are so only by Baptism and a visible profession others by a living union Such a difference our Saviour makes John 15. v. 6. where he tells us there are some Branches of a Tree that have only Influence enough to bring forth Leaves and no Fruit and are cast off as Branches 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They seemed to be Branches in Christ they appeared as Branches they profest union to him but were not what they seemed to be In this sense I understand the being in Christ spoken of Gal. 1.22 I was known by face to the Churches that are in Judea that are in Christ Jesus That is to the Body of professing Christians there as distinguished from the Jews though there were many rotten Members amongst them that were not in Christ by a lively Faith Therefore 3. The great Bonds of Vnion between Christ and real Christians or true Believers are the Spirit on his part and Faith and Love on ours On which account Christ is said to dwell in us by his Spirit and we are said to dwell in him by Faith By the Spirit he comes down to us by Faith we ascend up to him It is by Faith we are joyned to Christ as our Foundation 1 Pet. 2.6 And by the Spirit we are built together for an habitation of God Ephes 2 v. 22. And he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit with him 1 Cor. 6.17 Our Union unto Christ immediately ariseth from the Communication of his Spirit to us and our Participation of the same Spirit with him by which Spirit the Divine Nature as the Image of Christ is formed in us 2 Pet. 1.4 Gal. 4.19 And the Introduction this new spiritual form gives denomination to the Person Christ enters into us by Faith and inhabits in us by his holy Spirit And of these two Bonds the Spirit is the primary one as being the Author of the other And therefore Believers are said to live in the Spirit of Christ and to walk in the Spirit and after the Spirit and to be led by the Spirit Hereby says the Apostle We know that we dwel in him and he in us because he has give us of his Spirit 1 John 4.13 2 Corinth 13 14. I confess it is hard to conceive any Vnion nearer than that between God and every creature For God as Creator is as near to every Creature as that Creature is to it self and yet distinct from that Creature for that Creature is not God But the different sort of Vnion must be distinguished by different Operations God is nearer to Creatures in their Natural State worketh on them as the God of Nature Christ is nearer to the Souls of Believers by his Spirit worketh on them as an Head of holy gracious Influences The different Operations make the great difference Though we shall not fully understand this till we come to that Place and State where that which is imperfect shall be done away However we are said to be built on him as on a Foundation to be inserted into him as Branches into a Vine to be incorporated with him as an Head and what words can be used more significant of an Intimate Vnion Therefore 4. We may add That it is more than a Relative and Political Vnion such as is between King and Subjects It exceeds it in the Intimacy of the Union as well as the Benefits of it The Similitude between Head and Members making one Natural Body amounts to more Besides his Kingdom is not of the same sort and he rules his Subjects after another manner And the Mystery of the Trinity in Vnity to which it hath some Resemblance carries it yet higher and further It is therefore a most near and immediate Spiritual Vnion whereby every particular Believer is joyned to the Lord. This is a Great Mystery Ephes 5.32 Oh how †Mr. How 's Funeral Sermon of Mrs. Baxter p. 10. mysterious and ineffable is this Vnion of the Lord and the Soul Who would not admire at their proud disdainful Folly that while they cannot explain the Union between Soul and Body are ready to jeer at their just humble and modest Ignorance who call this other a Mystical Vnion Or because they know not what to make of it would make nothing and will not allow there should be any such Thing at all or would have it to be next to nothing But have those words no sense belonging to them or not a Great Sense 1 Cor. 6.17 He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit This is a Mystery saith the Apostle that hath Riches of Glory in it 1 Col. 27. And that Vnion is the Foundation of Fellowship and Communion with him as the Apostle speaks 1 John 1.3 That he may have Fellowship with us and truly our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ That is That you may have like Fellowship with God and Christ as we have Not that our Union and Communion is first with the Church and then with Christ as some of late have Argued though therein they contradict a Learned Man whose Opinions in other Instances they are very fond of I mean Episcopius For upon that place he says That this sense is carefully to be avoided That we are first united to the Apostles and then to God and Christ It is both absurd in it self and of very ill consequence It is in it self absurd because we and the Apostles themselves are but Brethren in respect of Union unto Christ They are united to him in the same manner with us And there are very ill consequences would follow from that Opinion For then there must be Union and Communion with some Men and Company of Men before we can have Union and Communion with Christ which Error by degrees was serviceable to introduce the Papacy Let me add 5. This Union is not to be supposed without Regeneration without the Renovation of our corrupt Nature by the Spirit of Christ in order to Communion with him The Union otherwise between Christ and us would be like Nebuchadnezzar's Image the Head of gold and the Arms of silver and the Feet of clay If there be not Spiritual Life from Christ by the quickening Spirit the Body of Christ would be partly dead And who would ever indure a dead Body to be joined to him though it were the Carkase of one he never so dearly loved 6. This must also be remembred That this Union between Christ and us is to be brought about by mutual consent and therefore often set forth by the Conjugal Union to which Consent is necessary Our Lord has laid the Foundation and declared his readiness to receive us into Union with him by the publication of his Gospel And it is the work of his Spirit to make us willing to yield our selves to the Lord that we may enter into Union with him and be brought under the Bond of the Covenant We must know him chuse him and accept him for our Teacher Saviour
Creation because of the necessity of Divine Grace and the power of the Spirit of Christ that Power that made us at first and raised Christ from the Dead 'T is the necessity of that Power unto this Change that is the principal ground of this term Creation The Efficiency of it by the power of victorious Grace making us a willing and holy People in the day of his Power comprehending habitual Sanctification as the root and life of actual holiness The Excellency and Extent of this I might shew as to the inward and outward Man Heart and Life all the Powers of the Soul and Members of the Body and our whole Carriage Course and Behaviour And that this is common unto all the Children of God all that are created again in Christ Jesus all that are born from above If any Man be in Christ he is a new creature To this end III. Let us consider the certain and inseparable connexion between these two That all who are in Christ are and must be new Creatures Every real Christian he is in Christ Jesus his Union to Christ doth constitute him a living Member and his being a New Creature doth prove it The one is the Essence the other his Property but they are inseparable What makes a Man but the Union of Soul and Body What makes a Christian but the Union of the Soul with Christ How know we that a Man hath a Soul but by the Motions Actions Operations of a Reasonable Soul How know you that such a Professing Christian is United to Christ by his Spirit but by the Effects and Operations of this Spirit making such a Change in Heart and Life from which they may be denominated New Creatures Therefore they are said to walk in the Spirit and after the Spirit And at other times as the Foundation of this to be born of the Spirit and