they should get more hurt than good and be even swallowed up with Desperation should they come while they use better Means to be acquainted with themselves It is better for them to do so than that all the Hypocrites and Impenitent persons in the Congregation should be told it is their Duty to come to the Lord's Table if they can but make themselves uncertain whether they be Impenitent or no. 6. However he that upon the best Search and Examination of himself as to his Heart and Life can say That it is true I am not certain that my Heart is sincere with God in his Covenant yet I must say and blessed be God that I can say it that as far as I know my own Heart I think I do truly Repent of all my past Sins and that I do unfeignedly consent to the Covenant I am not fully sure but so far as I know my own Heart I do Such a one may come to the Lord's Table and find Welcom And the Truth is if None should come but such as have full Assurance and a Certainty of their Salvation I think in most places there would be very few Communicants very many of you that do come would tarry away and ought to do so and I should be one of the Number 7. As to the Apostle's Expression Rom. 14.24 He that doubts is damâ—ed if he eat In the Original it is Is self condemned But it is not meant of eating at the Lord's Table but of eating Meats which he doubts whether it be lawful to eat of when at the same time he knows it is lawful to forbear In cases of such indifferent things the safest course is to forbear but in a case of Duty your doubting alone will not disoblige you Else Men might give over any Duty without sin if they are but blind or erroneous enough to doubt whether it be a Duty If thou art a real upright Christian though a doubting one thy doubts will not make the neglect of this Ordinance not to be a sin 8. Be sure of this He that endeavours not to know his State and to be prepared to come to this Ordinance he lives in continual sin Let them consider it who fright themselves with the danger of coming unworthily but seldom think of the sin and danger of not coming at all He that continues in his sin and will adventure to eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup he shall be judged and punished and so shall he that stays away and will not pay this part of Homage and Worship unto Christ which he requires of all his Followers in Remembrance of his dying Love He who is not fit company for Christ and the Faithful at this Feast of Love cannot be in a good and safe condition his Business is to Repent and to get Ready 9. Let weak Christians who have some Doubts remaining consider That this Ordinance is appointed for an help to weak Faith The Seals of the Covenant are for greater Confirmation to us That the Heirs of the Promise might have abunddant Consolation In this Sacrament God speaks more solemnly more particularly more affectionately to us for the help of our Faith A sealed Pardon is here offered to every one by Name That which is spoken in general by the preaching of the Word is here particularly applyed to individual persons And usually the sincerely Penitent get Relief and Comfort against their Doubts and Jealousies and Fears by Obedience to Christ in this Ordinance To Allude to that Expression Luke 24.30 Christ was known to his Disciples in breaking of Bread I say Allude to it for I question whether that was Sacramental Bread though * Dr. Bury and others some plead strongly for it Lastly If we have any good Hope through Grace notwithstanding some Remaining Doubts and Fears though we cannot come with Assurance we may come humbly and penitently We may give up our selves again to God in Christ as his Servants though we cannot say certainly that he is our Saviour We are Sinners and need a Pardon we are penitent Sinners and are desirous of one If we do not know we are pardoned Sinners yet let us come penitently humbling our selves before him under the sense of our Vileness as knowing we need a Saviour to Reconcile and Justifie us Let us look upon him as the Saviour whom we have pierced whom we have crucified if we cannot look upon him as Ours in special Covenant Let us take shame to our selves and acknowledge the Guilt of our Sin though we cannot apply the Comfort of his Salvation You may come * Dr. Manton saith One with brokenness of Heart for Sin when you cannot come with the Joy and Rejoycing of Assured Believers You may hunger and thirst after Righteousness and have earnest eager fervent Desires after him though you cannot dare not Glory in him as yours Let us therefore Apply our selves to him as we can though we cannot Apply him to our selves as we would Let us stir up the Grace that is in us do our best use the weak Faith we have and say Lord I believe help my unbelief I cannot say it may be with the Apostle That the Life I live is by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me But I can say with the same Apostle in another place That this is a Faithful Saying and worthy of all Acceptation That Christ came into the World to save Sinners of whom I am Chief I cannot say as yet My beloved is mine But I must say I will say that I am his I resolve to be so wholly only entirely unreservedly everlastingly his Lord I am thine says David O save me for I am thine It would be more comfortable if we could say Lord thou art mine Thou hast accepted me in thy Christ Thou hast placed thy Image and Love upon me and Adopted me into thy Family But though I cannot say Thou art thus mine yet this I can say I am thine by my own choice I am thine by the Resignation of my self and all I have to thee I am thine by entire Devotedness to thee and sincere Desire to please thee I am thine and if thou cast me off and reject me and I perish for ever there shall one perish that was heartily resolved to be the Lord's and this I hope believe and know shall never be To conclude therefore You that want Assurance who are filled with Doubts and Fears concerning your State and therefore keep from the Lord's Table you must endeavour to come in this manner For my own part I must profess though I hope it is better with some stronger Christians that this last mentioned Particular is very often to me the Support and stay of my Soul And thanks be to God if in the Sincerity of our Hearts we can reach this we may then expect to meet with Welcome and Consolation But if we do not though we should never have sensible
our will to love what he loves to hate what he hates to have the same Friends and Enemies with our Blessed Lord. For here we put God in mind of his Covenant with us through Jesus Christ and our selves in mind of our Covenant with God And upon renewed Repentance for any sins we have committed after any Instance of Vnfaithfulness to our Solemn Engagements by unsuitable walking we here implore his Mercy and Grace to pardon us We declare at the same time that we desire to take hold of his Covenant that tho we are Sinners we are not Apostates we confess our sins and beg Forgiveness and repeat our Resolutions of Fidelity to him We trust in the unshaken Faithfulness and Truth of God to his gracious Promises We place our hope and confidence in the stability of his Everlasting Covenant which the Blood of Jesus the Blood of the Covenant hath confirmed and made Everlasting Not Trusting in our own Faith but in his Free Mercy and invariable Truth not in our Repentance but his Gracious Pardon not in our own Preparations but his Merciful Acceptance of us in his Beloved Son not in any thing we our selves can do but in the Merits of Christ the Fruits of his Death and the Purchase of his Cross as dispensed and applied according to the rule method and tenor of the Gospel-Promise This is our Priviledge and this our Employment at the Table of our Lord. And there is hardly any Subject will better bear to be treated of in several different methods than this or upon which repeated Discourses by several Persons may be more useful I grant there are many Excellent Books already written to Instruct Men in the Nature and to direct and assist their Devotion in the Observation of this Holy Sacrament I design not to wrest