Selected quad for the lemma: hand_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
hand_n	blood_n	body_n	bread_n	5,198	5	8.2512	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41720	The communicants guide directing the younger sort, which have never yet received, and the elder, and ignorant sort, which have hitherto received unworthily, how they may receive the sacrament of the Lords Supper to their souls comfort together with a treatise of divine truths, collected out of ancient and moderne divines / by R. Gove ...	Gove, R. (Richard), 1587-1668.	1654 (1654)	Wing G1452; ESTC R17638	26,688	79

and passion of Christ A. By observing carefully what is done by the Minister that doth administer it and himselfe that doth receive it Q. What doth the Minister do A. He doth consecrate and set apart the Bread and Wine whereby of common and ordinary Bread and Wine it is made the Sacrament of the Body and Bloud of Christ He doth also breake the Bread and poure out the Wine and having so done doth deliver it to each of the Communicants Q. What is he to meditate on when hee seeth the Minister to consecrate the Bread and Wine by the Word of Christs Institution and Prayer to be the Sacrament of the Blessed Body and Bloud of Christ A. Hee is then to meditate how that God the Father out of his meere love to mankinde did set apart seale and appoint his only begotten Son to be the all-sufficient meanes and onely Mediatour to Redeeme us from sinne and to reconcile us to his grace and to bring us to glory Q. What is he to meditate on when hee seeth the Minister to breake the Bread and to poure out the Wine A. Hee is then to meditate that the Body of Christ was as truely crucified and his bloud shed for the Remission of his sinnes under the sense of Gods wrath due unto them as hee doth now see the Bread in the Sacrament to be broken and the wine to be poured out by the Minister Q. Lastly what is he to meditate on when the Minister commeth unto him and delivereth him the Bread and Wine thus Consecrated broken and poured out A. He is then to meditate that as the Minister doth now offer and deliver into his hands the Bread and Wine and bids him take it eate it and drinke it So doth Christ himselfe come unto him and offer and give unto his Faith his very Body and Bloud with all the benefits of his Death and Passion Q. And thus we see what the worthy Receiver must meditate on in the time of Receiving upon his sight of what the Minister doth tell me now next what he must meditate on upon the sight and sense of what he himselfe doth at that time A. When hee hath received the Bread and Wine at the Ministers hand and is Eating of the one and Drinking of the other he must then meditate and thinke with himselfe thus as I have now taken and doe eate this bread and drinke this Wine for the nourishment of my body and life temporall so I doe believe that the Body and Bloud of Jesus Christ being apprehended of mee by the hand of Faith and applied by Faith unto my Soule shall nourish it up unto life everlasting Q. And thus wee have seene how the worthy Receiver is to meditate in the time of Receiving upon the Death and Passion of Christ and the benefits which accrue to him thereby Tell me now next what are the duties which he is to perform to God and man therefore A. To God hee is to lift up his heart by way of thanksgiving for the great worke of our Redemption by the death of Christ and unto man hee is to extend his love by cleaving to his fellow-communicants in one Spirit as unto members of the same body and by shewing mercy to the poore members of Christs body in contributing to their necessities according to his ability Q. And thus we have also seene what is to be done by the worthy Receiver at the time of Receiving Tell me now in the last place what is required of him after he hath Received A. There is required Examination and Resolution Q. Wherein stands the Examination which must be in a worthy Receiver after he hath Received A. It stands in this to trie whether he hath gotten any good by the Sacrament or not Q. What if he finde little or no good by his Receiving A. He is then first to suspect himselfe that some miscarriage hath beene in him either in his preparation to or in his performance of the Duty and having found out what was the fault in either that hindred the efficacy of the Sacrament unto him he must judge himselfe and be seriously humbled for it And secondly hee must endeavour by after-paines in prayer and humiliation to quicken and awaken the efficacy of the Sacrament unto his Soule Q. But what if hee finde any good by his Receiving what is he to do then A. He is first to blesse God with all his heart therefore and to acknowledge with all thankfullnesse Gods gracious dealing with him therein and secondly he is to be carefull and watchfull that hee keepe up and maintaine that holy and gracious frame of heart in himselfe which he hath brought with him from the Sacrament Q. And thus have wee seene wherein the examination of a worthy Receiver