Messiah suffer without rending their Cloaths and what is more tearing themselves for the crime they had been guilty of The Graves burst their Bands as if they were concern'd to see Men harden'd against all impressions of Compassion The Angels we may without danger of Heresie believe stopt in the midst of their Hallelujahs and if ever there was sadness in Heaven we may suppose it was at this time The upper and the nether World seem'd to go into Mourning because their Lord and Master gave up the Ghost Thus much we are told by the inspired Writer Matth. 27. 51 52. And this makes the Death of Christ Jesus surprizing beyond comparison and surely such a Death ought to be remembred 4. It is a Death whereby the Person suffering merited Eternal Life not only for himself but all his Followers too A mighty Blessing but such as was a just reward of so deep an Humiliation It was for this Death that the Everlasting Father exalted Christ's Humane Nature above Powers Angels Principalities and Spiritual Creatures and in doing so declar'd what those whose Nature he had assumed if they did follow him in the Regeneration might come to after Death viz. Eternal Life and Glory And what greater Blessing can be thought of to enjoy all Blessings at once and to all Eternity To see God and to be ravish'd with his Sight for ever to enjoy Riches Honour Glory Power Dominion Pleasure Recreation Houses Lands in a most eminent manner or to enjoy that which is beyond all these in inexpressible degrees and without interruption without ceasing without disturbance without envy without fear without danger of losing it What can be greater What can be more satisfactory What can be more comfortable This the Son of God hath purchased by his Death That Death is the Messenger of all these Glories In that Death all these Treasures are amass'd and heap'd and piled up together and then it must be worth remembring nay it is impossible not to remember it where all this is believ'd II. How this Death is to be remembred at the Table of the Lord will deserve our next consideration And most certainly a slight transient Remembrance such as we pay to our friends and acquaintance which are absent at our common Meals or at other times as we have occasion to discourse of them is not sufficient here for that 's not at all agreeable to the Greatness and Profitableness of this wondeful Death It must be such a remembrance as 1. Refreshes our Memories with that marvellous Love that shines in this Death This Love must be called to mind even the Love of God the Love that mov'd him to the Kindnesses we see and taste and feel and have experience of The Love that mov'd him to give us a Saviour the Love that mov'd him to take pity of us when we lay in our Blood when we lay in Darkness and in the shadow of Death Love Love Love must here be the Motto the Watch-word and the dear Expression And as the Martyr in Eusebius being ask'd divers Questions about his Name Kindred Relations Family Country Parents c. still answer'd That he was a Christian so if here we should be ask'd what we think what we speak what we mind what we come for what we design what our business is or what we delight in Love must be the Answer to all these Questions Love must be the burden of our Song even the Love of the Holy Trinity a Love in which our Life our Happiness and all our Hopes are wrapt up a Love which nothing above and nothing below can give us any tolerable Image of There is nothing among all the Angels in Heaven nothing in the Sun or Moon or Stars nothing among Men or Beasts or Roots or Herbs or Stons or Minerals that can be said to be truly like it all comparisons are feeble all resemblances faint no Language can reach it no Rhetorick express it no Oratory describe it no Pencil draw it it surpases our Reason transcends the brightest Understanding puzzels the very Angels in Heaven and perplexes the Spirits of Light and Glory It is all Sea all Ocean all Light it hath no Bounds no Shores no Limits and the greatest that ever was said of it or can be said of it is St. John's Expression 1 Joh. 4. 16. God is Love Love it self all Love all Charity all Goodness and nothing but such perfection could have loved such poor pitiful Worms as we are God looks upon our giving a cup of cold Water to a Righteous Man as an Act of Love O then what an Act of Love must it be in him to give us himself to give us the dearest thing he had even his own Son Jesus wept over Lazarus Joh. 11. 35 36. and the Jews said See how he loved him But these Tears were but drops of Water Here the Lord Jesus is seen to weep drops of Blood for us O then see how he loved us We were blinder than Bartimaeus lamer than Mephibosheth fuller of Sores than Lazarus poorer than Job no Comliness no Beauty no Form no Excellency appear'd in us Adam's Fall had disfigurred us defaced us ruin'd us in this lamentable condition God loved us and gave his Son to die for us and shall not this Love be remembred in his Death 2. This remembrance requires calling to mind our Sins which were the cause of that Death It 's true the Love of God was the impulsive cause but our Sins were the instrumental cause these brought him to the Cross and whoever remembers his Death must necessarily remember that whereby this Death was effected and procured this was our Sin and the Infection that attended it But then if I remember my Sins in the remembrance of his Death how can I remember them without detestation How can I remember them without abhorrency How can I remember them without arming my Soul with resolution and arguments to fight against them Can I look on my neglects and not charge them with this Death Can I remember my Love to the World and not accuse it of having had a hand in buffeting and reproaching of him Can I think of my Pride and Wrath and not bid them look on the Wounds they made in that Holy Flesh Can I reflect on my wantonness and lustful Thoughts Desires Words and Gestures and Actions and not be angry with them for having struck Nails into his Hands and Feet And what is said of these particular Sins must be applied to the rest that we are either guilty of or most inclined to they must be so remembred as to be represented to our Minds in their odious shapes as having been accessory to his Death and if this be done we cannot but proclaim War against them and maintain that War all our days 3. With this there must needs be remembred the mighty Redemption procured and accomplished by this Death even our Redemption from Slavery a Slavery so much the worse because we were not
Life for the better looks as it were for a new Sacrifice for Sin and since he will not be purged from his known Sins by the Blood of Jesus which hath been already spilt if he hath any hopes of being purified from his Sin in order to the obtaining of Eternal Happiness seems to desire a more effectual Death of that great Mediator which may against his Will drag him away from his sinful courses and thereby would have Christ suffer and be kill'd again and consequently makes himself guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. 4. He that Eats and Drinks unworthily kills the Lord Jesus You will say This is impossible Christ being in Heaven and incapable of any such Act of Violence No more could Saul if you understand it according to the Letter persecute him after he was glorified yet the voice that came to him in his way to Damascus said Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Act. â— 4. The same may be said of an unworthy Receiver he cannot strictly speaking kill the Lord Jesus yet being unwilling to venture upon a change of Life under all the Abjurations of a bleeding Redeemer that stubborness is Death to Christ as God said to the Jews Ezek. 6. 9. I am broken with your whorssh Heart So may the Saviour of the World cry to the Communicant that comes to remember his Death and will not die to his known Sins Thou piercest thou woundest thou killest me by thy obstinate and refractory temper as we say of a tender Father that the ill course his disobedient Son takes is death to him because it is as grievous to him as if one should attempt to take away his Life The unworthy Receiver by being loth to conform to the Rules of the Gospel in his Practices even while he beholds as it were Christ Crucified for his Sins does an Act so unworthy so disrespectful so injurious that it is as much as if he made attempts upon his Life nay he kills the preventing Grace Christ affords him and slays the good motions whereby Christ lives in him Christ is said to be in us as we are Christians and the unworthy Receiver being desirous and willing to maintain and keep his darling Sins doth thereby drive Christ out of his Heart and kill him in his own Soul for Christ and Love to a sinful Life are inconsistent and incompatible things These destroy his Life in the Soul and therefore in this Sense also the unworthy Receiver makes himself guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. 5. He that eats and drinks unworthily consents to the Murther the Jews were guilty of when they killed the Lord of Life and approves of that barbarous and inhumane Act and therefore is guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. He is supposed to consent to that Murther that is not sorry for if And how can he be sorry for it that is not sorry for his Sins which were the principal Cause of it The unworthy Receiver being supposed to be one that doth not heartily shake hands with a sinful Life and is loth so to renounce his known Sins as to tear them from his Heart we cannot imagine that he is heartily sorry for them for his Sorrow hath not those Effects which Godly Sorrow is said to have 2 Cor. 7. 11. For this same thing when ye sorrowed after a Godly sort what Carefulness it wrought in you Yea what clearing of your selves Yea what Indignation against Sin Yea what Fear i. e. of offending God! Yea what vehement Desire Yea what Zeal Yea what Revenge The Tree is known by its Fruits And if Sorrow for Sin must be discovered by such Effects and these Effects appear not in the Communicant as he cannot be thought to eat and drink worthily so in not being sorry for his Sins he doth not appear sorry for the Murther the Jews committed upon the Body of our Saviour his Sins being the Cause of that Murther And doth not this look like Consent or Approbation of that Murther You will say How can any Man be sorry for Christ's Death when that Death is our greatest Comfort and what Consolations the pious Soul feels it feels by virtue of that Death Shall a Man be sorry for that which God had ordain'd appointed and design'd for the Relief and Redress of our Misery If Christ had not died we had been ever wretched and unhappy and must have looked for no Friendship from above and therefore to charge Men with being guilty of his Death because they are not sorry for it seems to be both against Scripture and Reason Is any Man sorry for a Treasure he finds in the Field Or sorry for an Estate that falls to him by the Decease of a Relation Or sorry for an Act of Oblivion which a gracious Prince imparts to Offenders whereof himself is the Principal But to this the Answer is very easie for the Benefit of Christ's Death and the Mercy God intended Mankind by it must be carefully distinguished from the Instrumental Causes whereby Christ was brought to his Death which were partly our Sins and the barbarous Cruelty of the Jews The Benefit that came by the Death of Christ a Christian most certainly ought not to be sorry for but hath reason to rejoyce in Day and Night But that he was so inhumanely murther'd by the Jews and that our Sins were such abominable things in the Sight of God that to expiate them God was moved to give up his own Son to the lawless Rage of those cruel Enemies this requires our Grief and Sorrow That the Jews did commit a very heinous Sin in crucifying Christ is evident from St. Peter's Discourse or Sermon to the Murtherers Act. 3. 17 18 19. For though God hath decreed that Death as an Expedient to reconcile Man to himself and decreed not to hinder the Jews in pursuing their wicked Designs and Purposes but to make that Death an Antidote against Everlasting Death yet that doth not excuse the Jews from the Guilt of Sin in killing of him whose Cruelty God was resolved to turn to the Good of all true Penitents and sincere Believers nor a Christian from an hearty Sorrow that his Sins were the deserving Cause of it So that a Christian may at once rejoyce in Christ's Death and be sorry for it rejoyce in the unspeakable Mercies procured by it and be sorry that those stubborn Wretches did with that Cruelty dispatch him or rather that his Sins did arm those desperate Sinners to put the Lord of Life to death for the Jews could have had no power to murther him but that the Sins of Mankind crying aloud for Vengeance enabled them and gave them Strength and ministred Occasion to do it So that he that is not heartily sorry for his Sins is not heartily sorry that the Jews did murther him and therefore the unworthy Receiver not being heartily sorry for the Sins he hath lived in consents to that Murther of the Jews and upon
Sacrament the Son of God doth not only offer to reconcile thee to thy God but shews thee the way too how it shall be effected to thy Content and Satisfaction Here he offers to enrol thy Name among the Friends of God but it is impossible to make thee God's Friend while thou maintainest thy Enmity against him To leave thy Sins and to come to this Sacrament are one and the same thing these two are inseparable to divide them is to divide Light from Fire which implies Impossibility Oh think therefore Till I come to this Ordinance God will be my Foe and should I be snatch'd away while God is so who will plead for me when I come to appear before God I will arise therefore and go to my Father c. IV. As squeamish as some Sinners are there are others that dare come and receive unworthily and be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord and be no more concern'd than if they had committed any trivial or indifferent Action Such are they who are the same after they have received as they were before vitious before and vitious after revengeful lascivious unclean malicious proud Boasters intemperate Back-biters implacable unmerciful before and after too nor doth the threatning that they make themselves guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus fright or discompose them Lord How stupid a thing is Sin How hard how insensible doth it make the Heart What Venom doth it shed upon the Soul Who would imagine that Men could be so perverse Men that live under the Gospel too as to be guilty of murthering Christ Murthering of Christ You will say Who can murther him now he is in Glory What Bug-bears are these to fright poor silly ignorant People with So easily do Men slide from Hypocrisie into Prophaneness and from Prophaneness into the Scorner's Chair But What if Christ be in Heaven and out of the reach of thy Baseness and Malice If Christ interpret thy Continuance in known Sins after thou hast been viewing his Death and Crucifixion in this Sacrament as murthering of him how great how heinous and of how deep a Dye must thy Sins be What Guilt what Loads what Mountains of Wrath must we suppose dost thou lay and pull down on thy Shoulders Who can tell so well the venomous Influences and Tendencies of thy Sins as he that perfectly understands the poysonous nature of it If he saith that it amounts to murthering of him Will thy laughing at the Conceit excuse thy Folly when his Anger shall be kindled Need he value thy Flouts and Jeers that hath Flames and Vengeance at command to lash thee into better Manners It is impossible he should be mistaken in his Verdict of things And wilt thou say he doth not speak what is true Art thou wiser than he Or dost thou see farther into things than he Must his Wisdom be modell'd by thy shallow Reason Or shall a Creature dispute the Oracle of its Creator If he sees and knows that thy wilful Impenitence runs so high as to make an Attempt upon his Life again wilt not thou believe him or darest thou charge him with a Lye The Holy Ghost speaking by St. Paul protests so much And wilt thou add sinning against the Holy Ghost to all thy Offences Believe it Sinner 't is Death to the Lord of Life to see a Creature for whom he took such pains wallow still in those Sins after Receiving which he was supposed to abjure in Receiving 'T is Death to him to see thee more tender of keeping thy Word with a Man that must die than with him that lives for ever 'T is Death to him to see thee wilful in breaking that solemn Promise thou madest under his Cross and didst seal with drinking of his Blood Thou dost in this Sacrament make a Covenant with him and oblige thy self as thou hopest to have a share in his Merits that thou wilt be guided and governed by him who to the Astonishment of Men and Angels died for thee and there cannot be a more sacred Tye and to see thee violate that Oath and break through that Vow into Damnation into that Damnation from which he came to rescue thee this is Death to him and a new Attempt upon his Life and if thou darest be so barbarous so inhumane as to do so Heaven and Earth will be Witnesses against thee and that very Blood which thou prophanest will be a Witness against thee and all the Saints that see thee prophane that Blood will be Witnesses against thee and it is enough to make the Lord repent that ever he died for such a Wretch O then play not with these Mysteries for it will be hard for thee to kick against the Pricks But V. Let the worthy Receiver rejoyce in the midst of all these Terrours These Thunder-bolts do not reach him These Threatnings do not concern him He is safe under all these Storms They will not fall on him to crush him These Hail-stones will not bruise his Head This Weight will not sink him He can pass through all these Messengers of Death and fear no Evil Even he who sees greater Comfort in a crucified Saviour than in this gaudy World and can admire the Mercies purchased by his Death while others stand gazing on stately Buildings and sumptuous Palaces Even he who makes Conscience of performing what he promises to a glorious God and feels Desires in his Breast to be more and more conformable to the holy Life and Example of Christ Jesus and to whom no Interest is so dear as that of a crucified Saviour who loves as he loves without Hypocrisie or Dissimulation Let such a Soul be glad in the Lord and believe that God will command his Loving-kindness in the Day-time and in the Night will cover him with the Shadow of his Wings Let him not be disquieted nor think God hath forgotten him when his Soul is bowed down to the Dust and his Belly cleaves unto the Earth Christ the Son of God will certainly manifest himself unto him be present with him pour Grace into his Heart and Comfort into his Soul give himself to him be his Hiding-place compass him about with the Songs of Deliverance and say unto him I will instruct thee and teach thee in the Way which thou shalt go I will guide thee with mine Eye Such a Person receives Christ indeed receives him with all his Blessings and with all the Spoils he recovered of the Enemy He receives him with all the Wealth he hath fought for and purchased with his Bâ—ood He receives him with all the precious things he hath laboured for in the Sweat of his Brows He receives â—im laden and abounding with glorious Promises which shall by degrees be all fulfilled in him for they belong to him they are his Right they are his Portion Christ will make him worthy to receive them He shall ask and his Master will give He shall seek and find too He shall knock and
day insomuch that if many a Man's sickness and weakness of Body and not living out halfe his days were throughly examin'd and look'd into it would be found to proceed in a great measure from this Cause even his unworthy Receiving of the Holy Symbols II. If we enquire into the Reasons why God makes use of Sickness and weakness of Body to lash the unworthy Receiver in this Life we must conclude that considering how all Afflictions and Judgments of this Life are curative and intended to work a change in the Offender for the better the Reasons why God makes use of Sickness particularly in punishing the unworthy Receiver are these following 1. Sickness weakens the Flesh abates and lessens its violent desires whereby it comes to pass that the Spiritual part gets from under the slavery it lay enthrall'd in while the Flesh prevail'd and puts the Sinner upon serious Thoughts for now it gets leave to exercise its Authority which before was over-aw'd and crush'd and oppress'd by the usurping Tyrant and thereby occasions terror and consternation in the whole Man about his unworthy Receiving While the Flesh is predominant and bears Rule Faith and Reason are mere prisoners and whatever they suggest is not hearken'd to The Flesh still baffles their Arguments and admits of nothing but what pleads in favour of its brutish Appetite Sickness coming and weakning the Flesh and rendring all the delights of the World insipid and unsavoury the Soul recovers her freedom and is now at liberty to think of her former Life to survey the Actions of her past Practices and among other Errors to reflect upon her unworthy Receiving to aggravate this particular Offence and thereby to incline the sinner's Eyes and Heaâ—t to penitential Tears for now the Man having no hurry of business no noise of vain company no external Gayeties no Musick of sensual Pleasures to call him away from minding the things that belong to the happiness of his Soul he is more at leisure to ruminate upon what he hath been doing and the dreadfulness of his Sin viz. feeding irreverently at this Table and not discerning that the Body of the Son of God was offered to his Soul and if any thing will melt or turn him this is very likely to effect it 2. Sickness puts the unworthy Receiver in mind of Death for he that falls sick knows not but his Illness may end in Death and there are few Men but are of this opinion when once they take their Bed fear that they shall or may dye makes them seek out for proper Helps and Remedies send for Physicians if they be able and sometimes for Divines too think of making their Wills set their House in order and after all leave nothing untried whereby they may prevent the stroak of Death Sickness being of that nature and having this influence on men may therefore be suppos'd to put the unworthy Receiver in mind of his Death and as it puts him in mind of Death so if he have any sense of Religion left it minds him also of an approaching Judgment and suggests to him that for ought he knows he will shortly be in another World be summon'd to give an account of his Life to God and appear before the Judge of Quick and Dead even before Christ Jesus the Son of God whose Death hath had no influence upon his Life whose Blood he hath trampled under foot whose Sufferings he hath not much thought of whose Love hath made no great impression upon him whose Charity hath wrought in him no considerable tenderness to his Neighbour whose Presence in the Sacrament he hath undervalued and whose entreaties to become Wise unto Salvation and meek and humble and serious and blameless he hath stopt his Ears against and how little Mercy he must expect of that Judge whom to please he hath not been much concern'd This Kindness Sickness may be supposed to do to the unworthy Communicant viz. to put him in mind of his Death and future account and the Judge whose Body and Blood he hath profan'd and his anger and indignation against such Profanation and what can be supposed more effectual to promote Repentance and Godly Sorrow and new Resolutions to awake from the Dead that Christ may give him Life And therefore God makes use sometimes of Bodily Sickness to afflict the unworthy Communicant But where Death seizes on the unworthy Commnicant either before he can bethink himself or before a previous lingring Sickness hath melted and wrought his Heart into a Spiritual Life there the Man's case is deplorable indeed for to think that God will accept of his Death as a Satisfaction for his Sin and save him however is to make a new Divinity and to erect Principles which the Scripture knows nothing of 'T is true in some Cases where God cuts off a young Man in 〈◊〉 Flower of his Age a young Man I mean whose Liâ—e hath been blameless attended with holy Fears and a Conscientious Behaviour at home and abroad his untimely Death may be said to be a Temporal Affliction for some accidental Miscarriages and single Inadvertencies such as never swelled into an Habit or setled Approbation by which Affliction he is saved and freed from the greater Condemnation according to the Apostle's Rule 1 Cor. 11. 32. But when we are judged i e. with Temporal Judgments such as Sickness Weakness and Untimely Death whereof he had spoken Vers. 30. we are chasten'd of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the World In this Case i.e. in Accidental Miscarriages God may be said to accept of the lesser for the greater Judgment upon his Account who died and rose again for those who hear his Voice But where the Sin is habitual rooted in the Heart hath invaded the Complexion and is allowed of and thought harmless and void of Hurt there an Untimely Death is no Security against Condemnation no Shelter against the Wrath to come How far it may abate or qualifie the future Indignation I am not able to say but it is no Deletory no Fortisication no Charm against that Storm III. But here a Difficulty will arise How a Person may know that the Sickness or Weakness of Body that is upon him comes upon him for his unworthy Receiving To which I answer 1. There is not a more ready Way to know it than by ransacking our Life and particularly our publick Devotions If in our present Sickness we find upon Examination that when we came formerly to the Supper of the Lord we came without any sincere Intent Desire or Resolution to be wrought into Love and Obedience to Christ Jesus by the Sight of his Cross and Death and Charity that we came and went away unconcerned unmoved untouched at this Medicamentum Immortalitatis this Physick of Immortality as St. Dennis calls it or that we thought that the Blessings promised to the Faithful and to those who strive and fight the good Fight would fall to our share and