them out of their hands into whose this may fall I pretend not to add but to urge and prosecute the same Great End and sometimes by the same Arguments and Expressions I acknowledge my having profited by the Writings of others I hope 't is what they design'd These Discourses were acceptable to many when Preacht and being since reviewed some of them with some Enlargement I hope they may be of use at least to those who heard 'em and desired their Publication And it must be granted that what is of so Universal and Important a Concern as a due Participation of this Ordinance ought to be Treated and Inculcated in as many different ways as may best suit the Various capacites of several Persons It may be a shorter Account of the Doctrine of the Lord's Supper with Meditations and Devotions adapted thereto would be more proper for the Younger and more Ignorant Sort this I have promised and intend but have not yet had time to perfect The Lord follow this and all Endeavours for the Furtherance of Real Godliness with an Abundant Blessing London May 9th 1693. J. S. THE CONTENTS The First Discourse OF Vnion to Christ and the New Creature Or a Preparatory Sermon to the Lord's Supper on the First Day of the Year From 2 Cor. 5.17 If any Man be in Christ he is a New Creature p. 1. The Second Discourse Of Christ's passing over the Brook Kedron and entring into the Garden of Gethsemine After the Lords Supper From John 18.1 2. When Jesus had spoken these words he went forth with his Disciples over the Brook Cedron where was a Garden into which he entred and his Disciples and Judas also knew the place For Jesus oft times resorted thither with his Disciples p. 49. The Third Discourse Concerning Spiritual Washing the Nature Means and Evidences of it Before the Lords Supper From 1 Cor. 6.11 And such were some of you but you are washed but you are Sanctified but you are Justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God p. 89 The Fourth Discourse Of the Communion of Christ's Body and Blood After the Lord's Supper From 1 Cor. 10.16 The Cup of Blessing which we bless Is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ p. 129 The Fifth Discourse The Sin and Danger of Unworthy Receiving Before the Lord's Supper From 1 Cor. 11.29 He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh Damnation to himself p. 163 The Sixth Discourse Of Christ's Last Passover And its Accomplishment After the Lord's Supper From Luke 22.15 16 17 18. With desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer For I say unto you I will not many more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God And he took the Cup and gave thanks and said Take this and divide it among your selves For I say unto you I will not drink of the Fruit of the Vine until the Kingdom of God shall come p. 199 The Seventh Discourse Before the Lord's Supper From Cant. 2.4 He brought me into the Banquetting-house and his Banner over me was Love p. 243 The Eighth Discourse After the Lord's Supper From St. John 20.27 28. Then said he unto Thomas Reach hither thy Finger and behold my Hands and reach hither thy Hand and thrust it into my Side and be not faithless but believing And Thomas answered and said unto him My Lord and My God p. 281 A Paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer Our Father c. The First Discourse Of Vnion to Christ and the New Creature OR A SERMON Preparatory to the Lord's Supper On the First Day of the YEAR From 2 COR. V. 17. If any Man be in Christ he is a New-Creature THROUGH the Merciful Forbearance of God we now begin another Year and have outlived several who a twelve month ago were as like to have seen this New years-day as any of us That we may begin it with some Serious Reflexions suitable to the beginning of the Year and the approaching Solemnity of the Lord's Supper I have chosen these words as proper unto both They are brought in as one Inference among others from the constraining Love of Christ which the Apostle had mentioned in the 14th Verse Many useful things might be observed in explaining the Context and shewing the Connexion of this with the preceding Verses But I shall at present consider them more absolutely and in the General If any Man be in Christ he is a New Creature or Let him be a New Creature He ought to be so The Original will bear either sense The words may be taken imperatively or affirmatively For we find not Is in the Original It is true that whoever is in Christ is a New Creature And it is true that he is obliged thereby to prove his Union to Christ he ought to be a New Creature Neither sense is to be excluded That the State of such as are in Christ and likewise their Obligation may be comprehended It is the Character and Qualification of such as are in Christ and it is their Duty
assured None can be in Christ without it none in Christ so as to have any special distinguishing saving Benefit by him Application 1. Are none in Christ but new creatures How many then must be excluded How many of excellent and laudable Qualifications of great Attainments and high Professions and moral Accomplishments must yet he excluded and shut out from having any part in Christ because they are yet Strangers to this New creation and consequently are not in Christ but under condemnation Meer Civility and a plausible inoffensive Carriage is quite another thing We need but view the Lives and Actions of the generality of such as are called Christians to confirm this That the Number is but small of those who are in Christ How few have had any awakening Convictions about these things and many such miscarry 2. How miserable is the condition of all unrenewed Souls without a change they are excluded from all saving benefit by the Redeemer They are not in Christ and therefore are under the Curse and Condemnation which by union to Christ we are delivered from Rom. 8.1 Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye are Reprobates 2 Cor. 13.6 All our hopes of Life and Salvation by Christ depend upon it The Guilt of all our Sins doth otherwise lye upon us And all the black Clouds of Divine Vengeance hang over our heads The Wrath of God bides upon us as if there were no Christ no Gospel And there is nothing between us and Everlasting Ruine but a little Breadth 3. Then none but New Creatures have a Right to the Lord's Table For the invited Guests are such who are in Christ The Covenant of Grace cannot be sealed in that Ordinance to those who are not under the Bond of the Covenant The Benefits purchased by Christ are not confirmed at his Table unto those who are none of his I grant there is an Unworthiness as to present frame that even those who are in Christ may have but it is the Unworthiness as to state that I am speaking of Such as are not in Christ having nothing to do to eat his Flesh and drink his Blood lest they eat and drink Judgment and Condemnation to themselves He that doth not truly Repent cannot be truly Interested in the Promise of Pardon and therefore cannot have a Right to the Seal of it They are dead in Sin cannot receive Nourishment by this spiritual Food The least that can be said as one observes is this That it is in vain and to no good purpose for such can no more receive Christ in the Sacrament than a Chicken that should come into the Assembly and pick up some of the crumbs of the bread from the ground after Consecration can be said to receive the Body of Christ But the Danger is unspeakable of Eating and Drinking unworthily for such eat and drink Judgment to themselves not discerning the Lord's Body You may desire to come to this Table and you may say enough it may be to satisfie a Minister of Christ who cannot judge of your Heart and Conscience doth not know the whole of your Life But you your selves must look to it that you be in Christ and that you evidence you are so by being New Creatures We can but Warn and Admonish you and offer our Assistance and help At your own peril be it if you come and yet live in any known Sins and cherish the Enemies of Christ though you profess to be his and presume upon all the Priviledges of his House and Family as real