his Blood that he might redeem you to himself that he might purchase to himself a People zealous of good works False are we to all this if we do not walk as New creatures There are but two Motives with which I shall enforce this The Text furnishes me with one And the Season of the Year with the other 1. The Motive in the Text Old things are done away Behold all things are become New I shall not consider it as amplifying the other expression and so refering to the Change of those that are iâ— Christ and consequently of like import with the Phrase a New creature but as an Argument to urge and enforce it And accordingly understand these words as relating to the Obligation of the Law of Moses That that is now ceased Those old things are now done away The Shadows of the Ceremonial Law are expired at the coming of the Substance which is Christ Colos 2.20 We are said to be dead with Ch ist from the Rudiments or Elements of the World Respecting material and worldly things either to do or forbear them For of that kind were the Ordinances and Institutions of the Ceremonial Law They were the first and lowest Lessons fitted to the Infancy of the Church But now the Kingdom of Heaven is come by the Erection of the Gospel-Church a Kingdom which shall not be shaken and the Orders and Institutions of it never be changed Now a more noble and spiritual worship is to take place those old things are past away No wonder if the Scaffolds of Ceremonies be taken down when the Church of God the Spiritual Building is brought by Christ to its full height Now all things are become new by Christ the Mediator of the New Covenant The Testament he left us is a New Testament He rent the Vail of the Temple in twain when he died and put an end by his own Sacrifice of himself unto all the Sacrifices and Services of the Jewish Temple And therefore it is observable that the first time he spake of his Death was in the Temple But after his Death he never entred into it though we read that he was in Jerusalem after his Resurrection We have a New Sanctuary an Heavenly one A New High Priest of a better Order than that of Aaron New Heavens and a New Earth as the. Gospel State is called A New Light to inlighten the World even the Knowledge of God in the Face of Christ A New Sun even Christ the Sun of Righteousness with healing in his Beams A New Adam after the Image of God the express Image of his Person and the Brightness of his Glory in whom all fulness dwells We have a New Coelestial Paradise into which the Old Serpent shall never enter A New Tree of Life whose Leaves are for the healing of the Nations A New Eve the Church of Christ Bone of his Bone and Flesh of his Flesh formed of his Blood and animated by his Spirit We have New Sacrifices New Sacraments a New Circumcision a New Passover a New Jerusalem a New Temple Behold all things are made New And shall not we that profess to be the Disciples and Followers of Christ by whom all things are thus made New Answer all this by being New creatures that we may serve him in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the Letter Rom. 7.6 That is that we being delivered from the manifold difficult Impositions of the Mosaick Law all which we could not fulfil and from the Curse upon those which did not we should now serve God with new Hearts and Lives by the Spirit of Christ according to the Law of Grace 2. There is yet another Argument from the Circumstance of â—ime In the begining of the New Year which makes the Exhortation seasonable to press you to be New creatures And when may I expect to be attentively heard upon such a Subject if not at such a season when I may hope several of you have had serious reflexions this very Morning upon Time and Eternity from the Conclusion of the last Year and the beginning of another to awaken your Thankfulness for the Mercies of the year past and your Repentance for the sins of it and your good Resolutions and Self-Dedication to the Lord for the future It will be sad if the Experience of another Year do not teach us some Vnderstanding when day unto day uttereth Knowledg and night unto night might teach us Wisdom The very thoughts of our hasty Time measured by Years and Months and Weeks and Days should put us upon considering how irrevocable and past recovery is the last year and all our former years it being utterly impossible to call back Yesterday Almighty Power may stop the course of the Sun as in the time of Joshua but to make that which is past to be present and not past is a Contradiction and cannot be done And oh how small a point doth separate and distinguish that which is past from that which is yet to come They are divided by one Moment by an Instant that is almost nothing by that which we cannot speak of without losing it being gone while we open our Mouths to say the least word about it So near is Death to Life The very nature of Time it self may teach us this And certainly the changes of the year past should be very instructive and give us many Reflexions according to our Sins and Mercies according to the Trials and Exercises we have been carried through this last year May not all of you look back upon many Changes the preceding year of several kinds those especially which God hath made amongst us by Death We are called to review how many of them we knew and were acquainted with with whom we familiarly conversed not a Year since are now silent in the dust While their immortal Spirits are some in Heaven and others in the place of Torment And of the multitude that have dyed this last year could we but separate the corrupted putrifying Relicks of those Persons whom we Honoured Valued and Loved from the rest of the Deceased and view their Bodies as now they are How affecting would be the Spectacle to think what they were less than a year ago and to consider what now they are as to their Bodies and the greater change there is as to their Souls But even as to the former let us compare in our thoughts the Figure they lately made while acting their Parts upon this Stage as living Men and Women amongst us What a Change is made in a few Months as to every of them And the like may be our own Case within a few Months from this moment long before the end of this year we now begin For consider it Christians This last year that is now ended is one great step we have every one made towards the Grave Another such may bring us home O that we may be found ready Who knows but as the last Year carried off
those who have formerly been at the Lord's Table but very often do tarry away though they have time and opportunity as being afraid to come by reason of their own Unworthiness 4. Consider further What are those sins that you charge your selves with as the ground of your Vnfitness They are either of Weakness or of Wilfulness Either such as can hardly be avoided by the Care and Watchfulness of Good Men as sins of daily infirmity These do not make you unfit for the Lord's Table For if they did who at all would ever be fit If a perfect sinless Fitness were necessary none could come aright And by such a thought we make Christ an hard Master But if they be sins of Wilfulness you are Self-condemned if you do not Reform And yet how many are there concerning whom we may charitably judge that they do not allow themselves in wilful sins that do yet tarry away from this Table 5. Let me ask you further Have you ever tryed to fit and prepare your selves as worthy Receivers of the Lord's Supper Have you endeavoured in the use of all God's appointed Means to obtain that Knowledge Repentance Faith and Love which should fit you for this Ordinance If you have never used the Means that God hath appointed if you have never seriously and in good earnest set about the Work of Preparation How can you say that you never shall or can be fitted for this Priviledge What Minister of Christ have you ever consulted about it It may be you mistake the very Notion of the Lord's Supper and understand not the True Nature and Design of it Have you set apart time to search your Hearts and examine your Coâ—sciences and Repent of all Sin and give up your selves to God in Christ and beg the help of Ministers and Friends to that purpose 6. Therefore let me ask you again Is not your Unfitness from sloath and Idleness or the distracting hurry of Worldly Affairs that you cannot be brought to spare so much time as is necessary for this Work How will you Answer this at the Great Day Will you then have the Courage to tell the Lord Redeemer to his Face what this Pretence amounts to Will you tell him in that Awful Solemnity Lord I would not have omitted the Ordinance of the Supper but have remembred Thee and thy dying Love by breaking of bread But I was unfit for it altogether unfit because my Mind was distracted with the cares of the World I had so much of other matters all the Week from Moneth to Moneth to take up my Thoughts and Time that I had no leisure for serious Preparation What self-condemning Excuses will these prove at last Lastly Is there not yet something worse at the bottom viz. That you are unwilling of that strictness and seriousness that you think such are obliged to as come to the Lord's Table Unwilling of that circumspect walking which such of all others should be exemplary in Are you not afraid that if you come you must abridge your selves of some Liberties that you now take That you must be more constant in secret Prayer That you must set up daily Family Prayer in your houses That you must spend more Time in Reading be more careful of your Company and be more faithful and exact in your Dealings and do many things that now you neglect How dreadful is the Import of such an Excuse for not Coming of such a Ground for staying away For it seems to lye in this That Men are resolved they will live at large and not be bound up by the Rules of the Gospel That is They never mean to take upon them the Yoke of Christ or to live as his Disciples If they would speak it out it must signifie thus much Thou shalt not be my Lord and Redeemer I will not deny Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts and live Soberly and Righteously and Godly in this World Notwithstanding my baptism whereby I have sworn Fidelity to Christ he shall not reign over me This is practically and in effect their Sense For this Command and Order to do this in Remembrance of Christ is as much a Law of Christ as any in the Bible And yet many refuse to obey this Command lest they should be obliged more strictly to obey all the other How little do such Professors consider how unbecoming it is to call themselves Christians or that they are Antecedently by their Baptism and Christian Profession bound to obey Christ in all these Instances And at the Lord's Table we do but renew the Obligation upon our selves to do so We are bound to obey Christ as our Ruler and to yield Obedience to all the Laws of Christ whether we come to this Table or no Though we are also bound to come and to profess and promise Obedience there There are other Objections I may consider hereafter and therefore shall now close with a few words of Counsel 1. Let those of us who have eaten of this Bread and drunk of this Cup and so have professedly had Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ Let us Examine whether we have really and truly had any Fellowship with him in this Ordinance or no Whether we have only partaked of the outward Signs and been present at such a Feast of Love without any Spiritual Nourishment to our Souls Without attending to this the Design of the Institution is overlooked and all the Genuine Advantages of it will be lost Without this we have but played the Hypocrites and Acted a Part and shall pay dear for our Solemn Trifling as having slighted the Redeemer's Love and made our selves Guilty of his body and blood If we have not laboured to see the Evil of Sin and to have our hatred of it encreased If we have not found our Hearts set more against it and our Resolutions confirmed to forsake it If we have not felt the Attractive Influence of the Love of Christ to bring us to Adore him and Magnifie his Condescention and Love If we have not had Admiring Thoughts of the blessed God of the Purity of his Naâ—ure the Justice of his Government and all his Excellent Perfections which are so highly honoured in our Redemption by the bloody Sacrifice of Christ If we have not been cordial and unfeigned in the Dedication of our selves to him and all we have and are to be at his Dispose and Order for the rest of our Time If we have not had our Thoughts raised up to Heaven to a risen glorified Redeemer on his Throne as triumphing over all the Adversaries of our Salvation as able to save to the uttermost All that come to God by him as faithful to compleat what he hath begun and to preserve what is committed to him and to give us the full purchase of his Meritorious Death in the Heavenly Kingdom And if we have not been melted under the sense of pardoning Mercy to our selves and brought to a better Temper of Mind as to the
many of our Acquaintance and Friends but that our Names may be amongst those who shall not out-live this It is true It may be you shall live to see the Conclusion of this New-year but it may be you shall not live till Midsummer It may be I may Preach a Twelve-month hence but peradventure you may hear a Sermon occasioned by my Death before that time Or your own ears may be stopped if my mouth be not You may die if I should live yet a few years more I cannot look round on this Assembly but I must conclude that of all this number it is past doubt but some one or more will dye before this year be over I believe I need not scruple to pronounce it There is none can question but if the number were much less one or more would dye within a year Therefore the Voice of God is to every one of you Awake and mind your Work Turn to the Lord and seek after Union to Christ and see that you be New creatures for you shall die before another year But you will almost All be ready to say To whom in particular do you speak this Sure not to me Yes I speak it to you to every of you whether in Youth or Age To you Parents and to you that are Children To you Masters and to you Servants To you Husbands and to you Wives To you before me and to you on either hand This Call of God is to every one of you in particular See that you be found in Christ for you may not be found alive at the end of this year Oh but I hope the contrary say such and such As for me I hope I have many a fair year to come I am in sprightly vigorous Youth or I am in setled confirmed Stength and Health or I am but just entred into the busie World or just now entring upon it c. But How many younger and more likely to live have died this last year and therefore why may not you be one of those who shall dye this Nay Elder Persons are ready to excuse themselves and say They have many Seniors to go before them That many who are Elder than they they see do yet hold out year after year Their inward thought is that they have escaped many Dangers and been recovered from many Sicknesses And though they are but weak and crazy and have many Infirmities and Pains to presage their Dissolution Yet notwithstanding these they make a shift to live and have rubbed on for several years under such weakness And several of their Acquaintance as weak and sickly as they have continued a good while for all that And so neither Young nor Old will admit the Supposition as to their own case Nor You nor You nor any body will believe they shall dye this year And so the next year I doubt not your Hearts will say the same as now for there will be the same pretence And therefore it is not unto you I must speak of Death but rather wish you Joy of the long Life which with so much confidence you reckon upon Well Shall I say then Go and enjoy this World and live as you list if you durst put it to the Venture Go and gratifie your Senses Appetites and Lusts for this year as you did the last and never think of Death or fear it You are not like to dye this year or the next But How unreasonable is such Security when some one or more of this Assembly you grant will probably or most certainly dye this year And how can you be certain that you shall be the Exempted Person Or that your nearest Relations and those you love best That they shall not dye this year Your Parents your Pastors your Husbands and your Wives and your Children and your Bosom Friends you will as hardly admit the thoughts that they shall dye this year But if some or other of those that now hear me that now look upon me that now listen and attend to what I say should be called away to Judgment before another year Why may not you in particular be the Persons or the Desire of your eyes those whose Lives are dearest to you Certainly To begin the year with such a Thought can do you no harm but may be improved to many useful purposes However I must tell you If after all the Changes which we have seen within a Twelve month and which every year brings fresh experience of we will not look forward to our own great change If we will not heartily concern our selves for our greatest truest Interest and prepare for an Everlasting State by voluntary vital Union with the Son of God I must tell you for a Conclusion That God changeth not And if neither the Voice of his Providence nor the Voice of Conscience If neither the Calls of the Word nor the Motions of the Spirit If neither the Experience of others nor so much as we have had of our own will awaken us to change our course You must know that the Holiness of God his Justice and his Truth are unchangable He will not alter the terms of Life for you and me He will not find another way for us to escape Condemnation than by being in Christ and being New creatures Therefore look to it that you be found such And in wishing and praying you may all be Such I do not only wish you a happy New year But a happy Life if it be for many years And withal a Blessed Eternity after Death which such as are now in Christ shall then Enjoy with him when Days and Years and Time shall be no more God grant it for Christ's sake Amen The Second Discourse â— Christ's passing over the Brook and Entring into the Garden After the Lord's Supper From JOHN XVIII 1 2. When Jesus had spoken these words he went forth with his Disciples over the Brook Cedron where was a Garden into the which he entred and his Disciples And Judas also which betrayed him knew the place For Jesus oft times resorted thither with his Disciples UPon Thursday the Day before the Crucifixion of our Lord he goes to Jerusalem from Bethany and there eats the Passover with his Disciples at the end whereof he institutes the Sacrament of the Supper and then makes a large Pathetical Discourse contained in the 15th and 16th Chapters Upon which followed his admirable Mediatory Prayer in the 17th Chapter Now having said and done this having said these words and sung an Hymn with his Disciples he goes forth with his Disciples over the Brook Cedron c. The Jews it is true did not go out of their Houses that Night after the Celebration of the Passover Exod. 12.22 24. Because of the Angels passing by the Houses of the Israelites when the first born of the Egyptians were to be cut off That the Israelites might not mix with the Egyptians at that time but sprinkle the Blood of the Paschal Lamb on their
the Ceremonial Law as an Example of Obedience And therefore the Skin of his Flesh was Circumcised and his Holy Mother Purified And he that was the true Passover would keep the Typical one And so as one well expresses it did obediently stand under his own Shadow 3. One Reason of his Desire to eat of this Passover might be to put an end to the Sacraments of the Legal Institution And therefore after the eating of the Passover he instituted the Lords Supper which succeeds in its room Which is a Feast upon the Sacrifice of Christ the True Lamb of God the true Christian Passover in Remembrance of our Deliverance by Him from Sin and Hell from Death and the Devil Those things therefore that were but Types and Shadows of Him must cease after his Death the Truth and Substance of them being now Accomplished as I shall shew presently 4. Another Reason might be That he might have Fellowship and Communion with his Disciples And that leads to the consideration of the Third thing III. The Company with whom he desires to eat this his last Passover With You. The Jews tell us concerning the Number of those that were to eat the Passover That it was not to be under Ten for the whole Lamb was to be eaten Nor above Twenty lest they should need two Lambs Therefore our Lord sent word to one of his Disciples to prepare every thing for that Solemnity that the House might be searched if there were any Leavened Bread left in it Which they were wont to do very carefully in every corner saying Blessed art thou O Lord who hast Sanctified us by thy Precepts And then throwing a little Dust into the Air they used these words or the like If there be any leavened Bread in this House let it be as this dust cast into the Air. But the principal Reason of sending word before-hand might be because the Persons in the Family were to be numbred And it is not improbable but there were more Men than the Apostles and our Lord who were present at the eating of this Passover and it may be some Women too For 1. It is probable That the Man and his Family in whose House it was did eat of the Passover with Christ and his Apostles Secondly The Expressions of the Evangelist are very considerable concerning him that should betray him There is a Threefold Gradation He says first in the General One of you shall betray me And afterwards he comes nearer and says One of the Twelve Or of my Apostles often so called So that at the eating of this Passover there seemed to have been more present than the Twelve Apostles And afterwards he particularizeth the Person He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish Thirdly We read that the Virgin Mary and two or three other Women did usually accompany him and were then at Jerusalem to eat the Passover For the next day the Virgin Mary was standing by the Cross when our Lord was Crucified And it being the Jewish Custom for the Relations to join together at the Passover Supper it is not unlikely that she did eat the Passover with Christ And it being in the House of one of his Disciples she might tarry there that night while he went out from thence about Eleven or Twelve a Clock at Night into the Garden where he was betrayed and taken And she hearing of his being taken might go to the High Priests Hall and be at the Cross the next Morning at Nine a Clock With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer VVith You You my Disciples and Friends with whom I shall never eat another Passover Notwithstanding the Prospect of his Approaching Sufferings and Death He did not decline but earnestly desire Communion and Fellowship with them in such an Ordinance When he gave 'em the Cup 't is observable he bids 'em divide it among themselves The Scripture saith not that he gave the Elements into every one of their particular hands much less into their mouths without their touching the Bread or Cup with their own hands except we will admit that Christ chang'd the posture he was in and alway used at Meals and the Scripture saith not he did how could he reach it to so many as Eleven Persons in the same Posture IV. Let us consider the Time when Before I Suffer There is a great Controversie about the Time of this Passover It was certainly upon Thursday-night He being Crucified on the Fryday in the Forenoon though he did not give up the Ghost till Three in the Afternoon But the Question will be whether it was at the same Time that the Jews kept their Passover or a Day sooner And if it was a Day sooner How could the Paschal Lamb be killed which was to be brought to the Temple and be killed by the Priests between the two Evenings of the Fourteenth day the first whereof began when the Sun began to decline or as soon as Mid-day was past The other Evening was after Sun-set Some Learned Men think it is plain That the Time when our Lord did eat this Passover with his Disciples was the day before the Generality of the Jews kept theirs from Joh. 18.28 Chap. 19.14 For the better understanding of this you must know that the Time for the Observation of the Jewish Festivals was Regulated by the Appearance of the New Moon They had not Almanacks * Dr. Wallis of the Christian Sabbath in Answer to Mr. Bampfield Page 13. in those days as we have now to tell us before-hand when will be a New-Moon But if we may believe the Jewish Writers about the time when they expected a New Moon they sent Men to watch for it on the Top of some Hill or High place and he who could first discover a New-Moon was to tell the Priest and he to Blow the Trumpet to give the people notice that there was a New-Moon But in case of Cloudy weather if in Three days time from their first expectation no Man could see a New-Moon they did then venture but not before to blow the Trumpet without seeing it which must needs cause a very great Vncertainty and the same Moon be sooner seen at one place then at another and the Passover kept accordingly So that sometimes there was a Mistake of One day or more Now it hath been * Dr. Cudworth's Notion of the Lord's Supper Page 50 70 c proved out of Epiphanius and others that there was a Contention and Tumult amongst the Jews at this very Passover concerning the Time or the Day wherein it was to be observed and that the Senate had appointed a Day too late and had not determined according to the True Phasis or Appearance of the Moon 'T is manifest our Saviour kept the Passover on one Day and the Generality of the Jews on another perhaps he about a Fortnight before might see a New-Moon a Day sooner than they did And therefore we may