born from above so as the Divine Life and Likeness is introduced But more particularly 1. They who are thus spiritually united to Christ they must be new creatures because they partake of the Divine Spirit the same Spirit that formed Christ in the Womb of the Virgin hath formed the new Creature in all that are in Christ the same Spirit that quickned the dead Body of Christ and raised him from the Dead imploies the exceeding greatness af his Mighty Power towards them that believe and by Faith are united to him the same Spirit that carried out the Soul of Christ to go to God as a Father doth enable Believers to cry Abba Father For the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of Adoption Gal. 4.6 The same Spirit that led Christ into his Tryals and Temptations and brought him off with Victory doth the like for all the Followers of Christ They are partakers of his Spirit The blood of Christ cannot save those who are destitute of his Spirit The same Spirit of Holiness conforms them to the Image Life of God they are under the conduct of the same Spirit of Humility Meekness Love Charity Prayer Courage Resignation and the like which acted in Christ And this makes them like to him like him in their Judgments and Opinions of things like him in their Affections like him in their Designs and Ends and like him in a course of Actions by which they prosecute those Designs for the Glory of God I might shew their Resemblance and conformity in Graces unto Christ in the Rise of them in the Kinds of them in the Exercise of them All which depends upon their Participation of the same Spirit 2. They must be new Creatures if they are in Christ because the new Creature is an Imitation of Him It is a little Module of Christ in its Birth and a conformity to his Pattern in its Growth and fully so in its Perfection And therefore we read of coming to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Ephes 4.12 All that are united to Christ are conformed to him Every Branch in him answers to the Root every Member suits to the holy Head in Heaven and in some measure doth resemble him That the Members of Christ should be of a contrary Temper to their Head is utterly impossible I might here urge the Imitation of Christ as becoming those who profess to be in him in several Instances as in the inward Delight which he took to do the will of his Father in his active Zeal for his Father's Glory in a patient submission to the hand of his Father tho' never so heavy in his firm Faith and Dependance on him under all Discouragements and in his Constancy and Perseverance to do good notwithstanding all the Hatred and Malice of the World c. 3. Because the New Creature is Represented in Scripture as a Conformity to the Death and Resurrection of Christ Philip. 3.10 By putting off the old man we dye unto Sin by putting on the new we are alive to God and live to Righteousness We are hereby changed into the Image of Christ and that good work begun which is to be finish'd and consummated in the Day of Christ Phil. 1.6 There is a Conformity to his Death and Sufferings in the mortification of Sin Our old man is crucified with him Rom. 6.6 Gal. 5.24 And a conformity to his Resurrection in Heavenliness of Mind Col. 3.1 and in Newness of Life Rom. 6.4 4. Because nothing else will so prove our Vnion to Christ as to enable us to take Comfort in such a Priviledge no external Advantages whatsoever will do it For neither circumcision nor uncumcision availeth any thing but a new Creature Gal. 6.15 The highest Profession of Religion without such a Change will not save thee Except a man be born again or from above he cannot enter into Heaven John 3.5 Neither can he be accepted of God or have fellowship with him 1 John 3.2 No External Duties or Performances will avail you without this You may Read and Hear and Pray and give Alms and do many other things and yet not be in Christ if you are not Regenerated Renewed and inwardly changed by the Power of the Divine Spirit If you are not made New Creatures you can never prove that you are in Christ You may be Baptized in the Name of the Sacred Trinity you may continue in the Bosom of the Church hear the sound of the glorious Gospel and receive the Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper and yet not be united unto Christ You may have some lesser change from the grosser Pollutions of the World you may have some partial Reformation which is far short of being new Creatures some outward temporary change in your carriage conversation while the Heart is unrenewed In a word our present Fellowship and Communion with God our after Service and Obedience in the Fruits of Righteousness to the praise of God and our final Blessedness in the enjoyment of him do all depend upon this Change this new Creation And therefore be
those who did officiate in the Temple who after having been purified and Washed in the morning as often as they came out and returned againe did only wash their Feet Doubtless therefore the necessity of inward Purification and Holiness must be comprehended as the import of this washing The being sanctified in Soul Body and Spirit as necessary unto all that are accepted of God and in a Covenant Relation with Christ necessary to a saving intrest in Him and Communion with him And such a Change as this some of the vilest and worst of sinners have experienced upon true Repentance and an unfeined Faith This the words I have read give us an account of And such were some of you c. In the beginning of this Chapter the Apostle reproves a very unwarrantable Practice among these Corinthians to implead one another in matters of Right and Wrong before the Heathen Tribunals which seems to blemish the Christian Profession and contradicted the prescribed Rule of our Lord. Matth. 18.15 they were also Injurious and Unjust in their Carriage to their Brethren from which he Indeavours to deter them 1. By that dreadful threatning vers 9. Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven And for the farther confirmation of it enumerates several kinds of such Persons and bids them look well to it and not deceive themselves tho' one would hardly think that men should be deceived in so plain a case as if their profession of Christianity would save them while they lived in any such wickedness Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers in any c. shall inherit the Kingdom of God He then adds another argument in this Text to diswade them from such an unchristian Behaviour viz. from the mighty Change that had been wrought upon several of them by their Conversion to the Faith of Christ And such were some of you but ye are Washed c. The Change is represented by three several expressions and the Means by which it was brought about is double viz. In the name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God 1. The mighty Change which was wrought upon them by their Conversion to the Faith of Christ in those words But ye are Washed but ye are Sanctified but ye are Justified some would consider these three expressions as a regular Gradation and make this Washing to signifie the first Change by Regeneration or the new Birth and being Sanctified to denote the further progress measure and Degree of the spirit of Holiness and being Justified follows as that which by a real change of Heart and Life is evidenced and cleared to the comfort of Believers Others think we may consider this being Washed as the general Term comprehending the other two Sanctification and Justification For we find that expression used in both senses for our deliverance from the Guilt of sin by pardoning mercy and from the impurity and stain the power and filth of sin by renewing grace David beggs to be Washed and made Clean in both respects 51. Psalm 2.7.10 And our Lord is said to have loved us and washed us from our sins in his owne blood Rev. 1.5 Which comprehends both the forgiveness of sin and the sanctifying influence of the spirit of Christ Others think all the three terms Washed Sanctified and Justified are here Synanimous as significant of the great Change that is wrought by the renewing and converting grace of God and that Justified in this place is not to be taken in a * Le Blank Theses theol de usu acceptatione vocis Justificandi c. p. 256. §. 