they help to prepare thy Soul for the Possession of that Inheritance which shall last for ever III. Worthy Receiving of the Lord's Supper is the best Preparative for Death No Man can die uncomfortably that makes it his Business as often as he comes to this Table to receive worthily Death cannot hurt him let it be natural or violent untimely or orderly for by this worthy Receiving he hath laid up a good Foundation against the Time to come Death may destroy his Body but cannot kill the Soul Death may fright him but it cannot undo him It may dis-lodge his Spirit but it drives it to a nobler Habitation It may expel the Guest but it gives him a Title to a better Building His worthy Receiving gives him an Interest in Christ's Death and because Christ lives he shall live also Death may come blustering and make a Noise but in that Whirlwind his Soul rides to Heaven Let his Death come by Sword or Famine or Torment or Fire or Water it makes no Alteration in his Happiness To him to live is Christ and die Gain And he knows who hath said I am the Resurrection and the Life The worthy Receiver never dies for he lives in Christ who abides for ever Christ will not suffer that Soul to perish in which he hath been pleased to make his Habitation He is concern'd to secure her Happiness and his Eyes are open upon her to do her good Her worthy Receiving arms her against the Fears of Death and scatters the Mists which Death doth cast before her Eyes Receiving worthily makes the Soul a sit Habitation for the Spirit of God and If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you Rom. 8. 11. IV. As the unworthy Receiver when Sickness or some other heavy Judgment lights upon him hath reason to believe that it is for his unworthy Receiving so he that wilfully neglects coming to this holy Sacrament may very justly conclude that all the Troubles and Miseries that befall him do in a great measure befall him for that Neglect 'T is hard to determine which is the greater Sin whether Receiving unworthily or not Receiving at all both will admit of great Aggravations And as these Sins are in a manner equal so it is not irrational to conclude that the Judgments threatned to the one may be inflicted for the other too As the Jews say of the Golden Calf that an Ounce of that Sin is an Ingredient into all the Calamities that came upon them so there is not a Cross that the wilful Neglecter of this Sacrament feels or endures but he hath reason to think that this Neglect contributes towards it and all his Miseries call to him though he will not hear the Voice not to neglect so great Salvation and if all these Calls cannot awaken him into a Sense of his Duty how must his Reckoning swell and how inexcusable must he be whom neither the still Voice of Prosperity nor the shriller Sound of Adversity can convince Take eat this is my Body and Drink ye all of this is a Duty as much as doing by others the same that we would have others to do us It will appear and be made out one Day that this was not an Evangelical Counsel only which the more Religious Sort that are ambitious of the highest Place in Heaven need only mind if they please It was said to all the Disciples that represented the Church-Militant And if thou professest thy self a Member of that Church thou art no more excused from the Performance of it than thou art from coming to Church and attending the other Ordinances of God But if these Motives cannot prevail God hath Enforcives which shall but from these Good Lord deliver us The PRAYER O God! When thou with Rebukes dost chasten Man for Iniquity thou makest his Beauty to consume away like a Moth Hear my Prayer O Lord and give ear unto my Cry hold not thy Peace at my Tears Oh let the Afflictions which have befallen me and which thou shalt hereafter think fit to send upon me help towards the strengthening of my Faith in Christ Jesus Thou hast sometimes laid thy Hand upon me thy Afflicting Hand and I have taken no notice of it Thou hast smitten me and I have not looked up to Heaven from whence the Stroak did come Thou hast corrected me and I have not been the better for it I have been like a Beast before thee so foolish was I and ignorant Oh teach thou me Let me read my Duty in my Crosses And whatever Trouble comes upon me let that Trouble direct me to the Cross of my dear Master the Lord Jesus Enlarge my Contemplations of the Cross of Christ by the Crosses that knock at my Door Let these make me more zealous to participate of the Benefits of the Cross of Christ. In these Crosses and Troubles let me find Motives to come with greater Seriousness to the Table of my crucified Redeemer Let these prompt me to run to the Tree which yields the Fruit of Righteousness Let not these discourage me from loving thee but rather inflame my Affections to make thee my Hope and Fortress my Light and my Salvation Let me look upon the Joy that all my Troubles will at last end in and take Comfort in all my Tribulations Imprint this Belief upon my Soul that thou knowest better what is good for me than my Carnal Heart I am apt to hanker after the Flesh-pots of Egypt but let me see the richer Table in thy Kingdom I am apt to be fond of these outward Comforts Oh quench my Thrist after them Let me see clearly that to feed on thy Love is better Diet than this Earth affords Give me thy Peace not as the World gives but as thou usest to give thine own People Oh! give me what I want Thou knowest my Necessities better than I. Give me better things than my Flesh desires even those which may preâ—erve me by thy Power through Faith unto Salvation through Jesus Cheist our Lord. Amen CHAP. XX. Of Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death the Second Temporal Judgment inflicted sometime on the Unworthy Receivers of this holy Sacrament The CONTENTS The Eucharist a Cure for all Diseases yet many continue weak and sick after it The Cause shewn to be in themselves The Signs of Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death God inflicts these Spiritual Judgments upon Unworthy Receivers by degrees The Justice of it vindicated in four Particulars Spiritual Weakness and Sickness proved to be a greater Judgment than the Corporal Of the End of our Eating and Drinking worthily at this Table which is Spiritual Health and wherein that consists Spiritual Judgments more common than Men think or suspect Our Souls are capable of Diseases as well as our Bodies Several Instances and Proofs given of it The Cure of Spiritual Weakness
some farther Prospect than this present Life and that he uses the Word not only to terrifie the unworthy Receiver with Sickness and Weakness of the Body and a Spiritual and Temporal Judgment but at the same time bids him take heed that in case any of the former doth not for Reasons best known to Providence light upon him or in case the Thoughts of the former do not work upon him and transform him into a better Man he doth not run himself into Hell-Fire and Eternal Misery It is plainly to tell him that since the Word includes both Judgments Temporal and Eternal he hath no reason to flatter himself that it will be only a Temporal judgment but may justly fear he shall in our God's Everlasting Indignation And therefore our Church retains both Significations of the Word in her Exhortation before the Sacrament So is the Danger great if we Receive the same unworthily for then we are guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ our Saviour we Eat and Drink our own Damnation not considering the Lord's Body we kindle God's Wrath against us we provoke him to plague us with divers Diseases and sundry kinds of Death II. How an unworthy Communicant eats and drinks Damnation to himself is the next thing we are to explain And this he doth this following Way 1. He makes himself obnoxious to the fierce Anger of the Judge that is to decide the Controversie of his Life and Death to all Eternity and this Judge is the Son of God Christ Jesus who hath protested that Not every one who saith unto him Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of his Father which is in Heaven and therefore will say unto them in the last Day I know you not depart from me ye Workers of Iniquity And there is nothing more certain than that the unworthy Receiver is resolved not to do the Will of his Father which is in Heaven whose Will is that Men should honour the Son as they do the Father Joh. 5. 23. i. e. believe in him as they do in the Father and come to this Sacrament like Persons redeemed from their vain Conversation resolved to war against the Lusts of the Flesh like Soldiers of the Cross and to remember the Death of the Son of God here with that Respect and Devotion they owe to God resolved to live and die with him like Persons who have listed themselves under his Colours with an Intent to fight against his Enemies and to take heed they do not dishonour the Son of God by an evil Heart of Unbelief in departing from the Living God This is the Will of God and since Christ the Judge of the World is the Person appointed to examine whether this Will of God hath been obeyed the unworthy Receiver dying in Impenitence and coming before him and it appearing that he hath nothing less than the Will of God professed indeed that he would do it pretended Service and Obedience to him and yet done his own Will though exhorted and moved to do the Will of God by numberless Arguments Arguments big with the greatest Charms what can his Obstinacy cause but Anger in the Judge Anger implacable since he would continue dead and unconcerned under the lively Oracles of Heaven and under the most lively Representations of the Love of God The Effect of which Anger is the Sentence of Everlasting Condemnation Depart from me ye Cursed into Everlasting Fire c. Matth. 25. 41. And for this Reason the Psalmist calls to all Kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the right Way when his Anger shall be kindled but a little Psal 2. 11. 2. He puts himself in the same State and Condition that other ungodly Sinners are in to whom is reserved the Blackness of Darkness for ever And that State and Condition is Wilful Disobedience to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what the Consequence of this State is St. Paul explains 2 Thes. 1. 7 8 9. The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with Everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power And that this is the unworthy Receiver's Condition is manifest from hence because he knows not God i. e. he will not know him nor obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He might know that God is an holy God and hath called him to Holiness and is not to be put off with blind lame and slovenly Devotion and yet he will not nor doth he obey the Gospel which obliges him by virtue of the Grace of God appearing to all Men to renounce Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts. This Ungodliness and these Worldly Lusts he retains and cherishes and makes much of notwithstanding his coming to the Lord's Table and so putting himself in the same State and Condition that other ungodly Men are no wonder if he makes himself liable to the same Damnation 3. He makes himself fit Company for the Damned and the Sufferers in Hell Those that are in that miserable State did as he doth and he doth as they did They suffer'd the Profits and Pleasures of the World to justle out a serious Sense of Religion so doth the unworthy Receiver They had a Form of Godliness and denied the Power thereof so doth he They some of them at least came to this Sacrament with unmortified Lusts with unsubdued Passions of Anger and Pride and with ungovernable Desires after the World and had no real Intent to become Proselytes of Righteousness so doth he They did not think that the holy Sacrament was such an Inforcive to a Change of Life as Divines talked of so doth he They made no great matter of this Ordinance but thought it expedient to comply with the Custom of the Country and the Usages of the Church they lived in and that was all and so doth he They made nothing of promising and breaking their solemn Promises to God no more doth he And being like them in Manners no wonder if he be like them in Torments too Being their Companion in their Sins 't is just he should be a Companion with them in their Misery Having been their Associate in Hypocrisie 't is fit he should have his Portion with Hypocrites III. But here the Sinner I know will be apt to clamour and say What Justice can there be in it that God for eating a Piece of Bread and for drinking a few Drops of Wine irreverently and unworthily without observing some Punctilio's and Nicer Rules of Divinity should inflict Eternal Damnation upon a poor Creature To which I answer 1. Every supreme and absolute Law-giver hath liberty to set what Penalties he thinks fit upon the Breaches of his Law If he will appoint a Punishment that is very dreadful for a certain
molested them and stung them into strange and painful Distempers and most of them perish'd miserably And as it is with other Sacred Things so it is more particularly with the most Sacred Thing of all the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Bishop Morton upon this account tells us of one Booth in his time a Scholar in Cambridge who being Popishly inclin'd yet loth to own it would still receive the Sacrament in our Church and coming one day to the Lord's Table he seem'd to to take the Holy Bread with his Hands and put it in his Mouth but by an easie craft he thrust it into his Pocket and when the Devotion of the Chapel was ended he took the Bread he had hid and threw it over the Colledge Wall But see the pursuing Judgment of God soon after he threw himself over the Battlements of the Chapel broke his Neck and so ended his life St. Cyprian one of the greatest and most eminent Men in the Primitive Church relates that a Girl left by her Parents in time of Persecution to shift for her self and taken up by her Nurse was by that Nurse being timorous and loth to lose her own and the Child's lâ—fe for being Christians carried to the Heathen Magistrate and there made to Eat and Drink of the Bread and Wine offered to Idols and the Heathen Deities This Child afterward her Mother returning was by her conducted to Church and came to the Holy Eucharist with the rest of the Congregation for in those days they gave the Eucharist to Children as well as to adult Persons where St. Cyprian himself was then officiating The Deacon as his custom was carrying the Holy Wine about and coming to the Child offers her the Cup but finds a strange aversion in her to touch it with her Lips for through a Divine Instinct teaching her that the Cup of the Lord and the Cup of Devils were inconsistent and incompatible she turn'd her Head away shut up her Mouth press'd her Lips together and refus'd it with obstinacy The Deacon however how prudent he was in doing so I shall not dispute using some force upon her poured some drops of the Eucharistical Wine into her Mouth which she had no sooner receiv'd but she fell a vomiting groan'd and sigh'd and as the Father expresses it The Drink sanctified in Christ's Blood broke forth from her polluted entrails And to this purpose he hath another passage of a Woman that kept the Bread of the Eucharist irreverently in a Chest. and when one day she went rudely to open the Chest a Fire flashing out of the Chest did fright her so that she durst not come near it any more All which Examples make it evident that he that Eats and Drinks unworthily Eats and Drinks or may Eat and Drink some extraordinary Temporal Judgment to himself III. It must be confess'd that the expression of Eating and Drinking Judgment is not very smooth and proper yet there is great Truth in the Metaphor and how the unworthy Receiver Eats and Drinks Judgment to himself will appear from the following particulars 1. By eating and drinking unworthily he prepares for some extraordinary Judgment which Judgment he takes and grasps and attracts and pulls to himself as Men do Bread and Wine or Beer when they are going to eat and drink The Apostle Rom. 9. 