A Sacramental-Question Concerning ASSURANCE A Sacramental-Question CONCERNING ASSURANCE How far Necessary to A Worthy Communicant Practically Answered in a SERMON Preparatory to The Lord's-Supper Saturday March 2. 1699 1700. LONDON Printed by J. Brudenell for John Fawkner at the Talbot on the Bridge 1700. TO THE READER HAving reason to believe the following Discourse was of some Vse to several who heard it to comply with their Desire and in hope of doing good to Others it is now Publish'd If it be objected That the Stile is too Negligent and Copious and the same things express'd over and over in different Phrases and sometimes the same repeated which may be well enough in Preaching to a mixt Auditory but more exactness should be used in Printing I have only to say That I apprehend the same Pulpit Stile will best answer my End as to the Service of those for whom I principally intend it May I find Mercy of the Lord to be Faithful whose I am and to whom I am devoted If any are brought upon their Knees seriously to bless God for what they Heard or shall now Read I shall more heartily Rejoyce in it than to have the Approbation and Applause of all the Witty People upon Earth who have not Wisdom enough to know themselves and consider their latter End and prepare for Death and Judgment which cannot be without seeking to Jesus Christ as the only Redeemer and Saviour of Sinners to reconcile us to God and save us from Wrath to come His Grace and Mercy and Love is above all we can think Oh be Humble and Thankful adore Him and admire His rich free and glorious Grace but abuse it not J. S. London April 17. 1700. A Sacramental-Question concerning ASSURANCE How far necessary to Worthy Receiving 1 Cor. XI 28. But let a Man Examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread IN this Verse you have it plainly suppos'd That 't is a Christian's Duty to partake of the Lord's-Supper The manner of the Performance is regulated but the substance of the Duty is presuppos'd viz. to Do this in remembrance of Christ He ought to eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup and shew forth the Lord's Death this way only take heed not to rush hastily without previous Self-Examination â— That solemn Preparation is necessary to the right performance of this Duty may be argued from the Instance given of one special part of that Preparation The due Examination of our selves Let a Man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread 'T is a Christian's Duty to partake of this Solemn Ordinance He must not do it rashly and unpreparedly And it is one special Part of necessary Preparation to Examine himself Quest. But some will be ready to say I have Examin'd my self and endeavour'd to know the true state of my Soul but I cannot come to a Determination Whether I have Sacramental Graces in truth and am partaker of Life from the Spirit of Christ or no and consequently how is it my Duty to come to this Ordinance for Spiritual Nourishment After all my Examination I cannot positively conclude that I am in a state of Grace at least I have many Doubts and Fears I have no Certainty no Assurance of my good Estate towards God May I nevertheless come Is it my Duty while I have so many Doubts and Difficulties unresolv'd and am so far from full Assurance and Joy This I shall endeavour to Answer by considering how far Assurance is necessary to our Worthy Receiving You will have my Thoughts of it in the following Particulars Answ First That in the diligent use of God's appointed means it may ordinarily be known Whether you have truly Repented of your Sins and do unfeignedly Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ And so whether you are sincere in your Christian Profession or no. By Self-Reflection and comparing your selves with the Word of God endeavouring to prove your selves and making use of the Assistance of Books and Ministers with Prayer to God to enable you to discern the true state of your Case you may ordinarily come to the knowledge of your selves and your Spiritual Condition I speak not of the grosly Ignorant or of such as live at that rate of Licentiousness that they cannot but know they are Impenitent or may easily know it on a little Reflexion but of such as doubt and have some reason for it Secondly He that endeavours not to know the true state of his Soul that with a prepared Heart he may joyn with his Brethren and Fellow Christians at the Table of the Lord liveth in continual Sin He that will not endeavour to come Worthily and accordingly Examine himself that he may be dispos'd and fitted for this Ordinance he continueth to disobey an Order of Christ 'T is not enough to say you have no Assurance or are afraid to come without it that will not excuse you from Sin Many keep off on such pretences lest they should Eat and Drink Unworthily and so Sin But consider not the Sin and Danger on the other hand of staying away upon such grounds