thy mercy These are thy words O Christ for thou hast spoken them and they are mine because thou hast spoken them for my Salvation O sweet and amiable words in the Ears of a poor Sinner by which thou invitest an indigent starved wretch to partake of thy holy body But who am I O Lord that I should dare to come the Angels and Archangels reverence thee thy Saints and holy ones fear before thee and yet thou sayst unto me Come c. unless thou hadst said it who could have believed it to be true unless thou hadst commanded it who durst have attempted this approach T. à Kempis de imitat Chris l. 4. c. 1. The Paraphrase O ye of contrite hearts Hear with joy and wonder what comfortable words he whose love you so much long for even our Saviour Christ himself saith to all such as you that truly grieving for your sins do turn to him to find mercy Lo he pities you and most affectionately calls upon you saying Come unto me with a perswasion that I am able and desirous to help you O all ye that travel with much grief and pains for your sins and are heavy laden with the apprehensions of my anger against you for them be not discouraged for I will bear this burden my self and I will by my sufferings make your peace with my Father and so refresh you according to your hearts desire § 3. So God loved the World that he gave his only-begotten Son to the end that all that believe in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life S. John 3.16 The second Assertion in the Absolution is confirmed by this Sentence viz. that Almighty God will forgive all that with true Faith turn unto him If he were willing to grant pardon on easier terms yet a man void of Faith could not receive it It was an absurd practice in some places of old to give the Sacrament to the Dead who had been surprized by mortal sickness and prevented to receive it living but an antient Council condemned this h Placuit ut corporibus defunctorum Eucharistia non detur Dictum est enim à Domino Accipite c. Conc. 3. Carthag Can. 6. because the Dead could not as Christ commands Take and eat it And for the same reason a Man without Faith cannot receive Absolution because he is dead i Vnde mors in animâ quia non est fides unde mors in corpore quia non est anima ergo animae tuae anima fides est Aug. in Johan void of all spiritual life and power to apprehend the benefit thereof Therefore if our sins and sorrows have wrapt us in such mists that we can scarce discern the light of Gods countenance let us throughly meditate of this one Sentence and the glories of it will dispel them all For here it doth appear that he first loved us and gave the noblest testimony of the biggest affection to us for he gave not a Creature nor a Servant a Prophet nor an Angel for us but he gave up his Son his only Son to a cruel Death for the World his Enemies and liable to his justice and all this for no other end but that we and the rest of this miserable World might be freed from the Damnation which we had deserved and be advanced to that glory which we could never have expected And do we still question his willingness to save us Did he give such a price to purchase our Salvation when we were Enemies and shall we think he will cast us into those flames out of which we were so dearly rescued now when we beg his mercy Did he send his Son on purpose to preserve us and will he lose his end in so glorious a work Away ye misgiving thoughts dishonour not the incomparable goodness of God hath he not given more when he gave his own Son for all than to grant life to a few for his sake Oh do not question that Love which is sealed with such an Evidence but believe admire embrace it and be thankful The Paraphrase Dost thou fear O my Soul that God will not have mercy on thee behold he that best knew his Fathers mind affirms that So wonderfully God loved his miserable Enemies even all the Sinners in the World that he when none else could help them freely gave up not some of his noblest Servants but his only-begotten and intirely beloved Son to die for them And this he did to the end that we and such like poor Sinners even all that believe this Jesus is able and willing to save them and so trust in him might be delivered from the wrath to come for all this was done on purpose that we should not perish in endless Torments but have everlasting life in his Heavenly Kingdom Doubt not then but this design shall be accomplished in thy Salvation § 4. This is a true saying and worthy of all men to be received that Iesus Christ came into the World to save Sinners 1 Timoth. 1.15 Although there needs nothing to confirm what Jesus saith yet since he himself was pleased to take his Apostles for his Witnesses we have here brought in two of the principal of them to avouch this excellent truth viz. That there is mercy for Penitent Sinners And first the certainty thereof is averred by Saint Paul who had found the experience of it and was himself so great an instance thereof that he thinks ver 16. no sinner will ever despair that can but consider how great an offender he was and yet that he found mercy whereupon he doth with great confidence assert this as a tried and infallible Maxim and because all men have sinned he propounds it as a Truth which every man is concerned to receive as unquestionably and believe as firmly as the Cabala l Cabala fig. receptam doctrinam qui docet enim apud Judaeos tradere dicitur qui discit recipere Vid. Ham. annot in 1 Tim. 1. Drus praeterit l. 8. was amongst the Scholars of Jewish Rabbins And he urgeth this the more vigorously because we are so apt to object what such as we shall we ever partake of such a happiness Yes such as you for our Lord Jesus had no other errand into this World no other design in putting on our nature no other end in dying than to save Sinners He came not to call the Righteous Math. 9.13 but to seek and save those which were lost Chap. 18.11 and he assures us there is more joy in Heaven at the difficult and unexpected Salvation of a Sinner than at the more likely and more looked for glorification of many righteous Luke 15.7 But you say you are grievous Sinners Are not all the World so if there had been no Sinners there had needed no Saviour if Sinners cannot be saved no man did ever enter Heaven if sin be unpardonable Jesus hath died in vain Do not argue against your own felicity but be assured if you
appeased my sins expiated my peace made and my Enemies vanquished It revives my spirit and refreshes me more than comparisons can express more than any can apprehend but thâ—y that feel the like O praise the Lord with me and let us magnifie his name together we should have thought it a great felicity to have beheld the glories of Jesus at a distance but he hath now sent him home to our hearts wherefore we will declare his mercy for ever Amen Hallelujah § 4. And dost assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us When St. John was to introduce the Institution of this Sacrament he doth it with this Preface Chap. 13.1 Having loved his own he loved them to the end or as the word rather signifies g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Johan 13.1 i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophylac He loved them in the highest degree intimating that this holy Communion is designed as a testimony that he loved us with a most perfect love And there are many considerations which do most clearly shew this to be an assured pledge of the favour of God unto us 1. If we consider it only as a Feast it hath always been a token of great respect and a symbol of intire friendship to admit especially our inferiours to our Table h Mensae ejusdem particeps quod magnum amicitiae symbolum olim creditum Grotius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Philo. thus David expressed his kindness unto Mephibosheth 2 Sam. 9.7 and Joseph to his estranged Brethren Gen. 43.25 and no man willingly eats with those whose persons or manners he dislikes Gen. 43.32 Besides Feasts have been esteemâ—d a means to reconcile those who have been at variance whence it is a Proverb in Ben-Syra Spread the Table and the contention will cease And is it not matter of unspeakable joy to us who were Enemies Rebels and condemned wretches to be thus invited to feast with the Lords of Hosts Can we have a plainer Symbol of his favour than thus to be treated as his dear friends 2. But it is not an ordinary Feast for it is a Feast upon the Body and blood of Christ which was the great Sin-offering Now it was not lawful of old for any i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Porph. de abst l. 4. Sect. 44. to tast of the Expiatory Sacrifices because those offerings could not wholly abolish sin nor remove the anger of God he was not so perfectly reconciled by them as to give back the Offerers any part on which they might feast with him But by the perfect oblation of Jesus Christ it is evident that the divine Justice is fully satisfied and therefore the flesh and blood of Christ is by God given back to us in Sacrament that we may eat thereof before him and thereby be assured that he will remember our sins no more but this is more largely described by others 3. It will further appear to be a pledge of Gods infinite love to us if we consider who it is that in this holy Rite he gives to us even Jesus Christ his dearly beloved Son May we not say as God to Abraham Gen. 22.12 Now know we that thou lovest us because thou hast not withheld thy Son thy only Son from us And justly may we argue with St. Paul Rom. 8.32 He that hath given us his own Son how shall he not with him also freely give us all things k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Rom. when he hath given the greatest and best to us to make us his Friends shall he deny us any lesser matters when we are reconciled We may be confident there is nothing which God values more highly than his own dear Son and that his design in giving him to us in this Sacrament is to be a testimony how infinitely he loveth us and how earnestly he desireth our Salvation 4. That which adds weight to all the former is the consideration of the Giver who is the God of truth and is most sincere in all his dealings with us so that we may be assured of all imaginable reality on his part And now how should it fill our minds with joy that we have such a pledge of his favour l Non tam dono lata est quam abs te datum id verò triumphat serió Terent. Eun. 3.11 At illa quanto gratiora sunt quantoque in partem interiorem animi descendunt cum delectant cogitantem magis à quo quà m quid acceperit Sen. de ben l. 1. Sect. 15. who is Almighty in power and governs all the World whose goodness fills Heaven and Earth with joy Were the gift never so mean that were bestowed in token of his favour and goodness it ought to be esteemed above all things therefore let us thus acknowledge our gratitude for so excellent a gift upon so blessed an account from so glorious a Majesty An Act of acknowledgment Part. I. There are many O Lord who are most importunate to obtain thy favour and unquiet till they receive some testimonies thereof and yet when their desires are granted they are unmoved and ingrateful But I will endeavour to praise thee as heartily for these manifestoes of thy love as I desired them fervently I acknowledge therefore that I am full of wonder to find my self honoured with the highest priviledges and remarked with the most illustrious signals of thy endearing love I begged the mercy of gathering up the Crumbs under thy Table and behold thou hast placed me among thy servants and fed me with the choicest of thy preparations thou hast offered unto me a Crucified Saviour with all his merits and graces which is so great an assurance of thy good will towards me that it were folly and impudence to suspect it O Lord thou hast shewed this token upon me for good that all my Enemies may see it and be ashamed for all the Powers of darkness are confounded to behold me a poor despised wretch whose ruine they gaped for every moment thus to be made a Guest at thy Table and treated as one of thy dearest Children or best beloved Friends I will not be proud of this honour because I did not deserve it but I will rejoice in it and bless thy name for it because it hath revived my hope and cheared my drooping Soul and I am perswaded this fresh testimony of thy favour shall engage me to love thee with an unalterable affection There was nothing in the World I desired in comparison of thy Love nor could I have wished a more certain pledge of it than thy Son and my Saviour Welcom O my dearest Redeemer for thy own sake and thrice welcom as thou art the evidence of thy Heavenly Fathers love to me a miserable Sinner I will acknowledge it with delight as I am able at present and my whole life hereafter shall shew how deep a sense I have of this inestimable goodness and when life and breath doth fail it
have mercy upon us 3. A Doxology to him also together with the whole Trinity For thou onely art Holy thou onely art the Lord thou onely O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most High in the Glory of God the Father Amen A Practical Discourse upon the Gloria in Excelsis § 3. Glory be to God on high on Earth Peace and good will toward men This blessed Hymn the Church hath learned from that Heavenly Choire which came to celebrate our Lords Nativity Luke 2.16 And since we have tasted the Coelestial Manna and fed upon Angels food it is fit we should join with them in singing the praises of their Lord and ours and as one of the Angelick Order first began and then a multitude of the Heavenly Host united their Voices so it was the Custom b Angelicum posthaec sacrifex pater incipit hymnum Inceptum complet vociferando Chorus Hildebert Conoman Episc of old for the Priest first to begin and then all the Communicants to compleat the Harmony of this divine Anthem It was first endited to set forth the happy effects of that Redemption which Jesus did undertake at his Birth and it doth declare that it caused Glory to be given to God in Heaven and made Peace for poor Sinners on Earth because it did engage the good will of the Almighty towards Men But all this was but expected and prophesied of then whereas now when the Merits of this Redemption are really and effectually communicated to Penitent Souls in this Sacrament those things are all performed and accomplished so that the worthy Receivers have juster cause now than ever to sing Glory to God in the highest note who dwelleth in the highest place c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aliquando excellentissimè Math. 21.9 hoc loco terrae opponitur Grot. for he hath now done us the highest favour in making such Peace on Earth d Deus nobis haec otia fecit Virg. and giving such testimonies of his good will toward us No doubt the blessed Spirits above who sing at the Conversion of one Sinner do give glory to God in the highest now when he hath sealed his Covenant of Peace with so many and when they behold us all at peace one with another and rejoicing in these pledges of the divine favour The Church rejoyceth to see so many poor Souls revived with the hopes of Mercy e Gaudet Ecclesia redemptione multorum adstare sibi familiam candidatam spirituali exultatione laetatur Ambros de Sacr. l. 5. c. 3. every heart is full of joy and every Tongue is ready to bless the Lord for this happy reconciliation Oh let us strive to sing the Praises with an Angelick Spirit that so they above and we below may make a lovely Concord and if our Devotion cannot rise to the same note yet let our sincerity keep us in an agreeable Key and for the help of our affections let us thus meditate O my Soul behold and blush to see the Angels who are almost unconcerned sing for thy felicity while thou art silent and unmoved The Heaven is calm above thee the Earth is quiet round about thee and thy God hath testified his good will unto thee Rejoice and be exceeding glad admire and celebrate the Love of Jesus and the efficacy of that Sacrifice which hath filled Heaven with Glory Earth with Peace and all the World with Comfort O ye Celestial Powers it is my concern to magnifie him to whom you pay these Praises for I have received those Mercies which are the cause of your Joy Wherefore I will join with you and bless my God in the highest strain and I will pray that I may