so if thou canst pour out thy Soul in a true and hearty Prayer unto God for the pardon of thy Sins he will questionless forgive thee even because thou prayest unto him for as David speaketh The Lord is not only ready to forgive but plenteous in mercy to all them that call upon him 4 Sprinkle thy Soul with the blood of Iesus Christ. Christ is our peace as the Apostle calls him neither canst thou by all that thou art able to doe make thy peace with God but only thâ—ugh faith in his blood When the destroying Angel saw the blood of the Lamb sprinkled on the Posts of any Door hee passed by that House and they within were safe so that Soul which is sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ is so safe from the destroying Angel of God that he shall not doe it hurt for death is an advantage to that Soul which is sprinkled with the blood of Christ being the door of Life and a gate to Heaven as Cyprian calls it Though the blood of Christ be the means of our peace and reconciliation with God yet unless that blood be sprinkled on thy Soul thou canst find little peace there and therefore the Apostle Peter speaks not only of the blood of Christ but of the sprinkling of the blood of Christ. It is not enough that Christ hath shed his blood but there must be besides the shedding of it the sprinkling of it Christs blood was shed upon the Cross yet all men are not reconciled unto God thereby And what is the reason Surely because that blood is not sprinkled upon their souls and peace and reconciliation with God must be had not only from Christs blood poured out but from his blood sprinkled Quest. How is Christs blood sprinkled upon our souls Ans. By Faith applying the blood of Christ unto our own souls comfort Faith is the hand of the Soul and the soul by faith puts her hand into the Wounds of Christ takes of his blood and besprinkles her self therewith applying the merits and the vertue thereof unto it self and thence follows peace and reconciliation with God Obj. I would willingly apply the Merits of Christs Death and Passion unto my self but oh I am conscious of so much unworthiness seeing nothing in my self why the Merits of Christs death should belong unto me that I cannot yea I dare not apply them to my self Ans. 1. It is good to be conscious to thy self of thine own unworthiness but not so as to bee kept thereby from applying of Christ and the Merits of his Death and Passion unto thy souls comfort And truly if thou wouldst but consider that God respecteth his own goodness and not ours in the offering of his Son and that his grace is everyway most free this conceit of thine unworthiness can be no just plea against the applying of Christ with the benefits of his Death and Passion unto thine own souls comfort it should rather be an incouragement unto thee because the more unworthy thou art in thine own sight and sense the more worthy thou art in the account of Christ. The greatest worthiness that any Christian can here attain unto is to be sensible of his own unworthiness 2 Thou who complainest of thine unworthiness I would ask thee Whether any man before he made application of Christ and of his Merits unto himself did see any thing in himself why Christ should belong unto him rather than to any other The Scripture saith There is no difference for all have sinned Obj. 2 My Sins are so many for number and so hainous in their quality that I cannot imagine that Christ should belong unto me and therefore dare not apply him nor the benefits of his Death and Passion unto my self Ans. The more sinful thou art in thine own sense and apprehension the fitter thou art to close with Jesus Christ and to apply the Merits of his Death unto thy self for in that gracious invitation of Christ we find no other qualification put in but a sense of sin Come unto me all yee that labour and are heavie laden and I will give you rest where the Parties invited to come unto Christ are such as are sensible of and thereupon groan under the weight and burden of their sins as the words in the Greek there properly signifie and Luke 5. 32. Christ professeth He came not to call the righteous but sinners not such as were righteous in their owne conceit but such as were Sinners in their own sense and apprehension truly sensible of their sins so that sense of sin is the only qualification requisite to an application of Jesus Christ. Obj. 3 I have often sinned against knowledge and conscience and therefore fear I have committed that unpardonable Sin the Sin against the Holy Ghost and so dare not apply Christs blood unto my self Ans. Though the Sin against the Holy Ghost bee a Sin against knowledge and conscience yet every Sin yea every grievous Sin against knowledge and conscience is not the Sin against the Holy Ghost for they may be without malice of heart which this cannot be and therefore though thou hast often sinned against knowledge and conscience yet if thou hast not sinned with a malicious heart i. e. thou hast not sinned meerly because thou