them in their want He shall receive an hundred fold for it He may be confident it shall be paid him again with large interest both on Earth and in Heaven Mark 10.29 30. And who would not wish for such a Creditor § 20. Psalm 41.1 Finally let us only be liberal and we are here assured that we shall not stay for our reward till the next World but that we shall find the benefit of our Charity as soon as ever we begin to need it Paraphrase Blessed and happy shall be te Man that out of a charitable heart z Vatab. marg Qui prospicit agroto provideth for the necessities of the sick and weak in body and considereth and relieveth the wants of the Poor and needy in Estate As his bounty delivereth those poor Creatures in their Calamity so The Lord of Heaven who sees and remembers all such Deeds shall deliver him most readily when he also shall be poor or sick or fallen into any straits in the time of trouble a Visitatio aegrotorum liberat à gehennà RR. God will then think of him and be his surest Comfort *** If the Congregation be large and the Alms long in gathering thou mayst profitably read all or most of these Sentences to enlarge thy heart and quicken thy Charity if the offering be short yet read some of them before it come to your turn and then prepare your own Oblation and the next Section will teach you how to present it § 5. As these Divine Parcels of Holy Writ do move us to Charity and Alms-deeds at all times so especially at the receiving of this blessed Sacrament for which I will now suppose thou hast prepared a large gift according to thy ability and art ready to offer the same with a chearfui countenance and a joyful heart b Offertorium enim olim cantari notant Rupert de divin off c 2. Isidor de Eccl. offic l. 1. c. 14. ut â—im in esse vide 1 Chron. 29 9. 2 Chron. 29.27 28 29. As an acknowledgment of the bounty of the Father who gave thee all that thou hast c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Liturg. S. Chrysost 1 Paral. 29. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo. and of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who though he was rich became poor that thou through his Poverty mightest be rich Look not therefore on the By-standers but lifting up thy Soul to God and bowing down thy head cast in thy mite into this Treasury with these or the like thoughts O Lord I give thee a small part of thine own who hast given me all my Earthly Comforts yea thy own Son out of thy bosom to become my Salvation and hast not disdained to adopt me an heir of thy Glories Oh that I could give a thousand times more thy love deserves it but this alas I give not as a requital of thy favour but a testimony how much more I owe unto thee but my Charities cannot extend to thee who needest nothing only sweetest Jesus I do gladly embrace my poor Brethren thy Friends whose Souls thou hast purchased with thy dearest blood and made them with me Heirs of the same glory I rejoice that thou accepted so small a matter to them as done to thy own self Behold therefore I beseech thee a Soul so sick and leprous poor and naked that it needs thy mercy more than the miserablest Creature in the World my Charity Oh how many and how earnest Prayers do I need Could I engage all the poor on Earth whose Prayers soonest pierce the Clouds I need all this and much more to make way for mine acceptance But O my Saviour this is a Day of grace in which thou scatterest thy bounties Wherefore remember my Soul which is undone without thy pitty and since thy mercies are infinitely greater than ours Lord do not pass me by Far be it from me to think so meanly of thy love as to esteem my Alms the purchase of it No no I do only by this small token give thee the Livery and Seisin of me and all mine and having vowed to pursue a more plorious interest and to seek thy Kingdom I do renounce the riches of this World which I will never value more than as they may serve to relieve thy members and mak me friends that I may be received into everlasting habitations Oh happy exchange and admirable way of Gain But so thou art wont to deal with us O God to accept trifles from us and give glories to us great and endless and inexpressible I adore thee O my Lord and I love thee infinitely and because no Earthly gift can bear proportion to such unspeakable goodness I will give my Soul also and it shall be thine for ever Amen SECT VII Of the Prayer for the whole Church § 1. AS the people of Israel were wont to bring their gifts and Sacrifices to the Temple and by the hands of the Priest to present them to Almighty God So are we appointed to give our Oblations into the hands of the Minister of Christ who by vertue of his Office may best recommend them with Prayers and Praises to the Majesty of Heaven and yet we must not neglect to join with him in these Supplications both to beg the acceptance of our offering and to shew that our Charity extendeth further than our Alms can reach for the benefit of these is received only by a few of our Neighbours but we ought to love all the World especially our Christian Brethren a Sapientes sapientibus etiam ignotis Amicos esse dixerunt Stoici ap Cicer even those who do not need or cannot have profit by our gifts And how can we express this better than by recommending them all to the mercies of God who is able to relieve them all and of whose bounty all have need Which excellent Duty though it be to be done daily yet at this Holy Sacrament it is most proper because we here behold the Universal love of Jesus and are declared lively Members of his Mystical body and conjoined in the strictest bonds of Union with all our fellow Christians Besides when can we more effectually intercede with God for the whole Church than when we represent and shew forth that most meritorious Passion on Earth b Eucharistia est commemoratio sola quae propitium facit Deum hominibus Orig. Hom. in Lev. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dionys Ep. ad Demoph by the vertue whereof our great High-Priest did once redeem and doth ever plead for his whole Church even now that he is in Heaven This Sacrament therefore hath been accounted the great Intercession and accordingly all the antient Liturgies did use such universal Intercessions and Supplications while this Mystery was in hand and in the time of St. Cyril there was a Prayer used c Super illa propitiationis hostia obsecramus Deum pro communi Ecclesiarum pace pro tranquillitate Mundi pro Regibus pro
would have men do by us if we were so served we should think we had good cause to be moved and do we well to be angry let us observe whether the Almighty have not higher provocations by our denying to come to this mysterious Solemnity For first Let us consider who it is that invites not our equal nor our superiour in a few degrees but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who shews admirable condescension in that he will admit us and doth grace us by this invitation with the greatest honour of which we are capable Ahasuerus might have taken it ill if his Princes Esther 1.3 and Herod if his Captains Mark 6.21 had not attended their Royal Festivals But for us to reject the Feast with God is more impudent than for a Beggar to slight the relief of an Emperour more base than for a Malefactor to refuse to eat at the Table of that King who had lately sealed his Pardon and were desirous to shew him some more peculiaâ— token of his love Secondly Consider we whaâ— it is which is provided for us in this Feast it is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the World And oh how much it cost to furnish the Holy Table thus Hâ—aven was ransackt and the Son of God taken fâ—om the embraces of his Bosom and cloathed with râ—gs of humanity instead of Robes of Glory but this is not all this Jesus must be slain with most exquisite torments he must smart and bleed and die his body must be all broken and his vital blood poured forth beâ—ore he could become our Sacramental food God could more easily and with less expence have slain all Creatures in the World to treat us but Heaven and Earth with all their store could afford no other food but this at which an offended God and his sinful Creatures could Feast together nothing could make such a Sacrament but the remainders of that Sacrifice which expiated the sins of the whole World And can we dare we refuse to tast of that which was so dearly bought for us Perhaps we think it is but one dish 'T is true but in this one it is verified what the Jews boasted of their Manna Wisdom 16.20 viz. that it contains all kinds of tasts and sutes it self to every Appetite Christ alone is all in all Meat and Medicine Pardon to the Penitent light to the ignorant strength to the weak and comfort to the troubled Spirit he is all that we need or can desire And do we slightly pass it by Thirdly Add to this that we who are the Persons invited do own God for our God and call Jesus our Lord nay we have in our Baptism vowed to be his Servants and Souldiers so that to go back when he calls is treacherously to withdraw t In versione Graecâ Liturg. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vide Hebr. 10.38 39. h. e. signis relictis è bello aufugere from our Allegiance and to break our Baptismal Vow And besides we do starve our Souls by depriving them of this Heavenly food u Vt perdunt propriam mortalia corporia vitam Si nequeunt escas sumere corporeas Sic animae nisi deliciis rationis alantur Dum verbi aeterni pane carent pereunt Nam quid erit quod dira procul fastidia pellat Cum se ipso refugit Mens saturare Deo Prosp so that we are false to God and injurious to our selves if we come not to this Feast Fourthly Let us weigh the Reason why our Heavenly Father hath invited us hither it is no ordinary Festival but a most mysterious Rite wherein because we are so unapt to be wrought upon unless it be by sensible x In ratione sacrorum par est animae corporis causa nam plerumque quae non possunt per animam fieri fiunt per Corpus Servius ad Aen. things the Symbols which may be seen and tasted are contrived to remember us of our great expiation to encourage us to rely upon it to express the willingness of Jesus to pardon and receive us We come hither to behold the price of our Redemption to embrace Christ with all his graces and that we may with all possible joy and gratitude surrender up our Souls and all our powers to his service for ever We come to praise God to pray for all the World to exercise the graces which we have and to procure those which we want Wherefore let us take good heed lest by abstaining and refusing this Divine Ordinance we be found rejecters of Christ and despisers of the offers of his grace He that neglecteth that Ordinance wherein the whole design of the Gospel is Acted by the prepared Communicant wherein our Saâ—â—our is held out and remembred given and received will scarce acquit himself by pretending that he doth all this by Faith at home for if so why do not we act our Faith in Gods way or why do we omit the solemnity unless we would not be so publickly obliged We pretend we fear we shall offend God if we come But do we not anger him more by staying away without any endeavours to be fitted Is not God tender of having his love abused and his Son despised Can we think he will not be displeased at us whenas in this one act we affront his goodness and slight our own Salvation § 6. It is an easie matter for a man to say I will not Communicate because I am otherwise hindred with Worldly business But such excuses are not so easily accepted and allowed before God If the Lord would dispense with our Obedience as often and as easily as we can find out an Apology for our neglect we should never do any duty at all for he that is unwilling to obey and desirous to be deceived shall never want excuses so long as Satan can suggest them and though they be slight and trifling and such as we would not accept from our Neighbour yet we are so favourable in our own cause that we fancy they are sufficient to clear us before God but alas such excuses do never make the sin less and yet they make the Sinner more apt to do evil and more confident when he hath committed it Wherefore the Church doth prudently vouchsafe to examine the most principal of those poor pretences by which men are wont to put off their Communicating and to give them a particular answer First Our Worldly business and appointments our Company and concerns are such we say as cannot at this time be dispensed with And it is though rarely yet sometimâ—s possible some occasion may fall out which can not be put off nor could not be foreseen and yet must not be neglected and then it may for once excuse us but the Church minds us that this is not so easily accepted by God who knows the true state of our affairs as it is alledged by men to palliate their own unwillingness For First The Almighty
of our Lips can be sufficient we are here prescribed another way to make our thanks to be continual viz. by glorifying God in our Lives And this we may effectually do 1. By resigning up our selves to the disposal of his providence 2. By yielding obedience to all his holy Commandments 1. By our submission to his will we glorifie him by declaring that through these tokens of his favour we are so satisfied of his Wisdom and his Love that we can be confident that whatsoever he shall appoint is good for us We tell all the World that whatsoever comes from God is just and holy wisely ordered graciously designed and full of mercy 2. By our serving him in Holiness we express how highly we are obliged to him how sure we are of the excellency of his Laws and how fully we are Conquered by his amazing love and thus the praises of God are writ in plain and real Characters in the lives of contented and righteous men so that all the World may read them The Eucharist is but for one hour the Hymns will soon be over but by Submission and Obedience we may glorifie our God continually and every moment Amen SECT II. Of the immediate Invitation § 1. THE Guests being come and the provisions ready it was the office of the Governour of the Feast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John 2.9 to make them sit down which place the Disciples sustained in that miraculous feeding of the 5000. John 6.10 as an Emblem that they and their Successors should do it ever after in this Coelestial Banquet Thus our Church according to the Custom of the Primitive Christians orders the Priest to invite the Communicants to draw near So in that antient Book which bears the name of Dionysius the Areop we read the holy Man used to say Come my Brethren unto this holy Communion a Dionys Eccles Hier. cap. 3. And in the Liturgies of St. Chrysostome and St. James Come near with fear and Faith b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Liturg S. Chrys And in the Constitutions Coming in Order with reverence and holy fear c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Constit Apost l. 2. c. 57. Yet we do not only call men to this holy Feast but withal we mind them again of those qualifications without which God will not accept and receive them We do not saith St. Chrysost d Chrysost hom 24. in 1. ad Corinth exhort men to destroy themselves by impudent and rude approaches but that they may come with fear and purity unto the Lord We tell them all that unless they have truly repented and are in perfect Charity and have intire purposes of amendment they can neither come with Faith receive with Comfort nor depart with a blessing In the Olympick Games the Cryer by Proclamation enquired If any could accuse the Agonist to have been a Slave a Thief or of Evil Conversation for no such were allowed to strive there But our Herald saith the aforesaid Author makes his appeal to our own Consciences and makes us our own Accusers e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys ad Heb. 9. Eth. for every man best knows his own heart and each one is most concerned for his own safety therefore let us be ingenuous and deal truly between God and our Souls in this affair if our own hearts tell us we are not thus qualified in any measure we ought to forbear if we be in any tolerable degrees thus disposed I may say as they once to the blind man Mark 10.49 Arise be of good Comfort he calleth you When the Servant calls you in the name and by the rules of his great Master you are to repute it as the very words of Christ himself and to believe that he invites you It is recorded as the great honour of the famous Pindar f Scholias Graec. in ejus vitâ Lil. Greg. Giraldus Dialog 9. that the Priest of Apollo did by order from the God invite him frequently to Feast upon the remainders of his Sacrifices But how much more honour and Comfort hath the true Christian in being thus lovingly called by Jesus himself Come ye blessed of the Lord draw near with Faith and Feast with holy Joy and Comfort Let not the sense of former sins which you have repented of keep you back but bring you hither more humbly for the very next duty you are to perform is to ease your Soul of those sad remembrances by a meek and hearty Confession concerning which the Church gives you a full direction in two words 1. For the temper of your Souls that you make it with humility and Contrition 2. For the posture of your Bodies that you do it upon your bended knees as Shimei confest his Treason to King David 2 Sam. 19.18 and as all Criminals Petition mortal Princes for their Pardon Put therefore your outward and inward man into this posture so shall you be fit to repeat the adjoining Confession to which we shall turn our discourse when we have given you the Analysis and Paraphrase of this Invitation and so made it sufficiently plain to all The Analysis of the Invitation Sect. 2. This Invitation consists of three parts The Qualifications required in those that are invited viz. 1. Repentance Ye that do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins 2. Charity And art in Love and Charity with your Neighbours 3. Holy purposes And intend to lead a new life following the Commandments of God and walking from henceforth in his holy ways 2. The Invitation it self Draw near with Faith and take this Holy Sacrament to your Comfort 3. A direction as to 1. The duty next to be done And make your humble Confession to Almighty God 2. The manner of doing it Meekly kneeling upon your knees The Paraphrase of the Invitation § 3. O all Ye that do sincerely and truly passionately and earnestly repent you of all your former iniquities and your sins which ye have committed And ye that have cast away all malice and are in a perfect state of Love and Charity with every one of your Neighbours And ye that condemning your by-past folly do resolve and intend to lead a new life taking Jesus for your guide following the Commandments of God fully and walking from henceforth unblameably in his holy ways in the name of Christ I bid you that are so qualified to draw near to this holy Table with Faith in your Saviours mercy and take this Holy Sacrament the pledge of his love to your great and endless Comfort only because you must have no secret accusations of Conscience to disturb your joy in this blessed Feast Open your heart to the Lord once more And make your humble Confession with great sorrow and contrition to Almighty God and that in the lowlyest posture meekly kneeling upon your knees to beg your Pardon from the King of Kings SECT III. Of the Confession § 1. BEsides those publick Confessions in the reconciliation of notorious Offenders
profess if we had not been encouraged by his love and goodness and commanded by his own Precept we durst not have approached to these terrible mysteries Yet since it is our bounden duty and a service so fit so just and reasonable we may hope he will accept us not because we are worthy or have done any thing to merit his favour but because he is merciful y Non aestimator meriti sed veniae largitor Ambros Rom. Missal and apt to forgive our failings if he should take a measure of the worth of our Sacrifice by the Holiness of the offerers z Qui petit primo debet attendere ut pro suis meritis nihil accepturum se putet sed de Dei misericordiâ tantum Bern. in sent it is sure ours would be rejected and therefore it is best for us to fly to his mercy For the best of Gods Saints whose devotion far excelled ours have set us this Example and found it the wisest and safest way I confess to thy goodness saith St. Ambrose that I am not worthy to come near to so great a mystery for my manifold sins But thou canst make me worthy Wherefore although a Sinner I come to thy Altar to offer the Sacrifice which thou hast appointed Whose example we may follow by this or the like Act of Humility O thou all-seeing and most holy Lord God I have been admitted to make an Oblation of my praises and my self unto thee and I am infinitely concerned that thou shouldst accept me therein not for any merit in me but for thy own mercy sake O my God thou knowest I have been polluted with Sin undutiful to thy commands unfaithful to my promises unmindful of my obligations confederate with thy Enemies yea and even in the time of these holy mysteries so obdurate and confused that I might justly fear lest my wretchedness should make my Sacrifice an abomination I blush that I am no fitter I lament that I should bring so many defilements where the purity of an Angel is scarce sufficient but I take sanctuary in thy most obliging condescensions and because I am so unworthy I will endeavour to esteem my self as vile as I really am in thy sight O do not look upon the deserts of a wretched sinner but remember thy own mercies and accept what thou hast required of me And so shall thy favour be more illustrious because it is bestowed upon so undeserving a Creature and the sense of my unworthiness shall enlarge my thankfulness and make me praise thee more than if I had approached with all perfections § 8. Through Iesus Christ our Lord by whom and with whom in the unity of the Holy Ghost all honour and glory be unto thee O Father Almighty World without end Amen When the people prayed without Luke 1.10 they directed their faces toward the Temple and the Priest who was there offering Incense but we have much more reason to lift up our hearts to our great High Priest who is now entred into the Heavens and doth there present most perfect intercessions and unreproveable Mediations for us We know our own services to be altogether imperfect wherefore we do here declare that our only hopes of Acceptance and Pardon is Through Jesus Christ by whom we are directed to offer the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving Heb. 13.15 as we here do in this present Doxology which comes very near to the antient form used in this Office a Audi quid dicat sacerdos Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum in quo tibi est cum quo tibi est honor laus gloria magnificentia potestas cum Spiritu Sancto à seculis nunc semper in omnia secula seculorum Amen Ambros de sacr l. 6. c. 5. and doth glorifie the whole Trinity from every person whereof we have now received peculiar testimonies of grace and favour and I wish that we may do it with a devotion proportionable to the great Obligations now laid upon us and then it will be accepted according to our desire Amen The Paraphrase of the first Prayer § 9. O Lord whom though we may make bold to call our Heavenly Father through Christ Jesus yet We esteem it our honour to be accounted thy humble Servants Having now finished this great mystery we do most heartily and entirely desire thy Fatherly goodness to pass by our failings therein as the infirmities of thy own Children and beseech thee mercifully to accept this our Oblation of our selves together with our Eucharistical Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving for the sufferings and merits of our Redeemer Most humbly deseeching thee who hast given such a Sacrifice for us and in this holy Sacrament offered the benefits thereof unto us That thou wilt please to grant that it may not be in vain to us or any of thy people But that â—y the merits of the Passion and death of thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christ which we have now commemorated and through a lively Faith in his blood which was shed for us Both We who have now Communicated and thy whole Church throughout the World may receive a free Pardon and full remission of our Sins And also obtain reconciliation and adoption sanctification and power against sin assurances of peace hopes of glory and all other benefits of his all-saving Passion And here at thy Altar where thou hast re-minded us of thy giving thy Son for us and where thou hast offered to make a League with us in his most precious blood We offer not only the praises of our lips which are too mean a return for such favour but we dedicate and present unto thee O Lord that which thou chiefly requirest and all that we have to give even our selves wholly and entire all the powers of our Souls and all the members of our Bodies designing them absolutely to thy service and intending them to be a reasonable holy and lively Sacrifice and therefore we have consecrated them unto thee And we hope thou wilt accept us for thine own and never suffer us to be enslaved to sin hereafter And that we may keep this vow we do here crave thy gracious assistance humbly beseeching thee to send thy holy Spirit to take possession of our hearts so that all we who are partakers of the outward part of this holy Communion being made thine may be fullfilled and replenished in Soul and Body with thy grace within us and thy Heavenly benediction upon us And although we confess thou maist justly charge us to be unworthy through the stain and the guilt of our manifold sins which mingle with all our duties to offer unto thee so pure and holy a Majesty any Sacrifice of Praise or to make any Oblations before thee Yet we have ventured in hopes of thy goodness upon this â—acred mystery and we do beseech thee to accept this our imperfect endeavour as a testimony of our desire to please thee since it is our bounden Duty to shew
sins of the World receive our Prayer Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father have mercy upon us As the Father is the Object so the Son is the Subject of the Angelick Praises wherefore in the next place we are to glorifie him who is remembred and represented given by God and received by us in this Mystery It is usual at the Entertainment of great Princes by a Herauld to proclaim their Names Stile and Titles with great solemnity Even so the pious Soul which hath now received her dearest Lord doth with a mighty pleasure repeat all the names belonging to his Person to his Nature and his Offices and thereby declare the Majesty and Glory the Mercy and Goodness of him whom she hath now accepted for her Lord and King And whilst we are setting out his glories we do also invocate him by all these honourable and endearing Names that he will imploy his Power his Interest and Merits to make our Persons and our Prayers acceptable We behold him dying for the sins of all the World and we cannot but beseech him to grant our Pardon We discern him sitting at the right hand of the Father interceeding for us and thereby we are encouraged to beseech him to pitty our miseries and accomplish our desires His glory and our necessity makes us beg this with ingeminated cries and a redoubled importunity saying as he once in his Agony did the very same words And thus we do at once provide for our own relief and do honour to the Blessed Jesus for this part is so contrived that it is a Confession of our Faith an acknowledgment of his Glory a Prayer and a Tanksgiving all in one and thus we may reduce it to a practical Meditation How shall we express thy welcom into our Souls Blessed Jesus or how shall we celebrate thy praise We will remember what thou art in thy self and what thou hast done for us for thou art glorious enough in thy own perfections O thou Eternal and only begotten Son of God equal to the Father who art thy self both Lord and God How lovely art thou O thou innocent Lamb of God encircled with millions of redeemed Souls whom thou hast washed in thy blood O how illustrious a brightness shines round about thee whilst thou art in the midst of all thy happiness interceding for poor Sinners I adore thee and long to do thee honour and I delight to see all the Angels of Heaven worshipping thee my Lord and my God Hast thou merited so much on Earth and hast thou so much glory in Heaven sweetest Saviour then sure I cannot perish Behold how many poor Souls are prostrate before thee admiring and publishing the merits of thy Death and the power of thy intercession hear our importunate Supplications and help us all therefore O Lord that we may be able by experience to proclaim thy goodness Amen § 6. For thou only art holy thou only art the Lord thou only O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most high in the glory of God the Father Amen This Phrase thou only art holy with some others in this Hymn are taken out of the Song of Moses and of the Lamb Revel 15.4 as that thou only art the Lord is from the first Ep. Tim. 6.15 g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apoc. 15.4 Vulg. Solus Pius es 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Timoth. 6.15 Non quod non aliis is titulus aliquo sensu tribuatur sed quia hoc quicquid est à Deo venit Grot. in 1 Tim. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Responsor ad Quaest Graec. There are indeed holy Angels and Saints and there are Lords many 1 Cor. 8.5 Yet none of these have a propriety in this Title because their holiness is imperfect and derived Only Jesus is Holy in and of himself and of his holiness all others do receive He is Holy and Hallowed because he halloweth and sanctifieth us as the Liturgy of St. James paraphraseth it h Solus tu sanctus es qui sanctificas sanctificaris Liturg. S. Jacob. He only is that Lord saith St. Augustine i Solus verus Dominus es qui Dominum non habes Aug. Confes l. 10. c. 36. who hath no other Lord above him For he only with the Holy Ghost is equal to the Father God blessed for ever And this is the reason why we exalt him so highly and pass by the Mediation of Saints and Angels because none is so holy none so mighty none so high in the favour of God nor none so gracious and loving to us as Jesus is This we do acknowledge therefore with all possible joy and triumph and it is a mighty rejoicing to our Spirits that he who hath given himself for us and is come to dwell with us is so High and so Magnificent And while it doth chear our hearts to set forth his glory our Enemies are confounded For while the Church triumphs the powers of darkness tremble at the mention of his perfections Let us then refresh our selves with some such Meditation We have exalted thee O Lord as high as we can and yet scarcely so high as really thou art We will apply our selves to thee only for Holiness for thou only art most Holy we will seek for succour and protection from thee for thou art the supream Lord of Lords and we will not doubt of acceptance with our Heavenly Father because thou art a Partner in his Divinity the highest Favourite of the Coelestial Court Thou art the greatest and the best in Heaven and Earth and to my endless comfort whatsoever thou art thou hast made thy self mine so that the greater thy glory is the greater is my happiness now by Faith hereafter by enjoyment 'T is true I cannot see thee with my bodily Eyes but I admire and bless thee I love thee with ecstasies of affection for thou art my Lord and I am thy servant I feel thy influence and I believe thy excellencies so that I can rejoice in thee with joy unspeakable and full of glory Thou art the highest in thy Fathers favour and in my esteem also to thee therefore with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory now and for ever Amen The Paraphrase of the Angelick Hymn § 7. O come let us join with the Heavenly Host and sing Praises for the Redemption wrought by Jesus which bringeth so much Glory to God who dwells on high from all the Saints and Angels and which makes on Earth such a blessed Peace by reconciling us all to God and to one another and which also declares so great good will in the Almighty towards Men who had perished eternally without his Mercy Holy Father it is we that receive the benefit of this thy goodness wherefore We praise thee for the Power and we bless thee for the mercy of this great Salvation We worship thee with our Bodies and we glorifie thee with our Souls for thou hast redeemed them both We give
