If there had been none but the Women who saw him yet having themselves seen him their Testimony in that case might have been credited But here are Ten Disciples that say We have seen the Lord. Had they been Ten Strangers there were little reason to Reject the Testimony of Ten Persons to one Point which they had the Testimony of Sense to assure them of But here are Ten of thy Companions and Brethren and Apostles of whose Capacity and Probity and Faithfulness thou canst not doubt And they all agree in this Testimâ—â—y We have seen the Lord. Shall every Word be established in the Mouth of two or three Witnesses as says Moses and wilt thou not believe when the Number is so much greace No except I see the print of the Nails c. I will not believe In this Vnreasonable Distrust and Sullen Vnbelief he continues for a whole week obstinately professing That without such an unreasonable Condescension of Christ to convince his very Senses that he will not acknowledge his being Risen It is strange that one of the Twelve an Apostle of our Lord after Three Years Conversation in his Family should be so Incredulous as to believe nothing but what he saw and that he should refuse to believe on such ample Testimony especially when it was an Article that Abraham Isaac and Jacob Job and David believed concerning the Messiah whom they never saw It is the more surprizing too in this Apostle because he had not only been eminently called by Christ and long conversed with him been brought up in his Company and was one of his House but on a former Occasion this Apostle had declared more zeal than the Rest of them when they Hesitated concerning the Proposal Christ made of his going into Judea to raise Lazarus upon the account of the hatred of the Jews against him John 11.16 Then said Thomas to the other Disciples Let us also go that we may die with him Tho some think he spake this with another Air and in another Sense than is commonly thought as if he would say Since we cannot perswade him let us even go and perish if it must be so Perish we must and there 's an end But to take the words of this Apostle in the most Charitable Sense he professes his zeal for Christ beyond his Fellows and a Commendable Forwardness to suffer with him But now the Death of Christ seems to have swallowed up his Faith and Courage now he will not believe except he can see nor then neither unless he can thrust his finger into the print of the nails Which was a bold prescribing to God and contained a great deal of Absurdity and of mischievous consequence in it For it intimates as if we were not obliged to believe Christ is Risen and Alive nor any such matter of Fact upon the Testimony of Others unless we our selves may touch and see and have the Evidence of our own Sense Whereas How then could Thomas himself believe the Scriptures of the Old Testament How could he be satisfied that there was such a Man as Moses or David or of the Truth of any of those things related concerning the Ancestors of the Jews in Egypt the Wilderness or Canaan which he himself did not see This is further aggravated by considering the Nature and Import of this Article which he refuses to believe Not only as that which was foretold concerning the Messiah by the Scriptures of the Old Testament but as the Basis and Foundation of our Religion as that wherein the Glory of Christ is principally concerned as that which removes the Ignominy of his Cross And therefore the Jews who set themselves to oppose the Belief of his Resurrection were thereby in some respects more Injurious to Christ than by their Crucifixion of him For they do what they can to deprive him of that new Life he had when he was Risen and they kill him a Second Time This therefore aggravates the Fault of Thomas that by his Vnbelief he Subscribes to the Calumnies of the Jews He takes their part and joyns with them He disowns condemns and denies that which Heaven and Earth Angels and Men had testified and published and born witness to even the Resurrection of Christ from the Dead Before I proceed to his Cure and Recovery let us consider what Instructions may be learned from the Incredulity of this Apostle As 1. That Faith is no such Easie Matter as some perswade themselves Vnbelief is strangely Rooted in the Hearts of Men and very difficultly cured I will not believe except I see nay I will not believe my Eyes unless I touch and thrust my Finger into the print of the Nails and my Hands into his Side Our First Parents Sinned by Vnbelief Adam fell by Incredulity and hath left the Fatal Impression of that Poison upon all his posterity But where is the Eve Where is the Apple and Serpent in this case There needs no other Eve to tempt to the sin of Vnbelief than the sin of our own Flesh and any kind of Temptation is enough to draw us to it The Devil does not tell Thomas as he did our First Parents You shall be as God's You shall not dye But rather on the contrary