THE Pious Communicant Rightly Prepar'd OR A DISCOURSE Concerning the Blessed Sacrament Wherein the NATURE of it is Described our Obligation to frequent Communion Enforced and Directions given for due Preparation for it Behaviour at and after it and Profiting by it WITH PRAYERS and HYMNS suited to the several Parts of that Holy Office To which is added A Short DISCOURSE of BAPTISM By SAMUEL WESLEY A. M Chaplain to the most Honourable IOHN Lord Marquess of Normanby and Rector of Epworth in the Diocese of Lincoln LONDON Printed for Charles Harper at the Flower-de-luce over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet MDCC The Life of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. An Heroic Poem Dedicated to Her most Sacred MAJESTY In Ten Books In Folio Each Book Illustrated by necessary Notes With Sixty Copper-Plates by the celebrated Hand of W. Faithorn The Second Edition revised and improved with the Addition of a large Map of the Holy-Land and a Table of the Principal Matters Written by the Author of this Manual on the Sacrament Printed for C. Harper PREFACE WHEN so many excellent Treatises have already appear'd on this Subject it may well be wonder'd why after all so mean a Pen should attempt so weighty an Argument since 't is almost impossible to say any thing New upon it and the mildest Question a Man must expect who now handles it would be of the same Nature with that of Iob to his Friends Who knoweth not such Iob xii 3. Things as these But one that is resolved to write a Book seldom wants an Excuse for doing it and will be ready to draw one even from the Number of those which have gone before him since this might have hinder'd others as well as him And besides there is a different Size of Writers suitable to the different Capacities of Readers and Acquaintance or Inclination or sometimes pure Accident may be the occasion of some Persons reading one Book when they would not have read another and perhaps to Profit more by it than they might by another better written on the same Subject What I have aim'd at in this Manual is to be as clear and methodical as I could both in the Description of the Nature of the Sacrament and the Occasion and Ends of its Institution and in the Directions for our Behaviour in relation to the Reception of it I have endeavour'd to give a rational and distinct View of it in all the Notions wherein Learned and Pious Men have represented it To press home the indispensible tho' much neglected Duty of frequent Communion which I am persuaded would highly conduce to a general Reformation of Manners and to repair the Decays of Christian Piety amongst us To lay down some plain Rules for our Preparation and Heads of Examination in order to our worthy Receiving with Meditations or Prayers suited to every Part of the Office and inserted in their proper Places As to the double Appendix the former relating to our Religious Societies whose Rules and Orders have been published and defended by Mr. Woodward in his late Book on that Subject and my Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells in the Life of Dr. Horneck and for whom Her late Majesty of Blessed Memory was so much concerned while She was living their whole Design appeared to me so highly serviceable to Christianity that I could not but take this Opportunity to recommend it and shall still be of the same mind till I can see what I have here offered on that Head fairly answered And the latter which relates to Baptism will be granted not unnecessary when several I hope well-meaning Persons especially in those Parts where I live are unsatisfied about it And 't is the same which has been done before by the Right Reverend and Pious Bishop of Ely in his Aqua Genitalis after his Mensa Mystica and by others who have laboured on the same Subject Likewise I have added the Great Hallel or Paschal Hymn which was usually sung by the Iews at their Passover and by our Saviour and his Apostles at the Institution of this Sacrament Nor am I unwilling to own that I have thro' the whole wrought in any memorable Thoughts which I have met with in such Authors as have handled the same Argument having done all as plainly and compendiously as I was able To conclude if the whole or any Part of this little Book may any ways tend to promote the Glory of God or the Piety and Happiness of Mankind especially of that dear Flock over which it has pleased God to give me Charge I shall not much regret my Composing and Adventuring it abroad into the World THE CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Pag. 1. Chap. I. Of the Nature of the Sacrament 3. Chap. II. Of the perpetual Obligation that lies upon Christians of riper years to communicate and even to frequent Communion 42. Chap. III. Of Examination before the Sacrament and Preparation for it 94. A Confession when we are Preparing for the Communion 128. A Collect for Perseverance 132. For Faith 134. A Thanksgiving before the Sacrament 135. A Collect for Charity 137. Chap. IV. Of our Behaviour immediately before the Communion and when we receive it 143. An Act of Penitence 163. An Act of Faith 165. An Act of Humility immediately before Receiving 167. An Act of Praise after Receiving 169. An Act of Love 170. Chap. V. Of our Behaviour after we have received and during the whole course of our Lives especially the Time betwixt different Celebrations 173. Questions for the Evening 186. Questions for the Morning 187. Short Directions for those who are really straightned for Time and cannot go thro' the larger Methods of Examination already given And a Prayer for one in Affliction and Want 187 c. Of BAPTISM 189. The Great Hallel or Pasehal Hymn c. 251. THE Worthy Communicant INTRODUCTION THE End of every Christian Duty is to make us still better and holier The height of our Perfection consists in the Imitation of God unless we know God we cannot be like him and the clearest Revelation of his Nature and of his Will is left us by his Son in his Holy Gospel The Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord is an Epitome of that Gospel * The word Sacrament is often used in the Fathers for the whole Christian Religion and a lively Representation of our Saviour's Sufferings He therefore who frequently and devoutly receives it cannot be an ill Man but must needs make a more than ordinary Progress in Virtue and Holiness For the promoting whereof I have undertaken to write this little Manual wherein I shall endeavour in the I. Chapter to give a clear and rational Account of the Nature of this Sacrament and the Occasion and Ends of its Institution As in the II. Of the perpetual Obligation which lies upon all adult Christians to communicate and even to frequent Communion In the III. Of our Examination before it and Preparation for it The
this Representation of Christ's Death in the Sacrament has a respect to others to whom we are to declare it as well as it relates like the Commemoration before-mention'd to our selves and to God We do by this proclaim unto Men and Angels the manifold Wisdom and Goodness of God and the Kindness and Condescention of our ever blessed Redeemer and in a manner preach the Gospel to every Creature while we here represent so considerable a part of it as our Saviour's Death and own that we are not asham'd of his Cross but rather Glory in it § V. We represent it also to our selves that is we do by this sacred significant and lively Action fix it more deeply in our Affections and Memories The Bread represents our Saviour's Body who is the true Bread of Life that came down from Heaven The Wine his Blood The Breaking of the Bread the Torments he endur'd on the Cross and the Wounding of his sacred Body as the pouring out of the Wine is a most lively Figure of the shedding his most precious Blood But of this more hereafter § VI. But in the last place we also represent our Saviour's Death to God the Father in the Holy Communion This we do by those Actions which he himself has appointed as means of supplicating him and obtaining his Favour Beseeching our heavenly Father who of his tender Mercy did give his only Son Jesus Christ to suffer Death upon the Cross for our Redemption that we duly receiving the Holy Mysteries according to our Lord Jesus Christ's Holy Institution in remembrance of his Death and Passion may be Partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood The Priest neither makes nor offers the real natural Body of Christ in the Holy Communion but he makes his spiritual or sacramental Body and therein represents his natural Body as well as he also represents what he really suffer'd for us in the verity of that Body this he represents to God as well as to us and every devout Communicant should faithfully joyn in the Representation § VII The next thing observable in our Description of the Holy Communion is That 't was instituted by Christ in the room of the Iewish Passover This as it gives great Light into the Nature of it and the most weighty Controversies concerning it so the Matter of Fact it self is too evident to be doubted or denied and of too great moment to be lightly pass'd over As will appear if we consider the Time the Form the End of the Institution of this Sacrament compared with that of the Passover and the Expressions of Iohn the Baptist and the Apostles relating to the Communion it self or to our Saviour who ordained it The Time of its first Institution and Celebration was the Night of the Paschal Supper immediately after Supper We are told by * Buxtorf Synag cap. 13. p. 302. de Paschat celebrando Fagius in Exod. 12. learned Men that the old Iews had a very antient Tradition amongst them that the Messias should come to redeem them the very same Night in which God brought them out of Egypt the Night of the Passover whereon they also say that God vouchsafed to the old Patriarchs and holy Men most or all of those famous Blessings and Deliverances which we read of in the sacred Writings which is no obscure Indication that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was to succeed the Paschal Supper § VIII The manner of their celebrating the Passover also proves the same For the Master of the House took Bread and brake it and gave it to those about him and said This is the Bread of affliction which our Fathers did eat in Egypt * Buxtorf ubi supra that is the Memorial of that Bread in the same Sense that our Saviour said This is my Body after he had taken Bread and blessed and brake it and gave to his Disciples as the Iews also call'd the Passover The Body of the Paschal Lamb. And in like manner the Cap. The Master of the Feast took it after Supper and when he had given Thanks gave it to the rest and said This is the Fruit of the Vine and the Blood of the Grape This was the third Cup which they drank at the Passover and call'd it The Cup of Blessing * Lightfoot Vol. II. p. 260. All the Company drank of it the sick as well as the healthy †Buxtorf p. 296. Thus our Savior after Supper took the Cup this third Cup and when he had given Thanks gave it to his Disciples and said Drink ye All of this for this is my Blood of the New Testament New Covenant or this Cup is the New Testament New Covenant in my Blood * St. Mat. 26. 28. St. Luk. 22. 20. As Moses said when he sprinkled all the People with Blood †Heb. 9. 20. Exod. 24. 8. This is the Blood of the Covenant which God made with you it was not only the Seal of the New Covenant but likewise the Sanction of it And 't is remarkable that our Saviour calls it the Fruit of the Vine as did the Master of the Feast at the Passover And so the Apostle calls the Sacramental Cup the Cup of Blessing § IX There 's yet another thing remarkable in the Passover which our Saviour retain'd in his Sacrament and that is the Hymn or great Hallel which the Iews always sung at this Festival and still continue to use it in that shadow of the Passover which they yet retain * Buxtorf ubi supr Patrick in 113 Psalm It consisted of six Psalms from the 113 to the 118. inclusively wherein were mentioned as their Rabbins teach 1. Their Deliverance from Egypt 2. The Division of the Red Sea 3. The Giving of the Law 4. The Resurrection from the Dead And 5. The Sorrows of the Messias †Lightfoot Vol. II. p. 354. 'T is expresly said that our Saviour and his Apostles sung a Hymn after they had eaten 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they all doubtless joyn'd in it as was the Custom of their Country-men which they could not have done had it not been a Form well known unto them And what more proper than those Psalms already mentioned which shows the Lawfulness of singing in the Christian Church and of the whole Congregations joyning in it some think Iudas not being here excepted ‖ Lightfoot and that in a set Form out of the Psalms of David which have made a great part of the Liturgy of the Church for near Three Thousand Years Nor was this Sacrament ever celebrated without singing by any regular Christians St. Chrysostom on Heb. 10. says of those of his Time That in the Sacrament they did offer Thanksgiving for their Salvation by devout Hymns and Prayers to God And before him Pliny's famous Letter mentions the Christians as jointly singing Hymns to Christ And Tertullian in his Apology has left it on Record that it was
