not now in a due manner Nay 2dly such Bold and Presumptuous Persons do draw a Curse down upon their Heads even in this World For this Cause saith St. Paul many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep Whence come many lingring Diseases many sudden Deaths Why it is very probable that many of them are owing to the Irreverent use of this Bleâ—â—ed Sacrament Certain it is that as God threatned under the Law Exod. 12. 15. to cut off those Souls that should eat Leavened Bread at the Passover so in the Primitive times of Christianity many were remarkably visited with Plagues and sundry kinds of Death and some People were possest with the Devil too by Reason that they came not to this Mystery well Prepared and Qualified for it as they ought to have been I shall say no more upon this Theme supposing that what hath been delivered now is sufficient to Convince Men of the Necessity of due Preparation And I had scarcely said so much but that it is a thing which lyeth before us in our way and I could not leap over it with an Honest Conscience In many other Cases Men need a Bridle rather than a Spur but in this Case a Spur seems to be more necessary than a Bridle because such is the shameful neglect of this Ordinance which many are Guilty of that we should rather use Protrepticks to provoke Men unto their Duty than Threats and Menaces to deter them from Receiving However that they may not make more haste than good speed it behoved me to shew what Cautions they are to take along with them lest they take a step towards their Perdition Keep thy foot when thou goest to the House of God and be more ready to hear than to give the Sacrifice of Fools as the Royal Preacher said Eccles 4. 1. Thus having made it appear that we are strictly bound to Communicate and to Prepare our selves rightly and duely in order to a Profitable Communion which was the first thing I was to discourse of upon this point I shall now go on according to this plain Method and Treat in the next place of the Nature and Quality of this Preparation and shew you wherein that doth consist CHAP. IV. Of the Nature of Preparation in general and in particular THIS is a Matter of great weight and Consideration though a very slight account is made of it by those whose great care and solicitude seems to be to whisper their Crimes to the Ear of a Confessor and to undergo or Promise some trifling Pennance and if after these little Practices they have the Absolution of a Priest who yet perhaps is equally involved in the Communion of Guilt with his Penitents they think themselves sufficiently purged from the Conscience of Sin and to be perfectly Innocent And this naturally followeth from the Principles of those Doctors who Teach that Confession and Penance are the necessary Preparatives before the Sacrament without making any the least mention of a Lively Faith in Christ And although they speak of the Necessity of Contrition or Attrition at least yet by those words they understand no more but a little grief for Sin with some few purposes at present to amend hereafter which they think to be sufficient because according to their Fancy the work of the Priest supplies and makes amends for the want of a true and Manly Repentance of the Heart Now this is so far from being a due Preparation for the Sacrament that 't is a Ridiculous and trifling Method made up of lucrative Arts and absurd Performances and serveth to Corrupt and Debauch Christianity and to encourage People in a Wicked and Irreligious course of Life as any Man may discern that will but observe the Natural Consequences thereof 1. THEREFORE for the Resolution of this point and for the Satisfaction of Mens Consciences in this particular we are first to Note in the general that Universal Sanctity and Purity of Mind is required of us in order to a Profitable and Comfortable Communion It was the Opinion even of a Pagan that such as meddle with things Sacred ought to be Chaste and Holy not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Demoth Cont. Timocrat for a certain number of days only but throughout their whole Life And certainly a constant course of Holiness is the best Prepaparative for a due Celebration of this Mystery because nothing can be presumed to be so acceptable unto God as a Life of Innocence Yet if a Man hath lost his Innocence either through the Practice of Habitual Sin or through the Commission of some Unlawful Acts his Repentance nevertheless is for Christ's sake accepted of in lieu of it if that Repentance be Hearty and Sincere NOW Repentance cannot be right unless the Heart be entirely good so as to be out of Love with every thing that is base and inconsistent with the Laws of Christ's Religion And therefore a Communicant's mind and purpose must be resolutely fixt upon the Practice of Vniversal Christian Piety Though some particular Virtues are here more especially to be Exercised because there are at this time particular Reasons and special Objects to Exercise his Faith Charity and the like yet there ought to be an Habitual Presence of other Virtues too the frame and disposition of our Spirits must be such as is Answerable to the whole Tenor of the Gospel Bonum ex integris malum ex quolibet defectu He cannot be said to be an entire Good Man nor a right Good Communicant that has