consisteth after hee hath Received Tell mee now wherein standeth his Resolution A. It standeth in this that he be carefull and doe resolve to keepe touch with God and to expresse the power and efficacy of the Sacrament in making good and keeping his Vowes and Covenants which hee made to and with God of new obedience and amendment of life when he came to receive Q. Is there any great danger if we do neglect to do so A. Yes for first without this care and Christian resolution wee shall incur Gods heavy displeasure Secondly we frustrate and make voide all that we have formerly done in and at the Sacrament And thirdly we shall hereby bring our selves into a far worse condition than we were before we came to receive Q. How may we come then by power to do this A. By watching carefully over our wayes and courses by examining them by the Rule and Square of Gods Word and by hearty prayer unto God for his Grace to direct and assist us in all our wayes CERTAINE Cases of Conscience About the Receiving of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper cleared and resolved I. Case WHether a man who after examination of himselfe findeth in himselfe much weaknesse and many defects in respect of those things which should be in a worthy Receiver may yet adventure to come to Receive Solution The weakenesse and defects which are in those that come to Receive are either such as are felt and thereupon are sorrowed for and striven against or they are such as are not felt and so can neither be sorrowed for nor striven against If our weakenesse and defects be of the former kinde wee neede not much to feare or doubt of Gods mercy and favour towards us if we doe come to Receive with such weaknesse and defects in us For first we must know that the Sacrament which we come to receive is ordained by Christ to be as well physick for the Recovery and strengthening of the sick and weake in grace as food to nourish the strong and healthy Secondly we must know that Christ even calleth such unto him and hath promised in his word not onely his gracious

acceptation of them but a full supply of their defects and wants But if our weaknesse and defects be of the latter kinde such as wee neither feele nor desire to understand nor have any remorse for them then ought we not in any case to come but rather to forbear untill God shall be pleased to give us more Grace II. Case Whether we are bound to come fasting to the Communion Solution NO it is not absolutely necessary for neither was the paschall Lambe so eaten and we know Christ himselfe administred it to his Disciples after Supper and besides that some are we know so weake and sickly that they cannot stay so long fasting without prejudice to their life or health And if it were necessary yet in that case God will have mercy rather than Sacrifice But though there be no necessity of it yet it hath beene ever held decent and convenient where it may stand with the health of the body and there is no superstition placed in it as there is by some ignorant Papists and some of our ignorant and popishly affected Protestants at this day who thinke that they eate the very Body and drinke the very Bloud of Christ in a bodily manner III. Case Whether must that man stay from the Sacrament who having wronged and injured his Neighbour hath sought forgivenesse and Reconciliation at his hands but cannot obtaine it Solution NO if so be that he be sorry for his offence and be willing to make amends for the wrong he hath done and doth earnestly and heartily desire pardon and reconciliation at his hands whom he hath wronged for then the fault is no more his that hath done the wrong but his that being wronged will not forgive IV. Case Whether a man be bound to forgive him that hath wronged him if hee seeke not for Reconciliation at his hands and if hee do not forgive him whether hee must for this cause stay from the Sacrament Solution IN forgiving an offender there be three things to be considered First the leting go of all wrath malice and desire of revenge Secondly the testification of forgivenesse unto the party offending and Thirdly the re-acceptance and re-admission of the offendour into former society communion and friendship As for the first a man is bound to forgive in that respect whether the party offending ask forgivenesse or no that is he must beare no malice nor nourish in himselfe any thoughts of Revenge towards him for if he do he sinneth in comming to the Sacrament But as for the two latter a man is not bound either to testifie unto the offending party his forgivenesse of him or to re-admit him into former communion and fellowship with him untill he be sorry for his offence and be desirous in what he can to right him whom he hath wronged neither is his not doing of either of these any barre to keep him from the Communion V. Case Whether hee whose heart is full of feares and doubtings may adventure to come to the Sacrament Solution YEs he may for feares in comming are no barre to comfort nay he that comes in feare