by the Death of a Redeemer as Justification or actual Pardon of our Sins the reinstating us in God's Favour and assuring us that he is reconciled to us and that we are accounted righteous before him as well as Sanctification or actual Strength and Grace to conquer our Sins and to obey his Commands 'T is true the beginnings of these are conferred in Baptism we are so far regenerate therein as to be grafted into the Body of Christs Church and to partake of its Privileges by the operation of his Holy Spirit within us who will never be wanting to us or forsake us unless we our selves do put a Bar to the Divine Assistance by confirm'd ill Habits and by a wicked Life But since the Divine Image which we there recovered is very often obscured again by the Temptations of the World and the Devil and the remains of Sin within us there is need enough of our being renewed again by Repentance nor has God here left us without Hope or Comfort but notwithstanding the Dream of the old Novatians has appointed a Remedy even for those who sin after Baptism and that is this other Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord wherein as we renew our Covenant with him we receive new Strength to obey his Commands as hath been the constant Faith of all good Christians in all Ages we therein obtain not only the strengthning but likewise the refreshing of our Souls as the Catechism expresses it which includes Divine Consolation and Ioy in believing and such Peace as passes all Understanding § XXVIII But may some here object Where is this Blessedness you speak of Where are these Promises in Holy Scripture of such wonderful assistance in this Sacrament In answer This Holy Communion is the Substance of all other Christian Duties to which so many Blessings are promised throughout the whole Gospel or else why do we perform them of Faith and Repentance and Thanksgiving and Holy Vows and Prayer and Praise and Confession and Adoration and consequently it must share in all their Blessings and Benefits 'T is a Memorial or Commemoration of our Saviour's Love and Sufferings and if God has promised in the old Law that in every place where there is a Memorial of his Name he will meet and bless his People * Exod. 20. 24. much more may we expect it under the Gospel If our Saviour has so solemnly promised that where two or three are gathered together in his Name there he will be in the midst of 'em and bless 'em much more will he be so at this great Synaxis this more general and solemn Assembly of Christians to celebrate his Name and record his Praises †Thus Ignatius in Epist. ad Ephes. If the Prayer of one or two be of so great force that it brings Christ among them how much more will the unanimous Prayers of the Bishop and the whole Church ascending to God prevail with him to grant all they desire He has not commanded us to seek his Face in vain nor is it in vain to do this in Remembrance of him The shewing forth the Lord's Death cannot be without exceeding Comfort to those who have reason to hope they have a share in it 'T is a big Expression The Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ 't is surely far more than an empty Figure 'T is not a little matter to eat the Lords Supper to partake of the Table of the Lord wherein if he that eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks Damnation surely he that does it worthily must eat and drink Salvation No less can be intended in our Communion of Christ's Body and Blood than the eternal Son of God's uniting himself by his Spirit to our Souls in this Holy Sacrament and even by his own Divine Nature whereby he in a sense and in some degree makes us Partakers thereof and communicates unto us all the Blessings he has obtained for us by this Heavenly Food nourishing up our Souls to everlasting Life Giving us herein the Earnest and Pledge of our Immortality as well as the means of it and assuring us that because he lives we shall live also which is the meaning of those Expressions Dwelling in Christ and Christ in us and being one with Christ and Christ with us and of the Ministers praying in the very delivery of the Elements That the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ may preserve our Bodies and Souls to Everlasting Life according to our Saviour's own Words He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him he shall live by me he shall never die he hath Eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day And whether or no these Expressions were then precisely meant of the Sacrament which they might well be by Anticipation and Prophesie though it were not then actually instituted for he speaks in the same place of his Death in the same manner they are yet certainly true of the partaking of Christs Sacramental Body and Blood and feeding on him in our Hearts by Faith with Thanksgiving § XXIX Which brings to the close of our Description that all these Benefits are conferred in the Sacrament only on the faithful Receiver For none but such are properly Partakers of the Body and Blood of the Lord. If Iudas did outwardly partake of this Sacrament as our Church seems to have thought he did †See the Exhortation Lest after the taking of the Holy Sacrament the Devil enter into you as he entred into Judas Satan did but the sooner enter into him because he received with a Heart full of Treachery Covetousness and Malice I take Faith here in the largest Sense for a practical assent to the whole Scheme of the Gospel and consequently a ready and firm Belief of its Revelations Threatnings and Promises accompanied with sincere Resolutions and Endeavours to obey its Commands Tho' the more peculiar object of Faith in this Sacrament must be the Merits of our Saviour and that Pardon which he purchased for us by his own Blood But of these hereafter more at large under those Qualifications which are requisite to those who would partake worthily and profitably of this Holy Communion CHAP. II. Of the perpetual Obligation that lies upon adult Christians to communicate and even to frequent Communion § I. WHerein I shall first prove in general the indispensible Obligation which our Saviour has laid upon us to receive this Sacrament 2. The Extent of it it reaches all adult Christians 3. It s Duration 't is perpetual it lasts till the End of the World 4. That we ought to receive it frequently And in the 5th and last place I shall answer those Objections which are brought either against receiving the Communion in general or against frequently receiving it § II. 1st Of the Obligation in general to receive And one would wonder how any who are called Christians and do but remember the Reason of
To acknowledge them and to bewail our manifold Sins and Wickedness since we can by no means hide them from the Eye of Heaven and they are the truest and justest Causes of Lamentation and Sorrow Nor are we to rest in generals but here again to call to mind the greatest and most hainous Sins whereof on our former Examination we have found our selves guilty whether in Thought Word or outward Action These we are to acknowledge we have most grievously committed which may imply the hainous aggravation of them for which we must own that we have provoked most justly God's Wrath and Indignation against us that we have deserved his Anger and all the dreadful Consequences thereof in the Punishments both of this and another World § V. And having thus confest and acknowledged our Sins their number continuance extent and aggravation we are directed to proceed to the formal Act of Repentance for them to profess that we do earnestly repent and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings and woe to him who tho' he joyns in this solemn protestation with all good Christians yet does not truly and earnestly repent of his Sins nor is heartily sorry for them which how can he be thought to be when he falls into them again on the next Temptation whereas if we do truly repent of them the Remembrance of them will be indeed grievous unto us and their Burthen intolerable We shall know how evil and bitter a thing it is to depart from the Living God and be weary and heavy laden and fly to Christ to give us rest Which Repentance and abhorrence of our Sins ought to be raised to the greatest heighth at the time of Consecration when we see Christ's Sacramental Body broken and his Blood poured out for us and just at the time of receiving when we ought with an Holy Indignation to bring our Sins and nail them to the Cross of Christ to kill those Murderers as Benaiah did Ioab at the Horns of the Altar to sacrifice them there and hew them in pieces before the Lord in short to be deeply afflicted for them and to make firm Resolves to forsake them § VI. In order to which we must in the third place ask mercy for Christ's sake and pardon for all our Sins as the Church teaches us in those moving and tender Expressions Have mercy upon us Have mercy upon us most merciful Father For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake forgive us all that is past And this we have need to pray for since without Forgiveness the past Guilt remains as well as the Punishment due for our Sins tho' we should no more commit them But both are remitted in this Sacrament to the worthy Receiver not by Virtue of our own Merits or any Preparation Examination or Repentance or even of the very Act of outward receiving but merely for Christ's sake on account of his Merits and Intercession and by the Virtue which flows from his wounded Side his spiritual Flesh and Blood inwardly received by the Faithful in this Ordinance § VII Now we are taught to conclude this Confession with praying that God would grant us that we may ever hereafter serve and please him in newness of Life without which all that 's past is in vain nor is there any that 's so perfectly renewed that he has not still need to purge out something of the old Leaven And tho' God will give such Grace to those who worthily partake of this Sacrament yet has he appointed Prayer as the means to obtain it and of our perseverance in well-doing and daily encreasing in Goodness which Prayer does virtually contain a Promise to use our own utmost endeavors to amend our Lives that Resolution of better Obedience which seems to be the very Act wherein we renew our Covenant with God and engage to fulfil our part of it which if we do faithfully perform he will never be wanting to his § VIII Thus much for Repentance The second Grace to be exercised at the Sacrament is Faith which we are to reduce into Act when the Minister declares in the Absolution That Almighty God has promised forgivenness of Sins to all them that with hearty Repentance and true Faith turn unto him further praying ' That God would have mercy upon us pardon and deliver us from all our Sins confirm and strengthen us in all Goodness and bring us to Everlasting Life Which Absolution we are humbly to receive upon our Knees as an authoritative Declaration from one commissioned by Christ himself to bind and loose and to remit and retain Sins to which we are to add a hearty and faithful Amen as being fully assured that God will perform what he has promised by his Son if we neglect not our parts in the Covenant Faith is here more eminently necessary as well with respect to all the Promises of the Gospel as to the particular Benefits of this Sacrament and the application of them to our selves For our Lord has said He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last Day The faithful Receiver eats and drinks Salvation this Sacrament shall eminently conduce unto it He is thereby united to Christ one with Christ and Christ with him and by virtue of that indissoluble union sealed in this Holy Ordinance he receives a Principle of Immortality whereby he shall be not only raised from the Death of sin in this World but at length raised from the Grave and live in endless Happiness which also seems to be the meaning of the Prayer in the very delivery of the Elements The Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve the Body and Soul to Everlasting Life to which most devout Christians add their private Amen as being fully perswaded that it shall have that happy efficacy to every worthy Receiver And the same Act of Faith they are to exert when they hear the Minister read those comfortable Words which our Saviour saith by himself and his Apostles to all that truly turn unto him Come unto me all that travel and are heavy laden and I will refresh you c. To which the devout Soul will be ready to answer Draw me and we will run after thee or with St. Peter To whom should we go but to thee thou hast the Words of eternal Life And so in the rest of the Sentences applying them to himself by a particular Act of Faith and saying Lord I believe help my unbelief And this Faith will be mightily advanced by our actual advertence to Christ's spiritual presence in this Holy Ordinance more eminently graciously and peculiarly than in any other And the highest Act of it is to be exercised at the very instant of receiving § IX Devotion is in the third place highly necessary to a Worthy Communicant at the time of Celebration and in all the parts of that Holy Office By which Devotion is meant the intense abstraction or withdrawing of
