to the Emperor of Mis-government and of Unfaithfulness to his Master and that turns the Scale and tempts him to change his Resolution In this Misdemeanour Lord I read mine own Thus hath Profit and Gain and Fear of losing the Favour of Men changed my good and pious Purposes When I have thought to reprove a Person greater than my self Fear of drawing his Frowns upon me hath made me give over those Religious Thoughts When I have resolved not to comply with a sinful Design or Proposal made to me how hath the Temptation of a considerable Advantage turned the Byass Oh make this Fickleness and Inconstancy very odious to me And let me count nothing Gain that is accompanied with the Loss of thy Favour Let that be dearer to me than Gold yea dearer than fine Gold and let me hate every false Way 25. And he released unto them him who for Sedition and Murther was cast into Prison whom they had desired but he delivered Jesus to their Will HOW pleased is sinful Nature when its wicked Desires are gratified when it obtains its Wishes and gets possession of what it craved with Eagerness It fancies it drinks Nectar and Cordials though in good truth it is nothing but Poyson No doubt the Apple or Fruit our first Parents ate of seemed very delicious but it appeared soon after that they had swallowed Death and God's Indignation Such Sweetness have I dreamed of in committing Sin And how have my Senses been tickled when I have enjoyed the dangerous Meat my Appetite longed for But it hath proved very bitter in my Bowels Thus the unwary Fish swallows the Bait but knows not that the Hook which will certainly kill it lies under it O Jesu My Desires never move more orderly than when they move within the Sphere and Circle of thy Law Oh charm them to that Circle and I shall never perish 26. And as they led him away they laid hold upon one Simon a Cyrenian coming out of the Country and on him they laid the Cross that he might bear it after Jesus HAppy Man that was counted worthy to bear the Cross with the Lord Jesus How light did the burthen seem to himâ— when Jesus was at one end of it So thy Holy Apostles my dearest Lord thought themselves bless'd that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for thy Name How contented should I be under any affliction did I believe that thou art with me and helpest to bear my load Surely thou art not far off when the Cross is laid upon my Shoulder In all my afflictions thou art afflicted O let me think of it and be chearful under it I know thou layest it on me for my good and art touch'd with the feeling of my infirmities Let me have no hard thought of any trouble for I suffer in thy Company Shall I think much of the burthen when thou enduredst far greater for my sake In all my distresses be thou with me and convince me that thou art so that I may never repine never murmur never fret but may bear thy yoak with a willing Mind being confident I shall not be a loser by it but when I am tryed receive the Crown of Righteousness which thou hast promis'd to all that love thy Name 27. And there follow'd him a great company of People and of Women which also bewailed and lamented him TEnderness and Compassion to persons in distress is a Tribute that nature requires And to have denied it thee in thy sufferings my Blessed Lord had been barbarous Those that follow'd thee and wept did not know how great and good thou wert If they had their Tears had been turn'd into Blood They believed thee innocent that makes them wet their Cheeks but had they known that thou wert the Son of God the dearly beloved of the Eternal Father they would have wish'd that their Heads were Fountains of Water O that I could never think of thy Cross without Tears in mine Eyes O that I could never behold thee bleeding in the Holy Sacrament without deep compunction Lord Touch the Rock of my Heart that the Waters may flow to the everlasting comfort of my Soul 28. But Jesus turning unto them said Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and for your Children LOrd Jesu Thou sawest what miseries were coming upon that Nation and art concern'd for them more than thou art for thy self In all thy sufferings thou didst not consult thine own welfare so much as ours It was for our sakes it was for my sake that thou didst endure the Torments which fell upon thee Thou wast loth I should perish and therefore wouldst rather dye than I should be undone Thy Father's wrath was levell'd at me and thou stepst in and tookest the blow that I might escape The curse of the Law was pronounc'd against me who was the Offender Thou wentst into the midst of the Fire that I might not be burnt The Floods went high and their Commission was to drown me thou venturedst into that Sea and didst divide the Waters that I might go through the midst and be safe and if this Mercy does not melt my Affections and make them thine how unexcusable must I make my self O let these Thoughts for ever dwell in my mind that I may live as becomes the Gospel of Christ and may think no service so sweet as thine 29. For behold the days are coming in the which they shall say Blessed are the barren and the Wombs that never bare and the Paps which never gave suck THese were the days of Jerusalem's destruction than which never worse times were seen and Men and Women wish'd that they had never been born Lord thou wouldst have me prepare for the worst of times that when they come I may not be surpriz'd but know where to flee for refuge Sweet Jesu Teach me how to prepare for the evil to come that it may not touch me or if it touch me it may not hurt me To be always good always watchful always doing thy Will is the way to be always safe even then when the Earth is moved and all things are turned upside down when the Sea rages when the Waters thereof roar and be troubled and the Mountains shake with the swelling thereof Let me ever preserve a pure Heart and a good Conscience and Faith unfeigned that however thou disposest of things in this World I may not lose the felicity of that which is to come 30. Then shall they begin to say to the Mountains fall on us and to the Hills cover us VVHen Men have forsaken God and his Judgments break forth upon them how do they lay hold on every bull-rush to save themselves from ruin What good can Hills or Mountains do when God is angry They cannot hide from the wrath of God Thus it will be in the great day of Judgment of which the Destruction of Jerusalem was an Emblem When Men shall see the frowning Judge whom they have