as will not excuse them before God Consider therefore what is the faulty cause of your Ignorance of your selves and of your true state towards God Is it not Sloth and Carelessness Negligence and Remissness Earthly Cares or the Hurry of Worldly Business And if the doubts of your Sincerity arise from a faulty Cause you must not plead those Doubts as a sufficient Excuse for not coming to the Lord's Table There is a faulty Carelessness in some good Christians that they do not observe and record the Workings of God's Spirit upon their Hearts and so the time of His Love is not taken notice of nor remembred To allude to what God says to Ephraim Hos xi 3. When Ephraim was a Child I taught him to Go taking him by the Arm but he knew it not did not observe it You must reflect enquire and consider what God hath wrought in you and done for you Whether you have been brought humbly to acknowledge your Sin with Shame and Sorrow and Self-abhorrence seeing your need of Christ and His Grace have been perswaded thankfully to take hold of the Covenant to accept the offered Mercy of the Gospel and yield your selves to be the Lord's We lose much of our Comfort for want of bringing our Doubts to a Determination and this through Laziness Sloth and Carelessness 'T is true the want of Assurance will not argue a Man under the Power of Unbelief but it shews the Weakness of Faith and we ought diligently to clear it up whether we are in the Faith and whether Christ be in us or no and whether with all our Hearts we love Him Which for the most part may be known as well as our Love and Affection to Persons and Things in other Cases If we reflect and bethink our selves we may ordinarily know that we Love Are you not willing that Christ should be your
Saviour and bring you to Heaven in God's appointed way Do you not make Religion your great Business in this World Is not your being accepted of God in Christ your great Concern Is there any thing in all the World your Hearts are set more upon than that you may be Saved by Jesus Christ and not be found Hypocrites at last Would you not account the Certainty and Assurance of this a greater Privilege than to be Owner of all the Riches and Treasures of the Earth Is it not your heaviest Burden that you fear you shall fall short of Heaven And you dread nothing more than to be mistaken about your Interest in the special Love of God Whence have you these Apprehensions these Desires this Choice Can the Devil ever perswade you this is from corrupt Nature or that that you don't love God when you would give all the World to be assur'd of His Love You abhor every thing that you think will displease him There is nothing he requires but by His Grace you are willing to comply with You would fain love and serve and enjoy Him better There is nothing would better please or more rejoyce you than to please Him more and to be more conform'd to His Image be fill'd with His Spirit and live to Glorifie Him more in the World There is no Lust that you would indulge but desire to mortifie and are accordingly diligent in the use of Christ's appointed Means to subdue Corruption 'T is your Trouble and your Complaint that you are not more Dead to Sin and the World you feel the remainders of Ignorance Pride Selfishness Carnality Unbelief Deadness Dulness c. You groan under 'em as a continual Burden and would rather be rid of 'em than of any outward Affliction whatsoever Doth not all this argue true Love to God and Holiness true Love to Christ and Hatred of Sin And can you not infer from hence What he hath done for you and wrought in your Souls Oh bear not false Witness against your Selves But labour by such Reflections to know your State that you may come to the Table of the Lord with Joy and Praise Thirdly As it is ordinarily some Sin that keeps a Man unresolv'd and in the dark which doth not excuse him from the Duty so for a Man to mistake his true State and doubt and question his Integrity towards God if he be Sincere even that Doubt is his Sin He ought to endeavour to know himself and make a right judgment and then come to receive the Seal of the Covenant His mistake in judging of his own Case is faulty and will not excuse him from the obligation of judging more truly and justly of himself Upright Christians are oblig'd to judge of themselves according to Truth what really they are and so to receive what belongs to them as the Children of God and Members of Christ within the Bond of the Everlasting Covenant Fourthly 'T is a common and dangerous mistake by which many are deceived to place the nature of Saving Justifying Faith in the Assurance of God's Love and the Knowledge and Perswasion that we are Pardon'd and Justify'd and Accepted of God Whereas many truly Believe and have Faith unfeigned and shall inherit Eternal Life who yet doubt and fear and dare not say all this and others may be perswaded that is their Case who did never yet Believe in Christ with all their Hearts The one shall be ashamed of their Fears as the other of their Hopes To place Faith in a meer Assent to the Doctrin of the Gospel is one Extreme to place it in assurance of my good Estate towards God that 's another There is a Blessedness pronounc'd to such as Mourn and are Poor in Spirit and Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness They may do so without Assurance The Unbelief that Condems is not the not Believing we are already Justified therefore the Faith which Saves Men is not the believing that they are Justified He that believes he is Justify'd and Pardon'd must be so before he can believe it By him all that believe are Justified Acts xiii 39. We have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified Gal. ii 16. Assurance follows Faith In whom after ye believed you were Sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise 1 Eph. 15. All that hear the Gospel Preach'd are commanded to Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ but all are not commanded or obliged to believe their Sins are already pardon'd and that they are in a justify'd State then many would be commanded to believe what is not yet true And to believe my Sins are forgiven that they may be forgiven is very absurd And yet if Faith be necessary to Justification this will follow To believe I shall certainly be Sav'd is not justifying Faith I must be so justified before I can believe it or be assured of it The Scripture makes a plain difference between these two 1 Joh. v. 13. These things have I written to you who believe on the Name of the Son of God that ye may know ye have Eternal Life that is have it in the Seed and Root in the Earnest and Beginning of it They might have said we do this already if Faith consist in believing I am Pardon'd and shall be Saved And many that have had Assurance have lost it as well as many who have true Faith may not have reached Assurance I say many have lost Assurance who have not lost their Faith unless a Man may be a Believer and no Believer several times in a Year There are several States Ages and Ranks of Believers some whereof are yet short of Assurance And must not the Child be allow'd to be a Child before he can speak for himself and say he is one How many of the Children of God must we then turn out of Doors whom he receives and loves Some of the first Reformers who fell into this mistake were Eminent for Faith and Holiness and Joy and by what they found in themselves speaking what they felt they described Faith by such a full Perswasion of the Love of God as many real Christians have not attain'd by such Assurance and Joy of Faith as they themselves experienc'd But the Lord knoweth who are His when many of them do not know it themselves 'T is the Reality and the Sincerity of our Faith that is necessary to Salvation not the certain Know-of that Sincerity I dare not come says One and Another to the Table of the Lord because I can't Believe I have not true and saving Faith I can't Believe But I would ask such What is it you can't Believe Don't you Believe the Witness given by Christ in the Holy Scriptures to be true Don't you Believe Him to be the true Messiah the only Saviour of Sinners That he hath Ability and Willingness to save to the Uttermost All that come to God by Him That He is Constituted and Impower'd by Office to do this as the Christ of
God Don't you Believe from your Hearts that he is able to Reconcile you to God That His Blood can Cleanse from all Sin That you are lost and undone without Him That if ever you are Reconcil'd Pardon'd and Sav'd it must be by Him Don't you desire this above all things Are you not willing to take Him as your Saviour and Lord in all His Offices to be taught by His Word to be guided by His Spirit to be govern'd by His Law to depend on His Righteousness Sacrifice and Intercession for all your Hopes of Acceptance with God Don't you look for all your Supplies of Grace and Strength to conquer Temptation and perform every Duty from His Spirit as the Purchase of His Blood Don't you Believe all the Promises He hath made shall be fulfill'd and desire nothing more than that you may have a Share and Interest in the Blessings of the New Covenant purchased and promised by Christ And from your very Souls are willing to be His upon any terms so that there is no Sin but you would be free from rather than keep and accordingly are faithful and constant in following after Holiness You can't deny this and yet after all you 'll say you have no Faith because no Assurance Doth not all this argue true Faith You want the Knowledge of your true State but you don't want true Faith in Christ Therefore you ought to come to the Table Nay tho' you have not conquer'd all your Doubts about the great Truths of the Gospel and the Life to come and the Mediation of Christ if yet you have such a prevailing Perswasion of those Truths as brings you to consent to the