extol him more highly O let all the Lords redeemed on Earth and all the glorious Spirits of Heaven unite their Voices till all the World do resound with his Praise who hath restored Peace to us and shewed such good will unto men Hosanna in the highest § 4. We praise thee we bless thee we worship thee we glorifie thee we give thanks unto thee for thy great glory O Lord God Heavenly King God the Father Almighty Having before propounded the subject of our Praises we now begin to descant upon it and first we glorifie the Father Almighty to whom the former Praises are primarily directed And although we are taught with many words to express our gratitude and our joy yet none can censure this as a vain repetition because it is done in imitation of those Celestial Hymns recorded in the Revelations viz. Blessing and Glory and Wisdom and Thanksgiving and Honour and Power and might be c. Revel 7.12 and the like Chap. 5.13 as also because every word here used is highly pertinent and hath its peculiar and proper signification f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philem. Poet. Graec. We praise God by setting forth his Greatness we bless him by declaring his goodness we worship him with our Bodies we glorifie him with our mouth we give him thanks with our hearts for the great glory which he hath gotten to himself by these his Mercies toward us And further the adding so many words doth well express the vehemency of our affections and shew that we are so full of admiration and delight that we know not well with what words to signifie the pleasure which we feel within us And whilst we are repeating so many Phrases let our Souls be enlarged in comfortable reflections upon the goodness of God and then we shall not object against their number but find a new motion in our minds to comply with every one of these Eucharistical words and use every one of them with devotion O God the Father of Heaven whose mercy is over all the World I am infinitely pleased to behold the glory and to hear the Praises which thou hast gotten by thy mercy to poor Sinners and I could even pour out my Soul in the manifestation of that joy which my heart conceiveth at thy so universal Honour Wherefore I will praise thee by acknowledgments and bless thee with Hymns I will worship thee with the lowest reverence and glorifie thee in the highest note yea I will give thanks unto thee with all my Soul for thy Pity and thy Patience thy Mercy and long-suffering thy Bounty and Loving-kindness towards thy unworthy yet miserable Creatures And as all men do share in thy goodness I hope they will join in thy Praises in singing that Song of the Lamb which is to be the subject of eternal Hallelujahs Praise and Blessing Honour Glory and Thanksgiving be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne for ever and ever Amen § 5. O Lord the only begotten Son Iesu Christ O Lord God Lamb of God Son of the Father that takest away the Sins of the World Have mercy upon us Thou that takest away the Sins of the World Have mercy upon us Thou that takest away the
reports of my Neighbour § Have I not incouraged such ill-reports nor published the faults of another to his disgrace § Have I not undervalued good or flattered bad men and given a false Character to please a friend § Have I not suffered an innocent persons good name to be traduced when I had opportunity or power to clear it § Have I not by pride conceived or by boasting uttered false things concerning my self § Have I neither sought unjustly to uphold or wilfully to blast my own Credit Lord have mercy c. And encline c. X. Commandment § Have I not secretly murmured at the Providence of God as if others had too much and my self too little § Have I not greedily coveted the Estate honours o◠comforts of my neighbours nor sought by evil means to procure them to my self § Have I not envyed any so as to be grieved at their prosperity or to wish or rejoice in their losses and calamities § Have I not been apt to undervalue all my own things and neglected to give God thanks for them § Have I not too passionately pursued riches and honours so as to neglect my Soul and Religion upon these accounts § 7. Whosoever hath particularly and seriously asked his own Soul the foregoing Questions will be far from the vanity of the young Man in the Gospel nor is it likely that he will now have the confidence to say as he Matth. 19.20 All these have I kept from my youth For his own Conscience will tell him in most inquiries that He is the Man And accordingly the Church hath provided the Publican Confession Luke 18.12 Lord have mercy upon us Which now may be fitly used First As an humble and dolorous Confession that we are Guilty very Guilty For when the Prisoner falls down and craves Mercy It shews he is convinced of his fault and in that phrase is supposed to acknowledge it Secondly As a passionate and earnest Exclamation for Pardon which now appears infinitely needful when this black and dreadful Bill is set before us Yet lest all this should not be sufficient to produce that sorrow and shame which is necessary for this solemn Confession but our hearts remain still obdurate and unrelenting Let every one lay before himself these Considerations First Meditate of the nature of all these Sins of which thou art guilty They are the Actions of a poor helpless depending Creature done against the holy Will and most gentle and reasonable Commands of that Majesty who could destroy thee in a Moment and whom Angels and all the World besides exactly do obey And besides thou maist upbraid thy self with the folly of Anger the fury of Revenge the filthiness of Lust and the shame of Lying the beastliness of Drunkenness and the misery of Covetousness the unreasonableness of Pride and the vanity of seeking humane Praise the restlesness of Ambition and the vexation of a discontented mind Consider the malignity of all Sin and the baseness of every particular and surely it will appear it was impudence and ingratitude simplicity and madness in thee ever to commit them Secondly Meditate of the number of them And think that if there be so much evil in one Sin How deplorable is thy Case who hast offended in so many kinds Oh how often hast thou acted or designed the greater and more notorious wickednesses And for those which we account the lesser What is wanting in the odiousness of the single Acts thou hast supplyed by frequent repetitions Few days nay minutes passing in thy whole life in which thou dost not sin in these instances I doubt not but thy memory now presents a vast number to thee but alas those that were never observed are far more and those that are forgotten are much more numerous than both Yet these are all noted in the Records of Heaven So that if thou couldest apprehend this formidable Army it would lay thy confidence in the dust and strike thee with amazement to consider how many times thou hast deserved Condemnation Thirdly Meditate of the Desert of these Sins viz. that the wages of any the least unobserved or forgotten sin is death Rom. 6.23 And then how many times hast thou deserved to be cut off Consider how thou art by these transgressions exposed to the wrath of God and to suffer all those Temporal Spiritual and Eternal miseries which the Righteous Judge of all the World hath threatned in his holy word And if thy heart be apt to excuse its faults on pretence of a corrupt Nature a violent Temptation or a sudden surprize and will not believe or fear that God is so highly displeased then tell thy own Soul that for one offence the Angels were cast out of Heaven and Adam out of Paradise and He that is the lover of Men for lighter or fewer Crimes doth lay dreadful Plagues and Miseries upon thy Brethren And God is no respecter of Persons He spared not his own Son when he stood in the place of Sinners and shall He spare thee Oh look up to the Cross of Jesus and behold his Agonies and his Sorrow hear his groans and cryes observe his anguish and his pains Is not God highly displeased with Sin when he makes his own Son the Example of his wrath to his offending Servants In short know that if Repentance do not now procure thy Pardon thou shalt have God and all Creatures thy Enemies and maist justly expect Losses and Crosses Poverty and Reproach Diseases and an evil Death and which is more horrid to be deprived of the aids of Gods Spirit and the offers of Grace and to be left in thy own hardness and impenitency as one that refuseth to be reclaimed And if any or all these have not yet faln upon thee it is only because the Lord will try whether at this time thou wilt seriously Repent but thou art not acquitted though he do awhile forbear Fourthly Meditate of those Aggravations which make thy Sins worse than those of other Men and that will convince thee that thou deservest no less For First Have not many of them been committed against thy knowledge and reason and in despite of all the checks and reluctancies of thy Conscience Secondly And although thou hast made so many vows and taken so many resolutions never to act them more yea and engaged this upon the holy Sacrament of Christs body and blood Yet hast thou not entertained them again Thirdly Have not all those mercies and favours spiritual and temporal wherewith thy Heavenly Father hath courted thy Love been abused by thee and cast away upon thee when all this could not prevail to make thee leave one lust or perswade thee to give over piercing him that hath died for thee Fourthly Hast thou not proceeded in thy evil Courses after all those Examples of divine vengeance on others and all those Calamities which Sin hath brought upon thy own self Hast thou feared any longer than the smart remained Hast thou not made the
such a God to ask it of and such a Prince to ask it for whose endeavours are a great incouragement to this Petition What is further requisite the following Analysis and Paraphrase will supply The Analysis of the second Collect. Sect. 9. This Collect hath four Parts 1. The Compellation Almighty and Everlasting God 2. The ground of this Petition being Godâ— word concerning 1. His power over Kings Wâ— are taught by thy Holy Word that the hearts of Kings â—re â—n thy hands 2. His Providence about them and that thou dost dispose and turn them as it seemeth best to the godly Wisdom 3. The Petition it self and in it 1. For what is made We humbly beseech thee so to dispose and govern the heart 2. In behalf of whom of CHARLES thy Servant our King and Governour 3. To what end viz. 1. Gods glory that in all his thoughts words and works he may ever seek thy honour and glory 2. The Nations good And study to preserve thy People committed to his charge in Wealth Peace and Godliness 4. The Motives to make it effectual taken 1. From Gods mercy Grant this O merciful Father 2. Christs merits for thy dear Sons sake Iesus Christ our Lord Amen The Paraphrase of the second Collect. § 10. O Almighty Lord and everlasting God who art infinitely powerful and ever the same We chearfully call upon thee for our gracious Prince because we are taught by thy Spirit in thy Holy Word that the hearts of all men yea even the Counsels and purposes of Kings which seem of all other the most unsearchable and unalterable yet are in thy hands and at thy Command So that thou canst direct them to any good or restrain them from any evil and that thou dost by thy over-ruling Providence dispose and turn them as the Rivers of Waters Giving such event to every design as it seemeth best to thy divine and godly wisdom by which thou dost manage all the World Wherefore we humbly beseech thee thou great Moderator of Heaven and Earth so to dispose the Counsels and govern the heart of our gracious Soveraign CHARLES thy Servant our just and rightful King and Governour as may best conduce to his and our mutual comfort To which end let thy mighty power cause that in all his purposes and thoughts words and works he may most religiously and earnestly ever seek to advance thy honour and glory by defending thy Gospel administring Justice and making it his constant care and study to preserve all his Subjects who are thy people and by thee committed to his charge in a most flourishing prosperity that they may increase in wealth and abound in plenty continue in peace and dwell safely in the profession of Religion and in the practice of vertue and godliness throughout all Generations Grant this we beseech thee O merciful Father of thine own gracious nature especially now we plead in this Sacrament for thy dear Sons sake and in remembrance of the Death of Iesus Christ our Lord and our Redeemer Amen SECT V. Of the Epistle the Gospel and the Creed § 1. WHen to these Prayers for outward Prosperity we have added the Collect of the Day of which see Comp. to the Temple as a Petition for internal grace and a fit preparation for the following Portions of Scripture out of which it is taken and to which it commonly doth refer Then followeth the Reading of the Epistle and Gospel And it is evident that long before the dividing of the Bible into Chapters and Verses it was the Custom both of the Greek and Latin Church to read some select portions of the plainest and most practical parts of the New Testament at the Celebration of the Eucharist in imitation of the Jewish Mode of reading the History of the Passover before the eating of the Paschal Lamb. Buxtorf Lexic Chald. So that we find mention of reading the Apostolical and Evangelical Writings in this Office not only in the Liturgies of St. James St. Clemens St. Basil c. but in Just Martyr Tertullian St. Augustine and others of the Fathers who most of them have their Homilies still extant upon them And Strabo affirms they were appointed by the first Successors of the Apostles p Walafrid Strabo de reb Eccl. c. 22. For the Counsel of Valentia q Sacrosancta Evangelia ante munerum illationem in Missâ Catechumenorum in ordine lectionum post Apostolum legantur Concil Val. Can. 1. Anno circa 500. post Christum did only fix them to that place wherein now they stand before the Offertory that so the Catechumens might have the benefit to hear them For the particular choice of them they are the very Quintessence of the New Testament And first The Epistles are either plain and pressing Exhortations to some necessary Christian Duties or rare discoveries of Gods mercy or gracious promises of Pardon and Assistance And they are first read in remembrance of that first Mission of the Apostles when they went before their Masters face to every City whither Christ would come Luke 10.1 that the Epistle may be as the Harbinger for the Gospel And sure it is fit these being the words of the Servants that the last place and greatest honour be reserved to the words of their and our Master Secondly For the Gospel it is either some remarkable History of Christs Life or Death some Eminent Miracle or some curious Parable and part of his Divine Sermons which is therefore last read because the Epistles do usually contain instruction in the Mysteries of Salvation but the Gospel presents the Example of Jesus to the imitation whereof all our knowledge is but subservient Eph. 4.13 And to this may be referred surely that ancient custom of standing up at the reading of the Holy Gospel so frequently enjoined by the forementioned Liturgies r Legitur Evangelium stantibus omnibus cum timore reverentiâ Liturg St. Basil Stantes audiamus S. Evangelium Lit. St. Chrys Vide etiam Sozom hist l. 9. c. 19. Constit Clem. l. 2. Canon Apostol 61. and so universally practised among Christians both to express an extraordinary reverence to our Lords own words and also that we may shew our selves ready to obey by standing in a posture fit presently to execute his commands and to follow him whithersoever he calls us The Gospel hath such affinity to Christ that it is properly the word of God and bears the name of our Lord. Heb. 4.12 13. 1 Cor. 1.24 To receive Christ and to entertain his word with Faith is all one Finally to believe the Gospel is called eating Christs flesh and drinking his blood John 6. and is a kind of spiritual Communion Wherefore it is fitly read before this Sacrament and at the Altar even when there is no Celebration because we must hearken to it with the like reverence receive it with the like joy and return it with the like gratitude as if Jesus himself was sacramentally or visibly