Cannot the Blood of Jesus soften it and cleanse it that Blood of sprinkling which speaks better things than that of Abel Shall I not now at least detest abhor forsake all those Sins which cost my Saviour so dear shall I again commit them shall I any more favour those Iudas's which betrayed those Herods which mocked those Pilates which crucified the Lord of Glory O Lord my Heart is deceitful and desperately wicked and has often already deceived me and my Goodness is as the morning Cloud and early Dew which soon passeth away and without thy Grace I shall again fall into those very Sins which I now detest and abhor which that I may never more do imprint I beseech thee in my Mind so lively a Sense of my Saviour's Sufferings and let me receive and carry away so lasting an Impression of them from this Sacrament that I may henceforth die unto Sin and live unto Righteousness that I may subdue and mortifie more and more all criminal Desires and the whole Body of Death thro' Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen! An Act of Faith I Desire to believe Lord help my Unbelief I believe that thou canst do all things and if thou wilt canst make me clean I chuse thee for my chief Good I depend upon thee as my only Happiness I believe all thy Promises are Yea and Amen faithful and true in thy Son Jesus and that those who come unto thee by him thou wilt in no wise cast off He is able to save to the uttermost he is mighty to save and to forgive In him alone thou art well pleased thro' him O God art thou reconciled to Mankind and hast made them capable of everlasting Happiness from whence none shall be excluded who believe in the Name of the Lord Jesus and obey his Commands On him therefore do I cast my self and on his Merits is all my hope for Time and for Eternity believing that there is no other Name given under Heaven by whom I may receive Health and Salvation In this perswasion do I now approach to thy Holy Table humbly believing and expecting that my Saviour will be known unto me there and will meet me and bless me that his Body and Blood shall preserve my Body and Soul to everlasting Life that he will pardon my Sins and strengthen me in Grace guide me by his Counsel and bring me to his Glory Amen! An Act of Humility immediately before Receiving WHence is it O Lord that such a Wretch as I so loathsome and deformed with Sin should once more be admitted to thy presence to taste the Bread of Life Whence is it that my Saviour should be Guest to one that is such a Sinner O Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my Roof nor that I should come under thine I desire to humble my self before thee with the utmost prostration and adoration I cast my self at the Feet of Jesus and will not let him go except he bless me I am nothing I have nothing I desire nothing but Jesus and to be with him in Peace in the heavenly Ierusalem The lowest place in Heaven will be infinitely above what I can deserve who wonder why thou shouldst cast thine Eyes on such a nothing A Covenant and League uses to be made between those that are equals but there is an infinite distance between God and me by Nature and if possible a yet greater distance by my Sins Yet has that God who dwells in the High and Holy Place vouchsafed to promise that he will also dwell with the humble and contrite Spirit that trembles at his Word Come therefore O Lover of Souls O ever blessed Jesus who tho' thou fillest Heaven and Earth with the Majesty of thy Glory didst yet humble thy self when thou camest into the World to the inconveniences of a Cave a Stable and a Manger My Heart is yet meaner than any of these but thou canst purifie and cleanse it and make it a Temple fit for thy self to dwell in Come and meet me in thy own comfortable Ordinance who hast promised tho' thou wilt resist the proud to give Grace to the humble I beg this O Father for the sake of Jesus Christ my Saviour who humbled himself to the Death upon the Cross for me a miserable Sinner to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost Three and One be all Honour and Glory now and for ever Amen! An Act of Praise after Receiving ALL Glory and Honour and Praise to him who sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever To him who has loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood and has now entertained us with that heavenly Food which those who taste with Faith shall never die I have tasted that God is Good and that blessed are all those that trust in him he is not a barren Land or a dry Wilderness He has given me Meat to eat at his own Table which the World knows not of such Joy as no Man can give or take from me He has assured me of his Favour and Goodness towards me and given me the Seals of his Pardon and the Pledges of Everlasting Happiness Alas how poor am I of Thanks for such inestimable Benefits what have I to render to the Lord of Life and Glory for these and all his Favours I devote and dedicate all my little all unto him my Soul and Body for Time and Eternity without Exception and without Reserve 'T is but a mite but 't is my All O give me more that I may restore it to the Giver Accept O gracious God this my poor Sacrifice of Praise and help me also to order my Conversation aright that I may see thy Salvation that in Heaven the place of Eternal Praises I may with Angels and Arch-angels and all the glorious Company there adore and magnifie and bless thee and sing Hallelujabs and Hymns of Praise unto thee for ever and ever Amen! An Act of Love O Infinite Goodness O amiable Jesu O bleeding dying agonizing Love What Man what Angel in Heaven durst have ever thought of such a way to appease God's Anger against Sinners as the Death of thee the Only begotten Son of God had not thy Father freely sent thee hadst not thou thy self as freely descended to Earth and taken our mortal Clay upon thee to do and to suffer the Will of God Who could have believed this hadst not thou thy self revealed it and confirmed it by so many Miracles Nay as if it had not been sufficient to die for us thou hast also given us the heavenly Food of thy blessed Body and Blood to be our spiritual Nourishment in this Holy Sacrament Thou hast made me partaker of those venerable Mysteries Thou hast renewed that Covenant with me which I trust shall never be broken O! was there no other way to save Mankind but the Death of him that lives for ever were all the Souls of the lost Sons of Adam worth one Groan one
the Custom of Christians to close their Agapae or Love-Feasts with singing either some portion of Scripture or something of their own Composure * Tertull. Apol. cap. 39. p. 106. Edit Cantab. I 've insisted the longer on this Head because there are some Persons who I think very unreasonably not only neglect the Practice of this Angelical Duty themselves but even censure it as unlawful in others to whom we may answer We have such a laudable Custom and so have the Churches of God had in all Places and all Ages § X. Yet farther there is a remarkable Analogy or resemblance in the End of their Institution between the Passover and the Supper of the Lord God said concerning the Passover to the Children of Israel This day shall be to you for a Memorial †Exod. 12. 14. Ver. 27. and you shall keep it a Feast to the Lord throughout all your Generations ‖ Exod. 12. 3. Remember this day in which you came out of Egypt and thou shalt shew thy Son c. * Exod. 13. 8. Lxx. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Red Wine which they made use of therein was to signifie either the Blood of their Children shed by Pharoah or rather the Death of Pharoah's first-born as well as afterwards of himself and the rest of the Egyptians in just Vengeance for their Cruelty to the Israelites and of the Blood which was on their own Door-Posts whereby they were preserv'd from the Pestilence Thus in the Lord's Supper our Saviour commands his Followers to do this in Remembrance of him and thereby to shew forth his Death till he come as the Israelites were to keep the Passover for ever or throughout all their Generations Much the same word being here used by the Apostle to express our Celebration or Annuntiation of our Saviour's Death in the Sacrament that is used by the antient Greek Translators of the Bible to signifie that of the Passover enjoyn'd to the Iews †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In which sacramental Feast we are to preserve the Memory of our Deliverance from the slavery of Sin much worse than that of Egypt § XI Lastly There are several Expressions in the New Testament which will not suffer us to doubt of the Analogy between them Thus the Baptist calls our Saviour The Lamb of God * St. Ioh. 1. 29. and St. Peter says That we were not redeemed with corruptible things but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without Blemish †1 St. Pet. 1. 18 19. And St. Paul alludes most manifestly unto it Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the Feast not with the old Leaven c. ‖ 1 Cor. 5. 7. From all which it appears that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was instituted in the room of the Passover and that our Saviour retained many of the Ceremonies therein as well such as God himself had immediately Vid. Cudworth and Discourse of the Holy Eucharist p. 6. appointed as such as the Jewish Church had added either for the more lively Representation of the thing or else for decency and order and from what has been said we may have great Light into the Nature of the Holy Communion especially as to the last Head insisted on that 't is a Memorial and Representation of our Saviour's Death of his Body which was broken and his Blood which was shed for us § XII I proceed to the Matter of this Sacrament the exterior Matter or outward Elements the visible and sensible Signs namely Bread and Wine which the Lord has commanded to be taken and received 'T was from the Fruits of the Ground that the first Offerings were made to the Lord Some have been of Opinion that Noah was the first that offer'd Bread in Sacrifice and that thence he received a Name among the Antients * Dickenson in Delphi Phoeniciss p. 169. And Dr. Spencer de Sacrificiis thinks that Noah was called Ogyges from Ogh which signifies Panis subcineritius Bread baked under the Embers and offered in Sacrifice p. 659. Melchisedeck's bringing forth Bread and Wine has also been thought an Act of his sacerdotal Office and not an Instance of Hospitality only We are sure that the Mincha Meat-offering or Bread-offering so often mention'd by Moses which was to be offer'd every Morning and Evening and is call'd the Most Holy of all the Offerings of the Lord was composed of Fine-Flower with a proportion of Wine added unto it †Exod. 29. 40. Levit. 2. 3. Bread is the most simple and common Food the most easie to be obtained and yet the most necessary the Staff of Life Wine was also as common in those Countries as it is useful and refreshing making glad the Heart of Man Psal. 104. 15. Nay cheering God and Man Iudg. 9. 13. That is Wine was acceptable to God in Sacrifices For some or all of which Reasons was our Saviour pleased to make Choice of Bread and Wine in the Celebration of these Mysteries as well as because they were used by the Iewish Church in the Passover And these are in the Sacrament solemnly offered to God as an acknowledgment of his being the Creator of all things and Sovereign Lord of the World according to the antient Doxology * Vid. Mede of Christian Sacrifice p. 359. at the presenting of them on the Lord's Table which was much the same with that in the Revelations Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created § XIII And Bread and Wine they are still after the Consecration not common but Sacred and Sacramental They are changed in their Use but not in their Substance They are not changed into the Substance of the Natural Body of Christ which hung upon the Cross and his Blood which was there shed for us a monstrous and novel Opinion first established by the Concil of Lateran above twelve hundred Years after Christ and then by that of Trent among other Articles of their New Creed no where to be found in Scripture as some of the most Learned Romanists have confessed but directly contrary to it as 't is to the Writings of the Fathers not believed at present by many Learned Men in the Church of Rome * Vid. Preface to Discourse of the Eucharist overthrowing the very Nature of a Sacrament and leaving nothing for an outward Sign destroying the Foundation of our Faith which is grounded on Miracles which imply the certainty of the Judgment of our Senses on their proper Objects introducing the most monstrous absurdities which if granted would render the Christian Religion which is the only reasonable Religion in the World the most absurd and most unreasonable supposing actual length without any thing long and the same of whiteness redness solidity moisture breadth and thickness involving the most horrid as well as most
