yet there is not sufficient Evidence against such to bar them from the Lord's Table much less to exclude them after once they are Admitted to such a Priviledge A seemingly serious Profession if not contradicted by a contrary Profession of Words or Actions is the Evidence of Men's Interest in Church-Priviledges * See Mr. Baxter's third Disput Of Right to Sacraments 410. in Foro Ecclesiae Charity believeth all things and hopeth all things 2. You ought first in Charity to reprove the guilty Persons as you have opportunity and to acqâ—aint the Pastors of the Churches that they may deal faithfully with them in order to their Repentance and Several by such means may be brought to give you Satisfaction concerning their true Repentance and Amendment But there are many who are so far from this that on the contrary they solicit and tempt men to Sin if they know they come to the Lords Table that they may find occasion to reproach Reâ—igion and others applaud and consent with such as do this that they may shame Religion by the Irregularities and Excesses of some that profess it Such have a dreadful Account to give to God And so have they who come to the Lords Table and yet by their Drunkenness or Unfaithfulness their Worldlyness or Unrighteousness or any disorderly walking do give occasion to such an Objection and open the mouths of Enemies to reflect Dishonour and Reproach upon the Profession of Religion in General and upon that particular Church or Congregatiâ—n unto which they are joined Such have a double Guilt to answer for and woe be to them if they do not Repent Such as these we often warn not to come to the Lord's Table till they give some good Testimony of their Repentance and so far as they are known they ought to be refus'd 3. If you know of a purer Communion where there are none but Saints at least such as you are strongly confident to be so rather go and joyn with them and communicate there but do not live in the neglect and omission of this Duty For I am not pleading for any particular Church or Society of Christians but only speaking of the Duty in general of all sincere Christians to joyn somewhere for the Participation of this Ordinance If you are scrupulous as to the Company admitted in some Christian Assemblies and know of Others which you think are purer where you believe you can statedly communicate more to your Edification do it without Delay You are allowed by God and at present by the Laws of the Land too to chuse your own Pastor 4. However you ought to consider That it is impossible but some Hypocrites and false Professors will be Admitted to the Lord's Table Not only as Pride and Covetousness and Envy and some such Sins are hard to be defined so as to convince a particular Person that in a prevailing Degree he is guilty of these Not only as it is hard to determine what particular Acts now and then of grosser Sins are consistent with true Grace But because the Tares and Wheat are mixt together in the visible Church and All are not Israel that are of Israel If we will Communicate with none but Saints there is no Church on Earth we can joyn with without Fear and Doubting So that if the Errours and Faults of the Pastors or of the People with whom we joyn in the Worship of God do defile us and make us guilty or if our Communion with them upon that account be a Sin we should joyn no where at all 'T is true If the Doctrine Ordinances and Worship of any Church be so corrupted as that the Substance of the Worship is unlawful Separation is a Duty For when any Thing sinful is required of us as necessary to our Communion in such Cases Separation is a Christians Duty * See Mr. Vines On the Lord's Supper Chap. 20. But to keep from the Ordinance because some come unworthily to it hath no Order or Command of Christ to warrant it Though he had many Things against the Seven Asian Churches Rev. 2.3 yet he did not call them to separate but there are Promises to them if they keep themselves pure 5. If it be unavoidable to Communicate with some such as are not sincere Christians then to do so is not unlawful Every one is to Examine himself so says the Apostle to these Corinthians among whom there were so many unworthy Communicants and if they Eat and drink unworthily they did Eat and drink Judgment to Themselves Though the Apostle speaks of the Prophanation of that Ordinance by Some he does not bid Others Withdraw and Separate upon that Account Christ hath commanded thee to Examine thy self and so eat but it is not necessary thou shouldst Examine and know the fitness of all Others How would you know when to Communicate if we may not do it till Others be prepared as well as we Great Strictness and Severity should be used in Judging of our selves and our own Case but we must use Great charity and tenderness as to the case of Others and not conclude them Hypocrites when we cannot tell but they truly Repent But if they do not their Presence cannot pollute me if I endeavour to discharge my Duty by personal private Reproof and then if that be unsuccessful with Others and afterwards by acquainting the Pastors of the Church c. If I have Right to come to the Lord's Table shall the coming of Another that has none bar my