IMPRIMATUR Jan. 21. 1673 4 C. Smith R. P. D. Episc Lond. à sacris domesticis A COMPANION TO THE ALTAR Or an HELP To the worthy receiving of the LORDS SVPPER By Discourses and Meditations upon the whole COMMUNION OFFICE To which is added An ESSAY upon the OFFICES OF Baptism and Confirmation By THO. COMBER M. A. LONDON Printed by J. Macock for John Martyn at the Bell in St Pauls Church-Yard and Richard Lambert at York MDCLXXV TO THE MOST REVEREND Father in GOD RICHARD By the Divine Providence Lord ARCHBISHOP OF YORK Primate of ENGLAND and METROPOLITAN May it please your Grace I Have often with much pleasure and admiration observed how rarely every part of Divine Service is suited to its proper Subject whereof there needs no better instance than that which is under our present Consideration The Communion is the most sublime Duty of Christianity the Compendium of Religion the best opportunity for Repentance the highest exercise of Faith and the strongest engagement to our Charity and accordingly it is fitted with an Office agreeable to its usefulness and grandeur wherein the Directions are full and perspicuous the Exhortations vigorous and importunate the Devotions fervent and expressive of more than ordinary affections an Office wherein equal regard is had to the Majesty of the Ordinance and the advantage of the Receivers to the Custom of the Antient and the benefit of the present times So that the illustration of this one Part of Liturgy will contain Arguments to convince the Negligent Instructions to teach the Ignorant and be the properest method to prepare us for this Sacrament to assist us in Receiving and to confirm us in all Holiness and Vertue afterwards yea I dare affirm that he who will conscientiously practise by these measures can neither be an Ill Man an Vnworthy Receiver or an Enemy to that Church which affords him such excellent means of Salvation Wherefore that these endeavours may be made publick with more Advantage I have been bold to recommend them to your Graces Patronage and that with great reason For their subject being of the highest Mystery and their design to adorn the most eminent Office of the Church could no where be more justly presented than to your Grace who beside the Dignity of your Primacy and the honour of so High a Station in this Church are so known a Lover and Patron of all its Primitive Administrations Besides your Grace hath a peculiar title to the Author as well as a Right in the subject of this Discourse for he first received the Holy Order of Priesthood and the Power of Dispensing this Sacrament a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. ep ad Smyr Apost Can. 39. Concil Laodic Can. 57. from your Graces Hands to whom therefore he will ever pay the Reverence and Observance due to a Spiritual Father b Esto subjectus Pontifici tuo quasi animae parentem suscipe Hieron ad Nepot Ep. 2. In fine I am obliged to make this Tender by my Condition and my Duty by Gratitude and Affection And your Graces fair Approbation of my first Essay encourageth this to hope for a Candid acceptance both as it is a Testimony of my Respect and as it may minister to the Devotion of those who approach to Gods Altar My Lord There is nothing more useful to the friends of this Church nor more convincing to the dissenters from it than to present her pure and Primitive Order of Worship in its natural and lovely splendor whereof by the Divine mercy I have seen some Experiments from my former attempt and if this may prevail also to undeceive the seduced to amend the prophane and to elevate the devotion of Pious Men I shall have all I aimed at in this Work only I most gladly comply with this Opportunity to testifie my self Your Graces Most dutiful Son and most humble Servant Tho. Comber THE INTRODVCTION Of the Communion Service in general with the reason and use of this Vndertaking § 1. WHatsoever benefits we now enjoy or hope hereafter to receive from Almighty God are all purchased by the Death and must be obtained through the Intercession of the Holy Jesus And for a perpetual memorial hereof we are not only taught to mention his name in our daily Prayers John 14.13 15.16 but are also commanded by visible signs to Commemorate and set forth his Passion in the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11.26 wherein by a more forcible rite of Intercession a Fideles etiam inter orandum Christum afferunt Deo Patri victimam dum scilicet mente affectuque ad sacrificium ejus unicum feruntur ut Deum sibi habeant faciantque propitium Anon. apud Med. Chris Sacrif Sect. 3. we beg the Divine Acceptance That which is more compendiously expressed in the Conclusion of our Prayers through Iesus Christ our Lord is more fully and more vigorously set out in this most holy Sacrament Wherein we Interceed on Earth in Imitation of and Conjunction with the great Intercession of our High Priest in Heaven Pleading here in the Vertue and Merits of the same Sacrifice which he doth urge there for us And because of this Sympathy and near Alliance between these two Offices of Praying and Communicating we find the Eucharist in the purest Ages of the Church was a daily b Act. 2.42 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Companion of their Common-Prayer So that there is no Ancient Liturgy but doth suppose and direct the Celebration of this Sacrament as constantly as the use of Publick Prayers they being never separated but in the Case of Novices or offending secluded Christians who only had the benefit of the Petitions but were shut out before the Mysteries were begun And though the iniquity of our Age hath made the Imitation of this sublime Example rather to be wished for than expected Yet the Consideration thereof may both humble us for the sad decay of Christian Devotion and also shew us what Excellent reason our Church had to annex so much of this Communion Office to the usual Prayers of all our more solemn Assemblies § 2. As to the particular Form of this part of the Divine Service Our Church hath taken the same liberty therein which others had done before them For since our great Master who did Institute this Sacrament haâ—h not prescribed any particular Form for the Administration thereof in holy Writ there have been in all the first Ages many Liturgies composed suitable to the places and times for which they were designed Such are those which now bear the names of St. Peter and St. Barnabas but especially the Liturgy of Hierusalem called from St. James and that of Alexandria named St. Marks and that of the famous Clemens Most of which though with some Corruptions are still extant And yet notwithstanding St. Basil St. Chrysostom and St. Ambrose did every one of them compile a several Liturgy for their several Churches and yet all different from the Roman Missal
Eyes all things lie open If we were to pass the strictest humane Examination our thoughts would be unobserved and unpunished but we are now to pass a nearer Scrutiny for in this Ordinance our God comes into see the Guests Math. 22.12 and as the Priest in the Temple to search the very Inwards of those who are about to offer up themselves to him Secondly If we complain that our hearts are deceitful Jerem. 17.9 so that we have neither strength to root out nor skill to discover all the Corruptions that are lodged there Let us look up to him who is able to help us in cleansing this Augaean Stable for we may be assured if he see it is our unfeigned desire to be purified his Omnipotence shall not be imployed to ruine us but to destroy our Lusts and his Omniscience not to find them out to our shame but to our amendment And thus the same Attributes that did terrifie us from rude and impure approaches will incourage us again to draw near by shewing us how we may be cleansed § 4. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the Inspiration of thy holy Spirit This Petition is the Paraphrase of Davids Prayer Psal 51.6 7. Make me a clean heart c. and the moral of all those c Psal 26.6 Lavabo ut rem divinam faciam Plaut procul ite profani washings used by Jews and Gentiles before they came to the Altar And it is the more necessary for us because we are not only entring upon the most solemn part of Gods worship but also in hope that Jesus himself is coming to lodg in our hearts Wherefore being conscious that we are overspread with the Leprosie of Sin while we are yet a great way off Luke 17.12 13. We cry out unclean unclean Levit. 13.45 46. And do call upon Jesus saying Lord if thou wilt thou canst make us clean Mâ—th 8.2 For unless he cleanse us before we come too near He will either abhor us and our offerings Or at least those impure thoughts like Abrahams Fowls will steal away the benefit and the Comfort of our Sacrifice and while our bodies are in the holy place d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo leg Allegor carry our minds after abominable things leaving a Carcass before the Altar And therefore that no filthy imaginations may defile us nor secular thoughts disturb us Let us pray to be inspired with that purifying Spirit Psal 51.10 11. which will not only eject but keep out all evil affections and preserve the possâ—ssion for the blessed Jesus For he that took up a pure lodging for our Lord in the Virgins Womb must also prepare his Apartment in our Souls if ever we have his Company It is not with Notions or sublime Revelations but with holy inclinations and pure affections that we desire to be inspired which are more excellent in themselves and more necessary for this Heavenly Feast § 5. That we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnify thy holy Name throuâ—h Iesus Christ our Lord Amen It is a great affliction to a truly pious man to find that his heart retains the least affection to iniquity since he desires to love God with all his Soul and with all his strength and to worship him with all his power But whilest sin hath a party within and is a Rival to our Lord We cannot perfectly love him nor worthily praise him no not in this holy Sacrament in which we ought to profess that we love nothing more than God nay nothing equal to him and to shew forth the greatness and goodness of our Redeemer to all the World We are therefore taught to intreat so earnestly for a pure heart lest by any secret delight in wickedness our protestations of love should be adjudged feigned and our praises hypocrisie by him that sees we affect something more dearly and magnifie and esteem it more highly than we do God himself We cannot indeed love God so much as he deserves but if we love him sincerely that is accounted perfectly And although we cannot sufficiently set forth all the praise of which he is worthy e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non semper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sed qualemcunque convenientiam denotat Grot. in Math. 10.11 Bene itaque Graeca versio Petlaei hoc loco 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet when we value him in our hearts above all things we are accounted to magnifie him worthily f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non magnum efficere sed magnum praedicare Deum Psal 34.3 Act. 10.46 that is suitably in some measure to his goodness Now since it is such a happiness thus to love and thus to praise God we must desire a clean heart the necessary means thereof through the merits and for the sake of Jesus Christ and then we may be assured that so excellent a thing asked for so noble an end and by so powerful and ingaging a name can never be denied to us and so this Prayer shall have its desired effect Amen The Paraphrase of the Collect for Purity § 6. O Almighty God whose power is terrible to all that approach thee with polluted Souls because thou art that Majesty unto whom the thoughts and imaginations of all hearts be open and apparent all Desires and wishes after any evil are known and evident And the God from whom no secrets in word or deed are hid or by any policy can be concealed The remembrance of our impurity makes us fear to draw near to thee till we have implored thee who alone art able to help us herein to cleanse and purge out all the thoughts of evil which are so commonly the Guests of our hearts lest they provoke thy pure Eyes to pass us by with abhorrency and deprive us of the comfort and benefit of this Communion Blessed Lord prepare thy lodging in our Souls by the inspiration of those pure thoughts and Heavenly desires which are the fruit of thy holy Spirit and the Harbingers of the King of Glory that we may as it is our unfeigned desire at all times and above all things most sincerely and perfectly love thee that thou maist have no secret lust to be thy Rival in our hearts and that we may also especially in this Sacrifice of Praise worthily magnify and agreeably set forth the glory of thy holy Name in giving so illustrious a Salvation to us through Christ Jesus for whose sake we beseech thee to hear us for he is thy Son and shall be our Lord for ever Amen SECT III. Of the Ten Commandments § 1. AS Moses by the special command of God did sanctifie the people before the first promulgation of this Law Exod. 19.14 15. So it is our care in the preceeding Collect that all may be pure which are now to hear it For Gods Law is so holy that such as have hearts defiled with the love of Sin are neither a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato Psal 19.8 9. worthy to
need be and never desert his interest either for cost or peril which Prayer we must not only make with respect to our temporal felicity but as duly considering that the Almighty and invisible Governour of the World doth not Rule us immediately by himself but by Kings to whom he hath delegated his Authority So that they bear his Name and act by his Power g Exod. 22.28 Psal 82.1.6 Dii i. e. Judices qui potestatem Dei exercent Ab. Ez. And such as Rebell h Quicunque obfirmat faciem suaem contra Regem perinde est ac si obfirmaret faciem contra Divinam Majestatem Midr. Cohel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Const do fight against God Act. 5.39 oppose his word and resist his Ordinance Rom. 13.2 Wherefore we desire grace to obey not only for fear of wrath but for the Lords sake 1 Pet. 11.13 that is for Conscience sake Rom. 13.5 And this will produce the firmest and readiest obedience to all the Commands of our Governours when we observe them as subordinate to the Laws of God Eph. 6.1 in the Lord i Sed intra limites Disciplinae Tertul. Quia poterant aliquid imperare perversum ideo adjunxit in Domino Hieron in Eph. 6. Superiorum imperia Dura Declinanda sensim relinquenda magis sunt quam Respuenda Aul. Gell. Noct. At. l. 2. c. 7. as far as they do not contradict the plain will of the Almighty and for the Lord Rom. 13.1 that is because of his Authority vested in them And thus the best Christian will be the best Subject Let us therefore most fervently beg that we may all be conscientiously obedient and if we desire that heartily we shall not only obtain grace from God to be so but this Petition is an evidence we are already loyal And were it sincerely put up by all there could be no Treason nor Rebellion harboured in our Breasts but we should live in peace and please God adorn the Gospel Tit. 11.10 oblige the King and declare to all the World that it is not only the Duty but the Interest of Princes to defend the Religion of this Church which makes the best men and loyallest Subjects in the World § 6. Through Iesus Christ our Lord who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth ever one God World without end Amen It was a false and malicious calumny of the Jews that the Kingdom of Iesus was inconsistent with the Empire of Caesar for Obedience to Kings was never so enjoined and asserted before as it was by Christ and his Apostles And he himself hath told us that he is a King but no Rival to the Monarchs of this Earth For his Throne is in Heaven And his proper Subjects Saints and Angels k John 18.36 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb He reigns but it is with the Father and the Holy Ghost for ever For his sake therefore we may pray for the welfare of Temporal Kingdoms who hath power both to dispense them on Earth Math. 28.18 and to command blessings from Heaven on them especially on such Princes who are the Guardians of his beloved Church who own his Supremacy and daily confess and praise Him that liveth and Reigneth for ever The Paraphrase of the first Collect. § 7. Almighty God who art always ready to help us since thou art that King whose Kingdom is Everlasting and All sufficient to relieve us since thou art in Power infinite We beg not single or small Mercies of so great a Majesty but beseech thee to Have mercy upon all the Members of thy whole Church And especially that part thereof planted in these Nations which will be truly happy if it may please thee so graciously to direct the Counsels and so constantly to rule the heart of thy chosen and anointed Servant CHARLES by thy Providence and his undoubted right our King and Governour That He always remembring his Authority to flow from thee and knowing whose Minister and Vicegerent he is even the Deputy of thy Heavenly Majesty may above and before all things seek by defending Religion executing Justice and shewing mercy to advance thy honour and glory for he in so doing will ingage us all to praise thee for setting so wise and gracious a Prince over us And to compleat his and our happiness Grant that we and all others whom thou hast placed in the condition of his Subjects seriously and duly considering that for thy sake whose Authority he hath we owe him all duty and Allegiance may faithfully serve him with our Prayers Lives and Fortunes and also honour him in his person with our hearts and humbly obey him in his Laws by our whole Conversation so far as is possible in thee by the help of thy grace and for thee and for thy sake by a conscientious and exact Obedience according to the Commands of thy blessed word the appointment and Ordinance of thy Supream Providence O Lord let us be so happy to obtain this through the Merits of our great High Priest Iesus Christ who hath enjoined this Obedience and is our Lord who sets up Christian Princes on Earth to rule under him who with thee the Father and the Holy Ghost most gloriously liveth and reigneth in Heaven ever one God in that World which is without end and yet not forgetting us that are his Members in this changeable and uncertain World for his sake be it so Amen Of the second Collect for the King § 8. This Prayer is only added to help our Devotion with a greater variety but being as to the main so little different from the former it shall suffice to remark that the Petitions are here grounded on a never failing l Matth. 24.35 Foundation the word of God viz. Prov. 21.1 The Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord as the Rivers of Waters he turneth it whithersoever he will Although the Kings heart be unsearchable to men Prov. 25.3 and his purposes seldom to be alter'd by any of his Inferiors Yet Almighty God hath shewed many instances m Ezra 1.1 7.28 9.9 Neh. 1.11 Dan. 3.28 Rev. 17.17 that he can change the Decrees of the greatest Monarchs and as the Gardener n See Hammond on Psal 1.3 by opening certain Sluces can direct the streams of his Water-courses to which part of his Plantation he pleaseth So can the King of Kings direct the Counsels and turn the designs of all mortal Princes to his own glory and the prosperity of his Church To increase our wealth at home to secure us against foreign Enemies and defend us in the Exercise of the true Religion is the care of our gracious King the Prayer of all good Subjects and the end of government it self o See 1 Tim. 2.2 Vt placidam quietam vitam degamus cum omni pietate honestate Quid enim aliud est imperium nisi cura salutis alienae Ammian Mercellin and therefore let us rejoice that we have
observeth the Ordinances of Religion confidently f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. Apol. saith unto me Thou art my Saviour Lord wilt thou not own me Lord who have ever called thee Master I say it this be all not any one of these pretenders shall enter into the glories of the Kingdom of Heaven or be accepted by me then But he that doth acts of Mercy and Charity which is the command and the Will of my Father which doth good to all himself and ever is in Heaven whither I must not admit any that do not please him by being merciful § 5. Luke 19.8 If the Precepts and Exhortations work not on you perhaps this Example may Behold a Publican usually the worst of Men who had received that Christ into his House whom you are to receive into your hearts by the Words of Jesus wholly changed into justice and liberality Paraphrase And while the Lord was Preaching of Justice and Charity Zacheus a chief of the Publicans who entertained him stood forth before many Witnesses and said of his own accord with great Devotion unto the Lord Jesus I confess I have loved the World too well but Behold Lord thy sayings have now wrought in me such a contempt of these things that to shew how much I prize Heaven above Wealth Lo the half of my goobs and great Estate I give at Pesent to thee to be disposed to the Poor nor do I keep the other half out of any love to Riches but desire to do justly And if in my exacting Office I have taken any thing more than was due from any Man Poor or Rich by false accusation or bribery Let him come and challenge me of the wrong and here I restore him fourfold which is more than the Law requires where there hath been no denial nor alienation Exod. 22.1 2 3 4. § 6. 1 Corinth 9.7 The next care of the Church is to shew us who are the objects of our Charity viz. The Ministers in the next five Sentences And secondly All especially the Christian poor Gal. 6.10 First The Ministers for it is evident by these places and Heb. 13.10 as also by the Writings of St. Cyprian and all the Antient Canons g Episcopus Presbyteri inter Diaconos reliques clericos eas oblatione scil dividunt Can. Apost 5. Si quid ex collatione fidelium offertur apud unum Clericorum fidelitèr colligatur constituto tempore semel aut his in anno inter omnes clericos dividatur Concil Bracor can 39. Vid. Concil Agathens can 26. Decret Epist Simplic Pont. R. 3. that the Clergy were chiefly maintained out of the oblations made at the Communion until Ihe Piety of Christian Kings had otherwise provided so that it was very ancient to exhort the people at this Sacrament to liberality to Gods Minister from whom they did here receive so great a gift as the Body of Jesus Christ Nor is it fit to leave out these sentences now because in many places still especially in Cities and appropriate Churches the Ministers chief maintenance is Free-gifts and Oblations especially at Easter These parts therefore of Gods word ought to stir up all People not to think the bare Dues sufficient where the Minister hath not an honourable Provision but privately where the custom of the Priests sharing in the offerings at Church is now laid aside to give some considerable gratuity to him that ministers to them in spiritual things Now to the Texts St. Paul urgeth liberality to the Ministers First by Similitudes for as to the dangers of their Calling they are likened to Souldiers h 2 Tim. 2.3 4. as to their pains to Husbandmen and Vine-Dressers i 2 Tim. 2.6 Math. 20.1 as to their love and care k Acts 20.28 Ezek. 34 c. they are compared to Shepherds Now all these have profit by that they labour in Ergo. Paraphrase The office of the Ministry requireth more pains and care than any Profession and therefore ought to be maintained at least as well as any Now who goeth a Souldier to warfare at any time in defence of his Country of his own cost Doth not his Prince and Nation for which he fighteth give him Wages Or who planteth Vines and dresseth a Vineyard that would think his time well bestowed if he drinketh not of the Wine and eateth not of the Fruit which groweth thereof Or who feedeth and waiteth on a Flock of Sheep if he getteth no profit by them and eateth not of the Milk and cloatheth not himself with the Wool of the flock if he might not have this reward of his care he would soon be weary of his charge and so may Ministers also § 7. 1 Cor. 9.11 Secondly He proves it from Reason because the people receive from them greater and better things which if they value according to their worth all that they can give will appear far short of a requital Paraphrase It is most reasonable you should be bountiful to the Messengers of Salvation for If we Ministers in Praying for you Preaching and Administring the Sacraments to you have sow that Seed of Grace which will procure unto you Eternal life and have ever dispensed to you all spiritual things for the good of your Souls Is it too much or seems it a great matter if in requital for Heavenly blessings sown we shall reap some small part of your Worldly things for the supply of our necessities § 8. 1 Cor 9.13 14. Most of these Corinthians had been first Jewish Proselytes and now become Christians wherefore the Apostle sets before them the known Example of the provisions for the Priests under the Law ver 13. and secondly Propounds unto them the Ordinance of Christ in the Gospel ver 14. Paraphrase ver 13 The Ministers of the Gospel certainly deserve as much as the Levitical Priesthood and Do ye not know how honourably the Law provided for them for besides many free Cities and Lands and all the Tiths it was appointed Tâ—at thâ—y which l Which Scaliger proveth to have been 19. parts out of 100. De decim ap Critic sacr and Josephus notes there was enough for above 5000. Priests were but Levites and only minister and serve the Priests about holy things should be nobly fed and live plentifully upon the best parts of the Sacrifice And that the Priests which offer all Oblations being They who wait on the service of God at the Altar should have a large share of the offerings and the benefit of all consecrated things so that they are partakers with the Altar which only consumeth Gods part and the rest they feasted upon Ver. 14. Even so for the same Reason and by way of Analogy to this Provision hath the Lord Jesus m Per Traditionem non scriptam ut plurimi Veterum crediderunt vel in Evangelio Math. 10.10 Luke 10.7 under the Gospel also Ordained and appointed That they who leaving all other imployments betake themselves
