Nor can your constant attendance at the house of Prayer your Zeal and Devotion there your justice and integrity in dealing your sobriety and purity of life be sufficient to perswade me to think you have any truly considerable value for immortality or that you make any tolerable provisions for a happy Resurrection while you wilfully deny your selves the priviledge of feasting on the Body and Blood of our common Lord by which new life and Grace is conveyed to us O how can I believe you truly and earnestly repent of your Iniquities and desire a pardon of your Sins when you will not be at the pains to prepare your selves to come and beg it and to have it seal'd to you Or how can I think that you desire to be firmly united to Christ our head or to be united to each other when you refuse to come and strengthen the Union Surely one might be apt to think we have lost all sense and remembrance of the Love of God in sending his Son and of the Son in coming to lay down his life for us by this one intolerable neglect of ours How can we go to God in our Prayers and plead to him the meritorious Death and suffering of our Saviour and yet refuse to shew forth the Lord's Death till he come and wholly slight or very seldom attend on this highest Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving How long shall we call the Holy Jesus Lord and not do what he saith How long shall we thus refuse to keep the memorial of dying Love and obey a Command pronounc'd by his expiring breath Little O little do you consider how great a reproach to Christianity it self and how dangerous to your invaluable Souls the constant omission of this one excellent part of Christian Worship is Consider we do all believe that Christ dyed for Sinners and we have had the happiness to have been baptized into this belief we do profess to believe that there is no other name under Heaven by which we must be saved We all hope that his merits shall be applyed to us that so we may for ever partake of these benefits purchased for us and yet we are so imprudent as that we will not have them applyed in such ways as he himself hath appointed in the performance of those Conditions and the use of those means which he himself has ordained to that end and purpose And to use the words of a learned person I see no reason why men may not as well hope to be saved without Holiness by Christ Dr. Sherlock of Religious Assemblies as well as without eating his flesh and drinking his blood in the Sacrament For Holiness will not save us without the merits of Christ and I know not how we should come by the merit of Christ but only in such ways of dispensing conveying and applying them as he himself hath appointed he has appointed no other ordinary way but this Mysterious Supper Having seen the Custom and practice of the first Worthies of the Christian Church in the purest ages I shall upon the whole offer this further consideration to common reason Whether do we now suppose is most safe and Holy to imitate as far as we are able this pious practice of theirs of a very frequent communicating remembring also that those Devout Souls who lived so near the time of our Saviour better knew his mind in such cases than we at this distance or very rarely to address our selves to this Solemn Act of Christian worship In which are we more likely to please God and our Saviour to do his will and provide for a joyful Resurrection Thirdly Let us see and consider a few Reasons for the frequency of communicating The first is this That as our breaches of our part of the Covenant are too frequent so seeing God is willing that yet we should renew this Covenant again and Seal it at the Lord's Table how infinitely willing should we then be of so doing The Covenant which we entred into with God in our Baptism is this Almighty God is pleas'd on his part to promise Pardon of Sin Grace and Glory if we perform the Conditions of Faith and Repentance and sincere though not perfect Obedience Here then let us fix our foot and consider how frequently how miserably have we broken our part of this Covenant of Grace and is it not infinite mercy tenderness and compassion that God is still content and willing that we should come and renew this gracious Covenant Shall not we be ready and desirous to renew it for our own safety our eternal security shall not we be willing and earnest so to do when our God is willing and when he calls and invites us to it shall we not be ready and willing to renew it often when the great God often calls and invites us to it Oh how shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation A second Reason for our frequent approaching this holy Table is That this is a Holy Duty which if duly and devoutly performed conveys great comforts benefits and blessings to us Thus Oh how would it confirm strengthen and encrease our Faith how would it promote and heighten our Love to our Lord and Master Jesus and make it more flaming and ardent more like the Zeal and Affection of the Cherubims and Seraphims How would it promote and encourage Religion and a Vniver sally Holy Life How would it it promote our Peace amd Charity and Love and mutual Endearments to each other as we are travelling together over this Wilderness to the Land of Canaan as we are passing along together over this World on in our journey to Jesus and Jerusalem How would it strengthen and confirm our Hopes How would it make our Repentance more serious more deep and more effectual Our holy Resolutions more fixt and stedfast How would it help us to subdue and get the victory over our Iniquities over our bosom darling Sin whether it were the Sin of our Calling or the Sin of our Company or the Sin of our Constitution How would it encourage us in all that is good in all that 's holy in all that 's just and all that 's upright and bring us to a better knowledge of our own State and condition of Soul How would it bring us to a nearer and more intimate acquaintance with the Holy Jesus and with our selves also What aids and assistances of the Grace and Spirit of God should we receive with it These and many more than these are the blessings and benefits and advantages which a frequent and devout communicating would convey to us Say now are not these great and inestimable blessings Are not these desirable Are they not truly amiable and lovely and to be earnestly wished for by all those whose hopes and expectations are in another World and not in this What my Beloved is it not an unvaluable blessing to have our Faith increased and yet by the due and constant
thy arms the Sanctuary of rest and peace where wearied Souls alone can lay their Heads and bring their Cares and Sorrows to be eased of them and to have them turn'd into Peace and Pleasure Thou Lord art he whom my Soul loves and suffer me to say with thy Servant St. Peter Lord thou knowest that I love thee And whatever thou please to deny me here deny me not thy Grace and Aid to cloath me in that Wedding-Garment which thou will please to accept And may the pious Soul further say Away away from me all my lesser Concerns of this life that are apt to draw aside my thoughts from Holyness Trouble me not now when I am about to sup with Jesus and come and welcom to me all holy thoughts holy desires and holy Resolutions for you my heart is open at the welcom news of going to feast my Soul with the Body and Bloud of the Saviour of the World And be entreated Lord to come and fill my heart and take up thy dwelling there and turn out thence every thought and desire and inclination whatever it be which thou art not willing should dwell with thee Be entreated Lord to possess thy self wholly of it for I am coming to offer it up and present it to thee And I am loath when thou shalt come to take possession that thou shouldst find any thing there but holy desires divine breathings earnest longings after thee pantings after Immortality holy hopes and devout affections Fill it O my Jesu fill it up with those for me who am coming to meet thy glorions Majesty by the nearest approaches I can make to thee on Earth that So I may never miss of thee at thy Table or ever go away without a blessing and when I shall go forth into the necessary concerns of this present life again ever let me keep such a flame alive in me that so the old Enemies may no more be lodged there or the old temptations prevail with me but that alwayes hereafter when they shall come and seek to be entertained again in my heart or affections I may have this answer ready for them Away from me Jesus has taken possession there already Trouble me no more the room is full and the door is fast shut to keep him there and you from thence With these or some such meditations as these let us raise our Devotions then and stir up our affections which in this are like other Flames the more they are moved and stirred they appear the more bright and shining Or let the pious heart again say Oh my Saviour thou hast touched me with secret but strong inclinations to be with thee at thy Table and to take henceforward all opportunities of so doing O make them greater than yet they are and may they never cease to be growing till I come to meet thee in thy Kingdom O that thou wouldest but look upon this heart of mine that pants after thee as a heart fit to be wrought upon by thee to be made to do so infinitely more than it does That it may never more be contented to take fewer opportunities to commemorate the Death and love of a crucified Lord than all that it can possibly have and when the day of my communicating is over that I may mourn and sigh and long for the return of it again O let the time come when my Soul shall be wrought up to this pitch and temper never to be so well at ease or so full of joy as when it has lately come from or is shortly to go to a holy Communion 'T is true O my Redeemer and 't is a sad trueth I have long carried a World of unholy desires and sensual inclinations about with me and they have long followed me and made my love to this Sacrament but dull and little But I now hope they are all going off from me to make way for that and thee I have long fancied I might have found happiness in some things of this World but I now begin to be perswaded and to find it is only to be found with thee and thy Religion I can easily remember when I have been greatly troubled at small disappointments of this lower World but never at my disappointing my self of this holy and Heavenly feast and can likewise as easily call to mind when I have longed for and been pleas'd in vanity and folly much more than for a holy Sacrament but 't is some comfort to me that at last I can feel the thoughts of it to begin to appear pleasing and joyous and that those old Clouds of Darkness begin to be scattered and let those flames of love to thee never go out again never more return to coldness and ashes and may I ever be much more afraid lest they should do so than at all the troubles and all the disappointments and all the reproaches of this World May I but live and dye with those and then let all other things be as thou pleasest And now O my Redeemer come and take possession of my heart while 't is thus warm with the Love and desires of thee while by it's pantings and divine breathings 't is moving towards thee and stands open for thee May my eager pursuits of either Riches Honours or Pleasures of this life never more shut thee out thence but be thou pleas'd to rest there 'till I shall be caught up in the Clouds to meet thee in the Air. 1 Thess 4.17 and be ever with thee As this of all things is now my earnest desire so may it ever be 'till that glorious day and then all my doubts and fears shall be over and at an end all my temptations and inclinations to Sin and my frailties and infirmities shall be cured all my scruples of Conscience my tremblings and my fears to displease thee shall be ended and be to me as if they had never been at all But before that time come suffer me O my Lord to sigh out my desires to be always with thee as near as I am able to be on Earth at this distance from thee And O my Soul shall we begin then to take this Heavenly course now at the holy Sacrament We will by Divine aid On then our Lord invites us and calls Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest St. Matt. 11.28 And seeing all things are ready and he expects us let us say to him we come to do thy will we are weary and heavy laden we come to find rest and ease we come Lord Jesu we come quickly With these or some such meditation let us then scrue up the Soul to a devout frame and temper And thus much of Preparation CHAP. IV. Considerations after Receiving Fourthly what is fit to be considered and done after Receiving FIrst thankfully meditate on the infinite mercy and long-suffering of God that he has been pleased to give thee this one opportunity more of renewing and sealing again the
