Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	blood_n	body_n	cup_n	12,251	5	9.5859	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A31893	The art of divine meditation, or, A discourse of the nature, necessity, and excellency thereof with motives to, and rules for the better performance of that most important Christian duty : in several sermons on Gen. 24:63 / by Edmund Calamy ...	Calamy, Edmund, 1600-1666.	1680 (1680)	Wing C227; ESTC R952	107,034	224

or sealing up all the benefits of our Redemption and it is an exhibition of Jesus Christ it is a deed of gift of Christ God goes about giving of Christ to thee and me and all that labour to come worthily Oh! there cannot be a greater feast wherein Christ is the gift that is bestowed Christ is the banquet Christ and all his benefits 5. You must meditate of your own unworthiness O Lord I am not worthy to pick up the crumbs that fall from thy Table I am not worthy to eat my daily bread much less worthy to eat the Sacramental bread Oh the thought of this will make you say with Mephibosheth What am I a dead dog that my Lord and King should invite me to his table What am I dust and ashes sinful wretch that the Lord Jesus should invite me to such an Heavenly banquet 6. You must meditate of your spiritual wants and necessities what grace dost thou want that thou maist get supplied what sin doth bear most sway in thee that thou maist get it more mortified Now the more sensible you are of your spiritual wants the more will your appetite be quickned to this blessed feast 7. You must meditate of the cursed condition of an unworthy receiver an unworthy receiver is a Christ-murderer a soul-murderer a body-murderer he is guilty of the body and blood of Jesus Christ he eats and drinks down his own damnation he is guilty of bringing diseases For this cause that is for unworthy coming to the Sacrament many are sick and many weak and many die 8. I would have you meditate of the happy condition of those that come worthily to the Sacrament though you do not bring a legal worthiness yet if you have a Gospel-worthiness God will accept of you and the bread that we break shall be the Communion of the Body of Christ and the cup of blessing which we bless shall be the Communion of the Blood of Christ to you the communion of all the blessings of Heaven to thy soul. It shall be the bread of the Lord to you and the bread of life and the cup of Salvation unto you 9. I would have you meditate sometimes of the Sacramental Elements when you see the bread I would have you meditate of the analogy and proportion between bread and the body of Christ you know that bread is the staff of life so is Christ the staff of a Christian bread is not for dead folks but for living folks bread doth not beget life but increaseth and strengthneth life so the Sacrament is not for those that are dead in sin the Sacrament doth not beget Grace but nourish and increase Grace And then I would have you consider the analogy between Wine and the Blood of Christ As Wine refresheth the spirit and cheereth the heart so the Blood of Christ cheereth the soul of every worthy receiver 10. I would have you meditate of the Sacramental actions for all the actions of the Minister at the Sacrament are mystical they all represent Christ Christ is to be read by a spiritual eye in every thing that is done by the Minister the breaking of the bread represents Christs body being broken upon the Cross for our sins and the pouring out the Wine represents how Christs Blood was poured out for us and the giving of the Wine represents how Christ is offered and tendered unto us the taking of the bread and wine represents how thou by faith takes Christ for thy everlasting comfort Every thing in the Sacrament is the object of Meditation and it is a rare thing for a Christian to make the Sacramental Elements to be his Bible when he is at the Sacrament and when he finds his heart dull to look at the Elements the breaking of bread and pouring out of wine which are all spiritual helps to raise up thy heart unto Christ. 11. You must meditate of the Sacramental Promises Christ Jesus hath promised Take eat this is my body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me that is the Sacramental Promise This is my blood which is shed for you do this in remembrance of me Christ hath promised that whensoever we do take this bread and drink this cup worthily he will convey himself to us Now we must feed upon this promise and come to the Sacrament in the strength of this promise and he hath promised that the cup of blessing shall be the cup of the communion of the blood of Christ and the bread that is broken shall be the communion of the body of Christ Now we must meditate upon these Promises and act faith upon them 12. When all this is done I mean when thou hast received the Sacrament then thou must meditate what retribution to make unto Christ for this you must say as David doth Psal. 116. 7. What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me Thou must say to thy soul Oh how ought I to love that Christ that hath loved me and became a curse for me how ought I to be willing to die for that Christ that hath shed his blood for me Oh what singular thing shall I do for that Christ that hath become man that hath left the Throne of Heaven and hath taken my nature and hath given himself for me upon the Cross unto me at the Sacrament what great thing shall I return unto this God! Oh that I were made up all of thankfulness Oh that I could do something worthy of this God! This must be your Meditation and you must study to find out some rare piece of service to do for this Christ that hath done and suffered so much for you and you must never leave meditating till you have found out some singular thing As for example such an enemy hath done me wrong I will requite him in loving him the more I will do him the more offices of love that is to walk worthy of Christ who loved me when I was an enemy and then there is such a deed of charity such a poor Christian his family is undone I will do this service for Christ I will give him some proportionable gift some worthy gift that his soul may bless God for me Again Christ Jesus this day hath given me himself he hath given me his body and blood I will go and be willing to die for him I will say with Thomas Come let us die for him I will be willing to suffer reproach for him if he shall call me These are the Meditations wherein you are to spend your time when you are at the Sacrament Now let me say but thus much What rare Christians would we be if from month to month we did thus spend our Sacramental hours surely great would be the benefit and the fruit of it Thus I have done with the time when we are to meditate 3. I am to speak of the properties and qualities of Divine Meditation in all holy duties it is not so much the