And every * Dr. Manton on Colos 1.19 p. 202. Office of Christ as our Prophet Priest and King doth suppose and require that he be true God as well as true man or he could not discharge those Offices to any Saving Purpose for us 4. Let us then Imitate the Faith of this Apostle in contemplating the Death and Resurrection of Christ that we also may say as he did My Lord and my God And that will include both a Claim of Interest and special Propriety in him and imply the Dedication of our selves to his Use and Service The one of these will follow upon the other When God says I am thy God we cannot but answer That we are his Servants and resolve to be so And if we are his and Devoted to him we may infer that he is Ours for the Covenant is mutual But if we cannot as sometimes we cannot so clearly and comfortably say My God We may yet humbly and resolvedly say My Lord that is I am thy Servant I am Devoted to thy Fear I am resigned and given up to thee I have chosen thee for my Portion and I have dedicated and devoted my self for ever to be thine c. The more serious we are in this the more likely are we to come to this Claim and Appropriation and special Interest in God and Christ as ours And till we Arrive to some Degree of this we are Strangers to the most comfortable part of the Christian Life For this is a great ground of our Confidence and a main Spring of our Joy My Beloved is mine and I am his He loved me and gave himself for me This attracts our Love this wins our Hearts and fills us with Joy unutterable and full of Glory If Christ by the Presence of his Spirit would visit our Souls we should then be able to use such Language of Faith If he will visit us as he did the Disciples when Thomas was with them his Presence and Power can produce such a Faith And if he please he can enter and do this though the Doors be barred and shut never so close For he can open them as he did the Heart of Lydia Though they be of Stone or Iron he can break he can soften he can make them Hearts of Flesh Let us beg he would so visit us by his Spirit Though we have not the Priviledge to touch him on Earth as this Apostle yet we may behold him as the holy Martyr Stephen in Heaven We may Contemplate him by Faith as at the Right hand of God And so we may behold the print of the Nails and thrust our Hand into his wounded Side and hear his Voice yea taste as well as touch his very Body and Blood feed upon him We have some of us so done this Day And after such a Sight and such a Taste shall we not cry out My Lord my God O my Lord what have I done O my God what shall I do O my Lord my dear Lord Jesus who am I that thou hast loved me so as to dye for me so as to give thy self a Sacrifice for me O my God what shall I render to thee How shall I express my Gratitude What shall I do to honour thee O my Lord thou hast Redeemed me at a costly price O my God give me of the Spirit of Grace to renew thine Image subdue my Lusts and assist mine Obedience My Lord my God the King of Saints the Prince of Peace the First Begotten from the Dead the First Born of every Creature the First Fruits of them that sleep the true and only Potentate the great Immanuel God with us true God and true Man Whom have I in Heaven but thee c. Let us labour aftâ—r such a Faith and beg it of the God of all Grace and never desist till in the use of that and other means we are brought to use such Language too Lastly As to you my Brethren who have been at the Table of the Lord Consider what have you been doing Your great Business hath been or should have been this Day solemnly to Renew the Covenant between God and you in such Appropriating Language of Faith as these words of Thomas For Christ and all his Benefits are offered to you by the Distribution of the Elements Behold me I am yours Accept me Take me says Christ. You by Receiving them say Lord I am thine Accept me Possess me for thine own The Lord's Supper is the New Testament or Covenant in the Blood of Christ you there Ratifie the Baptismal Covenant he saith I am thine and you say You are his This inward personal Covenanting between Christ and you is the great Thing to be minded and this amounts to the same with My Lord my God acknowledging his Right by the one Expression and professing your own Interest by the other This was Virtually done in our Baptism this was actually done at our first Turning to God when we entred into Covenant to be the Lords And this we professedly Repeat and publickly Renew every time we come to this Table We have this Day acknowledged him to be our Lord we have entred into a solemn League of Subjection and Fidelity to him we have taken on us a solemn Bond and Obligation of Duty and Service And if we are Vnfaithful every Communion will come in against us as so many Oaths that we have broken For by Feasting on this Sacrifice this Day we have again Sworn at the Altar we have said it in our Hearts My Lord my God And we have professed it by our Actions We have played the Hypocrites and acted the part of Children and Fools if we did not mean it And if we do not stand to it while we live we are Rebels and add Perjury to our Rebellion by violating our Bond Covenant and Oath And if we do so we have imprecated a Curse upon our selves even all the Curses of a broken Covenant and so have sworn to our own Condemnation You therefore who have this Day Avouched the Lord for your God and have said to Christ My Lord my God Remember that he is both And don't expect he should be thy God thy Portion thy Happiness thy Heaven if he be not thy Lord. Don't think he will be thy Jesus thy Ransom to save thee from Hell if he be not thy Lord to govern thy Heart and Life He is the Author of Eternal Salvation only to those that Obey him an Everlasting Saviour to them only to whom he is a Lord. Don't expect that the saying Lord Lord either now or hereafter will be enough if thou be a Worker of Iniquity and do not what he Commands thee if his Interest in thee and Authority over thee will not prevail more than the Entreaty of a Friend or than the gain of a little Money or the Allurement of a little Pleasure or the Inticement of a Lust or the Temptation of a Devil But if you sincerely and unfeignedly take him for
our will to love what he loves to hate what he hates to have the same Friends and Enemies with our Blessed Lord. For here we put God in mind of his Covenant with us through Jesus Christ and our selves in mind of our Covenant with God And upon renewed Repentance for any sins we have committed after any Instance of Vnfaithfulness to our Solemn Engagements by unsuitable walking we here implore his Mercy and Grace to pardon us We declare at the same time that we desire to take hold of his Covenant that tho we are Sinners we are not Apostates we confess our sins and beg Forgiveness and repeat our Resolutions of Fidelity to him We trust in the unshaken Faithfulness and Truth of God to his gracious Promises We place our hope and confidence in the stability of his Everlasting Covenant which the Blood of Jesus the Blood of the Covenant hath confirmed and made Everlasting Not Trusting in our own Faith but in his Free Mercy and invariable Truth not in our Repentance but his Gracious Pardon not in our own Preparations but his Merciful Acceptance of us in his Beloved Son not in any thing we our selves can do but in the Merits of Christ the Fruits of his Death and the Purchase of his Cross as dispensed and applied according to the rule method and tenor of the Gospel-Promise This is our Priviledge and this our Employment at the Table of our Lord. And there is hardly any Subject will better bear to be treated of in several different methods than this or upon which repeated Discourses by several Persons may be more useful I grant there are many Excellent Books already written to Instruct Men in the Nature and to direct and assist their Devotion in the Observation of this Holy Sacrament I design not to wrest them out of their hands into whose this may fall I pretend not to add but to urge and prosecute the same Great End and sometimes by the same Arguments and Expressions I acknowledge my having profited by the Writings of others I hope 't is what they design'd These Discourses were acceptable to many when Preacht and being since reviewed some of them with some Enlargement I hope they may be of use at least to those who heard 'em and desired their Publication And it must be granted that what is of so Universal and Important a Concern as a due Participation of this Ordinance ought to be Treated and Inculcated in as many different ways as may best suit the Various capacites of several Persons It may be a shorter Account of the Doctrine of the Lord's Supper with Meditations and Devotions adapted thereto would be more proper for the Younger and more Ignorant Sort this I have promised and intend but have not yet had time to perfect The Lord follow this and all Endeavours for the Furtherance of Real Godliness with an Abundant Blessing London May 9th 1693. J. S. THE CONTENTS The First Discourse OF Vnion to Christ and the New Creature Or a Preparatory Sermon to the Lord's Supper on the First Day of the Year From 2 Cor. 5.17 If any Man be in Christ he is a New Creature p. 1. The Second Discourse Of Christ's passing over the Brook Kedron and entring into the Garden of Gethsemine After the Lords Supper From John 18.1 2. When Jesus had spoken these words he went forth with his Disciples over the Brook Cedron where was a Garden into which he entred and his Disciples and Judas also knew the place For Jesus oft times resorted thither with his Disciples p. 49. The Third Discourse Concerning Spiritual Washing the Nature Means and Evidences of it Before the Lords Supper From 1 Cor. 6.11 And such were some of you but you are washed but you are Sanctified but you are Justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God p. 89 The Fourth Discourse Of the Communion of Christ's Body and Blood After the Lord's Supper From 1 Cor. 10.16 The Cup of Blessing which we bless Is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ p. 129 The Fifth Discourse The Sin and Danger of Unworthy Receiving Before the Lord's Supper From 1 Cor. 11.29 He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh Damnation to himself p. 163 The Sixth Discourse Of Christ's Last Passover And its Accomplishment After the Lord's Supper From Luke 22.15 16 17 18. With desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer For I say unto you I will not many more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God And he took the Cup and gave thanks and said Take this and divide it among your selves For I say unto you I will not drink of the Fruit of the Vine until the Kingdom of God shall come p. 199 The Seventh Discourse Before the Lord's Supper From Cant. 2.4 He brought me into the Banquetting-house and his Banner over me was Love p. 243 The Eighth Discourse After the Lord's Supper From St. John 20.27 28. Then said he unto Thomas Reach hither thy Finger and behold my Hands and reach hither thy Hand and thrust it into my Side and be not faithless but believing And Thomas answered and said unto him My Lord and My God p. 281 A Paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer Our Father c. The First Discourse Of Vnion to Christ and the New Creature OR A SERMON Preparatory to the Lord's Supper On the First Day of the YEAR From 2 COR. V. 17. If any Man be in Christ he is a New-Creature THROUGH the Merciful Forbearance of God we now begin another Year and have outlived several who a twelve month ago were as like to have seen this New years-years-day as any of us That we may begin it with some Serious Reflexions suitable to the beginning of the Year and the approaching Solemnity of the Lord's Supper I have chosen these words as proper unto both They are brought in as one Inference among others from the constraining Love of Christ which the Apostle had mentioned in the 14th Verse Many useful things might be observed in explaining the Context and shewing the Connexion of this with the preceding Verses But I shall at present consider them more absolutely and in the General If any Man be in Christ he is a New Creature or Let him be a New Creature He ought to be so The Original will bear either sense The words may be taken imperatively or affirmatively For we find not Is in the Original It is true that whoever is in Christ is a New Creature And it is true that he is obliged thereby to prove his Union to Christ he ought to be a New Creature Neither sense is to be excluded That the State of such as are in Christ and likewise their Obligation may be comprehended It is the Character and Qualification of such as are in Christ and it is their Duty
or do either Preach or live in such a manner as to give them reason to think so 2. From the other Reason to encourage them to patient suffering we may observe That the Example of Christ's Courage and Constancy should be very influential upon all his Followers and if duly considered is like to be so For he is our Captain and Forerunner we are to follow him and fill up that which remains of his Sufferings All that we can suffer is but the gleaning of the Vintage after he has trodden the Wine-Press alone God hath spoken it once yea twice have we heard it that is in the Old Testament and in the New That Sufferings are the way to Glory That many are the Afflictions of the Righteous That through many Tribulations we must enter into Heaven c. 3. The Circumstance of Time is next to be considered When our Lord passed over the Brook Cedron viz. After he had instituted the Sacrament of the supper After he had spoken those words of Consolation and Instruction to his Disciples and of Petition to his Father Then he walked over the Brook Cedron with his Disciples He went forth to meet with sufferings and his Disciples were with him How admirable is the Wisdom and Condescension of our merciful Saviour thus to antidote and sore-arm his poor Disciples thus to prepare and dispose his faint hearted Followers to be Witnesses of his sufferings and Partakers of them For after such a blessed Preparative what should be able to sink their Spirits After they had Joined in such an Ordinance as the Lords supper administred by Christ himself After they had received such excellent Instructions and heard such a sermon from his own Mouth After they had been present when he put up such a Prayer to God as that recorded in the 17. of John what could dishearten them or damp their Courage We may hence take notice That the participation of Solemn Ordinances and Communion with God therein is an excellent Preparative to more than ordinary Trialls What better preparation for patient and couragious suffering for Christ than the Lords Supper wherein we remember his dying Love that should engage us to it And so for other Afflictions even the Calamities common to men The Sacramental Bread may be our staff and strength to fortifie and confirm our Minds against all Difficulties The sacramental Wine may be a Cordial to our fainting Spirits to inbolden us against all Discouragments On this Account they that neglect this Ordinance are wanting to themselves as to preparedness for and support in a time of Affliction And for this Reason we may suppose the primitive Christians did communicate so often every Lords Day sometimes every Day whenever they met for publick Worship because they were in continual Jeopardy of their Lives And the multitude of Martyrs in those times and their invincible Patience and Perseverance was much owing to this and influenced by it 4. Let us consider the place he retired to when he went over the Brook Cedron viz The Garden of Gethsemane The word Gethsemane signifies an Oile-press It was a little village scituated at the foot of the Mount of Olives on