wouldest displease God and grieve his Spirit thou hast not committed the Sin against the Holy Ghost IV. Having made thy peace with God then make thy peace with men by an hearty forgiving of all who have wronged thee This is a duty to be perâ—ormed by thee in the whole course of thy life as any occasion thereof is given without which the Lord will not accept of any Christian service and sacrifice that thou offerest unto him and therefore saith our Saviour When thou standest praying forgive if thou hast ought against any for indeed how canst thou ask God forgiveness of thy sins when thou wilt not forgive man his offences against thee How canst thou begg peace and reconciliation with thy heavenly Father when thou wilt not be reconciled on earth to thy Brother As therefore this Duty is to be performed by thee in the whole course of thy life so especially in thy last Sickness for thereby thou maist gain some assurance in thine own Soul of the forgiveness of thy Sins committed against God which our Saviour implieth in that expression of his If yee forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you wouldst thou therefore be assured of Gods mercy towards thee in the forgiveness of thy sins committed against him search narrowly into thine own soul and if thou canst find thou dost as heartily forgive thy Brother as thou dost desire forgiveness of God then maist thou assure thy self of Gods mercy to thee in the forgiveness of thy sins committed against him so much is hinted to us in the fifth Petition of the Lords Prayer Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them
unworthy soever thou art otherwise to be a worthy receiver Having thus shewed the Necessity of the duty of Examination Come wee now to the Extent thereof which may be brought to two heads viz. 1 Thy graces 2 Thy sins First Thou must examine thy self of thy graces more especially of thy Knowledge Faith Repentance and Love Touching Knowledge I shall shew 1 What Knowledge is required of every worthy Communicant 2 The Necessity 3 The Trial thereof I. For the first what Knowledge is required I answer in general Knowledge of all the fundamental Principles of Religion In particular Knowledge of the Doctrine of the Sacrament Fundamental Principles of Religion are such as our salvation is founded upon without the knowledge whereof a man cannot be saved and they are these That there is a God That there is but one God That that onely true God is distinguished into three Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost all equally God That that God is the Creator and Governour of all things That all things were made good by him and are still governed by him righteously That man in particular was made perfectly righteous by him That man continued not long in his happy estate but fell by transgressing the Commandement of God in eating the forbidden fruit That wee are all guilty of Adams sin being in his loins when hee committed that sin That every one of us brought into the world corrupted and polluted natures natures as full of sin as a Toad is of poison That unto this original corruption wee have added a numberless number of actual transgressions and that in evil thoughts evil words and evil deeds That by our sins wee have made our selves liable to the wrath of God to the curse of the Law to all judgements and plagues here and to eternal death and condemnation hereafter That no man can free himself out of that miserable condition whereinto by sin hee hath plunged himself neither can any meer creature help him That God out of his free grace and rich mercy did send his own Son out of his bosome into the world to take our nature upon him that therein hee might become our Surety and Redeemer That Christ was both God and Man in one person That hee was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary That hee died upon the Cross to save his people from their sins That hee rose again the third day from the dead ascended into Heaven sits at the right hand of God and makes continual intercession for us That by Faith wee are made partakers of Christ and of the benefits of his death and passion That Faith is the gift of God wrought in us by the Spirit of God through the Ministery of the Word whereby wee rest upon Christ alone for the pardon of our sins and for eternal life and salvation That it hath pleased God to make with us in and thorow Christ a new Covenant of Grace wherein hee hath promised the pardon of our sins and the salvation of our souls upon the alone condition of a lively Faith Particuâ—ar Principles concerning the Sacrament of the Lords Supper are these That it was ordained by Christ himself as a memorial of his great love in offering up his life a Sacrifice for our sins That this as well as the other Sacrament of Baptism is a seal of Gods Covenant whereby he bindes himself to perform his promises made to us in Christ for strengthening our Faith therein That the outward signs in the Lords Supper are Bread and Wine by which are set