will honour him wee must loue him Amos 6.3,4,5 And not wearie him with our sinnes nor presse him downe with their burthen as a Cart is with Sheafes Consider wee againe That as there is but one way forvs to come into the world so that there are a thousand waies to go out of it That we are subiect to as many diseases as sinnes yea and that diseases doe as frequently and as insensibly steale into our bodyes as sinnes doe into our soules That wee are never neerer death then when we think our selues farthest from it and that when we suppose our selues to be strongest in Nature wee commonly are then weakest in Grace As also that a theeuish Impostume a poore Apoplexie a Cut-throat Squinancy or a fierce and furious visitation of the Pestilence doth many times in a moment of time violently snatch vs away from the world and the world from vs yea and which is more to be admired though no lesse to bee pittied That some times in the very twinckling of an Eye we are choaked with a Fly a Kernell of an apple a crumm of bread or a small Fish bone Or else have our braynes dashd out with a fall either from a Horse or a staire O therfore how seriously ought we to ponder in our hearts and how maturely and religiously to consider in our soules how extreame dangerous it is for vs to procrastinate and deferre and consequently how infinitely necessary expedieÌ„t it is for vs frequently to receiue this blessed SacrameÌ„t of the Lords Supper Consider wee further Iam 4.14 That wee cannot tell what shall betyde vs to morrow for that our life is but a Vapour that appeareth for a smal time and then vanisheth away 1 Pet. 1.24 That all flesh is grasse and all the glory of man is as the flower of grasse and that the grasse withereth the flower thereof falleth away Heb. 13.14 That we haue no abiding Citie heere but must therefore seeke one to come which is aboue That as the tree falleth it lyes That there is no sorrowing for our sins in the grave and that after our death there is no place nor hope left vs for a second repentance Heb. 10 31 And that it is a feare full thing to fall into the hands of the living God Armed in this manner with a lively faith towards God and with periect love and Charity towards our neighbour and having freed and cleared those sinfull spots of our hearts and reformed and cleansed those foule affections and imperfections of our soules by our vnfeigned godly repentance and sorow And having now assumed and taken vp a firme resolution ever hereafter Eph. 5.10 to approve and doe that which is pleasing to the Lord And contracted a solemne Covenant betweene God and our souls Eph. 5.11 never any more to have any fellowship with the workes of darkenesse but reprove them and not henceforth to dare to looke back with affection on our forepast deerest and darling sinnes but with infinite hatred detestation of them Then I say let vs follow the aduice of the Apostle Heb. 4.16 Let vs goe vp boldly to the Throne of Grace that wee may receive mercy Let vs goe boldly to this table to this pretious banket of the Lords blessed Supper and eat that sacred bread of his body and drinke that heavenly wine of his blood in a strong Confidence and CoÌ„memoration That Christ dyed for vs on the Altar of
prayer which done they rendered thankes to God for that he had brought and established them in a Countrey which abounded with all prosperity and plenty of Bread and Wine in Comparison of the misery and dearth wherin their Fathers had lived in Egypt As in very deed all beleeued and held That the vnleauened Bread which God had appointed and instituted for Easter was a true simbole and figure of the bread of misery and affliction which the Israelites had eaten during their captivitie in Egypt Now Christ Iesus who would not permit or suffer that Iewish Ceremonies should any longer remaine in the Christian Churches insteed of the Passeouer or Feast of Easter placed and instituted his blessed Supper as hee had formerly appointed and introduced Baptisme insteed of Circumcision leaving in all Christian Churches none but these two figures and Sacraments in place and steed of all that great multitude which were formerly vnder the old Law And according as the seruice of the new Testament was spirituall It was also conuenient and fitting those few Ceremonies which Christ instituted were likewise simple and easie as depending and having relation to the Nature and Condition of the Evangelical Law and seruice which is wholly spirituall and heavenly whereunto these Ceremonies were tyed and conioyned In which regard Iesus Christ in his Supper tooke no figure of any formerly prepared meat procured with cost or care or which could not be hourly provided and had as was the Paschall Lambe but tooke simplie Bread and Wine as in the same sort and manner that in the Sacrament of Baptisme insteed of the painefull and grievous Circumcision hee instituted the easie and simple aspersion of water Now for that Iesus Christ hath substituted his blessed Supper insteed of the feast of Easter It followes of necessitie that there must bee some resemblance and conformitie of the Lords Supper to the Feast of Easter and of the actions of Christians in receiving the same to the actions of the Iewes in eating of their Paschall Lambe But as this great Feast and Passeover of the Iewes was a Sacrament and religious mysterie so notwithstanding it was yet more to feed the mind then the body wherefore wee must obserue and remember that besides yea above the eating of the mouth there was the eating of the mind which was a holy and religious meditation whereby their soules should be refreshed and comforted according to the quality and Condition of the Churches of their time That which they did eat with their Corporall mouthes was a Lambe some bitter hearbes and vnleavened bread And that which their minds and heart ought to meditate on was the grace and favour which God had bestowed on them in delivering them from the miserable seruitude and slavery wherin their Fore-fathers had lived in Egypt and for bringing them to enioy the fruits and fatnesse of the Land of Canaan So that at the same time which their bodyes did eate their soules likewise had their spiritall meate and food and tasted how good and gratious God was to them by giving them their deliverance In the same manner Iesus Christ instituting his Blessed Supper at Easter proposed to Christians a double forme of eating the one of the mouth which was that of Bread and the other of the Soule which was the meditation of the great goodnesse and mercy of God whereby Iesus Christ having beene crucified to death for vs hath victoriously and gloriously delivered vs from all our miseries Now let vs here remark obserue the excellēt sympathy conformitie wherevnto the Israelites were called at their Passeover or Feast of Easter to the meditation wherin our Saviour Christ called Christians in his blessed Supper to relish the goodnesse of God The Iewes in their Passeover considered that by the blood of a Lambe their Forefathers were delivered from the destroying and persecuting Sword of the Angell the slayen and immolated Lambe being the Ransome of the first borne And in the fraction or breaking and eating of the Bread of the Eucharist wee Christians doe consider That the body and blood of Iesus Christ as of an immaculate Lambe without spot or blemish hath beene offered vp to God in Sacrifice and that by this Ransome wee are delivered delivered from the destroying Sword of the Angell to wit from all the power and malice of Sathan As the Apostle tels the Corinthians 1 Cor. 5.7 that Christ our Paschall Lambe hath beene sacrificed vp for vs. As then the Iewes considering the Lambe meditated and celebrated the goodnesse of God for giving deliverance to their Forefathers by the Ransome of a Lambe So wee Christians should feast our minds and refresh our hearts with the meditation of Gods singular goodnesse towards vs which is infinitly greater and more admirable in that hee hath delivered vp his owne yea his onely Sonne to death for the Ransome of wee poore and wretched Sinners wherein appeares a dilection and loue which surpasseth all vnderstanding and wherein faithfull Seruants of the Lord you may apparantly see the excellency of your aduantage and benefits above those of the ancient Testament That which they meditated in their Passeover was a temporall deliverance That which you meditate in the Lords Supper is a deliverance both spirituall and eternall That which they considered for a Ransome and deliverance from the Angels Sword of persecution and pestilence was a simple terrestriall and carnall Lambe But that which you meditate on for your Ransome in this sacred Supper is the proper body of Gods onely Sonne crucified and slayen for your Sinnes The Ioy and refreshing which the Israelites conceived in their hearts and minds by their meditation was their delight and contentment to have beene delivered from Pharoah and to bee brought into the promised Land of Canaan But what is this in Comparison of the Ioy and refreshing which our soules conceiue to see and contemplate the vnspeakable goodnesse of God whereby you are delivered from eternall death and conducted and brought into a spirituall and heavenly Canaan O therefore if those of the Church of Rome would consider how great how excellent how inexpressable this feeding and refreshing of our soules is by this meditation They would not then say that wee returne empty from this blessed Sacrament It is then the Church of Christ which hath the true eating and true refreshing and sacietie thereof and there onely it is where true peace and felicity is to be found And therfore it is that the word of God teacheth vs concerning the ancient Israelites That what content soever they receiued by their Passeover there yet remayned in their memories a degree of slavery and seruitude Rom. 1.15 whereof they were still afraid and the Reason of it was that the curse of the Law still echoed and resounded aloud in their eares and that the promises of remission and pardon for their sinnes were still concealed and obscured from them and the death of Christ crucified for the