none but general Gifts so even these upon his Abuse and misemploying of them are gradually removed as Men take meat and victuals away from insolent Beggars that throw their Gift upon a Dunghil and as a charitable Pension is withdrawn when we find that the Party which enjoy'd it spends it in Ale-houses and Taverns or in Play 2. By a gradual permitting the Devil to exercise his Power and Jurisdiction upon them God doth not very frequently suffer the Enemy to fly upon the Offender with all his force or to ruin him at once but he lengthens his Chain by degrees to see whether the Sinner will yet give himself leave to think and attempt to be freed from that intolerable Yoak and Slavery but that tenderness and patience of Almighty God becoming fruitless and ineffectual the Judge gives the Executioner greater liberty to darken his Mind to pervert his Will and to sear his Conscience Time was when but one Devil was permitted to Tyrannize over him but if instead of being angry and displeas'd at that single foe the unworthy Communicant embraces and makes him his friend then that Devil takes with him seven other Spirits more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell there and the last state of that Man is worse than the first saith Christ Matth. 12. 45. Nor is there any thing of injustice in these proceedings of God For 1. It is nothing but Lex Talionis a just Retaliation a Rule whereby God ordinarily governs himself in the execution of his Judgements Hâ—s 6. 4. He tells Judah and Ephraim Your Goodness is as a Morning Cloud and as the early Dew it passes away The Judgment therefore is made proportionable Hos. 13. 3. Therefore they shall be as the Morning Cloud and as the early Dew that passes away so here the Sin is spiritual the Judgment is so too The unworthy Receiver wrongs his own Soul and in his Soul the marks of God's Wrath appear 2. God in this case doth no more than what we our selves do and think our selves very reasonable and just for doing so A Father reduces his spend-thrift Son to a smaller Allowance and the ground that will not bear any thing after a world of Toil we Dung and Dig and Manure no more In this manner and for Reasons â—ike these God withdraws his Holy Spirit from the unworthy Receiver 3. As the Devil is God's Minister of Justice his Jaylor and Hangman so he may justly make use of him to judge and lash the unworthy Receiver the rather because he wilfully hearkens to the base suggestions of his sworn Enemy and who finds fault with a Prince or Magistrate for sending an Executioner to behead or hang those that have committed Treason or conspired against their lawful Sovereign 4. That God doth gradually send this Spiritual Judgment upon unworthy Receivers this speaks his Goodness Compassion and Patience and shews how loth he is to give up Ephraim how loth he is to deliver up Israel to the rage of the Enemy how loth he is to make them as Admah and to set them as Zeboim so that there is Charity mingled with the Justice and in the midst of his Anger he remembers Mercy IV. And this will give us occasion to enquire which of these two Judgments is greater the Temporal or the Spiritual And here if we consider the mischief done by them we must conclude and assert that the Spiritual is greater For 1. Pain and sickness of Body may yet bring a Man or drive a Man to a true Repentance and a sight of the Errors of his ways as we proved in the foregoing Chapter but this Spiritual Weakness makes the way and passage to Repentance more difficult and the more any thing doth hinder a Man from Repentance the more dangerous it is Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death supposes that the faculties which should be chiefly employed in the product of Repentance are out of order and violated such as the Understanding the Will and the Affections Bodily Sickness very often puts these into a new fermentation and a strong desire after Spiritual Things But when the very Tools whereby the Soul is to work are blunt and their edge rebated or are become rusty and useless the work is very likely to be left undone If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness saith our Saviour Matth. 5. 23. 2. The Spiritual Judgment is the more dangerous because it is less perceiv'd and taken notice of than Bodily sickness If a Man feel the smart and pain of his Wounds and Sores they oblige him to seek out for a Physician for Remedy for Counsel and Advice and so we find it is for the most part with all Diseases of the Body which cause anguish and grief and great inconvenience and disorder in the Body yet among these various distempers some there are where the poison creeps along in the secret parts and Men perceive it not till it seizes upon the Vitals invades the very Heart and tolls the Bell for Death and these we count the most dangerous Of this nature is Spiritual sickness and weakness It leaves the Body in the same temper it found it in causes no prickings in the Back no stitches in the side no disturbance in the Head It lets Men eat and drink and sleep and walk and do their business and as to the outward Man they feel no inconvenience which makes them think that they have nothing of a distemper about them that all is safe and they ail nothing For this Spiritual sickness cannot be perceiv'd without Thinking and Self-examination which being neglected Men feel it not whence it comes to pass that it spreads insensibly in the dark while Men are asleep and by degrees corrupts the Soul till all its goodness be consumed and consequently this Spiritual Judgment is greater than the Corporal 3. The Spiritual Judgment is a sign of God's greater anger too and though it will not enter into the thoughts of a sensual Man that it is so or that any thing can be a sign of God's Anger but what relates to losses and disappointments and crosses in the outward Man and in the World yet enlighten'd Souls have ever look'd upon Spiritual sickness and Death as a sign of God's heavier wrath and indignation because in this case God doth as it were let Men alone leaves them to themselves and his not punishing of them with Bodily troubles looks like an aversion from their Persons and so much we may guess from what we read Hos. 4. 14 17. The Preceding Considerations reduced into farther Practice I IF Christ and his Apostles press Eating and Drinking worthily at this Table it is because they would have our Souls be in perfect health and they are then in perfect health when they rejoyce in the Lord always Thomas Aquinas upon that saying Cant. 1. 13. A bundle of Myrrhe is my well-beloved unto me observes that as Myrrhe preserves Bodies from
reproaches on Christ himself as if the motives he was come to give the World were impotent and unable to effect that mighty change the Gospel speaks of and which the Son of God used to Glory in while the World was so happy as to enjoy his Presence The Devils rejoyce to see Christ thus defeated in his grand designs of Reformation and though he is in Glory at this time yet the Hypocrites actions raise a Persecution against him and put the Devils upon new insolencies against his Honour and Majesty what say they are these thy Servants and Disciples are these the Men that are changed from Glory to Glory What do they more than the disciples of Hell And if the little pleasures of the World I hold out to them can preponderate and do more with them than the Arguments of thy death and the motives drawn from a Glorious endless life where is thy power or wherein hath thy Kingdom the advantage of my Empire III. He was betray'd partly for filthy Lucre partly for his unchangeable Integrity 1. For filthy Lucre. The love of Money the root of all evil was the cause of it The Thirty Peices of Silver invited the Traitor to this Enterprise So powerful is Gold and Silver that at this day it tempts Men to betray the Son of God for we see they care not what becomes of Religion so their Purses swell and are indifferent whether Gods Honour be maintained or no so their Corn and Wine and Oyl increaseth This makes Men venture on the foulest sins and draws them into actions which should not be so much as named among Christians This tempts them to oppress to cheat to flatter to dissemble to lie and to forswear themselves to comply with the sinful humours of Men and to debase their Souls to the dirtiest and most disingenuous Actions yet all this while such will be counted Christians and Protestants and of the true Religion against which the Gates of Hell shall not be able to prevail 2. For his unchangeable Integrity He would not allow Judas to profess himself his Disciple and cherish base and covetous desires the Lord Jesus that knew his heart we may suppose bid him either leave his profession or with his profession cleanse the inside of the Cup and Platter convinced him that the love of God and that of the World were incompatible and did mutually destroy each other This the illnatured Disciple could not brook and because his Master would not give him leave to enjoy Gods favour and his own sins together he betray'd him This is the case of Counterfeit Christians at this day because Christ will not permit them to blend his Religion with their delight in vanity will not allow them to serve God and Mammon they expose his Religion to that contempt and scorn we have mention'd as if they would be revenged upon God for being so unkind to them as not to permit an alliance to be made betwixt the Temple of God and Idols betwixt Christ and Belial betwixt Light and Darkness IV. Why Christ would Institute this Sacrament that very Night in which he was betray'd will appear from these following Reasons 1. To shew that he delighted not in the death of the Sinner therefore the same Night that he was betray'd he provided a remedy that Sinners might not die and whereby the Offenders might be restored to life and happiness if they did not wilfully reject it That Pardon and Deliverance and freedom from everlasting Death is offer'd tender'd convey'd and sealed in this Sacrament to every Sinner that is unfeignedly resolv'd to be Friends with God upon his own terms is confess'd by all the Christian World It was therefore Instituted that Night that Judas did betray him to shew that if even Judas and all such Traytors that should some way or other imitate him in his Actions either had come or should for the future come and throw away their Weapons their Enmity and their Arms quit their Hostility and humble themselves before their offended Father that they shall not miss of Mercy and Forgiveness than which there cannot be a greater sign that he delights not in their Ruin That Night when he was persecuted to provide a Refuge for his Persecutors That Night when his Enemies were like to practise Treason to think on a way how that Treason might be pardoned That Night when they were going to undo themselves to provide a Pool in which they might wash and be clean This surely spoke his desire that they might not die Wonderful Goodness He foresaw the Wounds they would give to their Souls and before they give themselves those wounds he prepares a Plaister to heal them He saw how fierce and violent the Poison was they were going to take and at the same time provides an Antidote He saw they were going to starve their Souls and at the same time orders Meat and Drink to be made ready to preserve them from expiring 2. He Instituted it that very Night to admonish us that when we come to receive these Holy Elements we should remember with grief and sorrow how often we have betray'd his Glory to his Enemies and by the heinousness of the sin be frighted from attempting the like again and what can be more reasonable at such times than to reflect Ah Wretch that I am How like a Bruit have I lived under the Name of a Christian I have called my Master Lord and have done mine own Will I have called him Father and when he hath bid me work in his Vineyard have run away I have profess'd love to the Lord Jesus and been asham'd of him and of his Gospel I have seem'd a devout Worshipper of him and been a stranger to self-denial And when my Profit Ease or Credit have been in danger how have I left him with the Disciples and fled How have I betray'd him by such cowardice What occasion of reproach have I given to his Enemies How have I harden'd others in their sins by such doings How have I made sensual Men despise that noble Religion the Son of God sealed with his dearest Blood And shall I betray him any longer Shall I still deliver him up to be mock'd Shall I dare to do such a barbarous thing again No No I 'll confess Thee before Men my Dearest Lord that thou mayst confess and own me in the last day before thy Father and his Holy Angels 3. He Instituted this Sacrament that Night to teach us that we must do good for evil Judas betrays him and that very Night he is contriving how Judas if he would have accepted of the offer might be saved from Everlasting ruin this was his method and course of living in the World to reward unkindnesses with tenderness and compassion to the Offenders The Jews cry Crucifie him and he prays for them Father forgive them for they know not what they do Malchus who came out against him to apprehend him and as 't is probable was
not Jon. 11. 49. 50. But St. John is fuller in the explication of this Good when he asserts that his death is a propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole World 1 Jon. 2. 2. Many things are by Men pretended to be done for the Publick Good but what they call Publick is either for the Good of a Family or Corporation or Parish or City or a certain Territory or a Kingdom But the Death of Christ spreads its Virtues infinitely wider not confining its Benefits to a Province or a part of the World but the whole Race of Mankind was concern'd in the Favour so that nothing was ever done so truly for the Publick Good as Christ's Suffering and Dying and whoever remembers it in publick testifies his esteem and value of it not only by his inward sense and admiration of it but by the very place in which he doth remember it The Truth is Christ was crucified publickly in the face of the Sun and before huge multitudes both of Jews and Proselytes who were come to give their attendance at the Passover Both Jews and Gentiles beheld the spectacle and Men of all sorts and conditions crouded to see so dreadful a shew which was an Item that the remembrance of it should be in the most publick place the Church the rather because this publick remembrance doth best promote Christ's Glory as multitudes joyning together in Confessions and Praises must necessarily advance it more than the Hallelujahs of two or three in private IV. Private Communions or Communions in places which were neither Churches nor publick Oratories owe their first rise to the Churches persecutions For when Nero and his successors in the Roman Empire began to defile the Faith with Blood and to be a Christian and a Malefactor were made convertible Terms the Christians were forced to serve God as they could and therefore celebrated the Communion in any place to which they were driven in the common Storm in Mines in Ships in Stables in Prisons in Caves and Dens of the Earth and where two or three Christians had the convenience of getting a Bishop or Minister to consecrate the Elements they chearfully remember'd their Crucify'd Lord and Master as Dionisius of Alexandria tells us in Eusebius And this soon occasion'd another Custom which was to send part of the Consecrated Bread and Wine to Peoples Houses and Cottages in the Country Justin Martyr is very express in this point And hence it came to pass that the Christians kept the Consecrated Elements by them to make use of them when either sickness seiz'd them or they found death approaching and upon this account the Sacrament was called the Viaticum or provision for a Man's Journy into another World as we learn from Gregory the Great And because the Holy Bread thus kept for use was sometimes too big for the sick or dying Person to swallow they crumbled the Bread into the Consecrated Wine and gave it the sick Person in a Spoon as we see in the example of Serapian in Eusebius a thing which in process of time was thought so necessary for all dying Christians that in some places where Superstition thrust out true Devotion in case a Person dyed before he had received the Communion they would thrust and force the crums of Bread mingled with Holy Wine into the Mouths of Persons already departed against which profanation the Fathers thought themselves obliged to Enact very severe Canons which was done accordingly in the Councils of Carthage Antisiodorum and Constantinople and Julius Bishop of Rome forbad putting the Crums of Consecrated Bread in Wine a practice which in all probability came first from sending the Consecrated Elements to Persons absent from the Publick who either could not or durst not appear in the publick Oratories a thing that Origen either foresaw or knew would be abused which makes him inveigh against such presumption So that as Persecution first brought in private Communions so when those Persecutions ceased the Church still obliged her Members to receive the Communion in publick according to the first institution It is therefore wisely ordered by our Church that People shall be exhorted in time of their health to receive the Eucharist in publick that they may not be disquieted for the omission of it when Diseases or Distempers do suddainly seize upon them at which times as the Senses and Faculties are weak so Men cannot receive these Mysteries with that Vigor Zeal and Love that is required in the right use of the Ordinance And indeed where People neglect receiving in publick not thinking of their Duty till death put them in mind of it we can promise them but little comfort He that hath often appeared at the Lord's Table in publick and concludes the scene of his life with this remembrance may reap more than ordinary satisfaction from it because he perfects that in private which he so often comfortably made use of in publick but he whose Eyes were never open to see the necessity of it till his dying groans remove his blindness as he hath despised the Church of God and neglected the time of his Visitation so his Comforts can neither be so great nor so solid as his who hath frequently strengthen'd his Soul in publick with this Cordial when the powers of the Soul are shaken with a violent sickness and the Limbs are weak the Spirits faint and the Thoughts diverted by uneasiness and pain Alas How can the Soul fix on the Cross of Christ What Sense what touches of his Love can it have or what guesses can it make at its Spiritual growth and advancement in Holiness And though according to the old Proverb It 's better late than never yet it 's to be fear'd such Men come so very late that if they were to be pictur'd they might justly be drawn as the Cardinal drew Salomon hanging betwixt Heaven and Hell it being very doubtful which of these two would fall to their share So that upon a review of the whole tho' private Communions cannot be said to be altogether unlawful especially in times of persecution nor inconvenient to persons who have frequently attended this Ordinance in publick when they were able so in times of Peace and Liberty and Tranquility for Men and Women to continue strangers to publick Receiving and to satisfie themselves with a private Communion upon a Death bed is a thing so inexcusable that we cannot but with all possible earnestness discourage it as a thing that 's dishonour to the Church they live in a disgrace to the Religion they profess an impediment to their comfort a remora to their joy an affront to their Saviour and an uncertain cherisher of their hopes of Salvation The Preceeding Considerations reduced to Practice I. WHat a mercy is it that we have Publick Churches and Oratories to go to without lett or hindrance that we have no Tyrants nor Foreign Enemies no Rods no
look on such Mercies with spiritual Reflections and Praises and these Praises are holy Thoughts Nay the Task is very easie and there is nothing lies more in our power than by taking a View of such Blessings to think This God hath done this is part of his Charity this is a Character of his Bounty What am I and what is my Father's House that God hath brought me thus far And as it is easie so it is profitable too for this will fill our Minds with humble Thoughts and teach us to have a low Opinion of our selves it being impossible to think our selves very unworthy of God's Favours and not to despise our selves II. I told you in the first Chapter of this Discourse that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper among the Ancients was frequently called the Eucharist Here we see the Reason of it for as the Word Eucharist imports Praise so Thanksgiving is one of the principal Actions and Offices in this Sacrament The Church of Rome will have it called a Sacrifice because in the Primitive Church it went by that Name We deny it not but then they meant by it a Sacrifice of Praise and this Sacrifice we exhort every one of you to offer when you remember your Great Master's Funeral Give Thanks for that Death when you are preparing your selves for this spiritual Feast Give Thanks when you feed at this holy Table Give Thanks when you depart from that Banqueting-house Give Thanks unto the Lamb that was slain bless him for his Wounds bless him for his Cross bless him for his Bloody Sweat bless him for all his Sighs and Groans bless him for his Merits for through these your Souls must triumph over Hell and Sin and Devils But then take heed of praising him at Church and affronting him at home These Praises must be uniform and equal and constant not that you are obliged in all Places to speak of his Glory whatever Business you have or that you must do nothing but sing Psalms to him where-ever you are but your upright and Christian Behaviour in all Places is a Glorification of his Mercy For you are a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar People that ye should shew forth the Praises of him who hath called you out of Darkness into his marvellous Light 1 Pet. 2. 9. The PRAYER O Thou who inhabitest the Praises of Israel our Fathers trusted in thee they trusted and thou didst deliver them they cried unto thee and they were delivered they trusted in thee and were not confounded Praise waits for thee in Sion Thou deservest my devoutest Praises my most hearty Thanks my loudest Celebrations Can I think of what thou hast done for me and be loath to praise thee What should I do but praise thee All that I see within me or about me is Mercy my Meat my Drink my Clothes are Mercies But Oh! what a Mercy is that Spiritual Food thou settest before me at thy Table Oh let my Mouth be filled with thy Praise all the Day long I am sensible not only of the Necessity but the Comeliness of it too It sets a Lustre on my Soul it is an Ornament to my better Part it makes me glorious in thy Sight Oh teach me the Art of praising thee Let me but love thee and I cannot but praise thee My Love will dictate Words and suggest Meditations and I shall speak of all thy wondrous Works Let this be my greatest Delight my greatest Joy my greatest Pleasure that I may praise thee at last with all the Saints and Angels to Eternal Ages through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. IX Of Breaking the Bread and the Mysteries of it The CONTENTS The Action of Breaking Bread borowed from the Jews used by Christ to put us in mind of his Crucifixion Of the broken State of Mankind Of his going to break down the Partition Wall betwixt the Jews and Gentiles Of the Communion of the Body of Christ Of our Coming to his Table with Broken Contrite Hearts Of his Readiness to comfort the Bruised and Broken Spirit Of the Vertue and Power of his Death in breaking the Force of God's Wrath against us Of the Miracle that was to happen at his Death in the Earth and Rocks c. And of the strange Divisions that would rise about this Sacrament The Action of Breaking the Holy-Bread doth not interfere with the Canon in the Rule of the Passover that not a Bone of the Lamb should be broken The Church of Rome is to blame for not Breaking the Bread Christ as well as the Disciples received the Communion Reflections to be made by Christians when they see the Bread broken The Prayer I. AMong the Jews as no Man durst eat Bread without consecrating it by Thanksgiving so no Man gave Thanks for the Bread but he broke part of it did eat of it and gave of it to the rest that were with him at the Table and the Master of the House if present was usually the Person that did all this gave Thanks and dealt the Bread about To this End the Loaves among the Jews were made with divers Cuts or Incisions that when they were brought to Table they might be broken with greater Ease by the Head of the Family and distributed to those that did eat with him Among the ancient Romans it was otherwise for though they had Cuts and Divisions upon their Loaves yet those Cuts were but four in all in the Shape of a Cross to the End that when they came to reach it to their Guests they might easily break it into four Parts Which was the Reason why they called the Portion that fell to one Man's Share Quadra or the fourth Part of a Loaf If Christ imitated any Custom in Breaking of Bread 't is most probable he followed that of the Jews from whose manner of living he used not to vary if their Actions and Customs had nothing of Sin in them shewing thereby how loath we should be Quieta movere to change or alter Things in a Church or Nation which through a long Succession of Time have been received provided there be nothing of Immodesty Superstition or Indecency or Irregularity in it The Unleaven'd Cakes of the Jews they use at this Day in the Celebration of their Passover are in all probability Relicks of that ancient Way among their Country-men of ordering their Loaves and making them with many Cuts and Divisions in them whereby the Master of the House took occasion to break off a just and convenient Piece for each Member of his Family But though Christ in breaking the Sacramental Bread might borrow that Right and Action from the Jews yet we must not suppofe that therefore he had no farther Design in it but rather sanctified it into a Mystery as he did the Washing of the Feet received among the Jews Joh. 13. 14 15. II. As Breaking the Sacramental Bread was an Action design'd to represent several Things of great Importance so