6.8.9 Answered by Dr. O. of Justification p. 179. Forensick or Law sence but hath the same import with the other two expressions Washed and sanctified so the expression 12. Dan. which we render turn many to Righteousness in the Original is Justifie many So Sanctification they think may be comprehended under the term Justified Rom. 8.30 Or else one of the greatest Advantages we enjoy by Christ is not there enumerated So here where our Justification is ascribed to the holy Spirit whose office and work it is inwardly to renew and change us and whereby those Corinthians who were vile and impure before are now qualified for the Kingdom of God Tit. 3.5.6.1 However I exclude not our being washed from the guilt of sin as part of the Sense of this Text but it is the other Washing by Sanctification of which I would speak at this time 2. You have the double means whereby this is brought about In the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God c. 1. In the Name of the Lord Jesus or by and through the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Greek Particle doth often signifie For it is the same in the Original in both Clauses The first may as well be rendered By the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ as the other By the Spirit of our God The same Preposition being used in both Referring the whole to Sanctification In my present Discourse I shall not need to Assign Reasons why the word Justified is put last or search for the like Instances of an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tho such may be given to vindicate the order of the Expressions and why the Name of Christ which especially refers to Justification should be mentioned before the Spirit of our God which especially refers to Sanctification which yet is named before our being Justified In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ or by his Name may import in the General for the sake of Christ upon the account of his Merit and Mediation and so we pray in the Name of Christ and beg Mercy for his sake But more distinctly the Name of Christ may be considered 1. In relation to his Office of Mediator and the Soveraign Authority of it he is the Jesus the Saviour this is the Name that is given him above every Name and so in by or through the Name of Christ does signifie through faith in him as the only Mediator between God and Man In several like Expressions we must grant that Faith must be supposed when it is not expressed As when we are said to be Baptiz'd in the Name of Christ for the remission of sin Acts 2.38 i. e. believing on his Name 2. It may be considered in relation to the Truth of his Doctrine and the Divine Authority of that Revelation which he made from God to the World upon which his Name is engraven As when we read of suffering for the Name of Christ i. e. for owning the profession of the Christian Religion To this purpose our Sanctification is said to be by the belief of the Truth John 15.3.17 chap. 17. 1 Pet. 1.22 2 Thes 2.13 Ye are clean through the word that I have spoken to you sayes our blessed Lord. And in his Mediatory Prayer to the Father Sanctifie them by thy truth thy
word is truth Accordingly we find Sanctification is ascribed unto Faith in Christ as the true Messiah or a sound Belief of the Revelation he hath made Act. 15.9 Purifying the heart by Faith So that we are washed and sanctified through the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ or by Christ known and beleived on as one means of it and by the Efficiency of the Spirit of God as the other whâ—ch I shall afterwards speak of In the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God In discoursing of these words I shall therefore First Give some brief account of the Nature of this Change here exprest by being Washed Sanctified and Justified Secondly Of the two great Means whereby it is brought about the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of our God Thirdly Make some Improvement by Application especially to assist you in examining your selves in order to the Lord's Table that we may know whether we are in the number of such upon whom this Change is passed Whether we are Washed Sanctified and Justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God 1. Concerning the nature of this Change It is evident that the defiling nature of Sin is here supposed there could not otherwise be any need of Washing And we find it represented in Scripture by Spots and Blemishes by Mire and Vomit by the Blood and Pollution of a New-born Child by the most filthy dung and Excrements and whatsoever is reckoned the most vile and abominable Therefore whatsoever Excellencies and Ornaments whatsoever Priviledges and Advantages an Unsanctified Person may partake of to recommend him to the eyes of the World he is yet a Vile Person loathed and abominable in the sight of God 2. Consider that by Nature we are All as an Unclean thing That which is born of the Flesh is Flesh and Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean John 3.6 Rom. 3.10 Job 14.4 All the Purifications and Washings under the Law did suppose our inward Defilement and represent our need of Cleansing Whatever was injoyned by the Mosaick Institution of this kind which we find was very strictly charged and earnestly prest and indispensably required and the neglect of it most severely punished yet did but signifie and represent this Which proves our Sanctification necessary Tit. 3.5 He saved us by the washing of Regeneration and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost All Men are Defiled and Unclean by Nature and need to be Washed 3. We are all over Unclean from the Crown of the Head to the Sole of the Foot Universally diseased and polluted and so need to be Sanctified in Soul Body and Spirit Ephes 5.26 1 Thes 5.23 Isa 1.6 we read of the filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit from which we are to be cleansed 2 Cor. 7.1 All the Powers of the Soul and all the Members of the Body are tainted Heart and Hand must be Cleansed the inward and outward Man Sanctified Cleanse your hands ye sinners and purifie your hearts ye double minded Jam. 4 8. 4. The Change therefore by Sanctification must be Universal in heart and life By the knowledge of God and affection to him of whom we were Ignorant and to whom before we were Disaffected by the Image of God recovered by participation of the Divine Nature and Life by the Law of God written on the Heart and expressed in the Conversation Holiness and Love to God must be the frame and temper of our Souls so that the Actings of it become easie pleasant and delightful The Old Man must be put off the New put on Old things be done away and all things become new New Principles new Ends new Motives new Rules new Comforts which will make an unspeakable difference between this Change and that Negative Religion and common Honesty which many may pretend to who are strangers to Regeneration There were many Philosophers and Sophists among these Corinthians who boasted of Purity and Reformation which came unexpressibly short of this Sanctification which I am now speaking of as owing to some other cause than the Spirit of Christ unto whom the production continuance and progress of this Sanctification is alone to be ascribed 5. It may farther be considered in its Begining or Progress or Consummation As begun by the Spirit of Life and Power from Christ as maintained and carried on by a continual influence from the same Spirit and the diligent use of God's appointed means Whereby the Lineaments of the Divine Nature are rendred more clear holy impressions more powerful and efficacious Whereby we go from strength to strength and are inabled to perfect holiness in the fear of God pressing on towards perfection to the fulness of the stature of the Man Christ Jesus till it be consummate in Heaven when by seeing Christ as he is we shall be made like him and be presented to the Father without spot or wrinkle or any such thing 6. For the sake of those who intend to come to the Lord's Table let me add That such Washing and Sanctification is requisite to our Communion with