22. speaks of Vessels fitted for Destruction they fitted themselves for it by their Sins as a Thief by stealing and robbing upon the High-way fits himself for the Gallows or as an idle lazy Servant that neglects his Master's Business fits himself for his Master's Anger So the unworthy Receiver by eating and drinking irreverently and without regard to the Obligations the Sight of Christ's Love and Death lays upon him fits himself for Judgment makes himself ripe for God's Vengeance lays the Wood together and erects the Pile gathers Materials and combustible Stuff for the Fire that will certainly burn him and though he doth not do it designedly and the Judgment comes contrary to his Intention yet as long as he doth that to which such Judgments are annexed he fits himself for Judgment as much as he that will touch Vipers and handle Adders or let a Snake creep about in his Bosom though he may intend no harm by it yet actually prepares and fits himself for Mischief Eating and Drinking imports some Desire after and Delight in the Victuals before us So he that by unworthy Receiving prepares for Judgments seems to delight in Judgment threatned him because he will needs do that which will certainly end in some Judgment or other 2. The unworthy Receiver eats and drinks Judgment to himself by incorporating the Guilt of some extraordinary Judgment with his Soul Eating and Drinking unworthily at the same time he brings Guilt upon his Soul and appropriates the deserved Judgment to himself and as the Sin sticks to him so the Demerits of the Judgment which is threatned to the Sin sticks to him too He eats and drinks unworthily and the Effect it hath upon him is God's Indignation which he swallows with the Food unworthily taken God's Wrath goes along with his Sin and as he takes the one so he doth the other into his Bowels As Poyson and Death go together so unworthy Feeding at the Lord's Table and God's Anger go together and they both mingle with the Spirits of the unworthy Receiver as the Fish at the same time that he swallows the Bait swallows the Hook too and he hath that fastned in him which will be his Death So that Job's Expression is very suitable to the Subject in hand Job 20. 23. When he is about to fill his Belly God shall cast the Fury of his Wrath upon him and shall rain it upon him while he is eating To this purpose David saith of the Israelites in the Wilderness murmuring and speaking against God While their Meat was yet in their Mouths the Wrath of God came upon them So it may be said of an unworthy Communicant While he is feeding at the Table of the Lord the Wrath of God breaks forth against him becomes due to him and is his Portion falls to his Lot and he gets a Title to it We read of Henry VII Emperor of the Romans that he was poyson'd in eating of the Sacramental Bread given him by a Monk This they say was the Fate of Pope Victor II. who died of poyson'd Wine presented to him in the Eucharistical Chalice by his Sub-Deacon And the same is reported of an Archbishop of York that he fell down dead and swelled upon receiving the Sacramental Cup given him by a Priest that bore some Spleen and Malice to him These Men did without a Metaphor eat and drink their Death And though he that eats and drinks unworthily doth not just in the same manner eat and drink Judgment to himself yet the Fate that attends him doth very much resemble the Misfortunes of the other only here is the difference that
the other had a wicked Priest to put Poyson in their Cup but the unworthy Receiver puts the Poyson in himself and what was said of the other may very truly be applied to him Calix vitae Calix mortis The Cup of Life becomes a Cup of Death and Misery to him Thou hast made us saith the Psalmist drink the Wine of Astonishment Psal. 60. 3. This he spoke of the afflicted and persecuted Believers of his Age but it may be applied to the unworthy Receiver too He drinks the holy Wine 't is true but it will prove Wine of Astonishment to him when the Judgment of God lights upon his Head it will astonish and terrifie him And what is said Psal. 69. 22. is true of him His Table becomes a Snare to him The Table of the Lord he frequents he turns into a Snare to his own Soul while he involves his better part in the Guilt and Demerit of signal exemplary Judgments IV. But all this seems to be a groundless Supposition for there is no doubt but there are unworthy Receivers at this Day as well as formerly yet we see no such signal Judgments executed upon any of them And therefore what St. Paul saith must be either confined to the Times he lived in or if it extends to our Age it doth not look like Truth 1. God sends Judgments upon Men many times and for their unworthy Receiving the holy Sacrament too and they take no notice of it When God sends Judgments because he doth not at the same time signifie the Crimes laid against Men or doth not set a Mark upon them to give notice for what Sin the Judgment comes neither the Sufferer nor the Standers by especially the more careless sort take any Cognisance of his Anger And the Reason why God doth not at the same time that he sends the Judgment send a Messenger to tell the Sinner what the Judgment is for is because he hath given him Reason and Power to enquire and search into his Heart and Ways upon which Search he may satisfie himself and come to the Knowledge of himself It hath been a very old Custom for Men not to take notice of God's Judgments but to ascribe them to Second Causes to Fate or Chance whereby God's Design in them hath been lost and his Displeasure signified in the Punishment dis-regarded God complains of it Isa. 42. 25. Therefore hath he poured upon him the Fury of his Anger and the Strength of the Battel and it hath set him on fire round about yet he knew it not and it burnt him and he laid it not to heart And so we read Hos. 7. 9. Strangers have devoured his Strength and he knows it not yea gray Hairs are here and there upon him yet he knows it not Where Men are inconsiderate and observe not the Providences of God and the Operations of his Hand they may easily fall into a Conceit that he sends no signal Judgment upon an unworthy Receiver when he doth But let a Man enquire seriously into the Cause of his present Misfortunes and into the Reasons of the Misery or Affliction he lies under or if he will lay himself open to a faithful and conscientious Minister of the Gospel he may without any great difficulty find especially if he hath formerly been at the Table of the Lord without considering what he did that God's Judgment upon the Account of his eating and drinking unworthily slumbers not God speaks once yea twice yet Man perceives it not said Elihu one of the Eastern Princes and Jâ—b's Friends Job 33. 14. It must needs be so where Men's Reason lies dormant and is not active But an intelligent Observer will see that these threatned Judgments are not so confined to the Corinthians but that they reach a great way farther even to Men we converse with and that these Judgments are more frequent than the generality of unbelieving People think they are 2. If God doth not send always exemplary Judgments upon unworthy Receivers it is an Argument indeed of his Patience but the Sinner is not thereby secured from the Stroak for that which doth not come to day may come to â—orrow and besides having deserv'd the Blow by his unworthy Approaches to the Table of the Lord the Sword hangs over him by a very slender Thread and waits only for God's Summons to fall on the Offender's Head And what if God exercises Patience for the present Who knows how soon that Patience will be tired and turn into a tempestuous Indignation The Sinner hath still reason to fear it and that which seems to be far off this Week may the next be upon his Back and consume both Root and Branch This is certain ' T is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the living God Heb. 10. 31. And if the Sinner be once fallen into the Hands of an angry God though he may spare him for a while as he did the stubborn Pharaoh who had long before deserv'd to be destroyed only God by his Providence held him up that he might shew his Power in him yet when-ever the Judgment comes the Dealy will but aggravate the Doom and change the intended Rods into deadly Scorpions Had it been executed presently upon unworthy Receiving it would have been gentle and easier to be born but the Delay gives it Strength and makes it sorer and when-ever it comes it comes with greater Weight and Fury V. 'T is very probable that some will be so curious as to desire to know whether in case any Temporal Judgments do fall upon an unworthy Receiver they expiate the Communicant's Crime or whether they may be called Satisfactions which God accepts of for the Offence committed against his Majesty To this the Answer is as follows 1. That the Punishment inflicted by a Civil Magistrate atones for the Offence committed against the Law and that the Offence is ipso facto forgiven when the Offender suffers the Penalty we cannot deny And to a Man that superficially reads the Old Testament even the Saints of those Ages will seem to have been of Opinion that with the removing of the Temporal Judgment the Sin for which it was inflicted by God was at the same time removed too As Psal. 85 1 2. Lord thou hast been favourable unto thy Land thou hast brought back the Captivity of Jacob thou hast forgiven the Iniquity of the People thou hast covered all their Sin And Psal. 103. 3. Who forgiveth all thine Iniquities who healeth all thy Diseases Which Places seem to import that David believed that the removing of the Judgment did at the same time remove the Sin and the Guilt of it But still we must suppose that though Repentance is not mention'd yet it is included and that they did not lay the Stress of Pardon upon the Removal of the Judgment so much as upon the Repentance which was occasion'd by the Judgment And therefore whatever those Places may seem to import considering that the Fathers
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
his his Sins or into greater Admiration of God's Goodness Such Exercises the Divine Clemency accepts of approves of them and blesses them with new Favours repeals the Judgments threatned and confirms the Soul in her holy Zeal and makes those Devotions Occasions of opening the Windows of Heaven to shower down larger Benedictions upon her II. It must follow from hence that those who do not come to remember Christ's Death in this Sacrament do strangely forget themselves How great is their Number What vast Multitudes of Men and Women live in this Neglect O ye that are sensible of their Sin and Blindness when you meet with any of them tell them they forget that they are Christians they forget that their Lord and Master hath peremptorily commanded them to come and remember him in this Feast and that consequently they are disobedient perverse stubborn wilful and if they obey him not are no Servants no Children of his For If he be their Master where is his Fear If he be their Father where is his Honour Tell them they forget the Danger they run into and neglect the Means whereby their Souls must be snatched from the Devil's Power and shun the Remedy that must give Health to their Souls and therefore are guilty of the highest Contempt and set up their carnal shallow bruitish Reason againt the Infinite Wisdom of God Tell them they forget they have Souls to be saved and how long it is before a Soul be wrought into a total Conformity to Christ and that therefore they had need begin betimes and tye and engage their Souls to God under the Cross of Christ and do it often and force themselves into an holy Life Oh tell them how they will repent when it is too late of their Neglect of so great Salvation Tell them Christ will not remember them in the last Day but prosess to them I know you not because they were not sprinkled with his Blood and had not the Character of Christians on their Souls which will infallibly drive them into Desparation III. See here my Friends what an Obligation the Remembrance of Christ's Death lays upon us all to forget the World and to mind the greater Concerns above Christ died to the World his Life his Death and all his Actions shewed his Contempt of this present World He regarded not the Vanities the Lusts the Recreations the Slanders the Reproaches the Censures of the World but for the Glory set before him endured the Cross and despised the Shame Can we remember his Death in this Sacrament and think that he did all this only for us to admire his Actions without transcribing all this on our own Lives Surely we may live in the World and yet not be of the World we may sojourn in the World yet not be greedy after the World we may mind our Work in the World and yet not make the World our highest Good we may converse with Men of the World and yet not set our Hearts upon the World we may be industrious in the World and yet not suffer the World to ingross our Affections we may provide for our Families in the World and yet not conform to the World we may eat and drink in the World and yet not participate of the Sins of the World we may trade and traffick in the World and yet not have the Spirit of the World we may suffer Afflictions in the World and yet be far from the Sorrow of the World we may prudently contrive Things in the World and yet be Strangers to the Wisdom of the World In a Word Our living in the World is no hindrance to our arriving to an holy Contempt of it And though there be some Difficulty in this Task yet the Necessity of the Work and the Reward in the World to come and Christ's Example and the Apostles Practice and God's Readiness to assist and the All-sufficiency of Grace are Persuasives and Encouragements strong enough to prevail with any Soul that is not bent upon her own Ruin IV. The best Defensative against Sin at any time is the Remembrance of Christ's Sufferings Not only at the Sacrament but where-ever we are this Remembrance is an excellent Shield in the Day of Battel Art thou walking art thou standing art thou sitting art thou going out or coming in Set a Bleeding Saviour before thee When Sinners entice thee think of thy Saviour's Wounds When thou art tempted to over-reach or defraud thy Neighbour in any Matter think of the bitter Cup thy Master drank off When any Lust any vain Desire rises in thy Mind think of thy dear Redeemer's Groans When thy Flesh grows weary of a Duty remember who suffered on the Cross When thou art tempted to be indifferent in Religion and saint in thy Mind look upon him who made his Soul an Offering for thy Sin When thou art loth to overcome think of him who by his Death overcame him that had the Power of Death When impatient Thoughts assault thy Mind think of the Lamb that before his Shearers was dumb and sure under this sad Scene thou wilt not dare to sin And there is this Advantage in such a Remembrance that there is a Book of Remembrance written before the Lord for them that speak often to one another and think of his Name insomuch that he will remember them in that Day when he makes up his Jewels Mal. 3. 16. V. To remember Christ's Death in this Sacrament with greater Life and Sense it is very necessary to remember him often at other times And that is the Reason why Christ calls himself by many familiar Names and the Holy Ghost gives him Titles and Epithets taken from Things we daily see that we might not look on those Things from which he takes those Denominations without remembring him To this End he is called a Door Joh. 10. 9. that we might not go in or out but think O thou who art the Gate of Mercy by whom whoever enters will find Mercy open thy Bosom to my wounded Spirit and let me find Rest in thy All-sufficiency and the Merits of thy Passion For this Reason he is called a Sun Mal. 4. 2. that we might not view that splendid Luminary without thinking O thou glorious Light that didst shine to those that sit in Darkness shine into my Soul dispel the Clouds that darken my Understanding and warm my Heart that it may long for thy Salvation Hence it is that he is stiled the Morning-Star that whenever we take notice of that Son of the Morning of that Harbinger of the Day we might reflect O thou who tellest the Number of the Stars and callest them all by their Names rise rise unto me and irradiate my Inward Man that I may delight in Vertue Be thou my Guide lead me to thy Kingdom keep me from going astray and preserve me that I may be thine for ever It is from hence that he is called Alpha and Omega Rev. 1. 8. which are Letters of