would to God it might be as surprizing to see one Christian fall out with the other 5. He broke the Bread to hint to us with what Hearts we ought to come to the Table of our Lord and to the Altar of the Cross even with humble broken contrite Hearts Such Hearts we might get if it were not for our Pride It was therefore prohibited in the Old Law to use Leaven in God's Sacrifices and Offerings Leaven was the Emblem of Pride which makes us unfit to appear before the humble Jesus I am broken with their whorish Heart which hath departed from me saith God Ezech. 9. 6. This was literally fulfilled in Christ And shall not we share in the Depth of that Sorrow Shall we see him bow his Head under the Weight of our Offences and shall not the Burthen appear heavy and insupportable to our Spirits Shall we see the innocent Lamb weep for our Stubbornness and be unconcerned at the Spectacle 6. He broke the Bread to let us see how ready he is to comfort the Contrite and Broken Heart Christian as great as the Agonies were thy Sins did put him to as great as the Torments were he felt upon thy Account as bitter as the Death was he suffered and tasted for thee yet if thy Soul relents and if that which made him die becomes loathsome and abominable in thy Sight if a deep Sense of thy Unworthiness fills the Chanels of thy Heart if the Fountain of thy Head runs with Water if thine Eyes gush out in Tears if the Weight of thy Sins presses thy Soul into an holy Self-abhorrency if his Passion can fright thy Sins into a languishing Condition abate their Courage and break their sturdy Necks and his broken Body proves a Motive strong enough and obliges thee to break loose from the Government of Hell behold those very Wounds thou madest shall be thy Balsam and the Blood thy Sinns did spill shall turn into Oyl to supple thy broken Bones with that precious Liquor thy Soul shall be washed and that which was his Death shall be thy Life and Antidote with that Offering of himself once made he will expiate thy Filth and perfume thy Services render them acceptable to God give thee a Right to Heaven comfort thee in all thy Tribulations and call to thy Soul Be of good chear thy Sins are forgiven thee 7. He broke the Bread to let us know that his Death would break the Wrath of God allay his Anger pacifie his Justice and satisfie for the Affront his Holiness had suffered from the Sins of Men and make way for the Penitent's Admission to God's Bosom This is St. Bernard's Observation and the Mystery is rational for by his Death he broke the Power of him who had the Power of Death Heb. 2. 14. This was the Devil who got that Power by Man's Apostacy which provoked the Almighty's Wrath and moved him to permit the Enemy to exercise that Power over Mankind who was therefore not only the Cause of Adam's Death but of all the Deaths that followed that for which Cause Christ called him a Murtherer from the Beginning Joh. 8. 44. And the Jews stile him the Angel of Death and if any extraordinary Judgments were inflicted on Men at any time he was still the Executioner Besides all this he had Power given him to fright Men with Death either violent or natural and the dreadful Consequences of it of all which Man's Apostacy was the Cause This Power given him by the Justice and Wrath of God against the Sins of Man was broken by the Death of Jesus who thereby gave all true Believers Power and Courage to undervalue these Fears and Terrours to look upon them as Bugbears and Things to fright Slaves withal since this wonderful Death brings Life and Pardon and Salvation to their Souls and makes their own Death a Passage to the full Possession of the Joys to come 8. He broke the Bread prophetically to fore-tell what Miracles would happen at his Death how the Veil of the Temple would rend the Rocks break and the Graves burst their Bonds and open even then when Men's Hearts would be harder than Flints more impenetrable than Stones more insensible than Adamants less tractable than the Earth more rigid than the Grave and less relenting than inanimate Creatures 9. He broke the Bread Why may not we think that hereby he signified the Breaches and Divisions that through the Passions and various Interests of Men would happen in future Ages in the Church upon the Account of this Sacrament What Strife what Bitterness what Contentions hath this Ordinance occasion'd betwixt the Eastern and Western Churches and in the Western betwixt the Papists and Protestants and among the Protestants betwixt the Lutherans and those that call themselves of the Reformed Religion Upon which Account I cannot but think of the bitter Language that both Luther and his Followers have given to the Zwinglians and Calvinists that differ'd from them in Opinion about the Supper of the Lord. Nor did the Fury stop here but in many Places where any of the Zwinglians were they were turned out imprisoned harrassed expelled driven into Exile and forced away to Sea in a severe Winter in Frost and Snow when the Winds blew hard and the Weather was exceeding tempestuous and all because they would not abjure these Six Propositions 1. That these Words Take eat this is my Body and Take drink this is my Blood must not be understood literally but typically and figuratively 2. That the Elements in the Lord's Supper are only Signs and Symbols and that Christ's Body is as far removed from the Bread in the Sacrament as Heaven is from Earth 3. That Christ is present in this Sacrament by his Virtue and Power and not with his Body as the Sun with his Light and Operation assists and refreshes the Creatures of God in this lower World 4. That the Bread in the Sacrament is the Emblem and Figure of Christ's Body and signifies and represents only 5. That Christ's Body is eaten only by Faith mounting up into Heaven not with the Mouth 6. That only true Believers do properly eat Christ's Body but wicked Men who have no lively Faith receive nothing but the bare Bread and Wine Those that would not abjure these Doctrines were used like Hereticks Fanaticks and Vagabonds By their usage one would have taken them to have been guilty of Sacrilege Murther Robbery Sedition Rebellion c. but the chief Crime it seems was because having imbibed Zwinglius and Calvin's Doctrine about the Eucharist they could not conform to the Lutheran Persuasion in that Point Wonderful Barbarity which one would scarce have expected from Heathens much less from Christians and Fellow-Protestants who together with them protested against the Corruptions of the Church of Rome Into such an unseemly Behaviour do Men precipitate themselves when they let loose the Reins of their Passions instead of becoming Repairers of Breaches they make them wider and
remembred in this Sacrament What kind of Death it was shewn in four Particulars How this Death is to be remembred The Benefits of this Remembrance laid down Though the Death of Christ be the principal thing that is to be remembred in this Sacrament yet that puts no stop to other Remembrances Christ's Example makes it lawful to preserve the memory of any signal Mercy or Providence we meet with Those that do not remember Christ's Death in this Sacrament do very much forget themselves The remembrance of his Death a Motive to forget the World and the Vanities of it This Remembrance the best Defensative against Sin The Prayer I. AS these words Do this in remembrance of me do necessarily import the Bread in this Sacrament to be a Memorial of Christ's Crucified Body or that which is to put us in mind of it and consequently suppose that Christ's real Body is absent so how Christ is to be remembred here must needs be worth our serious enquiry What Christ calls Doing in remembrance of him the Apostle the best Interpreter of his words stiles Shewing forth his Death 1 Cor. 11. 26. So that his Death is the thing that is to be remembred here by all the Communicants And that this Death is worth our serious remembrance will easily appear if we consider what Death the Death of Christ Jesus was For 1. It was the Death of God According to the Quality of the Person dying so his Death is more or less surprizing hence the Death of a King makes a greater noise in the World than that of a Peasant The Death remembred here is the Death of the King of Kings and though as God he could not dye yet it may truly be said that he that was God did die not in his Godhead but in his Humanity not as dwelling in a Light inaccessible but as dwelling in a Tabernacle of Flesh. Plutarch relates that he had heard his Master Epitherses tells this Story How in the Emperor Tiberius's time under whom Christ suffered intending to Sail into Italy he went aboard of a Ship laden with many Goods and Passengers One Evening coming near certain Islands call'd the Echinades the Wind slackening and the Ship being becalm'd with a slow pace they arriv'd at last at the Isle of Paxae Several of the Seamen and Passengers sitting up that Night and drinking on a suddain from off the Island came a Voice calling to Thamus the Master of the Ship thrice When you are come as far as the Palodes proclaim that the Great PAN is dead The Master and his Company doubtful what to do whether they should do according to the import of the Voice or no resolved at last if the Wind favour'd them to pass by the Palodes and say nothing but if they were becalm'd about that place then to cry as they were directed So sailing on and coming to the place they found themselves strangely becalm'd whereupon Thamus call'd aloud That the Great PAN was dead which words he had no sooner spoken but great Howlings and Sighings and Lamentations were heard By PAN the Heathens meant the God of the Universe or him that rul'd govern'd and influenced all and it 's probable this Voice had relation to Christ Jesus who suffered about that time at Jerusalem and that upon the news of this Death Howlings were heard it 's very likely this noise was made by Fiends and Devils whom the Death of the Son of God filling all in all put into those excesses of consternation and sorrow And lest any Man should object That the Furies of Hell had no reason to mourn at his Death but might rejoyce rather that their great Antagonist was gone it must be noted That they feared the Power and Virtue of that Death such Virtue as in a short time would make all the Powers of Darkness tremble and destroy their Empire When Abner Saul's General was carried to his Grave King David follow'd the Herse and said Know ye not that there is a Prince and a great Man fallen this day in Israel 2 Sam. 3. 38. If such a death as Abner's deserv'd to be taken notice of what must we think of the Death of the Lord Jesus Not a Great Man only but one of whom it was said Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the Earth and the Heavens are the work of thy Hands Heb. 1. 10. How justly is this death remembred by his Followers And what a mixture of Passions Amazement as well as Gladness Trembling as well as rejoycing ought it to cause in all Christian Hearts to think that our God died for us A Captain hath his like a General his Fellow a Prince may be parallel'd with others a King may meet with others of his Rank and Quality but God hath no equal 2. It was the Death of a Person higher than the highest for his Enemies Regulus Codrus Mutius and among the Jews Moses had courage to die for their Country and the good of the People they were related to but still they were their Friends but here a Person ador'd by Angels worshipp'd by all the Host of Heaven the Comfort of Paradise the Joy of Seraphim the Terror of Devils the Lord of Life the Eternal Son of God the Brightness of his Father's Glory and the express Image of his Person dies for Men for Men miserable and wretched for Men that were Sinners for Men that were proper Objects of his Justice for Men that were haters of God acted like Enemies had affronted their Maker Crucified their Redeemer came out against him as against a Thief who took pleasure in trampling on his Laws rejoyced in their Disobedience had made a Covenant with Hell conspired against him who had given them their Being laugh'd on the brink of Destruction were Heirs of Hell and had no other Inheritance but Damnation for such this wonderful Person dies and this makes his death miraculous and astonishing Rom. 5. 8. 3. It 's Death that Nature and all the Elements were confounded at and Heaven and Earth seem'd to be at strife which of them should be most concern'd at it insomuch that we are told of Dionysius the Areopagite the Person mention'd Acts 17. 34. when he was yet under the Clouds of Paganism that beholding the stupendous Eclipse of the Sun which happen'd about the time that the Saviour of the World died brake forth into this memorable saying That certainly either Nature was going to be dissolv'd or the God of Nature suffer'd If ever Nature endur'd a Convulsion-Fit it did now The Sun disdain'd to look upon the barbarity of the Murther and hid his Face that he might not see his Creator die The Earth trembl'd as if it were asham'd to see Men stupid at the dreadful Spectacle The Rocks broke as if they would testifie against the Sinners that could stand under the Cross without broken Hearts The Vail of the Temple was rent as if it would chide the Wretches that could see the
sensible of it and so much more grievous by how much it was Spiritual Our Bodies indeed were not laid in Iron nor with the Israelites forced to make Brick without Straw There were no Task-masters set over us to beat and would and bruise us we were not chained to Triumphal Chariots nor forced to work in Mines and Gallies but it was far worse our Souls which were the far better part of us were led Captive by the worst of Tyrants the Law we were govern'd by was the Law of Sin the Prison we were doom'd to was Eternal Darkness the Burdens which were laid upon us were intolerable and we were under the Power of an Usurper whose Smiles were Deaths whose Favours were Punishments and whose Kindnesses were Destruction and Ruin under him we labour'd and toil'd in vain and when at night after our Travel we looked for Wages we could expect nothing but Fire and Flames We read of Dracula the Transylvanian that having one day invited all the Beggars and poor Men he could light of to a splendid Dinner or Entertainment after they had filled their Bellies he set Fire to the Hall where they were and burnt them all The same Fare we must have expected of that Tyrannical Master under whose Bondage we groan'd but from this Slavery the Son of God by dying for us redeemed and rescued us A Mercy which as it deserves to be remembred above all the deliverances that ever happened to us so where can the remembrance be more proper than in the Sacrament of his Death and Passion 4. In vain is all this remembred if we do not remember to imitate this Saviour in his Self-denying Acts for therefore all this Mercy and Love and Charity is represented to us in this Sacrament that it may be an Obligation upon us to deport our selves in the World after his Example So that as he prayed for his Enemies so must we as he blessed them that cursed him so must we as he freely forgave the Men that wronged him so must we as he died for the Truth so must we as he defended it to the last without wavering so must we as he would not suffer any outward Respects to discourage him from Conscientiousness so neither must we as he before his Foes witnessed a good Confession so must we as he did Good for Evil so must we as he shewed Pity to Men in distress though they had affronted and done him an Injury so must we as he bore his Cross contentedly so must we as he despised the World so must we He that remembers not his Death so as to endeavour to be like him forgets the End of his Redemption and dishonours the Cross on which his Satisfaction was wrought For the Honour due to the Cross of Christ is not with the Church of Rome to pray to a piece of Wood called the Cross of Christ Hail Christ's Cross our only Hope in this most blessed Passion-Week Increase the Goodness of the Good and Pardon to the Guilty give but to live in the World as the Lord Jesus did who was crucified for us and by living so to adorn the Doctrine of the Cross of Christ Jesus that is to admire and reverence his Cross. III. From such a Remembrance flow more than ordinary Advantages for Things are useful according as they are managed and consequently if the Remembrance here required be used according to the Rules laid down these following Benefits will certainly ensue upon it For 1. Hereby our Love to God is kindled and renewed Love kindles Love as Fire kindles Fire and therefore God appears in this Sacrament as he did to Moses in the Bush all in Flames of Love that those Flames may warm our Breasts And O happy Soul that feels those Flames warm and heat all that is within her When Love takes possession of the Soul or rather when the Love of God represented in the Sacrament raises Love in the holy soul then the Soul becomes the Seat of Wisdom the Tabernacle of Holiness the Chamber of the Celestial Bridegroom a spiritual Heaven a Field which the Lord hath blessed a Spouse dearly beloved a Garden of Pleasure the Marriage-house a Paradise of Vertue into which the Lord descends not to find out the Malefactor and to discover his Nakedness but to betroth to himself the beloved Virgin languishing with Love waiting for her Beloved and longing for the Bridegroom 's Coming And where this Divine Love takes place there the Love of the World expires for as St. Austin speaks He cannot love that which is Eternal that doth not cease to love that which is Temporal And from this Love arise those happy Breathings O Fountain of Love Nothing is sweeter than thy Love nothing more pleasant nothing more beneficial Thy Love is not troublesome Where thy Love is there is true Pleasure It is contented with it self it knows no Bounds it watches Opportunities to vent it self it triumphs in its own Cell and captivates all the Faculties Thy Love O Lord gives Liberty drives out Fear tramples upon Humane Merits It gives Rest to the Weary Strength to the Weak Joy to the Mourners It feels no Weariness it feeds the Hungry and keeps the Faint from sinking 2. Hereby our Consciences are purged from Dead Works This as it is ascribed expresly to the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant Heb. 9. 14. so it must be attributed to the true Remembrance of that Blood in this Everlasting Sacrament Such a Remembrance cleanseth the Heart purifies the Soul makes the Dross of Sin vanish and the Impurity the Mind was oppressed withal wear away Such a Remembrance like the Gift of Prophecy Jer. 20. 9. is as a burning Fire shut up in the Bones which consumes the Hay and Straw and Stubble that annoyed the House of God For the Beauty of God's Love makes Sin appear black and ugly and causes a Loathing of it Hereby Holiness is advanced and Grace begins to flourish and the Rubbish being removed the Winter of Iniquity gone the Frost in the Soul dissolved the Flowers of the glorious Spring appear This Remembrance chaseth Lust and Luxury and therefore those in whom it hath these Effects are said to wash their Robes and make them white in the Blood of the Lamb Rev. 7. 14. 3. Hereby Christ is invited to dwell in us The House being thus cleansed and swept the Noble Guest is invited to make his Abode there This Remembrance is attractive and where the Soul is thus affected with the Remembrance of Christ's Death he comes and inhabits that beautiful Palace for such a Person seems resolv'd to keep his Word And to him the Promise runs If a Man love me he will keep my Words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our Abode with him John 14. 23. A wonderful Favour this To have him dwelling in us who is the Light of the World the Light of Heaven the Light of Angels and the Sun of Righteousness
And from hence flows the joyful Exclamation of the Apostle Gal. 2. 20. Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ lives in me and the Life I now live I live by Faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me For this Faith enlightens the Soul gives it clear Apprehensions of Christ's Love makes her active and lively and teaches her to overcome the World 1 John 5. 4. 4. This Remembrance is making Approaches to Heaven and Eternal Happiness Every fresh Remembrance is another Step to Paradise What an Encouragement is this to come to the holy Sacrament Every time we thus remember the Death of Christ we get nearer to the Throne on which the victorious Son of God sits triumphing over Hell and Devils For the oftner he is remembred thus the more our Souls are elevated and become more spiritual in their Aspirations and the farther we proceed in Grace the nearer we come to Glory Heaven in Scripture is compared to an Hill and is the Mount where God is seen Every time we come to the Table of our Lord and remember him thus we climb higher and mount up with Wings as Eagles till at last we reach the Top where there is a perfect Calm no Air no Wind no Tempest no infectious Breath to disturb the Conquerors IV. But though the Death of Christ be the chief Object of our Remembrance at this holy Table yet that is no Argument but that we may lawfully remember some other Things relating to his Person or Greatness or Holiness particularly 1. His Divine Life before he was Incarnate A Life which no mortal Tongue can describe A Life in the Explication of which the blessed Cheruhims themselves must fall short A Life known to none but to him who knows all who hath Life in himself and is the Life and the Father of the Spirits of all Flesh. How truly might he say to the Jews Joh. 8. 58. Before Abraham was I am He was indeed from all Eternity lived in the Bosom of the Everlasting Father and his Life was most pure some holy most peaceable most pleasant most glorious A Life of infinite Content of infinite Satisfaction of infinite Joy and of infinite Love A Life spent in Eternal Love of the great Fountain of Divinity the express Image of which he was A Life employed in kind Thoughts to poor Mortals and in Divine Contrivances how their Misery might be retriv'd their Bands loosen'd their Dangers overcome their Enemies vanquished and their Souls advanced to Celestial Mansions A Life undisturbed by the Noise of Wars unacquainted with Tumults free from all Annoyances unmolested by the Disorders of a giddy and confused World A Life of Eternal Calmness which no Waves no Billows no Wind no Storms no Tempests could discompose A Life of perfect Serenity and immense Sweetness A Life employed in the Eternal and Incomprehensible Enjoyment of his own Perfections and which the inspired King gives us a very lofty Description of Prov. 1. This life Christ lived before he was pleased to visit this benighted World with his healing Beams and it concerns us to remember this Life that from that Consideration his Humiliation in coming to dwell among us may appear in livelier Colours 2. To this may be added His laborious Life here on Earth after he was Incarnate A Life despicable from his Infancy contemptible from his Cradle A Life of Poverty a Life of great Misery of Distress and a Thousand Inconveniencies A Life he lived to let us know that the meanest and most miserable outward Condition is no Lett or Impediment to our being beloved and esteemed in Heaven A Life he lived to shew with what Patience and Courage we are to bear the Troubles that a merciful God lays or sends upon us A Life he lived to declare to his Disciples that through many Afflictions they are to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and are not to promise themselves great Ease and Rest here but are to look for a Recompence in the Resurrection of the Just A Life employed in doing good to shew that we are not to be idle here but to busie our selves in that Work which will give the greatest Satisfaction even working out our own Salvation with Fear and Trembling A Life he lived for our sakes to facilitate our Access to Pardon and the Throne of Mercy A Life he lived to make our Lives comfortable and the Remembrance of this Life must needs inhaunce our Esteem of his unparallell'd Goodness who could and would deny himself both in the Glory of his Divinity and the Comforts of this present Life for our Good and the Welfare of our Souls The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. CHrist's Example makes it lawful to set up Monuments of Mercies and to preserve the Memory of any signal Deliverance or Providence either by External Symbols or by keeping Anniversaries and Days of Devotion Indeed this was a very ancient Practice countenanced by God and warranted by his Approbation It was from hence that Moses preserved a Pot of Manna to put After-Generations in mind how God had fed his People in the Wilderness And Moses said This is the thing which the Lord commandeth Fill an Omer of it to be kept for your Generations that they may see the Bread wherewith I have fed you in the Wilderness when I brought you forth out of the Land of Egypt Exod. 16. 32. It was from hence that Aaron's Rod budding blossoming and bearing Fruit was kept in the Ark to tell Posterity how miraculously the Priestood was established in the Line of Aaron and for a Token against the Rebels as the Holy Ghost speaks Numb 17. 10. It was from hence that Joshua commanded Twelve Stones to be taken out of the River Jordan That this says he may be a Sign among you that when your Children ask their Fathers in time to come saying What mean you by these Stones Then ye shall answer them That the Waters of Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord when it passed over Jordan And these Stones shall be for a Memorial unto the Children of Israel for ever Josh. 4. 6 7. In imitation of these Precedents the Jewish Church afterward of their own Accord unanimously agreed to keep an Anniversary to remember their Deliverance from the Rage of Haman Esth. 9. 17. Both Eusebius and Sozomen tells us of a Statue which the Woman who was cured by our Saviour of her Bloody Issue erected to his Honour at Caesarea which lasted a considerable time till Julian the Apostate pulled it down and erected his own in the room of it After such Examples who can think it unlawful for a private Christian to keep either a Fast or a Day of Thanksgiving when either some signal Affliction hath befallen him or some remarkable Mercy hath happen'd to him and to spend that Day in Exercises of Devotion whereby he may either work his Soul into greater Detestation of