You shall be as Beasts You shall die and never Rise more For if Christ be not Risen we in vain expect to Rise his Resurrection being the cause and pattern of ours Now under this Temptation this Holy Apostle fell and if he who had true Love to Christ and was a True Disciple was yet so Incredulous it is less strange that the greatest part of the World as to Divine Things are so Unbelieving when the Corruptions and Passions and evil Inclinations of Men have such a Power and Influence upon their Minds There needs therefore the Exercise of a mighty power to produce Faith in the Heart And accordingly we read of the exceeding greatness of that mighty Power which raised Christ from the dead imployed towards them that believe Ephes 1.19 20. It is observable That nothing but the Presence of Christ himself could cure the Vnbelief of this Apostle Till then the Testimony of Mary Magdalen and all that Peter and John could say all the Discourses of the other Apostles had no effect And so it is still that without the Presence and Power of Christ to Accompany the Ministry of the Word they who are Vnbelievers will continue in their Vnbelief But a few plain words accompanied with the Power and Efficacy of the Spirit of Christ shall make the most obstinate Vnbeliever sall down on his Face and cry out with this Apostle My Lord and my God 2. In that his Vnbelief is attributed to his Absence from the other Disciples when they Assembled together We may learn to value the Assemblies of Christians in hopes of the Presence of Christ and the Manifestation of himself 'T is true it is said that the Two Disciples returning from Emaus to Jerusalem found the
of Prayer and other parts of Divine Worship All these will aggravate your sin But the Possibility of doing other Services of Religion amiss is not counted a sufficient Reason for the not doing ' em After all such pretences and excuses there is too much Reason to think that the most are afraid of coming to this Ordinance lest the preparing for it and the consequent Duties which they know are required should interrupt their Sensual Pleasures or their inordinate Prosecution of the World and oblige them to leave their sins which as yet they have no mind to part with Such as these ought not to come indeed they have other work first to do They are first called to Repentance and Faith in Christ and afterwards to the Communion of his Body and Blood They are called to understand and own their Baptismal Covenant by the Answer of a good Conscience and then to renew it at the Table of the Lord This Priviledge belongs not to them till they have truly repented and forsaken sin and yielded themselves to be the Lord's 3. Object But others are ready to say I would come and have had many a Thought about it But I doubt of my own Sincerity and the truth of my Grace I know it is Childrens Bread and I am not certain I am one of that number And does not the Apostle tell us That he that doubteth is damned if he eat Now I doubt whether I am passed from Death to Life or no May such a one as I venture to come who have no Assurance that I am in a State of Grace Are all those unworthy and unfit to come who come in any other State of Soul than they think they may safely dye in Several things may be said in Answer to this 1. That many mistake the Nature of true Faith and Sincerity and think if they have not Assurance of the Love of God that therefore they have no true Faith They make saving Justifying Faith to consist in believing the special Love of Christ to their Souls in believing that their sins are pardoned and that they are in Christ But this is a dangerous Mistake which one would wonder under such clear Light as we enjoy should be so common For how unspeakable is the Difference between the Truth of Grace and the Knowledge of its being true between a hearty Consent to the Terms of the Covenant and the Reflex Act of Faith so as to be able to say I know my Interest in the Covenant Many a false Professor may flatter himself that his Faith is true when it is not and many an Vpright Christian may doubt and question Whether he be one or no But the Latter shall one Day be ashamed of their Fears as the Former of their Hopes The Lord knoweth who are his when many that are His do not know it themselves And if a Minister of Christ will ask a few home close Questions of such doubting trembling Christians by which their hearty consent to the Covenant may be judged of Their Answers plainly shew That they believe in Christ and love him above all the World and regard no Iniquity in their hearts And yet will continue to doubt of their Integrity though the Bent of their Hearts and the Endeavours of their Lives do abundantly prove that they are Sincere 2ly However it may ordinarily be known whether your Faith be of the right kind or no and whether you are Vpright towards God or no. We are bid to Examine and Search and try and prove our selves in order to it