without impediment and that there is nothing left in their Souls to oppose their duty Whereas bad people in a quite contrary way give admission to those scruples and doubts into their minds with a secret pleasure and having entertained them let them rest and take up their lodging there very willingly because they will plead their excuse they fancy for not doing their duty and be a defence to their lazyness Worldly mindedness and other naughty affections In short Doubts and Scruples never arise in good mens minds without grief nor stay there without much trouble and therefore they long to be rid of them and are glad when they are discharged because they hinder the performance of their Christian Duty but bad men not only listen to them willingly but embrace them as welcome Guests which they cherish and never part withal without difficulty and some sort of inward displeasure because they desire the Worldly Spirit that is in them should not be left without all excuse but have something to say for it self when it is pressed by the force of Religion against its inclinations Search and try your selves by this mark and the Lord give you a right judgment in all things for Jesus Christ his sake In whom I remain Your Faithful Servant S. Patrick Discourse I. THE NECESSITY OF Receiving THE Holy Communion THE neglect of the Holy Communion of Christ's Body and Blood was so general and so long continued in the late distracted times being laid aside in man whole Parishes of this Kingdom for near twenty years together that in some Ages of the Church it would have been interpreted a downright Apostasie from Christ and a renunciation of the Christian Faith And though blessed be God since the Happy Restauration of his Majesty to his Throne and the settlement of the Church upon its ancient foundations it hath not been so generally neglected yet it is not so much frequented as it ought to be No not upon such great and solemn dayes as this when we are assembled to commemorate that stupendous Grace which our Lord purchased for us by his pretious Blood and bestowed upon his Church in sending the Holy Ghost the Comforter to be a Witness of his Resurrection and Exaltation at God's right hand and to confirm us in the belief of all that he hath taught and appointed in his Church For we content our selves only with the Common Prayers and I wish I could say that they are duly attended and with the Sermon and then turn our backs on that part of the Divine Service which is properly Christian and consequently is above all other most acceptable unto Christ and unto his Holy Spirit Which I shall therefore at this time press upon your Consciences as a means to revive that ancient Devotion wherewith such Festivals as this was kept which now alas is wanting among us And I shall do it from those words of St. Paul 1 Cor. xi 26. wherein he recommends this duty unto us upon this particular account that as oft as we eat this Bread and drink this Cup we do show the Lords Death till he come In which words it is easy to observe these three practical truths The two first whereof are plainly supposed and the other is affirmed and enjoined I. The first thing here supposed is that it is a Christian Duty to eat this Bread and drink this Cup here spoken of that is to receive the Holy Sacrament of Christs Body and Blood II. The second is that it is a Christian Duty which ought to be often performed And then III. It is here plainly asserted that when it is performed the thing designed in it and which we ought to aim at is to show the Lord's Death till he come The last of these will be sufficiently explained in the handling of the other two viz. the Duty and the Frequent repetition of it unto which I shall confine my Discourse And of the first at this time I. THat it is a Christian Duty incumbent upon every one of us to eat this Bread and drink this Cup that is to receive the Sacrament of Christs Body and Blood This is supposed in the words Which are not to be understood as a mere permission that we may do this if we think good and when we think good but as a command of something we ought to do For when he tells us what it is we do when we eat this Bread and drink this Cup in which we show forth Christs Death it plainly implies that it must be done and is not left to our choice whether we will show forth the Death of our Lord or no. Of which more anon when I have laid some other things before you which will convince you if they be considered of the Obligation that lies upon you to the serious performance of this Duty And for our clear and orderly proceeding I shall cast my Discourse into this method I. First I shall show you that there is a plain institution of this Sacrament and a command that it should be received And then II. Secondly I shall show from the practice of the Apostles after â—hat time when they first received it with our Saviour that it was no temporary command but of Everlasting Obligation III. Thirdly That there is more â—han their practice to interpret the meaning and obligation of this command IV. Fourthly That in this Discourse of St. Paul to the Corinthians there are evident proofs of the necessity of its performance V. Fifthly That the very Text shows the same by the end for which it was instituted VI. Lastly That all these reasons are exemplified by the practice of the Universal Church of Christ I. And first let it be considered that this Holy Sacrament is a Divine Institution Ordained Commanded and required by Christ Himself Who the same night that he was betrayed took Bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to his Disciples and said Take eat this is my Body And he took the Cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it For this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins Matth. xxvi 26 27 28. Here is as manifest an Institution of this Sacrament and as formal a Command to take and eat and drink what Christ then gave as can be contrived in words Unless they be plainer which we read in other places for the Institution is recorded by the two next Evangelists St. Mark and St. Luke and here again in this Chapter by St. Paul Which two last named say that our Saviour added these words in the Institution of this Sacrament This do in remembrance of me Luk. xxii 19. 1 Cor. xi 24 25. Which enjoin this duty by as express a Command as those of old Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy And Honour thy Father and thy Mother Which may henceforth be blotted out of the number of the Commandments if we take this to
it I beseech you again and again If willful sins do not actually damn being continued in let us know for what sins they are for which men are damned or do you think there is any such thing as damnation at all Certainly if there be damnation it is for wilful sins and if there be wilful sins they are sins deliberately committed against a known Law and if there be any known Law among Christians this is one that they ought to receive this holy Sacrament in remembrance of their Lord and Masters Death for them and therefore the constant the affected the upbraided the reproved and yet not reformed omission of this duty is most certainly a deliberate nay a presumptuous omission of it or else there is no such thing as presumption in the World What will you think then of your selves I ask again if from time to time from month to month nay from year to year you wilfully neglect a plain an evident an undoubted Precept of our blessed Lord and Saviour a Precept commanding us to commemorate his Death to represent his Passion to admire his Love to praise his Kindness to partake of his Graces to share with him in his Comforts to knit our selves faster to him in holy Obedience and to rejoice in hope of feasting with him and all the Company of the blessed in his Heavenly Kingdom If you have not been hitherto convinced of this duty your sin is the less and may in some measure admit of an excuse But if being now convinced you stand out and still neglect the performance of it then can you not in any wise have the least excuse for your wilful disobedience And if you be not now convinced by these things which have been represented to your minds I must say it is because you wilfully refuse because you will not receive conviction And this wilful refusal to be convinced this shutting your Eyes against the clear light wherein this duty is shown to you is still another wilful sin added to the presumptuous neglect of the holy Communion II. Satisfy your selves about what I have now proposed determine what is like to become of you if you continue in a wilful sin as the neglect of the holy Communion most certainly is when the will of Christ in an express Law commanding it is made known to you and pressed upon you and then I may be the less earnest in beseeching you to remain no longer under this heavy guilt For how can you with your Eyes open run your selves into Eternal Damnation what need is there that I should beseech you not to throw your selves headlong into the Fire that never shall be extinguished It is sufficient to intreat you once more to consider what hath been said to believe it and to keep it in mind and then you will make an amends for former neglects by a more careful and zealous performance of this duty in time to come Especially if you consider how by neglecting this duty you neglect all those invaluable blessings which are represented offered and communicated to us in the right performance thereof This is the only Argument whereby I shall further urge you but I will press it in a few particulars I. And first there is nothing wherein all Christians do more universally agree than this that God in giving his Son to die for us demonstrated the greatest love that was ever shown to mankind Which incomparable love we all agree likewise is represented expressed and recommended to us in the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ And can we think fit then to neglect this holy Communion For do we not therein neglect and undervalue that wonderful love which in the holy Communion is most effectually represented laid before us and exhibited unto us Is the love of God so inconsiderable a thing as to be slighted and passed by with careless neglect Is the Death of Christ wherein that love appeared so small a thing as to be forgotten or seldom thought of and that although he hath instituted a Sacrament on purpose for its Commemoration And do we not forget and slight it when we regard not that Institution and make no such Commemoration I know how loth men are to yield to these convictions and how desirous they are to support themselves in a belief that they neither undervalue that love nor forget this Death though they do not attend at the Table of the Lord. For they remember both they say in their own private thoughts and give God thanks for his inestimable love in giving Christ to die for them But suppose they say true that they have such a sense of God and of our blessed Saviour as not altogether to let them slip out of their minds nor wholly forget their benefits yet let them weigh this seriously that where a known divine institution appointed on purpose for the Commemoration of Christs Death and of Gods love therein manifested is neglected it must be confessed that the same love of God and death of Christ is in a very sinful degree undervalued and forgotten For no Friend will think himself remembred by him who lays aside that very thing which he left him and solemnly desired him to wear in token of his remembrance Let such men consider also that they stand bound not only to remember or call to mind Christs Death privately but openly to make that solemn and publick Commemoration of it which is commanded by our blessed Lord. And in like manner it is not sufficient to have a value of Gods love but we ought to show our esteem of it in the practice of that Institution wherein that love is signally represented to us In brief we deceive our selves if we imagine we remember Gods love in the Death of Christ as we ought to do while we do not express and show our remembrance by that sign and token which he hath appointed as a Testimony thereof If we do it not in this way He will look upon us as forgetful of him and of his love II. And by forgetting that it is not to be conceived how much mischief we do to our selves and others For we are all agreed that the consequence which St. John draws from what hath been now said is good and strong Beloved if God so loved us we ought also to love one another 1 Joh. iv 11. Which mutual love the Apostle presses by such Arguments in that Epistle as demonstrate a man hath nothing of God in him who wants this grace which contains at least one half of the duty of a Christian Do we not need then to have this love inkindled or rather inflamed nourished and increased in us by all means And is there any means so effectual as the consideration the solemn consideration how the great God hath loved us though utterly unworthy of his love nay deserving his heaviest displeasure And where is this represented so lively to us as in the holy Communion Which Christ hath also appointed on