ridiculous Consequences That our Saviour did eat his own Body and gave it to his Disciples to eat making Christians the worst of Cannibals to eat their God a thousand times over * Eoquem tam amentem esse putas qui illud quo vescatur credat Deum esse Tully de natura Deorum implying penetration of dimensions contradicting the very Nature of a Body which cannot be in two places at the same time †Rubrick after Communion much less in Earth and Heaven contradicting our Saviour's own Words that we should not have him always ‖ St. Mat. 26. 11. that is his Body with us tho' in his Divinity his Spirit his Power his Graces he 's with the Church to the End of the World * St. Mat. 28. 20. contrary to the End of the Institution which was to be a Memorial of his Body broken and Blood shed for us contrary to the Words of the Apostle †1 Cor. 11. 26 27 28. who calls it Bread and Wine after Consecration thrice in one Chapter ‖ Vide supra For which Reasons and many others that might be alledged our Church declares in her Twenty Eighth Article of the Lord's Supper That Transubstantiation or the Change of the Substance of the Bread and Wine in the Supper of the Lord cannot be proved in Holy Writ but it is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture overthroweth the Nature of a Sacrament and hath given occasion to many Superstitions § XIV But how is it then called the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ and in what Sense is he present there and how are the faithful said therein to eat his Body and drink his Blood both by the antient Fathers and by our own Church and most other Protestants of all denominations * Lutherans Calvin Beza Assemb Catechism great and less Cranmer Ridley Communion Service English Tigur Liturg. c. That this is true in some Sense is evident from Holy Scripture it self as well as from the Consent of all Christian Churches Our Saviour said This is my Body and this is my Blood And the Apostle * 1 Cor. 10. 16. The Cup of Blessing is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ the Bread of the Body of Christ And to the same purpose in the next Chapter Thus our fore-mentioned Article That the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ and the Cup of Blessing a partaking of the Blood of Christ. And in the Catechism that the inward part or thing signified in the sacrament is The Body and Blood of Christ which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper And the like in several places in the Communion-Office From all which it appears how little Reason our Adversaries have to brand us for Sacramentarians or such as deny the Body and Blood of Christ in a sound Sense to be received in the Lord's Supper § XV. But what Sense that is we come now to enquire First The Symbols the very Bread and Wine are in a figurative typical and sacramental Sense the Body and Blood of our Saviour They are more than a bare or ordinary Figure they do really and actually from their Institution represent and exhibit Christ's Death unto us as did the Paschal Lamb the delivery of the Iews out of Egypt This our Church affirms in her Homily of the Sacrament Part I. That we must be sure to hold that in the Supper of the Lord there is no vain Ceremony no untrue Figure of a thing absent but the Bread and Cup of the Lord the Memory of Christ the Annunciation of his Death c. § XVI But there 's yet more in it for 2. There is in the Blessed Sacrament a real spiritual presence of the Body and Blood of our Saviour to every faithful Receiver Christ as to his Divinity is every where and more effectually and graciously present to his own Institutions and will make his Promise good to be with his Church to the End of the World * St. Mat. 28. 20. and doubtless is so in this Sacrament as well as in the other of Baptism and herein he conveys all the real Benefits obtained by his Sufferings to every faithful Receiver His Natural Body is in Heaven where it will remain till he comes to Iudgment He is spiritually present in the Sacrament present by Faith to our Spirits The fore-mentioned Homily tells us that in the Supper of the Lord we are not only to hold that there is a Memory of Christ's Death but that there is likewise the Communion of his Body and Blood in a marvellous Incorporation wrought in the Souls of the faithful And again If God hath purified our hearts by Faith we do at this Table receive not only the outward Sacrament but the spiritual thing also not the Figure but the Truth not the Shadow only but the Body And to the same purpose our Learned Bishop Iewell That not the naked Figure and bare Sign and Token only but Christ's Body and Blood are verily and indeed given unto us in the Sacrament we verily eat it and drink it and live by it and thereby Christ dwells in us and we in him Yet he goes on ' We say not that the Substance of Bread and Wine is done away or that Christ's Body is fleshly present in the Sacrament but we lift up our hearts to Heaven there to feed on him Tho' by the way What need would there have been of the Sursum Corda or Invitation to the People in the Primitive Church to lift up their Hearts to Christ in Heaven if whole Christ God and Man were actually present upon the Altar § XVII But neither the Apostles nor the Primitive Church nor our Church of England ever held that the Sacrament was so much as in this latter Sense the Body and Blood of Christ to all that received but only to the faithful Receivers For those who received unworthily the Apostle tells us they were guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord therefore surely they did not properly communicate of his Body and Blood which he that does has eternal Life nay they did eat and drink their own Iudgment or Condemnation not discerning the Lords Body And to the same purpose is that famous saying of one of the Fathers That the Wicked do only press with their Teeth the Sacrament or outward Sign of the Lords Body but do not really communicate in it Neither did the Fathers ever think that we were to eat the Flesh of Christ in a gross carnal Capernaitical sense whatever high Expressions they may have sometime used concerning this Mystery wherein they may have been followed by devout modern Writers Hear one for all 'T is St. Augustine de Doctrinâ Christianâ Lib. 3. Cap. 16. where in his Rules for interpreting Scripture he instances in that Text which has been so much controverted of late years the 6th of
St. Iohn Ver. 53. Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood ye have no Life in you Si praeceptiva locutio c. If says he the Expression forbid any wicked action or command a good one then 't is not figurative but if it appears to command any Wickedness or forbid any Good it must be figurative Thus he goes on that expression Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood you have no Life in you seems to command a very wicked thing it must therefore be understood in a Figure and the meaning of it is that we are to communicate in our Lords sufferings and to lay it up in our Remembrance that his Flesh was crucified and wounded for us And when any Romanist fairly answers this we may safely promise them to believe Transubstantiation § XVII But if Christ be no otherwise in the Sacrament than figuratively in the Symbols as they are a Commemoration of his death and spiritually and effectually present to the faithful Reeeiver Where is then it may be asked the Mystery which all acknowledge in this Sacrament and which is so often called by ancient Writers the venerable the awful and the tremendous Mystery or Mysteries of our Faith In answer We do own that as in general great is the Mystery of Godliness so there is something which far transcends our Reason in this Sacrament and in the manner of our Saviours acting on our minds therein though the Fact it self be clearly revealed in Scripture The manner I say is still mysterious how it becomes to us the Body and Blood of Christ How the inestimable Benefits of Christs Death are communicated to us by the reception of the humble Signs how we are thereby united to him and he to us this as the Apostle says perhaps on the same occasion is indeed a great Mystery * Ephes. 5. 32. and we can no more give an account thereof than we can of ' the Wind which ' bloweth where it listeth We ought therefore firmly to believe it we ought to adore the depth of the divine Wisdom in it without going about so fruitless an attempt as to fathom and comprehend it But to go on with our description of this Sacrament § XVIII By the eating this Bread and drinking this Wine continuing thus in their proper substances tho' Grace is added to them by their being taken and blessed or set apart to this sacred use we do most solemnly and Sacramentally renew our Covenant with God God made a Covenant in Paradice with all Mankind in our first Parents which was called The First Covenant the Condition whereof was Do this and live the Sanction In the day thou eatest of the Tree of Knowledge thou shalt surely dye or become obnoxious to Death both Temporal and Eternal Adam broke this Covenant by his Disobedience and being the Head and Representative of Mankind by him Sin and Death entred into the World he lost his original Righteousness and became the Parent of a sinful and a miserable Offspring and in him all died †1 Cor. 15. 22. or were obnoxious to the same Curse which he was to suffer § XIX Yet God who is rich in Mercy did not leave him to despair but immediately made another Covenant with him called the Covenant of Grace or the Second Covenant established on a better Security and on better Promises which was briefly contained in those Words Gen. 3. 15. The Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents Head ‖ See the excellent Discourse of these Two Covenants in the Preface to the Whole Duty of Man that is Christ the promised Seed should destroy the Principality of the Devil rescue lost Mankind from his Slavery and again reconcile us to God This was yet more clearly reveal'd to Abraham that in his Seed that is in Christ should all the Nations of the Earth be blessed * Gen. 22. 18. 'T was farther illustrated in the Types and Figures of the old Law but the full and compleat discovery thereof was reserved to the Times of the Gospel which is called the New Covenant containing the most perfect Revelation of the Divine Will the Promises of God and those Conditions on which he accepts and forgives us Which were on Christs part his suffering in our room as our Surety and a Sacrifice for us to attone his Fathers Anger * Heb. 9. 12. 10. 10. as on our part Faith †St. Mark 16. 16. Repentance and not a Sinless as in the First Covenant but a sincere Obedience ‖ Acts 3. 19 25 26. § XX. This General Covenant is first applyed to particular persons by Baptism wherein we are now admitted into it as Abraham and his Posterity were by Circumcision into the same Evangelical Covenant * Gal. 3. 17. and are thereby actually dedicated to Gods Service and renounce the World the Flesh and the Devil and because there are none who come to age without having been guilty of some Breaches of this Covenant we do after we have taken it upon our selves in Confirmation renew it again at the Holy Communion Of which we shall still have a clearer notion if we consider it as 't is a Feast or as 't is a solemn Oath and on both accounts a federal Rite or a Token Pledge or instituted Sign of our being actually in Covenant with God without which what right had we to approach unto him or how could we expect any Mercy from him § XXI Let us consider the Holy Communion as a Feast a sacred Feast which was used among the Ancients at the Confirmation of Covenants in token of Amity and Friendship between the Guests Thus in that noted Instance at the ratifying the League between Isaac and Abimelech Isaac made a Feast and they did eat and drink and sware one to another †Gen. 26. 30. But this was more than an ordinary Feast there was generally a Sacrifice added to it at which they believed God himself present a Partaker thereof and a Witness of their Agreement Thus when Iacob and Laban made a Covenant Iacob offered Sacrifice upon the Mount and called his Brethren to eat Bread Gen. 29 54. And the Passover was both a Feast and a Sacrifice and 't is the Character which God himself gives of his Saints or those that were relatively or federally holy that they had made a Covenant with him with Sacrifice Psal. 50. 5. And the Apostle speaking as 't is very probable of this Christian Banquet the Holy Communion which comes in the room of the Passover exhorts the Corinthians to keep the Feast not with old Leaven c. * 1 Cor. 7. 8. Thus 't is called the Table of the †1 Cor. 10. 21. Lord and the Wine the Cup of the Lord. And God vouchsafes therein to come in unto us and sup with us nay to kill the fatted Calf for us and feast us with his own Sacramental Body