Christ in the special Ordinances of the Gospel particularly that of the Lord's Supper This is intimated by our Lord in the 13th of John v. 7 8. in his words to Peter If I wash thee not thou hast no part with me It must have a Spiritual meaning because notwithstanding the external Washing Christ says All of them were not clean And soon after this he instituted his Supper to the due participation whereof it is necessary we be Washed and Sanctified For we cannot otherwise have a Right to the Benefits purchased by his Blood which are Sealed to us in that Ordinance and we can have no Communion with him there till partakers of the Spirit of Christ Unless we are Sanctified by that Spirit we have no interest in him no Right to his Supper and so we can have no Communion with him if we are not cleansed from our Filthiness if we have spots upon us that are not the spots of God's Children unto whom this Feast doth particularly belong And therefore I may say as Peter to Simon Magus Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter for thy heart is not right with God neither can it be if this Change do not precede The Enquiry therefore is highly seasonable whether we are thus Washed and Sanctified or not But before I give the Characters of such Persons it will be expected I should speak somewhat concerning the double means of this Change In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God II. The double Means of this Change by the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God First We are Purified and Washed By the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ or by Faith in him To this purpose Consider First That all the Arguments laid down in Scripture to press Sanctification and Holiness of Heart and Life have influence
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
So that we may consider these words either as a Doctrinal Assertion That such as are in Christ Jesus are always New Creatures Or as a Seasonable Exhortation That they should manifest that they are in Christ by discovering themselves to be New Creatures In both senses the New Creature is a necessary Consequent of Vnion to Christ The connexion is inseparable between these two So that we may truly affirm That all such are so And we may rationally exhort all that pretend to such a Priviledge that they would be so and show it But whether considered as a Doctrinal Proposition or as an Exhortation whether consider'd as a Command from God or as a wish and Prayer of the Apostle There are three things obvious enough to be explained and spoken to 1. Something concerning this Priviledge of being in Christ and the import of it 2. Concerning this New Creation which is to be Connected with it And 3. Of the Connexion between them and the Vniversal Obligation upon all that are in Christ to be New Creatures That if any Man be in Christ he is he must be a New Creature or where there is no such Change it is in vain to pretend to be in Christ Or he that is not a New Creature he is not in Jesus Christ he hath no part in him and shall have no benefit by him Every Man's Title and Claim to a special Interest in Christ and Relation to him must be tryed by this Rule This is more fully exprest Ephes 4.20 21 22 23. But you have not so learned Christ if so be you have been taught of him as the Truth is in Jesus that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts And be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind And that ye put on the new man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness 1. If any man be in Christ Something it will be necessary to speak concerning this Vnion to Christ from which we are said to be in him as sometimes Christ is said to be in us And both are sometimes joyned together John 6.56 He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him There are three sorts of Vnion which we cannot sufficiently admire The first from all Eternity in the impenetrable Secrets of inaccessible Light The second in the fulness of Time in the Womb of the Virgin The third is made daily by the Spirit and Grace of Christ. The first of these is the Essential Vnion between the Eternal Father and the Eternal Word in the Adorable Mystery of the ever blessed Trinity The second is the Personal Vnion of the Humane Nature with the Divine in that unspeakable Mystery of the Incarnation The third is the Spiritual Vnion between Christ and Christians which depends on the two former and hath some dark resemblance of them Concerning which let me mention a few things 1. That there is a real Vnion between Christ and the Souls of Believers how difficult soever it be to understand the manner of it He is not only Emanuel God with us as partaker of Flesh and Blood having assumed our Nature He is not only for us in the Work of Redemption by giving himself to God a Ransom and Sacrifice for us But he is said to be in us and to dwell in our hearts and we are said to be in him and dwell in him as the Branches are in the Vine and by many other Images and Idaea's of Union is this set forth by Allusions and Metaphors and Similitudes of many sorts to signifie and represent to us this blessed Union between Christ and real Christians And as he did partake with us of Flesh and Blood Heb. 2 14. We are said to be made partakers of Christ Heb. 14. as the Principle and Measure of all * Mr. Polhill Christus in Corde p. 10.12 our Spiritual Enjoyments and Expectations And to be in h m that is true in Jesus Christ John 1.5.20 It is sometimes set forth by the natural Union between Head Members At other times by the Marriage union and both are discoursed of together Eph 5.25.30 We are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones By Allusion to what is said of Eve as to the first Adam He is set forth as a Foundation for never failing Support as a Husband for the dearest Love as a Vine as an Head for Vital Influence as Food and Nourishment for the most intimate Conjunction He is said to be one flesh with us and we are said to be one spirit with him Yea as Christ is said to be in the Father Believers are said to be in him and he in them John 14.20 Yea further he is said to be one with them as he and the Father are one John 17.21 And he is said also to live in them and they to live in him Gal. 2.20 Insomuch that sometimes the Scripture speaks of Christ and the Church as of one Person 1 Cor. 12.12 where the Church is called Christ How amazing and admirable is the Expression Christ in us and we in him What Riches and Glory is there in this Mystery as the Apostle speaks 1 Colos 27. Who ever heard before of a Servant's being in his Master or a Disciple in his Lord or the Members being in the Head But here is a Mystery of Divine Love and Grace which the Apostle seems with some kind of Affectation to speak of at every turn and upon every occasion to mention it several times in one Chapter in one Verse yea and over and over in the same Verse So unfeigned and so fervent was his Love to Christ if he fight or triumph it is in Christ Jesus If he bless God or God bless him it is still spoken of as in Christ Jesus He speaks as if he could do nothing without him His Life his Motion his very Being is to be in Christ We must silently Adore this Wonder of Divine Love and cover our Faces in humble Adoration for such an Honour which the blessed Angels might envy if they were capable of it For however Christ be there Head they are yet at his Feet they are not in him as Believers are It is true the Angels serve him and worship in his presence they follow him by Millions they encompass his Throne with Flames of Love they quit Heaven to obey his Orders they flye swift as the Wind to execute his pleasure But Christ is not in them as he is in us nor they in him as we are said to be The Name Emanuel is to them an inexpressible Name they cannot say God with us in the sense that we can For he took not the Nature of Angels at first and he hath not taken them into such an union with himself as he has the Sons of men But 2. That you may not mistake remember that all Christians are not in Christ in a like manner Some