the blood of God according as the Apostle sayth in the Actes Actes 20.28 That God hath purchased the Church by his blood And behold my brethren to what a degree of glory of the Gospell caries you in the New Testament above his faithfull Seruants of the old wherefore here revoke to your mind and memory these passages of Pauls Epistle to the Galathians Gal. 4.4,5 God sent foorth his Sonne made of a Woman and made vnder the Law And writing to the Romanes againe likewise said Rom. 8.3 God sending his owne Sonne in the Similitude of sinfull flesh and for sinne condemned sinne in the flesh And before were passe to the Meditation of the ensuing words I pray obserue heere againe with mee in these This is my Body the cleare refutation of all which Superstition and humane Inuentions propose of the intercession and meditation of Saints and of their suffering for the expiation of the â—emporall paine of our sinnes which pretended sufferings and satisfactions are partly the treasure whereof the Bishop of Rome drawes his Indulgences and Pardons which makes that the Saints are a peece and part of our Sacrifice But Iesus Christ hath designed it and the price of our deliverance in these words This is my Body for hee said not This is a part of my Body and part of the bodyes of Saints who shall suffer for you If our Aduersaries consider that the Sacrament of the Lords Supper presenteth and exposeth to our eyes our Price and Ransome as some of the Ancients for that cause and reason tearme the Sacrament our Price and if they likewise consider that this Sacrament proposeth not to vs the bodies of men but the body of Christ they shall find that there is no other price for our Ransome and Redemption but this body And although these people which say That this Sacrament of the Lords Supper is the Abridgement of the mysteries of the Gospell doe they accuse it of Imperfection not to have proposed or given it all our Price and Ransome And those who daily make and create the body of Christ and who pretend daily to offer him wherefore doe they not content themselues But heer let them vnderstand and hearken to the thundring words of the Apostle writing to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 1.13 Is Christ divided hath Paul beene crucified for you I affirme that the Bread of this holy Supper sheweth vs also a Communion of the faithfull with Iesus Christ for as the same Apostle writes againe to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 10.17 Wee who are many are one Bread and one Body But it is a Communion with Iesus Christ To receive and not To give To receive I say of Iesus Christ the expiation and remission of our sinnes and not to give or conferre it to other mens merits A Communion to bee freed bought and vivified or quickned by him and not to free buy and vivifie with him The second Obiect of our Meditation is the Oblation of this body in these words Which is broken This is my Blood which is shed In the words This is my body you have seene Christ Iesus made capable to be this Sacrifice but in these latter words you see him actually to be a Sacrifice and here is given you to meditate and contemplate first the Immolation and then the Oblation of the Sacrifice The Sacrifice is a soveraigne honour given and yeelded to God which consists in an extreame vnmaking and dissolution of the Creature which dissolution and vnmaking is not nor cannot be extreame except by the destroying of the thing which is offered wherefore all things heretofore which were offered vp in Sacrifice to God were first to be destroyed For it is one thing to bee offered simply and another thing to be offered vp in Sacrifice As for example The Sacrificators the Levites and the first borne of Israel were offered vp to God But how not offered vp in Sacrifice because they still remained living All things then offered in Sacrifice ought firs to be destroyed if they were liquid or wet things without life they were to bee shed If solide things without life they were to be burnt Or if living things they were to bee killed and for witnesse and Testimony of a true death there must needs bee an effusion of the Beasts blood because blood being the seat of the Beasts life the separation of blood from the flesh shewed and figured the separation of life from the body and consequently an entire death And in the expiatory and propitiatory Sacrifices this was the more requisite and needfull for that these Sacrifices were satisfactions for typicall and carnall sinne But the absolute satisfaction and expiation for sinne must consist in the death and destruction of the thing offered because the Apostle peremptorily and truely tels vs Rom. 6.33 That the wages of Sinne is death from whence you first see wherefore it was that of necessity Christ must die For the wages of Sinne being death it must needs follow that he who placed himselfe an Vndertaker for Sinners must vndergoe the punishment ordained for Sinne Secondly from hence you likewise see wherefore it was that the blood of Christ was shed in his death and separated from his body to wit thereby to expresse and shew the truth of the death and expiation of Sinne as the Apostle to the Hebrewes proves by legall figures that Iesus Christ must die and shed his blood in Sacrifice because saith hee Heb. 9.22 That according to the Law all things are purged and purified by blood and without the effusion of blood there is no remission So Iesus Christ by shedding his blood hath accomplished the figures of the Law and given vs this Consolation that the Ransome and expiation of our sinnes is entire and perfect And hence as it were in passing you learne two things I. That it is impossible that there is any propitiatory Sacrifice without blood and consequently impossible that the Masse wherein there is neither death nor effusion of blood be a propitiatory Sacrifice for sinnes as our Aduersaries call it II In the Lords Supper It was needfull that the body and blood of Iesus Christ was represented to vs distinctly and severally for that there were two signes to wit The Bread broken and the Wine filld out which was the Reason why Iesus Christ did not only say This is my Body broken but also takes the Cup and said This is my blood which is shed Because without effusion of blood there could be no remission of sinne From whence it followes That the taking and cutting away of the Cup in the Lords Supper which shewes the blood of Christ to bee separated from his body takes away from the mysterie of that sacred Supper it 's plenitude power perfection depriving it of the signe of the Condition requisite for the expiation of sinnes to wit the effusion of blood But this is told you but cursorily and as it were in passing Now the
I begin with the feeling of our miserie and a religious or godly sorrow for having sinned that is to say by considering by the breaking of Christs body which is proposed and intimated to vs in the breaking of bread the paine and torments which we haue deserved For my beloved Brethren it is for vs that Christs body hath been broken with cruell torments on the Crosse and therefore this sad wofull spectacle doth both shew and teach vs that in requitall thereof wee haue deserved to bee bruised and broken with torments for ever Christs sufferings and groanes vnder the burthen of Gods wrath is a pourtrait or mappe of that miserie wherein we all should haue perished for our sinnes Behold then O sinner the terrible indignation curse of God which violently was comming to alight and fall vpon thee Thou who art insensible of thy misery here behold and see thy condition in the estate of Iesus Christ on the Crosse See I say thy torments and misery and when thou seest this Bread in the Sacrament of his Supper broken say O Lord here I am who haue deserued to bee bruised broken with the rodde of thine anger It was I who had sinned and therfore merited to support and suffer thy fierce indignation from thence there must bee ingendred and borne in our hearts a holy and a religious sorrow for that wee haue bin the efficient and reall cause that the Sonne of God hath suffered all these vndeserved tortures afflictions Seest thou O Christian the body of Iesus Christ broken on the Crosse It is therefore requisite that thou breake thy heart with sorrow for that thy sinnes haue produced all this evill and caused all this calamitie Therefore behold the drops of blood trickling downe the face of Iesus Christ Thou who drinkest and suppest vp sinne as water loe thy sinnes are the sharpe thornes which haue pricked and pierced his head Thee to whom thy sinne is so sweet and delicious behold they are thy sinnes which haue beene the nayles and speare that haue transpierced thy blessed body Thou who esteemest thy sins to bee but some indifferent or triviall thing what deep passions of sorrow should thy heart and soule conceiue to haue beene the cause of the death of thy friend thy brother thy father or thy child by any action or accident of thine owne But how much more grief sorrow then oughtest thou hereto retaine feele at the remembrance of thy sins which haue caused thy Creator to be murdred and thy God to be crucified to death The II. Act of our hearts which ought to streame foorth and arise from that which the Lords blessed Supper exposeth and presenteth to our eyes is the faith and assurance of the remission of sinnes Thou sayest to thy selfe O Sinner I have offended God and broken and transgressed his Law therefore who shall ransome and redeeme mee from his furious wrath and indignation But be cheerefull and couragious for loe here is thy ransome which Iesus Christ brings