of which they had been delivered saith That since after they had escaped the Pollutions of the World through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they were again intangled therein and overcome the latter end is worse with them than the beginning and that it had been better for them not to have known the way of Righteousness than after they had known it to have turned aside from the holy Commandment delivered unto them 2 Pet. 2. 20 21. I confess he speaks there of their Apostacy from Christ's Religion to those abominable Impurities which they had customarily practis'd while they were yet Pagans which was Wickedness in the highest degree far beyond any Vice I hope that hath been acted by any who have been at the Lord's Table But yet the thing is in a very great measure applicable to those who having devoted themselves to God by this Federal Mystery take the confidence afterwards to let themselves loose again to their Enormities wherewith they had polluted their Souls and Consciences before The last State of those Men must needs be worse than the first and that according to the Nature of the thing it self For hereby Vice becomes familiar with them It loseth that ugly and ghastly Aspect which at first makes it appear very shameful and frightful their Acquaintance with it makes it the more friendly and free like ones conversing with the Devil that by degrees wears off that Horror which is ready to strike another through at the very Thoughts of his Appearing There is naturally such Turpitude in Wickedness and so contrary it is to our Reason and true Interest that an innocent Person when solicited to it is apt to be startled at the first Motion and if he be perswaded to act it he cannot but feel great Remorse and Anguish in his Mind after the Commission But Custom and Familiarity directly tends not only to remove that Fear and Shame which was once such Guards to the Mind but moreover to make the Conscience hard and crusty like Flesh seared with an hot Iron so that it loseth the faculty of Sensation And when a Man is come to such a wretched pass it is as impossible for him to Repent and come to himself again without the mighty Assistance of God's Spirit as it is to live and move and breathe in a Grave And what Reason and Grounds are there to expect that extraordinary Assistance after such monstrous Provocations given notwithstanding the strictest Ties and Engagements to the contrary We read in Scripture of Resisting of Grieving and of Quenching the Spirit Nor is it possible for those who were once enlightned at the other Sacrament and afterwards at this have tasted of the heavenly Gift and been made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come 'T is not possible I say for such to fall of to a vitious Course of Life but by contumeliously intreating the Spirit of Grace by offering great Violence against his strivings by spoiling his holy Workmanship and by bringing to nought those Virtues and Perfections of Nature which were the Results and Effects of his Divine Operation And what is all this but the next way to stifle and put an end to all his Motions and to force him utterly to depart Because these Hostilities thus acted against the clear Light of Reason and the loud Clamours of Conscience cannot proceed from any other cause but from Wills that are obstinately set upon Evil and from Affections that are desperately in love with that which necessarily leadeth to Destruction For it is to be supposed that whoever comes to this tremendous Mystery must if he comes with sincerity of Heart carry with him these Convictions That the Religion he professeth is of God That Christ sealed it upon the Cross with that Blood whereof there is a Representation in this Mystery That the Covenant between God and Mankind is immutable That eternal Life therein promised is to be chosen before the whole World That a Life of Sanctity is the certain way to it That Virtue is Eligible of it self and for the Peace and Satisfaction it rewards them with in this Life beyond the gross and transient Pleasures of the Flesh and that it is the extreamest Folly for a Man to chuse those Courses which bring a kind of Hell to him before he arrives at that which burns with Fire and Brimestone There is no understanding and serious Person but must grant all this and more And therefore to Relapse into a State of Wickedness after so many Vows after so many Convictions and consequently after so many Reluctancies and Struglings of Conscience can proceed from no other Cause but the strong Malignity of a carnal Mind which is perfect enmity against God utterly inconsistent with the things of the Spirit Rom. 8. THESE are the Reproaches and Dangers of Relapsing into a wicked State of Life after the reception of this Sacrament and should a Man die in such a wretched Condition I tremble to consider what an endless State of Misery he must drop into next because as I have already shew'd nothing but entire Probity of Mind and a vertuous Temper can capacitate or dispose us for the Inheritance of the Saints in Light I do not now speak of Sins of Ignorance of Inadvertency of Infirmity and humane Weakness For as there is no possible sufficient Fence against them so there is no strict Obligations upon us to keep our selves free entirely from them nor are these the Sins which the Word of God cries out upon so as to threaten them with eternal Death or with the Derelictions of Christ's Spirit No it is sinning with an high hand and against an Honest Conscience and against Stipulations and Promises which were in our Power to perform this is that presumptuous acting which lays Men naked and destitute of the Grace of God in this Life and leaves them exposed to God's everlasting Displeasure