sensible of it and so much more grievous by how much it was Spiritual Our Bodies indeed were not laid in Iron nor with the Israelites forced to make Brick without Straw There were no Task-masters set over us to beat and would and bruise us we were not chained to Triumphal Chariots nor forced to work in Mines and Gallies but it was far worse our Souls which were the far better part of us were led Captive by the worst of Tyrants the Law we were govern'd by was the Law of Sin the Prison we were doom'd to was Eternal Darkness the Burdens which were laid upon us were intolerable and we were under the Power of an Usurper whose Smiles were Deaths whose Favours were Punishments and whose Kindnesses were Destruction and Ruin under him we labour'd and toil'd in vain and when at night after our Travel we looked for Wages we could expect nothing but Fire and Flames We read of Dracula the Transylvanian that having one day invited all the Beggars and poor Men he could light of to a splendid Dinner or Entertainment after they had filled their Bellies he set Fire to the Hall where they were and burnt them all The same Fare we must have expected of that Tyrannical Master under whose Bondage we groan'd but from this Slavery the Son of God by dying for us redeemed and rescued us A Mercy which as it deserves to be remembred above all the deliverances that ever happened to us so where can the remembrance be more proper than in the Sacrament of his Death and Passion 4. In vain is all this remembred if we do not remember to imitate this Saviour in his Self-denying Acts for therefore all this Mercy and Love and Charity is represented to us in this Sacrament that it may be an Obligation upon us to deport our selves in the World after his Example So that as he prayed for his Enemies so must we as he blessed them that cursed him so must we as he freely forgave the Men that wronged him so must we as he died for the Truth so must we as he defended it to the last without wavering so must we as he would not suffer any outward Respects to discourage him from Conscientiousness so neither must we as he before his Foes witnessed a good Confession so must we as he did Good for Evil so must we as he shewed Pity to Men in distress though they had affronted and done him an Injury so must we as he bore his Cross contentedly so must we as he despised the World so must we He that remembers not his Death so as to endeavour to be like him forgets the End of his Redemption and dishonours the Cross on which his Satisfaction was wrought For the Honour due to the Cross of Christ is not with the Church of Rome to pray to a piece of Wood called the Cross of Christ Hail Christ's Cross our only Hope in this most blessed Passion-Week Increase the Goodness of the Good and Pardon to the Guilty give but to live in the World as the Lord Jesus did who was crucified for us and by living so to adorn the Doctrine of the Cross of Christ Jesus that is to admire and reverence his Cross. III. From such a Remembrance flow more than ordinary Advantages for Things are useful according as they are managed and consequently if the Remembrance here required be used according to the Rules laid down these following Benefits will certainly ensue upon it For 1. Hereby our Love to God is kindled and renewed Love kindles Love as Fire kindles Fire and therefore God appears in this Sacrament as he did to Moses in the Bush all in Flames of Love that those Flames may warm our Breasts And O happy Soul that feels those Flames warm and heat all that is within her When Love takes possession of the Soul or rather when the Love of God represented in the Sacrament raises Love in the holy soul then the Soul becomes the Seat of Wisdom the Tabernacle of Holiness the Chamber of the Celestial Bridegroom a spiritual Heaven a Field which the Lord hath blessed a Spouse dearly beloved a Garden of Pleasure the Marriage-house a Paradise of Vertue into which the Lord descends not to find out the Malefactor and to discover his Nakedness but to betroth to himself the beloved Virgin languishing with Love waiting for her Beloved and longing for the Bridegroom 's Coming And where this Divine Love takes place there the Love of the World expires for as St. Austin speaks He cannot love that which is Eternal that doth not cease to love that which is Temporal And from this Love arise those happy Breathings O Fountain of Love Nothing is sweeter than thy Love nothing more pleasant nothing more beneficial Thy Love is not troublesome Where thy Love is there is true Pleasure It is contented with it self it knows no Bounds it watches Opportunities to vent it self it triumphs in its own Cell and captivates all the Faculties Thy Love O Lord gives Liberty drives out Fear tramples upon Humane Merits It gives Rest to the Weary Strength to the Weak Joy to the Mourners It feels no Weariness it feeds the Hungry and keeps the Faint from sinking 2. Hereby our Consciences are purged from Dead Works This as it is ascribed expresly to the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant Heb. 9. 