members of it But I will yet add That those who are in Christ if they would have Assistance and Grace from the Spirit of Christ to walk as New Creatures they ought on the other hand to take heed how they absent themselves from that Ordinance If they would either have the comfort of their being in Christ or would have supplies of Grace to walk as New creatures they should be frequent and serious in Sacramental Duties Have you not weak Graces to be strengthened and manifold Corruptions to be more subdued Inordinate Love to this World more Crucified Do you not need more Ability to discharge several Duties and overcome divers Temptations Do you not desire to be more Partakers of the Image and Life and Spirit of Christ Is your likeness to Christ so compleat your Faith in all its branches so active and firm your Love to Christ so warm your Heavenly Desires so fervent your Patience and Resignation so perfect your Obedience so exact your standing so sure that you need no more Influence of the Spirit of Christ Should not your own necessity oblige you to be frequent in this work besides the Authority of your Lord which is motive enough to those that are in Christ And he requires you should remember his Dying Love this way and show forth his death tiâ—l he come It is proper work for us to begin the year with To renew our Covenant with the Lord by partaking of the Symbols of Christ's Body and Blood giving up our selves again to be the Lords with renewed Repentance for the sins of the Year past and repeated Exercises of Faith for Pardon and Peace and Grace and Righteousness and Life 4. The next Vse may be of Examination To try whether we are in Christ or no by inquiring whether we are New creatures or not Your Love to Christ your Likeness to him your Subjection to him your Fruitfulness in him will discover it Are old things done away with you and all things become new Is there still the old Darkness and Blindness that was upon your minds or Are you Light in the Lord Doth the old Deadness Security and Carelessness remain upon your Hearts and Consciences old Thoughts and old Designs old Discourses and Conversations as little Savour in the things of God as ever As little Victory over the Temptations of the World and the Flesh as formerly Are your Wills as rebellious and stubstorn as ever Are your Desires after Vanity and your Affections towards Earthly Things the same as formerly So for your Hopes and Fears Joys and Sorrows What Change hath been wrought Does fleshly Appetite and Sense and Carnal Interest sway and govern as much as ever Or is there a New Creation wrought in you Have you a new Mind and Judgment a new Heart and new Affections Do you walk in Newness of Life Is your Internal Principle changed and the External Rule of your Actions changed too Are you no longer conformed to the World but transformed by the renewing of your Minds Rom. 12.2 Is that sin hated and crucified that before was indulged Is that Saviour prized for to them that believe he is precious and the Chiefest of ten thousands that before was slighted Do you delight in the Law of God after the Inward Man Do you find the Holy Law of God written in your Hearts setting you against every sin in your selves and others Do you walk in the Spirit and after
those who did officiate in the Temple who after having been purified and Washed in the morning as often as they came out and returned againe did only wash their Feet Doubtless therefore the necessity of inward Purification and Holiness must be comprehended as the import of this washing The being sanctified in Soul Body and Spirit as necessary unto all that are accepted of God and in a Covenant Relation with Christ necessary to a saving intrest in Him and Communion with him And such a Change as this some of the vilest and worst of sinners have experienced upon true Repentance and an unfeined Faith This the words I have read give us an account of And such were some of you c. In the beginning of this Chapter the Apostle reproves a very unwarrantable Practice among these Corinthians to implead one another in matters of Right and Wrong before the Heathen Tribunals which seems to blemish the Christian Profession and contradicted the prescribed Rule of our Lord. Matth. 18.15 they were also Injurious and Unjust in their Carriage to their Brethren from which he Indeavours to deter them 1. By that dreadful threatning vers 9. Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven And for the farther confirmation of it enumerates several kinds of such Persons and bids them look well to it and not deceive themselves tho' one would hardly think that men should be deceived in so plain a case as if their profession of Christianity would save them while they lived in any such wickedness Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers in any c. shall inherit the Kingdom of God He then adds another argument in this Text to diswade them from such an unchristian Behaviour viz. from the mighty Change that had been wrought upon several of them by their Conversion to the Faith of Christ And such were some of you but ye are Washed c. The Change is represented by three several expressions and the Means by which it was brought about is double viz. In the name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God 1. The mighty Change which was wrought upon them by their Conversion to the Faith of Christ in those words But ye are Washed but ye are Sanctified but ye are Justified some would consider these three expressions as a regular Gradation and make this Washing to signifie the first Change by Regeneration or the new Birth and being Sanctified to denote the further progress measure and Degree of the spirit of Holiness and being Justified follows as that which by a real change of Heart and Life is evidenced and cleared to the comfort of Believers Others think we may consider this being Washed as the general Term comprehending the other two Sanctification and Justification For we find that expression used in both senses for our deliverance from the Guilt of sin by pardoning mercy and from the impurity and stain the power and filth of sin by renewing grace David beggs to be Washed and made Clean in both respects 51. Psalm 2.7.10 And our Lord is said to have loved us and washed us from our sins in his owne blood Rev. 1.5 Which comprehends both the forgiveness of sin and the sanctifying influence of the spirit of Christ Others think all the three terms Washed Sanctified and Justified are here Synanimous as significant of the great Change that is wrought by the renewing and converting grace of God and that Justified in this place is not to be taken in a * Le Blank Theses theol de usu acceptatione vocis Justificandi c. p. 256. §. 6.8.9 Answered by Dr. O. of Justification p. 179. Forensick or Law sence but hath the same import with the other two expressions Washed and sanctified so the expression 12. Dan. which we render turn many to Righteousness in the Original is Justifie many So Sanctification they think may be comprehended under the term Justified Rom. 8.30 Or else one of the greatest Advantages we enjoy by Christ is not there enumerated So here where our Justification is ascribed to the holy Spirit whose office and work it is inwardly to renew and change us and whereby those Corinthians who were vile and impure before are now qualified for the Kingdom of God Tit. 3.5.6.1 However I exclude not our being washed from the guilt of sin as part of the Sense of this Text but it is the other Washing by Sanctification of which I would speak at this time 2. You have the double means whereby this is brought about In the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God c. 1. In the Name of the Lord Jesus or by and through the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Greek Particle doth often signifie For it is the same in the Original in both Clauses The first may as well be rendered By the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ as the other By the Spirit of our God The same Preposition being used in both Referring the whole to Sanctification In my present