the Spirit of Christ and not after the Flesh or according to the course of the World as formerly Is the Life you lead in the Flesh by the Faith of the Son of God How do you stand affected as to inward Spiritual Duties that concern the inward workings of your Thoughts and Conscience and Affections and such things as none but God and you do know of Is it as great a burden and trouble to your Souls to act contrary to the renewed Nature as before to contradict the Inclinations of the Flesh Is Prayer your dayly work and delight Do you cherish and promote the new Creature Are you restless after you have fallen into Sin till by Repentance you recover Pardon and Peace Do you grow up daily into greater Conformity to Christ and Imitation of him Desiring nothing more than that his Image may be drawn more lively on your Hearts and exprest more fully in your Lives according to the various Providences of God that call for the exercise of such and such Graces and according to the various Institutions of Christ wherein such and such Holy Affections are to be imployed The knowledg of this Union to Christ upon examination will give us the Comfort of all those Priviledges which result from it Examine how matters are with you as to these things and what care you take to maintain the bonds of Union to strengthen Faith and obey the Spirit and whether it be better now than it was a year ago While Merchants and Tradesmen cast up their Books and make up their Accounts at the end of the Year let us not neglect the like work as Christians with reference to our Spiritual State Let us not be less concerned to know whether we Thrive or Decay whether we advance and go forward or else decline 5. The next Vse may be of Comfort to such as are in Christ Our Union to him is the Foundation of all our Fellowship with him and after supplies of Grace and Life If we are in Jesus Christ he is made of God unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 Such shall be delivered from Wrath entituled to Eternal Life have the Pardon of all their Sins Christ as their Advocate pleads for 'em in Heaven in him they are Adopted and have free access to God his Spirit dwells in them their Services are accepted c. If we are in him there is no condemnation unto such Rom. 8.1 Such a man is not condemned is not in a state of condemnation for the present John 3.18 And such a Member of Christ cannot Perish who by Union to him is United to God the Fountain of Life Our Lord speaks of the Union of the Father unto him as Mediator and his Union unto us as both in order to our Perfection and eternal Felicity John 17.20 23. I in them and thou in me that they may all be made perfect in one But there is no Reconciliation to God no Remission of Sins no Adoption no Salvation by Christ but for such as are in him Whereas all things are yours even Life and Death things present and things to come when you are Christ's There is a Train of invaluable Blessings follow this new Creation and Union to Christ where it is truly wrought * See Mr. Polhill 's Christus in Corde chap. 8. 2 Ephes 13.14 1 Cor 3.22 You are brought under the bond and blessing of the New Covenant Jer. 31.33 You are dignified with a new Name Rom. 2.17 You are begotten to a new Hope entitled to a new Inheritance 1 Pet. 1.3 1 John 12.13 And you shall be preserved and kept by the powerful Grace of Christ unto the full possession of it None shall pluck you out of his hands because he lives you shall live nothing shall be able to separate you from him If you are planted into the likeness of his Death for the destruction of the Body of Sin you shall grow up with him in the likeness of his Resurrection Rom. 6.5 6. Not only shall you receive Influence of Spiritual Life from him while you live but by vertue of this Union you shall dye in the Lord and sleep in Jesus Rev. 14.13 1 Thes 4.14 You shall be with him in Glory and your Bodies shall be raised by him and be made like his most glorious Body Rom. 8.11 But Lastly Let me close with Exhortation 1. Unto all to labour after Vnion to Christ 2. Unto those that have good hope through Grace that they are in him and profess to be so Let me exhort them that they would live as new Creatures 1. Labour after Vnion unto Christ How earnestly should this be desired how diligently pursued For we can have no Communion no Adoption no Freedom from Condemnation without it Faith on our part and the Spirit on Christ's are the Bonds of Union Let us carefully make use of the Word and Prayer in order to both waiting and begging of God and using all the hopeful means that are in our power in order to it How earnest should be our pursuits of this Priviledge how fervent our Prayers and constant our Endeavours after it Never leave solliciting the Throne of God till the Creator and Father of Spirits have created another breath into your nostrils another spirit into your Souls even the Spirit of Christ whereby we are united to him lay your self at his feet and with all the violence and importunity and humility that your distressed case may prompt you to beg the holy spirit to over shadow thee And yet learn so much Patience from thy beggarly state as not to challenge him at thine own times but wait his leasure and observe his motions doing all that possible thou canst in the use of common Grace to prepare the room against his coming and continue in Prayer watching thereunto in the use of all the out means which God hath afforded thee 2. Be exhorted to live as New creatures You are obliged to it by your Baptism and by your Profession of Christianity You that come to the Lord's Table are especially obliged That old things should be done away and all things become New You consider his Sufferings from time to time as represented in that Ordinance You there feast upon his Sacrifice and consider the cause of his Sufferings your own Sins and the end of them your Redemption from the Guilt and Filth and Power of Sin Can you do this and not feel the Obligation to live as New creatures and resolve upon it Do you not there renew your Covenant and engage your selves afresh to walk as the Redeemed of the Lord unto all well pleasing Do you not there cast your selves into the Arms of a Crucified Saviour and plead the Merits of his Death and beg the Supplies of his Spirit and bind your selves to strict fidelity to him as long as you live under a grateful sense of his kindness who has loved you and washed you from your sins in
How is Christ's Body and Blood present in this Ordinance Our Lord is Ascended into Heaven with his Human Body and the Heavens are to contain him till the Restitution of all things And therefore as the Bread and Wine are not annihilated or not destroyed nor changed into the Flesh and Blood of Christ according to the Romanists So nor present with in and under the Bread and Wine according to the Lutherans So that we need not say that the Body and Blood of Christ are at all present there for they are in Heaven But the Bread and Wine are the Signs and Memorials of the Sacrifice and Sufferings of Christ The Death of Christ and his Sacrifice upon the Cross with the Fruits and Effects thereof unto us are especially to be understood by his Body and Blood And it is in these that we have Communion in the Ordinance of the Supper The Expressions therefore which some Protestant Writers have used about the Real Presence of Christ's Body and Blood in this Sacrament are very * See a Tract on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper by Mr. John Hales of Eaton Colledge in Oct. unwary For thereby they seem to make Mysteries where there is no need at all of any It is true in the next Chapter it is said of the Bread This is my Body that is the Sign and the Memorial of it Yet here the Bread broken is said to be the Communion or the Communication of his Body that is A Solemn Rite instituted by God to communicate to us the Fruits and Benefits of Christ's broken Body or of his Sacrifice and Sufferings Represented by it That as verily as we are Treated at the Table with Bread and Wine so the worthy Receiver shall share in the Benefits of Christ's Death This is Intelligible and Plain 3. This will help us to understand what is meant by the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ By this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Communication