his his Sins or into greater Admiration of God's Goodness Such Exercises the Divine Clemency accepts of approves of them and blesses them with new Favours repeals the Judgments threatned and confirms the Soul in her holy Zeal and makes those Devotions Occasions of opening the Windows of Heaven to shower down larger Benedictions upon her II. It must follow from hence that those who do not come to remember Christ's Death in this Sacrament do strangely forget themselves How great is their Number What vast Multitudes of Men and Women live in this Neglect O ye that are sensible of their Sin and Blindness when you meet with any of them tell them they forget that they are Christians they forget that their Lord and Master hath peremptorily commanded them to come and remember him in this Feast and that consequently they are disobedient perverse stubborn wilful and if they obey him not are no Servants no Children of his For If he be their Master where is his Fear If he be their Father where is his Honour Tell them they forget the Danger they run into and neglect the Means whereby their Souls must be snatched from the Devil's Power and shun the Remedy that must give Health to their Souls and therefore are guilty of the highest Contempt and set up their carnal shallow bruitish Reason againt the Infinite Wisdom of God Tell them they forget they have Souls to be saved and how long it is before a Soul be wrought into a total Conformity to Christ and that therefore they had need begin betimes and tye and engage their Souls to God under the Cross of Christ and do it often and force themselves into an holy Life Oh tell them how they will repent when it is too late of their Neglect of so great Salvation Tell them Christ will not remember them in the last Day but prosess to them I know you not because they were not sprinkled with his Blood and had not the Character of Christians on their Souls which will infallibly drive them into Desparation III. See here my Friends what an Obligation the Remembrance of Christ's Death lays upon us all to forget the World and to mind the greater Concerns above Christ died to the World his Life his Death and all his Actions shewed his Contempt of this present World He regarded not the Vanities the Lusts the Recreations the Slanders the Reproaches the Censures of the World but for the Glory set before him endured the Cross and despised the Shame Can we remember his Death in this Sacrament and think that he did all this only for us to admire his Actions without transcribing all this on our own Lives Surely we may live in the World and yet not be of the World we may sojourn in the World yet not be greedy after the World we may mind our Work in the World and yet not make the World our highest Good we may converse with Men of the World and yet not set our Hearts upon the World we may be industrious in the World and yet not suffer the World to ingross our Affections we may provide for our Families in the World and yet not conform to the World we may eat and drink in the World and yet not participate of the Sins of the World we may trade and traffick in the World and yet not have the Spirit of the World we may suffer Afflictions in the World and yet be far from the Sorrow of the World we may prudently contrive Things in the World and yet be Strangers to the Wisdom of the World In a Word Our living in the World is no hindrance to our arriving to an holy Contempt of it And though there be some Difficulty in this Task yet the Necessity of the Work and the Reward in the World to come and Christ's Example and the Apostles Practice and God's Readiness to assist and the All-sufficiency of Grace are Persuasives and Encouragements strong enough to prevail with any Soul that is not bent upon her own Ruin IV. The best Defensative against Sin at any time is the Remembrance of Christ's Sufferings Not only at the Sacrament but where-ever we are this Remembrance is an excellent Shield in the Day of Battel Art thou walking art thou standing art thou sitting art thou going out or coming in Set a Bleeding Saviour before thee When Sinners entice thee think of thy Saviour's Wounds When thou art tempted to over-reach or defraud thy Neighbour in any Matter think of the bitter Cup thy Master drank off When any Lust any vain Desire rises in thy Mind think of thy dear Redeemer's Groans When thy Flesh grows weary of a Duty remember who suffered on the Cross When thou art tempted to be indifferent in Religion and saint in thy Mind look upon him who made his Soul an Offering for thy Sin When thou art loth to overcome think of him who by his Death overcame him that had the Power of Death When impatient Thoughts assault thy Mind think of the Lamb that before his Shearers was dumb and sure under this sad Scene thou wilt not dare to sin And there is this Advantage in such a Remembrance that there is a Book of Remembrance written before the Lord for them that speak often to one another and think of his Name insomuch that he will remember them in that Day when he makes up his Jewels Mal. 3. 16. V. To remember Christ's Death in this Sacrament with greater Life and Sense it is very necessary to remember him often at other times And that is the Reason why Christ calls himself by many familiar Names and the Holy Ghost gives him Titles and Epithets taken from Things we daily see that we might not look on those Things from which he takes those Denominations without remembring him To this End he is called a Door Joh. 10. 9. that we might not go in or out but think O thou who art the Gate of Mercy by whom whoever enters will find Mercy open thy Bosom to my wounded Spirit and let me find Rest in thy All-sufficiency and the Merits of thy Passion For this Reason he is called a Sun Mal. 4. 2. that we might not view that splendid Luminary without thinking O thou glorious Light that didst shine to those that sit in Darkness shine into my Soul dispel the Clouds that darken my Understanding and warm my Heart that it may long for thy Salvation Hence it is that he is stiled the Morning-Star that whenever we take notice of that Son of the Morning of that Harbinger of the Day we might reflect O thou who tellest the Number of the Stars and callest them all by their Names rise rise unto me and irradiate my Inward Man that I may delight in Vertue Be thou my Guide lead me to thy Kingdom keep me from going astray and preserve me that I may be thine for ever It is from hence that he is called Alpha and Omega Rev. 1. 8. which are Letters of
suffer and so it came to pass Let me for ever believe thy promises In all Dangers in all Troubles in all Necessities let thy Promises be for my Comfort Let me never mistrust thy Goodness after so great an instance of thy Goodness as the Gift of thy Son must be How can I despair of Mercy upon unfeigned Repentance when in this passion Mercy was drawn out to that length on purpose that it might reach the greatest Sinners O Jesu thou hast defeated all mine Enemies Thou hast evacuated all the obstacles of my Salvation Let me pretend and plead excuses no more Now let me run with patience the race which is set before me the way being open'd into the Holy of Holies encourage me to walk in it with all that wait for the Salvation of God Affect my Heart with a Religious Fear and let thy humble Passion kill my Pride Let my Sins appear more dreadful to me when I contemplate thine Agonies and let the World with all its deceitful Vanities become loathsome to me when I see how little thou didst regard it Let every thing die in me that is not agreeable to thy Life that when thou who art my Life shalt appear I may also appear with thee in Glory Amen Amen CHAP. XIV Of the Covenant represented by the Cup in this Holy Sacrament The CONTENTS A seeming contradiction betwixt the Evangelists reconcil'd The Greek Word which we render Testament prov'd to signifie a Covenant too The manner of making Covenants in ancient times applied to the Covenant made in this Sacrament The difference between the Old and New Covenant discover'd In this Sacramental Covenant the parties mutually engaging one to another proved to be God and Man Under what Notions both parties are to be consider'd explain'd The nature of this Sacramental Covenant its beginning and first rudiments in our Baptism the necessity of renewing it when we come to some maturity of Understanding Our consent to it and how that consent must be qualified This Covenant if broken after a due ratification of it whether it may be renew'd What things do not break or null it What Sins they are that make it void How it may be renew'd by sincere Repentance and what kind of Repentance it must be Great presumption to enter into a Solemn Covenant with God and not to consider the wieght and importance of it The great misery and wretchedness of Men who are not actually in Covenant with God How necessary it is for persons when young to make or renew their Covenant No impossible thing to come to a rational Confidence that we are in Covenant with God The Mercies and Advantages of being God's faithful Confederates The Prayer I. CHrist in describing the Nature of this Sacramental Cup or the Wine in the Cup tells us as St. Matthew and St. Mark relate it This is my Blood of the New Testament or as St. Luke and St. Paul rehearse it This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood St. Luke being St. Paul's companion in Travel it 's like the Apostle made use of St. Luke's Commentaries which he had by him though perhaps they were not yet published to the World nor must we therefore suspect a contradiction in these different expressions for the Evangelists in their Histories do not always tye themselves to the very number and order of Words and Syllables which our Saviour spoke but many times think it sufficient to express the Sense and that the Sense is the same here though the Expression be different will easily appear to an impartial Reader though it may be said that Christ might very justly use both expressions one after another say that which St. Mark and St. Matthew mention and afterwards that which St. Luke and St Paul take notice of by way of explication and for brevitys sake one Evangelist might set down one and another the Sense being the same another II. The word which we render Testament is in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which indeed in some few places of Scripture particularly Hebr. 9. 15. is us'd for the last Will and Testament of a Testator but for the most part stands for a Covenant answering to the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Berith and imports a compact or contract of two Parties mutually engaging to one another to do and perform what is proper convenient and fit to be done and this by the consent of all Interpreters is the chief signification intended here and that which will give Light to this Notion is the custom of the first Ages of the World For Covenants in antient times were usually made by the slaying of a Beast and shedding its Blood which was to put the Confederates in mind that if they broke the Articles agreed upon they must fear as base a death as that Beast did suffer◠and Providence would not only take notice of the violation and revenge it but by the ceremony they imprecated themselves that in case they prov'd false to their promise such a sudden violent death might seize on them Among the more barbarous sort of Mankind when in these cases they had slain the Beast they pour'd the Bloud of the Hog or Calf or Ox that was shed into a Cup and the Confederates drank of it to make the tye stronger and the execration more dreadful and consequently more forcing But the civiller sort after they had kill'd the Beast to seal the Covenant instead of Blood fill'd the Cup with Wine and the respective Parties drank of it which they thought and believ'd to be as obligatory as the other In a word hereby both parties express'd their resolution and serious intent to perform the mutual Engagements and tacitly wished Death and Judgment to themselves in case of nonperformance of the Articles And though this cannot be applied in every circumstance to the Covenant made betwixt God and Man in every particular God not being capable of imprecating himself and his Word being of greater weight and moment than all the Oaths and Execrations Man can take yet from the premises we may easily guess that Christ alludes to these practises of Mankind in saying This is my Blood of the New Testament and that in this Sacrament Men enter into a Covenant with God or rather confirm the Covenant made betwixt God and them by the Mediation of the Blood of Jesus who was the innocent Lamb slain from the foundation of the World for it is with regard to that Blood that God is not only willing to enter but actually enters into compacts and contracts with lapsed Man and as in the afore-mentioned federate Rites and Ceremonies the parties engaging to one another drank of the Blood of the slain Beast or of the Wine which was in lieu of that Blood thereby to confirm their mutual promises so they that come to this Holy Sacrament are not only admonish'd by drinking of the Cup or of the Wine in the Cup representing the Blood of Christ to enter into solemn
Man unfit not only for frequent Communicating but for Salvation too and then his business is unlawful if either out of greediness he takes too much of worldly business upon him more than he can well go through with and which must necessarily hinder him from minding his everlasting concerns or if his business in the World necessitates or necessarily engages him in Sin as when a Mans business engages him to Lying or Cheating or Stealing or Extortion or grinding the Faces of the Poor or unreasonable Usury or encouraging Men in their sins whether Drunkenness or Uncleanness or to Flattering or Dissembling c. Where any such Sins are so bound up with the Worldly business that the one cannot be performed without the other there the business is unlawful sinful odious to God and must be quitted banished abandoned though he beggers himself by it though he were to starve upon quiting of it for this is inconsistent with any hopes of Salvation and a Man had better die ten Thousand times than lose the comforts of Eternal life and to be sure it must be quitted too that a Man may be capable of comming to the Holy Communion for without it he is no more fit to be seen at this Table than a Swine in a Royal Chamber If the business be lawful it can be no impediment to seeking first God's Kingdom and his Righteousness for lawful business is Commanded and one Command doth not clash with the other and if it be no impediment to a serious course of life except a Man will needs make it so it can be no just impediment to Prayer and Meditation and acts of Love and contemplating the mystery of the Cross and consequently no impediment to frequent Communicating 2. Preparation to the Holy Sacrament is either Habitual or Actual Habitual Preparation Divines call that when a Man 's constant care is to please God and to approve himself faithful to God and to be conscientious in all his ways when he makes it his business and the bent of his Soul is to arrive to higher degrees of Sanctification and he is fully and invincibly resolved not to harbor any thing that he shall know or suspect to be offensive to God This habitual Preparation is as necessary as conversion it self and I doubt not but a Man thus prepared may at any time upon a very short warning recieve the Holy Sacrament to his Spiritual comfort as is manifest from the example of the Primitive Christians who at first before they were very numerous recieved the Eucharist every day and therefore could not well come with any other Preparation but what was habitual Actual Preparation consists as we shall shew hereafter in retirement suitable Prayers and Thanksgiving in Self-examination and Contemplation of the Death of Christ and the Motives Reasons and Benefits of it Resolutions c. This actual Preparation is either more prolix or more compendious The prolix or longer actual preparation is necessary till Men become Masters of that gracious habit I have already spoken of but if this be once become the constant guest of the Soul if this once become an Inhabitant a shorter actual preparation is sufficient and therefore where a man is habitually prepared by a Consciencious course he may follow his lawful concerns and business in the World and yet that need not hinder him from those shorter actual Preparations requisite in frequent Communicating In a Word let a Man but once in good earnest proclaim War to all his known Corruptions and Imaginations that exalt themselves against the constitutions and Injunctions of Christ Jesus and he need not doubt but that a very short actual preparation though it were only some few fervent Ejaculations will make him a worthy partaker of the comforts of Divine Love tendered to him in this Sacrament and consequently lawful business can be no just impediment to such frequent preparation But if this I shall have occasion to say more hereafter The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. IT 's no wonder to see that strictness Christ hath Commanded his Followers to observe in their lives decay and dwindle away to nothing but Shew and Formality in the Age we live in since frequent Communicating is so much out of date among us Blessed be God all are not of this mind and many pious Souls we have which conscienciously appear at the Lord's Table as often as they are called to it but still what a vast number of miserable Souls there are abroad who are such perfect strangers to this frequent Communicating that some even die and leave this World without ever thinking of it and others delay their coming to it till Death fills them with horror upon the account of their neglect and others come as seldom as they can What shall I say to such Persons What Arguments shall I use with them How shall I aggravate their Offence Are you Christians or are you Heathens That a Turk a Pagan a Jew doth not shew himself at this Holy Table is no wonder for he is unacquainted with the Religion of a Crucified Saviour But that you who profess your selves his Disciples should be loath to come and see what hath been done for you upon the Cross what Wonders what Miracles of Love God hath wrought for you on the Tree to which the Son of God was nailed what can we think what can we imagine but that you are Infidels under the name and shew of Believers How justly may I Expostulate with you what are you afraid of that you either come not at all to this Well of Salvation or come but seldom What frights you What stops your Journey Are you afraid of parting with that which is death himself to your redeemer your Sins and Naughtiness Are you afraid of purifying your Selves even as he is pure Are you afraid of living up to his Example Are you afraid of losing your foolish Delights and Satisfactions Do you pretend to be friends of Christ and are you loath to accept of him for your Friend Doth he promise to come and meet you in this Ordinance and are you loath or ashamed to be seen in his Company Had you rather keep your Trash and Dung and Filth than come hither and be made clean Tell me not that you are willing to receive him if you will not receive him in his own way In this Sacrament he offers himself to you if here you will not embrace him if here you will not express your esteem of him what hopes have you that he will ever be your portion What can the Ever-Blessed Jesus think of you What can he judge of you What opinion can he entertain of you but that you are his Enemies Enemies to his Supper Enemies to his Love Enemies to your own Souls Must you be dragg'd to your own Happiness Must you be forc'd to drink of this Water of Life While you keep off and stand out are not you the Persons that would not have this Man
Open still new Springs of Love when I come to this Sacrament of thy Everlasting Love that the New Springs may still give new life to my Soul new courage to do thy Will new Power to tread on Serpents new resolutions to conquer all that stops my way And thus my dearest Lord transform me by the renewing of my Mind that I may prove what is the Holy acceptable and perfect Wall of God Amen Amen CHAP. XVI Of the Perpetuity of this Ordinance and the Necessity of its Continuance to the World's End The CONTENTS St. Pauls Command to the Corinthians of shewing forth the Lord's Death till he come not to be understood of Christ's coming to them in the Spirit but coming to Judgment This proved largely by many arguments The reasons laid down why this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is to last to the end of the World Christ's coming to Judgment proved to be a very proper object of our Contemplation in the Recieving of the Holy Eucharist and a help to Patience and Faith and confidence in the Goodness of God God's Marvellous care of our everlasting welfare shewn in tying us up in Bonds of Obedience in this Ordinance Men who look for Grace and Salvation as they are bound to make use of the means of Grace so they are obliged to make use of this The wretched state of those who neglect to shew forth the Lord's Death in this Sacrament The same temper required in Recieving the Eucharist that we desire to be in when we shall be summoned to Judgment The Prayer I. THat this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is a standing Ordinance and to last to the end of the World St. Paul expresly tells us 1 Cor. 11. 26. For as often as you Eat this Bread and Drink this Cup ye do shew or do ye shew the Lord's death till he come Whereby is plainly meant Christ's coming to judge the World and this hath been the unanimous belief of the universal Church since the Apostles time unto this day which makes us justly wonder at the boldness and ignorance of Quakers and other Enthusiasts who have presumed to abolish this Ordinance in their Conventicles pretending that this Sacrament was fitted only for the Infancy of the Christian Church but intended it should cease when Christ should come to them in the Spirit and having already received Christ as they fancy in their first Conversion and Regeneration they foolishly and ridiculously imagine that they have no need of receiving him again in the use of the outward Symbols tendered to Christians in this Sacrament Puffed up with this airy conceit they run into this Sinister and Childish Interpretation of the Apostle's words contrary to the sense of all Christian Churches as if Till he come were as much as Till he come to you in the Spirit to which impertinent Exposition nothing could possibly lead these silly Men but the Spirit of error and contempt of all human Learning and undervaluing the common dictates of Reason and a monstrous Spiritual Pride which not only swells them with an opinion that they are wiser than all the Christians in the World besides but tempts them to other insolencies and Prophanations of the Written Oracles of the Holy Ghost and therfore lest weak Capacities should be ensnared by such specious pretences it will be necessary to shew the unreasonableness of this interpetation 1. There is not the least Syllable not the least hint given us in all the New Testamenâ— that this Sacrament after it was once instituted was ever to be abolished which made not only the Apostles introduce it into the Christian Congregations while they lived but all the Churches planted and founded by them retained and continued it knowing nothing to the contrary but that this Ordinance was to be perpetual and Eternal and therefore as they had recieved the necessary use of it from those who laid the foundation of their Religion so they propagated the same to their posterity Nay among the Hereticks that left and separated from the Church there were very few but what preserved the use of this Sacrament in their Congregations and though they had the insolence of Blaspheming other Mysteries of Christianity yet this Ordinance they were afraid to abolish being sensible that it was one of the Corner stones of Christianity And who could imagine otherwise that considered how this Sacrament succeeded in the room of the Passover which was Item enough that it was to last for ever for as the Passover after its first Institution was to last to the end of the Jewish Oeconomy that expiring with Christ's Death so this succeeding was an argument that it was to continue while the dispensation of Christianity should last and that is to the end of the World 2. No Man will deny but that those three thousand Souls converted by St. Peter's Sermon did receive the Holy Ghost for St. Peter expresly promises them Acts 2. 38. Repent and be Baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the Remissions of Sins and ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost and this was very common in those days for true Penitents to receive the Holy Ghost immediately upon their Baptism and sometimes before their Baptism as Cornelius and his Company Act. 20. 44. 48. And though by the Holy Chost in those places are meant the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost speaking with Tongues healing diseases c. Yet it must be granted that in their conversion they had the Sanctifying Spirit of God sent upon them yet these very Persons that â—nd so received the Spirit continued in breaking of Bread and in Prayer as we are told Act. 2. 42. And that by breaking of Bread there is not meant sitting down to their private and ordinary meals is evident from hence because it is mentioned as a part of their Devotion and publick Worship to which their ordinary Diet cannot be referred and therefore it must be the Encharist or this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper that 's meant by it for by that Term it was usually expressed in the Primitive Church as we see 1 Cor. 10. 16. 3. Those very Corinthians to whom the Apostle writes in the place aforementioned and gives a Command to shew forth the Lord's death in this Sacrament till he came had already received the Spirit of God as we read 1 Cor. 2. 12. Now we have received not the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given us of God and to this purpose he adds 1 Cor. 6. 11. Such were some of you but ye are Washed but ye are Sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God These Men then had received the Spirit of God and therefore when the Apostle writing to them chap. 11. Saith that they should shew forth the Lords death till he come most certainly he cannot mean till he came