the Custom when any Persons brought their Offerings to the Altar for the Priest and the Pious By-standers to say The Lord accept thee Psal 20.3 4. 2 Sam. 24.23 in imitation whereof we do here beg the Divine acceptance both of our Charity and Devotion And that we may do it heartily let us consider how much they need to be accepted with favourable allowances for first If Alms and Prayers both be offered as it is pitty they should ever be parted though they do assist and recommend each other yet we do not think our gift hath obliged God to hear our Petitions nor our Petitions given such priviledge to our gift as that we may boldly challenge God upon the account of either wherefore we desire him with favourable and gracious acceptance to entertain them both Secondly If we respect the Alms alone which we have given though it be owned by Gods goodness to be offered to himself Prov. 19.17 and Math. 25.40 yet it were an arrogance not to be endured to think so Universal and excellent blessings were the purchase of our contemptible oblation which hath no proportion in its own value to them only if we present it humbly our gracious father will accept it as our acknowledgment of his goodness and a testimony of our Love Thus therefore we pray that he would accept our Alms viz. in mercy esteeming them not by their own worth but by the affection of the Givers Thirdly If we do only regard our Prayers we may soon discover how little they will avail unless the Lord accept them with grace As to those we have hitherto made if we look back upon the many wandrings and interruptions the coldness and indifferency the sin and infirmity that did mingle with them all we shall see we had need heartily to beseech God to accept them with benign interpretations and to excuse the imperfections of them But if these our Prayers be meant of those Petitions which we are now about to make in this Form let us remember how great a presumption it seems for us to ask for others nay for all people when as we are not worthy to pray for our selves yet let us humbly beg a candid acceptance of these Petitions which we offer not as if we were fit Advocates for all the World but in obedience to his Command who hath bid us thus to express our Charity § 5. Beseeching thee to inspire continually the Vniversal Church with the Spirit of Truth Vnity and Concord Among the several Prayers which were made at the Holy Table it was particularly enjoined that they should pray for The Holy Catholick Church extended from one end of the Earth to the other which the Lord had redeemed veith the precious blood of Christ saith the Author of the Apostolical Constitutions for the Sacrifice here commemorated was offered for the Church Acts 20.28 which is called the body of Christ Ephes 5.23 Colos 1.24 but because the body without the spirit is dead we therefore beg that as he once quickened the lump of Earth into a living Spirit by breathing into it the breath of Life so he will please to inspire his Holy Spirit into his mystical body according as he hath promised John 14.16 and that not only once John 20.22 but that it may continually be supplyed with vital influences by its Union with its Divine Head the Lord Jesus the blessed success whereof is noted in the three happy effects of this Heavenly Inspiration First That the Church will be directed into all Truth by the Spirit of Truth John 14.17 and 16.13 1 Epist 2.27 and so be preserved from Heresie Secondly That all the Members thereof shall agree in the same judgment and combine in the Unity of the Spirit Ephes 4.3 and so be secured from Schism 1 Cor. 1.10 Thirdly That the affections of all persons in this body shall be joined in perfect Concord and tied in the Bonds of Love and Peace Ephes 4.3 for the prevention of hatred wrath and emulation How passionately therefore is this blessed Spirit to be prayed for and how necessary are all and every one of these Truth without Unity is weak and troublesome Unity without Truth is dangerous and mischievous e Vnitas sine veritate proditio est D. Cypr. and both without Charity are insignifcant and cannot last long Let us consider the mischiefs which the Church hath endured by false Principles divided Judgments and opposite affections that in the apprehension of our want of this comprehensive Blessing we may most vigorously beg this continual inspiration which may make the Church happy by Unity in its Doctrine Harmony in its Discipline and Charity in the affections of all the parts and members thereof § 6. And grant that all they that do confess thy Holy Name may agree in the truth of thy holy Word and live in Vnity and godly Love This Petition is but a further confirmation of the former for when the several Members of the Church live in Unity Peace and Love it is the best demonstration that the whole body is acted by the Divine Spirit John 13.35 Josh 22.31 for these universal mercies are to be obtained by induction of particulars and rhe internal inspiration ought to be manifested by Acts of a visible Charity Now if we want affections wherewith to make this request let us but view the miferable effects which differences in opinions and affections have produced in the Christian World consider how thereby Religion hath been disgraced and God dishonoured and all outrages have been committed the Heathens are scandalized and kept out and the Christians who are within are hindred in their Piety and our differences are made wider by arguing the more we dispute f Disputando de sacris accenditur tantùm contentio Sisin in Eccl. Hist the less we agree and while we contend for the Faith we lose our Charity But this is the fault of the men and not of the Religion for Jesus hath left us an impartial judge which is his holy Word and is Truth it self John 17.17 by which if we would without prejudice or interest suffer our Opinions to be tryed g Expellentes igitur hostile certamen ex verbis divinitùs inspiratis solutionem quaestionum mente percipiamus Constan Mag. ad Patres Nicaenos Hist trip l. 2. c. 5. it would happily compose all our controversies or where a determination is needless teach several Churches to dissent with more moderation and direct particular persons to submit in such things to their proper spiritual guides and to live in godly and Religious love with their fellow Christians h Maneat moralis benevolentia inter discordes sententiâ Lemma Cardin. Rachel If any say that there is little hope that this still voice of Gods word should be heard in the hurry of our contentions or no likelyhood of so sweet a composure I answer That however it is highly desirable and therefore ought to be prayed for and which is considerable
pro Vener tit de Feudis so that Princes as Constantine doth exprese it are Bishops without and the Ecclesiasticks within the Church They guard and direct the Externals while these Order and Administer the Internals of Religion Wherefore since God hath joined them in his Providence we must not separate them in our Prayers nor by any means omit to pray for our spiritual guides in this spirirual Sacrifice where the Antients did particularly remember all the Orders of the Church But having spoken of this before Comp. to the Temp. Sect. 17. § 2. we shall only note the comprehensiveness of the Petition here made for them which takes in the main part of their office viz. First To set forth the holy Word of God both as it is the Truth Joh 17.17 for the direction and instruction of the ignorant and as it is the lively Power of God unto Salvation p Acts 7.38 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hellenis pro. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grotius Deut. 32.47.70 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ad Psal 19. ver 7 8. for the Conversion of those that are dead in sin which is to be done as is here intimated not only by plain and affectionate preaching but also by holy and unblamable living which doth better explain Gods will and more vigorously excite the People to observe it than the most learned Commentary or the molt eloquent Oration q Habent opera suam linguam habent suam facundiam etiam tacente linguâ Cypr. de dupl Mar. Hic est qui quale habet verbum talem habet vitam quoniam quae docet agit quae agit docet Christiani de Origene ap Euseb Ec. hist l. 5. c. 3. The second part of their Duty is rightly according to the Institution of Christ and duly as the necessities of the Church require to administer those two Sacraments which are of Divine Ordination viz. Baptism and the Lords Supper which no other Order of men can lawfully dispense so that if Ministers should neglect the Celebration of them or do it unduly it would be a great dammage and discomfort to the Church of Christ Let us therefore beg large measures of Grace for our Bishops and Pastors that their Preaching may convert us their lives invite us to imitation and their dispensing of the Sacraments may comfort and strengthen us in all goodness Let the Clergy pray heartily one for another for they understand the weight of this charge and let the people supplicate affectionately for their Ministers because the grace given to them is for their sakes and the benefit thereof finally descends upon the Congregation Especially let us all when this most holy Sacrament is to be Administred join our Petitions for those who officiate here or elsewbere that they may perform so grand a Mystery to the glory of God their own comfort and the benefit of all that partake thereof § 10. And to all thy People give thy Heavenly Grace especially to this Congregation here present that with meek hearts and due reverence they may hear ano receive thy holy Word truly serving thee in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of their life We have done well to pray for our spiritual Pastors but we must add this Petition also for the Sheep of their Pasture because the excellent gifts of Ministers do not profit unless the people also be indued with Heavenly Grace Hebrews 4.2 though all the Seed was good yet it prospered according to the condition of the ground on which it fell and where the soil was not prepared it came to no perfection though it were sowed by Jesus himself Math. 13. And sure it is a great pity that the Gifts and Graces the Time and Pains of so many learned and laborious Ministers should be all in vain and made ineffectual by the wickedness of those among whom they live which consideration makes the Priest here as Theophylact observes r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stand up as a common Father of the whole Church and pray that all Congregations of Christian People may increase in true Piety in imitation of the God he serves who takes care of all And yet he doth intercede with particular affections and regard for his own Auditory praying that they may profit by the present duties and live holily ever after But see how rarely withal the means of improving by the Word of God is couched in this request viz. to receive it with a meek and lowly heart free from pride and self-conceit Å¿ James 1.21 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ser. 1. Philosophus quaerenti quid primùm discipu is praecipere voluit Resp Fastum depâ—nere ap Arrianum and to hear it with an awful Veneration as believing it to be the word of God For he that is meek will be guided by its directions and amended by its reproofs he that is reverent will tremble at its Summons and give respect to all its Laws Let us then devoutly beg for all our Congregations these necessary Graces of humility and godly fear that so our Preaching may make them holy and pure from all sin Righteous and abounding in all good works when they hear it with reverence and obey it with meekness And that not only now for our present comfort but all the days of their life to their own endless happiness And let us think how happy it were for the Christian Church if this Petition might prevail to the total removal of that pride and irreverence stubborness and contempt which make many Ministers preach and more people hear in vain § 11. And we most humbly beseech thee of thy goodness O Lord to comfort and succour all them who in this transitory life are in trouble sorrow need sickness or any other Adversity Besides the spiritual wants for which we have craved a supply in the former Petition we know that many of our Brethren are labouring under temporal Evils in this miserable World and therefore we must remember them as St. Paul teacheth Hâ—b 13.3 as being our selves also in the body that is both by our nature and our sins liable to the same Calamities And where can we so properly commemorate the afflicted as at this Sacrament of Mercy wherein God is moved by the representation of his dear Sons sufferings to pitty all Mankind especially those who by suffering are made conformable to his Image and in which Mystery we must express more pity and Charity than our Alms can convey which is to be done by bringing in a greater Arm to their assistance for our gift may bring some present allay to the distressed but if we can obtain the divine favour for them they shall be constantly supported or speedily delivered if that be best for them At this Sacrament therefore our Church enjoins us to pray for all in misery and so do the best and most antient Liturgies t Vt infirmi convalescant Liturg. S. Jacob. Pro aegrotis pro afflictis in summâ
and Mountains of difficulties before he can reach that blissful Crown it is little less than Miracle that all men do not sooner or latter fall and fall from the faith and fear of God What prospect in the World can ravish us with greater pleasuâ—es or raise in us higher admirations of the divine goodness than to behold those that were once as frail and sinful as we are now advanced above Satans malice or Deaths Power and placed in the Regions of Joy and the Bosom of Jesus that we might not tremble or think it impossible to come thither also Doth not their felicity give life to our hopes and become a pledge of our own future glory why should we not then rejoice with them and delight our selves with the very news of our Brethrens happiness what other Communion is there between us and those blessed Spirits but that they in general pitty and wish well to us and we praise God with and for them And by thus meditating of their most desirable estate we shall learn to despise Death and long to be with such inviting Company nay languishing after the happy enjoyment of such noble Society for ever and ever Who can look up to these Mansions and not enquire for the path that leads thither and be strongly attracted to follow the steps of those who have so successfully trodden this way before This makes the pious Soul so passionately beg the divine grace that it may do as they have done live as they lived and die as they died so that what they are now it may be hereafter The Scythians as Lucian relates kept the memorials of their brave Men with great joy that so many might strive to become like unto them d Simus inter exempla quare deficimus quare desperamus quicquid fieri potuit potest Sen. ep 98. Magnorum virorum non minus quam praesentia utilis est memoria idem ep 102. And St. Augustine saith when any duty seemed difficult he was wont to think of the Saints of former times and he imagined they derided his sloath saying Tu non poteris c. Canst not thou do what those Men nay those Women once did that which hath been effected is not impossible Would we make this use of our faithful Brethren departed their memory and example would be as profitable as if we had their bodily presence with us and the remembrance of their glory would strongly excite us to follow their good example till we came with them to partake of that Heavenly Kingdom in the mean time we shall never want matter for to praise God in their behalf since his truth and mercy to them is the confirmation of our Faith the encouragement of our duty and gives us in contemplation an antepast of our happiness before we come to the full enjoyment of it § 13. Grant this O Father for Iesus Christ his sake our only Mediator and Advocate Amen This general Conclusion of all our Prayers we should not remark particularly here but that the Mass hath thrust in the names of the B. Virgin and other Saints e Et omnium Sanctorum tuorum quorum meritis precibusque concedas in Canone Missae Rom. into the Supplications through whose Merits and Prayers they intercede even in this place where there is a lively Commemoration of the Death of Christ our only Mediator which is not only the holding a Candle to the Sun but seems to intimate that to plead in the Virtue of our Lords Passion is not sufficient that that intercession by which the Holy Virgin and all other Saints became accepted by God was not alone forceable enough But we desire no other Mediator nor need no other Advocate 1 Tim. 2.5 but our Lord Jesus Christ who is here represented nor do we doubt to ask all these Mercies for all these Persons since we approach our Heavenly Father with his dear and only beloved Son in our Arms wherefore let us bless the name of God who hath chosen such a Master of Requests to present our Prayers and put such an Argument in our Mouths when we approach unto him Let us look to the holy Symbols and remember our great High Priest while we offer up the Intercessions with a great humility and a sprightly devotion because our God will not nay cannot deny those that thus come unto him The Paraphrase of the Prayer for the whole Church § 14. O Almighty and Everliving God who art able to help all Persons always and in all things We are unworthy to ask for our selves and yet we are incouraged to intercede for others since by thy holy Apostle Saint Paul thou hast taught us in our daily Assemblies to make Prayers to obtain good Intercessions and Supplications to remove evil in behalf of all the World And to give thanks for the Mercies received by all men Believing therefore thy willingness to grant these things which thou commandest us to ask We humbly disclaim our own Merits beseech thee for Jesus sake and by the Vertue of his Passion here set forth most mercifully ** This to be omitted when there is no Collection ** to accept this poor acknowledgment of thy bounty and testimony of our love in these our Alms to the Poor and Oblations to thy Ministers intreating thee also to hear and ** This to be omitted when there is no Collection ** to receive all our former Petitions especially these our Prayers for all People which we offer as the evidence of our Universal Charity most heartily to thy Divine Majesty who art all-sufficient to supply the whole World To thy goodness therefore we come Beseeching thee though miraculous gifts are ceased yet to inspire continually with such grace the whole body of the Vniversal Church spread over all the Earth that it may be quickened with the most holy Spirit which teacheth the Principles of truth and produceth Vnity in the Faith and Concord in the affections of thy people And grant that all the Members of thy Church that do profess thy true Religion and confess to believe in thy holy Name laying aside their animosities may agree all their differences and so fully rest in the infallible truth of thy Holy Word and its determinations of all necessary things that notwithstanding some lesser varieties they may have mutual peace And live as Children of the same Father in Vnity without Schism or Heresie in Charity and godly love without Malice or Envy among them And because thy Church cannot well subsist on Earth without temporal Guardians We beseech thee also in order to the common good to save the Souls and defend the Persons and Rights of all Christian Magistrates who in their several Dominions have or ought to have supream governance of the Church whether they be absolute Kings or free Princes or else Rulers and Governours in popular States But as our duty interest and affection do peculiarly oblige us We pray thee Especially to save and defend Him who
Hebr. 10.14 It was the part of Jesus to offer up that most meritorious Sacrifice once upon the Cross d Offerimus quidem sed recordationem facientes mortis ejus una est haec hostia non multae quia semel oblata in Sancto Sanctorum hoc autem sacrificium exemplar illius est Ambr. Com. in 10. ad Heb. but it is our duty to keep a perpetual memorial of that most valuable and never to be forgotten propitiation For thereby alone and not by the merits or Prayers of Saints or Angels our Salvation was obtained Now if the pardon of our sins and the purchasing Heaven for us who were Heirs of Hell be the greatest mercies consider with what devout affections we should celebrate the memorial of that which was the price thereof How far did the deliverance of Israel from Egypt and the destroying Angel come short of this and yet that was thought worthy to be remembred with the solemnity of a Passover so long as the Nation did endure We cannot then think that this can be remembred to the end of the World as it ought to be unless we proclaim it early and prepare for it diligently and celebrate it with the deepest resentments alas we can never imprint it sufficiently upon our Souls without frequent and serious Commemorations and he doth not understand or not consider the excellency of this mercy of our Redemption that doth not wish it were written on his heart in indelible Characters and carefully set himself upon this intimation to prepare to make the most grateful memorial of his enfranchisement by the Death of Jesus § 5. Wherefore it is our duty to render most humble and hearty thanks to Almighty God for that he hath given his Son our Saviour Iesus Christ not only to die for us but also to be our spiritual food and sustenance in that holy Sacrament The second part of the Communicants Duty is to receive it with thanksgiving for if we are obliged to praise God for the least and most common Mercies then sure our ordinary praises are not sufficient for this which is the first the greatest and the foundation of all the rest when we remember our unworthiness of such unspeakâ—able mercies we cannot but return our most humble thanks and when we reflect upon the benefit we have by them surely we shall offer up our most hearty praises Because God hath not only spared us when he might have destroyed us and set ordinary food before us as the King of Israel did 2 Kings 6.22 23. but he hath ransomed us fully by the Sacrifice of his Son John 15.13 and made us a Feast upon the remainders of this Sin-offering this sheweth his Justice is fully satisfied in that he receives us into the nearest Unions and our admission to eat and drink of our Lords body and blood is not only to shew forth that there is a great expiation for all the World but to assure us that we may have an interest in it and shall be particularly forgiven as the benefit of the Sacrifices of old were supposed to descend upon all that were admitted to eat thereof Now this pledge of Gods peculiar love and this seal of a gracious Pardon doth give such courage and strength to poor Sinners that the believing it is called spiritual food and nourishment and eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ for it even ravishes the Soul of the humbled Penitent to receive such a Testimony of Gods being reconciled to him Hence are all those ecstasies of joy which holy Men here express and God hath on purpose instituted this Ordinance to be a most solemn and mysterious manner of offering up these humble and hearty thanks for which cause it is called the Cup of blessing e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 13.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 10.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Origen in Cels l. 8. and the Eucharist that is the office of Thanksgiving Oh summon up therefore all your powers and labour so to affect your hearts with these incomparable acts of the divine goodness that you may here offer up his praises in the highest key and rejoice before him with the most affâ—ctionate gratulations § 6. Which being so divine and comfortable a thing to them who receive it worthily and so dangerous to them who will presume to receive it unworthily my duty is to exhort you in the mean season First To consider the dignity of that holy mystery and the great peril of the unworthy receiving thereof This Sacrament like all things that are high and fair hath excellency enough to invite us to desire it and yet danger sufficient to make us afraid to go about it rashly And here our spiritual guide having surveyed them both makes a faithful report as Caleb and Joshuah did Numb 14.6 7. he doth not deny there is hazard and pains in the attempt but the honour and advantage doth far outweigh them both It is he considers a Divine f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Divinissimum Sacramentum vocatur apud Antiquos Patres thing as the Ancients called it to be a Companion of Gods Table and to be made partaker of his nature and also it is the sweetest g Mihi ante omnia supra omnia summa dulcedo Rom. Missal comfort in the World to behold these lively representations of our perfect expiation to receive the pledges of pardon and immortality so that humble and devout receivers do often find their hearts transported with ecstasies of holy joy and ravishments of delight in the due performance of this duty On the other side our spiritual guide considers that for the obstinate and prophane for those that have sinned and will sin it is very dangerous to press into this Coelestial Banquet for such presume meerly upon the outward part and would fain perswade themselves this will acquit their old scores so that they may more freshly begin to sin again but God is not so mocked and therefore they provoke him abuse the mystery and delude their own Souls Wherefore upon the whole inquiry the Minister doth exhort us to spend the time between this and the Sacrament well for if we come not to it we lose this divine comfort if we come unworthily we run into an unknown danger he is unwilling therefore we should be deprived of the comfort or incur the mischief And therefore he doth exhort us to prepare for so we shall be sure of the advantage and avoid the Evil. Now there are two things especially to be done in this mean season the first is Consideration of the dignity of the Sacrament which St. Paul calls discerning h 1 Corin. 11.29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. Apol. 2. 1 Cor. 11.21 the Lords body that is making much difference between this and our ordinary food The second is that which St. Paul and we both call Examination 1 Corin. 11.28 And these are no more than what every prudent
and incouragements in order thereunto And thus we see here is comprized in this Warning so full directions in order to the address to the Holy Table that there needs no Paraphrase to make it plainer only God grant us to be as willing to do as we are able to understand these things Amen SECT IX Of the Exhortation to the Communion § 1. OUR Lord Jesus hath not fixed the time nor determined how often we should partake of his last Supper that so we might have an opportunity to make it a free will offering and that he might by our voluntary and often coming make an experiment of our Love But this gracious liberty hath been perverted and some have from thence taken occasion to do it seldom and others wholly to leave it undone We read that of old in the Church of Alexandâ—ia many of the people went out after the Reading of the Gospel but John sirnamed the Almsgiver then Patriarch there followed them out and sharply reproving their neglect said he came to administer the Eucharist to them neither would he leave them till with him they all returned to the Holy Table With such an importunity do we here seem to follow those who do so unworthily turn their backs upon these Mysteries We find St. Ambrose m Si quotidianus est cibus cur post annum illum sumis Ambros de Sacr. l. 4. S. Chrysost Ser. 3. in Ephes Augustin Epis ad Januar. 118. and St. Chrysostome as also St. Augustine in their times complaining of and blaming the peoples omissions in this kind But sure we have now much more reason since the neglect of this Sâ—crament is grown far more common and scandalous some by ill principles glorying in their foâ—bearâ—nce others out of Worldly carefulness excusing their absence and the most as unwilling to take pâ—ins being become too remiss To redress which evils our Church hath provided this excellent Exhortation both to convince us that it is our duty to come and to discover the danger if we wilfully stay away The Order whereof the following Analysis will shew and the discourse annexed will represent how agreeable it is to so pious a design The Analysis of the Exhortation to the Communion § 2. This Necessary Exhortation containeth Five Parts 1. The Preface being an Indication of 1. The Persons invited Dearly beloved Brethren 2. The Time when on I intend by Gods grate to celebrate 3. The Thing to which c. the Lords Supper 2. The Invitation calling them all 1. Most plainly unto which in Gods behalf I bid you all that are here present 2. Most earnestly And beseech you for the Lord Iesus Christs sake that ye will not refuse to come thereto being so lovingly called and bidden by God himself 3. The Arguments to press it being 1. A plain Similitude urged by 1. Setting it before us Ye know how grievous and unkind a thing it is when a man hath prepared a rich feast c. 2. Appealing to us Which of you in such a case would not be moved Who would not think a great injury and wrong done unto him 3. Applying it to this Case Wherefore take ye good heed lest ye withdrawing your selves from this holy Supper provoke Gods indignation against you 2. A full Answer to the Excuses 1. In particular concerning 1. Business It is an easie matter for a man to say I will not Communicate because I am otherwise hindred with c. 2. Sinfulness If any man say I am a grievous sinner and therefore am afraid to come wherefore then do ye not c. 2. In general shewing they are all 1. Base When God calleth you are ye not ashamed to say ye will not come When ye should return c. 2. Vain Consider earnestly with your selves how little such feigned excuses will avail before God 3. A proper Example setting out 1. Such like sinners They that refused the feast in the Gospel 2. With like pretences because they had bought a Farm or would try their yoke of Oxen or because c. 3. Sadly doomed were not so excused but counted unworthy of the heavenly feast 4. An Exhortation to come from 1. The Ministers care in 1. Preparing I for my part shall be ready 2. Inviting them again and according to mine Office I bid you in the Name of God I call c. 3. Urging them I exhort you as you love your own Salvation that ye will c. 2. The Love of Christ And as the Son of God did vouchsafe to yield up his Soul by death upon the Cross for your Salvation 3. The Obligations laid upon us by it So it is your Duty to receive the Communion in remembrance of the Sacrifice of his Death as he himself hath commanded 4. The evil of neglecting viz. 1. The Danger Which if ye shall neglect to do consider how great injury ye do to God and how sore punishment c. 2. The Sin against God when ye wilfully abstain from the Lords Table Men and separate from your Brethren c. 5. The Conclusion expressing 1. The Ministers hope of them These things if ye earnestly consider ye will by Gods grace return to a better mind 2. His Charity for them For the obtaining whereof we shall not cease to make our humble Petitions unto Almighty God our heavenly Father A Practical Discourse upon this Exhortation § 3. Dearly beloved Brethren on I intend by Gods grace to Celebrate the Lords Supper unto which in Gods behalf I bid you all that are â—ere present and beseech you for the Lord Iesus Christs sake that ye will not refuse to come thereto being so lovingly called and bidden by God himself The Kingdom of grace as well as glory is likened in Scripture to a Banquet Luke 14.16 Math. 8.11 and the offers of both are named our Calling or Invitation Ephes 4.1 2 Tim. 1.19 and we that now partake of his grace and are hereafter to enjoy his glory are stiled the called or invited Guests Rom. 8.28 by a plain allusion to this Sacred Feast the Epitome of the Gospel wherein we are called without a Figure and invited to participate of the grace of God And as it is the Custom of all Nations n 2 Sam. 13.23 1 Kings 5.9 Job 1.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesiod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophylac Com. in Luc. 14. to invite those who are designed to partake of the Feast So hath the King of Heaven now sent his Minister Math. 22.3 Luk. 14.17 most courteously to salute us in his Name and to bid us to that Celestial Feast viz. the Supper of the Lord which he hath made ready for us The notice is sent thus long before because we may prepare suitably to so great an Entertainment and be fitted for this which is the highest Festival in the World It is true we receive the Message only from the mouth of a Servant but it is in the name and behalf of his great Master o Math.