14. so it must be attributed to the true Remembrance of that Blood in this Everlasting Sacrament Such a Remembrance cleanseth the Heart purifies the Soul makes the Dross of Sin vanish and the Impurity the Mind was oppressed withal wear away Such a Remembrance like the Gift of Prophecy Jer. 20. 9. is as a burning Fire shut up in the Bones which consumes the Hay and Straw and Stubble that annoyed the House of God For the Beauty of God's Love makes Sin appear black and ugly and causes a Loathing of it Hereby Holiness is advanced and Grace begins to flourish and the Rubbish being removed the Winter of Iniquity gone the Frost in the Soul dissolved the Flowers of the glorious Spring appear This Remembrance chaseth Lust and Luxury and therefore those in whom it hath these Effects are said to wash their Robes and make them white in the Blood of the Lamb Rev. 7. 14. 3. Hereby Christ is invited to dwell in us The House being thus cleansed and swept the Noble Guest is invited to make his Abode there This Remembrance is attractive and where the Soul is thus affected with the Remembrance of Christ's Death he comes and inhabits that beautiful Palace for such a Person seems resolv'd to keep his Word And to him the Promise runs If a Man love me he will keep my Words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our Abode with him John 14. 23. A wonderful Favour this To have him dwelling in us who is the Light of the World the Light of Heaven the Light of Angels and the Sun of Righteousness
such Bonds and Obligations The God thou hast to deal withal is a jealous God and if these Engagements cannot oblige thy Soul to a serious Conversation they 'll be witnesses to promote and hasten thy Condemnation II. See here what a miserrble and doleful state it is not to be in Covenant with God He that is not hath no security from the wrath of God the Threatnings of the Gospel are in force against him and he knows not how soon the Thunderbolt will fall upon his Head Like a condemn'd Malefactor he is repriev'd for a while and can promise himself a share only of the common Blessings which the Great Creator bestows indifferently upon his Friends and Enemies Not to be in Covenant with him is to be dead to his Paternal Grace and Favour and to be depriv'd of those Influences which make the Saints joyful in Glory and cause them to sing aloud upon their Beds Till you are in Covenant with your God you can have no hopes of Pardon your Sins remain upon you and that load will crush you at last into despair O think of it you that never made such a Covenant with your God in good earnest Notbeing in Covenant with him Christ's Blood and Death and Wounds and Agonies do not profit you And for you O miserable Creatures Christ died in vain that Damnation Christ came to deliver the World from continues to be your Portion and should you die in that condition you are undone to all intents and purposes Till you are in Covenant with God you are under the power of Darkness and under the Government of the worst of Tyrants you are Slaves in the midst of all your jollities Bondmen in the midst of your Pleasures You laugh in Chains triumph in your Fetters and stand upon the brink of Destruction O do not make light of this unhappy state your making light of it speaks you desperate but being concern'd at your danger may yet be a means to free your selves from the Net you are at present intangl'd in Fear of being undone may yet keep you from it and sorrow that you have not seriously thought of it may yet turn the stream and convert the Heart of God to you into Mercy and Compassion therefore it is that we instruct you in meekness if God peradventure will give you Repentance to the acknowledging of the Truth and that you may recover your selves out of the Snare of the Devil who have been taken captive by him at his Will 2 Tim. 2. 26. III. From hence it appears how necessary it is for People when young to make or renew this Covenant with their God As no Man can close too early with the offers of Grace so if this Covenant were made by all young Men and Women seriously and with deliberation what a restraint would it be upon their juvenal Desires What a curb to their extravagant Fancies What an Armour against Sin and the ill examples of the World How would this considerate Engagement keep them in and fright them from consenting when sinners do entice them The reason why it hath not this effect upon them is because it is not made with suitable applications of the Mind to the importance of it or to the Greatness and Majesty of that God with whom it is made and to the danger and hazard they run in breaking of it for every trifle that comes in their way and when they have made it they do not keep their Hearts warm by ruminating upon what they have done nor do they renew it so often as they might and should do Were it preserv'd fresh and green and flourishing in their Minds it would harden them against impression of all those little allurements which now draw their Affections and their Souls another way Did they think when a sinful shew when vain company when a glozing pleasure when a base suggestion invites them to consent I have wash'd my Feet how shall I defile them again I have given my self up to the disposal of him to whom all Power in Heaven and Earth is given How can I be faithless and escape his Anger I have in this Sacrament made a resignation of my Heart to him that rescued me from the burning Lake how shall I break with him and escape his displeasure I have consecrated my self to a greater Master How shall I debase my self and serve such pitiful nothings I have but one Soul and have given that away to my Redeemer How shall I espouse this Vanity I have promis'd Obedience to him that washed me with his Blood How shall I obey his Enemy Such Thoughts as these repeated often would make the Heart inflexible to all the charming intreaties of the World or the Devil and Oh! that you would but make this Tryal you would find that we are not Mad but speak the words of Truth and Soberness as St. Paul told Festus in a case not much unlike this Acts 26. 