observeth the Ordinances of Religion confidently f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. Apol. saith unto me Thou art my Saviour Lord wilt thou not own me Lord who have ever called thee Master I say it this be all not any one of these pretenders shall enter into the glories of the Kingdom of Heaven or be accepted by me then But he that doth acts of Mercy and Charity which is the command and the Will of my Father which doth good to all himself and ever is in Heaven whither I must not admit any that do not please him by being merciful § 5. Luke 19.8 If the Precepts and Exhortations work not on you perhaps this Example may Behold a Publican usually the worst of Men who had received that Christ into his House whom you are to receive into your hearts by the Words of Jesus wholly changed into justice and liberality Paraphrase And while the Lord was Preaching of Justice and Charity Zacheus a chief of the Publicans who entertained him stood forth before many Witnesses and said of his own accord with great Devotion unto the Lord Jesus I confess I have loved the World too well but Behold Lord thy sayings have now wrought in me such a contempt of these things that to shew how much I prize Heaven above Wealth Lo the half of my goobs and great Estate I give at Pesent to thee to be disposed to the Poor nor do I keep the other half out of any love to Riches but desire to do justly And if in my exacting Office I have taken any thing more than was due from any Man Poor or Rich by false accusation or bribery Let him come and challenge me of the wrong and here I restore him fourfold which is more than the Law requires where there hath been no denial nor alienation Exod. 22.1 2 3 4. § 6. 1 Corinth 9.7 The next care of the Church is to shew us who are the objects of our Charity viz. The Ministers in the next five Sentences And secondly All especially the Christian poor Gal. 6.10 First The Ministers for it is evident by these places and Heb. 13.10 as also by the Writings of St. Cyprian and all the Antient Canons g Episcopus Presbyteri inter Diaconos reliques clericos eas oblatione scil dividunt Can. Apost 5. Si quid ex collatione fidelium offertur apud unum Clericorum fidelitèr colligatur constituto tempore semel aut his in anno inter omnes clericos dividatur Concil Bracor can 39. Vid. Concil Agathens can 26. Decret Epist Simplic Pont. R. 3. that the Clergy were chiefly maintained out of the oblations made at the Communion until Ihe Piety of Christian Kings had otherwise provided so that it was very ancient to exhort the people at this Sacrament to liberality to Gods Minister from whom they did here receive so great a gift as the Body of Jesus Christ Nor is it fit to leave out these sentences now because in many places still especially in Cities and appropriate Churches the Ministers chief maintenance is Free-gifts and Oblations especially at Easter These parts therefore of Gods word ought to stir up all People not to think the bare Dues sufficient where the Minister hath not an honourable Provision but privately where the custom of the Priests sharing in the offerings at Church is now laid aside to give some considerable gratuity to him that ministers to them in spiritual things Now to the Texts St. Paul urgeth liberality to the Ministers First by Similitudes for as to the dangers of their Calling they are likened to Souldiers h 2 Tim. 2.3 4. as to their pains to Husbandmen and Vine-Dressers i 2 Tim. 2.6 Math. 20.1 as to their love and care k Acts 20.28 Ezek. 34 c. they are compared to Shepherds Now all these have profit by that they labour in Ergo. Paraphrase The office of the Ministry requireth more pains and care than any Profession and therefore ought to be maintained at least as well as any Now who goeth a Souldier to warfare at any time in defence of his Country of his own cost Doth not his Prince and Nation for which he fighteth give him Wages Or who planteth Vines and dresseth a Vineyard that would think his time well bestowed if he drinketh not of the Wine and eateth not of the Fruit which groweth thereof Or who feedeth and waiteth on a Flock of Sheep if he getteth no profit by them and eateth not of the Milk and cloatheth not himself with the Wool of the flock if he might not have this reward of his care he would soon be weary of his charge and so may Ministers also § 7. 1 Cor. 9.11 Secondly He proves it from Reason because the people receive from them greater and better things which if they value according to their worth all that they can give will appear far short of a requital Paraphrase It is most reasonable you should be bountiful to the Messengers of Salvation for If we Ministers in Praying for you Preaching and Administring the Sacraments to you have sow that Seed of Grace which will procure unto you Eternal life and have ever dispensed to you all spiritual things for the good of your Souls Is it too much or seems it a great matter if in requital for Heavenly blessings sown we shall reap some small part of your Worldly things for the supply of our necessities § 8. 1 Cor 9.13 14. Most of these Corinthians had been first Jewish Proselytes and now become Christians wherefore the Apostle sets before them the known Example of the provisions for the Priests under the Law ver 13. and secondly Propounds unto them the Ordinance of Christ in the Gospel ver 14. Paraphrase ver 13 The Ministers of the Gospel certainly deserve as much as the Levitical Priesthood and Do ye not know how honourably the Law provided for them for besides many free Cities and Lands and all the Tiths it was appointed Tâ—at thâ—y which l Which Scaliger proveth to have been 19. parts out of 100. De decim ap Critic sacr and Josephus notes there was enough for above 5000. Priests were but Levites and only minister and serve the Priests about holy things should be nobly fed and live plentifully upon the best parts of the Sacrifice And that the Priests which offer all Oblations being They who wait on the service of God at the Altar should have a large share of the offerings and the benefit of all consecrated things so that they are partakers with the Altar which only consumeth Gods part and the rest they feasted upon Ver. 14. Even so for the same Reason and by way of Analogy to this Provision hath the Lord Jesus m Per Traditionem non scriptam ut plurimi Veterum crediderunt vel in Evangelio Math. 10.10 Luke 10.7 under the Gospel also Ordained and appointed That they who leaving all other imployments betake themselves
and Mountains of difficulties before he can reach that blissful Crown it is little less than Miracle that all men do not sooner or latter fall and fall from the faith and fear of God What prospect in the World can ravish us with greater pleasuâ—es or raise in us higher admirations of the divine goodness than to behold those that were once as frail and sinful as we are now advanced above Satans malice or Deaths Power and placed in the Regions of Joy and the Bosom of Jesus that we might not tremble or think it impossible to come thither also Doth not their felicity give life to our hopes and become a pledge of our own future glory why should we not then rejoice with them and delight our selves with the very news of our Brethrens happiness what other Communion is there between us and those blessed Spirits but that they in general pitty and wish well to us and we praise God with and for them And by thus meditating of their most desirable estate we shall learn to despise Death and long to be with such inviting Company nay languishing after the happy enjoyment of such noble Society for ever and ever Who can look up to these Mansions and not enquire for the path that leads thither and be strongly attracted to follow the steps of those who have so successfully trodden this way before This makes the pious Soul so passionately beg the divine grace that it may do as they have done live as they lived and die as they died so that what they are now it may be hereafter The Scythians as Lucian relates kept the memorials of their brave Men with great joy that so many might strive to become like unto them d Simus inter exempla quare deficimus quare desperamus quicquid fieri potuit potest Sen. ep 98. Magnorum virorum non minus quam praesentia utilis est memoria idem ep 102. And St. Augustine saith when any duty seemed difficult he was wont to think of the Saints of former times and he imagined they derided his sloath saying Tu non poteris c. Canst not thou do what those Men nay those Women once did that which hath been effected is not impossible Would we make this use of our faithful Brethren departed their memory and example would be as profitable as if we had their bodily presence with us and the remembrance of their glory would strongly excite us to follow their good example till we came with them to partake of that Heavenly Kingdom in the mean time we shall never want matter for to praise God in their behalf since his truth and mercy to them is the confirmation of our Faith the encouragement of our duty and gives us in contemplation an antepast of our happiness before we come to the full enjoyment of it § 13. Grant this O Father for Iesus Christ his sake our only Mediator and Advocate Amen This general Conclusion of all our Prayers we should not remark particularly here but that the Mass hath thrust in the names of the B. Virgin and other Saints e Et omnium Sanctorum tuorum quorum meritis precibusque concedas in Canone Missae Rom. into the Supplications through whose Merits and Prayers they intercede even in this place where there is a lively Commemoration of the Death of Christ our only Mediator which is not only the holding a Candle to the Sun but seems to intimate that to plead in the Virtue of our Lords Passion is not sufficient that that intercession by which the Holy Virgin and all other Saints became accepted by God was not alone forceable enough But we desire no other Mediator nor need no other Advocate 1 Tim. 2.5 but our Lord Jesus Christ who is here represented nor do we doubt to ask all these Mercies for all these Persons since we approach our Heavenly Father with his dear and only beloved Son in our Arms wherefore let us bless the name of God who hath chosen such a Master of Requests to present our Prayers and put such an Argument in our Mouths when we approach unto him Let us look to the holy Symbols and remember our great High Priest while we offer up the Intercessions with a great humility and a sprightly devotion because our God will not nay cannot deny those that thus come unto him The Paraphrase of the Prayer for the whole Church § 14. O Almighty and Everliving God who art able to help all Persons always and in all things We are unworthy to ask for our selves and yet we are incouraged to intercede for others since by thy holy Apostle Saint Paul thou hast taught us in our daily Assemblies to make Prayers to obtain good Intercessions and Supplications to remove evil in behalf of all the World And to give thanks for the Mercies received by all men Believing therefore thy willingness to grant these things which thou commandest us to ask We humbly disclaim our own Merits beseech thee for Jesus sake and by the Vertue of his Passion here set forth most mercifully ** This to be omitted when there is no Collection ** to accept this poor acknowledgment of thy bounty and testimony of our love in these our Alms to the Poor and Oblations to thy Ministers intreating thee also to hear and ** This to be omitted when there is no Collection ** to receive all our former Petitions especially these our Prayers for all People which we offer as the evidence of our Universal Charity most heartily to thy Divine Majesty who art all-sufficient to supply the whole World To thy goodness therefore we come Beseeching thee though miraculous gifts are ceased yet to inspire continually with such grace the whole body of the Vniversal Church spread over all the Earth that it may be quickened with the most holy Spirit which teacheth the Principles of truth and produceth Vnity in the Faith and Concord in the affections of thy people And grant that all the Members of thy Church that do profess thy true Religion and confess to believe in thy holy Name laying aside their animosities may agree all their differences and so fully rest in the infallible truth of thy Holy Word and its determinations of all necessary things that notwithstanding some lesser varieties they may have mutual peace And live as Children of the same Father in Vnity without Schism or Heresie in Charity and godly love without Malice or Envy among them And because thy Church cannot well subsist on Earth without temporal Guardians We beseech thee also in order to the common good to save the Souls and defend the Persons and Rights of all Christian Magistrates who in their several Dominions have or ought to have supream governance of the Church whether they be absolute Kings or free Princes or else Rulers and Governours in popular States But as our duty interest and affection do peculiarly oblige us We pray thee Especially to save and defend Him who
doth acknowledge himself to be thy Servant even CHARLES our King and Soveraign Liege Help him so to defend Religion execute Justice and subdue his Enemies that under him we and all his Subjects may be religiously and godly peaceably and quietly Governed and accordingly be obedient unto as well as happy in so gracious a Prince And that his excellent Laws may not be perverted in their Administration O Lord Grant such grace unto his whole Council with whom he adviseth in making Laws and to all Magistrates and Officers that are put in Authority to execute them under him That they may deliberately weigh every cause and truly and indifferently determine it so as to make it appear they do minister Iustice and imploy their Power To the punishment of wickedness and greater Crimes the correction of lesser enormities and Vice And the maintenancâ— and defence of the Profession of thy true Religion together with the Practice of all Equity and Vertue which is the endeavour of all Righteous Magistrates But that Piety and Justice may be taught by the Ministers as well as outwardly incouraged â—iâ—e grace O Heavenly Father for the same thy Son Jesus Christs sake to all whom thou hast made Bishops and Governours or Pastors and Curates over thy Flock Assist them so in those sacred offices that they may both by the holiness of their life and the purity of their Doctrine declare and set forth the excellencies of thy true quickening and lively Wâ—rd so that many may be won to live according to it And grant that they may also orderly and rightly frequently and duly Administer both Baptism and the Lords Supper which are thy Holy Sacraments And let them be particularly assisted in the Celebration of the present mystery And that all their labours be not in vain Do thou to all thy People throughout the Christian World â—ive thy Heavenly Grace to dispose their hearts rightly to receive divine things Especially grant to this Congregation and every person here present before thee that with meek hearts from a sense of their own ignorance and due reverence from the apprehension of thy Authority they may hear attentively and receive by Faith the directions of thy Holy Word O Lord let them be converted by it and become real Christians truly serving thee in all the duties of Piety and Holiness Charity and Righteousness and continue in this Obedience all the days of their life especially after this solemn renewing of their Covenant with thee And further reflecting upon thy pitty towards all afflicted persons for the sufferings-sake of thy dear Son We that yet are spared do most humbly beseech thee that though we and our Brethren deserve to suffer yet of thy goodness thou wilt be pleased O Lord effectually at present to comfort and speedily to deliver and succour not those distressed Creatures alone which we particularly love or know but all them who are capable of the benefit of our Prayers even all who in this transitory life the Scene of sorrows are in trouble and fear of some approaching Evil or in sorrow for some Calamity already sustained All that are in need and want as to their outward Estate or in pain and sickness as to their body Or who are visited with some or all of these or any other Adversity Oh pitty and relieve them all And Finally as we praise thee for all the Mercies which thou minglest with the Miseries of this life so we also bless and chiefly praise thy holy Name for those who have no mixtures of sin or sorrow in their Cup of pure and perfect joy even for all thy Saints and holy Servants who were once as frail as we but by thy grace are now departed out of this life but who did live in thy Faith and die in thy fear never forsaking Religion nor a good Conscience We rejoice in their happiness and though we need not pray for them yet we cannot forbear beseeching thee for our selves who are yet upon the Waves that thou wilt please to give us also the same grace which thou gavest them That we may be able so to follow their good Examples in all Piety and Charity while we live that with them and in that glorious Society we may when we die be Partakers by the like Mercy of thy Heavenly Kingdom and its unspeakable felicities Hear us we beseech thee and Grant this and all the rest O Father to thy poor Children who make not our Requests in our own Name or trusting in our own merits but for Iesus Christ his sake and through the most prevailing Sacrifice of his Death here Commemorated Nor do we need or desire to use any other name since he is Our only Mediator to make our peace and Advocate to plead our cause who also joins with us in these Petitions and therefore we hope thou wilt say to him and to us Amen and then it shall be so SECT VIII Of the warning before the Communion § 1. IT is fit that great Mysteries should be ushered in with the solemnities of a great preparation for which cause God gave the Israelites three days warning of his design to publish the Law Exod. 19.15 and ordered their Festivals to be proclaimed by the sound of a Trumpet some time before Levit. 