in the next YOU have therefore great need as soon as this Solemnity is over as to bow your Knees to the Father of Lights from whom every good and perfect Gift cometh that he would now hold up your goings in his Paths that your Footsteps may not slide so to be very circumspect and diligent your selves to make streight Paths for your feet as the Author to the Hebrews speaks lest any Man should fail of the Grace of God lest any Man should turn Fornicator or Prophane Person as Esau Who for one morsel of bread sold his birthright For ye know how that afterward when he would have inherited the Blessing he was rejected for he found no place of Repentance no way of changing his Father's mind though he sought it earnestly with tears Heb. 12. CHAP. XIII Of Perseverance I HAVE discoursed against Relapsing into a sinful course not as if it were sufficient for us to forbear going backward or to stand at a stay but because in order
Imperfection in our very best Performances Though the thing be done with an Honest and Good Heart yet we come short as to the Degree and fail more or less in the manner of doing it Who can understand his Errors saith the Psalmist Psal 19. 12. Such is our Condition that like the Image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his Dream it is not all of a Temper but consisteth of a medly so that there is something in us of Gold something of baser Metal and something of Clay By means whereof it cometh to pass that our good Works are defective and stand in need of a Pardon We find by daily Experience that what State soever we are in what Graces soever we are to Exercise what Duties soever we are to perform many Infirmities still cleave to us like a Leprosie which we cannot totally cure In our Prosperity we are apt to be lifted up in our Minds and when a sweeping Affliction comes upon us we are as ready to be discouraged and cast down Our Faith is apt to be attended with some distrust our Hopes with some Presumption our Obedience with some abatements of Love our Charity with a little touch of Pride our Meditations with a great deal of Distraction and even at our Devotion when we take down the stringed Instruments from the wall to chant out Praises and Prayers to our God our Zeal suffereth some alloy by many wandring thoughts nor do our Hearts keep exact time with our Voice but are apt to flatten and be out of tune when our Mouths are full of Hosanna's in the highest Briefly our Imperfections are so deeply rooted in us that we cannot get rid of them in our Closets in our most serious and fixt Contemplations they are with us nay the very House of God is not a Sanctuary from them but they are apt to bear us company even to the Altar Yet this is for our Comfort that if we sincerely endeavour to Conquer and cast them off they are not Wilful Sins nor will God reckon them unto us to our Condemnation because they are Infirmities which we cannot help 4. Besides all these Infirmities there are several indecent Actions which though they cannot be justified or totally excused if rigorously consider'd yet cannot properly come under the Notion of Sins that are perfectly Wilful because they are not the result of mature Deliberation but rather are done casually by means of some surprising Temptations without which on a sudden overcome ones Passions or by means of some great disturbance within which for that time hinders the use of Reason and are too hard for it Even in a State of Innocence Man was set lower than the Angels though the Bruitish part was so Subject to the Rational Faculty of his Soul that it was wholly under its command Ever since the Fall Mens Affections have been Rebels which have been apt to over-master them and carry them away against their Reason because Reason being many times wonderfully disturbed by them it is not powerful enough to Govern and Rule them And though the Grace of God be abundant under the Gospel and very powerful in such as humbly obey it yet even in Men that are Regenerated by God's Spirit there is still a mixture of Good and Evil as the hottest Tempers have some degrees of Cold so that a Wise and Holy Man may through Surprise or Incogitancy or the Violence of a Temptation be overtaken unawares It was not the case of Moses alone to speak unadvisedly with his Lips being provoked to it by the Peoples Murmurings Nor was it David's Case alone to say in his haste all Men are Lyars nay it was not Peter's Case alone to deny his Lord through extremity of Fear Every one is apt sometimes to be born down by the Tempter or by his own masterful and disorderly Passions nor is there any Man but is sensible of some petturbations of Soul which are usually occasioned either by his own Hereditary weakness or by some ill Accidents in his Family or by some Troubles in his Calling or by the disappointment of his Expectations or by the common Crosses of the World or by the Apprehensions of some Evil to come or by the Sense of some Calamity that is past or by a Natural Distemper and Sickness in his Constitution and by divers Accidents more which the Subtilty and Malice of the Tempter maketh use of to disturb his Peace Now though in these Actions there be some little concurrence of the Will enough to make them imputable to us if God should deal with us according to rigour and severity yet by the Mercies of the Gospel they are not actually imputed to a Good Man because they are not properly voluntary that is they proceed not from propense Malice or a deliberate Judgment but from sudden and displeasing Contingencies so that he would not be Guilty of them were he not in Unfortunate Circumstances 2. THE Nature and Quality of Unwilful Sins being thus Explained it is necessary now in the next place to consider how far and to what