Covenant of Grace to take God for for your God and Christ for your only Saviour and the Holy Ghost for your Sanctifier and Guide His Law for your Rule His Promise for your Security and the Heavenly Glory for your Rest and Happiness resolving by the Grace of God to forsake all that stands in Competition you are True Believers and ought to come to Eat of the Children's Bread Fifthly There is a vast difference as to the Lord's Supper between the Case of an Hypocrite who does not know himself to be one and the Case of a sincere real Christian who doth not know himself to be Sincere You must not imagine these two Cases to be alike The one has true Grace tho' he discern it not and consequently hath a right to the Blessings of the Covenant and is bound to know and discern his Title and so come and partake of the Privileges that belong to his State But suppose another Professor comes to the Lord's Table who hath no true Repentance or Faith and so his Heart not right with God but he is under the Reign Power and Dominion of Sin He hath as yet no right to the Blessings of the Covenant but is bound to know his true State that he may be brought to Repentance 't is a greater Sin for him do demand and take what doth not belong to him than to tarry away for a while in order to his Recovery and Preparation For if such a one comes he Hypocritically professes that Repentance Faith and Devoutness to God which he hath nothing of but is secretly an Enemy to God and Holiness He comes and claims the Childrens Bread with a Lye in his Mouth and Heart against the Holy Ghost and he takes the Name of God in vain There is a great difference in this Case from that of a doubting Christian who truly Believes and cannot say he is assured of it There is a further difference in point of Comfort for a real Christian tho' he come with many Doubts and Fears yet there are some secret Testimonies of the Love of God there is some Influence of the Holy Spirit to bear up his Hope which is much better than all the groundless Joys of Hypocrites in a false perswasion of the Goodness of their State The Penitent Upright Believer who wants Assurance hath a right to the Ordinance and is accepted with God tho' he can't affirm it or say that he unfeignedly Believes in Christ and Loves God with all his Heart yet he hopes 't is true He is willing to be the Lord 's on his own terms 'T is the favour of God in Christ that he values and seeks above all things This he aims at nothing else will content him he would rejoyce in it more than in any Earthly Prosperity if he could attain more certain knowledge of it Is not such a one accepted of God And supposing a competency of knowledge about the nature of the Sacrament to understand his Work and to discern the Lord's Body he hath a right to come tho' his timerous Scruples may keep him off a while yet they can't deprive him of his Right or disoblige him from his Duty to shew forth the Lord's Death this way He doth truly consent to the Covenant and should come to signifie that Consent and receive the Seal of the Covenant And remember this That the Covenant of Grace is mutual between God and You so that from your Consent to be the Lord's you may infer that He is Your God Your choice of Him is an Evidence of your Interest in Him by a Covenant-Relation The Relation is mutual equally and at once on both sides therefore as soon and as long as you can say Lord I am Thine and I desire to abide continue Thy Servant I would not depart from Thee As soon and as long as you find within you such a Disposition of Heart you may be assur'd that God is your God and will be your God for Ever and Guide unto Death Sixthly There is a true discerning of our Faith and Repentance which is short of Assurance upon which we may act tho' we are not fully certain There is true Love to Christ that is short of delighting and rejoyceing Love even desiring and mournin Love Tho' there be not the Witness and Seal of the Holy Spirit to give Joy there may be so much knowledge of our good Estate attain'd in a way of Duty as to prevent trouble and terror of Mind even a good Hope through Grace short of Certainty and full of Perswasion And if a Man may not act upon some good Hopes tho' he have not an assured certain Judgment concerning his State a great deal of God's Service in the Christian Church would be laid aside For Instance He only that 's Penitent should profess himself Penitent only he that truly desires Christ and His Grace should say he doth desire it only they that have received Saving Grace should give God thanks for having received it And yet if none should confess Sin and profess Repentance but such as knew certainly and with Assurance that they are truly Penitent and if none should beg Grace with a Profession that they desire it till they have Assurance of the truth of those Desires if none should give Thanks to God for Redemption
