the secret Language and Discourse of every Devout Christian at this Holy Feast and with these kind of Meditations he refreshes and delights himself So that from the whole we may conclude that the Lord's Supper is in its own Nature truly and properly a Feast though vastly different from Common and Ordinary Feasts throughout even in those things wherein it seems to be like them As to the several Names and Phrases by which the Nature of it is described they are figurative and borrowed from Civil Entertainments but although it hath received the same names and is represented by Phrases that properly sute to Ordinary Feasts yet the Lord's Supper differs in its Nature from Civil Banquets as much as Heaven and Earth Body and Spirit differ in theirs As to the Bread and Wine which we see and tast they are only Signs and Types of the true Spiritual Feast and serve to raise our minds to and whet the Appetites of our Souls after Celestial and Heavenly Enjoyments Thus much may suffice to inform us what the Nature of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is considered barely as a Feast 2. For a further Discovery of its Nature we are to be minded that it is a Feast upon a Sacrifice for Sin wherein we are particularly to Commemorate the 1 Cor. 11. 26. Death of Christ by way of expiation for the Sins of the World 3. It was Instituted in Honour of our Lord our great Benefactor and Redeemer where we meet to preserve an Eternal memory of his Wondrous Works to bless and praise him and speak good of his Name And thus partaking of the Lord's Supper is a proper Act of Christian Worship performed to our Saviour It 's the Worship of God manifested in our Flesh and of our Crucified Lord who submitted himself to a Vile and Tormenting Death for the sake of us Vile and Miserable Sinners 4. The Lord's Supper is a Mysterious Rite of Religious Worship which as it respects God the Father hath the Vertue and Efficacy of a Thanksgiving and a Prayer as the Sacrifices under the Law had For our desires and affections may be signified by Actions as well as Words and by Ceremonies as well as Speech And with respect to this Notion and End of the Lord's Supper it was Anciently Stiled the Liturgy and the Eucharist which last name as it was given to it in the most Ignat. Ep. ad Ephes Justin Mar. in Dial. eum Tryph. early Ages of the Church so it still retains the same among all the Christian Churches to this day 5. The Lord's Supper was Instituted to be a Foederal or Covenanting Rite between God and all worthy Communicants Where by permitting us to Eat and Luk. 22. 19. 1 Cor. 11. 24. Drink at his Table he signifies that we are in a State of Peace and Friendship and in a Covenant-relation with him and we by coming to his Table and Eating and Drinking in his presence do own him to be our God and Saviour and in effect plight our troth to him and Swear Fidelity and Allegiance to him we take the Sacrament upon it as we ordinarily say that we will not henceforth live unto our selves but to him alone that Dyed for us and gave himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a Sweet Smelling Savour 6. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was Instituted for this further end viz. to be a means to Convey and Apply to us the Merits of that Sacrifice which Christ offered for Sinners on the Cross and as a Pledge to assure us thereof 7. It was instituted to be a Sacred Bond of Unity and Concord among all Christians to engage and dispose us to Love one another as our Lord Loved us who thought not his Life too dear nor his Blood too much to part with for our Sakes This is a short and so far as it serves my present design a full account of the Nature of the Lord's Supper If the Reader desire to see these things which I have but touched upon more largely proved and explained let him for his satisfaction consult those two excellent Discourses among many others that pass under these names viz. 1. The Christian Sacrifice 2. Discourse of Religious Set forth by 1. Dr. Patriâ— 2. Dr. Sherlock Assemblies Howsoever by what hath been said it appears that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is of a complicated Nature and Instituted for various ends that it is vastly different both in its nature and ends from Civil and Ordinary Feasts And therefore I conclude that we are not at this Religious Feast to guide our Selves by the Rules of Common Table-Fellowship but by more Religious and Spiritual Considerations Which leads me to the second thing proposed for the Resolution of the present Case 2. That the Nature of the Lord's Supper doth not absolutely require and necessarily oblige us to observe a Table-Gesture in order to a right and worthy Receiving of it The Reasons that I shall offer for the Proof of this are these 1. If the Nature of the Sacrament considered as a Feast necessarily requires a Table-Gesture then the Nature of the Sacrament considered as a Feast equally concludes for all other Formalities which are either Essential to all Civil Feasts whatsoever or to all Feasts as they obtain among us For if Sitting be necessary purely because the Nature of a Feast requires it then all other Circumstances which the Nature of a Feast requires will be equally necessary too But our Dissenting Brethren will by no means allow of this nor think themselves obliged to observe all other formalities though equally sutable and agreeable to the Nature of a Feast as Sitting is Though for what good reason I am perfectly in the dark For 1. As they omit many things at the Sacrament that are as agreeable to the Nature of a Feast as the Table-Gesture is So they observe several Modes and Circumstances which are not agreeable to the nature of a Feast as the Custom of our Country standeth For instance at our Common and Ordinary Feasts it 's very sutable and agreeable to Laugh to Talk and Discourse together to Congratulate one anothers welfare to enquire of the State of absent Friends and Acquaintance to Sit with the Head Covered to Eat plentifully and Drink Frequently to Carve and Drink to one another It is further necessary and convenient that at such Feasts the Guests should be well attended with Servants and Waiters who are not allowed to Sit down at the Table with â—hose who are Invited It 's agreeable that the Guests should if they please help themselves and their Friends where they like And yet these and many other things of this Nature though very sutable to and commonly practised at our Ordinary Feasts are not allowed of nor practised by nor urged as necessary to be observed at the Sacrament by our Dissenting Brethren But why they should plead for and urge the necessity of a Common Table-Gesture
well as Habits and make it as unlawful to use a Church as a Surplice he therefore cautiously begins it with Some of them But yet however he gives us a reason for it viz. Because the appropriation of it to the Religious act speaks something of Religion and Homage to God in it Elsewhere he expresseth himself after the like manner We think they civil usages must not have any thing of the nature of Worship in them but may as well be used in meerly Civil actions as in Religious Duties If there be any thing of Homage to God in them they are Worship which must have an Institution But First What doth he mean by appropriation doth he thereby understand that what is for the present appropriated to a Religious use and Service cannot be omitted nor altered nor upon any reason whatsoever be applied to any other use This our Church doth not hold (a) (a) (a) Homilies Sermon of good works pt 2 Sermon of Prayer pt 2. Article 34. Is it that out of a Reverence to Divine Ordinances it is not fit that the things used in or at Divine Worship be prostituted to vulgar use that what are Churches for an hour or two on the Lord's day be not Stables all the week after nor the Tables and Plate used in the Lord's Supper be employd in the service of the Taverns This we agree to and think our selves well able to defend against any arguments we have yet seen to the contrary 2ly Doth appropriation necessarily imploy homage to God may not things be thus separated for Order and Uniformity for Gravity and Decency for Reverence and Respect to the Solemnities of Religion And may not this Reverence and Respect we shew to the solemnities of Religion and the Devotion we shew in external Worship redound to God himself Indeed what are all the outward acts of Reverence but expressing of Homage Veneration and Adoration to God I do not think the Holy Psalmist forgot himself when he said Come let us Worship and fall down and Ps. 95. 6. kneel before the Lord our Maker Or that our Author himself said amiss when he maintains that Nature Pag. 29. teacheth us to Worship God in the most decent manner we can For though Adoration be to be given to God alone Pag. 13. Jean's answer to Hammond Pag. 21. yet Reverence as our Author distinguisheth is due to all things relating to him and to that Worship we pay to him And as there are several Acts of Worship due to God So there are some things due to his Worship by which his honour is advanced and devotion furthered But for this I refer him to what Case of Indifferent things Pag. 29. was said otherwhere which he was pleased to take no notice of But to bring all to an issue I shall now consider the several arguments and instances I produced to prove that things indifferent though not prescribed may be lawfully used in Divine Worship This I proved from the old Testament and New from the practice of the Primitive and Modern Churches and from their own Concessions 1. The instances I chose to give from the Old Testament were David's Temple the Feast of Purim and the Synagogal Worship To these he answers at once that they are answered long since by Dr. Ames in his Case examined Pag. 25. Fresh Suit And perhaps may be answered by him after the manner he defâ—â—â—â—â— the objection taken from the second Commandment which our Author himself Pag. 27. gives up But 〈…〉 â—â—guments are of force I suppose we shall find it in our Author And he first begins with Davids Temple of which he saith David indeed design'd Pag. 26. a Temple for God without a command But God checked him for it for this very reason 2. Sam. 7. 7. and though he approved his generally good intention yet he restrained him as to his Act as may be seen in that Chap. This being matter of Fact the Text must determine it and from thence I observe 1. That God had at no time given a command concerning building a Temple So in the Text quoted in all the places with all the children of Israel spake I a 2 Sam. 7. 7. word with any of the tribes c. saying why build ye not me an house of Cedars 2. David in designing it went upon rational grounds 1. as God had given him rest and so it became him to do it in point of gratitude and because he had an opportunity for it 2. From comparing his own house Vers 1 with God's See now I dwell in an house of Cedar but the Ark of God dwelleth within curtains 3. It was no rash act for it seems he had at that time Vers 2 made ready for the building having it a long time before in his thoughts Of this see Dr. Lightfoot Temple c. 40. 1 Chron. 28. 2. 3. 1. From all which I infer that neither David in designing nor Nathan in approving what he design'd thought it absolutely unlawful to do what was not commanded in the Worship of God or that what was not commanded was forbidden This must be granted by our Author that saith God approved his generally good intention now what was his intention generally but to do somewhat in honour to God and for the solemnity of his Worship Thus much Mr. Pool doth yield The design being pious and the thing not forbidden by God Nathan hastily approves it Now if he approved it because not forbidden by God then they did not think that what was not commanded was forbidden nor doth that of our Author appear to be reasonable that God checked him for it because it was without a command 2ly Supposing that particular Act condemned yet it is not reasonable to suppose it to be for the general reason given by our Author that nothing must be done without a command but because in a matter of that consequence the Prophet did not advise about it and that he did too hastily approve it as Mr. Pool saith But 3ly It 's evident that the particular Act was not condemned 1. Because God commended him for it thou didst well (a) (a) (a) 1 Kings 8. 17 18. So Mr. Hildersham Though the Lord would not let David build him an House yet he commends his affection for it c. (b) (b) (b) Lect. on Joh. Lect. 28. 2. God rewarded him for it for upon it it was promised (c) (c) (c) 2 Sam. 7. 11. 1 Chron. 17. 10. He will make thee an House So Mr. Pool For thy good intentions to make him an House he will build thee an House 3. He presently gave order upon it for the building such an House and as a mark of approbation and a further reward of David's good intention did both reveal what he would have built and how (d) (d) (d) 1 Chron. 28. 19. And appoint his immediate Successor for the building of it (e) (e) (e) 2 Sam. 7.