that was ever vouchsaf'd to the Sons of Men was the coming of our Saviour to restore us the hopeful possibilities of Salvation to establish a new Covenant between God and us and to seal it by his Blood As in our Baptisin we were received into this Covenant of Grace and Mercy so have we since stained and polluted these white Robes by unholyness and disobedience and broken our part of the Covenant But now that we should refuse when we are called and invited to come and renew it in the Holy Sacrament that we should refuse to come with the rest oâ— our Brethren and commemorate the dying Love of this our Lord is equally strange and deplorable I shall therefore upon this consideration and because the great Festival set apart in memory of our Saviour's Resurrection from the Grave is at hand offeâ— you some Meditations touching that Holy and Comfortable that Divine anâ— Heavenly action that so we may coâ—â— to our Lord who has already invited uâ— willingly and chearfully faithfully and charitably humbly and penitently with Loâ—â— and Devotion and be found by him 〈◊〉 have that Wedding-Garment on whâ—â— may be accepted by him now and in 〈◊〉 day of Judgment Though there are some and thâ—◠†Dr. Hammond and Gomar Camero Synop. great Men that suppâ—â— the words of the Text 〈◊〉 not directly and propeâ—â—â— spoken of the Holy Saâ—â—â—ment because it was not then institutâ—â—â— yet because * Pro Carne Corpus habet Syrus quae vox in Euchar institutione legitur ad quam hic tanta quaedam allusio est Grot. in v. 53. others doubt not but there is a respect had to it being shortly after to be instituted and there are †Luc. Brugensis Mal. citant Synop. some that say expresly that it is to be understood and meant of the Sacramental eating and a * Dr. Sherlock of Religious Assemblies great and excellent persons sayes he does not in the least doubt of it I shall not therefore question to understand and take the words in the same sence also From which I might offer this Doctrine That worthily and with a due preparation to eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of our Saviour shall by placing him in our heart and us in his unite us more closely to him and is an happy earnest of Eternal Salvation For the Proof and Confirmation of which I might instance in St. Jo. 6.54.57.58 1 Cor. 10.16.17 and many other places of Holy Scripture But to make the Text more useful to our present designs I shall from it speak to 4 things First I shall briefly shew you that this is a necessary holy and Christian Duty to be frequently performed by us and the neglect of it infinitely dangerous Secondly I shall consider to what end it was instituted or appointed by our Blessed Saviour Thirdly Shew how we are to come prepared to partake of these holy Mysteries Fourthly and Lastly insist upon 4 or 5 Considerations after Receiving First that this is a necessary holy and Christian Duty to be frequently performed and the neglect dangerous For whatever we have an express Command of our Saviour unquestionably it requires our obedience and is ouâ— indispensable duty to be obeyed by unâ—â— readily and willingly with Sincerity and Constancy And this was one of the lasâ— injunctions which our dear Redeemer a little before his Death was pleas'd to leave with us Lu. 22.19 This do iâ— remembrance of me And that we might have the more full assurance of the truth of it the blessed Apostle when he speakâ—â— of this institution and command of ouâ— Saviour sayes I have received of thâ— Lord that which I also delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread c. 1 Cor. 11.23 24 25 26. I have sayes he received of the Lord as if he had said though I were not my self present when our Lord ordained and appointed this Memorial of his death and suffering by which we that name his Name are to shew forth his death till he come yet I do assure you Grot. that I received it that is either by the other Apostles who were both Ear and Eye-witnesses or by immediate Revelation from Heaven from our Saviour that the very same Night in which he was betrayed soon after to be buffeted reviled scourged spit on crucified for our Salvation that he instituted this holy Feast to be continued to the end of the World But then as this is a necessary and unquestionable Duty so is it to be performed not only once in the whole Course of our Lives once in this our present State and no more or once at the hour of Death as some of us are too apt to suppose and as willing to shew by their practice but a holy and heavenly Duty to be performed more frequently And for a Confirmation of this let us see First what the holy Scriptures say to the frequency of this action Secondly what was the Practice and the Custome of the first Worthies of the Christian Church shortly after our Saviour's time Thirdly Lay down some Reasons for our frequent attendance on those holy Mysteries And if from all these we find cause for our often Communicating at the Lord's Table if from Scripture from the practice of the first and purest ages of the Church of Christ and from Reason too then I hope that each soul present will lay this home to his own heart and take it into his most serious consideration and then ever for the time to come endeavour to make up his former too great neglects by his future frequency in this holy Duty First let us see what those Scripture are that either countenance or imply the frequent performance of this holy action for this let us consider Act. 2.42 They continued stedfastly in the Apostles doctrine in breaking of bread and prayers We read Act. 2.7 that on the first day of the Week they usually came together to break Bread So also 't is said 1 Cor. 11.25 Do this as often as ye shall drink it is remembrance of me The word stedfastly as is observed by a * Dâ—â— P. Christian Sacrifice Pious and Learned Person denotes the frequency of the action and the words as often may imply it also Oh here then before we pass any further let us six our thoughts and consider if those who first named the Name of Christ continued in it so stedfastly if at least on the first day of the week out of their flaming Love and Affection to their dear Lord and Master they remembred his Death with praise and thanksgivings how ill Copiers out of so holy and blessed an Example are some of us They were it seems so ready to commemorate their dying Lord so full of Zeal so willing and forward to go forth to meet him at his Table that they scarce ever put off their Wedding Garment but their whole lives were a constant and
habitual preparation for this holy Feast Whereas in this declining Age of the Gospel in which holiness so visibly decayes how loath are we to approach him how uneasie when we are there how joyful when we are gone So unwilling that alas we must be even hal'd and drag'd to it And it may be feared that some of us could even wish it over and at an end already Why what 's the Reason of this unwillingness this backwardness this loathness to go to meet the Lord of life in the most holy and sweet and pleasant Duty in the World Is there so much charge or difficulty in it or is it so hard to be performed O what is there in this holy Action that any Soul that professes the Religion of the ever Blessed Jesus should have such an aversness to it Say are there any expensive chargeable Sacrifices to be offered any Firstlings of our Flocks to be slain No why what 's then the Cause that we should not be as ready and forward and when any opportunities are offered us to remember the death of our Great Master in this holy Mystery as constant too as the Sun is to run his race Alas our great Reason is That the Wedding-Garment of Religion and Holyness Repentance and Reformation of our Lives Charity and Devotion does not please us We are loath to put it on it sits uneasie about us we are hugely unwilling to put off the old spotted rayment of Sin and Iniquity of Wrath and Malice and Irreligion We find no tast no relish in the Sweets and Delicacies of Piety and Vertue We are willing enough doubtless to meet our Lord that is if we thought he would receive and welcome us with our sins about us and with our old affections to them then would we continue as stedfastly in breaking of bread and prayers as ever the first Worthies did Id. ibid. p. 9. though it were twice a day as is with great reason supposed they did of old Were those arms that were once stretcht upon the Cross and still are open to receive the true-penitent were they but as open too to receive the habitually disobedient and impenitent then would we frequent the Lord's Table But does not the Wedding-Garment of Faith and Repentance and Charity and Devotion and the like does not this please us Give me leave to ask as the Apostle did in another case unto what then were ye Baptized have ye put on Christ for this And was it for this that we were early dedicated to him in Baptism and received into the Covenant of Grace and Mercy that when we with the Disciples of old should have continued stedfastly to renew this Covenant in the holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and to ow̄n what was then done for us when we could do nothing for our selves and come and declare our willingness to stand to those Engagements then made for us to come and in person to shew our readiness and our willingness to follow him in the ways of his Commands and holy Religion that then we should refuse it or if we do not refuse it yet come so seldom as if we desired to be excused from it Whither Oh whither will our Indevotion our Lukewarmness our Inconsideration carry us Is this to act as they who now sit at Peace and rest in the Mansions of Glory have done before us And has not our Lord shed as much blood for us as for them And are not our hopes and Promises and Expectations the same which they had why then Cur non possumus quod isti istae as the pious Father said of old Why cannot we at least in far better measures than now do as they have done before us whence is it then that our Practice is gone so far off from their frequency in this Heavenly action their zeal and their fervour Certainly this must of necessity proceed from a great and most deplorable want of Love to our Religion or of Zeal for our Saviour from a stupid unconcernment for a joyful Resurrection or as was before hinted because we find no tast or relish in this heavenly food this sood of Angels or from intolerable inconsideration Hence O hence is it in a