25.9 Numb 10.2 The Paschal Lamb the Type of Christ in this Sacrament was to be chosen and kept by them four days to mind them to prepare for the Celebration of the Passover Exod. 12.3.6 And Christians having more and higher duties in order to this Holy Feast must not have less time or shorter warning whereupon as good Hezekiah published by particular expresses his intended Passover long before 2 Chron. 30. so hath our Church prudently ordered this timely notice to be given that none might pretend to stay away out of ignorance of the time or unfitness for the duty but that all might come and come prepared also It is needless to expect a President for this in the antient Church their daily or Weekly Communions made it known that there was then no solemn Assembly of Christians without it and every one not under censure was expected to Communicate But now when the time is somewhat uncertain and our long omissions have made some of us ignorant and others forgetful of this duty most of us unwilling and all of us more or less indisposed for it it was both prudent and necessary to provide these large Warnings and Exhortations Cautions and Instructions For the Composures themselves they are exact and rarely fitted to be the Harbingers to this blessed Sacâ—ament and if we duly weigh and carefully improve them they will exceedingly help towards our Preparation as will be evident enough without a Paraphrase in the succeeding Analysis and Discourse The Analysis of the Warning before the Communion § 2. This Warning consisteth of three principal Parts 1. Information concerning 1. The Time Dearly beloved on next I purpose c. 2. The Persons to administer to all
peccatum manifestâ plecteretur poenâ nihil ultimo judicio reservari putaretur si nullum puniret nec providentiam esse crederetur August de Civ Dei lib. 1. cap. 8. from temporal miseries he hath more secret and more sad means of punishing us by spiritual evils viz. by withdrawing his Spirit from us and letting loose Satan on us by giving us up to a hard heart and a reprobate mind and finally he can send us into those Regions of sorrow where the extremity of the torments will sufficiently make amends for the deferring of the Execution Oh consider this ye that forget God and do not by doing this injury to him bring the greatest misery upon your selves for all this vengeance is due to you while you live in wilful neglect of this blessed Sacrament § 13. When ye wilfully abstain from the Lords Table and separate your selves from your Brethren who come to feed on the Banquet of that most Heavenly food We must carefully distinguish those who absent themselves from the Lords Supper or else we shall condemn the righteous with the wicked for this great sin and heavy judgment belongs only to those who wilfully m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est quod nec provideri potuit nec improbo sit animo à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod provideri potuit non tamen fit improbo animo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod destinatò impâ—obo sit animo Arist de art Orator do abstain There are some who forbear once or twice and are not guilty viz. if they be under the Censures of the Church or of their own Conscience and cannot yet make their peace if they are labouring for the pardon of some lately committed sin if they be prevented by sickness or surprized by indispensable business but such must with the pious Emperour Theodosius look toward the Church with sad hearts wishing they might receive and accounting the poorest Creatures there happier than themselves lamenting the occasion of their present exclusion and being never satisfied until they can prepare and have another opportunity and such will come with the greater appetite to the next Communion But those who wilfully abstain are such as stay away from time to time and are glad of any excuse for it who secretly wish they were never obliged to come at all and contrive to miss the opportunity and will not be perswaded nor convinced it is these wretches who do first so grievously offend God as was shewed before and of whom it is said now Secondly they sin against their Brethren by a wicked separation for this Ordinance is the badge of a Christian and designed to make us all one body and bind us together in the Bonds of Charity They therefore that will not receive it do cast away Christs badge and cut themselves off from the body of the Church and refuse to be bound in the Bonds of Love indeed they declare themselves no Members of this blessed Society who may say to such absenters as St. Peter to Simon Magus Acts 8.21 Ye have neither part nor lot with us in this matter Now how evil a thing this is may appear in that they do what they can to discourage men from receiving and to breed scruples in the minds of those who do Communicate yea to cast a disgrace upon the Ordinance it self But let them beware of cutting themselves off from those who are the Members of Christ and so from their part of eternal life since it is just to shut them out from the Communion of Saints in Heaven who never would Communicate with them on Earth There are many holy Persons who do participate but these do not and so are in a contrary way if good men do well to come why do they not follow them if they be in the way to Heaven the absenters are going I fear to a worse place It may be there are some wicked persons who are crowded into these mysteries and some pretend they stay away because of them But let us beware of the Pharisees Pride Isai 65.5 in bidding men stand off for we are holier than they the best men despise none and usually think themselves the worst of all and how do we know but they may be begun to be changed by Gods grace however we are not judges but the Church our duty is to fit our selves not to make all others so We are to wish that all the Congregation were holy but if all be not we must not lose our part in Gods Ordinances because an Esau or Judas may be there if we be not like these persons in their Sin we shall not fare the worse for them God can distinguish though we sit never so near in place if we be distant in our qualities he will accordingly dispense his favours We must converse with such sometimes in the World where there is more danger they should infect us but here perhaps our devotion may do them good but their guilt can do us no harm § 14. These things if ye earnestly consider ye will by Gods grace return to a better mind for the obtaining whereof we will not cease to make our humble Petitions unto Almighty God our Heavenly Father Were the sin and danger of neglecting this Holy Sacrament duly considered there would be fewer offenders in this kind and if we have been guilty therein whatsoever we have deserved for former omissions it appears our estate is not yet desperate because God hath spared us and given us this one invitation more it is likely we heard this Exhortation but slightly before and resolved not to come however but if we will weigh it seriously now and beg the help of Gods grace there is no doubt but we may repent and amend For we are herein courteously invited and earnestly pressed to come our scruples are satisfied our excuses shewed to be vain our duty is made evident and our peril of neglecting it fully expressed so that nothing but obstinate purposes to despise Reason and Example the Injunctions of God and the request of our well-wishers can after this keep us back It had been just in God to have cut you off before but since he still calls God forbid that we Ministers should sin in ceasing to pray for you 1 Sam. 12.23 notwithstanding all the denials you have given us since our Master forbears we will exhort you earnestly and pray heartily for you still to him who is Almighty to subdue your obstinacy and our Heavenly Father who is apt to pitty poor Sinners and if you join your Prayers to ours and consider as well as pray we are confident the success will be that you shall lay aside your idle excuses and both resolve to come to the Sacrament and be careful to prepare for it so shall all your former contempt be forgiven and your present addresses be accepted to your endless comfort Amen PARTITION II. Of the more immediate Preparation SECT I. Of the Exhortation at the Communion §
require less time and pains to review the sentence Now our Souls will easily lye down in all humility and penitential acknowledgments at Gods footstool we shall long for mercy passionately vow amendment sincerely and be at peace with all the World so shall we be by God himself accepted as worthy Receivers and then all the terrors vanish for there are better things provided for us § 7. And above all things ye must give most humble and hearty thanks to God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of our Saviour Christ both God and Man To commemorate the Death of Christ with thanksgiving is the principal duty at this Eucharistical Feast Humiliation and Repentance are chiefly to be exercised before But now we are come to the Altar we must above all things give thanks for all the foregoing Exhortations to examine and judge our selves are designed to bring us with a clear Conscience and an unburdened Soul to sing Praises For which reason this Admonition doth well follow the former because those that have searched most diligently for their sin and those that have been most fully convinced of it and most deeply humbled for it these will best apprehend their need of the Death of Jesus and offer up the most affectionate praises for it These will offer up most humble thanks because they see their danger and unworthiness and most hearty because they have the briskest perception of this sweet and seasonable mercy Draw near therefore ye contrite Souls and behold the Lamb of God dying for those sins for which ye have mourned removing that wrath at which ye trembled let your sorrow be turned into joy and your fear into Faith and Hope Come and offer up your best praises to the Father who contrived this glorious Redemption to the Son who effected it and to the Holy Ghost who gives us the benefit thereof As every Person of the blessed Trinity hath joined in this noble work let every person share in the praise and as all the World hath been Redeemed so let every man make his particular acknowledgments Behold how fit a Saviour is provided One that is God that he might conquer Man that he might suffer and both God and Man that he might reconcile the Divine Majesty to humane nature Praise ye the Lord Thus in general we do excite you to give thanks and the next Paragraph will furnish you with particular Considerations on which your gratitude may enlarge it self § 8. Who did humble himself even to the Death upon the Cross for us miserable Sinners who lay in darkness and in tâ—e shadow of Death that he might make us the Children of God and exalt us to Everlasting Life As the Jews had their Paschal Hymn recording their miraculous deliverance from Aegyptian Bondage Buxt Syn. Jud. cap. 13. and the Antient Christians their Commemoration of the Lords Passion at this Holy Feast So our Church hath here provided a brief but clear description of the wonderful work of our Redemption taken from Philip. 2.8 and Colos 1.12 13. thereby to supply every devout Soul with rare matter for those humble and hearty praises which are here to be offered up For in these few words are contained these four Considerations 1. Who it was that did redeem us 2. Whereby he did redeem us 3. From what we were redeemed 4. To what Estate we are thereby brought Each of which we shall so represent as may best beget or exercise our Gratitude on this Occasion 1. Let us consider the dignity of our Redeemers person who was the Eternal and only begotten Son of God far above all Principalities and Powers higher than Angels or Arch-Angels adored by all the Coelestial Host He was the delight of Heaven the joy of his Father in whose Bosom he had perfect felicity and should have enjoied it to all Eternity whatsoever had become of us He was most happy in himself and not concerned with us yeâ— no other durst undertake no meaner Person b Ex personae celsitudine facti aestimatio augetur Grot. in Johan 13.3 idem de satisfac Christi cap. 8. pag. 173. could have accomplished our Redemption and ought we not to be infinitely thankful that such a Saviour is given to us 2. Let us further meditate by what means he did effect this great Salvation He could by one word create the World out of nothing but it cost more to redeem our Souls This was not to be accomplished till he stripped himself of his glory descended from the felicities of his Throne and was abased into the condition of a man yea of the meanest of the Sons of Men. He took on him the form of a servant who was Lord of all and yet all this was not sufficient He that did no sin must suffer he from whom all receive life must die and that by the most cruel and tormenting the most ignominious and accursed kind of Death too base for the meanest of Slaves c In Crucem milites tulit servilibus suppliciis semper affecit Jul. Capitolin de Macrino 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dion de Sossio Visum est ignominiosâ morte obscurare memoriam ejus Joseph Antiqu. l. 15. c. 1. Pone crucem servo Juven Cur non honesto aliquo mortis genere affectus est cur potissimum cruce cur infami genere supplicii quod etiam homini libero quamvis nocenti indignum videatur Lact. inst l. 4. c. 26. too barbarous for the worst of Malefactors Yet thus he was contented to exchange the Musick of Angels and the pleasures of Heaven for reproaches and Agonies scorn and tortures that so he might expiate our offences But as C. Marius when he shewed his wounds received for his Country once in the Senate-House so may I say now What need is there of words when there are so many bleeding Witnesses He suffered more than we can conceive or express more than the best of us would have endured for the greatest or dearest concern in the World only that we might suffer nothing and will not this elevate us into the highest Key of Praise 3. Let us remember the Persons for whom Jesus endured all this and that will help to encrease the wonder it was not for Angels or any of the Heavenly Orders but for Creatures of a meaner kind even for us the miserable Sons of Men his Vassals by Creation but Rebels and Enemies against him by our Sins for us who could not expect it did not deserve it nor cannot requite it for us who were Heirs of Hell and Slaves of Sathan unable to satisfie Gods Justice fly his Anger or bear his Sentence for us whom with Equity and honour enough he might have left to perish for ever For our sakes he suffered all this moved so far by his pity till he forgot all pity to himself and took that load upon his own shoulders that would have sunk us into the bottomless