which Mountain there were many Olive-trees and so many Oil-presses in that Village The Mount of Olives hath its name with relation to this and the Jewish writers call it sometimes the Mountain of Vnction sometimes the Mountain of Light sometimes the Mountain of Health because of the use of Oyl as to all these This Garden of Gethsemane as some think was first planted by David or Solomon and then enlarged and beautified by succeeding Princes for their Recreation and Delight If that be true where they took their pleasure the Messias the true Son of David began his Passion in memory whereof Hellen the Mother of Constantine the Great afterwards built a Chappel there which was visible in the days of Jerom and some affirm the Virgin Mary the Mother of our Lord was Buried in or near this place But to pass that as doubtful it is very probable that in or near this Village near Jerusalem many of the rich Citizens had their Gardens and Country-Houses and among them some of Christs Followers who gave him and his twelve Disciples Entertainment therefore it is said he often resorted thither with his Disciples But 5. Why he did so is more to our purpose to inquire Why our Lord chose this place to prepare himself for his suffering and to begin his Agony And this may be answered in three particulars 1. The first sin was committed in a Garden and therefore the beginning of our Lords Passion for the expiation of sion did very fitly begin in a Garden too It was in a Garden that man began to sin and in such a place the Son of God began his Sufferings The first Adam incurs the Wrath and Displeasure of God in a Garden The second Adam trembles and groans and sweats and prays for the turning away of that Wrath from us in a Garden too he there began his Passion for our Recovery Our first Parents lost the Image of God by their disobedience and heard the Sentence of Condemnation in a Garden our Lord comes to restore the Divine Image and reverse the Sentence of Condemnation by his bloody sufferings and Death which begin in this Garden of Gethsemane as the Promise of it was first made in the Garden of Eden that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents-head Compare Eden and Gethsemane We were first seduced by the old Serpent in the Garden of Eden and his Head was bruised by the Agony and Bloody Passion of Christ which began in this Garden of Gethsemane In the one Garden the Devil conquered the first Adam but is overcome by the second Adam in the other when he resolved to drink the cup saying Not my Will but thine be done In the first Garden that of Eden man surfeited on the forbidden Fruit and fell from God for which our blessed Redeemer had a bloody Sweat in the Second the Garden of Gethsemane We were turned out of the earthly Paradise by sinning in the first we have the Purchace of the heavenly Paradise by our Lord 's Suffering which began in the second The beginning of our Calamity and of all the miseries of Mankind had its rise in the Garden of Eden And the beginning of the Messias Passion for our recovery was in the Garden of Gethsemane There our Lord signed the Decree for his own Crucifixion by his bloody Sweat as the Pledge and earnest of his shedding his Blood the next day upon the Cross 2. Another and more evident Reason why our Lord chose this Garden was because it was a solitary place fit for Meditation and Prayer and the more solemn Preparation of himself for his Crucifixion which was now so near He was now in prospect of his approaching Death he knew that within a few Hours he should be Apprehended and Taken Judged and Condemned to a
Righteous Avenger However there is a great difference between what Christ suffered and what the Damned in Hell suffer For they hate God and Holiness and are hated of him and forsaken by his Holy Spirit and are under the power of sin and are tormented by the Conscience of their Personal Guilt But what Christ suffer'd was for us and he was still in the Love of God and continued to love him c. Let us consider him incompassed with Grief and seized by sorrow appaled with Fear lying prostrate on his Face on the ground deprecating that Cup of vengeance which the Justice of God had mingled saying Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me He Prays again a second time in the same place to the same purpose Abba Father if it be possible let this Cup pass He adores his Majesty he owns his Omnipotence he takes hold of his Power he pleads his filial Relation with all imaginable earnestness submission and importunity Father if it be possible and with thee all things are possible Abba Father Holy Father let this Cup pass from me And then he groans and sweats and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground He prays again the third time using in effect the same words as if nothing else would yet his Importunity might prevail for the removal of the Cup. And yet notwithstanding all this he was then Willing All the struglings of his Innocent Nature issued in this That the Will of God should be done and his Glory be accomplished Holy Father glorifie thy self Not my will but thine be done It was for this end I came into the World for this end I came unto this hour The desire of his Humane Soul submits and yields to the determination and Will of his Father And therefore those words if it be possible must be explained by those other If thou wilt if it be most for thy Glory of a possibility in respect of the Divine Will and Glory rather than of the Divine Power And having two Natures he must needs have two Wills he could not else be the true Son of God and true Man He desires to decline his Sufferings as a Man for so they were against Nature But as they were the means to reconcile us to God he is willing as Redeemer to undergo them We may abhor a Medicine as bitter and yet resolve to take it as wholsome So that after all the reluctance of his Humane Nature he was still willing and his entring into this Garden when he knew that Judas was acquainted with the place and would find him there and betray him is a proof of it 6. Our Saviour's Custom to retire to this Garden He was wont to resort thither with his Disciples This Garden of Gethsemane was on the side of the Mount of Olives and that we are told was at the distance of a Sabbath-days Journey from Jerusalem Act. 1.12 If we reckon from the foot of the Mountain or the 〈…〉 part of it unto the City it is thoâ—ght to be about five or six 〈…〉 thousand 〈…〉 â—ting by 〈…〉 measured And it is most probable that the People in the Wilderness were to keep from the Tabernacle at the distance of two thousand Cubits And on that account this distance is supposed the measure of a Sabbath-days Journey when they went to the Ark to Worship It is an ordinary Tradition among the Jews That it was not lawful on their Sabbaths to walk above two thousand cubits which seems to be founded on that Text Josh 3.4 where the People are commanded in their March after the Ark and on either side of it to keep at the distance of two thousand cubits and when they encamped did usually pitch their Tents at that distance from the Ark And so the Custom arose of travelling but 2000 cubits on their Sabbath-days which is reckon'd not above half a mile It may be for this reason the Holy Ghost measures the distance between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives by a sabbath-Sabbath-days Journey and not by so many Furlongs Because in fair Weather many devout Jews were wont to retire thither for Meditation after the Publick Worship was over From hence let me make two Reflections for our own practice and so conclude 1. Since our Lord was wont to retire from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives for Meditation and Prayer Let me hence take occasion to press these Duties It is certainly one of the best Evidences of an Upright Christian to be serious in this secret work It is of mighty advantage to our growth in Grace to the Evidence and Comfort of it And he deserves not the Name of a Serious Christian who can pass whole days and weeks contentedly without Meditation and secret Prayer Our stedfastness in the ways of God and our daily walk in holy Security and Peace is manifestly assisted by it Such a course cannot consist with regarding and indulging deliberately any known sin This will be a good Argument of our Integrity before God this constant intercourse and Communion between God and us These frequent visits to Heaven will be so conversing with God and pouring out our hearts before him in Secret retiring as it were to the other World so as no temptation of Applause or Reputation from Men can be thought to byass or mislead us when no eye sees us but the great searcher of hearts when no ear hears us but that of our Invisible Judge when no hand can reward us but the Omnipresent Lord our Father and our Redeemer in Heaven who sees in secret and will reward us openly You have been often told That the Conscientious performance of Secret prayer will make you leave sinning or a Course of sin will make you desist daily serious praying 2. I infer from this example of our Lord That after the participation of solemn Odinances especially on the Lord's-day it is very fit and useful for Christians to retire by themselves to spend some time alone in Meditation and prayer To call your selves to an Account to reflect on your wayes and frame to make a trial of your State and Temper to observe your Spirits how they have been influenced or not by the Divine Spirit in the Solemn Duties of Worship to humble your selves before God for the sins you are convinced of such especially as other Men cannot charge you with but God and Conscience know you are guilty of To thank God for his numberless Mercies to beg the suitable supplies of his Grace and whatever Blessings you stand in need of for you and yours This is the right improvement of Sabbaths and Sacraments and such seasons of Mercy as God is pleased to continue to us in order to Eternal Life And without something of this kind tho you frequent the Publick Assemblies and sit before him as his People you do but mock God and trifle with Heaven while you pretend to Religion and assume the Name of Christians You act
a Scene and a Part and have only a Form of Godliness but must expect to pay dear for your Solemn Hopocrisie Let me therefore Advise you to three things in your Retirement after the Publick Worship and Solemn Ordinances of Christ as the End and Reason for which I will press it 1 That you retire in order to the confession of Sin and the Exercise of Repentance That when you have finished the publick work of a Sabbath or come from any special Ordinance of the Gospel by after Meditation you would reflect upon your selves and take notice of your Defects and Failings Discomposures and Distempers of Mind What unsuitableness of Spirit there has been to heavenly Mysteries or what unprepared Addresses we have made to the Majesty of Heaven and Earth the roving of our Fancies the vanity of our Thoughts c. We should humble our selves on such Occasions That we attended with no more Reverence and Diligence to the Word of God That we did not receive the Truth in the Love of it That it was not mixed with Faith Tnat we did not make particular and close application of it to our selves That our Hearts were not lâ—ft up in the ways of the Lord and our Souls under an awe of God in Prayer with becoming Affections and suitable Exercise of Grace under the influence of the Divine Spirit and in the Name of the Mediator That we approached the Table of the Lord with no more Examination of our Hearts and Ways before we came with no more Repentance for our past Guilt no more hungering after the Bread of Life no more spiritual Thirst for the Fountain of Living Waters That we beheld the Memorials of a broken bleeding Saviour with no more Contrition and Brokenness of Heart That we received the Seals of his dying Love with no more raised Affection That we remembered the Agonies of his Soul with no more correspondent Impressions upon our own In a word we may lament for the most part I fear we may after such Ordinances that our Spirits were but in a common frame our Repentance so partial our Love so cold our Faith so weak our Hope so low Desires so faint Charity so narrow Thankfulness and Joy so little in the Participarion of such Glorious Mysteries in conversing with such adorable Objects under the Offers of such rich Grace under the loud Calls to such manifest Duty under the Assurances and Expectations of such great and blessed things as the Word and Sacraments propose and Seal 2. Another Reason and Ground of this Retirement is in order to Petition and Intercession for needful Mercy to our selves and others Have we been convinced of any Duty we had formerly neglected Shall not the Reflection on it excite us to beg Wisdom and Strength to perform that Duty Has any sin been called to remembrance by the preaching of the Word Should we not beg Forgiveness and Grace to leave and forsake it as the best Testimony of our Repentance Have we joyned in Prayer and Supplication with others for the greatest Blessings and are sensible we are undone if God deny us and shall we not beg the same things again in secret Have we renewed our Vows and entered into fresh Obligations to be the Lords and shall wâ— not beg that God would heal our â—â—st â—aâ—k slidings and confirm our holy Resolutions That having sworn we may perform it that we will keep his righteous Judgments You therefore who have this Day been at the Table of the Lord let me beseech you in a special manner to retire when you come home and think of these things that you may wrestle with God in secret for a further blessing O what can he deny you when he hath given you his Son and sealed that Gift in so solemn a manner Go therefore and represent to him all your Necessities and Wants all your Griefs and Groans and Complaints