then all men living for ought we know must be unfit If they be sins of wilfulness then you do in these very words confess that they may be reformed For wilful sins in the judgment of all mankind are such as by care and diligence and watchfulness over our selves may be avoided As wilful Drunkenness is not being intoxicated with some liquor of whose strength we were ignorant but losing the Government of our selves when we were aware of the danger and could have prevented it 4. But this in effect hath been said already and therefore to bring this matter to a speedy issue let such as say they have no power to prepare themselves for the Communion by amending their lives consider that every man hath power to do what he can do To say otherways is a contradiction for it is to say he cannot do what he can Now do what you can and I will undertake God shall not charge you with what you cannot But if you do not what you are able you will be charged both with that and with the guilt of not doing that unto which in time you might have been enabled For God hath promised that they who seek shall find that he will open to them that knock and graciously answer them that call upon him faithfully Why then do you not address your self to the doing that which you certainly can do for instance call upon God and earnestly importune him for the help of his grace which is a thing you can do for in so doing God will not be wanting to you but inable you to that which for the present it may not be in your power to do 5. Unto which lastly let this be added which is of great moment You that say you cannot prepare your selves for the holy Communion have you ever tried have you gone about the work and made a serious and hearty attempt towards the reformation of your selves If you have not how come you to be so bold as to say you cannot do that which you have not yet tried and indeavoured to do what a prevarication is this with God and your own Consciences though I doubt this is the case of most of those men who plead inability when they never in good earnest made an experiment what might be done in the use of such means as God hath appointed and are in our power to use But if you have tried and miscarried why did you not try again and after that again and again and that with greater diligence and care than before For this you could have done and why should it be judged reasonable in our Worldly affairs to attempt over and over again the same thing wherein we have failed at the first in hope of better success at last and not be thought fit nay why should we not be willing to use the same repeated diligence notwithstanding such like discouragement in the weighty concernments of our Souls And since we find by experience we can do the one for we do it we ought to conclude that we can if we set our selves to it do the other For a Soul can do more for it self than for any thing else if it will but consider what a valuable being it is and where its true interest lies in the love and favour of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the first answer to the pretence of unfitness And what was last said may serve for an answer also to those that complain of hardness of heart and want of affection in the performance of this holy duty Let them do it as well as they are able and they will find acceptance with God and grow more affected with his love And for an Answer to those also that say they are never the better for coming to this Sacrament It is certain they were something the better by their very coming thither if they did not come without a resolution of amendment for that resolution was a good thing and the work of Gods grace Which though they did not keep they should not thereby have been discouraged from coming again but rather have renewed it which had been still a better thing And they ought not to have given over the attempt upon a new miscarriage but still laboured and indeavoured to settle this resolution so stedfastly by constant renewals of their Covenant with Christ that at last it might have stood unmoveable in all those temptations which were wont to overthrow it This is the way of Christ not to sit down contented with complaints of our unfitness to have Communion with him but never to rest satisfied till by our earnest and repeated indeavours we be better disposed II. And there is this great reason to inforce such indeavours which these complainers would do well to lay to heart that if they be unfit for this holy duty of Commemorating the Death of Christ and receiving the tokens and pledges of his love they have no cause to think themselves fit for other holy duties which are confessed by all to be of daily use viz. for Prayer for Thanksgiving and praising God Which duties if men be not fit to perform they ought to look upon themselves as not fit to live in the World or to go out of it but if they be not unfit for these then how can they say they are unfit for this since our part in the holy Communion is wholly performed by devout Prayer and Praise and Thanksgiving with such Faith and Love and holy resolutions as ought always to accompany those holy actions And our part being thus performed what reason have we to think that God will not perform his by accounting us worthy to receive those blessings which he there imparts For he is always more ready to give than we are to receive and we are not unmeet to receive when we are thus disposed to ask To this purpose you may remember I alledged St. Chrysostoms words in my former Discourse Art thou not worthy to partake of the Sacrifice then art thou not worthy neither to pray but thou oughtest to depart when the Deacon cries Be gone all you that are in penance c. For the holy Communion is a special way of praying and making Supplication to God through Christ Jesus for which they cannot be unfit who are fit to pray to God in his name at all No I am apt to think that many men who pretend this do not really think themselves unfit but use it only as a shift to excuse themselves from the performance of their duty For should the Minister of God upon this score keep those from the Communion who now keep themselves from it saying to them as of old Be gone you are not fit to partake with us they would take it very hainously at his hands and be apt to reply We are as fit as many whom you admit to partake with you you do us an injury in thrusting us away from the Table of the Lord where we see those
of his Christian duty as much as hearing the Sermons of the Apostles and Prayers I am loth to spend the time in going about to prove against vain Cavillers that by breaking of bread is here meant this holy action of receiving the Communion and not their bare eating together But to give full satisfaction in that matter let it be briefly considered First that breaking of Bread is here placed in the midst between other holy actions preaching fellowship or communicating to one anothers necessities and prayers and therefore in all reason must be concluded to be it self of that nature not a common but an holy action And besides secondly their eating at a common Table if it be at all mentioned in this Chapter Acts ii under the phrase of breaking bread is spoken of v. 46. and therefore not intended here No nor there neither I shall show hereafter for even in those words also they continued daily with one accord in the Temple and breaking bread from house to house or at home c. the breaking of bread belongs to the holy Communion And to put all out of doubt thus the Syriack an ancient Translation understands it expresly turning it thus in the Eucharist As it doth also Act. xx 7. Vpon the first day of the week when the Disciples came together to break bread Paul preached unto them c. that is when they came to receive the Eucharist saith that Translation which was a part of their Lords days work nay the principal part for this was the thing for which the Disciples came together and not merely to hear the Apostle preach And who can give any reason why it should not be so now as it was then when in familiar speech it was as usual with them to say they would go to Church to receive the holy Communion as it is with us to say in these days we will go to Church to Prayers or to hear a Sermon III. But more than this not only the practice of the Apostles and first Believers after they were divinely inlightned by the Holy Ghost expounds the meaning and the obligation of this Precept to be perpetual but Christ himself showed it so to be after he went to Heaven and was exalted at Gods right hand For appearing to St. Paul to make him one of his Apostles and in order to it revealing himself and the whole Christian Religion to him which he gave him commission and authority to preach He declared this to be a part of his Will and a piece of his holy Religion For I have received of the Lord saith he in this Chapter v. 23 24. c. that which I also delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus the same night he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he brake it and said Take eat this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me After the same manner also he took the Cup saying This is the New Testament c. Observe here an evident proof that what our Lord did with his Apostles at his last Supper he intended should be done by them and by others when he was gone For sending one who was not then with him nor had any knowledge of him while he was on Earth to preach his Gospel he gives him particular instructions about this matter to take care to see this done in remembrance of him So St. Paul who was the man to whom he appeared and gave a special Commission after he went to Heaven avows to the Corinthians in this place telling them that he delivered nothing to them but what he had received of the Lord and what he delivered to them was this that they should do what the Lord Jesus had done with his Apostles in remembrance of him This he