25. IV. It 's no very difficult thing to come to a Holy certainty and assurance that we are in Covenant with God It must needs be difficult to the unwilling and to him that hopes God's Favour will fly into his Mouth without seeking it any thing seems hard and if it were difficult the difficulty is not insuperable especially if we look into the conditions of the Covenant There is no man that is in his Wits but may upon a diligent search find and know whether he heartily agrees to the conditions and whether he promises what is required on his part out of love to the ways of Religion and whether he makes conscience of performing his promises It 's true the Heart is deceitful but that it is so is our own fault we may remedy that deceitfulness if we will search it and by the Rules Christ hath prescribed in the Gospel bring it into order It is not to be imagin'd that God would leave us in uncertainties in so great a concern as this and he that bids us apply the Comforts of this Covenant must be supposed to have left us signs and characters whereby we may know that we are confederates with him and have a right to what he hath said he 'll do for us and there can be no greater character than the testimony of our Conscience that our engagements influence our Spirits keep us in awe prevail with us to be cautious and can do more with us than a base Lust or any sinful gain and pleasure If thou freely resignest thy self to the guidance and direction of thy Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier and the love of God manifested in this Covenant works upon thine Affections and thou art content to be ruled by ois Law art sensible of the equity and reasonableness of it consentest to his injunctions not only professest subjection but actually endeavourest to submit to what he commands and art willing without any reserves that not only thine Understanding Will and Desires but thine outward Man too thine Eyes and Ears
of the Old Testament did all eat the same spiritual Meat and did all drink the same spiritual Drink for they drank of the Spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ 1 Cor. 10. 3 4. we must conclude that since under the New Testament Expiation of Sin is not allowed of without Repentance the Fathers under the Law could have no other Apprehensions of Expiation And though they mention the Removal of the Temporal Judgment as an External Sign of the Expiation of their Sin yet the Internal Mark of it and the principal was their Repentance and while they name the one they do not exclude the other The Jews at this Day lay the Stress of Pardon upon the Removal of the Judgment whether they repent of the Sin that caused it or not â—ay they go so far as to make their Death an Expiation for all their Sins By which Rule no Jew can be damned And this comes in a great measure from their mis-understanding of that Passage Isa. 22. 14. And it was revealed in mine Ears by the Lord of Hosts Surely this Iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die saith the Lord of Hosts Which Words import no more than this That God with the Death of those wicked Men will put an end to the Scandal they have given to others by their Iniquities and that by their Death God will purge the City or the Land from such Abominations but not that their Death shall be an Atonement for their Sins And therefore 2. Nothing doth properly expiate Sin but the Blood of Christ and as without shedding of Blood there is no Remission so by the shedding of Christ's Blood Men are put in a Possibility of being pardon'd But Repentance is the Preparative for the Application of that Blood Till a Man repents he hath no Title to that Blood or the Benefits of it And though God may remove the Temporal Judgment yet if it works no Repentance the Sin shall be produced against the Offender in the last Day All Temporal Judgments though they speak God's Displeasure at Sin yet they are intended withal for the Offender's Reformation And to this purpose Elihu speaks excellently well Job 33. 19 20 27. He is chasten'd also with Pain upon his Bed and the Multitude of his Bones with strong Pain so that his Life abhors Bread and his Soul dainty Meat his Flesh is consumed away that it cannot be seen and his Bones that were not seen stick out He looks upon Men and if any say I have â—inned and perverted that which was right and it profited me not he will deliver his Soul from going to the Pit and his Life shall see the Light And therefore if this Judgment which falls upon an unworthy Receiver instead of softening and melting his Heart doth but harden him there the Judgment is so far from expiating his Offence that it hastens and aggravates his Everlasting Condemnation and this very Sin will be remembred in Hell and double his Shrieks and Agonies And this is rational to believe for when God by that Temporal Judgment cannot reclaim him the last Remedy that God makes use of to bring him to a better Mind is lost his Folly is incorrigible and as that Judgment was a Talent he should have improved into Repentance so dis-regarding it and making no other use of it than Pharaoh of his Plagues and becoming more setled upon his Lees he justifies God's Proceedings against him in the last Day which though they seem â—evere to the Sufferer who is loth to feel the pain yet they are reasonable and he whom Temporal Judgments could not reclaim must know at last to his Cost there is no jesting with the Anger of an Infinite Majesty The Preceding Considerations reduced to farther Practice I. THE Apostle is in the right when he tells us Heb. 12. 