flesh but upon the willingness of my spirit and so cover all my imperfections with the perfect and absolute obedience of thy dear Son that those Sacrifices which I have offered up unto thee this day may be accepted in and for that sacrifice which Christ Jesus offered up upon the cross for me And as I desire that my sacrifices may be pleasing to thee so let thine ordinances be profitable to me And as thou hast this day sown my heart with the precious seed of thy Word so let neither the fowls of the air devour it nor the cares of the world choak it but let the gracious rain of thy blessing come often upon it that it may bring forth in mee the fruits of repentance and amendment of life And forasmuch as thy Word is an unvaluable inestimable treasure better then thousands of gold and silver sweeter also then the hony the hony comb blessed Lord God be pleased still to continue it to our Land and Nation let not our crying sins of unthankfulnesse impenitency hardness of heart unfruitfulnesse under so great means of grace cause thee to remove thy candlestick or to quench the light of our Israel Inlighten also with the beams of thy Gospel those nations which yet sit in darkness and in the shadow of death adde unto thy Church daily such as shal be saved that so these sinful days being shortned the number of thine elect accomplished we may celebrate that eternal rest and Sabbath of our souls with thee in thy Kingdome Blesse O Lord all the people of this land from the highest to the lowest our King Queen our Prince the rest of the roiall stock our Ministers and Magistrates thy whole Church and every member of it in what place or case soever and prosper all designs and enterprises that are undertaken for the advancement of the Gospel and the inlargement of thy Kingdome Finally O Lord as thou hast been good to me in the passages of this day refreshing my body with thy good creatures and my soul with the spirituall rest of this holy Day so continue thy goodness to mee this night receive me into the arms of thy providence cover me with the feathers of thy wings that I may lay me down in peace and take my rest that being awakened to the comforts of the next day my mouth may be filled with thy praises and I may doe thee service in the duties of that calling wherein thou hast placed disposed of me that so thy good blessing may be still upon me and thou maist never be weary to doe me good all this and what else thou knowest needfull and expedient for me I beg in the name merits mediation and words of thy Sonne Christ Jesus saying as he himself hath taught me Our Father which art in heaven c. Directions for the due receiving of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper WEE may not presume to come to the Lords Table without a due serious preparation That which is holy must not bee given to Dogges neither must pearls bee cast before swine Mat. 7.6 Josiah charged the Levites to prepare themselves and to pray for their brethren and so to kill the passeover 2 Chr. 35.4 6. The neglect of preparation is very dangerous After the sop Satan enters into Judas John 13.27 Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shal be guilty of the body and bloud of the Lord 1 Cor. 11.27 Hee that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation unto himself 1 Cor. 11.29 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep 1 Cor. 11.30 Now this preparation consists principally in five things The first is a self-examination Let a man examine himself and so let him eate of that bread and drink of that cup. 1 Cor. 11.28 The thing chiefly to be examined is sin 1. In thought The thoughts of our hearts are only evil and that continually Gen 6.5 Out of the heart proceed evill thoughts Mat. 15.19 2. In word Idle words I say unto you that of every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof at the day of judgement Mat. 12.36 Filthy and immodest words Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth Eph. 4.22 Angry and rash words As calling our borther Raca or Thou fool Mat. 5.29 False and untrue words as lies slanders defamations c. Whosoever loveth or maketh a lie is shut out of the new Jerusalem Rev. 22.15 Profane and impious words Against GOD oathes and blasphemies Let your communication be yea yea nay nay for whatsoever is more then these commeth of evil Mat. 5.37 Against our selves or others as curses imprecations c. As he loved cursing so let it come unto him As he clothed himself with cursing like as with a garment so let it come into his bowels like water and like oyle into his bones Psal 109.18.19 3. In deed This is either of Omission or Commission Both are pointed at in that sentence of the Apostle The good which I would do I doe not But the evill which I would not do that I do Rom. 7.19 Thus you have the thing to be examined Now the rule of this examination must be the Law of God For by the Law is the knowledg of sin Rom. 3.20 I had not known sin but by the Law Rom. 7.7 Hence it is that our Church which hath disposed all things wisely and sweetly in the Liturgy hath appointed the commandments to be read before the admimstration of this Sacrament that men might see their sins in the glasse of Gods Law The second thing required of a worthy receiver is Repentance and Contrition The Paschall Lambe was to be eaten with sowr herbs And Christ our Passeover must be received with a broken and a contrite spirit With a bitter soul With a weeping eye This bread must be eaten with the sweat of our brows i.e. our tears And I may say of the wine in this Sacrament as the Mother of Solomon said unto him Prov. 31.6 Give this wine unto such as bee of heavy hearts And though in the sense of our own unworthinesse we may cry out with Paul Who is fit for these things Yet we may comfort our selves with that of the Psalmist A broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise Ps 51. The third thing required of a Comunicant is Faith He must beleeve that Jesus Christ is the Messias and Saviour of the world He must beleeve that he was crucified shed his bloud He must beleeve that the merits of his crosse and passion are able to save sinners He must beleeve that these merits are conveyed to him in this Sacrament being rightly administred and duly received For what was bequeathed in the Testament is dispensed in the Sacraments This faith is the wedding garment he that intruded to the feast without it was bound hand foot and cast into utter darkness Mat.