great measure that our Lives are so unholy our Actions so uncharitable and unchristian our thoughts so impure and prophane and inconsiderate and the whole frame of our Live so disordered and discomposed and as this chiefly for want of a more frequent and devout use of these holy Mysteries Whence sayes one came the Sanctity and Holiness of the first Christians Whence came their strict observation of the Divine Commandments whence was it that they persevered in holy Actions with a comfortable hope and unweary diligence from whence came their despising the World their universal Charity whence came these and many other Excellencies but from a constant Devotion and frequent Communion They who every day represented the Death of Christ every day were ready to dye for Christ We look upon that body to be sickly distempered and diseased and dangerously ill that allways loaths it's wholesome food and has no appetite to that which would be its only or it 's best nourishment Thus O thus it is in the Case of the Soul how sickly and distempered how diseased and disordered must that Soul needs be that loaths it's most wholesome food the food of Angels this nourishment of the holy Sacrament which if duely and devoutly taken would so nourish it up to Salvation as to make it more healthful and holy more chearful and religious more just and upright more pure and devout and Angelical 'T would make it much more ready for the performance of any other Duty more full of zeal and fervour more constant and unwearied in all Religious actions In short 't would make it more ready for Death and Immortality The holy Sacrament is call'd by St. Paul 1 Cor. 10.16 The Cup of Blessing and surely if we do not thirst after this Cup of Blessing Blessing may be far from us Neither is it imaginable That that man should love Heaven and his Soul or felicity or his Lord that desires not frequently to bath in that wholsome stream the blood of that immaculate Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World Having thus seen what these texts of Scripture are that imply a frequency of Communicating we shall briefly consider the second thing Secondly let us see what was the custom and the practice of the first Worthies of the Christian Church shortly after our Saviour's time and if in a few Instances we find them frequently meeting and representing the death of their and our Common Lord and Master Let us remembring he has done and suffered as much for us as he had done for them ever hereafter fit the Soul to take all opportunities we are able to do in some degree as they have done before us The first Instance I shall produce shall be of a great and holy man
St. Cypr. a Bishop of the Church of Christ who lived above two hundred and fifty years after our Saviour Christ he tells us that the Custom of receiving it daily was observ'd in his days Another who liv'd above three hundred years from our Saviour St. Ambro. says Receive that every day which may profit thee every day And no less than a whole Council or Assembly of Devout men at Antioch the place where the Disciples were first called Christians as we are told Act. 11.26 though not at the same time decreed some ages since our Saviour's time that those should be excommunicated cast out of the Church who came to other holy offices and divine Services but went away without receiving the Sacrament of the Lords Supper And to mention no more a Reverend Father of the Church St. Jerom. who liv'd about four hundred years from Christ's time saies the practice of daily receiving was continued to his time Let us then with eyes shut and arms folded when we are next alone and retir'd from the World in a serious thought consider Did those of old who owned the same crucifyed Jesus with our selves Did they as constantly do this in remembrance of him as they did publickly meet to pray together or hear the Word And is it come from once a day and once a week to once a year to once in our whole lives Is it come to this Is this all the sense and apprehension we have of the necessity and advantages of this duty Is this the obedience we shew to an Express Command of our Saviour either wholly to disobey it or perform as seldom as possible we can Is this the imitation of the practice of the first ages of Christianity Is this all the reckoning and accompt we make of that inestimable priviledge of being in Covenant with God or of being called and invited to come and renew it again when we have broken our terms and to have it signed and sealed to us again Was it for this O blessed Jesu that thou hast done and suffered so much for our sakes Was it for this that thou wert content for us to submit to an Agony and bloody sweat to the Cross and Passion to a Death and Burial And is it for this that we have so long owned thee for our Lord and our Redeemer a tender and merciful Saviour that some of us should stupidly live in an habitual neglect of doing this in remembrance of thee And have we no greater sense of and concernment for the last words of a dying Saviour shall the expiring breath of a dear Redeemer poured out for our eternal Interest be lost and in vain to any of us that call him so O how much Reason have we to say of such Father forgive them or rather father open their eyes for they know not what they do Bishop Taylor 's life of Christ But thus as is observ'd by an excellent Prelate now with God it hath fared with this Sacrament as with other Actions of Religion which have descended from Flames the Flames of the Devotion of the first ages to still Fires from Fires to Sparks from Sparks to Embers from Embers to Smoke from Smoke to Nothing But in the Name of God let me enquire are we willing to make any publick thankfull joyfull acknowledgments at all of the love of our crucifyed Jesus and the great things he has done and undergone for the redemption of us and of our Children after us if not we are monsters of Ingratitude and Impiety If we are at all willing so to do why shall we not fit our soul to take all possible opportunities while we are yet here below and at this distance from him to do this in remembrance of him How can we think that our other Devotions shall be prevalent with or acceptable to the Holy God without the Intercession of our Saviour and the merit of his sufferings and yet this is the way he hath appointed to give our prayers an Interest in his Sacrifice Can we reasonably suppose that indeed any Duties whatever and the performance of them shall be accepted when this great and solemn act of Religious worship shall be refused omitted and neglected O let us in our next retirements when we are withdrawn from the noise and tumult and business and thoughts of the world deeply think should we not have reason to be afraid that no Petitions of ours no Devotions no works of Mercy Piety or Charity no Fastings or Alms no hearings or readings shall be accepted without this part of our Christian Worship Would it not further be a sad and dismal consideration to remember in the hour of Death or day of Judgment that these and many other holy Actions shall fall to the ground being vain and lost only for our wilful neglect of this holy Sacrament Again in the same retirement from the World and in your next meditations consider what could you think of a rich and very wealthy person that never in all his life should be perswaded to bestow so much as the worth of a farthing to the poor and needy Or what thoughts should we have of him who never in the whole course of his life should offer up a prayer to God either in publick or in secret The same may we think of him that would never accept of an Invitation to fit and trim the Soul to come and with the rest of his Christian Brethren to partake of these holy Mysteries for they did but disobey a plain Command of our Saviour's the one only disobeyed the command of feeding the hungry and cloathing the naked the other only refused obedience to the Command of praying without ceasing So the wilfull absenter from the holy Supper of the Lord only dissobeys the Command of Do this Nay I look upon this to be a greater piece of disobedience because in this there is an obligation of love Love infinite and unspeakable an obligation of thanks and gratitude to engage us Do this in remembrance of me the Lord that bought you the Lord that pay'd down the dear price of his blood Wounds sweat and groans pains and death for you Give me leave to say further I shall never I can never truly believe you have any tolerable care of your souls till I see this Holy Sacrament more frequented till I see some evidence of your greater love to these holy Mysteries Not however as if I would perswade or give encouragement by this to wicked men while they continue such to approach this heavenly feast But for those who resolve heartily by divine Grace to reform their lives and amidst the disadvantages of this life are fully purposed to Devote themselves in sincerity though not in perfection to the Laws of our holy Religion whatever else you do yet I shall never I can never suppose you have any tolerable Love or Zeal for our Dear Redeemer while you habitually turn your back on his Holy Table
participation of these Holy Mysteries to how divine a pitch and heighth would it be raised Is it nothing to have our hope confirmed and yet by our frequent attendance on this holy Table how full and lively how raised and chearful would it be how much a better ground and foundation should we have for it Is it nothing to have our Zeal and Love to our crucified Lord more inflamed and heightned and yet oh how would the due frequentation of this Solemn act of Religious worship exalt and raise and carry-up our Souls to him and make them mount up upon the wings of Devotion almost high enough to reach the pitch of Angels and freer Spirits Is it nothing to have our mutual Charity and Unity For bearance and Forgiveness of one another promoted as we are going on together to the Grave and Immortality why nothing will so effectually do this as the frequent meeting our Lord at this Heavenly Feast Is it not a bless'd advantage and benefit to have our Reformation made more sincere effectual and persevering and yet in the devout and frequent use of those holy Mysteries we should find more reasons and arguments and encouragements for it than we could before imagine We should find that in the ways of Religion and Holyness and Virtue we can do more by Divine assistance than before we thought we could and that in our moving towards the degrees of perfection we can go farther than before we supposed we were able Is it not a blessing to have a greater power and ability and strength to subdue a temptation and to beat down and conquer a stubborn and rebellious Sin Is it not a blessing to come to a more intimate and near acquaintance with our Souls and how their accompts stand with reference to a joyful Resurrection and happy Eternity Is it not a blessing to come at last 〈◊〉 be delighted with and encouraged it and tast the sweets and delicacies the lightsomness and chearfulness of heart that accompany a truly Religious Life If these are blessings truely desirable and amiable why never shall we come to have them so effectually conveyed to us as by our frequent and devout attendance on this Christian Sacrifice And assure your selves that upon your own Experience you will find it an undeniable truth that there is not one of these Benefits Blessings and Advantages but would if we are not wanting to our selves be dispensed to us Well then seeing our hopes and promises are not so much here below and we daily look when we shall be received to our unknown Society and unknown Condition