29. Our God is a Consuming Fire Indeed to the Tractable and Docile who consider his Providences and take notice of his Loving-kindness who see the Vanity and Uncertainty of the World and build their Nest among the Stars of Heaven who are sensible of the Danger of walking after the Flesh and deliberately chuse to walk after the Spirit who run away from Sodom get themselves out of Babylon will not be infected by the Sins of the World and earnestly desire to be strengthen'd in the Inward Man with all Might To such he is all Kindness all Love all Mercy all Light all Compassion all Charity as we see in the Parable of the Prodigal where the Father's Acts towards the penitent Sinner are so full of Sweetness so full of Affection and Tenderness that nothing can be imagined more kind or loving or favourable But Men who undervalue the Methods of Salvation will be happy their own Way make light of that which they ought to prize above their Lives are unconcern'd about the Sins that cost the Eternal Son of God his Life will needs dream of God's Mercy while they obstruct it by their Ingratitude and hope to enter into Heaven notwithstanding their Neglect of purifying their Hearts and Lives nay can come to this Sacrament and will not be divorced from those Sins which here they profess an unfeigned Sorrow for Such Persons shall know and feel that God is Jealous and that the Lord revenges that the Lord revenges and is furious that the Lord will take Vengeance of his Adversaries and reserves Wrath for his Enemies Nah. 1. 2. He is indeed slow to Anger and doth not wllfully afflict the Children of Men but Boldness in Impenitence wakens his Vengeance and where his Patience tempts them to greater Wantonness there is no dallying with their Errours These things hast thou done saith God and I kept silence and thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thy self but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine Eyes Psal. 50. 21. II. Because it is so dangerous to eat and drink unworthily yet that ought not to discourage any Person from eating and drinking in this Sacrament Worthy Eating and Drinking here is not dangerous at all so far from being dangerous that it is a Duty and beneficial and a Key to the choicest Mercies And if it were dangerous why should it fright any Soul from coming 'T is dangerous to go to Sea Yet doth the Seaâ—man therefore forbear his Voyage 'T is dangerous to climb a Tree Yet doth the Husband-man therefore let his better Fruit drop down without getting up to gather it 'T is dangerous to fight against a numerous Enemy But is the Soldier therefore dis-hearten'd from venturing into the Battel Danger helps us to look to our Steps and if there be Difficulty in an Attempt it whets our Courage and makes us fall on with the greater Force and Earnestness So that if worthy Eating and Drinking were dangerous it were an Invitation to an ingenuous Temper to apply himself to it But in this there is no Danger What Danger can there be in
singular Mercy A Prince may send two Persons one whom he hates another whom he loves to Prison with very different Intents the one with an Intent to have him executed according to Law the other to preserve him from the Rage of his Enemies And the same may be said of Sickness which we see lights indifferently upon Good and Bad. 2. Though Sicknesses and Untimely Death are govern'd by Second Causes by Colds and Heats by hard Labour and Straining by excessive Passion and Grief and Joy by tedious Journeys and dangerous Voyages by Fevers in the Blood and Contrariety of pugnant Humours by Winds and Storms by Fire and Water by a Pestilential Breath and going to infected Places c. yet he that sits at the Stern of the great Vessel must not be supposed to look on carelesly or to be nothing but a Spectator of the Conspiration of the Second Causes These Second Causes are constantly govern'd by a Power supream and by his Order and Influence they move He directs and bids them concur to produce such Effects and while they seem to act by Chance and in the dark he himself hath pregnant Reasons why he causes such a Concourse of inferior Causes and these Reasons he hath thought fit to reveal in his Word where we are to seek them So that though an unworthy Receiver may get his Sickness and Death by Quarrelling by Gluttony by Drunkenness and Intemperance by being wounded and bruised by rude and insolent Men yet Providence is not asleep all this while and though he doth not command or approve the Sins which are the Occasion or the immediate Causes of the ensuing Sickness yet he wisely permits them resolves not to hinder them from producing such Effects for Reasons his Eternal and infinite Wisdom hath pitched upon so that they may very well be intended as Punishments and Judgments even while they are the natural Effects of Second Causes And God in punishing the unworthy Receiver with Sickness and untimely Death lays Righteousness to the Line and Justice to the Plummet there being nothing more just than that he should fall sick that hath been sick of God's Service and he come to an untimely Death that hath disregarded the Death of Christ Jesus and counted it an unworthy thing And what if some unworthy Receivers live as long as other Men and perhaps to a very great Age yet that doth not make the Apostle's Words less true nor is it any Security to the Offenders that therefore they shall go scot-free The Threatnings of God that concern this present Life if they are not executed in this Life shew however what the Sinner hath deserved and not being executed here if that which should have been inflicted here is added to the Punishment hereafter he hath no great reason to brag of his escaping here Sometimes the Sinner bethinks himself and repents and turns from his Errour and by that means escapes the sad Effects of his Threatning for all Threatnings have this implicite Condition included In case the Offender doth not make his Peace with God Add to all this That if the Threatnings of God be executed upon some Persons guilty of the Sin to which the Threatning is made it is enough to vindicate the Veracity of God And if any Sinner of the same Size and Degree do escape still the Threatning shews what they may expect if they turn not The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. THE Wise Man's Advice surely is very reasonahle Eccles. 