suffer and so it came to pass Let me for ever believe thy promises In all Dangers in all Troubles in all Necessities let thy Promises be for my Comfort Let me never mistrust thy Goodness after so great an instance of thy Goodness as the Gift of thy Son must be How can I despair of Mercy upon unfeigned Repentance when in this passion Mercy was drawn out to that length on purpose that it might reach the greatest Sinners O Jesu thou hast defeated all mine Enemies Thou hast evacuated all the obstacles of my Salvation Let me pretend and plead excuses no more Now let me run with patience the race which is set before me the way being open'd into the Holy of Holies encourage me to walk in it with all that wait for the Salvation of God Affect my Heart with a Religious Fear and let thy humble Passion kill my Pride Let my Sins appear more dreadful to me when I contemplate thine Agonies and let the World with all its deceitful Vanities become loathsome to me when I see how little thou didst regard it Let every thing die in me that is not agreeable to thy Life that when thou who art my Life shalt appear I may also appear with thee in Glory Amen Amen CHAP. XIV Of the Covenant represented by the Cup in this Holy Sacrament The CONTENTS A seeming contradiction betwixt the Evangelists reconcil'd The Greek Word which we render Testament prov'd to signifie a Covenant too The manner of making Covenants in ancient times applied to the Covenant made in this Sacrament The difference between the Old and New Covenant discover'd In this Sacramental Covenant the parties mutually engaging one to another proved to be God and Man Under what Notions both parties are to be consider'd explain'd The nature of this Sacramental Covenant its beginning and first rudiments in our Baptism the necessity of renewing it when we come to some maturity of Understanding Our consent to it and how that consent must be qualified This Covenant if broken after a due ratification of it whether it may be renew'd What things do not break or null it What Sins they are that make it void How it may be renew'd by sincere Repentance and what kind of Repentance it must be Great presumption to enter into a Solemn Covenant with God and not to consider the wieght and importance of it The great misery and wretchedness of Men who are not actually in Covenant with God How necessary it is for persons when young to make or renew their Covenant No impossible thing to come to a rational Confidence that we are in Covenant with God The Mercies and Advantages of being God's faithful Confederates The Prayer I. CHrist in describing the Nature of this Sacramental Cup or the Wine in the Cup tells us as St. Matthew and St. Mark relate it This is my Blood of the New Testament or as St. Luke and St. Paul rehearse it This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood St. Luke being St. Paul's companion in Travel it 's like the Apostle made use of St. Luke's Commentaries which he had by him though perhaps they were not yet published to the World nor must we therefore suspect a contradiction in these different expressions for the Evangelists in their Histories do not always tye themselves to the very number and order of Words and Syllables which our Saviour spoke but many times think it sufficient to express the Sense and that the Sense is the same here though the Expression be different will easily appear to an impartial Reader though it may be said that Christ might very justly use both expressions one after another say that which St. Mark and St. Matthew mention and afterwards that which St. Luke and St Paul take notice of by way of explication and for brevitys sake one Evangelist might set down one and another the Sense being the same another II. The word which we render Testament is in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which indeed in some few places of Scripture particularly Hebr. 9. 15. is us'd for the last Will and Testament of a Testator but for the most part stands for a Covenant answering to the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Berith and imports a compact or contract of two Parties mutually engaging to one another to do and perform what is proper convenient and fit to be done and this by the consent of all Interpreters is the chief signification intended here and that which will give Light to this Notion is the custom of the first Ages of the World For Covenants in antient times were usually made by the slaying of a Beast and shedding its Blood which was to put the Confederates in mind that if they broke the Articles agreed upon they must fear as base a death as that Beast did suffer◠and Providence would not only take notice of the violation and revenge it but by the ceremony they imprecated themselves that in case they prov'd false to their promise such a sudden violent death might seize on them Among the more barbarous sort of Mankind when in these cases they had slain the Beast they pour'd the Bloud of the Hog or Calf or Ox that was shed into a Cup and the Confederates drank of it to make the tye stronger and the execration more dreadful and consequently more forcing But the civiller sort after they had kill'd the Beast to seal the Covenant instead of Blood fill'd the Cup with Wine and the respective Parties drank of it which they thought and believ'd to be as obligatory as the other In a word hereby both parties express'd their resolution and serious intent to perform the mutual Engagements and tacitly wished Death and Judgment to themselves in case of nonperformance of the Articles And though this cannot be applied in every circumstance to the Covenant made betwixt God and Man in every particular God not being capable of imprecating himself and his Word being of greater weight and moment than all the Oaths and Execrations Man can take yet from the premises we may easily guess that Christ alludes to these practises of Mankind in saying This is my Blood of the New Testament and that in this Sacrament Men enter into a Covenant with God or rather confirm the Covenant made betwixt God and them by the Mediation of the Blood of Jesus who was the innocent Lamb slain from the foundation of the World for it is with regard to that Blood that God is not only willing to enter but actually enters into compacts and contracts with lapsed Man and as in the afore-mentioned federate Rites and Ceremonies the parties engaging to one another drank of the Blood of the slain Beast or of the Wine which was in lieu of that Blood thereby to confirm their mutual promises so they that come to this Holy Sacrament are not only admonish'd by drinking of the Cup or of the Wine in the Cup representing the Blood of Christ to enter into solemn
a just cause lascivious desires and appetites and revengeful actions c. have so severe a Sanction annexed to them if they be cherished and lov'd is this because the less they are the sooner and the more easily they are avoided and therefore it must argue strange aversion from God not to oblige him in so small a thing and that Men after they have enter'd into this solemn Covenant at the Table of the Lord may be allur'd and enticed by Temptations and perswaded to allow themselves in known Sins both great and small and thereby null the Covenant we have no reason to question since Experience is beyond all Witnesses in the World 7. The only Plank left us after the Covenant is thus broken and null'd to swim out of the Gulph of perdition and to regain God's favour is confess'd on all hands to be true and deep repentance and particularly a Repentance attended with Fasting Alms and great future Self-denials In the stricter Ages of Christianity especially in the Second and Third Centuries it was very much question'd whether a Person who had solemnly and deliberately entr'd into a Covenant with God either in Baptism or in the Lord's Supper if afterwards he fell into some of these three Sins Adultery Murther or Idolatry was capable of regaining the favour of God promis'd in this Covenant The African Churches especially were very stiff in this point yet the more moderate allow'd of a Second Repentance reckoning the first to be that which had been made by adult Persons in either of these Sacraments and the second if after a new fall or wilful precipitation into any of these crimes he rose again with very great purposes and resolutions but if a Man fell again into any of these Sins after the Second Repentance they look'd upon the Third as impossible Others though they did not exclude the Persons thus fallen totally from the possibility of God's favour and Salvation in case he repented either the Second or third time yet did not think fit to receive him again into the Communion of the Church and this which the African Fathers look'd upon only as a thing convenient Novatus enrag'd it 's like because he could not be made a Bishop improved into absolute necessity which made his followers exclude all such Persons as were fallen after their first Repentance into any of these Sins from their Communion That which gave occasion to this Doctrine was their too rigid interpretation of some places in Scripture particularly that of Heb. 6. 4 5 6. and the other 1 Joh. 5. 16. which places are to be understood rather of a malicious denying the Faith and forsaking the very Profession of Christianity and turning Jew Heathen or Infidel than of the aforesaid acts of Sin The Roman Church was the first that receiv'd such sinners after a tedious and laborious Repentance into their Communion again for which Tertullian expostulates with the Bishop of Rome and accuses him of Rashness imprudence and breach of the ancient Canons However since the Apostle himself 2. Cor. 2. 7. received the incestuous Person into the Communion of the Church of Corinth and desired the Corinthians to do the like after a sufficient demonstration of his Repentance after such falls into wilful and habitual Sins be sincere and true exemplary and laborious that there is just hopes such a person may renew his Covenant get a Title again to the promises of it and be readmitted to God's Favour and Complacency But then 1. This Repentance ought to be speedy To live long in such Sins after the first wilful breach of this Covenant is dangerous hardens the Heart gives the Devil greater power over the Soul and the Person thus sining knows not but he may be given up to hardness of Heart and to reprobate mind in which condition he may be snatcht away by Death and haled to the great Tribunal 2. Such a Person must not make a trade of Repenting and sinning for if he fall often into the same Sin and still pretends to repent it s a sign the Repentance is counterfeit his love to God fickle and unsincere his resistances of God's Spirit strong and the inward Man left without a Guard to secure it against the assaults of the Devil 3. Upon this new Repentance greater watchfulness than ordinary must be used and the Penitent must become a gainer by his Sins i. e. the dreadfulness of his fall must help toward the great exemplariness of his Life and the Sins he hath lived in must make them dread them more than ever A very signal growth in Grace must succeed his Fall and the Ball having been struck against the ground must now rebound the higher His time must now be redeem'd and he that hath been so careless must now double his diligence He must therefore love much now because he expects much should be forgiven him and his greater fervor in Religion is the best demonstration of his unfeigned return from his Apostacy The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. IT must needs be great presumption for Men and Women to enter into a solemn Covenant with God in this Sacrament and not to consider the weight and importance of it Christian when thou enter'st into this Covenant with the Holy Trinity thou solemnly obligest thy self that as thou hopest for Heaven and Happiness as thou hopest for Pardon and Salvation as thou hopest to have thy Sins wash'd away with the precious Blood of Christ thou wilt take Christ's Yoke upon thee endeavour to be humble and meek as he was learn of him and die to the World crucifie thy Lusts and Affections fight against the vanities of the World and labour to conâ—orm to the great example of that Saviour that spilt his dearest Blood for thee Either thou understandest what this engagement means or thou dost not If not how darest thou touch the Sacred Elements with polluted Hands If thou understandest it and art not firmly resolv'd to take care to perform what thou promisest so solemnly how dost thou think to escape the Judgement of God Art thou afraid of breaking a solemn promise made to a Prince and great Man whose Smile or Frown can either help or prejudice thee much and art thou not afraid of violating thy Engagements to the great God of Heaven What dost thou make of God Dost thou take him to be some Heathen Deity that hath Eyes and sees not Ears and hears not Dost thou oblige thy self to be his Subject and dost thou turn Rebel His Child and become a Prodigal His Confederate and conspire against him with his Enemies Dost thou take him for thy Lord and wilt not thou do what he saith If these thy unfaithful dealings with thy Lord and Master be enter'd into Gods Book of Accounts as certainly they are and the black Roll shall at last be open'd and read in thine Ears dost not thou think what Terror Amazement and Confusion thou wilt be in O Sinner There is no jesting with
when he whose Wisdom cannot by searching be found out hath given us these Symbols and by them thought fit to help our infirmities to fancy that Christ did more than he need to have done as if he understood not our Natures better than we Those that look upon those Symbols as Crutches for weaker Christians to lean upon and such as they themselves have no need of had need examine and search their Hearts better than hitherto they have done lest they be unable when the time comes to stand before the Son of Man II. Why this Sacrament is to last in the Christian Church to the end of the World or till Christ come to Judgment may easily be guess'd at for 1. The means of Grace are the same and unalterable to the end of the World and whatever things bore the name of ordinary means of Grace in the Apostles days still bear that Name and shall bear it till Heaven and Earth do perish for God intended but one Gospel to the Christian World even that Gospel which we have and after it we are to expect no other This is to serve the Church while it is a Church and as the Church is to last to the consummation of all things so this Gospel is to last for which reason it is expresly call'd The Eternal Gospel Rev. 14. 6. And the Apostle is very peremptory in his Assertion Though we or an Angel from Heaven should Preach any other Gospel meaning either now or hereafter than what we have Preached to you let him be accursed Gal. 1. 8. And if the Gosbe to last to the end of the World this Ordinance of the Lord's Supper in the Church must needs last as long for this is part of the Gospel as much as Prayer Preaching or any other message delivered in that Book That which is most properly called the Gospel or Glad-tidings is the mistery of God's reconciling the World to himself in Christ Jesus and this is in an eminent manner express'd in this Sacrament so that this Sacament is the principal part of the Gospel the chief subject it treats of the principal thing it aims at the very foundation of the whole For other Foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Christ saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 3. 12. Nay he determined with himself not to know any thing save Jesus Christ and him Crucified which is the very purport and scope of this Ordinance and if the Gospel be a thing perpetual and eternal the principal part of it without all peradventure must be so 2. The comforts of Christian Souls are to last while Christians live in the World and that by virtue of Christ's Pontificial Prayer Joh. 17. 20. 21. Neither Pray I for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me through their word i. e. to the end of the World that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us than which there cannot be greater comforts and if such are to last to the Worlds end the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper must needs be of the same perpetuity for from hence flow the greatest comforts of true Believers this assuring us that as the material Bread by eating is united to ouâ— Bodies so is Christ united to our Souls or our Souls united to him as Members to their Head and to be one with Christ it such a Treasury of Comforts that there is no affliction no condition so mean or so calamitous but may receive ease and content from this Consideration for if I am one with Christ my Blessed Redeemer will be concern'd for me will take care of me will be with me in the Tryals that fall to my share will support me under Temptations assist me with his Grace relieve me by his Presence subdue Satan under my Feet shortly will furnish me with Arguments to resist will not leave me when I dye but convey and conduct my Soul where her Head is that it may be for ever with her Lord and will make me partaker of the same Glories too which himself is possest of By this Sacrament we become one with Christ Jesus and this comfort being to attend sincere Christians while Christians are in the World the means whereby that Union is made must necessarily last as long as Christianity lasts i. e. to the Day of Judgment 3. Lo I am with you saith Christ to his Disciples who were Representatives of all future Christian Congregations that should maintain the purity of his Doctrine and Morals to the end of the World Matth. 