that we may find the Mark and Impress of God upon our Souls the Fruits of the sanctifying Spirit there and so have Rejoycing in our selves and not in another It is so far from being unlawful to collect Comfort from the Marks and Signs of our Sanctification and to prove our Vnion to Christ and Justification that way that it is the very Method of the Gospel to direct us to know our State towards God by thus looking inward to find the Image of Christ upon the Soul and by observing the Fruits of the Spirit in a godly Conversation Such doubting Christians would do well to Consult some Faithful Minister of Christ and Represent the State of their own Case what they feel that so they may be told what it doth signifie and be help'd to judge of themselves It is granted that you know how it is with you better than any Minister can do For as * Mr. Baxter One well expresses it A Patient knows better than any Physician what he feels but a Physician when he hears it can tell from what Cause it comes and what is the Nature of the Disease and what is like to come of it and what is the proper Method for a Cure There is a great deal of Reason why you should expect and hope for the Resolution of your Doubts in such Cases by consulting some Minister of Christ especially him under whose Ministry you have chosen to place your selves as the Helper of your Faith and Joy 3. The Penitent Christian though he want Assurance is Accepted of God and hath Right to this Ordinance whether he believe it or no. If you unfeignedly consent to the Covenant of Grace and with an humble penitent Sense of your past Sins are willing and desirous to close with Christ on the Terms of the Gospel That God shall be your God and Christ your Redeemer and Lord and the Holy Spirit your Sanctifier and Guide If you are willing heartily willing to give up your selves to be instructed ruled and saved by him This is the very Heart of saving Faith And if this be your Character you are the Members of Christ and ought to come to the Lord's Table For though your timorousness and present Scruples may make you Suspend for a-while they cannot deprive you of your Right to the Ordinance nor disoblige you from the Duty of coming to it For All such who unfeignedly consent to the Covenant they may and ought to come to signifie their Consent and to receive the Seal of the Covenant 4. Every Christian ought to endeavour to know his State lest they be distracted between the Hopes of God's Acceptance of them on the one hand and the Fears of coming Vnworthily on the other Because they doubt of their Worhtiness they fear to come And because they have some good Hope they dare not stay away lest they neglect their Duty The proper Remedy is to Resolve Unfeignedly to please God and obey him in this and all other Instances and then do this in Remembrance of Christ as what all his Followers are obliged to do It may be that Ignorance of thy State from whence thy Doubts proceeds is owing to the Neglect of Self Examination and the use of proper Means to know thy Self 5. It may yet be Adviseable for some melancholy tempted Persons under some perplexing Doubts to stay away for a-while till they have competently over-come their Fear lest
assured None can be in Christ without it none in Christ so as to have any special distinguishing saving Benefit by him Application 1. Are none in Christ but new creatures How many then must be excluded How many of excellent and laudable Qualifications of great Attainments and high Professions and moral Accomplishments must yet he excluded and shut out from having any part in Christ because they are yet Strangers to this New creation and consequently are not in Christ but under condemnation Meer Civility and a plausible inoffensive Carriage is quite another thing We need but view the Lives and Actions of the generality of such as are called Christians to confirm this That the Number is but small of those who are in Christ How few have had any awakening Convictions about these things and many such miscarry 2. How miserable is the condition of all unrenewed Souls without a change they are excluded from all saving benefit by the Redeemer They are not in Christ and therefore are under the Curse and Condemnation which by union to Christ we are delivered from Rom. 8.1 Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye are Reprobates 2 Cor. 13.6 All our hopes of Life and Salvation by Christ depend upon it The Guilt of all our Sins doth otherwise lye upon us And all the black Clouds of Divine Vengeance hang over our heads The Wrath of God bides upon us as if there were no Christ no Gospel And there is nothing between us and Everlasting Ruine but a little Breadth 3. Then none but New Creatures have a Right to the Lord's Table For the invited Guests are such who are in Christ The Covenant of Grace cannot be sealed in that Ordinance to those who are not under the Bond of the Covenant The Benefits