Blood shed for them Rom. 11 7 The Election hath obtained it Christ passed by others and dyed intentionally for them Impenitent Sinners have no Benefit by Christ's Death unless a short Reprieve Christ is given to the wicked in wrath He is a Rock of Offence 1 Pet. 2 8. Christs Blood is like Chymical Drops of Oyl which recover some Patients but kill other Judas sucked Death from the Tree of Life God can turn Stones into Bread and a Sinner can turn Bread into Stones The Bread of Life into the Sâ—…ne of Stumbling 5. The fifth thing observable in the Text is the benefit of this Supper in these Words For the remission of sins This is a mercy of the first Magnitude the Summum genus the crowning blessing Psalm 103. 3 4. Who forgiveth thy iniquities who crowneth thee with loving-kindness Whosoever hath this Charter granted is enrolled in the book of Life Psal. 32. 1. Blâ—…ssed is he whose transgression is forgiven Under this Word remission of sin by a Synecdoche are comprehended all Heavenly Benedictions Justification Adoption Glory in respect of which benefits we may with Chrysostom call the Lords Supper The Feast of the Cross. This Doctrine of the Sacrament confutes the opinion of Transubstantiation When Christ saith This is my body The Papists affirm that the Bread after the Consecration is turned into the Substance of Christ's Body We hold that Christ's Body is in the Sacrament spiritually but the Papists say that it is there carnally which opinion is both Absurd and Impious 1. Absurd For it is contrary 1. To Scripture The Scripture asserts that Christs Body is locally and numerically in Heaven Act. 3. 21. Whom the Heavens must receive until the times of Restitution of all things If Christ's Body be circumscribed in Heaven then it cannot be materially in the Eucharist 2. It is contrary to reason How is it imaginable that a thing should be changed into another Species yet continue the same That the Bread in the Sacrament should be transmuted and turned into Flesh yet remain Bread still When Moses Rod was turned into a Serpent it could not be at the same time both a Rod and a Serpent That the Bread in the Saâ—…rament should be changed into the body of Christ and yet remain Bread is a perfect contradiction If the Papists say The Bread is vanished This is fitter to be put into their Legend than our Creed for the colour form and rellish of the Bread still remains 2. This Opinion of Transubstantiation is impious as appears in two things 1. It is a Profaning Christ's body for if the Bread in the Sacrament be the real body of Christ then it may be eaten not only by the wicked but by Reptils and Vermin which were to disparage and cast contempt upon Christ and his Ordinance 2. It runs men inevitably upon sin for through this mistake that the bread is Christs very body there follows the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Divine Worship given to the bread which is Idolatry as also the offering up of the bread or Host in the Mass which is a blasphemy against Christs Priestly Office as if his Sacrifice on the Cross were imperfect Therefore I conclude with Peter Martyr That this Doctrine of Transubstantiation is to be abhorred and exploded being minted only in mens phancies but not sprung up in the field of the Holy Scriptures 2. This Doctrine of the Sacrament confutes such as look upon the Lords Supper only as an empty Figure or shadow resembling Christ's Death but having no intrinsick efficacy in it Surely this glorious Ordinance is more than an Effigies or representative of Christ Why is the Lords Supper called The Communion of the body of Christ but because in the right celebration of it we have sweet communion with Christ In this Gospel-Ordinance Christ doth not only shew forth his Beauty but send forth his Vertue The Sacrament is not only a Picture drawn but a Breast drawn it gives us a Tast of Christ as well as a Sight Such as make the Sacrament only a representative of Christ do shoot short of the Mystery and come short of the Comfort Use. 2. It informs us of several things 1. It shews us the necessity of coming to the Lords Supper Hath Jesus Christ been at all this cost to make a Feast then sure there must be Guests It is not left to our choice whether we will come or no but it is a Duty purely indispensable 1 Cor. 11. 28. Let him eat of that Bread Which Words are not only permissive but authorative As if a King should say Let it be Enacted The Neglect of the Sacrament runs men into a Gospel-Premunire It was infinite goodness in Christ to broach that blessed Vessel of his body and let his sacred Blood stream out and for us wilfully to omit such an Ordinance wherein the Trophie of mercy is so richly displayed and our salvation so nearly concerned well may Christ take this as an undervaluing of him and interpret it no better than a bidding him keep his feast to himself He that observed not the Passeover that soul was to be cut off Numb 9. 13. How angry was Christ with those that stayed away from the Supper They thought to put it off with a Complement but Christ knew how to construe their excuse for a refusal Luk. 14. 24. None of those men which were bidden shall taste of my Supper The Rejecting Gospel-mercy is a sin of so deep a die that God can do no less than punish it for a Contempt Some need a Flaming Sword to keep them off from the Lord's Table and others need Christ's Whip of small Cords to drive them to it Perhaps Some will say They are above the Sacrament It were strange to hear a man say he were above his Food The Apostles were not above this Ordinance and doth any one presume to be a Peg higher than the Apostles Let all Enthusiasts consult that Scripture 〈◊〉 Cor. 11. 26. As often as ye eat this bread and drink this Cup. ye shew the Lords death till he come The Lords Death is to be remembred Sacramentally til he come to Judgment 2. See the Misery of Unbelievers though the Lord hath appointed this glorious Ordinance of his Body and Blood they reap no benefit by it They come indeed to the Sacrament either to keep up their Credit or to stop the Mouth of Conscience but they get nothing for their Souls They come empty of Grace and go away empty of Comfort Isa. 29. 8. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth and behold he eateth but he awaketh and his soul is empty So wicked men fancy they eat of this spritual Banquet but they are in a golden Dream Alas They discern not the Lords body The Manna lay round about Israels Camp and they knew it not Exod. 16. 15. They wist not what it was
and are like Wine that hath lost the spi rits Christs blood hath an elevatinâ—… povver it puts vivacity into us mâ—… king us quick and vegete in our mo tion Isa. 40. 31. They shall mouâ—… up with wings as Eagles 3. Christ's blood is a cleansiâ—… blood Heb. 9. 14. How much morâ—… shall the blood of Christ purge your Coâ—… sciences As the Merit of Christ'â—… blood doth pacifie God so the Veâ—… tue of it doth purifie us It is Balnâ—… um coeleste the King of Heaveâ—… Bath It is Lavacrum animae a Lavâ—… to vvash in It vvashethâ—… crimson sinner milk whiteâ—… 1 Joh. 1. 7. The blood 〈◊〉 Jesus cleanseth us from aâ—… our sin The Word of Goâ—… is a Looking-glass to shew us oâ—… spots the blood of Christ is a fouâ—… tain to vvash them avvay Zac. 12. 1â—… But this blood vvill not vvash if iâ—… be mingled vvith any thing Wateâ—… vvill not vvash clean except it bâ—… mingled with Sope or Camphire â—…ut if we go to mingle any thing with Christ's Blood either the Merits of â—…oints or Prayers of Angels it will â—…ot wash Let Christ's Blood be pure â—…nd unmixed and there is no spot but â—…t will wash away It purged out â—…oahs Drunkenness Lots Incest Inâ—…eed there is one spot so black that Christ's Blood doth not wash away â—…nd that is the Sin against the Holy Ghost not but that there is Vertue â—…nough in Christ's Blood to wash it aâ—…ay but he who hath sinned that â—…n will not be washed he contemns Christ's Blood and tramples it under â—…oot Heb. 10. 29. 4. Christ's Blood is a softning â—…lood There is nothing so hard â—…ut may be softned if it lie a steep 〈◊〉 this blood it will soften a stone â—…ater will soften the Earth but it â—…ill not soften a stone but Christ's â—…lood mollifies a Stone it softâ—…s an Heart of stone It turns a Flint into a Spring The Heaâ—… which before was like a piece hewâ—… out of a Rock being steeped Christ's blood becomes soft aâ—… the waters of Repentance flow froâ—… it How was the Jaylor's Heart diâ—… solved and made tender when thâ—… blood of sprinkling was upon it Aâ—… 16. 30. Sirs What must I do to saved His heart was now like meâ—… ing Wax God might set what Sâ—… and Impression he would upon it 5. Christ's blood is a coolinâ—… blood 1. It cools the Heat of Siâ—… The Heart naturally is full of disteâ—… pered Heat it must needs be hoâ—… being set on fire of Hell It burns iâ—… Lust and Passion Christ's blood aâ—… layes this Heat it quencheth the Iâ—… flammations of Sin 2. It cools thâ—… Heat of Conscience In time of deâ—… sertion Conscience burns with thâ—… heat of God's Displeasure noâ—… Christ's blood being sprinkled upoâ—… the Conscience cools and pacifies it And in this sense Christ is compared to a River of water Isa. 32. 2. When the Heart burns and is in an agony Christ's blood is like water to the fire it hath a cooling refrigerating Vertue in it 6. Christ's blood is a comforting blood it is good against fainting Fits Christ's blood is better than Wine Though Wine chears the Heart of a Man that is well yet it will not chear his Heart when he hath a fit of the Stone or when the Pangs of Death are upon him But Christ's blood will chear the Heart at such a time It is best in affliction it cures the trembling at the Heart A Conscience sprinkled with Christ's blood can like the Nightingale sing with a Thorn at its Breast The blood of Christ can make a Prison become a Palace It turned the Martyrs Flames into Beds of Roses Christ's blood gives comfort at the hour of Death As an Holy Man once said on his Death-bed when they brought him a Julip No Julip like the Blood of Christ 7. Christ's blood is an Heaven procuring blood Israel passed through the red Sea to Canaan So through the red sea of Christ's blood we enter into the Heavenly Canaan Heb. 10. 19. Having boldness therefore to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus Our sins did shut Heaven Christ's blood is the key which opens the gate of Paradise for us Hence it is Theodoret calls the Cross 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Tree of Salvation Because that blood which trickled down the Cross distills Salvation Well then may we prize the blood of Christ and vvith St. Paul determine to know nothing but Christ crucified 1 Cor. 2. 