may yet goe away with much comfort especially where in comming his chiefe aime is to yeeld obedience to Gods Commandement which biddeth him come rather than to his own feares doubts and discouragements which might dishearten him from comming for obedience yeilded to God out of pure conscience to his Commandement against discouragements and feares may be no whit inferiour unto nor lesse acceptable unto God than a preparation in a more exact and excellent degree For it is here as it was with the Children of Israel Exod. 14 15. God bad them go forward and their own distrustfull hearts bid them forbeare because of the Sea that was before them into which they could not go without evident perill of drowning Yet Gods Commandement prevailing more with them than their owne feares forward they go and instead of the danger which they feared see what a blessed deliverance beyond their expectation is by God afforded them even that very Sea which they feared would have beene their destruction proved through Gods blessing to be the way and meanes of their delivery VI Case What is to be done by him that in the very instant of Receiving feeles his heart so hard that hee cannot lift it up unto God Solution TO this these Answers may be given First that hardnesse of heart is twofold sensible or insensible Felt or not felt Insensible hardnesse of heart and which is in a man and not felt and perceived is a great and a dangerous judgement but the sensible and felt hardnesse which is in Gods Children and which they feele and bewaile in themselves is rather a blessing than a curse Of this the Church complaineth saying unto God why hast thou hardned our hearts against thy feare Esay 63. 17. And this must not dishearten nor discourage any Communicant but rather comfort him for when the heart feeleth its hardnesse and complaineth of it is grieved and disliketh it wishing that it were not so this is a sure signe of a gracious estate and that there is some measure of true softnesse in that mans heart though at this time undiscerned of him For it is by softnesse that hardnesse of heart is felt and if there were no grace there such a corruption as this would lie still undiscerned it being the part of grace and not of corruption to discover such corruptions in us Secondly we must know that every lumpish and heavy heart betiding Gods Children at times is not a hard heart for even the best of Gods children at times may be thus affected witnesse David Psal. 42. 6 7. Heman Psal. 88. 14. Ionah Ion. 3. 4. 7. the Church of God Esay 49. 14. yea Christ himselfe was not free from it Mat. 27. 46. Thirdly it must be remembred for our comfort that the benefit of the Sacrament is not tied to the very instant of Receiving but if before and after a man have beene able and can lift up his heart unto God he may finde comfort though for the present he have not so lively a sense and feeling thereof as hee desireth VII Case Whether a man may with comfort of Conscience partake the Sacrament with those Assemblies wherein open finners are tolerated to participate so that he shall not partake with them in their finnes nor any way hinder his owne benefit by so doing Solution HE may and that for these reasons First because when we come to receive we are by the Apostle commanded to examine our selves in 1 Cor. 11. 28. but no where to examine others which if he had thought necessary to worthy Receiving or had thought it unlawfull to communicate with others that are unworthy hee questionlesse would have given a like strict command for that as he had done for the other Secondly because the same Apostle in 1 Cor. 11. 29. limits the crime and penalty of

and yet by vertue of that Parchment Inke and Wax made a Lease and sealed and delivered by the Land-lord the Tenant will possesse them all I demand then how it commeth to passe that this piece of Parchment and this Inke and Wax thus made a Lease and thus sealed and delivered hath power to conveigh really and actually this ground with his appurtenances to this Tenant To which the Answer is that the power it hath to performe this commeth not from the Parchment Inke and Wax but from the legall power and authority of the Law-giver who did decree and ordaine that a Deed conceived in such and such forme of words and thus sealed and delivered should be effectuall and powerfull to give a Tenant reall possession of such Lands and all the appurtenances thereof And just so is it in the Sacrament for by it Christ doth give us his very Body and Bloud his Merits and his Righteousnesse by it he passeth over unto us a Deede of all the joyes of Heaven he Seales unto us a pardon of all our sinnes and of all the Punishments belonging unto them but upon this condition still that wee doe truely pay unto him his Rent to wit true Repentance for all our sinnes true Charity towards our Neighbours true Faith in his Bloud and a new and sincere obedience to his Commandements So that when we receive this Sacrament after this manner we may say Here have I the Body and