and Fears and secret Desires Pray earnestly for your selves your Families and Relatives for your Ministers and Fellow Christians for all that have communicated this day with you and in other Assemblies and for all that desired to do so that were providentially hindered for all your Brethren for all the Churches of Christ throughout the World especially for those in this Nation for those in others which are oppressed by the Tyranny of the Sons of Violence for all actual Believers for all those for whom Christ died for your Friends and Enemies for the whole World 3. Retire in secret to express your Gratitude and Thanksgivings to God for Mercies received and hoped for Thank him for the Liberty of his Sanctuary for Publick Assemblies of Social Worship for Sabbaths and Sacraments and the Ministry of the Gospel considering how the Case now is with our Brethren and Neighbours in other places Thank him for another Opportunity for the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ and for so much health as to be able to partake of such a Priviledge in a publick Solemnity But above all as the Foundation of all the rest for that inestimable Blessing of Divine Love the Gift of his Son for the inexpressible Love of Christ in giving himself for us Sinners and Enemies and while we were so Thank him for the Means of Grace and the Hopes of Glory for any good Hope through Grace of present Pardon and Everlasting Communion with God in Heaven for the Offer of Forgiveness by a Covenant of Grace for the Promise of Eternal Life by Christ purchased by his Blood confirmed by the Word and Oath of God who cannot lye witnessed to many ways by the Holy Spirit made sure by the Everlasting Covenant and that sealed by Baptism and by the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Yea let us thank him for another such solemn Occasion of paying Homage to a Crucified Christ and of holy Fellowship with the Father and the son by the Spirit which this day has been afforded us Praise him for any Aâ—sistance of his Grace in the actual Celebration and for any help in our preparatory Work for reviving any of our Convictions awakening our Repentance strengthening our Faith animating our Hope quickening our zeal exercising and increasing our Love to Christ clearing our Adoption dispelling our Doubts scattering our Fears warming and filling our Desires Let our Souls and all within us bless him for any Beams of his Heavenly Light for any Glympse of his reconciled Countenance for any token of his Love to us any expression and exercise of our own to him Let us thank him for what he hath given us and sealed to us and promised to give us for what we have already received as the first Fruits and the Earnest and the Pledge of a great deal more We may Express our Gratitude and Joy to some such Purpose as this (a) almost in the words of Mr. Baxter which follows O my gracious God thou hast surpast all humane Comprehension in thy Love Is this thy usage of unworthy Prodigals I
Idols I say he leaves it unto themselves Verse 15. I speak as unto wise men Judge ye what I say That was the Case amongst many of these Corinthians they did not scruple to accompany their Unbelieving Neighbours and Acquaintance to the Banquets that they made in Honour of their false Gods They did not scruple to Eat with them of those things that were taken from their Execrable Altars as a Part and Remnant of those Sacrifices to Idols which were performed in the City of Corinth with all the Pomp of an Abominable Superstition This the Apostle shews to be unsuitable to their Profession of Christianity and that it could not agree with the Honour they had of eating at the Table of the Lord For these Heathens were seduced by Satan to make those Sacrifices and they were Devils whom they Worshipped as supposed Demi-Gods and in such Feasts they had a familiar Communion with them And I would not says the Apostle that you should have fellowship with Devils Verse 19 20 21. You cannot drink of the Cup of the Lord and the Cup of Devils You cannot be partaker of the Lord's Table and the Table of Devils In the Words of the Text he leaves it to them to judge Whether it be not a most horrid Impiety to pretend to joyn these Two together the Divine Body and Blood of Christ with the Impious Sacrifices of these Idolaters For he makes the partaking of the Lord's Table not only a Testimony of our Vnion unto Christ and our Communion one with another as his Members but also a Testimony of our Disunion and Separation from all Idolatrous Worship The Cup of Blessing that we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ And the Bread that we break c. Where we are to consider 1. The two Sacramental Signs the Cup and the Bread 2. What is to be understood by the Body and Blood of Christ 3. What by Commmnion in them 4. How the Cup and Bread in the Sacrament of the Supper are the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ And then I shall help you to Apply it 1. Concerning the Sacramental Signs the Cup and the Bread The Cup for the Wine in it by an ordinary Figure and the Bread which we break These are the two outward Elements in this Institution and neither of them must be omitted Whereas in Baptism there is but one outward Element here are two And there is good Reason for it 1. Because this Represents the Violent Death of Christ wherein his Blood was shed and separated from his Body It is therefore necessary there should be one Sign to Represent his Body and another Sign to Represent his Blood there having been a Separation by Death which is here to be Represented 2. The Lord's Supper being the Mystery of our spiritual Nourishment by Christ it was proper to employ both Eating and Drinking which are the two parts of our Corporal Nourishment and that could not have been entirely Represented by either of them alone The Cup of Blessing or Benediction which we bless or give thanks for i. e. Which we set apart by Prayer and Thanksgiving Blessing and giving of Thanks being often put one for another 1 Cor. 14.16 And in the Evangelical History Matth. 26. and Mark 16 What one Evangelist calls Blessing another calls Thanksgiving By vertue of which Blessing or Prayer by a Minister of Christ in his Name and according to his Example and Order That which before was common is set apart to an holy use and becomes the Sign and Seal of the Body and Blood of Christ The Cup of Blessing The Jews were wont at the Passover Feast or rather after it to drink of a Cup which the Master of the Family did bless i. e. Did pray over it or concerning it To distinguish this from that the Apostle says The Cup of Blessing which we bless which we Christians set apart in our Assemblies to shew forth the Lord's Death by And from this Passage of the Apostle this Ordinance is called by the Ancients the Eucharist upon the account of the Blessing or giving of Thanks Justin Martyr who lived but Fifty Years after the Death of the Apostle John calls it the Bread of the Eucharist in memory of the Passion of Christ Nay the Greek word for Blessing in this Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as well as the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 giving of Thanks is sometimes used by the * See Mr. Daille in loc Ancients as the Name of this Institution Among others Cyril Bishop of Alexandria does often call it by the Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Cup of Blessing which we bless and the Bread which we break At the Feast of the Passover the Jews made use of such Bread as was flat and round and so was to be broken and cut asunder And the unleavened Bread among the Jews to this very day is of this kind Now our Lord Instituting his Supper the same Evening after the Celebration of the Passover we may suppose made use of the same sort of Bread That is As he changed the Signification of this Bread from that of their unleavened Bread to be a sign of his Body so he imployed the breaking of this Bread to signifie his cruel Sufferings in that body upon the Cross This Cup and this Bread even after Consecration For the Bread is not broken till after that is said to be the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ not his real Flesh and Blood For besides the Vanity of such a Sense and the Indecency and Uncomeliness of it yea the Contradiction and Impossibility of it It is against the express Testimony of the Apostle here and in other Places According to the new Doctrine of Rome Instead of saying here The Cup that we bless He would have said The Cup that we Transubstantiate and change into the proper Substance of the Body and Blood of Christ The Cup in which we leave not one drop of Wine But by pronouncing four or five little words fill it with the Body of Christ And is not this a strange way of blessing a Person or Thing to destroy the very Nature of the Thing that it shall be no longer what it was before The Bread was not blessed that it might be destroyed nor given to be eatâ—â—â— that it might cease to be before it was eaten 'T is to suppose God to put forth Miraculous Power to make his own Command of eating the Bread impossible The Bread that we break it is therefore Bread after it is broken after the Consecration and breaking it is Bread still For the Transubstantiation if there be any is upon the Consecration before it be broken But I hope most English Protestants are pretty well Instructed in this Truth and therefore I need not insist longer upon it 2. What are we to understand by the Body and Blood of Christ of which this is said to be the Communion
Forgiveness of Others If we have not had Love to our Fellow-Christians more excited in us to all that are Members of the same Body though they err and mistake though they diner from us though they be angry with us though they think hardly of us and speak hardly against us Yet if we have not had our Spirits brought to a Temper able to forgive them to pray for them and be ready to do them good c. We cannot say we have had Communion with Christ in his Ordinance For such Effects as these wiâ—l follow upon it Or rather it is in these things wherein a great part of our Spiritual Communion doth consist 2. If there have been any thing of this kind bless God for such a merciful Season For this is the Real Advantage and Good of any such Ordinance when it Rectifies our Spirits and betters our frame and subdues our Corruptions and recovers us from our back-slidings and gives us any thing more of the Divine Image and Likeness and makes us hate Sin more and love God and one another better This is the Real Advantage of such Seasons These are gainful Opportunities indeed where these Things are Attained where in any measure there are such Consequences of Approaching to the Lord's Table 3. Let us endeavour hence-forward to walk worthy of such a Priviledge and long for the Repetition of it Let us watch our Spirits this Evening and to Morrow and the following Week and Month that we may not presently lose the Savour of these things by secular and common Discourse and vain Converse When we go away from the Publick Worship let us spend the Remainder of the Day in such Offices and Exercises of Religion as may Assist us to prosecute our Great Design and may strengthen the Vows of God into which we have newly entred And let us shew we like his Fare and are pleased with the Entertainments of his House by desiring more such Opportunities and by Improving them when-ever they return One thing have I desired of the Lord says the Psalmist and that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord for ever By this means we should endeavour to become growing thriving fruitful humble self-denying heavenly exemplary Christians walking worthy of our High and Holy Calling purifying our selves more and more from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit That our Hearts may be more fixed for God and Christ against all Competitors and under all Discouragements That Christ Jesus may have the more intire Possession of our Souls and the Service of our Lives That his Love being shed abroad in our Hearts nothing may ever be able to separate us from it That whether we live or dye Christ may be All in All to us Who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood To Him be Glory throughout all the Churches for ever Amen The Fifth Discourse Before The LORD's SUPPER THE Sin and Danger OF Unworthy Receiving From 1 COR. XI xxix He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself SO deep and General is the Corruption of Mankind that it may truly be said of very Many whose Carriage and Conversation is fair and unspotted that they are rather restrained by the Fear of Punishment than of Guilt of being Sufferers rather than of being Criminal Such an Errour it is true is injurious to the Dignity of the Divine Law and to the Honour and Authority of God's Government Nevertheless God doth so far Accommodate himself to our State as to Rule us by Moral Arguments that are proper to Influence our Hopes and Fears and therefore employs Threatnings as well as Promises and punishes some as Examples of Severity to warn others from the like Transgressions This Method the Apostle makes use of in this and the foregoing Chapter when he designed to Reform the scandalous Abuse of the Lord's Supper which these Corinthians were guilty of After he had Explained the Nature of the Institution and opened the Design and End of it he had Represented it as the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ He tells them what most manifestly follows from thence viz. The Greatness of the Sin to eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup unworthily that if they do it without Self Examination they are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord They offend against the Lord Redeemer who hath appointed this Sacred Rite and even against his Body and Blood which are Signified and