for no pretended necessity can excuse their Sin and they have no other way to escape God's Anger but Repentance and Amendment § XXXII A superstitious Fear and mistaken Reverence for this Ordinance and terrible apprehensions concerning it chiefly grounded on some misapplied Texts of Scripture do very frequently keep Persons from the Lord's Table But if we are but as willing to know and to do our Duty as to make Excuses for the neglecting it such a full Answer may be brought to these Objections as would scarce fail to give Satisfaction § XXXIII The first and chiefest Text and which many have so often in their Mouths as if Do this in remembrance of me were never to be taken notice of is that in the 1 Cor. 11. 29. He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself And there are several Expressions sounding much the same way in the first Exhortation before the Communion that we ought to be very careful when we come thither Lest it encrease our damnation and lest Satan enter into us as he did into Iudas and fill us full of all Iniquity and bring us to destruction both of Body and Soul which very severe Sentences are here made use of to perswade Men to true Repentance before they come to the Sacrament but they can mean no more than that of St. Paul whereon they are grounded and therefore must be interpreted by it And to understand that aright we must enquire into the meaning of those two Phrases Receiving unworthily and that Damnation which is threaten'd upon it § XXXIV And the context evidently shews that the Receiving unworthily for which the Corinthians are here blamed was receiving with that inexcusable Disorder whereof they were guilty at the Sacrament One was hungry and another drunken at their Feasts of Charity which then accompanied that Ordinance There were Schisms and Divisions among them even at that Feast one great End whereof was to promote Christian Unity and Love One came before another and the Rich despised the Poor They did not discern the Lord's Body They made no difference between that and common Food at least consider'd it not as the Spiritual Body of the Lord or as some think * Lightfoot not as a Christian Sacrament but as a Heathen Feast or a Iewish Passover § XXXV Whereby they did eat and drink Damnation to themselves By which cannot be immediately intended eternal Damnation but temporal Iudgment as the word here undoubtedly signifies which we translate more harshly by Damnation For the following words explain it For this cause many are sick and weak and many are faln asleep that is God's heavy Iudgments fell upon them in this Life some think a Plague or some contagious Disease in order to bring them to Repentance which Sense is confirm'd by the two following Verses If we would judge our selves or consider of our Faults and repent and amend we should not be judged that is afflicted with these temporal evils Tho' even those were in order to amendment and such Punishments as were proper to a State of probation for it follows When we are judged we are chasten'd of the Lord that we should not be condemn'd with the world namely at Gods last dreadful Tribunal § XXXVI But it may be askt is there no other unworthy receiving and no other damnation as a consequent thereon but what have been now describ'd Yes doubtless for we then receive unworthily when we continue in our Sins notwithstanding our Obligations to leave them when we come to the Sacrament And if we do not repent of this very hainous Sin and that in some proportion to the high Aggravations of it the consequence of such impenitence will be no less than eternal misery But still it 's evident from the foregoing Considerations that neither of these are here in the Text immediately intended and I think all sober Divines are agreed herein § XXXVII Add to this that there is not the least Ground in the Words or in the whole Chapter or indeed in any other Scripture to excuse any Person for not receiving or to deter them from doing it but rather quite the contrary Because the Man who had not the Wedding Garment was bound Hand and Foot and cast into utter darkness did this excuse those who would not come to the marriage No 't was so far from it that the King sent forth his Armies and destroyed those Murderers and burnt up their City Christ commands us to come his Ministers invite us 't is our own Faults if we come unprepared but nothing can excuse our Neglect and Refusal Let a man examine himself and so let him not stay away and refuse to receive but eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup. § XXXVIII There 's another Text which has been widely mistaken in the same manner and on the same occasion 'T is that of St. Paul to the Romans He that doubteth is damned if he eat But nothing can be plainer than that this place has no manner of relation to the Sacrament any more than to any other Food for it 's to be understood of eating meats sacrificed to Idols or of any of those Meats which the Iews from the ceremonial Law accounted an abomination whereof the Apostle says that he who did it with a doubting Conscience without being satisfied of the Lawfulness of it he was damned or condemned namely by his own Conscience which accused and judged him for it And this appears to be the immediate Sense of the words by comparing them with the 14. v. I know and am perswaded by the Lord Jesus that is either by Christ's words that nothing which enters into the mouth defiles the man or else by immediate Inspiration as he received many other things I know says he that there 's nothing unclean of it self but to him that esteemeth any thing unclean to him it is unclean which evidently refers to those distinctions of Meats which at that time made so great a disturbance in the Church of God § XXXIX But since it may be urged that acting with a doubting Conscience is a Sin in what case soever and therefore much more in relation to the Sacrament we must in the last place consider the different degrees of doubting which compared with our Obligation to Duty will quite remove this Objection We may reckon three Degrees of Doubting 1. When Men have some small remaining scruples and unreasonable unaccountable Fears after the strictest Examination into the Rules of their Duty and all moral Satisfaction therein concerning their Obligation unto it or of the Lawfulness of any Action 2. When the mind is as it were in a Ballance unresolved whether a thing be lawful or unlawful a Duty or otherwise and the Reasons on neither side do sensibly and visibly preponderate so as to incline to acting or not acting and this is the most true and proper doubt Or else 3. When Men are absolutely dissatisfied by reason of some
awful presence of that God to whom he had made them Psal. 16. 8. I have set the Lord always before my Face that I might not sin against him And Psal. 119. 106. I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous Iudgments § XIV The third thing concerning which we are to examine our selves before we approach this Holy Table is Whether we have a lively Faith in God's Mercy thro' Christ. Not a dead cold and unactive but a lively Faith for Faith without Works is dead and such is the ungrounded fatal Presumption of every impenitent Sinner for what is more common than for bad Men who live in direct contradiction to our Saviour's Laws in repeated Acts of Intemperance Injustice Uncleanness immoderate Love to this World and in the neglect of their Duty of Praying of God's Word and Sacrament What is more common than to hear such mistaken Wretches as these cry out that God is merciful that Christ has died and they hope to be saved tho' they bring forth no Fruits meet for Faith or Repentance They believe the Promise of the Gospel tho' they never take care to perform the Conditions of it But they forget or are willingly ignorant that it contains threatnings too and that very terrible ones against the Impenitent and Disobedient and that Christ himself has told such that he 'll say to them at the last day Depart from me I never knew you because Workers of Iniquity But the true lively Faith here required is Such a Belief of God's Word and such a Trust in his Mercy thro' his Promises by our Saviour as produces a constant and ingenuous Obedience Now if we find this Faith weak and languishing we must pray as the Disciples did Lord encrease our Faith And to that End we must consider the Promises of God unto us for the sake of his dear Son our Lord in whom all the Promises are Yea and Amen ratified and certain In whom alone the Father is well pleased by the Merits of whose Obedience and Sufferings his Satisfaction his Intercession and Mediation he is reconciled to lost Mankind and offers Pardon to all that are penitent and obedient And this is all our Salvation and all our Desire the Hope of Holy Souls the Ground of their Consolation and their Triumph which are fixed so firmly upon that Rock of Ages that they can never be moved who has told us That if we believe in God we must believe also in him as the means of conveying all the Father's blessings nay as being himself as he is God the Author and Finisher of our Faith Whence it follows that he himself the second Person of the glorious Trinity may and ought to be the object of our Trust our Faith and our Adoration both in this Life and in the hour of Death as he was of blessed St. Steven's who cried out in his last Agonies Lord Jesus receive my Spirit * Act. 7. 59. And thus in our preparation for the Holy Sacrament without the reception whereof I see not how any can live comfortably or die happily we must actually advert unto deeply and seriously consider those Promises which God has made us by his Son of Grace and Pardon on our Repentance and Obedience That those who come to the Father by him he will in no wise cast out St. Iohn 6. 37. That they shall not see Death but are passed from Death unto Life St. Iohn 8. 51. 5. 24. That there is no condemnation for them which are in Christ Iesus and who those are we are immediately told who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. That all who are weary and heavy laden with the Burthen of their Sins if they come unto him he will refresh them St. Matt. 11. 28. and several others of the same nature the substance of the Gospel being promises of eternal Life to those who yield a sincere and impartial tho' not absolutely sinless and perfect obedience to the Commands of it all the threatnings thereof being only the unavoidable Consequences of wilfully rejecting it Now the very Nature of the Sacrament shows the necessity of Faith towards worthy Receiving for how can we renew our Covenant with God unless we believe he 's really willing to be reconciled to us and have a firm Faith in his Truth his Power and his Goodness And how could we have any well grounded hopes of Pardon but from the Revelation of the Gospel and by the merits of a Redeemer And to the exercise of this Grace the Church also directs us when we approach this Holy Table requiring us to have a lively and stedfast Faith in Christ our Saviour and so in the Exhortation the Sunday before the Communion that 't is requisite that those who come thither should have a full Trust in God's Mercy Not that all are required to have the same degrees of Faith for there are doubtless different measures of it as in the Resurrection one Star shall differ from another in Glory 1 Cor. 15. 43. But our Faith ought certainly to be so strong as to overcome our Infidelity to over come the World It is to be sincere and then it will not want acceptance tho' it be but as a Grain of Mustard-Seed for our gracious Lord has promised that he will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax St. Matt. 12. 20. Tho' we are always to press forward that this as well as all other Graces may still be encreased towards which nothing can more highly conduce than the frequent and devout reception of this Sacrament § XV. The 4th thing concerning which we are to examine our selves in our preparation is whether we have a thankful Remembrance of Christ's Death whereunto the Church directs us in such pathetical Expressions as were scarce ever excelled and I question whether equalled in any other Liturgy tho' not only the antient Churches but our Protestant Brethren particularly the French and the Tigurine have excellent Forms on this occasion I mean that passage wherein we are exhorted * Exhortation at the time of the celebration above all things to give most humble and hearty Thanks to God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of our Saviour Christ both GOD and Man who did humble himself even to the Death upon the Cross for us miserable Sinners who lay in darkness and the shadow of Death that he might make us the Children of God and exalt us to everlasting Life This we are to do above all things because this true and unfeigned Gratitude is the principal Ornament of the Wedding-Garment This seems to have been the chief and immediate End of the Institution Do this in Remembrance of me and hereby ye shew forth the Lord's Death till he come And how is it possible for any ingenuous mind to remember to reflect upon our Saviour's sufferings without the most tender Resentments