Discourse I shall not need to Assign Reasons why the word Justified is put last or search for the like Instances of an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tho such may be given to vindicate the order of the Expressions and why the Name of Christ which especially refers to Justification should be mentioned before the Spirit of our God which especially refers to Sanctification which yet is named before our being Justified In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ or by his Name may import in the General for the sake of Christ upon the account of his Merit and Mediation and so we pray in the Name of Christ and beg Mercy for his sake But more distinctly the Name of Christ may be considered 1. In relation to his Office of Mediator and the Soveraign Authority of it he is the Jesus the Saviour this is the Name that is given him above every Name and so in by or through the Name of Christ does signifie through faith in him as the only Mediator between God and Man In several like Expressions we must grant that Faith must be supposed when it is not expressed As when we are said to be Baptiz'd in the Name of Christ for the remission of sin Acts 2.38 i. e. believing on his Name 2. It may be considered in relation to the Truth of his Doctrine and the Divine Authority of that Revelation which he made from God to the World upon which his Name is engraven As when we read of suffering for the Name of Christ i. e. for owning the profession of the Christian Religion To this purpose our Sanctification is said to be by the belief of the Truth John 15.3.17 chap. 17. 1 Pet. 1.22 2 Thes 2.13 Ye are clean through the word that I have spoken to you sayes our blessed Lord. And in his Mediatory Prayer to the Father Sanctifie them by thy truth thy
of Prayer and other parts of Divine Worship All these will aggravate your sin But the Possibility of doing other Services of Religion amiss is not counted a sufficient Reason for the not doing ' em After all such pretences and excuses there is too much Reason to think that the most are afraid of coming to this Ordinance lest the preparing for it and the consequent Duties which they know are required should interrupt their Sensual Pleasures or their inordinate Prosecution of the World and oblige them to leave their sins which as yet they have no mind to part with Such as these ought not to come indeed they have other work first to do They are first called to Repentance and Faith in Christ and afterwards to the Communion of his Body and Blood They are called to understand and own their Baptismal Covenant by the Answer of a good Conscience and then to renew it at the Table of the Lord This Priviledge belongs not to them till they have truly repented and forsaken sin and yielded themselves to be the Lord's 3. Object But others are ready to say I would come and have had many a Thought about it But I doubt of my own Sincerity and the truth of my Grace I know it is Childrens Bread and I am not certain I am one of that number And does not the Apostle tell us That he that doubteth is damned if he eat Now I doubt whether I am passed from Death to Life or no May such a one as I venture to come who have no Assurance that I am in a State of Grace Are all those unworthy and unfit to come who come in any other State of Soul than they think they may safely dye in Several things may be said in Answer to this 1. That many mistake the Nature of true Faith and Sincerity and think if they have not Assurance of the Love of God that therefore they have no true Faith They make saving Justifying Faith to consist in believing the special Love of Christ to their Souls in believing that their sins are pardoned and that they are in Christ But this is a dangerous Mistake which one would wonder under such clear Light as we enjoy should be so common For how unspeakable is the Difference between the Truth of Grace and the Knowledge of its being true between a hearty Consent to the Terms of the Covenant and the Reflex Act of Faith so as to be able to say I know my Interest in the Covenant Many a false Professor may flatter himself that his Faith is true when it is not and many an Vpright Christian may doubt and question Whether he be one or no But the Latter shall one Day be ashamed of their Fears as the Former of their Hopes The Lord knoweth who are his when many that are His do not know it themselves And if a Minister of Christ will ask a few home close Questions of such doubting trembling Christians by which their hearty consent to the Covenant may be judged of Their Answers plainly shew That they believe in Christ and love him above all the World and regard no Iniquity in their hearts And yet will continue to doubt of their Integrity though the Bent of their Hearts and the Endeavours of their Lives do abundantly prove that they are Sincere 2ly However it may ordinarily be known whether your Faith be of the right kind or no and whether you are Vpright towards God or no. We are bid to Examine and Search and try and prove our selves in order to it that we may find the Mark and Impress of God upon our Souls the Fruits of the sanctifying Spirit there and so have Rejoycing in our selves and not in another It is so far from being unlawful to collect Comfort from the Marks and Signs of our Sanctification and to prove our Vnion to Christ and Justification that way that it is the very Method of the Gospel to direct us to know our State towards God by thus looking inward to find the Image of Christ upon the Soul and by observing the Fruits of the Spirit in a godly Conversation Such doubting Christians would do well to Consult some Faithful Minister of Christ and Represent the State of their own Case what they feel that so they may be told what it doth signifie and be help'd to judge of themselves It is granted that you know how it is with you better than any Minister can do For as * Mr. Baxter One well expresses it A Patient knows better than any Physician what he feels but a Physician when he hears it can tell from what Cause it comes and what is the Nature of the Disease and what is like to come of it and what is the proper Method for a Cure There is a great deal of Reason why you should expect and hope for the Resolution of your Doubts in such Cases by consulting some Minister of Christ especially him under whose Ministry you have chosen to place your selves as the Helper of your Faith and Joy 3. The Penitent Christian though he want Assurance is Accepted of God and hath Right to this Ordinance whether he believe it or no. If you unfeignedly consent to the Covenant of Grace and with an humble penitent Sense of your past Sins are willing and desirous to close with Christ on the Terms of the Gospel That God shall be your God and Christ your Redeemer and Lord and the Holy Spirit your Sanctifier and Guide If you are willing heartily willing to give up your selves to be instructed ruled and saved by him This is the very Heart of saving Faith And if this be your Character you are the Members of Christ and ought to come to the Lord's Table For though your timorousness and present Scruples may make you Suspend for a-while they cannot deprive you of your Right to the Ordinance nor disoblige you from the Duty of coming to it For All such who unfeignedly consent to the Covenant they may and ought to come to signifie their Consent and to receive the Seal of the Covenant 4. Every Christian ought to endeavour to know his State lest they be distracted between the Hopes of God's Acceptance of them on the one hand and the Fears of coming Vnworthily on the other Because they doubt of their Worhtiness they fear to come And because they have some good Hope they dare not stay away lest they neglect their Duty The proper Remedy is to Resolve Unfeignedly to please God and obey him in this and all other Instances and then do this in Remembrance of Christ as what all his Followers are obliged to do It may be that Ignorance of thy State from whence thy Doubts proceeds is owing to the Neglect of Self Examination and the use of proper Means to know thy Self 5. It may yet be Adviseable for some melancholy tempted Persons under some perplexing Doubts to stay away for a-while till they have competently over-come their Fear lest