methinks these should be irresistable reasons for a frequent and holy use of these Divine Mysteries Thirdly Another reason is that our frequent presenting our selves at the Table of the Lord would be a great Sign of our Love to Religion and Virtue It would argue our love to Religion as this is one great and solemn part of it and as it is an Exercise of many Christian Graces and Virtues It would argue our deep apprehension and consideration of another World 'T would be an evidence of our desires to make seasonable a provision for Immortality and of our endeavours to be such as our Lord would have us 'T would be one great Argument that we desired to be imployed and bear a part in Religious actions with the rest of our Christian brethren whenever we have opportunities that we are earnestly willing to bear a part with those holy Souls here below among whom we would stand in the day of Judgment 'T would evidence that our Faith is lively vital and obedient that our Charity is truly Christian that Religion is our practice not our profession only 'T would argue that we are willing to stand to the engagements of our Baptism to our utmost that we resolve manfully to Fight under the Banner of our Jesus against Sin the World and Devil That we are willing to submit our selves to the Gospel and to take on us Christ's easie yoak and light burden Nay a frequent and devout communicating would be a great Sign of our Devotion and frequency in and love to all other Religious actions And indeed how sad and deplorable an evidence does the wilful refuser give of his prophaneness his little love to Religion and of his inconsideration whereas I say a due and frequent performance of this holy duty would argue the contrary would be a good Testimony of our desires to please God and draw near to him that we are wearied and laden with our iniquities when we thus bring them to Jesus to be cast out and when we come to take new Resolutions against them O may these considerations woo and win us over perswade invite and encourage us to meet the holy Bridegroom of our Souls who has appointed when and where to meet us He has given the invitation he has made the appointment and shall not we go forth to meet him why shall we so imprudently any longer refuse to give him those demonstrations of our Love to him and his Religion Rather let us say this day with one heart and one voice and one consent in the words of holy David Ps 40.7.8 Lo I come to do thy will O God I come O Jesu to renew that Covenant with thee which and 't is a sad truth I have so miserably broken I bless thee for the Call and I come quickly to celebrate the memory of thy dying-Love I come to own that I am a member though unworthy of thy Spouse the Church and come with the rest of my Brethren to beg a portion and an Interest in thy meritorious death and sufferings I thank thee eternally for the Invitation and I come with the rest of that body of which thou art the head to wash in that Fountain that was opened for sin and for uncleanness and would not be found out of the number of those holy Souls that are devoutly going to meet thee for the whole World in the day of Rewards and Punishments Thou hast done as much for me as for any one of them with them therefore I thankfully come to do thy Will to do this in remembrance of thee O that thus we would be winn'd and woo'd to this holy action by arguments of Love to Religion by arguments of Zeal and Devotion fervour desire gratitude and affection and let us not be hall'd and dragg'd to it only by the apprehensions of Terrours and Horrours Hell and Damnation And may we yet grow and still encrease in our Love to this holy Sacrament so much and so long till we come to desire it and wish and long for it Which a great Prelate of our own Bishop Taylor Preface to holy Living and another pious person make to use their own words one of their twelve signs of Grace Drexel and Predestination to Eternal life May our love of it then so increase till we come to be able to think it too long that our Lord tarries too
long till the opportunities of Supping with him come about too long before the time come when we may meet him once more in his own House at his own Table and to be able with a full and teeming heart to say of his coming to us in that Sacrament Come Lord Jesus come quickly thou hast long tarried from that Soul that loves thee from that Soul that thou knowest loves thee St. Jo. 21.15 Fourthly the 4th and last Reason that I shall mention is that a frequent and devout Communicating would be an undeniable argument of our flaming affection to and Love of Jesus How can it be reasonably suppos'd we should have any tolerable affection for that man from whose company we allwayes desired to be excused from whom we run when he calls and invites us upon whom we turn our backs when he sends to us to come and Sup with him Can we truely call him our Familiar acquaintance or intimate friend with whom we never care to be This O this is the Case between our Master Jesus and some of us that call him so But if we call him Master for shame let us no more refuse to apply our selves to this highest and chiefest piece of Service If we call him Lord let us do what he sayes and he has said do this If we call him Friend the Worlds best Friend let us make hast and be glad to go forth to meet him Let us be joyful that he is willing once more before we dye to come to us and to invite us to come to him Let us not think it much to lay aside our old spotted Garments when we are going to meet our Friend the World 's best Friend Jesus Let us not think it much to put on our best Array our Wedding-Garment when we are hastening to go forth to meet our Friend the World 's best Friend Jesus If we call him the Captain of our Salvation then let us go and Solemnly declare and own our selves his Soldiers and not shrink and stay behind when the rest of his great Army with Banners Cant. 6.10 is going so to do but let us also go and declare our intentions and resolutions to follow him whithersoever he shall please to call us though it be to lay down our lives for him and yet in doing so we should do no more than he has done for us Let us go and publish our resolutions to enter into no more leagues of Friend-ship with the Enemies of this our Captain these enemies that once made him bleed these enemies Sin I mean that once made him sweat drops of blood these enemies that flew our Captain Let us in our very affections renounce such Enemies and go forth to meet our Captain and humbly tell him that we are purposed by his assistance and by his conduct thus to do Let us tell him that we are resolv'd to renew the Combat and reinforce our diligence with all our strength never more to desert and leave him and that we are now coming to enter into this engagement again and solemnly to seal it and that as we were once lifted under him by Baptism when we knew it not so now when we are come to know it we are ready and willing to stand to it to the end of our days and are thankful too that he has brought us to the knowledge of this Grace and Faith in him and that he has given us this one one opportunity more of making solemn declaration of it at his own Table Thus let us manifest our Love to our great Master Jesus our best Friend the Captain of our Salvation Jesus But further if we call him Friend and this Friend of ours be for a while gone off from us shall we do nothing in remembrance of him did he require us at parting at least not long before he left the World to do something in remembrance of him when he was gone and had bid adieu to the World Surely if we knew not what it was had it not been plainly revealed to us how desirous how earnest would we be to know it that so we might not fail to do it we should then if we knew it not be apt to say what should it be that thou wouldest have us to do in remembrance of such love as thine O our Jesu what should it be O that we could but come to the knowledge of it that so we might instantly set about it If so consider then how far should we be from refusing to do it when we certainly know what it is What is there something to be done in remembrance of dying Love Something in remembrance of a bleeding Friend Something in remembrance of the great Lover of Mankind Something in memory of a crucified Saviour and a parting Redeemer Surely one would think it must needs be some very hard and uneasie duty something next to impossible that there should any be found in the Christian World refusing to do this something and yet all this that we refuse to do is but to fit the Soul and come and feast on his body and blood in memory of his Cross and Passion and is this all the difficulty in that which we are to do tremble then at thy monstrous Ingratitude and never more dare either come unprepared or to keep away How should this consideration rather melt us into Love Love in some measure such as his that is dying Love how should it swallow up all our little and trifling objections as the Ocean swallows up a drop of water how should such considerations melt us into tears of Love and then into those of Repentance and blow off all our fond excuses and vain pretences against doing this as easily as Feathers are blown away by a violent blast of wind What can indeed resist this but a heart bent upon iniquity and prophaness and irreligion a heart never opened by any serious thoughts or apprehensions of the Love of Jesus and how should that consideration move us readily and speedily to betake our selves to the putting on of the Wedding-Garment of preparation and infallibly take the very next opportunity of coming and shewing that we are deeply sensible of this Love and of our former great neglects and do it how uneasie soever some look upon the Garment to sit about them when 't is on do it that is how much pain loss how much shame and reproach how much disadvantage self-denyal soever it costs us in our endeavours to procure it if the frequent use of those holy Mysteries will be so great an argument of our Love to Jesus O let it no longer therefore be said of any one of us that we should live in the habitual neglect of this known necessary duty and let it no longer be said of us that our Communicating was not as frequent as possible we could have opportunities for it Let it no longer be said of us that we should be so imprudent as not to be willing to renew