from those heavy Punishments that are due unto them but from their Power and prevailing Influence on my Mind from all my Sins even those which have been most dear unto me and am willing to cut off my Right Hand or pluck out my Right Eye so I may but enter into the Kingdom of Heaven My Saviour came to take away the Sins of the World He has born all our Griefs he has carried our Sorrows he was wounded for our Transgressions he was grieved for our Iniquities he has excepted none out of that General Pardon which he has purchased for Mankind and offered to all those who are qualified for receiving it I present the Merits of his inestimable Sacrifice before thee O offended Majesty of Heaven I have no Merits of my own I have nothing I am nothing but vile Dust and Sin But he is worthy for whose sake I beg Mercy of thee which I most humbly implore and expect only in that way which thou hast appointed and on those Conditions which thy Son has revealed in his Holy Gospel by an unfeigned Repentance a firm Faith a sincere and an impartial Obedience O therefore take away all mine Iniquities and receive me graciously who like the Prodigal desire to return to my Father's House And since 't is thou alone who dost both put into our Minds good Desires and canst also give us Grace to perform the same assist me now and ever in those Holy Resolves which I make of new and better Obedience Vouchsafe me thy Grace to avoid all those Occasions and Temptations whereby I have been too often drawn to Evil. Let thy Blessed Spirit evermore comfort and guide me and lead me into all Truth and all Goodness Let me henceforth Evidence my unfeigned Love to my Saviour by keeping his Commandments and let that and all other Graces be excited and encreased in me at this Time in my approaches to his Holy Table Pardon the frivolous and sinful Excuses which I have too often made for my Absence from it my want of Preparation for it the Deadness and Indevotion of my Soul in receiving it and my shameful Unprofitableness by it O that I may now sit under my Saviour's shadow with great Delight and that his Fruit may be sweet unto my Taste That I may in this Sacrament receive greater Strength than ever against my Sins and be thereby nourished up unto Everlasting Life that so after this painful Life is ended I may sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdom of Heaven for the sake of Jesus Christ who ever lives to make Intercession for us in whose most perfect Form of Word I conclude my unworthy and imperfect Prayers saying Our Father c. Collect for Perseverance O GOD of all Power and all Love who art the same yesterday to day and for ever and hast assured us in thy Holy Word that thou wilt not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax. Accept I beseech thee for the sake of thy Dear Son any weak beginnings of Goodness which thou mayst have wrought in me by thy Holy Spirit Despise not the Day of small things Help me to continue to the End that I may be saved And now that I have put my Hand to the Plough grant I may never look back lest I be accounted unworthy of the Kingdom of Heaven My Strength O Lord I ascribe unto thee for my own Heart has often deceived me and I know that all my Strength is weakness and my Wisdom folly Assist me therefore by the mighty Aids of thy Holy Spirit and while I am to wrestle not only against Flesh and Blood but against Principalites and Powers let the strong Man be bound by a stronger than he and the God of Love bruise Satan under my Feet Let me be content to suffer shame for thy sake and never be drawn away by the Number or Greatness of bad Examples Lead me not into Temptation and let me never be so hardy and presumptuous as to rush into it Keep me always sober and vigilant temperate and humble ever upon my Guard watching and praying that the Enemy may obtain no advantage against me Accept and confirm all my Vows and Resolutions of Obedience Let me have a constant Respect unto the blessed Recompence of Reward and by patient continuance in well doing seek for and at length obtain Glory Immortality and Eternal Life thro' thy Mercies in Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen! Amen For Faith O LORD who hast said that he who has but Faith as a Grain of Mustard-seed may remove Mountains and that without Faith it is impossible to please thee Increase my Faith and let me thereby overcome the World and the Flesh and quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil Let me firmly believe all thy Promises to the Penitent and Obedient and all thy Threatnings against impenitent Sinners Let me not rest in a dead Faith a presumptuous Opinion that I shall be pardoned or saved without performing all those good Works which thou hast prepared for me to walk in Give me that Faith which worketh by Love and by an impartial Obedience to thy Commands Let me firmly believe in the Lord Jesus that I may be saved and not trust in my own Righteousness but in his Merits who is the Way the Truth and the Life Let me always hope in him for Pardon of what 's past and Grace to serve thee better for the future Let me have a lively and stedfast Faith in him when I approach to his Table that I may draw near and take the Holy Sacrament to my Comsort and that it may powerfully help me forward in the right way which leads unto Everlasting Life To the unfading Glories of that happy State where Faith shall be changed into sight where with Holy Souls who are departed this Life in the true Faith and Fear of thy Holy Name I may enjoy the End of my Faith the Salvation of my Soul and see and love thee to all Eternity thro' Jesus Amen A Thanksgiving before the Sacrament WHAT shall I render to thee O God of all Grace for the Riches of thy Goodness towards me a miserable Sinner How utterly unworthy am I even of the common Blessings of Life And yet art thou pleased out of thy infinite Mercies once more to permit me to invite me to tread thy Courts to sit at thy Table and to Feast on Angels Food O that my Heart could be fully possest with Thoughts of Gratitude and Love O let my Mouth be filled with Thanks and my Lips with Praise for those inestimable Benefits God will in very deed dwell with Man tho' the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him My Saviour will fulfil his gracious Promise and be present with his Church in his own Institutions till the End of the World I have now one happy Opportunity more offered me to renew that Covenant which I have so often broken to obtain greater Strength against my Sins and to sacrifice
the Mind from all wordly things till it acquires a contrary bent and inclination and mounts freely and vigorously towards Heaven despising and trampling all the ridiculous trifles of this perishing World and counting all things but Dung and Dross for the Knowledge for the Love of a crucified Redeemer which every very good Man experiences in some happier moments of his Life Now the way to obtain this is the vigorous acting of Faith Repentance Humility and Divine Love and the Energy and inward free motion of the Mind towards Heaven And to this the Church invites in those Words which were used on this occasion in the Primitive times The sursum corda or Life up your Hearts to which the Congregation replys We lift them up unto the Lord which we have the highest reason to do when he confers such inestimable Favours upon us and when Christ instituted this Feast as has been said principally for this Reason that we should think upon him our absent Friend give our selves a little ease and breathing from the amusements and care of Life escape from this World and fix our Hearts upon a better upon that happy place where Christ sits at the right Hand of God and whither if we are faithful to him we shall at length also arrive seeing he has prayed to his Father That all those whom he has given him may be with him where he is that they may behold his Glory St. Iohn 17. 24. § X. A fourth Grace is Humility This is indeed included in Repentance for a true Penitent must be humble But we must be more explicite in it and are directed by the Church to form a particular Act thereof immediately before the Consecration when the Priest kneeling at the Lord's Table says in the name of all that communicate We do not presume to come to this thy Table O merciful Lord trusting in our own Righteousness but only in thy manifold and great Mercies We are not worthy so much as to gather up the Crumbs under thy Table And indeed one would wonder that any Christian should think he could express too great Humility either of Body or Mind when he comes before the Throne of God to receive his Pardon 'T is this most humble prostration of Soul this abasement and annihilation of our selves and utterly disclaiming our own merits which seems to be the bottom of that seraphical Divinity which has made so much noise in the World If they make it more than this 't is dangerous Enthusiasm as has appeared both in the Church of Rome and others If they rest it here as is done in some part at least of Sancta Sophia it is accountable and rational and may be of great Advantage in the course of a Christian Life especially in the Sacrament where the lower we abase our selves the higher will God raise us And this we ought particularly to exercise when we see the Minister approaching to us with the Bread or Wine and firmly to believe that we shall receive our Saviour together with them § XI But yet fifthly this ought not to hinder but rather to encrease our Thankfulness because as has been said the Sense of God's Goodness must needs be advanced by the consideration of our own unworthiness To this the Church especially directs us Above all things ye must render most humble and hearty Thanks to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And again after the Sursum Corda we are invited To give Thanks to our Lord God to which the Congregation answers 'T is meet and right so to do On which follows that solemn Act of Thanks and Praise which the Priest alone pronounces as 't is said our Saviour did in St. Luk. 22. 19. and in 1 Cor. 11. 24. He took Bread and when he had given Thanks he broke it From which Actions the whole Sacrament obtained two Names the Eucharist from giving Thanks as 't is expresly called in two or three places of the New Testament in the Syriac Version and breaking of Bread as 't is stiled in the Acts of the Apostles Now this praising God and acknowledging and adoring his infinite Goodness ought to spread it self thro' every part of the Office And even our Repentance and Humility would be so managed as to encrease our Praises But we should more especially exercise our Thankfulness when the Minister says It is meet right and our bounden Duty that we should at all times * 1 Thess. 5. 16. and in all places give Thanks unto God on which follows that Seraphical Anthem repeated by Saints here below and Angels above Therefore with Angels and Arch-angels c. In which the pious Communicant joins both in Heart and Voice as well as in the particular Prefaces before it wherein we are directed to praise God either for the Birth of Christ or his Resurrection or Ascension or for his sending the Holy Ghost or else we adore the Divine Trinity in the Unity of the Godhead which Prefaces seem to have been added because the Church does not doubt but that so often at least as these greater Festivals return there will be a Communion And after we have received We entirely desire our heavenly Father mercifully to accept our Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving and we most heartily thank him that he has vouchsafed to feed us who have duly received these Holy Mysteries with the spiritual Food of the most precious Body and Blood of his dear Son and assured us thereby of his Favour and Goodness towards us And then we again break out into that Hymn of Praise to the whole Blessed Trinity part of which is the same that was sung by the Angels at the Birth of our Saviour Glory to God on High on Earth Peace Good-will toward Men. But more especially are we to have our Hearts filled with the most exalted Praises in the very Act of Receiving to which the Minister exhorts us in the delivery both of the Bread and Wine Nothing but Faith and Holy Ioy and humble Praise are then to be admitted Then when the Holy Soul is in the Mount with God and says 't is good for her to be here and if any thing of disturbance can find Entrance 't is because she must so soon return again to a sordid vexatious impertinent World when she is now already on the Wing for Heaven is advanced so far upward in that glorious Road and would so gladly fly away and be at rest in the Bosom of her Redeemer § XII The last Grace is Charity taken in the largest Sense for Love to God and to our Neighbour 1. Love to God the Soul of all Piety which quickens and enlivens every Christian Duty This is here encreased by remembring God's Love to us in sending his Son and our Saviour's Love in giving himself to die for us This Sacrament is the dearest Token of his Love and the