degree we are to Repent of them before we Eat and Drink at the Lord's Table For if Men entertain false Notions of this matter it is impossible for them to be Satisfied that they are duly Prepared as long as they labour under those Notions especially if they be People of Tender and Scrupulous Spirits 1. FIRST then in general we must Note that we are not obliged to Repent of Infirmities in such an high degree as to Vow Promise and Undertake that we will keep our selves free from all manner of Sin Though we are bound to be very watchful over our ways and must resolve with our selves not to act knowingly and presumptuously against God's Commandments yet it doth not lye in our Power to live wholly Innocent from every the least offence The Divine Grace doth assist and strengthen our Natures but it doth not Destroy them Men we are still subject to the Frailties of Poor Mortal Creatures and as long as we are compassed about with Flesh we cannot lead such an Angelical Life as to be clean from all Impurities as those Blessed Spirits in Heaven are The Condition of our Nature cannot bear it therefore the thing being impossible we are not obliged at any time to resolve upon such high degrees of Sanctity as are out of our reach For which Reason we cannot conceive our selves obliged to it in order to a due Celebration of the Eucharist For at this great Solemnity we renew that Covenant we made at our Baptism which is not to be void of all manner of uncleanness but to Renounce the Devil and our own Lusts so as not to follow or be led by them as our Church hath excellently exprest it in the Office of Baptism that is so as not to be Govern'd or Commanded or Perswaded by them to do that which we know to be Evil. 'T is said indeed 1 Joh. 3. 9. that whosoever is born of God doth not
unwilful acts that proceed from an invincible debility of Nature nay many times from some inveterate Distemper in ones Body which as naturally casteth up ugly Idea's into the Brain and Fancy as over moist Soyls cast up Vapours and Fogs into the Air and though for a while they bring a Cloud over ones Spirit yet common Experience shews that the day breaks up again and therefore he that is disturbed with things of no greater moment than these ought no more to be frighted from the Holy Communion or dejected in his mind than if he were sick of the Spleen there being such a vast difference between Matters of this nature and an Evil Conscience 3. THE other Particulars I shall bring under one common Consideration because the same things in a manner are to be said of them all As for those involuntary Omissions which the best Men cannot but be sensible of and those mixtures of Imperfection which they find in their Noblest Actions and those irregularities to which the common frame and condition of Humanity makes us all subject every Man ought as to be humbled for them by a general Repentance so to beg pardon for them in David's Style O cleanse thou me from my secret faults Psal 19. 12. So also to guard himself from them with that care and vigilance which becomes a Man of an honest and sincere heart This is certain that if we do but secure our hearts unto God he will secure all his mercies to us It is not absolute and spotless perfection he expects from us but sincerity which is Evangelical Perfection As long as we are Men we shall be feeble and as long as we are feeble it cannot be but we must trip sometimes or tread a little awry especially where our way is long and the ground slippery But if we do not wilfully turn aside out of the right Path nor fall so as to Apostatise from the Truth or cast away our Righteousness such is the Divine Goodness and Mercy that we shall not fall into Perdition There is not a Righteous Man on the Earth that Sinneth not Eccles 7. 10. Bring in all the whole Army of Noble Saints and Martyrs and you shall hear them complain of their Infirmities God gives us Grace sufficient to enable us to maintain a Combate with the World the Devil and our own Lusts but not so much as will gain us a perfect and entire Victory so as to free us from all further Allarms and Onsets And indeed there is good Reason why we should not be unexercised by Temptations that we may not be Proud As God left the Canaanites among the Jews to humble and to try them so doth he leave our Infirmities in us even when he gives us the Spirit of Promise that he may make us sensible of our failings and lay us in the dust under the sense of them so that the setting of a Crown upon our heads may be acknowledg'd to be an act of his free Grace and that we may Triumph in the Name of God alone who hath concluded all under Sin that he may have Mercy on all By reason of these Infirmities we are commanded to Watch which is a plain argument that we are still in danger of being assaulted and our most treacherous Enemies may be those of our own Houshold Now what we cannot avoid by the Mercies of God we shall not be accountable for But our Frailties and Infirmities if they be acknowledg'd and bewail'd and prayed against and strugled with are Pardoned of course and every Man is accepted according to that which he hath and not according to that he hath not 2 Cor. 8. 