Represented by the Bread and Wine as the Memorial and Sign of it This to those that have any due Regard to the Authority and Love of a dying Saviour one would think should be Argument enough But least it should not besides the Declaration of their Sin he Denounces the Punishment of it in these Words That such do eat and drink Damnation to themselves Wherein we have First The Description of their Punishment who do unworthily partake of the Lord's Supper That they eat and drink Damnation to themselves Secondly the Reason of that Punishment intimated in the Nature and kind of their Sin That they discern not the Lord's Body Before I consider the Punishment of Vnworthy Receivers it will be proper to open a little the Nature of their Sin mentioned in the latter part of the Verse Not discerning the Lord's Body This may refer to the foregoing Expression of being Guilty of his body and blood and the one Phrase will give light to the other Such as receive Unworthily are Guilty of the body and blood of Christ because they do not discern and distinguish it aright They do not think of it as they ought They do not carry it suitable to its Excellent Nature and Vse and so they eat and drink Judgment to themselves by not discerning the Lord's body And thereby are Criminal against the Person of the Redeemer as cloathed with Human Nature and as giving the Memorials of his body and blood separated to betoken his Death and Sufferings For so we remember a crucified Saviour in this Ordinance It is therefore no wonder if such a Fault be severely punished That which we Translate Discern it is well known signifies to make a difference between one thing and another as Acts 15.19 So not to discern the Lord's body is not to difference and distinguish concerning it to look no further than the outward sense not to make a difference between common and sacramental bread not to eye the body and blood of Christ as signified by the Sacramental Elements not to remember or consider his cruel Sufferings which this should put us in Mind of This be sure is not to discern his body But few can be supposed so ignorant as not speculatively to discern and distinguish in this case But practically to do so is a greater mattâ—r it Imports to mind to attend to to esteem to honour to apply to use the body and blood of Christ and the sign and the Memorial
of Prayer and other parts of Divine Worship All these will aggravate your sin But the Possibility of doing other Services of Religion amiss is not counted a sufficient Reason for the not doing ' em After all such pretences and excuses there is too much Reason to think that the most are afraid of coming to this Ordinance lest the preparing for it and the consequent Duties which they know are required should interrupt their Sensual Pleasures or their inordinate Prosecution of the World and oblige them to leave their sins which as yet they have no mind to part with Such as these ought not to come indeed they have other work first to do They are first called to Repentance and Faith in Christ and afterwards to the Communion of his Body and Blood They are called to understand and own their Baptismal Covenant by the Answer of a good Conscience and then to renew it at the Table of the Lord This Priviledge belongs not to them till they have truly repented and forsaken sin and yielded themselves to be the Lord's 3. Object But others are ready to say I would come and have had many a Thought about it But I doubt of my own Sincerity and the truth of my Grace I know it is Childrens Bread and I am not certain I am one of that number And does not the Apostle tell us That he that doubteth is damned if he eat Now I doubt whether I am passed from Death to Life or no May such a one as I venture to come who have no Assurance that I am in a State of Grace Are all those unworthy and unfit to come who come in any other State of Soul than they think they may safely dye in Several things may be said in Answer to this 1. That many mistake the Nature of true Faith and Sincerity and think if they have not Assurance of the Love of God that therefore they have no true Faith They make saving Justifying Faith to consist in believing the special Love of Christ to their Souls in believing that their sins are pardoned and that they are in Christ But this is a dangerous Mistake which one would wonder under such clear Light as we enjoy should be so common For how unspeakable is the Difference between the Truth of Grace and the Knowledge of its being true between a hearty Consent to the Terms of the Covenant and the Reflex Act of Faith so as to be able to say I know my Interest in the Covenant Many a false Professor may flatter himself that his Faith is true when it is not and many an Vpright Christian may doubt and question Whether he be one or no But the Latter shall one Day be ashamed of their Fears as the Former of their Hopes The Lord knoweth who are his when many that are His do not know it themselves And if a Minister of Christ will ask a few home close Questions of such doubting trembling Christians by which their hearty consent to the Covenant may be judged of Their Answers plainly shew That they believe in Christ and love him above all the World and regard no Iniquity in their hearts And yet will continue to doubt of their Integrity though the Bent of their Hearts and the Endeavours of their Lives do abundantly prove that they are Sincere 2ly However it may ordinarily be known whether your Faith be of the right kind or no and whether you are Vpright towards God or no. We are bid to Examine and Search and try and prove our selves in order to it that we may find the Mark and Impress of God upon our Souls the Fruits of the sanctifying Spirit there and so have Rejoycing in our selves and not in another It is so far from being unlawful to collect Comfort from the Marks and Signs of our Sanctification and to prove our Vnion to Christ and Justification that way that it is the very Method of the Gospel to direct us to know our State towards God by thus looking inward to find the Image of Christ upon the Soul and by observing the Fruits of the Spirit in a godly Conversation Such doubting Christians would do well to Consult some Faithful Minister of Christ and Represent the State of their own Case what they feel that so they may be told what it doth signifie and be help'd to judge of themselves It is granted that you know how it is with you better than any Minister can do For as * Mr. Baxter One well expresses it A Patient knows better than any Physician what he feels but a Physician when he hears it can tell from what Cause it comes and what is the Nature of the Disease and what is like to come of it and what is the proper Method for a Cure There is a great deal of Reason why you should expect and hope for the Resolution of your Doubts in such Cases by consulting some Minister of Christ especially him under whose Ministry you have chosen to place your selves as the Helper of your Faith and Joy 3. The Penitent Christian though he want Assurance is Accepted of God and hath Right to this Ordinance whether he believe it or no. If you unfeignedly consent to the Covenant of Grace and with an humble penitent Sense of your past Sins are willing and desirous to close with Christ on the Terms of the Gospel That God shall be your God and Christ your Redeemer and Lord and the Holy Spirit your Sanctifier and Guide If you are willing heartily willing to give up your selves to be instructed ruled and saved by him This is the very Heart of saving Faith And if this be your Character you are the Members of Christ and ought to come to the Lord's Table For though your timorousness and present Scruples may make you Suspend for a-while they cannot deprive you of your Right to the Ordinance nor disoblige you from the Duty of coming to it For All such who unfeignedly consent to the Covenant they may and ought to come to signifie their Consent and to receive the Seal of the Covenant 4. Every Christian ought to endeavour to know his State lest they be distracted between the Hopes of God's Acceptance of them on the one hand and the Fears of coming Vnworthily on the other Because they doubt of their Worhtiness they fear to come And because they have some good Hope they dare not stay away lest they neglect their Duty The proper Remedy is to Resolve Unfeignedly to please God and obey him in this and all other Instances and then do this in Remembrance of Christ as what all his Followers are obliged to do It may be that Ignorance of thy State from whence thy Doubts proceeds is owing to the Neglect of Self Examination and the use of proper Means to know thy Self 5. It may yet be Adviseable for some melancholy tempted Persons under some perplexing Doubts to stay away for a-while till they have competently over-come their Fear lest
to be Saved by Faith in a Mediator as well as we The Gospel was preached unto them as well as unto us 2. Did Christ desire Fellowship with his Disciples Friends and Followers in the Passover What shall we think of those that despise such Institutions and look upon themselves as above such Ordinances as if they had a nearer and better way of Communion with God and Christ then this Remissness and Indifference as to these things Neglect and Carelesness in Preparation for them is likewise a degree of Contempt that deserves to be Reproved 3. Was Christ so desirous to eat his last Passover before he suffered for us because of his Willingness to Suffer What Ingratitude does this imply in our Backwardness and Cowardize when we are called to suffer for him 4. Did our Lord desire to eat this Passover because it was the last and consequently was Willing to be a Sacrifice for us What an Argument of his endearing Love does this afford us And how should it Enflame ours to him It was not from Ignorance of what he was to Suffer he fully knew what he had undertaken he perfectly understood what his Baptism of Blood did signifie and yet he earnestly desired it and was straitned till it was Accomplished He knew the Burden of Sin that he was to Expiate as a Sin-Offering when he bore our Sins in his own Body on the Tree as a Sacrifice to Divine Justice for us He knew the bitterness of that Cup which he was to drink of before-hand and yet for our sakes he desires it What Thankfulness do we owe for such inestimable Love He was willing to submit to such difficult Terms to bring about our Reconciliation to God He was willing to be obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross to turn away the Divine Displeasure from us and to restore us to the Divine Favour and Image again He was willing to be a Sacrifice for sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God through Faith in him He was willing to bear the Curse that the Blessing of Abraham might come upon us He was willing to be our Paschal Lamb to be slain and sacrificed for us that by the sprinkling of his Blood we might be delivered from Sin and Hell that by feeding on him as our Passover we might be Partakers of Spiritual and Eternal Life And even in the midst of his Agony in the Garden notwithstanding the strugling of his Humane Nature against the bitterness of the Cup which made him pray for the passing of it away yet as Mediator he was willing and therefore adds Not my Will but thine be done Father glorifie thy self O matchless and incomprehensible Love How should our Souls be Ravished with the Contemplation of it How hard and insensible are our Hearts if they feel no constraining Vertue in the Consideration of such Love If we do not Sacrifice our Lusts in Requital of his being a willing Sacrifice for us Shall not the Love of Christ which bubbles up in every Drop of his Blood and made him willing and resolved to shed it on our Account make us hate that Sin which he died to Atone for and to destroy Can we consider him Groaning Sweating Bleeding Dying for Sin and yet Retain an Affection to it And rush into it through the Wounds and Blood and Agony and Death of our Redeemer Shall that ever be sweet to us which put so much Vinegar and Gall into his Cup Let me add a few Words for Counsel and Direction 1. Did Christ earnestly desire to eat this Passover and have Communion with his Disciples therein How earnestly should we desire to have Communion with him in that Ordinance that succeeded to it which was Instituted by Christ himself the same Evening in the close of the Paschal Supper Is not a Spiritual Communion with him now he is in Glory as desirable as his Bodily Prâ—sence was when in a state of Humiliation Is it not the Spirit and Temper of all the Disciples of Christ in every Age of the Church to value and to desire such near Approaches to him How did the believing Jews prepare themselves for such a Solemnity as the Passover How did David's Heart pant and faint and long for Communion with God in the Services of the Temple Psalm 27.4 One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the Beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his Temple The Israelites were to eat the Passover in haste with greediness of desire Non lento Corde non languido Ore And is it not a Shame to us to have no Appetite for such a Feast Is â—t not for want of such Desires of Communion with Christ that we meet with so little Satisfaction when we come Let him that is a thirst come and such shall be filled when others shall be sent empty away but the hungry Souls shall not be sent empty away from the Lord's Table We may likewise heighten our Desires and Appetites when we come to this Table by considering For ought we know this may be the last Communion with Christ in such an Ordinance that we shall ever enjoy before it be fully accomplished in Heaven 2. Let us imitate Christ as our Passover Both in his Readiness to Suffer and in his Character and Qualification as the Spotless Lamb of God in Meekness and Patience and Submission c. Without this we can never prove our Interest in him 3. Let us thankfully Contemplate this Lamb of God as desiring to be Sacrificed for us Let us seriously and often consider the Voluntariness of his Death and Sacrifice the Fruits of his Suffering the Merit of his Cross How Acceptable his Sacrifice was to God how beneficial unto us What a Deliverance we have by it what a Bondage we are saved from what a Glorious Liberty he has purchased what a compleat Salvation we expect when all shall be fulfilled in Heaven These are proper Thoughts for those of us this Evening who have Feasted this Day on the Sacrifice of Christ Every one of us in particular not only in publick but in secret should bless God for Jesus Christ Admiring the Matchless Grace and Love of the Redeemer in being thus a Willing Sacrifice for us and calling us to Feast upon it having Instituted this Ordinance on purpose for that very end Lastly Live in the Daily Exercise of Faith on the Blood of Christ as the Lamb of God Sacrificed for us It was the sprinkling of the Blood of the Paschal Lamb that was the Mark of the Israelites Deliverance So the shedding of the Blood of Christ with particular Application by Faith is aâ— necessary for us Without it we cannot escape the Stroke of the destroying Angel Without it the Blood of Christ will call for Vengeance and his very Sacrifice and Sufferings plead against us We should every Day by fresh