of the same thing they cannot both proceed from the nature of the thing but one or t'other must necessarily arise from the disposition and temper of those who are conversant about it Now I have shew'd that Forms of Prayer are in themselves real advantages to publick Devotion and that they are so there are many thousands of good Christians can attest by their own experience and therefore if our Brethren do not experience the same the fault must lie in their own prejudice or temper and there is no doubt to be made but would they heartily indeavour to cure their own prejudice and to dispossess their minds of those groundless Piques they have entertain'd against our Liturgy would they but peruse it with impartial eyes consider the contents and labour to affect their minds with the sense and matter of it they would quickly find the same experience of its advantageousness to publick devotion as those blessed Martyrs did who compos'd it us'd and at last died for it and valued every Leaf of it as an inestimable treasure and as we should consent in our experience so we should also in our communion and with one heart and one mouth glorifie our Father together FINIS CERTAIN Cases of Conscience RESOLVED Concerning The Lawfulness of Joyning WITH Forms of Prayer IN Publick Worship PART II. VIZ. IV. Whether the common wants of Christian Congregations may not be better represented in conceiv'd Prayers than in Forms V. Whether there be any warrant for Forms of Prayer either in Scripture or pure Antiquity VI. Whether supposing Forms to be lawful the imposition of them may be lawfully complied with LONDON Printed by J. C. and F. C. for T. Basset at the George in Fleet-street B. Tooke at the Ship in St. Paul's Church-yard and F. Gardiner at the White Horse in Ludgate-street 1684. CASE IV. Whether the common Cases and Wants of Christians can be so well express'd in one Constant Form as in a Conceiv'd Prayer IT is objected That not onely the Cases of particular Christians but the common Cases of Christian Societies and Assemblies are subject to infinite Changes and Alterations that they have many times new Judgments to be humbled for new Blessings to return thanks for new Dangers to deprecate and new Hopes to pursue and sollicit which the Composers of our standing Forms could not foresee and for which by consequence they could not provide sutable Petitions and Thanksgivings besides which particular Churches may at one time be more pure and reform'd and at another time more deprav'd and degenerated and certainly such different states require different Confessions and Prayers and therefore to sute and adapt one common Form to common Cases and Necessities which are so very variable and alterable seems as vain an attempt as 't would be to make a Coat to fit the Moon in all its changes whereas were the publick Prayers left to be conceived and worded by the Ministers sufficient provision might be made for all these alterations and changes by their varying their Confessions Petitions and Thanksgivings according as the common Cases and Exigencies of their People vary and therefore since conceiv'd Prayers are most fit to represent the publick Cases and Necessities they think it very unlawful that the publick Prayers should be perform'd by a Form In order to the full and plain resolution of this Case therefore I shall lay down these following Propositions 1. That the common Cases and Necessities of Christians are for the main always the same and therefore may be more fully comprehended in a Form than in an extempore Prayer for publick Prayers ought not to descend to particular Cases and Necessities because they are the Prayers of the whole Congregation and therefore ought to comprehend no more than what is more or less every man's Case and Necessity They ought to confess sin in no other particular instances or aggravations than such as are justly chargeable upon a Congregation of Christians nor to petition or return thanks for any other Mercies but what a Christian Congregation may be supposed either to stand in need of or to have receiv'd because the Confession Petition and Thanksgiving is in the name of the whole Congregation and therefore ought to comprize nothing in them but what is the common Case of all and what every one may truly and sincerely joyn with Now as for these matters of Prayer which are common to Christian Congregations they are for the main always the same the same sins and aggravations of sin which were fit for a common Confession of Christians one thousand years ago are for the main as fit for our common Confessions to this day and the Mercies which we need and receive in common now are for the main the same with what all Christians before us have needed and receiv'd in common As for instance the Mercies which in publick Prayer ought to be petition'd for are such as all Christians have a common need of and ought to have a common concern for such as the forgiveness of our sins the peace of our Consciences the assistance of Divine Grace to deliver us from the power of sin and Satan and make us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light redemption from Death and Hell protection and success in all our honest Concerns and Undertakings and the dayly supply of our bodily Wants and Necessities and in general the preservation and direction of our Governours the peace and welfare of our native Country the prosperity of the Church the propagation of the Gospel and the success of its Ministers in the work of the Lord. And these were the main matter of the common Petitions of Christian people a thousand years ago and will be so a thousand years hence Since therefore the matter of publick Prayer is for the main always the same I can see no reason why so far as it is the same it may not be more comprehensively express'd in a Form than in an extempore Prayer which depending on the present invention and memory of the speaker it is impossible almost but of so many particulars some should be many times omitted or at least not so fully and distinctly express'd as it might be in a well-consider'd Form the Composer of which hath much more time to recollect the matter and may supply whatsoever was omitted at first upon a second or a third revisal and I dare appeal to any impartial Judge whether in our Churches Litany how meanly soever our Brethren may think of it there be not a much more distinct enumeration of the main particulars of publick Petitions than ever he met with in any extemporary Prayer 2. That such alterations of the common Cases and Necessities of Christian Churches as could not be forâ—seen and provided for at the first forming of their Liturgies may for the most part be provided for in new Forms when they happen for so our Church we see hath done in all such new Cases as are of
again For now comes another Exorcising or Conjuring of the Devil And this being also concluded the Priest takes Spittle out of his Mouth and touches therewith the Ears and Nostrils of the Infant And in touching his right and left Ear he saith Ephphatha i. e. Be opened Then touching his Nostrils he saith for a savour of sweetness no doubt mighty sweet Another Conjuration of the Devil followeth in these Words Be packing O Devil for the judgment of God is at hand And now the Priest will make you hope again that he hath not forgotten his main business For he asks the Infant whether he renounces the Devil and all his Works and all his Pomps of which he makes three Questions and the God-Father distinctly answers to them But alas he is thus soon gone off from his proper Work again for now you have him dipping his Thumb in Holy Oyl and Anointing the Infant with it in his Breast and betwixt his Shoulders in the figure of a Cross saying I Anoint thee with the Oyl of Salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord that thou mayest obtain Eternal Life Amen Then next he puts off his Purple Robe and puts on another of a White Colour and falls in good earnest to the great business for having askt three more Questions out of the Creed and received the God-Fathers Answers and this other Question Whether the Infant will be Baptized and received the God-Fathers answer to that he pours Water thrice upon the Childs head as he reciteth over it our Saviours Form of Baptism doing it each time at the naming of each of the three Persons And now that the Priest mayn't conclude less wisely than he began comes the Chrism or Holy Ointment in which dipping his Thumb and Anointing the Infant upon the Crown of his head in the figure of a Cross he thus Prayeth O God Omnipotent the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath regenerated thee of Water and the Holy Ghost and who hath given thee Pardon of all thy Sins Anoint thee with the Chrism of Salvation in the same Christ Jesus our Lord to Eternal Life Amen And next after the Pax tibi and the wiping of his Thumb and the Anointed head he takes a White Linnen Cloath and putting it on the Childs head useth this Form Take the white Garment which thou maist carry unspotted before the Tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ that thou maist have Eternal Life Amen And Lastly He puts into the Childs or his God-Fathers hand a lighted Candle and saith Receive the burning Lamp and keep thy Baptism blameless keep Gods Commandments that when the Lord shall come to the Wedding thou maist meet him together with all his Saints in the Celestial Court and maist have Eternal Life and live for ever Amen Concluding all with this Form Go in Peace and the Lord be with thee Amen And as if there were not fooling and ridiculous doings enough in this Office of the Common Ritual there are divers other added to them in the Pastorale For instance the Ceremony of blowing thrice in the Childs Face is here to be done Crossways And after the Conjuration following to which two more are here added the Priest Crossing his Forehead saith I Sign thee in the Forehead in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that thou maist trust in him Then he Crosseth his Eyes saying I bless thy Eyes that thou maist see his Brightness Then his Ears saying I bless thine Ears that thou Which Crossings are also prescribed by the Ritual in the Office of Adult Baptism but with a variation of the Forms maist hear the Word of his truth Then his Nostrils saying I bless thy Nostrils that thou maist smell his sweetness Then his Breast saying I bless thy Breast that thou maist believe in him Then his Shoulders saying I bless thy Shoulders that thou maist bear the Yoke of his Service Then his Mouth saying I bless thy Mouth that thou maist Confess him who Lives and Reigns God with the Father c. Again The Child here receives the Sign of the Cross in his Right-hand the Priest saying calling him by his Name I deliver thee the Sign of our Lord Jesus Christ in thy Right-hand that thou maist Sign thy self and drive away the Enemy on all sides from thee and maist have Eternal Life c. Here also the Priest is to lay his Robe on the Child in the Figure of a Cross with a many dire menaces tormenting the Devil before his time Here also the Ave Maria is added to the Pater Noster The Infant likewise hath this Benediction pronounced over him before his going to the Font The Benediction of God the Father ✚ Almighty and of his Son ✚ and Holy Ghost ✚ descend and abide upon thee and the Angel of the Lord keep thee until thou comest to Holy Baptism As if the poor Creature were in mighty danger of being carried away by the Devil before he could be Baptized notwithstanding all the past Conjurations and dreadful doings that had been made with him and all the Crosses together with the holy Oyl and holy Spittle bestowed on the Infant And lastly to name no more additions though there are divers others the Flax wherewith the anointed places are wiped is ordered to be burnt over a Pond of Water If those who are unacquainted with our Churches Office of Baptism would after the Reading of this of the Romish Church consult ours they will immediately acknowledge that no two things can well be more unlike than are these two Offices And the like as was said may be seen in the rest as those may perceive who if they understand sorry Latine will take the pains to compare theirs with ours And whereas we asserted the same thing of their and our Forms of Morning and Evening Prayers we might particularly instance in the Litanies Our Litany which I think if comparisons may be allowed is the choicest part of our Service is more than any other part of the Liturgy condemned by Dissenters as Savouring of Popish Superstition But as nothing but great Ignorance can make any man think it really doth so so I am perswaded that the meer comparing it with that of the Romanists might incline the most prejudiced to call it a most Protestant piece of Devotion For they shall find Invocations of Saints and Angels to pray for them the greater part of the Popish Litany Next after the Holy Trinity St. Mary is there invoked first by name then as the Mother of God then as the Virgin of Virgins Next to her three Angels are invoked by name Then all the Angels and Arch-Angels together Then all the holy Orders of Blessed Spirits Next John the Baptist Next all the Patriarchs and Prophets Next St. Peter and all the other Apostles and Evangelists by name Then Altogether Then all the holy Disciples of our Lord. Then all the Holy Innocents Then the Protomartyr St. Stephen and Ten other by Name Then all the Holy Martyrs