28 20. This is not to be understood of his Bodily Presence or Human Nature for that was to be Translated into his Father's Kingdom and with respect to that he had told his Followers before that they should not have him always with them Matth. 26. 11. And as to his Divine Nature though the words may be referr'd to that yet it is to be noted that he spoke these words as one who had all Power given him in Heaven and in Earth v. 18. and therefore as Mediator or the promised Messiah of the World and if he spake these words as Mediator or Head of the Church it must follow that he meant them of his being with them and their Followers to the World's end by his Spirit and virtue and influence in their observing all things whatsoever he Commanded them as the words immediately preceding do evince for he doth not tye his special Presence to a bare function of Men as the Romanists falsly infer but to Obedience and as Baptism was one of the things he commanded them to use and observe in the Verse before so the Lord's Supper and Celebration of it was another so that if Christ's Presence be necessary to the Worlds end and that Presence be tied to Obedience and this Sacrament be one of the things he hath commanded and in which he must be obey'd in order to his Gracious Presence this Ordinance also must be necessary and must needs be kept up to the end of the World 4 Christ's Church is to last to the World's end for it is for his Church's sake that the World stands so long as it doth as the World was created upon that account because God meant to gather a Church out of the World out of the foreseen corrupt Mass of Mankind so it is preserved upon that account even that the number of those that shall be saved may be compleated which great Truth is I believe aim'd at by the Apostle Col. 1. 15 16 17 18. and to this end this Church is said to be so durable and so firm that the Gates of Hell shall not be able to prevail against it Matth. 16. 18. The Devil we may be confident will endeavour to bâ—tter it to to the very last moment of the World's duration and if with all his stratagems and continued and lasting assaults he shall not be able to conquer or to destroy
her receiving the Body of Him who fills Heaven and Earth with his Presence but whether it was so or no I enquire not At these words of the Apostle a serious Reader hath reason to tremble and to be afraid and take care he comes not to this Table without a decent behaviour And indeed not a few are so frighted by these words that they think it safer to abstain from this Sacrament than to come to it tho' it is evident that they might come and yet prevent that danger if they were not more in love with their own than God's Will What we render Damnation here is in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and we may justly question whether by this word is always meant an everlasting separation from the Glorious Presence of God having our Portion with Devils feeling the treasures of God's everlasting Wrath and suffering the vengeance of Eternal Fire That the Word is used sometimes in Scripture in this Sense is evident from Joh. 9. 39. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where though our Translation Reads For judgment am I come into the World yet the Greek Interpreters Theophylact especially interprets the expression of Damnation I am come into the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for their greater punishment and condemnation and Rom. 13. 2. They that resist shall receive to themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Damnation On the other side it is as certain that by this word is very often understood no more than Judgment and particularly some extraordinary signal exemplary punishment whether Spiritual or Corporal inflicted in this present Life therefore our Translators finding the word ambiguous like Men of Integrity and Honesty have put the word Judgment in the Margent and indeed the words v. 30. where the Apostle explains himself and shews what he means by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 import so much For this cause saith he many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep which words cannot be conveniently applied to any other but some exemplary punishment in this World inflicted on the first Offenders and Prophaners of this Ordinance However since the Word is of that large extent it 's fit we should consider it in both significations as it imports both Temporal and Eternal Judgment and consider the reasonableness of the Commination So that we shall be obliged to speak 1. Of Temporal Judgments in general 2. Of Bodily Sickness and Weakness 3. Of Spiritual Sickness and Weakness or Sleepiness And 4. Of Damnation it self All which are implied in this one word and are all just consequences and very sad effects of unworthy Eating and Drinking in this Holy Sacrament II. I begin with Temporal Judgments in general which he that Eats and Drinks unworthily Eats and Drinks to himself That Judas receiv'd this Sacrament unworthily none of those Divines that believe he receiv'd it at all doth doubt but see the vengeance that attended him he went and hang'd himself and though it is confess'd that his Betraying of innocent Blood was one cause of it yet this unworthy Receiving may very well be supposed to have been another The Judgment falling upon him after Commission of both those Crimes both may justly be supposed to have been the ingredients of it The Guest that came to the Royal Supper without a Wedding-Garment went home with Fetters on his Feet Mat. 22. 12 13. which was no other than an Emblem of the Judgments that those may look for that come defiled and polluted with Impenitence to this Table It hath been observ'd by most Historians both Civil and Ecclesiastical how God as patient as he is for the most part yet hath frequently reveng'd the contempt of Sacred Things by visible Judgments Nadab and Abihu for offering strange Fire unto the Lord are suddenly consumed by Fire Levit. 10. 2. Uzziah for invading the Priests Office is soon after struck with a loathsome Leprosie 2 Chron. 26. 19. and Josephus takes notice of one Theopompus who attempting to take something out of the Bible and to mingle it with some profane Discourses of his own ran mad upon it and continued so for Thirty days till applying himself to God by Prayer he at last recover'd And he adds of one Theodectes a Poet who having taken some passages out of the Word of God to embellish his looser Verses a sudden blindness seiz'd upon him And to go no further than our own Chronicles William the Conqueror destroy'd no less than 36 Mother Churches in Hampshire to make his New Forest And besides all this takes away all their Plate and Treasures even Chalices Soon after his Son Robert rebels against him his second Son Richard was kill'd in the New Forest and himself at last is thrown by his Horse and dies upon 't his Body for Three days lies neglected and at last is buried by a private Gentleman at Cane where the Clergy refused to bury him till an agreement of Rent was made and in fine his Bones are digg'd up again and scatter'd abroad William Rufus afterward who stor'd his Treasure by the sale of Church Chalices and Jewels was accidentally as the Story says kill'd by Sir Walter Tyrrel the Arrow glancing from the Deer and by as signal a Providence dispatching him as Ahab King of Israel was kill'd by an Arrow shot out of a Bow drawn at a venture 1 King 22. 34. The Heathens themselves have observ'd a signal Vengeance which hath waited on the Profaners of Holy Things And therefor Aelian makes this remark upon Ochus Artaxerxes that having spoiled and robb'd several Temples he was in a short time after miserably slain and his Body thrown to Dogs and Cats and Vermin and of his Shin-bones his Enemies made Hilts and Handles for Knives and Swords and other Instruments and Lactantius mentions a passage concerning the Potitii a Noble Family who having been notoriously guilty of profaning the Sacred Rites of Hercules Thirty of that Family died all in less than a years time And Appius who was the encourager of the Sacriledge was struck blind And Servius saith of Glaucus the Son of Sisyphus that having derided and mocked some Holy Rites he was torn in pieces by his Horses If it be said that these sad accidents were inflicted by the Devil whom these Heathens worshipp'd and that these were only the effects of his Tyranny over Mankind yet from hence we may infer that as the Devil is the Ape of God so from God he hath learnt to punish the abuse and profanation even of his own worship And if Lucifer cannot endure to see his own Sacred Rites profaned how shall we think that God who is of infinite Holiness will permit such abuses to be committed in things appertaining properly to him without some manifestation of his Vengeance When the French under Charles King of Sicily had turn'd the stately Church of St. Narcissus into a Stable and the Altars there serv'd for Mangers for their Horses a new sort of Flies was sent by an invisible Hand which
day insomuch that if many a Man's sickness and weakness of Body and not living out halfe his days were throughly examin'd and look'd into it would be found to proceed in a great measure from this Cause even his unworthy Receiving of the Holy Symbols II. If we enquire into the Reasons why God makes use of Sickness and weakness of Body to lash the unworthy Receiver in this Life we must conclude that considering how all Afflictions and Judgments of this Life are curative and intended to work a change in the Offender for the better the Reasons why God makes use of Sickness particularly in punishing the unworthy Receiver are these following 1. Sickness weakens the Flesh abates and lessens its violent desires whereby it comes to pass that the Spiritual part gets from under the slavery it lay enthrall'd in while the Flesh prevail'd and puts the Sinner upon serious Thoughts for now it gets leave to exercise its Authority which before was over-aw'd and crush'd and oppress'd by the usurping Tyrant and thereby occasions terror and consternation in the whole Man about his unworthy Receiving While the Flesh is predominant and bears Rule Faith and Reason are mere prisoners and whatever they suggest is not hearken'd to The Flesh still baffles their Arguments and admits of nothing but what pleads in favour of its brutish Appetite Sickness coming and weakning the Flesh and rendring all the delights of the World insipid and unsavoury the Soul recovers her freedom and is now at liberty to think of her former Life to survey the Actions of her past Practices and among other Errors to reflect upon her unworthy Receiving to aggravate this particular Offence and thereby to incline the sinner's Eyes and Heaâ—t to penitential Tears for now the Man having no hurry of business no noise of vain company no external Gayeties no Musick of sensual Pleasures to call him away from minding the things that belong to the happiness of his Soul he is more at leisure to ruminate upon what he hath been doing and the dreadfulness of his Sin viz. feeding irreverently at this Table and not discerning that the Body of the Son of God was offered to his Soul and if any thing will melt or turn him this is very likely to effect it 2. Sickness puts the unworthy Receiver in mind of Death for he that falls sick knows not but his Illness may end in Death and there are few Men but are of this opinion when once they take their Bed fear that they shall or may dye makes them seek out for proper Helps and Remedies send for Physicians if they be able and sometimes for Divines too think of making their Wills set their House in order and after all leave nothing untried whereby they may prevent the stroak of Death Sickness being of that nature and having this influence on men may therefore be suppos'd to put the unworthy Receiver in mind of his Death and as it puts him in mind of Death so if he have any sense of Religion left it minds him also of an approaching Judgment and suggests to him that for ought he knows he will shortly be in another World be summon'd to give an account of his Life to God and appear before the Judge of Quick and Dead even before Christ Jesus the Son of God whose Death hath had no influence upon his Life whose Blood he hath trampled under foot whose Sufferings he hath not much thought of whose Love hath made no great impression upon him whose Charity hath wrought in him no considerable tenderness to his Neighbour whose Presence in the Sacrament he hath undervalued and whose entreaties to become Wise unto Salvation and meek and humble and serious and blameless he hath stopt his Ears against and how little Mercy he must expect of that Judge whom to please he hath not been much concern'd This Kindness Sickness may be supposed to do to the unworthy Communicant viz. to put him in mind of his Death and future account and the Judge whose Body and Blood he hath profan'd and his anger and indignation against such Profanation and what can be supposed more effectual to promote Repentance and Godly Sorrow and new Resolutions to awake from the Dead that Christ may give him Life And therefore God makes use sometimes of Bodily Sickness to afflict the unworthy Communicant But where Death seizes on the unworthy Commnicant either before he can bethink himself or before a previous lingring Sickness hath melted and wrought his Heart into a Spiritual Life there the Man's case is deplorable indeed for to think that God will accept of his Death as a Satisfaction for his Sin and save him however is to make a new Divinity and to erect Principles which the Scripture knows nothing of 'T is true in some Cases where God cuts off a young Man in 〈◊〉 Flower of his Age a young Man I mean whose Liâ—e hath been blameless attended with holy Fears and a Conscientious Behaviour at home and abroad his untimely Death may be said to be a Temporal Affliction for some accidental Miscarriages and single Inadvertencies such as never swelled into an Habit or setled Approbation by which Affliction he is saved and freed from the greater Condemnation according to the Apostle's Rule 1 Cor. 11. 32. But when we are judged i e. with Temporal Judgments such as Sickness Weakness and Untimely Death whereof he had spoken Vers. 30. we are chasten'd of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the World In this Case i.e. in Accidental Miscarriages God may be said to accept of the lesser for the greater Judgment upon his Account who died and rose again for those who hear his Voice But where the Sin is habitual rooted in the Heart hath invaded the Complexion and is allowed of and thought harmless and void of Hurt there an Untimely Death is no Security against Condemnation no Shelter against the Wrath to come How far it may abate or qualifie the future Indignation I am not able to say but it is no Deletory no Fortisication no Charm against that Storm III. But here a Difficulty will arise How a Person may know that the Sickness or Weakness of Body that is upon him comes upon him for his unworthy Receiving To which I answer 1. There is not a more ready Way to know it than by ransacking our Life and particularly our publick Devotions If in our present Sickness we find upon Examination that when we came formerly to the Supper of the Lord we came without any sincere Intent Desire or Resolution to be wrought into Love and Obedience to Christ Jesus by the Sight of his Cross and Death and Charity that we came and went away unconcerned unmoved untouched at this Medicamentum Immortalitatis this Physick of Immortality as St. Dennis calls it or that we thought that the Blessings promised to the Faithful and to those who strive and fight the good Fight would fall to our share and