to the Church and those of the Closet performed by humbled Souls in order to their preparation for this Sacrament We learn from St. Chrys that all the Communicants were wont to join in saying the same general Prayer for Mercy a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Hom. 18. in 2. ad Cor. and St. Aug. b August de salutar dorum c. 33. affirms that when they received these mysteries they first did fly to Confession and Repentance and what sins they found themselves guilty of upon a strict survey of their actions they did immediately purge away by penitential acknowledgments So that of old not only the Priest as the Custom of Rome now is but every one of the people made an open Confession to God before the Communion it was indeed in general Terms c In hâc confessione non in specie sed in genere confitenda sunt peccata quoniam ista confessio non occulta est sed publica Innocen l. 2. de myst but omitted by none because there is no Man but he hath sinned and he that is not censured by the Church nor lyable by humane Laws may yet be guilty before God The Death of Jesus is now to be set forth and if we do not confess those sins which caused that his bitter Passion he might seem to suffer for his own offence Nor can we expect a publick pardon sealed till by Confession we declare how little we deserve it how much we need it and how highly we are obliged for it And by doing this one duty well we shall renew the sense of our sins and enlarge our affections to him that died for them we shall move our God to forgive them d Quando homo detegit Deus tegit cum homo coelat Deus nudat cum homo agnoscit Deus ignoscit Aug. in Psal and give the best testimony of our amendment e Somnium narrare vigilantis est vitia sua confiteri sanitatis iudicium est Senec. ep 54. Now that we may thus offer up this exact and pious Confession let us first labour to understand it and be affected with it by the following explication The Analysis of the Confession Sect. 2. This Confession hath five Parts 1. An acknowledgment of our sins shewing 1. To whom we do confess Almighty God Father of our Lord Iesus Christ Maker of all things Iudge of all Men. 2. What we do confess 1. In general We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness 2. In particular 1. The number Which we from time to time most grievously have committed 2. The kinds by thought word and deed against thy Divine Majesty 3. The effects of them provoking most justly thy wrath adn indignation against us 2. An Act of Contrition for them expressed 1. More largely We do earnestly repent 2. More strictly in our 1. Sorrow for them and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings 2. Hatred of them the remembrance of them is grievous unto us 3. Trouble under them the burden of them is intolerable 3. A supplication for pardon intimating 1. What we crave Have mercy upon us have mercy upon us 2. Of whom we crave it most merciful Father 3. In whose name for thy Son our Lord Iesus Christ his sake 4. How far our Petition extends forgive us all that is past 4. A Petition for such Grace as may be true 1. In the duration of it and grant that we may ever hereafter 2. In the Acts of it serve and please thee in newness of life 3. In the end of it to the honour and glory of thy Name 5. A general motive to them all through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen A Practical Discourse upon the Confession § 3. Almighty God Father of our Lord Iesus Christ maker of all things Iudge of all men When the glories of God were described before holy Job he immediately abhors himself in dust and ashes Job 42.5 6. and there is not a more effectual instrument of contrition than a serious prospect of the Majesty whom we have offended hence the Servants of God in Scripture do usually begin their Confessions with the mention of the Divine Power and goodness Nehem. 1.5 Dan. 9.4 And for this cause our Church hath selected four most comprehensive Titles which do most clearly set before us the Greatness and the Goodness of that Lord against whom we have sinned We will therefore particularly consider them First As they contain matter of terror for our humiliation Secondly As they express grounds of hope to encourage us to ask Pardon 1. We may meditate that he whose Laws we have broken is an Almighty God infinite in Power and terrible in his Anger from whom nothing can defend us but submission and a great humiliation It was desperate presumption to offend him and it is a strange stupidity and madness if we now be void of fear and sorrow Are we stronger than he 1 Cor. 10.22 if not why did we provoke him at first or how dare we now stand out against him 2. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and in him he is the Father and Fountain e Pater Hebraicè pro authore vel fonte misericordiae ita Ephes 1.17 Job 38.28 c. of all mercies 2 Cor. 1.3 and by him he hath expressed such an affection to us as all the World can never parallel and have we thus requited him by profaning his name disobeying his Commands despising his love and doing that which his Soul hateth Oh monstrous ingratitude 3. He is the maker of all things and so may justly challenge obedience from all the World nor is there any of his Creatures but we alone that are refractory to his will Can there then be greater injustice than that we should rob him of the service we owe unto him and abuse him by those very things which he hath made to serve our needs 4. He is the Judge of all men Gen. 18.25 at whose sentence we must either be justified or condemned for ever and yet instead of obliging him to stand our Friend we have even urged him to become our Enemy and forced him as he is just to pass a dreadful doom upon us Let us lay all this to heart and his Power will shew the Boldness his Love the Baseness his Title to us the Injustice and his Authority over us the folly of every sinful Act and all together I hope will melt our rocky hearts and make us sincerely Penitent 2. That we be not too much dejected let us review these Attributes again and we shall also find in them motives sufficient to support our hope and encourage us to ask forgiveness For first He is Almighty even absolute and supream so that if he please he can forgive without controul and none can reverse his Acts of Grace Secondly He is the Father of our dear Redeemer and in him loveth us with an everlasting love by him our Peace is made so that through him we
may go with boldness to the Throne of Grace Thirdly He is the Maker of all things and of us among the rest Now he hateth nothing that he hath made for his mercy is over all his Works wherefore we may have good hopes that he will pity and help the work of his own hands Lastly He is the Judge of all men Let us therefore now make our supplication to him for it is yet the time of mercy Job 9.15 and he is now willing to help them whom he hath redeemed with his precious blood Being thus prepared by meditating on these Attributes we may fitly begin to confess as followeth § 4. We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness which we from time to time most grievously have Committed These two words to acknowledge and bewail are taken out of Psal 38.18 For I will confess my wickedness and be sorry for my sin And if as St. Augustine notes Davids bare resolution to do this before the words were in his mouth did obtain his pardon f Nondum pronunciat sed promittit se pronunciaturum ille dimittit Vox nondum in ore erat sed auris Dei in Corde erat August in Psal 36. how much more shall we be admitted to forgiveness who do actually perform them both They are indeed the proper parts of Repentance to be exercised in Confession and are both of them most reasonable and fit to be done just now 1. What impudence were it to deny our sins before him from whom we cannot hide them and what folly to conceal them from him that would heal us and forgive them g Quis non invitaretur illi ad praemium confiteri cui non possis negare quod feceris Cassiodor in Psal 118. Are we ashamed to acknowledge them in the Church and are we not afraid to be charged with them before all the World h Hoc in Ecclesiâ facere fastidis ubi nihil est quod pudori esse debeat nisi non fateri cùm omnes simus peccatores ubi ille justior qui humilior Ambr. de poen 2. 10. Alas we are all Sinners and he that confesseth it most humbly shall soonest become innocent 2. And there is as great reason that we should bewail them also because here we see the wounds which they have made in the Lord Jesus When David saw his people dying by thousands for his sin immediately he cryes out i As Nisus in Virg. Aen. 9. seeing Euryalus his friend like to be slain No longer could he hide himself nor see So sad a sight but cries at me at me Behold my self who did the fact am by Against me turn your steel ye Rutuli I have sinned I have done wickedly but these sheep what have they done 2 Sam. 24.17 And can we behold the innocent and immaculate Lamb of God bleeding and dying for our offences and not cry out with tears Lord what hadst thou done to be thus used thou hadst acted no evil nor was guile found in thy mouth sweetest Jesus my sins were thy murtherers and thou sufferdest for my wretchedness If I may not weep for thee Luke 23.28 yet let me weep for my self who have brought all this upon thee Now when your heart thus begins to bleed with sorrow and your mouth is opened to confess behold what excellent matter is here prepared First You are taught what you must acknowledge viz. All your Sins and Wickedness your lesser as well as greater iniquities k Omne enim malum etiam mediocre magnum est Cicer. Tuscul qu. l. 3. for though they are many and manifold of several kinds and qualities yet they all agree in this that they are all odious to God and will be damnable to you without repentance Consider also 1. How often 2. How grievously they have been committed First You have been raising this heap and running on this score all your life from time to time l Hebr. de Die in Diem Psal 96. ver 2. that is both continually as to duration and frequently as to the repetition You have long been disobedient and renewed these offences every day and every hour if not every moment so that it is next to impossible to compute them they are compared to the hairs of your head and the Sands of the Sea both which exceed humane Arithmetick yet God that numbers our hairs and reckons the sands can particularly accuse you for every one of these sins and have you not great reason then to acknowledge and bewail them And the rather Secondly Because they are not only many but very heinous and committed in a most grievous m Lam. 1.8 Heb. peccando peccavimus Angl. grievously sinned quam phrasin nostri reddunt Exod. 32.31 A great sin Jer. 6.8 grievous revolters ubi Vulg. C. Par. principes declinantium Jun. Trem. contumacium contumacissimi and provoking manner in despite of mercies and the means of grace in defiance of your own knowledge and your Consciences with so much ingratitude and baseness that it cannot but be grievous to your Heavenly Father to bear it and I hope it will also be grievous to you to consider it and that when you think thereon you will weep unfeignedly § 5. By thought word and deed against thy divine Majesty provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us Although it is impossible to recite here all the particulars in which we have sinned yet we should run into the suspicion of Hypocrisie if we did wholly rest in generals wherefore the Church sees fit to put our thoughts into some method for the furtherance of our penitential recollections and how could that be better done than by that brief yet full division so often found in the Antient Liturgies n Peccavi nimis cogitatione locutione opere Miss Rom. and so much used among the Fathers directing us to consider of the several sins of our Thoughts our Words and our Deeds For the Heart in which Jesus should lodge the Mouth by which he should enter and the Hand with which we should receive him all of them are defiled And Solomon tells us that for every secret thought Eccles 12.14 Christ that for every idle word Math. 12.36 St. Paul that for every evil deed 2 Cor. 5.10 God will bring us into judgment Let us therefore now prevent that by considering and judging our selves First For the sins of our Thoughts for our Cogitations are always vain and roving often haughty wanton or envious sometimes revengeful mischievous or Atheistical and because these sins of the heart require no determinate time or place to their Commission and are acted without either pains or assistants o Animi motus citra temporis moram fiunt citra lassitudinem perficiuntur citra negotium consistunt omnem temporis occasionem idoneam habent S. Basil Conc. 3. they are almost every where and always done and we may all cry out Lord who can tell how oft he
life-giving hand and lift us up who are bowed down and lie groveling upon the Earth under a grievous and deadly burthen We can hardly bear up under the weight of this momentany sorrow and how then are we like to endure the eternal Vengeance Thus then we must be affected when we say this Confession for let us remember that we do not confess to instruct an All-seeing God but to humble our selves And to reckon up our sins without such contrition is but a renewed provocation he that abhorred our wickedness when it was done will abhor us if we tell the story of it with an unrelenting heart Let him therefore not only hear the words of our lips but the sad groans of our penitent hearts saying a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo legis alleg l. 2. Ah me how long have I been sick of the Disease of folly Miserable wretch can I excuse or dare I deny any of this Indictment the facts are apparent the Law is plain and the sentence unavoidable I must confess I have been as unworthy and as grievous a sinner as ever the Earth bore and I am amazed at my self for I am here liable to all that God hath threatned to the greatest offenders Wo is me I have no refuge no sanctuary but in the divine mercy and thither will I fly for succour § 7. Have mercy upon us have mercy upon us most merciful Father for thy Son our Lord Iesus Christ his sake forgive us all that is past After the Confession of our sin and our hearty Contrition for it most regularly follows this supplication for Mercy We have clearly represented our miserable Estate how we lie groaning and oppressed with an intolerable load of guilt and terror and he that commands us not to see our Enemies Beast lie under his burden without relief Exod. 23.5 will never suffer our poor Souls to perish under this our grievous pressure but will pitty and help us especially because we do with so much Passion beg his Mercy with redoubled Cries Have mercy upon us have mercy c. We must not censure this as a vain repetition for it is the very words of David Psal 57.1 123.3 and doth rarely express our great necessity our earnest desire and our imminent danger b Repetitio ardorem precandi denotat clementiam divinam commovet ad opem accelerandam Muis. Gejer. in Psal 57. it is an importunity pleasing to our gracious God Mark 10.47 48. who is ready to give his mercy as soon as we are fit to receive it and when by our urgent cries we shew that we have found ouâ— want of mercy he rejoices in that opportunity to bestow it He is a most merciful Father and the fountain from whence all the pity in the World doth flow and if men who are often churlish and unnatural can scarce deny the cries or abuse the expectations of their Children Luke 11.11 12 13. how much more impossible is it for our Heavenly Father to reject so earnest and so necessary a request The Prodigal no sooneâ— pronounces the word Father Luke 15.21 but the resâ— of his speech was much of it interrupted by his Fathers embraces charmed with that endearing name which as we here use on the same occasion let us do it with like affections and it shall have the same success Mercy is the first but not the only