received from him that is it was of the Lords Institution and to be practised by his order and special command and therefore called the Lord's Supper v. 20. When ye come together into one place this is not to eat the Lord's Supper Where it is called the Lord's Supper not because it was eaten by the Lord with his Apostles for at that Supper the Corinthians were not present nor was that now done in this place where they came together but because it was instituted by the Lord both then when he eat that Supper with his Apostles and now again when he appeared to St. Paul and required him to see this practised in the Churches which he converted And accordingly was now practised in this Church at Corinth to whom this Discourse of St. Paul is directed IV. In which we find many things more to prove this to be a necessary Christian Duty which was the fourth head mentioned in the beginning I shall single out two which will make it evidently appear to all unprejudiced minds I. The first is very remarkable that the Apostle takes a great deal of pains and spends a great deal of time in showing the manner how the holy Communion ought to be celebrated among them Which he would not have done if this had not been a necessary duty incumbent on them by vertue of Christs Command and a Divine Institution Do but consider this I beseech you and be at the pains to ponder at your leisure how serious earnest and laborious the Apostle is here in this eleventh Chapter of his Epistle to make the Corinthians sensible by a long Discourse about it after what manner they ought to approach to the Table of the Lord reproving their scandalous behaviour at the Communion directing them how to reform it and make a due preparation to receive the benefit thereof And then tell me or rather tell your selves was there any cause for a reasonable man to write so much to show how and after what manner the thing should be done if the very doing of the thing had not been necessary and under the obligation of a Command Can the manner and way of doing an action be matter of duty and yet that action it self be no duty at all Or can a man of common sense be very solicitous in giving directions how men should order themselves in a place and about a business into which they may never come but let it alone Can the Apostle be supposed to say so and so you ought to eat this Bread and drink this Cup and yet there be no command tying them to eat it and drink it at all And so and so you ought to prepare your selves to partake of Christs Body and Blood and yet after that preparation they might chuse whether they would do the thing for which they were to be prepared Surely we cannot imagine the Apostle to have had so much idle time to spare nay to be so impertinent as to busy himself in ordering the circumstances of an holy action if the action it self had not been a necessary nay a very weighty duty and of exceeding great moment which therefore he was highly concerned and took due care
should be duly performed II. To which add this consideration that had not this been a divine Institution and the practice according to it a duty incumbent on them it is not to be conceived that the Apostle would have suffered the Corinthians to have run so great a hazard as they did by the rude manner of doing that action if they might innocently have omitted it and without any guilt not have done it at all Nor would the Corinthians themselves have been so unreasonably cruel to their own Souls as to have incurred the dreadful danger of Damnation and Death by an unprepared participation of this Sacrament if they could have satisfied themselves that it was no duty to participate or not of such consequence but that it might with safety be let alone He that eateth and drinketh unworthily saith the Apostle eateth and drinketh damnation to himself and for this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep That is the divine judgment being passed against you hath seized on you and struck many of you with sicknesses others with infirmities aches and pains and some with Death for your riotous eating of the Supper of the Lord. Doth it not concern you then unless you be content to lie still under this scourge of God till you be all cut off to be better advised and not expose your selves in this manner to the wrath of God which it is plain by terrible Executions is more than kindled against you Now unto what course doth he direct them that they might avoid these Judgments Doth he advise them to abstain from the Holy Communion for fear of prophaning it to forbear to come to the Table of the Lord lest there he stretcht out his hand against them and gave them their Deaths wound This had been the shortest and the safest way according to the ignorant resolutions men make in this present Age to prevent the danger of Damnation unto which the Apostle no doubt would have charitably directed them if he had not known that the thing it self was a duty and such abstinence from it a sin He could not otherways have refrained when he beheld the Sword of Divine Vengeance thus hanging over their Heads and many already lie bleeding under it being strucken down to the ground by Sicknesses Plagues and Death he could not I say in this lamentable case have abstained from calling to them with the greatest earnestness and compassion saying why do you thus venture your Souls and Bodies to destruction Why do you not rather stay away and wholly forbear to approach to the Table of the Lord where you are in danger to be undone for your unworthy receiving the sacred pledges of Gods love But we hear no such language because the Apostle had not thus learnt Christ nor thus received of the Lord. Who commanded and expected that they should not abstain from the Sacrament as the manner now is but come to it net rudely indeed as they did but in an holy decent and prepared manner Which it had been in vain to discourse of if it would have been as well or would have sufficed to abstain from the act of receiving This was an invention not thought of in those early dayes when they took themselves not to be Christians if they did not frequent the Holy Communion as St. Paul proves they were not good Christians if they did not take care to come in an holy manner unto it That 's the thing to which he presses them and the only way he knew of to avoid Damnation Abstaining from the Communion would not secure them but let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup ver 28. Not to eat and drink of that holy food he could not give them a licence He had no such authority but lay under an obligation to enjoin the doing of the thing and to press it earnestly as a duty that could neither be safely omitted nor practised without serious Examination of themselves that they might not come together to condemnation v. 34. To come together for this purpose to eat and drink that Bread and that Cup there was a necessity their only care was that it might not be to condemnation Which things being well considered do convincingly demonstrate that this is not only a duty but a weighty duty strictly enjoined and not to be omitted no not in that Church where the profane doing of it had brought down Death and destruction upon them from Heaven V. The same is evident from the end for which our Lord instituted this Sacrament and commanded us to receive it which is the publication of the Lords Death till he come That 's the meaning of this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye do show you do publish the word signifies and tell it abroad you profess this and declare it to all the World that Christ died for you and is Lord over you having purchased you by his blood and that you own him so to be and are the Servants and Worshippers of that Jesus who gave himself to be Crucified and to die for you This is the general meaning of this holy action Wherein we publickly own Christ and profess his Religion and give it out to all the World who see what we do that we are his and that we are sensible of it nay glory in it and intend to continue his for ever Now who can have the confidence to call himself a Christian and not think he stands bound thus to own Christ Crucified And therefore he is bound to do that whereby he doth own him which is to receive the holy Sacrament Which as often as we do we show forth the Lords Death and as often as we neglect we do as good as say we are ashamed of him and of his Cross or that we repent of our Christian Profession For if to do this be to show forth Christs Death then not to do it is to stifle and smother it as much as in us lies so that no such thing as the Death of our Lord should be published or known in the World This I am sure is a true consequence and our neglect of this duty will be thus interpreted by our blessed Lord when he shall come to take cognizance of it Why will some say we testify the contrary every time we say the Creed when we make an open and solemn confession of our Faith in him But let such persons observe how they argue in this against themselves For our Lord in whom they profess to believe requires that we should not merely in words though never so express but in plain actions also represent his Death and Passion for our sakes and thereby our high obligations to him That 's the Doctrine of the Apostle in this place For to what end do you break the Bread but to show the breaking i. e. the wounding and crucifixion of the Lords Body And to what end do you pour out the
Wine but to represent the shedding of the Lords Blood by those wounds he received for our sake And for what end do you eat that Bread and drink that Cup but to shew that we are made one with him and have Communion with him in his Death and Sufferings This is the general end of this Sacrament gratefully to commemorate the Death of Christ to show express declare and publish his Death for us and our interest in it in plain and significant actions Which not being performed in obedience to his Command the Faith which we profess in him doth but condemn us of shameful infidelity to him As for the particular ends of it they are as many as the uses are which we can make of his Death and Passion Wherein whatsoever love God the Father showed unto us in giving his dearly beloved Son to die for us whatsoever kindness God the Son expressed in offering himself freely unto the Death and making himself a Sacrifice for our sins and whatsoever confirmation God the Holy Ghost hath since given us of this love and this kindness it is all here commemorated Whatsoever worship honour and service is due to our ever blessed Redeemer and most bountiful Benefactor it is all here acknowledged and after a most peculiar manner and with a special respect to him performed Whatsoever strength we can derive from our Feasting with Christ upon his Sacrifice and from the oblation we make of our selves Souls and Bodies unto him with most powerful Prayers and Thanksgivings whatsoever comfort we can enjoy in Communion with God and in Communion with his Church whatsoever Peace we can have in renewing our Covenant of Friendship with him in remission of sins in receiving the power of the Holy Ghost in the hopes of eternal life in all holy intercourses between Heaven and us all this is to be expected and may be obtained in the Celebration of this Holy Sacrament And therefore as this one thing the Annunciation or publishing of Christs Death and our relation to him is the general end and these comforts these establishments in Faith and Hope and love and obedience are the particular ends of