that the word dedicated doth there import no more than declared by that Ceremony to be dedicated viz. by the foregoing Baptism like as the Priest is said to have cleansed the Leper whom he onely declareth to be clean Lev. 14. 11. And 't is manifest from the account given of the imposing of this Ceremony in that Canon that this Phrase cannot otherwise be understood I shall not need to add any thing more about this Ceremony after I have said that our Church retains it not in imitation of the Church of Rome but of the Primitive Christians they thereby to use the Words of the foresaid Canon making an outward profession even to the astonishment of the Jews that they were not ashamed to acknowledge him for their Lord and Saviour who died for them upon the Cross c. And as it follows this use of the Sign of the Cross in Baptism was held in the Primitive Church as well by the Greeks as the Latins with one consent and great applause c. I conclude with Beza's judgment of the Lawfulness of Resp ad Baldw. p. 324. this Ceremony Saith he I know many too have retained the use of the Sign of the Cross the Adoration of the Cross being taken away Let them as is meet use their own Liberty But in our Church not onely the Adoration of the Cross but likewise all Superstition in the use of it is perfectly abolished How then can it be thought such a Symbolizing with the Church of Rome as may warrant Separation from our Communion 3. As to the Ceremony of Kneeling at the Communion If our Churches Declaration at the end of the Communion-Service will not vindicate her from an Unlawful Symbolizing with Rome herein I have nothing to say in her defence The declaration is this Whereas it is ordained in this Office for the Administration of the Lords Supper that the Communicants should receive the same Kneeling which order is well meant for a signification of our humble and grateful acknowledgment of the benefits of Christ therein given to all worthy Receivers and for the avoiding of such Prophanation and disorder in the Holy Communion as might otherwise ensue yet lest the same Kneeling should by any Persons either out of Ignorance and Infirmity or out of Malice and Obstinacy be misconstrued and depraved It is here declared that thereby no Adoration is intended or ought to be done either unto the Sacramental Bread and Wine there bodily received or unto any Corporal-Presence of Christ's Natural Flesh and Blood For the Sacramental Bread and Wine remain still in their very Natural substances and therefore may not be adored for that were Idolatry to be abhorred of all faithful Christians And the Natural Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ are in Heaven and not here it being against the truth of Christs Natural Body to be at one time in more places than one We see that our Church doth here not only declare that no Adoration is in this Gesture intended either to the Elements or to Christ's Corporal Presence under the Species of Bread and Wine but also that as such a Pretence is absurd and contradictions so the adoring of the Sacramental Bread and Wine would be Idolatry to be abhorred by all faithful Christians So that as nothing is in it self more indifferent than this Gesture in receiving the Holy Communion there being not one Word said of the Gesture in our Saviours Institution of this Sacrament either before his Death to his Disciples or after his Ascension to St. Paul who hath delivered to us what he received of the Lord about this matter as he said that is all that he had received and as Christ hath Consequently lest the particular Gesture to the determination of the Church a Gesture being in the general necessary so this Circumstance of Symbolizing with the Church of Rome herein cannot make Our Churches requiring Kneeling to be Unlawful and much less our Obedience to the Church in using this Gesture seeing all the Idolatry and Superstition too wherewith the Church of Rome hath abused it is perfectly removed and 't is required by our Church meerly as a decent Reverend Gesture 4. As to the Ring in Marriage The Church of Rome as is to be seen in the Office of Matrimony juxta usum Ecclesiae Sarisburiensis abuseth it most notoriously There you have it first blessed with two Prayers in the former of which God is beseeched to send his blessing on this Ring that she who shall wear it may be Armed with the Power of Heavenly defence and it may be beneficial to her to Eternal life through Christ our Lord. And in the latter the Priest Crossing himself Prayeth that God would bless this Ring which we in thy Holy Name bless that whosoever shall wear it may abide in his Peace c. Next Holy Water is sprinkled upon the Ring And lastly the Bridegroom puts it upon the Brides Thumb the Bridegroom saying In the Name of the Father Then upon her second Finger saying And of the Son Then on the third saying And of the Holy Ghost Then on the fourth saying Amen And there he leaves it And there is expressed a special Mystery in leaving it upon that Finger But there is used nothing of this impious or Superstitious fooling about the Ring in our Office of Marriage All the doings about it are the Bridegrooms putting it on the fourth Finger he saying after the Minister With this Ring I thee Wed and the mentioning of it in the Prayer following as a Token and Pledg of the Vow and Covenant made between the Married Persons So that 't is so far from being used as a Sacramental sign among us that it no otherwise differs from a meer civil Ceremony than as 't is a Token and Pledg of a Covenant made between the Parties in the most Solemn manner viz. as in the presence of God And in truth this is such a Symbolizing with the Church of Rome as I should be ashamed to bestow two Words about but that so many of our Brethren have been pleased to take offence at it Lastly As to our Observation of certain Holy days All I shall say about it is 1. That there is no Comparison between the number of our Holy-days and the Popish ones 2. Our few are purged from all the Superstitious and wicked Solemnizations of the Popish ones 3. We observe scarcely any besides such as wherein we have the Primitive Church for our Example Excepting those which are enjoyned upon the account of Deliverances and Calamities in which our own Nation is peculiarly concerned 4. An observation of them void of Superstitious conceits about them and onely as our Church directeth can have no other than a very good Effect upon our Hearts and lives If we could say as St. Austin did of the Christians in his time viz. By Festival Solemnities and set days we dedicate and sanctify to God the memory of his Benefits lest unthankful forgetfulness of
but do know why many of our Festivals receive their names from certain Saints And why may we not on certain Days meet together to praise God for blessing the world with such Saints as have been next to our Blessed Lord the most Glorious instruments of good to the world and at the same time hear those Chapters read wherein their worthy deeds are recorded and together with other Prayers put in one for grace to follow those blessed Examples of a holy Life of both active and passive Obedience which they have through the Divine grace left behind them What Sin is there in all this Nay why should not this highly become us and be of singular advantage to us You give two reasons why this is unlawfull 1. Because God hath no where prescribed it But must we be at this time of day told that nothing is lawfull relating to the Worship of God but what is expresly commanded when the Idleness and Folly of that Doctrine hath been over and over exposed as it hath been But 2dly you say That this is that which the Jews nor Christians in the first times never did But if you mean by the First times the times of the Apostles 't is more than you can prove that the Martyrdom of St. Stephen was never solemnly commemorated by the Christians in their time And I presume you would not have had the Martyrdoms of the Apostles commemorated before they were Martyred what if this be not recorded is it therefore a certain Argument that it never was You find not I think the Martyrdom of any one of the Apostles recorded in holy Scripture except St. James's But if you mean by the first times the Primitive times I perceive you never read or have forgotten The Epistle of the Church of Smyrna concerning Policarp's Martyrdom But I hope it needs not to be proved to you that the Catholique Church observed Martyrum Natalitia the Days whereon they were crowned with Martyrdom even from the Second Century But where do you find it prescribed in God's word or recorded that it was practised in the Apostles times for to be sure you mean those by the First times to praise God for the good Examples of Holy men among other great Blessings is it therefore unlawfull so to doe as well as to doe it upon Set Days You will not assert so absurd a thing In short Sir think not that we need either Precepts or Examples to justifie our doing of that which the very Light of Nature and Right Reason do plainly declare to us to be though not a necessary duty yet highly becoming us and praise-worthy And we are certain that it is dictated thereby to be highly becoming us to commemorate at Annual Selected times the unspeakable Goodness of God to us in giving us such Shining Lights as the Holy Apostles c. and to meditate upon Christ glorified in them who with admirable courage first preached and propagated his Gospel in the World and with admirable Patience for the sake thereof indured the greatest of Miseries and Calamities and at last Sealed it with their Blood 8. You say But if Devout persons will set apart Days you might have said too will observe Days set apart by the Church to give God thanks for any signal mercies among which I think every Apostle is a most signal one or to put up Prayers for any people in distress provided they do not mock God in giving him an holy hour instead of an holy day and spend the rest of the day in Idleness Gaming Drinking c. And can you think that any of our Devout people do not abhor such practices as much as you Dissenters will never blame or condemn them for it I hoped you would have said they will join with us since Authority requires it 9. You say Finally Dissenters will never separate from the Church of England for the true keeping of a day holy to God c. Yes surely they will if it be a Saint's day at least as one would think by what you have said But you add that they will separate from the Looseness and commonly practised Profanation of it and so do thousands of those that are no Dissenters I hope or such as were onely so in the Pope's Kalendar as St. George c. Now you would Sir again feign your self more ignorant than you are for no doubt you know as well as we that St. George his day is no Church of England Holy-day And for all your c. you cannot but know too that Our Church hath no Festival-days called by any Saints names but such as all Christians own for the Greatest of Saints except those Innocents who had the honour to suffer for Christ's sake before they were of age to know him We have indeed a Fast-day occasioned by the Horrid Murther of King Charles the Martyr whom we deservedly honour as a Great Saint But I never heard that this Saint stands in the Pope's Kalendar and I 'll warrant you never shall We should be glad to hear that He stands in yours however we hope He will never be blotted out of ours And now having done with our Author you spend a good part of your five last Pages in such discourse as is so far from tending to the composing of our Differences and healing our wide and most dangerous Breaches that it hath the most apparent tendency to the making them irreparable beyond all Remedy And 't is enough to convince all sober people that the cause of those that separate is desperate to observe what strange principles are taken up of late in the defence of Separation even such as the Old Non-conformists would have thought very wild ones serving no better purpose than the Unhinging of all And those Sir which you here lay down so dogmatically not offering any proof of them you shall find most shamefully baffled by the Dean of St. Pauls in his forementioned excellent Book For my part I am too much tryred with Scribbling thus long to take into consideration this close of your Book farther than reflecting upon two or three passages though I am not at all obliged to take notice of those neither as a Defender of our Author And indeed to deal like a plain-hearted Friend with you it was but the other day before I could be perswaded to think it needfull to Reply at all You say pag. 31. That Separation in these three Cases is Lawfull if not Necessary Your First case is When such errours are in the Constitution of a Church as if they had been known before ought to have hindered Vnion with it But you do not tell us what Errours those are Would you have your Readers take it for granted that there are such Errours in the Constitution of the Church of England But we may guess at one of those Errours in our Constitution from that which you say pag. 30. viz. That Governing Churches must have proper Officers which cannot be unless elected by
shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily 1 Cor. 11. 27. is guilty of the Body and Bloud of the Lord and doth eat Ver. 29. and drink damnation to himself Fourthly What Preparation of our selves is necessary in order to our worthy receiving of this Sacrament which will give me occasion to explain the Apostle's meaning in those Words But let a man examine himself Ver. 28. and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup. I. For the Perpetuity of this Institution implyed in those Words For as often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew forth the Lord's Death till he come or the Words may be read imperatively and by way of Precept shew ye forth the Lord's Death till he come In the three verses immediately before the Apostle particularly declares the Institution of this Sacrament with the manner and circumstances of it as he had received it not onely by the hands of the Apostles but as the Words seem rather to intimate by immediate Revelation from our Lord himself ver 23. For I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus in the same night that he was betrayed took Bread and when he had given Thanks he brake it and said take eat this is my Body which is broken for you this doe in remembrance of me After the same manner also he took the Cup when he had supped saying this Cup is the New Testament in my Bloud this doe as often as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me So that the Institution is in these Words this doe in remembrance of me In which words our Lord commands his Disciples after his Death to repeat these actions of taking and breaking and eating the Bread and of drinking of the Cup by way of solemn Commemoration of him Now whether this was to be done by them once onely or oftner and whether by the Disciples onely during their lives or by all Christians afterwards in all successive Ages of the Church is not so certain merely from the force of these Words doe this in remembrance of me but what the Apostle adds puts the matter out of all doubt that the Institution of this Sacrament was intended for all Ages of the Christian Church For as often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew the Lord's Death till he come that is untill the time of his second coming which will be at the end of the World So that this Sacrament was designed to be a standing Commemoration of the Death and Passion of our Lord till he should come to Judgment and consequently the Obligation that lies upon Christians to the observation of it is perpetual and shall never cease to the end of the World So that it is a vain conceit and more dream of the Enthusiasts concerning the seculum Spiritûs Sancti the Age and dispensation of the Holy Ghost when as they suppose all humane Teaching shall cease and all external Ordinances and Institutions in Religion shall vanish and there shall be no farther use of them Whereas it is very plain from the new Testament that Prayer and outward Teaching and the Use of the two Sacraments were intended to continue among Christians in all Ages As for Prayer besides our natural Obligation to this duty if there were no revealed Religion we are by our Saviour particularly exhorted to watch and pray with regard to the day of Judgment and in consideration of the uncertainty of the time when it shall be And therefore this will always be a Duty incumbent upon Christians till the day of Judgment because it is prescribed as one of the best ways of Preparation for it That outward Teaching likewise and Baptism were intended to be perpetual is no less plain because Christ hath expresly promised to be with the Teachers of his Church in the use of these Ordinances to the end of the World Matth. 28. 19 20. Go and disciple all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and lo I am with you always to the end of the World Not onely to the end of that particular Age but to the end of the Gospel Age and the consummation of all Ages as the Phrase clearly imports And it is as plain from this Text that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was intended for a perpetual Institution in the Christian Church till the second coming of Christ viz. his coming to Judgment Because St. Paul tells us that by these Sacramental Signs the Death of Christ is to be represented and commemorated till he comes Doe this in remembrance of me For as oft as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew the Lord's Death till he come And if this be the End and Use of this Sacrament to be a solemn remembrance of the Death and Sufferings of our Lord during his absence from us that is till his coming to Judgment then this Sacrament will never be out of date till the second coming of our Lord. The consideration whereof should mightily strengthen and encourage our Faith in the hope of Eternal Life so often as we partake of this Sacrament since our Lord hath left it to us as a memorial of himself till he come to translate his Church into Heaven and as a sure pledge that he will come again at the end of the World and invest us in that Glory which he is now gone before to prepare for us So that as often as we approach the Table of the Lord we should comfort our selves with the thoughts of that blessed time when we shall eat and drink with him in his Kingdom and shall be admitted to the great Feast of the Lamb and to eternal Communion with God the Judge of all and with our blessed and glorified Redeemer and the holy Angels and the Spirits of just men made perfect And the same consideration should likewise make us afraid to receive this Sacrament unworthily without due Preparation for it and without worthy effects of it upon our Hearts and Lives Because of that dreadfull Sentence of condemnation which at the second coming of our Lord shall be past upon those who by the profanation of this solemn Institution trample under foot the son of God and contemn the bloud of the Covenant that Covenant of Grace and Mercy which God hath ratified with Mankind by the Bloud of his Son The Apostle tells us that he that eateth and drinketh unworthily is guilty of the Body and Bloud of the Lord and eateth and drinketh damnation to himself This indeed is spoken of temporal Judgment as I shall shew in the latter part of this Discourse but the Apostle likewise supposeth that if these temporal Judgments had not their effect to bring men to Repentance but they still persisted in the Profanation of this holy Sacrament they should at last be
our Saviour the great friend and lover of souls A command so reasonable so easie so full of blessings and benefits to the faithfull observers of it One would think it were no difficult matter to convince men of their duty in this particular and of the necessity of observing so plain an Institution of our Lord that it were no hard thing to persuade men to their interest and to be willing to partake of those great and manifold blessings which all Christians believe to be promised and made good to the frequent and worthy Receivers of this Sacrament Where then lyes the difficulty what should be the cause of all this backwardness which we see in men to so plain so necessary and so beneficial a duty The truth is men have been greatly discouraged from this Sacrament by the unwary pressing and inculcating of two great truths the danger of the unworthy receiving of this holy Sacrament and the necessity of a due preparation for it Which brings me to the III. Third Particular I proposed which was to endeavour to satisfie the Objections and Scruples which have been raised in the minds of men and particularly of many devout and sincere Christians to their great discouragement from the receiving of this Sacrament at least so frequently as they ought And these Objections I told you are chiefly grounded upon what the Apostle says at the 27th verse Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of the body and bloud of the Lord. And again ver 29. He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself Upon the mistake and misapplication of these Texts have been grounded two Objections of great force to discourage men from this Sacrament which I shall endeavour with all the tenderness and clearness I can to remove First That the danger of unworthy receiving being so very great it seems the safest way not to receive at all Secondly That so much preparation and worthiness being required in order to our worthy Receiving the more timorous sort of devout Christians can never think themselves duly enough qualified for so sacred an Action 1. That the danger of unworthy receiving being so Obj. 1 very great it seems the safest way wholly to refrain from this Sacrament and not to receive it at all But this Objection is evidently of no force if there be as most certainly there is as great or a greater danger on the other hand viz. in the neglect of this Duty And so though the danger of unworthy receiving be avoided by not receiving yet the danger of neglecting and contemning a plain Institution of Christ is not thereby avoided Surely they in the Parable that refused to come to the marriage-feast of the King's Son and made light of that gracious invitation were at least as faulty as he who came without a wedding garment And we find in the conclusion of the Parable that as he was severely punished for his disrespect so they were destroyed for their disobedience Nay of the two it is the greater sign of contempt wholly to neglect the Sacrament than to partake of it without some due qualification The greatest indisposition that can be for this holy Sacrament is one's being a bad man and he may be as bad and is more likely to continue so who wilfully neglects this Sacrament than he that comes to it with any degree of reverence and preparation though much less than he ought And surely it is very hard for men to come to so solemn an Ordinance without some kind of religious awe upon their spirits and without some good thoughts and resolutions at least for the present If a man that lives in any known wickedness of life do before he receive the Sacrament set himself seriously to be humbled for his sins and to repent of them and to beg God's grace and assistence against them and after the receiving of it does continue for some time in these good resolutions though after a while he may possibly relapse into the same sins again this is some kind of restraint to a wicked life and these good moods and fits of repentance and reformation are much better than a constant and uninterrupted course of sin Even this righteousness which is but as the morning cloud and the early dew which so soon passeth away is better than none And indeed scarce any man can think of coming to the Sacrament but he will by this consideration be excited to some good purposes and put upon some sort of endeavour to amend and reform his life and though he be very much under the bondage and power of evil habits if he do with any competent degree of sincerity and it is his own fault if he do not make use of this excellent means and instrument for the mortifying and subduing of his lusts and for the obtaining of God's grace and assistence it may please God by the use of these means so to abate the force and power of his lusts and to imprint such considerations upon his mind in the receiving of this holy Sacrament and preparing himself for it that he may at last break off his wicked course and become a good man But on the other hand as to those who neglect this Sacrament there is hardly any thing left to restrain them from the greatest enormities of life and to give a check to them in their evil course nothing but the penalty of humane Laws which men may avoid and yet be wicked enough Heretofore men used to be restrained from great and scandalous vices by shame and fear of disgrace and would abstain from many sins out of regard to their honour and reputation among men But men have hardened their faces in this degenerate Age and those gentle restraints of modesty which governed and kept men in order heretofore signifie nothing now adays Blushing is out of fashion and shame is ceased from among the children of men But the Sacrament did always use to lay some kind of restraint upon the worst of men and if it did not wholly reform them it would at least have some good effect upon them for a time If it did not make men good yet it would make them resolve to be so and leave some good thoughts and impressions upon their minds So that I doubt not but it hath been a thing of very bad consequence to discourage men so much from the Sacrament as the way hath been of late years And that many men who were under some kind of check before since they have been driven away from the Sacrament have quite let loose the reins and prostituted themselves to all manner of impiety and vice And among the many ill effects of our past confusions this is none of the least That in many Congregations of this Kingdom Christians were generally disused and deterred from the Sacrament upon a pretence that they were unfit for it and being so they must necessarily incur the