2. Kings Crovvns are only Crosses but the Cross of Christ is the only Crovvn 3. Doth Christ offer his Body and blood to us in the Supper Then with what solemn preparation should we come to so sacred an Ordinance It is not enough to do what God hath appointed but as he hath appointed 1 Sam. 7. 3. Prepare your hearts unto the Lord. The Musitian first puts his Instrument in Tune before he plays The Heart must first be prepared and put in Tune before it goes to meet with God in this solemn Ordinance of the Sacrament Take heed of rashness and irreverence If we come not preparedly we do not drink but spill Christ's blood 1 Cor. 11. 27. Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord That is saith Theophylact he shall be judged a shedder of Christ's Blood We read of a Wine-cup of fury in Gods hand Jer. 25. 15. He that comes unpreparedly to the Lords-Supper turns the Cup in the Sacrament into a Cup of fury Oh with what reverence and devotion should we address our selves to these holy Mysteries The Saints are called prepared Vessels Rom. 9. 23. If ever these Vessels should be prepared it is when they are to hold the precious Body and Blood of Christ. The sinner that is damned is first prepared Men do not go to Hell without some kind of preparation Rom. 9. 22. Vessels fitted for destruction If those Vessels are prepared which are filled with wrath much more are those to be prepared who are to receive Christ in the Sacrament Let us dress our selves by a Scripture-glasse before we come to the Lords Table And with the Lamb's Wife make our selves ready Quest. How should we be rightly qualified and prepared for the Lords Supper Answ. If we would come with prepared hearts we must come 1. With Self-examining-hearts 1 Cor. 11. 28. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread It is not enough that others think we are fit to come but we must examine our selves The Greek word to Examine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Metaphor taken from the Goldsmith who doth curiously try his Metals So before we come to the Lords Table we are to make a curious and critical trial of our selves by the Word Self-examination being a reflexive Act is difficult 'T is hard for a man to look inward
THE HOLY Eucharist OR THE MYSTERY OF THE LORDS SUPPER Briefly Explained By THOMAS WATSON Minister of the Gospel The second Impression newly Enlarged Dedit nobis Christus carnem suam in cibum sanguinem in potum animam in pretium aquam lateris in lavacrum Bernard 1 Cor. 10. 21. Ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's-Table and the Table of Devils LONDON Printed by A. Maxwel for Thomas Parkhurst at the Golden Bible on London-Bridge next the Gate To the Honourable Vertuous and my ever Honoured Friend Mrs. DOROTHY WOLSTENHOLM Madam BEsides the Cognizance I have had of you when it was my happiness to live among some of your Noble Relations your friendly deportment and the favourable Aspect which you have been pleased to cast upon me hath very much rendred me your Debtor And I knew not what other way to express my self grateful than by presenting yoâ—… with some of that Treasure which through the help of the Spirit I have digged out of the Sacred Mines of Scripture The Tractate which I here dedicate to you is small but the Subject treated on is of eminent and singular worth Pearls may lie in a little room and a soveraign Electuary may be given upon a Knive's point The Supper of the Lord is a matter of weighty importance as having in it the very pith and quintessence of the Gospel Madam Admire distinguishing Grace which hath made you Noble not only in blood but in spiritual Endowments How deeply are you obliged to God who hath given you an insight into the Mystery of Life which will abide with you when the Flower of Beauty shall fade and the Feathers of Honour must lie in the dust Madam let Jesus Christ be ever in your thoughts you are never out of his Let that dear Saviour lie as a bundle of Myrrh between your Breasts delight much in the Galleries where the King of Glory is held Let those hours be counted golden when you are at Free grace's Table and Christ sups with you and you with him I have no more at present to add only desire your Candid Interpretation kind reception of these few impolished lines So entreating the Lord to enrich you with all spiritual and eternal Blessings I take leave and rest Madam Yours to serve you Thomas Watson TO THE Reader Christian Reader VVHEN I Contemplate the Holiness and Solemnity of the blessed Sacrament I cannot but have some awe upon my Spirit and think my self bound to hold this Mystery in the highest Veneration The Elements of Bread and Wine are in themselves common but under these Symbolical Representations lie hid Divine Excellencies Behold here the best of dainties God is in this Cheer Here is the Apple of the Tree of Life Here is The House of Wine where the Banner of Free grace is gloriously displayed In the Sacrament we see Christ broken before us and his broken body is the only comfort for a broken Heart While we sit at this Tabâ—â— Christ's precious Spikenard of merit and grace sends forth its smell The Sacrament is both an healing and a sealing Ordinance Here our Saviour leads his people up the Mount of Transfiguration gives them a Glimpse of Paradise How welcome should this Jubilee of the Soul be wherein Christ appears in the oriency of his beauty and draws the golden 〈◊〉 of his love to the center of a Believer's Heart Oh what Flames of Devotion should burn in our Breasts How agil and nimble should we be mounting up as on Wings of Cherubims when we are to meet the Prince of Glory who brings the Olive-branch of Peace in his mouth and whose kisses leave a print of Heaven upon the Soul The scope of this ensuing Discourse is to raise an high value and appretiation of the Sacrament to Excite Holy Ardours of Soul in such as intend to partake of it Think not That it is enough to be outwardly devout at Gods Table drawing near to him with the lip when the Heart is far from him What is this but with Ephraim to compass God with Lyes They who put off God with bare shews he will put them off with bare signs They who give God only the skin of Duty shall carry away only the shell of Comfort Spirituality is the life of Worship If we come to the Sacrament in due order* we shall see him whom our souls love The Lord will give us a fore-crop here and reserve the after-crop of Glory for the Kingdom of Heaven That this may be effected shall be the earnest prayer of him who is Yours in the Work of the Gospel Thomas Watson THE MYSTERY of the Lords Supper MATT. 26. 26 27 28. And as they were eating Jesus took bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to his Disciples and said Take eat this is my body And he took the Cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it For this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the Remission of sins IN these words we have the Institution of the Lords Supper The Greeks call the Sacrament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Mystery There is in it a Mystery of Wonder and a mystery of Mercy The celebration of the Lords Supper saith St. Chrysostom is the Commemoration of the greatest Blessing that ever the World enjoyed A Sacrament is a Visible Sermon And herein the Sacrament excels the Word Preached The Word is a Trumpet to proclaim Christ the Sacrament is a Glass to represent him Quest. But why was the Sacrament of the Lords Supper appointed is not the Word sufficient to bring us to Heaven Answ. The Word is for the Ingrafting The Sacrament for the Confirming of Faith The Word brings us to Christ The Sacrament builds us up in him The Word is the Font where we are baptized with the Holy Ghost The Sacrament is the Table where we are fed and cherished The Lord condescends to our wâ—…akness Were we made up all of Spirit there were no need of Bread and Wine but we are compounded creatures therefore God to help our Faith doth not only give us an audible Word but a visible Sign I may here allude to that of our Saviour Joh. 4. 48. Except ye see signs ye will not believe Christ sets his Body and Blood before us in the Elements here are Signs else we will not believe Things taken in by the Eye do more work upon us than things taken in by the Ear. A Solemn Spectacle of Mortality doth more affect us than an Oration So when we see Christ broken in the Bread and as it were Crucified before us this doth more affect our Hearts than the bare Preaching of the Cross. So I come to the Text As they were eating Jesus took bread c. Where I shall open these five particulars in reference to the Sacrament 1. The Author 2. The Time 3. The Manner 4. The
and see the face of his own Soul The eye can see every thing but it self But this probatory work is necessary Because 1. If we do not examine our selves we are at a losse about our Spiritual estate we know not whether we are interested in the Covenant or whether we have a right to the Seal 2. God will examine us It was a sad question the Master of the Feast asked Mat. 22. 12. Friend how camest thou in hither not having a Wedding-garment So it will be terrible when God shall say to a man How camest thou in hither to my Table with a proud vain unbelieving heart What hast thou to do here in thy sins Thou pollutest my holy things What need therefore is there to make an heart-search before we come to the Lords-Supper We should examine our sins that they may be mortified our wants that they may be supplied our graces that they may be strengthened 2. We must come with serious hearts Our spirits are feathery and light like a Vessel without Ballast which flotes upon the water but doth not sail We flote in holy duties and are full of vain excursions even when we are to deal with God and are engaged in matters of life and death That which may consolidate our hearts and make them fix with seriousness is To consider God's eye is now especially upon us when we approach to his Table The King came in to see the Gnests God knows every Communicant and if he sees any levity and indecency of spirit in us unworthy of his presence he will be highly incensed and send us away with the guilt of Christ's blood instead of the comfort of it 3. We must come with intelligent hearts There ought to be a competent measure of knowledg that we may discern the Lords body As we are to pray with understanding 1 Cor. 14. 