and ordained for a perpetual and devout remembrance of him our Redeemer so says our Lord himself St. Luke 22.19 This do in remembrance of me As if he had said in remembrance of mine Agony and bloody sweat for your interest in remembrance of my bitter sufferings and my death in remembrance of my Laws and Doctrines in remembrance of my Resurrection and Ascension in remembrance of my Victory for you over Sin and Death and Hell in a comfortable remembrance of this too that upon your Repentance Reformation and Sincere obedience for the future your past iniquities shall all be placed upon the accompt of the Cross and be covered with the Robes of my Righteousness and that I will ever be your Jesus your Saviour Do this do it for a continual and grateful memorial of these things that so such a remembrance as this of me your dying Lord may fill your Souls with Love and Devotion your Wills with holy resolutions that so it may excite and stir up holiness and virtue in your lives and may unite and endear you to your Lord and Saviour unite and reconcile you to each other and promote peace and love and unanimity and Charity among you who are all members of my body of that body the Church of which I am the head that so meeting together frequently at this feast of Charity when you remember my love to you all this may promote love among you all and may increase Faith and Piety and obedience in you and incourage you in it till at last you come to meet me in my Kingdom Thus was it first instituted for a thankful remembrance of our Redeemer and all he has done and suffered for us Was it so and Lord can it ever be when this was the great intent and design of it that any that name thy sacred Name should be unwilling to come and bear a part in such a remembrance Methinks that Soul that should refuse to do so refuse to fit and trim it self to go forth and remember the Lords of Life and Glory with the rest of his Christian brethren should upon such a thought be sorrowful and greatly troubled that almost all others should go to claim and beg an interest in the death and sufferings of their Lord and he alone be unconcern'd in it he alone stay back and refuse to put his hand to the Petition and his Seal to the Covenant Methinks again such a Soul should consider and say how imprudent how inconsiderate is my case and condition how dangerous is my state of Life that while others are resolving and preparing to go and hoping to feast acceptably with Jesus I should be alone backwards Here I am wallowing in Sin living in a heedless stupid careless state of life following my lusts and vices and take no care to get out of them no care for my Salvation making no provision for Eternity and a joyful Resurrection but always suffer my self to be hurried away by Iniquity born down by every slight Temptation and am kept off from fitting my self for the Table of my Lord by vain pretences and little Excuses by every Sin that looks fair and offers a little delight or advantage and shall I live and dye thus Shall I continue in this State till all opportunities be over and at an end with me Why O why should not I even I also labour to put on the Weding-Garment and see if he will yet be intreated and reconciled to me and bless me even me also Rouze then O my Soul awake and arise speedily from the death of Sin to the life of Righteousness off with thy old poluted Garments by divine Grace forever on with thy better rayment of Faith and Repentance Piety and Charity and come my Soul let us go speedily to remember the love of our dying Lord for most others they are either gone or going Come my soul at last let us go willingly and chearfully others they are hastening and methinks the Love of Christ begins to constrain us to 2. Cor. 5.14 Come then let us hasten to commemorate and meet him with the best preparations we can make for others they are sitting trimming and adorning the Soul so to do and the same Lord is ready with his assisting Grace for me even for me also if I am not wanting to my self that is earnestly beg and faithfully use and imploy it Well then my Christian Brethren all of them they are going and shall I be the only person that shall stay behind they are now resolving to celebrate the memory of a bleeding Redeemer and shall not I also Oh how will my Lord take this at the day of Judgment how ill will he take it at my hands that I alone should stay behind lurking with his Enemies Sin and Satan when others throw them off and bid adieu to them to go to meet and remember Jesus May each Soul that is seeking for pretences and has any temptations to absent himself thus argue and thus consider and let him say further would I be willing to stand among those who have frequently and devoutly remembred the Lord of Life and Peace the Author and Finisher of our Faith Heb. 12.2 Is not this my desire is it not my earnest hope Come my Soul say once more come let us stand with them now let us stand with them now and ever hereafter while we stay with them here below let us be found among them now imploy'd in this heavenly action among whom we would willingly be found at our Lord's Second coming to judge the World Let us not my Soul prefer the pleasures of Sin for a Season let us not choose the trifling profits and advantages of Sin for a season but when others go forth to meet the Lord and commemorate the death and passion of their blest Redeemer may it never be my lot to be absent much less may it never be my choice to be so and when others shall be prostrate before him and by this heavenly action joyntly renewing their Covenant with him recounting what he has done and suffered for them Sending up the Incense of praises and thanksgivings joyntly Suing out their pardon from the Court of Heaven with one Soul and heart sending up holy petitions to him to be by him presented and handed un to the Father thus making a joynt provision for a safe and holy Eternity far be it O far be it I say from me to refuse to bear a part with them but with all the devout Souls of the Christian Church be ever hereafter ready and joyful and forward and glad of all opportunities to be imployed in the solemn devout and holy and thankful remembrance of the Lord that bought me And That 's the first end to which this Sacrament was appointed Secondly it is also a Seal of that Covenant which God was pleased to make with us by Christ which we entred into at our Baptism that gracious Covenant made between God and us by the
Mediator Jesus Thus 't is called the blood of the New Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St. Mat. 26.28 or of the new Covenant Now this new Covenant between God and us made by our Saviour is as was before said that God will give pardon of our Sins sanctifying Grace and everlasting Glory upon our Conditions of Faith Repentance and sincere Obedience Our Lord in those Mysteries Seals this to us and assures us as he is the God of Truth and cannot lye or deceive us that he will perform his part We on the other hand seal back this to him that we will sincerely and heartily endeavour to perform our part We are then to remember that thus it was promised for us in our Baptism when we knew nothing of it but here we come in our own persons to take those advantageous Conditions on our selves to renew them by our own hand our own act and our own choice This is my Blood of the new Covenant says our Saviour to this our Lord invites us to shew first his death till he come and next to renew our Covenant with him to Seal it again and to declare our resolutions to labour more effectually and diligently for the remainder of our dayes to stand to our engagements and discharge our Conditions of it O my Lord say now upon this consideration who am I that thou shouldest leave thy Fathers bosom to be the compassionate Mediator of a new Covenant between God and me but oh who am I that after so many breaches of it thou shouldst call and invite me once more to come and renew it with thee again who am I that thou shouldst speak to me to come and enter again into a further confirmation of it what a tender mercy is this how blest a priviledge is this that thou art pleased to call me once more to come and receive my Pardon if but yet for the future I do in an honest sincerity perform my part of the Covenant What long-suffering is this that thou shouldst still bid me to approach and have my Pardon sealed too if my terms be but yet performed and how far have I been from deserving any thing of this at thy hands And O my Jesu shall I refuse to come and humbly accept of those mercies which thou art yet pleased to offer me and though I have broken my part of that Covenant which this Sacrament is a seal of shall I not thankfully come and accept of thy desires to make good thine if after all this I am not yet wanting to my self Shall I not rejoyce in an opportunity of confirming and ratifying in my own person that which was done for me without my knowledge in my Baptism shall I not come and declare my desires to be found now and ever within the Covenant of Grace Or shall I voluntarily withdraw my self from it and not come and put my hand and seal to it with others of my Christian Brethren shall I by my refusal to renew it declare for Sin for the World Flesh and Devil Far be it from me say O my dear Redeemer far be such thoughts as those No I come willingly and readily and chearfully with a Soul and Heart and Mouth full of Praises and Adorations to renew this gracious Covenant to own my self thy Disciple thy Servant thy follower I come to see thy dying bleeding Love and to imprint it afresh upon my memory I come to see thy earnest desires of accomplishing my Redemption represented to me I come to behold thy Agony and bloody sweat thy Cross and Passion thy Body broken thy Blood poured out for me I come freely and openly to own my unworthyness to come at all to own how undeservingly I have walked of those benefits I come to sue a Pardon for my breaches of my terms of the new Covenant I come to seal it again with thee and humbly and thankfully adore thee for this mercy that thou callest me once more to do so O that instead of ever entertaining a thought of absenting our selves we would imploy it in some such meditations as these Dr. Sherlock Relig. Assemb or with the words following of that excellent person before mentioned That frequent Communions are as necessary to our spiritual growth and increase in holyness to repair the decays of our Graces and to renew our strength and vigour in serving God and to procure the pardon of Sin after a relapse and to call back the holy Spirit when he is withdrawn from us as bread is to keep our bodies in constant repair and did men love their Souls as they do their bodies they would no more neglect the Supper of our Lord than their daily food And if we have been guilty of any breach of Covenant with God by venturing on the commission of any Sin when we have with tears bewailed our Sin and renewed our Repentance here we must renew our Covenant and by approaching the Table of our Lord declare that though we are Sinners yet we are not Apostates that is we are not fallen from the Faith or the Christian Religion but that we still own our Covenant and by the Grace of God which we now implore and hope to receive resolve to continue stedfast in it while we live CHAP. III. Of Examination of our Selves I Come next in the third place to shew briefly how we are to come prepared to this holy Sacrament The chief parts of preparation are these First Examination of our selves Secondly To enter then into a holy Course of Life by Repentance and Resolutions of a future sincere Obedience Thirdly To bring with us a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ Fourthly To bring with us Charity to our Brethren Fifthly To bring with us Devotion and a pious frame of Soul Of each of these briefly First of Examination of our selves to this St. Paul adviseth Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that Cup. 1 Cor. 11.28 And here we are to examine as far as our memory can inform us what our breaches have been of that Covenant which we entred into with God and our Saviour in Baptism We told you that our part of the Covenant is Faith Repentance and sincere Obedience But alas we have most miserably gon astray and have often knowingly wittingly and willingly broken all these parts of that holy Covenant As to our Faith first how dull lifeless and unactive has that been how little have we shewed it by our works by works of Mercy Piety Charity or Devotion How little have we shewed our Faith by our Conformity of heart and life to those Gospel duties to God to others and our selves by which we should have shewn it St. Ja. 4.18 Again as to Repentance how unsincere has that been how have we return'd soon after our beginnings of it to our old iniquities like the Dog to his vomit or the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire 2 Pet.