Effectual Calling Justification Adoption and Sanctification but such as have full Assurance that they have received all these there would be little Confession Prayer and Thanksgiving in the Christian World Is it unlawful to say I Believe while there is a mixture of Unbelief We must let alone a great part of our Religion if we may not act upon Hope short of Assurance And if all doubting trembling Christians should be debarr'd the Lord's Table till they have Certainty and Assurance there would not only be very few to partake of it but we should exclude some of the fittest the most acceptable and most welcom Guests at that Feast of Love Therefore we may have many Fears and Scruples yet if Conscience enlightned by the Word of God do not positively condemn us tho' upon Self-Examination it doth not clearly and fully absolve us we may come in Hope Seventhly Tho' you have not yet attain'd Assurance of the Love of God and of your reconciled justified State yet by waiting on God in the use of His Holy Ordinances you may expect and hope to attain it You may and ought to wait for the Communications of His Grace and Love in the use of all His Appointed Means and 't is one End and Use of The Lord's-Supper to strengthen weak Faith and to help doubting Christians You have there a Sign and Seal of the Righteousness of Faith The Blood of Christ is there represented as shed for the Remission of your Sins The Benefits of Redemption are offer'd to you in particular and you are called to apply them to yourself as if your Names were mention'd You are there call'd to profess your Acceptance of Christ and the offer'd Salvation of the Gospel and to surrender and give back your selves entirely to be the Lord's This Feast was not appointed only for those who are the most perfect Christians and highest in Grace but for the Relief and Supply of your Spiritual Wants You come there not only to be Thankful for what Grace you have received but to receive more What would you think if one should tell you You must not eat till your Hunger be first satisfy'd or not come to the Fire till you are first Warm or not take Physick till you have recover'd your Health The Seals of the Covenant are appointed for our greater Confirmation that the Heirs of the Promise might have more abundant Consolation and Joy And in this Ordinance our Saviour Speaks more solemnly more particularly and more pathetically to us for the help of our Faith than by the Ministry of the Word What is spoken in general by the Preaching of the Word is here particularly apply'd to individual Persons to support Weak and Doubting Christians as well as to confirm the Joy of their Stronger Brethren You may as well neglect hearing the Word and pray and hope for Faith as expect Assurance and neglect the Lord's Table The Primitive Christians who walked in the Fear of God and in the Comforts of the Holy Ghost continued in the practice of breaking the holy Bread partaking of this Ordinance and so could Eat their common Meat with gladness of Heart praising God It may be you 'll find as Jesus made Himself known to the two Disciples in breaking of Bread to allude to that Expression tho' I think it not meant of Sacramental Bread so you may find by waiting on God in this Ordinance your Doubts scatter'd your Jealousies remov'd your Difficulties clear'd your Objections answer'd and the goodness of your State which before was doubtful made manifest and evident to the Joy of your Souls Therefore refuse not o pay Homage to your Crucify'd Saviour by partaking of this Ordinance believing that you shall not do it in vain It may be e'er you are aware your Souls shall be as the Chariots of Aminadab you can't tell but your Attendance on this Institution shall be the happy means which God will make use of to scatter and cure your Doubts And by your neglect of this Ordinance you not only take the most likely course to increase and continue your Doubts and Fears but are in danger to lose that Seriousness of Spirit and sense of Religion which you now have by denying your self those Means and Helps by which it is preserv'd and maintain'd in other Christians Eighthly Consider that after Self-Examination you may sometimes find one Grace more evident than another A Christian can say sometimes more hopefully that he lives by Faith sometimes that he has true Repentance and Godly Sorrow for Sin sometimes he can say more concerning the truth of his Love to Christ sometimes concerning his Hunger and Thirst after Christ and the Spirituality and Earnestness of his Desires And if you can discover Truth and Integrity of Heart as to any of these you may so far take Comfort But especially as to Faith and Love the two Radical Graces which do influence and strengthen all others and by which you may make the best judgment of your self And a difference you must allow for different Times and Seasons Tho' it may be you cannot now say so much concerning this or the other particular Grace yet at such