Psal 50.5 Gather my Saints together who have made a Covenant with me by Sacrifice The Offering a Sacrifice was a Foederal Rite whereby God and his People became one Upon which account Salt was used in Sacrifices by God's own Direction Lev 2.13 All Nations lookt on * See Dr. Hammond on Mark 9.50 And P. Fagius in Levit. 2. And more largely in Dr. Cudworth's Notion of the Lord's Supper Bishop Patrick's Christian Sacrifice and Dr. Pelâ—ing of the Sacrament Chap. 1 2 3. Salt as a Token of Love a Pledge of Friendship a Symbol of Peace And Feasting on a Sacrifice was a Rite of the same Nature with Sacrificing It being but the Complement the Close the Finishing of the Sacrifice In this sense some understand those words Psal 50.16 Vnto the wicked God saith VVhat hast thou to do to declare my Statutes and that thou shouldest take my Covenant in thy Mouth i. e. Eating the Signs and Symbols of the Covenant partaking of those Sacrifical Banquets which were a Token of God's Covenant Thus when the Covenant was renewed between God and the Children of Israel Moses and Aaron and the Seventy Nobles of the Children of Israel went up to God and saw his Glory on the Mount and after their burnt-offerings and peace-offerings are Sacrificed they did eat and drink Exod. 24.11 The eating of the Passover was such a Foederal Solemnity and therefore no Stranger was to eat of it Exod. 12. It did not belong to those who did not belong to that Covenant which God had made with his Peculiar People the Children of Israel This Evangelical Feast at the Lord's Table is of the like nature and signification Besides the Analogy and Resemblance between these the words of Institution do sufficiently prove it for speaking of the Cup or the Wine in the Cup Our Lord said This is my blood of the New Covenant It is the Representation of that Blood which is the Seal of the New Covenant As Circumcision is called the Covenant of Circumcision Acts 7.8 because it was the Token and Seal of the Covenant between God and Abraham Eating and Drinking together was alway reckon'd some token of Friendship and Accord Especially when there is a Solemn Feast on purpose to express and signifie this Agreement And when it follows after Disagreement and Variance it amounts to a covenant or league which the Parties enter into to be henceforward Friends As Gen. 26.28 29 30 31. Verses Let us make a covenant with thee c. And then it follows He made them a feast and they did eat and drink But in the present case there is yet more for it was a more sacred way of Covenanting when they Feasted upon part of the Sacrifice that was made to God of which I shall speak more presently And usually it was accompanied with an Oath in the presence of God Now at the Lords Table Do we not profess our owning the New Covenant made between God and us And do we not there renew our Baptismal Covenant Do we not accept of Christ and all the Blâ—ssings of the Covenant of Grace Do we not Resign our selves and all we have to be his according to the Tenour and Terms of it Do we not receive the Pledge and Assurance of his Love to us and Engage our Faith that we will be his Servants Binding our selves to all the Duties of the Covenant as God does oblige himself to bestow all the Blessings of it 2. Having thus explained somewhat of this Banquet or Feast I might consider the Reasons of its Appointment and the excellent purposes it serveth for Besides the known express and principal one of being a Memorial of Christ's Love that we may remember him Crucified for us there may be other Considerations partly with respect to God and Christ partly with relation to the Souls of Believers 1. To represent the Royalty and Magnificence of God and the Transcendant Riches and Glory of the Grace of Christ Accordingly we Read that Princes and Potentates and Great Men upon such Accounts were wont to make Sumptuous Entertainments Esth 1.3 4. He made a Feast unto all his Princes and his Servants to shew them the Riches of his glorious Kingdom and the Honour of his Excellent Majesty Partly with respect to us First To encourage us in the difficult Services we may meet with To animate and embolden us to hold on our way and work of doing and suffering the Will of God in obedience to Christ The burthen of Affliction would be much more heavy and our Spirits more like to faint were it not for some Refreshment Quickening and Comfort now and then in such Ordinances of the Gospel But the Pledge of the Love of God and the everlasting Love of Christ the Earnest of Heaven and the Hopes of it that we should Sin and Suffer and Sorrow no more makes outward Afflictions tolerable For if God be reconciled to us and pleased with us If the Redeemer shine upon us and say he is ours If his Love be shed abroad in our Hearts and ours kept alive to him we can bear any thing oâ— lose any thing and not despond Besides the Solemn Dedication of our selves and all we have unto Christ which we there make helps to awe our Hearts and check our impatient murmurs when by any severe Dispensation of Providence he doth but take us at our word For he can only Take that which we Resigned to him before and when he doth he tries whether we were Hypocrites or Sincere in our Resignation 2. It may be consider'd That at this Feast we have the nearest Fellowship and sweetest Communion with God and Christ of almost any Ordinance of the Gospel And the continuance of such a blessed Entercourse between God and our Souls was another ground of his appointing it Which will appear more plainly by considering Another end of it viz. to ratifie and confirm the Covenant between God and us This is one special design of thus eating and drinking in his Presence to confirm our Covenant It was very usual especially in the Eastern parts of the World to ratifie Contracts and Covenants by eating and drinking together Thus in the fore-mentioned Instance Abimelech and Isaac celebrated such a Covenant-Feast Gen. 26.30 as a Token of Friendship between them Laban's eating with Jacob on an heap of Stones was a Foederal Rite Gen. 31.46 The Israelites eating of the Gibeonites Victuals was the contracting a League with them Josh 9.14 When David speaks of his Friends Treachery in words very applicable to Judas Psal 41.9 he saith My own Familiar Friend in whom I trusted who did eat of my Bread hath lift up his Heel against me He meant one who had entred into Covenant with him by a Feast as you find that Abner did 2 Sam. 3.20 Therefore in stead of a Friend 't is otherwise rendred in the Margin of our Bibles The Man of my Peace or the Man that was at Peace with me Hence the Hebrew word which
because you have many good Books on this Subject that will Assist you in this Matter I shall only put you in mind of a few Things As 1. That you take some convenient Time for solemn and serious Preparation They especially should do so who have never come till now And they who for some considerable time have neglected it with whom several Months have past since they have been at the Lord's Table Either through their own Neglect which they must Repent of or for want of Opportunity God expected and required solemn Preparation for the Passover Feast Exod 19.10 He doth so for this Feast upon Christ our Passover sacrificed for us Therefore take some time to consider what you are about to undertake Beg of God a prepared Heart and by Reading Meditation and Prayer endeavour to bring your Spirits into a suitable Frame for such solemn Work He brought me into his Banquetting-house Christ himself by his Spirit must lead his own Guests to his own Table He must awaken and excite all those Graces that are to be exercised in this Feast Therefore beg a prepared Heart and do what you can by other means to endeavour it 2. Renew your Repentance for all the Sins of your Life Do not come with filthy Hearts and Hands to the Table of the Lord no more than you would in filthy Rags to a great Man's Table Lay aside all Filthiness and Superfluity of Naughtiness