The very Name of this Sacrament the Eucharist imports this That Thanksgiving is our principal Work He took the Bread and he took the Cup and he gave Thanks say the Evangelists indifferently of the one and of the other Blessing and Giving of Thanks being the same This Food is hallowed by Thanksgiving and if ever the High Praises of God should be in our Mouths it ought to be so upon this Occasion Praising God for parting with his only Son not sparing him that we might be spared Thanking our Lord Redeemer for leaving the Right Hand of his Father and the Glory of Heaven to come and Tabernacle amongst us and take our Nature and Dye for us Lord Jesus Who are we What am I that thou shouldst part with the Glory of Heaven and part with thine own Life upon the accursed Tree for such a Wretch as I am Was I dearer to thee than thine own Heart-blood that thou didst freely shed it upon the Cross for me How Amazing is thy Love How do I rejoyce in it With what Thankfulness do I reremember it How am I ashamed of my self that I love thee no more O that I might feel the Constraints of thine Endearing Love to warm and quicken my cold and dead Heart that so I might speak thy Praise And let Heaven and Earth and Angels and Men for ever Extol thy Matchless Grace and Love which passeth Knowledge but calls for Everlasting Thanksgiving With such a Frame as this let us endeavour to Come and we shall find that His Banner over us will be Love THE END The Eighth Discourse AFTER THE Lord's Supper From St. JOHN xx 27 28. Then said he unto Thomas Reach hither thy Finger and behold my Hands and reach hither thy Hand and thrust it into my Side and be not faithless but believing And Thomas answered and said unto him My Lord and my God A Strange and surprizing Spectacle to see an Apostle of our Lord carry it like an Infidel an Vnbeliever To behold one of the Twelve that was to spread the Faith of Christ throughout the Universe to want that Faith which he was to perswade others to To hear the great Article of the Resurrection one of the most deeply Fundamental Articles of the Christian Religion to be obstinately denied by those Lips that were to Publish the Gospel of Christ And this as the Sum of it That he is Risen from the dead What more likely to scandalize the Weak to stagger the Faith of many not yet confirmed Disciples and to hinder the belief of Christ's being Risen than such an Example of Incredulity in one of his Apostles But the permission of such Falls and the raising a Revenue of Glory to the Redeemer by them is one of the Secrets of Predestination that will be Eternally Adored This is sufficiently manifest in this very Passage relating to the Apostle Thomas whose Infidelity as one of the Ancients observes has proved as serviceable to Christianity as the Faith of the other Apostles His Incredulity strengthens our Faith in the Resurrection of our Saviour as it gave occasion to his Appearing another time for the Cure of his Unbelief And because after so much Obstinacy and pertinacious Doubt he at last yields and acknowledges the Truth of Christ's Resurrection and makes a Glorious Confession of his Faith Whereas if only a few credulous Men men of an easie and hasty Faith had assured us of it their Testimony had been more liable to suspicion The Wisdom of God has Recorded the Faults and Miscarriages of the Apostles for our Instruction and Vse These Suns enlighten us not only by the Lustre of their good Examples when they shine in Grace and Holiness but even by their Eclipses too Their Cowardize their Rashness their Presumption their Unbelief is of use to be considered Our Heavenly Physician Extracts some of the best Medicines out of the most deadly Poyson to caution and warn and instruct and Edifie us by the Miscarriages and Faults of David of Peter of Thomas and the like Let us therefore view this Passage and consider what Reflections may be made upon it And the whole may be comprehended under these Four Heads 1. The Incredulity of this Apostle he could not believe without seeing feeling and having the Testimony of Sense Except I shall see in his Hands the print of the Nails and put my Finger into the print of the Nails and thrust my Hand into his Side I will not believe Verse 25. 2. The Condescention and Kindness of Christ in appearing to him another time and granting it Verse 26 27. 3. The Cure of his Vnbelief and the Excellent Confession of Faith which thereupon he makes Verse 28. And Thomas answered and said unto him My Lord and my God 4. The useful Admonition which our Saviour gives us concerning Faith that though Thomas having seen him had believed yet Rather blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed 1. Concerning the Incredulity of this Apostle the Evangelist gives us an Account that on the First Day of the Week towards Evening our Lord being Risen from the Dead early in the Morning when the Disciples were met together and had shut the Door for fear of the Jews Ver. 19. He suddenly presents himself amongst them saying Peace be unto you He assures them of his being Risen from the Dead imparts to them the Holy Ghost and gives them a Charge and Commssion to act as Apostles in Remitting or Retaining Sins But Thomas whose Greek Name was Didymus both signifying Twins was not present at this Assembly But as soon as the other Disciples met him they tell him They had seen the Lord that Mary Magdalen had seen him that Peter had seen him and the two Disciples going to Emaus and then all the Ten and had full Assurance that he was Risen This makes little Impression in order to his believing it for no Eyes will serve him but his own Though Faith comes by hearing he professes he would not believe except he saw Except I see in his hands the print of the Nails and put my Finger into the prints of the Nails and thrust my Hand into his Side I will not believe O suspicious incredulous Man Who will be the Loser if thou wilt not believe But wherefore dost thou doubt How is it that so many Eyes and Tongues are not as credible as thine own Eyes and Hands Shall the World be Proselyted to the Faith of Christ upon the Testimony of these Witnesses and wilt not thou Assent Did not thy Lord foretel his own Death and Resurrection Didst thou not hear him declare that he must be Crucified and that afterwards on the Third Day he would Rise again Is there any thing we Attest concerning his Resurrection but what was promised and foretold Why may not we be credited in our Report of a Matter of Fact whereof we have so plain and full an Evidence What ground is there to disbelieve so many Eye-witnesses
Eleven gathered together Luke 24.33 How then if Thomas were absent are they called Eleven after the Death of Judas and before the Choice of Matthias I Answer * Dr. Lightfoot When the Eleven are mentioned we must not suppose it exactly meant of the Number of the Apostles then Present but of the present Number of the Apostles By his Absence from them he not only missed the good News that Mary brought of the Resurrection of Christ But he lost the comfortable Sight of Christ himself and so was left in Doubts and Unbelief which they were delivered from The Apostle Heb. 10.25 cautions against * See Dr. Owen on Heb. Chap. 10. Vers 25. Forsaking the Assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is Not only that which is Total which is the Fruit and Evidence of Absolute Apostasie but that which is Partially only in the want of Diligence and Conscientious Care in a Constant Attendance on Christian Assemblies according as the Rule and their Institution do require Whether it proceed from Fear of Suffering or from Spiritual Sloth with the Occasions and Affairs of this Life which come in Competition This is the first way for the most part whereby an Evil Heart of Vnbelief in departing from the living God doth evidence it self unto others Forsaking of Church-Assemblies is usually an Entrance into Apostasie Believe it Christians you cannot but be Losers by your Absence from the Publick Assemblies especially on the Lord's Day as this was when the Disciples met together and Christ was with them And if Thomas had not come amongst them the next Lord's Day he might have continued longer in his Incredulity He had met with the Presence of Christ if he had not forsaken the Assemblies of the other Disciples You must not expect to have the same Presence of Christ in Solitude or alone as in the Publick Assemblies where his Special Presence is Promised and usually Found They who pretend for the better Enjoyment of the Divine Presence to retire into Desarts and Hermitages to Monasteries and Cloisters they greatly mistake and deceive themselves for in stead of retiring out of the World they retire out of the Church and forsake the Company of the Saints They quit the Presence of Christ and lose the Opportunities of beholding the Wonders of his Grace and of receiving the Influences of his Presence and Spirit Therefore do not discontinue your Attendance on Publick Worship when you have Opportunity Do not say We can Read as good a Sermon at home or Pray as well at home If you absent from the House of God you must not think that Christ will follow you to your own Houses while you refuse to visit him in his If you are not with your Brethren when they Assemble together you will not find such Manifestations of Christ to you as others Experience You displease him by imitating the Example of Thomas and may expect to be assaulted and staggered by Temptations to Infidelity and all other sins which only the Presence of Christ and his Grace can cure For where two or three are met together in the Name of Christ he has promised to be with them It is in the Assemblies of his People that he manifests himself it is there he makes known the Power of his Death a d the Glory of his Resurrection it is there he dispenses the Gifts and Graces of his Spirit And they that absent themselves out of Choice they are voluntarily deprived of these Blessings Suppose you should spend your time on the Lord's Day at home in Prayer Reading and Meditation yet there is little reason to expect God should accept you therein while it signifies a Neglect if not a Contempt of Publick Worship which is more for his Honour and is expresly required by the Institution of such Assemblies and Apostolical Practice agreeable thereunto You cannot reasonably hope for such Effusisions of the Divine Grace and Spirit in a secret corner as in the Congregation of the Faithful There is room and time enough for Private Devotions without the neglect of the Publick Worship And God hath promised to be present in Christian Assemblies And his Institutions are never without a Blessing when there are Subjects capable of receiving it You should therefore be glad of an Opportunity and Call to Meet your Brethren in the House of God 3. I observe further that what we have found of the Presence and Manifestation of Christ we may Communicate in order to the Conviction of Others and the Assistance of their Faith All the Disciples endeavoured to perswade Thomas of Christ's Resurrection they All told him We have seen the Lord and no doubt they urged him with all the Circumstances of it to convince him of the Unreasonableness of his Obstinacy who would not believe except he could see How unreasonable was it might they tell him that Christ should appear again upon his Account merely to comply with his Curiosity And if he should appear again how unlikely it was that he should be priviledged more than they who had only a bare sight of him Why should he have more Why should he be permitted to thrust his Hand into our Lord's Side and his Fingers into the Print of the Nails He might expect rather that he would say to him as to Mary Touch me not for I am not yet Ascended And so if he should appear and be seen of him he might still continue an Infidel This kind Office they did for him thus doubtless did they endeavour to convince him though without success they tell him what they have seen And they that have any sight of Christ or Experience of his Presence as they cannot but be willing to impart it to Others so they may and ought to do it in order to their Conviction Only let us take heed that such Communications be done with all possible Wisdom and Humility 4. That it is Unreasonable and Provoking to refuse to Believe the Truth of any thing merely because we have not the Testimony of Sense to confirm it This was the Apostles Fault I will not believe except I see and feel the Print of the Nails This is to make Terms with the Blessed God to limit the Holy One of Israel and unreasonably to Expect that what is the Object of Faith should come under the View of Sense 5. I may observe further that Peter was one of these Witnesses that had seen the Lord and yet Thomas does not hearken to Him neither nor regard what he says more than what the other Apostles said What little ground is there to think then that he had any Supremacy above the rest of the Apostles and that he was the Prince of them If he were so Why did he not do his Office Why did he not shew his Authority Here is a fair Occasion for him to make use of the Authority of his Keyes to stop the Mouth of this Vnbeliever who says he will not believe except he see