a time upon serious Reflection you could say a great deal to the Glory of God and to your own Consolation you think that it is much better now with others than with you but it may be the last Month at the last Sacrament you could say truly concerning your Communion with God and the Evidence of His Love and the Expression of your own and the Exercise of other Graces a great deal more than any of those Christians and Brethren whom you apprehend to be so much above and before you Remember how at such a time according to such a Scripture Character of an Upright Christian your Hearts could bear witness and God did bear witness by his Spirit that you were not Hypocrites Did you not record it Did you not promise to remember it and improve it Call to mind what hath pass'd between God and your Souls as to such things And if there be no notable declining to the World and the Flesh or commission of gross Sins or wilful Carelessness or Remissness which must be particularly repented of and reform'd in order to Pardon and Peace you may take comfort in former Evidences and Experience If a Father have forgiven a Child that had offended him and told him so must he be every day telling him again and again that he hath forgiven him or he won't believe it If God hath comfortably resolv'd your Doubts tho' some time since you may be encourag'd by it for you have not alway the same Opportunity or Help outward or inward to discern aright the State of your Soul not alway the same clearness of Apprehension or sedateness of Mind or Assistance of God's Spirit to determine and resolve the great Question 'T is unreasonable on every turn to expect a new Answer from God as if he had given you none before
Ninthly As to the Apostle's Expression which is frequently objected in this case Rom. xiv 24. He that doubteth is damned if he eat because he eateth not in Faith and what is not of Faith is Sin You ought to consider that the Word we render Doubting is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 making a difference between Clean and Vnclean Meats 'T is not meant of Eating at the Lord's Table but of Eating those Meats which were forbidden by the Law of Moses to the Jews or such as had been offer'd to Idols and afterward sold in the Market Meats to be Eaten at an ordinary Table concerning which one who believ'd the Obligation of the Law of Moses thought to be Vnclean He was perswaded of the Unlawfulness of Eating but he knows he may Lawfully forbare This is quite another matter than the case of an ordinary doubting Conscience where a Man only doubts on one side of an Action 'T is there but reasonable to chuse that side where he hath no doubt rather than the other where he suspects he may transgress some Law of God tho' he be not certain While the Doubt lasts till a Man be better inform'd supposing he be mistaken he should forbear acting against his present Opinion and Judgment Whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin i. e. Whatever a Man doth without being perswaded of the Lawfulness of it tho' it be not a Sin in it self it is so to him who doth it against his Conscience But as to matter of plain Duty such as Doing this in Remembrance of Christ and shewing forth His Death by coming to His Table it is otherwise The Doubt will not excuse him in the neglect of his Duty His Doubt is double whether he be not bound by the Command of Christ to Communicate but on the other side he doubts whether by some other Law of God he ought not as yet to forbear as not thinking himself duly qualified In such a case What should a Man do but endeavour to fit prepare and qualifie himself as soon and as well as he can that he may not continue to offend God by the neglect of Obedience to an Order of Christ And can such a â—ne say he is as certain he is not qualified to come as he is certain in the general that it is his Duty to come As to the Expression He is Damned if he Eat The meaning is He is Self-condemn'd his Conscience condemns him for he knows 't is lawful to forbear and he believes it to be unlawful to Eat If he do Eat he acts against his own Judgment and so is Self-condemn'd As to matter of Duty an Erring Conscience be sure will not cancel the Obligation of the Law of God If we doubt concerning that which God hath made our Duty our Doubt will not excuse us from Sin for God hath bound us to know our Duty and do it Whatever our Opinion and Perswasion be the Obligation to obey the Command of God remains Our doubting whether it be our Duty doth not make it cease to be so However some Melancholy Persons under great Conflicts and Temptations may suspend and stay away for a while lest they should run into Despair on the Apprehension of having Eaten and Drank their own Damnation They ought not to cherish such Doubts and Fears but endeavour to overcome them and ask Advice and Counsel and use all other fit means in order to it that being better acquainted with