7. 14. In the Day of Adversity consider Times of Affliction are considering Times Affliction is sent on purpose to teach and to instruct us 'T is intended to put us in mind of the Sins we have forgotten or been wilfully ignorant of the Sins of our Childhood the Sins of our Youth the Sins of our riper Age and the various Neglects and Defects of our holy Services And therefore in the Old Testament the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jasar which stands for Affliction imports not only Correction and Chastisement but Instruction too It is an excellent School-master and he that submits to its Teachings will become wiser than a Multitude of Books will make him Therefore my Son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him Heb. 12. 5. Consider who it is that sends the Rod and what the Design of the unwelcome Messenger is Consider how much thou needest it and how justly thou hast deserved it Consider how it is intended for thy Good and how thou shouldest have forgotten why thou camest into the World but for this Remembrancer Consider how little Reason thou hast to take it ill when the dearest Servants of God have passed through this Fire and how without it thou wouldst have continued a Stranger to thy self Consider its Mercy that he will call home the straying Sheep and will not let thee wander in the Wilderness of Sin And that when he strikes his Intent only is to beat the Dust out of thy Clothes not to hurt the better part This Consideration will go near to produce that excellent Temper in thee which David speaks of Surely I have behaved and quieted my self as a Child that is weaned of his Mother My Soul is even as a weaned Child Psal. 131. 2. II. Let not him that is weak in Faith yet loves the Lord Jesus Christ in Sincerity makes Conscience of his Laws and would not willingly offend him to gain the World let him not be frighted when Sickness or any outward Disaster and sad Accident befals him as if that were a certain Argument that therefore he hath received unworthily The Enemy may suggest such a Thought but Christian explode it as boldly as it comes They are other Reasons that make thy Heavenly Father lay his chastening Hand upon thee His Design is to make thee entirely conformable to his own Son to that Son who for the Glory set before him endured the Cross. He was made perfect through Suffering so would God make thee perfect through Affliction If a Person be never so holy yet if he hath not passed through the Furnace of Affliction he wants Perfection Afflictions gave the Son of God as he was Man a Title to his Father's Kingdom and they are Items to thee that thou shalt reign with Christ for ever These Troubles that encompass thee are to make thy future Joys the greater and thy Crown more bright and shining Fear not that thou hast received unworthily while thy Conscience bears witness that thine Eyes thy Heart thy Affections were toward him in the holy Sacrament and are so still If thy Treasure and thy Heart was in Heaven then and thou still endeavourest to preserve that Frame thy Eating and Drinking hath done thee good and thou hast been refreshed by it and the Lines did fall to thee in pleasant places These present Afflictions are thy Security that God loves thee and as they tell thee that thou hast no continuing City here so
Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 2. 2 3 4. weak and sickly Persons have need of Milk we use it in Bodily Diseases when they have weaken'd the Body and it seems it 's necessary also for the recovery of Souls weaken'd by Sin but then the Milk is not such as Cows and Sheep and Goats do give but it is the Word of the Lord which endures for ever and to apply our selves to pondering and meditating in it and to make it the rule of our life and manners is drinking of that Milk 2. To pull out the Right Eye and to cut off the Right Hand Matth. 5. 29 30. i. e. To shun those Looks and Actions which are Provocations to Sin As he that means to recover of Bodily sickness must avoid all things that would irritate the morbifick matter so he whose Soul is sick and would be cured must carefully avoid the occasions of those sins which have made him sick and he that would be drunk no more must avoid the Company that used to perswade him to intemperance and he that would be tempted no more by the Harlot that drew him in must not come near her house Prov. 5. 8. 3. Not to repine at the bitter draughts Christ gives you to drink of but to say as he in his Agonies The Cup which my Father hath given me shall not I drink it Joh. 18. 11. Whether this bitter Cup be the Cup of Mortification of Fasting of Severities of being reveng'd upon thy self and of deep Humiliation or the Cup of Bodily affliction if he bids you drink of it it must be thankfully taken else expect no cure and that which ought to encourage us to drink of it is this that this bitterness will end at last in sweetness unspeakable and ineffable Consolations 4. To sell all with the Merchant in the Gospel to get the Pearl of Price i. e. God's love and favour Matth. 