10.40 Legatus cujusque est quasi quisque Dictum Rab. whose Ambassador he is so that God himself doth beseech us by this invitation 2 Cor. 5.20 Haman reckoned it among his highest honours that Queen Esther Chap. 5.12 had invited him to her Banquet because it was a signification of the most particular love and friendship 1 Kings 1.10 and ought we not to esteem it a greater honour to be requested to Feast with God and to receive so sure a pledge that we are his Friends would it not be impudent and ungrateful to reject the summons There are many invited but the preparations are sufficient for all the World there is in Jesus Christ here Communicated peculiar provision for every Guest and that very grace which each single Person can need or desire Wherefore all that are of Gods Family all not excommunicated and uncapable are now invited high and low rich and poor we are all Brethren and our Heavenly Father will have us all as Lycurgus appointed his Spartans to sit at the same Table together to eat of the same meat and drink of the same Cup that we may not despise nor envy one another but become one Body and one Spirit Now if it be demanded by what Authority we Ministers do bid so many and so universally when we may suppose divers to be unfit We answer it is our Masters Order Math. 22.9 to bid as many as we find for all either are fit or ought to be so and we cannot distinguish but the Master of the Feast will so that every man must look to prepare himself in such wise that he may be approved by the Master as well as invited by the Servant for many be called but few chosen v. 14. We have before warned all to prepare and now we proceed to be very earnest with those who are unfitted to make themselves ready and with those who are ready to come away And surely it will be a huge reproach to us if it appear that Satan and his Complices with a touch on the Shoulder p Penulam ilâ—ius ego vix tetigi tamen remansit ap Stuckâ—um de Conviv or the slightest beckon can oblige us to a Theater or a looser Bacchanal and yet all the entreaties of God and his Ministers can scarce obtain our Company at this Heavenly Feast But behold and blush the Lord himself who is so much above us doth beseech us Revel 3.20 the Ministers whom we have so often denied do importune us for Christs Jesus sake the most moving Oratory of the meanest Beggars and all this to ingage us to come In this Holy Feast his love is manifested his death remembred his graces are dispensed so that if we have any love for Jesus any râ—membrance of him or desires after him we cannot possibly neglect this loving invitation such a denial mâ—y be interpreted a disclaiming of our Redeemer and an affront to that condescending goodness which calls us only for our own benefit Why is God so earnest Isai 4.1 Revel 22.17 and his Ministers so importunate but only because we are so backward to our own good and are hard to be intreated to do our selves a favour but let us relent at last and yield to so sweet an invitation and so plain an expression of the divine kindness to us § 4. Ye know how grievous and unkind a thing it is when a man hath prepared a rich Feast decked his Table with all kind of provision so that there lacketh nothing but the Guests to sit down and yet they who are called without any Cause most unâ—hankfully refuse to come which of you in such Case would not be moved who would not think a great injury and wrong done unto him Similitudes taken from matters known and obvious do most easily inform our understandings most strongly convince our judgment and most vigorously work upon our affections Wherefore most of the wisdom of the Oriental Nations and many of our Saviours Sermons are delivered in this manner and of the same nature is this present metaphor which is of divine Original being used by Solomon Prov. 9.1 2 3 4 c. and by a greater than Solomon Math. 22. Luke 14. mystically to set out the baseness of rejecting such offâ—rs of grace as these are So we do now make a fair appeal to all that neglect the Lords Supper to which if they give a sincere Answer it will be their own Condemnation Imagine therefore that these Absenters had prepared a noble and plentiful entertainment suppose their Table richly furnished with all varieties purchased with great care cost dressed with much pains and Art and that they only expected those whom they had chosen out of all their Neighbours to be their Guests to whom they had designed to express peculiar kindness and respect Now if these after many invitations should so far undervalue the favour and despise the Preparations as to absent themselves without any just impediment Let these neglectors of Gods Table tell me how deeply they themselves would resent so unkind a refusal and so apparent a scorn Would it not move their patience exceedingly and could they not more easily put up many injuries q Patior facilè injuriam si id est vacuum à contumeliâ Pacuv than this one affront to their Courtesie would they ever invite such unworthy Guests again If they had the Persons of these ungrateful men as much in their power as themselves are in Gods it is like they would make them know what it was to throw so high a contempt upon them How fearful was David of Sauls displeasure for his absence from his Table where he was expected 1 Sam. 20.4 5. nor had he stayed away but for fear of his life Daniel was careful to conceal it from the King that he did not eat of the Portion which he sent him Dan. 1.10 11 12. and refused it only because it was first offered to an Idol There are many offences more hurtful to us but none more provoking since Fâ—stivals are made to signifie our respect and to engage the affections of our friends r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesiod and who can indure to have his favour trampled on We are sure the Criminals themselves would be highly offended at this usage so that let us in the next place only desire them to apply it to the present Case § 5. Wherefore most dearly beloved in Christ take ye good heed lest ye withdrawing your selves from this Holy Supper provoke Gods indignation against you If we speak the language of our hearts we must confess we would not willingly be thus done unto therefore by our Saviours Rule Math. 7.12 we ought not thus to refuse the invitations of a man Å¿ Nemini suae injuriae leves videntur Solust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tob. 4.14 Homo semper aliud in se fert aliud in alio cogitat Laber. and shall we deal worse with God than we
peccatum manifestâ plecteretur poenâ nihil ultimo judicio reservari putaretur si nullum puniret nec providentiam esse crederetur August de Civ Dei lib. 1. cap. 8. from temporal miseries he hath more secret and more sad means of punishing us by spiritual evils viz. by withdrawing his Spirit from us and letting loose Satan on us by giving us up to a hard heart and a reprobate mind and finally he can send us into those Regions of sorrow where the extremity of the torments will sufficiently make amends for the deferring of the Execution Oh consider this ye that forget God and do not by doing this injury to him bring the greatest misery upon your selves for all this vengeance is due to you while you live in wilful neglect of this blessed Sacrament § 13. When ye wilfully abstain from the Lords Table and separate your selves from your Brethren who come to feed on the Banquet of that most Heavenly food We must carefully distinguish those who absent themselves from the Lords Supper or else we shall condemn the righteous with the wicked for this great sin and heavy judgment belongs only to those who wilfully m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est quod nec provideri potuit nec improbo sit animo à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod provideri potuit non tamen fit improbo animo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod destinatò impâ—obo sit animo Arist de art Orator do abstain There are some who forbear once or twice and are not guilty viz. if they be under the Censures of the Church or of their own Conscience and cannot yet make their peace if they are labouring for the pardon of some lately committed sin if they be prevented by sickness or surprized by indispensable business but such must with the pious Emperour Theodosius look toward the Church with sad hearts wishing they might receive and accounting the poorest Creatures there happier than themselves lamenting the occasion of their present exclusion and being never satisfied until they can prepare and have another opportunity and such will come with the greater appetite to the next Communion But those who wilfully abstain are such as stay away from time to time and are glad of any excuse for it who secretly wish they were never obliged to come at all and contrive to miss the opportunity and will not be perswaded nor convinced it is these wretches who do first so grievously offend God as was shewed before and of whom it is said now Secondly they sin against their Brethren by a wicked separation for this Ordinance is the badge of a Christian and designed to make us all one body and bind us together in the Bonds of Charity They therefore that will not receive it do cast away Christs badge and cut themselves off from the body of the Church and refuse to be bound in the Bonds of Love indeed they declare themselves no Members of this blessed Society who may say to such absenters as St. Peter to Simon Magus Acts 8.21 Ye have neither part nor lot with us in this matter Now how evil a thing this is may appear in that they do what they can to discourage men from receiving and to breed scruples in the minds of those who do Communicate yea to cast a disgrace upon the Ordinance it self But let them beware of cutting themselves off from those who are the Members of Christ and so from their part of eternal life since it is just to shut them out from the Communion of Saints in Heaven who never would Communicate with them on Earth There are many holy Persons who do participate but these do not and so are in a contrary way if good men do well to come why do they not follow them if they be in the way to Heaven the absenters are going I fear to a worse place It may be there are some wicked persons who are crowded into these mysteries and some pretend they stay away because of them But let us beware of the Pharisees Pride Isai 65.5 in bidding men stand off for we are holier than they the best men despise none and usually think themselves the worst of all and how do we know but they may be begun to be changed by Gods grace however we are not judges but the Church our duty is to fit our selves not to make all others so We are to wish that all the Congregation were holy but if all be not we must not lose our part in Gods Ordinances because an Esau or Judas may be there if we be not like these persons in their Sin we shall not fare the worse for them God can distinguish though we sit never so near in place if we be distant in our qualities he will accordingly dispense his favours We must converse with such sometimes in the World where there is more danger they should infect us but here perhaps our devotion may do them good but their guilt can do us no harm § 14. These things if ye earnestly consider ye will by Gods grace return to a better mind for the obtaining whereof we will not cease to make our humble Petitions unto Almighty God our Heavenly Father Were the sin and danger of neglecting this Holy Sacrament duly considered there would be fewer offenders in this kind and if we have been guilty therein whatsoever we have deserved for former omissions it appears our estate is not yet desperate because God hath spared us and given us this one invitation more it is likely we heard this Exhortation but slightly before and resolved not to come however but if we will weigh it seriously now and beg the help of Gods grace there is no doubt but we may repent and amend For we are herein courteously invited and earnestly pressed to come our scruples are satisfied our excuses shewed to be vain our duty is made evident and our peril of neglecting it fully expressed so that nothing but obstinate purposes to despise Reason and Example the Injunctions of God and the request of our well-wishers can after this keep us back It had been just in God to have cut you off before but since he still calls God forbid that we Ministers should sin in ceasing to pray for you 1 Sam. 12.23 notwithstanding all the denials you have given us since our Master forbears we will exhort you earnestly and pray heartily for you still to him who is Almighty to subdue your obstinacy and our Heavenly Father who is apt to pitty poor Sinners and if you join your Prayers to ours and consider as well as pray we are confident the success will be that you shall lay aside your idle excuses and both resolve to come to the Sacrament and be careful to prepare for it so shall all your former contempt be forgiven and your present addresses be accepted to your endless comfort Amen PARTITION II. Of the more immediate Preparation SECT I. Of the Exhortation at the Communion §
pit He saw us wretched and miserable lying hopeless and helpless reserved in Chains of Darkness to the judgment of the great Day and then he had Compassion on us and broke our Bonds in sunder But there is one step higher still 4. Let us behold the noble design and happy consequence of this Deliverance he hath not only snatched us from the flames of Hell but made us Heirs of Heaven not only pacified our offended Judge but engaged him to become our most gracious Father so that he owns us for his Friends adopts us for his Children and intends us to be partakers of his endless joys We are taken from our Dungeon into the Family of God from his Bar into his Bosom and advanced to be like unto the Angels in glory and immortality Oh the heigth and length the depth and breadth of the love of Christ Who can sufficiently admire it that so great a Majesty should stoop so low and suffer so much for so poor and so evil-deserving wretches with purpose to advance them to so blessed a condition this is a subject fit for an Angels Song-Praise the Lord oh my Soul and let all thy powers be acted with such love and wonder that thou maist break forth into all the expressions of joy that admiration and gratitude can inspire thee with Glory be to thee O Lord most high § 9. And to the end that we should always remember the exceeding great love of our Master and only Saviour thus dying for us and the innumerable benefits which by his precious blood-shedding he hath obtained to us he hath instituted and ordained holy mysteries as pledges of his love and for a continual remembrance of his Death to our great and endless comfort Our merciful and gracious Lord hath so done his marvellous works that they ought to be had in remembrance Psal 111.3 but especially this work of our Redemption which to forget were an ingratitude baser than Heathens or Publicans ever knew Math. 5.46 and might almost compare with the Cruelty of his Murtherers Is it not our greatest comfort and our highest honour that we were thus redeemed by such a Saviour Can we forget that precious blood which was the price of our Souls and the purchase of Heaven by which we obtain benefits more than we can number greater than we can sufficiently apprehend Pardon and peace the love of God and the service of Angels Victory over Satan and the Conquest of Death the Conversion of Souls and the fruition of glory do all spring from it with many many more The Choire of Heaven bless God for it and Eternity is designed to sing the glory of this excellent love which had no pattern hath no parallel nor ever can it fully have an imitation John 15.13 Rom. 5.7 8. And is it possible now that those for whom all this was done should ever forget so rare a mercy or neglect so cheap d Qui meminit sine impendio gratus est Sen. so mean a return as to Commemorate it with thanksgiving Reason would deem this impossible but experience alas shews it is too frequent and both good and bad do more or less let slip the memory hereof Wherefore the holy Jesus found it necessary to appoint this Sacrament to be the Worlds Remembrancer therein It hath been the Custom of all Nations to preserve the memory of their Hero's and to perpetuate their deliverances by appointing publick Games and Festivals thus Cities commemorate their Founders and the Sects of Philosophers their first Authors yet all these being of humane Institution are soon apt to decay and beside they are without advantage to the Souls of men But our Lord hath appointed a Commemoration of his Death and our Salvation that shall as far out-last as it doth outvy them all A Coelestial Banquet and worthy of so great so divine an Author Which doth at once represent our Saviours Passion before us and convey its benefits to us it demonstrates his love confirms our Faith mortifies our Lusts it makes us like to Jesus and one with him And how can we have more evident pledges of his favour He knew we were apt to forget him and then we grow cold and dull exposed to our Enemies and open to all mischief wherefore he hath contrived these mysteries that we might neither want the comfort of remembring his holy Passion nor the benefit of sharing in the merits of it He had given himself for all before but now he gives himself to every particular Soul Let us then take care duly to receive these Tokens of his endless love and they shall begin a joy which shall never cease till our Lord in person shall appear in all his glory and by the brightness of his presence remove all these Vails and Coverings and give us leave to see him face to face § 10. To him therefore with the Father and the Holy Ghost let us give as we are most bounden continual thanks submitting our selves wholly to his holy will and pleasure and studying to serve him in true holiness and righteousness all the days of our life Amen By this time surely we begin to be melted with these vigorous manifestations of the love of Christ and our affections big with gratitude and admiration begin to struggle within us for therefore is this representation made that we might remember it and remembred that we might celebrate it with Hymns and Eucharist My heart is ready O God saith the pious Soul My heart is ready Psal 108.1 Most seasonably therefore doth the Priest invite us to Praise the Lord with him just now and summon us to this excellent duty almost in the very words of St. Paul Heb. 13.15 We have seen the everlasting love of the Father the unspeakable kindness of the Son the incomparable grace of the Holy Ghost and our own infinite Obligations Let us therefore all join in offering up all possible Praise and Glory let us begin the Office with it that it may warm our hearts and dispose them for all the following parts thereof And let us worship the blessed Trinity with such sincere and hearty thanksgivings that the Choire of Communicants may be a little Emblem of that of Angels with this only difference that they openly behold that which we discern by Faith but both they and we rejoice in it with joy unspeakable and full of glory But because when we have done all we can we shall come far short we must resolve not only to make a few praises in this highest part of our Devotion but to perpetuate the duty to our lives end for our very life is too short and all our Thanksgiving too narrow to celebrate these mercies let us strive therefore to imprint the love of Jesus so deeply in our minds that the memory thereof may never depart from us but be ever in us and always dispose us to bless the Lord at all times in all places and upon all occasions And further since no praises
now raised up again by the mercies of God and the merits of Jesus walk after a new manner in all religious and holy Conversation so should our deliverance be for the glory of his holy name through Christ Jesus for whatsoever Lusts we shall conquer or whatsoever good we shall perform the praise must wholly redound to him who did revive and restore us And surely we shall find it a most happy change from the slavery of sin the bondage of Satan and the fear of Hell to be acquainted with the pleasures of holiness the peace of a good Conscience and the love of God wherefore though this be the last let it not be thought the least of these Petitions but let us beg it with such Devotion as may attest our sincerity in all the other parts of this Confession so will our Heavenly Father grant them all to us through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen The Paraphrase of the Confession § 9. O Almighty God we thy poor sinful Creatures full of anguish and confusion for our offences against thy Majesty do make bold to come unto thee because thou art the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ and for his sake inclinable to shew us mercy Thou art the Maker of us and all things and thou hatest nothing which thou hast made but hast pity on all the works of thy hands so that we are encouraged to make our supplication unto thee O thou judge of all men for it is in thy power for ever to acquit or to condemn us We tremble and blush to be found Sinners against so infinite a power and goodness but we must not add Hypocrisie to our disobedience Wherefore We acknowledge freely and bewail most bitterly our manifold offences of all kinds from the least of our Sins to the greatest of our Crimes and wickedness All and every one of which we long and frequently from time to time with many provoking aggravations most grievously have committed O Lord who can tell how oft we have offended * Here call to mind some of the greatest of thy particular sins in thoughts words or actions By thought in vain and evil imaginations by word in false uncharitable or blasphemous speeches and by Deed in ungodly unjust or intemperate actions For alas by all and every one of these ways we have daily sinned against thy Divine Majesty turning thereby thy loving kindness into displeasure and provoking thee to anger we have given thee cause most justly to let loose thy wrath and indignation against us to our utter ruine if thy mercy do not help us Our guilt is evident our danger apparent and our estate is most deplorable wherefore We do most passionately and earnestly repent us that ever we did commit them And are heartily sorry with all our Souls for these our so many and so abominable misdoings When we look upon the baseness and presumption of these vile offences The remembrance of them doth pierce our hearts with shame and sorrow and is most grievous unto us When we behold thy Favour which we have forfeited and Eternal Damnation which we have deserved thereby the burden of them presseth down our Souls with a load of terror and amazement that is intolerable Yet since thou callest all that are heavy laden we must not despair of thy pity but in this great distress we do beseech thee to Have mercy upon us and since our necessity forceth us to be importunate we will cry again Have mercy upon us We know thou art a most merciful Father though by sin we are unworthy to be called thy Children yet we hope thy bowels will yern upon us We lie prostrate and helpless begging of thee for thy dearly beloved Son our Lord Iesus Christ his sake and by the merits of his Cross and Passion to forgive us freely and fully for all that is past from the beginning of our life until this very moment Lord make us instances of thy mercy And grant when we have received so excellent and undeserved a favour that we may be so engaged thereby as that for ever hereafter we may beware of falling back into the like sin and misery Convert us we beseech thee as well as pardon us and enable us most obediently to serve and most intirely to please thee by spending the rest of our time in newness of life and all holy conversation Which through the help of thy grace we do here vow and resolve upon that this mighty change may tend to the honour and glory of thy Name who hast so wonderfully delivered us All which we most heartily beg through Iesus Christ our Lord to whose intercession for us do thou say Amen and it shall be to us according to thy word Amen SECT IV. Of the Absolution § 1. HE must be wholly a stranger to the Discipline of the Antient Church who knows not how great a care was taken that no publick offender might partake of these mysteries until by a long tryal and a great humiliation he had received an Absolution as publick as his crime had been so that it was a mighty and scandalous irregularity in S. Cyprians time a Nondum poenitentiâ actâ nondum exomologesi factâ nondum manu eis ab Episcopo Clero impositâ Eucharistia iis datur Cypr. de laps that lapsed persons by the favour of the Confessors and Martyrs were in some places suffered to Communicate without the solemn Absolution which yet was rectified afterwards b Vbique mysterii ordo servatur ut prius per remissionem vulneribus medicina tribuatur postea alimonia mensae coelestis exuberet Ambr. in Luc. But this godly Discipline being now every where laid aside it is so much the more necessary to supply it by this general Confession and Absolution Concerning which in general the Reader may consult what is said before Compan to the Temp. SECT IV. § 1. And as to this particular form it shall suffice to note that it is in imitation of that antient form of blessing c Benedictio ista pronuncianda est à sacerdote stante facie ad populum versâ manibus elevatis altâ voce in nomine Dei proprio RR. ap Fag Numb 6.24 c. being expressed by way of Prayer as there The Lord bless thee c. And since it is certain there is such a Power vested in the Ministers of the Gospel to support the spirits of a dejected Penitent by antedating his pardon in the name of God there can be no fitter opportunity to exercise this power than now when so many poor humbled Sinners are kneeling before God and begging forgiveness at his hands Then it becomes the Priest in Confidence of his Masters Mercy to give them his best wishes and with more than an ordinary Prayer to signifie as well as ask their pardon You have said with David We have sinned wherefore God hath sent his Minister like another Nathan to assure you that He hath also put away the iniquity of your
sin 2 Sam. 12 13. And though David might by his Faith in the Promises have found some Comfort yet neither so sure nor so sweet a consolation as when he receives it from the mouth of a special Messenger So likewise if we would chuse to believe rather than dispute it would be a powerful Cordial to every troubled Spirit by a particular Officer from the King of Heaven to be thus saluted and he that cannot value this Absolution from the Priest can no other way receive satisfaction to his doubts and fears unless he expect to be assured of his Remission by an immediate Revelation or can be content to stay till the day of Judgment for the Resolution of this great enquiry Only let us but be careful that our Repentance be sincere and then we may with much joy hear the following Absolution which very briefly we shall now explain The Analysis of the Absolution Sect. 2. The Absolution hath three parts 1. The Original from whom it springs Almighty God our Heavenly Father 2. The ground on which it depends His promise 1. The motive to it who of his great mercy hath promised 2. The matter of it forgiveness of sins 3. The conditions annexed to it to all them that with hearty repentance and true Faith turn unto him 3. The Petitionary blessing or Absolution it self for 1. The Averting the Evil of 1. Sin Have mercy upon you 2. Punishment Pardon and deliver you from all your sins 2. The obtaining of good both 1. Present Confirm and strengthen you in all goodness 2. Future and bring you to everlasting life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Practical Discourse of the Absolution § 3. Almighty God our Heavenly Father who of his great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all them that with hearty Repentance and true Faith turn unto him The Spiritual Physician doth here proceed most regularly in the Cure of poor Sinners that labour under a burden of guilt and sorrow for he first premises such Considerations as may dispose them to believe that the following Blessing shall be ratified and the Absolution confirmed by a higher Power For first He minds them that he who is Almighty and only can forgive Mar. 2.7 is also their Heavenly Father and full of Compassion toward them yea like as a Father pittyeth his own Children even so is the Lord merciful unto them that fear him Psal 103.13 But of this before Secondly therefore that he is not only engaged by his affections but by his truth also to deliver them for he hath solemnly promised Isai 55.7 Ezek. 18.30 John 3.16 c. that he would freely forgive and fully be reconciled to all such as unfeignedly grieved for their sins and wholly cast themselves upon his mercy so that they cannot doubt of a pardon if they believe him to be faithful that promised d Qui credidit promittenti fidentèr promissum repetit promissum quidem ex misericordiâ sed jam ex justitiâ persolvendum Bern. de gr lib. It was indeed only his great mercy which moved him to promise this because he might most righteously have taken the first forfeiture made to his justice but now this gracious Promise is made by him that cannot lie there is a certainty of the performance He knew that as the stroke of his Vengeance was intolerable so the expectation thereof was terrible and amazing wherefore he promised forgiveness on purpose to prevent the despair of such as were willing to amend that by so great a favour he might engage them to obedience and encourage them in all the parts of duty Yet because it almost exceeds belief that ever God should receive such grievous Sinners and they that are most truly humble are most apt to Question this therefore is all this premised to prepare them with faith and hope to entertain that which follows § 4. Have mercy upon you pardon and deliver you from all your sins confirm and strengthen you in all goodness and bring you to everlasting life through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen When Jesus was to raise up Lazarus from the dead he commanded the men who stood by to remove the stone from the Grave and afterwards to unloose the Grave-Cloâ—hs even so though he only do give life to Sinners e Absolutio hominis in Dei miseratione non in hominis potestate est Ambr. in Job l. 1. c 6. yet he is pleased to use the Ministry of his Servants in the Dispensation of their Pardon f Nostrûm est onera removere illius exuere de sepulchro exutos vinculis idem de poen l. 2. cap. 7. The Prayer is made by the Priest but then it is directed to the Divine Majesty and though according to the antient manner g Misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus dimittat vobis omnia peccata vestra Missal it be put into the form of a request yet being grounded on the promise and agreeable both to the nature and design of God it hath a mighty force and ascends Heaven Cum privilegio it is like the Fathers Blessing which hath always been believed to convey as well as crave the Benediction thus Isaac blessed Jacob Gen. 27.28 29. in the Imperative Mood God give thee c. Let the people c. Be thou Lord c. And thus Jacob blessed Josephs Sons Gen. 48.15 16. and the Lord accomplished all the particulars Let it therefore chear your hearts ye contrite ones to hear this Blessing from your spiritual Father for behold it contains all that you do need or can desire Are you miserable here is mercy are you sinful here is pardon are you liable to punishment here is deliverance are you desirous but unable to do good here is strength and confirmation are you fearful of Death and Hell here is Heaven and Everlasting Life And all this asked of God by one that he hath Commissionated to make this Prayer so that your only care is that your Repentance be such as your Minister believes it to be and then this Absolution shall certainly be confirmed in the High Court of Heaven and not one word thereof shall fall to the ground The Paraphrase of the Absolution § 5. Let not the multitude of your sins discourage any of you who are truly grieved for them for I am bound to speak peace to you in the name of Almighty God against whom you have offended because he is our Heavenly Father infinite in mercy and loving kindness And you may believe this the more firmly since it is he who of his great mercy and pity to poor Sinners so freely and frequently hath promised to grant forgiveness of sins and a gracious Pardon to all them that with hearty Repentance for their grievous offences and true Faith in his mercy and the merits of Jesus do turn unto him to seek remission and obtain his favour I his Substitute believing you to be such do according to mine office beseech and require