Pardon this being the great Comfort of the Gospel That Repentance and Remission of Sins should be preached in the Name of Jesus among all Nations beginning at Jerusalem saith our Saviour Luk. 24. 47. And that which will illustrate this Saying is the Story in Sophronius of two old Men of exemplary Holiness who travelling and tired with their Journey the Heat of the Weather also being great they retired into a Stable or Barn that was hard by where thinking to be private contrary to Expectation they found three Young Men caressing of an Harlot However not discouraged with that ill Company they retired into a Corner of the Barn and there read the holy Evangelists The Harlot at once surprized and charmed with their Seriousness drew near and sat down by one of them who thrust her away wondering at her Confidence to joyn her self to their Company To which she replied I beseech you thrust me not away from you for though I am laden with Sin and have made a very ill use of the Means of Grace yet I find not that Christ drove the Harlot from him that kneeled down at his Feet One of them soon answer'd her saying That Harlot whom Christ received did not continue an Harlot To which she instantly made this Return From this time forward I seriously renounce this evil Life of mine and nothing shall divert me from the greatest Severities of Religion She was as good as her word receiv'd Instructions and Comfort from the old Men follow'd their directions and retired from the World And therefore if a Man have received unworthily and truly laments and deplores his former presumption applies himself to newness of Life and is transform'd into a Christian temper he may lawfully return to that Table and there receive and expect remission of Sin where formerly he swallow'd Death and Poyson and tho' his Guilt hath been of a very deep Dye yet Repentance if unfeigned hath that Almighty Power that it can make Ethiopians white and Deformity amiable But then 2. He that hath received unworthily and comes to be sensible of it and thereupon Receives again had need watch and take heed he do not return to his former folly for fear God be tired with pardoning and speak Peace no more for he will speak Peace unto his People and to his Saints but let them not return again unto folly saith the Psalmist Psal. 85. 8. Implying that the Peace of God is not to be had at all times especially after frequent contempt There are offences which provoke God to say as it is Judg. 10. 13. Ye have forsaken me wherefore I will deliver you no more The Peace of God is no trifle which Men may play withal and command when they please God makes another-guise account of it where it is lost it 's not a very easie matter to regain it and so much we may guess at from the examples of good Men who through strong temptations have fall'n into any great Sin It hath cost them much labour and pain to recover and God hath on purpose with-held his Peace from their Souls a long time that they might learn how to prize and preserve it with greater care after its return It 's folly to think God is such a one as we our selves or that he is as willing to part with Peace and Pardon as we to have it when ever we stand in need of it As it is one of the greatest comforts Man can expect of God so he expects it should be managed with prudence and cautionsness It doth not lie like a drug upon his hand which he is willing to be rid of whenever we are pleased to take it off If we know not how to prize it there are those that will and by those few God can be glorified while others bewail the loss of it in outward darkness 8. A Law-suit that is depending doth not necessarily make a Man an unworthy Receiver 1. If the Law-suit be begun for small things and trifles such as any wise and impartial considerate Man were he consulted with would judge to be trivial and of no great importance or if it be commenced upon the account of Revenge or against persons who are known to be insolvent only to have our Will and base humour gratified and to have the satisfaction of throwing the Indigent wretch into Prison or if it be managed in a sinful way with opprobrious Language and bitter Expressions false Accusations suborning of Witnesses against the adverse Party or with harbouring Malice Hatred or secret Grudges in our Hearts against him and we feel no Godly sorrow for it i. e. Do not resolutely upon the account of Christian Love and Charity quit and renounce these evil companions of our Souls and yet come to this Holy Table there without all peradventure we Eat and Drink unworthily because we Eat and Drink without consideration of the Love of Christ and the conditions of the Pardon we expect by his Cross and the dangerous Meat we have swallow'd is not vomited up but lies raw and undigested in our Bowels which must needs be a bar to the Grace and Mercy of God and our own Comfort But then 2. If the Law-suit be commenc'd upon the account of something that 's of great importance either to our Selves or Friends or Heirs if there be no other way to come to our Right and ordinary references will not do if it be merely to obtain reparation for the Damages we have sustain'd or are like to sustain if these Suits be carried on with Meekness with Justice with using honest and lawful Means with Candor and Ingenuity without addition of the hidden things of dishonesty without supplanting the other Party without wounding his good Name or mis-representing things of his side without catching at Bulrushes or taking advantages of his infirmities if the ground and motive of the Enterprize be only that our Neighbor and we may both be satisfied in the case that 's in dispute if the Suit be managed without Pride or Passion with Gentleness and continuation of our wonted Civility Kindness and Charity to the Party we are at Law with and do not upon that account forbear the Respect we formerly shew'd him In this case our coming cannot be prejudicial to worthy Receiving for as it is impossible but Contests and Disputes will arise and the Law of Nature requires that Justice should be done to every Man it must necessarily follow that there must be Courts of Judicature and that God not only permits but appoints them too It 's certain that God in the Jewish Theocracy ordain'd such Courts and human Societies not being able to subsist without them natural Equity requires there should be such things in all civiliz'd Nations whereby Contests may be decided Controversies ended Differences superseded and every Man come to his Right and tho' St. Paul 1 Cor. 6. 1 2. c. finds fault with the Corinthians for going to Law yet the reason why he blames
things than his Favour that is ashamed of him in a sinful and adulterous Generation and is more taken with the Things that are seen than with the Things which are not seen though confirmed by Divine Promises and a Thousand Miracles So that it is evident that he that comes not to this Sacrament with Resolutions and Desires to value him above all cannot be a very worthy Receiver 2. Such a Person undervalues his miraculous Love and is supposed to esteem it no more than the Love of a Servant or the Love of an ordinary Friend He doth not value it as the Love of Him in whose Power it lay to make him everlastingly miserable he values not the unparallell'd Condescention that appears in it the infinite Humility that shines in it the inexpressible Grace and Favour that runs through the whole Frame prefers Dross and Dung before it contrary to the Apostle's Example Phil. 3. 8. will not understand the Need he has of Christ nor the dreadful Consequences of his Sin nor what it is to be freed from the power of the Roaring Lion and from Condemnation from Eternal Mournings and Lamentations from being swallowed up by the fierce Anger of the Lord Mercies so great and a Love so much beyond all that this World affords that God thought the very hearing of it would make Men â—eap for Joy and immediately leave all and follow Christ. 6. It is to eat and drink without sincere Reconciliation to our Neighbours who have offended or provoked us to Anger Where either our Forgiveness is slight and superficial or we forbear to vent our Spâ—een and Malice and Ill-will for a time with an intent when a fair Opportunity offers it self to let the Party feel the weight of our Anger like Joab who was a great Master in the Art of dissembling and could connive at the Injury Absalom had done him give him fair Words fawn upon him and introduce him to the King but when a convenient time came re-pay'd it home with a witness Where we are either averse from Reconciliation or make but a shew of it and eat and drink at this Table we cannot be supposed to eat and drink worthily For 1. In this Case we can have no hope that God will be reconciled to us God's Reconciliation to Man depending upon Man's reconciling himself to his Neighbour so that where this is wanting the other is impossible as is evident from Matth. 18. 35. He that can have no just Hope of God's being reconciled to him comes to this Sacrament to very little purpose or if he come with Hopes of his Favour he must hope that God will prove false to his Word which can never make him a worthy Receiver So that his Hope can be no other than that of the Hypocrite the Character of which we have Job 8. 13 14. His Hope shall be cut off and his Trust shall be as the Spider's Web. He shall lean upon his House but it shall not stand He shall hold it fast but it shall not endure An ill-grounded Hope must needs be a bad Preparative for this Table where nothing is so acceptable as Sincerity and both the Reconciliation and the Hope of Mercy being destitute of this Qualification the Soul is under very ill Circumstances A sound Hope we are told makes not ashamed Rom. 5. 5. The Hope we speak of cannot but cause Shame and Confusion when God shall demand of us how we could have the Courage to hope for his Mercy when he hath expresly told us that he is resolved to shew none as long as we are unacquainted with it in Offences and Trespasses committed against us by our Neighbours 2. Add to this That a Person communicating under such Circumstances shews he hath something that is dearer to him than God's Reconciliation even his Lust and Ill-Nature And what is this but to prefer Darkness before Light the Suggestions of the Devil before the Motions of God's Spirit a blustering Passion before the Meekness of the Holy Jesus Bondage before the Freedom of the Gospel and a Blast of Honour before the soft and still Voice of the Holy Ghost 'T is true If such Persons were asked whether they do so they would have the Confidence to deny it for Men are loth to have their Sins anatomiz'd and drawn in their native Colours but God still judges of us by the tendency and complexion of our Actions not by the soft and plausible Names we put upon them and if our Actions speak so much God passes his Verdict of them according to what he finds at the bottom Tho' we may be unwilling to speak out yet God is not afraid to declare what he sees and finds and therefore where Men will not be heartily reconciled and yet venture to Eat and Drink at this Table God's judgment of us can be no other than this That our perverseness and ill humor is dearer to us than his being reconciled to our Souls and surely such a person cannot Eat and Drink very worthily 7. It is to Eat and Drink without any serious Thoughts Where we come to this Table with Thoughts as loose as they were in a Tavern or Market place where we take no care to contract those Beams of our Minds so as to unite and fix them on the Scene before us or on somthing relating to it whether it be our being Created after the Image of God and our Apostacy from that state and the ruin and misery which came with that violent Stream or the great necessity of being renewed to that Image and the way that 's opened to that Renovation by the Blood of Jesus or the Honour and Privileges God offers us by his Son or the advantages we receive by being Christians and having an interest in the benefits of his Passion or the Glory of the other World which we are made capable of by the Death of him who was the Lord of Glory or the Holy Ambition we see in the Saints of old to be made partakers of that Glory and their Industry and Care and Pains they took to attain unto it and the Joys they found in the remembrance of Christ's Sufferings or the Attributes of God his Wisdom Holiness Justice Mercy Power Love and Good-will to the Children of Men all which appears in the Sacrifice offer'd for us c. As these particulars are the most proper objects of our Thoughts at such times so he that lets the thoughts of his Trade Business and other worldly Concerns to engross his Understanding and go in and out at their pleasure doth not come with that Respect and Reverence requisite in the participation of this Ordinance Not but that such Thoughts may accidentally and by the wicked diligence of evil Spirits that always hover about us invade the Mind upon such occasions but it 's one thing to be surpriz'd with such imaginations contrary to our design and purpose and another to give them Entertainment without any serious opposition of their
assert God's just Anger against Sin and keep off the fatal blow from Man at once defend God'ds Right and establish Man's Felicity and thereby put the poor miserable Worm in a capacity of becoming Heir to the Riches of God who was an Heir of the Treasures of Wrath and a companion of Blessed Spirits who had deserv'd to howl with Apostate Spirits a Child of Light who was a Son of Darkness and a Servant of Righteousness who was a Slave of Sin I say the Holy Ghost supposes that he that seriously believes all this will think nothing too good for God will not stand out against so great a Mercy will fight no more against so great and so good a Master but will submit to him be ready to run at his Commands give himself up to the Will of so great a Benefactor and will be hearty and sincere in serving him Now the unworthy Receiver being so far from doing this so far from turning to God with all his heart and with all his mind that he refuses the Dominion of God will be a Slave to his Sin still and had rather obey the Devil than this most bountiful Master who hath done so much for him by doing so denies that Christ's Body and Blood was sacrific'd for him for if he believ'd it he could not do as he doth and tho' he may protest by all that 's Good and Sacred that he believes it yet Words and Compliments will not absolve him and if talking were believing no Man that professes Christianity would ever be damn'd What doth a Malefactor's pleading at the Bar that he is not guilty signifie when the Evidences are strong and the Matter of Fact is prov'd against him Belief that doth not touch the Heart or renew the Mind or spiritualize the Affections is mere Infidelity and where this Belief is not to be found the Sinner is accused of denying the Mercy he pretends to believe And to this purpose saith the Apostle They profess that they know God but in their works they deny him Tit. 1. 16. So that the unworthy Receiver i. e. He that receives and yet will not reform whatever his Profession may be in his Actions he denies that Christ was Sacrific'd for him and therefore makes himself guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. 2. He Eats and Drinks unworthily makes himself guilty of jesting with the Body and Blood of Christ As the Fathers of the Council of Eliberis speak He plays with the most tremendous things for in coming he seems to confess that by the Death of the Son of God his miserable Soul was redeem'd and a Pardon purchas'd for him and the Heavens made to bow to him and the good Will of God procur'd to save him for ever and yet he doth not think all this worth forsaking a sinful Lust or shaking a pleasing Dalilah from his Bosom and what is this but playing with the Body and Blood of Christ Should a Man make a very curious Harangue in commendation of his Neighbour compare him with Salomon for Wisdom with David for Sincerity with Jonathan for Faithfulness with Josiah for Piety for Generosity with Moses for Chastity with Joseph for Patience with Job with St. Paul for Courage with St. Peter for Zeal with Absolom for Beauty with Zacheus for Charity with Abraham for Hospitality nay with Angels for clearness of Understanding and for Purity of Life with Seraphim And when he hath done abuse and reproach him or do that which he cannot but know must be offensive and irksome or prejudicial to him gives the Spectator just occasion to think that all that flanting Panegyric was only a jocular thing design'd rather as an essay of Wit than as any real affection to the Virtues of the commended Party The unworthy Receiver doth in effect the same for his coming to this Sament is a tacit Commendation of Christ's Crucified Body and Blood whereby he seems to applaud the wonderful Works that Christ hath done for him and to proclaim to all the standers by what an Obligation that Death is to mortifie the body of Sin and to be true and faithful to him that did not count his Life dear to do him good and yet having no real purpose within whatever external Declaration he may make to become a new Man but after he hath been at this Table when temptations assault him temptations to his former sins yields to them as easily as ever plainly declares he was in jest when he seem'd to magnifie this Munificence of his Saviour and from hence it must follow that he is guilty of playing with the Body and Blood of Christ. 3 He that Eats and Drinks unworthily seems to wish that Christ may dye again and upon that account is guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord for in that Christ's Death is not efficacious to pull down the strong holds of Sin in him or rather in that he will not let that death prevail with him to the mortifying of his sinful Lusts he seems to wish for an iteration of that Death which may be more powerful and have a greater influence upon the destruction of his Sin It is a Declaration as it were that the Death of Christ as the case stands doth no good upon him and therefore since the Death of the Son of God must be the means to break the power of Sin in him he stands in need of another death of that Saviour which may do greater miracles upon his Soul or sinful Temper Christ's Death indeed must break the reigning power of Sin but then a Person in whom this effect is to be wrought must apply that Death think upon it warm his Heart with the Consideration of it ruminate upon the Motives of it and upon the greatness of his own Sin that occasioned it and upon the vast Advantages that flow from that Death and be restless with God to make it effectual to his Soul For to think that this Death will do the work without our Labour or Industry or pondering the weight and moment of it is to imagine that God will deal with us as with Brutes that have no understanding As Christ died once in the end of the World so his Death spreads his Virtue to all Penitents from the beginning to the end of the World But wherever it works a serious Reformation it must be improv'd by Faith and Thoughts and Prayer and Contemplation and should Christ dye a thousand times if these means be neglected his dying so often would signifie little to the inconsiderate Spectator This is the monstrous Fancy of some Men that they hope the Mysteries of Religion will or must change their Hearts without any trouble of their own which Conceit must needs make them contemptible in the sight of an All-wise God who sees them neglect the Powers and Faculties he hath given them The unworthy Receiver therefore finding no good by this Death of the Lord Jesus for it makes no alteration in his
molested them and stung them into strange and painful Distempers and most of them perish'd miserably And as it is with other Sacred Things so it is more particularly with the most Sacred Thing of all the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Bishop Morton upon this account tells us of one Booth in his time a Scholar in Cambridge who being Popishly inclin'd yet loth to own it would still receive the Sacrament in our Church and coming one day to the Lord's Table he seem'd to to take the Holy Bread with his Hands and put it in his Mouth but by an easie craft he thrust it into his Pocket and when the Devotion of the Chapel was ended he took the Bread he had hid and threw it over the Colledge Wall But see the pursuing Judgment of God soon after he threw himself over the Battlements of the Chapel broke his Neck and so ended his life St. Cyprian one of the greatest and most eminent Men in the Primitive Church relates that a Girl left by her Parents in time of Persecution to shift for her self and taken up by her Nurse was by that Nurse being timorous and loth to lose her own and the Child's lâ—fe for being Christians carried to the Heathen Magistrate and there made to Eat and Drink of the Bread and Wine offered to Idols and the Heathen Deities This Child afterward her Mother returning was by her conducted to Church and came to the Holy Eucharist with the rest of the Congregation for in those days they gave the Eucharist to Children as well as to adult Persons where St. Cyprian himself was then officiating The Deacon as his custom was carrying the Holy Wine about and coming to the Child offers her the Cup but finds a strange aversion in her to touch it with her Lips for through a Divine Instinct teaching her that the Cup of the Lord and the Cup of Devils were inconsistent and incompatible she turn'd her Head away shut up her Mouth press'd her Lips together and refus'd it with obstinacy The Deacon however how prudent he was in doing so I shall not dispute using some force upon her poured some drops of the Eucharistical Wine into her Mouth which she had no sooner receiv'd but she fell a vomiting groan'd and sigh'd and as the Father expresses it The Drink sanctified in Christ's Blood broke forth from her polluted entrails And to this purpose he hath another passage of a Woman that kept the Bread of the Eucharist irreverently in a Chest. and when one day she went rudely to open the Chest a Fire flashing out of the Chest did fright her so that she durst not come near it any more All which Examples make it evident that he that Eats and Drinks unworthily Eats and Drinks or may Eat and Drink some extraordinary Temporal Judgment to himself III. It must be confess'd that the expression of Eating and Drinking Judgment is not very smooth and proper yet there is great Truth in the Metaphor and how the unworthy Receiver Eats and Drinks Judgment to himself will appear from the following particulars 1. By eating and drinking unworthily he prepares for some extraordinary Judgment which Judgment he takes and grasps and attracts and pulls to himself as Men do Bread and Wine or Beer when they are going to eat and drink The Apostle Rom. 9. 22. speaks of Vessels fitted for Destruction they fitted themselves for it by their Sins as a Thief by stealing and robbing upon the High-way fits himself for the Gallows or as an idle lazy Servant that neglects his Master's Business fits himself for his Master's Anger So the unworthy Receiver by eating and drinking irreverently and without regard to the Obligations the Sight of Christ's Love and Death lays upon him fits himself for Judgment makes himself ripe for God's Vengeance lays the Wood together and erects the Pile gathers Materials and combustible Stuff for the Fire that will certainly burn him and though he doth not do it designedly and the Judgment comes contrary to his Intention yet as long as he doth that to which such Judgments are annexed he fits himself for Judgment as much as he that will touch Vipers and handle Adders or let a Snake creep about in his Bosom though he may intend no harm by it yet actually prepares and fits himself for Mischief Eating and Drinking imports some Desire after and Delight in the Victuals before us So he that by unworthy Receiving prepares for Judgments seems to delight in Judgment threatned him because he will needs do that which will certainly end in some Judgment or other 2. The unworthy Receiver eats and drinks Judgment to himself by incorporating the Guilt of some extraordinary Judgment with his Soul Eating and Drinking unworthily at the same time he brings Guilt upon his Soul and appropriates the deserved Judgment to himself and as the Sin sticks to him so the Demerits of the Judgment which is threatned to the Sin sticks to him too He eats and drinks unworthily and the Effect it hath upon him is God's Indignation which he swallows with the Food unworthily taken God's Wrath goes along with his Sin and as he takes the one so he doth the other into his Bowels As Poyson and Death go together so unworthy Feeding at the Lord's Table and God's Anger go together and they both mingle with the Spirits of the unworthy Receiver as the Fish at the same time that he swallows the Bait swallows the Hook too and he hath that fastned in him which will be his Death So that Job's Expression is very suitable to the Subject in hand Job 20. 23. When he is about to fill his Belly God shall cast the Fury of his Wrath upon him and shall rain it upon him while he is eating To this purpose David saith of the Israelites in the Wilderness murmuring and speaking against God While their Meat was yet in their Mouths the Wrath of God came upon them So it may be said of an unworthy Communicant While he is feeding at the Table of the Lord the Wrath of God breaks forth against him becomes due to him and is his Portion falls to his Lot and he gets a Title to it We read of Henry VII Emperor of the Romans that he was poyson'd in eating of the Sacramental Bread given him by a Monk This they say was the Fate of Pope Victor II. who died of poyson'd Wine presented to him in the Eucharistical Chalice by his Sub-Deacon And the same is reported of an Archbishop of York that he fell down dead and swelled upon receiving the Sacramental Cup given him by a Priest that bore some Spleen and Malice to him These Men did without a Metaphor eat and drink their Death And though he that eats and drinks unworthily doth not just in the same manner eat and drink Judgment to himself yet the Fate that attends him doth very much resemble the Misfortunes of the other only here is the difference that
