the Lord are pure as the psa 12. 6 siluer tryed in a furnace of earth fined seauenfold The lawe of the Lord is Ps 19. 7. 8. perfect the statutes of the Lord are perfect All thy commaundements are Psa 119. 86. verse 140. true Thy word is prooued most pure Gold had need to be fined but Gods word is without all drosse And therefore it is the fittest rule for all our actions Sixtly The word of God is liuely and mightie in operation and sharper then any two-edged sword entreth through euen vnto the deuiding asunder of the soule and the spirit and of the ioynts and the marrowe and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart Heb. 4. 12. Therfore fit to be our Iudge and the Touch-stone of our tryall As in a * Non coâ—itationes solum et meâ—tis tuae consilia sed actiones etiam et viâ—aeinslituta adeoque te ipsum tibi tanquam aliquod illustre specuiuÌ„ oftendet et demonstrbit Mirrour or looking-glasse a man may discerne his face so by the word of God we may discerne our selues and see the faces of our soules As the Gold-smith doth iudge of gold by touching it with his stone so by viewing our selues by Gods word we may iudge of our states As the Corn-dresser may by his Fanne discerne the wheat from the chaffe so we by the word of God may distinguish betwixt vice and vertue and see whether there be more wheat of grace or chaffe of sin in the heape of our heart and whether the chaffe of fin and dust of corruption as ashes â—o the fire soÌ„times as chaffe doth wheat doth * couer and ouer-lay the good corne of Gods graces and whether they be mixed together as light and darkenesse in the twilight When REBEKAH felt the twins strugling in her wombe she went to aske the Lord so when thou art in conflict with thy self when doubts arise within the womb of thy heart not knowing what to do or what to determine or think of thy selfe aske counsell of the Lord in his word and thou shalt in due time receiue an answere as by Oracle from heauen Dauid saith that the testimonies of the Lord were his Counsellours Ps 119 24. To conclude wouldst thou know whether thine examination and preparation be right and good then consider the word of God for it is the * mouth the tongue Vox summi sensuâ—que Dei quem fudit abalta meÌ„te Deus the voice and sentence of the Lord the line of our loue the rule of repentance the squire of obeience the touch-stone of faith the determiner of truth and the surest Iudge both in and of our examination The word of the Lord is * Pro. 30. 5 Ps 59. 8. Lex Ctristi est lux Christiani et speculuÌ„ humanae animae pure in it selfe and giueth light vnto the eies of those that search belieue and obey it It is as a bright shining torch or candle in a darke night lending vs light both to try our selues and to discerne whether our tryall be as it should be right and good And so much for the second generall point By what we ought to prooue our selues CHAP. 6. THe third point is of what things we must examin our selues For it were absurd for a man to seeke he knowes not what or to cast his angle into the water not knowing why A Magistrate cannot examine a man of nothing neither can we make tryall of our selues of nothing Examination presupposeth aswell the thing to be examined as the person vpon whome it is to be made The thinges then wherof we ought to examine our selues that we may come well prepared to the Lords Table are these especially which I will propound in order and do coÌ„mend to your christian consideration They are in number eight First we must examine our selues concerning our knowledge for it is fit that euery receiuer should haue a three-fold knowledg First of God to wit that there is a God a Iehouah that there is but one God that he is a spirit that he is infinite for goodnesse mercy iustice wisedome power time and glory that he is the Creator and Gouernour of the world that he is distinguished into three persoÌ„s the Father begetting the Sonne begotten the Holy ghost proceeding from them both that these three are one in nature and essence and will but three really distinguished in their maner of subsisting the Father of himself the Son of the Father the holy ghost from both and this from all eternity finally that all these are one in worship will haue onely that worship performed to them which is prescribed in the holy scriptures and that in spirit and truth Secondly it is meete that he should not be ignorant of the three fold estate of man the state by creation the state of the fall the state of grace As first that man was created righteous and good yet mutably Secondly that he fel Eccl. 7. 31. voluntarily away at the suggestioÌ„ of the Deuill and so lost his originall purity and withal plunged himselfe into a gulfe of misery First in that he is become prone to all manner of wickednesse secondly in that he doth now dayly transgresse against God both by omitting good and committing euill Thirdly that he is now subiect to the curse of the lawe Gal. 4. 