this Institution So all these lay a strong obligation upon us duly to observe it unless we be content to renounce our interest in Christ who hath made this the most solemn badg and authentick mark of our Christianity and the great means of conveying to us the benefits of his Death and Passion as well as a pledge to assure us thereof And this one argument alone taken from the end of its Institution is sufficient to convince us that this Sacrament was intended by Christ to be continued in his Church till he come as my Text speaks that is till his last coming to judge the World for till then it will be useful nay necessary for all these holy ends which I have briefly named And whosoever he be that hopes for mercy at that dreadful day without the careful performance of this duty is a presumptuous person and vainly expects it because he lives in the neglect of the very best way of preparing himself for that great account which must then be made of all our actions VI. But now let us suppose that the words of the Institution had been so ambiguous that they might possibly if we had had no further explication of them have been thought to be limited to that particular feast which Christ did eat with his Disciples and extended no further yet the practice of the Apostles and the practice of the Church in the Apostolical times and in all succeeding times ever since which are the best Interpreters of the Scriptures do expound the words to be a lasting Institution and an Institution of such moment that it ought to be most punctually observed And did not Christs own Apostles think you understand their Masters meaning when he instituted this Sacrament Or if they had not understood him then would they not afterward have understood him when the spirit was so plentifully poured out upon them that they discovered the greatest secrets even the thoughts and designs of mens hearts Hath the universal Church in and after those times and during all Ages since lived in an error and taken up an unnecessary practice or made too much stir about it and been too busy and officious in it Was there not in this very Church of Corinth as the Apostle shows in the next Chapter a miraculous abundance of miraculous gifts the spirit of wisdom the spirit of knowledge the spirit of faith the gifts of healing of working miracles of prophesying of discerning spirits of divers kind of tongues of interpretation of tongues And could not all those gifts all those spiritual powers and supernatural assistances inable them to understand the words of Christs Institution Was not that indeed the true Age of the Spirit Were they not infinitely more inlightned than any can pretend to be now or hope to be hereafter And could they not discover by their illuminations if it had been true that which some vain Enthusiasts dream of that where there was such plenty of the Spirit there was no need of such outward Ordinances as the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Could they not see this so clearly and be so sensible of it as that they should not have been so much concerned as they were about the practice of this duty in that Church if there was no need of it or our Saviour never intended it should be of much moment Nay as that they should not have with such danger to themselves as I noted before have repeated it in their Church if our Saviour never intended any such repetition Surely these things carry such evidence in them that to add more light in so clear a case would be as we say to hold a Candle to the Sun And therefore I shall here make an end of my proofs supposing I have said rather too much than too little in this argument and that you stand fully convinced the Celebration of this holy Communion is not only of divine Institution to be used by the Church in all Ages but must of necessity be duly practised by us if we hope to be saved And if that be true hearken then I beseech you what follows thereupon I. What shall we then think of those who live in the constant neglect of it Suffer me to propose this single plain question to you Whether the willful continuance in any known sin be not a damnable State A state of direct opposition to our Saviour and consequently a state wherein there is no Salvation Can this be denied and it is as undeniable that a constant neglect of a known Precept of Christ a Precept so universally owned so universally practised as you have heard in the Church of God is a wilful sin What is it else or what can make a sin willful but acting against a clear knowledge and conviction and means and opportunities of doing otherways Consider of
Flesh and of the World beyond the power of any means that we know of to rescue them from destruction But I hope better things of those who duly attend to what hath been said and that all those who have not now prepared themselves for this Holy Duty of showing forth the Lords Death whereby he purchased among other blessings the great gift of the Holy Ghost which it would have been most proper on this day to have most solemnly acknowledged will speedily set themselves about it and be ready against the next opportunity that is against the next Sunday or at least the next after that and so for the time to come be careful to perform this duty as oft as the Christian Religion requires Which I shall demonstrate in the next Discourse is much oftner than men imagine The end of the first Discourse Discourse II. THE FREQUENCY OF Holy Communion HAving demonstrated in the foregoing Discourse that it is a duty indispensably lying upon all Christians to receive the holy Sacrament of Christs Body and Blood a duty of great weight and importance for the neglect of which I do not see how we can atone by the performance of any other duty whatsoever I proceed to show that it is a duty which ought to be frequently repeated for as oft as ye eat this Bread saith the Apostle and drink this Cup ye do show the Lords Death till he come Which plainly insinuates that they did this often and that it was their duty so to do shall be the subject of this present Discourse And here now in the very entrance of it I must acknowledge that we are not told either in this place of Scripture or any other how often we ought to Communicate or how frequently the Church ought to make this Commemoration of Christs Death and Passion for our sake Of which observation men now make a very bad and preposterous use For finding that our Lord hath only said This do in remembrance of me but no where said when at what time or times it is to be done they imagine that they satisfy his will if they do not wholly withdraw themselves from his Table though they come never so seldom thither And truly by this sort of reasoning that because we are no where told how often we should do this we need only take care to do it sometime or other it may be thought sufficient if we do it but once in our whole life And so dangerous are such conceits which men frame to themselves from such Observations that vast numbers though otherwise not wicked live in a constant neglect of this Duty till they come to die and then upon their Death-Beds calling for this Sacrament and receiving it they think they have fulfilled the will of our Lord in doing this as he hath commanded because though he hath commanded it to be done he hath no where commanded when or how oft it should be done From whence we may certainly conclude that this is a false consequence which men draw from the silence of the holy Scriptures in this matter because it is so dangerous and pernitious that in a manner it quite destroys our Religion by taking away this part of it which is the principal and making it unnecessary as long as a man lives so he be but sure to receive when he is at the point of Death Of that indeed no man can be assured but supposing he doth receive the Communion at the very last gasp he is thus far safe and not guilty of the breach of this Commandment if this consequence be true that because our Saviour hath no where appointed the time or said how frequently we should do this in remembrance of him we do comply with his Institution provided we do it sometime or other Now to destroy this false notion from whence such absurdities flow I shall in the first place show you that the quite contrary naturally and necessarily follows from this observation of our Saviours appointing no time for the performance of that which he required to be done in remembrance of him From whence mens wicked hearts draw this conclusion as I have said that it may suffice to do this now and then though never so seldom I. But the true the genuine and honest conclusion which follows from thence is this that our Lord having named no fixed setled time or times for the performance of this holy action it is an argument that he designed and appointed it as a constant common and ordinary part of the Christian Service which he would have performed in his Church at all times Let those words of Christ this do in remembrance of me be well weighed and there is no man can infer less from thence than that if he had intended this should be done only at some such great and solemn times as the Passover was among the Jews when he first instituted this Feast and eat it with his Disciples he would not have suffered us to be ignorant of his meaning but told us in plain terms that upon some certain days and at some extraordinary Assemblies this should not be forgotten But that he having named no time whatsoever we ought to look upon his words as instituting this holy action to be a part of that Worship Honour and Service which he expected from his people in all their Religious Assemblies For being ordained in remembrance of him it is most reasonable to think he intended this Commemoration should be as constantly made as they met together to acknowledge him for their Lord and Saviour and only Mediator with God the Father And being a Commemoration ordained instead of all the Sacrifices whereby under the Law they daily implored the mercies of God or gave thanks for them it ought in all Conscience to be as continual a rite of Religious Worship as those Sacrifices were And thus when men had upright hearts and unbiassed affections they did honestly understand our Saviours meaning and accordingly made this a constant part of their Divine Service Which is the next thing I would desire you to observe For I would not have you to rely merely on my reasonings and inferences though I verily think this would appear a true way of arguing and a right conclusion unto any unprejudiced mind if we had no more to justify it but as a further evidence of this nay as a full conviction that we ought so to take it I beseech you seriously to consider that II. Thus the Apostles and the first Christians understood the meaning of our blessed Saviour in this Institution And can we have any better Expositors of his words any surer directors of our practice than such great Servants of his who were filled with the Holy Ghost Who never met together to worship God and our Saviour but this was a part and a principal part too of the service they performed in those Assemblies If I can make this good the other will follow for there can no other