15. So ought we to Communicate at the Lords Table with understanding If knowledg be wanting it cannot be a reasonable service They that know not the mystery feel not the comfort We must know God the Father in his Attributes God the Son in his Offices God the Holy Ghost in his Graces Some say they have good hearts yet want knowledg We may as well call that a good eye which wants sight 4. We must come to the Sacrament with longing hearts Say as Christ With desire I have desired to eat of this Passeover If God prepares a Feast we must get a Stomack Why hath the Lord frowned upon his people of late but to punish their surfeit and provoke their appetite As David longed for the water of the Well of Bethlehem 2 Sam. 23. 15. So should we long for Christ in the Sacrament Desires are the Sails of the Soul which are spread to receive the gale of an Heavenly Blessing For the exciting holy desires and longings consider 1. The magnificence and royalty of this Supper It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Heavenly Banquet Isa. 25. 6. In this Mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things a feast of wine on the lees Here the juice of that Grape which comes from the true Vine Under these Elements of Bread and Wine Christ and all his benefits are exhibited to us The Sacrament is omnium aromatum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a repository and storehouse of Coelestial Blessings Behold here life and peace and salvation set before us All the Dulcia fercula the sweet delicacies of Heaven are served in at this Feast 2. To provoke Appetite consider what need we have of this spiritual repast The Angel perswaded Elias to take a little of the Cake and Cruse of water that he might not faint in his Journey 1 King 19. 7. Arise and eat because the Journey is too great for thee So truly we have a great Journey from Earth to Heaven therefore had need recruit our selves by the way How many sins have we to subdue how many duties to perform how many wants to supply how many graces to strengthen how many adversaries to conflict with so that we need a bait by the way by feeding upon the body and blood of the Lord We renew our strength as the Eagle 3. Consider Christ's readiness to dispense Divine blessings in this Ordinance Jesus Christ is not a sealing Fountain but a flowing Fountain 'T is but crying and he gives the Breast 'T is but thirsting and he opens the Conduit Rev. 22. 17. Let him that is athirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely As the clouds have a natural propenseness to drop down their moisture upon the Earth So hath Christ to give forth of his gracious vertues and influences to the soul. 4. There is no danger of excess at this Supper Other Feasts do often cause Surfeit it is not so here The more we take of the bread of life the more healthful we are and the more we come to our spiritual complexion Fulness here doth not encrease humours but comforts in spiritual things there is no extream Though a drop of Christ's blood be sweet yet the more the better the deeper the sweeter Cant. 5. 2. Drink abundantly O beloved In the Original it is Be ye inebriated with my love 5. We know not how long this Feast may last While the Manna is to be had let us bring our Omer God will not always be spreading the Cloth If people lose their stomacks he will call to the Enemy to take away 6. Feeding upon Christ Sacramentally will be a good preparative to Sufferings The bread of life will help us to feed upon the bread of affliction The Cup of Blessing will enable us to drink of the Cup of persecution Christ's blood is a wine that hath a flavour in it and is full of Spirits Therefore Cyprian tells us When the Primitive Christians were to appear before the cruel Tyrants they were wont to receive the Sacrament and then they arose up from the Lords Table as Lyons breathing forth the fire of heavenly courage Let these considerations be as sawce to sharpen our appetite to the Lords Table God loves to see us feed hungrily upon the bread of life 5. If we would come prepared to this Ordinance we must come with penitent hearts The Passeover was to be eaten with bitter herbs We must bring our Myrrhe of Repentance which though it be bitter to us it is sweet to Christ Zac. 12. 10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and mourn over him A broken Christ is to be received into a broken heart We that have sinned with Peter should weep with Peter Our eyes should be broached with tears and our hearts steeped in the brinish waters of Repentance Say Lord Jesus though I cannot bring sweet Spices and perfume thy body as Mary did yet I will wash thy feet with my tears The more bitterness we taste in sin the more sweetness we shall taste
Sin and make it appear Ghastly is this It crucified our Lord It made Christ Vail his Glory and lose his Blood If a Woman did see that Sword which killed her Husband how hateful would the sight of it be to her Do we count that Sin Light which made Christ's Soul Heavy unto Death Mark 14. 34. Can that be our joy which made the Lord Jesus a man of sorrows Isa. 53. 3. Did he cry out My God why hast thou forsaken me And shall not those Sins be forsaken by us which made Christ himself forsaken O let us look upon Sin with Indignation When a Temptation comes to Sin let us say as David 2 Sam. 23. 17. Is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives So Is not this the Sin that poured out Christ's Blood Let our Hearts be enraged against Sin When the Senators of Rome shewed the people Caesar's bloody Robe they were incensed against those that slew him Sin hath rent the White Robe of Christs Flesh and dyed it of a Crimson Colour let us then seek to be avenged of our Sins Under the Law if an Oxe gored a Man that he dyed the Oxe was to be killed Exod. 21. 28. Sin hath gored and pierced our Saviour let it dye the Death What pitty is it for that to live which would not suffer Christ to live 6. Was Christ's Body broken Let us then from his suffering on the Cross learn this Lesson Not to wonder much if we meet with Troubles in the World Did Christ suffer who knew no Sin And do we think it strange to suffer who know nothing but Sin Did Christ feel the anger of God And is it much for us to feel the anger of Men Was the Head crowned with Thorns And would the Members lie among Roses Must we have our Bracelets and Diamonds when Christ had the Spear and Nails going to his heart Truly such as are guilty may well expect the lash when he who was innocent could not go free 2. The second Use is of Exhortation and it hath several Branches 1. Was Christ's precious body broken for us Let us be affected with the great goodness of Christ Who can tread upon these hot Coals and his Heart not burn Cry out with Ignatius Christ my Love is crucified If a Friend should dye for us would not our Hearts be much affected with his Kindness That the God of Heaven should dye for us how should this stupendious mercy have a melting influence upon us The body of Christ broken is enough to break the most flinty Heart At our Saviour's Passion the very Stones did cleave asunder Mat 27. 51. The Rocks rent He that is not affected with this hath an Heart harder than the Stones If Saul was so affected with Davids Mercy in sparing his Life 1 Sam. 24. 16. How may we be affected vvith Christs kindness vvho to spare our life lost his ovvn Let us pray that as Christ vvas Crucifixus so he might be Cordi-fixus As he vvas fastened to the Cross so that he may be fastened to our Hearts 2. Is Jesus Christ spiritually exhibited to us in the Sacrament Let us then set an high value and Estimate upon him 1. Let us prize Christs body Every crumb of this bread of life is precious John 6. 55. My flesh is meat indeed It is Panis eximius supersubstantialis as Cyprian calls it The Manna was a lively Type and Emblem of Christ's Body Manna was sweet Exod. 16. 31. The taste of it was like wafers made with honey it was a delicious meat therefore it was called Angels Food for its excellency So Christ the Sacramental Manna is sweet to a Believer's Soul Cant. 2. 3. His fruit was sweet to my taste Every thing of Christ is sweet His Name is sweet his Vertues sweet This Manna sweetens the Waters of Marah Nay Christ's Flesh excells Manna 1. Manna was Food but not Physick If an Israclite had been sick Manna could not have cured him but this blessed Manna of Christ's body is not only for food but for medicine Christ hath healing under his wings Mal. 4. 2. He heals the Blind eve the hard Heart Take this mediâ—…ine next your Heart and it will heal you of all your spiritual Distempers 2. Manna was Corruptible It ceased when Israel came to Canaan But this blessed Manna of Christ's Body will never cease The Saints shall feed with infinite delight and Soul satisfaction upon Christ to all Eternity The Joyes of Heaven would cease if this Manna should cease The Manna was put in a golden Pot in the Ark to be preserved there So the blessed Manna of Christ's Body being put in the golden Pot of the Divine Nature is laid up in the Ark of Heaven for the Saints to feast upon for ever Well then may we say of Christ's blessed Body It is meat indeed The Field of Christ's Body being digged upon the Cross we find the Pearl of Salvation there 2. Let us prize Christ's Blood in the Sacrament It is drink indeed John 6. 55. Here is the Nectar and Anibrosia God himself delights to taste of This is both a Balsom and a Perfume That vve may set the higher value upon the blood of Christ I shall shevv you seven rare supernatural Vertues in it 1. It is a reconciling blood Col. 1. 21. You that were sometime alienated and enemies yet now hath he reconciled through death No sooner vvas the Message brought to King David Uriah is dead 2 Sam. 11. 21. but the anger of David vvas removed No sooner vvas the blood of Christ poured out but God's anger vvas pacified Christ's blood is the blood of atonement Nay it is not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not onely a Sacrifice but a Propitiation 1 John 2. 2. Which denoteth a bringing us into Favour with God It is one thing for a traytor to be pardoned and another thing to be brought into Favour Sin rent us off from God Christ's Blood doth soader and â—…cment us to God If we had had as much grace as the Angels it could not have wrought our Reconciliation If we had offered up Millions of Holocausts and Sacrifices if we â—…ad wept Rivers of Tears this could never have appeased an angry Deiâ—…y only Christ's blood doth ingraâ—…iate us into God's Favour and make him look upon us with a smiling Aspect When Christ dyed the Vail of the Temple was rent This was not without a Mystery to shew that â—…hrough Christ's blood the Vail of our Sins is rent which did interpose between God and us 2. Christ's blood is a quickning â—…lood John 6. 54. Whoso drinketh my blood hath eternal life It both â—…egets life and prevents death Lev. 17. 11. The life of a thing is in the â—…lood Sure enough the life of our â—…oul is in the blood of Christ. When we contract deadness of Heart