and denounceth vnto thee in these words This is my Body which hath beene broken for thee This is my Blood that hath beene shed for thee and wilt thou therefore doubt when the only Sonne of God is hee who hath satisfied for thee and that it is not a silly man but the eternall himselfe who is both thy righteousnes and thy Redeemer say then with the Apostle who is hee that will condemne sith it is Christ that is dead dost thou doubt of Gods love where his owne Sonne the onely beloved of his Father is the propitiation for thy sinnes If thou propose to thy selfe thine owne merits or the sufferings of any other creatures or persons thou shouldest feare that God will not receive them for satisfaction because they are too base money and of a false and counterfeit mettall to be approved and received of God But wee must present him the body of his onely Sonne broken and his blood shed and then hee cannot but approve thereof as a full and valable satisfaction God heeretofore knew the blood of the Lambe vpon the postes of the doores when he sent his destroying Angell against Egypt and will he not then know the blood of his owne Sonne as of a Lambe without spot or blemish whereby you have besprinckled your consciences Be therefore bold and confident and say with the Apostle to the Hebrewes Hebr. 10.21,22 Seeing wee have a high Priest which is over the house of God let vs draw neere with a true heart in assurance of faith our hearts being pure from an evill conscience that so wee may obtaine mercy and find grace in due time And here againe O faithfull Christian two reasons of thy assurance and confidence drawen from this Sacrament The one is that as in Baptisme it is to thy selfe to thine owne body that the water is applyed that thou mayest thereby know that thou art washt in the blood of Iesus Christ so in this Sacrament of his blessed Supper it is to thee that hee gives his body yea it is into thine owne hands which hee commits and puts this Sacrament to assure thee that it is onely to thee which hee gives himselfe and not to others whom thou mayest hold and esteeme to be better then thy selfe In which regard for that this Sacrament is given to thee and put into thine owne hands it is because thou must esteeme and beleeue that Christs body is thine as a Ransome which is given into thy hands to present vnto God wherefore doubt not but it properly belongs and appertaines vnto thee for otherwise thou doest annull and annihilate the Sacrament which Christ giues thee and thou doubtest that he be true in giving it to thee The other reason is That although there hee a great distance betwixt Iesus Christ vs as betwixt the Saint of Saints and poore and miserable sinners neverthelesse we learne by this Sacramēt that wee are incorporated with Christ and into Christ and that wee become his members his blood and his bone as flesh which wee eate becomes our blood and bone But to the members and body rightly belongs the power of the Head which cannot bee denyed her Thou mayest then inferre O Christian that the righteousnesse of Iesus Christ is thine owne and that it properly belongs and appertaines to thee The third Act of our hearts in the participation of this Sacrament is the sanctifying of our soules by the loue of God and the denying and renouncing of our selues the which is performed by three things that are seene appeare in this Sacrament that is to say I. The great Charitie and loue of God towards vs. II. The foulenes and odiousnes of sinne III. The example of our owne dutie I say first The great charitie loue of God For my brethren should not this infinite love of God in exposing and delivering vp his onely begotten Son to death for vs replenish inspire and fill vs with a reciprocall love
Iesus to death yea to the shamefull death of the Crosse for our redemption and that he was so gracious a God and so mercifull and indulgent a Father to vs that he suffered his blessed Sonne to dye for vs Tit. 2.14 That hee might redeeme vs from all iniquitie and purge vs to be a peculiar people to himselfe For wretched sinners that we are In Paradise where our Forefathers gained their life there by their wilfull disobedience and transgression they lost their righteousnes and we in them because the foule staine and Leprosie of that their originall sin hath successively and actually made vs their vnfortunate seede and posteritie guilty both of Death and Hell and there iustly adiudged to haue our Portions with the Devill and his Angels But notwithstanding all this God yet hath beene as mercifull to vs as we have bene sinnefull to him for although wee were lost in Adam by Nature yet we are againe both found and saved in Iesus Christ by grace 1 Tim. 2.6 Who hath given himselfe a ransome for all men Isai 53.4,5 Hath borne our infirmities and carried away our sinnes and sorrows by suffering himselfe to bee wounded for our transgressions and broken for our iniquities So that it is the present ioy of our hearts and the future happinesse of our soules Eph. 2.4,5 That God who is rich in mercie Eph 2.4,5 through the great loue wherewith he loved vs when we were dead by our sins hath quickned vs together in Iesus Christ by whose grace we are saved And to the ende that all true Christians should not despaire of Christs promises vnto them nor so much give themselues over either to the reprobate sense and pleasures of sinne or to the sugred insinuations and trecherous temptations of Satan as any way to doubt of their salvation in the Lord Why this our sacred Lord Master Christ Iesus the great Shepheard of his Flocke and Saviour of his people who by incorporating his Divinitie with his humanitie was wholly composed of loue mercy toward them Hee I say a litle before his bloody yet blessed death and passion on the Crosse was gratiously pleased to honour and sanctifie his Apostles and in them vs who are of the true seed of Abraham with the holy Sacrament of his most blessed Supper as a diuine pledge and a firme authenticall confirmation of his inestimable loue towards vs and of his watchful care and vigilancy for our saluation I meane for the full perfecting and accomplishing of our glorification in Heaven with God his father Rom 6.4 That sin might haue no more dominion over ver vs because we are now no longer vnder the Law but vnder Grace but that by the worthy receiving and holy partaking thereof In the imitation of Christ and his blessed Apostles Ephes 2.6 wee might be raysed vp together with him in heavenly places It is therefore not our owne merits but onely Gods mercies not our own workes which are sinfull but onely the blessed death and passion of Christ Iesus which is sacred that must be both the triumph and glory of a Christian And I confesse with ioy and acknowledge with Confidence and Consolation that this holy Sacrament of his most blessed Supper wherin the bread of his body was broken and the wine of his blood powred out and shed for the sinnes of all mankind is the perfect pledge the sacred seale the full ransome and the divinest mysterie of our redemption in Iesus Christ And that as wee are absolutely cleansed and washed from our originall sinne by the water of Baptisme when wee enter into the State of Grace in the Church militant heere on earth That so by the blood of this Paschall Lambe Christ Iesus in the Sacrament of his blessed Supper our sinnes are wholly defaced and washed away and consequently that therefore wee shall enter into the state of glory in the Church triumphant in heaven So that fighting vnder the banner of Christ his Crosse and being spiritually armed with these two sacred Sacraments we may boldly beleeue confidently assure our selues that neither Sathan nor hell shall have power to prevaile against vs. And here Christian Reader before I proceed farther in this my Preface to thee I give thee to vnderstand That I am not ignorant with what a great world of different opinions and controversies this our little world of Christendome is perplexed and troubled with about this blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper betwixt the Protestant and the Papist especially about Transubstantiation the Reall Presence and communicating in one kind In so much that an infinite number yea too great a number of pens pulpits and presses are pittifully because vnprofitably oppressed therwith and that Christs blessed body in this Sacrament without pietie reason or charity is daily dilacerated and torne in peeces with these contentions whereas his owne Coate or vesture was without peece or seame So that our silly soules may well feare drowning when the barke of our weake faith masted and rigged with curiositie sayleth in so dangerous and turbulent an Ocean that hath neither bottome nor shoare and which is daily and hourly tossed and ready to be split and dashed in peeces either with the wavering waves of levity and inconstancy or with the boysterous winds of propensd malice or scandalous and erronious virulency without looking vp to the true day-Starre of their hope Iesus Christ or to the Sunne of their saluation God or without endevoring or thinking safely to arrive and cast anchor in the Cape of good hope Heaven O that the spirit of Pietie should without piety thus bee conuerted and transformed into the spirit of Contention And as for mee who am the meanest and most vnworthie of all Gods Seruants and Children bingeniously confesse and acknowledge that in some few languages I have read so many of these intemperate Contreversies and vntimely Contentions that I am wearie of reading them And yet so That I rather pitie then maligne first their Authors for their sakes and then them for their Authors sakes and my witnesse is in heaven in mine own besome that with my heart soule I wish that all these vnspirituall quarells might be composed in peace and amitie and that these vnfortunate disputes and lynes might terminate in one and the same Centre Charitie and that their learned Authors having their curiosity vanquished with the honour and glory of God as Christian members might bee inseparably fast knit and vnited to their Head and grand Captaine Iesus Christ and because contention is not the way to heaven and that God was found in the still and quiet and not in the whirle and tempestuous winds As also that where the great Lamps of learning and lights of the Church contend fight about matters of faith that there assuredly the weake ones and the more illiterat Christians doe infinitly suffer in this quarell That therefore in the name and feare of God they would