be conveyed to us in this Ordinance without a due Contrition and Endeavours to tread in our Master's Steps we may easily infer that we were unworthy Receivers and that among other Causes of our Sickness this is one and the principal too even our unworthy and irreverent Feeding at the Lord's Table 2. Is any sick among you Let him send for the Elders of the Church saith St. James Chap. 5. Vers. 14. In the Primitive Church the sick Person especially he that was doubtful of his Spiritual Condition sent for Seven Ministers or Presbyters of the Church as so many Physicians to consult about the State of his Soul before whom he faithfully spread his Case giving them as candid an Account of himself as he could and so left it to them to judge and give Sentence in his Cause And this also is a very rational Way to come to a satisfactory Knowledge whether the present Sickness proceed from unworthy Communicating or not And therefore he that falls sick after he hath been at the Lord's Table let him send for a faithful Guide and Director and impartially signifie and reveal to him the Constitution of his Soul what it hath been and what it is and the Actions of his Life the manner of his Worship in publick and private and how and which way he used to address himself to God what his Thoughts and Preparations were when he used to go to the Table of the Lord what he felt after Receiving whether it left an Awe upon his Spirit a Fear desiring his own Soul what his Design was in Receiving and how far he closed with God And a pious judicious Divine may be very helpful to the sick Person to direct instruct and inform him whether the Sickness be an Effect of his unworthy Receiving or not And lest any should cavil here and object What matter is it whether a Man know the Occasion of his Sickness and what it was that brought it upon him I shall offer by way of Answer these few Particulars 1. If there were nothing but Curiosity in the Case something might be said for a Man's being so inquisitive In Natural Causes of Distempers Men think no Curiosity great enough and if either we our selves or Children or Relations fall sick common Curiosity tempts us to ask the Physician what he thinks the Cause of our Illness is nay if the Cause be unknown both to our selves and others we have very often the Curiosity to have the Body of a Friend or Child open'd to know the Cause And why People should not be as curious in Spiritual Things as they are in Natural I know no Reason The Providences of God and his Designs in the various Accidents that befall us certainly deserve our Curiosity and Inquisitiveness much more than things of an inferior Nature Nor is it impossible to find out the particular Cause why God sends such a Sickness upon certain Persons when himself hath declared in his Word in what Cases and upon what Provocations he will send it 2. If the Sickness be found to be a Consequence or Effect of unworthy Receiving this helps to strengthen our Faith in the Promises and Threatnings of God and finding that what the Apostle hath said so many Hundred Years agone comes to pass still this is a very strong Argument that he spake by the Spirit of God and a Motive to admire the Veracity of God and Encouragement to believe the other Promises and Threatnings of the Word of God Nothing is a greater Confirmation of Faith than Experience and he that hath seen the things the Scripture speaks very frequently accomplished hath enough to turn his Faith into a full Assurance 3. If the unworthy Receiver knows that it is his Sin committed in the holy Sacrament that hath brought the present Sickness upon him if after that he recovers and escapes it will be an Obligation upon him to come to it with greater Circumspection For he that hath suffered in the Flesh saith St. Peter hath ceased from Sin 1 Pet. 4. 1. And therefore having suffered for his unworthy Receiving that Suffering will make him weary of his Sin which he cannot be except he comes for the future and draws near with a pure Heart holding fast the Profession of the Faith without wavering as it is said Heb. 10. 22 23. But IV. While we are discoursing of this particular Judgment another Doubt arises viz. How Sickness of the Body and an untimely Death can be said to be inflicted for unworthy Receiving when we see even the most worthy Receivers sicken and grow weak and die young many times in the Prime and Flower of their Age And nothing is more vulgarly known than that Sickness and Death are nothiâ—g but the Product of Natural Causes I answer 1. Though even very excellent Christians who may be supposed to have been very penitent and worthy Receivers ever since they frequented the Ordinances of God with any Sense and Understanding though even such do sicken and many times die suddenly and in the midst of their Race yet that proceeds from other Causes And these Accidents are either Trials of their Faith and Patience or Preparatives for Heaven or Preservatives from Sin or Occasions to glorifie God or Opportunities to promote the Honour of Religion or Chastisements for some rash and imprudent Actions to prevent their being condemned with the World According to which Rule we are to judge of the untimely Death of that Prophet 1 Reg. 13. 24. who cried against the Altar of Bethel A good Man no doubt but being persuaded by the crafty old Prophet who pretended a Counter-Inspiration he went back and ate Bread in the place against which he was warned for which imprudent Act a Lion found him and slew him And such was the Death of Uzzah 2 Sam. 6. 7. who out of a good intent put forth his Hand to uphold the Ark that was in danger of falling the Oxen that drew the Cart shaking it For which God struck him dead upon the place And this was the Case of Josiah a Man noted for his singular Piety yet going up rashly against Pharaoh Necho was killed in Battel though according to the Course of Nature he might have lived many Years longer Thus God chastised the impremeditated Errours of his Servants in this Life that they might not fall a Prey to the greater Condemnation hereafter One and the same Effect may have very different Causes and the Reasons of Things that happen in the World are various The same thing may be a Mercy to one which is a Judgment to another as the Pillar of a Cloud Exod. 14. 19 20. was Darkness to the Egyptians and Light to the Israelites And the Meat sent to Elijah was a Character of God's Love whereas that sent to the Israelites upon their murmuring was a Fore-runner of his Wrath and Anger And this may be applied to Sickness and Untimely Death In the unworthy Receiver it is a Punishment in the Worthy a
upon them that they make some attempts and use some trifling endeavours to resist but as this resistance is not an effect of an active Faith but only of slavish fear so it doth not preserve them untainted and undaunted in the hour of Temptation which is an Argument both of Spiritual Weakness and God's Judgment because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge as St. Paul speaks Rom. 28. 2. Spiritual Sickness the signs of which are as follows 1. Want of relishing the Things of God and the Mysteries of Religion By this we conclude that a Man is sick in his Body if the Bread or Wine or Apples or Meat he swallows seem to him Food or Drink different from what they appear to sound and healthy and by the same Argument we may infer that a Man's Soul is very sick when the Promises Precepts Commands Mercies Privileges and Immunities of the Gospel are insipid and unsavoury to him and his Soul finds no sweetness no agreeableness no juice no life no pleasantness no delight no pungency in them If these appear to her as common things and affect her no more than what the Great Mogol doth in the Indies or what Men talk on the Coast of Guinea If they raise no wonder no admiration no affection no appetite no strong desire in her if she can hear them read of them survey them think of them without being touch'd with the consequence and importance of them the Soul is infallibly under some great distemper and the whole Head is sick the whole Heart is sick grievously sick and the wound is dangerous and that this Spiritual sickness discovers it self too often in unworthy Receivers we need no other proof but what their known aversion gives us I mean their aversion from good Thoughts and Discourfes after they have been at the Table of the Lord. Reading the Word digesting it and endeavouring to see wondrous things in that Law and meditating of some part of it day and night is irksome to them tedious and when something savouring of Heaven and Eternity is propos'd to them they stand upon Thorns all the while nor can the goodness of God prevail with them to deny themselves in any thing they have a mind or strong inclination to a certain sign of their being sick and of God's Judgment upon their Souls 2. Another symptom of this Spiritual sickness is When a known Sin becomes habitual and the few single Acts pass into temper and come to be incorporated with nature and turn into constitution and complexion In this case the Soul may be judged very sick as sick as the Body that is troubled with the Stone or Gout and where the distemper or Morbific Matter is so dispers'd through the Mass of Blood and Joynts that tho' it admits of respite and lucid intervals sometimes yet as the Humours that feed it gather strength again so the Distemper returns And this sickness doth evidently discover it self in unworthy Receivers who were formerly but Punies and Novices in certain sins but after their unworthy Receiving harden themselves in the practice of them commence Graduates and drink them in as the Ox doth the Water and they become their Darlings their Benjamins as dear to them as their Right Eye as dear as their Foot or Hand than which there cannot be a surer sign of their being spiritually sick and lying under the weight of a spiritual Judgment 3. Spiritual Death And this also is to be known by symptoms which are these 1. When the Conscience smites no more When it gives over striving with the Sinner he is dead as that Body in which the Pulse hath left off beating So it was with the Prodigal of whom Christ expresly saith Though his natural life was sound and whole that he was dead No remorse no regret appear'd in his Soul All was still as in a Charnel-House no noise within to fright him All was turn'd into the silence of the Grave He delighted in his nastiness in his Mud and Dung and Filth and Swinish Desires nothing prick'd him nothing stung his Heart And that this Death is to be found in some unworthy Receivers is manifest from their Actions for they become stupid in their Errors and having bafâ—led their Conscience laid that inward witness to sleep and hush'd it into a fatal slumber It stirs not it moves not and they know not when they sin and when they do not To that insensibleness they bring themselves that when God calls they cannot see with their Eyes nor hear with their Ears nor understand with their Hearts 2. Another Symptom of this Spiritual Death is When the Sinner begins to look upon Religion either as a trick of Divines or Politicians or a needless thing This excludes all sense of another world the only thing whereby the Soul lives and therefore that being gone the Soul is dead and that he who hath the power of Death even the Devil hath killed and mortified all the good Seed that lay scattered in his Breast Indeed this is such a degree of Death which unworthy Receivers do not very ordinarily arrive to yet sometimes they fall even into this Gulph for what should hinder them from tumbling down so low that have lost their hold in a Crucified Saviour from whose Arms they have broke loose unwilling that he should have any thing to do with them but just to save them if he pleases The Bands of Love and Obedience are the only things that preserve the Soul from Death and the unworthy Communicant having made a shift to throw those Cords from him being loth to be tied and held by them he sinks into contempt of these things and from thence into scorning of Religion it self In all which the Judgment of God is clearly to be seen for though God doth not call by an audible Voice from Heaven that it is so nor set a mark upon the unworthy Receiver as he did on Cain whereby spectators may know that this is a sign of the Divine Judgment upon him yet it 's enough that we are told in the Word of God Woe to them when I depart from them Hos. 9. 11. III. And from hence it 's easie to guess how God inflicts this spiritual Judgment upon unworthy Receivers 1. By a gradual withdrawing his Holy Spirit from them This Spirit is called Oyl Heb. 1. 9. and Unction or Anointing 1 Joh. 2. 27. Whatever the quantity of that Oil was that was put in their Lamps as that abates so the strength of their Soul abates and from hence comes Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death The Spirit of God is the Pillar that supports the House if this Prop be removed the Inference is easie that the House will not be of any long standing There are general Gifts of the Spirit of God common to good and bad Men under the Gospel and there are some that are peculiar to those that walk after the Spirit and as in an unworthy Receiver we can suppose
corruption so Christ taken and contemplated in the Holy Sacrament preserves the soul from various Diseases Health is best known by Fruits and Actions and as a sick Man cannot perform what the healthy doth so that Christian that doth not act like a healthy Man can boast of no great matter he hath receiv'd in this Holy Ordinance This is intended to give our Souls the strength of a Lion the swiftness of Eagles the alacrity of Angels and the temper which was in the incarnate Son of God and if we Receive worthily we shall certainly feel these effects in some degree at least For it 's plain that they are felt by others that are worthy Communicants and what should hinder us from feeling the same if we come furnish'd with the same qualifications Those that are acquainted only with Men as carnal as themselves may possibly think that when we talk of things of this nature we speak Spiritual Romances and tell them Stories next to Fables But those that have been conversant with Persons whâ—â—ave chosen the better Part must needs perceive what health and vigor worthy Receiving adds to their Souls For what makes them that they delight in the Law of the Lord in the inward Man of 〈◊〉 What makes them afraid of the very appearances â—y vil What makes them converse with God so often 〈◊〉 Prayer and Holy Thoughts What makes them contented under their Misfortunes and Disasters What makes them take such comfort in the Cross of Christ What makes them silent and patient under private injuries What makes them stand up for the Glory of God when they see it profan'd and abused What makes them so ready to deny themselves What makes them so solicitous about their Everlasting State What makes them kind and tender-hearted and so easie to be intreated to that which is Good What makes them forgoe their Interest rather than wrong their Consciences Is it not their worthy Receiving And what better signs can there be of the Spiritual health and flourishing state and condition of their Souls Christ in this Sacrament doth not only communicate to them an empty Name or a fruitless Title but makes them fruitful Trees and it must needs be so for they that be planted in the House of the Lord shall flourish in the Courts of our God saith the Psalmist Psal. 92. 13. II. Who that seriously considers the Spiritual Judgment we have spoken of must not deplore the condition of abundance of nominal Christians that Receive worthily The Persons upon whom this Spiritual Judgment is executed are not far from every one of us To find them out we need not send you to the Sands of Africa nor to the Lybian Desarts nor to Barbarians nor to Negro's and Americans No these very Persons you may see and know at home and in the midst of our mixt Congregations How many have I known that have come to this Holy Sacrament and after that have grown worse than ever Their Drunkenness and Lewdness their Selfishness and Covetousness their Extravagant and Ungodly Speeches and Actions which before were but Embrio's and Infants after Receiving have become Gyants and strong Men What an argument is this of their unworthy Receiving What an argument of God's Judgment What an argument that God hath withdrawn his Holy Spirit from them What an argument that they are left to the power of the Devil O that they were sensible what a Judgment this is O that they knew what a fearful State this is O that their Eyes were open to see that they are in the very suburbs of Destruction O that the Vail were taken away that they might behold the death the ruin the misery the wrath the indignation of God they run into O thou that openest the Eyes of the Blind and raisest them that are bow'd down and loosest the Prisoners open the Eyes of these unhappy Souls that they may see the precipice they stand upon and turn back and save themselves from this untoward Generation III. Let us all very seriously believe that our Souls are capable of sickness and misery and death as well as our Bodies Indeed they cannot die so as to cease or to be annihilated for they are not made of Earth and matter and contrary humours and principles as our Bodies are but certainly they can die to God's Favour and to a sense of Eternity This Belief if it be sound and strong cannot but have a mighty influence upon our Lives If we believe this as we ought with apprehensions of the danger we are in we shall be as much afraid of things that will cast our Souls into sickness or hurry them into death and misery as we are afraid of going to a Pest-house where People lye languishing under their Plague-sores Ah! sinful Man how couldst thou neglect coming to the Supper of the Lord if thou didst believe that this neglect will bring a Consumption on thy Soul How could'st thou Receive with an impenitent Heart if thou didst believe that thy impenitence will kill thy Soul How durst thou venture on those sins that are poison and venom to thy Soul How could'st thou be so careless of the approaching Judgment of God if thou didst believe that this carelesness will infallibly bring a Palsie upon thy Soul How could sinful delights be so charming to thee if thou didst believe that they will throw thy Soul into a violent Fever Why shouldst thou make thy Soul sick when the great Physician offers thee health and Salvation The sickness of thy Soul is much harder to be cured than the most Chronical distemper of the Body Not but that God can heal it as easily as the other and need say no more than Christ to the Paralytick in the Gospel Arise take up thy Bed and Walk and thou art presently whole but he will not except thou be willing too This thy Spiritual sickness is wilful that makes Christ backward to remove it and if ever thy Soul be cured it must cost thee great Mortifications Rivers of Tears strong Throws and Agonies and Troubles in the inward Man and who would make work for such a costly and laborious Cure that may be well without it Let the Physician be never so skilful if the Patient will not follow his prescriptions what hopes can there be of his Recovery If thou wert but willing to follow Christ's prescriptions thy Cure might be effected even after thou hast brought thy Soul to the mouth of the Pit and to the brink of the Grave and if you ask me what these prescriptions are I must tell you that they are these following 1. Like New-born Babes to imbibe the sincere Milk of the Word that you may grow thereby if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is Gracious to whom coming as to a living Stone disallow'd indeed of Men but chosen of God and Pretious ye also as lively Stones are built up a Spiritual House an Holy Priesthood to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by
Temptations were stronger than my Purposes and when they came I fell This Sickness Lord I am still apt to fall into and though by thy Grace I act sometimes according to my good Intentions and Resolutions yet how often do I miscarry in this point Lord give me not only good Inclinations but Courage to perform them too Oh let me not think it enough to entertain good Wishes in my Soul but make them so strong that the Good I intend and purpose may break forth like the Sun from a Cloud into a perfect Day 17. For of necessity he must release one unto them at the Feast VVHen the Paschal Lamb was to be killed the Jews had a Prisoner released to confirm the Memory of their Deliverance from the House of Bondage O Lamb of God! When thou diedst thou openedst the Prison-door for all Mankind to come out Thou didst proclaim Liberty to all Men captivated by Sin and the Devil O wonderful Release This makes me admire how Men after this Liberty procured for them by thy Death should yet be fond of their Prisons still and delight in Slavery and the Bondage of Iniquity Oh Bring my Soul out of Prison that I may praise thy Name The Righteous shall compass me about when thou shalt deal bountifully with me 18. And they cried out all at once saying Away with this Man and release unto us Barabbas A Monstrous Choice To prefer a Man before God a Son of Death before the Lord of Life a Malefactor before Innocence it self a Murtherer before the Saviour of the World Darkness before Light a Villain before the Son of God! Yet blessed Jesu such a sad Choice I have made too often when I have preferred the Cares of the World before the better part and while I have condemned these wicked Men and been in a kind of Passion to see and hear of their Impiety have unawares sunk into this Sin my self by preferring a Trifle before thy Will and a foolish Satisfaction before Rest in thy Bosom and an Interest in thy Favour and the Things of this World before a more glorious Reversion in another Life Pardon my desperate Choice And let me henceforward prefer thee who art fairer than the Children of Men before all that my Flesh doth promise or the World give For one thing is needful even thy Love of Complacency and if I have that it shall not be taken away from me 19. Who for a certain Sedition made in the City and for Murther was cast in Prison PRisons are fit Places for Malefactors not only upon the Account of securing Humane Societies from Enemies but also because such Sinners being removed from Temptations and Objects that enticed them to do ill and under pressure may think of God and reflect upon their wicked Lives and come to a sincere Repentance Yet when they are delivered out of their Durance their Lives very often are the same that formerly they were O my dear Redeemer Thou hast made me a Prisoner sometimes by Sickness and other Disasters in hopes that the Affliction might work upon me and the Fire I was in would make me a new Man yet when thou hast freed me from this Prison I have re-assumed my former Liberty in sinning Oh let it be so no more And seeing I am made whole let me take heed and sin no more lest worse things happen unto me 20. Pilate therefore willing to release Jesus spake again to them HEre I see greater Charity and Tenderness in an Heathen than in those who had the lively Oracles of God What a strange Sight is this to see Uncircumcision which is by Nature fulfilling the Law judge them who by the Letter and Circumcision do transgress the Law How many excellent Acts of Vertue do I see and read of in mere Pagans that had nothing but the Light of Nature to direct them Acts which I do not come up to that have the Light of Heaven to shine upon me O Jesu make me ashamed of my Backwardness and let my Righteousness exceed that of Men which do not call upon thy Name lest it be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in that Day than for me 21. But they cried saying Crucifie him crucifie him THis was the most infamous Punishment that any Man could be condemned to Ah Wretches Did not your Hearts smite you when you said so Will nothing serve you but the most ignominious Death a Death which none but Slaves were destin'd to What a brutish thing is Wrath and Anger It stops its Ears against all common Ingenuity and Reason It doth things in haste which must be repented of by leisure Lord Jesu I remember what unreasonable things I have done when my Passion hath been up things I am ashamed of now Oh leave me not to these Winds and Tempests Oh let me learn of thee for thou art meek and lowly in Heart that I may find Rest for my Soul 22. And he said unto them the third time Why what Evil hath he done I have found no Cause of Death in him I will therefore chastise him and let him go O Jesu 'T is very true thou hast done no Evil neither was Guile found in thy Mouth When thou wast reviled thou didst not revile again when thou sufferedst thou threatnedst not Thou wentest about doing good no Man could convince thee of any Sin Thou wast good and didst good even to those that now cried Crucifie him Thou camest to discourage Men from Evil it was thy Province to destroy the Works of the Devil and to make Men Partakers of the Divine Nature Goodness was in thy Nature and all thy Actions breathed of it Thou wast tender of Men's Good of the Good of their Souls and Bodies Oh make me conformable to thy Goodness Let me abhor that which is evil and cleave to that which is good Let thy Goodness be my Pattern and let me ever rejoyce in thy Goodness Make me steadily and invincibly good good unto Death that I may receive a Crown of Life Thy Goodness endures for ever Give mine the same Duration Oh touch it with thy Light and it shall burn bright for ever 23. And they were instant with loud Voices requiring that he might be crucified and the Voices of them and the Chief Priests prevailed THE Devil was let loose in these Sinners and see how he rages He makes them leap Bogs and Ditches and a Thousand Precipices to get their Wills accomplished The Damned in Hell were not more outragious than these Men. Lord Jesu What are we when left to our selves or to the Power of the Enemy Thou camest to redeem me from this Power Oh let me come under it no more Once I dwelt under that Tyranny I now serve a gentler Master Oh let me serve thee not with Eye-service as a Man-pleaser but as a Servant of God doing the Will of God from the Heart 24. And Pilate gave Sentence that it should be as they required THese Brutes threaten to accuse him