12. Christianity is neither a soft Pillow for Wicked Men to sleep on nor yet a weary yoak for Good Men to sink under there being in the Gospel such an admirable mixture of the Promises with the Threats that as a vicious Wretch has no reason to presume so a Sincere and Humble hearted Man hath no reason to Despair Thou Lord art Merciful faith the Psalmist for thou rewardest every Man according to his Works And it is the usual Course and Tenour of a Man's Life that God doth judge of him by making a great abatement for his Humane Infirmities and were it not thus no Flesh living could be Saved because our present state of imperfection will not suffer us to be without all manner of blemish and he that boasteth of absolute Perfection is not more a Pharisee than a Fool because in many things we are apt to offend all But every Sin grieveth not the good Spirit of God nor is every Offence inconsistent with a State of Regeneration nor doth every little transgression dis-entitle us to the Divine Favour The daily Sacrifice of the Heart in Prayer and the constant striving with our manifold Infirmities do so effectually Operate through the Merits of Christ who died even for weak ones that an Act of Frailty is not a Sin armed with a Damning Power Though there be something of the Viper in us yet as long as we do not Cherish or Indulge or keep it warm in our bosom it cannot Hurt however it may fright us and create in us some trouble and horrour And so much be spoken of Sins of Infirmities and of those degrees of Repentance which are necessary for them CHAP. VII Of Wilful Sins I PROCEED next to Discourse of Sins of Wilfulness that nothing may escape us which is necessary to be known in order to a full understanding of that Repentance which is to be preparatory to the Holy Communion Now Wilful Sins are such as are Advisedly and of set purpose committed when a Man considerately doth this or that Evil action either for his pleasure or for his profit sake or upon any other such unreasonable inducements And these Sins are of two sorts Habitual or Occasional Habitual Sins are such as are the general Tenor and Course of ones Life which he allows himself in and gives himself up to and usually follows as his common Trade and Way As when ill Men accustom themselves to Prophane the Holy Name of God or addict themselves to Drunkenness or follow a Lascivious and lustful kind of Life or make Fraud and Cheating a great part of their Trades or live in Malice and Uncharitableness or whatever other sorts of Wickedness they suffer themselves to Continue in These must needs be Wilful Habits because it is impossible to conceive how any Man can persist in such Courses having so much Time and Leisure to consider of them and not give his full consent to such Impieties For if it be said though 't is strange it should that the Man may believe these things to be Lawful and so Labour under an Erroneous Judgment which allows him in such actions yet it cannot be any thing but his own Obstinacy that misleads his Conscience into such an Errour the Crime being so apparent to common Reason Or if he acts contrary to his judgment which is most
Clemency that was possible for him to express and all this that he might leave us an Example that we should follow his steps saith the Apostle 1 Pet. 2. 21. Now when we see at this Memorial of that Great Sacrifice the Bread broken and the Wine poured out the one representing the bruising of his Flesh the other the pouring out of his Blood both shewing how he was smitten of God and afflicted when we see this and call to mind his Exemplary Patience and Charity throughout all his Sufferings what can we gather hence but these natural thoughts that we should be like-minded that Christ our Passover having been thus Sacrificed for us we should keep this Feast without the Old Leaven and without the Leaven of Malice and Wickedness that we should put on as the Elect of God Bowels of Mercy Kindness and Humbleness of Mind that all Bitterness and Wrath and Anger and Clamour and Evil Speaking should be put away from us with all Malice and that we should be kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us and as Christ for his Mercy sake forgave his very Murtherers 3. AT this Great Solemnity there is not only a Spiritual Union between Christ and all good Christians but a Representation also of that perfect Union which ought to be among Christians themselves That one Loaf that is made up of many Grains all moulded together into one Lump and that Cup that is made up of many drops all mixed together into one Mass shew that all who participate of these Symbols should be joyned together into one Society a Society animated with one and the same Spirit a Society knit together by the Band of one Discipline a Society of one Heart and of one Mind as well as of one Faith and Hope Many of the Ancients insist much upon this that the Holy Sacrament is a Figure both of that Natural Body of Christ which Suffered upon the Cross and moreover of that Mystical Body of Christ of which he was made the Head after his Resurrection And one Reason of that Unity which ought to be among the several Members of this Body is because they are all fed and nourisht at one Table and so St. Paul himself tells us that we being many are one Bread and one Body because we are all partakers of that one Bread or Loaf 1 Cor. 10. 17. This then is another peculiar Reason why we should appear at this Solemnity a New and unleavened lump with Minds purged from all ferment of Malice and Wickedness like Children of the same Father and of one Family round about his Table with Souls full of the most extensive and unfeigned Charity and with Spirits enflamed with the Love of God and with Love to all that belong to God the true Spiritual Incense which gives a sweet smelling Savour to all our Offerings at the Altar I beseech you Brethren saith St. Paul in the beginning of that Epistle wherein he taxed afterwards the disorders of the Corinthians at the holy Communion I beseech you Brethren by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same Mind and in the same-Judgment 1 Cor. 1. 10. 