as well as backward in remembrance of his Death and he who eats and drinks with the Drunken will soon be apt to say My Lord delays his coming tho' to such he himself has said That he will come in a day when he looks not for him and in an hour that he is not aware of and will cut him in sunder and divide him his portion with the Hypocrites The frequent Reflection on our latter End will also mightily confirm us in our holy Purposes of Obedience the time of our own particular Iudgment or at least of our passing into our unchangeable Eternity which we should often meditate upon and Discourse concerning it with our Fellow Christians instead of those impertinencies and worse which make up so great a part of common Conversation And those who thus speak often one to another and remind each other of their Duty need not be much concerned tho' they are despised for it by ill Men since the Lord himself will hearken and hear and remember them for it when he comes in Vengeance to destroy the Ungodly Malac. 3. 16. 4. 1 2. § VII In the next place we would do well to consider that the Sacrament is appointed for our perfection in Grace as well as Conquest over our Sins 'T is not enough merely to escape the Pollutions of the World but we must also aspire towards Perfection to be strong Men in Christ. We are all called to be Saints to Glory as well as to Vertue and why should we then be content with the lowest measures He that thinks he 'll be just good enough to be saved if he does not miss of that must not however expect much Comfort Nay not to go forward is to go backward in the way to Heaven We are obliged by the Sacrament to do all we can for him who has done so much for us Always to abound in the work of the Lord since when we have done our best we shall be so far from Supererrogation However as Health and Strength are infallible Signs of Life so we shall obtain this great Advantage by stronger Degrees of Grace that we may be better satisfied of the Truth and Sincerity thereof Consider that this would render God's Service much more easie and delightful to us But this must cost us constant Pains and Labour for Sloth is the greatest Obstruction to our growing in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Iesus Christ and is commonly the last Enemy in this World that is destroyed in a Christian. Conquer that and all is done Shake off that Ague of the Soul remember your Vows call for Strength believe and all things are possible Give Diligence to make your Calling and Election sure for he that does these things shall never fall and the higher we rise in Piety here the shorter Steps we shall have to Heaven and it 's very probable the higher Degrees of Glory among those many different mansions in our Father's House § VIII In the last place when we are called again by God's Providence to another Sacrament which happy Opportunity we will be careful never to neglect let us in our Preparation and Examination impartially enquire how we have performed those Vows we made in the last and how we have profited by it To rejoyce and bless God if well to be humbled if otherwise and the greater the Defect the deeper the Humiliation I speak here of lesser Infirmities rather than of presumptuous scandalous Sins the Habits whereof while unreformed and unrepented do utterly exclude from the Sacrament as well as from Heaven Nor ought we by any means to be ungrateful if we find that thro' God's Grace preventing us that we might be willing and assisting us when we were willing we may have obtained any Advantage against our Spiritual Enemies If any Sin be weaker any Vertue stronger whether Patience or Humility or Resignation or Devotion for which we are again to approach full of Gratitude to the Holy Table to offer the Sacrifice of Praise and take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. These things if we observe and do thro' the whole Course of our Lives we shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour but an abundant Entrance shall be ministred unto us into his Everlasting Kingdom To whom be Glory in the Church throughout all Ages Amen! Questions for the Evening 1. WHAT Mercies have I received this Day Answers of Prayer Deliverance from Evil common or extraordinary Blessings 2. What Sin have I committed What Duty omitted 3. What have I done endeavoured or designed for God's Glory or the Good of my Neighbour or have I lost any Opportunity for either 4. With what Success have I encounter'd those Sins to which my Circumstances or Constitution most incline me Passion Sloth Impurity Intemperance Vanity c. 5. How have I improved my Time this Day Am I any wiser or better than I was the last Have I thought of Death and Judgment 6. Have I Pray'd and How And the same of Meditation and Reading 7. What Mercy do I want for Soul or Body my Self or Relations that I may now ask it 8. Have I remembred my Promises made at the last Sacrament and how have I performed them Questions for the Morning 1 DID I Read and Pray Meditate and Examine my self last Night and in what manner 2. Did I think of God last and first 3. What Sin have I committed in Thought Word or Deed What Duty omitted since Evening 4. What Occasions may I probably have this Day of serving God or my Neighbour 5. To what Temptations am I like to be exposed 6. What Mercies have I received What do I want Short Directions for those who are really straightned for Time and cannot go through the larger Methods of Examination already given 1. BE sure this be more than a pretended Necessity as in the case of indispensible and unavoidable Business or the like since the more conscientious and exact you are in your Preparation and Examination Note That this Sheet is to be plac'd after Page 186. you may generally speaking expect the greater Advantage by the Sacrament Turtle-Doves or young Pigeons were not accepted of Old unless where the Presenter could not reach a more costly Sacrifice 2. This being taken Care of never indulge any ill grounded Scruples so far as to suffer them to hinder you from coming to this Divine Banquet See what has been already said on this Head both from Authority and Reason in Answer to the Objections against Receiving 3. It can scarce be supposed but you may redeem some time on the Morning of the Lord's Day when you may retire from the World and 1. Use the Prayers here at Preparation or any other that is proper for that Occasion 2. Consider the Nature of the Sacrament and your Happiness in having one Opportunity more of partaking in it 3. Examine your Conscience by the Ten Commandments
to be willing to sacrifice all to make them better That there is need of a general Reformation of Manners has not been denied even by those who have had the most need of it themselves And that the Governours both in Church and State do most earnestly desire it we can no less doubt without the highest Affront to both when they have by so many repeated Acts solemnly declared as much to the Nation That a firm Combination of good Men is the best way to bring this Design to a good Issue we may more than guess by what has been already done by such methods And for all the Objections which have been brought against those who have embarkt in this pious and generous Undertaking I believe there is no unprejudiced Person who has read the Right Reverend Bishop of Glocester's Defence of them but are fully satisfied that they have but very little weight and are there fairly answered And as it is known that the late Archbishop was a hearty Friend of them and their Design so his most Reverend Successor has given them a just and noble Commendation in his Letter to the Bishops of his Province wherein he requires them To press the Clergy of their respective Dioceses to invite their Church-wardens and other pious Persons among the Laity to ioyn with them in carrying on the Reformation of Manners after which he adds We may very reasonably expect the happy Effects of such a Concurrence from the visible Success of that noble Zeal wherewith so many about the great Cities do promote true Piety and a Reformation of Manners Thus far our most Reverend Metropolitan and since that time the same Design has been publickly espoused and recommended by several others of the highest Character And indeed if the General Reformation of Mens Manners be ever effected by the Terror of the Laws without Execution or those Laws be ever effectually executed by the straggling Endeavours of a few good Men who charge singly against such infernal Hosts of Infidelity and Lewdness if any thing considerable herein be accomplished unless by such a Combination I shall own my self happily mistaken but whether I am or no the Event will teach Posterity I shall conclude this long Letter with the remarkable words of the excellent Author of the Whole Duty of Man in his Causes of the Decay of the Christian Piety the close of the Twentieth Chapter That Scandal says he which we have brought upon our Religion as it was not contracted by the Irregularities of one or two Persons but by associated and common Crimes so neither will it be removed by a few single and private Reformations There must be Combinations and Publick Confederacies in Virtue to balance and counterpoise those of Vice or they will never recover that Honour which she acquired by the general Piety of her Professors He goes on In those Primitive Days there was such an abhorrence of all that was ill that a vicious Person was lookt upon as a kind of a Monster or Prodigy and like a putrified Member cut off as being not only dangerous but noisome to the Body But alas the Scene is so changed that the Church is now made up of such as she would then have cast out and 't is now as remarkable an Occurrent to find a Good Christian as it was then to see a Bad. I shall add no more but that it was well the Worthy Author concealed his Name when he published such disobliging Truths At least if he had been now living he would scarce have escaped the Censure of Forwardness and a Zeal not according to Knowledge SIR I am Your obliged Friend SAM WESLEY APPENDIX Of BAPTISM § I. CONCERNING which I shall briefly enquire what it is what Benefits we receive by it what are our Obligations from it whether our Saviour designed it to remain always in his Church and lastly who are the proper Subjects of it § II. First What it is and Baptism may be thus described 'T is the first Sacrament of the New Testament instituted by our Saviour in the room of Circumcision and the Iewish Baptisms to continue to the End of the World wherein by sprinkling dipping or washing with Water in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost the damning Guilt of original Sin is washt away we enter into Covenant with God are taken into the Church of Christ and made partakers of all the Privileges thereof God's Grace here and endless Bliss hereafter on our performing the Conditions of the Covenant § III. 'T is the first or initiatory Sacrament entring us into that Covenant which we renew in the Lord's Supper 'T was instituted by our Saviour who alone has Power to institute a proper Sacrament or Sign Seal Pledge and means of Grace perpetually obligatory on all Christians We know not indeed the express time of its Institution for Iesus made and baptised more Disciples than Iohn St. Iohn 4. 1. long before he enlarged the Commission of his Apostles to go and make Disciples out of all Nations by baptising them St. Matt. 28. 19. see below of the right Translation of the words But we know 't was in the room of Circumcision for as that was a Figure Sign Rom. 4. 11. and Seal of God's Covenant and means of admission into the Church so is this It seems also to have had respect to the way of admitting Proselytes among the Iews which both formerly was and still is by Baptism Lightfoot Grotius c. Ammian Epictet and perhaps also to the Lustrations or Purifications among the Heathen which Grotius thinks with great Reason were the remains of a Patriarchal Tradition in memory of the universal Flood which the Apostle also seems to intimate when he calls Baptism the Antitype to the Ark or the Deluge 1 St. Pet. 3. 20 21. § IV. The matter of this Sacrament is Water which as it has a natural Power of cleansing is in it self more fit for such a symbolical and sacramental Use. Some of the ancients have thought that God gave the first Blessing to the Waters Gen. 1. 10. because they were designed for Baptism Which is performed by Washing Dipping or Sprinkling the Person in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost That is by this Ceremony the baptised Person is obliged to believe in the Holy Trinity and to receive and obey the Gospel The Gentiles therefore were generally baptised in the Name of the whole Trinity because they did not before believe aright of any of the Three Persons Tho' the Iews and Proselytes who before did believe aright of God seem to have been sometimes baptised only in the Name of the Lord Iesus Acts 10. 42. 19. 5. § V. I said Washing Dipping or Sprinkling according to our Catechism was the manner of Baptism tho' neither of them are I think expresly determined in Scripture either by Precept or such Example as clearly proves it or by the force or meaning of the word Baptise Nay there are several