Covenant of Grace who hast so often broken thy Conditions of it Secondly labour to imprint a deep remembrance of any promises or holy resolutions there made between God and thy Soul and be watchful in the keeping of them Thirdly earnestly beg of God to assist thee in the keeping them and in the walking for the future in the wayes of Religion and Holyness Fourthly meditate on the danger and the guilt thou runnest into if thou labour not more sincerely afterward to keep those thy pious purposes and thy felicity if thou do Fifthly and Lastly by looking back on this divine and heavenly and pleasant duty think and meditate how lovely and chearful and pleasurable a Religious life must needs be First thankfully meditate on the infinite mercy and long suffering of God that he has been pleased to give thee this one opportunity more of renewing and sealing again the Covenant of Grace who hast so often broken thy Conditions of it Upon this Consideration who is there but must needs say with David Ps 34.8 O tast and see that the Lord is good We that have lately tasted and have seen how good the Lord is how gracious to have given us one opportunity more of renewing our Covenant with him shall we can we forbear to publish it Can we ever cease to be thankful No surely rather let us be ready to encourage others ever hereafter to go from whence we have come and tast and see how good the Lord is However let each particular Soul be deeply sensible and considerate of this goodness of the Lord which he hath tasted O my Soul say has our Jesus admitted us once more to his Table and permitted us to seal our Covenant again to renew our resolutions and purposes of obedience and would he do it after so many old breaches of it and is he willing yet to be reconciled upon our reformation and future sincerity in Holyness and has he confirmed this to us in the Sacrament O infinite Mercy and Compassion of our God! Well my Soul let us never forget it but say with David Ps 103.1.2 Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Let us consider a little might not God have snatcht away and have called us presently before him in the midst of such or such a crying Sin which we can easily remember and not have given us one call more one opportunity more of a reconciliation he might very justly Might he not have call'd us to our particular judgment in the middest in the very act of such or such an Impiety of this or that Lust or Intemperance injustice or perjury Oath or Execration Debauchery or uncharitableness Might he not have done so after our long and wilful neglects of this holy Duty before ever we approacht to it and how might it have been now with us had he taken that advantage against us Might he not have hurried us away to eternal unknown woes without giving us these advantages which we now by his Grace may improve to the purposes of a blest Eternity And shall we not my Soul shall we not improve them to the uses of Immortality when our Lord is thus willing we should Let us do so then and do it heartily chearfully and constantly and let this goodness of the Lord lead us to Repentance and Reformation and invite us to holyness and Religion that 's the first Secondly after receiving labour to imprint a deep remembrance of thy Promises or holy resolutions then made or before between God and thy Soul and be diligent in keeping of them O let not the old Love the former affection to Iniquity return any more but if the temptation do return stay and remember how odious how deformed and ugly the Sin appeared then to thee when thou wert at the Lord's Table and then it was that it appeared most truely as it is and then next let this engage thee to recal thy pious purposes there for alas these are not to abide with thee only for an hour or a day or a week but to the end of our dayes and how hypocritically should we deal with our God should we instantly forget that we have renewed our Covenant and our purposes of obedience with him upon the Alarum of a Sin that promises much and shows fair However Consider before-hand the temptation will come again whatever thy resolutions now are and do thou expect no other and 't is likely thou wilt not always be in this temper of Soul that thou now art in The opportunities for thy Sin will be fair again but dost not thou now resolve against it I suppose thou dost But alas this thou hast done heretofore perhaps often also and promised universal obedience to this Saviour and yet hast fallen again as surely as a man falls that is struck with a Thunderbolt and thus it may be thou hast gone round all the dayes of thy Life Sin'd and repented received the holy Supper and yet still fallen as frequently and as surely as ever and hitherto remain'd in a State of Sin and Death Thus I say it may be thou hast run on in this Course many years and doubled thy guilt with thy dayes and always upon the next occasion and opportunity forgotten that ever thou didst repent and resolve amendment of life Remember this is a very ill sign yet of thy Condition and it is extreamly dangerous Much perhaps above half thy days have gon round in this Circle And now if thou wouldest thou hast not half of them left to dedicate to Religion and the service of the holy Jesus and to the blessed Severities of Piety and virtue And what 's now to be done then O at last now be more strictly watchful and diligent in keeping thy Resolutions against it and against all occasions of it also whatever self denial or shame or reproach or difficulty it cost thee Get at least som tolerable ground against it now never leaving till thou hast crucified and subdued all known habituall wilful sin whatever and laid it dead at thy feet Remember too that now is thy time that now thou hast yet fair advantages but if thou imploy them not to the uses of Eternity and in order to the conquest and victory over thy darling Sin that has so often born thee down before it thy Lord may e're long bid thee lay aside all thy business here and come and appear before him and find it uncrucified unreformed and unmortified in thee Consider further if so why when thou art laid on the borders of the Grave and coming to the Neighbourhood of Death thou wilt then with sorrow perceive and find that by that hour all thy pains about it would have been over and all thy trouble at an end and would have been as if they had never been and nothing left to do but to sit down in eternal peace all thy combats
God inwardly calling us often by his holy Spirit or outwardly by his Embassadors should so long have been in vain Oh that we should not have been perswaded by them to come sooner and to tast and see how gracious the Lord is That we should scarce ever till now find by our own Experience that the wayes of Religious Wisdom are wayes of pleasantness and all her paths are peace Prov. 3.17 But blessed be God that he has at last opened our Eyes to behold the wonderful things of his Law Ps 119.18 and enclined us to experience and try the sweetness pleasure and satisfaction of being in a good measure qualified to have his merits applied to us that he has given us Grace to experience somewhat of the blissful apprehensions of being in his Favour And now O my Soul what infinite reason have we to say Blessed be the day that ever we came acquainted with our Saviour Blessed be the day that ever our disobedient heart was melted into Love of thee O our dear Redeemer And I beseech thee keep it filled ever with this love fortified ever with these Resolutions ever fixt and constant in this temper and if there be any thing in it that yet may displease thee O make me to know it and assist me to throw it off for ever And when will our Lord come again that we may again Sup with him and feast our selves upon his sacred Body and Blood and tast this pleasant most delicious food again May he make no long tarrying may it not be long O may it not be long before we again either meet him at his Table meet him in the Air or meet him in his Kingdom O what will it be to be always with him where there is so much secret joy and peace in this small glymps of him and at so great distance too And now my Soul seeing we have given up our heart to our dearest Lord in this temper let us live and in this disposition let us dye and we hope by Death we shall come nearer to him never more to be pulled back again or in danger to be drawn off from him by the violence of any temptation for these shall be done away And being thus united to him the great Lover of Souls we shall at last at his glorious coming not much dread the heavens being rolled into a Scroul or the Crack and flames of the dying World or the Trump of the Arch-angel but with infinite joy hear the words Arise come up hither awake and arise and come Take your Crowns your place on my right hand Arise and come and see your new State and new Condition your unknown felicities and unknown Glories your endless peace and safety Arise and come hither up to me your Jesus the Captain of your Salvation Come and be above the reach of Infelicities and Miseries Sin and Death for all ages and sit down in your Immortality and Rest for ever Arise come and partake of those Glories that cost me your Lord Sighs and Groans and Blood and Wounds pangs and Life it self to purchase it for you that cost you also so many Dutys the Strugling with so many temptations the combating so many Enemies before you got the Victory so many difficulties discouragements so much shame and reproach self-denials and the like before you were intitled to my Merits and qualified to receive the bene t of my purchase Come now and sit down in their Enjoyment for above millions of years and ages In a word O my Soul say May these hopes be ever in our view ever in our heart thoughts And as we have lately begun for Eternity upon the Stock of this Hope so let us by this square and order all the Actions of our lives That so at last when we shall come to leave Mortality our Passage hence may be peacefull safe and holy our Resurrection joyfull safe and holy and through him who is the foundation of our hope we may not fail to be remembred with mercy in the day of judgment After which we may with Angels and Arch-Angels and all the Company of Heaven laud and magnify his glorious Name ever more praising him and Saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts Glory be to the O Lord most◠High Amen A Prayer before the holy Sacrament O My dearest Saviour who wert pleased to suffer death upon the Cross to purchase Heaven and Salvation for me and now callest me to a remembrance of that thy dying Love so fit and trim and adorn my Soul I beseech thee that I may not fail to be now and ever an acceptable guest at thy holy Table Let the consideration of my state and the remembrance of my past sins lead me to