none but general Gifts so even these upon his Abuse and misemploying of them are gradually removed as Men take meat and victuals away from insolent Beggars that throw their Gift upon a Dunghil and as a charitable Pension is withdrawn when we find that the Party which enjoy'd it spends it in Ale-houses and Taverns or in Play 2. By a gradual permitting the Devil to exercise his Power and Jurisdiction upon them God doth not very frequently suffer the Enemy to fly upon the Offender with all his force or to ruin him at once but he lengthens his Chain by degrees to see whether the Sinner will yet give himself leave to think and attempt to be freed from that intolerable Yoak and Slavery but that tenderness and patience of Almighty God becoming fruitless and ineffectual the Judge gives the Executioner greater liberty to darken his Mind to pervert his Will and to sear his Conscience Time was when but one Devil was permitted to Tyrannize over him but if instead of being angry and displeas'd at that single foe the unworthy Communicant embraces and makes him his friend then that Devil takes with him seven other Spirits more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell there and the last state of that Man is worse than the first saith Christ Matth. 12. 45. Nor is there any thing of injustice in these proceedings of God For 1. It is nothing but Lex Talionis a just Retaliation a Rule whereby God ordinarily governs himself in the execution of his Judgements Hâ—s 6. 4. He tells Judah and Ephraim Your Goodness is as a Morning Cloud and as the early Dew it passes away The Judgment therefore is made proportionable Hos. 13. 3. Therefore they shall be as the Morning Cloud and as the early Dew that passes away so here the Sin is spiritual the Judgment is so too The unworthy Receiver wrongs his own Soul and in his Soul the marks of God's Wrath appear 2. God in this case doth no more than what we our selves do and think our selves very reasonable and just for doing so A Father reduces his spend-thrift Son to a smaller Allowance and the ground that will not bear any thing after a world of Toil we Dung and Dig and Manure no more In this manner and for Reasons â—ike these God withdraws his Holy Spirit from the unworthy Receiver 3. As the Devil is God's Minister of Justice his Jaylor and Hangman so he may justly make use of him to judge and lash the unworthy Receiver the rather because he wilfully hearkens to the base suggestions of his sworn Enemy and who finds fault with a Prince or Magistrate for sending an Executioner to behead or hang those that have committed Treason or conspired against their lawful Sovereign 4. That God doth gradually send this Spiritual Judgment upon unworthy Receivers this speaks his Goodness Compassion and Patience and shews how loth he is to give up Ephraim how loth he is to deliver up Israel to the rage of the Enemy how loth he is to make them as Admah and to set them as Zeboim so that there is Charity mingled with the Justice and in the midst of his Anger he remembers Mercy IV. And this will give us occasion to enquire which of these two Judgments is greater the Temporal or the Spiritual And here if we consider the mischief done by them we must conclude and assert that the Spiritual is greater For 1. Pain and sickness of Body may yet bring a Man or drive a Man to a true Repentance and a sight of the Errors of his ways as we proved in the foregoing Chapter but this Spiritual Weakness makes the way and passage to Repentance more difficult and the more any thing doth hinder a Man from Repentance the more dangerous it is Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death supposes that the faculties which should be chiefly employed in the product of Repentance are out of order and violated such as the Understanding the Will and the Affections Bodily Sickness very often puts these into a new fermentation and a strong desire after Spiritual Things But when the very Tools whereby the Soul is to work are blunt and their edge rebated or are become rusty and useless the work is very likely to be left undone If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness saith our Saviour Matth. 5. 23. 2. The Spiritual Judgment is the more dangerous because it is less perceiv'd and taken notice of than Bodily sickness If a Man feel the smart and pain of his Wounds and Sores they oblige him to seek out for a Physician for Remedy for Counsel and Advice and so we find it is for the most part with all Diseases of the Body which cause anguish and grief and great inconvenience and disorder in the Body yet among these various distempers some there are where the poison creeps along in the secret parts and Men perceive it not till it seizes upon the Vitals invades the very Heart and tolls the Bell for Death and these we count the most dangerous Of this nature is Spiritual sickness and weakness It leaves the Body in the same temper it found it in causes no prickings in the Back no stitches in the side no disturbance in the Head It lets Men eat and drink and sleep and walk and do their business and as to the outward Man they feel no inconvenience which makes them think that they have nothing of a distemper about them that all is safe and they ail nothing For this Spiritual sickness cannot be perceiv'd without Thinking and Self-examination which being neglected Men feel it not whence it comes to pass that it spreads insensibly in the dark while Men are asleep and by degrees corrupts the Soul till all its goodness be consumed and consequently this Spiritual Judgment is greater than the Corporal 3. The Spiritual Judgment is a sign of God's greater anger too and though it will not enter into the thoughts of a sensual Man that it is so or that any thing can be a sign of God's Anger but what relates to losses and disappointments and crosses in the outward Man and in the World yet enlighten'd Souls have ever look'd upon Spiritual sickness and Death as a sign of God's heavier wrath and indignation because in this case God doth as it were let Men alone leaves them to themselves and his not punishing of them with Bodily troubles looks like an aversion from their Persons and so much we may guess from what we read Hos. 4. 14 17. The Preceding Considerations reduced into farther Practice I IF Christ and his Apostles press Eating and Drinking worthily at this Table it is because they would have our Souls be in perfect health and they are then in perfect health when they rejoyce in the Lord always Thomas Aquinas upon that saying Cant. 1. 13. A bundle of Myrrhe is my well-beloved unto me observes that as Myrrhe preserves Bodies from
corruption so Christ taken and contemplated in the Holy Sacrament preserves the soul from various Diseases Health is best known by Fruits and Actions and as a sick Man cannot perform what the healthy doth so that Christian that doth not act like a healthy Man can boast of no great matter he hath receiv'd in this Holy Ordinance This is intended to give our Souls the strength of a Lion the swiftness of Eagles the alacrity of Angels and the temper which was in the incarnate Son of God and if we Receive worthily we shall certainly feel these effects in some degree at least For it 's plain that they are felt by others that are worthy Communicants and what should hinder us from feeling the same if we come furnish'd with the same qualifications Those that are acquainted only with Men as carnal as themselves may possibly think that when we talk of things of this nature we speak Spiritual Romances and tell them Stories next to Fables But those that have been conversant with Persons whâ—â—ave chosen the better Part must needs perceive what health and vigor worthy Receiving adds to their Souls For what makes them that they delight in the Law of the Lord in the inward Man of 〈◊〉 What makes them afraid of the very appearances â—y vil What makes them converse with God so often 〈◊〉 Prayer and Holy Thoughts What makes them contented under their Misfortunes and Disasters What makes them take such comfort in the Cross of Christ What makes them silent and patient under private injuries What makes them stand up for the Glory of God when they see it profan'd and abused What makes them so ready to deny themselves What makes them so solicitous about their Everlasting State What makes them kind and tender-hearted and so easie to be intreated to that which is Good What makes them forgoe their Interest rather than wrong their Consciences Is it not their worthy Receiving And what better signs can there be of the Spiritual health and flourishing state and condition of their Souls Christ in this Sacrament doth not only communicate to them an empty Name or a fruitless Title but makes them fruitful Trees and it must needs be so for they that be planted in the House of the Lord shall flourish in the Courts of our God saith the Psalmist Psal. 92. 13. II. Who that seriously considers the Spiritual Judgment we have spoken of must not deplore the condition of abundance of nominal Christians that Receive worthily The Persons upon whom this Spiritual Judgment is executed are not far from every one of us To find them out we need not send you to the Sands of Africa nor to the Lybian Desarts nor to Barbarians nor to Negro's and Americans No these very Persons you may see and know at home and in the midst of our mixt Congregations How many have I known that have come to this Holy Sacrament and after that have grown worse than ever Their Drunkenness and Lewdness their Selfishness and Covetousness their Extravagant and Ungodly Speeches and Actions which before were but Embrio's and Infants after Receiving have become Gyants and strong Men What an argument is this of their unworthy Receiving What an argument of God's Judgment What an argument that God hath withdrawn his Holy Spirit from them What an argument that they are left to the power of the Devil O that they were sensible what a Judgment this is O that they knew what a fearful State this is O that their Eyes were open to see that they are in the very suburbs of Destruction O that the Vail were taken away that they might behold the death the ruin the misery the wrath the indignation of God they run into O thou that openest the Eyes of the Blind and raisest them that are bow'd down and loosest the Prisoners open the Eyes of these unhappy Souls that they may see the precipice they stand upon and turn back and save themselves from this untoward Generation III. Let us all very seriously believe that our Souls are capable of sickness and misery and death as well as our Bodies Indeed they cannot die so as to cease or to be annihilated for they are not made of Earth and matter and contrary humours and principles as our Bodies are but certainly they can die to God's Favour and to a sense of Eternity This Belief if it be sound and strong cannot but have a mighty influence upon our Lives If we believe this as we ought with apprehensions of the danger we are in we shall be as much afraid of things that will cast our Souls into sickness or hurry them into death and misery as we are afraid of going to a Pest-house where People lye languishing under their Plague-sores Ah! sinful Man how couldst thou neglect coming to the Supper of the Lord if thou didst believe that this neglect will bring a Consumption on thy Soul How could'st thou Receive with an impenitent Heart if thou didst believe that thy impenitence will kill thy Soul How durst thou venture on those sins that are poison and venom to thy Soul How could'st thou be so careless of the approaching Judgment of God if thou didst believe that this carelesness will infallibly bring a Palsie upon thy Soul How could sinful delights be so charming to thee if thou didst believe that they will throw thy Soul into a violent Fever Why shouldst thou make thy Soul sick when the great Physician offers thee health and Salvation The sickness of thy Soul is much harder to be cured than the most Chronical distemper of the Body Not but that God can heal it as easily as the other and need say no more than Christ to the Paralytick in the Gospel Arise take up thy Bed and Walk and thou art presently whole but he will not except thou be willing too This thy Spiritual sickness is wilful that makes Christ backward to remove it and if ever thy Soul be cured it must cost thee great Mortifications Rivers of Tears strong Throws and Agonies and Troubles in the inward Man and who would make work for such a costly and laborious Cure that may be well without it Let the Physician be never so skilful if the Patient will not follow his prescriptions what hopes can there be of his Recovery If thou wert but willing to follow Christ's prescriptions thy Cure might be effected even after thou hast brought thy Soul to the mouth of the Pit and to the brink of the Grave and if you ask me what these prescriptions are I must tell you that they are these following 1. Like New-born Babes to imbibe the sincere Milk of the Word that you may grow thereby if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is Gracious to whom coming as to a living Stone disallow'd indeed of Men but chosen of God and Pretious ye also as lively Stones are built up a Spiritual House an Holy Priesthood to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by
extraordinary Esteem of the Mercy that God will set light by it because we do Oh! Let us entertain it with the profoundest Respect and the deepest Veneration and think our selves the happiest Creatures living that we have this Act of Divine Bounty and Charity revealed to us But then it is impossible we should think our selves so except we walk worthy of the glorious News and transcribe on our Lives the glorious Zeal and Fervour and Sincerity of the Apostles and Primitive Believers III. As this severe Threatning denounced against unworthy Receivers is the strongest Dissuasive possible from Eating and Drinking unworthily so it is no just Discouragement to Receive with sincere Desires and Resolutions to become conformable to Christ's Holiness God frights from sinning not from doing well from wronging our own Souls not from Endeavours to save them from Impenitence not from true Repentance All that is to be done Christian in this Sacrament in order to Receiving worthily is to lay and prostrate thy self at the Feet of Jesus and to cry Lord What wilt thou have me to do Speak Lord for thy Servant hears Such humble Souls escape the Danger and may be confident of a gracious Look from the King of Saints But then if we fall down before the Throne and the Lamb and make this Profession let it come from the Heart and let our Tongues speak what our Minds think and our Wills mean to stand to and let our Desires to be one with him be such as Simplicity dictates lest our Hearts and Tongues not going together we may be found Lyars and fall into Condemnation And Oh that every unworthy Receiver would consider what Damnation means Consider it thou dull and careless Man and then tell me whether Christ requires any thing unreasonable of thee to prevent it Thou that runnest from an House on fire and from a Land-flood or Deluge that threatens to overwhelm thee wilt not thou do all thou canst to escape Damnation that Deluge of God's Wrath and that Fire of his Anger which no Man can quench Should this Damnation be thy Portion at last we may easily imagine what thy Wishes will be the same that all inconsiderate Souls are very full of when they have ruin'd and undone themselves Oh that I had been wise before the Fact and come to the Lord's Table with a better Frame put on the Lord Jesus and made his Vertues and Graces my Study my Delight and my Pattern But these are the Wishes of Fools And I did not think it would come to this pass is a Saying which we look upon as a Character of a weak and a Childish Understanding Both he that receives unworthily and he that never received yet both have yet Opportunity to turn from their evil Ways Therefore Seek ye the Lord while be mâ—y be found Call ye upon him while he is near Let the Wicked forsake his Way and the unrighteous Man his Thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have Mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Isa. 55. 