and one Soul that they never celebrated the Communion as we learn from Justin Martyr his first Apology but they sent it to those Believers who were absent particularly to those whose bodily infirmities kept them from the publick Assemblies that they might have Communion with the Church and it might appear by their partaking of the same Bread that they were one Body with those who were present And here let me briefly tell you that this Rubrick or Rule ought in reason to be the rather observed as it will hereafter in this and other Cathedrals that the people who live near or come upon occasion thither may have frequent opportunity to Communicate with the Mother Church Where anciently Christians were very desirous to receive this holy Sacrament as oft as they could that they might testify there was but Vnum Altare one Altar as they called it one Christian Society and Communion unto which they all belonged and with whom they were in Union Particular Parishes in the Diocess being not distinct Churches but parts and Members of one Church which is the Mother Church from whence they all in ancient time did originally spring For so we find in the Monuments of the Church that a Bishop and his Clergy having made Conversions in some considerable part of a Country there they seated themselves and from thence spread the Gospel into neighbour places who all lookt upon themselves afterward as depending upon that one prime place as a stream upon a Fountain which they owned by communicating there with the Bishop and his Clergy as oft as it was possible for them so to do Thus it is apparent by the History of the Acts of the holy Apostles that the very first Preachers of Religion began in Cities and afterward carrying the glad tidings of the Gospel into the adjacent Towns and Villages those Towns and Villages lookt upon themselves as but one Church with that City and thither repaired as oft as they could to testify their unity therewith Especially at the high Festivals when anciently there was such a multitude came to receive that in some places the Church could not contain them So we learn from a Letter of Leo the First Bishop of Rome to Dioscorus Bishop of Alexandria in the Fifth Century where he advises him that when any great Festival makes the Assembly more numerous and there meets together so great a Company of Believers that one Church cannot contain them there is no question but the oblation of the Sacrifice must be renewed when the first company is gone and the Church is filled again with the presence of a new Assembly Epist 81. And St. Austin tells us in the famous Epistle before-named that the Thursday before Easter the numbers of the people were so great in some places that the Sacrament was celebrated both Morning and Evening whereas on that day the custom was to celebrate it only in the Evening Which as it shows the wonderful decay of Devotion among us in comparison with ancient times so reproves that grand error which is now crept in among us even among well-disposed people in many such places as this Where the people imagine that if they Communicate in the Parish Churches of the City where they live they need take no notice at all of the Cathedral there No they rather indeavour and sometimes with a factious kind of zeal to advance the credit of their Parish Churches in opposition to that great Church from which they all flowed and on which they still depend This is quite out of the way of ancient Religion which taught men to bear the greatest regard to the Mother Church where the Principal Pastor of their Souls was seated and thence called the Cathedral and to desire with him immediately to communicate as oft as they had opportunity or could conveniently For to do otherwise was in effect to throw off all respect to him or very much to neglect him and his See and was lookt upon as the principle and beginning of Schism by breaking the unity of the Church and in time led men to that pestilent fancy which now very much prevails that every Parish Church in the Diocess is a distinct Church which hath all power within it self VI. We therefore who are Priests and Deacons placed in a Cathedral should above all others be willing nay desirous to comply with the Order of our Church now recited and not easily admit of any cause as a reasonable excuse for our forbearance For let me further acquaint you that after the people contented themselves with receiving every Sunday at least still the Priests and the Deacons and such as were not intangled in secular business continued the ancient custom of receiving the Communion every day This we learn from Micrologus and Walfridus Strabo before-mentioned and the old Book of Divine Offices in Cassander and from Rhegino who lived not much above seven hundred years ago In whose Book of Ecclesiastical Discipline we find this memorable record that if any Priest or Deacon or Sub-Deacon or any other of the Clergy being in a City or a place where there was a Church did not come to the daily Sacrifice he should not any longer be accounted a Clergyman if upon reprehension he did not amend And can we think it unreasonable then to be tied unto less which is to attend upon this Sacrifice as it may be truly called in many respects every Lords Day at the least We should rather think it an honour and high priviledge that we may wait upon him so oft at his Altar and look upon our selves as bound to do him honour who hath so highly honoured us by restoring this Commemoration of him in his Church as near as we can to its primitive perfection VII And as a motive to it let me now proceed to tell you that when Christian People grew less frequent in receiving the holy Communion this neglect was attended with a great decay of holyness and good manners As when they grew less devout they grew more negligent in this holy duty so this negligence produced great sloth and carelessness in all the other duties of a Christian Life For becoming less sensible of their obligations to their Lord and Master Christ who bad them thus remember him they became unmindful of the rest of his Commands by forgetting this which was intended for the making of a perpetual Sacrifice of their Souls and Bodies to him As we may be convinced by observing what a wide difference there is between the first Christians and us in these dayes that is between them who had Christ continually in their thoughts and us who seldom remember him Then their thoughts were in a manner wholly imployed in contriving how to get to Heaven and now all our thoughts are how to get as much as we can in this present uncertain World Then they had but one Soul in the whole body of Christians and we are so many men so many minds Then they would
Custom or rather O the power of Presumption The daily Sacrifice is in vain we stand at the Altar to no purpose there is no body to partake with us but then at Easter abundance of Company by all means will croud in upon us though as unworthy as at any other time I do not speak this that you should receive without any more ado but that you would prepare your selves to receive worthily oftner than you do considering if thou art unworthy of the Sacrifice if thou art unworthy to partake how art thou worthy to pray with us Thou hearest the publick Officer making Proclamation All ye that are under penance depart They then that do not partake are under penance If thou art one of those thou oughtest not to partake for he that partaketh not is in the number of the Penitents To what purpose doth he proclaim depart all ye that cannot pray viz. with the faithful and yet thou impudently stayest and dost not depart But thou art none of those and therefore thou dost not depart That is thou are in the number of those that may receive and art invited to it and yet thou regardest it not thou makest no account of this matter Mind I beseech you There is a Royal Table spread the Angels minister there the King himself is present and thou standest gaping carelesly refusing to partake with him What a shame is this Dost thou appear there in filthy Garments and art nothing concerned about it No thy raiment is pure why then dost thou not approach and partake How comest thou to be here if that be not thy business For all that are in their sins are first thrust out and therefore thou that stayest ought to partake of the mysteries or else thou art impudent and wicked too Had it not been better if a man invited to feast with a great person had not appeared than to come and not to touch a bit of the meat Even so it is with thee thou art come to this holy Banquet thou hast sung the Hymn with all the rest by this very thing thou professest thy self in the number of the worthy in that thou didst not depart with the unworthy how comes it to pass then that when thou stayest thou dost not partake of the Lords Table I am unworthy thou sayest Then I say again thou art unworthy of that Communion which is in the Prayers For not only for the holy mysteries but for the Prayers also and for the Hymns the Spirit descends always A great deal more saith he might be added as indeed he doth say much more which I have omitted but that I may not burden your minds this may suffice And they that are not reclaimed and brought to a better mind by what hath been said will not be mended though we should say never so much And these things are said by us But O that he who pierces the heart he that gives the spirit of compunction would vouchsafe to prick every one of our hearts That these things may be deeply ingrafted there and in his fear sprout and bring forth fruit so that with all confidence and freedom we may approach unto him and it may be said as it is in the Psalms though to a different sense Thy Children are like Olive Branches round about thy Table The end of the second Discourse Discourse III. A RESOLUTION OF DOUBTS About Receiving the Holy Communion THE Necessity of this Holy Duty the high Obligations we have unto it and the reasons why it ought to be frequently performed by Christian People have been so fully and so plainly laid before you in the two preceding Discourses that I cannot but think all that will take the pains to consider them must be convinced both of the one and of the other of the duty and of the repetition of it frequently For I have shown that it is a part of the daily service which Christ appointed in his Church a principal part of that service whereby we maintain our Communion with him and with his benefits and therefore cannot be neglected as now it generally is without the greatest offence to him and as great dishonour to our holy Religion Which I have demonstrated hath been many wayes corrupted and depraved by the lamentable carelessness of Christian People in this great office of it Who must be perswaded therefore if they make any Conscience of their wayes to resolve to do this in remembrance of their Saviour oftner than they have done And what impediment there can be to the putting such resolutions in Execution I cannot imagine unless it be some particular exceptions which they in their own private thoughts take not against the duty but against their performance of it at least for the present For how necessary how beneficial soever it be in it self and may be unto others yet unto them some fansie it is not so but rather they ought to forbear the Communion until they be satisfied about some things in which they are doubtful For while those doubts and scruples remain in their minds unremoved they think they have a just reason to hinder them from coming to the Lords Table nay they say they dare not come for fear of offending the Divine Majesty and so perswade themselves they are as religious in staying away as others may be in going thither Now these exceptions which they make against their performance of this duty are generally drawn from one of these three heads First From the form or manner wherein the holy Communion is now administred in our Church Secondly From the Company to whom it is administred and with whom it must be received Thirdly From the person himself who is called upon to receive it who judges himself altogether unfit for so solemn a duty Unto all which I doubt not to make a satisfactory Answer if men be as willing to be rid of their scruples as to retain them but shall most largely indeavour to satisfy the last because it is the greatest and most weighty I. About the first of these the form or manner wherein the Holy Communion is administred in this Church a long Discourse cannot be expected for it is not proper in this place Nor is there any need at all of it but it may suffice to say a very few things in answer to it For let it but be considered first how various the minds of men are how weak and captions which disposes them too oft to boggle at every thing with which they have not had a long acquaintance And then you will next of all grant me that it is impossible for any man before hand to know or imagine till he speak with them what such minds will object or scruple about this matter For some have a fancy against one thing some against another That which one allows another dis-approves and that which he disapproves another allows And the very best constitutions it is possible are disapproved by many narrow weak and scrupulous minds Now