impudence fall to them till we have first worshipped and praised him that did invite us d Non debet quis quasi famelicus à cibo incipere sed antè à laudibus Dei Ambros de Sacram. l. 6. c. 5. for Christ himself blessed God before he eat Now if this hath perswaded us that it is our duty to praise the Lord just now this incomparable form will contribute very much to the elevating of our Devotion for it is a pure and genuine piece of Primitive Piety so antiently and so universally received in both the Eastern and Western Church differing in other things that we may justly deem it to have been of Apostolical Institution There is no antient Liturgy which hath not almost the very same words Let us lift up our minds and hearts c. say the Liturgies ascribed to St. James St. Basil and St. Chrysostom Lift up your hearts c. verbatim in the Apostolical Constitutions lib. 8. which are ascribed to St. Clement St. Cyprian also particularly expounds this Preface An. Christi 250. as will appear presently St. Chrysos divides the publick offices into three parts Prayers Supplications and Prefaces e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. 3. in 3. ad Colos and when private Spirits attempted to make new Prefaces of their own these were forbidden to be altered and the innovators censured by a Council f Concil Milevitan Canon 12. Not to mention how St. Ambrose proves the Divinity of the Holy Ghost from the following Hymn g Ambros de Spir. Sanc. l. 3. c. 18. But to shew that they deserve admiration as well for their intrinsick Excellencies as their antiquity we proceed to unfold the particulars The Analysis of the Prefaces and Trisagium Sect. 2. This Act of Praise hath four distinct Parts 1. The Resp nses in which a general Act of 1. Preparation is Propounded Lift up your hearts and Accepted We lift them up unto the Lord 2. Thaâ—kâ—giving is Offered Let us give thanks unto â—ur Lord God Embraced It s meet and right so to do 2. The geneâ—al Preface and Reason of this Duty shewing 1. Why we do it It is very meet right and our bounden duty 2. When. that we should at all times 3. Where and in all places 4. To whom give thanks unto thee O Lord holy Father Almighty Everlasting God 3. The Exercise of this duty containing 1. The Company with whom we join Therefoâ—e with Angels and Archangels a d wâ—th a l the Company of Heaven 2. The Act which we perform Wâ—â—â—nd and magnifiâ— thâ— glorious name eveâ—m re praising thee 3. The manner of performing it by 1. Confessing God in his Holiness and saying Holy Holy Holy Power Lord God of Hosts Glory Heaven â—â—d Earth art full of thy glory 2. Giving praise unto him Glory be to thee O Lord most High Amen 4. Particular Prefaces and Reasons why we must praise God especially on 1. The Feast of the Nativity 2. The Feast of Easter 3. Holy-Thu sday 4. The Feâ—â— of Whit-Sunday 5. Trinity-Sunday for 1. Christ Incarnation 2. His Resurreâ—tion 3. His Ascension 4. The gifâ— of he Holy Ghost 5. Revelation of the mystery of the Trinity A Practical Discourse on the Prefaces c. § 3. Priest Lift up your hearts Answ We lift them up unto the Lord. Having searched and tryed our ways by Repentance and by Faith turned again to the Lord we are next by the method of the Holy Ghost advised to Lift up our hearts Lament 3.40 41. They were oppressed with a load of guilt and fear before but as soon as that burden is removed there is all possible reason to lift them to praise our most gracious deliverer such was Davids practice Psal 25.1 such the Precept of the great Apostle Colos 3.1 and from these Divine Fountains this Pious form of Exhortation was derived into all the antient Liturgies It is capable of a twofold sence yet both do rarely agree to this place and to this Ordinance First As it requires a strict and intire attendance upon the duty in hand thus St. Cyprian expounds this Preface h Ideo sacerdos ante orationem praefatione praemissâ parat fratrum mentes dicendo Sursum corda ut dum Resp plebs Habemus ad Dominum admoneatur nihil aliud se quà m Dominum debere cogitare Cypr. de Orat. Dom. and St. Chrysostom i Hom. de encoeniis and St. Augustine k Aug. de vera rel c. 3 in like manner viz. That dismissing all Worldly thoughts we should wholly fix our minds upon the Mysteries and by Faith and Contemplation look into the Abyss of the Divine Mercy till we be even ravished and swallowed up with wonder and have forgotten all other things The very Heathens in all their Holy Rites saith Plutarch l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutar. Coriolan Ea v x hortabatur ut qui sacra adirent reverenter attentè id facerent Lil. Girald had a Cryer who with a loud voice Proclaimed these words Hoc Age. By which they were warned to mind nothing but the Mystery and that neither idleness nor business might interrupt them And is not this much more necessary in this Coelestial Feast where there are so many of the best objects in the World as will take up our whole man and imploy all our power if we do attend them Secondly As it more directly respects the duty of praise which immediately follows after and thus it admonisheth us to lift up our hearts to contemplate the infinite Majesty and greatness the admirable mercy and goodness of him whom we are to praise that when our Souls are transported with the divine glories no baser or mean thoughts may dare to approach or disturb the holy pleasure we are to praise God in the highest Laudate eum in Excelsis sed cum cogitamus quomodo illic laudetur cor ibi habeamus non sine causâ audimus Sursum corda Aug. in Psal 148. to sing the song of Angels Let us therefore elevate our thoughts to consider how that glorious Choir doth sing this Hymn that we may do it with a fervency and pleasure almost unison to them and rejoice as if we were among them we are now going to do the work of Angels and so must be above the World Answ Now the Church hath taught all her Children readily to obey this pious Exhortation and to answer We lift c. as Psal 27.9 For the people being now purifyed by Faith are admitted also to bear their part which they must do not by a bare repeating of the words but an actual performing of the duty for it is not only a Promise We will c. but a Declaration of what we are now doing Take heed saith St. Chrys ye that in the time of the dreadful mysteries are thinking or talking of Vanity O Man what dost thou hast thou not promised the Priest who said Lift up your mind and heart and thou didst
only with the Priest but with Angels and with Archangels and all the Company of Heaven c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys hom 18. in 2. ad Cor. for Jesus by his Death hath united Heaven and Earth and designed all his redeemed ones to sing Hallelujahs with the blessed spirits above for ever Wherefore it is fit that in this Commemoration of his Passion we should begin to unite our Voices to them with whom we hope to praise God to all Eternity Only as we sing with them let us sing like them and not spoil their blessed harmony by mingling flat and discordant notes O with what delight and pleasure sincerity and joy do they sing this Hymn while they are ravished with the prospect of the divine perfections Could we but see their felicity and hear their Musick it would transport us above our selves and make us forget and despise all other pleasures to join with them It may be we fear that we cannot sing in so high a note yet if we do it with like sincerity our lower key may grace the harmony and compleat the Concord Behold those blessed Spirits who had no need of any Saviour and who never did offend do praise God with incessant Voices for his mercy and love to us and seem to invite us saying O ye Sons of men praise the Lord with us and let us magnifie his name together How then can we be silent especially when our glorified Brethren Prophets and Apostles Saints and Martyrs do also bear a part in this admirable Hymn How justly do we stile the object of these praises a glorious Name since all the World resounds its praise To it Cherubin and Seraphin Angels and Archangels continually do cry Holy Holy Holy and all the Saints in Heaven and Earth do join to set forth the glory thereof § 7. Evermore praising thee and saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory Glory be to thee O Lord most high This primitive and triumphant Hymn was first taught unto the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 6.3 when he was admitted to hear it sung in the Quire of Heaven But as Procopias well observes the Triple Holy could not fit the Jewish Synagogue and so was designed at first for the Christian Church who confess the Holy Trinity wherefore it was again revealed to St. John Revel 4.8 and afterwards constantly used by all Churches in the Celebration of these Mysteries for it is found in all the Liturgies of St. James St. Mark St. Basil and fully in St. Chrysostoms thus Before thee stand thousands of Archangels and many thousands of Angels Cherubins and Seraphins singing the triumphant Hymn chanting forth crying and saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God c. and the like appears in the Apostolick Constitutions lib. 8. cap. 16. so that though some affirm that Sixtus the eight Bishop of Rome brought it first in use with the Latine Church about 130. years after Christ yet Nicephorus doubts not to say it was derived from an Apostolical Tradition hist lib. 18. c. 51. The Grecians call it the Trisagium because the word Holy is thrice repeated and of latter times do express it thus Holy God Holy Strong Holy Immortal d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sixt. Sene◠Bib. Sanct. l. 5. annot 58. Have mercy on us And they have a Tradition that they were commanded thus to repeat it by a Child which for some time was rapt up into Heaven in the time of a great Earthquake in the days of Theodosius junior and Proclus the Patriarch and by so repeating it the City was delivered However it is certainly an Act of Praise wherein we worship and adore the whole Trinity and Galatinus d Pet. Galatinus lib. 2. c. 1. de Jesai 6.3 saith it was antiently read in Jonathans Chaldee Paraphrase Holy Father Holy Son Holy Spirit but as it is nothing is more plain e Non semel dicunt ne singularitatem credas non bis dicunt ne spiritum excludas non sanctos ne pluralitatem aestimes sed ter repentant idem dicunt ut etiam in hymno distinctionem Trinitatis divinitatis intelligas unitatem Ambr. de sp sanc l 3. c. 18. ita Epiphan in Ancorat Procop. Gazaeus in Jesaiam than that every Person is acknowledged to be Holy and all to be one Lord God of Hosts who commands the Armies of Heaven and all the Creatures of the World whose Glory fills both Heaven and Earth Which way can we look or what can we think upon that doth not declare how great and gracious their Creator and Preserver is and how can we then refrain from giving glory also unto the Lord most High In his nature he is holy in all his works glorious let us praise him therefore with pure hearts for he is thrice Holy let us bless him with a mighty vigour that as the Angels make the Upper so we may make the lower Region Eccho with his praise It was long since ordained that this Hymn should be used every day supposing the faithful would never be weary of so sweet and desirable an imployment f Quia tam dulcis desiderabilis vox etiam si die noctuque possit dici fastidium generare non possit Concil Vasens can 6. An. 450. But surely it is most proper for this blessed Sacrament that as every person in the Trinity concurred to our Redemption so every one may be adored in the memorial thereof The Father is Holy who gave us such a Saviour the Son is Holy who effected this Salvation and the Spirit is Holy who sanctifies us by the vertue thereof and yet these three are one Lord to whom we must now with most fervent gratitude offer up the Sacrifice of Eucharist and Thanksgiving O ye Heavenly powers that rejoice for the sake of us poor Sinners we join with you and with joyful hearts over our Propitiation do sing Holy Holy Holy Lord God c. Glory be to thee O Lord most high Amen An Appendix of the particular Prefaces § 8. It is long since the daily and weekly Communions have been generally laid aside by the people for St. Chrysostome himself takes notice that ordinary Christians in his time had appropriated their communicating to the greater Festivals of the Church g Chrys orat de B. Philogono and some affirm that Fabian the Martyr did order those seasons especially for all the faithful to receive h Sabellicus Volatteranus ad An. Christi 236. And truly a solemn time of joy seems the most proper for the Celebration of this Heavenly Feast Now hereupon it came to pass that as the Church was wont at this Holy Table to give thanks for all mercies so they did peculiarly praise God for the mercy commemorated on that Festival upon which they did Communicate which doubtless was the Original of these particular Prefaces In the Roman Church there were formerly nine of them to which Vrban added
ever since by Jews or Christians or both with the greatest solemnity See how those blinded Jews rejoice over their Paschal Lamb in the midst of all their Calamities for the deliverance of their Fathers But we have a nobler Passover for a greater deliverance Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the Feast and that upon the precious Body and Blood of the Lamb of God who was slain but is alive again and behold he lives for evermore Wherefore I will go to thy Altar with joy and tell out thy works with gladness O most mighty Saviour who hast not only died for my sins but risen again for my Justification and indeed what comfort could I have found in this memorial of thy Death if it had not been for thy Resurrection this Sacrament would have only remembred thy sufferings and renewed my sorrow to think that so excellent a Person had perished in the attempt of my deliverance but now it is become a Feast of joy because it is an assurance of thy Resurrection as well as a Commemoration of thy Passion And since thou livest sweetest Jesus we live also thy Resurrection raiseth our hearts from sad despair it gives a new life to our hopes it makes our sorrows light our labours easie our lives chearful and our death advantage because it hath lost its sting and is become the gate into immortality We can charm all our fears and troubles with this one word The Lord is risen yea the Lord is risen indeed For thou hast washed us in thy own blood and made us Kings and Priests to God to offer up at this thy Altar never-ceasing Praises Therefore with Angels c. A Meditation for the Communion on Ascension-Day § 11. I see O merciful Jesus thou art content for our sakes to stay here upon Earth when Heaven longs for thy return thou hast these fourty days denied thy self the full fruition of thy glories to dispel the sorrow and confirm the Faith of thy Disciples and yet at last their tears and embraces shew how loth they are to depart from thee But behold the day of thy Triumph is come and the holy Myriads are sent to wait upon thee the Heavenly Singers that go before cry Open your selves ye everlasting doors that the King of Glory may come in to whom the Angels which come out to meet him answer in extasies of amazement Who is the King of Glory and all the Chorus that follow after reply Even the Lord of Hosts he is the King of Glory and thus with hymns and joyful acclamations is Jesus welcomed to his antient and most glorious Throne And now O my soul why standest thou gazing into Heaven he is too high to be discerned too bright to be seen with mortal Eyes since Cherubins are dazled at his splendor He is gone to his proper place and ascended thither whither thy desires carry thee and where ere long thou shalt see him face to face Thou standest like Elisha looking after him and lamenting thy Masters departure but he hath left his Mantle behind him even the mysteries of this holy Sacrament which to thy Faith is the flesh which he was cloathed with all and is designed to convey a double portion of his spirit unto thee so that it appears he hath left his Love with us when his Person was taken from us Away then with these sighs and tears lament no longer the absence of thy Lord for he is in this Blessed Feast he is here in his comforts and graces here in his merits and his love and his spirit can Minister the same benefits hereby which his personal presence would have given thee Go then with all possible speed and taste of this Heavenly Provision delight in it above all the sweetnesses in the World because it contains so many pledges and emblems of thy glorious Redeemers love when thou beholdest him that is thy head so advanced make haste to unite thy self nearer to him by partaking of his Body and Blood that thou maist finally reign with him in the mean time raise up thy thoughts above this lower World declare thy desire to be with Jesus send thy heart before and protest if he had not left thee some little tastes of his sweetness in the repast of this holy Table by the way thou couldst not have endured so long without him There is nothing which he loves comparable with his Throne in Heaven unless it be an humble and thankful heart into which I am about to receive him and as the Coelestial Quire welcomed him thither so will I receive him with joy into my poor Soul Therefore with Angels c. A Meditation for the Communion on Whit-Sunday § 12. I will go to thy Altar O Lord with a New-Sacrifice of Praise because thou hast given me a fresh instance of thy Love this day thou art slow to punish thy Enemies but speedy to comfort thy servants for no sooner was thy misery changed into glory but we received the greatest demonstration of thy affections no sooner didst thou put on thy Crown in Heaven but the Earth felt the bounty of thy Dispensations for it was not possible for thee sweetest Jesus to let thy promise remain long unperformed or the sad expectations of thy Disciples unsatisfied Being assembled therefore this Day with one heart in one place they are suddenly surprized with wonder and inspired with a Heavenly Power such as they had never felt before vigorous as a mighty wind chearing as the morning light inflaming their hearts with zeal and filling their mouths with Anthems indited in the languages of all the World Oh wonderful change their ignorance is turned into learning their mistakes into infallibility their fear into courage their weakness into strength their sorrow into joy and they in a moment made able to confound the Arts and conquer the oppositions of the Heathen World and maugre all the devices of Satan to set up the Kingdom of the Lord Christ And shall not we praise thee for these miraculous dispensations by which the Gospel was made known even to us in these utmost corners and last of times Yes holy Jesus we will also meet with one accord at thy Table not doubting but thou wouldst give us the same measures of thy spirit there if our duty or our necessity did require it it is enough to us that thou knowest our needs more than will supply them we dare not ask less thou wilt not give Thou hast given us thy self wherefore we believe thou wilt not deny us thy spirit without which we can have no interest in thee nor benefit from thee We come not gracious Lord with the carnal Jews to devour thy flesh but to partake of thy spirit which only giveth life the flesh profiteth nothing Behold thy Spirit hath converted Millions let me therefore together with thy precious Body receive here such proportions of thy holy spirit as may suppress my evil affections revive my dead heart comfort
my dejected mind and turn my ignorance into knowledge my knowledge into practice and make that practice so sweet and easie that this may be a day of joy to me also solemnized in the white garments of sanctification and rejoicing And finally let not this Heavenly Inspiration be only expressed in extasies and holy fervors this day but let thy spirit rest upon me and dwell in me for ever So shall I always have cause to bless thee for so incomparable a gift Methinks I feel already the force thereof bearing down my corruptions and its bright beams driving away the mists of sin and error I find its flames warming my heart with Zeal and Charity and its quickning power opening my sealed lips to shew forth thy praise Therefore with Angels c. A Meditation for the Communion on Trinity-Sunday § 13. O admirable mystery to be adored in the profoundest silence by the contemplation whereof when I am struck with amazement I can learn humility and discover my own ignorance and I have the opportunity of exercising a nobler Faith than if I could comprehend it with my shallow reasonings and imperfect demonstrations The Trinity in Vnity and the Vnity in Trinity hath been derided by the Heathens and endeavoured to be perplexed by the wits of all kinds of Hereticks but it sufficeth me blessed Jesus that thou hast revealed it and thy Holy Church divided in too many other things hath universally agreed in this great Truth And I am the more confirmed in it because I learn by it to worship with a regular devotion from hence I am taught to pray to the Father in the name of the Son through the assistance of the Holy Ghost and as long as I live will I praise thee and magnifie thee in this manner I will bless thee particularly at this holy feast for so excellent a revelation for this Ordinance it self contains many things above my understanding and is all mystery The Trinity is the Article and this Sacrament the Rite which do distinguish thy true Religion from all the Sects in the World wherefore by observing this Rite I do embrace this Faith and upon the representation of thy death I do profess to live in it and die for it resolving never to have other Lord And when I find the Father giving the Son given and the Holy Ghost dispensing that gift unto my Soul in this sacred Communion it shall be a greater confirmation to my Faith in this Divine Mystery than can be acquired from the most curious search into it However I am resolved my Reason shall vail to thy Word and I will be content to stay for a full apprehension of this sublime Truth till I am advanced to a state of Angelick Perfection and come to behold the glories of the Trin-une God till then I will bless thee for what I know and believe more than I can conceive and I will worship the same Majesty which the Heavenly Quire doth in these addresses Therefore with Angels c. PARTITION III. Of the Celebration SECT I. Of the Address § 1. THE nearer we approach to these mysteries the greater reverence we must express The very Heathen could say men should be always best when they came to the Gods a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pythag. ap Plur. de superstit and therefore so much better by how much they come nearer Our late rejoicing might savour of too much confidence if it were not allayed with this Act of humility which is the immediate Address to this holy Feast There is somewhat agreeable to this some Apology or acknowledgment in all antient Liturgies but that of St. James comes the nearest to this of ours I come to this divine and supercoelestial mystery unworthy indeed but relying on thy goodness And afterwards Turn not away from us sinners who are celebrating this dreadful and unbloody Sacrifice for we trust not in our own righteousness but in thy bountiful mercy c. But in none so fully as in this present form can the devout Soul express its sense of its own unworthiness and its desires to taste of this Heavenly Banquet as by our usual method will be more clearly manifested The Analysis of the Address Sect. 2. The Address hath two Parts 1. An Apology for this our approach shewing 1. The ground thereof 1. Negatively We do not presume to come to this thy Table O merciful Lord trusting in our own righteousness 2. Affirmatively But in thy manifold and great mercies 2. The persons coming We are not worthy so much as to gather up the Crumbs under thy Table 3. What he is to whom we come But thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy 2. A Prayer for a blessing upon it noting 1. To whom we pray Grant us therefore gracious Lord 2. What we pray for so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Iesus Christ and to drink his blood 3. For what end 1. A present advantage by the 1. Cleansing of our Bodies that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his Body 2. Purifying of our Souls and our Souls washed through his most precious blood 2. A continual benefit by an inseparable Uâ—ion And that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us Amen A Practical Discourse upon the Address § 3. We do not presume to come to this thy Table O merciful Lord trusting in our own righteousness but in thy manifold and great mercies When Josephs Brethren were invited to his House they durst not enter till they had made their Apology at the door because they esteemed themselves both criminal and unworthy Gen. 43.20 How then shall we that are greater offenders and more unworthy presume to sit down at the Table of the King of Kings before we have expressed our reverence and humility It is his goodness indeed to do us this honour but then it is at least our duty to be so just as to confess it is a free and undeserved favour agreeing rather to the nobleness of the giver than to the deserts of the Receivers b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysos Now how can we better declare this than in the words of that favourite of Heaven Dan. 9.23 the Prophet Daniel whose Prayer was heard before it was finished because he presented it not trusting in his own Righteousness but in Gods manifold and great mercies Dan. 9.18 And that we may speak these words with the same sincerity and make these addresses with the same sense of our own unworthiness Let us consider 1. How dangerous it is to come to this Holy Sacrament with a proud heart For Pride is foolish c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodoret. therap ser 1. and unreasonable in it self dishonourable and injurious to God offensive and troublesome to our Brethren hardening and mischievous to our selves and especially it is most odious and contrary to our Lord Jesus whose humility we are here to remember Solomon accounts it an uncomely
Blessed Sacrament on purpose to purifie us and unite us unto our dear Redeemer Why then do we stand looking one upon another Gen. 42.1 and not rather look up to him that only can help us all will not our own necessities open our mouths nor his tender mercies incourage us to call upon him to give us grace that we may eat and live We do intend to eat but we had better not eat at all than not eat So k 1 Cor. 11.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So let him eat Psal 26.6 So will I compass c. as God requires and So as to be bettered thereby Now to the pure all things are pure but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure Titus 1.15 In vain therefore should we desire in the following Prayer of Consecration that these Elements should become the body and blood of Christ if we did not first pray that we might worthily receive them There must be a change in us or else though Christs natural flesh and blood were here and we should eat and drink thereof every day we could not partake of Christ l Qui discordat à Christo nec carnem ejus manducat nec sanguinem bibit etiamsi tantae rei sacramentum quotidiè indifferentèr accipiat Prosp sent 341. It is our eating with Faith and penitence love and holy purposes that makes it to be Christs body and blood to us most wisely therefore hath the Church ordered that before we pray for the Consecration of the Symbols we should desire to be Consecrated our selves Thus St. Ambrose in that Prayer said to be used by him before he Communicated saith O holy Bread which camest down from Heaven and givest life to the World come into my heart and cleanse me from all defilements of flesh and spirit enter into my Soul heal and sanctifie me within and without Let us consider the spots and stains the foulness and diseases with which our bodies and Souls are overspread and then behold this salutary and living Manna which hath power to restore us to an excellent purity and to make us amiable in the Eyes of God and then we shall heartily put up this Petition we shall hunger and thirst after it groan and long for it m Famelicus accedo ne recedam impastus si antequam comedam suspiro da vel post suspiria ut comedam August Med. c. 39. as it is reported St. Catherine was wont to do with the same passion that the Child doth for the Breast of its Mother Let us come then with most ardent desires and summon up all our Powers now the Angel is so near who makes our Bethesda Medicinal let us passionately cry out and say Lord hast thou set open this Fountain and wilt thou let a wretched Creature die for thirst in thy presence hast thou prepared such balm to heal me and shall I languish here before thee I know if thou wilt thou canst make me clean here is the very instrument in thy hand Grant therefore holy Jesus that I may duly apply it and rightly use it and then it shall prepare me for thee and unite me to thee by such inseparable Bonds as shall never break unless Eternity can have an end Blessed are they that So eat thy flesh and So drink thy blood So as thou requirest and So as thy Saints of old have done for they have been cleansed at this Fountain and here their Vnion with thee first began Oh happy season Excellent opportunity Lord let me do it well this once and I am thine for ever Amen The Paraphrase of the Address § 6. Holy God! thou mightest justly wonder to see so many grievous Sinners daring to come so near but We do not impudently rush upon these dreadful mysteries nor do we presume to come to this thy Table where Angels do attend as if we deserved this Honour O merciful Lord We do not approach trusting in our own Righteousness for alas we have done nothing which can bear that name but that which drew us hither was our confidence in thy manifold and great mercies which exceed our manifold and great offences And now that we are before thee we must still confess whatever favours thy goodness heaps upon us that we are not worthy by reason of our sinfulness and backslidings so much as with the Dogs to gather up the Crumbs which fall under thy Table not fit to receive the least mercies or measures of grace from thee much less to sit as guests before thy Majesty at this Heavenly Feast But yet we make bold to do this because thou art not to be changed by our sins being ever the same Lord whose property is to be unwearied with well-doing and never wanting in pity and thou art wont always to have mercy on those who confess their offences as we have done Grant unto us therefore gracious Lord by the present assistance of thy holy Spirit so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Iesus Christ spiritually in this Sacrament and so to drink his blood as that we may receive all the benefits of his Cross and Passion even that our sinful and defiled bodies may be made clean by his holy and immaculate body and our Souls which are polluted in every faculty washed through his most precious blood which taketh away the sins of the World Let us be so wholly purifyed that we may now begin to be inseparably united to Jesus and that we by Faith may evermore dwell in him abiding in his love and that by his spirit he may dwell in us always Amen SECT II. Of the Prayer of Consecration § 1. AFter all this Preparation we need not ask with Isaac Gen. 22.7 where is the Lamb for the Burnt-Offering for God hath provided his own dear Son whose blood being already spilt is so efficacious and all-sufficient that there is now no need of any other but this unbloody Sacrifice a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril cat Myst 5. incruentam oblationem Liturg. 5. Marci sacrificium absque sanguine Liturg. S. Basil to be offered and that in memorial of that great Sin-offering which taketh away the sins of the World 1 Pet. 2.5 And for this purpose Christ himself hath b Ille mirabilem quandam victimam pro nostra omnium salute obtulit memoriam nobis tradens loco sacrificii continuo offerendam Euseb praep Evang. l. 1. c. 10. appointed these Creatures of Bread and Wine ordaining that because they are designed to express so great a Mystery they shall have a peculiar Consecration The antient Greeks and Romans would not taste of their ordinary Meat and Drink till they had hallowed it by giving the first parts thereof to their Gods c Romani Graeci in convictu familiari ciborum particulis vino in ignem conjectis libamina Diis dabant Alex. ab Alex. gen dier l. 5. c. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Porph. de abst l 2. c. 20. The
Oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole World As we have declared the bounty of the Father so now we must acknowledge the merit of the Son before we did set forth the admirable love of the giver and next we magnifie the incomparable worth of the gift for God did not evidence his love to us by any insignificant testimony but by giving us the most real and inestimable benefit in the World The Death of this Saviour which he gave us though suffered but once was so infinitely meritorious as that it was sufficient to satisfie for the sins of all Mankind And where is it more proper to set forth that one all-sufficient Sacrifice in all its glories than here where we come peculiarly to celebrate it with our highest Praises and to make an everlasting memorial thereof If we regard the persons for whom this was done it is a Sacrifice if we respect him that did offer it it is a free Oblation if we consider him to whom it was offered it is a satisfaction and in every one of these respects it is full perfect and sufficient or particularly it is a full satisfaction a perfect Oblation and a sufficient Sacrifice not like the legal Offerings for the sins of one kind or the offences of one Nation or of one Person but for the sins of all the World Let none therefore mistake or imagine we are about to Sacrifice Christ again as the Roman Church falsly teacheth for that is not only needless and impossible but a plain contradiction to St. Paul who affirms that Jesus was to be offered but only once Heb. 9.26 Chap. 10.10 12. and by that one oblation h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theop. in 10 Hebr. v. 12. Illo sacrificio singulari à peccatis omnibus mundaremur Aug. de Civ Dei l. 7. c 31. he hath for ever perfected them that are sanctifyed ver 14. so that there needs no more offering for sin ver 18. And besides if we think that in this Sacrament Christ is daily offered up it seems we do not believe that which he did on the Cross to have been sufficient and so we should exceedingly derogate from that most meritorious Sacrifice to which we pretend to do honour by this Commemoration nor shall we make any difference between the all-saving Death of our Saviour and the daily offerings of Mosaick Institution if this also be continually to be reiterated Wherefore we do deny this Communion to be any new sacrificing of Christ For there is but one Sacrifice saith S. Ambrose not many and this is but the exemplar of that i Ambr. in 10. ad Hebr. This is only a memorial which the Lord hath delivered to us instead of a Sacrifice saith Eusebius k Euseb praep Evang. l. 1. c. 10. The Sacrifice need not be reiterated it is sufficient to remember it with Eucharist and Thanksgiving Rejoyce ye poor repentant Sinners for the price is paid by Christ and accepted by his Father already Acknowledge it gratefully and believe it firmly express it with all the honour you can devise since you came to this Heavenly Feast on purpose to glorifie the compleat and absolute satisfaction which your Redeemer hath made Let no man deceive you for Christ on th◠Cross assured you that the work of expiation was then finished there is nothing left for you now to do but only to pray that these outward Elements may be so blessed as to convey unto you the benefit thereof § 5. And did institute and in his holy Gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious Death until his coming again The work of our Redemption is so very excellent in it self that it deserves a perpetual memorial and who so fit to direct the particular manner of remembring it as he that did so nobly accomplish it and this is that very way which he himself hath instituted so that we have a most direct and powerful Argument to move our Lord to sanctifie these Elements because we celebrate this mystery in obedience to his own Commands Do this saith he in remembrance of me Luke 22.19 and we are bid to shew forth the Lords Death till he come 1 Cor. 11.25 26. And surely he will make these Symbols to be his Body and Blood to us because we are about to receive them purely by his Order no doubt he will establish that which he hath wrought for us l Grandis in rebus humanis est praerogativae ut aliquis operibus beneficiis faveat suis Amb. ser 10. in Ps 119. Psal 68.28 for otherwise he would seem saith S. Ambrose to abrogate that which he hath appointed We are desirous as much as in us lyeth to be partakers of his precious Body and Blood and according to his command we are come thus far but we can only strike the Rock it is he must bring forth the Water we must now stand still and see the Salvation of the Lord for till he have blessed the Bread and Wine we can go no farther Now if this Holy Rite were a meer humane device we could hardly expect to have so great a grace and power shewed for its ratification they that invocate God for those that are falsly called Sacraments cannot so rationally hope to be heard as we who only desire him to be favourable to the work of his Hands and to prosper us in that which we undertake by express Commission from the blessed Jesus O let us then revere this Ordinance which hath so divine an Author on which the Image of God is so plainly stamped let us with a mighty affection embrace our dying Saviours love who was so much afraid we should forget him and so desirous to be ever with us let us chearfully go on without doubts or fears knowing that he who hath bid us Do this is able to make it whatsoever he will or whatsoever we need let us not startle at the difficulty of this Sacramental change but rest satisfied in the power of the Author and Enjoyner let us call on him earnestly and then believe that he will so be present by his Spirit and his Grace as that we shall feel the virtue and efficacy thereof from time to time from one Communion to another even till we come to see him unvailed and face to face at his coming again in glory § 6. Hear us O merciful Father we most humbly beseech thee and grant that we receiving these thy Creatures of Bread and Wine according to thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christs most holy Institution in remembrance of his Death and Passion may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood We have now made a sufficient Introduction to this great Request by acknowledging the mercy and merit of Christs Death as also by declaring the divine Original of this Sacrament wherefore in the next place we come to the Petition it self which is the very Grace before this Coelestial food and herein
we follow the example of Jesus who though he was able by his very word to make the Elements what he pleased yet he did first give thanks or crave a blessing to shew us what we must do m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. in Math. 26. He had given thanks in order to the Passover before Luke 22.17 and therefore it is likely that he made a peculiar Thanksgiving now relating to this mystery n Vid. Buxt Synag Jud. cap. 13. for so the Jews were wont to have several forms for the Passover o Super Pacifica benedicunt cum comedunt ea hoc modo Benedictus tu Domine Deus noster qui sanctificasti nos praeceptis tuis mandasti nobis comedere de Pacificis R. Salom. for the Peace-offerings yea distinct Graces for the meat and for the drink What the very words were with which our Saviour blessed God is not recorded so that all Churches have used their liberty in the manner of expressing this with some variety in the Phrase but as to the substance and design they are the same nor doth any Liturgy want some such supplication The Latine Church saith We humbly beseech and intreat thee O most merciful Father by Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord that thou wouldst accept and bless these gifts c. in St. Ambrose Make this our Oblation valid reasonable and acceptable which is made for a figure of the body and blood of Jesus Christ In the Liturgy of St. Basil We beseech thee let thy holy Spirit come upon us and upon these gifts here set forth to bless and sanctifie them c. And to name no more in that called St. Clements We offer to thee O Lord our King according to his institution this Bread and this Cup and we beseech thee vouchsafe to look graciously upon these gifts set forth in thy sight Now it is requisite that the whole Congregation should in heart join in this part of the Prayer to make it the more prevalent with Almighty God Math. 18.19 And to quicken us to ask with the greater Ardency let us consider how great a thing it is which we desire how earnestly did Moses pray when he was to bring water out of the Rock how fervently did Elijah call on his God when his sacrifice was to be kindled from Heaven but we do now beg a greater matter and for a much more noble end We behold the Creatures of Bread and Wine and we know them to be as yet no more p Antequam ergo consecretur panis est Ambros de sacr l 4 c. 5. But we desire they may be made the body and blood of Christ to us that although they remain in substance what they were yet to the worthy Receiver they may be something far more excellent which nothing can effect but that word q Si ergo tanta vis est in sermonibus Domini Jesu ut inciperent esse quae non erant quanto magis operatorius est ut sint quae erant in aliud commutentur Idem which made all things out of nothing We are not now begging for the meat that perisheth but for that which endureth to everlasting life John 6.27 yet we ought to hope he will grant us this request because we are about to partake of this Ordinance both in a right manner as Christ did institute it and to a right end viz. for a memorial of his Death we long after our Saviour with a mighty Passion and in this manner he hath chosen to communicate himself therefore we may chearfully request that by the receiving this Bread and Wine which he hath chosen we may become partakers of his most blessed Body and blood for St. Paul assures us the Bread thus blessed is the Communion or Communication of Christs Body There needs no real change in the substance of the Elements for this participation is not by sense but by Faith This lively representation by the operation of the Spirit gives us a fresh remembrance of the Love and Merit of our Redeemers Passion so that by Faith we lay hold upon him as the only satisfaction for our sins and then the Power of God doth by these Symbols communicate our Lord unto us and convey unto our Souls all the salutary benefits of that great expiation We have all the real effects the virtue and the comfort of receiving Jesus though we do not tear his flesh with our teeth And if it may please God to make us partakers of the benefits of Christs Passion we will not inquire into the manner but we will believe because we feel the effects and rejoice in the graces that flow from him nor shall we desire more § 7. Who in the same night that he was betrayed took Bread The best pattern for the Celebration of this mystery is to be taken from the divine Author thereof our Lord Jesus whose Words and Actions are in this particular so punctually related in the Gospels on purpose to direct us in this solemnity and when the Rite was disordered in the Church of Corinth St. Paul 1 Cor. 11. sends them to the first Institution as to the Rule and Canon by which they ought to rectifie all that was amiss and for this reason as we have noted no Church in the World did ever omit these words of our Saviour by which they believed the Consecration to be principally made Wherefore let him that Ministers pronounce them with great deliberation and the profoundest reverence remembring he speaks in the person of Christ And let each Communicant think he is placed among the Disciples in the presence of Jesus at his first Supper and since every Word and Action is big with Mystery let him fix both his Eye and his heart upon the Holy Table and prepare to entertain every particular with a suitable Meditation And first when the time is mentioned in which this Heavenly Feast was instituted viz. The same night in which he was betrayed r 1 Cor. 11.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In quâ nocte tradebatur Litur Clem. In nocte quâ tradebat se ipsum pro vitâ mundi Lit. S. Basil Perperam itaque Missal Rom. habet Qui pridie quam pateretur even the last night which he lived in this mortal Body Then consider in this manner Behold what kind of Love O my Soul is expressed by thy Redeemer when our sins his treacherous servant and his enraged Enemies were contriving his Death he was designing an excellent benefit for us the stream of his affections was so strong that no baseness or ingratitude could check it we might have expected that the horror of this dismal night should have made him repent of his undertaking and have put him upon reversing all his former favours but lo he adds a greater than ever he had given before and appoints this as a seal to confirm and convey the rest unto us Thy Love was stronger than death and when all the terrors of
semper Deus Creat Durant de rit Eccl. l. 2. c. 44. that the antient Roman Church did not believe the substances to be annihilated no not after the Consecration Fifthly It was long before Rome it self did determine this Doctrine of Christs very flesh and blood being in the Sacrament g Ante Lateranense concilium Transubstantiatio non fuit dogma fidei Scot. 4. sent d. 11. q. 3. In Synaxi serò Transubstantiationem definivit Ecclesia diu satis erat credere sive sub pane Consecrato sive quocunque modo adesse verum corpus Christi Eras not ad 1 Corinth viz. not much above 400. years ago nor was it only opposed by Berengarius but the Master of the Sentences h Pet. Lomb. sent l. 4. c. 12. affirmed it was only a memorial and representation of the true Sacrifice and the famous Rabanus Maurus An. 850. plainly holds i Sacramentum in alimentum corporis redigitur virtute autem sacramenti aeterna vita adipiscitur Rab. Maur. de inst Cler l. 1. c. 3. The outward part still to remain and as Bread to be turned into the substance of the Body yea Scotus writ a peculiar Treatise against this then growing Doctrine which was condemned unjustly by Leo the IX not to mention now the Book of Bertram on this subject Sixthly To this we may finally annex many cogent reasons why this Transubstantiation is not to be believed viz. Because it is needless for us to expect to eat the natural flesh of Christ here where we come to seek a spiritual Union with him by Faith and an interest in his Death to which the eating his flesh would nothing conduce Again it is contrary to the nature of a Sacrament where the visible part must remain as the Water in Baptism doth to be a foundation for the inward and spiritual grace And further since the Heavens must contain Christs Body to the end of the World it is impossible it should be but one and yet many in several places at once always whole yet often broken received intire by every person and yet then at the right hand of God existing before yet Created by the Priest We must deny our Reason as well as our Senses if we can believe so great and absurd Contradictions Nor is it imaginable if this were the intent of our Lords words how he who was then alive and sitting at the Table could break and give himself or be eaten and yet remain intire and finally since we see and feel and tast it to be only Bread and Wine as to the substance still unless we will deny this great foundation of all our notions yea and of our Faith also we must not give credit to so strange and monstrous a conceit Yet still we do believe that every duly disposed Communicant doth receive really the Body and Blood of Christ in and by these Elements but it is by Faith and not by sense If we receive them in the manner and to the end which Christ appointed they give us a lively remembrance of his love and all-sufficient merit and thereby invite our Faith to embrace this Crucifyed Redeemer as the satisfaction for our sins whereupon he who is most ready to close with penitent Sinners doth by this rite of his own appointing give himself and the salutary benefits of his Death unto such and although the manner be mysterious yet the advantages are real and the effect more certain than if we eat or drunk his natural flesh and blood But we have diverted too far and therefore will reserve the Meditation upon this part until we come to the Administration Sect. III. § 3. § 10. Do this in Remembrance of me Having told us what it is which is presented to us our Lord goes on to prescribe the manner how we must make use of it viz. as a memorial of him The Ministers are to Do this which he hath done even to bless the Bread and break it and distribute it in remembrance of his Institution the people also are to Do this that is to take eat c. in Remembrance of his Passion And this being the great end of the Institution the Antients were wont always here to Commemorate all the principal Acts which Jesus hath done for us especially his Death k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in omnibus Graec. Liturg. Memores passionis Lit. Clem. Memorantes ergo nos salutarium ejus passionum Lit. Basil Memores gloriâ—sissimae ejus passionis ab inferis resurrectionis in coelum ascensionis Ambr. de sacr l. 4. c. 5. upon the Cross Our Master desires us not to celebrate his sufferings with a present expression of sorrow but by a perpetual remembring of them even as the brave Germannicus lying upon his Death-Bed desired his friends not to prosecute his Funerals with useless tears but if they would shew their love to him to do it by remembring his Will and executing his Commands Tacit. Let us then do this last Command of our dying Lord and remember him in these or the like thoughts It is but too apparent Blessed Lord how apt we are to forget thy dear love to us and thy bitter sufferings for us our continual transgressions publish it and our present stupidity and indevotion do declare it Praised therefore be thy goodness for these lively Emblems of thy most meritorious Cross and Passion oh that we may behold them with the same affections with which we should have been moved had we been spectators of thy horrid Tragedy so shall they imprint the Characters of thy love so deep upon our hearts that neither time nor temptation can obliterate them Behold we do here most affectionately call to mind the humility of thine Incarnation the merit of thy Death the power of thy Resurrection and the glories of thine Ascension And thus by thine own appointment Dearest Jesus we do shew our Thankfulness for thy Passion our Faith in thy Resurrection and our hope of thy second coming l In commemorationem mei i. e. hoc modo Mortem meam praedicabitis resurrectionem annuntiabitis adventum sperabitis donec iterum adveniam Ambros ut supr We will commemorate thy all-sufficient sacrifice before the Almighty to pacify his anger against us before the World to testifie our hope in a Crucified Saviour and before our selves to renew our sense of thy inexpressible love We will Do this so often and so sincerely with so much zeal and holy Passion that if it be possible neither we nor any others shall ever become unmindful of Thee and when we cannot have the Symbols before our Eyes the Impressions of them shall remain in our minds and our lives shall witness that we are not forgetful of thee § 11. Likewise also after Supper he took the Cup and when he had given thanks The life of Man requires not only meat but drink also to sustain it and therefore Christ hath set forth himself under both these to
yea upon all thy Merits and Graces Lord thou reachest out most freely that which I need infinitely and that which I wish for above all things Adored be thy admirable bounty in complyance wherewith unworthy though I am I do stretch out a trembling hand I do open my mouth yea my heart to receive thee Open your Doors O ye Gates of my Soul and the King of Glory shall come in Rejoice and be exceeding glad for behold thy King cometh meek and lowly to visit the meanest of his servants Come Lord Jesus come quickly A Meditation while we Eat the Bread §. 8. In remembrance that Christ died for thee An Act of Contrition O my Soul behold how thou hast incensed the Majesty of Heaven see how he gives up the most innocent and most holy Jesus thy best thy only friend and his own dear Son to be tortured and tormented for thy Sins O how cruelly was he scourged with whips wounded with Thorns loaden with the Cross torn with Nails pierced with a Spear and rackt on the most painful instrument of Death His lovely Face is defiled with blood and spitting his Ears filled with taunts and curses his Eyes drenched in tears for the ruine of his Enemies and his Soul amazed at the terrors of the divine wrath till at length all wounded broken and bloody with many groans yet with admirable patience he breaths out his holy Soul And yet whatever he suffered was my portion My pleasure hath been his pain my wicked life hath caused his bitter death Wretch that I am to live in such a manner that nothing else could satisfie or make my Peace But here I come this day to call my sin to remembrance I will look on thee whom I have pierced with a most tender and sympathizing affection and while I break this holy Bread with my Teeth I will commemorate how thou wast bruised for our iniquities and how our offences did grind thee with grief and pain Holy Saviour I am angry at my self and full of anguish to see what I hâ—ve brought upon thee I am sorry with all my heart that I have given harbour to thy Murtherers but I hope this most dismal spectacle l Est enim tanta vis crucis Christi ut si ante oculos ponatur in mente fidelitèr retineatur ita ut in ipsam mortem Christi intentis oculis adspiciatur nulla concupiscentia nulla libido nullus furor nulla potest superare invidia Origen in 7. ad Rom. shall mortifie in me all desires after Evil and make me abhor all those desperate pleasures which must be so dearly paid for by thee or else stand charged upon my Account for ever No no I will never crucifie thee again by renewing my disobedience for I have done too much already A Meditation after the receiving of the Bread §. 9. And feed on him in thy heart by Faith with thanksgiving An Act of particular Application and Gratitude Hail holy Lamb of God thrice welcome art thou to a poor perishing Sinner was it not enough that thou shouldst suffer so much for me but thou wilt also give all the purchase of those sufferings to me thy loving kindness is truly admirable Thou hast taken my sins on thy self and communicated thy Righteousness unto my Soul Lord while I believe and consider the benefits of thy Passion I am revived and filled with an unwonted vigour My Conscience doth accuse me of many and grievous sins but I do here most humbly and thankfully set forth this perfect Sin-offering before thy divine Majesty and I know thou canst not except against it I believe it is sufficient to attone thy anger what I owe he hath discharged what I have deserved he hath endured so that for his sake I hâ—pe thou wilt set me free Blessed Jesus how is my Soul refreshed that it is thus restored again to thy Fathers Love Let Heaven and Earth praise thee and declare the merit of this glorious Sacrifice and I will bless thee while I have my being I will love thee because thou hast loved me better than thy own life my heart shall feast with joy and Eucharist upon the pleasures and Comforts which I expect to draw from this Coelestial food I have received thine immaculate Body and it shall cleanse my sinful body and teach me by the vertue of so rare an example to relieve my poor Brethren for whom thou hast died and to conquer my Enemies by my Charity for thus thou hast done to me And both my lips and my life shall set forth thy Praise I begin to feel my self one with thee already and I will wait till I am perfectly united to thee in Everlasting Glory Amen Meditations before the receiving of the Cup. §. 10. The blood of our Lord Iesus Christ An Act of Acknowledgment It will not suffice me Dearest Saviour to receive thee in part only for I must be wholly thine and blessed be thy Name thou art willing to be wholly mine also Thou hast already given me thy holy Body to cleanse my nature and now thou art preparing thy precious Blood to wash away my guilt My sins have poured out every drop thereof wherefore thou presentest it to me by it self to shew how truly thou didst suffer Death for me And now O my Redeemer thou hast said this Cup is the Communion of thy blood and thy Truth is unquestionable thy power is infinite and thy love was such that thou gavest thy hearts blood for me I will receive it therefore as the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant the seal of all the Promises of thy holy Gospel I have indeed vile Sinner that I am drunk in iniquity like water and therefore am unfit to taste this Water of Life and yet I shall perish without it for I am all over defiled and this is the fountain which thou hast opened to cleanse us I am scorched with the flames of evil Lusts and unruly Passions and this is the Cup which thou hast provided to cool and refresh us O thou Medicine of immortality my Soul longeth for thee what value is sufficient for me to put upon this Heavenly Cordial how can I reverence it enough since the God of Heaven esteemed it a price sufficient for millions of perishing Mankind Lord let me taste and my soul shall live let me wash in this Laver before I come to thy great Tribunal so shall I be whiter than Snow §. 11. Which was shed for thee An Act of Repentance mixed with Faith Was there ever so base a wretch as I have been who have accounted those sins small and trivial yea and made them my sport and pleasure which have pressed down and wounded the holy Jesus till he is all over drenched in his own blood Woe is me I have easily committed that which nothing but these streams can wash away O ye accursed Lusts ye have by wicked hands taken Crucified and slain the Lord of Life and if he had
so afterwards that we may retain the benefits which we have received as the more particular consideration thereof will shew The Analysis of the First Prayer in the Post-Communion § 2. This First Prayer consisteth of Three Parts 1. A Supplication to the Father 1. For the Acceptance of our Sacrifice of Praise O Lord our heavenly Father we thy humble Servants entirely desire thy Fatherly Goodness mercifully to accept this our Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving 2. For the Benefits of the Oblation made by Jesus Christ Most humbly beseeching thee to grant that by the Merits and Death of thy Son Iesus Christ and through Faith in his Blood we and all thy whole Church may receive remission of our Sins and all other benefits of his Passion 2. An Oblation of our selves by 1. A solemn Dedication 1. The thing dedicated And here we offer and present unto thee O Lord our selves our souls and bodies 2. The end of the Dedication to be a reasonable holy and lively Sacrifice unto thee 2. A Petition for Grace to make good this Vow Humbly beseeching thee that all we who are Partakers of this Holy Communion may be full filled with thy Grace and heavenly Benediction 3. An Act of Humility expressed in 1. Acknowledging our unworthiness And although we be unworthy through our manifold Sins to offer unto thee any Sacrifice 2. Petitioning to be mercifully accepted yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden Duty and Service not weighing our Merits but pardoning our Offences 3. A Doxology to the whole Blessed Trinity Through Iesus Christ our Lord by whom and with whom in the Vnity of the Holy Ghost all Honour and Glory be unto thee O Father Almighty world without end Amen A Practical Discourse upon the first Prayer with Meditations after the Communion § 3. O Lord our Heavenly Father we thy humble Servants entirely desire thy Fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving The devout Soul being newly refreshed with these Heavenly Comforts and even ravished with joy to find him whom she loved and longed after desires now an opportunity to express her gratitude But alas what have we to return we can make no requital only we must acknowledge the favour and offer up a Sacrifice of Praise for it and since this is all we can do we had need do this very well but if we reflect upon the manner even of this Oblation we shall easily perceive there have been many defects so that without a merciful acceptance it could never avail us in the sight of God how apparent is it that we have not praised God so affectionately and unfeignedly as so infinite a mercy doth deserve Wherefore if we be really his humble Servants the first thought in our hearts and the first word in our mouths will be the confession of our failings even in the whole office from the beginning to the end for the Ancients called the whole Communion the Sacrifice of Praise c Ecclesia immolat in Corpore Christi sacrificium laudis Aug. l. 1. in advers legis cap. 20. as our Church here doth whereas the Romanists only call it a Sacrifice d Praesta ut hoc sacrificium quod oculis tuae Majestatis indignus obtuli Missal Rom. without any other addition but it is not the Sacrifice of Christ which we here speak of for that is always pleasing to God and was absolutely perfect but it is our own Peace-offering in Commemoration thereof in which there have bâ—en many failings and therefore we desire and beg that it may be accepted in mercy so that our infirmities may not deprive us of the benefit and the comfort thereof to which purpose let us thus Meditate When I compare thy acts with mine Holy Jesus I am exceedingly ashamed to behold so vast a disproportion thou givest me thy merits and graces thy life and thy love at present and hast promised thy Kingdom to me in reversion and I have scarce returned this with the intire devotion of one half hour Oh how little is my obdurate heart affected with the sense of my own guilt the fears of the divine wrath or the apprehensions of thy sufferings Yet Lord I do desire and did endeavour to praise thee so that I hope thou wilt consider my infirmities with much compassion and measure my services not by the exactnâ—ss of the performance but by the sincerity of my wishes so shall I be accepted before thy Heavenly Father and by the mercy of that acceptance be obliged unto thee for ever § 4. Most humbly beseeching thee to grant that by the merits and death of thy Son Iesus Christ and through Faith in his Blood we and all thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins and all other benefits of his Passion Our Heavenly Father doth not at any time require our praises meerly for the advancement of his own glory but that we may thereby be the more fit to receive greater benefits from him e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ch. in Gen. hom 52. thus in the design of this holy Sacrament he doth not only intend it as a Sacrifice of Praise for the Death of Christ but as a means to convey the blessings thereof to us Wherefore we must in the next place petition that we may find the happy effects of our Lords Passion and then we shall have good grounds to turn this memorial thereof into Eucharist and Thanksgiving We have beheld that sacred body broken and that precious blood spilt in a mystery which is sufficient to attone our sins and the sins of the whole Church and we have now perceived our own need of mercy and we are in perfect Charity with all Christian people so that it is now most proper for us to pray that that so excellent a price may not be paid in vain so glorious an offering may not want its due effects But that by this Sacrifice as the meritorious and moving cause and by our Faith therein as the instrumental we and the whole Church may find remission at the hands of God This is the great end of our Communicating and if we would most earnestly intreat for it we may thus enlarge our selves Gracious Lord we have beheld the efficacious and all-saving Sacrifice which thy Son hath offered for us we have remembred it and blessed thy name for it as well as we were able though not so highly as we are obliged to do f Gratias agimus Deus omnipotens non quantum debemus sed quantum possumus Liturg. S. Clement For the benefits thereof are inestimable Oh let them not all be lost unto us for want of Faith to believe and receive them There is no want of merit in Jesus to deserve no want of mercy in thee to bestow remission Oh let there not want in us or in any of those for whom Christ died grace to accept this Pardon Behold Lord how we struggle under a load of guilt
back again to thy self better than I received thee There needs no application but that every Communicant do as sincerely make oblation of their Souls and Bodies to God for this the poorest may give and yet this is more acceptable than thousands of Gold and Silver If these reasons do convince us of the justice and the necessity of our making this Oblation we may learn in the next place from the very form in this Prayer how and in what manner it may be done for we are taught therein I. What it is which we must offer viz. our whole selves not only our Bodies but our Souls also n Quodâ—si corpus quo inferiore tanquam famulo utitur anima sacrificium est quanto magis anima ipsa cum se refert ad Deum August Deinde cum plena resignatione integrâ voluntate offer teipsum in honorem nominis mei corpus tuum scil animam mihi fidelitèr câ—mmittendo Tho. à Kemp. de imit Christi l. 4. c. 6. for we consist of both these God hath created and redeemed both and each of them in their capacity can do him service wherefore we must give him both or he will accept neither o Pectora vestra duanon admittentia curas Juven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macrob. Saturn because he hath no equal he will have no Rival All the members of our Bodies and all the powers of our Souls our Limbs and Senses our Will and Affections our Reason and Understanding must be dedicated to him for so long as any of these are under the bondage of sin the rest cannot be intirely the Servants of God Math. 6.24 II. To what end we make this Oblation of our selves First To be a reasonable Sacrifice The offering up of our Souls and Bodies since we are rational Creatures is not like the Sacrifices of brute Beasts by dying but by living agreeable to the will of God and the rules of right reason p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epicharmus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socrat. ap Stobaeum for reason as it is inlightned in us Christians doth direct us to approve of all things that are good and doth attest and confirm the Duties which God requires He therefore makes himself a reasonable Sacrifice who doth live prudently and piously and walk according to the dictates of the best reason he that is religious and just sober and humble meek and patient compassionate and charitable q Qui innocentiam colit Deo supplicat qui justitiam Deo libat qui hominem periculo subtrahit optimam victimam caedit Min. Foelix Vis Deos propitiare bonus esto satis illos coluit quisquis imitatus est Sen. ep 95. for these things are in themselves the most rational and we have the greatest reason and the highest obligations to perform them Secondly We offer our selves to be an Holy Sacrifice that is to be pure and spotless as all those offerings were appointed to be r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Athenaeus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Suidas which were offer'd to the Divine Majesty And as all such offerings were set apart and sanctified never to be accounted the owners Å¿ Nullius autem scil hominis sunt res sacrae religiosae quod enim Divini juris est id nullius in bonis est Justinian instit l. 2. tit 1. Sect. 7. or to be used to any common or prophane use afterwards so when we are purified by the blood of Christ and dedicated to God it is with intent never to use our faculties as the servants of sin nor our members as the instruments of unrighteousness any more Our Eyes must not look towards wantonness our Ears must not hearken to vanity our tongues must not speak lies or slanders our hands must not wrong nor oppress nor our feet spurn the poor neither may our wit or reason our passions or our will be the slaves of Sin hereafter For we are Holy 1 Cor. 3.16 17. and if we unhallow our selves again it is a crime equal to Belshazzers sacrilegious drinking in the holy Vessels of the Temple Thirdly That we may be a Living Sacrifice for we do not vow to kill or destroy our selves as some of the Heathens did in honour to their less-deserving Deities but we resolve to Sacrifice our Lusts t Non enim sicut tunc corpora pro corporibus immolanda sed vitia corporis perimenda sunt S. Ambros in 12. ad Rom. by mortification because so long as they live we are dead to the service of God We engage to be living u Aqua viva Hebr. Dialecto est aqua fontana ebulliens perennis jugitèr manans that is lively and strong vigorous and persevering in all religious duties and that we will perform all kind of good works with such an alacrity as may express life and spirit so that although we do not or cannot return the love of Jesus by dying for him as he hath done for us yet we will live to him and desire our life no longer nor for no other end than to advance his glory and do his blessed pleasure And now if we do so far understand our own interest and are so really weary of the bondage of Satan as to desire and long for a better Master and do wish unfeignedly that we may be accepted as the servants of God let us resign up and dedicate our selves to him in this or the like form An Act of Oblation of our selves or the form of a Vow after the Holy Communion O most merciful Lord God I am amazed at the mighty faâ—â—â—â—s which thou hast shewed to me a sinful wretched Creature I cannot but acknowledge thy goodness although I can make no retribution had I all the World at my disposal I could freely give it all to thee as a testimony of my unfeigned gratitude but I hear thy gracious voice saying My Son give me thy heart It is not mine dearest Lord but me thou seekest sinful and miserable though I am yet I am that purchase for which Jesus hath left his glory laid down his life done and suffered all these things O marvellous condescension I am nothing I have nothing I am void of all good full of evil and deserving thy wrath so that I abhor my self and canst thou delight in me Be it so then for I will dispute no more with unsearchable mercy I believe O my God and wonder I can no longer resist thy condescending and Almighty Love I will with all the joy imaginable give my se f to thee for thou hast but lately restored me to my self Alas I have been a Prisoner to Satan a Slave to Sin and marked for destruction but thou hast procured my Pardon my Liberty and my Life requiring no more for so unexpressible bounty but only that I will intirely become thine Had I the life of an Angel the understanding of a Cherubin or the powers of one of the Heavenly Host