13. 45 46. The meaning is nothing must come in competition with the great concern of your Salvation nothing must be suffered to be laid in the Ballance with Eternal Happiness whatever would prejudice that must be rejected and left to those that know not how to prize it To secure that all must be ventur'd and if even Father and Mother should be the tempters to discourage us from it even their Friendship must be lost and all that we expected from them counted unworthy to be compared with the Glory which ere long shall be revealed in us The PRAYER MOST Glorious God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Heaven is thy Throne and the Earth is thy Foot-stool Where is the House that Man can build unto thee And where is the Place of thy Rest Thou dwellest not in Temples made with Hands yet in an humble sound sincere and pure Heart thou hast promised to fix thy Habitation Oh that my Heart were so When shall I be rid of my vain foolish wicked and dangerous Thoughts Oh! When wilt thou purge and cleanse this House from the Rubbish which annoys it When wilt thou adorn my Soul with profound Humility which may be an Invitation of thy Gracious Presence How apt am I to look off from Thee How apt to mind poor transitory Things How little am I acquainted with that Fervency of Spirit which I see in others Great Physician Heal thou me Thou hast healed Thousands Oh let me be one of that Number It may be of all that Multitude there was none so miserable as I am yet no Spots no Stains are too hard for Thee to wash out I have delighted in my Filthiness and with the Swine taken pleasure in the Mire Oh Let me consider how nobly I am born and hate that mean and servile Spirit I am born of God So thy Apostle tells me Oh Let my God be ever in my Heart and let me do God-like Things even Things that savour of Heaven and a Super-natural Temper Touch my Soul sweet Jesu Touch it with the Rays of thy Favour in this Sacrament that I may seek after Thee alone think on Thee alone and love Thee alone Chase away all sinful Sickness from me and make me sick of Love that joyfully without Tediousness I may continue in Well-doing Thou art a Saviour Be thou so to me and save me from my Sins Give me an healthful Soul a good Conscience and a sound Mind and Purity of Heart and with that Purity frequent Rejoycing in thy Name Tranquility of Spirit Multitude of holy Thoughts Innocence of Life ardent Love and Everlasting Charity Let no Temptations defile me but let these rather purge and joyn and unite me to Thee Give me a constant Zeal for thy Honour and Glory and let me be for ever delighted with thy Praises Amen Amen CHAP. XXI Of Damnation which the Unworthy Receiver Eats and Drinks to himself The CONTENTS The Word made use of by St. Paul in threatning Unworthy Receivers ambiguous on purpose to fright them from the Sin How Men eat and drink their Damnation in this holy Sacrament The Justice of God in inflicting Damnation on Unworthy Receivers vindicated The Threatning of Damnation being denounced by St. Paul to the prophane Corinthians that came drunk to this holy Ordinance how that can be applied to sinful Men in this Age who are not in a possibility of coming drunk to the Lord's Table since the Eucharist is with us administred and received in the Morning and most of those who come do come with some Preparation Whence it comes that Damnation doth not fright Men more it being the greatest Misery Man is capable of The Severity of this Threatning puts Communicants in mind what a Value and Esteem they are to have for the Death of Christ. Yet it is no just Discouragement from Approaching with sincere Desires and Resolutions to become conformable to Christ Jesus The Prayer I. THE Judgment the unworthy Receiver pulls upon himself is not only Temporal but Eternal too To this End I have already told you that the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by the Apostle in his Threatning denounced against unworthy Receivers signifies not only Judgment in general but also Damnation And indeed the Holy Ghost doth purposely make use sometimes of ambiguous Words especially in Threatnings to rouze Men the more from their Slumber and to give them notice that if the lesser Punishment threatned in the Expression is either delayed or cannot prevail that then the greater included in the same Word shall take place Thus the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sheol in the Old Testament used much in Threatnings import both the Grave and Hell and in Comminations against wicked Men it doth not only signifie an untimely Grave but a far greater Punishment beyond it even Eternal Darkness and Everlasting Howlings to shew that if the former Danger cannot fright the later shall when it is too late to repent And so here the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 including both Temporal Judgment and Damnation we must believe the Apostle hath