reason to be scrupulous about this unfitness whereof they complain that there is to be so about their unworthy receiving And yet they take no notice of the one any further than only to make it an excuse for the other What unjust what partial dealing is this What kind of Christians are these who if they were serious and in good earnest religious as some of this sort would be thought to be would be as afraid to remain unfit as they are to receive while they so continue They would be as scrupulous lest they should offend God by staying away as they seem to be lest they should offend him by coming to the Communion For they would see that it is very unequal dealing with God and with their own Souls to be very nice about the doing that which God hath commanded and to have little or no scruple about the omission of it What is this but to fancy that when God commands a thing to be done by us we may safely let it alone if our not doing it proceed from a fear of doing it wrong As if we did not offend him by not doing what he bids us as much as by doing it amiss and our total neglect of a duty were not as great a provocation as an undue performance Do but consider it thoroughly and you will find there is as much cause to be solicitous about the one as about the other And if all they that are now full of fears about unworthy receiving would but be fearful also of continuing unworthy to receive i. e. of sinful neglect of the holy Communion this equal fear on both sides would make them solicitously diligent in fitting themselves to be worthy guests at the Lord's Table That so they may neither offend by coming nor by staying away but approach in a becoming and well-prepared manner and find grace and favour with God to come every day more and more prepared For by coming as well prepared as our affairs in this World will admit with serious resolutions to amend our lives we grow still more fit if we frequent it to come better disposed to the Table of the Lord with stronger resolutions and consequently with more fruits meet for repentance of amendment of life For by doing our duty as well as we can we learn to do it with greater perfection especially if we continue to do it though for the present with many imperfections But alas will some say we are not only utterly unfit and unprepared for the present but it is not in our power to fit and prepare our selves in any sort to be meet partakers of these holy mysteries for the future To which it is necessary that I say something before I proceed further because if this be true all my labour will be lost in perswading men to dispose themselves for the performance of this holy duty 1. And here the same question might be askt such persons which I askt at the first how comes it not to be in your power and whose fault is it that you are not able to fit your selves But I omit this because it only throws the guilt upon such complainers but doth not convince them of the falseness of their Plea Therefore I rather demand of such men how they can pretend to Christianity and say that they cannot leave off their habitual course of sinning What Is there no power in the Christian Religion to alter a mans heart and to bring him to repentance and reformation of life Cannot he who by being made a Christian is regenerate with the holy Spirit cease to follow and to be led by those carnal Lusts and Worldly desires which at his Baptism he renounced Cannot he for instance forbear habitual Drunkenness Swearing Extortion and Prophaneness Is it impossible for him to be at peace with his Neighbours to lay aside all wrath bitterness and wilful animosities How is he then born again of the Spirit By what power were men changed and renewed in the beginning of our Religion which we have not now since we have the same Religion Or to what purpose are we exhorted every day to beseech God to grant us true repentance and his holy spirit that those things which we do at that present may please him and the rest of our life be pure and holy if no such thing can be obtained from our Heavenly Father no not by importunate Prayers unto him for it Do not for shame say any longer you have no power to fit your selves for the holy Communion that is to become better unless you will renounce Christianity and declare there is nothing in it but vain words empty shows and appearances 2. Which this sort of men I am sure cannot do having something in them which will satisfy them if they attend unto it that they do not say true when they pretend they cannot leave off those sins which keep them from the Communion For how can they be called sins if it be impossible to do otherways And if they be no sins how can they hinder you from Communicating Why do your Consciences accuse you of doing amiss if you could not but do as you did They never accuse you in other cases where there is an utter impossibility under which you labour For instance if a Neighbours House be on fire you do not accuse your self for not running to help to quench it when you lay lame in Bed and disabled to move out of it But if you set the House on fire you could not but think you did him a great injury or if you stood by in perfect health and soundness when it took fire and would not stir hand or foot to help him you could not but look upon your self as unneighbourly unkind and cruel In like manner if it were as impossible to forbear a sin as it is to stir when you are bound hand and foot your Consciences would never accuse you But the upbraidings you feel there the secret checks and remorse the suspitions and fears which your Consciences are troubled withal plainly declare that it was in your power and that you lie and do not the truth as St. John speaks when you pretend the contrary In short if you cannot possibly reform those sins which make you unfit for the Communion how come you to charge them upon your selves as sins If they be sins your own Consciences tell you that you can avoid them and if you can why do you not go about it and by doing this prepare your selves to do the other I mean to receive the holy Communion for which you will be fit when you have quitted those sins wherein you live 3. For the sins which you say you cannot reform are either sins of weakness or sins of willfulness If they be only such weaknesses as can scarce possibly be avoided by the care and watchfulness of good men but they are upon some occasions surprized with them surely these do not make you unfit for the holy Communion for
entertained that are no better than our selves For which ill resentment of such a supposed judgment passed upon them what reason can be given but this that they have no such opinion of their own unfitness For if they had they would be pleased rather than angry that other men are of their mind as they desire they should be in other cases They would be far from looking upon it as an indignity to be told they are not fit to Communicate it being the thing which they themselves pretend doth keep them from the Communion But herein they dissemble with us and cheat their own Souls having no such thoughts of themselves but are only loth to be at the pains of thinking seriously what is to be done there and of raising sutable affections and purposes in their heart that they may be acceptable to God our Saviour This idle lazy temper frames such excuses and makes them pretend unfitness which they are by no means willing to own if another charge them with it but rather think they are affronted by it Just like those that pretend to be sick and therefore lie in Bed when they have no mind to make or receive those Visits to which they are obliged but would be troubled if another should tell them they look very ill and had best go to Bed and send for a Physician for they fear their case is dangerous III. These things seem to me sufficient to take away this exception of unfitness but for the further conviction of all such persons as alledge this for the reason of their not receiving the holy Communion let it be considered that there are other duties of Christianity which are of indispensable obligation if we hope to be saved and those far more difficult to be performed than the duties now mentioned or this to which I exhort you for which if you be not fit as is pretended how will you be able to undertake the other where you will find much greater hardship and severity That is how will you be able to deny your selves and take up the Cross if it fall in your way and follow Christ in that bloody path wherein he is gone before us An injury will be intolerable an indignity insufferable to pass by affronts and abuses which are the smallest parts of the Cross of Christ will be beyond your power if you cannot do so easy a thing as this which Christ hath commanded in remembrance of his sufferings whereby you are to prepare and arm your selves with resolution to atchieve the other This is a thing to be seriously pondered because it is so necessary to be able to indure hardship as a good Souldier of Jesus Christ and perform those difficult tasks when we are tried by them that otherwise it is in vain to pretend to the Christian Religion For our Lord Christ himself hath said Matth. xvi 24. If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me c. Which is often repeated in the Gospel with peremptory asseverations that unless he do this a man cannot be his Disciple and that he who takes not up his Cross and follows after me as our Saviours words are Matth. x. 38 is not worthy of me These sayings of our Saviour show that this work of self denial and taking up the Cross and bearing it is not more harsh and troublesome to flesh and blood than it is necessary to make a man acceptable unto Christ who will reject those as unworthy of him that are not thus disposed Now how they will be able to go thorough with this tedious and irksome work who stick at the sweet and pleasant labour of making themselves fit to receive the tokens and pledges of Christs Everlasting love whereby they should be incouraged and animated unto the other I leave them to judge For my part I can see no hope of it but look upon their condition as desperate unless they dispose themselves even