forth the body and blood of Christ which the worthy receivers by Faith do partake of in this Sacrament That whosoever eats and drinks unworthily is guilty of the body and blood of Christ and therefore that every one is to examine himself lest he eat and drink judgement to himself Having thus shewed what is that knowledge which is required of every worthy Communicant II. I shall now shew the Necâ—ssity thereof which appeareth 1 Because without this knowledge a man can never attain to any of the other graces for an ignorant man can neither beleeve nor repent nor love God or his neighbour aright 2 Because without this knowledge a man cannot discern the Lords body which if hee do not hee eats and drinks damnation to himself And therefore it is absolutely necessary that all who receive the Lords Supper should discern the Lords body i. e. should perceive that there is more to be received than that which is seen with the eye of the body To the bodily eye there appeareth nothing but Bread and Wine upon the Table but by virtue of the divine institution there is also Christs body and blood if this be not discerned the benefit of the Sacrament is lost But it is not possible without knowledge which is the eye of the soul to discern that body and blood under the elements of bread and wine therefore is the forementioned knowledge absolutely necessary III. For the third particular viz. The Tryal of thy knowledge whether it be a true saving knowledge thou mayest know it by the properties thereof some whereof are these 1 True saving knowledge is Experimental whereby a Christian hath a spiritual sense and feeling of what he knows He hath not only a general and a notional knowledge of God and of his own miserable condition by nature and of Jesus Christ but hee hath likewise an experimental knowledge of God and of his Attributes as of his power in supporting him under his trials and temptations of his faithfulness in making good his promises unto him He hath likewise a sensible feeling of his own wretched condition by nature And an experimental knowledge of Jesus Christ so that he knoweth Christ to be his Saviour and Redeemer and resteth upon his merits alone for life and for salvation By this then try and examine thy knowledge c. 2 True saving knowledge is Humble and joyned with meekness of spirit For the more true knowledge a man hath the more he discerns his own ignorance yea and vileness by reason of his sins And therefore you shall finde those Christians who were most eminent both in knowledge and grace to complain most as of their ignorance so of their own base and naughty hearts as you may see in Paul and others And no marvel considering that true saving knowledge discovers unto a man his own vileness and wretchedness by reason of his sins his own unworthiness yea his own emptiness and nothingness in regard of any goodness of his own Whereas unsanctified knowledge is apt to puft a man up with pride and self-conceit even to the contemning and despising of others which the Apostle plainly expresseth where he saith Knowledge puffeth up By this then try and examine thy knowledge whether it be a saving knowledge or no. 3 True saving knowledge is active and operative being ever accompanied with practice and obedience so that it worketh reformation in the heart
and life of him that hath it By this then try and examine thy knowledge whether it be saving sanctifying or no. II. The second grace necessarily required of every Communicaâ—t whereof thou must examine thy self is FAITH Conceâ—ning which I shall shew you 1. What Faith this is 2. The Necessity thereof 3. Some signs and notes for the tryall thereof I. For the first what faith this is I answer a true saving justifying faith may be thus described Faith is a grace wrought in the heart of a sinner by the spirit of God through the ministery of the word whereby being convinced of his sinfull miserable condition and of all disabilitie in himself or any other meer creature to free him out of the same he goeth wholly out of himself unto Iesus Christ and receiving him as his all-sufficient Saviour and Soveraign resteth upon his perfect righteousness and all-sufficient Sacrifice for the pardon and forgiveness of his sins here and for eternal life and Salvation hereafter II. The Necessity of this grace of Faith to every communicant appeareth 1. Because without faith it is impossible to please God in any holy ordinance as the Apostle expresseth it But true faith will commend both our persons and services unto Gâ—d so that they shall find acceptance with him though they be full of weaknesses and imperfections This made Abels sacrifice so acceptable to God If therefore thou come to this ordinance without faith instead of pacifying God thou shall purchase his heavy displeasure 2. Except thou hast faith before thou approachest to that ordinance the Sacrament cometh but like a seal to a blank and serveth onely to seal up thine unbelief to condemnation So that faith is necessarily required of