the Crosse and for the free reconciliation and full satisfaction and redemption of our sinnes And having thus filled our hearts with sacred Ioy and replenished our soules with spirituall and heavenly gladnesse by receining of this most blessed Sacrament we must then have an infinite watchfull eye over our hearts and place a most strong and religious guard over our soules that wee doe not hencefoorth once presume to hearken to sin or so much as give way or dare to consent to looke or listen after the treacherous lures and temptations of the world the flesh or the devill and so to fall backe into a spirituall relapse of sinne which is ten thousand times worse and infinitly more dangerous and pernitious then that of any Corporall disease whatsoever For it is a wofull yea a wretched misery which leaues vs no hope of better fortunes nor place for worse 2 Pet. 2.22 If with the Dogge wee returne to our owne vomit and with the Sow that wee againe wallow in the filthie mire of our former beastly sinnes and transgressions For then our end will bee farre worse then our beginning Hos 4.7 Then God will change our glory into shame And then wee shall make our selues guilty of the body and blood of Christ which without his all saving grace and mercy is the high way to endlesse perdition and the true way to eternall damnation No No farre be such vngodly and rebellious thoughts from our hearts and such vnspirituall treason against God from our soules And let vs who are the seed of Abraham by nature and the Sonnes of God by Grace Hos 10.12 still breake vp the fallow ground of our hearts with a holy repentance and sorrow for our sinnes and with a constant and inuiolable resolution never to sinne more and as therefore we have received Christ Jesus by faith Collos 2.6 So let vs walke in him Thes 1.11 and walke worthy of him who now calles vs to his Kingdome of glory and which is more who in a spirituall Contract Hos 2.19 hath vnited and maried vs to himselfe in righteousnesse In which regard and consideration because wee are so highly beloued of God and so infinitly honored with the name of Christians wherein wee ought more to insult and triumph then in all things else which are vnder Christ Let vs I say forsake the stincking garlicke and vnions of Egypt I meane our old beastly sinnes and transgressions and for ever hencefoorth smell to the sweet Roses and Lilies of Heaven the delectable love and promises of our Saviour Christ Iesus vnto vs which are so sweetly watred with his pretious blood and so odoriferously perfumed not with fragarant odors or costly spices of Arabia but with the rich myrrh of Gods sacred mercy and with the sweet and pretious frankincense of his divine fauour and loving countenande towards vs. Psal 134.2 Let vs I say lift vp our hands to his holy Sanctuary prayse the Lord Ier. 31.3 for that he loves vs with an everlasting love and that by the blessed death and passion of his Sonne Christ Psal 68.20 hee is become our God and the God that saveth vs The which If we religiously constantly performe Ier. 31.12 Then our soules shall bee as a watred Garden and wee shall know no more sorrow Then wee shall be as the Hos 14.6 Dew vnto Israel and God will make vs grow as Lilies will fasten our roots as the trees of Lebanon Then 2 Cor. 3.18 wee shall see God face to face in his Kingdome of glory and there both live and raigne with him eternally 1 Tim 4.8 And then hee will crowne vs with a Crowne of righteousnesse which hee hath reserued and layd vp for his elect Children and Seruants Of which blessed number I beseech thee O God who art our Creator and Reedeemer for thy promise sake for thy Sions sake and for thy Sonne Christ Iesus his sake to make vs Amen Thy Christian Friend IOHN REYNOLDS THE DIVINE POVRTRAIT OR A TRVE AND liuely Representation of the blessed Sacrament of the LORDS SVPPER With our due Preparation how to receiue it worthily Vpon these words of our Saviour This is my Bodie c. THe Sacrament of the * Eucharist Lords Supper because of its excellencie hath bin and is worthily tearmed a Mysterie for this Sacrament collecteth and gathereth together all that the new Testament hath of most admirable and most excellent and discovereth vnto vs the Treasures of Wisedome and Intelligence which are hidden in Iesus Christ And truely that which men and Angels themselues have most to admire in this new Testament are especially two things The one is the meanes whereby Saluation hath beene purchased and procured to poore sinners The other the meanes wherby this Saluation being first merited procured and given to them by Iesus Christ is afterwards applyed and administred to them In the first is seene the height and depth the length and bredth of Gods mercy in sending here below on Earth his onely Sonne in the forme of sinfull flesh and for exposing him to the shamefull death of the Crosse for sinfull Creatures and conioyntly therewith is likewise seene the infinit vertue of Christs blood to redeeme and expiate the sinnes of the world and to obtaine eternall life and glory for those who were dangerously ingulphed and almost lost in the death and misery thereof In the second is remarked and seene that by the means of faith repentance wretched sinners are so vnited to the Sonne of God as if they were composed of that body whereof hee is the head and they the members and by this Communion are made Partakers of all the graces and benefits which Iesus Christ hath deserued and purchased for them Now this blessed Sacrament of the Lords holy Supper which is as visible as his Sacred written Gospell and Divine Testament produceth and exposeth to vs thâ—se two efficable points and considerations One way the bread broken and wine filled out presenteth to our eyes the first To wit the body of Iesus Christ broken and his blood shed and spilt on the Crosse for the remission of mens sinnes And on the other part mans action in taking and eating this bread and drinking this wine denoteth and sheweth vs the interiour action of the soule who being hungry and thirsty hath iustly her recourse to this body and blood offered vp to God on the Crosse and there findes her peace and societie vniting her selfe by faith vnto Iesus Christ the Head spring and fountaine of righteousnesse and life Wherefore one way to contemplate the wonders of God towards vs and the other our duties towards him that hereby wee may partake worthily of this blessed Sacrament It is needlesse for vs to extend the eyes of our vnderstandings any farther then to this very same Sacrament which in it selfe will furnish vs with all things needfull and requisite for the pertinent disposition of
transgressions of men was hidden and over-clouded from them by the vaile of Ceremonies Whereas heere O ye faithfull Christians Iesus Christ calles you to the publicke Meditation and Contemplation of his death and of the pardon and remission of your sinnes to refresh and fill your soules with peace and felicity And for which cause and reason hee saith in Saint Iohn Ioh. 6.35 Whosoever comes vnto mee shall not bee hungry and those who trust in mee shall not bee dry or thirsty And therefore Iesus Christ taking bread said Take eat and then hee added thereunto This is my Body So that which hee came from taking of and which he held to wit Bread he said it was his body A thing which hee then spake most easily and clearely For as there was not the smalest Child among the Iewes but vnderstood when the Father of his family said Take eat this is the Bread of misery which our Fore-fathers did eat in Egypt that this Bread was so named and called by the Father of the family because it was a Commemoration of the bread of affliction which their Fore-fathers had eaten in Egypt according as it is said in Deutr. Deut. 16.3 Vnder the Law seven dayes thou shalt eat vnleavened Bread which is Bread of affliction because thou didst hastily depart and fly away from Egypt So there was none so ignorant or simple but vnderstood well That Christ said the bread was his body because hee was the Cōmemoration therof and as the vnleavened bread had beene yearly or dayned for a Memoriall or Comemoration of the miseries which the Israelites had suffered in Egypt That Iesus Christ established Bread to remaine till the end of the world the signe and Commemoration of his Body offered on the Crosse which againe was cleare and evident because they named the Lambe which they did eat Pasque an Hebrew word which signifieth Passeover and which every one well vnderstood in that Language Where wilt thou said the Apostles to Iesus Christ Mat. 26.17 that wee prepare for thee the Passeover The Lambe which they eat was so called because it was instituted in Memory and Cōmemoration of the Passing over of the destroying Angell from above and beyond the Israelites houses And in this same sense they easily vnderstood that the Bread was called the body of Iesus Christ because it was purposely instituted to bee the Remembrance or Commemoration of his body offred on the Crosse for the sinnes of the world Now although this were sufficiently cleare and palpable of it selfe yet obserue heer the singular bounty goodnesse and wisedome of Iesus Christ to repell and prevent the errour which hee foresaw In that he