purchased by Christ are not confirmed at his Table unto those who are none of his I grant there is an Unworthiness as to present frame that even those who are in Christ may have but it is the Unworthiness as to state that I am speaking of Such as are not in Christ having nothing to do to eat his Flesh and drink his Blood lest they eat and drink Judgment and Condemnation to themselves He that doth not truly Repent cannot be truly Interested in the Promise of Pardon and therefore cannot have a Right to the Seal of it They are dead in Sin cannot receive Nourishment by this spiritual Food The least that can be said as one observes is this That it is in vain and to no good purpose for such can no more receive Christ in the Sacrament than a Chicken that should come into the Assembly and pick up some of the crumbs of the bread from the ground after Consecration can be said to receive the Body of Christ But the Danger is unspeakable of Eating and Drinking unworthily for such eat and drink Judgment to themselves not discerning the Lord's Body You may desire to come to this Table and you may say enough it may be to satisfie a Minister of Christ who cannot judge of your Heart and Conscience doth not know the whole of your Life But you your selves must look to it that you be in Christ and that you evidence you are so by being New Creatures We can but Warn and Admonish you and offer our Assistance and help At your own peril be it if you come and yet live in any known Sins and cherish the Enemies of Christ though you profess to be his and presume upon all the Priviledges of his House and Family as real members of it But I will yet add That those who are in Christ if they would have Assistance and Grace from the Spirit of Christ to walk as New Creatures they ought on the other hand to take heed how they absent themselves from that Ordinance If they would either have the comfort of their being in Christ or would have supplies of Grace to walk as New creatures they should be frequent and serious in Sacramental Duties Have you not weak Graces to be strengthened and manifold Corruptions to be more subdued Inordinate Love to this World more Crucified Do you not need more Ability to discharge several Duties and overcome divers Temptations Do you not desire to be more Partakers of the Image and Life and Spirit of Christ Is your likeness to Christ so compleat your Faith in all its branches so active and firm your Love to Christ so warm your Heavenly Desires so fervent your Patience and Resignation so perfect your Obedience so exact your standing so sure that you need no more Influence of the Spirit of Christ Should not your own necessity oblige you to be frequent in this work besides the Authority of your Lord which is motive enough to those that are in Christ And he requires you should remember his Dying Love this way and show forth his death tiâ—l he come It is proper work for us to begin the year with To renew our Covenant with the Lord by partaking of the Symbols of Christ's Body and Blood giving up our selves again to be the Lords with renewed Repentance for the sins of the Year past and repeated Exercises of Faith for Pardon and Peace and Grace and Righteousness and Life 4. The next Vse may be of Examination To try whether we are in Christ or no by inquiring whether we are New creatures or not Your Love to Christ your Likeness to him your Subjection to him your Fruitfulness in him will discover it Are old things done away with you and all things become new Is there still the old Darkness and Blindness that was upon your minds or Are you Light in the Lord Doth the old Deadness Security and Carelessness remain upon your Hearts and Consciences old Thoughts and old Designs old Discourses and Conversations as little Savour in the things of God as ever As little Victory over the Temptations of the World and the Flesh as formerly Are your Wills as rebellious and stubstorn as ever Are your Desires after Vanity and your Affections towards Earthly Things the same as formerly So for your Hopes and Fears Joys and Sorrows What Change hath been wrought Does fleshly Appetite and Sense and Carnal Interest sway and govern as much as ever Or is there a New Creation wrought in you Have you a new Mind and Judgment a new Heart and new Affections Do you walk in Newness of Life Is your Internal Principle changed and the External Rule of your Actions changed too Are you no longer conformed to the World but transformed by the renewing of your Minds Rom. 12.2 Is that sin hated and crucified that before was indulged Is that Saviour prized for to them that believe he is precious and the Chiefest of ten thousands that before was slighted Do you delight in the Law of God after the Inward Man Do you find the Holy Law of God written in your Hearts setting you against every sin in your selves and others Do you walk in the Spirit and after