not an entire and Universal Love of Religion in such a measure as by the Mercies of the New Covenant is now accepted of Each Divine Grace must contribute something to make up our Wedding Apparel the covering of Charity the Ornaments of a meek and gentle Spirit the clothing of Humility the sackcloth of Repentance and self-denyal the long Robe of Patience and Constancy the New Apparel of Mercy and Forgiveness In a word we ought to be so Perfect as to be Sincere and to be ready unto every good work according to the best of our Knowledge and to the uttermost of our Power All Affection and Love to Sin must be cast off and Mens Hearts must be Devoted to the observation of all the Laws of our Redeemer as his Spirit shall enable us by working in us and with us and by helping our Infirmities He that is not thus disposed cannot Communicate Worthily and so as to obtain a Blessing And the Reason is clear because as I have shewed at large this is a Covenant Feast under the Gospel as the Paschal Supper and other Sacrifical Banquets were under the Law By tasting of this Bread and Wine we enter into Solemn Engagements unto God as the Jews did by Eating of the Lamb. As they did by that Holy Rite addict themselves to the Worship of God and engage their Obedience to him conformable to those Laws and Ordinances which were Enacted then even so do we Christians
what a Man hath done he wisheth were undone and resolves to do so no more And this is the Notion which the Christian Doctors of Old entertained of this matter as * Lombard lib. 4. dist 14. Est autem poenitentia ut dit Ambrosius mala praeterita plangere plangenda iterum non committere Haec vera est poenitentia cessare a peccato Id. Item Gregorius poenitere est anteacta peccata deflere slend◠non committere Ita Isidorus Irrisor est non poenitens qui adhuc agit quod poenitet Item Augustinus Inanis est poenitentia quam sequens culpa coinquinat Quibus addendum illud Tertulliani ubi emendatio nulla poenitentia vana Peter Lombard himself doth very plainly acknowledge that true Repentance lyeth in a sincere Sorrow for all past Miscarriages and in a resolution never to return again with the Dog to his Vomit or with the Sow that is washed to her wallowing in the mire THE Holy Scripture which in this and all other necessary Speculations is our only sure and infallible Guide gives us this short account of the Nature of Repentance that it is the eschewing of Evil and the doing of Good So that it is a perfect change of a Man's purposes and courses the forsaking of all Iniquity a New State a Life of Sanctity and Goodness And they that place it in a little sorrow of the Mind joyned with Auricular Confession and the outward Austerities and Chastisements of the Body shew more their Love of Childishness and a regard for their own Interest and Authority over Poor People than their Skill in sound Divinity To Repent signifies in the Sacred Dialect to become a New Man to have an Heart Renewed and Transform'd and to follow a New that is a Religious course of Life The Scripture indeed hath several Expressions that signifie this change 'T is called a New Creature the Renovation of the Mind and Spirit the putting on of the New Man the purging of the Heart from an Evil Conscience the abhorring of Evil and cleaving to that which is Good the turning to God the Dying to Sin the Mortifying of our Lusts and Affections Repentance from dead Works and many more the like Expressions there are but these are only various delineations of the same thing several Words and Phrases proper to Divinity whereby is meant the total rectifying of a Man's Temper and Life or as even an Heathen Hierocles * Hieroc in Pythag. p. 166. describes it the recovering of that clean Life which by a mixture of Passions was Defiled the correcting of all inconsiderate courses the shunning of all Foolish Actions and Words and the Institution of such a Life as is not to be Repented of For our Nature being vitiated and depraved the Business of Religion is to new-mould our Tempers to take away every thing that sowers Humanity and unbecometh Creatures that ought to be governed by right Reason and so by degrees to bring us as near as 't is possible to the Temper of Christ and to the Nature of God himself The Reason of it is because the ultimate end of Christ's Religion is to make us perfectly Happy in another World in order whereunto 't is absolutely necessary for us to partake of the Divine Nature in this Life and to be made like unto God in Goodness and Purity For all Happiness doth consist in the Enjoyment of that which Answers ones Desires which agrees with his Mind which is suitable to his Faculties which gives him all manner of Satisfaction So that in the Nature of the thing it is impossible for a Man to be fit for the Enjoyment of Heaven that is not of an Heavenly Mind and Temper The Condition of that place is not suitable to the frame and disposition of any filthy Heart And therefore every Evil Man that Dies before his Heart is changed must be Miserable of course for he carries a Hell along with him he goes out of the World with such a Temper as makes him fit only for the Society and Conversation of Wicked Spirits Men that are Fierce Haughty and Froward Men that are full of Malice and bitterness Men that hate every thing that is good Men that delight in Cruelties and Bloodshed Men that are Contentious Vexatious and Troublesome Men that are in Love with Mischief that Live without God that mind only Earthly and Wicked things and that wallow in Sensualities and Uncleanness whither can we suppose such Devilish Tempers fit to go but to the Company of Devils and Spirits like unto themselves It requires a great deal of care and pains to mend a Man's Nature to rectifie and regulate his Temper so as to dispose him for the Enjoyment of God and to make him receptive and capable of the Felicities of Heaven It is an exellent Expression that of St. Paul's Col. 1. 