conioyned and added thereunto as Saint Luke and Saint Paul affirme it in expresse tearmes Doe this in remembrance of me Is there not heer then iust cause to admire and wonder that after all this That Bread should bee vnderstood by transubstantiation to be the body of Iesus Christ and farre different and otherwise then by Remembrance or Commemoration From whence it necessarily results and followes That in the Church of Rome a morsell of Bread is adored for the body and person of Iesus Christ The Sacrament and Remembrance having beene confounded with that whereof it is the Sacrament and commemoration So then Christ Iesus said This is my Body This is my blood and yet not simply so but according as Saint Luke tels vs Luc. 22.19 Which is given for vs and as Saint Paul affirmes Which is broken for you So then Christ representing vs his body vnderstands thereby that hee hath beene delivered vp for vs to the Crosse that is to say that hee hath beene broken and sacrificed And likewise for the Cup he said This is my Blood which is shed for you speaking in tearmes of the time present and not only for regard of what hee knew should befall him the very next day in respect of the truth thereof But also because hee gave and rendred in a present figure that which should bee done on the Crosse the fraction of Bread being a true and lively representation of the fraction of his body as a canon of the Church of Rome acknowledgeth it in these words De consecr Dist 2. Canon Hoc est quod The immomolation of the flesh of Christ which is done by the Priests hands is tearmed the Passion Death and crucifiing of Iesus Christ but not by the truth of the thing but by the signification of the mystery thereof From whence doth clearly result and stream foorth vnto vs two especiall things The one that in the same manner that the breaking or fraction of bread in the Lords Supper is the breaking of Christs body So in the same manner the Bread is the body of Christ but the breaking of bread in the Lords Supper is the fraction and crucifying of Christs body not by the truth or realitie of the thing but by the signification of the mysterie And so likewise the bread is the body of Iesus Christ yet not by the truth or realitie of the thing but by the signification of the mysterie The other branch or point which results hereof is That this holy Supper is the sacrifice of Iesus Christ not by the truth of the thing but by the signification of the mysterie and that it is not a sacrifice but a remembrance and commemoration of a Sacrifice As indeed Christ offered vp no oblation to God but brake the bread and gave it to his Disciples From whence beloved in the Lord you plainely see that to esteeme and hold the Lords Supper to bee a reall sacrifice wherein Iesus Christ hath offered himselfe vp a propitiatory Sacrifice for the sinnes of the living and the dead Is a humane Inuention opposite and contrary to the Institution of Iesus Christ and to the vse of this Sacrament which was ordained to shew foorth and proclaime his death and passion And likewise it is contrary to the onely oblation of the crosse the Apostle Saint Paul affirming to the Hebrewes Heb. 10.10 That we are sanctified by the oblation once made of the body of Iesus Christ and therefore that there is no more oblation for sinne II Point or generall Head Thus much for the sense of Christs words And now faithfull Christians to whom God hath revealed and made knowen the truth and puritie of these high and sacred mysteries come and meditate on these words of the Sonne of God all which Heaven hath of most admirable sweet and delitious And you godly soules who iustly hunger and thirst for this grace and mercy of the Lord come you to feed and refresh your selues with the fat of the house of God and to quench your thirst in the River of his delights But first wee here require two things of you that is to say some Meditations and then some Functions of the heart proceeding from these meditations and both which on these words This is my Body which is broken for you This
chiefe and principall Meditation which wee require of you in this obiect is three things I. Of Christs great debasing and making himselfe as it were nothing II. Of the horror and grievousnesse of sinne as the direct opposition of the perfect sanctity and absolute holinesse of God III. Of the immense love and charity of Iesus Christ towards vs. I speake first of Christs great debasing and esteeming himselfe nothing For if you formerly vnderstand and remember Iesus Christ abased himselfe so low as to cloath and incorporate himselfe with our wretched nature and to make himselfe after the simple semblance of men But here behold him now hee makes himselfe lesse then man as he saith in the Psalmes Psal 22.6 I am a Worme and no man the shame of men and the contempt of the People Behold how he makes himselfe a Sacrifice and assumes and takes on him the condition of Beasts which were slain in the ancient Law for the sinnes of men O Lord Iesus who can sufficiently comprehend the depth of this thy extreame humiliation and making thy selfe as nothing who from the heavenly Throne of thy glory hast been placed in forme of a Victime vpon the Altar of the Crosse And that thou wouldest die yea die a shamefull and most ignominious death for vs according as it is written Gal. 3.13 Cursed is every one that hangeth on a Tree From this passe wee on to the second thing which is the Consideration of the horrour grieveousnesse yea and the odiousnesse of Sin For I pray you how wicked was it in it selfe and how execrable in the eyes of God that the onely Sonne of God must needs suffer such grievous paines and torments The Law did well shew the odiousnes and abomination of Sin by the Sacrifices and Aspersions of blood which it required for the Expiation thereof But all that is nothing in Comparison of this which the Gospell shewes vs because these Sacrifices and Aspersions of the Law were of Beasts and of the blood of Beasts but heer it is the onely begotten Son of God who hath beene given to death to expiate sinne and to cover the foulnesse and enormitie thereof Behold then O Sinners with astonishment by the greatnesse of the satisfaction the horrour of this sinne and thereby to learne to hate and detest it Nature to shew how grievous and odious sinne was since the fall of Adam became harried over with thorns and briars and changed many of her plants into poysons The aire grew thicke with stormes and was many times infected to punish sinners The Sea impetuously mounted her angry waues and surges and caused infinite shipwrackes Adams owne person and his posterity strayed from his temper and by sicknesse and diseases had drawen the Empire of death into his owne entrailes and bowels mans wisedome was obscured with ignorance and tormented with irregular and extravagant passions and all this befell and hapned to the world for sinne But now behold Heaven who against sinne and to the end and intent to expiate and destroy it delivers vp to death that which it had and held dearest and to reproach and shame that which it held and possest of most glorious For here God the Father of heauen exposeth his sweetest delights to the bitter torments of the Crosse Heere Christ Iesus his onely beloved Son who yeeldeth abandoneth his life and who to destroy sinne so extreamly hee hates it doth voluntarily and willingly destroy himselfe And heere considering and meditating further how odious sinne is to God let vs admire how perfect Gods iustice and sanctitie is let vs say that here it is where this sanctitie manifesteth it selfe at full in her brightest Orient It is in this mysterie that the Seraphims crie Holy holy holy the Eternall of Armies for if he shew forth his righteousnes and sanctitie here below in punishing and ruining some of his creatures by his iudgements how much more doth hee manifest it by the death of his onely beloved Sonne to whom sinne presented it selfe to be punished Come we now to the third mediation which wee require of you wherein we may behold the exreame debasing annihilating of the Son of God to see the immense Loue both of this heauenly Father and Sonne towards vs for that the Son hath beene so grievously handled and tormented for vs. What Abyssus of affection and mercy is this towards man Is there any minde or spirit though angelical which cannot bee ravished and swallowed vp heereat Prophane Infidells and Atheists who are incredulous of the mysteries of the Christian faith Know ye that it shewes you the highest charity and perfectest sanctitie that the heart or wit of man can possibly comprehēd or conceiue And of God bee a soveraigne sanctitie an immense charity and goodnesse as his being cannot bee but all perfection know that the new Testament sheweth God to men and reveales them this vnexpressable and incomprehensible sanctity and charity which is the same that Saint Iohn said 1. Iohn 4.16 God is Love and hee that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him c. That God is Charity and in this is manifested his Charity For that God hath sent his onely Sonne into the world to the end that wee live by him and in this againe is Charity not that we have loved God but because hee hath loved vs and hath given his Sonne to bee a propitiation for our sinnes And heer it is that the new Testament hath many great aduantages and singular benefits and prerogatives above the old one of the Law Seeing that herein God fully discovereth the rich Treasures of his goodnesse In nature we see GODS goodnesse towards man for that for a time hee entertaines and maintaines himselfe in life by the death of Beasts whose flesh serues him for food and sustenance But here God gives and purchaseth to man an eternall life by the death of his onely Sonne Here hee gives to man not his Creatures as in the creation but his onely well beloued Sonne himselfe yea and to sinfull man Wherefore it is that the Apostle affirmes to the Corinthians 2. Cor. 3.18 We all behold as in a Mirrour the glory of the Lord with open face and Iesus Christ tels vs That none having ever seene God it is he that hath revealed him to vs. Faithfull brethren in the Lord open the eyes of your vnderstandings and see how God manifesteth himselfe and how he makes himselfe palpably visible to you by this immense Love and Charity which this Sacrament of the Eucharist presenteth and representeth to your eyes If then on these words This is my Body you have meditated on the Love and Charity of Christ humbling himselfe so low as to cloth himselfe with our weake body and nature then meditate on this greater degree of Charity which hath caused him to assume the forme of a servāt for vs which was already exceeding much to him who was the Creator and the King of glory