a Table for us and set before us the bread of life we will not come and feed upon it with joy and thankfulness THE END A Catalogue of Books and Sermons Writ by the Reverend Dr. Tillotson Dean of Canterbury Viz. 1 SErmons Preached upon several Occasions in two Volumes in Octavo 2. The Rule of Faith c. 3. A Sermon Preached on the 5th of November 1678. at St. Margarets Westminster before the Honourable House of Commons upon St. Luke 9. 55 56. But he turned and rebuked them and said ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of For the Son of man is not come to destroy mens lives but to save them 4. A Sermon Preached at the first General Meeting of the Gentlemen and others in and near London who were Born within the County of York Upon John 13. 34 35. A new Commandment I give unto you that ye love one another c. 5. A Sermon Preached before the King at White-hall April 4th 1679 upon 1 John 4. 1. Beloved believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God c. 6. A Sermon Preached before the King at White-hall April 2d 1680 upon Joshua 24. 15. If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord chuse ye this day whom ye will serve 7. The Lawfulness and Obligation of Oaths A Sermon Preached at the Assizes held at Kingstone upon Thames July 21. 1681 upon Heb. 6. 16. And an Oath for Confirmation is to them an end of all Strife 8. Sermon Preached at the Funeral of the Reverend Mr. Thomas Gouge November 4th 1681 with an account of his Life upon Luke 20. 37 38. Now that the Dead are raised even Moses shewed at the bush c. 9. A Persuasive to Frequent Communion in the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Preached in two Sermons upon 1 Cor. 11. 26 27 28. For as oft as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew the Lord's Death till he come c. 10. A Sermon Preached at the Funeral of the Reverend Benjamin Whichcot D. D. and Minister of St. Lawrence Jewry London May 24th 1683 upon 2 Cor. v. 6. Wherefore we are always confident knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. Sold by Brabazon Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill and William Rogers at the Sun against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet Advertisement of Books THE Works of the Learned Dr. Isaac Barrow late Master of Trinity College in Cambridge Published by the Reverend Dr. Tillotson Dean of Canterbury in two Volumes in Folio The First containing Thirty two Sermons preached upon several Occasions an Exposition of the Lord's Prayer and the Decalogue a Learned Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy a Discourse concerning the Unity of the Church also some Account of the Life of the Authour with Alphabetical Tables The Second Volume containing Sermons and Expositions upon all the Apostles Creed with an Alphabetical Table and to which may be also added the Life of the Authour Sermons preached upon several Occasions by the Right Reverend Father in God John Wilkins D. D. and late Lord Bishop of Chester Never printed before Printed for William Rogers at the Sun against S. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet THE CASE OF KNEELING AT THE Holy Sacrament STATED RESOLVED PART I. Wherein these QUERIES are considered I. Whether Kneeling at the Sacrament be contrary to any express Command of Christ obliging to the observance of a different Gesture II. Whether Kneeling be not a Deviation from that example which our Lord set us at the first Institution III. Whether Kneeling be not Unsutable and Repugnant to the Nature of the Lord's Supper as being no Table-Gesture The Second EDITION LONDON Printed by J. C. and Freeman Collins for Fincham Gardiner at the White-Horse in Ludgate-street 1683. THE CASE Whether it be Lawful to receive the Holy Sacrament Kneeling THe Resolution of the most weighty and considerable Doubts which may in point of Conscience arise about this matter and do at present much influence the minds and practices of many honest and well-meaning Dissenters will depend upon the Resolution of these following Queries 1. Whether Kneeling in the Act of Receiving the Holy Sacrament according to the Law of the Land be not contrary to some express Law of Christ obliging to the observance of a different Posture 2. Whether Kneeling be not a deviation from that example which our Lord set us at the first Institution 3. Whether Kneeling be not altogether Unsutable and Repugnant to the nature of the Sacrament as being no Table-Gesture 4. Whether Kneeling Commanded in the Church of England be not contrary to the general Practice of the Church of Christ in the first and purest Ages 5. Whether it be Unlawful for us to receive Kneeling because this Gesture was first introduced by Idolaters and is still notoriously abused by the Papists to Idolatrous ends and purposes 1. Whether Kneeling in the Act of Receiving the Sacrament in Obedience to the Law of the Land be not a Transgression against some express Law of Christ which obliges us to observe another Gesture For satisfaction in this Point our onely recourse must be to the Holy Scriptures contained in the Books of the New Testament wherein the whole body of Divine Laws delivered and enacted by our Blessed Saviour are collected and recorded by the Holy Ghost And if there be any Command there extant concerning the use of any particular Gesture in the Act of Receiving the Lord's Supper we shall upon a diligent enquiry be sure to find it But before I give in my Answer I readily grant thus much by way of Preface Whatsoever is enjoyned and appointed by God to be prepetually used by all Christians throughout all Ages without any alteration that can never be nullified or altered by any Earthly Power or Authority whatsoever When once the Supreme Lawgiver and Governour of the World hath any ways signified and declared that such and such positive Laws shall be perpetually and unalterably observed then those Laws though in their own nature and with respect to the subject matter of them they be changeable must remain in full Force and can admit of no Change from the Laws of Men. It would be a piece of intolerable Pride and the most daring Presumption for any Earthly Prince any Council any Societie of Men whatsoever to oppose the known Will of the Soveraign Lord of Heaven and Earth In this Case nothing can take off the Force and Obligation of such Laws but the same Divine Authoritie which first passed them into Laws Thus much being granted and premised I return this Answer to the Question proposed God hath been so far from establishing the unalterable use of any particular Gesture in the Act of Receiving that among all the Sacred Records of his Will there is not any express Command to determine our practice one way or other We are left perfectly at our
libertie by God to use what comely Gesture we please either Sitting Kneeling or Standing And if the Law of the See the Case of Indifferent things Land did not restrain our libertie we might use any of the forementioned Gestures without the least violation of any Law of God This perhaps at first sight may seem very strange and false to many of our Dissenting Brethren who have been taught to believe otherwise and it may be to judge Charitably their Teachers and Pastours have in this particular been imposed on themselves by the Writings and Assertions of other Men whose Persons they have had in great admiration But yet I am so secure of this Truth that I challenge all the World to produce the Chapter and Verse wherein any Command is given for the use of any particular Gesture at the Celebration of the Lord's Supper That Popish Principle of believing as the Church believes and swallowing all for Gospel which she affirms to be so though very mischievous in its consequence is not so Popish that is so ill as to pin our Faith on the Sleeves of particular Men and relying barely on the word and credit of any one Man whom we highly esteem of what Party or Perswasion soever For this is to create a Pope to our selves and make every Man whom we phansie infallible this is to make two more than six and the Authority of one Man outweigh the Authority of the Church that is a Society of Men who are nothing near so liable to deception I don't desire therefore to be trusted by any means in the matter under present consideration and therefore I would have the Reader to observe this Rule Trust no Mans Eyes or Judgment where you are able to use your own but follow the example of the Bereans so highly commended Acts. 17. 11. by St. Paul upon this very account that is to make an ingenuous enquiry into the Truth of things to search the Scriptures whether these things be so as I say and assert If this course were generally followed it would go a great way towards the composing those differences and curing those divisions that at present are on foot amongst us occasioned by several Tenets and Opinions about matters of Religion By this means a great many which pass for Divine Oracles and Doctrines would appear to be no other than the whimsies and inventions of Men. With this cautionary advice I might fairly dismiss this Question as being fully Answered and leave all my Readers to disprove me if they can But because some may pretend they have not Leisure and others want of Skill and others are not enduced with Patience enough to search and examine this matter throughly as it ought I will yield all the Charitable assistance I am able towards their relief by doing the work to their hands My Business then at present is this to Collect and Present to your view all those places which relate to the Sacrament and are most likely to inform us what our Lord by his Institution and Appointment hath obliged us to And certainly if there be any Command which tyes us up to the use of any particular Gesture Sitting suppose or Standing and not Kneeling we shall find it in one or other of the Evangelists who give us a perfect Narrative of the whole Mind and Will of Christ in all matters necessary to Faith and Salvation Let us therefore bring them under a strict examination St. Matthew gives this account of Mat. 26. 26. the whole matter As they were eating Jesus took Bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to the Disciples and said Take eat this is my Body And he took the Ver. 27. Cup and gave Thanks and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it For this is my Blood of the New Testament Ver. 28. which is shed for many for the Remission of Sins But I Ver. 29. say unto you I will not Drink henceforth of this Fruit of the Vine until that day when I Drink it new with you in my Fathers Kingdom And when they had Sung an Hymn Ver. 30. they went out into the Mount of Olives Much to the same purpose is the account which St. Mark gives of this matter And as they did eat Jesus took Bread and blessed and Mar. 14. 22. brake it and gave to them and said Take eat this is my Body And he took the Cup and when he had given Ver. 23. Thanks he gave it to them and they all Drank of it And he said unto them This is my Bloud of the New Ver. 24. Ver. 25. Testament which is shed for many Verily I say unto you I will Drink no more of the Fruit of the Vine until that day that I Drink it new in the Kingdom of God And Ver. 26. when they had Sung a Hymn they went out into the Mount of Olives And this is the sum of what Saint Mark delivers concerning the Lord's Supper Saint Luke with very little variation thus describes the matter And he took Bread and gave Thanks and brake it and Luke 22. 19. gave unto them saying This is my Body which is given for you this do in Remembrance of me Likewise also the Ver. 20. Cup after Supper saying This Cup is the New Testament in my Bloud which is shed for you This Evangelist indeed makes mention of another Cup which our Lord took and after he had blessed it he said to his Disciples Take this and divide it among your selves and withal told them that he would not Drink of the Fruit of the Vine until the Kingdom of God should come which Cup plainly refers to the Passover as will appear to any one who will consult and compare the 15 16 17 and 18. Verses of See Dr. Lightfoot on Mat. 26. 26. Horae Heb. Talmud the fore-mentioned Chapter and is supposed to be that Cup wherewith the Jews were wont to begin the Paschal Feast which they Blessed or Consecrated in this Form of words Blessed be God who Created the Fruit of the Vine And whereas our Lord saith he will Drink no more of the Fruit of the Vine his meaning is that he would never Celebrate the Feast of the Passover with them any more after that time but their next Festival Meeting should be in Heaven and this is very consistent with our Lord 's Drinking another Cup after this which he Consecrated to another use and signification in the Sacrament Ver. 20. And this is all the light this Divine Writer affords us concerning the outward Rites and Ceremones which our Lord used himself at the Institution of the Sacrament and established for the use of all Christians in all succeeding Ages As for St. John he makes no mention at all of the Institution of this Holy Feast by our Lord. All that can be collected from his Writings relates to the Passover or according to the Learned Dr. Lightfoot to