Right Shall I sin in keeping from the Ordinance because another sins in coming to it Or because the Church or the Pastor sins in not Excluâ—ing of him The power of the Keys is not in my hand I have no Authority to cast out such a Member And though that particular Pastor or Church should be faulty in not doing of it it is not yet a sufficient ground oâ— my Separation Rev. 2.14.15.20 It I have a Wedding Garment I will come to the Marriage Feast though there should be Others there that have none Should not I offer my Gift at the Altar because my Neighbour comes there with me who should first go and be reconciled to his brother I may relish and digest my Food though there is one who sits by me who hath a weak Stomach and a bad Digestion If I am duly prepared it will not hurt me that Another is not Whilst I partake not of other Mens Sins surely I may joyn with them in the Performance of necessary Duties I say not That the Wicked and the Vnregenerate ought to come you often hear me declare the contrary such are forbidden to come But if they will come under a false profession and shew of Religion after having been forewarned of their Danger and been faithfully told their Duty It is at their own Peril and they eat and drink Judgment to themselves and to no body else For neither a Minister of Christ nor a private Christian can deny
Communion with several persons who if they would judge righteous Judgment concerning themselves ought to tarry away As having no Right before God to come to the Table of the Lord as the Case is with them at present In short It is unlawful to Communicate with Wicked Men if they be so bad and their Number so great as that it is our Duty to forsake such a Church If Heresie and Impiety be justified by the Major Vote and bare down Faith and Godliness then that particular Society is uncapable of the Ends of church-Church-Communion and so to joyn there would be sinful But in Cases of lesser Irregularity if we do not sin by the Neglect of our Duty it will be no sin of ours to Communicate with that Church though Unworthy Persons be Admitted The Sins of the Pastor and of particular Delinquents are not ours much less may we refuse Communion upon the account of other Men's Faults when we have not done our Duty in order to the Remedy and Cure of them 2. Object But others will say I am truly afraid to venture the Danger of Vnworthy Receiving is so very great that it makes me tremble to consider it I have been many years frighted with your Text That he that Eats and Drinks Unworthily eats and drinks Damnation to himself Answ 1. The Word which we translate Damnation signifies only Judgment or Punishment in the general and so is used in several places What Judgment therefore is meant the Context must determine And that speaks principally of Temporal Punishments for such are mentioned Verse 30. as inflicted on the Corinthians for the Profanation of this Ordinance For this cause some of you are sick and weak and many are fallen asleep Besides the Reason that is assigned for these Punishments or Judgments was That they might not be condemned with the World Verse 32. For when we are judged says the Apostle It is the same word it may be as well Rendred Damned as that in the Text Damnation But when we are judged we are chastned of the Lord that we may not be condemned with the World God did thus judge or punish the Corinthians in this World that they might be Reformed and not perish Eternally So that he who Eats and drinks unworthily may fear lest his Contempt and Profanation of the Ordinanance be followed by some Remarkable Jugdment of God at least it was so in the Apostle's time 2. Conside◠〈…〉 That the Disorders committed by the Corinthians and occasioned by their Love Feasts that preceded the Lord's Supper They were such as were peculiar to those Times and are now Abolish'd and disus'd Christians then Feasted by themselves in their Religious Assemblies in Imitation of what the Heathens did in their Idol-Temples The Rich sent in their own Provisions and every one contributed to this Feast by bringing some Portion but there they banded into several Parties as they came without tarrying one for another and feeding lovingly together Every one fell to that Portion of Meat which he brought as if they were at home when it should have been divided in Common and the Poor have had their share Whereas says the Apostle Some are hungry and others intemperate and drunken This they are taxed with in the 22. Ver. What says he have ye not houses to eat and to drink in They made little or no Difference between these Love-Feasts and the Lord's Supper at the close of them between these Sacred Symbols of our Lord's Body and Blood and common Food and Drink They were in the House and Worship of God just as in their own and made no Distinction between this and a common Meal Nay it was worse They turned this Ordinance into a drunken Club or a Riotous Entertainment making it an Instrument and Occasion of Debauchery This was Eating and Drinking Vnworthily indeed and no wonder if God did so severely punish them for it The Apostle Jude taxes these Love-Feasts Verse 12. But there is no danger of such Excesses at the Lord's Table now or