Purge out the Old Leaven of Hypocricy and Malice of Ignorance or Envy and Wickedness of every sort that you may come with penitent humbled Hearts and so with a thankful receptive Frame consenting to all the Claims and Purposes of this Ordinance 3. Therefore Examine your selves afresh that you may thus come Review the State of your Souls see how it hath been and is with you as to Heart and Life State and Frame Let a man examine himself and so let him eat 1 Cor. 11.28 Examine your selves about your Knowledge and your Faith to understand the meaning and the very mystery of this Table that you may firmly Assent to and heartily believe what is Represented and exhibited here And have right Apprehensions of those Doctrines that Explain this Ordinance as concerning our State of Apostacy concerning the Method of our Recovery by Christ and our Faith in him as Teacher Saviour and Lord in all his Offices The like might be said concerning Repentance or Godly Sorrow for Sin hatred of it and hearty forsaking of it Whether you can penitently believingly seal back your part of the Covenant when God sets the Broad Seal of Heaven unto his part when he says I will be thy God and I will remember thy sins no more I will with my Christ freely give thee all things This I promise this I seal to every of you says God I here deliver it as my Act and Deed. Now can you seal back your part of the Covenant Lord I will be thine henceforth I desire and resolve to be entirely thine thy sealed Fountain thy sealed Garden I engage henceforward to be the Lord's This I deliver as my Act and Deed. In a word Examine your selves Do you believe the Gospel of Christ to be true and heartily consent to the Doctrines of it Do you resolve to be Governed by Christ as your Lord and consent to the Terms of his Gospel Do you take him for your only Saviour and look for all your Acceptance with God and hope of Pardon and Life only for his sake and upon his Account Do you consider the Vow you made in Baptism of Fidelity to Christ and resolve to be true to it Do you here seriously Renew it and will you now again promise Faithfulness to him to your Lifes end Do you value his Favour and Grace above all things and come to remember his dying Love and receive the Communications of the purchased Spirit with this Desire Design and Hope That you may love him and obey him better and that you may live in Love and Charity towards your Brethren and all Mankind c. 4. Look to the Inward part of the Ordinance and labour to Appropriate and Apply Christ to your selves Here is a Covenant confirmed by Sacrifice by Blood by the precious blood of Christ I am called O my Soul to feat upon it This Blood was shed to Reconcile me to God I will drink of it in token of such a Reconciliation made as a Testimony that I have Recieved the Atonement made by that Blood My Body was broken for you says Christ Take and eat it My Blood was shed for you Take and drink it Apply it to your selves every one to his own Soul saying He loved me and gave himself for me 5. Endeavour to fix your Purposes and Resolutions of faithful Adherence to Christ whatever it cost you Tell him that you distrust your selves and are afraid of Temptation Tell him in Prayer You are almost ashamed to come to his Table you are such vile unworthy Sinners and are afraid you shall not keep the Covenant that now again you desire to renew But bewail your selves as sensible of your sins and weary of them Tell him that you hate them and resolve against them or else you durst not have the face to ask forgiveness and receive the Seal of it Therefore Resign your selves into his Hands Beg that the Holy Spirit would take possession of you that you may not backslide and wander as you have done Tell him that you renounce all Confederacy with his Enemies you would fain be more stedfast in the way of the Lord It is the desire of your Souls that you may not violate this Covenant but having sworn that you may perform it to keep his Righteous Judgments and that you hope you are ready through his Grace strengthning you to do and suffer any thing for him Therefore penitently and humbly offer up your selves to be his for ever saying Lord I present thee with what thou hast so dearly bought And here without reserve I give up my self to be Thine O do not reject a broken and contrite Heart that desires to be employed and used as may best please and serve thee Lord I am nothing I have nothing I can do nothing I deserve nothing I desire nothing but to love thee better to be more filled with thy Grace to partake more of thine Image to be enabled to honour thee now and enjoy thee for ever Grant me this Lord and do with me what thou wilt Accept the Sacrifice I make of my self unto thee of Soul and Body of all I have without any Exception or Reserve to thy holy will and pleasure Lastly After all this Remember that Thanksgiving and Joy is a principal part of our Work at this Table Let our Souls and all that is within us then praise the Lord giving Thanks to the Father of Mercies for this unspeakable Gift Blessing the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for all the Riches of his Grace in him
And every * Dr. Manton on Colos 1.19 p. 202. Office of Christ as our Prophet Priest and King doth suppose and require that he be true God as well as true man or he could not discharge those Offices to any Saving Purpose for us 4. Let us then Imitate the Faith of this Apostle in contemplating the Death and Resurrection of Christ that we also may say as he did My Lord and my God And that will include both a Claim of Interest and special Propriety in him and imply the Dedication of our selves to his Use and Service The one of these will follow upon the other When God says I am thy God we cannot but answer That we are his Servants and resolve to be so And if we are his and Devoted to him we may infer that he is Ours for the Covenant is mutual But if we cannot as sometimes we cannot so clearly and comfortably say My God We may yet humbly and resolvedly say My Lord that is I am thy Servant I am Devoted to thy Fear I am resigned and given up to thee I have chosen thee for my Portion and I have dedicated and devoted my self for ever to be thine c. The more serious we are in this the more likely are we to come to this Claim and Appropriation and special Interest in God and Christ as ours And till we Arrive to some Degree of this we are Strangers to the most comfortable part of the Christian Life For this is a great ground of our Confidence and a main Spring of our Joy My Beloved is mine and I am his He loved me and gave himself for me This attracts our Love this wins our Hearts and fills us with Joy unutterable and full of Glory If Christ by the Presence of his Spirit would visit our Souls we should then be able to use such Language of Faith If he will visit us as he did the Disciples when Thomas was with them his Presence and Power can produce such a Faith And if he please he can enter and do this though the Doors be barred and shut never so close For he can open them as he did the Heart of Lydia Though they be of Stone or Iron he can break he can soften he can make them Hearts of Flesh Let us beg he would so visit us by his Spirit Though we have not the Priviledge to touch him on Earth as this Apostle yet we may behold him as the holy Martyr Stephen in Heaven We may Contemplate him by Faith as at the Right hand of God And so we may behold the print of the Nails and thrust our Hand into his wounded Side and hear his Voice yea taste as well as touch his very Body and Blood feed upon him We have some of us so done this Day And after such a Sight and such a Taste shall we not cry out My Lord my God O my Lord what have I done O my God what shall I do O my Lord my dear Lord Jesus who am I that thou hast loved me so as to dye for me so as to give thy self a Sacrifice for me O my God what shall I render to thee How shall I express my Gratitude What shall I do to honour thee O my Lord thou hast Redeemed me at a costly price O my God give me of the Spirit of Grace to renew thine Image subdue my Lusts and assist mine Obedience