Question proposed for the Resolution whereof I shall 1. Enquire into the Nature of the Holy Sacrament that so we may truly understand what Gesture is agreeable or repugnant to it 2. Shew that the Nature of the Lord's Supper doth not absolutely require and necessarily oblige us to observe a Common Table-Gesture in order to our worthy Receiving 3. That Kneeling is very Comely and agreeable to the Nature of the Lord's Supper though no Table-Gesture 4. That the Primitive Church and Ancient Fathers had no such notion of the necessity of a Table-Gesture as is maintained and urged by Dissenters 1. As to the Nature of the Sacrament I shall endeavour to discover it under these following Heads First the Sacrament in the Holy Scripture is called the Lord's Table and the Lord's Supper and and Banquet by the Ancient Greek Fathers because of that Provision and Entertainment which our Lord hath made for all worthy Receivers It is styled a Supper and a Feast either because it was Instituted by Christ at Supper-time at night or because it represents a Supper and a Feast And so it is not of the same Nature with a Civil and Ordinary Supper and Feast though it bear the same name There is some resemblance between this Holy Feast and Civil Feasts and the shewing wherein it lies will in part explain its Nature There are three things Essential and Necessary to a Feast and included in the notion of it Plenty good Company and Mirth And upon the account of these the Sacrament is considered in its own Nature properly a Banquet a Feast but then it is a Heavenly and Spiritual one consisting of Spiritual Graces and benefits Communion with Christ and with all true believers signified by and tendered under the outward Elements of Bread and Wine and even in these three particulars which are Essential to it considered as a Feast and are necessary ingredients into all Feasts whatsoever it very much differs from Civil and Ordinary Feasts For though there be Plenty yet it doth not consist of Variety of Dishes to gratifie our Palats or satisfie our Hunger as other Feasts do and particularly the Passover did where the Body was filled and Feasted as well as the mind The provision wherewith our Lord hath Furnished out his Table is not of an Earthly and perishing but of an Heavenly and Immortal Nature even the Body and Blood of Christ which we Spiritually Feast upon Alas if we only fix our Eyes and Thoughts upon what is placed on the Table and those small portions of Bread and Wine allotted us to Eat and Drink without lifting up our Hearts as * * * So St. Cypr. St. Chrysost and St. Aug. expound this Exhort of the Minister at the Communion Cyp. de orat Dom. Chrys Hom. de Encaeniis Aug. de ver Relig. c. 3. our Church exhorts us to do by the Minister in her Communion-Office to those Heavenly and Invisible good things couched under and signified by the outward Elements of Bread and Wine what is there in all that we see that deserves the name of a Feast or can by the help of any figure but an Irony be called by that name Did ever any Man esteem that a Feast where there was not Meat enough to fill his Mouth nor Drink enough to quench his thirst It is upon the account therefore of those Invisible and Spiritual good things wherewith the Souls not the Bodies of worthy Communicants are Strengthened and Refreshed of which the Bread and Wine are but the Types and Shadows that the Sacrament is and may truly be called a Feast or Banquet And for this reason †††St. Chrys in Ps 90. Greg. Naz. orat 40. Athanasius St. Cyril Hierosol Catech. and others the Greek Fathers called it a Spiritual Feast and the Table a Mystical Table and the Cup the Cup of Mysteries and the Sacrament take it all together was by them Styled the Mystical Supper the Mystery and Mysteries as Presenting one thing to the Eye and another to the Mind 2. As Plenty is one necessary ingredient into the Nature of a Feast so also is Choice and Select Company Feasts are made in expectation of Friends and Acquaintance A Man may Dine alone but in Proper and Ordinary Speech no Man is said to Feast alone Now though the Sacrament doth resemble our Common Feasts in this Particular and therefore hath obtained the name of Communion and the Guests Communicants which Phrases do naturally import Number or Society yet if we consider what the persons are that constitute this Society and with whom Communion is held the Nature of this Spiritual Feast will further appear And truly our Communion is with God the Father Son and Holy Ghost the three Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity though principally our Lord Jesus the Master of this Feast in and through whom we all have Eph. 2. 18. access by one Spirit to the Father as St. Paul speaks This high and inestimable priviledge and Honour of being admitted into the Presence of God and holding a friendly Correspondence and Converse with him at his Table is founded on the Blood of Christ which we thankfully Commemorate at this Solemnity by which we who were afar off are made nigh as the same Eph. 2. 13. Divine Writer hath it Moreoever by Eating and Drinking at the Lord's Table we are United to and hold Communion with all Faithful Christians and worthy Communicants the Members of his Mystical Body the Church whom he hath redeemed and cleansed by his most precious Blood And that which qualifies a Man for such Communion doth not Consist in External Garbs or Ornaments of the Body but in Holy and Virtuous Dispositions of Soul in a Penitent Humble Charitable Thankful and Obedient Heart 3. Another thing necessary to a Feast is Mirth and Joy which implies also good discourse and in this too the Sacrament resembles our Common Feasts But then the Joy is of a Spiritual Nature and flows from different Causes Not from what we Tast and See not from our Appetites and Phansies pleased and tickled with the richness and Variety of Dishes which adorn the Table nor from our Blood and Spirits raised and fermented by generous Wines but from Divine and Heavenly Considerations From the Boundless and Unaccountable Love of God in sending his onely Begotten and Beloved Son into the World to lay down his Life and shed his Blood as a propitiation for our Sins from the wonderful Condescention of our Dear Lord and Master in undertaking this hard Task in appearing Clothed with our Flesh in the form of a Servant and at last Humbling himself to the Death of the Cross for our Sakes from the Victory he hath gained for us over Death and Hell and all the Spirits of Darkness from the miraculous Redemption he hath wrought and the Right and Title to Eternal Life which he hath purchased for us Sinful Dust and Ashes by his own most Precious Blood This is
as being agreeable to the Nature of a Feast or a Banquet and at the same time think there lyes no necessity at all upon them to observe other Formalities equally agreeable to the Nature of Civil Feasts and warranted by custom as much as Sitting is the great knot of the Question and that which puzzles me I confess to unty 2. They observe several Modes and Circumstances at the Sacrament which are not agreeable to the Nature of a Feast or Supper nor to the customary way of Feasting among us For example The Sacrament say they is a Feast a Supper and requires a Feast a Supper-Gesture and then too say I it requires a Supper-time It is called in Scripture the Lord's Supper and it was Instituted the same night in which he was betrayed and it 's clear that our Lord Administred it at Even and that late at the close of the Paschal Feast Now the Nature of a Supper according to Common use and acception requires the Evening or Night as the proper and peculiar season for it and yet our Dissenting Brethren make no scruple of Communicating at Noon It 's not agreeable to the Nature of a Feast that one of the Guests and the Principal one too should fill out the Wine and break the Bread and distribute it to the rest of the Society but this the Dissenters generally allow of and practice at the Holy Communion It 's not agreeable to the Nature of a Feast to Sit from the Table dispersed up and down the Room In all publick Feasts there are several Tables provided when one is not big enough to receive the Guests and yet the Dissenters generally receive in their Pews scattered up and down the Church and think one Table is sufficient though not capable of receiving the twentieth part of the Communicants in some large Parishes and numerous Assemblies And where they are few in number that they may come up to and Sit at the Table they generally are against it especially the Presbyterians and think they are not obliged to observe that formality though constantly practised at Common and Civil Entertainments It 's by no means agreeable to the nature of a Feast to be Sorrowful To Mourn and Grieve at a Feast is as Indecent and Unsutable as to Laugh at a Funeral But sure our Dissenting Brethren will not say that to come to the Sacrament with a Penitent and a broken Spirit to come with a hearty Sorrow for all our Sins which caused much Pain and Torment to our Dearest and Greatest Friend our ever-Blessed Redeemer To reflect upon the Agonies of his Soul in the Garden the Bitterness of his deadly Cup the Torture he endured on the Cross with a deep Sympathy and Trouble for the occasion they will not surely I say affirm that such a disposition of Heart and Mind is improper and unsutable to the Nature of this Holy Feast which we Solemnize in Commemoration of his Death for our sakes I make no doubt but all Pious Dissenters bring along with them to the Sacrament such a temper but this they ought not to do if their Rule hold good viz. That at this Feast we ought to be guided by the Rules of Common Table-Fellowship 2. The Nature of the Lord's Supper doth not necessarily require a Common Table-Gesture because it 's not of the same Nature with Common and Ordinary Feasts It is very ill Logick as well as ill Divinity to argue from Natural and Civil things to Spiritual to conclude that because they agree in their names they are of the same Nature For example When any Man who hath led a loose sensual wicked Life is awakened and excited by the Grace of God to consider and take up to mind Heavenly things and to breath after God and Christ and Eternity to alter his mind and his manners and lead quite another Life from what he did before this Person is in Scripture-Phrase said to be Regenerate and Born again But if we would go about to judge of the true Nature of Regeneration and the new Birth purely by the Correspondency it holds with the Natural Birth and argue from the Natural to the Spiritual we should Entertain very gross and silly Conceptions of Regeneration and greatly mistake the Nature of it How ridiculous would it be to prescribe the same Rules to be observed by a New Convert or a New-Born Babe in a Spiritual Sense in Order to his Spiritual nourishment and growth in Grace as are prescribed and practised towards Infants and New-Born Babes in a Natural Sense for the maintenance and preservation of their Natural Life and Strength as that they should be Swathed and enter into a Milk-Dyet And yet this is every way as reasonable as to prescribe Sitting as necessary to the worthy Receiving of the Sacrament which is a Spiritual Feast because it 's agreeable to the Nature of Civil Feasts Or which amounts to the same thing because it 's called a Feast therefore it 's of the same Nature with Ordinary and Common Feasts and Consequently such a Gesture and Behaviour as is necessary and requisit to these is also requisit and necessary to the Lord's Supper 3. The Nature of the Lord's Supper considered as a Feast doth not necessarily require and oblige us to use a Common Tale-Gesture in order to right and worthy Receiving because in the Judgement and Practice of numerous Dissenters it may be worthily Received Standing Thus the Presbyterians and all their Writers who have engaged against Kneeling do not condemn Standing as Sinful and Unlawful nor esteem such as use it unworthy Receivers on that account and yet Standing is no Common Table-Gesture If any should yet urge the necessity of Sitting as the Object onely agreeable Gesture to the Nature of the Sacrament considered as a Feast and that to use any other Gesture would Prophane the Ordinance I offer this to be considered as a good Answer That Answer the Passover was called a Feast by God himself who Exod. 12. 14. Instituted it and yet he Commanded the Children of Israel to Celebrate it in Egypt after this manner with Ver. 11. their Loyns Girt their Shoes on their Feet and their Staff in their Hands All Signs of hast indeed but no Feast or Table-Gestures either among the Jews or the Egyptians To say that God enjoyned Gestures unsutable to the Nature of that Ordinance is to call in Question the Wisdom and the Knowledge and the Truth of God as not Acting upon a right understanding of and in Conformity to the true Nature of things it 's all one as to suppose that God after he had Created a reasonable Creature would enjoyn him to do something that was disagreeable to his Nature and Reason On the other hand to say that the Feast of the Passover did in its Nature admit of several Gestures is to yield all that I desire for then the Sacrament considered as a Feast will admit of several too and Consequently doth not oblige