4. TO this Solemnity we come to receive the pledges of our reconciliation unto God the Ratification and Seal of our own Pardon and Forgiveness This saith our Saviour speaking of the Creature we are to drink of the Fruit of the Vine as 't is expresly called in the very next verse this is my Blood or the Communion of my Blood of the new Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of Sins Mat. 26. 28. But how can we expect to be pardoned our selves if we do not let all Hatreds and Animosities drop to the ground before we go unto the Altar If we do not freely heartily and sincerely pardon all others as we our selves would be pardoned If ye forgive Men their Trespasses your Heavenly Father will also forgive you But if ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your Heavenly Father forgive your Trespasses saith our blessed Lord Mat. 6. 14 15. Whence it is clear that mutual Charity is one of those many conditions which are necessary to make us capable and receptive of God's Mercy As when Christ gave the Keys of his Kingdom to Peter he intended all the other Apostles should have an equal share of the Authority Petro soli claves dedit coeteris communicandas Optat and to this purpose he said afterwards to all the Apostles when he breathed on them Whose soever Sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whose soever Sins ye retain they are retained Joh. 20. 23. So where pardon of Sin is promised to this or that Grace there all other Graces are taken in and supposed because there is required a Complication of all Virtues in order to perfect Remission Now of these Virtues mutual Charity or our forgiving each other is one Not that it procures our forgiveness by way of Merit take heed of that conceit so vain in it self so deadly in its consequences so reproachful to the free Grace of God and to the infinite Merits of our Redeemer but that this mutual Charity doth dispose qualifie and fit us for God's pardon Therefore 't is observable that when our Lord gave his Church a Form of Prayer of his own composing and in it taught us to pray Forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that Trespass against us As soon as ever he had ended that Prayer he presently singled out this part of it to speak to inculcating and reasoning upon this sole point of fraternal forgiveness as being a point of such great Moment and Weight that without the practice of it the rest of the Prayer would be to little or no purpose And to strengthen the necessity of this thing farther yet he spake of it again afterwards Matth. 18. where we find a Parable of a wicked Servant to whom his Lord forgave a Debt of ten thousand Talents but because upon his forgiveness he dealt unmercifully with his Fellow-Servant taking him by the Throat and casting him into Prison for an hundred Pence his Lord was very wroth with him saying O thou wicked Servant shouldest not thou have had Compassion on thy Fellow Servant even as I had pity upon thee And so he delivered him to the Tormenters till he should pay all that was due unto him The Application of all wich is very plain but very terrible so likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you if ye from your Hearts forgive not every one his Brother their Trespasses Mat. 18. 35. 3. TO draw now to a Conclusion and to bring down this whole Matter closer yet to our Christian Practice Let Charity and perfect Love be at once both the Rule and the Tenor of our whole Life in all
I will repay it saith the Lord. 4. AS appeals to the Magistrate in weighty Cases are Lawful for he is the Minister of God and his Office is to Relieve such as are Oppressed so must the Proceedings before him be without Covetousness without Envy without Sinister Arts and without any Gall and Bitterness of Spirit For whatever a Man's Losses are he must not lose or let go his Charity He should Love and Pity and be ready to shew Mercy and to do good Offices to the Offender even when he seeks Reparations for the Offence it self An enraged Heart an Ulcerated Mind Affections foaming out hatred and malice these are the worst of Plaintiffs in the best of Causes They spoil in a great measure a very just Controversie and make it all one in effect with Cruelty and Revenge with this scurvy difference that a Malicious Suit many times cuts deeper wounds than a private stroak when 't is commenced upon premeditation and carried on with implacability and is at last armed with the Sword of publick Justice NOW by these Four Rules a Man may examine his Condition and make a right judgment of his Charity as every one ought to do before he comes to the Holy Communion If he seeks for Reparation by fair means and after a Friendly and Christian manner if it be not any inward rancour or hatred that moves him to it but only the nature of the injury if it be of such importance as that it makes Redress necessary either for himself or for his Relatives who have a dependance upon him and some share with him in all his Civil Rights if he be not his own avenger but commits his Cause into the hands of those who judge for the Lord and if in his whole Behaviour he manageth himself with Christian simplicity and candour of mind and with an heart desirous of perfect Reconciliation and Peace I do not see what just reason such a Man hath to forbear the use of the Holy Sacrament The Injurer indeed is bound to make Reparation and by all possible means to Sollicite his Friendship and to beg his Forgiveness but the injured Party hath done all that either a Good or a Prudent Person can be supposed able to do in such Circumstances But if Malice or Spight or Inhumanity a Quarrelsom Mind a vexatious Spirit an Oppressive or Revengeful Humour be at the bottom of all this or in any part of it I have no more to say but that such a one must bewail his great wickedness and Repent of it and implore the forgiveness of God and Man for it and endeavour to new-mould and