10. both in this life and in the end of it and in the life to come In this life in the body to diseases in his goods to losses in his good name to ignominie in the end of his life to death which hauing cut asunder the threed of life made a deuorce between the soule and body doth immediately set open Hell gate for his soule to enter in In the life to come in a dying life and a liuing death euen to euer lasting confusion of soule and bodie from the presence of God liuing alwaies like flesh in the waters of Gods wrath and neuer drowned liuing alwaies in Hell fire like a Salamander and yet neuer consumed alwaies in dying yet neuer dead alwaies aliue and yet alwaies dead Thirdly for the state of Grace we must first know that we are redeemed from this misery onely by Christ who fulfilled the law for vs by his death hath defaced death and sin the sting of death and satisfied for all our sins to the full Secondly we must know that we are regenerated by the Holy Ghost who is therfore called the Spirit of sanctification or holines It is he that by the fire of his operation Rom. 1. 4. eateth out the drosse of sin and purgeth our soules from wickednesse He is the water which washeth away the filth of our hearts and as salt he seasonethvs throughout with sauing graces If we either will well or worke well it is of the Lord onely who worketh in vs both the will and deede Phil. 2. 13 of his owne good pleasure
honest Lawyer will truly examine his Clients cause and a skilful and carefull Surgeon will throughly search his patients wound wherefore then should not we exactly curiously search and examine our selues that we rush not without reason vpon these holy mysteries Hee that comes without this examination may pertake of the type but not of the truth he may meet with the shadow but he misseth the substance Christ will not be eaten of those that come with foule hands and filthy hearts He wil not giue him selfe to them that giue themselues from him to serue sin Sathan and their sinful lusts To conclude this first poynt The wicked proceed from one degree of wickednes to another Cain Gen. 45. 8. 9 was offended that God accepted not his offering then he grewe in dislike with his brother after that he shewe him after that he tolde God a lye in saying that he knew not where his brother was thence he fell to saucy language with the Lord Am I my brothers keeper And after all this to dispaire My sinne is greater then can be forgiuen So likewise Herod Act. 12. killed Iames and clapt Peter vp in close prison after this approued the wicked and atheisticall acclamation and applause of the people to Gods great dishonour Now if it be the marke of the wicked thus to adde sinne vnto sinne ought not Gods chosen to adde grace vnto grace one good motion one good worke vnto another To desire to come to the Lords Table is good in it selfe and wil be also good in and vnto thee if this thy good motion intent thou second with another worke as good by examining thy selfe searching thy state and so preparing thy selfe vnto it In a word as no wise man will vndertake any businesse vnlesse he perceiue himselfe fit to goe through with it so let no man heer assembled be so bolde as to meddle in these matters vnles he finde and feele himselfe in some good sorte prepared which no man can be without serious search examination of himselfe For as Marchants cannot without searching of their bookes knowe nor make a iust account of their debts and loanes of their receipts expences of what they haue solde and bought so is it impossible for vs without search and examination of our selues to know our estates Our memory is weake our eye-sight bad our debts are many our receipts are many our accounts are great We haue to answer for many cogitations many coūsels for many works for many moe words But when we come to this Tryall we shall finde it like Salomons 1. King 3 24. 27. sworde which found out the true mother of the childe It may be God layes claime to thee it may be Sathan also dooth the same perhaps the Church challengeth thee for hers it may be the world doth so too Thou canst not be both theirs they are not both thy father at one time nor both thy mother But search thine heart and thou shalt perceiue by the spirit and grace of God whose thou art and to whome thou dost belong By tryall men finde out the nature of mettals so by trying thy selfe thou maiest know the mettal whereof thou art made the founder that hath moulten thee the mould wherein thou wast cast The husband-man by searching his ground may come to knowe what is in it and for what it is fit so wee by proouing searching the ground gardē of our soules may