My Lord my God the King of Saints the Prince of Peace the First Begotten from the Dead the First Born of every Creature the First Fruits of them that sleep the true and only Potentate the great Immanuel God with us true God and true Man Whom have I in Heaven but thee c. Let us labour aftâ—r such a Faith and beg it of the God of all Grace and never desist till in the use of that and other means we are brought to use such Language too Lastly As to you my Brethren who have been at the Table of the Lord Consider what have you been doing Your great Business hath been or should have been this Day solemnly to Renew the Covenant between God and you in such Appropriating Language of Faith as these words of Thomas For Christ and all his Benefits are offered to you by the Distribution of the Elements Behold me I am yours Accept me Take me says Christ. You by Receiving them say Lord I am thine Accept me Possess me for thine own The Lord's Supper is the New Testament or Covenant in the Blood of Christ you there Ratifie the Baptismal Covenant he saith I am thine and you say You are his This inward personal Covenanting between Christ and you is the great Thing to be minded and this amounts to the same with My Lord my God acknowledging his Right by the one Expression and professing your own Interest by the other This was Virtually done in our Baptism this was actually done at our first Turning to God when we entred into Covenant to be the Lords And this we professedly Repeat and publickly Renew every time we come to this Table We have this Day acknowledged him to be our Lord we have entred into a solemn League of Subjection and Fidelity to him we have taken on us a solemn Bond and Obligation of Duty and Service And if we are Vnfaithful every Communion will come in against us as so many Oaths that we have broken For by Feasting on this Sacrifice this Day we have again Sworn at the Altar we have said it in our Hearts My Lord my God And we have professed it by our Actions We have played the Hypocrites and acted the part of Children and Fools if we did not mean it And if we do not stand to it while we live we are Rebels and add Perjury to our Rebellion by violating our Bond Covenant and Oath And if we do so we have imprecated a Curse upon our selves even all the Curses of a broken Covenant and so have sworn to our own Condemnation You therefore who have this Day Avouched the Lord for your God and have said to Christ My Lord my God Remember that he is both And don't expect he should be thy God thy Portion thy Happiness thy Heaven if he be not thy Lord. Don't think he will be thy Jesus thy Ransom to save thee from Hell if he be not thy Lord to govern thy Heart and Life He is the Author of Eternal Salvation only to those that Obey him an Everlasting Saviour to them only to whom he is a Lord. Don't expect that the saying Lord Lord either now or hereafter will be enough if thou be a Worker of Iniquity and do not what he Commands thee if his Interest in thee and Authority over thee will not prevail more than the Entreaty of a Friend or than the gain of a little Money or the Allurement of a little Pleasure or the Inticement of a Lust or the Temptation of a Devil But if you sincerely and unfeignedly take him for
ceasing of the Mosaick and the beginning of the Evangelical one In the like sense the same Word is used in other Places as Zach. 14 6 7. And that which answers to the Word New is that it is opposed to the old Dispensation that it serves to Divine Purposes by a new Institution and so is made New And it declares that the N w Gospel Dispensation to which it is appropriate is now beginning or to commence I 'll not drink of it till I drink it New with you in my Father's Kingdom or in the Kingdom of God i. e. In the Lord's Supper which is my Gospel Institution and the Beginning of the Peculiar Kingdom of God as dispens'd after my Actual Death and Sufferings No question but the Sense is very safe to consider it with Reference to the Heavenly Glory as it is usually understood when all the Blessings of this Passover shall be fully Accomplished in the Heavenly Canaan Neither is it strange or unusual for the same Ancient Type or Figure to respect to several Objects and so have several Degrees of Accomplishment * Les OEVRES Posthumes de Mr. Claude Tom. 2. l. 4. cap. 9. traité de J. Christ This of the Paschal Lamb might not only have Relation to the Angel's passing by the Houses of the Isrelites in Egypt and their passage out of Bondage into Liberty by the Deliverance that follow'd but unto the Absolution and Deliverance of Believers by the Blood of Chrsst and unto the Deliverance of Christ himself out of the Grace and from a state of Humiliation to that of Glory and to the passage of the Church Militant upon Earth to a state of Triumph in Heaven The Blessedness of Heaven is frequently set off by this Metaphor of Eating and Drinking And at the Lord's Table which was Instituted at the close of the Passover Feast the Thoughts of Heaven are proper We meet at this Table as those who hope to sit down with all the Children of the Kingdom at the last great Supper of the Lamb. This Ordinance is a lively Resemblance of the Heavenly Feast and should assist our Meditations on it Our Lord doth here speak to us such kind of Language Ere long we shall Feast together in Heaven What is now done in Emblem shall be then done in Reality You have here the Earnest Pledge and Assurance of it This Table is a Preparatory Entertainment for the Eternal Supper * Bishop Parick Mensa mystica chap. 18. It is some foretaste to stay our Longings and yet excite our Desires after the Heavenly Feast above Here we break our Fast as I may say but are made thereby very Hungry till that Great Supper come Here we have but a Praelibation a little short Antepast of some Rare things to come yet seeing it is an Earnest of those Things it creates in an holy Soul a wonderful Contentment both from its own Sweetness and the Hopes wherewith it feeds us It nourishes in us most Delicious Longings it makes the Soul even swell with Comfortable Expectations And we Receive it not only as a Remembrance of what was done but as a Pledge of what shall be We taste not only what he is to our Souls at present but what he shall be for ever If it be a Priviledge to be Admitted to sit at his Table and to have his Covenant sealed to me by the outward Ordinance and his special Love by his Spirit to my Heart All the Life and Comfort of these is That they Declare and Assure me of more and better Comforts hereafter Their Use is darkly to signifie and seal higher Mercies When I shall Drink with Christ of the Fruit of the Vine renewed How pleasant a Feast will that be O◠the Difference * Mr. Baxter as One hath well exprest it O the Difference between the last Supper of Christ on Earth and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb at the Great Day Here he is in an Vpper-Room accompanied with Twelve poor selected men feeding on no curious Dainties but a Paschal Lamb with sour Herbs and a Judas at his Table ready to betray him But then his Room will be the Glorious Heavens his Attendants all the Host of Angels and Saints no Judas nor unfurnished Guest comes there but the humble Believers must sit down by him and the Feast will be their mutual Loving and Rejoycing You know nevertheless that when the Israelites were got out of Egypt and delivered by the Blood of the Lamb and had a Promise of Canaan they had yet a Wilderness to pass through many Enemies to Encounter and Difficulties to overcome before they entred into Canaan though God protected and maintained and supplyed them in the Wilderness all that while So is it with us Christians though we recover our Spiritual Liberty by Faith in the Blood of Jesus and are made a peculiar People unto God a Nation of Kings and Priests unto the most High and are marching towards the Heavenly Canaan and have the Promise of it We have yet a Wilderness to pass through We have Adversaries on all sides to resist We need a Pillar of Cloud and of Fire to direct us and Manna from Heaven to supply us And this we shall have