must be with heat and intenseness of soul. Jacob wrestled in prayer Gen. 32. 24 Cold Prayers like cold Suitors never speed Prayer must be with sighs and groans Rom. 8. 26. It must be in the Holy Ghost Judev. 20. He who will speak to God saith St. Ambrose must speak to him in his own language vvhich he understands that is in the language of his Spirit 13. And lastly we must come to the Lords Table with self denying heâ—…rts When we have prepared our selves in the best manner we can let us take heed of trusting to our preparations Luk. 17 15. When ye shall have done all these things which are commanded you say We are unprofitable servants Use duty but do not idolize it We ought to use duties to fit us for Christ but we must not make a Christ of our duties Duty is the golden path to walk in but not a silver Crutch to lean on Alas what are all our preparations God can spie an hole in our best garments Isa. 64. 6. All our Righteousnesses are as filthy rags When we have prepared our selves as hoping in God's mercy we must deny our selves as deserving his Justice If our holiest services be not sprinkled with Christ's blood they are no better than shining sins and like Uriah's letter they carry in them the matter of our death Use duty but trust to Christ and Free-grace for acceptance Be like Nâ—…s Dove she made use of her wings to fly but trusted to the Ark for safety We see how we are to be qualified in our addresses to the Lord's-Table Thus coming we shall meet with embraces of mercy We shall have not only a representation but a participation of Christ in the Sacrament we shall carry away not only panem but salutem We shall be filled with all the fulness of God 4. Hath Jesus Christ made this Gospel-banquet Is he both the Founder and the Feast Then let poor doubting Christians be encouraged to come to the Lord's-Table Satan would hinder from the Sacrament as Saul did the people from eating honey 1 Sam. 14. 26. But is there any soul that hath been humbled and bruised for sin whose heart secretly pants after Christ but yet stands trembling and dares not approach to these holy Mysteries let me encourage that soul to come Mark 10. 49. Arise he calleth thee Object 1. But I am sinful and unvvorthy and what should I meddle with such holy things Answ. Who did Christ die for but such 1 Tim. 1. 15. He came into the world to save sinners He took our sins upon him as vvell as our nature Isa. 53. 4. He bare our griefs In the Hebrew it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our sicknesses See thy sins saith Luther upon Christ and then they are no more thine but his Our sins should humble us but they must not discourage us from Christ the more diseased we are the rather vve should step into this Pool of Siloam Who doth Christ invite to the Supper but the poor halt maimed Luk. 14. 21. That is such as see themselves unvvorthy and flie to Christ for Sanctuary The Priest was to take a bunch of Hyssop and dip it in blood and sprinkle it upon the Leper Lev. 14. 7. Thou who hast the leprosie of sin upon thee yet if as a Leper thou dost loath thy self Christ's precious blood shall be sprinkled upon thee Object 2. But I have sinned presumptuously against mercy I have contracted guilt after I have been at the Lord's Table and sure Christ's Blood is not for me Resp. It is indeed grievous to abuse mercy It vvas the aggravation of Solomon's sin his heart was turned from the Lord which had appeared unto him twice 1 Kings 11. 9. Presumptuous sins open the mouth of Conscience to accuse and shut the mouth of God's Spirit which should speak Peace yet cast not avvay your Anchor look up to the blood of Christ it can forgive sins against mercy Did not Noah sin against mercy vvho though he had been so miraculously preserved in the Flood yet soon after he came out of the Ark he was drunk Did not David sin against mercy when after God had made him King he stained his soul with lust and his robe with blood Yet both these sins were washed away in that Fountain which is set open for Judah to wash in Zach. 12. 1. Did not the Disciples deal unkindly with Christ in the time of his suffering Peter denied him and all the rest fled from his colours Mat. 26 56. Then all the Disciples forsook him and fled Yet Christ did not take advantage of their weakness nor did he cast them off but sends the joyful news of his Resurrection to them Mat. 27. 7 And of his Ascension John 20. 17 Go to my Brethren and say unto them I ascend to my Father and your Father And lest Peter should think he was none of the number that should be interested in Christ's love therefore Christ dispatcheth away a special Message to Peter to comfort him Mar. 16. 7. Go tell the Disciples and Peter that he goes before you intoGalilee there shall you see him So that where our hearts are sincere and our turnings aside are rather from a defect in our power than our will the Lord Jesus will not take advantage of every failing but will drop his blood upon us which hath a voice in it which speaks better things than the blood of Abel Object 3. But I find such a faintness and feebleness in my soul that I dare not go to the Lords Table Resp. Thou hast the more need to go Drink of this Wine for thy often infirmities 1 Tim. 5. 23 Were it not strange for a man to argue thus My body is weak and declining therefore I will not go to the Physitian he should the rather go Our weakness should send us to Christ his blood is mortal to sin and vital to grace Thou sayest thou hast defects in thy soul if thou hadst none there would be no need of a Mediator nor would Christ have any work to do Oh therefore turn thy disputing into believing be encouraged to come to this Blessed Supper Thou shalt find Christ giving forth his sweet influenences and thy grace shall flourish as an herb Object 4. But I have often come to this Ordinance and find no fruit I am not filled with comfort Answ. God may meet thee in an Ordinance when thou dost not discern it Christ was with Mary yet she did not know it was Christ. Thou thinkest Christ hath not met thee at his Table because he doth not give thee comfort 1. Though he doth not fill thee with comfort he may fill thee with strength We think we have no answer from God in a duty unless he fill us with joy yes God may manifest his presence as well by giving strength as comfort If we have power from Heaven to foyl our corruptions and to walk more closely and evenly with God
shame Let us be steeled with courage being ready to suffer for Christ which is as Chrysostom speaks to be baptized with a Baptism of blood Did Christ bear the wrath of God for us and shall not we bear the wrath of men for him It is our glory to suffer in Christs quarrel 1 Pet. 4. 14 The Spirit of God and of glory resteth upon you Let us pray for furnace-grace Be like those three Children Dan. 3. 17. Be it known to thee O King that we will not serve thy gods They would rather burn than bow Oh that such a spirit as was in Cyprian might survive in us who when the Proconsul would have tempted him from his Religion and said to him Consule tibi Consult for thy safety saith Cyprian In so just a cause there needs no consultation When the sentence for his death was read he replyed Deo gratias Thanks be to God We know not how soon an hour of Temptation may come Oh remember Christ's Body was broken his blood poured out we have no such blood to shed for him as he shed for us 2. Let us shew our thankfulness to Christ by fruitfulness Let us bring forth the sweet fruits of patience heavenly-mindedness and good works This is to live unto him who dyed for us 2 Cor. 5. 15. If we would rejoyce the heart of Christ and make him not repent of his sufferings let us be fertil in obedience The wise men did not only worship Christ but presented unto him gifts Gold and Frankincense Mat. 2. 11. Let us present Christ with the best fruits of our Garden let us give him our love that flovver of delight The Saints are not only compared to Stars for their knowledg but Spice-trees for their fertilness Christ delighted in the breasts of his Spouse because they vvere like Clusters of Grapes Cant. 7. 7. The blood of Christ received in a spiritual manner is like the water of jealousie which had a vertue both to kill and make fruitful Christs blood kills sin and makes the heart fructifie in grace 3. Let us shew our thankfulness to Christ by Zeal Hovv zealous vvas Christ for our Redemption Zeal turns a Saint into a Seraphim A true Christian hath a double Baptism of vvater and fire he is baptized vvith the fire of zeal Be zealous for Christs Name and Worship Zeal is encreased by opposition it cuts its vvay through the Rocks Zeal loves Truth most when it is disgraced and hated Psal. 119 126 127. They have made void thy Law therefore I love thy Commandments above Gold Hovv little thankfulness do they shevv to Christ vvho have no zeal for his Honour and Interest They are like Ephraim Hos. 7. 8. Ephraim is a Cake not turned Baked on one side and Dough on the other Christ doth most abominate a luke vvarm temper Revel 3. 15. He is even sick of such Professors They who vvrite of the scituation of England say that it is seated betvveen the torrid and frigid Zone the Climate is neither very hot nor cold I vvish this vvere not the temper of the people and that our hearts vvere not too like the Climate vve live in The Lord cause the fire of holy zeal to be alvvays burning upon the Altar of our hearts 4. Let us shevv our thankfulness by universal subjection to Christ. This is to make the Lord's-Supper in a spiritual sense a feast of Dedication vvhen vve renevv our Vovvs and give up our selves to God's service Psal. 116. 