appeased my sins expiated my peace made and my Enemies vanquished It revives my spirit and refreshes me more than comparisons can express more than any can apprehend but thâ—y that feel the like O praise the Lord with me and let us magnifie his name together we should have thought it a great felicity to have beheld the glories of Jesus at a distance but he hath now sent him home to our hearts wherefore we will declare his mercy for ever Amen Hallelujah § 4. And dost assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us When St. John was to introduce the Institution of this Sacrament he doth it with this Preface Chap. 13.1 Having loved his own he loved them to the end or as the word rather signifies g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Johan 13.1 i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophylac He loved them in the highest degree intimating that this holy Communion is designed as a testimony that he loved us with a most perfect love And there are many considerations which do most clearly shew this to be an assured pledge of the favour of God unto us 1. If we consider it only as a Feast it hath always been a token of great respect and a symbol of intire friendship to admit especially our inferiours to our Table h Mensae ejusdem particeps quod magnum amicitiae symbolum olim creditum Grotius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Philo. thus David expressed his kindness unto Mephibosheth 2 Sam. 9.7 and Joseph to his estranged Brethren Gen. 43.25 and no man willingly eats with those whose persons or manners he dislikes Gen. 43.32 Besides Feasts have been esteemâ—d a means to reconcile those who have been at variance whence it is a Proverb in Ben-Syra Spread the Table and the contention will cease And is it not matter of unspeakable joy to us who were Enemies Rebels and condemned wretches to be thus invited to feast with the Lords of Hosts Can we have a plainer Symbol of his favour than thus to be treated as his dear friends 2. But it is not an ordinary Feast for it is a Feast upon the Body and blood of Christ which was the great Sin-offering Now it was not lawful of old for any i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Porph. de abst l. 4. Sect. 44. to tast of the Expiatory Sacrifices because those offerings could not wholly abolish sin nor remove the anger of God he was not so perfectly reconciled by them as to give back the Offerers any part on which they might feast with him But by the perfect oblation of Jesus Christ it is evident that the divine Justice is fully satisfied and therefore the flesh and blood of Christ is by God given back to us in Sacrament that we may eat thereof before him and thereby be assured that he will remember our sins no more but this is more largely described by others 3. It will further appear to be a pledge of Gods infinite love to us if we consider who it is that in this holy Rite he gives to us even Jesus Christ his dearly beloved Son May we not say as God to Abraham Gen. 22.12 Now know we that thou lovest us because thou hast not withheld thy Son thy only Son from us And justly may we argue with St. Paul Rom. 8.32 He that hath given us his own Son how shall he not with him also freely give us all things k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Rom. when he hath given the greatest and best to us to make us his Friends shall he deny us any lesser matters when we are reconciled We may be confident there is nothing which God values more highly than his own dear Son and that his design in giving him to us in this Sacrament is to be a testimony how infinitely he loveth us and how earnestly he desireth our Salvation 4. That which adds weight to all the former is the consideration of the Giver who is the God of truth and is most sincere in all his dealings with us so that we may be assured of all imaginable reality on his part And now how should it fill our minds with joy that we have such a pledge of his favour l Non tam dono lata est quam abs te datum id verò triumphat serió Terent. Eun. 3.11 At illa quanto gratiora sunt quantoque in partem interiorem animi descendunt cum delectant cogitantem magis à quo quà m quid acceperit Sen. de ben l. 1. Sect. 15. who is Almighty in power and governs all the World whose goodness fills Heaven and Earth with joy Were the gift never so mean that were bestowed in token of his favour and goodness it ought to be esteemed above all things therefore let us thus acknowledge our gratitude for so excellent a gift upon so blessed an account from so glorious a Majesty An Act of acknowledgment Part. I. There are many O Lord who are most importunate to obtain thy favour and unquiet till they receive some testimonies thereof and yet when their desires are granted they are unmoved and ingrateful But I will endeavour to praise thee as heartily for these manifestoes of thy love as I desired them fervently I acknowledge therefore that I am full of wonder to find my self honoured with the highest priviledges and remarked with the most illustrious signals of thy endearing love I begged the mercy of gathering up the Crumbs under thy Table and behold thou hast placed me among thy servants and fed me with the choicest of thy preparations thou hast offered unto me a Crucified Saviour with all his merits and graces which is so great an assurance of thy good will towards me that it were folly and impudence to suspect it O Lord thou hast shewed this token upon me for good that all my Enemies may see it and be ashamed for all the Powers of darkness are confounded to behold me a poor despised wretch whose ruine they gaped for every moment thus to be made a Guest at thy Table and treated as one of thy dearest Children or best beloved Friends I will not be proud of this honour because I did not deserve it but I will rejoice in it and bless thy name for it because it hath revived my hope and cheared my drooping Soul and I am perswaded this fresh testimony of thy favour shall engage me to love thee with an unalterable affection There was nothing in the World I desired in comparison of thy Love nor could I have wished a more certain pledge of it than thy Son and my Saviour Welcom O my dearest Redeemer for thy own sake and thrice welcom as thou art the evidence of thy Heavenly Fathers love to me a miserable Sinner I will acknowledge it with delight as I am able at present and my whole life hereafter shall shew how deep a sense I have of this inestimable goodness and when life and breath doth fail it
stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord. And I beseech thee give me constant and continual supplies of thy Grace that I may be able to perform whatsoever I have promised and let not forgetfulness or indevotion seize upon me hereafter Let me hold fast that which I have and daily strive to gain more and finally make me faithful to the Death so shall I receive the Crown of Life for he that endureth to the end shall be saved Amen § 8. Through Iesus Christ our Lord to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory World without end Amen There is a mighty efficacy in the name of Jesus used by a devout Soul that hath lately beheld the Commemoration of his great Attonement Through him we beg this Grace therefore And to him together with the Father and the blessed Spirit we offer up all honour and glory for the favours imparted to us in this Communion which but just now we did acknowledge and these Prayers and Praises we have cause to sign with an unfeigned Amen For we need the grace desired and the blessed Trinity deserves the glory ascribed wherefore we say Amen So be it But of this we have spoken before The Paraphrase of the second Prayer O Lord who art ever able and always ready to help thy servants being an Almighty and everliving God whose power and mercy can never fail We thy poor Creatures according to our bounden duty do most heartily thank and most unfeignedly praise thee for that of thy infinite pitty and bounty thou dost vouchsafe at this thy holy Table to feed us who have with penitence and Faith devoutly and duly received these holy Mysteries For therein thou hast refreshed our Souls with the spiritual and most desirable food of life thou hast made us Partakers by Faith of the most precious Body and of the most holy blood of thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christ which was offered for the Redemption of the whole World We acknowledge O Lord that besides the present comfort of this inestimable gift thou hast convinced us And dost assure us thereby of that which though we do not deserve yet we esteem above all things even thy favour thy gracious designs and goodness towards us poor Sinners And further by this holy Rite thou hast declared us thy Children and that we are very certainly living Members incorporate in and united unto the mystical Body of thy Son even thy Holy Church which is the blessed Company which are redeemed reconciled and sanctifyed by Jesus consisting of all faithful People in whose Prayers Priviledges and hopes we have now a happy interest And are also together with those thy servants by this Seal of thy Covenant made Heirs through hope already of thy Everlasting Kingdom which was purchased by the Merits of the most precious Death and Passion of thy Dear Son whose sufferings are set forth and the benefits of them conveyed to us in this Sacrament And now lest we should lose these blessings again by relapsing to folly as we have formerly done We most humbly and earnestly beseech thee O Heavenly Father for thy mercy sake so constantly and powerfully to assist us with thy grace in all our endeavours to perform our Obligations and our Vows that we may continue for ever in that holy fellowship with thy Son and thy Saints to which thou hast admitted us And do all such good works of Mercy Piety and Vertue as thou hast by the direction of thy holy Word prepared for us to walk in who have professed our selves to be thy Servants All which we beg through the most powerful intercession of Iesus Christ our Lord by whom we have received these and all other Mercies To whom therefore with thee O Father Almighty and the Holy Ghost three Persons and one God let there be all honour and glory ascribed both now and World without end Amen Be it so SECT IV. Of the Gloria in Excelsis or the Angelick Hymn § 1. TO conclude this Office with an Hymn is so direct an imitation of our Saviours practice Math. 26.30 that it is observed in all Churches and hath been used in all Ages And although the forms may differ yet this is as Antient as any now Extant The former part of it is of an Heavenly Original and was sung by the Angels at our Lords Nativity Luke 2.14 and it seems from thence it was transcribed into the Oriental Liturgies for it is thrice repeated in that of St. James The latter part is by Hug. de S. Victor l. 2. said to be composed by St. Hilary Bishop of Poictiers but by Rabanus Maurus who lived 200. years before the said Hugo it is ascribed to Telesphorus about the year of Christ 139. Certain it is that it was added by the Ecclesiastical Doctors as we are informed by the fourth Council of Toledo a Concil Tolet. IV. Can. XII celebrated about 1000. years ago and yet those are accursed by that Council who shall reject this or the Gloria Patri or other Hymns because they are not verbatim in the Scripture for as is there well noted upon that pretence we might reject the most part of the Church Offices It is also to be noted that with very little difference we find this Hymn in Clement's Constitutions l. 17. cap. 48. so that it is likely to have been of very antient use in the Western Church And whereas in the present Roman Missal it stands in the beginning of this Office it is much more properly placed by our Liturgy here in the end of the Communion for every devout Communicant is now even full of gratitude and longeth for an opportunity to pour out his Soul in the praises of God and how fit this Hymn is for that purpose the Analysis and following discourse will shew The Analysis of the Angelick Hymn or Gloria in Excelsis § 2. The Angelick Hymn hath Two Parts 1. The Angels Song acknowledging 1. The Effect of Christs Death 1. Above Glory be to God on High and 2. Below in Earth Peace 2. The moving Cause of it good will towards Men. 2. A Descant upon it by 1. A Glorification of the Father expressing 1. The Manner how we offer this Praise We praise thee we bless thee we worship thee we glorifie thee we give thanks unto thee 2. The Reason why for thy great Glory 3. The Person to whom O Lord God Heavenly King God the Father Almighty 2. A Supplication to the Son who is 1. Confessed in his Titles O Lord the only begotten Son Iesu Christ O Lord God Lamb of God Son of the Father 2. Invocated by his 1. Office to 1. Pardon that takest away the sins of the World have mercy upon us Thou that takest away c. have mercy c. 2. Hear us Thou that takest away the sins of the World receive our Prayer 2. By his Glory also to pardon us Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father
to the Congregation § 1. 2. Desires the Child may obtain them in The Lords Prayer § 2. The last Collect § 3. 3. Directions in order thereunto in The concluding Exhortation to the Sureties § 4. §. 1. The first Question Quest HAth this Child been already Baptized This Question howsoever it hath been derided by ignorant or impious Persons must by no means be omitted because it is necessary before we begin this great mystery that we be certified it hath not been done already since it is a rite never to be repeated for as there is but one one Lord and one Faith so there is but one Baptism Ephes 4.5 And because Baptism of old was called Illumination a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Martyr therefore that place of the Apostle b Heb. 6.4 Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Syriac Arab. Aethiop semel baptizatos ita explicat Ambros de poenitent l. 2. c. 2. of the once enlightened hath been usually expounded of those that have been once Baptized and afterwards did Apostatize but besides what is intimated in Scripture the Antient Church doth positively condemn the repeating of Baptism c Concil 1. Carthag Can. 1. Anno 330. item Concil 3. Toletanum Vnus omnino Baptismus est nobis tam ex Domini Evangelio quam ex Apostolicis literis Tertul. de Bapt. Renovatio per sacri baptismatis lavacrum secundâ vice fieri non potest Ambros in Heb. 6. provided the party were baptized in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost And whereas the Council of Nice Can. 19. S. Cyprian and Tertullian speak of Baptizing again those who had been baptized by Hereticks it was because they esteemed their Baptism no Baptism d Illis ideoque nec Baptismus unus quia non idem quem cum rite non habeant sine dubio non habent nec capit numerari quod non habetur Tert. de Bapt. c. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Hieros as not being performed in the Name of the Holy Trinity according to Christs appointment So that it is absurd and impious to do this over again and therefore we ask this Question which also may admonish the Minister and the whole Congregation to be very serious and devout now in behalf of this present Infant since it can never more have the like opportunity for its Purification And as to those of riper years it doth highly require their care to do it well For They cannot saith St. Cyril come to this Laver twice or thrice to correct the Omissions of the first time if it be ill done at first it must remain so for ever §. 2. The first Exhortation Dearly beloved for as much as all men are Conceived and born in Sin c. There is a mutual Covenant in this Sacrament between God and Man but there is so vast a disproportion between the parties and so great a condescension on the part of the Almighty who designs only our advantage in it and is moved purely by his own free grace to agree to it That it becomes us to begin this Office with Prayer and that we may pray with Understanding this Exhortation is premised wherein we are taught 1. The Reasons why we must pray for this Infant 2. What it is which we must ask in its behalf 1. The Reasons are introduced with a Courteous salutation directed not only to the Sureties but to the whole Congregation who are stiled Dearly Beloved because they are all Christians and invited to join because they were once in the same condition which Nature cannot give even that this Child may be washed in Soul with the Spirit as well as with Water on the Flesh and not only be listed in the Register of visible Christians but have its name written in Heaven Nature hath polluted but it cannot cleanse the Parents have transmitted Sin but cannot remove it the Minister can provide Water and perform the external Rite but it is above humane power or the possibilities of Nature to make these things effectual to the Child 's Eternal Salvation wherefore we have the more reason to cry most passionately to him that only can effect all this §. 3. The first Collect for the Child Almighty and Everlasting God who of thy great mercy didst save Noah c. Being prepared with the former Motives and Directions the Minister invites us in the antient Form Let us pray and goes before us in these two pious Composures in the first of which there are three Parts 1. A Preface laying down the encouragements to this Request 2. The Request it self 3. The End for which we make it 1. When the Preface hath minded us that he whom we call upon is Almighty in Power and Everlasting in Duration it doth Commemorate the Antient Types of Holy Baptism together with the Consignation thereof in the Person of our Lord Jesus that by Remembring what God hath done by and for the Element of Water with respect to this Mystery we may heighten our own Expectations and learn to hope for great things from it and engage the Almighty to make the present effect answerable to so early and so noble an Apparatus as himself had made thereunto 1. St. Peter assures us the Saving of Noah in the Flood was a Type of our Salvation by Baptism 1 Peter 3.21 and many of the Fathers take notice of it also m In diluvio quoque jam tunc figura Baptismatis Ambros de â—acr l. 1. c. 6. Baptismum ut ita dixerim Mundi Tert. de bap Cap. 8. Cyril Hieros cat 3. The Flood was the Baptism of the World the iniquity whereof was purged by Water and all that was Corrupt was buried in that Universal Deluge until at last in token that the Evil was Expiated the Dove did rest upon the renewed face of the Earth and was the Messenger of Peace to those who were saved by those Waters Thus our old Man is buried in Baptism and our Sins washed away yet so as the new Man is restored thereby and sealed with the Holy Ghost 2. St. Paul affirms that God did prefigure the Christian Baptism by the Passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea 1 Corinth 10.2 Which Tertullian observes in these words The people ready to leave Egypt escaped the force of Pharaoh by going through that Water which drowned the King and all his Army which figure is more manifest in the Sacrament of Baptism n Illud mare nostri Baptismi figura fuit Ambros de Mansionibus Israelit Cyril 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cateches 3. for all Nations are delivered from the World by Waters and leave the Devil their former Ruler and Oppressor overwhelmed in them de bapt Cap. 9. Now if God did twice save the whole Church by Water on purpose to typifie the efficacy of Baptism before it was instituted we may very reasonably believe that now the substance is come he will much more save a few Children or
super hominem August in Donat. de bap l. 3. c. 17. and St. Ambrose notes that even St. Paul himself was not so bold as to communicate the Spirit autoritatively to his new Converts but he begs it of God for them Coloss 1.9 t Impetrare optavit non imperare praesumpsit Ambros de Spir. Sanc. l. 1. c. 7. Now the party confirmed ought chearfully to hope this Prayer shall be accepted and while the Bishops hand is over our head we ought to meditate that God himself will keep us in the shadow of his hand Isai 49.2 and that by this Rite is signified that the Lord will stretch out his Hand to Defend us against all our Spiritual Enemies We have given up our selves to be his Servants and the Hand of the Lord is with us Luke 1.66 that is his Spirit is upon us and if we keep close to him none can pluck us out of his hand John 10.28 29. but we may continue his for ever Satan will assault us the World will allure us and the Flesh will entice us to break this Vow but the Holy man prays we may be defended by the Spirit of grace so that we may never fall off as too many have done It is a comfort to see so many Dedicating themselves to God but it is also a sad consideration that scarce one of twenty remember this engagement but they first forsake God and then he forsakes them for ever 1 Chron. 28.9 Oh then let us pray that neither we nor any of our Relations may prove Apostates or Backsliders but that we may remain under the divine protection and continue his to our lives end For if we keep united to this Living Root we shall not only live but flourish grow and bring forth more and more fruit John 15.2 The Grace now imparted is of that nature that if we cherish it we shall encrease daily therein and therefore the Bishop prays we may not only have the Spirit at present but that we may grow in Grace every Day even until we be fitted for glory and be partakers of Gods Heavenly Kingdom as the Council of Laodicea speaks And since so excellent a Prayer is made by so eminent a Person with so antient a Rite let every one for himself and every one for his Children Servants or Friends add thereto a most affectionate Amen §. 7. The Versicle Response and Lords Prayer The Lord be with you Answ And with thy Spirit Our Father c. We have fully discoursed of these Devotions Comp. to the Temple Part. I. and shall only note here That the Parties Confirmed having professed their Faith and vowed Obedience ought now to be saluted as Brethren and are to be reckoned among the Faithful as being sealed with the Seal of God and now belonging unto his Family u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gregor Nazianz. The Spirit hath been given to them we pray therefore it may remain with them The Bishop desires the Lord may assist them in blessing his Name for these Mercies and they mutually pray the Lord may assist the spirit of the holy Man who is praying for them And then all most fitly join in saying the Lords Prayer Which the whole Church sayeth and shall say unto the end of the World August retract lib. 1. cap. 19. §. 8. The Proper Collect. Almighty and Everlasting God who makest us both to will and to do those things that be good c. Without me saith Christ ye can do nothing John 15.2 and the better sort of Heathens confessed that the power to do good as well as the will to chuse it was from Heaven x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Pindar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Hierocles which Truth as it is expressed in St. Pauls words Philip. 2.13 is made the foundation of this address We have heard these Persons willing to chuse and ready to promise that which is good wherefore we confess God gave them the will and he can only give them Power to perform that which they have promised and since he hath made them willing already we hope he will make them able also for though the will be good yet if it produce no suitable actions it will but aggravate their Condemnation and that is the reason why we pray so oft and so earnestly for them The Bishop hath now in imitation of the Apostles as all Parties confess y Hic unus locus abundè testatur hujus ceremoniae originem fluxisse ab Apostolis Calvin in Heb 6. Exempla Apostolorum veteris Ecclesiae vellem pluris aestimari Zanchius Vide Chemnit Examen Concilii Trident. part 2. de confirm laid his hands upon these Persons and as Christ shewed his favour to little Children Math. 19.15 by laying his hands on them and expressed his love to St. John by the same sign Revel 1.17 So the Holy Man hath laid his hands on these as a token of Gods favour and therefore he is concerned to pray that it may not be an empty and insignificant sign but that the Hand of God may be over them for ever even when his hand is removed and that Gods Spirit may be always with them which Petitions are well Paraphrased by that Prayer of the Greek Church Lay thy mighty hand upon him and protect him by the power of thy goodness keep this holy Seal inviolable and vouchsafe to bring him to Eternal Life and to fulfill all thy good pleasure z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 · Eucholog in offic ablut post S. Baptism For thus it is desired here that the Hand and Spirit of God may continue with us the one to assist us in the understanding the other to help us in the performance of the Divine Word till we come to everlasting happiness The Word of God shews us the way to Heaven The Spirit makes us to understand and obey the Directions thereof so that if God hear this Prayer we cannot miss of that blessed end And here we must observe to what end the Holy Ghost is given us in this Ordinance not to make us able to speak with Tongues but to know the Word and do the Will of God It is the saying of the famous St. Augustine The Spirit which is now given by imposition of hands is not attested by temporal and sensible miracles as it was at first for the commendation of our Faith while it was young and to enlarge the beginnings of the Church For who doth now expect that those on whom hands are laid for receiving the Holy Ghost should presently begin to speak with tongues but yet the divine Love is understood to be secretly and invisibly inspired into their hearts by the Bond of Peace which enables them to say The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which he hath given us August de Bapt. in Donat. lib. 3. cap. 16. So that we must not despise Confirmation in our Church though it be not
sociis pro aegrotis pro afflictis in summo pro omnibus iis qui egent Auxilio Cyril Catech. 5. exactly agreeing with this of our Church St. Chrysostome also saith That the Priest standing at the Altar did offer Prayers and Praises for all the World for those that are absent and those that are present for those that were before us and those that shall be after us while that Sacrifice is set forth Hom. 26. in Math. For which cause our Communion Office in the Rubrick before this Prayer appoints the Bread and Wine to be set upon the Table first and then stirs us all up with that solemn Let us pray for the whole Estate of Christs Church c. And if as we are worshipping without we remember him that is praying within the Vail and by imitating his general Charity do unite our supplications to his all-poweriul Intercession we may no doubt obtain the Iargest and the choicest blessings in the Treasures of Heaven §. 2. The Analysis of the Prayer for the Whole Church § 2. This Prayer as the beginning intimateth consisteth of Three main Parts with a Preface and Conclusion 1. The Preface shewing 1. To whom it is made Almighty and Everliving God 2. On what ground we make it Who by thy Holy Apostle hast taught us to make Prayers and Supplications and to give Thanks for all Men 2. Prayers for the Acceptance of 1. Our Alms We humbly beseech thee most mercifully to accept our Alms and Oblations 2. Our Petitions and to receive these our Prayers which we offer to thy Divine Majesty 3. Supplications and Intercessions made 1. Generally for 1. The whole Church together Beseeching thee to inspire continually the Vniversal Church with the Spirit of Truth Vnity and Concord 2. All its Members And grant that all they that do confess thy Holy Name may agree in the truth of thy Holy Word and live in Vnity and godly Love 3. Especially its Temporal Governours We beseech thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings Princes and Governours 2. Particularly for this Church viz. 1. The Governours of it 1. Temporal 1. The King Especially thy servant CHARLES our King that under him we may be godly and quietly governed 2. The Magistrates And grant unto his whole Council and to all that are put in Authority under him that c. 2. Spiritual Give grace O heavenly Father to all Bishops 2. Ministers and Curates that they may both by their Life and Doctrine set forth c. 3. The People 1. For the spiritual good of all 1. In these Duties And to all thy People give thy heavenly grace especially to this Congregation c. 2. In the rest of their lives truly serving thee in Righteousness and true c. 2. For the Afflicted Temporal Relief And we most humbly beseech thee of thy goodness O Lord to comfort and succour c. 4. Giving Thanks by 1. Praising God for the Saints departed And we also bless thy Holy Name for all thy Servants departed thâ—s Life in thy faith and fear 2. Applying it to our selves Beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good Examples that with them we may be Partakers of thy Heavenly Kingdom 5. The Conclusion of the Whole Grant this O Father for Iesus Christ his sake our onely Mediator and Advocate Amen A Practical Discourse upon the Prayer for the whole Church Sect. 3. Almighty and Everliving God who by thy Holy Apostle hast taught us to make Prayers and Supplications and to give thanks for all men These two glorious Attributes of Omnipotence and Eternity so clearly distinguish God from all Creatures and are so properly the Character of an infinite Majesty that he is sometimes called the Almighty Psal 91.1 Job 21.15 and sometimes He that liveth for ever Dan. 4.34 Rev. 4.9 without any other denomination wherefore they are placed here to strike a Religious reverence into us because of his infinite perfections to whom we make this Address and yet also to confirm our Faith and excite our hope that though we petition for so many persons and so great Blessings we shall be heard by him who is mod mighty in Power and who hath through all times preserved his Church and though one Generation goeth and another cometh yet he ever liveth and is always the same But that which may still encrease our hope is that this Almighty and Everliving God is not only able to grant these Prayers but hath expresly commanded us by his Apostle St. Paul to make them 1 Ep. Timothy 2.1 I exhort therefore that first of all Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all Men Now had he not intended to grant them he would not have enjoined us to make them shall Esther fear to speak or to speed when the King commands her to ask Chap. 5.3 or will the Lord reject that Petition which is drawn up by his own Direction Behold how closely the Church hath followed the Apostles Directory for here in this form we have as the Analysis doth manifest first Prayers that is Petitions for Good d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophil in 1 Tim. 2. then Supplications or deprecations of evil in which are comprehended Intercessions and so not named here that is desiring some good or some deliverance from evil for others and lastly giving of thanks for mercies already received And surely all the Liturgies in the World ought to be composed by this Rule as ours most plainly is for the Morning and Evening offices do chiefly consist of Prayer The Letany is in the first part Supplication in the second Intercession and this Communion office may well be accounted Eucharistical being full of Hymns of Thanksgiving This for the kinds of our Requests now the Persons for whom we are to pray are all men which surely God commands in pursuance of those Precepts of Universal Charity of which this universal intercession is an excellent indication For no man can pray for all the World if he hates any one person he that prays for all must be in Charity with all and it is also an effectual means to oblige all people to us and tame the furies of our Enemies it being barbarous and highly infamous to prosecute those that heartily pray for our good And now if our hearts be filled with true Christian Charity such as is necessary for this holy Communion we cannot but rejoice to meet so excellent an opportunity to express our desire of the welfare of all Mankind Let us then with all possible Devotion offer up this Sacrifice Love this pious and prudent intercession which is enjoined by him that purposes to grant it and printed by Charitable Souls who will infinitely rejoice in the success thereof viz. the prosperity of the whole Church § 4. We humbly beseech thee most mercifully to accept our Alms and Oblations and to receive these our Prayers which we offer unto thy Divine Majesty It seems to have been