every worthy communicant before he cometh to the Lords Supper for that ordinance is not instituted for the working of faith but for the strengthning thereof A man may come to the ministery of the word though he be faithless because it is an ordinance instituted by God for the begetting of faith according to that of the Apostle Faith cometh by hearing But none are to come to the Sacrament but such as have faith wrought in them Because that is not an ordinance instituted by God for the begetting of faith but rather for the strengthning thereof It was not instituted for such as are out of Christ to bring them in but for such aâ— are in Christ to bring them up in him As a man must be born before he can eat so he must be begotten again by the Spirit of God before he can feed upon the Body and Blood of Christ for his spiritual nourishment I do not say that all who come to the Sacrament must have the same measure of Faith but it is necessary that they all have the fame truth of Faith III. For the third Particular the tryall of thy Faith whether it be true and saving thou mayest know it by these two Characters to omit many others 1. True faith doth receive Christ in all his Offices not onely as a Priest to make satisfaction and intercession for us but also as a Prophet to teach and instruct us and as a King to rule and govern us The true believer doth as willingly cast himself at the feet of Christ in subjection to him as into the arms of Christ for Salvation from him He is as willing to serve Jesus Christ as to be saved by him as desirous to submit to his services as to injoy his privileges By this therefore may'st thou try the truth of thy faith 2. True faith is an heart-purifying grace it purifieth the heart This character of faith the Apostle Peter expresseth Act. 15. 9. Purifying their hearts by faith Faith purifying the heart implyeth two things 1 That the believer maketh conscience of his inward thoughts whereas unbelievers with the Pharisees make clean the out-side of the cup labour to keep themselves from gross and scandalous sins but suffer their hearts to range and rove into a world of vain and wanton thoughts of prophane and fruitless imaginations and that without any remorse or check of conscience 2. That faith puts a purifying disposition into the heart so that it loathes and detests sin yea and strives against it though it cannot altogether purge and free it self from sin when the heart is once seasoned with faith it will not willingly harbour sin but labour to worke it out more and more By this then try the truth and soundness of thy faith whether it hath wrought in thee a purging purifying disposition to strive against thy corruptions and to worke them out of thine heart more and more III. The third grace necessarily required of every communicant is Repentance concerning which I shall shew 1. The nature of Repentance what it is 2. The Necessity thereof to a worthy partaking of the Lords Supper 3. Some signs and notes for the tryall thereof I. For the first what true Repentance is I answer It is a grace of Gods Spiriâ— whereby both the heart and affections within and also the life and actions without are reformed In this description I take the full nature of Repentance to be comprized Many do add hereunto an inward sorrowing and mourning of the heart which doth indeed alwaies accompany true Repentance but it is not of the nature thereof For then wheresoever sorrow for sin were there should be true Repentance which is not so as the examples of Saul Iudas and other wicked men do declare Briefly to open this dâ—finition of Repentance First I say It is a grace of Gods Spirit i. e. a gift freely given of God and wrought in us by his holy Spirit so that it proceedeth not from mans free will nor from any power and ability of his nature Again Repentance is a Reformation wherein consists the very nature thereof as the words of turning renewing changing and the like which in Scripture are attributed to Repentance do imply Now this Reformation must first be of the heart for the heart of a man is the fountain of all his actions now in reason the fountain must be cleansed and purged before that which issueth and streameth from it can be wholesome There must be therefore first a renewed heart before there can be a reformed life for it cannot be that the stream of our actions should be good if the fountain of our heart be corrupt Hence it is that the Prophets so often call for the cleansing of the heart and the Apostles for the renewing and changing thereof without which all external and outward reformation is but meer Pharisaical ostentation In the last place is added A reformation of the life and actions without for as to make some outward shew of Reformation without reforming the heart within is but Pharisaical ostentation whereby we deceive others So to pretend an inward Reformation without the outward fruits of amendment is but meer folly whereby we deceive our selves For it cannot be that Reformation should be