16. Truly I am thy servant I am thy servant Lord all I have is thine My head shall be thine to study for thee my hands shall be thine to vvork for thee my heart shall be thine to adore thee my tongue shall be thine to praise thee 8. If Jesus Christ hath provided so holy an Ordinance as the Sacrament let us vvalk suitably to it Have vve received Christ into our hearts let us shevv him forth by our heaven lineâ—… 1. Let us shevv forth Christ by our heavenly vvords Let us speak the Language of Canaan When the Holy Ghost came upon the Apostles they spake vvith other tongues Acts 2. 4. While vve speak the vvords of grace and soberness our lips smell as a perfume and drop as honey 2. Let us shevv forth Christ by our heavenly affections Let our sighs and breathings after God go up as a cloud of incense Col. 3. 2. Set your affections on things above We should do by our affections as the Husbandmen do by their Corn if the Corn lie lovv in a damp Room it is in danger to corrupt therefore they carry it up into their highest Room that it may keep the better So our affections if set upon the Earth are apt to corrupt and be unsavoury therefore wâ—… should carry them up on high above the World that they may be preserved pure breathe after fuller discoveries of God desire to attain unto the resurrection of the dead Phil. 3. 11. The higher our affections are raised towards Heaven the sweeter joy we feel The higher the Lark flies the sweeter it sings 3. Let us shew forth Christ by our Heavenly Conversation Philip. 3. 20. Hypocrites may in a pang of Conscience have some good affections stirred but they are as flushings of heat in the face which go and come But the constant tenor of our life must be holy We must shine forth in a kind of Angelical sanctity As it is with a piece of Coyn it hath not only the King's Image within the Ring but his superscription without So it is not enough to have the Image of Christ in the heart but there must be the superscription without something of Christ must be written in the life The scandalous lives of many Communicants are a reproach to the Sacrament and tempt others to Atheism How odious is it that those hands which have received the Sacred Elements should take Bribes That those eyes which have been fill'd with tears at the Lords-Table should afterwards be filled with Envy That those teeth which have eaten Holy Bread should grind the faces of the Poor That those lips which have touched the Sacramental Cup should salute an Harlot That that mouth which hath drunk Consecrated Wine should be full of Oaths That they who seem to deisie Christ in the Eucharist should vilifie him in his Members In a word That such who pretend to eat Christ's Body and drink his Blood at Church should eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence in their own houses Prov. 4. 17. These are like the Italians I have read of who at the Sacrament are so devout as if they believed God to be in the bread but in their lives are so profane as if they believed not God to be in Heaven Such as these are apt to make the World think that the Gospel is but a fancy or religious Cheat. What shall I say of them They do with Judas receive the
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or foret ast of that Marriage-Supper of the Lamb Rev. 19. 9. which made Damascen pray Lord let me receive this Supper as an Earnest of my future Heaven But into what a degenerate age are we fallen when the most weighty tremendous Points of Religion are called in question To such a Climax of impudency are some risen as to vilifie Ordinances oppugn Christ's Divinity deride the in-habitation of God's Spirit and deny praying by the Spirit These are they who would cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before them Isa. 30. 11. They would turn all Religion into a Romance and leaven the World with Atheism I wish they have not sinned the sin unto death If once the Truths of God iose their authority in Peoples hearts then is a fatal stop put to all solid Practical Piety God grant that the more others decry the Sanctity of the Gospel the more we may reverence it They have made void thy Law therefore I love thy Commandments Psal. 119. 126. Such as have experienced the sweetness of Truth in their own Souls know how to estimate it I should be glad if this short ensuing Discourse might render the Lord Jesus more precious and eligible in our eyes and add one cubit to our faith O happy Ordinance of the Supper that causeth such endearments of love between Christ and the Soul and begins those sacred Nuptials which shall be for ever solemnized in the Kingdom of God But I avoâ—…d Prolixness hoping for a blessing from on high upon these endeavours I rest Yours affectionately in the service of the Gospel Thomas Watson Feb. 19. 1668. The Fiery Serpents Numb 21 6 7 8 9. And the Lord sent Fiery Serpents among the People and they bit the people and much people of Israel dyed Therefore the people came to Moses and said We have sinned for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee pray unto the Lord that he take away the Serpents from us And Moses prayed for the People And the Lord said unto Moses Make thee a Fiery Serpent and set it upon a Pole and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten when he looketh upon it shall live And Moses made a Serpent of Brass and put it upon a Pole and it came to pass that if a Serpent had bitten any man when he beheld the Serpent of Brass hâ—… lived IN this Portion of Holy Scripture there are two things considerable The people of Israels being stung and the manner of their Cure 1. Their being stung with the Fiery Serpents where observe 1. The occasion of God's sending these Fiery Serpents There were two Sins provoked the Lord to inflict this Punishment 1. Their Murmuring ver 5. The People spake against God and against Moses Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the Wilderness for there is no bread neither is there any water Speaking against God and his Prophets go together They spake against God and against Moses The Chaldee reads it They murmured before the Lord. Murmuring is a speaking against God and it proceeds from distrust Psal. 106. 24. They believed not his Word but murmured So in the Text There is no bread or water they thought they should die in the Wilderness and then they spake against God Murmuring is the daughter of Unbelief And observe the Time when they murmured it was immediately after an eminent and glorious deliverance ver 3. The Lord harkned to Israel and delivered up the Canaanites and they utterly destroid them and their Cities And behold the requital they make God for this signal mercy They murmur against him What to find fault with God! and just after a Deliverance the Lord being highly provoked sent Fiery Serpents among them and much people of Israel dyed ver 6. Oh how suitable to their Sin was this Punishment Israel did burn in heat of Passion and God made their Flesh burn with extream heat Their Speeches were venemous and they were punished with venemous Serpents Hence observe Doctrine 1. Of all Sins God can least bear the sin of Ingratitude To be delivered yet murmur God presently sent Fiery Serpents to avenge his quarrel Israel did not only forget God's Mercies Psal. 106. 13. but abuse them To be ungrateful for mercy is like Absalom who assoon as David kissed him and took him into favour plotted Treason against him 2 Sam. 15. 10. Like the Athenians who in lieu of the good Service Aristides had done them banished him out of their City Like the Mule who kicks the Damm after she hath given it milk Ingratitude saith Cicero hath nothing of evil wanting in it It is a sin that leaves a People without excuse if God let loose his Judgments and send Fiery Serpents they have nothing to say Ezra 9. 10. And now O our God what shall we say after this after what ver 9. Mercy hath been extended to us in the sight of the Kings of Persia yet we have forsaken thy Commandments What shall we say after this Use. Let our Ingratitude be deeply laid to heart This puts an accent upon sin and makes it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of measure sinful How many are the worse for mercy They make a dart of God's Mercies and shoot at him he gives them Wit and they serve the Devil with it he gives them an Estate and they feast their Lusts with it Are these worthy to be Guests at the Lords-Table who lift up the heel against him Will God welcome such into his presence as know not how to use kindness Oh that this sin may fill our faces with blushing Take we heed for the future of following this bad example in the Text. Let us turn all our Murmurings into Hosanâ—…ahs Let us praise God for his Mercies and serve God with his Mercies 2. The second cause of God's sending the Fiery Serpents was Their slighting of Manna ver 5. Our soul loatheth this light bread The Septuagint renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this empty bread It is spoken in contempt Israel counted Manna vile in respect of other meat Manna is called Angels Food but they call it in disdain light bread This Manna was miraculous it came from Heaven in an extraordinary way and mystical It was a type and figure of the Lord Jesus who is called the bread of Life Joh. 6. 98. and the Hidden Manna Rev. 2. 17. The contempt therefore of Manna was a contempt of Christ for this God sent Fiery Serpents Doct 2. The slighting and despising the Lord Jesus is a God-provoking sin This was Israels Crime the despising of Manna which was not only corporal food but a Type of Christ their spiritual food this greatly incensed the Lord and made him send Fiery Serpents among them Thus when we despise Christ and prefer our lusts before him as Israel did Leeks and Onyons before Manna then come the Fiery Serpents