man considers before he set upon any great affair First He surveys the nature of the work Secondly He examines his own fitness to undertake it Thus did Solomon when he was to build the Temple 1 Kings 3.3.8 9. and when a marriage with Sauls Daughter was proposed to David Seemeth it saith he a light thing unto you to be a Kings Son c. so must we meditate of this divine Ordinance and say to our own Souls O how dreadful is this place Gen. 28.17 seemeth it a small thing unto thee to be feasted with God waited on by Angels fed with the body of Jesus and refreshed with a Cup of that saving blood which hath attoned the sins of the World What meaneth this secret that so poor a Wretch and sinful a Rebel should receive so mighty a favour and be received to so near embraces How can I approach to these Terrible Mysteries till I have pulled back the Veil and worshipped him that feeds my body to convey grace to my Soul and makes that stoop to the Eye of sense which Angels cannot behold with open faces The Minister's considering this before doth not excuse us from considering it also but we our selves must as he adviseth consider withal the dignity to make us full of desires and humble and the danger to put us upon the strictest care and preparation And if the peril of unworthy receiving do only make us more diligent to come well it becomes its own Cure and the consideration of this danger makes that really there is none to those who come humbly esteeming this Ordinance as it doth deserve § 7. And so to search and examine your own Consciences and that not lightly and after the manner of dissemblers with God but so that ye may come holy and clean to such an Heavenly Feast in the marriage garment required by God in holy Scripture and be received as worthy partakers of that holy Table Having spent some time in a serious contemplation of the dignity of this mystery our next duty is to search and try how we are fitted for it we must not only admire the Guest but prepare and cleanse the House for his reception and if we have done the first part so as that we have begot in our Souls a due esteem of the blessed Jesus we shall not dare to bring him into a filthy heart the receptacle of his Enemies and his Murderers When Augustus found but mean entertainment at the House of a Roman Citizen to whom he was invited he accounted it a disrespect to his Person and in anger said Sir I thought you and I had not been so familiar but our Lord is not offended at the meanness of his treat if there be no mixtures of uncleanness and iniquity Pythagoras his mystical precept not to cast Bread into a draught i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may fitly warn us not to put this Bread of Life into a Soul more odious to the Eyes of God than the receptacles of abomination can be to ours How careful was Joseph and Nicodemus to wrap his dead body in the purest linnen and shall we shew a less regard to his Person now that he liveth for ever But surely no Christian need be urged to so plain and so necessary a Duty only let us note those excellent directions for the manner of doing it which are here given us viz. That which we must search is the the Records of Conscience which if we examine l Salvatorem nostrum suscepturi totis viribus debemus nos cum iplius adjutorio praeparare omnes latebras animae nostrae diligentèr aspicere ne fortè sit in nobis aliquod peccatum absconditum quod conscientiam nostram confundat oculos divina Majestatis offendat Ambros de Sacram. seriously and strictly we may find there an impartial account of all the good we have omitted and all the evil which we have committed for there are those remembrances which will either accuse or excuse us at the holy Table Rom. 2.15 Wherefore we must take heed that we do not this lightly only out of Custom before a solemn time or meerly that we may seem to have done it as most men do who only gently touch these sores and give a slight and superficial glance at some of their greatest or latest committed sins but never care for searching into the bottom and looking into the inward Corners of their Corruptions These alas are but Dissemblers with God who only seek for some matter to confess and tell a sad story without any sorrow or real purposes of amendment yet call this preparation and come to this Sacrament with expectations of pardon and acceptance But truly we had as good do nothing neither God nor Conscience will so excuse us we do but lose our labour and cheat our selves with a shadow for the substance unless we do it impartially and with real designs to see our sins clearly and be humbled deeply for them so that we may hate and forsake them for ever hereafter Now that our Examination may be thus performed let us as the wise man adviseth Remember the end and we shall never do amiss Ecclus 7.16 We must consider therefore in the present case That we are so to try our selves First That we may come to this Heavenly Feast holy and adorned with the Wedding Garment Math. 22.2 that is we must examine not only till we see our sin but till we hate it and instead of those filthy rags have put on pure and pious dispositions which are that clean Linnen even the Righteousness of the Saints Revel 19.8 for by these Ornaments are holy Souls fitted for that Coelestial Company which is to be met at this Solemnity And secondly another end of our Examination is that we may be accepted by God himself as worthy Communicants that he who seeth the heart may approve the sincerity of our Repentance and the great King who comes in to see the Guests may by his gracious estimation supply the defects of our performance and call us worthy though strictly we are not so It is not that men may think we have duly prepared but that the All-seeing God may receive us that is treat us nobly and entertain us kindly as the word to receive signifies Math. 18.5 Act. 21.17 at this Heavenly Banquet And can we think a formal search will procure these graces or prevail for the divine acceptance nothing less than a through Repentance will suffice to this end and how to perform that the next Paragraph will discover § 8. The way and means thereto is first to examine your lives and Conversations by the Rule of Gods Commandments and whereinsoever ye shall perceive your selves to have offended either by Will Word or Deed there to bewail your own sinfulness and to confess your selves to Almighty God with full purpose of amendment If all that hath been said have convinced us of the necessity and advantage of a strict preparation
disowned him from being a Christian who did not receive at least three times a year d Inter Catholicos non est annumerandus qui temporibus Paschae Pentecostes Nativitatis Domini non Communicaverit Concil Ellib and of old they Excommunicated those who coming to the Sermon went out before the Communion e Laici fideles Ecclesiam ingredientes scripturas audientes si non permaneant in Precatione sacrâ Communione sâ—gregantur Can. Apost 9. And our own Church doth by her Canons strictly enjoin this Duty and by her Ministâ—rs frequently exhort us to it The practice of the best Christians of our own and elder times also do all declare it is a duty imposed by God and are we not Ashamed to tell God and Men to their Faces we will not after so many Mâ—ssâ—ges and Calls and Commands from Christ and his Church do we dare give impudent denials take heed and consider and with the stubborn Son in the Gospel though you have said obstinately you would not yet now repent and come and wipe off your evil words by better Deeds hereafter Secondly They who defer their coming upon pretence they are not ready must consider this excuse can never serve but once and must not be used by any man that hath not begun to prepare himself for otherwise they may put it off thus for ever till the Bridegroom comes and then they shall have the fate of the foolish Virgins Math. 25.6 7. c. If they are not ready for the Sacrament much less are they ready to dye and yet they do not live in safety till they are prepared for Death and so had need immediately to begin have they not reason to set upon their work who have much to do and little time Our being ready is a good Argument why we should speedily and diligently prepare but no Apology for our staying away and truly he that will not labour to fit himself for this Sacrament will scarce repent upon any other occasion and he that often says he is not ready thus to meet Christ at his first Coming will be strangely surprized at his second and doubtless be as unready then Besides are we not told of these holy times long enough before had we any love for Jesus we should begin early to adorn our selves as that Jewish Doctor who put on his best habit on Friday in the Afternoon and sat longing for the Sun-setting the time when the Jewish Sabbath begins and said Veni Sponsa Come my Spouse for so he called that Sacred Day The Church History relates that St. Catherine was wont to long for the Communion as the Child for its Mothers Breasts but we are glad of an excuse to shift it off and neither desire it nor prepare for it on purpose that we may say we are not ready These are fine pretences to stop the mouths and blind the Eyes of Men and serve us to cozen our selves with but they are vain and insignificant before him that looks through these thin Veils and sees other Causes which keep us away from the Altar which we would gladly conceal for God perceives that many which make these excuses do really forbear the Communion either because 1. They love sin and hate Virtue and resolve not to be engaged against the one nor obliged too strongly to the other or Secondly They are unwilling to take that pains which a serious Repentance and a due preparation do require or Thirdly They harbour some secret malice and either are too proud to ask forgiveness or too revengeful to forgive And therefore let no man think these or the like empty Apologies will excuse him at Gods Tribunal § 9. They that refused the Feast in the Gospel because they had bought a Farm or would try their Yokes of Oxen or because they were Married were not so excused but were counted unworthy of the Heavenly Feast If all this do not effectually enough represent the danger of relying upon such pretences here is added a plain Example in a Parable spoken by Christ himself Luke 14.18 19 c. which admirably sutes this very Case I doubt not but those Guests thought their excuses as fair as we can do ours And when they had alledged such weighty and important impediments they did as little fear the Lords anger as we are wont to do Yet we see he was very wroth Luke 14.21 Math. 22.7 and because some preferred their profit others their pleasure before his noble Feast he blotted them out of the list of his Friends and resolved never to invite them any more Let us beware by so fair a warning and not dare upon the like accounts to reject this Heavenly Feast for in so doing we reject the memorial of Christs Death the Symbols of his Body and blood and the pledges of his grace and love and do as directly refuse Christ himself as we can do upon Earth because there is no Ordinance wherein he is so really present and by which he is so surely conveyed to the believing Soul how fair soever our Plea is we seem to judge our selves unworthy of Eternal Life Acts 13.46 and God may not only sentence us as unworthy of this Holy Feast but resolve we that value the enjoyment of him so little on Earth are unfit to partake of the f Nec sibi posthà c de eo honore blandiantur quo seipsos indignos judicaverunt Cod. de dign Celestial Banquet or to enter into the Mansions of Bliss for they that will not remember his sufferings ought not to share in his glories It seems we think it a small punishment to be counted unworthy of the Sacrament for we inflict this upon our selves in our abstaining from it but if God do esteem us unworthy ever to have the grace of this Sacrament offered to us again for our slight refusals the doom is very sad and without a speedy repentance is the Harbinger of a final rejection from which God deliver us § 10. I for my part shall be ready and according to mine Office I bid you in the Name of God I call you in Christs behalf I exhort you as you love your own Salvation tâ—at ye will be partakers of this holy Communion Our Lord appointed two of his Apostles to prepare the Passover Luke 22.8 as an Emblem of their Duty in after Ages to provide for this Holy Supper For to them and their Successors he hath enjoined the care of its Administration wherefore it concerns the Ministers to take heed least by too seldom and too few Communions or too short notice they be not the occasion of the peoples abstinence for then they cannot justly reprove them g Serò advenis inquit Pomponius ad Ciceronem Minimè seró respondit ille nihil enim hîc paratum video Plutar. Apotheg and they bring the guilt of this neglect upon themselves Our Lord hath made them Stewards of his Houshold and they must take care to give them
their meat in due season Math. 24.45 For this Cause the Antient Church appointed the Priests in great Cities to have a Communion every Day so that devout people might always find the Table spread whensoever they hungred after this Bread of Life and in such places our own Church still makes monthly preparations and also sends the Minister to the Altar upon every great Festival on purpose to mind the people that he is ready if they were so also But when the Table is actually spread methinks we should need no other Oratory than those holy Symbols to invite us did we know our need of that food and were we acquainted with the pleasures of that Celestial Banquet we should be attracted with the very sight of the Elements and long yea languish to participate of them and sure they upbraid those wretches who go away and turn their backs upon them but there are some who cannot or will not hear this still voice and therefore the Minister doth once again ex officio invite us in the Name of God who is the great Master of this Feast and in the behalf of Christ who is the precious food there provided beseeching us that we will not by neglecting affront the great God and slight his dear Son and further exhorting us by the most cogent Argument viz. for our own sakes as we love our Souls as we fear to be Condemned and wish for Salvation that we will come Cicero thought a man might as soon run away from himself as lose the desire after those things which conduced to his own happiness h Prius à se poterit quispiam discedere quam appetitum earum rerum quae sibi conducunt amittere lib. de fin 5. But we have some so wretched who know there is no Salvation but by the Sacrifice of Christs Death and no so proper and ready way to get an interest in that Sacrifice as to eat of the remainders thereof in Faith and yet are hardly perswaded by the most pressing invitations But let us Consider that by frequent and long omissions our devotion grows flat our purposes wavering our Faith weak and our Corruptions strong the Enemy gets ground of us and the Spirit begins to withdraw from us i Mens deficit quamnon recepta Eucharistia erigit ac accendit Cypr. Ep. 54. ad Cor. so that if we would go safely to Heaven we must not too long neglect this holy Sacrament § 11. And as the Son of God did vouchsafe to yield up his Soul by Death upon the Cross for your Salvation so it is your duty to receive the Communion in remembrance of the Sacrifice of his Death as he himself hath Commanded Although we be by Gods Embassadors strongly intreated to come to this Holy Feast yet we must not think it left to our choice to hearken or to disobey for if they should not invite us we are obliged to come hither by the strongest Bonds of reason and duty For if Jesus thought our Salvation worth his Death do we think it too dear of a little preparation is he willing to bleed for our sins and are we not willing to weep for them shall he yield up his Soul in the midst of the most dolorous agonies and will not we yield up our Lusts and come to remember his love in this Holy Sacrament Our Saviour hath satisfied the divine Justice obtained a Pardon and done his part towards our Salvation but our part is still behind viz. to sue out this pardon in the Commemoration of his Death and in this Communion of his Body and blood to apply his merits by Faith to our own Souls And that we should Do this was one of his last and dying Commands Luke 22.19 1 Cor. 11.25 and is it not our duty to obey it How wretched then are we if we refuse to kneel and extend our hand for this Pardon which was purchased at so vast a price How unworthy are we to have any part in this Redemption if we disobey so small a Command and deny so easie a Request of so dear a Master His last Precept was to keep the memorial of the last Act he did for us on the Earth and sure it is our duty never to let that be forgotten § 12. Which if ye shall neglect to do Consider with your selves how great injury ye do to God and how sore punishment hangeth over your Heads for the same If we be resolved in spite of all this still to neglect this divine Ordinance the Minister can do no more than sadly tell us First the grievousness of our sin Secondly The greatness of our danger First We are desired to consider the sin which is called a great injury to God even as we esteem it to our selves when our Guests slight our invitation § 4. 'T is true we cannot properly injure God Job 35.6 by taking away any of his essential happiness Yet because we owe Obedience to him as our Soveraign Lord we are said to wrong him of his due k Debitum contrahitur quoties delinquitur quod debitum solvi in gehennâ quandoque necesse est Aug. Serm. 126. de Temp. Creditor est qui minus quam quod suum est habet vel voluntario ut in mutuatione vel involuntariò ut in Criminibus Vide Grot. de sat Chris c. 2. when we refuse to observe his Commands And in this Case let us consider before we resolve not to come that hereby we shall rob our God of this solemn part of his worship reject a plain and loving command despise the Passion of his dear Son slight his provision refuse his invitation grieve his Servants by such rash and obstinate denials and perhaps bring an evil report upon the Ordinance it self when men see we must be dragged to it The Sacrifices of the Erecynian Venus came of their own accord to the Altar saith Aelian hist anim l. 10. c. 1. But we are forced hither as to a slaughter house is not this a great injury to the Master of this divine Feast But secondly The mischief in fine lights upon our own heads for no man provoketh this King but in so doing he sinneth against his own Soul Prov. 20.2 God is just as well as merciful and severe to revenge the abuses of his love He will not always pass by this scorn nor put up these affronts but punish us perhaps temporally with losses and crosses sickness or an evil Death which careless neglecters deserve as well as unworthy receivers 1 Cor. 11.30 for so those Israelites who laughed at Hezekiahs invitation to the Passover 2 Chron. 30.10 were carryed into a sad Captivity within two years after 2 Kings 18.9 And we must not think presently we are safe because as yet none of these Judgments have seized on us for they may hover over our heads as the Arrow over Julians and at last pierce us to the heart but if we do escape a while l Si nunc omne
the Tenth concerning the Virgin Mary not till the year 1095. But our prudent Reformers have retained only five of the most ancient which are concerning the principal Acts of Christ His Incarnation Resurrection Ascension and sending of the Holy Ghost all which we may very properly bless God for over this Commemoration of his Passion because they are either the Precedents to his Death or the consequents thereof only that of the Holy Trinity is added both as it is a fundamental Article of our Faith and a great mystery and because many Sundays are reckoned by it Now for the use of these we must note that as the greater Feasts of the Jews continued seven or eight days so these Prefaces are to be repeated some days after the great day to which they principally belong both that the mercy may be better remembred by often repetition and also that all the people who in many places cannot Communicate in one day may join in praising God for it Which being the great end of them the best method to promote that and fit the receivers with peculiar praises for these solemnities will be to ground a devout Meditation upon every one of these Prefaces proper for those who do partake of the mysteries at any of these Times A Meditation for the Communion at Christmas § 9. Welcome thrice blessed Day the desire of all Nations whose distant glories made the Father of the faithful to rejoice and whose approaches fill'd the World with wonder and expectation thou wert ushered in with Angelick Hymns and celebrated ever since with Anthems of praise because thou didst bring forth joy and a Redeemer to Mankind Happy am I that I have a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving in my hand to express the delight which my heart doth feel This holy Table is the Altar upon which I offer my acknowledgments for all mercies and oh how many how great are those which this day brings to my remembrance so infinite they cannot be expressed and yet so excellent they must not be forgotten This day hath reconciled Heaven and Earth and made contradictions friends to find a way to help us as if nothing might disagree when man was at peace with God O my Soul summon all thy powers to admire and worship for all is Miracle and the height of Wonder Eternity begins to be the Maker of all is made himself an infinite Majesty is shrunk into the dimensions of a span The word is made flesh and God becomes Man yet remains God still Here is a Mother who knew no man a Son that had no Father on Earth a Child of Adam untainted with the Cantagion that infects all his Posterity an Infant honoured with a new and glorious Star adored by Kings worshipped by Angels yet born in the condition of the meanest fortune All hail sweetest Saviour how lovely is thy condescension how honourable thy abasement thou hast more splendor in the Rags of thy Humility than all the Grandeurs of this World could give thee thou art more a King because thou wouldst be like a slave for our sakes and conquerest more hearts by thy stupendious love and unparallel'd self-denyal O how shall I celebrate this great Solemnity wherewithal shall I set forth my gratitude for this most auspicious Day I will receive the Cup of Salvation and with ravishments of delight feast upon that precious Body and Blood which Jesus did this day assume for me It is not enough dearest Lord that thou wast born for me unless thou art also born again in me and as it were become incarnate in my heart In thy Birth thou wast made one with us thou didst put on flesh and wert a partaker of our humanity And thou hast appointed this holy Sacrament that I might be one with thee be replenished with thy Spirit and a partaker of thy divine nature Nor is it any incongruity if I remember thy Passion and praise thee for thy Incarnation at once for as soon as thou wast born thou didst begin to die and the life which was here begun compared to that glorious life which thou didst leave was it self a very Death but therefore thou wast born that thou mightest be capable to suffer that death for us which thy Divinity could not feel and thus thy Nativity was the first Scene of thy Passion for it introduced thy Death and that effected our Salvation so that I will remember both together For in both thou hast most admirably humbled thy self to the depth of misery and yet I doubt not but thou wouldst have stooped lower if it had been either necessary or possible But there needs no more testimonies of thy love Blessed Jesus I am already overwhelmed with these which are so strange and undeserved so sweet and ravishing that my Soul could not contain if it did not vent it self in thy Praises Therefore with Angels c. A Meditation for the Communion at Easter § 10. O my soul adorn thy self with the garments of gladness prepare thy most triumphant Hymns to go forth and meet this great returning Conqueror Thou didst rejoice when he was pleased to undertake the Combate and didst celebrate his entrance into the lists with Praises how then will it ravish thee to behold him come off with such success and honour His warfare is now accomplished and he hath passed through the scorn and cruelty of Men the malice and rage of Devils the just but severe anger of God yea the shaddow of Death and the Regions of Eternal horror and after all this thy Surety is set at liberty for he hath paid all thy Debts and cancelled all those dismal Bonds by which thou wert forfeited to eternal Ruine Thy Champion is Victorious and as the Trophees of his Conquest he hath the Keys of Death and Hell and leads them both in triumph vanquished and disarmed Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord We receive thee dearest Saviour as born to us a second time and this shall be thy Birth-day also the Nativity though not of our Emperor yet of thy Empire thy Restauration to a state of immortality Thy former Birth did shew thee to be the Son of Man but this declares thee to be the Son of God and now we know that our Redeemer liveth he that loved us so infinitely as to dye for us doth now ever live to interceed on our behalf he that expressed such kindness to us in his Passion hath so fully demonstrated his own Power in his Resurrection that we are sure he is as able as willing to deliver us Let the Heavens rejoice and the Earth be glad for this is the Day that the Lord hath made a day to be had in everlasting remembrance a Time destined to jubilee and rejoicing Behold how nature is raising it self from the grave of Winter and seems annually to celebrate the memory of her Lords Resurrection in her green and fresh attire A season chosen by God for Festival 3000. years ago and observed
forth the Death of Christ and that homage and service which thou commandest us to perform Wherefore Dear Lord be thou pleased with this so sincere though poor acknowledgment not weighing or considering our merits by which we cannot pretend any right to thy acceptance but pardoning our offences which might cause thee to reject us Oh do thou deal thus with us through the Merits and Intercession of Iesus Christ our Lord by whom as our Mediator and with whom as thy only Son in the unity of and together with the Holy Ghost we desire all honour and glory may be given unto thee O Father Almighty both now in this World and for ever in the World which is without end Amen SECT III. Of the second Prayer in the Post-Communion § 1. WHen we communicate often it may be very grateful and sometimes very helpful to our devotion to vary the form for which cause the Church hath supplyed us with an other Prayer that so according to the temper of our spirit we may make our choice This being more full of praises and acknowledgments will be most fit when our minds have a joyful sense of the benefits received in this Sacrament as the former consisting chiefly of Vows and resolutions is more proper when we would express our selves in love or duty And yet we may use either of them at any time because neither doth the former want Thanksgivings nor this Petitions for Grace The Composition of this also is regular and judicious pious and extracted out of antient forms and as the former Prayer it will not only serve to close our Devotions within the Temple a Non est vera Religio quae cum templo relinquitur Lactantius but it offers very useful Meditations for the Closet also after we return home as the ensuing method will demonstrate The Analysis of the Second Prayer in the Post-Communion § 2. This Second Prayer consists of Four Parts 1. A hearty Thanksgiving for the present Favour describing 1. The Object of our Praise Almighty and everlasting God we most heartily thank thee 2. The Subject thereof for that thou hast vouchsafed to feed us who have duly received these holy Mysteries with the spiritual Food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christ 2. A free Confession of the Benefits assured thereby 1. In possession 1. The Love of God And dost assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us 2. Union with the Saints and that we are very Members incorporate into the mystical Body of thy Son which is the blessed Company of all faithful People 2. In reversion Eternal Life And are also Heirs through hope of thy everlasting Kingdom by the Merits of the most precious Death and Passion of thy dear Son 3. An humble Petition that we may retain them shewing 1. The Thing requested And we most humbly beseech thee O heavenly Father so to assist us with thy Grace 2. The Ends why we do request it viz. for 1. Perseverance that we may continue in that holy Fellowship 2. Fruitfulness and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in 3. The Motive to obtain it Through Iesus Christ our Lord 4. A concluding Doxologie to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory world without end Amen A Practical Discourse upon the second Prayer with Meditations after the Communion § 3. Almighty and everliving God we most heartily thank thee for that thou hast vouchsafed to feed us who have duly received these holy Mysteries with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Saviour Iesus Christ This Act of Thanksgiving may be expressed in various words but it must not be omitted after the Communion and therefore it is put into both these forms We ought not at any time rudely to ask for blessings from God until we have prepared the way by Praises b Arrogans oratio si ab homine quid petiturus dicas statim da mihi hoc Peto Debet inchoari oratio à laude Dei ut sequatur supplicatio Ambr. de Sacr. l. 6. c. 5. But having so lately received so great mercy it would be unsufferable to pray for more till we have acknowledged that which is already bestowed on us And by confessing the former mercy in the very entrance of this Prayer we do both encourage our selves to ask and expect further blessings c Sequentium rerum certitudo est praeteritorum exhibitio Greg. in Evang. hom 1. and we do also by our gratitude engage the Almighty to give us more d Ascensus gratiarum descensus gratias Cassiod Efficacissimum genus est rogandi gratias agere Plin. Paneg. Indignus est dandis qui ingratus est pro datis Aug. de temp 112. Besides the very gift it self now imparted to us is the greatest and the best the most sweet and most necessary for us in the World we bless God for our daily Bread our common food how much more then ought we to praise him for this spiritual food which nourisheth our Souls unto life everlasting True it is that carnal and unworthy Receivers have little cause of joy e Sacrificia non sanctificant hominem non enim indiget Deus sacrificio sed conscientia ejus qui offert sanctificat hominem pura existens Irenae l. 4. c. 34. for they have eat the Bread and drank the Wine not discerning the Lords Body and Blood but those that prepared themselves by Repentance and received by Faith those I say have fed upon the spiritual part and therefore they have the most reason with all their powers to bless the Lord in this wise An Act of Thanksgiving It is a mighty favour to me O my God that thou hast made bread to grow out of the Earth to nourish my mortal body but O how far hast thou transcended that mercy in giving me the Bread of Life from Heaven to feed my immortal Soul Whom was there in Heaven or Earth that I could have wished for in comparison of Jesus Christ and now thou hast given him to me whom my Soul longed for and in him thou hast given me all for he is all in all He is the fairest of ten thousand for whose sake I will trample upon all that this World accounts desirable O my Soul bless thou the Lord I came not to gaze at or taste of the outward part but to satisfie the longings of my sin-sick Soul by laying hold of the merits of a Crucified Saviour yet I have received the Sacred Elements and thou hast made them to me that which I needed and desired even the Body and Blood of thy Son I have received his flesh in Sacrament but his grace in reality f Ideo in similitudine quidem accipis sacramentum sed verae naturae gratiam virtutemque consequeâ—is Ambr. de sacr l. 6. And O how it fills my Soul with joy to behold thy Majesty