as it may as well be rendred that we have in the Body and Blood of Christ in the Ordinance of the Supper Two Things may this Import 1. Our Participation of the Fruits of Christ's Death and Sacrifice That we share in the Priviledges of Reconciliation to God Forgiveness of Sin Peace of Conscience and the Promise of Eternal Life by Vertue of Christ's Death 2. That Others share with us therein or that we Partake of these Benefits with others For so it follows in the next Verse That though many Members we are all one Body and one Bread for we are all Partakers of that one Bread That is We are all one Church and one Body of Christ by Covenant Union unto him And of him we do all Sacramentally and Spiritually partake in this Ordinance As many Grains of Corn make one Loaf and many Members one Body We being many are one Bread and one Body The Church of Rome from that Expression might have as well argue That all Christians are substantially changed first into the Bread and then into the natural Body of Christ by partaking of this Sacrament As well as that the Bread is changed into the Body of Christ for all Christians are said to be but one Bread and one Body by vertue of their Communion in this Ordinance 4. Hereby also we understand how we have Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ by the Lord's Supper How we and others partake in the Benefits of his Death and Passion And that two ways As this Sacrament is a Sign and a Symbol of it and as it is a Means 1. It is a Sign of it All that eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup do thereby Commemorate the Death and Passion of Jesus Christ and profess to own that the Body and Blood of Christ offered upon the Cross is the Food and Nourishment of their Souls to Eternal Life That Christ is their Saviour and Redeemer That they hope for all their Acceptance with God in both Worlds only upon the account of the Sacrifice of Christ They professedly declare that living and dying they are and will be his They hope for Victory over Death and the Devil by the Cross of Christ and for a Glorious Resurrection from Death as the Fruit of his Death and Resurrection 2. These Words do import further That the eating of this Bread and drinking of this Cup are the Means appointed by Christ for our Communion in his Body and Blood We share in the Benefits of his Death and Sacrifice and by due Attendance upon this Ordinance the precious Fruits of his Death and the Gifts and Graces of his Spirit are augmented and encreased in us in order to our full and final Blessednes in the other World which this is preparatory to and fits us for As the partaking of things sacrificed to Idols was a Fellowship with Devilss 1 Cor. 10.20 So the partaking of that which was sacrific'd to God is a Fellowship with him * See Mr. Charnock 's 2d Vol. p. 759. And of the Divine Attributes p. 638. Prayer is an Act of Homage and Praise of Gratitude but we have not so near a Communion with a Person either by Petitioning for somewhat we want or by returning him Thanks for a Favour received as we have by sitting with him at his Table partaking of the same Bread and the same Cup. In all Nations the nearest Fellowship consists in things of this nature Take Eat manifests a Communion It would be an empty Mystery and unworthy of an Institution by Divine Goodness if there were not some Communion with God and Christ in it There would be some kind of Deceit in the Precept Take Eat and Drink this is my Body and Blood If there were not a Conveyance of Spiritual Vital Influences to our Souls For the narural end of Eating and Drinking is the Nourishment and encrease of the Body and Preservation of Life by that which we Ea and Drink I might consider this Ordinance as a Sign and Means of our Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ or of our sharing in the Fruits of his Death And amplifie it several ways 1. By considering on what Accounts this is a likely Means of such a Communion And 2. How Faith must be acted that it may be so as to us As to the former 1. As this Ordinance is Commemorative of the Sacrifice of Christ and being to be observed in Remembrance of him 2. As it is an open Profession of the Cross of Christ that we glory in it and therefore shew forth the Lord's Death that way professing our selves not to be ashamed of our Character as the Followers of a crucified Jesus 3. As it is a Renewal and Confirmation of the Covenant between God and Us through Jesus Christ Renewing our Engagements and Obligations to be the Lord 's for ever In the Celebration of this Ordinance we have a Special Opportunity for this it is a principal part of our Work at this Table 4. As it
is a fit Season for extraordinary Thanksgiving and Praise blessing God for Jesus Christ Which Thankfulness for Christ disposes and fits us for the Reception of further Grace as the Fruit and Purchase of his Death and so is the Means of our Communion in his Body and Blood Thus it is the Cup of Blessing and of Thanksgiving that we there Receive which Cup of Blessing upon such Accounts as these is our Communion in the Blood of Christ. 2. You will hereby the better perceive what is to be done on our part in order to this Communion 1. Our Faith must Eye the Authority of Christ enacting it We must act in Obedience to an Institution and Appointment of Christ It was a Remarkable Instance and Act of his Kingly Office to enjoyn this Memorial of his dying Love And the Season of its Institution is the more observable viz. In the close of his Publick Ministery of his Prophetical Office upon Earth and in his Entrance upon the Execution of the Principal part of his Priestly Office by being made a Sacrifice between both of these And to render both Effectual our Lord interposed an Act of his Kingly Office in the Institution of this Ordinance Accordingly it should be eyed and owned by us in order to our Communion with him therein 2. The Love of Christ must especially be Eyed and Attended to in this Supper as Exprest by his Death and Sufferings Of this we have here the most lively Representation with the Glorious Effects of that Love which are not Represented with such a Beauty and Lustre by any other Ordinance as by this The constraining Love of Christ in his whole undertaking is better discerned and tasted in this Ordinance than as it is proposed 〈◊〉 several parts in the Holy Scripture Here we are called to the particular Application of it He loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2.20 Rev. 1.5 3. The Soveraignty and the Wisdom of God in Instituting these External Signs and Elements of Bread and Wine must also be Eyed and Attended to They most fitly Signifie and Represent the great Things they are designed for and yet without a Divine Institution could have no Relation to the Thing signified How suitable is the plain matter of this Sacrament unto the holy Author of it We remember in this Supper his Body hanging on the Cross and therefore it was not fit the Sacrament of his Body should be sumptuous and rich upon the Table Nevertheless by Bread to strengthen and Wine to comfort all the Benefits of a crucified Saviour are fitly Represented and much better than they could have been by the choicest Delicates In order to this Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ we must take heed to our selves not to rest in the External Signs but to discern the Lord's Body to apprehend the Spiritual Import and End of this Divine Institution That by Faith we may Receive Christ and feed upon him so as to Experience the Communications of his Grace and Receive fresh Influences of his Spirit That we may Accept all the Benefits of the New Covenant which are here Offered and Sealed to us and that we may Devote Resign and Dedicate our selves afresh to be the Lord's to Obey him and serve the Purposes of his Glory while we live in hope of the blessed Recompence which he has Purchased and promised and is gone to prepare and which he will not fail to come again and bestow Until which time this Ordinance is to continue in the Church To shew forth the Lord's Death till he come Vse 1. The first Reflection I would make on this is upon the Sacrilegious Confidence of those Men who deny