of eating and drinking Vnworthily in the same manner as the Corinthians did 3. If we take Damnation for Eternal punishment which Vnworthy Receiving does without Repentance expose to Yet consider that the Wages of every Sin is Eternal Death And you have the same Reason to be afraid of Other Sins because you run the same Hazard The Sacrifices of the Wicked God abhors And the very Prayers of the Hpocrite are an Abomination to him But 4. Consider That by eating and driâ—king his own Damnation the Apostle does not mean that every such Person shall certainly and inevitably be damned but that without Repentance it is a damning Sin Unworthy eating is so and so is sinful abstaining too without Repentance And why so much Tenderness in the one Case and not in the other No Man needs be blamed for being unwilling to Damn himself But why should Men be fearful of it in this Instance and not in others Infidelity Disobedience and Impenitence will as certainly expose a Man to Damnation without the Sacrament as with it And they cannot fairly urge the Fear of Damnation against coming to it who are not restrained thereby from other sins as damning as this 5. That therefore which the Apostles words will most properly infer and direct us to is this That siâ—ce we are required iâ— Obedience to Christ to do this in rememb ance of him and yet such severe Punishments are threetned to those that do it unworthily The plain consequence is this That we should not omit it becaâ—se of the Command nor yet carelesly undertake it because of the threatned Juâ—gment But it will by no means excuse or plead for the total neglect and omission of it 'T is plain the Apostle never thought that the sin and danger of doing a Duty amiss might be made an Exception against the doing iâ— at all or â—hat threatning Damnation to eating a d drinking unwo thily should fâ—are Men from eating and drinking at all He takes what care he can that the Duty may be perform'd and the Err r in doing it may be effectually prevented But never makes the Danger of the one a Dispensation from the other He tells them of the sin to eat and drink unworthily and of the punishment it makes 'em obnoxious to but he doth not therefore tell 'em they may stay away from the Sacrament for fear of committing the sin or of incurring the Danger Not even in that case where they were actually Guilty and really Punisht 6. You ought to consider That you will but increase your Sin and aggravate your Damnation by all the other Duties of Religion and other parts of Divine Worship if you continue Impenitent You are often told that you ought not to come to this Table till you Repent and turn to God in Christ with all your heart and give up your selves intirely to be the Lord's But if you do not Resolve to do so the same Argument will hold for the neglect
of it according to its Dignity and Excellency And thereupon to compose the outward and inward Man in partaking of this Ordinance as those that know we have to do with Christ himself and that the body and blood of Jesus Christ is Refer'd to by the Bread and Wine Such a discerning of his body would help to compose us to serious Reverence would awaken suitable Affections would excite the Exercise of Repentance Faith Love Thankfulness and Joy answerable to the Nature of this Feast of Love upon the Sacrifice of Christ This would Regulate the Behaviour of our Bodies and the Temper of our Spirits the Government of our Thoughts and the Motions of our Affections and make us Worthy Receivers The Neglect of this the not thus discerning the Lord's body is the Sin here mentioned and thereby they are Guilty of the body and blood of the Redeemer i. e. They are Profanely Injurious to the very Person of Christ they treat his sacred body and precious blood unworthily and with Contempt It is a Guilt like theirs that abused and crucified the Lord himself when he was upon Earth It is a Sin againâ—â— the body of Jesus Christ against his Humanity which of all Creatures that ever were upon Earth or that are now in Heaven is the most Sacred The Affront Contempt and Injury Redounds to the blessed Redeemer as God Incarnate as having our Nature now in Heaven 't is an Injury to the body of Christ That Body wherein he bore our Sins upon the Cross wherein as a Sacrifice for Sin he offered himself to God That Body that was prepared for him and formed by the Holy Ghost in the Womb of the Virgin that was afterwards Gloriously raised from the Dead to a Divine Life and is now in Heaven the Wonder and Admiration of the blessed Angels and Raised to a State of Glory there as the Pledge and Earnest of our Resurrection and Bliss The not discerning the Lord's body has such a Guilt as this Implyed in it 2. The Punishment of this Sin of Vnworthy Receiving expressed by not discerning the Lor'ds body is here set forth by Eating and Drinking Damnation to our our selves or Judgment to our selves That is As sure as he eats and drinks if he do it unworthily So certain it is that Judgment shall follow he eats and drinks Judgment to himself That Addition To himself may denote two Things First That the whole blame should be laid upon our selves If such a Divine Institution designed for the Spiritual