Sacrament In such a method this Self-Examination must proceed and then it 's like to produce the effects we desire and God expects at our hands IV. But still you will say That is a very operose and laborious Business and full of intricacies and difficulties and scarce possible to be done every time a Person receives the Holy Communion especially if accidentally a Christian is to Communicate with a sick or dying Neighbour nor can Ministers themselves be supposed capable of doing all this when they are on a sudden call'd upon to administer the Holy Sacrament to persons that send for them But to give a satisfactory Answer to this point it will be necessary to lay down the reply in these following Positions 1. The Trouble is imagined to be greater than really it is If People are unwilling it is an easie matter to pretend Difficulties and Impossibilities All that I have mentioned may be done in an Hour's time or less For it is to be supposed that every Person is not guilty of all the Sins nor guilty of the Neglect of all the Duties in the preceeding Lists And how easily may a Person spy those Sins and Neglects he is prone to and then by the Rule of Queries mentioned before see how his Heart stands affected But suppose it were a Task of some difficulty Is Heaven worth nothing And is the Labour for the Body of that Consequence that the Soul deserves to be neglected What if God would not part with an Interest in his Love upon cheaper Terms Will ye refuse it and chuse to be miserable Sure you would not think so if you had been but one Moment in Hell However as I said the Task is not so laborious as is imagined by Persons who have an Aversion from Goodness 2. It is confessed that the Command about Self-Examination is general and concerns both the Good and Bad both Worthy and Unworthy Receivers both those who are void of Grace and those that are filled with the Spirit But though the Command is general and obliges the Serious as well as the Profane the Compleat as well as the Half-Christian equally yet in the manner of the Performance of it there cannot but be a very great difference because the Persons concerned do differ much in their Tempers Progress in Goodness and in their Wants and Necessities and consequently to the one it must be more laborious than to the other and the one hath reason to spend more Time in this Self-Examination than the other as he who hath suffered his House to become very full of Filth and Dirt must be at greater Cost and Pains to cleanse it than he that every Day takes care to keep it swept And therefore 3. A Man who hath led an ill Life and thinks of coming to the Table of his Lord and Master or if he have communicated formerly and after that is fallen into any grosser Sin and gone on in it when-ever he approaches had need set all the particular Sins God hath forbid in his Gospel and all the particular Duties commanded in that Book before him and ransack all the Actions of his Life he can remember to see how far he hath been from the Kingdom of God and how his Heart is now resolved and disposed As to his particular Sins and Neglects whether he intends to take up and to set his Face against them and whether it be his unfeigned Desire Purpose and deliberate Resolution to submit his Neck to the sweet and easie Yoke of Christ of whom he expects Pardon and Salvation both in this Sacrament and in the last Day And as tedious as this Self-Examination may appear to such a Person yet he may thank himself that his long Continuance and Boldness in a sinful Life hath made the Task so laborious to him And indeed till such a Man's Love to Sin and a sinful Life doth signally abate and the Byass of his Soul be changed and turned it will be necessary for him for some time at least as often as he receives the holy Sacrament to iterate and repeat this larger Self-Examination to see what Advance he makes in Holiness and whether there be not some Sins lurking in his Breast he took no notice of before But then 4. If he find that after Receiving several times his Faith and Love to the Lord Jesus Christ doth signally grow and his Relish of a sinful Life dies and a nobler Taste of the Goodness of God insinuates into his Breast as his Sins grow fewer so his Self-Examination before the holy Sacrament need not be so laborious as before it was Finding he hath gotten a setled Hatred and Abhorrency of several Sins he formerly delighted in instead of examining himself about them he hath reason to break forth into Praises and Admiration of the Goodness of God who hath delivered him from the Power of Darkness and led him to his Marvellous Light In a Word The holier the more melting towards God and Goodness the more spiritual the more obedient to the Commands of the Gospel a Man or Woman grows the less Self-Examination will serve turn for as he grows in Grace so his Errours and Infirmities abate and those which remain against his Will may be easily known and he may easily take a View of them nor will it cost him so much Time to take them into Consideration as the greater Heap of them formerly did and let him separate those Sins he hath left and got the Mastery and Conquest of from those Infirmities which yet against his Desire or Approbation cleave to him and the Remainder will soon be examined and he may soon satisfie himself whether he be resolved to labour more and more to exterminate them from his Soul and upon that Account come to the holy Sacrament to get greater Strength and Courage against them by contemplating the Love of God and the Cross the Agonies and the Tremblings the Lord Jesus endured for them The Sins a Man hath actually left need not be examined over again every time he Receives but those only he is yet very prone to slip into and would fain be rid of to become more conformable to the Lord Jesus So that 5. He that makes it the Business of his Life to please God in all Places and in all the Conditions and Concerns of his Life and is arrived to a Cordial and Practical Love of Goodness may very Conscientiously after a very small Examination of his Life and Actions especially if he be straitned in Time come to the holy Communion for the Sins he would fain be rid of he may soon run over and see whether he goes to this holy Ordinance with a Design to become more spiritual and take a final Leave of his Sins at the awful Sight of the Cross of Christ. And for this Reason not only a serious Minister of the Gospel who endeavours to lead a very Exemplary Life and to practise what he preaches but even a Conscientious Lay-man who