Christians the Means of their Communion in the Blood of Christ who rob them of one half of this Sacrament by denying the Cup of Blessing to the Laity The Cup is the Communion of the blood of Christ says the Apostle Drink ye all of it says our Lord. And yet the Church of Rome will not suffer the People to taste it But as one Errour makes way for another they pretend that by the New Doctrine of Concomitancy the Bread or the little Wafer which is not broken neither according to the order of Christ but put whole into the Peoples Mouths by the hands of the Priest This Wafer shall be enough for the People and by the help of a strong Imagination of the Authority of their Church the very Body Blood and Bones of Christ shall be contained under the Form and Appearance of Bread One would wonder how any Thing can be plainer both in this and the next Chapter and in the Institution it self as Recorded by the Evangelists than the Universal Obligation upon Christians to partake of the Cup as well as the Bread And what Authority can any Man or Number of Men have to alter such a Constitution May they not as well take away the Bread from the People as the Cup They will grant that for a Thousand Years after Christ it was the Sense and Practice of the Christian Church that the People should partake of the Cup too And for Fourteen hundred Years it can be proved that they did even from the Apostle's Time down to that of Thomas Aquinas in the latter end of the Thirteenth Century Justin Martyr Cyprian Nazianzen Chrysostom and all the most considerable Writers of the Ancient Church are express in their Testimony for it But what need we concern our selves about the Judgment of Antiquity When there is a Positive Institution of Christ and in a large Account thereof by the Apostle Paul in the Eleventh Chapter he speaks but one word of the Consecration of the Bread but uses divers Expressions to signifie the Excellency of the Cup. This is my Blood says Chrâ—st The Blood of the New Testament shed for the Remission of Sins of many His sufferings and the reality of his Death are in a most lively manner set forth by the shedding of his Blood Not to insist upon his bloody sweat in the Garden You know when he was whipt and scourged and crowned with Thornes he then shed Blood Blood issued from his hands and Feet when he was nailed to the Cross and from his side when he was pierced by the Roman Soldiers By the shedding of his Blood he lost his Life and without shedding of Blood there could be no Remission So that to deprive the People of the Cup is to take away the most lively and the most essential Representation of the Sufferings and Death of Christ The Doctrine of Concomitancy will not availe in this Case The partaking of the Bread only is not sufficient whereby to remember his Death For the Separation of his Blood from his Body was the means of his Dying This destroys the Distinction between the two Symbols which yet are very different in their Names in their Properties in their Vse and in the Time of receiving them Besides it is contrary to all the Rules of Language
Forgiveness of Others If we have not had Love to our Fellow-Christians more excited in us to all that are Members of the same Body though they err and mistake though they diner from us though they be angry with us though they think hardly of us and speak hardly against us Yet if we have not had our Spirits brought to a Temper able to forgive them to pray for them and be ready to do them good c. We cannot say we have had Communion with Christ in his Ordinance For such Effects as these wiâ—l follow upon it Or rather it is in these things wherein a great part of our Spiritual Communion doth consist 2. If there have been any thing of this kind bless God for such a merciful Season For this is the Real Advantage and Good of any such Ordinance when it Rectifies our Spirits and betters our frame and subdues our Corruptions and recovers us from our back-slidings and gives us any thing more of the Divine Image and Likeness and makes us hate Sin more and love God and one another better This is the Real Advantage of such Seasons These are gainful Opportunities indeed where these Things are Attained where in any measure there are such Consequences of Approaching to the Lord's Table 3. Let us endeavour hence-forward to walk worthy of such a Priviledge and long for the Repetition of it Let us watch our Spirits this Evening and to Morrow and the following Week and Month that we may not presently lose the Savour of these things by secular and common Discourse and vain Converse When we go away from the Publick Worship let us spend the Remainder of the Day in such Offices and Exercises of Religion as may Assist us to prosecute our Great Design and may strengthen the Vows of God into which we have newly entred And let us shew we like his Fare and are pleased with the Entertainments of his House by desiring more such Opportunities and by Improving them when-ever they return One thing have I desired of the Lord says the Psalmist and that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord for ever By this means we should endeavour to become growing thriving fruitful humble self-denying heavenly exemplary Christians walking worthy of our High and Holy Calling purifying our selves more and more from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit That our Hearts may be more fixed for God and Christ against all Competitors and under all Discouragements That Christ Jesus may have the more intire Possession of our Souls and the Service of our Lives That his Love being shed abroad in our Hearts nothing may ever be able to separate us from it That whether we live or dye Christ may be All in All to us Who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood To Him be Glory throughout all the Churches for ever Amen The Fifth Discourse Before The LORD's SUPPER THE Sin and Danger OF Unworthy Receiving From 1 COR. XI xxix He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself SO deep and General is the Corruption of Mankind that it may truly be said of very Many whose Carriage and Conversation is fair and unspotted that they are rather restrained by the Fear of Punishment than of Guilt of being Sufferers rather than of being Criminal Such an Errour it is true is injurious to the Dignity of the Divine Law and to the Honour and Authority of God's Government Nevertheless God doth so far Accommodate himself to our State as to Rule us by Moral Arguments that are proper to Influence our Hopes and Fears and therefore employs Threatnings as well as Promises and punishes some as Examples of Severity to warn others from the like Transgressions This Method the Apostle makes use of in this and the foregoing Chapter when he designed to Reform the scandalous Abuse of the Lord's Supper which these Corinthians were guilty of After he had Explained the Nature of the Institution and opened the Design and End of it he had Represented it as the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ He tells them what most manifestly follows from thence viz. The Greatness of the Sin to eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup unworthily that if they do it without Self Examination they are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord They offend against the Lord Redeemer who hath appointed this Sacred Rite and even against his Body and Blood which are Signified and Represented by the Bread and Wine as the Memorial and Sign of it This to those that have any due Regard to the Authority and Love of a dying Saviour one would think should be Argument enough But least it should not besides the Declaration of their Sin he Denounces the Punishment of it in these Words That such do eat and drink Damnation to themselves Wherein we have First The Description of their Punishment who do unworthily partake of the Lord's Supper That they eat and drink Damnation to themselves Secondly the Reason of that Punishment intimated in the Nature and kind of their Sin That they discern not the Lord's Body Before I consider the Punishment of Vnworthy Receivers it will be proper to open a little the Nature of their Sin mentioned in the latter part of the Verse