rectifie his Uncharitable and Unchristian Temper before he presume to go to the Lord's Table the Blessed Sacrament being too Holy a Thing to be put into the mouth of a Tyger or a Wolf And so much shall suffice to be spoken upon this Subject CHAP. X. Of our Behaviour at the time of Receiving HAVING thus Largely Discoursed upon the point of Preparation because it is of such vast Concernment in order to our acceptance with God I proceed now to what is yet behind For hitherto I have brought you but as it were to the Porch of the Temple and must lead you next to the very Altar of God and consequently must shew first what you are to do there and then how you are to behave your selves after your departure thence 1. FIRST then we are to Consider that we are going upon no less a business than to offer up our Whole Man not our Souls only though that be the chief Oblation but our very Bodies also a Living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is our reasonable Service as St. Paul speaks Rom. 12. 1. 2. THAT we may not present the Sacrifice of Fools nor turn our Offerings into an Abomination 't is necessary for us to entertain very serious and awful thoughts of God's Omniscience that we are in his presence and under his eye that he observes our whole deportment that he searcheth our Hearts and Reins and understandeth our Thoughts afar off Accordingly we must present our selves before him not as a thing of course or only to comply with a Custom but as in the sight of God with reverent apprehensions of his Divine and Infinite Majesty with all Lowliness and Humility of Mind with Souls bowing and cast down to the dust under the sense of our own unworthiness with Consciences void of all Offence with Spirits enflamed with the Love of God and Man and with that true sincerity and simplicity which is the inseparable Ornament of every honest heart and which in the sight of God is of great price 3. THE happy hour being now come that we are to be entertained at God's Table and must take the Seals of his Covenant into our Mouths we should remember the promises we made to God in private we should repeat our Vows and Resolutions and put our Souls upon fresh exercises of Faith and Holiness SEEING Holiness ever becometh the House of God and especially when we Celebrate this Holy Mystery we are to void and empty our Minds as much as 't is possible of every thing that is earthly or unclean to lift up our hearts and fix them upon things above to employ our thoughts only upon that Divine Service we are now concern'd in to be full of Heavenly Contemplations and so to warm our affections by them that with Angels or Archangels and with all the Company of Heaven we may most devoutly Praise and Magnisie the Name of him whom those Blessed Spirits above continually worship and rest not day and Night saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come BE sure to act your Repentance over again because this is the thing which through the blood of Christ doth sanctifie the unclean and render us capable of the Benefits of the Sacrament Mortifie therefore your Members which are upon the Earth and all the sinful deeds of the Body Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Inordinate Affection Evil Concupiscence Covetousness which is Idolatry Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murthers Drunkenness Revellings and such like of which the Holy Scripture plainly tells us that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Gal. 5. 21. These Vices therefore and whatever else any of us may be more especially addicted or enclined to we must seriously endeavour by the help of God's Grace and to the utmost of our power to subdue and cast away from us and then is a most necessary time to do this at least to do it in purpose and resolution of heart when we are now going to the Holy Table then it is time indeed to resolve upon amendment and newness of Life and to vow entire obedience to the Laws of Christ's Religion as far as 't is consistent with this State of mortality and weakness and as far as 't is possible for poor Creatures that are compassed about with so
Promises at his hands THIS is enough to shew what a becoming and suitable posture Kneeling is at this Great Solemnity and how Naturally it follows where People entertain right Notions of it and come unto it with humble Minds Nor can I sufficiently admire that of all the Usages in the Christian Church this so Significant so Decent a Ceremony should ever become a stumbling-block and matter of Dispute Certainly it must be an ill sign of very Lofty Imaginations when there is such stiffness in Mens Knees BUT it is high time for me to proceed CHAP. XII Of our Behaviour after Receiving WHEN we have thus devoutly employ'd this blessed hour we must not imagine that our great Business is at an end that we may now drop those Religious Considerations which hitherto took up our time and thoughts that we may now go home leaving our Vows and Resolutions behind us in the Church much less may we think our selves free to fall afresh upon our former course of Life I must tell you the greatest part of our business is yet before us and to stop and rest here in the performance of those things which have hitherto employ'd our minds is the ready way to unravel our whole work and to defeat the design of this Heavenly Ordinance For this Rite of Eating and Drinking at the Lord's Table though it be of admirable use yet it is not naturally and intrinsecally good as those Acts and Dispositions of the Mind are wherein the Substance and Excellence of Religion doth consist but it iâ— a Relative thing instituted by our Saviour as a Means to promote and carry on that Noble End for which the Grace of God hath appeared unto all Men that denying all Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Tit. 2. 