Why does not Peter define and determine the matter that was questioned doubted and denied by Thomas There is nothing of all this however proper the occasion might have been 6. In that this Incredulity of the Apostle was over-ruled to so much good for the further Confirmation of the Great Doctrine of Christ's Resurrection let us admire the Divine Wisdom and Goodness in the Government of the World who tho he cannot be the Author of Sin does yet over-rule it to his own Glory He hath done so in many Eminent Examples and he did so in this Hereby the Honour of Christ is the more advanced by his open Confession of him afterwards as Lord and God and the Truth of his being Risen is the better confirmed and so the Faith of others assisted by his Fall It was well for the Apostle and it was well for Vs that he did not believe presently He was afterwards brought to the most admirable Exercise and Declaration of his Faith in Christ not only of his being Risen but of his being the Eternal Son of God and of his happy Interest in him and Relation to him as his Lord and his God And we have a greater Evidence thereby of the Truth of Christ's Resurrection Doubtless this Fall of Thomas was also a Motive to his greater Diligence in the Service of Christ and Zeal for his Glory as it was with the Apostle Paul and Peter and others 7. Let us not rashly judge of Men by a single Act. Thomas had true Faith notwithstanding this Fit of Doubting and Unbelief which revived upon the Sight and Presence of Christ within a few Days Many that in a fit of Temptation we may think have no Truth of Grace yet if we stay a while do soon discover it Some special Ordinance or Providence brings them to themselves and suddenly shows the Reality of that which did not Appear but the contrary Corruption 2. Having thus considered the Vnbelief of this Apostle let us now observe the Compassion Condescension and Kindness of Christ to this Incredulous Apostle Eight days after the Disciples being together and Thomas with them Jesus came and stood in the midst of them saying Peace be with you and says to Thomas Vers 27. Reach hither thy Finger and behold my Hands and reach hither thy Hand and thrust it into my Side and be not Faithless but Believing What Injustice if our Saviour had left him to his own Pertinacious Incredulity Whom could he have blamed but himself if he had continued in his Unbelief But our Lord came and shewed him his Hands and Feet and bids him do what he desired for his Conviction How mercifully doth he pity us in our Errors and Infirmities With what Tenderness and Compassion doth he reclaim us And this when he was Risen from the Dead after he was declared to be the Son of God with Power when he was to receive the Recompence and Reward of his Death and Sufferings when his State of Humiliation was over And yet How low does he stoop for the sake of this Apostle when so unreasonable a thing too was demanded as the Condition of his Believing But such is the Admirable Bounty and Condescension of Christ that he will not refuse him even this Since you will not believe otherwise O my Apostle I consent Behold my Wounds Behold the Print of the Nails And if the Sight of them be not enough to cure thine Infidelity Come Reach hither thine Hand thrust thy Finger into my Side I care not what I do or how low I stoop rather than not convince and heal thee If the Evidence of one Sense be not enough I will yield further and let thee have more Our Lord might have convinced Thomas by the Powerful Influence of his Spirit without all this But he condescends thus far for our Sakes that We and Others might have a clearer Evidence and Proof of his Resurrection and likewise of his Divinity For his fixing upon Thomas in this Assembly and speaking to him such Words doth plainly manifest that he knew his Heart and understood what Discourse he had had and what Objections he had made and what was the Inward Sense of his Soul which he could not have done without being Omniscient Little did this Apostle think his Lord had heard him or believe that he knew his Sin But Come hither says Christ behold my Hands Reach hither thy Hand and thrust it into my Side He condescends to Grant that which it was the Apostles Fault to Ask. We see by these Words our Risen Lord retained the Marks of the Wounds the Prints of the Nails and Spear in his Body after the Resurrection to manifest with greater Certainty the Truth of it It is likely he preserved them at his Ascension too as the Evidence of his past Sufferings and the Ensigns of his Victory And let us not imagin if he retains them in Heaven to the Admiration of Angels and the Joy of the Redeemed that it will be any Disparagement to the Beauty and Splendor of his Glorious Body but rather contribute to it in the Day of his Appearing when every Eye shall see him and they also which pierced him 3. Let us Consider the Faith of Thomas hereupon ver 18. He answered and said My Lord and my God He not only believes with the Heart but confesses with the Mouth He owns both the Divinity of Christ and his Dominion and that with an Appropriating Faith My Lord and my God There is a great Sense in these few words for 1. Here is an Evidence of the Truth of his Repentance of his Love and of his Zeal The very Sight of Christ and the Print of the Nails and the Mark of his Wounds shames him for his Sin and makes him sensible of his Incredulity Behold says Christ the print of the Nails Think what I have suffered for Thee for the Expiation of thy Sin Think how I have loved Thee to dye for thee And wilt thou not believe that I am Risen This awakened his Repentance and made him abruptly cry out My Lord and my God Two words sometimes are more significant than an Hundred and express the Desires of the Heart more than a large Discourse The Kindness and Condescension of his Lord overcame him and by these words he proves the Cure of his Infidelity Before he would not believe Christ to be Alive now he confesses him to be God Before he reckoned him under the Power of Death now he acknowledges him as the Lord and Prince of Life Before he believed less than any of the other Apostles now he confesses more than All of them My Lord my God Thou art the Anointed of God the King the Head of the Church the Expected Promised Messiah If thy Death had staggered my Faith thy Resurrection has established it My Lord my God I adore thy Compassion and Condescension that thou wouldst Appear to me who so justly forfeited such a Favour I implore thy Grace I beg thy
suppose our Lord and the more Pious Jews did not Approve of that Order of the Sena e but followed the true Appearance of the Moon confirmed by sufficient and assured Witnesses The Passover being to be kept on the Fifteenth Day from the Appearance of the New-Moon But you will say still How could that Lamb be brought to the Temple and killed there if it were not on the same Day the Jewish Passover was generally Observed Unto which it is Answered That either the Master of the Family might be permitted on that day to kill the Lamb Not all the Lambs to be eaten by the Paschal Societies were to be killed by the Priests at the Temple and their blood poured out upon or at the Foot of the Altar but some of 'em in stead of All. Or that as to this and other Feasts whose Time depended upon this Determination that it was usual in Doubtful Cases to permit the Feast to be Solemnized for two days together Many Instances can be brought of this out of the Writings and Practices of the Jews and it is probable it was so now It is certain it was the Night before he â—â—â—â—â—red that he did thus eat the Passover and the Day wherein Israel went out of Egypt And it is a Tradition among the Jews says Grotius That then Israel should be delivered and redeemed in the Days of the Messiah even on the same day wherein they were delivered out of the House of Bondage in Egypt Thus admirably did the Wisdom of God concur to make the Antitype agree with the Type as will appear more distinctly under the next Head V. The Accomplishment of this Jewish Passover in the Kingdom of God For I say unto you I will eat no more thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God Which denotes it should be accomplished very shortly in that Kingdom But Vntil will not argue as if he should have afterwards eaten of it again That will not follow any more than that Michal Saul's Daughter had Children after her death because it is said She had no Child till the day of her death 1. What is meant by the Kingdom of God 2. What by the Fulfilling of the Passover therein And how or wherein it was then Accomplished and Fulfilled 1. Wâ— are we to understand by the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven Sometimes the expression is used for the Kingdom of Glory Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God Sometimes for his Providential Government His Kingdom ruleth over all Sometimes for the Execution of Judgment on the Nation of the Jews Mark 9.1 Some standing here shall not taste of Death till they see the Kingdom of God come But most usually it is taken for the Kingdom of Grace in General The Messiah's Kingdom with what belongs thereto The outward Means of Salvation are sometimes so called Math. 21.43 If I cast out Devils by the Spirit of God then is the Kingdom of God come unto you The Internal Renovation of the Soul is also so expressed The Kingdom of God is within you and cometh not with observation Luk. 17.20 21. The Essentials of Christianity are also expressed by this Phrase Rom. 14.17 The Kingdom of God is not Meat and Drink but Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost But the Church-State or the Evangelical Dispensation by the Messiah is most commonly understood As when the Kingdom of God is said to be at hand by the Preaching of Christ and his Apostles And no greater Prophet than John the Baptist yet the least in the Kingdom of Heaven or the meanest Minister of the New Testament who Preacheth the Accomplishment of those things which the Baptist saw but the beginning of is greater than John the Baptist for he died before the Sacrifice of Christ So in this Text our Lord sayes He will eat no more of the Passover and drink no more of the Fruit of the Vine till it be accomplished in the Kingdom of God that is till what was represented in the Figure and Type of the Jewish Passover was really fulfilled by the Messiah's Offering himself a Sacrifice upon the Cross Which Sacrifice and Death of Christ was supposed and anticipated in the Lord's Supper as the first Institution of this New Kingdom or Gospel-Dispensation My body broken for you And this brings me to consider 2. The Fulfilling of this Passover in the Kingdom of God Or the Accomplishment of the Legal Passover when Christ the Lamb of God who taketh away the Sins of the World was Sacrificed for us And here we may consider in the General 1. That something more than the History was intended 2. That these things did refer to the Messiah 3. That the Faithful under the Old Testament did so regard them 1. It is certain that somewhat more than the History was designed All the Sacrifices and Ceremonies of the Mosaick Institution were but Shadows of good things to come But the Substance is Christ Colos 2.17 He is so even of the Jewish Passover For the Jews can never assign any pertinent and solid Reason of the Passover-Rites if there were no Reference to the Messiah What need of the Choice and Separation of a Lamb in that manner What Vertue could there be in the killing of one and the Sprinkling their Door-posts with his Blood What Influence could That have on their Deliverance out of Egypt Could not God distinguish the Houses of the Israelites from those of the Egyptians without this No Reason can well be assign'd of such Rites and Orders but by the Doctrine of the New Testament These things are thereby discover'd to be Excellent Emblems of the great Mystery of our Lord's Death 2. The whole Design therefore of this Paslover-Feast had an Aspect upon the Messiah and does Admirably Represent the Death and Sufferings of Christ the Lamb of God Sacrificed for us By whose Blood we have a Spiritual Deliverance from Sin and Satan as by the Blood of the Paschal Lamb they had a Deliverance from the destroying Angel and afterwards a Deliverance from the Egyptian Bondage Even the History of the Institution of this Passover shows a manifest Reference to Jesus Christ For we read Exod. 12.46 concerning the Paschal Lamb Neither shall ye break a Bone thereof And this is said to be fulfilled in Christ the Antitype as if pronounced immediately of him John 19. When the Souldiers found him dead they brake not his Bones as of the other two And it follows These things were done that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says A Bone of him shall not be broken The Faithful under the Old Testament did so regard these Things And therefore Moses who esteemed the Reproach of Christ as greater Riches than the Treasures of Egypt and therefore did know him is said to have kept the Passover in Faith Heb. 11.28 In which Chapter the Apostle speaks all along of Faith in the Mediator and not of Faith in God