6 7. The PRAYER O Lord Great and Incomprehensible Slow to Anger and great in Power and who wilt not at all acquit the Wicked Thy Way is in the Whirl-wind and in the Storm and the Clouds are the Dust of thy Feet Thou rebukest the Sea and makest it dry and driest up mighty Rivers The Mountains quake at thy Word and the Hills melt and the Earth is burnt at thy Presence yea the World and all they that dwell therein Who can stand thine Indignation And who can abide the Fierceness of thine Anger where thy Fury is poured out like Fire and the Rocks are thrown down by thine Arm Who would not fear thee O thou great Preserver of Men Yet thou Lord art good and a Strong Hold in the Day of Trouble and thou knowest them that trust in thee In my Approaches to thy holy Table let me so reflect upon thy Mercy as not to forget thy Justice Let me so look upon thy Friendship as to cast an Eye withal upon thy Severity to thine Enemies Thou offerest me thy Friendship in this Ordinance How great is thy Goodness Oh let me entertain the Offer with Admiration God will dwell with simple Man and therefore requires a Temple a Temple not made with hew'n Stones not of polish'd Marble not of painted Walls but of living and shining Gems and of such Golden Ornaments as Rust cannot touch and Dust cannot blacken a Temple purified with the Fire of Love trimmed with an holy Conversation and decked with variety of Vertues Make my Soul I beseech thee such a Temple and come and fix thy Tents here for ever Thou art the Judge to whom I am accountable for my Receiving Let me remember that as that didst rain down Manna from Heaven upon thy People so thou didst rain down Fire and Brimstone too upon Sodom and Gomorrah Let me so rejoyce in the Mercies thou rainest down upon me in this Sacrament as to fear thy Judgments in case I abuse those Mercies If of every idle Word Men shall give an Account in the Great Day what Account will they have to give of prophaning this sublime and mysterious Ordinance If the Dust of thy Apostles Feet shall bear witness in that Day against the Obstinate and Impenitent what a Witness will the Body of the Son of God be against those who would not be warm'd with the Sight and Contemplation of it into Vertue Let these things sink deep into my inward Parts and teach me so to triumph in thy Praise as to tremble at thy Presence Yet Oh let not my Goodness be the Effect of a slavish Fear of Damnation so much as of Love and Delight in thy holy Ways Let Kindness do more with me than Terrour and let my Heart melt more with the Sight of thy Condescension than with the Sight of thy Flaming Sword Teach me to serve thee with Pleasure and Affection and let the Glory of thy Name be the End of all my holy Exercises Let thy Love be ever fixed in my Heart and be thou my Rest my Tranquility my Peace my Meat my Drink my Food my Treasure my Possession and my Portion for ever through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. XXII Of Preparation And First of Meditation of Christ's Passion The CONTENTS Preparation for this Holy Sacrament reduced to Five Heads Meditation of Christ's Passion with reflexions on our Selves Self-Examination â—udging our Selves Self-Resignation and Devotions suitable to the Occasion Christ himself meditated of his own Passion before he administred this Sacrament to his Disciples Meditation of Christ's Passion useful to bring things to our Minds we did not think of before to enflame the Soul with the Love of Jesus and to make us remember his Death with a quicker Sense A Paraphrase upon the XXII and XXIII Chapters of St. Luke's Gospel What God said to the Jews may be the more justly said to us Christians What could have been
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
thou dost hate them I desire to do all things in thy Name and by thy Assistance I would willingly come to that Sincerity thou so much delightest in Oh! Guide my Steps and if I take false Measures put me in the right Way again Oh! Let me not swerve from thy Commandments Let my Confusion be continually before me that I may humble my self under thy mighty Hand and may be exalted in due time through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. XXIV Of judging our selves the Third Preparative Duty in order to our worthy Receiving of the Blessed Sacrament The CONTENTS Judging our selves contains three Acts Confession of Sin Self-Condemnation and inflicting Judgments on our Selves The Nature of these Acts explained This judging our selves proved to be pleasing to God What it is that makes it so Confession of Sins if rightly performed is a great Work Men are loth to confess those Sins which they are loth to leave Carnal Men wonder at the great stir that some Penitents make In inflicting Judgments on our selves the Word of God must be made our Rule The Prayer I. I Mention this Judging of our selves as a Duty preparatory for the Holy Sacrament because it is certain that St. Paul makes it so 1 Cor. 11. 31. If we would judge our selves we should not be judged God's judging of us or proceeding to Judgment against us hath in all Ages appeared very terrible to good Men because it speaks his Anger and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10. 31. And therefore David doth so often deprecate God's Judgment particularly Psal. 143. 2. Enter not into Judgment with thy servant for in thy sight no man living shall be justified And Psal. 119. 120. My flesh trembles for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Judgments And Psal. 66. 3. How terrible art thou in thy Works or Judgments And though Psal. 26. 1. he prays Judge me O God yet by that he means no more than that God would plead his Cause and vindicate his Innocence which was abused bespatter'd and oppress'd by his Enemies God's judging of us differs very much from judging our selves and when we are exhorted to judge our selves it is not to oblige us to beg of God to send Judgments upon us but it is to do something whereby the Judgment of God we have deserved may be prevented and averted and upon attending to the scope and drift of the Apostle in that Advice we shall find that it consists partly in accusing our selves and confessing our faults partly in condemning our selves for the faults we have committed and partly in exercising acts of Justice and executing Judgment upon our selves of which we are to speak in order II. The First Act of judging our selves is confessing our Sins and accusing our selves and Act very proper after Self-Examination confessing I mean such Sins as upon strict examination we find our selves to have been guilty of without being afraid of giving our selves Names too harsh and too reproachful It 's true no Man is obliged to accuse himself of Sins he was never guilty of and to charge our selves with the guilt of Fornication or Adultery or Murther or Blasphemy or Theft c. which through the restraining Grace of God we never thought of and have been strangers to is to tell God a lye except we understand those Sins in a Spiritual Sense and in this case a Man or Woman may say they have been guilty of Adultery by departing wickedly from their God whom they were solemnly Marry'd and joyn'd to in Baptism and the Supper of the Lord and by doting upon a miserable transitory World which St. James calls Spiritual Adultery Jam. 4. 4. And upon this account a Man may say he hath been guilty of Blasphemy in dishonouring the Gospel by his vain and wicked Life whereby he he hath given occasion to the Enemies of the Lord to blaspheme him and speak evil of Religion and after the same manner he may justly accuse himself of Murder if he have often stabb'd his Neighbour's Reputation by Slanders Reproaches and evil surmises against him and disparaging of him to those from whom he expected signal kindnesses But set aside this Spiritual Sense a Man is not obliged by any Law of God to confess that he hath been formally guilty of sins he never committed to his best remembrance but in those he hath actually run into either wilfully or by surprize he ought to be his own severe accuser especially to God whom he hath thereby grievously offended and he truly judges himself that upon a deep search of his Heart finding what Precepts of the Gospel he hath wittingly acted against cries out Lord I have been that rotten Sheep of thy Flock which by my ill example hath infected other I have been that Viper thou hast put into thy Bosom and which hath threatned death to those Bowels that gave it life and been a Rebel by my monstrous ingratitude to my Father which is in Heaven I have been that Prodigal that hath run away from his Father's House and travell'd into a far Country as far as Hell it self I have been that Fool that mad Man that hath said to his Soul Thou hast Goods laid up for many years eat and drink and be merry I have been that Satan that Adversary that have savoured the things that be of Men more than the things which be of God! I have been that bewitch'd Creature that have begun in the Spirit and thought to end in the Flesh I have been that Judas that have betray'd the Son of Man with a kiss I have been that brutish Man that by my careless life have as good as said The Lord sees not neither will the God of Jacob regard is O that I had Wings like a Dove for then would I fly away and bewail my folly in some Wilderness But in this Confession or Self-accusation some necessary Rules must be observed 1. A Man must not content himself with general Confessions but in the Accusation descend to particular Errors and Neglects of his Life General Confessions do well in Publick Liturgies and Offices of the Church in which a whole Congregation is to joyn but in private the case very much alters The Church according to the old saying non junicat de occultis judges not of secret things and knows not what particular Sins every Man is guilty of and one may have stain'd his Soul with certain Sins which another hath not and thereâ—ore wisely prescribes only general acknowledgments of Offences that the whole Assembly may comply with the Duty but in private every Man knows or may know where the Shooe doth most pinch him and therefore here particular Confessions are necessary He that in private contents himself with General Confessions shews no great desire to be better and notwithstanding his Confessions may allow himself in abundance of Sins and miscarry and perish for all his general Confessions But he that in his
Judge and he that thus condemns himself judges himself IV. The third act of Judging our selves is to inflict Judgments upon our selves By which I do not mean maiming or wounding our selves or cutting off an Arm or a Leg or whipping our selves but inflicting such Judgments on our selves for the Sins we have been guilty of and so often fallen into as are neither hurtful to the Body nor unprofitable nor prejudicial to the Soul but serve rather to bring the Soul into an excellent temper These Judgments though the design of them is to meliorate the Soul yet they are in a great measure to be inflicted on the Body because the Body tempts the Soul to great extravagancies and by presenting a thousand pleasant Objects to her leads her into Nets and Snares and Dangers The Judgment therefore must be laid upon that part which is the tempter and that being under restraint the Soul may more freely move toward her Center God blessed for evermore It 's true naturally no Man hates his own Flesh but cherishes it and makes much of it but Grace and the Gospel teaches us to treat it with greater rigour To be too fond of the Body in St. Bernard's sense is a Charity which destroys Charity a Mercy which is full of Cruelty for this is to serve the Body in order to kill the Soul Is this Charity saith he to tender the Body and to neglect the Soul To caress the Handmaid and to let the Mistress starve Let no Man think that for being thus merciful he will ever obtain mercy So that the Flesh and Body are to be treated as a wild or unruly Horse if we curb him not he will give us a fall Our Bodies are greater Enemies than we are aware they are friends too but the hurt they do too often to our Souls shews they are greater Enemies than Friends and therefore the Fathers do so often call the Flesh the Grave of the Soul a Prison where we are held Captive and a Dungeon where we sit in Darkness The Platonists used to say that our Souls deriving their Original from Heaven are sent into this World to shew forth the Praises of God here on Earth as the Angels do in Heaven but the Body the Soul is in is a kind of Inchanted Castle in which the Soul through the flatteries of the Flesh forgetting too often her nobler Extraction is diverted from her glorious Designs and debased to vile Employs And to this purpose Seneca That the Body is the weight and punishment of the Soul lying heavy upon it ready to link it and putting Shackles upon her if Philosophy do not make a Reformation The Body therefore being such a treacherous Servant must feel the effects of our Justice as it hath been the great instrument of the Sins we have committed that it may be more modest in its Desires And accordingly we find that good Men in all Ages when they have sate as Judges upon themselves to shew their detestation of the Sins they have been guilty of have inflicted Judgments on that part which is most sensible of any thing that is uneasie not out of any ill will to it for it is God's Creature but to preserve both Body and Soul unto Salvation So David punish'd himself for his Sins sometimes by mingling his Drink with Weeping Psal. 102. 9. Sometimes by making Sackcloth his Garment Psal. 69. 11. Sometimes by weakening his Knees with Fasting and Prayer Psal. 109. 24. Sometimes by making his Bed swim with Tears Psal. 6. 6. Sometimes by great acts of Self-denial as overcoming Shimei ' s Malice with Patience and Meekness 2 Sam. 16. 10. And delivering him that without cause was his Enemy Psal. 7. 4. And keeping Fasts and Humiliation Days for the recovery of those that were his Enemies Psal. 35. 13. Sometimes by lying all Night upon the Earth or Floor 2 Sam. 12. 16. Sometimes by rising at Midnight to praise God Psal. 119. 61. So the Penitent Publican punish'd himself by a violent smiting his Breast Luke 16. 13. So Mary Magdalen punished her self by washing the Feet of the Lord Jesus with her Tears and wiping them with the Hair of her Head Luke 7. 37. So Zacheus punish'd himself by giving the halfe of his Goods to the Poor and by fourfold Restitution Luke 19. 7. So St. Paul punished himself by keeping under his Body and bringing it into subjection 1 Cor. 9. 27. By making himself a Servant to all that he might gain the more 1 Cor. 9. 19. By labouring Day and Night that he might not be chargeable to the Church 1 Thess. 2. 9. By denying himself in Marriage 1 Co. 9. 5. So Daniel punished himself for his own and his People's Offences three Weeks together by eating no pleasant Bread by avoiding Flesh and Wine and forbearing to anoint himself Dan. 10. 2 3. So the Primitive believers punished themselves by various Self-denials in the Pleasures Satisfactions and Recreations of the Flesh and of the World thereby to express their Anger either against Sin in general or against some particular Sins they had run into But the most usual Judgment that good Men have ever inflicted on themselves as a Testimony of their Displeasure against themselves for offending God hath been Fasting and Prayer or chastening their Flesh by frequent Fasts spent in deprecations of God's Judgments and in other exercises of Humiliation and when Men have said to them Why are you so cruel as not to spare your Flesh They have answered We spare or use it as we do the Earth which we plough and cut with Coulters that it may bring forth more Fruit. V. This judging our selves in all its acts is certainly very pleasing to God especially before we come to the Holy Communion else St. Paul would never have told us in the passage mentioned in the beginning of this Chapter that by doing so we do put a stop to God's judging of us So that we have reason to believe that God upon our accusing our selves or humble Confessions stops the mouth of the Accuser of our Brethren which is open against us who this is we may learn from Rev. 12. 10. even the Devil who brings severe Accusations against us before God night and day and as he wants neither Wit nor Malice to do it so we have an instance of it in the History of Job Chap. 1. Ver. 9. Where appearing among the Sons of God whether wrapt up in a dark Cloud or in the form of an Angel of Light is not said but among the Angels that gave an account of their Negotiations here on Earth to God he appear'd and as those Ministring Spirits were commending Job for his exemplary Virtue so he displeased at the fair Character immediately seeks to blast and sully it by aspersions and misconstructions and thus we must suppose he deals with other persons that have the same inclinations to Virtue for those Examples are recorded in Scripture not only to tell us what happened just at