12. Here indeed we lay the Foundation of a life of Virtue by devoting unto God the Powers and Faculties of our Souls and the Members of our Bodies but as the Ground-work is in order to a Superstructure so are our Actions now in order to the further edifying and perfecting of us that we may be built up more and more in our most Holy Faith and being sitly framed together and compacted may grow and rise up by degrees to an Holy Temple for the Lord to be an Habitation of God through the Spirit THIS you will easily perceive if you observe 1. The Nature of the Ordinance it self It is first a Representation of the very Death of Christ a Representation exhibited to our Sences by the breaking of the Bread and the effusion of the Wine And what doth this mean but to awaken our Fears by shewing us the Terror of the Lord who for the expiation of the World's Guilt spared not his own Son nor would be reconciled to the World at a lower rate than by delivering him up to Torments and Death for us all What doth it mean but to set our Zeal a work upon mortifying all our Lusts and Affections and upon perfecting Holiness in the fear of God because Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all Iniquity and Purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good works What doth it mean but to make us ever watchful and circumspect lest we tread under foot the Blood of the Son of God Because if we sin wilfully after we have received the Knowledge of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sin Heb. 10. 26. It is secondly a Memorial of Christ's Love Love stronger than Death that made him give his life a ransom for the ungodly And what doth this mean but to kindle in our Hearts the most ardent Affections to Him again who so loved us as to die for us The greatest Affection this that 't is possible for any Mortal Man to express to lay down his Life for the Brethren But yet infinitely short of that which the Son of God expressed upon the Cross for his Enemies In this he commended his Love towards us above all proportion and comparison in that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us the Just for the Vnjust It is thirdly a foederal Solemnity whereby we renew the Covenant we entred into at our Baptism Vowing Promising and Engaging over the Symbols of Christ's Body and Blood and Swearing as it were with our Hands laid upon the Redeemer of our Souls that we will henceforth walk in Newness of Life And what doth this mean but to bind us with the most Solemn Securities and under the most dreadful Penalties to renounce the Devil and all his Works to deny all the Lusts of the Flesh so as not to follow or be led by them and not only to offer up our Hearts and Spirits unto the God of Purity but to present even our Bodies a living Sacrifice Holy and Acceptable to him And for the farthering of all these Noble Ends this Mystery is in the Fourth place the very Means of Grace and Salvation an Instrument that conveys to us the present Possession of all necessary and suitable Assistances and a Title under Seal to all the Evangelical Promises and particularly to this that he that persevereth unto the end the same shall be saved and that to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality God will render Eternal Life Rom. 2. 7. And what doth this mean too but that we should grow in Grace that we must not grieve the good Spirit of God whereby we are Sealed to the day of Redemption but that we should be strong in the Lord and in the power of his Might and give all manner of diligence to make our Calling and Election unto Grace sure and effectual by adding to our Faith Virtue or Courage and to Virtue Knowledge and to Knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness and to Brotherly Kindness Charity Charity in the highest degree to all Mankind and even to our Enemies Thus you see the nature of the Ordinance it self is such that it is not only highly useful for the present but of mighty Importance for the future it hath a tendency forward and it drives at mighty Ends which our endeavours are to be employ'd about after the Celebration of it is over that we may be more and more Partakers of the Divine Nature and come every day nearer and nearer to the Life of God TO confirm this still we may observe Secondly That those very Preparations which are required in order to our worthy Communicating do all look the same way and have a direct tendency to the same purpose Thus Faith or the hearty belief of the truth of our Religion upon those Evidences and Motives it carries with it is naturally productive of constant Obedience to the Precepts of it throughout the whole course of our lives For as it discovers to us the Folly the Shamefulness and the bitter Fruits of Sin so it shews
himself where-ever he finds it and as impossible for him to love any Man without it so as to be pleased and delighted with the Object And accordingly the more or less this Image doth resemble him the greater or less are the Degrees and Measures of his Love The Reason therefore of this Love being drawn from that Godlike Frame and Disposition of Mind which is wrought in Men by the gracious Energy of Gods Spirit and their own kindly compliance with his Operations 't is a senceless thing to depend upon those effects of his Love which I have now mentioned Forgiveness of Sin and a Title to Everlasting Happiness unless we be in some measure Holy Just and Good as the ever-blessed God is these being Perfections which he loves because they are his own Hence it appears that though we go to the blessed Sacrament with Religious and Devout Minds yet if we go not on to answer the great End of Christianity