by Nature Children of Wrath. 'T is the Sacrament of Adoption as our Church affirms Thanksgiving after Baptism which seems to mean these two things by that Regeneration which in so many places it ascribes to Baptism namely The being grafted into the Body of Christ's Church and being made the Children of God by Adoption and Grace Thanksgiving after Baptism and Collect for Sunday after Christmas There is something more in this Baptismal Regeneration than barely being admitted into the Church or having the Guilt of original Sin washed away It relates to some actual positive Benefit conferred on the Believers and is the effect of our being engrafted into the Church and therefore not the thing it self only Except a Man be born again of Water and of the Spirit says our Saviour he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God St. Iohn 3. 5. By Water then as a means the Water of Baptism we are regenerated or born again whence it is also called the washing of Regeneration Our Church affirms no more of Baptism ascribes no greater Virtue to it than Christ himself has done Nor does she ascribe it to the outward washing only but to the inward Grace which is added to the outward to make it a Sacrament We say not that Regeneration is always compleated in this Sacrament but that it is begun in it a Principle of Grace is infused which we lost by the Fall which shall never be wholly withdrawn unless we quench God's Holy Spirit by obstinate habits of Wickedness There are Babes as well as strong Men in Christ. A Christian's Life is progressive as is our natural Life and tho' the Seeds of Grace should like the reasonable Soul the Principle of Life and of all Action be infused in a Moment yet there requires time to produce strong habits of Grace as well as of Reason as every one knows who is any thing acquainted with his own Mind or with the Word of God And the same our Church affirms in her devout Collect for the Nativity where she prays That we being namely already in Baptism regenerate and made God's Children by Adoption and Grace may daily be renewed by his Holy Spirit Which we learn from St. Austin to have been also in his time the Judgment of the Catholick Church who has these Expressions near the end of his Discourse de morihus Eccles. Cathol In that most holy Law says he the Renovation of the new Man is begun that by going on it may be perfected in some indeed this is done sooner in others later but in many it proceeds to a New Life if any Man diligently regard it For thus saith the Apostle Tho' the outward Man perisheth the inward Man is renewed day by day He says 'T is renewed that it may be perfected Thus far he and indeed 't is evident that this Renovation tho' to be daily perfected in the course of a Religious Life is yet begun in Baptism That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit St. Iohn 3. 6. The Holy Spirit of God descended visibly on our Saviour at his Baptism St. Matt. 3. 16. It descended miraculously on the first Christians after they were baptised on Simon Magus himself there seems to be little doubt Act. 8. 13 17. as well as on others and doubtless 't was his own Fault that he lost it because he did not improve it but grieve and quench it by wilful obstinate Sin And from hence it is that the Apostle says that the Bodies even of very bad Christians were the Temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6. 19. And we are not to doubt but this Holy Spirit descends as really still on those that are baptised tho' not so visibly so miraculously as he did formerly whence Christians are in Baptism sacramentally washed sanctified and justified in the name of our Lord Iesus and by the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 6. 11. Nor will this Holy Spirit ever leave us but strive with us to perfect what is now begun unless we finally leave him and forfeit his Protection by neglecting to perform our Engagements in Baptism Now in consequence of this Baptismal Regeneration and our being therein made the Children of God we are also Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven For by this we enter into it If Children then Heirs Heirs with God and joynt Heirs with Christ and Inheritors of that Kingdom which cannot be moved Rom. 8. 17. Baptism doth now save us if we live answerable thereunto repent believe and obey the Gospel 'T is that which admits us into the Church here and Glory hereafter And many have been of Opinion that by the Sea of Glass like unto Crystal which is mentioned in the Revelation Rev. 4. 6. before the Throne of God was figured out our Baptism through which we must pass if we ever come to Heaven § X. But all these Privileges imply Obligations Something to be done on our parts for the obtaining them a Contract or Covenant without Conditions being little better than a Contradiction and the Conditions of this Covenant are Repentance Faith and Obedience Baptism is but the way of our Entrance into Covenant with God into the Church of God but the Obligations thereof remain as long as our Lives as the Benefits reach yet further Faith only without Repentance will never save us The Doctrine of the Apostles was Repent and be Baptised Acts 2. 38. for the Remission of Sins and Repent and Believe the Gospel and Truth itself has assur'd us that except we Repent we shall all perish But yet we are indispensibly obliged by our Baptism First To believe all Divine Revelation especially the Holy Gospel to believe Christ the true Messiah the eternal Son of God the Saviour of the World and actually to trust in him for Remission of Sins and eternal Happiness And because all the Gospel cannot be repeated at Baptism the Church has all along made use of a Form of sound words comprehending the Substance thereof and for many ages that particular Form which is called the Apostles Creed containing that Doctrine which they preacht to all Nations And to this the Person to be Baptised is obliged to testify his assent either by himself or others But tho' this be a good Step yet this alone will not save him For he must not only believe Gods Word but likewise obediently keep his Commandments Those who are buried with Christ in Baptism must remember they are to be Dead to Sin to walk in newness of Life and to be careful that they maintain Good Works Rom. 6. 3 4. Tit. 3. 8. agreeable whereunto is the excellent Advice of our Church to the Baptised Office of Baptism Exhortation at the End That 't is their Parts and Dutys being made the Children of God and of the Light by Faith in Jesus Christ to walk answerably to their Christian Calling and as becomes the Children of the Light Remembring always that Baptism represents unto
anxious Thoughts distrest God's bounteous Love does thee restore To wonted ease and rest 8. 9. My Eyes no longer drown'd in Tears My Feet from stumbling free Redeem'd from Death and deadly Fears O Lord I 'll live to thee 10. When nearest press'd I still believ'd 11. Still glori'd in thy Aid Tho' when by faithless Men deceiv'd All all are false I said 12. To him what Offerings shall I make Whence my Salvation came The Cup of Blessing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now I 'll take 13. And call upon his Name 14. Those Vows which in my greatest straits Unto the Lord I made Shall now be at his Temple Gates Before his People paid 15. That Life which thou O Lord didst save From raging Tyrants free 16. That ransom'd Life thy Bounty gave I dedicate to thee 17. My Heart and Voice at once I 'll raise Thy Goodness to proclaim With loud and grateful Songs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Praise I 'll call upon thy Name 18. Yes all those Vows which in my straits Unto the Lord I made Shall now be at his Temple Gates Before his People paid 19. His Priests shall mix their Hymns with mine His Goodness to record And all Ierusalem shall joyn With me to praise the Lord. PSALM CXVII 1. YE Nations who the Globe divide Ye numerous People scatter'd wide To God your grateful Voices raise 2. To all his boundless Mercy shown His Truth to endless Ages known Require our endless Laud and Praise Doxology To him who reigns enthron'd on high To his dear Son who deign'd to die Our Guilt and Errors to remove To that bless'd Spirit who Grace imparts And rules in all believing Hearts Be endless Glory Praise and Love PSALM CXVIII 1. GLad Hymns and Songs of Praise rehearse To th'Maker of the Universe Whose Goodness does so far extend Whose wondrous Mercy knows no End 2. Let Israel now no more oppress'd With Quiet and with Plenty bless'd Praise him who all their Bliss did send Whose wondrous Mercy knows no End 3. Let Aaron's Sons who round his Throne In sacred Hymns his Goodness own While his bless'd Service they attend Confess his Mercy knows no End 4. Let all who with Religious Fear Approach his Gates and every Year With Gifts fair Sion's Hill ascend Confess his Mercy knows no End 5. With deep distress encompast round To him I cry'd and succour found He me from Exile did retrieve And safe and free as Air I live 6. He 's on my side and I 'll despise 7. Th' Efforts of all my Enemies 8. On him 't is safer to rely 9. Than Princes who may fail or die 10. Tho' Troops of Foes besieg'd me round 11. As angry Insects swarming sound 12. Their short liv'd Mischief I can scorn Noise without Strength like Fire in Thorn 13. At once they charg'd and prest me all Yet staid by God I could not fall 14. My Saviour he to whom belongs The Tribute of my grateful Songs 15. Nor shall my single Thanks be paid Lend me ye Saints O lend your Aid Let Health and Joy be spread around With Praise let your glad Gates resound 16. God's own Right Hand has Wonders wrought And conquer'd those against him fought 17. He smiles and grants me happier Days And here I now my Saviour praise 18. Heavy his angry Strokes did fall But ah I well deserv'd 'em all Yet in the Confines of Despair And Death he found and sav'd me there 19. Now to his Holy House return'd Who late a helpless Exile mourn'd Thro' th' Everlasting Gates I 'll go And pay him part of what I owe. 20. 21. A pious Crowd I 'll with me bring And with glad Heart my Saviour sing 22. That Stone the Builders once displac'd Now to the Corner's Head is rais'd 23. God's Hand the great Event has wrought Wondrous and passing human Thought 24. This is the Day the Lord has made Therein let all our Vows be paid 25. Still hear and save O still defend And heavenly Joy and Comfort send 26. Blessed be he who'll Blessings bring Pardon and Grace from Heav'ns high King We who from his high Altar bless Will for his People ask Success 27. He from the Confines of Despair Has rais'd us to the Lightsome Air. Let the crown'd Victims haste away And Thousands after Thousands slay Wash the broad Courts with sacred Gore Till Bashan's Fields can send no more 28. And what thou valuest far above Thee O my God! I 'll Praise and Love 29. Whose Goodness does so far extend Whose wondrous Mercy knows no End FINIS BOOKS Printed for and Sold by Charles Harper at the Flower-de-Luce over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet THE Life of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. An Heroic Poem dedicated to her most Sacred Majesty in Ten Books Attempted by Samuel Wesley M. A. each Book illustrated by necessary Notes explaining all the more difficult Matters in the whole History Also a Prefatory Discourse concerning Heroic Poetry The Second Edition revised by the Author and improved with the Addition of a Large Map of the Holy Land and a Table of the Principal Matters with Sixty Copper-Plates by the celebrated Hand of W. Faithorn Folio Linguae Rom. Dict. Luculentum Novum A New Dictionary in five Alphabets Representing first the English Words and Phrases before the Latin Second The Latin Classic before the English Third The Latin Proper Names of Persons Countries c. Fourth The Latin Barbarous Fifth The Law-Latin The whole compleated and improved from the several Works of Stephens Cooper Gouldman Holyoke Dr Littleton a large Manuscript in three Volumes of Mr. Iohn Milton c. In the Use of all which for greater Exactness recourse has always been had to the Authors themselves Cole's Dictionary in Octavo Eng. Lat. and Lat. and Eng. The Pantheon representing the Fabulous Histories of the Heathen Gods and most Illustrious Heroes in a short plain and familiar Method by way of Dialogue Written by F. Pomey For the Use of Schools The Second Edition wherein the Whole Translation is Revised and much amended and the Work is illustrated and adorned with elegant Copper-Cuts of the several Deities c. The Lives of the Roman Emperors from Demitian where Suetonius ends to Constantine the Great Containing those of Nerva and Trajan from Dion Cassius A Translation of the Six Writers of the Augustean History And those of Dioclesian and his Associates from Eusebius and others with the Heads of the Emperors in Copper-Plates dedicated to His most Sacred MAJESTY In two Volumes By Iohn Bernard A. M. English Examples to Lily's Grammar Rules for Children's Latin Exercises with an Explanation to each Rule For the Use of Eton School Gratii Falisci Cynegeticon cum Poematio Cognomine M. A. Olympii Nemesiani Carthaginensis Notis perpetuis variisque Lectionibus adernavit Tho. Johnson M. A. Accedunt Hier. Fracastorii Alcon Carmen Pastoritium Jo. Caii de Canibus Libellus Ut Opusculum vetus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dict seu de Cura Canum incerto Auctore