such a time but what will happen in future Ages under the same Circumstances And therefore though our actions be never so innocent nay though our good Works be never so sincere yet they shall not want his false Glosses and Comments and Misconstructions and where our Actions are ill we must expect he will aggravate them make them worse and blacken them to an high degree But where the Penitent says all the ill he can of himself gives as bad a description in a manner of himself as the Enemy can do prostrates himself before God grants all that is brought against him by the Devil with any colour of Truth is so for far from palliating his Follies that he unfolds and lays them open before God and makes as full a Narrative of them as he can pleads guilty to all that is laid at his door This ingenuous accusation or confession dashes the Devil's attempts and at the sight of it the Bowels of Almighty Mercy yearn and melt and the Enemy is bid to spare his pains and the Accusations that drop from the Penitent's Mouth are much sweeter in the ears of God than those which the base Foe brings forth from an envious and malicious Breast This self-accusation in the Penitent is pleasing Rhetorick in Heaven God hears the humble Orator is delighted with his sincerity and charges the Enemy to hold his Peace And as this self-accusation renders the accusations of the Devil against us ineffectual so our condemning our selves blots out the Hand-writing that is against us and makes void the sentence of Condemnation our Sins have deserv'd and this is to conform to God's Justice as well as to his Precepts God looks upon our Sins as having deserv'd unquenchable Fire and by his Conscience tells the Sinner Thou art an Heir of Damnation and a Child of Wrath and where the Sinner eccho's the Thunder of God and answers in the same Voice and Language of Condemnation is both sensible and owns that he hath deserv'd the Punishment that Rebels do this makes admirable Musick in Heaven Musick so delightful that God changes the voice of Terror into a still one and the Accents of Wrath into softer strains of Mercy In this Self-condemnation if it be hearty God hath his end for when he threatned the Sinner with Condemnation it was to oblige him to condemn himself the End being gain'd God's Condemnation ceaseth and as it was at Athens a free and ingenuous confession of a fault saved the Malefactor's Life so this condemning our selves and throwing a black Stone into the Box against our selves renders God so favourable as to let us draw out a white one the sign of a gracious Absolution our adjudging our selves to the everlasting Prison frees us from it and our sentence against our selves makes so great an alteration in God's Sentence against us that Justice gives place to Mercy the Judge descends from the Tribunal gives us his hand and talks of nothing less than gathering us with everlasting kindness The same must be affirmed of inflicting Judgments upon our selves It is of that power that even the Temporal Judgments which were design'd against us are either with-held or remov'd upon it or if not all yet such as would have been most afflictive and painful and most durable in doing so we do that which God would have done and doing it voluntarily and of our own accord we escape the Judgment of God For God having a mind to stop us in our sinful career intended to deprive us of our ease either by Sickness or by Losses or some other trouble and disaster and since we voluntarily deprive our selves of our ease and quiet and sensual satisfaction and repose by inflicting something that 's irksome to Flesh and Blood upon our selves God looks as it were upon his Judgment as needless and supersedes it The King of Israel 1 King 21. 27. makes but an external shew of afflicting himself and he got the fearful Judgment threatned him by Elijah transferr'd from himself to his wicked Posterity what then may we think of these Acts of vindictive Justice upon our selves if the Heart joyn with the outward Man and the Soul bear her share in the Mortification as well as the Body How the Pagan King of Niniveh his Nobles and his People punish'd themselves for their sins is graphically described Jon. 3. 6 7 8 9. And what follows v. 10. God saw their Works that they turned from their evil ways and God repented of the Evil he said he would do unto them and did it not VI. That which renders this judging our selves so acceptable to God next to the merits of our ever blessed Jesus with whom alone God is well pleased and for whose sake it is that he is kind and favourable to us as to any thing we do That which next to this renders this accusing condemning and inflicting Judgments upon our selves so acceptable to God are 1. The Humility that appears in it That 's the pleasing sight and the glorious thing which the high and lofty One delights in That 's the Flower God loves to smell to the beautiful Garment he loves to see the King's Daughter in the sweet Frame he hath made so many gracious Declartions to He sees the Soul abominating her self for her Abominations an huge sense of her own vileness over speads all that is within her He beholds what lowly thoughts the penitent Creature hath of himself and how despicable he is in his own Eyes and what strong apprehensions he hath of God's Greatness and his own vileness That attracts the Divine Favour that inclines and draws that Sovereign Benevolence that in a manner compels the Almighty into thoughts of Peace toward him This Humility is the Image of his own Son and with that Face he is ever pleased The Soul having no opinion of her self God conceives the greater of her The Waters of Heaven stay not upon the tops of Mountains but roll down into the humble Valleys there the Rain gathers and causes Fertility and a nobler Verdure 2. There appears in this judging our selves a willingness to do any thing to be reconciled to God and that 's another thing which very much takes with the Father of the Spirits of all Flesh He that accuses condemns and inflicts Judgments upon himself discovers a longing desire to be receiv'd into God's Favour upon any terms and shews That he cares not whatever it cost him so he may be but so happy as to enjoy that Sun-shine His great concern is how he shall be pardon'd for what 's past as for the future he will make no bargains with his God but is content to hear his Voice in all things that he shall say unto him He is willing to run upon what errand soever God shall think fit to send him willing to be advised counselled and directed by him willing to forego all Interests so he may but have one in his love and kinder smiles and may have leave to call him
Father and to look upon him as his God as his Lord and as his reconciled Father and this willingness is the Plant God loves to water with Celestial Dew Indeed it is a Plant of his own planting and an effect of his writing his Law in the inward Parts and upon that it follows I will forgive their iniquity and remember their Sins no more Jer. 31. 33 34. But this doth properly belong to the fourth preparatory Duty which is Self-resignation whereof more in the following Chapter The Preceding Considerations reduced to farther Practice I. COnfession of Sins is no such trivial slight and easie thing as Men commonly make of it The Confession that a great many Men make to God in Publick especially while their Thoughts are wandring their Eyes staring upon sensual Objects their Souls feeling no compunction no remorse no grief and their minds without any lively apprehension of God's Holiness and their own Vileness such Confessions instead of obtaining God's pardon and forgiveness are preparatives and attractives of his Indignation Alas Sinner that 's no Confession where thy Lips only speak thy Sorrow and Offences and thy Heart still goes after Covetousness In this case thou dost but speak into the Air whilst thou confessest not with shame and confusion of Face and with purposes strong and Masculine strong as Mount Sion to offend thy God wilfully no more such Confessions reach not the Throne of Grace and Mercy but like Smoke are dispers'd in the ascent and cause no delight but in the powers of Darkness who are glad to see thee play with Religion and jest with Devotion II. It is a certain Rule where Men are loth to forsake their Sins they will be loth to confess them too There are divers Actions of Human Life which being very pleasing to the Flesh and suited to the humour of the Age and such as preserve our Credit and Reputation with Men which we overlook take to be no Sins indeed are loth to be depriv'd of them and therefore do not so much as mention them in our Confessions Search thy Heart Christian and take a serious view of thy Dress thy Habit thy Looks thy Behaviour thy Speeches and thy Conversation and see whether thou hast not reason to suspect many things of being contrary to the stricter Rules of the Gospel yet thou art loth to know them loth to own them loth to confess them as Sins and all because thou hast no mind to part with them Thy wanton looks and glances thy lascivious gestures and postures and dresses thy striving for places and discontent at other Men's omitting to give thee the Honour thou fanciest to be due to thee thy despising and scorning thy Neighbour in thy Heart thy touchiness at Trifles thy secret Injustice thy careless and unprofitable Talk thy gaudy Attire which feeds thy Pride thy delight in imitating the looser and more wanton sort of People thy mispending thy Time in dangerous Sights and Recreations thy neglect of reading the Word and praying with thy Family thy easie exceptions at thy Neighbour's Actions thy wilful misconstructions of Men's words thy hidden things of dishonesty thy doing evil that good may come out of it thy extenuations of Sin thy putting favourable names upon what thou art loth to leave c. What Man of sense and who reads the Word of God but must suspect that these things and such like are disagreeable to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ And yet because thou wouldst fain preserve and keep all these or some of these or others that are not unlike these thou art willingly ignorant of their sinfulness or wilfully forgettest them or dost carelesly pass them by and confessest only such Sins as thou canst not well avoid acknowledging Thou thinkest if once thou confessest these things to be Sins thou must be forc'd to leave them for indeed it is perfect impudence to tell God that I sin against him in such things and yet to go on in committing of them And therefore the only advice that can be given in this case is this Look upon Heaven as worth doing any thing to gain it and thou wilt not be afraid either of knowing thy particular Sins or of confessing of them or of bending the force and powers of thy Soul against their insinuations III. We may easily guess at the reason why a carnal Man wonders at the stir a Penitent keeps to be reconciled to God He sees not he knows not what Poison there is in Sin A Person who never troubled his Head much about Religion seeing a Man or Woman take on for their Offences accuse themselves condemn themselves and inflict Judgments of Fasting of Mortification and of Self-denial upon themselves no doubt will admire what ails the Fool to keep such a whining and howling and put himself to such needless troubles to recover the favour of God which he fancies is to be had at as easie a rate as Children's Smiles and Infants Tears Indeed if the love of God may be had with a wish and a Man could no sooner send for it but have it or were it a thing we could command to attend us at a minute's warning prostrations and lyings on the Ground and Sackcloth and Alms-giving in larger proportions and all the rigorous Ceremonies of Repentance would be Phantastical and a mere distemper of the Brain but when the Men whom God favoured much vouchsafed his Inspirations to and who conversed with the fountain of Wisdom with him that is the Way and the Life did all this and much more and recommended the same Acts of Mortification to their Successors and God himself expresses the welcome Dress of Repentance as to the External part in such things as these Jer. 6. 26. Jer. 7. 29. There we must give Men leave to laugh to wonder and to think us distemper'd for doing so Stange Men should not see the necessity of denying their Bodies in that ease and latitude they are so apt to take in order to a better Life when is evident that the Flesh in the Circumstances it is under naturally is in a continual fermentation of evil desires and covets altogether sensual satisfactions without considering whether they are agreeable to Reason or no and like Salomon's Horse-leech cries still Give Give And if a Man give his Eyes or Taste the pleasure they desire to day to morrow they shall still crave more so that if a severe Mortification do not stop and cast them off especially if he intends to be saved he will continue a carnal Man to his dying day It hath been the practice of all the Primitive Saints to inflict seasonable Judgments on themselves not one but the greatest part have taken that way and the reason is clear for we must become Saints by the Spirit of the Cross which is evidently a Spirit of Mortification both of Soul and Body The design of Holiness is to make us conformable to the temper of our Saviour and if his Spirit be
in us we shall be desirous to dye to the World and have great inclinations to suffer with him and this is not to be done but by bridling both Soul and Body through a severe Mortification IV. In inflicting Judgments upon our selves the Word of God must be our guide He that should use all the Mortifications he meets with in Ecclesiastical History especially in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries after Christ might run himself into great Errors and Inconveniencies The Scripture is ever the safest Rule which when Men have forsaken and thought to do more than is commanded or recommended by Examples in that Book they have been often lest exposed to great Temptations He that follows an Example of Penitential rigor recorded in Scripture though some imprudence may mingle with the imitation yet it is an error of the Right Hand There have been excesses of Devotion in all Ages and even good Men have sometimes run beyond the bounds prescribed them by Almighty God into superstition especially in things relating to voluntary affliction of the Body and from hence have grown those abuses in Popery where Penances have swallow'd the measures of substantial Piety and Men's inflicting of Judgment upon themselves hath been a means to make them neglect Faith Judgment and Mercy This shews the necessity of keeping close to the Rule of Scripture which besides the Precepts hath thought fit to Record such Examles as are sufficient to instruct us both in the nature of Repentance and the Rigors that in some cases are to bear it company It 's certain that in some persons strong habits of Sin will not be dissolved or broke but by Corrosives and violent Remedies and where a Man sees that the corruption which cleaves to him baffles all softer Applications he must needs save himself from being undone by lancing the wound Maimonides the learned Jew in his Rules of Ethicks gives this advice to his Disciples that would arrive to any considerable degree in virtue He saith he that hath been guilty of one extreme i. e. He that finds an habit of a certain sin in himself to become good must at first at least run into the opposite extreme of the Virtue which is its contrary till he be qualified to walk in the middle way without danger i. e. He that finds himself very cholerick and passionate to arrive to an habit of meekness must at first run into an excess of meekness and be patient and silent and contented even under injuries and actions that in some measure deserve his anger and continue thus for some time till his Soul be quieted like a weaned Child and then he may abate of that excess and use his meekness with greater discretion so he that hath been proud to mortifie that ill habit or extreme must apply himself to the other and be humble even to contempt and reproach so long till his stubborn affection be subdued and then he may use his humility with greater moderation We see by this that Jews as well as Christians are sensible that without a rigor and severe Discipline there is no arriving to any height of Goodness and Religion yet as this inflicting Judgments upon our selves is a thing of great use in the weighty Work of true