Not discerning the Lord's Body This may refer to the foregoing Expression of being Guilty of his body and blood and the one Phrase will give light to the other Such as receive Unworthily are Guilty of the body and blood of Christ because they do not discern and distinguish it aright They do not think of it as they ought They do not carry it suitable to its Excellent Nature and Vse and so they eat and drink Judgment to themselves by not discerning the Lord's body And thereby are Criminal against the Person of the Redeemer as cloathed with Human Nature and as giving the Memorials of his body and blood separated to betoken his Death and Sufferings For so we remember a crucified Saviour in this Ordinance It is therefore no wonder if such a Fault be severely punished That which we Translate Discern it is well known signifies to make a difference between one thing and another as Acts 15.19 So not to discern the Lord's body is not to difference and distinguish concerning it to look no further than the outward sense not to make a difference between common and sacramental bread not to eye the body and blood of Christ as signified by the Sacramental Elements not to remember or consider his cruel Sufferings which this should put us in Mind of This be sure is not to discern his body But few can be supposed so ignorant as not speculatively to discern and distinguish in this case But practically to do so is a greater mattâ—r it Imports to mind to attend to to esteem to honour to apply to use the body and blood of Christ and the sign and the Memorial
of it according to its Dignity and Excellency And thereupon to compose the outward and inward Man in partaking of this Ordinance as those that know we have to do with Christ himself and that the body and blood of Jesus Christ is Refer'd to by the Bread and Wine Such a discerning of his body would help to compose us to serious Reverence would awaken suitable Affections would excite the Exercise of Repentance Faith Love Thankfulness and Joy answerable to the Nature of this Feast of Love upon the Sacrifice of Christ This would Regulate the Behaviour of our Bodies and the Temper of our Spirits the Government of our Thoughts and the Motions of our Affections and make us Worthy Receivers The Neglect of this the not thus discerning the Lord's body is the Sin here mentioned and thereby they are Guilty of the body and blood of the Redeemer i. e. They are Profanely Injurious to the very Person of Christ they treat his sacred body and precious blood unworthily and with Contempt It is a Guilt like theirs that abused and crucified the Lord himself when he was upon Earth It is a Sin againâ—â— the body of Jesus Christ against his Humanity which of all Creatures that ever were upon Earth or that are now in Heaven is the most Sacred The Affront Contempt and Injury Redounds to the blessed Redeemer as God Incarnate as having our Nature now in Heaven 't is an Injury to the body of Christ That Body wherein he bore our Sins upon the Cross wherein as a Sacrifice for Sin he offered himself to God That Body that was prepared for him and formed by the Holy Ghost in the Womb of the Virgin that was afterwards Gloriously raised from the Dead to a Divine Life and is now in Heaven the Wonder and Admiration of the blessed Angels and Raised to a State of Glory there as the Pledge and Earnest of our Resurrection and Bliss The not discerning the Lord's body has such a Guilt as this Implyed in it 2. The Punishment of this Sin of Vnworthy Receiving expressed by not discerning the Lor'ds body is here set forth by Eating and Drinking Damnation to our our selves or Judgment to our selves That is As sure as he eats and drinks if he do it unworthily So certain it is that Judgment shall follow he eats and drinks Judgment to himself That Addition To himself may denote two Things First That the whole blame should be laid upon our selves If such a Divine Institution designed for the Spiritual Good and Advantage of our Souls do prove to our Detriment and Damage In such a case it is we our selves that are the sole Cause of it Secondly The Expression may Import further That such as Receive Vnworthily they only hurt and defile Themselves but not other Men that communicate with them You may partake worthily and to Edification while Another by unworthy Receiving that sits in the same Pew may Eat and drink Judgment and condemnation but he eats and drinks Judgment to himself only not to You. Ephes 4.5 Every man shall bear his own burden Let every man prove his own work It cannot be thought that our Lord was defiled by coming to the Baptism of John when there were such a Generation of Vipers who came to it as well as Christ Or that our Lord and the Eleven Apostles were defiled by the company of Judas at the Passover-Supper For there be sure he was The Lord's-Supper was at the close of it And for his being present at that also many contend though * See Mr. Charnock Of the Lord's Supper 2d Vol. p. 7â—3 Compared with Mr. Kettlewell Of the Lord's Supper 12º 1687. p. 387 388 c. The one for his being Present the other against it Others think it probable that he went out before But the presence of some unworthy persons is made an Argument by many against their Partaking of the Lord's Supper in such or such a particular Church as if their presence would defile and infect them This therefore I shall consider as one Objection which several are apt to make against the Performance of this Duty Of frequent remembring the Death of Christ at his Table And then Secondly Consider the other Objection from this Text viz. From the Danger of Receiving Vnworthily lest they should Eat and Drink Damnation to themselves And Thirdly What many more are wont to plead That the Danger being so great they durst not Adventure till they know that they are Believers or such as are Invited For it is Children's bread and they durst not come till they are Assured of their Regeneration and Adoption I shall therefore enquire Whether any ought to come to the Lord's Table till they have Assurance or while they want it 1. It is Objected by many That they do not Communicate because there are such and such Admitted who ought not to come to the Table of the Lord Such as walk disorderly who discredit their Profession and are as bad as any of their Neighbours and Acquaintance And the Apostle says 1 Cor. 5.10 That with such we should not so much as eat That we should have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness Ephes 5.11 That we should withdraw and separate and have no free familiarity with such 2 Thes 3.6 2 Tim. 3.5 2 Cor. 6.17 I Answer First That the Separation from Wicked Men required in such Passages of Holy Scripture refers to our intimate Converse and Familiarity with such who live in notorious and scandalous Sins and do not Testifie their Repentance We must avoid their company lest we be Infected And there is much more danger of Infection by Familiarity with them in daily Converse than by joyning with them in Religious Duties But we must be careful not to call those Vngodly whom we cannot prove to be so we should rather hope they are not unless we can prove the contrary What Sins are there that even a good Man by the surprize of a Temptation may not commit who yet mourns in secret and truly Repents It may be you may have heard of the Sins of many of whose Repentance you have not heard And yet they might truly Repent and you might know it if you would enquire But where the mixture of the â—ares and the Wheat is such that the one cannot be pull'd up without the other both must grow together till the Harvest Such a Difference as God will make at the last Day cannot now be made by us We may safer let the Righteous and Wicked go together as if all were Righteous when we cannot prove the contrary And we do not therein make a false Judgment we do not judge that it is certain that such and such are Sincere and truly Godly but that it is probable they may be so And we may have a stronger Confidence concerning the Sincerity of Some while we have only probable Hopes of Others yea with such Hopes there may be some Fear of their Hypocrisie joyned when
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