more good by our afflictions I have observed many of us the Lord pardon it unto us as soon as ever we are recovered from our afflictions we forget God presently we never consider the mercies of God in recovering us and then we return to our old vomit again for want of meditation 7. The reason why the Providences of God take no more impression upon our hearts is for want of this grace of meditation The Providences of God are very mysterious and God in the Government of the World doth walk in the Clouds And truly I am very confident that which God doth especially require of his children in these days is to meditate upon his Providences as well as upon his Ordinances there are many rare lessons to be learned from the consideration of the Providences of God the Providence of God toward England and toward Scotland and toward the Ministry God is now depriving you of Minister upon Minister many Ministers the Lord hath taken from you God is as I may so speak disburthening the Nation of this great burden of the Ministry which is a burden to a great many God takes his Ministers up to Heaven Now what is the reason that the Providences of God of late years do no more good though they have been wonderful toward England Scotland and Ireland towards all sorts of people The reason why we are never the better by them is because we do not study the meaning of all these Providences Isa. 57. 1. The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come This is the reason why we get no more good by the death of the godly and by the Providences of God because we do not lay them to heart we do not muse and study upon them 8. What is the reason that the Saints of God are so distrustful of Gods Providences when they are ready presently to sink and to say they are undone It is for want of meditation and therefore Christ Luk. 12. saith Take no thought what you shall eat or what you shall put on consider the ravens for they neither sow nor reap which neither have store-house nor barn and God feedeth them how much more are ye better than the fowls Consider the lillies how they grow they toil not they spin not and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these Did you consider the lillies and the ravens did you study the love of God to you you would not distrust him under any sad Providences The reason why the Saints of God are so full of unbelief when they are in a low condition is for want of meditation they do not consider the ravens and the lillies they do not study the Promises that God hath made to his children in their lowest condition 9. The reason why the professors of Religion are so censorious of other men and so little censorious of themselves why they judg every man and examine every man but themselves which is the condition of these days it is for want of meditation Mat. 7. Iudg not that ye be not judged for with what judgment ye judg ye shall be judged and with what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brothers eye but considerest not the beam that is in thy own eye If men did reflect more upon themselves they would censure themselves more and others less And the reason why people are so rash in censuring is for want of self-reflection 10. The reason why professors of Religion do offer the sacrifices of fools to God when they come to worship him why they pray headily and rashly why they rush upon Ordinances without preparation is for want of meditation Eccles. 5. 1. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to offer the sacrifices of fools for they consider not that they do evil Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God Why do people rush upon Sacraments without preparation rush upon Sermons rush upon Prayer rush upon holy Duties why they do not consider what they do 11. What is the reason that people prepare no more for death Because they do not consider the shortness of life They do not meditate of the vanity of this life of the certainty and uncertainty of death and therefore it is said Deut. 32. 29. Oh that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end Because men do not consider their latter end therefore it is that they are so unprepared for their latter end 12. And lastly What is the reason that we come so unworthily to the Sacrament and when we are there we gaze up and down and carry our selves so unseemly at that Ordinance what is the reason that we lose all the fruit of that Ordinance but meerly for want of preparation before we come and meditation when we are come now preparation cannot be without meditation preparation includes meditation in it 2. The want of the practise of this duty is the cause of all punishment Isa. 12. 11. The whole land is laid desolate because no man layeth it to heart Oh this is the cause of the sword that hath drunk so much blood in this Nation no man lays to heart the Judgments of the Lord therefore the land is become desolate Psal. 28. 5. Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his hand he shall destroy them and not build them up because they do not meditate of Gods works therefore they Lord will destroy them Nay let me add that that is above all this for God to give a man over to a slight spirit an unmeditating spirit to a rashness and slightness of spirit is one of the greatest Judgments in the world A man of a slight head can never have a good heart a slight hearted Christian can never be a good Christian he that thinks slightly of God will speak slightly of God and he that speaks slightly of God will worship God slightly and he that slights God God will slight him now there cannot be a more cursed frame of spirit than to be given over to an unconsiderate frame of spirit an unconsiderate Christian is an inconsiderable Christian. Isa. 42. 24 25. Who gave Iacob for a spoil and Israel to the robbers did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned for they would not walk in his ways neither were they obedient to his law Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battel and it hath set him on fire round about yet he knew not and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart Here is the curse of curses not so much to be burnt as not to know it