the Grace of God make upon the Hearts and Souls of Men from what they were and what others are You were some of the most Abominable Sinners but ye are washed You were carnal but you are spiritual you were proud but now are humble you were Darkness but now are Light You were earthly and sensual but now are heavenly You did wallow in all manner of Impurities but now are Holy You were sick but now are healed You were defiled but now are cleansed You were at Enmity with God and Haters of him but now you love him and his love is shed abroad in your hearts You did love and delight in Sin and Sinners you now disaffect and loath it and them and are ashamed to think of those things wherein you once took pleasure Such were some of you but you are washed You were careless and vain and wordly as others but are now a selected chosen peculiar people zealous of good works You could before live without Prayer in your Clossets and Families for many Weeks but now dare not live a day without it You were glad when the Sabbaths were over and the Seasons of holy Worship gone but now you are as glad when they approach and think with pleasure before-hand that they do so c. Oh the mighty Difference that the Grace of God hath made between what you were and what you now are What manner of thankful Rejoycing in God have such cause for as are thus washed But this will lead me to the Principal Use viz. Fifthly To Examine and Enquire whether we are in the Number of such Whether any such Change of Heart and Life any such cleansing from the filthiness of Flesh and Spirit hath been experienced by us To assist you a little to understand this Consider First What have you ever experienced and known of any humbling Convictions of your owne Pollution and Defilment by sin How loathsome to God sin hath made you How odious and abominable to God's Holy Eye Have you been made to Loath and abhor your selves as in dust and ashes before God trembling before his Holyness and Majesty who hateth your sins with a perfect hatred being covered with shame and Confusion of face to think of your owne vileness That your Hearts are so disaffected to him the Author of your Being and the Fountain of your Felicity That you have so often affronted and provoked him to Anger by violating his Authority That you have Lived so long as without him in the World and would â—e content to live such a stranger to the God that made it and you That your corrupt Inclinations contrary to his Holy Nature Image and Law so long remain'd uncured That you have gratified those Inclinations so often for so many years c. Have you thereupon been heartily desirous to be purged and cleansed to be Sanctified and renewed to be delivered from the Power and Pollution of sin as well as from the Damning-Guilt of it If you have known nothing of such kind of Convictions you have no reason to conclude that you have been Washed Secondly What is your practical Judgment concerning Holiness and the Divine Image and Life and what Prevalency hath it with you Do you esteem and yeild conformity to the Image of God Is Holiness accounted your Honour your Glory your Pleasure as unspeakably preferable to all the Riches and Pleasures and Dignities of the Word Is this your fixed Judgment and does it put you upon the diligent use of Gods appointed Means to recover this Image and to be made partaker of his Holiness Does it make you watchful over your Hearts and sensual Appetits Passions Words and Wayes so far as ordinarily to prevail against the Power of Worldliness and sensuality I do not ask whether it keeps you from every sin but whether it prevail so far that you regard no Iniquity in your Hearts Is there no secret way of Wickedness you Indulge and continue in But you loath your selves in the Presence of God and Mourn in secret for those sins that none but God and Conscience can charge you with and carefully watch and Walk as believing sin to be the greatest Evil Is this your Habitual Frame and ordinary Course If it be thus you are Washed and sanctified Thirdly Examine your selves from what Motives and upon what Principles you abstain from those Sins you are otherwise inclined and tempted to Is it from the Fear of God and Love to him Is it from the awe of his Authority and gratitude for the Innumerable Obligations you are under by his kindness and Grace Is it because sin is hateful and displeasing to God and Christ as well as because of its miserable and destructive Consequences and Effects to you Is it from an inward Ruling Principle that makes the pleasing of God your daily and delightful Work Fourthly How do you stand Affected to the Impurities and Sins of Other Men Are you grieved at the Dishonour of God by the sins of others Do you pity and pray for your sinful Neighbours Relations and Acquaintance Especially when they fall into the same sins that you your selves have formerly committed and repented of And therefore endeavour what you can to promote the Repentance and Salvation of others