from time to time till we come to Canaan and then our Lord will eat and drink with us after a better manner we shall have New Wine in his Kingdom He is gone to prepare a Feast for us to make ready the great Supper of the Lamb for all the Children of the Kingdom After he was Sacrificed as the Lamb of God he tarried Fourty Days upon the Earth from his Resurrection till he Ascended into Heaven As the Jews after their Passover in Egypt wandred 40 years in the Wilderness before they entred into Canaan But all Believers after a few Years Difficulty and Tryals in this World with the Presence of God to Conduct and Guide them shall at last sit down for ever with Christ to Reap the full Harvest of his Sufferings to receive the compleat Deliverance which he hath procured to enjoy all the blessed Fruits of his Death all the Purchase of his Redeeming Blood This he will come again to bestow upon those who believe expect and prepare for it Some Inferences of Truth and Duty may be collected as the Application of what has been said 1. That Believers under the Old Testament and under the New have the same Object of Faith They did eat the same spiritual Meat and drink the same spiritual Drink Their Sacraments and ours have different Signs but in Substance were the same Theirs having Relation to Christ the Messiah as well as ours Accordingly we read of Circumcision and the Passover in a spiritual sense under the Gospel And that which answers to Baptism and the Lord's Supper with us Even they under the Old Testament had 1 Cor. 10.2 3. They were under the Covenant of Grace though not so clear a Dispensation of it as we They were
to be Saved by Faith in a Mediator as well as we The Gospel was preached unto them as well as unto us 2. Did Christ desire Fellowship with his Disciples Friends and Followers in the Passover What shall we think of those that despise such Institutions and look upon themselves as above such Ordinances as if they had a nearer and better way of Communion with God and Christ then this Remissness and Indifference as to these things Neglect and Carelesness in Preparation for them is likewise a degree of Contempt that deserves to be Reproved 3. Was Christ so desirous to eat his last Passover before he suffered for us because of his Willingness to Suffer What Ingratitude does this imply in our Backwardness and Cowardize when we are called to suffer for him 4. Did our Lord desire to eat this Passover because it was the last and consequently was Willing to be a Sacrifice for us What an Argument of his endearing Love does this afford us And how should it Enflame ours to him It was not from Ignorance of what he was to Suffer he fully knew what he had undertaken he perfectly understood what his Baptism of Blood did signifie and yet he earnestly desired it and was straitned till it was Accomplished He knew the Burden of Sin that he was to Expiate as a Sin-Offering when he bore our Sins in his own Body on the Tree as a Sacrifice to Divine Justice for us He knew the bitterness of that Cup which he was to drink of before-hand and yet for our sakes he desires it What Thankfulness do we owe for such inestimable Love He was willing to submit to such difficult Terms to bring about our Reconciliation to God He was willing to be obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross to turn away the Divine Displeasure from us and to restore us to the Divine Favour and Image again He was willing to be a Sacrifice for sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God through Faith in him He was willing to bear the Curse that the Blessing of Abraham might come upon us He was willing to be our Paschal Lamb to be slain and sacrificed for us that by the sprinkling of his Blood we might be delivered from Sin and Hell that by feeding on him as our Passover we might be Partakers of Spiritual and Eternal Life And even in the midst of his Agony in the Garden notwithstanding the strugling of his Humane Nature against the bitterness of the Cup which made him pray for the passing of it away yet as Mediator he was willing and therefore adds Not my Will but thine be done Father glorifie thy self O matchless and incomprehensible Love How should our Souls be Ravished with the Contemplation of it How hard and insensible are our Hearts if they feel no constraining Vertue in the Consideration of such Love If we do not Sacrifice our Lusts in Requital of his being a willing Sacrifice for us Shall not the Love of Christ which bubbles up in every Drop of his Blood and made him willing and resolved to shed it on our Account make us hate that Sin which he died to Atone for and to destroy Can we consider him Groaning Sweating Bleeding Dying for Sin and yet Retain an Affection to it And rush into it through the Wounds and Blood and Agony and Death of our Redeemer Shall that ever be sweet to us which put so much Vinegar and Gall into his Cup Let me add a few Words for Counsel and Direction 1. Did Christ earnestly desire to eat this Passover and have Communion with his Disciples therein How earnestly should we desire to have Communion with him in that Ordinance that succeeded to it which was Instituted by Christ himself the same Evening in the close of the Paschal Supper Is not a Spiritual Communion with him now he is in Glory as desirable as his Bodily Prâ—sence was when in a state of Humiliation Is it not the Spirit and Temper of all the Disciples of Christ in every Age of the Church to value and to desire such near Approaches to him How did the believing Jews prepare themselves for such a Solemnity as the Passover How did David's Heart pant and faint and long for Communion with God in the Services of the Temple Psalm 27.4 One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the Beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his Temple The Israelites were to eat the Passover in haste with greediness of desire Non lento Corde non languido Ore And is it not a Shame to us to have no Appetite for such a Feast Is â—t not for want of such Desires of Communion with Christ that we meet with so little Satisfaction when we come Let him that is a thirst come and such shall be filled when others shall be sent empty away but the hungry Souls shall not be sent empty away from the Lord's Table We may likewise heighten our Desires and Appetites when we come to this Table by considering For ought we know this may be the last Communion with Christ in such an Ordinance that we shall ever enjoy before it be fully accomplished in Heaven 2. Let us imitate Christ as our Passover Both in his Readiness to Suffer and in his Character and Qualification as the Spotless Lamb of God in Meekness and Patience and Submission c. Without this we can never prove our Interest in him 3. Let us thankfully Contemplate this Lamb of God as desiring to be Sacrificed for us Let us seriously and often consider the Voluntariness of his Death and Sacrifice the Fruits of his Suffering the Merit of his Cross How Acceptable his Sacrifice was to God how beneficial unto us What a Deliverance we have by it what a Bondage we are saved from what a Glorious Liberty he has purchased what a compleat Salvation we expect when all shall be fulfilled in Heaven These are proper Thoughts for those of us this Evening who have Feasted this Day on the Sacrifice of Christ Every one of us in particular not only in publick but in secret should bless God for Jesus Christ Admiring the Matchless Grace and Love of the Redeemer in being thus a Willing Sacrifice for us and calling us to Feast upon it having Instituted this Ordinance on purpose for that very end Lastly Live in the Daily Exercise of Faith on the Blood of Christ as the Lamb of God Sacrificed for us It was the sprinkling of the Blood of the Paschal Lamb that was the Mark of the Israelites Deliverance So the shedding of the Blood of Christ with particular Application by Faith is aâ— necessary for us Without it we cannot escape the Stroke of the destroying Angel Without it the Blood of Christ will call for Vengeance and his very Sacrifice and Sufferings plead against us We should every Day by fresh