against the Law of the Land and the common practice of the Church Rising up doth not necessarily imply that a man stands or kneels afterwards but somewhat previous to both for we generally rise before we do either But however sitting at the Sermon and Lessons was usual in those Assemblies which this holy Father and Martyr frequented yet in most other places the people were not permitted to sit at all not so much as at the Lessons or in Sermon-time as appears partly from what Philostorgius an ancient Ecclesiastical Historian observes Hist Eccles l. 3. n. 5. p. 29. Flor. A. D. 425 of Theophilus an Indian Bishop That among several irregularities which he corrected in those Churches he particularly reformed this that the people were wont to sit when the Lessons out of the Gospel were read unto them And partly from Sozomens History wherein he notes it as a very unusual thing in the Bishop of Alexandria that he did not rise up when the Gospels were read But the fullest evidence Optatus Bishop of Milevis affords us Eccles Hist l. 7. c. 19. p. 734. Flor. A. D. 440 by what he writes against Parmenianus the Donatist For after he had taxed him with Pride and Innovation with a censorious uncharitable spirit which animated all his Tractates or Sermons to the people he cites a passage out of the Psalms and applies it home to him after this manner Thou sittest and speakest against thy Brother c. in which place God reproves him Psal 49. in our Transl 50. 20. Lib. 4. de Schis Donat. p. 78. Par. Edit An. D. 365. Vid. Albasp not in 4 lib. Oâ—tat who fits and defames his Brother and therefore such evil Teachers as you says he are more particularly pointed at in this Text For the people are not licensed to sit in the Church This Text chiefly respects the Bishops and Presbyters who had onely a right and priviledge to sit in the Publick and Religious Assemblies but doth not concern the people who stood all the time Now if it had not been a general and prevailing custom among the Christians of those times as well Heretical as Orthodox to stand the whole time of Divine Service and particularly at the Lessons and Sermons Parmenianus might have easily retorted this Argument upon Optatus as being weak and concluding nothing against him in particular but what might be charged in common upon all private Christians who sate in the Church as well as he Again that Sitting was esteemed irreverent in the Worship Floruit An. D. 198. Tertul. de Orat. c. 12. Tom. 2. p. 130. edit Collon Agrip. 1617. item quod adsignata oratione assidendi mos est quibusdam c. of God will further be manifested from a passage or two in Tertullian who lived in the same Century with Justin Martyr before cited and I think nothing can be spoken more plain and home to the purpose than what he delivers concerning this Gesture which is so much contended for by our Dissenting Brethren For among other vanities and ill customs taken notice of and reproved by this ancient Father this was one That they were wont some of them to fit at Prayer A little further in the same Chapter Tertullian hath these words Adde hereunto the sin of Eo apponitur irreverentiae crimen etiam ipsis nationibus si quid saperent intelligendum Si quidem irreverens est assidere sub conspectu contraque conspectum ejus quem cum maxime reverearis ac venereris quanto magis sub conspectu Dei vivi Angelo adhuc orationis adstante factum illud irreligiosissimum est nisi exprobramus Deo quod oratio fatigaverit Tertull. de Oratione c. 12. Irreverence which the very Heathen if they did perceive well and understand what we did would take notice of For if it be irreverent to sit in the presence of and to confront one whom you have a high respect and veneration for How much more irreligious is this Gesture in the sight of the living God the Angel of Prayer yet standing by unless we think fit to upbraid God that Prayer hath tired us Adde to all this that saying of Constantine the great Euseb de vit Const mag lib. 4 p. 400. Col. Allob. 1612. recorded by Eusebius as an indication of the Piety of that Christian Emperour with which I will conclude this point It was upon occasion of a Panegyrick concerning the Sepulchre of our Saviour delivered by Eusebius not in the Church but in the Palace of the Emperour and the Historian observes to the praise of this excellent Prince that though it was a long and tedious Oration and though the Emperour was earnestly sollicited to fit down on his Throne which was hard by yet he refused and stood attentively all the time as the rest of the Auditory did affirming it to be unfit to attend upon any Discourse concerning God with ease and softness and that it was very consonant to Piety and Religion that Discourses about Divine things should be heard standing Thus much may suffice for satisfaction that the ancient Church did by no means approve of Sitting or a common Table-gesture as fitting to be used in time of Divine Service except at the reading of the Lessons and hearing of the Sermon which too was onely practised in some places for in others the people were not allowed to sit at all in their religious Assemblies Which Custom is still observed in most if not all the Eastern Churches at this day wherein there are no Seats erected or allowed for the use of the people Now upon what hath been said I shall onely make this brief Reflection and so proceed If the Apostles of our Lord had in pursuance of their Commission to teach all Nations in their Travels throughout the World every where taught and established sitting or discumbing which were the common Table-gestures according to the customs of those Eastern Countries not onely as convenient but as necessary to be used in order to worthy receiving the Lords Supper it is a most strange and unaccountable thing how there should be 1 Such an early and universal Revolt of the Primitive Church from the Doctrine and the Constitutions of the holy Apostles and then 2 Considering what a high value and esteem the Primitive Christians had for the Apostles the first founders of their Faith and for all that passed under their names it seems to me not onely highly improbable but morally impossible that so many Churches together with their respective Bishops and Pastors dwelling in remote and distant Countries not biass'd by Faction nor swayed by a superiour Authority being perfectly free and independent one upon another should unanimously consent and conspire together to introduce a novel Custom into the Church of Christ contrary to Apostolical Practice and Order and not onely so but 3 to Censure the practice and injunctions of divinely-inspired men as indecent and unfit to be followed and observed in the
de Sacramentis lib. 2. c. 3. * * * A Monk of Corbie who wrote against Berengar and liv'd about the year 1074. Algerus a stout Champion for Transubstantiation And †††Coster Enchirid p. 353. edit 1590. Coster another Popish Writer is so far from saying the Pope introduced it and that after Transubstantiation took place that he resolves it into an ancient Custom continued from the Apostles times Seeing then upon the whole matter it appears by the confession of some who oppose Kneeling that Honorius did not institute or ordain that Gesture in the Act of Receiving seeing the Decree which he made and which others appeal to doth not at all relate to this matter but onely to the Adoration of the Host at the Priests elevation of it seeing no other Pope is alledged as the Author of this Custom seeing Kneeling was never any instituted Ceremony in the Church of Rome nor is there any Canon or Decree or Rubrick extant which requires the use of that Gesture seeing the Pope himself and the Priests who celebrate use another Gesture in the Act of Receiving seeing their own Writers look on it as an ancient Usage derived to them from the first and purest Ages it follows that what is pretended and supposed in the Question is without all Warrant and Proof viz. that Kneeling in the Act of Receiving was first brought in by Idolaters And now to close up all I will appeal to any man of sense and understanding whether this be not a very silly and extravagant way of Arguing Kneeling in the Act of Receiving is sinful because it was first introduced by Antichrist and the man of sin and that after the Doctrine of Transubstantiation was started and took place in the world and yet after all when you come up close to them and enquire into particulars they are not able to date the original of it nor name the Authors who first invented it and set it up At this rate of talking it were the easiest matter imaginable to evince that Sitting and Standing were equally unlawful with Kneeling For it is but affirming boldly that they were first brought in and used by Idolaters and then the work is done effectually And if such slender Objections must drive us away from the Lords Supper we shall never communicate as long as we live But besides the folly of such Arguments I think it 's a very wicked thing for men to invent and urge them as the Case stands with us at present For what is there more desired and wisht for by all good Christians than Brotherly Love and Concord than that we may all meet together with one accord in one place and with one mind and one mouth glorifie God in the publick Churches What more talkt of now adays then Peace and Vnion Whosoever therefore shall any ways obstruct so blessed and desirable a Work must be concluded every ill man And such a one most certainly is he whatsoever we may think of it who withdraws himself from the Holy Communion upon groundless jealousies and unreasonable fears of incurring the divine displeasure if he receive Kneeling and shall go about by the Bugbear-words of Idolaters Antichrist the man of sin to scare weak and honest men from Receiving the Holy Sacrament in our Churches Because the Lords Supper was instituted for this peculiar end among others viz. to be an uniting Ordinance to bind Christians together in the strictest bonds of Love and Friendship to dispose and engage them to put on Bowels of Mercy to exercise the most kind and tender affections and the most fervent Charity one towards another that is possible for men to do Those Nonconforming Ministers therefore who possess the people with these Arguments which they themselves know unless they be grosly ignorant to be false and senceless to render them averse from the Lords Supper as it is administred in our Churches are in plain English the Authors and Fomenters of our Divisions and the Disturbers of our Peace In the second place to proceed it is not unlawful to use such Things and Rites as either have been or are notoriously abused to Idolatry Before I produce my Reasons for the proof of this Proposition I think it will not be amiss to inform the Reader with those Arguments which Dissenters use to overthrow it and they are these two in general 1. All Things and Rites which have been notoriously abused to Gillesp Eng. Pop. Cer. c. 2. par 3. p. 130. Idolatry if they were such as were devised by man and not by God and Nature made to be of necessary use should be utterly abolished and purged away from divine Worship But Kneeling in the Act of Receiving is one of these Rites therefore it should utterly be Abridgment of Linc. Min. p. 17. Vid. Mr. Hook Eccles Pol. lib. 4. p. 160. abolished 2. To imitate and agree with Idolaters by using such Rites and Ceremonies as they do though in themselves indifferent and though they contain nothing which is not agreeable to the Word of God is sinful So that not to abolish utterly whatsoever we know to have been abused heretofore to Idolatry to take up any old Heathenish and Idolatrous Customs and Rites though at present disused by Idolaters is sinful and then to use the same Rites Gillesp p. 141. c. 3. with Idolaters at present to sort our selves and communicate with them in their Rites is to partake of their sins and to become Altar Dam. p. 536 549. guilty of Idolatry too With these Arguments they make a great noise and endeavour to confirm them by Scripture and Reason I shall not offer at a Confutation of these Proofs which stand built upon a weak and sandy Foundation upon trifling and sorry Reasons upon Scripture-Precepts whose sence is horribly wrested and Scripture-Examples falsly applied and nothing to the purpose There is a Case of Conscience lately published wherein the Author hath done this Work to my hands For he clearly shews That a Vid Case resolved whether the Ch. of Eng. Symbolizing c. p. 24. to p. 47. p. 38. Churches agreeing in some things with the Church of Rome is no Warrant for Separation from the Church so agreeing and particularly instanceth in our Churches agreement with the Church of Rome by Kneeling at the Sacrament There you will find the most considerable Texts and Examples which they drag from Scripture and urge for themselves rendred utterly unserviceable to their Cause and rescued from their Tortures All that I shall do therefore at present is onely this briefly to propound my Reasons for the proof of my Assertion by which I hope to make it evidently appear that our Dissenting Brethren lie under a great errour and mistake by thinking that all those Rites and Ceremonies which are in themselves indifferent and of mans devising ought to be utterly abolished and become sinful for us to use purely because they either have been or are notoriously abused