in your place and station Fifthly How are you Affected to Heart sins and to the Remainders of Impurity in your own souls If the Fountain be cleansed and the Heart purified the inward motions of sin will be abominable and hateful to you Do you feel the Burden of the Body of sin and Death and complain of it Do you walk humbly under the sense of your remaining Pollutions The more you are Washed and the more Assurance you have of it the more you will mourn for your remaining Uncleaness Ezek. 36.25.31 I will sprinkle clean water upon them and they shall be clean I will give them new Hearts and new Spirits and they shall remember their evil wayes and doings and loath themselves for all their Transgressions Are you Diligent in the use of all Means for further Purification of Hearts Is it the grief of your souls that there is so much Filth yet remaining Do you not find that you are not cleansed enough Do you not goe to Sermons and Sacraments with this Desire and Design and Hope That you may be more Sanctified in Soul Body and Spirit Do you not beg that all Providences may be blessed and improved to that Purpose Can you not thank God for such Afflictions as you hope have been serviceable to this end c. Sixthly How are you affected towards the Temptations that would insnare you and defile you again He that is truly cleansed will take care to keep himself Clean. If Conscience be not tender to make you watchful and circumspect to avoid being defiled it is a sign you were ever truly washed If you can make as bold with Temptation as ever and are not afraid of entring into it and being overcome Seventhly How are you
signifies a Covenant is derived from a Root which signifies to Eat And hence too we read of an Idol among the Sichemites which was called Berith or the God of a Covenant because the People of that Place were wont when they made Covenants to eat and drink with their Confederates in the House of that God of theirs as you find they did when they entred into a League with Gaal and made him their Head in Opposition to Abimeleck Judg. 9.27 Humane Writers afford many Instances of this Nature how People were wont antiently to make and ratifie Covenants between Nation and Nation between Party and Party and between Man and Wife sometimes by eating Bread sometimes by drinking Wine and frequently by partaking of both together Which shows that it was the General Custom of Mankind to Contract and Covenant with one another by the Visible Rites of Feasting and Banqueting together The Old Heathens had many Religious Feasts before their Idols whereby they Covenanted with those Imaginary Deities The Israelites are charged with Idolatry for complying with such Pagan Rites Exod. 32.6 1 Cor. 10.7 When the People made an Altar to the Golden Calf they bring their Peace-offerings and Celebrate a Religious Banquet upon the remainders thereof They sat down to eat and to drink to Feast together before the Golden Calf and rose up to play This they did in Imitation of the Aegyptians among whom they had lived so long So by the Perswasion of the Moabites they joyned themselves to Baal-Peor entred into Communion with that Heathen Deity that was Worshipped on Mount Peor by eating the Sacrifices of the Dead or * Selden de Diis Syris Syntagm 1. cap. 5. such things as were offered in the Memory of the dead Numb 25.3 Psal 106.28 And the Apostle calls the eating of the Heathen Sacrifices a Fellowship with Devils 1 Cor. 10.20 There were some in the Apostles time did go and eat of those Idol Sacrifices 1 Cor. 8.7 To prevent which a Canon was made at the Council of Jerusalem that Christians should abstain from Meats offered unto Idols Acts 15. Because by sitting at Meat at the Idols Temple they made themselves partakers of the Table of Devils And the Apostle shews the Inconsistency of this with the participation of the Lords Table because this is a Sacrifical Banquet proper and peculiar to us Christians as the Idol-Feasts were Sacrifical Banquets proper to the Pagans and the Mosaical ones to the Jews 1 Cor. 10. As Jews and Heathens were wont to feed upon a Sacrificed Beast we Christians do feed upon a Sacrificed Redeemer by eating and drinking in Commemoration of his Death and Sacrifice and thereby Renewing our Covenant with him as his avowed sworn Servants and Disciples 4. Another Design of this Feast may be to wean us from the Vanities of this World by tasting these Spiritual Provisions and therein how gracious the Lord is That by eating of this Bread and drinking of this Wine we may hunger and thirst no more after Sensual Delights That we may not care to feed on Husks when we eat of this Bread in our Fathers House 5. That our Thoughts of the Heavenly Glory and our Desires after it and progressive Meetness for it may be excited and promoted And no Institution of the Gospel is so proper for this so well Adapted for this purpose as were easie to shew and your own Meditations can