frequent Celebration of the Lords Supper where Christ in a special manner is lifted up though we have looked upon this Brazen serpent formerly yet still we have need to look upon him we are not perfectly healed Indeed Israel if they had looked but once on the Brazen Serpent they were perfectly cured but though we have looked several times on Christ in the Sacrament and can say by experience We have fetched vertue from him yet we are not perfectly cured Though the guilt of sin be taken away yet not the presence and in-being Our bloody issue is not quite dried up our wounds bleed afresh our sins break out again I appeal to the best hearts alive how often have they been stung with sin and tentation since they looked last on Christ lifted up in the Sacrament O what need then to come often to this Ordinance Herein the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper differeth from the Sacrament of Baptism which is to be administred but once this often 〈◊〉 Cor. 11. 26 If we consider how strong our corruptions are how weak our Graces how numerous our wanâ—…s it may make us come often to the Lords-Table where we may have an healing sight of Christ. He that wants Gold goes often to the Indies Our Spiritual indigence may renew our addresses to the Lords-Supper for strength and comfort 3. Bran. See in this Mystery the Cabinet of Free-grace opened and God's love sparkling forth Three ways 1. That God hath provided Christ this Brazen Serpent as a remedy for stung lapsed sinners Oh infinite goodness of God that when vve had degenerated from him by Apostacy the Lord should take pity of us and instead of brandishing his flaming svvord should erect a Brazen serpent and make Christ knovvn to us in his healing vertues When the Angels sinned there vvas no Brazen serpent for them God did not send them to the Hospital to be healed but to the Jail to be punished They are reserved in everlasting Chains Jude 6. O rich Free-grace that hath indulged us vvith a remedy and found out a vvay of cure for all our desperate maladies 2. See Gods Free-grace that some should be healed of their sting and not others There are but a fevv healed There is a time vvhen sinners vvill not be healed Jer. 51. 9. We would have healed Babylon but she is not healed and there is a time vvhen sinners cannot be healed Nah. 3. 19. There is no healing of thy bruise Novv Christian vvhen most die of their vvound that the Brazen serpent should be sent to thee to cure thee Oh stupendious Grace that God should lay his left hand upon many of the rich and noble and lay his right hand upon thee that Heaven should fall to thy lot that thou shouldst be one of those few that are saved* cry out in admiration Lord how is it that thou shouldst show thy self to me and not unto the world 3. See God's Free-grace that he cures us upon such cheap terms When we were wounded so deadly God did not put us to charges we were not to bring money to purchase our Cure not rivers of Oyl or drops of blood no only look upon the Brazen Serpent and the Cure is effected Isa. 55 1. Come without money and without price We are not to pay for our Cure Spiritual Blessings are too dear for our purse to reach Christ made a purchase for us in his Blood all he requires is to receive it and be thankful 4. See how justly all wicked men perish God hath provided a brazen Serpent a glorious Saviour that whoever believes in his blood may obtain mercy God beseecheth yea chargeth men to believe if therefore through folly they neglect Christ or obstinacy refuse him how righteous will God be in pronouncing that last and fatal sentence upon them They who perish under the Gospel must needs be double damned Hell's furnace will be heated seven times hoter for them because they put away Salvation from them Act. 13. 46. Pagans perish in the want of a Brazen serpent and Christians in the Contempt Jesus Christ saith Come unto me all ye sinners who are stung with guilt I will heal you I conflicted with my Fathers wrath I was wounded and out of these bleeding wounds comes forth a soveraign medicine to cure you But desperate sinners love their disease better then their remedy They had rather die then look up to Christ for life Psal. 81. 11. Israel would none of me Oh strange delirium the old Serpent after he hath stung men hath bewitched them that they mind not a Cure Who will pity such as willfully cast away themselves how will mercy slight their tears at last and God's justice triumph in their deserved ruin Use 2. Let us look in a right manner upon this Mystical Brazen Serpent Heb. 12. 2. Looking unto Jesus The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies the stedfast fixing of the eye upon some lovely beautiful object Faith will be of more use to us than any other grace As an eye though a dim one was of more use to a stung Israelite than any other member Faith discerns the Lords body To encourage Faith Consider 1. Christ was lifted up upon the Cross purposely to cure us Christ had no other end in dying but to heal his blood is a soveraign balm for a sin-sick soul. Such as feel the burden of their sins need not question Christ's willingness to save them when the very design of his death was to cure Psal. 147. 3. He healeth the broken in heart Serpents as Naturalists affirm have a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or great love to their young and will hazard their lives for them So full of love was Christ our Mystical Brazen serpent as to die for us by whose stripes we are healed Isa. 53. 5. 2. Such as do not look up to Christ's merits do necessitate themselves to damnation Mar. 16. 16. He that believeth not shall be damned Had not Israel lift up their eyes to the Brazen serpent they had died for it If thou dost not look up as David did Psal. 25. 15. Mine eyes are ever towards the Lord then thou must look up as Dives did Luk. 16. 23. In hell he lift up his eyes Oh therefore let us fix our eye upon the Brazen serpent looking unto Jesus Let us look up to the sacrifice of Christ's blood and to the cloud of incense which he sends up by his glorious Intercession Object 1. But I fear I have no Faith alive in my Soul whereby I should look up Though Israel were stung yet they were alive but how dead do I find my heart Answ. We must distinguish between a Christian that is liveless and that is without life A sick man is liveless and hath no mind to stir yet he is not without life So Christian thou maist be liveless and thy grace dormunt yet the seed of Faith may be alive in thy heart
communicates influence only to its own Branches The wild Olive hath no fruit from the Vine Such as abide in the old stock of nature Branches of the wild Olive have no benefit from Christ. It is cold comfort to the Reprobate part of the world that there is a Vine growing which bears the fruit of Salvation as long as they remain strangers to Christ and hate to be united to him Fire will come out of this Vine to devour them 3. Bran. See the Goodness of God! When we had forfeited the fruit of Paradise â—…e hath given us a better tree then any grew there he hath enriched us with a pleasant Vine When Christ suffered now was this blessed Vine nailed to the Cross now it was cut and did bleed and Salvation comes to us in the blood of this Vine The gleaning Grapes here are better then the World's Vintage This Spiritual Vine 1. Chears the heart Curam metumque juvat dulci lyaeo solvere Horat. Are we sad in the sense of sin and think our selves unworthy to come to the Lords-Table this wine of Christ's blood is a Cordial It is both the Price and Seal of our Pardon 2. It strengthens the Vine hath a strengthning vertue So when our Graces are spiritually consumptive by tasting the fruit of this Vine we renew our strength in the Holy Celebration of the Lord's Supper fresh influence is communicated to us This Spiritual Vine did invigorate the Saints and Martyrs of old and infuse a spirit of Magnanimity into them That I may raise the Saints esteem of Christ and that they may come to the Sacred Supper with more eagerness to drink his Blood I shall show wherein this True Vine surpasseth in glory all other Vine-Trees 1. In the Vine there is something unuseful Though the fruit of the Vine be sweet yet the wood of the Vine is unuseful it is good for nothing Ezek. 15. 3. Shall the wood be taken thereof to do any work or will men take a Pin of it to hang any Vessel upon But it is not so with Christ there is nothing in this Vine but what is useful We have need of Christ's Humane Nature to suffer of his Divine to satisfie we have need of his Offices Influences Priviledges there is nothing in Christ we can be without 2. There are variety of Vine-Trees But there is but one True Vine that brings Redemption to Mankind The Papists would fetch comfort from more besides Christ From the Angels and the Virgin Mary The Angels themselves are beholding to this Vine the Lord Jesus they are by Christ confirmed in their obedience that they cannot fall And as for the Virgin Mary it is not her milk that saves but Christ's blood The Virgin Mary though she was Christ's Mother yet she calls Christ her Saviour Luk. 1. 47. The Virgin Mary is saved not by bearing the Vine but by being ingrafted into the Vine 3. The Vine bears but one sort of fruit 't is all but Grape But the Lord Jesus bears several sorts of fruit 1. This Vine bears the the fruit of Justification Rom. 5. 9. Being justified through his blood In Justification there is remission of sin and imputation of righteousness A Believer triumphs more in the Righteousness of Christ imputed than if he had Adams righteousness in innocency nay then if he had the Angels righteousness for now he hath the Righteousness of God 2 Cor. 5. 21. Without this a sinner is put into a continual Ague of Conscience but by virtue of Justification he arrives at an holy Serenity Rom. 5. 1. Being justified by faith we have peace with God 2. This Vine bears the fruit of Sanctification 1 Cor. 1. 30. He is made to us Sanctification A man may have pleasant fruit growing in his Orchard and others be never the better for it but holiness in Christ is diffâ—…sive this fruit is for all the Elect they are made holy with Christ's Holiness 3. This Spiritual Vine bears the fruit of Consolation Cant. 2. 3. His fruit was sweet to my tast This is a bunch of Grapes by the way when a Believer hath tasted some of this fruit from Christ he hath had such Transfigurations of soul and been filled with such ravishing delight that he could be ready to say as Paul Whether in the body I cannot tell He hath been put in Heaven before his time 4. A Branch may be cut off andâ—…separated from the Vine But no Branch shall be ever separated from Christ this Heavenly Vine The Arminians tell us A justified person may fall away finally Is not Christ a perfect Vine He is not perfect if a living Branch may be pluck'd off from him Hath not Christ said of his Elect They shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of his hand Joh. 10 28. If any Branch be pluck'd away from Christ it is either because Christ is not able to keep it or because he is willing to lose it He is able surely to keep it for he is strengthen'd with the God-head and he is not willing to loose it for why then would he have shed his blood for it So that no Branch shall be ever separated from the Coelestial Vine You may sooner pluck a Star out of the Sky than a true Believer from Christ. Indeed Hypocrites who look like Branches fall off but they were never really in the Vine They were in Christ by Profession not by Union They were tyed on to the Vine but not ingraâ—…d An Elect Branch can no more perish than the Root 5. The Wine that comes from the true Vine is better than any other 1. Wine from the Grape delightâ—… the Palat and revives the Animal spirits but Christ's blood chears the Conscience 2. One may take too great a quantity of Wine and then it bites as an Addar But it is otherwise with the Wine which Christ gives we cannot have too much of it as a man cannot have too much health Christ's blood is Pardoning and Pacifying and the more we drink of it the better the deeper the sweeter the death of the Soul is not by drinking too much of Christ's blood but by refusing to drink 3. Wine will chear a man when he is living not when he is dead Wine in a dead mans mouth loseth its vertue but Christ's blood hath such a flavour in it it doth so sparkle and is so full of spirits that it will fetch life in them that are dead If they are dead in sin the blood of Christ makes them revive Joh. 6. 54. He that drinks my blood hath eternal life 4. The Wine that comes from the Grape doth but chear mans heart but that Wine which is distilled from Christ the Heavenly Vine chears God's heart The Lord did smell a sweet savour in the Wine of Christ's Blood and was so infinitely pleased and delighted with it that for this he spared all Mankind Use 2. Labour to be real Branches of