for the suffering of the Cross by fitting themselves for the devout Commemoration of the sufferings of Christ upon the Cross Which is so easy a duty compared with the other that I may shame all those who refuse to perform it when it is required of them in such opprobrious words as Naaman's Servant made bold to reprove him withal 2 King v. 13. If the Prophet had bidden thee do some great thing wouldst thâ—… not have done it how much rather then when he saith unto thee wash and be clean So say I if our Lord should now require you to conflict with the greatest hardships would you not obey rather than perish How much rather then when he saith unto you do this in remembrance of me Which is so easy to be done that there is no trouble in it but all pleasure all comfort and joy to think what Christ hath done for us and intends to do All the trouble and the pains is only to fit and dispose our selves to partake of this high pleasure and satisfaction of being assured that we are beloved by him and that he will love us for ever if we continue in his love by keeping his Commandments IV. Which small pains if men will not undertake but having passed this judgment on themselves that they are unmeet to receive the holy Communion continue so to be I do not understand why they should not withal judge themselves not to be Christians For all Christians are Members of Christ a part of his Body but how can any man be a member of the Body and not be in Communion with the head and how is it possible to be in Communion with the head and yet unfit to Communicate with him These things cannot stand together but overthrow one the other For they that are members of Christ are united to him and they that are united to him are in Communion with him and derive continual influences from him and they that are in such Conjunction and Communion with him must be fit to Communicate with him at his Table Else they are not his Friends and if not Friends then Strangers or Enemies For what medium is there between these Or how can men pretend to be Friends to Christ by being in Covenant with him and refuse to commemorate his Death which seals that Covenant because they are unfit always unfit to make that Commemoration These things are utterly inconsistent Either we must confess we are not in Covenant with him or we must not affirm that we are altogether unfit to commemorate that Death which confirms and seals that Covenant V. It will be much to the same purpose if I add that he who is not in some measure fit for this holy Sacrament cannot be in any measure fit for the Kingdom of Heaven and Eternal Life with our blessed Saviour But it may be fit to press this a little because the same thing in effect represented after divers manners becomes the more apt to meet with and affect all sorts of
but receives more or less such benefit as this by it Let no fancy therefore of this nature hinder you but oppose to them all the necessity of doing your duty as well as you are able Some for instance complain of hardness of heart and therefore dare not come but let such understand that it is yielding and compliance to do what Christ hath commanded and not to do it is that very hardness which they bemoan And if any quarrel or contention happen among Neighbours let not that hinder neither but rather let them come to the Communion and there be reconciled It is too much that wâ— have faln out one with another let us not fall out with our God too If these contentions have risen up to heats and anger nay wrath and evil speaking do not continue them by refraining holy Communion but repenting of the evil extinguish all by renewing your Fellowship with God and one with another It hath staid too long if one Sun hath gone down upon your wrath be afraid to let it rest a whole Week till another Communion day be come and gone And suppose this wrath improves into hatreds and enmities which you think you discern in some hearts against you let not that hinder you though it do them but come rather and testify you bear no hatred towards them but are in charity with all men To love an Enemy is the highest proof of our love to God our Saviour And if you be at any time ingaged in a Suit of Law let not that hinder your performance of this duty For Suits at Law to recover or defend that which you judge your right are not sinful nor is it difficult to manage them without sin with a Friendly and Christian mind both parties referring themselves to an indifferent judge and resolving to acquiesce as common reason directs in his sentence for there would be no end of contention if every man should be a judge for himself And do not say it is too great presumption want of humility and modesty to be seen oft at the Lords Table For it can be no presumption to love him very much and to accept of the honour he doth us in inviting nay commanding us there to attend him it will rather be rudeness and careless neglect of him if we do not frequent it And as for other hinderances if we have some Relation or Friend that is sick or we our selves are something out of order or we have been in a Journey or had a Visit to make which could not well be avoided or had a Friend came to see us the day before the Communion with whom we could not but in civility spend a good deal of time these and such like I am ashamed to do more than mention they are so trivial and by no understanding Christian can be thought a reasonable cause for putting by the intention we have at any time of receiving this holy Sacrament I shall only add therefore that the want of something to offer at the Communion which the poor and needy may make an exception against coming to it frequently is no reason to keep any body away from it For God who accepted of the Widow that cast a mite into the Treasury would have accepted her if she had not had a mite to give she having a willing mind to give him even all she had Some must receive relief out of the oblations and it is not required that such should make any but only the oblation of themselves Or if out of the abundance of their Love and Devotion they do as the poor Widow did offer all they have they may and ought to receive back again out of the offerings much more than they gave Let not these therefore nor any other exceptions keep us any longer from this holy duty The ends of which if we often call to mind or rather constantly keep in mind with a resolution frequently to come to the Table of the Lord and there to snow the affection we have to him and the earnest desire of our Souls to partake more and more of his grace that we may be inabled to live better and better and get a more absolute conquest over all those evil lusts and affections which struggle for the Mastery in us and by perswading us to neglect the holy Communion get a great advantage of us we shall be well enough disposed to partake of it with great fruit and profit and no less comfort and joy in God And that at any time when an opportunity presents it self though we have no notice till it comes of the opportunity Suppose it be when we go to see a sick Friend or Neighbour who is desirous to receive the Communion or when we come upon occasion into a Church where we are Strangers and did not know it would be there at that time administred I make no question it will be far more acceptable to our Lord Christ if with no other preparation than I have now mentioned we take the boldness to approach to his Table than if out of a mistaken humility and caution we turn our backs of it and go away because we had not so much time as we desired to dispose our selves for it For the Lords sake let us root out those false notions whereby we are prejudiced against our certain duty and be at the pains to settle true Christian Principles in our minds with a stedfast purpose to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and then we shall find no cause at any time to refuse holy Communion with him but rather be stirred up to embrace the occasion with ardent love and devotion Which the more it burns in our hearts the fewer scruples we shall have in our minds And those few if there be any that remain will soon be overcome when we feel what mischief they do us by keeping us from the most advantageous means of being eternally happy Nay from that present happiness which the sweet tasts of His love and of the benefits He hath purchased by his Death and Passion impart unto those Souls which devoutly partake of the holy Mysteries of Salvation Which were ordained by our Lord saith Theodoret upon Hebr. viii 4. for this very end that beholding the type of them we may call to mind the sufferings themselves he indured for us and may thereby have our love inflamed towards our Benefactor and expect the enjoyment of the good things which are to come hereafter Conclusion THus I hope I have cleared the way to the Table of the Lord so that there is no obstacle left in it to hinder your chearful approach unto it if you have any will to partake of it And the consideration of what I have represented in my First Discourse hath I trust formed such a will in you as the second cannot but dispose all those who seriously weigh it to have a will to do it frequently Unto which I shall
press you by these two Arguments and so conclude I. The first is the great concern we have made show of about our Religion and the fears we have pretended lest we should be so unhappy as to lose it If we be in good earnest concerned for it why then I beseech you do we not take care to keep it by being truly Religious Is there any reason to think that they are troubled with fears of losing one half of the Communion who can be content with none at all Or with what Conscience do they find fault with the Church of Rome for taking away the Cup from the People when they themselves live as if the whole Sacrament were unnecessary It is a false zeal which declaims against the Priests receiving alone and doth not bring men to receive with him when they may but suffers him still to remain at the Altar with a very small Company In these things we accuse and reproach our selves demonstrating we are not led by Religion but by humour Worldly Interest or Faction For no man can be thought to be truly solicitous for the preservation of Religion when he makes no use of it nor receives any benefit by it Cannot he live without the name who lives without the thing It we be unseignedly desirous to maintain the estate of Religion here established let us seriously comply with its Institutions and serve God duly in all its Offices being afraid of this above all other things lest God should therefore remove our Candlestick out of its place because we will not walk in the light thereof therefore deprive us of the opportunities of the Holy Communion because we have no list to Communicate Unto which duty let us stir up our selves that it may stir us up to all other For what other way do we know like this nay what other way but this for our preservation II. That 's the second thing We of the Church of England profess to depend wholly upon Heaven in the use of spiritual Weapons alone for our protection in times of danger disclaiming the Lawfulness of taking up Arms to resist the Supreme Power upon the account of Religion Are we not strangely forgetful then if we accustom not our selves to the use of these spiritual means for our safety and security especially this of which I may say as David of the Sword of Goliah there is none like it What account can we give of such foul neglect of him unto whom we say every day there is none that fighteth