a deep humiliation and contrition for them and that contrition to intire hatred a sincere reformation of them and fixt resolutions of future Love and obedience O my Saviour let my Faith and Charity and Devotion be by thy gracious assistance raised to a Heavenly pitch and temper that so whatever thou please to deny me in this lower World I may never be denied a participation of all the benefits of thy meritorious death and sufferings I come dear Jesu I come to renew my Covenant with thee which I have so miserably broken by my Sins of Omission and Commission by my Iniquities of thought word and deed †Here you may mention those grosser Crimes which upon Examination you find your self to stand guilty of particularly by my Sins of For these and all other my impieties known and unknown be pleased to receive a reconciliation and let this holy Sacrament prove a sealing of my Pardon in the Court of Heaven and may I not fail O my Saviour together with thy body and blood to receive new Grace and strength against them O my Jesu who hast done and suffered so much for me and now invitest me to come and see it represented to me be pleased to do this further for me to grant that it may not be in vain and lost as to me by mine own default O let it never be said or remembred of me in the day of Judgment that I ever appeared before thee in this holy action without such a wedding Garment as thou didst mercifully accept or that I did eat and drink my own damnation And though my Iniquities are great great like thy Sorrows and great like thy sufferings which I am coming to commemorate yet because they are infinitely less than thy Mercies and thy Merits Pitty me O Lord pitty me accept me O my God accept me for lo I come to do thy will and grant that I may ever hereafter live the life of Grace in a state acceptable to thee that so by thine Agony and bloody sweat by thy Cross and Passion by thy precious death and burial by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascention which I am coming to remember my past Iniquities being done away I may now at length be more closely
united to thee That I may come back again from thy Table with joy and thanks and Love and adoration and comfort and satisfaction O that at last my Resolutions may be fixt and stedfast the conquest of these Sins which I can easily remember have often foiled me may be such that they may no more prevail against me and get the Dominion over me And that now thou mayest abide with me forever and the holy Spirit may guide me into the paths of a cheerful sincere and persevering Holyness that so having past my days that are to come in the watchfulness and diligence and Labours of Repentance and a holy Life I may live with thee and dye with thee and rise again with thee and then ever sit at thy Feet in the mansions of Glory O my dearest Saviour Amen A Thanksgiving and Prayer after Receiving OHoly and Eternal Jesu I praise thee I bless thee I worship thee I glorifie thee I give thee thanks for those invaluable mercies from the participation of which I lately came for these representations of thy bleeding dying love to me Love infinite Love unspeakable Love eternal Love for me before I was born O compassionate Jesu who am I that thou shouldest please to receive me to renew my part of the Covenant of Grace with thee who have so frequently so miserably broken it O let the return which now I may ever hereafter make for so much love let it be Love and Obedience Love in some measure great like thine even to death it self and let my Obedience be as early as I can now make it and as chearful and universal sincere and constant O let the deep remembrance of this Love of thine constrain me to such an obedience Let neither the Love of the World the allurements and baits of the flesh or the temptations of the Devil ever force or draw me off from such an obedience O my dear Redeemer though I have now again resolved against all wilful known Sin particularly against the Sin of †Here you may mention the Sin to which you are most tempted and promised thee an obedience yet without the continuance of thy gracious aid and assistance I shall most certainly fall again upon the very next temptation Secure me therefore O Lord by that secure me save Lord or I perish Whatever thou pleasest to deny me here deny me not I beseech thee O Lord I beseech thee the assistance of that Grace of thine without which my Spiritual Enemies will soon prevail over me again Make me to see and consider the necessity of avoiding all appearance of evil all those occasions of my falling and to get instantly out of the way of Sin whatever I am like to lose by it whatever the disadvantage be in this World Let O let my Sacramental vows and promises and Resolutions be never so broken again as they have sometime been formerly but O my Jesu let my Sins and Iniquities ever hereafter appear so odious and hateful to me as they did then when I was at my Lord's Table O let them still be as vile and deformed as they then seemed to me Let none of my pious purposes and holy Resolutions be ever forgotten by me particularly †Here again if you think fit you may mention any holy Resolution made by you Let neither the cares of the World nor the disappointments of my expectations in the affairs of it nor the malice of my Enemies the charitable reproofs of my friends the trespasses of my Neighbours the hardness of my Labours the Importunity and earnestness of my Creditors the neglects and injustices of my Debtors any fears of being poor any distrusts concerning a provision for my posterity or my being despised or reproached by any man or my Losses of the World nor that World of Temptations through which I know I am to pass ever put my Soul out of frame or lead me to a discontented inconsiderate and troubled Spirit or put my holy purposes out of my mind but that in the midst of these and all other tumults of the World I may alway fly to Religion and take Sanctuary there and be safe and rest there and delight to do thy will and be ready to offer up my Soul and Body to thy Service That so the rest of my dayes that are yet to come in this World may be passed away in Humility and Charity in righteousness and holiness in mortification and self-denial in love and obedience to thee O holy and Eternal Jesu Amen A pious Resolution which may be solemnly made on their Knees by them who since their Baptism have had no opportunity to be confirmed by the Bishop but yet being ready and desirous to be confirmed are willing to receive the Holy Sacrament DRead Majesty of Heaven and Earth Forasmuch as thou hast received me in my Baptism into the Covenant of Grace sealed by the blood of Jesus when an Infant Lord I being now come to the knowledge of it do on my bended knees humbly and thankfully own and acknowledge that infinite favour and adore thy mercy And do really and heartily take upon my self what was then engaged for me and by the help of thy Grace which I earnestly beg do resolve to perform with an hearty sincerity my part of that Covenant to the end of my dayes I believe what was then promised I should believe Lord help my unbelief I renounce in my own person what was then promised I should renounce And for the conditions required on my part to wit a joynt performance of all the Gospel-Graces and Duties as Faith Hope Charity Self-denyal Repentance and the rest and an obedience to all of them in sincerity thô with weakness and Imperfection Lord I humbly and thankfully embrace and accept of them and declare my hearty desires and resolutions to discharge them acceptably through the holy Jesus And before thee O holy Trinity and the whole Court of Heaven I do solemnly make this Declaration and renew my Baptismal Covenant Promise and Engagement Amen If you are able to write you may write out a Copy of these Words and having repeated them before God with a deep humility and pious affections you may add these words to it and sign it on my bended knees And then before you rise subscribe your name to it and the day of the month January 1. 1681. N. N. Ever after remembring that now you have dedicated your self to God and that if you live the rest of your life according to these beginnings your passing over the World shall be safe and holy and you be intituled to the Merits of your Redeemer and qualified to receive the benefits of his death and sufferings An act of Resolution which may be humbly and devoutly made on their knees by those who since their last receiving the holy Sacrament have through the violence of a Temptation and it 's daily solicitation though constantly resisted sometime fallen into some one act of known
powers of my Soul for this first admittance of me to the mercy and the priviledges of the Holy Sacrament of thy Body and Blood for my having lately partaked of some of these joyes and comforts that are alone to be found with thee and in thy Service and till now were unknown to me O that having had the mercy and advantage of renewing my Covenant with thee I may now at least begin to spend my days as far as ever the necessary business of this present life will permit me in thy Service in all the parts of piety and virtue in works of Mercy and Charity and Devotion in meekness and humility in self-denial and Repentance in Chastity and Temperance in all that 's holy just and good O my Lord 't is the serious desire and resolution of my Soul thus to do that so early beginning to lay up my treasure in Heaven I may by thy Grace have a good account there in the Records of Eternity at the end of my sixty or seventy years O my Jesu whatever thou pleasest else to deny me here deny me not a grant of this my request I beseech thee that those desires and resolutions of mine may in some good measure be accomplished and effected Let not the allurements and perswasions of my Companions ever entice me from my Duty or the jeers or reproaches of any man whatever fright me from my Innocence O let me never suffer my self to be laught out of my Religion or be ashamed or affraid to perform my holy Duties before the face of any man but be ever looking unto Jesus and let me in view of him be content to endure the Cross and despise the shame or whatever else shall befal me for the sake of Piety and Virtue or obedience to any one Command of thine Let my youthful heart be never much inflam'd with any Loves or passions or desires but those of thee and thy holy Religion O my Lord grant that I may be perswaded to understand and consider what a great advantage I have of devoting and giving up my first and best dayes to Religion and Piety and that now is my time to shew that I am lead to Religion by Love and by my choice and not driven to it only by the fears and horrors of an approaching Grave and that I may often and betimes