sufficiently enlarge Vse 1. Hath the blessed God his Feast and Banquet to Entertain such wretched Creatures as we Let us sit down and Admire his Adorable Condescention That the Lord of Glory should make a Feast for such Beggars such Worms such Vile Sinners as we That we should be called to the Priviledges of Children to sit down at his Table We that deserve not the Crumbs with the Dogs under the Table That he doth not only richly Feast us but stoops to Treat us in our own way in a manner so sensible and easie and plain that we may see and taste to our fuller satisfaction that he is Gracious That the outward Signs and Symbols are so plain and obvious when the great Things signified and represented are fit to employ the deepest Meditation and surpass all that our most comprehensive Thoughts can reach 2. Doth God make such a Feast Then let him never Invite but be you willing and ready to come Take heed how you slight the Invitation and Call of God It is a dangerous thing I grant to come unprepared and unready and so is it to tarry away and to refuse Obedience to the Command of our dying Lord who the same Night in which he was betrayed Instituted this Feast and calls us to do it in Remembrance of him They that come without a Wedding Garment they are said to be Vnworthy and to eat and drink unworthily And they that refuse to come to the Gospel-Feast upon Christ's Invitation they are said to be Vnworthy too Matth. 22.8 You little mend the case if when you hear of the Danger of coming unworthily you will not come at all For that Impenitence and Unbelief that makes unworthy Communicants will not excuse your Neglect of the Duty You must Repent and believe in Christ and so come prepared He that eateth this Bread and drinketh this Cup unworthily he eats and drinks Judgment to himself 'T is certain he is guilty of a Sin that without Repentance will damn him and he is in danger of some Calamity Sickness or sudden Death Such as was inflicted on the faulty Corinthians But he doth not so eat and drink Damnation as that such a Sin is Vnpardonable and shall certainly be followed with Hell For it is not the Sin against the Holy Ghost which is never Repented of If the fear of Damnation have influence in the one Case it should have in the other because to neglect this Duty is a Sin as well as to come unprepared we ought to do neither You therefore who are to come look to it that you come worthily lest you be Guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord Lest you be Guilty of the Murder of Christ and of Self-murder at once by eating and drinking your own Damnation Ignorant persons scandalous persons Hypocrites and false Pretenders to Religion such as intrude rashly and come impenitently with the habitual love of Sin without true Repentance All who come ignorantly or hypocritically who cannot discern the Lord's Body or come with a design to cover some secret Lust Let these beware for they come as it were with a Knife in their hand to kill the Redeemer in his own House to stab him at his own Table and Crucifie him afresh They are Guilty of his Body and Blood which in stead of pleading on their behalf for Mercy will cry against them for Vengeance You will hereupon I doubt not be glad of a little Advice and Direction that you may come worthily and be duly prepared that you may avoid so great a hazard And
Why does not Peter define and determine the matter that was questioned doubted and denied by Thomas There is nothing of all this however proper the occasion might have been 6. In that this Incredulity of the Apostle was over-ruled to so much good for the further Confirmation of the Great Doctrine of Christ's Resurrection let us admire the Divine Wisdom and Goodness in the Government of the World who tho he cannot be the Author of Sin does yet over-rule it to his own Glory He hath done so in many Eminent Examples and he did so in this Hereby the Honour of Christ is the more advanced by his open Confession of him afterwards as Lord and God and the Truth of his being Risen is the better confirmed and so the Faith of others assisted by his Fall It was well for the Apostle and it was well for Vs that he did not believe presently He was afterwards brought to the most admirable Exercise and Declaration of his Faith in Christ not only of his being Risen but of his being the Eternal Son of God and of his happy Interest in him and Relation to him as his Lord and his God And we have a greater Evidence thereby of the Truth of Christ's Resurrection Doubtless this Fall of Thomas was also a Motive to his greater Diligence in the Service of Christ and Zeal for his Glory as it was with the Apostle Paul and Peter and others 7. Let us not rashly judge of Men by a single Act. Thomas had true Faith notwithstanding this Fit of Doubting and Unbelief which revived upon the Sight and Presence of Christ within a few Days Many that in a fit of Temptation we may think have no