for us but only thou O God Is not this to expose our selves to be a prey unto our Enemies if ever they have as much power as will to devour us For we openly declare by not seeking aid continually from above in that way wherein we are more likely to obtain it that we depend upon nothing at all but are the most defenceless of all Mankind So they would have thought in ancient dayes when they look'd upon those as left unarmed and naked who were not fortified with the protection of the body and blood of Christ. Which are the words of St. Cyprian who argues thus in his 57. Epistle since the Eucharist is made on purpose that it may be a defence and safeguard unto those who receive it let us arm those whom we would have to be safe against the Adversary speaking of the fight of affliction they were to encounter with the munition of the Lords plenteous fullness For how can we teach or provoke them to shed their blood for the Confession of his Name if entring the Combate we deny them the blood of Christ Or how shall we make them fit for the Cup of Martyrdom if we admit them not first to drink in the Church the Cup of the Lord Consider I beseech you how we in this Church profess to lean only upon the hope of his heavenly grace which is so necessary for us that we acknowledge in another Collect that the Church cannot continue in safety without his succour and therefore pray him to preserve it by his help and goodness Shall we not then seek this succour most solicitously shall we not implore this Heavenly Grace with ardent cries especially in this powerful way of prevailing with him by representing to him what Christ hath done and suffered for his Church which he purchased with his own most pretious blood We abandon all care of our selves when we thus forsake the only help we have to rest upon Nay it is to contradict our Prayers when we say we have no other Hope and yet do not flee to him our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble It is at least a vain and sensless leaning on him which makes us neglect him and lay aside the principal support which he hath left us for our incouragement and comfort in all our distresses If we really depend on him alone we had need apply our selves unto him with warmth of affection and great diligence If we rely on his help and goodness let us take care to please him in all things that so we may obtain the favour either to have the evils turned away from us which we have deserved or to be fortified against them with such a pious constancy that they may be stedfastly indured If we do not thus study to approve our selves his faithful Servants we foolishly confide in him against his own express Declarations that he will not patronize us in Irreligion and contempt of his Authority But if we faithfully obey him then we surely trusting in his Defence need not fear the power of any Adversaries but rest assured that he will keep his Church and Houshold continually in his true Religion that they who do lean only upon the hope of his heavenly grace may evermore be defended by his mighty power through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen FINIS Books Written by the Reverend Dr Patrick and sold by Richard Royston THE Christian Sacrifice A Treatise shewing the Necessity End and Manner of Receiving the Holy Communion together with sutable Prayers and Meditations for every Month in the Year and for the Principal Festivals in Memory of our Blessed Saviour The Sixth Edition The Devout Christian instructed how to pray and give thanks to God or a Book of Devotion for Families and particular persons in most of the concerns of Humane Life The Fifth Edition in Twelves An Advice to a Friend The Fourth Edition in Twelves Jesus and the Resurrection justified by Witnesses in Heaven and in Earth In two Parts in Octavo The Book of Job Paraphrased in Octavo New The Book of Psalms In two Parts Paraphrased in Octavo The Proverbs of Solomon Paraphrased with the Arguments of each Chapter which supply the place of Commenting A Paraphrase upon the Books of Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon With Arguments to each Chapter and Annotations thereupon in Octavo New The truth of Christian Religion in Octavo New The Glorious Epiphany with the devout Christians love to it in Octavo A Book for Beginners or a Help to young Communicants that they may be fitted for the Holy Communion and receive it with profit The Sixth Edition The Works of Dr Hammond in Four large Volumes viz. Vol. I. A Collection of Discourses chiefly Practical Vol. II. A Collection of Discourses in Defence of the Church of England 1. Against the Romanists 2. Against other Adversaries Vol. III. A Paraphrase and Annotations upon all the Books of the New Testament Vol. IV. A Paraphrase and Annotations upon the Books of the Psalms A Paraphrase and Annotations upon the ten first Chapters of the Proverbs MS. Thirty one Sermons Preach'd upon several Occasions With an Appendix to Vol. 2.
that is grievous punishment was For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep Now what is all this to you who are not guilty of any such crimes For no such scandals as these are committed among us now adays any where And therefore why should you fear so much as the judgment or sentence to suffer the grievous punishments now mentioned seeing you are not guilty of their faults Which I have purposely represented as they are set down by the Apostle that finding your selves free from them you may not fright your selves away from the Communion by a dread of that damnation which fell upon them But will not fall upon you who cannot be accused of their Crimes nor of any other like to them if you discern the Lords body and in a solemn manner come to commemorate his Death and Passion renouncing all your evil wayes and being in perfect Charity with all men Upon such God will pour down his blessings and not plague them with Diseases Sickness and untimely Death much less with Eternal Damnation to suffer the punishment of Everlasting Fire Which as it is not meant in the Apostles words as I have shown elsewhere so will not be the portion of those who come thus prepared to the Table of the Lord but rather of those who stay away out of a pretence of unworthiness when the true reason is because they will not be at the pains to prepare themselves to partake of it Or if it be timorousness of spirit and a scrupulous fearfulness that keeps them from it let them seriously weigh what hath been proved in this Discourse that they have the same reason to be fearful they shall not enter into Eternal Life For they that are not fit to have Communion with him in these Types and Figures of him how can they be presumed to be fit to have the immediate sight and injoyment of his Divine Majesty And what serious Christian is there that can live with any comfort who hath no hope of that How can he be quiet or take any rest till he hath rid himself of every thing which he thinks makes him unmeet to have fellowship with Christ in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood that so partaking of it religiously he may have no cause not to look upon himself as an heir through hope of Gods Everlasting Kingdom by the merits of the most pretious death and passion of his dear Son Who invites all those to come and feast with him that abide in no habitual sin such as shuts out of the Heavenly Kingdom and they ought to come without any fear of provoking his Majesty without any apprehension of danger to themselves thereby nay draw near with faith and take this holy Sacrament to their comfort and high satisfaction and to the joy of the Church of Christ which is highly honoured by having abundance of worthy persons in it fit to communicate with their Lord at his Table Such worthy Communicants let us all for our parts study to be by resolving now and indeavouring ever hereafter to quit all known sins and to live suteably to our Christian profession and Belief Then let nothing hinder you from taking frequent occasions of presenting your selves to the Lord at his Table Let no scruples fears and doubts that stick in your mind hinder you but rather get them pulled out by some skilful hand Do not believe you are religious because you are scrupulous but rather suspect your selves not to be so because you neglect the great duty of Religion And of this be scrupulous above all other things lest you offend God by not coming to the Communion or rather do not dare to be so bold and fearless in a matter of such great danger Let not the fault of others who communicate be a stop to your performance of that duty That is if they sin one way let not that tempt you to a sin of another kind If they go wrong on the right hand be not you moved thereby to turn too much to the left Let not the danger of unworthy receiving deter you from receiving but only from receiving unworthily Of which there is the less danger if you be really afraid of it for that will move you to be careful to prevent it And remember that nothing will make you more unworthy than neglect of it And therefore let not the thoughts of your imperfections hinder you for they will always hinder and staying from the holy Communion is not the way to be more perfect but coming to it Nay let not the breach of your resolutions by relapsing into sin after you have communicated keep you from communicating again but rather come the sooner and take the first opportunity that is presented you to renew your Covenant with God to strengthen your Christian resolutions to fortify your selves against temptations and to obtain assurance of a pardon for the unfaithfulness to your Saviour To fall is not so dangerous as not to rise again presently after we are faln Much less let business hinder for if you be honestly imployed in honest business it is part of your preparation for the holy Communion And let no man say he wants time to fit himself to receive it for this is in effect to say he wants time to live well Of which if you take a constant care that 's the main preparation And for the composing your mind and considering the ends for which you go to the Lords Table take as much time as your condition of life and the circumstances of your condition will allow and that is sufficient Be not hindred from the Heavenly Comforts of which you may there partake by an opinion of the necessity of a long examination of your selves before-hand for that necessity arises only from long neglect of the Communion Receive frequently as the first Christians did and then you will be as ready for this on all occasions as you are for other duties of holy Worship For you will be well acquainted with the state of your own Souls and with the nature and end of this part of your Religion especially if you take some account of your selves every day which will make your account short and easy before the Communion And let not dulness and indisposition be thought a reason why you should forbear to receive it but rather come thither to be quickned And if you continue dull there yet beliâ—ve you have pleased God by doing as he commanded though not so lively as you desired Let us not hear any man say I have not profited thereby and therefore had as good stay away For it is very profitable to do our duty constantly to express our gratitude to God to receive the tokens of his Love to tye our selves faster to him in renewed resolutions of holy obedience to be put in fear of offending him and in hope of his favour and there is no man that with any kind of care partakes of the holy Communion