but also to expose himselfe to death in this forme and shape of a Seruant yea to the shamefull death of the Crosse which is the very meditation of the Apostle to the Philippians Philip. 2.6,7,8 Iesus Christ being in the forme of God thought it no robberie to make himselfe equall to God But he made himselfe of no Reputation and tooke on him the forme of a Seruant and was made like vnto man and found in the shape of a man who humbled himselfe and became came obedient to death yea to the death of the Crosse And the same Apostle ravished in this meditation saith in another place Rom. 8.32 Who spared not his owne Sonne for vs but gaue him for vs all to death Hee saith not simply that he hath given him but that he hath not spared him as if he should have said hee made no difficulty to expose him for vs to extreame paine and torments A degree of Charity which the Angels themselues cannot sufficiently comprehēd and therefore the Apostle postle requireth in vs the Spirit of wisedome and revelation to wit that the eyes of our vnderstanding bee so illuminated Ephes 3.13 that wee may know what is the length breadth height and depth of this love of God towards vs. In a word vpon this obiect let vs briefly collect and consider against our adversaries of the Church of Rome That in this holy Supper and Communion the body of Iesus Christ is not simply proposed as vnderstanding it to bee a body nor the blood as taking it for blood but the body as vnderstanding it to be broken and the blood as taking it to bee spilt Because in that consisteth all the merit of our salvation and all the cause of our life From whence it followes That the action wherewith wee receiue the body and blood of Christ cannot choose but bee spirituall to wit an action of the soule and no way of the body because the bodie cannot bee taken as vnderstood broken nor the blood as meant shed except by Faith For those forepast and betided things on the crosse that is to say the breaking of the body and the effusion of blood cannot bee giuen or presented to the soule but by the meditation of Faith The third obiect of our Meditation is the fruit and benefit of this obligation which were received by Christs body and blood in these words Broken for you Shed for many for the remission of sinnes And heere two considerations againe present them to vs I. Of the persons for whome Iesus Christ is offered II. The profit and benefit which it brings them Of the persons vnderstanding that he offereth himselfe for wretched and sinfull creatures who in regard of his excellent being are nothing but dust and ashes and as it were formed but yesterday but which is more for creatures infected with sinne guilty of rebellion against him and professed enemies of his divine maiestie both in their thoughts and wicked workes and actions which the consideration of the Apostle to the Colossians thus expresseth Col. 1.21 You which in times past were strangers and enemies because your minds were set in evill workes he now also hath reconciled in that body of his flesh to make you holy and vnblameable and without fault in his sight And also writing to the Romans saith Rom. 5.6,7,8 For Christ when we were yet of no strength at his time dyed for the vngodly adding againe farther doutblesse one will scarse die for a righteous man but yet for a good man but God setteth out his love to vs seeing that whiles we were yet Sinners Christ died for The other consideration proceeds from the profit and benefit which it brings vs and Iesus Christ defines it whē he saith that it is for the remission of sins And this is the profit and benefit which to expresse the Prophets aleage that our sinnes have beene throwen into the bottome of the Sea and that God remembreth them no more and that as farre distant as the East is from the West so farre from him the Lord hath cast away our sinnes and the figures vnder the Law to wit that of the Goat Hazazel teaching that our sinnes have beene caried into a desert and vnhabitable Countrey never to returne more in Gods sight and Presence Which beleeving wee see all evils as they are paines and torments to have lost their being in the faithfull righteous man yea and that death it selfe is swollen vp in victory and the Law with his curses which were as a contrary obligation is quite rased out defaced by the blood of the Sonne of God cleare abolished cancelled and fastened to his Crosse as the Apostle teacheth to the Colosians Col. 2.14 Likewise Sathan who performed nothing but as the Executioner of Gods iustice against Sinners by this alone death found all his power to be vanquished and overthrowen as the Apostle sheweth vs in the same Chapter of the same Epistle to the Colossians in these words Col. 2.15 Christ hath spoyled the Principalities and Powers and hath made a shew of them openly and hath triumphed over them on the Crosse But besides that our enemies and afflictions are taken away and defaced by this oblation of Iesus Christ so likewise all sorts of profits and benefits are put in place thereof as many promses as there are they are so many Yeas and Amens in Christ Iesus life is given which is a new spirituall and divine life by regeneration and the new heavenly Sanctuary is opened vnto vs Heb. 10.19 for there wee have leave and liberty to enter by the blood of Christ and therefore it is that the earthly vaile of the Templerent in peeces at his death The Kingdome of God is given vnto vs and wee are made children and heires to possesse and enioy all the goods and treasures of God as the Apostle saith Gal. 4.6,7 That Iesus Christ having beene made subiect vnder the Law hath redeemed vs from the Law to the end that wee should receive the adoption of children and that if wee are children wee are also heires of God by Christ Iohn 17.11 yea God himselfe is given to vs in his Sonne to the end that wee be in him and he in vs 1. Cor. 1. and likewise that one day he be all things in all III. Poynt or generall Head These are the Meditations which the words of Iesus Christ in his Supper requireth of vs And now come wee to see the acts functions which these Meditations ought to produce in our hearts the which likewise result and descend from these words of Iesus Christ These actes and functions are fiue to wit I. The feeling of our misery and a godly sorrow for having sinned II. The beliefe and assurance of the remission of our sinnes III. The sanctification of the soule and particularly of Loue and Charitie towards our neighbour IIII. Our consolation and patience in afflictions V. Our hope of heavenly felicitie
towards him should wee have such stupid and senseles hearts that the Lords great compassion towards vs should nothing move or stirre them vp and such frozen soules that the burning charity of Iesus Christ dying for vs could not heate and inflame them in his love Should wee wilfully offend so great a goodnes in him when we see hee hath spared nothing for vs Or is it possible that so great yea so extream an ingratitude hath possessed our hearts and seized our soules as to displease God who hath loved vs so infinitely as not to spare his onely Sonne for vs. II. I speak of the foulnesse and odiousnesse of sinne which appeares in this Crosse for shal we not hate sinne which is so displeasing and odious to the eyes of our heavenly Father that he would redeeme and expiate it with the death of his Son Of a truth if we repute esteeme not Christs blood for a light and triviall thing needs must sin bee very odious grievous vnto vs and then needes must Iesus Christ crucified be vnto vs the powerfull motiue to crucifie the flesh with the lusts thereof and to mortifie in vs all that which is of the old man and of sinne III. We haue the example of our dutie In this Sacrament O Christian thou seest the sacrifice of the Sonne of God which is a lesson to teach thee to present thy body vnto God as a living holy and pleasing sacrifice The patterne and modell of thy sanctification consisteth in breaking and chasticing in thee the Old man as thou seest the body of Christ broken on the Crosse and consequently to dye vnto sinne as thou seest him dead What wilt thou now liue vnto that for which Iesus Christ dyed and his flesh which he crucified on the Crosse shall it againe reviue and assume life and full and perfect vigour in thy members Rom. 6 5. Must thou not bee made the very same plant with Iesus Christ conformably to his death to wit that the body of sin be destroyed in thee to the end that thou no more nor no longer serue sinne But amongst the parts of sanctification Charitie and loue towards our neighbours is particularly requisite and required in this Sacrament according to that of the Apostle Iohn 4.10,11 Heerein is that loue not that we loved God but that hee loved vs and sent his Sonne to be a reconciliation for our sinnes Adding likewise thereunto Beloved if God so loued vs we ought also to loue one the other Wilt thou refuse O Christian to loue and assist thy neighbour for whom thou seest that Christ Iesus refused