22 Fourthly there is required a stedfast purpose and settled resolution against sin for the trme to come The Church in the administration of this Sacrament cals such only as intend to lead a new life to follow the Commandements of God to walk from thenceforth in his holy ways The Paschall Lambe was to be eaten by such only as were circumcised The Manna was to be put into a pot of pure gold The body of Christ crucified was wrapt in fine linnen and laid in a new Spulchre Sorrow for sin without resolution of amendment is like the pumping in a Ship without stopping the leak that lets in the water In the Law if a man held the unclean thing still in his hand he was unclean though he washed his hand never so often Fiftly there is required Charity with all men The Paschall Lambe was to be eaten without leaven The Serpent disgorges his poison when he coms to drink Be as wise as Serpents Let us keep the feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice 1 Cor. 5.8 If thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift Mat. 5.23 24. The three wise men went first to Ierusalem then to Bethlehem first to the vision of peace then to the house of bread The cup of blessing which we blesse is it not the Communion of the bloud of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ For we being many are one bread and one body 1 Cor. 10.16 17. The signs of bread wine used in the Sacrament may teach us love charity Many grains are kneaded together into one loafe Many grapes are pressed together in one cup. If thus thou hast made thy peace with God and the world draw neare Tast and see how sweet the Lord is Psal 34.8 Eate O friend drink yea drink abundantly O beloved Cant. 5.1 A short Prayer before we receive the Sacrament O Most gracious and merciful Lord God thou hast called all those that are weary heavy laden with the burthen of their sins to come unto thee and hast promised that thou wilt ease and refresh them thou hast invited all those that hunger and thirst after thy Kingdome and the righteousnesse thereof to come to thy Table to taste of thy Supper and hast promised that thou wilt satisfie them In affiance therefore of these promises I come to thee blessed Lord Jesus beseeching thee to ease me to refresh me to satisfie me with thy mercy for my soul hungers and thirsts after thee thy salvation I confesse and acknowledge that my daily sins have made me unworthy of my daily bread much more of this Manna this bread of life which came down from heaven I confesse also that I am not prepared according to the preparation of thy Sanctuary yet for as much as I have this day set my heart to seek thee thou O good God be merciful unto me And though I cannot bring with me a clean heart for who can say his heart is clean yet behold O Lord I bring with me a contrite heart and a broken spirit despise not O God this sacrifice As for the sinnes that I have committed against thee binde them up into one bundle and cast them into the bottomlesse sea of thy mercy bury them in the wounds and wash them away in the bloud of that immaculate Lamb Christ Jesus and for the time to come so sprinkle my conscience with the same bloud that being clensed from dead works I may serve thee the living God in righteousness and true holiness all the days of my life That so this blessed Sacrament may be a means to quiet my conscience to increase my faith to inflame my charity to amend my life to save my soul to assure me that I am in the number of those blessed ones who shal eate at thy table and be called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Grant this O Lord for Jesus Christ his sake in whose name and words I conclude these my imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught me Our Father c. At the receiving of this Sacrament IN the receiving of the Lords Supper many particulars would rather distract us then direct us these few I suppose most considerable First let thine eyes be upon the actions of the Minister observe the breaking of the bread and the powring out of the wine The breaking of the bread will minde thee how the body of Christ was bruised and broken The pouring out of the wine wil remēber thee of the shedding of his bloud It was shed for thee When he was circumcised When he was scourged When he sweat in the garden When he was crowned with thorns But especially to which this Sacrament hath immediate relation When he was nailed to the cross When his fide was pierced The bloud of Christ clenseth us from all sins 1 John 1.17 It speaketh better things then the bloud of Abel Heb. 12.24 It is precious bloud 1 Pet. 1.19 And all this because it is the bloud of God Acts 20.28 Secondly discern the Lords body 1 Cor. 11.29 We must consider the consecrated bread not as the bread of the Lord but as that bread which is the Lord. Not as our common ordinary daily bread but as the body of Christ sacramentally We must consider the wine not as the bloud of the grape but as the bloud of Christ in a true yet sacramentall manner Christ is truly present in the Sacrament it is the eating of his flesh and the drinking of his bloud John 6.56 Not naturally and corporally This is an hard saying who can hear it Joh. 6.60 The flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and life Joh. 6.63 Thirdly receive it kneeling This gesture is most sutable It signifies an humble and gratefull acknowledgement of those benefits we receive in this Sacrament Again the Minister when he gives and we when we receive joyn together in a short but sweet prayer The body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee c. The bloud of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for thee c. No gesture so sutable for prayer as kneeling Again it is appointed ordered by the Church Let all things be done decently and in order 1 Cor. 14.40 Though I be absent frō you in the flesh yet am I present with you in the spirit joying and beholding your order Col. 2.5 After the receiving of this Sacrament WHen thou hast been partaker of the Lords Supper First of all give thanks It is a duty which we owe for our ordinary suppers It was called the Eucharist from this duty of thanksgiving It is the cup of blessing God blesseth us and we must blesse God God gives us the cup of