knowe their quality what growes in them most whether the sweet pleasant flowers of Gods graces or the stinking weedes of sinne Frō these similitudes these two points are illustrated first that without examinatiō of our selues we cannot know our estates now where this knowledge fayleth there can be no due preparation for the comming to the Lords Table and where due preparation is wanting it were better to stay then there to be Secondly hence appeareth that by this examination we may come to know our selues which is an excellent benefit and a preparatiue to much good A Captaine cannot be said to haue prepared him-selfe to encounter with a stout and puissant Prince vnles besides other dueties he haue first tryed his owne strength so no man can be sayd to haue fitted him-selfe for this holy busines till he haue first examined himselfe And as euery sicke person that is discreet perceiuing the daunger of Ad medicam dubius confugit aeger opem Ouid his disease will seeke abroad for a remedie so euery man of vnderstanding perceiuing by his examination the corruption and crazines of his condition will stirre vp himselfe to seek a cure that his state may be bettered and himselfe amended Pharoah no sooner perceiued a Exod. 8. 8 28. 9 28 10 17 plague but he was by and by vpon Moses that he would be a suter vnto God for the remoouing of it When Elymas was smitten blinde that he could not see the Sun he went about seeking some to leade him by the hand Act. 13. 11. and no doubt but desired his eye-sight with all his hearts and shall not we when by this examination of our selues we finde the wretchednes of our states as that spirits of vncleannes like those Frogs of Aegipt Ex. 8. 3. 9. haue crept into the chambers of our hearts and that we are pestered with whole swarmes of sinnes as the Aegiptians were with swarmes of Flies Grashoppers that our soules are polluted with the botches blisters of iniquitie as their bodies were with scabs Ex. 9. 10. And that worse then Elymas his blindenes we are destitute of the eyes of our mindes vnable to behold the Sun of righteousnes and to looke vpon let in the light of Gods loue and finally that we are as blinde of minde ignorant as concerning true light and sauing knowledge as Aegipt was blacke when it was couered with darkenes which might be felt Exo. 10. 21. I say shall we not nay can we but seeke about for comfort for counsell for cure and for recouery Haue we not good cause to goe to Christ our Moses to flye to God by earnest suplication that he would remoue these plagues eiect those spirits disperse those Frogs dispell those swarmes salue those sores and restore our eye-sight As he permitted that strong man Sathan to work these works within vs so he is able to vnarme and binde him to cast him out and to cast downe his workes Thus we see the benefite of this examination and the reasons which should perswade vs to make it CHAP. 2. THe second point to bee considered is the thing by which wee must examine our selues For if the Mason build by a wrong line or the Carpenter cut by a wrong squire their labour is but lost and their time consumed so if we try our selues by a false Touch-stone and examine our estates by partial or vnfit iudges wee shall delude our selues deceiue our soules we shall wrong
not for any present future or foreseene merit of ours If we conquer our selues or offer vp any sacrifice acceptable vnto God we must giue the praise to Christ who hath made vs Kings Priests vnto his Father He is the Altar that sanctifieth all Reâ— 1. 6. our sacrifices he with the vaile of his most precious blood doth couer al their imperfections And by his death he hath changed the nature of our death so by the vertue of his death he doth conquer sin within vs the cause of death vnto vs. Thirdly we must knowe that those that are in this state of grace redeemed by Christ and sanctified by the Holy Ghost shal so continue without finall or totall falling away till they atteine to the full fruition of the state of glory For the guifts of God are giuen without repentance Christes Ro. 11. 29. sheepe shal neuer perish for he giueth them euerlasting life Satan may batter vs but he cannot beat vs downe Peccatem in est non praeest sin is in the regenerate but Io. 20. 28. not ouer them Viuit non vincit it liues but subdues not Remanetâ— non regnat it remaines but rules not Bellat non debellat it warres but winneth not For God vpholds Psalme 37. 17. 24. and defends them by his grace his loue is * Ieri 31. 3. â—2 40 constant his couenant euerlasting The Sun shineth alwaies though it be not alwaies seene so the light of Gods loue Iohn 13. 