consider with how much greater comfort I shall leave Mortality if I may be able then to remember an early Love and Obedience to thee O Jesu Let me who have liv'd in thy family ever since I was baptized now at least begin to feel my self more powerfully drawn to thee than ever O make me in the beginning of my dayes to be truely serious and considerate to begin to withdraw from the World betimes and to love to be sometime alone to look into the state of my Soul and provide for a joyful Resurrection Make me to think it the greatest happiness in this World to choose thee O blessed Jesu betimes for my Lord and Master and to look on Religion as the Rest and Delight and Satisfaction of my Soul O fill my Soul with such a Love to thee and to those holy Mysteries in which I commemorate a dying Lord that I may be able to think it long before I have an opportunity to come to feast upon thy Body and Blood again and that as I grow in years I may in some measure grow in Grace and in the Divine favour To this end O that I may pass safely through this dangerous state of life freed from the Intemperance and Lusts the folly and vanity the heedlesness and inconsideration that often attends it and that I may the better be able thus to do Lord I now deliver up to thee all my Affections and Desires to be guided and directed by thy Holy Spirit I am willing to submit them all to thee that so as I have lately begun for Eternity I may go on and prosper and in an acceptable measure now keep up to the purity and Innocence of my first sanctification and never more give out till I come to the end of my hopes and the beginning of my joyes and be presented to my Father pure and spotless in the great day of Rewards and Punishments by thee O holy and merciful Jesus Amen A Prayer which may be used by them who before they come to the Sacrament set apart something to be then offered up to God in Alms. O Merciful Lord from whom every good gift comes and by whose bounty alone it is that I enjoy any thing which I possess I humbly offer up this small return of it to thee for the use of them whom thou hast made thy receivers the poor and the needy Let not the smalness of the offering or any unworthyness of mine I beseech thee keep it from being an acceptable Alms and Oblation to thee and let not the abuse of any of my possessions that have been laid out on Sin and Folly Gluttony or Vanity Lust or Intemperance Revenge or Malice be ever charged or remembred against me in the day of Judgement And O my God take from me a Covetous and Illiberal heart and teach me the truely Christian measures of Charity in Giving and Forgiving for Jesus sake Amen A Prayer for the Grace of Charity in forgiving with particular reference to that petition in our Lord's Prayer forgive us our trespasses as we forgive c. which may be used either before the Sacrament or any other time O Blessed and holy Jesus who wert the great Example of Giving and Forgiving dying for Enemies ready and willing to forgive Iniquity and Sin and to give Heaven and Glory to all true Penitents Give me Grace to write after all this blessed Copy of thine in an acceptable measure And if there be or has been any offender or trespasser against me whom I have not forgiven according to thy Will and the measures of the Gospel forgive me O blessed Jesu and let me not fail to receive a full pardon of that Iniquity for thy mercies sake O let my desires and Petitions of being forgiven as I forgive never be answered according to that instance whatsoever it were or ever shall be wherein I have not heretofore or through the frailty of humane nature or any sudden surprize or inconsideration should not hereafter at any time keep up to thy sacred Rule and Will And O Lord guide and direct me for the Remainder of my dayes in the true measures of Patience and forbearance and take from me all malice and hatred and grudgings and heart-burnings and desires of Revenge on any that has injured me and plant in my Soul I humbly and earnestly beseech thee the true Charity and forgiveness O Lord for thy mercies sake thy Love's sake to mankind so pitty me and pardon all my former gratifications of my revengeful humour that they may never be so charged on me or remembred as to hinder thy forgiveness of me And
usual miscarriages in this case are two likewise either first we come to this feast of Charity without setting apart any thing for the needs of our poor brethren or else secondly we bring too little As to the first of these Consider when we relieve any at our doors that 's often because of their importunity with us or it may be to be rid of them when we relieve by a Rate that 's by constraint and the Laws compel us But this is a free-Will-offering Never let us fail therefore when we come to see fresh tokens of our Saviour's Love to us who for our sakes became poor 1 Cor. 8.9 then to set apart some evidence of our Charity to those who bear his Image and whom he has made his proxies and that our Lord takes it as done to himself and that for an Alms we may receive a blessing Never therefore in this Heavenly action let us appear before the Lord empty But secondly the other fault is that our alms are often too thin and slender 'T is true indeed the holy Scripture has not set down the exact measure or rule of giving but therefore even for that very reason we should do well to give even beyond our ability rather than fall short of it that being the course that is most safe and most holy considering that he that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly and he which soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully 2 Cor. 9.6 and ever remembring that 't is the observation somewhere of a pious Prelate Bishop of Down and Conner now through Christ reaping some of the fruits of his unknown Charity and Piety That the business of the great day of Judgment shall be transacted and the Sentence chiefly pass according to the measure of our works of Mercy and Charity as he infers from St. Matth. 25.31 to the end 'T were easie to produce admirable instances of the vast Charity of the Christians of old such as to this age might seem almost incredible for as a learned Person observes of them Dr. Cave Primitive Christ They looked upon the Poor as the Treasure and ornament of the Church by whom as by bills of Exchange they returned their Estates into the other World Let me therefore offer you this one Consideration to be seriously laid to heart in your next sober and retired thoughts would we be but content to cut off from our vain Expences needless visits our Excess and extravagancy our vanity or folly or what we may lay out on either Lust or Intemperance or in prosecuting our brother in a revengeful malicious and contentious Law-Suit or the like we might have a good portion for the Poor and opportunity for many more charitable actions than are yet recorded above and might have a large Treasure laid up in Heaven at the end of or Sixty or Seventy Years yet never the worse in our Estates at the end of the year or the end of our dayes besides the promise of a blessing here and hereafter from the Eternal God who has past his word to us And why then can we not secretly lay out that on our Kingdom on our Eternal Inheritance in Reversion which would else be expended on our jollity and excess in vain and useless Expences Further he that has injured his brother by fraud or deceit or any other injustice is in Conscience absolutely bound to restore or make restitution to him again but in case he be deceased we are then to make it to his Heirs or Executors But possibly it may so happen that we may have been unjust to some or in such wayes that we cannot possibly know who they are In this Case the Restitution is to be made to the Poor Now consider what an excellent opportunity we have of so doing by our Alms at this holy Sacrament alway remembring that the Restitution be rather beyond the injustice done than in the least degree to come short of it And that 's the fourth part of Preparation Fifthly we are then to bring with us a great Devotion and pious frame of Soul Let us be very careful to lay aside all thoughts and considerations of this lower World and all things else that may clog and hinder the Soul from being then wrought up to a Sprightly Holy Heavenly and Devotional temper and earnestly beg of God by prayer to assist us in our cloathing our selves in the Wedding Garment that so we may go to meet our Saviour acceptably and chearfully as we would to meet the dearest Friend on Earth whom we had not seen in many years before And having with us a deep sense and sight of our Iniquities begot in us by Examination and a lively Faith in the infinite mercies of our God through our Saviour having our Charity truely Christian and our Devotion high and Angelical let us with joy and pleasure go to Jesus and declare our resolutions to be his unfeigned and faithful Servants and followers utterly abhorring all known Sin and sincerely resolving for all known duty And let us say of our old Iniquities Be content to lay down your Necks quietly and submit to be thrown off for I am going to renew my Covenant with my dear Redeemer Be content ye my old Debaucheries Prophanesses Lusts and Intemperance Oaths and Blasphemies Malice and Injustice and the rest of you to part from me who am resolv'd to take my leave of you and to go and be more closely united to the Holy Jesus and to go on in my journey to the new Jerusalem adieu to you all and though we weep at parting 't is not because I must leave you but because I have been too long with you and had not done so sooner And now my Soul may the devout person say seeing we have done with them let us raise and exalt one affections for our Lord is coming and he is coming if yet we are not wanting to our selves to bring us a pardon sealed with him from God and to re-establish our title to a glorious Inheritance and we shall shortly bless the day that ever we were perswaded thus to do Stay methinks we begin to feel something of the pleasures of Religion already something of satisfaction in our very first resolutions of holyness Oh what will it then be when we are better acquainted with our blessed Saviour and his holy and Heavenly Doctrine what will it be when we come to his Table and have long frequented it and given up our selves intirely to him as we now hope to do Come then let us begin it now And oh my Soul could we but for a while steal out of the body that we might be the more free and lively and active and unwearied in our thanksgivings praises and Hosanna's to that Lord whom we are going to meet But however Let us now say I believe Lord help my unbelief for I come to have my Faith strengthned I am grieved and wearied with the burthen of my Sins but I come from them to