thing we ask for we further beseech him to forgive us and this will follow thâ— other because the mercy of God is not a meer useless pity or ineffective condoling c Misericordia est animi condolentis affectiâ— cum additamento beneficii ut compatiamuâ— proximo largiamus de proprio August but it immediately brings us help for by removing our sin the cause it soon takes away our misery which was only the effect thereof we desire therefore his mercy may appear in our forgiveness and we have a powerful motive annexed not for our Righteousness d Non quia merui sed quia egeo justitia meritum quaerit misericordia miseriam Bern. but for our Lord Jesus sake whose Death is here set forth and who hath so purchased mercy as to satisfie justice e Misericordia tunc est vera misericordia si sic facta est ut justitia per eam non contemnatur Chrysos hom in Math. Wherefore we may most chearfully ask a pardon in his name even for all that is past because he hath deserved mercy for all the World if they will receive it and there are Millions of Souls now in Heaven that once lay under as great a burden as we now do who making their Confession and supplication in his name have for his merits sake been advanced to a state of glory Let us ask then also and that with all possible fervency considering how blessed we shall be when God hath crossed out all our debts and Jesus cancelled all our Obligations Oh how will this dispel all our Clouds of sorrow how chearfully shall we stand upright and praise God in the following Office when this dismal load is thus removed § 8. And grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life to the honour and glory of thy Name through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen In the same breath that we ask for Pardon we must also Petition for Grace to amend our lives or else we affront the Holiness of God f Non est poenitens sed â—rrisor qui adhuc agit â—nde poeniteat S. Bern. while we pretend to crave his mercy He that only desires forgiveness to be quit of his present fear is an Hypocrite g Improbus quo ad metuit omnia est promissurus fimulatque timere desierit similis est futurus sui Cicero 2. Phil. and doth not hate or grieve for his iniquity but for the punishment annexed to it and when that fear ceaseth will be as bad as ever But I hope we have truly felt the weight of sin and duly apprehended the misery of having God to be our Enemy and if so we shall be as desirous to be kept from future sins as we are to be delivered from our past offences We have seen how base how foolish and how desperate a thing it is to displease the Lord let us now therefore beg it as a mighty favour that we may hereafter please him by an obedience that may last for ever and may extend to all parts of our duty so that we may be wholly changed into new Persons and live in newness of life Rom. 6.4 Proclus tells of one Eurynous who died and was buried at Nicopolis yet some days after was taken up alive h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Comm. in Plat. Rep. and afterwards did lead a much more holy life than he had done before h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Comm. in Plat. Rep. Even so should we who were dead in Law and by the sentence of our own Conscience being
now raised up again by the mercies of God and the merits of Jesus walk after a new manner in all religious and holy Conversation so should our deliverance be for the glory of his holy name through Christ Jesus for whatsoever Lusts we shall conquer or whatsoever good we shall perform the praise must wholly redound to him who did revive and restore us And surely we shall find it a most happy change from the slavery of sin the bondage of Satan and the fear of Hell to be acquainted with the pleasures of holiness the peace of a good Conscience and the love of God wherefore though this be the last let it not be thought the least of these Petitions but let us beg it with such Devotion as may attest our sincerity in all the other parts of this Confession so will our Heavenly Father grant them all to us through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen The Paraphrase of the Confession § 9. O Almighty God we thy poor sinful Creatures full of anguish and confusion for our offences against thy Majesty do make bold to come unto thee because thou art the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ and for his sake inclinable to shew us mercy Thou art the Maker of us and all things and thou hatest nothing which thou hast made but hast pity on all the works of thy hands so that we are encouraged to make our supplication unto thee O thou judge of all men for it is in thy power for ever to acquit or to condemn us We tremble and blush to be found Sinners against so infinite a power and goodness but we must not add Hypocrisie to our disobedience Wherefore We acknowledge freely and bewail most bitterly our manifold offences of all kinds from the least of our Sins to the greatest of our Crimes and wickedness All and every one of which we long and frequently from time to time with many provoking aggravations most grievously have committed O Lord who can tell how oft we have offended * Here call to mind some of the greatest of thy particular sins in thoughts words or actions By thought in vain and evil imaginations by word in false uncharitable or blasphemous speeches and by Deed in ungodly unjust or intemperate actions For alas by all and every one of these ways we have daily sinned against thy Divine Majesty turning thereby thy loving kindness into displeasure and provoking thee to anger we have given thee cause most justly to let loose thy wrath and indignation against us to our utter ruine if thy mercy do not help us Our guilt is evident our danger apparent and our estate is most deplorable wherefore We do most passionately and earnestly repent us that ever we did commit them And are heartily sorry with all our Souls for these our so many and so abominable misdoings When we look upon the baseness and presumption of these vile offences The remembrance of them doth pierce our hearts with shame and sorrow and is most grievous unto us When we behold thy Favour which we have forfeited and Eternal Damnation which we have deserved thereby the burden of them presseth down our Souls with a load of terror and amazement that is intolerable Yet since thou callest all that are heavy laden we must not despair of thy pity but in this great distress we do beseech thee to Have mercy upon us and since our necessity forceth us to be importunate we will cry again Have mercy upon us We know thou art a most merciful Father though by sin we are unworthy to be called thy Children yet we hope thy bowels will yern upon us We lie prostrate and helpless begging of thee for thy dearly beloved Son our Lord Iesus Christ his sake and by the merits of his Cross and Passion to forgive us freely and fully for all that is past from the beginning of our life until this very moment Lord make us instances of thy mercy And grant when we have received so excellent and undeserved a favour that we may be so engaged thereby as that for ever hereafter we may beware of falling back into the like sin and misery Convert us we beseech thee as well as pardon us and enable us most obediently to serve and most intirely to please thee by spending the rest of our time in newness of life and all holy conversation Which through the help of thy grace we do here vow and resolve upon that this mighty change may tend to the honour and glory of thy Name who hast so wonderfully delivered us All which we most heartily beg through Iesus Christ our Lord to whose intercession for us do thou say Amen and it shall be to us according to thy word Amen SECT IV. Of the Absolution § 1. HE must be wholly a stranger to the Discipline of the Antient Church who knows not how great a care was taken that no publick offender might partake of these mysteries until by a long tryal and a great humiliation he had received an Absolution as publick as his crime had been so that it was a mighty and scandalous irregularity in S. Cyprians time a Nondum poenitentiâ actâ nondum exomologesi factâ nondum manu eis ab Episcopo Clero impositâ Eucharistia iis datur Cypr. de laps that lapsed persons by the favour of the Confessors and Martyrs were in some places suffered to Communicate without the solemn Absolution which yet was rectified afterwards b Vbique mysterii ordo servatur ut prius per remissionem vulneribus medicina tribuatur postea alimonia mensae coelestis exuberet Ambr. in Luc. But this godly Discipline being now every where laid aside it is so much the more necessary to supply it by this general Confession and Absolution Concerning which in general the Reader may consult what is said before Compan to the Temp. SECT IV. § 1. And as to this particular form it shall suffice to note that it is in imitation of that antient form of blessing c Benedictio ista pronuncianda est à sacerdote stante facie ad populum versâ manibus elevatis altâ voce in nomine Dei proprio RR. ap Fag Numb 6.24 c. being expressed by way of Prayer as there The Lord bless thee c. And since it is certain there is such a Power vested in the Ministers of the Gospel to support the spirits of a dejected Penitent by antedating his pardon in the name of God there can be no fitter opportunity to exercise this power than now when so many poor humbled Sinners are kneeling before God and begging forgiveness at his hands Then it becomes the Priest in Confidence of his Masters Mercy to give them his best wishes and with more than an ordinary Prayer to signifie as well as ask their pardon You have said with David We have sinned wherefore God hath sent his Minister like another Nathan to assure you that He hath also put away the iniquity of your
sin 2 Sam. 12 13. And though David might by his Faith in the Promises have found some Comfort yet neither so sure nor so sweet a consolation as when he receives it from the mouth of a special Messenger So likewise if we would chuse to believe rather than dispute it would be a powerful Cordial to every troubled Spirit by a particular Officer from the King of Heaven to be thus saluted and he that cannot value this Absolution from the Priest can no other way receive satisfaction to his doubts and fears unless he expect to be assured of his Remission by an immediate Revelation or can be content to stay till the day of Judgment for the Resolution of this great enquiry Only let us but be careful that our Repentance be sincere and then we may with much joy hear the following Absolution which very briefly we shall now explain The Analysis of the Absolution Sect. 2. The Absolution hath three parts 1. The Original from whom it springs Almighty God our Heavenly Father 2. The ground on which it depends His promise 1. The motive to it who of his great mercy hath promised 2. The matter of it forgiveness of sins 3. The conditions annexed to it to all them that with hearty repentance and true Faith turn unto him 3. The Petitionary blessing or Absolution it self for 1. The Averting the Evil of 1. Sin Have mercy upon you 2. Punishment Pardon and deliver you from all your sins 2. The obtaining of good both 1. Present Confirm and strengthen you in all goodness 2. Future and bring you to everlasting life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Practical Discourse of the Absolution § 3. Almighty God our Heavenly Father who of his great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all them that with hearty Repentance and true Faith turn unto him The Spiritual Physician doth here proceed most regularly in the Cure of poor Sinners that labour under a burden of guilt and sorrow for he first premises such Considerations as may dispose them to believe that the following Blessing shall be ratified and the Absolution confirmed by a higher Power For first He minds them that he who is Almighty and only can forgive Mar. 2.7 is also their Heavenly Father and full of Compassion toward them yea like as a Father pittyeth his own Children even so is the Lord merciful unto them that fear him Psal 103.13 But of this before Secondly therefore that he is not only engaged by his affections but by his truth also to deliver them for he hath solemnly promised Isai 55.7 Ezek. 18.30 John 3.16 c. that he would freely forgive and fully be reconciled to all such as unfeignedly grieved for their sins and wholly cast themselves upon his mercy so that they cannot doubt of a pardon if they believe him to be faithful that promised d Qui credidit promittenti fidentèr promissum repetit promissum quidem ex misericordiâ sed jam ex justitiâ persolvendum Bern. de gr lib. It was indeed only his great mercy which moved him to promise this because he might most righteously have taken the first forfeiture made to his justice but now this gracious Promise is made by him that cannot lie there is a certainty of the performance He knew that as the stroke of his Vengeance was intolerable so the expectation thereof was terrible and amazing wherefore he promised forgiveness on purpose to prevent the despair of such as were willing to amend that by so great a favour he might engage them to obedience and encourage them in all the parts of duty Yet because it almost exceeds belief that ever God should receive such grievous Sinners and they that are most truly humble are most apt to Question this therefore is all this premised to prepare them with faith and hope to entertain that which follows § 4. Have mercy upon you pardon and deliver you from all your sins confirm and strengthen you in all goodness and bring you to everlasting life through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen When Jesus was to raise up Lazarus from the dead he commanded the men who stood by to remove the stone from the Grave and afterwards to unloose the Grave-Cloâ—hs even so though he only do give life to Sinners e Absolutio hominis in Dei miseratione non in hominis potestate est Ambr. in Job l. 1. c 6. yet he is pleased to use the Ministry of his Servants in the Dispensation of their Pardon f Nostrûm est onera removere illius exuere de sepulchro exutos vinculis idem de poen l. 2. cap. 7. The Prayer is made by the Priest but then it is directed to the Divine Majesty and though according to the antient manner g Misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus dimittat vobis omnia peccata vestra Missal it be put into the form of a request yet being grounded on the promise and agreeable both to the nature and design of God it hath a mighty force and ascends Heaven Cum privilegio it is like the Fathers Blessing which hath always been believed to convey as well as crave the Benediction thus Isaac blessed Jacob Gen. 27.28 29. in the Imperative Mood God give thee c. Let the people c. Be thou Lord c. And thus Jacob blessed Josephs Sons Gen. 48.15 16. and the Lord accomplished all the particulars Let it therefore chear your hearts ye contrite ones to hear this Blessing from your spiritual Father for behold it contains all that you do need or can desire Are you miserable here is mercy are you sinful here is pardon are you liable to punishment here is deliverance are you desirous but unable to do good here is strength and confirmation are you fearful of Death and Hell here is Heaven and Everlasting Life And all this asked of God by one that he hath Commissionated to make this Prayer so that your only care is that your Repentance be such as your Minister believes it to be and then this Absolution shall certainly be confirmed in the High Court of Heaven and not one word thereof shall fall to the ground The Paraphrase of the Absolution § 5. Let not the multitude of your sins discourage any of you who are truly grieved for them for I am bound to speak peace to you in the name of Almighty God against whom you have offended because he is our Heavenly Father infinite in mercy and loving kindness And you may believe this the more firmly since it is he who of his great mercy and pity to poor Sinners so freely and frequently hath promised to grant forgiveness of sins and a gracious Pardon to all them that with hearty Repentance for their grievous offences and true Faith in his mercy and the merits of Jesus do turn unto him to seek remission and obtain his favour I his Substitute believing you to be such do according to mine office beseech and require