this Spiritual Vine What was the old World the better to hear of an Ark unless they got into the Ark So what are we the better to hear of a Vine unless we are in this Vine Quest. How shall we know that we are in this Vine Answ. 1. By being ingrafted into the Vine Faith is Vinculum unionis the ingrafting grace And herein Faith hath a peculiar excellency above other Graces Other Graces make us like Christ but Faith makes us one with Christ Other Graces make us lively Pictures of Christ but Faith makes us living Branches of Christ. By Love and Humility we imitate Christ but by Faith we are implanted into him as the graft or siens is in-oculated into the Tree Let us therefore examine whether we have this ingrafting Grace Faith admires Christ's beauty confides in his Merits submits to his Laws Faith gives up its will its love its life to Christ. Faith hath two hands with one it takes Christ for its Sin-offering with the other it gives up it self to Christ as a Burnt-offering 2. We may know we are in the Vine by receiving influence from the Vine 1. A vital influence Joh. 5. 21. The Son quickneth whom he will And this life from Christ is evidenced by sensation we are sensible of the first ebullitions and risings of corruption Rom. 7. 23. and of the least ebbings of grace Hebrew 5. 14. Who have their senses exercis'd to discern both good and evil 2. A Sanctifying influence The root of this Vine being holy makes all the Branches holy Hath Christ diffused some of his Divine Unction into us are our hearts consecrated do we set our selves against every evil as there is a conflict in the stomack between the spirits of Wine and Poison Do we forsake fin not only out of Policy but Antipathy Are we by the power of Grace transformed and made Partakers of the Divine Nature Are we meek humble zealous Is the fiame of our heart Spiritual doth our pulse still beat aster God Is our aime sincere Do we not only advance but design God's Glory behold here a sanctifying vertue derived from Christ into us and we need not doubt but we are Branches of the true Vine and shall grow and flourish in him to eternity 2. Bran. You that are Believers stand and wonder that when you were by nature the Vine of Sodom Deut. 32. 32 a Vine in your blood Ezek. 19. 10 a wild Vine which not only cumbred the Ground but poyson'd it That God should take such degenerate Branches and plant you into Christ and make you partake of the spiritual juice and fat of this Vine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the unfathomable depth of Gods love you who are the Branches of this Vine let me beseech you love the Vine that bears you kiss and embrace Christ. Let your Souls sound forth Hallelujahs to the whole Trinity Admire God the Father in sending a Vine from Heaven Admire God the Son who was a bleeding Vine for you Admire God the Holy Ghost who hath by his mighty Power implanted you into this Vine Turn all your sullen discontents into triumphant songs You are now made living Branches who weâ—…e once dead holy Branches who were once unclean you now bear Grapes who did once bring forth Thistles Oh make melody in your hearts to the Lord. Admire and celebrate Freegrace It is well that there is anEternitya coming and that will be little enough to praise God Use. 3. Here is a breast of Consolation to all who are implanted into Christ this Spiritual Vine Let the Times be what they will you have never so much cause to be sad as you have to rejoyce 2 Cor. 6. 10. As sorrowful yet always rejoycing Harken to me thou Branch of Christ what though thou hast little in the world seeing thou partakest of the blessing of the Vine even of all the fulness of God Eph. 3. 19. What though thou art reproached It is honour enough that thou art in Christ This Vine being a Plant of Renown casts a glory upon all the Branches What though thou art told by the Tempter that Christ doth not love thee Thou maist reply Am I ingrafted into Christ is the holy sap of his Grace infused into me and doth he not love me What though thou art persecuted be of good chear thou hast a life hid in the Vine Col. 3. 3. Your life is hid with Christ. Fear not if thou canst not live without moleâ—…ation in a Wilderness thou shalt grow in Paradise When Basil was threatned with banishment he comforted himself with this Either I shall be under Heaven or in Heaven Oh how may all the Branches of the true Vine flourish with joy Let death come they may triumph death shall destroy Sin and perfect Grace In particular there is comfort to all the real Branches of Christ in these four Cases 1. It is comfort under fear of Spiritual barrenness I am afraid saith the Saint I shall grow dead at last and be like that barren Figtree in the Gospel which was cursed But for thy comfort know that the Branches of this Spiritual Vine never cease yielding fruit Indeed ordinary Vine-Trees though they are for a time fruitful yet when they grow old they grow barren but the Branches of the true Vine are never so old as to be past bearing Psal. 92. 14. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age Believers the longer they live the more full they are of Faith the more perfumed with Love The Church of Thyatira the older she grew the better she grew Her last works were more than her first Rev. 2. 19. What a deal of fruit did Paul bring forth not long before his death This light shined brighter before his setting 1 Cor. 15. 10. I laboured more abundantly than they all So long as there is a fulness in Christ Believers shall not want This Holy Vine being replenished with sap the Branches cannot choose but be fertil Joh. 14. 19. Because I live ye shall live also Because the Root lives therefore the Branches shall flourish with fruit 2. It is comfort in case of wrongs and injuries especially when endured for Christ's sake The Lord Jesus is sensible and will one day vindicate his people The Vine is sensible of all the injury done to the Branches Exod. 3. 7. I have seen I have seen the afflictions of my people Not only have I seen them with an eye of inspection but affection Christ bleeds in the Saints wounds He who knows their Sufferings feelingly will avenge them speedily 3. It is comfort under fear of falling away I am afraid saith a Christian I shall tyre before I get to Heaven Either I shall be blown down by Satan's Temptation or faint under sufferings Oh remember thou art a Branch in Christ and thou canst not be broken off thou hast Omnipotency to support thee Adam when he grew upon his own root of innocency withered but
Devil in the Sop and are no better than Crucifiers of the Lord of Glory As their â—…in is hainous so their punishment will be proportionable 1 Cor. 11. 29. They eat and drink damnation to themselves If one of the Vestal Nuns who had vowed her self to Religion were deflored the Romans caused her to be buried alive Such as have a Sacramental vow upon them yet afterwards deflore the Virginity of their souls byscandalous sins God will bury them alive in the flames of Hell Oh that such a lustre and majesty of holiness did sparkle forth in the lives of Communicants that others may say These have been with Jesus And their Consciences may lie under the power of this conviction that the Sacrament hath a confirming and a transforming vertue in it 4. The fourth Use is of comfort to God's people 1. From Christ's body broken and his blood poured out we may gather this comfort That it was a glorious Sacrifice 1. It was a Sacrifice of infinite merit Had it been only an Angel that suffered or had Chaist been only a meer man as some do blasphemously dream then we might have despaired of salvation but he suffered for us who was God as well as man Therefore the Apostle calls it expresly Sanguis Dei the blood of God Acts 20. 28. It is man that sins it is God that dies This is a soveraign Cordial to Believers Christ having poured out his blood now God's justice is compleatly satisfied God was infinitely more contented with Christ's sufferings upon Mount Calvary than if we had lain in Hell and undergone his wrath for ever The Blood of Christ hath quenched the flame of Divine fury And now what should we fear All our Enemies are either reconciled or subdued God is a reconciled Enemy and sin is a subdued Enemy Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect It is Christ that dyed Rom. 8. 34. 'T is reported when Satan once appeared to Luther and thought to affright him Luther shewed him that Scripture Gen. 3. 15. I will put enmity between thee and the Woman and between thy seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy head whereupon Satan vanished So when the Devil shall accuse us let us shew him the Cross of Christ. When he brings his Pensil and goes to paint our sins in their colours let us bring the Spunge of Christ's blood and that will wipe them out again All Bonds are cancel'd whatsoever the Law hath charged upon us is discharged The debt-book is crossed with the blood of the Lamb. 2. It was a Sacrifice of eternal extent The benefit of it is perpetuated Hebr. 9. 