12. Giving thanks unto the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in light 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that hath made us fit for a Portion of that Inheritance that hath so wrought upon our Hearts that we are Prepared and Qualified rightly Fitted and Condition'd for the Enjoyment of Heaven NOW all this is done by a sincere and hearty Repentance when a Man reflecting upon the Love of God and upon the Folly Turpitude and Heinousness of his own Sins is broken in Heart through a deep Sense of them and from that hour vows and resolves upon entire Obedience to the Divine Will Accordingly he enters presently upon a New State of Life governing his Desires with a strong hand checking his former Inclinations keeping his Lusts and Affections under command and stedfastly resisting those Temptations which Betray'd him before into the hands of the Destroyer By this means he extirpates by degrees those vitious habits which once were not only his Life but his Plague too and by using himself to a course of Virtue and Religion which he finds to be infinitely more easie and delightful as well as safe he soon comes to be out of Love with Sin and is so renewed in the Spirit of his Mind that the great care and employment of his Life is to Reform himself Universally and to yield up his Members as the Servants and Instruments of Righteousness THIS is briefly the Nature of Repentance a perfect and total change and they are very dangerously mistaken who are taught to believe that if they find in themselves some Remorse of Conscience some trouble of Mind together with general and imperfect purposes of amendment their Penitence is sufficient as long as they have the Priest's Absolution Alas all this comes vastly short of Reformation without which all the rest are Vnprofitable For all the Absolutions in the World will do no good without an utter detestation and forsaking of Sin in the Penitent nor will all his Fears all his Remorse all his Confessions avail him if when he goes for Absolution he looks with a
Use PURSUANT to this Design I have formerly discoursed at large of the Nature of the Ends of the Dignity and Usefulness of this weighty Ordinance which things if Men would but seriously consider and carry in their Thoughts they could not easily neglect a matter of such importance without offering violence to their Judgments and acting against their own Reason BUT there is a great deal of matter yet behind which immediately and directly serveth to engage all of us to discharge our Duty in this particular and also to govern us in the discharging of it And the first thing that offers it self to our Consideration is touching that Necessity which lyeth upon us to eat of this Bread and to drink of this Cup. NOW in order to our better proceeding upon this Subject we must note that there is a Twofold Necessity which relateth to the matter in hand 1. First Some things are Absolutely and Indispensably Necessary because they are the fixt and immovable Conditions of the New Covenant without the performance whereof Salvation cannot be expected by us So to Believe in Christ to Mortifie our Lusts to have a Sanctified Spirit to be Humble Charitable and the like these things are Absolutely Necessary for without Faith and Repentance and entire Holiness of heart none of us can see the Lord. 2. Secondly Some things are Necessary Respectively and upon Supposition that is supposing that there is some Command for them though they be not necessary in their own Nature but are required chiefly to try and Exercise Mens Obedience Or supposing that they are appointed as certain and effectual Means in order to some great and Necessary End and as Instruments to bring us those Mercies which our Souls stand in need of Now when we say 't is Necessary to receive the Sacraments of Christs Body and Blood the meaning is not that it is absolutely simply indispensably and universally necessary so that no Man can possibly be saved without it For no Rites whatsoever are to be accounted of equal moment with substantial Morality and things of Positive Institution though they be necessary in their Kind and Quality yet they are not necessary in that degree as those things are which are good in themselves and which carry an eternal Reason and Obligation along with them In some cases a Ritual Ordinance may be omitted and it is not the bare Omission but the wilful Neglect and Contempt of it that is Criminal in God's account This is evident from the case of Circumcision which was of old a Seal of the Covenant between God and the Jews We find in the fourth of Exodus that when Moses wilfully forbore to Circumcise his Son the anger of