not to shed his blood Wilt thou refuse to giue bread to him to whom Iesus Christ refused not his body See therefore in this Sacrament that which thou owest to thy neighbour to wit not onely to expose thy goods but thy life for him at least if thou thinke to haue any part in Iesus Christ according to that of Saint Iohn 2. Iohn 3.16,17 Heereby have wee perceived love that hee layed downe his life for vs therefore wee ought also to lay downe our lives for our brethren and whosoever hath the goods of this world and seeth his brother have need and shutteth vp his compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him Thou therefore who knowest not what it is to give vnto the poore and to comfort the afflicted art thou not amazed and confounded in thy selfe to consider and behold that Christ died for those with whose poverty and misery thou art so little or rather nothing at all moved or touched Thou also who contemnest thy neighbour as thy inferiour and vnworthy of thy company behold how our Saviour Christ placeth him at the same table with thee and nourisheth him with the same meat and gives him his owne Cup as to thy selfe and thou who livest in contention and division with thy neighbours behold how Christ in this Sacrament cals thee to the Communion of one and the same body and will that wee who are many be one onely bread and one onely body partaking of the same bread as the Apostle speakes to the Corinthians 1. Corint 10.3 The fourth Act and duety which must bee ingendered and propagated in our hearts by the meditation of this blessed Sacrament is patience and consolation in afflictions Dost thou see Gods Church persecuted It is the Body of Iesus Christ which is againe broken and his blood which is shed that which was the condition of this body on the Crosse and which is presented to thee in this Sacrament the same is the condition of the mysticall body on earth What my brethren doe wee so often see Christs body broken by the Sacrament to bee afterwards so strangly affrighted and astonished to see the Church which is the body of Christ to suffer the like measure and fortune here on earth Let vs therefore learne by this Sacrament That Iesus Christ crucified is our ensigne here on earth and that wee thereby know that we are asommoned and called to his Crosse and that wee are indeed his true body and members if wee suffer with him to the end that we may likewise be glorified with him Say then all yee who see this Sacrament Heb. 13.13 Let vs goe forth therefore to him out of the Campe bearing his reproach Col. 1.24 Let vs accomplish and beare the sufferings of Christ in our flesh for his bodies sake which is his Church yea let vs every where 2. Corint 4.10 beare about in our bodies the death of Iesus Christ and that the life of our Lord Christ may bee manifested in our mortall bodies and all in general let vs comfort our selues in our afflictions and present and figure this beleife to our hearts and minds that they come not from God who punisheth our sinnes in his wrath and indignation sith this Sacrament testifieth that those punishments and revenges have alighted and fallen on Iesus Christ himself when his body was broken and his blood shed and spilt on the Crosse but they proceed simply from God chasticing correcting approving and teaching vs as a Father 1 Cor. 11.32 that wee bee not condemned with the world Hebr. 12.10 that here below being made Partakers of his holynesse wee may hereafter in heaven bee made Partakers of his felicity and glory The fifth Function which the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper should produce in vs is our hope of heavenly felicitie according as Christ Iesus himselfe said to his disciples at the celebration of this Sacrament Mat. 26.29 I will drinke no more of the fruit of the vine vntill that day that I shall drinke it new with you in my Fathers Kingdome by which words Iesus Christ will now raise and elevate our hearts from the feast which he makes vs here below in his favour to that which he will hereafter make vs above in his glory and whereof he feast or banquet which he makes vs here
on earth in his Sacrament gives vs the first tastes and relishes because the peace and ioy of conscience and the refreshing and replenishing of the soule in God is a true beginning and a shining ray of the delights and felicities of heaven wherfore faithfull Christian reioyce thou at these beginnings in hope of that happy heavenly accoÌ„plishment which is promised thee and through the eyes of thy faith behold cheerefully and ioyfully the tree of eternall life which is in the Paradice of God and the hidden Manna the bread of Angels which thy Lord and Saviour prepares for thee and behold the fulnesse and satiety which is prepared for thee in the sacred and glorious face of God whereof David in the times of the thickest and obscurest shaddowes said Psal 16.11 In thy presence O Lord is fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore And againe in another place Psal 65.4 O how blessed is hee whom thou choosest and causest to come vnto thee he shall dwell in thy courts and shall bee satisfied with the pleasures of thine house and of thine holy Temple and likewise in another Psal 36.8 They shall bee satisfied with the fatnesse of thine house and thou shalt give them drinke out of the River of thy pleasures Contemne therefore O Christian all earthly pleasures in Comparison of those heavenly delights which passe all vnderstanding because by this blessed Sacrament thou art inuited and called to the wedding banquet of the Lambe where thou halt sit downe with Abraham Isaac and Iacob and where thou shalt be satisfied and ravished with God And these my beloâ—ed brethren are the meditations and functions which God requires of vs condignely and worthily to receiue the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper and to entertaine vs religiously piously in the expectaÌ„ce of his comming as this Sacrament was purposly instituted to declare and foretell vs his death and the inestimable benefits which issue and proceed thereof vnto vs vntill he come Let vs therefore examine and prooue our selues if wee are of this holy dispositioÌ„ for feare lest eating this Bread or drinking this Wine vnworthily wee thereby make our selues guiltie of the Lords body and blood and consequently eat and drinke our owne damnation And if wee find not this holy sanctified disposition in our hearts let vs then effectually endeavor to produce enkindle it in vs by the often reading and meditating of the sacred Bible the divine Oracles and written Word of God as also by frequent incessant Prayer For this Word of God I say is the Looking glasse wherin opeÌ„ly beholding the glorie of the Lord face to face 1. Cor. 3.18 wee are transformed and changed into the same Image from glory to glory as saith the Apostle I say likewise by Prayer because the Lord most benignly and graciously conferres and giues wisdome to all those who seeke it of him and hath promised his holy spirit to all those who with humble contrit hearts demand it of him And let vs possesse and retain this consolation amidst the defects and imperfections which we feele in our hearts that if we are discontented or sorrowfull if we are afflicted heavie laden that yet notwithstanding Christ wil not reiect vs because he saith Come vnto me all yee that are heavie laden Or if we hunger thirst after righteousnesse for this hunger and thirst is a desire of Gods grace proceeding from a liuely and sensible feeling of our sinnes he promiseth to replenish and satisfie vs. May it therefore please thee O our blessed Lord and Saviour to call vs to this sacred Banquet to send vs thy holy Spirit and giue decent and religious dispositions and because hee now knockes at the doore of our hearts by his holy Word giue vs grace that we may open it vnto him in the obedience of our faith to the end Revel 3. that hee may sup with vs and we with him and that he himselfe may be both our Hoast and our Banquet Amen A Prayer to prepare our selues before we receiue the holy Supper of the Lord. O God how shall I present my selfe before thee being a wretched creature defiled polluted with sin If the Angels who haue never sinned overvaile and cover their faces wheÌ„ they appeare before thy holinesse how much greater ought my astonishment and confusion bee who am guiltie of so many foule faults transgressions and likewise my griefe and sorrow sith thy wrath reveales it self from heaven against sin and that on every side we see the effects therof Nature is afflicted and troubled and our bodies are already possessed of diseases and death and therfore what greater punishment may our soules attend and expect and if in this life thy wrath and indignation be thus manifested what will it be when we shal appeare before thy Tribunal and that thou pronounce a sharp and heavie sentence against vs but O Lord in this feareful amazement here ariseth vp to vs newes of grace and matter of comfort and consolation Thou hast had compassion of mankind thou hast sent thine only Son here below to reconcile and expiate our sinnes the earth had nothing for the saluation of man the Angels who have no part of righteousnesse or of life but for themselues could not resist thine anger but in stooping and sincking downe vnder the burthen therof But O Lord thou hast opened thine owne bosome from wheÌ„ce alone could come saluation and from it thou hast sent thine only Sonne to cloth himselfe with our nature and to suffer therein the punishment due to our sinnes and fully to satisfie thy Iustice for all our transgressions so that we haue redemptioÌ„ by his blood to wit remission of sins according to the riches and treasure of thy mercy and we heare this thy Son to pronounce these sweet pleasing words in his Gospel Come to me all ye that are oppressed and heauy laden and I will refresh and comfort you Overloaden then as I am with the heavie burthen of my sinnes I come to discharge disburthen them on thy crosse because he hath borne our sinnes in his body on the wood therof And wherfore should not I fully beleeue it sith this soveraigne loue immense goodnes was worthy of thee and that not onely by thy Testament but also by this Sacrament of thy blessed Supper thou givest mee this redemption and placest it as it were before mine eyes For wherfore serveth this great Sacrament but to represent to my soule by faith this great sacrifice of Christs body which he hath given presented thee on the Crosse So because I see my ransome and redemption have I not therefore iust cause O my God to reioyce and comfort my self in thee that ransome I say which thine owne selfe hast freely given me A divine ransom of a most inestimable price and value because it is the body of thine only begotten Son true God together with thee