Repentance and in the support of a serious Life so care must be taken that all opinion of Merit be laid aside in the practice of it for if such a Worm get into the Timber of the Sanctuary it soon rots it nor must we think that after we have exercised such Acts of Justice upon our selves for the Sins we have committed we may upon the credit of it take fresh liberty to offend God The design of it is to mortifie our Appetite to Sin an therefore must not prove fewel of that Fire To this must be added Discretion and Moderation in the management of these Acts of Justice and as by inflicting upon our selves the Discipline of Fasting and Humiliation before the Holy Sacrament not a few Christians find much Comfort if their Bodies be able to bear it so in times of Sickness or bodily Weakness this inflicting of Judgment on our selves becomes useless and unnecessary for in these cases God inflicts Judgments and therefore we need not All we have to do at such times is to kiss the Rod and to bear God's gentle Corrections as things we have both deserv'd and are intended for the renewing of our inward Man Our English Histories tell us of two Men in the time of Popery one who upon his Death-bed when the Priest came to him with the Holy Sacrament would be dragg'd like a Traitor out of his Bed to the place where the Priesthood and another who hearing the Bishop was come to Administer the Sacament to him would needs crawl out of his Bed half naked with an Halter about his Neck to receive it But as I know not what Motives or Impulses they might have for these Actions so I am loth to judge whether they did ill or not The PRAYER MY Lord and my God! my Shepherd my Master my Helper and the Lifter up of my Head my Light my Way my Wisdom my Righteousness my Sanctification my Redemption O how I could be revenged on those Madnesses Follies Vanities I have been guilty of I do not only confess them unto thee O thou searcher of all Hearts but I could even bruise and wound and tear my self for being so basely and so monstrously ungrateful to the best of Masters if that were a Sacrifice pleasing unto thee How stupid how sensless have I been How averse from that which is my greatest interest Ah! how like a blind Creature have I groped in the dark and thought my self secure and safe while I have stood upon the brink of destruction How bold and daring have I been and what pains have I taken for Pleasures and Recreations which besides the unreasonableness and transitoriness and inconstancy of them could not be expiated neither O dearest Saviour but by thy Blood and Death O how heavy how dreadful must my Sins be that require so costly a satisfaction O Eternal Father To see what thou hast done for my Salvation To see how for my sake thy Son thine only Son is in a manner left destitute without Help without Assistance without Comfort what can I think but that in some respect thou didst love me more than him That I might rejoyce he must be sorrowful to a Prodigy that I might be healed he must be wounded that I may be cleansed he must spill his precious Blood O how faithful art thou to forlorn Man Thou hast piomised to restore him and behold Thou givest the richest Treasure of Heaven to effect it Ah! how can I see my dear Redeemer weep and not weep my self He grieves not for his own Sins but for mine he bewails not his own faults but my Transgressions he never sinn'd but I am he that hath offended thee a thousand times I beseech thee accept of the
give nothing to God that is more pleasing to him than his Will and in giving him his Will he gives him all his Content his Love his Honour his Health and his Wealth for he leaves all these to his Disposal 2. Nothing comes to pass without God's Providence Our Sicknesses Poverty Exile Losses Crosses Troubles Accidents which foolish Men are apt to ascribe to Chance are all govern'd by his Almighty Hand and sent by his Order So that not to conform our Wills to his Will in these Cases is a tacit Denial of his Providence Nay though the Afflictions and Miseries which may befal us may be inflicted by wicked Instruments the Devil and evil Men yet as God hath no Hand in their Sins so he hath certainly an Hand in the Affliction And this is one great Design of the Holy Ghost in Scripture to direct us how to refer all things even the most displeasing and the most disagreeable to Flesh and Blood to God's Providence Job therefore though the Chaldeans and the Devil were the External Instruments whereby his Calamities were sent upon him yet he acknowledges God in all and in his Confession ascribes his Losses not to the Devil not to the Chaldeans but to God The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord Job 1. 21. It was therefore a very wise Answer which Lupus the Bishop of Troy gave to Attila the King of the Huns who with an Army of Five Hundred Thousand Men had burnt and destroyed and laid waste abundance of Countries Coming at last before Troy the Bishop and his Clergy in their Robes went out to meet him and as they came into his Presence the Bishop craved Leave to ask him who he was Attila with a fierce and stern Countenance told him I am the Scourge of God Are you so saith the Bishop Who then is able to resist you And since you are so pray come and beat and scourge us as you think fit and as God shall permit you An Answer which Attila was so well pleased with that he spared the Town and passed through it without doing the Inhabitants the least hurt This good Man saw the Providence of God in it and conformed his Will to God's Will and thereby teaches us that this Self-Resignation is the Way to see an happy Issue of our Afflictions 3. As nothing comes to pass without a special Providence so whatsoever befals us is governed by infinite Wisdom and comes upon us wise and holy Ends though for the present we cannot see to the Bottom of them and that is a very great Motive to this Self-Resignation As the whole World is governed by the Inflnice Wisdom of God so Man in a particular manner and more especially those that fear him and whether God commands us any thing or will have us suffer any thing it is still for the noblest Ends even his Glory and our own Eternal Salvation And to say the Truth a Man can give no better no greater Demonstration of his Wisdom then in denying his own Judgment and Will and submitting them to the Wisdom of God For take the greatest and most exact Wisdom that is in man or ever hath been even the Wisdom of Solomon if it be compared with the Wisdom of God it is mere Darkness and Ignorance so that to resign our selves to the Wisdom and Will of God in all things must be the greatest Wisdom If a Man that is born blind should restise to take a wise Guide with him and particularly his own Father who entirely loves him a prudent Man and who knows the Way perfectly all would take him for a Mad-man and blind in Soul as well as Body And how are we better than such a Man if we are afraid to follow our Heavenly Father even then when he leads us over Rocks and Precipices For we have reason to trust the hand that guides us whatever Reasons offer themselves to our minds to the contrary nor can we be deceiv'd in our Trust for he that guides us is infinitely Wise. The Wisdom of God is to be seen in inequalities as much as in any thing A Body would not be beautiful if all the parts were of an equal bigness some parts standing out and others being depressed some being big and others little make up the Beauty of the whole as in the Fabrick of the Earth Mountains and Hills and Dales Rocks and fruitful Fields being mingled one with another make the Fabrick more stately than otherwise it would be the same may be said of our Lives which being chequered with Adversity and Prosperity with Light and Darkness with good Report and evil Report declare at once their Beauty and God's Wisdom so that we may confidently affirm That the Sovereign Reason which is God can do nothing contrary to Reason in things that concern us even then when sometimes they seen to be contrary so that this makes Self-resignation a necessary Duty III. But here a Question will arise Why this Duty of Self-resignation is to be exercised and practised particularly before we receive the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist and how comes this to be a Preparative for this Ordinance and the Worthy Receiving of it To which I must answer as follows 1. This is to imitate our Blessed Saviour who before he went to dye resigned his Will to his Holy Father's Will Luke 22. 42. Father if thou be willing remove this Cup from me nevertheless not my Will but thine be done And what more proper than before we remember this Death to use the same Self-resignation To imitate him in all his Actions except the Miraculous is our Duty and Glory We cannot imitate a better Pattern nay the desin of the Gospel is to plant in us a conformity to his Temper and to oblige us to tread in his steps If we do no not it 's as much as our Lives are worth and he will not own us for his Disciples The very name Christian imports so much and as a Pythagorean is one that believes and lives as Pythagoras lived so a Christian is he that believes and lives as Christ did live and therefore learn of me Matth. 11. 26. contains the whole Duty of a Christian. Of this the late famous Antonette Baurignon if it be true what is said in the History of her Life had very early apprehensions for when she was but a Girl of four years of Age having heard of her Parents and Friends what Christ had taught and how he lived and that by him we must enter into Eternal Life she was exceedingly desirous to go into that Country where Men lived as Christ had taught them and as he lived Her Friends telling her that she lived in a Christian Country and that all that were about her were Christians she shook her Head professing that she could not believe them for those she saw lived not as Christ had taught them or as he lived but rather directly contrary For Christ
Repentance What Danger in doing the Will of God What Danger in performing our Duty What Danger in serious Endeavours to cleanse our selves that we may be pure even as God is pure What Danger in eating and drinking with a Lively Faith in the Promises of the Gospel What Danger in making the Love of God and the serious Contemplation of it a Motive and Occasion to grow in Grace If there be any Danger it is in the Unworthy Eating and Drinking at this holy Table and in that indeed there is as much Danger as there is in cutting our selves with Knives and Lances or in running a Sword into our Bowels And who but a Mad-man will do so There is nothing so good nothing so safe nothing so sound nothing so innocent but Men may corrupt it by their evil Inclinations So they may abuse God's Name and Day and Word and Ordinances and the Duty of Prayer and the Ministry and what not Unworthy Eating and Drinking is a sinful Eating and Drinking Let Men separate the Sinfulness from the Duty let them pare away that poysonous Rind and there is no Danger and you may eat and drink at this Table with as little Danger as you eat and drink at home there is no Danger here but what you make your selves The Danger rises not from the Eucharist but from your Hearts That which makes it dangerous is your Love to Forbidden Fruit while you eat and drink here This you harbour this you cherish and that makes your feeding dangerous But cast out that old Leaven and you may feed as peaceably as contentedly as securely as Children under their Father's Wings as People that sit under their own Vine and under their own Fig-tree The PRAYER O Jesu whom I see coming toward me in this Sacrament not with Balm and Myrrhe and Spices hut with that which is infinitely better even with the Balsom of thy Blood to anoint me to wash me and to make me whole to make this blind Creature see and this lame Man to walk this Dumb to speak this Deaf to hear and to dignifie this Beggar even me the weakest in thy Flock the poorest in thy House the meanest person in thy Spiritual Kingdom What shall I say of this Mercy What can I think of it Thou art both the Giver and the Gift the Feeder and the Food the Guest and the Feast the Offerer and the Oblation O deal with me after thine infinite Goodness I have deserved to be left to be forsaken to be rejected to be cast away from thy Presence But O! let not this miserable Beggar go away from thy Door without an Alms scatter thy Bounty and let me gather it The poorer I am the greater Object I am of thy Pity I bring my Heart to thee to reform it I come to offer my Soul to thee be thou intreated to renew it by thy Holy Spirit Bring me to a more lively and nearer conjunction with thy self that I may become a living Member incorporated into thy Mystical Body and may live not longer by mine own Spirit but by Thine which is the Spirit of my Spirit the Soul of my Soul and the very Life of my Life Thou art my Sun from whose Beams I must receive the Light of Grace Thou art my Fountain from which I must draw Living Water Thou art the Root from which I must receive Sap of increase Thou art my Head from which I must receive Life and Being O! let me feel the force of this Sacrament in my Soul Power against Sin and Satan and ability to serve thee Corroborate my Spirit that I may obtain Victory put off the anxious Cares of the World and put on Joy flowing from Remission and pardon of my Sins I am sensible that Thy Table is the strength of my Soul the Sinews of my Mind the Band of my Confidence my Health my Light and my Recovery Being sprinkled with thy Blood I shall be able to turn to fight the Armies of Aliens the Armies of my Spiritual Enemies and prevail against them and go on from Virtue to Virtue till I shall Hunger and Thirst no more in thy Everlasting Kingdom Amen Amen CHAP. XIX Of Bodily Sickness Weakness and untimely Death which is sometimes by way of Judgment inflicted on Unworthy Receivers of this Blessed Sacrament The CONTENTS Sickness and Weakness and Death are either Corporal or Spiritual Some Reasons laid down why God makes use of Sickness and Weakness of Body to Chastize the Unworthy Receiver How a Person may know whether the Sickness and Weakness of Body that is upon him comes upon him for his Unworthy Receiving How Sickness and Weakness of Body and an untimely Death can be said to be inflicted for Unworthy Receiving when we see that even the most worthy Receivers sicken and dye and sometimes suddenly and before their time and when it is evident that these are effects of Natural Causes The time of Adversity a time of serious Consideration The Soul that loves the Lord Jesus in sincerity hath no reason to be troubled when Sickness or Affliction comes as if it came for Unworthy Receiving Worthy Receiving the best Preparative for Death Those that neglect coming have reason to fear that all the Miseries which befal them come upon them for their neglect The Prayer I. HAving told you in the foregoing Chapter that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Judgment doth import both Temporal Judgment and Damnation and shewn how the unworthy Receiver makes himself liable to exemplary Temporal Judgments in general it 's fit I should in the next place in imitation of St. Paul speak of the particular Temporal Judgments the unworthy Communicant pulls upon himself whereof one is Bodily Sicckness Weakness and untimely Death for thus we read 1 Cor. 11. 30. For this cause i.e. upon the account of this unworthy Eating and Drinking many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep as if he had said This your unworthy Receiving brings Sickness Weakness and a preternatural and unusual Sleep upon you This must needs be meant here for ordinary Sleep or the usual Rest of the Body can be no punishment and to tell you that by Sleep in Scripture is frequently understood Death or separation of the Soul from the Body or dissolution of this natural Life were to tell you what all Men know that have but look'd into the Bible nor can any be ignorant that these Phrases are often used in a Spiritual Sense for Spiritual Weakness and Sickness and Death which will oblige me to take both significations into consideration And that God did in the Primitive Ages of Christianity inflict and visit unworthy Communicants with weakness and sickness of Body and with an untimely Death sometimes especially if they continued impenitent thereby to put them in mind of their Offences and to exhort them to amendment of Life all Interpreters agree and the same Temporal Judgments an unworthy Receiver hath reason to fear and look for at this