1 continueth constantly to all his children though they do not alwaies discerne it The graces of a man regenerated may be couered as a Rocke may be with water in a mightie tide and yet remaine as touching their habit or nature aswel as the Rocke dooth remaine a rocke A knife may scrape the adamant but not cut it and Sathan may vexe him but he cannot vanquish cut but not kill because the Lord of Heb. 13. 5. life will not forsake him CHAP. 7. THe third part of knowledge which becommeth euery coÌ„municant concerneth the sacrament it selfe And heere it is requisite for euery such person to know 1. What a Sacrament is 2. what this Sacrament is why it was ordained otherwise he shal take in hand he knoweth not what and come like an vnbidden guest to a banquet before he be inuited And yet it is to be feared that many do comming and know not well about what nor why like that confused concurse of people at Ephesus who for the greater part knew not wherefore they were come together Act. 19 32. But to the point in hand a sacrameÌ„t is a visible signe of Gods inuisible sauing grace or a corporall a visible outward signe seale instituted from aboue to represent and ratifie Gods grace vnto vs in Iesus Christ There be two * Sacrament is â—n a sacraÌ„do dicitur quia per sacramenta deo quasiceÌ„secramur Sacraments of the new TestameÌ„t Baptisme the Supper of the Lord. It is called a Supper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 caena first in respect of the time when it was first instituted which was the night before Christ was crucified secondly because it is a sacred feast or banquet for the soule Now in olde time their feasts were vsually at night The Greeke Latine words aboue named signifie not onely a bare supper but also a solemne feast or night-banquet Furthermore it is called the Lords supper First because it was instituted by the Lord. Secondly because it was ordained for to be a memoriall of our Lords death Thirdly it may be also because it was wont to be celebrated on the Lords day Act. 20. 7. Now the Supper of the Lord is a Sacrament whereby God doth signifie vnto and assure euery one that commeth aright prepared vnto it that as he receaueth eateth and drinketh the bread and wine so surely he shall be made partaker of the body and blood of Christ yea of whole Christ with all his merrits for his preseruation spirituall sustentation and foode vnto eternall life The Author and principall efficient cause of this Sacrament is the Lord â—esus the high priest and the king of his church The ministrant Efficients are onely the Ministers of the word lawfully called to whome the Keies of the Church are committed The matter of this Sacrament whereof it doth consist is two-fold one earthly outward and visible the other is heauenly inward and spirituall That is commonly called the signe and this the thing signified By the signe we are to vnderstand both the element or corporal substance seene with the eyes also the actions or rites vsed according to the deuine institutioÌ„ The Elementary signes in this sacrament are two Bread and Wine which two make but one sacrament for they do declare but one action of Christ to wit our whole spirituall nourishment and we know that in one feast there may diuers dishes varietie of drinks be vsed One man hath two parts one body many members one tree sundry braÌ„ches moreouer that is not onely said to be one which is simple indiuisible or continued but that also which is perfect Now this sacrament is one as touching perfectioÌ„ in as much as by those two signes our perfect foode or reliefe is signified and sealed to vs. Moe signes need not because these are sufficient to shew perfect refection and again if one were wanting the sacrament of perfect nourishment were maimed defaced It is an hungry dinner where there is no meat and a dry feast where there is no drinke The Actions vsed in the lawfull administration of the Lords supper are of two sorts some are of the Minister some of the Receiuer and all significant and liuely The action of the Minister is fourefold the first is his taking of the bread and wine into his owne hands The second is his blessing of them The third is the breaking of the bread and powring out of the wine The fourth is destributing of them The action of the Receiuer is two-fold The first is his taking of the bread and wine of the Minister the second is the eating of the bread and drinking of the wine thus much for the signe The thing signified is that which is meant by the signe and it is two-fold the former answering to the corporall and elementary signes the latter answering to the foresaid actions Of the first sort are the body and blood of Christ signified by the bread and wine Neither must we exclude his whole person for neither the deuinitie without the humanitie nor the humanitie without the deuinitie can performe the worke of mediation But because he suffered only in his humane nature therfore it is only expresly resembled though whole Christ and all his merrits must be vnderstood and not excluded For the merrit and efficacy of his death floweth from his deity from the dignitie of his person as from their proper fountaine And the scriptures by the death