can or will do in some extraordinary cases when Communion with a true visible Church cannot be had as in a general Apostacy of the Church or Persecution for Religion or unjust Excommunication but what is God's ordinary method and means of bringing Men to salvation and that he himself tells us is by adding them to the Church and the Lord added to the Church daily Acts 2. 47. such as should be saved To this purpose we may observe not only in general that whatever Christ did and suffered for Mankind 't was for them as incorporated into a Church Christ loved his Church and gave himself Eph. 5. 25. for it Christ redeem'd his Church with his own Acts 26. 28. blood Christ is the saviour of the body that is the Eph. 5. 23. Church But also in particular that the Apostle confines the influences and operations of the spirit to the unity of the Church there is one body and one spirit Upon this account viz. the efficacy of the means afforded Eph. 4. 4. in Christ's Church and the necessity of keeping in Communion with it in order to salvation was it that the Primitive Christians lookt upon it as so dreadful a thing to be shut or cast out of it as laughing a matter as some now adays make it as much as they slight the priviledg and benefit to be of Christ's Church and count it their glory and saintship voluntarily to cut off themselves from it I am sure the Primitive Christians had a far different opinion of it with them to be cast Nam judicatur magno cum pondere ut apud certos c. Tert. Apol. out of the Church and to be deliver'd up to Satan signified the same thing and the one accounted full as dreadful a doom as the other hence was it that this sentance was rarely past against an offender but with 1 Cor. 5 2. grief and sorrow in him that was forc'd to do it and that those against whom it was past us'd the most ardent importunities and were willing to undergo the severest penances in order to be restored into the bosom of it you might have beheld them kissing the chains of imprison'd Martyrs washing the feet of Lazars Nazion 12. Or. wallowing at the Temple-doors on their knees begging the Prayers of Saints you might have seen them stript and naked their hair neglected their bodies whither'd their eyes dejected and sometimes crying out in the words of David as the great Theodosius Theod. H. Eccl. 5. c. 15. in the state of penance My soul cleaveth to the dust quicken thou me O Lord according to thy Word Thus much seems to be enough to be said on the Second Proposition but that our passage to the Third may be the clearer I shall add a little by way of Answer to an Objection or two that lies in our way And the first is Obj. Do not all the Members of Christ's Church that come to the blessed Sacrament having not the power of Godliness as well as the Form come unworthily and to their own great sin and danger no less than being guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ and eating and 1 Cor. 11. 27 29. drinking their own damnation And can they have a right to that they are so unworthy of In doing which they sin so hainously and for doing which they shall be punished so severely Answ I Answer these two things 1. All even the best men in a strict legal sense are unworthy and that even of common mercies from God much more of this prime Duty and Priviledg of Christianity Every man in his best estate is altogether vanity We are all an unclean thing and our righteousness Psal 39. 5. is as filthy rags The meaning is all men are Isa 39. 5. sinners and their best services imperfect and impure But then the right they have to this Priviledg does not depend on their own merit and worth but as was said before on the promise of God when they enter'd at first into covenant with him whereby he was pleas'd to oblige himself to be their God so far and so long as they continued to be his people 2. Those Members that we have asserted to have a right to the external Priviledges of Christ's Church are not guilty of that unworthiness St. Paul speaks of the sin and danger whereof is so great and this will appear by the description he gives of those unworthy Communicants 1. They discern'd not the Lord's body he that eats this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Chrysost 1 Cor. 11. 27. Dr. Lightf in loc bread and drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of the body and blood of Christ how not discerning the Lord's body It may be they did eat it still as a part of the Jewish Passover they understood not the nature of it what it did represent or for what end it was instituted being ignorant of the infinite value and merit of Christ's blood not at all affected with the greatness of his love nor wrought upon by the infiniteness of his mercy and altogether as void of any sincere affection and gratitude to Christ for that mighty redemption he wrought for mankind as the Jew and Pagan that neither know nor believe in him 2. They were open and scandalous sinners The Apostles charges them with Schisms and Divisions 18 21 22 ver pride and contempt of their brethren sensuality and drunkenness In those early days of Christianity the Lord's Supper was usually usher'd in with a Love-feast that was eaten just before it but so unchristian were these Corinthians that every one took before other his own Supper they run into parties and tho' they had not yet left the place they refus'd to communicate at the same time with their brethren The rich despis'd and excluded the poor that came not so well provided as they from their feast and that which was yet an higher aggravation of their sin the poor were hungry whilst the rich fed and pamper'd ther bodies to excess and luxury When ye come together says he this is not to eat the Lord's Supper this is no fit preparation for it for in eating every one takes before other his own supper and one is hungry and another is drunken such Swine as these ought not indeed to come to the Holy Table of our Lord and such as these as I said in the beginning of my Discourse on this Proposition have forfeited their right to it and ought by the Censures of the Church to be excluded This indeed is to be unworthy with a witness to be guilty of the body and blood of Christ or as St. Paul sometimes words it in the case of Apostacy and other hainous sins to crucifie Heb. 6. 6. Heb. 10. 16. afresh the Lord of Life to tread under foot the Son of God and to count the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing that is in an high degree to despise
and vilifie the person and sufferings of the most holy Jesus his person as one not worthy to be obeyed and followed his blood as a thing of no value and merit And what could such Persons expect but that God would vindicate the honour of his own Son and the infinitely wise contrivance of the redemption of the World by his great undertaking in some remarkable way upon them either in this World by Temporal Judgments for this cause many are weak and sickly amongst you and many sleep or in the next without repentance by 1 Cor. 11. 30. their Eternal Damnation Obj. But the Members of Christ's Body that come to this blessed Sacrament and are destitute of saving grace tho' they make a fair profession and are free from scandalous sins are yet in an unconverted condition and this Sacrament is not a converting but a confirming Ordinance Answ Conversion may be taken in a two-fold sense 1. For turning Men from a state of open infidelity to the poofession of the Christian Faith and indeed till Men are in this sense converted they are not to be admitted to the Sacrament neither Jews nor Turks nor any others in a state of Gentilism till by Baptism they are receiv'd into Christ's Church and make profession of his Name can come to it 2. Taking conversion for the turning of those who are already baptiz'd and do profess Christ's Religion from the Evil of their ways to a serious and hearty practice of Holiness and Virtue and so this Sacrament is a converting Ordinance And indeed I do not know any more forceable Arguments to an Holy Life than what are therein represented to us What can more work upon ingenuous spirits than the discovery of such undeserv'd love and kindness Is it not enough to melt the most frozen heart into Floods of Tears and Joy to behold therein the Blessed Jesus shedding his Blood to reconcile sinners unto God What can more powerfully captivate the most rebellious spirits into obedience than the assurance of a pardon of their past transgressions by that full propitiatory Sacrifice of the Son of God What can more effectually fright Men from sin and folly than the infinite displeasure of God declared therein against all Iniquity How accursed a thing is sin will the considering Communicant say that the blessed Jesus who did but take sin upon him was made a Curse for it What a mighty evil must sin needs be when nothing could be sufficient to expiate it but the Blood of God! What an unspeakable malignity must sin have in it when it laid on the shouldiers of Omnipotency such a load of wrath as made him complain and sweat and grone and die Again Here we repeat our Baptismal Vow to God solemnly engage our selves afresh to be his faithful servants and bind our selves by a new Oath to be true to the Covenant we have made with him and certainly that Man must have a mighty love for Sin and Death that can break through all these Bonds and Obligations to come at it 3. The Third Proposition That some corrupt and scandalous Members remaining in the Communion of the Church through the want of the due exercise of Discipline in it or the negligence and connivance of the Pastors and Governours of it gives no just Cause for any to separate from her Gives no just Cause That which is chiefly pretended is That the viciousness of those Members do derive a stain and defilement on the whole Assembly and pollute the Worship of God to others as well as to themselves Here therefore I shall shew what is to be done by us that we be no way accessary to others sins and then upon that condition that we cannot be polluted by their sinful company Now many things are to be done by good men who are to joyn in mixt Assemblies that the Communion receive no perjudice by the corruption of some of its Members They are frequently to exhort and advise them for this end are we plac'd in the communion of Saints and tho' to instruct the Flock God hath appointed a whole Order of Men on purpose yet is it also the Duty of every private Christian in his place and calling to exhort one another daily whilst it is call'd to day to consider one another to provoke unto love und to good Heb. 3. 13. Heb. 10. 24. works They are prudently and with much affection to admonish and reprove them we must not be so rudely civil as to suffer sin to lie upon them without disturbance so runs the Precept Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy heart but thou shalt rebuke thy Brother Lev. 19. 17. and not suffer sin to be upon him and if any man be overtaken in a fault says the Apostle ye that are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness Gal. 6. 1. considering that thou also may'st be tempted They are to bewail their sins and to pray for their reformation this is the true spirit and temper of a good man he cannot see God dishhonour'd his Laws trampled upon his Brother wilfully undoing himself but he must be deeply touch'd and affected with it Rivers of water run down my eyes says the Psalmist because Men keep not thy law And when in Ezekiel's time the Jewish Church both Preists and People were very much corrupted the Holy Ghost gives it as the particular mark of the faithful and upright not that they separated but sighed and cryed for all the abominations that were done in her Of the same holy frame and Ezek. 9. 4. disposition of mind was St. Paul he could not mention those in the Church at Philippi who whilst they profest Christianity shew'd themselves by their sensuality and earthly-mindedness to be Enemies to the Cross of Christ without Sorrow and Tears Of whom says he I have told you often and now tell you weeping Phil. 3. 18. that they are Enemies to the Cross of Christ whose God is their Belly c. They are to avoid as much as they can their company especially all familiarity with them and tho' in order to their conviction and reformation and in such cases where necessary business requires it and the publick Worship of God can't be perform'd but in conjunction with such persons I may be in their company without blame yet in all other cases I am to shew my dislike and abhorrence of their sins by shunning their society If any Man obey not our Word by this 2 Thess 3. 14. Epistle note that Man and have no company with him that he may be asham'd Again says the same Apostle I wrote to you in an Epistle not to keep company if any man be a Fornicator or an Idolater or c. with such an one no not to eat If private and often repeated Admonitions by himself or before one or two more will not do they are then to tell the Church of them that by its more publick Reproofs the scandalous