offended what tremblings will invade them How will they quake for fear What pitiful shifts will they betake themselves to but all in vain O let that dreadful day be ever before mine Eyes Let the future shrieks and groans of impenitent Sinners even now in this my day sound in mine Ears that I may be frighted from Sin O let me think what their ways will end in and turn my feet away from their Paths O let me not follow their pernicious ways that I may not be condemn'd with the World 31. For if they do these things in a green tree what shall be done in the dry JUdgment must begin at the House of God and if it first begin at us what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God And if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and Sinner appear God is resolved to judge the World and even the best shall have a taste of his Justice The Afflictions that befall the good in this World are but the beginnings of his indignation against Sin and by the Blood of Christ they shall be saved from the wrath to come But if these be the beginnings of God's anger what will the progress of his Justice be and where will it end O blessed Saviour How fearful will the end of all ungodly Sinners be If I must be afflicted O let me have my share of it in this World that I may not sink under the burden of thine indignation hereafter 32. And there were also two other Malefactors led with him to be put to death VVHat an opportunity had these wretches to save their Souls even at the last moment of their Lives An opportunity the like of which never was before nor ever will be Here was an happy day for them to have secured Christ's Favour who would not have denied his Grace to them had they been but willing to accept of it upon this extraordinary occasion Kings and Princes bestow extraordinary Acts of Grace at their Coronation or upon some remarkable Solemnity Now had been the time for these Malefactors to have laid hold on Eternal life which they never had any hope of before But how do Men let slip the opportunities God puts in their hands So have I my Blessed Jesus many a time when I have been in a good frame when thou hast put good Thoughts and Resolutions in my Heart what opportunities had I to to make my self for ever But I have return'd to the love of the World despised these opportunies of Grace and justly deserved thou shouldst deny them me for ever Dear Saviour visit me once more with thy Salvation with the Day-spring from on high and I will admit thy Beams into my Soul that I may be enlighten'd edified sanctified and preserv'd for ever 33. And when they were come to the place which is call'd Calvary there they crucified him and the Malefactors one on the right hand and the other on the left HEre begins the act at which Heaven and Earth stood amaz'd What a spectacle was here The Son of God nailed to the Cross and hanging betwixt two Thieves Did not the hands of the Soldiers that nailed the Saviour of the World to the Cross tremble Did not their Hearts fail them when they tied him to the Tree No their hearts were flint and adamant No other could have been engaged in the Service O wonderful stupidity they knew not what flesh they touch'd They knew not it was a Body fram'd by the Holy Ghost and the fruit of the Virgin 's Womb Here O my Soul here the work of thy Redemption is commenc'd O look upon the Heavenly Creature that hangs here and think what Riches are treasured up in his Cross Here he shew'd himself a Mediator indeed hanging in the middle betwixt a Penitent and a Prodigal betwixt Heaven and Earth betwixt the Living and the Dead They crucified him What did the Angels think to see their Lord and Master thus used What dost thou think of it O my Soul Job's Friends seeing the greatness of his misery sate silent by him in the Dust seven Days Look O my Soul upon this object sit silent and admire for thy Lord's grief is great 34. Then said Jesus Father forgive them for they know not what they do LOrd Jesus What a Miracle of Mercy dost thou work here I know not which is the greater wonder those thou dist formerly when conversant on the Earth or that which I see now perform'd on the Cross. To pray for Men who had abused thee to a Prodigy To beg of thy Father to forgive their Insolencies and not to exclude them from the possibility of Repentance Can I think of this and not believe that this was to teach me how I must behave my self toward those that have done me wrong Canst thou forgive such injuries and shall not I forgive them that trespass against me One would have thought that these affronts and indignities which were offered to thee would never have been forgiven yet they are no sooner offer'd but thou intercedest for their Remission O let no injury that 's henceforward offer'd me seem too big for pardon O let me freely pass by the offence committed against me that my Father which is the Heaven may forgive me my Trespasses 34. And they parted his Garments and cast Lots VVHat a rich Spoil did these Soldiers get and they knew it not If a good Christian that understood the great Mystery of Godliness had got such a Treasure how would he have valued it what Joy what Comfort would it have been to such a Soul Not that there is any great virtue in the Cloaths of the Son of God A Man might have kept them and yet by leading an ill life have perish'd Eternally but Who would not have preserv'd these precious Relicks if he had known what Person it was that wore them It would have done him good to have looked upon them and admirable Reflections he might have made upon them But to Men that knew not God these things were of no value O my Soul Thou hast not priz'd the good Things thy God hath bequeathed to thee How little hast thou valued the Means of Grace thy Saviour left behind him Henceforward learn to make a better Use of them that they may be Health to thy Navel and Marrow to thy Bones 35. And the People stood beholding and the Rulers also with them derided him saying He saved others Let him save himself if he be Christ the chosen of God IT could not but cause strange Admiration to see him who had been known to be a Prophet mighty in Word or Deed come to such a doleful and dreadful End But for any Man to be so impudent as to deride him in his Misery this was extraordinary bold and insolent Yet Men that have done a very ill thing think themselves obliged to justifie it by their Gestures and Actions partly to keep themselves from Reproach and partly to
this World may'st bid me enter into my Master's Joy 44. And it was about the Sixth Hour and there was a Darkness over all the Earth until the Ninth Hour THE Sun loses his Splendour at Noon The Deed was black and Heaven draws a Curtain over it Yet notwithstanding the Miracle the greatest part of the Spectators continue obstinate When Men's Hearts are set upon Sin and the World how little do even Miracles prevail O my Soul How many strange Providences hast thou seen and yet thou hast not mended thy Life upon it Thou hast seen Miracles of Judgment and Mercy yet thy Heart hath been hard Oh learn to take more notice of God's Dispensations and believe that the strange things that happen to thee and others are Calls from Heaven to the Inhabitants of the World to learn Righteousness 45. And the Sun was darken'd and the Veil of the Temple was rent in the midst WHat a Motive was this to Men to rend their Hearts This was a Sign that God would lay the Inclosure open and that Christ was to break down the Partition-Wall and make both Jews and Gentiles one To this Rent thou art beholden O my Soul Thy Father was an Amorite and thy Mother an Hittite thy Ancestors were Heathens and Idolaters by this Rent they were brought to the Light of the Gospel and upon that Account thou enjoyest the Gospel now Remember how unworthy of this Favour thou hast walked many Years and how thou hast dishonoured this Gospel with thy Life Oh learn to bring forth Fruits as become the Doctrine which is according unto Godliness and let thy Conversation be such as may promote God's Glory and thine Eternal Happiness 46. And when Jesus had cried with a loud Voice he said Father into thy Hands I commend my Spirit And having said thus he gave up the Ghost NOW the Sacrifice is offered and this Death reconciles God to the sinful World This Death which had been so often foretold both by the Prophets and Christ himself is at last accomplished and Pardon of Sin and the Possibility of Men's arriving to Eternal Life by a true Repentance is hereby purchased This Death puts an End to the Curse of the Law And from this Death O my Soul date thy Happiness Though wicked Men who had an Hand in it were the Means whereby it was effected yet the Son of God would die and his voluntary Death is the meritorious Cause of thy Eternal Life Oh look upon it with Wonder and Admiration And while thou standest amazed at it see withal how thou thy self may'st end thy Days If thou livest like a Child of God thy Father in Heaven will receive thee when thou diest Thy Father will not send thee to Hell but being a Father he will stretch forth his Almighty Arms and receive thee to himself like a faithful Creator 47. Now when the Centurion saw what was done he glorified God saying Certainly this was a righteous Man TO make a right Construction of Things is the Way to Spiritual Wisdom This Man justly concluded that Heaven could not possibly shew it self so much concern'd about a Person if he were not an extraordinary Favourite He judged rationally and this brought him to a true Knowledge of Christ and to an open Confession and Declaration of the Sufferer's Innocence O my Soul Consider by what Miracles and Testimonies that Truth thou professest hath been confirmed and conclude it is Divine No Religion hath those Evidences of its Divinity and Celestial Original that the Christian hath and coming from God thou hast the greatest Reason to believe that all its Promises and Threatnings will be fulfilled and seeing that all these shall be fulfilled what manner of Person oughtest thou to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness 48. And all the People that came together to that Sight beholding the things which were done smote their Breasts and returned SMiting their Breasts was a Sign of their Grief and Anger of their Grief because so excellent a Person had been so inhumanely butcher'd and of their Anger against those bloody Men that had condemned and executed him See here O my Soul what Entertainment thou art to give thy Sins In looking upon them divide thy Affections betwixt Grief and Anger Grieve that thou hast offered so many Indignities to thy Blessed Master Be angry with thy self for being so base and ungrateful Grieve that thou hast forgotten the End for which thou wast created and be revenged upon the Sins that caused it And the best Revenge is this to see and take care that thy Degrees of Sin be truly answered by thy Degrees of Sanctification and Heavenly-mindedness 49. And all his Acquaintance and the Woman that followed him from Galilee stood afar off beholding these things THough it is some Ages since Christ was crucified yet in imitation of these Religious Women thou may'st stand afar off O my Soul and behold the Spectacle still When the Circumstances of it are left thee in Writing and the doleful Story stands upon Record thou canst ascend Mount Calvary and see those things acted as if thou hadst been present And Oh little dost thou think how much this Sight will edifie thee Look often upon the Cross and thou wilt find what a Damp it will strike upon all thy sinful Pleasures and how little reason thou hast to hancker after those things whereof so many good Men after they have been sensible of their Errours have been ashamed 50. And behold there was a Man named Joseph a Councillor and he was a good Man and a just IN the midst of Temptations God preserves this Man though his Riches Greatness Reputation and Friendship of the Grandes did strongly entice him to consent to the Death of the Lord Jesus yet he would not and was resolved rather to hazard all than have an hand in the Condemnation This was an Argument of a generous Spirit to bear up under the strongest Assaults and Enticements in the World and to keep an uncorrupt Soul in the midst of Dirt and Filthiness Thou livest in a very evil Generation O my Soul Dare to preserve thine Integrity in the midst of all the Floods of Ungodliness that surround thee And the more thou art discouraged from Goodness and Righteousness the more vigorously stand up for it and maintain it and thy God will be with thee 51. The same had not consented to the Counsel and Deed of them He was of Arimathea 4 City of the Jews who also himself waited for the Kingdom of God TO wait for the Kingdom of God is the Way to resist and to overcome Temptations He that is resolved not to lose his Share in God's Kingdom hereafter will not stand upon his Losses and Crosses here for he knows that the future Kingdom will recompense all No Nan will venture so much for Christ as he that firmly believes the Kingdom of God and fixes his Eye of Faith upon it O my Jesus Give me a clearer Sight of
Midnight at other times working day and night for the support of themselves and Companions which we must suppose was not consisting with great prolixity in set Meditations The PRAYER O My God and Saviour I am very sensible that I have great Obligations to love thee upon the account of my Creation Preservation and daily Blessings I receive from thy liberal Hand But that which even forces me works upon me powerfully and as it were pushes me forward and compels me to love thee is the bitter Cup of thy Sufferings which for my sake thou didst drink off and the mighty work of Redemption which renders thee altogether lovely to my Soul That admirable and incomparable Testimony of thy Love is a stronger attractive makes a greater impulse and it a sweeter and a softer Cord to bind any Heart to thy Service To effect this Work thou hast taken more than ordinary pains When thou didst first create me it cost thee no more than a Word speaking but to reinstate me in that Bliss I had lost and forfeited thou wast at the greatest expence and charge imaginable Of the Sovereign Lord of the World thou becamest a Servant of Rich extremely Poor of the Eternal Word a Man and of the Son of God the Son of Man so that though I was made of nothing yet I was not Redeem'd by nothing Thou spentest but Six days to Create and frame the World but Three and thirty Years were spent to accomplish my Ransom and Restitution to God's Favour and O what trouble what misery was this thy Life fill'd withal Thou didst humble thy self to Flesh to Death to the Death of the Cross and to effect this Glorious Work wast content to be clad in Flesh to be punish'd with Death and to be disgraced by the Cross for this miserable Worm Thou didst do much and suffer much that I might love thee much and because the Facility of my Creation did not move me much thou therefore wast content to be at an excessive trouble in my Redemption thereby to charm my Soul the more and to plant in me greater Resentments of thy Charity To this end thy Side was opened with a Lance that all Men might look into thy Wounds and into thy very Heart and see how it bled for Love To this end thy Sacred Head did bend to the East thy Feet were extended to the West and thine Arms spread ' to the North and South to let People in all parts of the World see how much thou lovedst them and thereby to draw their Hearts and unite them to thy self for ever O let not mine be cold under this wonderful sight and while I see my God buffeted my God crown'd with Thorns my God struck on the Face and my God giving up the Ghost let all that is within me be touch'd and quickned and enliven'd and encouraged to cleave and to cling to thee for ever Amen Amen CHAP. XXIII Of Self-Examination the Second Act of Preparation for this Holy Sacrament The CONTENTS A wonderful thing that this Sacrament works no greater Effects One great Reason of it Want of Self-Examination The Necessity of Self-Examination proved by three Reasons How it must be managed The Rule of it the Word of God A Catalogue of Sins and Duties These to be considered with respect to our Temper and Inclination The great Objection about the Intricacy Difficulty and Tediousness of this Task answered and a Way laid down whereby it may be made facile and easie and delightful Some Rules to be observed in the Practice of this Self-Examination that it may become effectual The Errour of some Churches in the Primitive Times who gave this Sacrament to Children and Infants As soon as Persons are able to examine themselves they are bound to come to this Sacrament Another Man 's examining of us is not enough without Self-Examination The Prayer I. ONE of the most wonderful things in the Christian World is that such a Sacrament as that of the Eucharist should be instituted by the Great Saviour of Mankind A Sacrament wherein the most stupendous Blessings are offered to Men and that Men should receive it so often and no greater Effects should appear upon their Lives and Tempers after their Participation of it Which is as much as to say that Fire gives no Heat and the Sun no Light Health affords no Cure Abundance keeps Men poor and the most wholsome Meat produces no Nourishment That which makes the thing the more strange and astonishing is this That God makes nothing no not the least Drop of Rain nor the least Grain of Sand but for some excellent End and therefore must be supposed to have ordained this Sacrament for the most noble Ends imaginable And if the Effects he designs by this Ordinance be such as our Liturgy tells us For then we spiritually eat the Flesh of Christ and drink his Blood then we dwell in Christ and Christ in us we are one with Christ and Christ with us If these be the designed and intended Effects of this Ordinance as certainly they are it must be Matter of Astonishment to see so little of these Effects produced in the many Communicants that appear at this holy Table And what can we ascribe these Defects to but to Men's Indisposition In Natural Things Philosophers tell us the Causes of Things how excellent soever are determined in their Effects by the Disposition of their Subjects For which Reason we see that the Sun melts Wax and hardens Clay makes some things pure and white and others black and the same Meat being eaten by different Persons causes Health in one and Sickness in another And no doubt the same Rule will hold in Grace too and therefore that this Sacrament works not those admirable Effects intended by Christ in abundance of Persons must be for want of a suitable Preparation Vessels hold more or less Water according to their Capacity if the Vessel be little it will hold but little And according to the Disposition of our Souls so we receive much or less or nothing at all in this Sacrament And one of these excellent previous Dispositions is Self-Examination expresly enjoyn'd by the Apostle 1 Cor. 11. 28. But let a Man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup. II. Though it be in a manner needless after I have laid down the Apostle's Command to prove the Necessity of this Self-Examination yet for a â—uller Satisfaction of the Reader I shall enquire into the Reasons of the Necessity which are these following 1. All great Actions require Deliberation This is a Maxim all Mankind agrees in 'T is a common Principle And we count that Man a Fool that attempts an Action of great Concernment without it And Christ himself hath taught us to do so Luk. 14. 28 29. For Which of you saith he intending to build a Tower sits not down first and counts the Cost whether he have sufficient to finish it lest happily after
To delight in filthy Sights and looking upon Objects which raise evil Thoughts in us Matth. 5. 29. 47. To try Experiments in Lust and to act our Lewdness over in our Minds again Ephes. 4. 19. 48. To go into Company where we are sure to be tempted and persuaded to that which is evil Matth. 5. 30. 49. Drunkenness or Drinking and Tippling to the Disorder of our Reason 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. Ephes. 5. 16 18. 50. To flatter our Neighbours and to have their Persons in Admiration because of Advantage Jude 1. 16. 51. To lye unto our Neighbours and to speak that to them which we know is not true Ephes 4. 25. 52. To dissemble with God and with our Neighbours and give them fair Words while we hate them in our Hearts Rom. 12. 9. 53. To bid our Servants or Friends or others to tell Lyes for us Heb. 3. 13. 54. To follow a Multitude to do evil and to do ill things because they are done commonly Ephes. 5. 11. 55. To be greedy and covetous after the Things of this World to the Neglect of our Souls and Spiritual Welfare Ephes. 5. 3. 56. To delay our Repentance and to drive off our Seriousness from time to time Heb. 3. 15. 57. To do Wrong to our Neighbours and particularly to a poor Man or Stranger or to an Enemy Ephes. 4. 32. 58. To glory in bad Actions Philip. 3. 19. 59. To aim at the Praise and Applause of Men in good Actions Matth. 6. 1 2. 60. To mis-spend our Time by Idleness and Laziness and Gaming and immoderate Recreations Ephes. 5. 15 16. 61. Gluttony and Intemperance in Eating or eating more than Nature requires 2 Pet. 1. 6. 62. To delight in gaudy Cloathing and Fondness of imitating of every Fashion 1 Pet. 3. 3 4. 63. To render Evil for Evil aâ—d Reviling for Reviling 1 Pet. 2. 23. 64. To be ashamed of the Gospel and of Religion or of Religious Duties or of doing the Will of God Mark 8. 38. 65. To be weary of Well-doing or of any commanded Religious Duty and to give over our Seriousness Gal. 6. 9. 66. To be uncharitable and to harden our Hearts and Bowels against the Distressed and Needy 1 John 3. 17. 67. To scandalize others or to give Offence by Actions either needless or sinful Matth. 18. 6 7. 68. To follow an unlawful Profession that necessitates us unto Sin Matth. 18. 8. 69. To entice and encourage and draw others into Sin by our ill Example or Sollicitation Rom. 1. 22. 70. To comply with other Men in their Sins because they urge or press us to it 2 Cor. 6. 17 18. 71. To be proud haughty self-conceited and to entertain an high Opinion of our selves Parts Abilities and Accomplishments and to despise others Luke 14. 10 11. 72. To neglect the Service of God for every Trifle and every little Business that would draw us from it Luke 2. 49 and 10. 41 42. 73. To use needless Asseverations in common Discourses anâ— in trivial Matters such as I vow I protest I swear c. Matth. 5. 37. 74. To reveal our Neighbour's Secrets which they in love communicate to us Philip. 2. 4. Matth. 7. 12. 75. To rejoyce in our Neighbour's Fall or Misfortune or Misery Rom. 12. 15. 76. To be careless negligent slovenly or superficial in any part of God's Service Rom. 12. 11. 77. To presume upon God's Goodness or to sin and go on in Sin because God is merciful and patient Rom. 2. 4 5. 78. To despair of God's Mercy or to think that he either cannot or will not pardon upon our sincere Repentance Matth. 12. 31. 79. To fancy that a customary Faith without suitable Works will save us Jam. 2. 26. 80. To be morose surly ill-natur'd and give rough and imperious Language to our Neighbours 1 Pet. 3. 8. 81. To let our Neighbours and Friends go on in their Sins without reproving them Ephes. 5. 11. 82. to set our Hearts and Affections upon the Riches and Comforts of this Life Mark 10. 24. Col. 3. 1 2. 83. To mourn and take on under any Cross and Loss like Men without Hope 1 Thes. 4. 13. 2 Cor. 7. 10. 84. To be careless and neglectful of a faithful Discharge of the Duties of our several Callings and Relations As 1. For Husbands to be churlish bitter and unkind to their Wives Col. 3. 19. 2. For Wives to be froward talkative brawling and injurious to their Husbands Goods and Name 1 Pet. 3. 1 4. 3. For Magistrates to suffer Injustice Oppression Murther Irreligiousness Atheism and Profaneness to go unpunished Rom. 13. 3. 4. For Subjects to raise ill Reports of their Magistrates and mis-conster their Actions to the Disturbance of the Government 1 Pet. 2. 13 14. 5. For 〈◊〉 to shew their Children bad Examples to indulge them in their Sins or to suffer them to do what they list without Correction Ephes. 6. 4. 6. For Children to be disobedient to their Parents lawful Commands or to deny them Maintenance when they are in want and the Children able to relieve and assist them Ephes. 6. 1 2. 7. For Masters to keep back the Hire or Wages of their Servants and to suffer them to neglect God's Service and the Concerns of their own Souls Col. 4 1. 8. For Servants to grumble or mumur at their Masters lawful Commands or chiding of them to answer again to be unfaithful to disparage their Masters and Mistresses and to discover to others what their Superiors would have kept secret Tit. 2. 9 10. 85. To neglect or defer our Baptism in case we were never baptized before and to forbear bringing our Children to be baptized Matth. 28. 19. 86. Not to come to the Lord's Supper after we come to Years of Understanding and Discretion Matth 26. 26 27. 87. To eat and drink unworthily at the Lord's Table 1 Cor. 11. 29. 88. To neglect thinking of good things Philip. 4. 8. 89. Idolatry Witchcraft Seditions Schisms Heresies Gal. 5. 20. 90. Whispering to our Neighbour's prejudice Back-biting Despightfulness Boasting Inventing of evil Thinge Covenant-breaking and being without Natural Affections and delighting in other Men's Sins Rom. 1. 29 30 31 32. 91. To do Evil that Good may come of it Rom. 3. 8. If any Sins are left out in this Catalogue they are such as may be referred to those which are mention'd And though some that are mention'd as distinct Sins may very well go for one yet the Reason why a distinct Number is allowed them is merely because Vulgar Capacities might thereby get a clearer Knowledge and Apprehnsion of them A Catalogue of DUTIES Commanded in the Gospel 1. TO believe that God is One in Three and Three in One and that the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are that one God 1 Joh. 5. 7. Joh. 10. 30. 2. To believe that the Son of God was incarnate and came into this World by his Holy Life and Death to save Men from their Sins Joh. 3.