the Lord was so kindled against him that he met him in his Journey and sought to kill him and as some Hebrew Doctors tell us did actually smite him with a sudden Disease and yet we find in the 5th of Joshua that afterwards the Jews omitted Circumcision for many years together in the Wilderness whether it was because they were then upon their Travel as some think or because they were not yet mingled with the Heathens and so needed not as yet to be Circumcised as others are of opinion this is certain that we do not read that God was displeased with them for not having been Circumcised though he was often displeased with them for their Infidelity THE same thing is observed of the Passover Vid. Selden de Synedr Lib. 2. Cap. 2. it self that it was omitted in the Wilderness for about forty years together because the Celebration of it depended upon the use of Circumcision For in order to the due Celebration of the Passover it was necessary not only for the Fathers of Families to be Circumcised themselves but moreover for all the Males in their Housholds to be Circumcised too Exod. 12. 48 49. So that Circumcision being pretermitted for so many years the Celebration of the Passover did also of course cease for that time HENCE we may easily collect that things of Positive Institution are not equally necessary with those Duties which are naturally and eternally good In like manner when the Jews were in Captivity and could not Solemnly present themselves before God in his Sanctuary the Law was not executed upon them As long as they were in those sad Circumstances it was their Unhappiness and Punishment that they could not go with their Lambs to the Temple but 't was not their sin that they did it not THUS it was with the Jews under the Law as to things of this Nature and thus it is too with People under the Gospel as to matters of the like Condition Baptism now is necessary yet not so necessary as Faith and Regeneration nor must we presume to say that all Persons who die Unbaptized are everlastingly miserable For though it be said St. Mark 16. 16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved yet in the next words Damnation is the Punishment of Unbelief only it is not said He that is not Baptized shall be Damned Baptism is indeed the standing and ordinary Means which we are tied to use but it doth not follow that God so tieth up his own hands that he cannot by Virtue of his unlimited Prerogative dispense with a Rite and shew his Mercy at his Pleasure 'T is even thus in the case concerning the receiving of this blessed Sacrament It is an Ordinance of Divine Institution and so it is communiter ordinariè in its Kind and in a general construction necessary to Eternal Happiness But yet some Persons are not capable nor in a condition to prepare themselves for it as Children and Lunaticks and the like Now in such a case the Rule is that no man is obliged to act nisi positis omnibus ad agendum requisitis unless there be a sufficient presence of all Qualifications that are necessary for the Action Or some inevitable cross Accident may unexpectedly happen so that a Man cannot eat that Bread with his Mouth which his Soul longeth after And in this case the Rule is that no man is bound to Impossibilities nor shall any one be condemned for not performing that which is out of his reach and power Ones case may be such that it may not be in his Power to receive and therefore to communicate of the outward Symbols is not so absolutely necessary as it is to Believe and Repent HOWEVER out of these two Cases it is very highly necessary to receive the Sacramental Bread and Wine that is supposing a Man be capable of Receiving so that he cannot plead want of Vnderstanding or want of due Information at least cannot pretend that he wants Means of being instructed And supposing that he hath Occasions and Opportunities of Receiving so that he cannot plead want of Time or Power and I am sure this cannot be our Plea who have been bred up under the Instructions of a most indulgent and provident Church in this case I say
a private House and in an upper Room and with such a Select Number and with Unleavened Bread and the like For the Command extendeth to all as well as to one Circumstance if Men argue that way but the truth is it extendeth to no Circumstance at all and consequently not to any one sort of Posture and therefore it must be concluded that neither Kneeling nor any other Posture is in it self Unlawful or Contradictory to any positive Command of Christ 2. IT must be then some Example or other of Christ and his Apostles that is pretended to be against us and this I know is the general Objection which I shall consider distinctly because at the first sight there seem to be some intimations in Scripture which are apt to startle such people as do not read the Sacred Story with due Consideration and Care 1. THEY say that Kneeling was not our Saviour's posture when he himself did eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup. But now what if our Blessed Saviour did not receive this Sacrament at all Indeed 't is commonly thought and confidently affirmed that he did so but if we look well into it we may find it a very improbable presumption and I am clearly of Opinion that it is a vulgar Errour and my Reasons are these 1. WE cannot