themselves they may come with Peace and Comfort If your Hearts consent to be the Lord's according to the tenor of the Covenant of Grace you ought to come and Declare that Consent with your Fellow Christians Tenthly Consider that there is a Scrupulous Conscience which tho' resolv'd and satisfy'd in the main concerning Duty when it comes to act is perplex'd and hindred by unaccountable Fears Tho' there be no just rational Scripture Grounds of Fear or Doubt yet a Person of weak Parts little Knowledge and of a timerous Disposition is easily disquieted with general Jealousies and Fears as to himself and his state towards God He fears tho' he can't tell particularly from the Holy Scriptures why that he is not qualify'd that he shall receive unworthily if he come and eat and drink Judgment to himself Ask why he thinks so He has only some conjectural Suspicions some uncertain Surmises of his own Condition arising from some mistaken Notions of the Qualications and Preparation necessary to a Worthy Communicant These general unscriptual Doubts Jealousies and Fears if countenanc'd and indulg'd will increase and like Circles in the Water continue and beget one another But a good Man would not deal with his Neighbour after this manner as with himself He would not he ought not to judge hardly of a Neighbour by general Rumors of Accusation or every idle Objection and imaginary Supposition that may be made to his Prejudice if when particularly Enquired into solid and positive Proof is wanting You must not judge hardly of your selves any more than favourably but according to the Word of God the Rule of Judgment Lastly If you have not Assurance yet if your Hearts accuse you not of Hypocrisie and double Dealing if you can say As far as I know my own Heart and Life I think I do sincerely consent to the Covenant of Grace and am really chang'd as to my Principles and Ends I am unfeignedly willing without reserve to be the Lord's You may come to renew and seal your Covenant Can you say I believe the Gospel to be true I am willing to have Christ for my Saviour and Lord and absolutely to resign my self to Him to be rul'd by His Laws and sav'd by His Righteousness My Imperfections I bewail my Corruptions I strive against and endeavour to Mortifie and as far as I know my self am willing to part with every known Sin I am not certain I am a true Believer but I would fain be deliver'd by Christ from the Dominion of Sin as well as the Condemnation of it Now where the Case is thus what should be a bar to your coming to the Lord's Table Such a sense of Sin and striving against it and desire to be rid of it is your very Fitness And in this as well as other cases we may act according to the best of our Judgment notwithstanding some considerable Doubts Christians You may come with Humility and Reverence paying Homage to a Crucify'd Saviour having found your Sins and being humbled and penitent judging and condemning your selves for 'em tho' you have not so clearly discover'd your Graces as to be able to Rejoyce you may come with broken and contrite Hearts as Penitent Sinners if you can't come with Assurance that you are Pardon'd Sinners you may come sensible of your need of Christ if you can't come with the clear knowledge of your Interest in Him Come with Humility and Contrition of Returning Penitents tho' you can't come with the Joy of Faith as Assured Believers Come with Hunger
and Thirst after Christ and His Righteousness tho' you dare not yet say My Beloved is mine and I am His. Come humbly and Apply yourselves to Him as you can if you can't Apply Him to your selves as you would Honour Him as your Lord when you can't appropriate Him to your self as your Saviour Own His Propriety in you tho' you are not assured of your Interest in Him Come and say Lord I Believe help my Vnbelief If you can't triumphantly say He Lov'd me and Dyed for me You can't with Certainty say He is Mine but you can say it with Sincerity that you desire to be His You resolve to be so and accordingly give up your selves to Him Lord help me Lord save me Lord strengthen me Lord deliver me for I am Thine as the Psalmist frequently speaks You may use such Language Lord I am Thine Devoted Dedicated Resigned Willing to be Thine tho' I can't say with present Joy and Comfort what that truly infers That He is Mine You can say Lord. If I am rejected refus'd cast off and left to Perish there shall One Perish who did heartily and unfeignedly Desire to be the Lord's But you may be certain that such shall never Perish if they follow on to know the Lord and seek him Let me therefore bring this home to Doubting Trembling Christians who are afraid to tarry away from the Lord's Table and yet for want of Assurance are doubtful whether they should come or no. You have Examin'd your selves and found out your Sins so as to be humbled for them You are among such as Hunger and Thirst you can't deny it And is not Blessedness