Ezekiah call thy self to an account for all thy sins mourn for them in the bitternesse of thy soul confesse them to God and ask forgivenesse 2. Send for thy Minister To whom if need be make a speciall confession and take along with thee the benefit of his absolution Whos 's soever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whose soever sins ye retain they are retained John 20.23 If I forgave any thing to whom I forgave it I forgave it in the person of Christ 2 Cor. 2.10 Secondly let thy Minister pray over thee Is any sick among you let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray over him If he hath commited sins they shall be forgiven him Jam. 5.14 15. Thirdly let him give thee the Sacrament of the Lords Supper This is the best viaticum and provision for so long a journey I may say to thee as the Angel to Eliah Arise and eat for the journey is too great for thee And if with Eliah thou dost eat and drink thou maist travell in the strength of this meat to Horeb the mount of God 1 Kings 19.7 8. This is the bread that came down from Heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die Who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath eternall life and I will raise him up at the last day Joh. 6.51 54. V. Euseb hist l. 5. c. 45.3 Set thine house in order 2 Kings 20.1 This will not make thee die more quickly but more quietly 4. Remember the poor When we have beene kindly entertained at a friends house it is good manners to give the servants something when we goe away Blessed is he that considereth the poore the Lord will deliver him in the time of trouble The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing and will make all his bed in his sicknesse Psal 41.1 3. 5. If thou beest a father or mother of children call them before thee and blesse them So did Jacob when he departed Gen. 49.1 6. Make restitution if thou beest able to such as thou hast wronged and defrauded Without restitution there is no remission Enquire with Samuel whose oxe thou hast taken or whose asse thou hast taken whom thou hast defrauded whom thou hast oppressed or of whose hand thou hast received a bribe and restore it Send for them who have offended thee and forgive them and for those whom thou hast offended and ask forgivenesse Lastly resign and give over thy self to God Behold here I am let the Lord do to me as seemeth good to him 1 Sam. 15.26 Not my wil but thine be done And if thus thou beest prepared at the day of death oh well is thee and happy shalt thou be Psal 128.2 Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall finde thus doing thus dying Mat. 24.46 A short prayer for a happy departure O Most glorious Lord the GOD of the spirits of all flesh in whose hands are the times of all men and the keys of the Grave I most meekly beseech thee of thy goodnesse to pardon and forgive me all my sins and to make me ever mindfull of my mortality Lay often before mine eyes by thy remembring spirit that the days of my pilgrimage are but few and evil that I have here no abiding and continuing City that all flesh and the goodlinesse thereof is but a flower that fadeth a shadow that vanisheth away that so numbring my days I may apply my heart to wisedome and with the wise Virgins provide Oil in my Lamp and make my calling and election sure before I go hence be no more seen And when it shall please thee to cast me upon the bed of sickness and to compasse me about with the sorrows of the grave I beseech thee for thy names sake for thy mercies sake for thy Son Jesus Christ his sake not to be far from me in that needfull time of trouble when I shall finde heavinesse in my flesh and there be none to deliver me But draw near unto my soul and be about my bed to pardon my sins to pacifie my conscience to strengthen my faith to mitigate my pains to receive my soul when it shall be commended unto thee Receive it O God the Father for thou hast created it Receive it O God the Son for thou hast redeemed it Receive it O God the Holy Ghost for thou hast sanctified it Receive it ô holy blessed and glorious Trinity that being translated out of this vale of misery it may raign with thee one everliving and immortall God in the Kingdome of Glory world without end Amen SECTION I. Of the day of Judgement CHristian Reader let my Meditations now passe as thou thy self must from the day of death to the day of Judgment For it is appointed for all men once to die and after that to come to judgment Heb. 9.27 CAP. I. There shall bee a day of Judgment IT is an Article of our faith that CHRIST who nâ—w sits at the right hand of his Father shall come from thence to judg the quick and the dead Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied of it saying Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints To execute Judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against hâ—m Iude 14 15. God shall bring every work into judgement with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evill Eccles 12.14 I saw the dead small and great stand before God The Sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to his works Rev. 20.13 It is very observable that all other Articles of the Creed have been opposed by Heretiques either in whole or in part but no Heretique denied a day of judgment Vide Danaeum in his Cat. of heresies against the Creed In this world Solomon says no man can know love or hatred by all that is before them For all things come alike to all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked to the good and to the clean and to the unclean to him that sacrificeth to him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath Eccles 9.1 2. Now shall not the Judge of all the world do right Gen. 18.25 There must be a day wherein the wicked shall be punished and the vertuous rewarded A day wherein God will put a difference betwixt an Israelite and an Aegyptian betwixt a Sheep and a Goat betwixt wheat and tares There shall be a day when I will make up my Jewels and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God