Good and Advantage of our Souls do prove to our Detriment and Damage In such a case it is we our selves that are the sole Cause of it Secondly The Expression may Import further That such as Receive Vnworthily they only hurt and defile Themselves but not other Men that communicate with them You may partake worthily and to Edification while Another by unworthy Receiving that sits in the same Pew may Eat and drink Judgment and condemnation but he eats and drinks Judgment to himself only not to You. Ephes 4.5 Every man shall bear his own burden Let every man prove his own work It cannot be thought that our Lord was defiled by coming to the Baptism of John when there were such a Generation of Vipers who came to it as well as Christ Or that our Lord and the Eleven Apostles were defiled by the company of Judas at the Passover-Supper For there be sure he was The Lord's-Supper was at the close of it And for his being present at that also many contend though * See Mr. Charnock Of the Lord's Supper 2d Vol. p. 7â—3 Compared with Mr. Kettlewell Of the Lord's Supper 12º 1687. p. 387 388 c. The one for his being Present the other against it Others think it probable that he went out before But the presence of some unworthy persons is made an Argument by many against their Partaking of the Lord's Supper in such or such a particular Church as if their presence would defile and infect them This therefore I shall consider as one Objection which several are apt to make against the Performance of this Duty Of frequent remembring the Death of Christ at his Table And then Secondly Consider the other Objection from this Text viz. From the Danger of Receiving Vnworthily lest they should Eat and Drink Damnation to themselves And Thirdly What many more are wont to plead That the Danger being so great they durst not Adventure till they know that they are Believers or such as are Invited For it is Children's bread and they durst not come till they are Assured of their Regeneration and Adoption I shall therefore enquire Whether any ought to come to the Lord's Table till they have Assurance or while they want it 1. It is Objected by many That they do not Communicate because there are such and such Admitted who ought not to come to the Table of the Lord Such as walk disorderly who discredit their Profession and are as bad as any of their Neighbours and Acquaintance And the Apostle says 1 Cor. 5.10 That with such we should not so much as eat That we should have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness Ephes 5.11 That we should withdraw and separate and have no free familiarity with such 2 Thes 3.6 2 Tim. 3.5 2 Cor. 6.17 I Answer First That the Separation from Wicked Men required in such Passages of Holy Scripture refers to our intimate Converse and Familiarity with such who live in notorious and scandalous Sins and do not Testifie their Repentance We must avoid their company lest we be Infected And there is much more danger of Infection by Familiarity with them in daily Converse than by joyning with them in Religious Duties But we must be careful not to call those Vngodly whom we cannot prove to be so we should rather hope they are not unless we can prove the contrary What Sins are there that even a good Man by the surprize of a Temptation may not commit who yet mourns in secret and truly Repents It may be you may have heard of the Sins of many of whose Repentance you have not heard And yet they might truly Repent and you might know it if you would enquire But where the mixture of the â—ares and the Wheat is such that the one cannot be pull'd up without the other both must grow together till the Harvest Such a Difference as God will make at the last Day cannot now be made by us We may safer let the Righteous and Wicked go together as if all were Righteous when we cannot prove the contrary And we do not therein make a false Judgment we do not judge that it is certain that such and such are Sincere and truly Godly but that it is probable they may be so And we may have a stronger Confidence concerning the Sincerity of Some while we have only probable Hopes of Others yea with such Hopes there may be some Fear of their Hypocrisie joyned when
And every * Dr. Manton on Colos 1.19 p. 202. Office of Christ as our Prophet Priest and King doth suppose and require that he be true God as well as true man or he could not discharge those Offices to any Saving Purpose for us 4. Let us then Imitate the Faith of this Apostle in contemplating the Death and Resurrection of Christ that we also may say as he did My Lord and my God And that will include both a Claim of Interest and special Propriety in him and imply the Dedication of our selves to his Use and Service The one of these will follow upon the other When God says I am thy God we cannot but answer That we are his Servants and resolve to be so And if we are his and Devoted to him we may infer that he is Ours for the Covenant is mutual But if we cannot as sometimes we cannot so clearly and comfortably say My God We may yet humbly and resolvedly say My Lord that is I am thy Servant I am Devoted to thy Fear I am resigned and given up to thee I have chosen thee for my Portion and I have