Heere heere O my God it is where my soule hungring and thirsting after thy favour finds wherewithall to freed refresh her selfe This body crucified is my true restoritie and this blood spilt and shed on the crosse is the liquor wherwith my soule fills her selfe with vnspeakeable joy And heere it is where thy goodnesse is so great so infinite to all mankind that thou invitest all those who are hungrie and thirsty Iesus Christ himselfe saying Happie are those who hunger and thirst after righteousnesse for they shall bee satisfied O then let my soule which hungreth thirsteth after righteousnes to wit that righteousnesse wherewith thou absolvest and iustifiest Sinners obtaine the fulnesse and refreshing of eternall life and salvation Then depart and flie hence from mee all my doubts and diffidences I will confirme and seale it that God is true in beleeving in his Sonne For shal I offer him this iniury to doubt that he is good enough to pardon my sinnes and mercifull enough to haue compassion of my miseries If I behold or looke vp to his Iustice I am sure that is appeased and satisfied because Christ is hee who dyed for mee and I cannot doubt that this death shall bee obiected or approoved against me because Iesus Christ became pledge defender of all those who with repentant and contrite hearts had recourse to him To whō therefore shall I run or flie but to him and why shall I not repent me to haue offended thee in that thou art so gracious mercifull towards vs and that I see sinne is so execrable that onely thine owne Son must of necessitie die to expiate it And if my repentance bee defectiue and my faith infirme and weake I will represent and shew thee that which thou thy selfe hast sayd That thou wilt not breake the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax I will say as he did in the Gospell I beleeue therefore O Lord helpe my vnbeliefe It is not for my repentance and faith to giue but to receiue saluation the which is already purchased and deserved by thy Son Christ Iesus Wee refuse not a rich gift either from a poore person or a trembling hand therfore O Lord I reioyce and comfort my selfe in this that I am displeased with mine owne sins and transgressions and am truly sorrowfull and infinitly repentant that I can repent them no more O good God were I free exempt of sin I thē needed not this Sacramēt which thou givest mee for that it is a remedy against sin that thou dost continually invite vs to think and meditate with our selues how odious sin is and ought to bee to vs because of the filthie lusts and pernicious inclinations which reside dwel in our members for in heaven where we shall sinne no more this remedy is needlesse Be mercifull therefore vnto mee O God because of thy loving kindnes and according to the infinitnesse of thy compassion deface and doe away my transgressions for I know that my sinnes are ever before me O God create in mee a pure heart and reviue and renew in me thy holy spirit Cleanse wash me O Lord in the blood of thy blessed Sonne feed my soule which seekes her nourishment and life in him and if I am vnworthy of thy favours yet refuse not some crummes of mercy to him who humbly presents himselfe to thy Table Denie not O Lord the effect of thy mercy to him who laments and weepes vnder the heavy burthen of his owne sinnes and misery and who is religiously and constantly resolued for ever to celebrate thy infinite mercy and compassions A Prayer of Thanksgiuing after our receiving of the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper O Eternall God Illuminate more and more the eyes of my vnderstanding that I may conceive and comprehend what is the height depth length bredth of thy love towards vs in Iesus Christ what depth when thou hast drawen vs from the bottome of death by the death of thy Son what height when thou hast raysed and elevated vs for him and with him to Heaven what length but the lasting eternitie from age to age of all felicity which thou hast prepared for vs what bredth but as farre as the East is distant from the West so farre thou hast banished separated our sinnes from vs and that as many promises and blessings as thou hast pronounced vnto vs they are so many yea and Amens in Iesus Christ O God who causest mee to behold this thy so wonderfull a goodnes and who right now cōmest from shewing it to the eyes of my soule in the receiving of this blessed Sacrament Giue me grace O Lord to meditate and contemplate theron till I am ravished in a spirituall extasie yea vntill I am transformed into the Image of this thine owne love and that I become all love towards thee that I live no longer to my selfe but that thy Christ may live in mee through the love of thy divine goodnes beauty and that I may embrace and retaine no other desires but for thee and for the Kingdome of Heaven which thou hast transferd and given mee by thy blessed Son Christ Iesus O let me behold Sinne no more but with horror and detestation because it is contrary to thy essence and beeing as also to the worke of my redemption which thy blessed Sacrament hath now proffered and presented vnto mee I see O God that thy Son is dead for Sinne and therfore shall I live who am the vildest of all Sinners That thy Christ hath beene crucified to destroy Sin and therefore shall I give it strength and vigour to live and raigne in mee O then my mercifull God let mee no longer live to or for the things of this world but that I may crucifie my flesh with all the sinfull lusts thereof and that the holy Sacrament which I came now from receiving may bee the example and pourtrait of my duety and my continuall lesson tending and working to the true mortification of sinne in mee and that it may be brused and broken and left without strength or life as was the blessed body of my Saviour Iesus Christ who died on the Crosse for mee and that also conformably to his resurrection I may hencefoorth live a spirituall and heavenly life still seeking those things which are above and not those which are below on earth And indeed O Lord by this thy holy Sacrament I see that I am vnited incorporated to thy Son Christ and that I am thereby made flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone and beeing thus adioyned with him must I not also be conioyned with him in the same functions and affections Shall I dishonour the body of Iesus Christ by my sinnes and filthinesse and shall I take away his members to make them the members of the world or of Sathan O how carefull ought I to be of my actions and duety sith in this vnion I reape this consolation that the obedience of Christ is imputed to mee as if I my selfe had satisfied his iustice to wit That I am now made one and the selfe same body with Christ who hath fully payed and satisfied for mee How deare ought this Communion to bee vnto mee whereby my Soule enioyeth peace and assurance seeing the full remission of my sins and my absolute and free deliverance from Gods heauy curse and fierce wrath and indignation whereby I see that Iesus Christ esteemeth and chearisheth mee as his owne body aswell to preserue mee from all evils as to bestow on me all good things which are necessary for me according as the Apostle sayes on this same subiect That no man ever hated his owne flesh but doth nourish and cherish it as God doth his Church So then let Sathan practise all his power and exercise all his malice against mee I notwithstanding cannot but be more then a Conqueror over all things in this body of Iesus Christ and that if this his Communion oblige and tye mee to crosses and afflictions for here on earth I must thus beare the death and passion of our Lord Iesus yet it doth assure mee both of victory and triumph for the Spirit of God which conducts quickneth this mysticall body of Christ in vs is infinitly greater then that of the world the communion which I have with the Crosse of my Saviour is my direct true way to glory O my God who makest me to relish these delights of thy loue and who in this maner feedest replenishest my soule at thy holy table Giue me grace that hēceforth I may no more trust the delights and pleasures of sin Let my desires delights be to obey and do thy will and that all the whole course progress of my life may bee a sanctified preparation to this great wedding banket of the Lambe wherunto we are invited called wher thy holy sacred sight wil be vnto vs a fulnes of all ioy thy right hand an vnspeakable delight pleasure for evermore Let me then O Lord at this very instant clothe my selfe with the wedding garment of thy sanctification therewith to bee present at this Feast whereof this of the Sacrament wherunto thou hast now invited mee is an earnest pledge and that separating my selfe from the people of this world whose only portiō is in this present life I may say with the royal Prophet Dauid As for me O Lord I shall see thy face in righteousnes and I shall be filled with thy image and resemblance when I shall awake FINIS