promised to such Matth. v. 6. You are in the Number of such as are weary and heavy laden for Sin and is there not Rest promised to the Souls of such Matth. xi 29. The Blessings of the Covenant have been offer'd to you you consent to the Terms on which they are propos'd and desire to trust in Christ to do all this for you which he hath promised Why should not you come and Seal this at the Lord's Table and profess this to be the Sense of your Hearts Is all this no Evidence of Faith You may have true unfeigned Faith tho' you don't know certainly that it is true If Sin be a Burthen and you are weary of it and would fain have it more subdu'd and you ong for more Conformity to Christ that the same Spirit may be in you that was in Him If you long to have the Love of Christ rule and reign more in your Souls If it be thus you may come in Hope and plead his Word and pray for His Grace and devote and give up your selves to be the Lords You may do this Acceptably at His Table without a certain Perswasion and assured Knowledge that you are passed from Death to Life and made an Heir of Heaven Tho' you have some Fears of Hypocrisie you dare not say but you have some Hopes that you are Sincere and a mixture of some Fear with your Hope should not discourage you Doubts concerning the Truth of your Faith are very consistent with the Reality of it The shaking of a Tree will not argue it is not a Tree or not Alive Our Lord hath told you He is willing to be your Saviour I tell you again that He is Willing to be Yours in all His Offices as Prophet Priest and King He hath done and suffer'd enough one would think to testifie His Willingness to declare His Love and express His Kindness and Good-will Can you think of His Bloody Death and Sufferings and question His Willingness to Receive and Pardon and Save Sinners Now dare you deny that you are willing to be His To forsake all Compeditors and Rivals and accept Him for your only Saviour If you are heartily Willing you are accepted you are united to Christ and interested in Him And will you not lift up your Heads in Hope Will you still cherish unscriptural unreasonable Doubts that have no foundation in the Word of God Will you continue to doubt of His Love tho' you can't deny the Evidence of it Do you not love Him so that you can part with All in this World to be assur'd of His Love and the want of this Knowledge and Assurance is the daily Burthen of your Hearts and the Matter of your continual Complaint If He should ask you as He did Peter this Evening or to Morrow Morning Soul Lovest thou me What Answer could you make but this Lord I cannot say Thou lovest me O that I could but as far as I know my own Heart I do love Thee I desire to love Thee I would fain love Thee I approve esteem and judge those the happiest Souls that love Thee most and live in Thy Love Oh what would I not give or do or part with if I might be One of them The Reflections I would make on what has been said will concern two Sorts of Persons of a very different Character First I would Caution some not to abuse or mis-improve this Discourse by emboldening themselves to come to the Lord's Table in their Hypocrisie and under the reigning Power of Sin Let them not think that 't is enough if they can but make themselves uncertain whether they are Hypocrites or no. There are some who have no Assurance of their Salvation and it is impossible they should their State will not admit it They are under the Dominion of Sin and live in the Impurities of the Flesh and under the prevailing power of an Earthly Mind destitute of Love to God and Strangers to Faith in Christ and yet will adventure to come frequently to the Table of the Lord. 'T is a terrible Passage He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh Damnation to himself Temporal Judgments and Calamity in many Cases Spiritual in others and without Repentance Eternal which frightens Some from Communicating at all which it should not but doth not deter Others from coming unworthily which it should There are divers such who thro' Sloth and Negligence and Inconsideration for want of Enquiring into their true State are ready to flatter themselves from some little things as transient Affections in the publick Duties of Religion c. that their State is good but they do not allow themselves leisure to think what they are and with many the hurry of their Earthly Business will hardly permit them to retire for Self-Examination And yet they will come they will do as others and without further search take it for granted that they may and ought to come to the Table of the Lord. Sometimes they have checks of Conscience and if they think of Dying are afraid and well they may there is reason for it Such Professors should take heed of abusing what hath been said to Others who need it They like to hear that many who have Doubts and Fears concerning their State may yet come to the Lord's Table 't is good News to