Essens d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Porph. ut supr l. 4. c. 12. and the Christians e Tert. Ap. c. 39. Nec cibi sumantur nisi oratione praemissâ Hieron ep 22. ad Eustach began their common meals with a solemn Prayer for a blessing The Jews would not eat of the Sacrifice till Samuel came to bless it 1 Sam. 9.13 How much more then ought we to expect the Prayers of the Priest over this mysterious food of our Souls before we eat thereof especially since Jesus himself did not deliver this Bread and Wine until he had Consecrated it by giving thanks There are some other parts of this Office which may upon some occasions be omitted * Non prius discumbitur quam oratio ad Deum praegustetur but this must never be left out it being the most antient and Essential part of all some learned Men do believe that the Apostles themselves in their daily Communions did ever use the latter part of this form from who in the same night c. Alcuin de divin off and it is most certain that no Liturgy in the World hath altered that particular For in every Church the Priest repeats the words of our Saviours Institution and by those words the Consecration is made f Quomodo potest qui panis est esse corpus Christi Consecratione consecratio igitur quibus verbis est Domini Jesu paulò post ubi venitur ut conficiatur venerabile sacramentum jam non suis sermonibus sacerdos utitur sed Christi Ambr. de sacr l. 4. c. 4. ita D. Chrys serm de Judâ prodit Vbi Christi verba deprompta fuerunt jam non panis dicitur sed Corpus appellatur Aug. de verb. dom ser 28. ita Author de Card. op Christi ap Cypr. for it is not the power of the Priest but the efficacy of the Author which makes the Elements to become sacramentally the body and blood of Christ S. Chrys hom 2. in 2. ep ad Cor. versùs fin The Roman Church indeed hath made large additions to this Primitive Form so that it is not above a tenth part of the Canon of their Mass much of the rest being the names of Saints and commemorations of the dead But these corruptions and innovations being removed our excellent Reformers have given us the Apostolical and Catholick Form alone only with a short Prayer to introduce it and because all the Communicants ought to join with the Minister therein we will proceed so to explain it as may assist every ones understanding and devotion The Analysis of the Prayer of Consecration § 2. The Prayer of Consecration hath Three Parts 1. An Introduction shewing the Reasons of this Duty because 1. We have a dying Saviour given for us Almighty God our heavenly Father who of thy tender mercy didst give thy onely Son Iesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our Redemption 2. That Death is so perfect and meritorious who made there by his own oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World 3. We are commanded to remember it and did institute and in his holy Gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious death until his coming again 2. A Petition for a Blessing on it intimating 1. The Author of this Blessing Hear us O merciful Father we most humbly beseech thee and grant 2. The occasion of desiring it considering 1. The Act which we are about to do that we receiving these thy Creatures of Bread and Wine 2. The Manner we intend to do it in according to thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christs most holy Institution in remembrance of his Death and Passion 3. The Blessing desired may be Partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood 3. The Consecration it self reciting 1. The time when it was instituted Who in the same night that he was betrayed 2. The Manner how it was Instituted 1. As to the Bread 1. The Preparation I. Took Bread II. And when he had given thanks III. He brake it 2. The Administration and gave it to his Disciples saying Take eat This is my Body which is given for you 3. The Direction Do this in remembrance of me 2. As to the Wine also 1. The Preparation Likewise also after Supper I. He took the Cup II. And when he had given thanks 2. The Administration He gave it to them saâ—â—ng Drink ye all of this â—or This is my Blood of the New-Testament which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins 3. The Direction Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me Amen A Practical Discourse upon the Prayer of Consecration § 3. Almighty God our Heavenly Father who of thy tender mercy didst give thy only Son Iesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our Redemption Our blessed Lord hath taught us to whom we should direct this Prayer even to God the Father of whom he himself did first beg this blessing and since the foundation of this Ordinance was the Death of Jesus Christ we do most fitly begin this Prayer with a Commemoration of that Mercy for how can we more effectually move Almighty God to give his blessing to us in this Sacrament than by acknowledging his infinite love in granting so glorious a Redemption to us And he that spared not his own Son but delivered him up to death for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Rom. 8.32 He that made him a Sacrifice for us will certainly make these Symbols to communicate him to us if we be desirous and prepared to receive him It is the method of the divine bounty to give his second mercies meerly because he had freely given the first g Cui initio ratio non fuisset praestandi aliquid ei praestamus ob hoc quia praestitimus Sen. de benef l. 4. c. 15. especially when he finds the former thankfully accepted so that we cannot have a better introduction to this Petition than the acknowledgment of Gods goodness in first giving his own Son for us especially if we make it with an humble and graâ—eful heart Besides it must need be a mighty strengthening to our Faith and a great encouragement to our hope of prevailing in this request when we have first remembred so rare an experiment of Gods mercy already received Let us therefore most thankfully confess the incomparable bounty of our Heavenly Father in giving his only Son to suffer for our Redemption and then we may with more confidence beseech him to sanctifie these Elements that they may be his body and blood to us because the divine appointment hath made them to be the means whereby we may become partakers of the benefits of that Holy Passion § 4. Who made there by his own Oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice
stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord. And I beseech thee give me constant and continual supplies of thy Grace that I may be able to perform whatsoever I have promised and let not forgetfulness or indevotion seize upon me hereafter Let me hold fast that which I have and daily strive to gain more and finally make me faithful to the Death so shall I receive the Crown of Life for he that endureth to the end shall be saved Amen § 8. Through Iesus Christ our Lord to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory World without end Amen There is a mighty efficacy in the name of Jesus used by a devout Soul that hath lately beheld the Commemoration of his great Attonement Through him we beg this Grace therefore And to him together with the Father and the blessed Spirit we offer up all honour and glory for the favours imparted to us in this Communion which but just now we did acknowledge and these Prayers and Praises we have cause to sign with an unfeigned Amen For we need the grace desired and the blessed Trinity deserves the glory ascribed wherefore we say Amen So be it But of this we have spoken before The Paraphrase of the second Prayer O Lord who art ever able and always ready to help thy servants being an Almighty and everliving God whose power and mercy can never fail We thy poor Creatures according to our bounden duty do most heartily thank and most unfeignedly praise thee for that of thy infinite pitty and bounty thou dost vouchsafe at this thy holy Table to feed us who have with penitence and Faith devoutly and duly received these holy Mysteries For therein thou hast refreshed our Souls with the spiritual and most desirable food of life thou hast made us Partakers by Faith of the most precious Body and of the most holy blood of thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christ which was offered for the Redemption of the whole World We acknowledge O Lord that besides the present comfort of this inestimable gift thou hast convinced us And dost assure us thereby of that which though we do not deserve yet we esteem above all things even thy favour thy gracious designs and goodness towards us poor Sinners And further by this holy Rite thou hast declared us thy Children and that we are very certainly living Members incorporate in and united unto the mystical Body of thy Son even thy Holy Church which is the blessed Company which are redeemed reconciled and sanctifyed by Jesus consisting of all faithful People in whose Prayers Priviledges and hopes we have now a happy interest And are also together with those thy servants by this Seal of thy Covenant made Heirs through hope already of thy Everlasting Kingdom which was purchased by the Merits of the most precious Death and Passion of thy Dear Son whose sufferings are set forth and the benefits of them conveyed to us in this Sacrament And now lest we should lose these blessings again by relapsing to folly as we have formerly done We most humbly and earnestly beseech thee O Heavenly Father for thy mercy sake so constantly and powerfully to assist us with thy grace in all our endeavours to perform our Obligations and our Vows that we may continue for ever in that holy fellowship with thy Son and thy Saints to which thou hast admitted us And do all such good works of Mercy Piety and Vertue as thou hast by the direction of thy holy Word prepared for us to walk in who have professed our selves to be thy Servants All which we beg through the most powerful intercession of Iesus Christ our Lord by whom we have received these and all other Mercies To whom therefore with thee O Father Almighty and the Holy Ghost three Persons and one God let there be all honour and glory ascribed both now and World without end Amen Be it so SECT IV. Of the Gloria in Excelsis or the Angelick Hymn § 1. TO conclude this Office with an Hymn is so direct an imitation of our Saviours practice Math. 26.30 that it is observed in all Churches and hath been used in all Ages And although the forms may differ yet this is as Antient as any now Extant The former part of it is of an Heavenly Original and was sung by the Angels at our Lords Nativity Luke 2.14 and it seems from thence it was transcribed into the Oriental Liturgies for it is thrice repeated in that of St. James The latter part is by Hug. de S. Victor l. 2. said to be composed by St. Hilary Bishop of Poictiers but by Rabanus Maurus who lived 200. years before the said Hugo it is ascribed to Telesphorus about the year of Christ 139. Certain it is that it was added by the Ecclesiastical Doctors as we are informed by the fourth Council of Toledo a Concil Tolet. IV. Can. XII celebrated about 1000. years ago and yet those are accursed by that Council who shall reject this or the Gloria Patri or other Hymns because they are not verbatim in the Scripture for as is there well noted upon that pretence we might reject the most part of the Church Offices It is also to be noted that with very little difference we find this Hymn in Clement's Constitutions l. 17. cap. 48. so that it is likely to have been of very antient use in the Western Church And whereas in the present Roman Missal it stands in the beginning of this Office it is much more properly placed by our Liturgy here in the end of the Communion for every devout Communicant is now even full of gratitude and longeth for an opportunity to pour out his Soul in the praises of God and how fit this Hymn is for that purpose the Analysis and following discourse will shew The Analysis of the Angelick Hymn or Gloria in Excelsis § 2. The Angelick Hymn hath Two Parts 1. The Angels Song acknowledging 1. The Effect of Christs Death 1. Above Glory be to God on High and 2. Below in Earth Peace 2. The moving Cause of it good will towards Men. 2. A Descant upon it by 1. A Glorification of the Father expressing 1. The Manner how we offer this Praise We praise thee we bless thee we worship thee we glorifie thee we give thanks unto thee 2. The Reason why for thy great Glory 3. The Person to whom O Lord God Heavenly King God the Father Almighty 2. A Supplication to the Son who is 1. Confessed in his Titles O Lord the only begotten Son Iesu Christ O Lord God Lamb of God Son of the Father 2. Invocated by his 1. Office to 1. Pardon that takest away the sins of the World have mercy upon us Thou that takest away c. have mercy c. 2. Hear us Thou that takest away the sins of the World receive our Prayer 2. By his Glory also to pardon us Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father
sins of the World receive our Prayer Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father have mercy upon us As the Father is the Object so the Son is the Subject of the Angelick Praises wherefore in the next place we are to glorifie him who is remembred and represented given by God and received by us in this Mystery It is usual at the Entertainment of great Princes by a Herauld to proclaim their Names Stile and Titles with great solemnity Even so the pious Soul which hath now received her dearest Lord doth with a mighty pleasure repeat all the names belonging to his Person to his Nature and his Offices and thereby declare the Majesty and Glory the Mercy and Goodness of him whom she hath now accepted for her Lord and King And whilst we are setting out his glories we do also invocate him by all these honourable and endearing Names that he will imploy his Power his Interest and Merits to make our Persons and our Prayers acceptable We behold him dying for the sins of all the World and we cannot but beseech him to grant our Pardon We discern him sitting at the right hand of the Father interceeding for us and thereby we are encouraged to beseech him to pitty our miseries and accomplish our desires His glory and our necessity makes us beg this with ingeminated cries and a redoubled importunity saying as he once in his Agony did the very same words And thus we do at once provide for our own relief and do honour to the Blessed Jesus for this part is so contrived that it is a Confession of our Faith an acknowledgment of his Glory a Prayer and a Tanksgiving all in one and thus we may reduce it to a practical Meditation How shall we express thy welcom into our Souls Blessed Jesus or how shall we celebrate thy praise We will remember what thou art in thy self and what thou hast done for us for thou art glorious enough in thy own perfections O thou Eternal and only begotten Son of God equal to the Father who art thy self both Lord and God How lovely art thou O thou innocent Lamb of God encircled with millions of redeemed Souls whom thou hast washed in thy blood O how illustrious a brightness shines round about thee whilst thou art in the midst of all thy happiness interceding for poor Sinners I adore thee and long to do thee honour and I delight to see all the Angels of Heaven worshipping thee my Lord and my God Hast thou merited so much on Earth and hast thou so much glory in Heaven sweetest Saviour then sure I cannot perish Behold how many poor Souls are prostrate before thee admiring and publishing the merits of thy Death and the power of thy intercession hear our importunate Supplications and help us all therefore O Lord that we may be able by experience to proclaim thy goodness Amen § 6. For thou only art holy thou only art the Lord thou only O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most high in the glory of God the Father Amen This Phrase thou only art holy with some others in this Hymn are taken out of the Song of Moses and of the Lamb Revel 15.4 as that thou only art the Lord is from the first Ep. Tim. 6.15 g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apoc. 15.4 Vulg. Solus Pius es 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Timoth. 6.15 Non quod non aliis is titulus aliquo sensu tribuatur sed quia hoc quicquid est à Deo venit Grot. in 1 Tim. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Responsor ad Quaest Graec. There are indeed holy Angels and Saints and there are Lords many 1 Cor. 8.5 Yet none of these have a propriety in this Title because their holiness is imperfect and derived Only Jesus is Holy in and of himself and of his holiness all others do receive He is Holy and Hallowed because he halloweth and sanctifieth us as the Liturgy of St. James paraphraseth it h Solus tu sanctus es qui sanctificas sanctificaris Liturg. S. Jacob. He only is that Lord saith St. Augustine i Solus verus Dominus es qui Dominum non habes Aug. Confes l. 10. c. 36. who hath no other Lord above him For he only with the Holy Ghost is equal to the Father God blessed for ever And this is the reason why we exalt him so highly and pass by the Mediation of Saints and Angels because none is so holy none so mighty none so high in the favour of God nor none so gracious and loving to us as Jesus is This we do acknowledge therefore with all possible joy and triumph and it is a mighty rejoicing to our Spirits that he who hath given himself for us and is come to dwell with us is so High and so Magnificent And while it doth chear our hearts to set forth his glory our Enemies are confounded For while the Church triumphs the powers of darkness tremble at the mention of his perfections Let us then refresh our selves with some such Meditation We have exalted thee O Lord as high as we can and yet scarcely so high as really thou art We will apply our selves to thee only for Holiness for thou only art most Holy we will seek for succour and protection from thee for thou art the supream Lord of Lords and we will not doubt of acceptance with our Heavenly Father because thou art a Partner in his Divinity the highest Favourite of the Coelestial Court Thou art the greatest and the best in Heaven and Earth and to my endless comfort whatsoever thou art thou hast made thy self mine so that the greater thy glory is the greater is my happiness now by Faith hereafter by enjoyment 'T is true I cannot see thee with my bodily Eyes but I admire and bless thee I love thee with ecstasies of affection for thou art my Lord and I am thy servant I feel thy influence and I believe thy excellencies so that I can rejoice in thee with joy unspeakable and full of glory Thou art the highest in thy Fathers favour and in my esteem also to thee therefore with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory now and for ever Amen The Paraphrase of the Angelick Hymn § 7. O come let us join with the Heavenly Host and sing Praises for the Redemption wrought by Jesus which bringeth so much Glory to God who dwells on high from all the Saints and Angels and which makes on Earth such a blessed Peace by reconciling us all to God and to one another and which also declares so great good will in the Almighty towards Men who had perished eternally without his Mercy Holy Father it is we that receive the benefit of this thy goodness wherefore We praise thee for the Power and we bless thee for the mercy of this great Salvation We worship thee with our Bodies and we glorifie thee with our Souls for thou hast redeemed them both We give
thanks unto thee with all our hearts for thy great glory Which is given to thee by all the World O Lord God We acknowledge thou art our Heavenly King who hast subdued our Enemies Thou art God the Father Almighty who hast designed and brought about this marvellous work We do also adore thee O Lord our Saviour remembring with delight and confessing with joy that thou art the only begotten Son of God Iesu Christ the anointed Redeemer And now O Lord God As thou art the most innocent Lamb of God slain and sacrificed for our offences and as thou art the most dearly beloved Son of the Father that by thy holy Passion takest away the sins of the World We entreat thee to Have mercy upon us and pitty us And again we beseech thee Thou that takest away the sins of the whole World since we are Sinners Have mercy upon us and forgive us And once more we pray thee O Thou that takest away the sins of the World take away our sins and receive our Prayer which otherwise might be hindred by them We know thou hast the only interest in Heaven wherefore we do again beseech thee Thou that sittest in great glory at the right hand of the Father that thou wilt have mercy upon us and save our Souls To thee we make this application for pardon and acceptance Blessed Jesus for thou only art holy in and from thy self To thee we seek for succour for thou only art the supream Lord of Lords Thou only O Christ together with the Holy Ghost the Comforter art most high in the favour and a Partner in the glory of God the Father constituting the holy and undivided Trinity which is blessed for ever Amen SECT V. Of the final Blessing § 1. OF the concluding the Ordinary Prayers with a blessing we have discoursed Comp. to the Temple SECT ult But besides it is apparent that the people were always dismissed from this Ordinance with a solemn Benediction pronounced by the Bishop when he was present a Plebs ab Episcopo cum benedictione mittatur Concil Agath can 30. and in his absence by the Priest b Populus non ante discedat quà m Missae solennitas compleatur ubi Episcopus non fuerit Benedictionem accipiat sacerdotis Concil 3. Arelatens yet so as none might depart till this was given by the one or the other Which Custom some would ground upon our Saviours practice who after his last eating with his Disciples Luke 24.43 took his leave with a blessing ver 50. The present form is taken out of holy Scripture the first part is from Philip. 4.7 The latter part is a Christian Paraphrase upon the old form of Moses Numb 6.24 25 26. for whereas the name of the Lord is thrice repeated there to note the Mystery of the Trinity we have explained it by the Father Son and Holy Ghost And what is further observable the following method will declare The Analysis of the final Blessing Sect. 2. This Blessing containeth a twofold wish 1. For the Peace of God to be in us shewing 1. The Excellency thereof The Peace of God which passeth all understanding 2. The end for which it is desired Keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son Iesus Christ our Lord. 2. For the Blessing of God to be upon us intimating 1. Whence it must proceed And the blessing of God Almâ—ghty the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost 2. How it is to be imparted be amongst you and remain with you always Amen A Practical Discourse upon the final Blessing § 3. The Peace of God which passeth all understanding Keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son Iesus Christ our Lord. When St. Paul had directed us to make our addresses to God by Prayers Supplications and Thanksgivings Philip. 4.6 he immediately adds And the Peace of God shall keep your hearts c. ver 7. So that he may seem to have designed this to be a Conclusion for this very office For we have now by Prayers Letany and Eucharist c Graec. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 4.7 made our applications to the Divine Majesty Wherefore the holy man by this method ought now to give us the Peace of God We have begun in Piety and therefore we shall certainly end in Peace Hence all Liturgies generally conclude with the mention of Peace d In pace Christi eamus Lit. S. Jacob Reg. MS. enim lâ—git 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 4.7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysos hom de jejun in Pasch In pace procedamus in nomine Domini Lit. S. Basil And there is not a more comprehensive blessing than Peace nor a more seasonable valediction after this Sacrament whether we understand it of the Peace which God hath made with us or of that which he requires of us 1. If we take it for the Peace which God hath made with us viz. for our Reconciliation to him by Jesus Christ Rom. 5.1 e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophylac in loc Philip. and the internal Peace of Conscience following thereupon It is so admirable in it self and it brings such comforts to the Soul which enjoys it that it not only surpasseth all the gifts of Wisdom and Knowledge but passeth the capacity of the highest Understanding to comprehend it And whereas we do now all pretend to know and to love God and our Lord Jesus Christ the Minister prays that we may find such comfort and delight in our Peace and Reconciliation with God that it may keep us firm and constant to this Knowledge and Love that it may win the affections of our hearts and gratifie the powers of our Mind so as to attract us to a further progress in the knowledge of so gracious a God and in the love of so dear a Saviour He prays that this Peace may make us despise all the friendships of Sin and engage us to seek after a further acquaintance with God and a nearer Union with Jesus Christ so that we may fall off no more to vanity when we have tasted these divine pleasures 2. If we take it for the Peace which God requires of us viz. that Peace which by his command we here make with our Brethren which sense Theophylact also mentions it is very proper to wish that this Peace may keep our hearts also For we are all here joined in the Unity of the Spirit and the Bond of Peace and Amity as a token whereof the Antients finished these Mysteries with a kiss of Peace f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin M. Apol. 2. Osculum Pacis quod est signaculum orationis Tertul. de Or. Roman 16.16 and supposed they had not received aright unless they all departed in mutual Peace and Charity g Quale sacrificium est à quo sine Pace receditur idem Tertul. ibid. And this blessed Peace is both better than
in vitam aeternam liberamur Tert. de bap cap. 1. It s natural life is a miserable mortal life a state of Bondage But we pray it may here be adopted to an Eternal life and a glorious Kingdom through Christ his Merits Amen §. 5. The Gospel and Exhortation deduced from it Hear the words of the Gospel Mark 10.13 They brought young Children to Christ c. This portion of Scripture hath been censured by some as improper for this place because the Children here mentioned were not brought to be Baptized but whosoever makes this Objection doth not well understand upon what account this Gospel is placed here and if they would take their measures by the end for which it is made use of they would retract so impertinent a charge Let it be considered therefore that in the making of a Covenant the express Consent of both Parties is required u Pactio est enim duorum pluriumvâ— idem placitum seu consensus L. 1. ff de pactis And this Covenant of Baptism being now to be made between Almighty God and this Child it is requisite that before the Sureties engage in behalf of the Infant they should have some Comfortable assurances that God on his part will be pleased to consent to and make good the Agreement Now though he be in Heaven yet his Ambassador the Priest in his Name doth produce this place out of his Holy Word the Declaration of his Will whereby it doth appear that God is willing to receive Infants into his favour and hath by Jesus Christ declared them capable of that Grace and that Glory which on Gods part are promised in this Baptismal Covenant wherefore the Sureties need not fear to make the stipulations on their side since they have Gods Royal Word his teste meipso and as great assurances as Majesty uses to give that there is no impediment in Children to make them incapable of receiving that which he hath promised and will most surely perform It is very likely it might be a Custom among the Jews to bring their Children to Persons of Eminent Sanctity to obtain their Blessing for St. Hierom relates that when St. Hilarion passed through Syria the Men Women and Children came flocking to him and kneeling before him they cryed Barac i. e Bless us x Hieron in vitâ S. Hilarionis which also is the manner of the East to this day y Drusius quaest Hebr. l. 2. But doubtless those who brought these Infants z Luke 18.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Marc. 10.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vers 16. cum accepisset eos in ulnas in their Arms did conceive some hope our Saviour was the Messiah and because the Promises belonged to them and to their Children Acts 2.39 they came to Jesus to desire he would pray for them and bless them and thereby own them as Members of the Covenant of Abraham But his Disciples either because they heard their Master require Faith and Repentance from all that he did receive or else esteeming it below their Masters dignity reproved those that brought them Whereupon our Lord checks their folly and taketh this occasion to shew that Children have a right to his Kingdom The Kingdom of Grace the Church consisteth of Children in Age or in Manners of them and such as they are and the Kingdom of Glory or Heaven shall be filled with Infants blessed by Christ and with Men become as little Children He begins saith Epiphanius with Infants but lest the Kingdom of Heaven should be thought only belonging to them be grants to those of every age provided they be like unto them that they shall inherit it together with them But if these that are such as they be admitted to the Kingdom how much more Infants themselves who are the Patterns of those that be compared to them Epiph. Panar L. 2. Tom. 2. haer 67. in Hieracitas Another Antient Author a little otherwise but appositely enough to this Case saith that Christ would not allow Jewish Children to be kept from coming to him because of such i. e. of Christian Children brought by their Sureties to Baptism the Kingdom of Heaven was Author libri Hypognosticon l. 5. And when Jesus hath thus pleaded their Cause who could not speak for themselves and declared that they are capable of the Kingdom of Heaven he establisheth a perpetual Decree that none do presume ever after to keep them from his Grace since they are capacitated for his Glory And then he doth bless them according to the desire of those that brought them and we are to believe that the laying on of our Saviours hands was no empty Ceremony but did effectually convey a Blessing unto them a Deus cum benedicit facit quod dicit Augustinus so that this also testifies they are capable of receiving Grace From all which Premises the Church in the Exhortation doth conclude that the Sureties may chearfully promise that which belongs to their Part since God by his Son Jesus Christ hath given such satisfaction that his Part shall be accomplished It appears both by the Words and Deeds of our Lord in this Case that Infants are beloved by him and by his Father that he will receive them kindly when they are brought to him that he will give them all the Grace and Blessing which is needed by them or desired for them it is evident that they are capable of being adopted into the Church and that the Kingdom of Heaven may be estated on them yea if they die after they have received Christs Blessing and have done nothing to evacuate it there is none more fit or likely to enter into Everlasting Glory whither we our selves cannot come unless we be like unto them b Tantum contingat nos virtutis puritate eidem similes fieri ut integritate morûm eandem cum infantibus in Christo requiem consequamur Basil Ep â—d Nectar 44. de filiolo mortuo ejusdem Nectarii Wherefore since Baptism is the only way now for Infants to be brought to Christ the Godfathers may be assured that God is well pleased with their Charity in bringing so fit an object for his Mercy and they may perceive now how ready our Heavenly Father is on his Part which Mercy they must acknowledge in the following Thanksgiving and so proceed to seal their Part of the Covenant in the Name of the Child as hereafter is directed §. 6. The Thanksgiving Almighty and Everlasting God Heavenly Father we give thee humble thanks The good News which is every where imparted by the Gospel requires that it should always be concluded with Thanksgiving And this foregoing Portion doth peculiarly deserve it for it declares the Humility Mercy and Condescension of Jesus in admitting Infants into a state of Grace and because we our selves were once received in this manner it doth admonish us to renew our acknowledgments for the mercy of our Christianity upon this fresh occasion Plato is said to have