Truth of Grace yet if we stay a while do soon discover it Some special Ordinance or Providence brings them to themselves and suddenly shows the Reality of that which did not Appear but the contrary Corruption 2. Having thus considered the Vnbelief of this Apostle let us now observe the Compassion Condescension and Kindness of Christ to this Incredulous Apostle Eight days after the Disciples being together and Thomas with them Jesus came and stood in the midst of them saying Peace be with you and says to Thomas Vers 27. Reach hither thy Finger and behold my Hands and reach hither thy Hand and thrust it into my Side and be not Faithless but Believing What Injustice if our Saviour had left him to his own Pertinacious Incredulity Whom could he have blamed but himself if he had continued in his Unbelief But our Lord came and shewed him his Hands and Feet and bids him do what he desired for his Conviction How mercifully doth he pity us in our Errors and Infirmities With what Tenderness and Compassion doth he reclaim us And this when he was Risen from the Dead after he was declared to be the Son of God with Power when he was to receive the Recompence and Reward of his Death and Sufferings when his State of Humiliation was over And yet How low does he stoop for the sake of this Apostle when so unreasonable a thing too was demanded as the Condition of his Believing But such is the Admirable Bounty and Condescension of Christ that he will not refuse him even this Since you will not believe otherwise O my Apostle I consent Behold my Wounds Behold the Print of the Nails And if the Sight of them be not enough to cure thine Infidelity Come Reach hither thine Hand thrust thy Finger into my Side I care not what I do or how low I stoop rather than not convince and heal thee If the Evidence of one Sense be not enough I will yield further and let thee have more Our Lord might have convinced Thomas by the Powerful Influence of his Spirit without all this But he condescends thus far for our Sakes that We and Others might have a clearer Evidence and Proof of his Resurrection and likewise of his Divinity For his fixing upon Thomas in this Assembly and speaking to him such Words doth plainly manifest that he knew his Heart and understood what Discourse he had had and what Objections he had made and what was the Inward Sense of his Soul which he could not have done without being Omniscient Little did this Apostle think his Lord had heard him or believe that he knew his Sin But Come hither says Christ behold my Hands Reach hither thy Hand and thrust it into my Side He condescends to Grant that which it was the Apostles Fault to Ask. We see by these Words our Risen Lord retained the Marks of the Wounds the Prints of the Nails and Spear in his Body after the Resurrection to manifest with greater Certainty the Truth of it It is likely he preserved them at his Ascension too as the Evidence of his past Sufferings and the Ensigns of his Victory And let us not imagin if he retains them in Heaven to the Admiration of Angels and the Joy of the Redeemed that it will be any Disparagement to the Beauty and Splendor of his Glorious Body but rather contribute to it in the Day of his Appearing when every Eye shall see him and they also which pierced him 3. Let us Consider the Faith of Thomas hereupon ver 18. He answered and said My Lord and my God He not only believes with the Heart but confesses with the Mouth He owns both the Divinity of Christ and his Dominion and that with an Appropriating Faith My Lord and my God There is a great Sense in these few words for 1. Here is an Evidence of the Truth of his Repentance of his Love and of his Zeal The very Sight of Christ and the Print of the Nails and the Mark of his Wounds shames him for his Sin and makes him sensible of his Incredulity Behold says Christ the print of the Nails Think what I have suffered for Thee for the Expiation of thy Sin Think how I have loved Thee to dye for thee And wilt thou not believe that I am Risen This awakened his Repentance and made him abruptly cry out My Lord and my God Two words sometimes are more significant than an Hundred and express the Desires of the Heart more than a large Discourse The Kindness and Condescension of his Lord overcame him and by these words he proves the Cure of his Infidelity Before he would not believe Christ to be Alive now he confesses him to be God Before he reckoned him under the Power of Death now he acknowledges him as the Lord and Prince of Life Before he believed less than any of the other Apostles now he confesses more than All of them My Lord my God Thou art the Anointed of God the King the Head of the Church the Expected Promised Messiah If thy Death had staggered my Faith thy Resurrection has established it My Lord my God I adore thy Compassion and Condescension that thou wouldst Appear to me who so justly forfeited such a Favour I implore thy Grace I beg thy