which they signifie Epist 102. ad Euod Chrysostome saith that the bread after consecratioÌ„ is counted worthy of the name of the Lords bodie Etiamsi natura panis in ipso permansit although it haue the nature of bread still remaining in it Epist ad Caesar Monâ—ch Theodoretus saith that the Lord hath honored those visible signes with the name of his body and blood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not altering their nature but adiecting grace vnto nature Now that grace which is added to their nature is in that those outward elemeÌ„ts are made Sacraments or outward meanes and instruments of Gods spirit for the confirmation conseruation augmentation of the Communion of Christ in vs signes and seales of the loue of God vnto vs in Christ And whereas the ancient and orthodoxall Fathers doe vse the wordes of Conuersion mutation transâ—usion when they speake of the sacrament we must know that they vnderstaÌ„d a chaÌ„ge or alteration in respect of vse and not of substance And albeit Cyprian say that the bread is natura mutatus changed as touching the nature of it yet hee meaneth onely that it is changed in the Sacrament in regard of the naturall and common vse thereof being set apart and sanctified to signifie the body of our Lord and not in respect of the naturall substance aâ—d essence and therefore in the same place he saith it is not effigie mutatus changed in shape and likenesse Now Cyprian neuer was acquainted with that learning which maketh accidents to subsist without their subiect For the old learning which was in his time and long before was that Accidentisesse est in esse that Subblato subiecto tollitur â—ccidens that no accident no shape or fashion could coÌ„tinue without the thing wherein it doth subsist and on which it doth depend For to say otherwise were as if a maÌ„ should say that the rednesse of the face can continue when the face is quite defaced and consumed or that the colours of the rainbow may remaine when the cloud is vanished dissolued It may bee then demaÌ„ded why christ should rather say This is my body then this that is this bread signifieth my body I answere that hee vsed that speech because it was his pleasure to declare more expresly that the breà d is not set before vs to be considered as it is in it selfe that is as it is bread but that wee ought to behold and lay hold vpon that with the eye hand of a liuely faith which is represented signified by the bread as if the bread were not the signe thereof but the thing it selfe which is signified by it And albeit we deny both transubstantiatioÌ„ that is to say that the bread wine are turned into the body and blood of Christ that he is bodily preseÌ„t in with vnder or about the elements vet we hold teach that he is truely really present and not absent from hâ—s Supper but marke how Not bodily for his bodie is in heauen there shall continue till he come vnto iudgement How then I answere Christ is present in respect of his grace poweâ—â—aiestie and operation communicating himselfe all his merits to vs truely but spiritually and lifting vp our hearts vnto himself into the very heauens that there we might behold him that was our sacrifice of reconciliation in his coelestiall sanctuarie and feed vpon him with a liuely faith In one word hee is present in respect of our faith which ioyneth things that are far distant in place one from another We do not therfore denie the reall and true presence of Christ but wee doe onely denie that hee is present in a bodily manner The consideration of these things serueth to condemne the doctrine of the Church of Rome which teacheth that the elements after the words of consecration are truely turned into the body and blood of Christ so as that nothing remaineth of the Elements at all sauing nakâ—d and mere accidents which are perceiued by seeing tasting and touching And according to this her doctrine she squareth out her practise persecuting with fire and fagot with sword and word those that will not subscribe vnto it and yet there is no footing for it in the word of God not one sentence nor syllable which vpholds or fauours it Let vs therefore detest and accurse it and let vs desire the Lord of his mercie to open their eyes that hold it daily increasing the number of true Christians and weakening the kingdome of Antichrist that the Gospell may flourish and that the Kingdome of Christ may bee enlarged to the consolation of the faithfull and glory of God vnto whom Father Sonne and Holy Ghost be rendered all honor laud and power for euer and euer Amen Trin-vni Deo gloria