the bare Reception of it can never be enough to answer our own expectations because it is a Relative Ordinance that looks forward upon a Christian Life for the leading whereof this Mystery lays all possible Obligations upon us and takes all possible Securities at our hands here at the Altar of God THIS being cleared give me leave now to recommend unto you these following Directions that you may not receive this Sacrament and the Grace of God in vain but may in one sense as the Founder of this Ordinance did in another see of the Travel of your Souls and be satisfied 1. HAVE a very great care that you relapse not into any known and wilful Sins of which 't is presum'd you have repented and especially beware of such as you have been most apt and inclined to commit People are subject to different Vices either by means of their different Constitutions or by means of their different Ages or by means of their different Opinions and sometimes too by means of their different Callings For tho' those Callings may be Innocent in themselves nay commendable in respect of their use for the publick Good yet by means of Mens own corrupt Dispositions they are accidentally apt to betray them to various sorts of Wickedness some to Luxury some to Wantonness some to Pride and most to Frauds and Injustice a bitter root of Covetousness spreading generally through all Secular Vocations though it always hurts the Soil and many times is the Bane of the Proprietor however it be thought a thrifty Vice Here then every one must carefully observe which are his own Iniquities the Sins that do so easily beset him and accordingly must stand upon the strictest Watch to guard himself from all dangers of relapsing especially from such dangers as he is most ready to fall into upon any occasion For as the Devil is always most busie about Men when they have been doing their Souls good to lay his old Snares in their way and if they fail to minister to them fresh and new Temptations so is their yielding to those Temptations of very mischievous and deadly consequence 1 IT is an Act of the highest Perfideousness to be false to those Sacred Obligations which we have now taken upon us after the most Solemn manner in the presence of God and his Holy Angels and over that broken Body of Christ which was given in Sacrifice as well to expiate as to destroy the works of the Devil Therefore saith the Preacher When thou vowest a Vow unto God defer not to pay it for he hath no pleasure in Fools pay that which thou hast vowed Better is it that thou shouldest not vow than that thou shouldest vow and not pay Eccles 5. 4 5. 2. IT is an Act of inexcusable Hardiness and Presumption to return to those Impieties which have already cost us so dear Who but a true Penitent can be sensible what the Terrours of God are when he awakens a sleepy Conscience What that Shame is which tinctures the Forehead at the secret remembrance of ones Guilt What those Dolours are which corrode the Heart like Vipers which gnaw the Womb that bears them What those throws and Agonies are which the Soul endures when it comes to be ruffled by the hand of God And how violent the Pangs and Convulsions of a new Birth are when so many inveterate Habits come to be torn up out of ones Breast by the Roots Repentance is a most painful thing if it be Genuine and Hearty when a poor Wretch is a recovering out of that miserable State wherein a long course and trade of Wickedness hath plunged him and I think 't is Oecumenius that hath somewhere observed that 't is no easie matter to fall back again into such a course of Life as hath once put one to so much expence of Shame Sorrow and Vexation The sense and experience of smart is naturally apt to make Men very fearful of being wounded any more So that when they relapse into a wicked State with so much Facility it is a certain Sign that either their smart was not pungent and acute enough or else that they are of very hardy and desperate Spirits that can break through all the Pricks and Twinges of Conscience to rush upon the Pikes again 3. IT is the ready way to lose all the Profit of Repentance though it were never so chargeable and costly Therefore is Apostacy compared to the most odious and filthy Spectacle to a Dog 's licking up his Vomit and to the wallowing again of a Sow in the mire 2 Pet. 2. 22. Nor can it be but such Creatures must needs appear abominable in the sight of God because his Love and Hatred still go along with the Reasons of them which are never grounded upon any partiality towards Mens Persons but upon a just view of their Qualifications and Tempers so that as these vary from better to worse and from Purity turn to Corruption so they become instead of Objects of Gods Love the Objects of his Hatred which always runs out in a direct course against all Impiety and still follows it at the heels and hence is the terrible Menace in the Prophet Ezekiel When the Righteous Man turneth away from his Righteousness and committeth Iniquity and doth according to all the Abominations that the Wicked Man doth shall he live All his Righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned in his Trespass that he hath Trespassed and in his Sin that he hath sinned in them shall he die Ezek. 18. 24. This is not only one of God's immutable Decrees but moreover the natural Result of Relapses from the common method and course of Things especially when a Man's Relapses are frequent habitual and lasting 4. FOR that which is further considerable is That the Recovery of such Men is very difficult and uncertain St. Peter speaking of some miserable Converts who though they had been cleansed from their Heathen Sins upon their Embracing of Christianity fell back again into that wretched State out