gather so much from any part of Scripture Indeed we read that Christ did eat of the Passover with his Disciples and that when he had Supped upon the Passover he instituted this Solemnity but we find not the least intimation that he Communicated of the Sacred Elements at or after the Institution St. Matthew St. Mark St. Luke and St. Paul do all agree that he took Bread into his hands that he blessed it that he brake it and then gave it to his Disciples commanding them to take and eat moreover that he took the Cup into his hands likewise that he gave thanks over it and that then he gave it to his Disciples that they should drink of it But in all the relation of the Story there is not one word of his own eating of the Bread or drinking of the Wine Nor 2dly is it probable that he would do so because there was no reason for his own doing of it He was bound indeed to Communicate of the Passover because he was a Jew made under the Law and consequently obliged to observe the Mosaical Ordinances but this was a Mystery of his own appointing and the Ends and Effects of it did concern his Church only that his Church might Celebrate a publick Memorial of him that his Church might seal her Duty to God and might have the pledge of God's Mercy and Loving kindness to Her that his Church might partake of Him and of his Spirit and receive all the blessings of the New Covenant These were weighty Reasons in respect of Christ's Church but they did not at all concern Christ himself It was not reasonable that he should do this in memory of himself it was not needful that this should be a Covenant-Rite between him and his Father it is not conceiveable that he should Communicate of his own Body and blood it was not possible that he who was without Sin should Eat and Drink for the Remission of Sins and therefore it is not probable at all that he did Communicate of the Sacramental Bread and Wine with his Disciples And hence it necessarily followeth that 't is most irrational and absurd to argue for or against any posture from our Saviour's bodily deportment at the Institution of this Sacrament because he himself was no Communicant at that time For as touching the Posture that was used at the Paschal Supper whatever that posture was it is a thing of Foreign Consideration and impertinent to the Question and concerns not Vs because the Customs of the Jews at their Passover being grounded upon Peculiar and Special Reasons lay not the least tie upon Christians at this Sacrament The Enquiry among Vs is touching Christ's Example at this new Solemnity and 't is Ridiculous to conclude that to kneel in the act of Receiving is against the Example of our Lord when it appears more than probable that he himself received not what he did at that time with his Disciples he did purely as their Master and Priest but not as a Guest with them then so that if any Directions be to be taken from the Example of Christ they serve to guide those who in Christ's stead Minister at the Holy Table rather than to Govern any that are Partakers of the Altar 2. SEEING then there is no Argument against Kneeling from our Saviour's Example let us proceed to the second branch of the Objection and see whether this posture be against the Example of our Saviour's Disciples And for the voiding of this pretence also I think we may lay down this as a very safe Proposition that 't is utterly uncertain in what posture the Disciples received the Sacrament at the Lord's hand For the right understanding and full proof of this Matter we must remember that there was a Twofold Feast which was Celebrated at that time the Jewish Passover first and after that was ended this Christian Banquet Now as to the posture both of our Saviour and his Disciples at the Paschal Supper there is not much difficulty for it was for the most part a Recumbent or Leaning Posture upon little Beds According to the ancient Custom of Feasting every Guest had his Pallet and thereon he rested himself with his body leaning upon his left side that his right hand might be at liberty for Food * Vid. Dr. Lightfoot Hor. Heb. in Matth. 26. This Custom was generally used in the Eastern Countries especially by the Assyrians thence it came among Grot. in Matth. 26. the Greeks and from them the Romans borrowed it too Now this same Custom was observed by the Jews in our Saviour's time and indeed long before especially at the Passover Supper and they used this Recumbent or Leaning posture the rather because it was a signification of Liberty a Token that they were at Rest in the Promised Land and it look'd Great and Stately as being used saith my Author by Princes and Great Men whereas to stand was an argument of a Slave * Tenemur ad accubitum dum Comedimus ut comedamus more Regum Magnatum Maimonid Mos servorum est ut edant stantes R. Levi cited by Dr. Lightfoot ubi supra The Holy Jesus being desirous to Eat the Passover with his Disciples yet not willing to cross an innocent Custom sendeth two of his Company before hand to make the Banquet ready in a large upper Room that was ready furnisht and prepared Mar. 14. 15. and there he sat down with the Twelve as it is Matth. 26. 20. But in truth the Phrase is not fitly rendred in our English Bible though it be rendred so in every one of the Evangelists It should be Translated rather he