Confessions specifies the particular Acts wherein he hath walk'd contrary to God discovers an earnest desire to grow in Grace and in this St. Paul shews us an example 1 Tim. 1. 13. where he doth not say I have been a great Sinner but a Blasphemer spoke ill of the way to Life a Persecuter afflicted oppressed and made havock of the Churches of God injurious done great injuries to St. Stephen and to abundance of other Christians In a word such a person by his particular Confession deals faithfully with his own Soul and by mentioning the particular Diseases that annoy him manifests his earnest desire of a Cure whereas General Confessions leave the Soul ignorant dull careless and unaffected with the great Concerns of Salvation And tho' a person every time he accuses himself or confesses his Errors is not bound to enumerate all the particular Sins of his Life he can charge his Memory with yet if he never did it before it 's fit he should do it at least when first he receives the Holy Sacrament and at other times confess such fins as he finds himself most inclin'd to and most apt to harbor in his Bosom 2. These Confessions must be accompanied especially the Confessions before the Sacrament with aggravations of our Offences and with shame and confusion of Face I joyn these two together because aggravating of them is the cause of that confusion and he that reflects in his Confessions what light what knowledge what checks of Conscience what motions of God's Spirit what goodness of God what mercy what patience what promises what threatnings he hath sinn'd against what time he hathlost what opportunities he hath neglected what a gracious what a merciful God he hath offended even love it self and sweetness and beauty it self and what blessings what priviledges what advantages what offers he hath slighted will find himself obliged to have very low and mean thoughts of himself This was the Publican's case Luke 18. 13. Who standing afar off would not lift up so much as his Eyes to Heaven but smote upon his Breast saying God be merciful to me a Sinner He was ashamed and confounded His Conscience told him how unworthily he had dealt with his Creator how strangely he had carried himself to God his best and greatest Friend how unthankful and how base he had been to his most gracious Benefactor and how strangely he had carried himself to the best of Beings He was confounded with the thoughts of his vileness and conscious of his guilt he â—ast his eyes to the ground unable to look his offended Father in the Face His Heart was full of grief Sorrow fate heavy on his Soul and though his Tongue could not express his particular acts of injustice oppression pride anger and greediness after the World yet his Mind confess'd them thought of them his Heart was ready to break at the dismal sight and this was a very acceptable Confession 3. These Confessions must be joyned with invincible purposes to endeavour after a better and more Spiritu-Temper So the wise Man tells us He that confesses his Sins and forsakes theâ— shall find mercy Prov. 28. 13. Without this Qualification our Confessions are mere Lip-services and rceive not one gracious Look from above nay are accounted no better than Israel's Devotion Hos. 10. 1. Israel is an empty Vine He brings forth fruit unto himself Why unto himself The reason is because in that fruit he aim'd not so much at God's Glory as his own Profit Nor was any Person the better for it the design was selfish it was just to satisfie the present terror within no love of God lay at the bottom the ground of all was self-love and God had nothing to do with it The same may justly be said of him that confesses but is not concern'd whether his Flesh be subdued to the Spirit or not Such a Confession is his own invention it is not that Confession which God requires If he confesses it must not be to himself for God regards it not and indeed till this actual endeavour to forsake them is added to the Confession our Sins continue still in God's Books of Accompt look still as black as ever not one of them is blotted out for the enmity against God is still maintained and whilst that lasts it naturally follows that God and we cannot be friends III. The second act of judging our selves is upon this Confession to condemn our selves And indeed if the Soul be truly awake and the Heart sincerely sensible of its errors and miscarriages the Penitent cannot but condemn himself and acknowledge that the Judgments threatned in the word of God are due to him and cry Ah! my God and my Lord Who shall deliver me from the Body of this death from this confluence of Misery I have deserv'd with Adam to be thrown out of Paradise and to be for ever forbid eating of the Tree of Life I have deserv'd to drown'd with the first World or to be consumed for ever as Sodom and Gomorrah I have deserved the sudden and unnatural death of Nadab and Abihu to be stoned with Achan to be struck with Leprosie as Miriam to be swallowed up â—live by the Earth as Dathan and Abiram I have deserv'd Manasseh's Prison and Zedekiah's Chains and what is worse the everlasting Chains of Darkness I acknowledge that I have deserved it should be more tolerable for Infidels in the Great Day than for me for I have seen the mighty works of God and continu'd a stranger to Repentance I have deserved to be called upon at Midnight as that careless Man Thou Fool this Night thy Soul shall be required of thee and whose shall be which thou hast provided To this Wretch that is before thee belongs nothing but Wrath and Indignation On this Head of mine thou mightest justly discharge the Ordinance of Justice and pour out the Vials of thy Wrath On me thou mightest justly rain snares and Fire and Brimstone I have deserv'd to be plagued with Diseases tormented with grievous Pain haunted by panick Terrors If any of these Judgments do not fall upon mee it is thy Patience not my Goodness and I may wonder I have escaped them all this while I have deserved to be made a Prey to that Devil whose Temptations I have swallow'd with Greediness Instead of rejoycing over me to build me up thou mightest justly rejoyce over me to destroy me Justly O Lord thou mightest send upon me trembling of Heart and fainting of Eyes and sorrow of Mind I have deserv'd that my Life should hang in doubt before me that I should fear day and night that in the Morning I should say Would God it were Even and at Even Would God it were Morning Mercy Lord I have deserved none The Crums that fall from thy Table are Blessings too good for me if I deserve any thing it is thy Rod thy Scourges thy Waves thy Billows and a horrible Tempest To condemn is the proper act of a
Oblation of thy dear Son and blot out all my Transgressions Accept of that incomparable Sacrifice and forget the Injuries I have offered thee I should be afraid of being sent away empty from thy Throne my Sins are so many and so great but that I know thy Sons Merits are greater than my Sins If my Sins and his Goodness my Transgressions and the Merits of his bitter Passion were laid in a Ballance together these would weigh for heavier than mine Offences What Crime so great that such a Sorrow such Affliction such Obedience such Humility such invincible Patience and what is more than all this such infinite Love cannot expiate What Iniquity can there be in the World above which the Death of Christ doth not preponderate O Heavenly Father I have nothing of mine own to offer thee But I offer thee my Saviour my Redeemer thine only Son with all possible Devotion and Gratitude Accept of his unspeakable Grief and Anguish known only to him and to thy self for my Sins and that Grief I should have and do not feel Accept of his bloody Sweat and Tears for want of my Tears Accept of his most fervent Prayers for my dulness and deadness in Prayer Accept of all that ever he did and suffer'd for my great and multiplied Transgressions I accuse my self for my Carnality I condemn my self for my backwardness to serve thee I am willing to inflict Judgments upon my self for my innumerable Follies yet even these Services will look dull and weak and imperfect except thou art pleased to look upon them through the Merits of thy dear Son O blessed Jesu who can comprehend thy Charity O pour into my Heart true Contrition soften my harden'd Heart into true Compunction give to mine Eyes abundance of Tears that I may bewail the many Indignities I have offered to thee Deal not with me after my Sins Let thy bitter Passion step in betwixt thy Father's Anger and my miserable Soul And whatever mine Iniquities have deserv'd let thy Death atone for them and let thy Blood wash them away O thou who hast overcome the World and the Prince thereof overcome all my rebellious and inordinate Affections Let nothing separate betwixt thy Love and me Remove and conquer that Disagreebleness that is betwixt my Nature and thy Holiness and as thou wast obedient to thy Father even to the Death of the Cross so make my Soul obedient to thee in all thing O let me see and feel that there is nothing so vile so abject so unworthy as I am and in this sense let me admire thy Love that it may appear great and wonderful to me and dash all those Excuses and Delays I have pretended too long to cloak my unwillingness to please thee What can melt my heart if thy Love cannot melt it O melt it by that Fire and purge away all my Dross and all my Tin that being purified by thee I may enjoy the Comforts of that Purity for ever Amen Amen CHAP. XXV Of Self-Resignation the Fourth Preparatory Duty in order to a Worthy Receiving of this Holy Sacrament The CONTENTS What Self-Resignation is and wherein it consists What makes it necessary Upon what Account it comes to be a Duty preparatory for the Holy Sacrament God likens himself to a Potter and why Our Perfection proved to consist in this Self-Resignation 1. WHat this Self-Resignation is and wherein it consists is no hard matter to guess 'T is in short to resign our Will to God's Will not only in being ready to do what God will have us do but in being contented to suffer whatever he shall think fit to lay upon us 'T is St. Anselm's Observation That God alone who is the Creator of all things can will and do what he pleases having no Will superior to his own to which he ought to submit But when Man will do his own Will he robs Almighty God in some measure of his Crown for as the Crown is only the Privilege and Prerogative of a King so to do what he pleases is God's only Property And as a Subject that should fly at the Crown of his Prince and take it off his Head would commit Treason and do his Sovereign the greatest Injury so a Man that will have his own Will attributes that to himself which is a Privilege appertaining only to Divinity it self And indeed this Self-Resignation is nothing but an Effect of sincere and cordial Love Love being the Bond that ties and unites the Person loving to him that is loved as Hatred dissolves and unties that Bond. This Love consists chiefly in the Will and if it be right it must necessarily oblige him that loves God to will what he wills and take his Pleasure and Will for his Rule whereby he governs his own Desires and Affections II. That which makes this Self-Resignation to the Will of God very necessary are these important Points 1. Hereby the Glory of God is signally advanced It is the most excellent Sacrifice we can offer to Almighty God The Glory of God consists in having his Will fulfilled And since we are both created and redeemed to advance God's Glory we commit a very great Errour in having a different Will from God's Will for we deprive him of the Honour due to him and which we are obliged to advance not only by our Obedience but by our Troubles and Dangers too And if it be such an Advancement of God's Glory to do what he will have us do and to follow him where he leads it can be no less Glory to our selves to have the Honour to fulfil his Will in all things That God who is far above us so infinitely exalted above our frail Natures should make use of such poor miserable Creatures to glorifie him and employ in the compassing of his admirable Designs such vile Worms when he might make use of far better is no small Dignity and Advancement If a King were to give Battel to a fierce and numerous Enemy and should quit or lay by a bright and Two-edged Sword and take a rusty Dagger with no Point or Edge to fight the opposite Army as it would be a Mark of his greater Courage so the Victory he gains by that means would be more renowned and glorious We are in the Hand of God no otherwise than obtuse and blunt Daggers are and that by such contemptible means he will compass his Glory is not only the Way to promote his own Honour but ours too When the Disciples of Socrates had all made their Masters very noble Presents Aeschines who was very poor came to him and told him Sir I have nothing to give you that is worthy of you and therefore take the only thing I have to give that is my self Socrates was extreamly pleased with this Offer And Seneca adds that by this Present Aeschines exceeded all the rich Gifts not only of Alcibiades whose Gifts were equal to his generous Mind but all the Presents of the rest A Man can
love thee feel XI O Saviour Gentle as the Spirit that in the shape of a Dove lighted on thy Sacred Head Teach me that Meekness which look'd so amiable in thy Life Expel the evil Spirits of Wrath Anger and Pride and Envy out of my Soul Speak the word and these Winds and Waves will obey thee Let thy gentleness make me great When I shall have overcome my wrathful and proud Inclinations and O! let the Sacrament I am going to help me in the Conquest then shall I be great and glorious in thy sight XII Great Shepherd of my Soul whose Wounds are full of Sweetness full of Mercy full of Charity Let thy Wounds prove the most powerful Remedies to rid me of my Corruptions When any impure Thoughts rise in me let thinking of thy Wounds crush them when sluggishness in Religion assaults me let thy Wounds and the remembrance of them make me vigilant in thy service and when in the Holy Sacrament I think of thy Wounds let all my vain imaginations expire XIII Great Friend of my immortal Soul Such a friend is not to be found in all the World as thou hast been to me for thou hast laid down thy Life for me O let me make much of thy friendship and cherish it by being meek and humble and merciful and patient as thou wert that thou mayest be my Friend when I dye and after Death receive me to thy self O confirm and seal thy Friendship to my Soul in the Blessed Sacrament and let the same Spirit move in me which raised thee from the dead XIV O Thou who hast wash'd me from my Sins with thine own Blood chuse I beseech thee my Heart for thy Dwelling place adorn and replenish it with thy Gifts and Graces make me to loath all transitory things make me poor in Spirit cure in me the itch of Self-love throw down all pride and eagerness after the Riches of this World and make the Holy Sacrament I am going to a mean to adore thee in Spirit and in Truth and to persevere in Goodness to the end XV. Great Comforter of all weary and laden Souls Circumcise my Heart from all evil Thoughts and Words and Actions and Comunicate thy self unto me that I may never be separated from thee or ever be deprived of thy Comfort Draw my Soul after thee in the Holy Sacrament and let that Blessed Ordinance powerfully stir up my Heart to love thee XVI O Thou who art the door of thy Sheepfold By thee let me have access to thy Father's Love And as in the Holy Sacrament thou openest thy Bosom to me so let me run and seek shelter there Chain me to thy self by Bands of Love and let no Temptation defile me O keep me that I may never cowardly faint at any adversity XVII Thou who hast endured contradictions of Sinners against thy self Be thou ever in my mind and teach me to bear Calumnies and Reproaches with great tranquility of Mind Let me refer all difficulties to thee and with silence expect thy Grace and Comfort and let the Blessed Sacrament so influence my Soul that I may fear none but thee XVIII Great Captain of my Salvation I am going to learn to fight the good fight in the Blessed Sacrament of thy Love Let thy great example there encourage me to fight against all Ambition and Ostentation against Censoriousness and Uncharitableness against all Intemperance and Gluttony against all proud and covetous Thoughts against Guile and Hypocrisie against discontentedness and misitrinst of thy Providence Against such Enemies give me grace to fight over these let me triumph that having striven lawfully I may at last be admitted to the Glorious sight of thy Sweet Self and be charm'd with thy Love for ever CHAP. XXVII Of the proper Acts of Devotion when we come to the Holy Table The CONTENTS Private Acts of Devotion must be forborn while the Congregation joyns in common Addresses to Almighty God General Acts of Devotion relating to the wonderful Love of Christ and our Love to him Particular Acts of Devotion at the Consecration and Receiving of the holy Symbols I. THE following Acts are fittest to be used before the Prayers of the Church usual at the Communion do begin or before the Minister of the Ordinance comes to us with the sacred Symbols and while others are Communicating II. While the Minister of the Ordinance is engaged in the Prayers of the Church these Ejaculations must be forborn our Duty during the publick Devotions being to joyn with the Congregation in their common Addresses to God These Acts of Devotion are either General or Particular The General I call those which respect the Love of the Lord Jesus The Particular those which are to be exercised at the Consecration and Receiving of the Consecrated Bread and Wine General Acts of Devotion at the Lord's Table I. GReat Saviour of the World Thou art infinitely amiable worthy to be loved by all to whose Ears the joyful Message of thy Love doth come I rejoyce in the Knowledge of thy Love I count my self happy that I am born under the Shadow of thy Gospel in which thy wonderful Love to the Children of Men is manifested I desire no other Knowledge 'T is enough that I know thou hast loved me beyond Example I desire to count all things Dross and Dung for the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ. II. O my Jesus I am not worthy to love thee Yet because thou biddest me love thee and hast told me that my Soul was created on purpose to love thee I chearfully resign my Love and Affection to thee I desire to love thee I wish for nothing more than that I may passionately love thee Whom have I in Heaven to love but thee And there is none on Earth that I desire to love more than thy self For thou art altogether lovely and thy Love surpasses all the Love of Friends and the dearest Relations I have III. O my blessed Redeemer I desire to love thee with all my Heart and with all my Strength Thou gavest me this Heart and this Strength And on whom can I bestow it better than on thee the Author of it Oh that all that is within me might be turned into Desires and Inclinations and Sighs and Languishings and Breathings after thee For I cannot express what thou hast done for me What thou hast done for me is beyond all the Kindness that the greatest Men ever did or can do for the meanest and poorest Creatures IV. Great Advocate of my Soul Thou seest my Desire to love thee Make it strong and powerful Take a Coal from the Altar and give it Fire that nothing may hinder the Flame from mounting up that nothing may weaken this Desire nothing may break it nothing may tire it nothing may mingle with it that is unclean or contrary to thy Love V. Great Object of my Desires Make me a Martyr of thy Love Make me willing even to die for love of thee Raise a