dedicated and devoted my self for ever to be thine c. The more serious we are in this the more likely are we to come to this Claim and Appropriation and special Interest in God and Christ as ours And till we Arrive to some Degree of this we are Strangers to the most comfortable part of the Christian Life For this is a great ground of our Confidence and a main Spring of our Joy My Beloved is mine and I am his He loved me and gave himself for me This attracts our Love this wins our Hearts and fills us with Joy unutterable and full of Glory If Christ by the Presence of his Spirit would visit our Souls we should then be able to use such Language of Faith If he will visit us as he did the Disciples when Thomas was with them his Presence and Power can produce such a Faith And if he please he can enter and do this though the Doors be barred and shut never so close For he can open them as he did the Heart of Lydia Though they be of Stone or Iron he can break he can soften he can make them Hearts of Flesh Let us beg he would so visit us by his Spirit Though we have not the Priviledge to touch him on Earth as this Apostle yet we may behold him as the holy Martyr Stephen in Heaven We may Contemplate him by Faith as at the Right hand of God And so we may behold the print of the Nails and thrust our Hand into his wounded Side and hear his Voice yea taste as well as touch his very Body and Blood feed upon him We have some of us so done this Day And after such a Sight and such a Taste shall we not cry out My Lord my God O my Lord what have I done O my God what shall I do O my Lord my dear Lord Jesus who am I that thou hast loved me so as to dye for me so as to give thy self a Sacrifice for me O my God what shall I render to thee How shall I express my Gratitude What shall I do to honour thee O my Lord thou hast Redeemed me at a costly price O my God give me of the Spirit of Grace to renew thine Image subdue my Lusts and assist mine Obedience My Lord my God the King of Saints the Prince of Peace the First Begotten from the Dead the First Born of every Creature the First Fruits of them that sleep the true and only Potentate the great Immanuel God with us true God and true Man Whom have I in Heaven but thee c. Let us labour aftâ—r such a Faith and beg it of the God of all Grace and never desist till in the use of that and other means we are brought to use such Language too Lastly As to you my Brethren who have been at the Table of the Lord Consider what have you been doing Your great Business hath been or should have been this Day solemnly to Renew the Covenant between God and you in such Appropriating Language of Faith as these words of Thomas For Christ and all his Benefits are offered to you by the Distribution of the Elements Behold me I am yours Accept me Take me says Christ. You by Receiving them say Lord I am thine Accept me Possess me for thine own The Lord's Supper is the New Testament or Covenant in the Blood of Christ you there Ratifie the Baptismal Covenant he saith I am thine and you say You are his This inward personal Covenanting between Christ and you is the great Thing to be minded and this amounts to the same with My Lord my God acknowledging his Right by the one Expression and professing your own Interest by the other This was Virtually done in our Baptism this was actually done at our first Turning to God when we entred into Covenant to be the Lords And this we professedly Repeat and publickly Renew every time we come to this Table We have this Day acknowledged him to be our Lord we have entred into a solemn League of Subjection and Fidelity to him we have taken on us a solemn Bond and Obligation of Duty and Service And if we are Vnfaithful every Communion will come in against us as so many Oaths that we have broken For by Feasting on this Sacrifice this Day we have again Sworn at the Altar we have said it in our Hearts My Lord my God And we have professed it by our Actions We have played the Hypocrites and acted the part of Children and Fools if we did not mean it And if we do not stand to it while we live we are Rebels and add Perjury to our Rebellion by violating our Bond Covenant and Oath And if we do so we have imprecated a Curse upon our selves even all the Curses of a broken Covenant and so have sworn to our own Condemnation You therefore who have this Day Avouched the Lord for your God and have said to Christ My Lord my God Remember that he is both And don't expect he should be thy God thy Portion thy Happiness thy Heaven if he be not thy Lord. Don't think he will be thy Jesus thy Ransom to save thee from Hell if he be not thy Lord to govern thy Heart and Life He is the Author of Eternal Salvation only to those that Obey him an Everlasting Saviour to them only to whom he is a Lord. Don't expect that the saying Lord Lord either now or hereafter will be enough if thou be a Worker of Iniquity and do not what he Commands thee if his Interest in thee and Authority over thee will not prevail more than the Entreaty of a Friend or than the gain of a little Money or the Allurement of a little Pleasure or the Inticement of a Lust or the Temptation of a Devil But if you sincerely and unfeignedly take him for