12. He entred in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us Therefore Christ is said to be a Priest for ever Hebr. 5. 6. because the vertue and comfort of his Sacrifice abides for ever 2. Christ's Blood being shed Believers may lay claim to all heavenly priviledges Wills are ratified by the death of the Testator Hebr. 9. 17. A Testament is of force after men are dead It is observable in the Text Christ calls his blood The blood of the New Testament Christ made a Will or Testament and gave rich Legacies to the Saints pardon of sin grace and glory the Scriptures are the Rolls wherein these Legacies are registred Christ's blood is the sealing of the Will This blood being shed Christians may put in for a Title to these Legacies Lord pardon my sin Christ hath died for my pardon Give me grace Christ hath purchased it by his Blood The Testator being dead the Will is in force Christian Art thou not filled with joy Art thou not possessed of Heaven yet thou hast this confirmed by Will A Man that hath a Deed sealed making over such Lands and Tenements after the expirement of a few years though at present he hath little to help himself with yet he comforts himself when he looks upon his sealed Deed with hopes of that which is to come So though at present we enjoy not the priviledges of Consolation and Glorification yet we may chear our hearts with this the Deed is sealed the Will and Testament is ratified by the blood-shedding of Christ. 3. Is Christ's Blood shed here is comfort against death A dying Saviour sweetens the pangs of death Is thy Lord Crucified be of good comfort Christ by dying hath overcome death He hath cut the lock of sin where the strength of death lay Christ hath knocked out the teeth of this Lyon He hath pulled the thorn out of death that it cannot prick a Believer's Conscience Hosea 13. 14. O death I will be thy plague Christ hath disarmed death and taken away all its deadly weapons that though it may strike it cannot sting a Believer Christ hath drawn the poyson out of death nay he hath made death friendly This pale Horse carries a Child of God home to his Father's house Faith gives a propriety to Heaven death gives a possession What sweet comfort may we draw from the Crucifixion of our Lord his precious blood makes the pale face of death to be of a ruddy and beautiful complexion Use ult Here is a dark side of the Cloud to all profane persons who live and die in sin they have no part in Christ's blood Their condition will be worse than if Christ had not died Christ who is a Loadstone to draw the Elect to Heaven will be a Mill-stone to sink the wicked deeper in Hell There is a Crew of sinners who slight Christ's blood and swear by it let them know his blood will cry against them They must feel the same wrath which Christ felt upon the Cross and because they cannot bear it at once they must be undergoing it to Eternity So unconceivably torturing will this be that the damned know not how to endure it nor yet how to avoid it Sinners will not believe this till it be too late The Mole is blind all its life yet as Pliny saith it begins to see when it dyes Wicked men while they live are blinded by the god of this world but when they are dying the eye of their Consciences will begin to be opened and they shall see the Wrath of God flaming before their eyes which sight will be but a sad Prologue to an Eternal Tragedy FINIS TO THE READER Christian Reader I Have according to my promise superadded a few lines suiting a Sacramental Discourse The Subject is so excellent and sublime that I cannot speak enough of it nor well enough What can be more sacred than the observing Christ's last Will and Testament Do this in Remembrance of me We are to be so solemnly affected at the Holy Supper as if we were receiving it among the Apostles from Christ's own hands This mysterious Ordinance is to be perpetuated till Christ's coming to judgment 1 Cor. 11. 26. The Supper of the Lord is a 〈◊〉
Use. Let us take heed of growing weary of Christ this blessed Manna At first Israel did highly esteem Manna they ran out to gather it Happy was he that could get Manna But this Food from Heaven which at first was so sweet to their Palat within a while was loathed and contemned Our nature is such that we are apt to disesteem the richest blessings when they are common If Pearls and Diamonds were plentiful none would value them If the Sun did shine but once a year how would it be prized but because it shines every day few admire this Lamp of Heaven Take heed of despising Jesus Christ Mat. 22. 5. If God was so angry with Israel for slighting of Christ when he was hid under a Type how angry will he be with those who slight Christ after he hath been visibly revealed Hebr. 10. 29. Of how much sorer punishment shall they be thought worthy who have trod under foot the Son of God Jesus Christ is a super-eminent blessing a magazine and storehouse of all good Things And the love of God was never so much seen as in giving of Christ therefore to slight Christ is to slight the love of God Quest. But who dares slight Christ Resp. It is a slighting of Christ to slight his Gospel and offer of Grace and hath not this been England's Sin have not we formerly nauseated Manna did not we grow curious and wanton and esteem'd the Manna of the Gospel light-bread and was not the Lord provoked with us Did not he send though not Fiery Serpents yet a Fiery Rod among us in this City that hath burnt down our Dwellings Christians I beseech you take heed of this for the future If God indulge you with Manna again beware of surfeiting on the bread of life The loathing of Manna is the next way to the losing of Manna God will take away his Mercies if they are undervalued If you play with the light God will put out the light 2. The Punishment it self which was Fiery Serpents These may be understood 1. Literally they were called Fiery Serpents 1. Because they were of a fiery colour 2. From the effect They were Seraphims Burners For when they did bite the people they did burn with extream heat and thirst The Septuagint translates them Killing Serpents Many of the people died ver 6. 2. These Fiery Serpents may be understood mystically So these Serpents were first a Type of Satan called the old Serpent Rev. 12. 9. He is indeed a Serpent for his subtilty The Hebrew word for Serpent comes of a Verb that signifies to use subtilty Gen. 3. 1. So Satan is a Serpent very subtil in his temptations he hath his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his depths Rev. 2. 24. and his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his devices 2 Cor. 2. 11. The Devil doth with his artificial varnish put a fine gloss upon his Temptations that he may the better draw men to his lure he either hides his malicious designs or colours them 2 These Fiery Serpents were a Type of Sin Doct. 3. Sin is a Fiery Serpent This Serpent is bred in our nature it is within us We would think it sad to have Spiders and Serpents in our bodies as it is said of Maximinus the Emperor his body bred vermin But it is worse to have the Serpent of Sin in our Souls Sin is a Serpent 1. For its Poyson Sin hath invenomed us and that is the reason we swell Why doth one man swell with Pride another with Passion another with Lust he is poysoned If one had achild whom he dearly loved mortally poyson'd how would he grieve for it Our Souls are poysoned yet we grieve not How oft do sinners poyson the Sacramental Cup 2. Sin is a Serpent for the sting of it 'T is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sin at first shows its colour in the glass afterwards it bites as a Serpent Prov. 23. 32. Sin is a Serpent with four stings 1. It stings with guilt Rom. 3 19. 2. With horror of Conscience which is Limen inferni Judas and Spira felt this all the racks strappadoes and tortures in the world are but Ludibria risus a sport in comparison of this deadly sting no outward comforts can ease a Conscience stung with sin no more than a Crown of Gold can cure the Head-ach 3. Sin stings with death Rom. 5. 12. and death by Sin Sin is the wild Gourd that Adam gathered and eat and the next news was There is death in the pot 4. Sin without Repentance stings the Soul with damnation This Fiery Serpent brings to the Fiery Furnace I have rcad of the City Amycle in Italy destroy'd by Serpents Such a destroying Serpent is sin Use 1. See the sad condition of wicked men They make light of sin but sin is a Fiery Serpent crept into their bosom When the Serpent hath bitten one saith Pliny the venome and contagion of it spreads all over his body Sin hath invenomed men all over their hearts are full of poyson Rom. 1. 29. Being fill'd with all unrighteousness Their Tongues spit forth the poyson of the Serpent in Oaths and Curses Psal. 58. 2. The poison of Asps is under their Tongue This may serve to humble God's own people though they have the meekness of the Dove yet they have aliquid serpentis something of the evil evil of Serpent in them Though the curse due to sin is taken away yet the venome of this Serpent doth in part remain They have much love of the World much Unbelief much unmortified Passion Among Christ's Disciples there was Pride and Emulation Tho Christians have something of God's Spirit in them yet they have something which is Serpentine This Viper of sin will not be shaked off till death Oh how may this humble the best of God's Saints The Bishop of Alexandria when Egypt was converted to the Faith destroyed all their Idols but one that so looking upon that they might see their folly and abhor themselves for their Idolatry So God suffers not sin to be perfectly abolished in this life he leaves some corruption in the heart Something of the Serpent that his people may loath themselves in the dust What need have Believers to drink Christ's Blood in the Sacrament which is the best antidote against the poyson of the Soul 3. See that which may raise in us abhorring thoughts of sin It is a venemous Fiery Serpent will any man hug a Serpent Oh look not on the sine coat of the Serpent but the sting It stings with the wrath of God Pursue sin with an holy malice Mortifie the deeds of the flesh Rom. 8. 13. It is an happy thing when a Christian can say Though the Serpent be not dead yet iâ—… is dying Kill this Serpent or it will kill you 4. If sin be a Fiery Serpent then be sensible of the malignity and virulency of this Serpent feel your selves stung Feel your Hypocrisie