Bloud of Christ my Saviour here have I Remission of all my sinnes and the Kingdome of Heaven passed over unto mee And yet that bit of Bread which I have eaten hath not the Kingdome of Heaven lying in it nor the Body of Christ moulded up in it or converted into it neither hath the Wine which I have drunken the Bloud of Christ within it or is converted into it Whence then have they this power In their owne nature they have it not whence then can they convey all this to mee I answer the power which they have comes from the Law-giver Jesus Christ who Decreed Instituted and Ordained that those Elements of Bread and Wine received in his manner and on his conditions should be powerfull and effectuall to convey unto me and make me partaker of his blessed Body and Bloud and of all the benefits of his Death and Passion EXPRESSION II. Of this That a wicked man and an unworthy Receiver may at the Sacrament Receive the outward Elements of Bread and Wine without receiving any benefit by the Body and Bloud of Christ FOr it is here as in the usance of a conveyance Now we know that if a conveyance made to Peter lying upon a Table be given to Richard or to any other person to whom it doth not belong or which Richard or any other person fraudulently taketh away it doth them no good at all by reason the Covenant was not made with any of them but with Peter onely So the unworthy Receiver being not the party to whom the promise is made of receiving Christ with the benefis of his Death and Passion receives onely the bare outward Elements and not the things signified thereby EXPRESSION III. Of this That the consecrated Bread and Wine are not to be taken as common Bread and common Wine FOr it is with this as it is with Wax stamped with the great Seale for as that in substance differs not from other Wax but yet in value is farre more excellent and may not be abused or unreverently used without contempt or great wrong offered to the King or State whose the Seale is So the Bread and the Wine in the Sacrament though in substance it differ not from other Bread and Wine yet concerning the use to which it is now put and designed it is much more pretious than any other Bread or Wine in the World being now appointed by God to be a Signe and Seale and an exhibiting instrument of the Body and Bloud of Christ and therefore cannot be profaned or abused without contempt of Christ Jesus and his holy Ordinance EXPRESSION IV. Of this What a shamefull thing it is to come unprepared to the Lords Table IT were a matter of foule shame for a Man to come and sit downe at a great Mans Table in rags and in nasty and filthy cloathes and in such a case how apt would every one be that sees him to take him up and say Art thou not ashamed to come to such a Mans Table in so base a fashion What an uncivill fellow art in such a garbe and pickle to come into such a presence And is it not then a matter of fouler shame to come rudely unpreparedly and in so unbeseeming a manner to the Lords Table EXPRESSION V. Of this That the receiving of the Lords Supper without those graces that are to be in a worthy Receiver will do us no good FOr what is this but the having of a Seale to a blanke And what is a Man the better for that What is a Man the better for having the Broade Seale to a piece of Parchment that hath nothing written in it He hath nothing but a piece of Parchment and Wax hee hath neither Land nor Living sealed and conveyed unto him thereby And just so it is in this case EXPRESSION VI Of this That ignorant persons though they pretend never so much their good meanings and their good minds cannot be worthy Receivers IGnorant persons use to plead for themselves that they have not the knowledge and understanding that others have and cannot answer as others doe yet they hope they have as good meanings and come with as good minds as the best But alas how sillily is this spoken for 't is as if one should say though I have a blinde Eye yet I have as good an Eye as he that can see farthest For wherein lieth the goodnesse of the Eye but in the sight and the goodnesse of the minde but in the knowledge of God Prov. 19. 2. EXPRESSION VII Of this That without Faith we can be no worthy Receivers FOr he that will receive Christs Body and Bloud for his Soules Comfort must have an Eye to see Christ and his Worth must have a foote to come unto him must have an hand to receive and lay hold upon him and must have a mouth to feed on him Now Faith is all these to a worthy Receiver It is the Eye of the Soule John 8. 56. Esay 17. 7. 2 Chron. 20. 12. It is the foote by which we come unto Christ John 6. 35. It is the hand by which we receive him John 1. 12. Yea it is the mouth by which we feede on him John 6. 53. Now can a man see without an Eye Come without a foote Receive without an Hand Feede without a mouth No surely he cannot No more can we see Christ in the Sacrament without the Eye of Faith come unto him without the foote of Faith receive him without the hand of Faith or feed on him without the mouth