and gone 2. We undertake to live Godly Lives for the future meaning as near as we can by the help of God's Grace considering the Imperfections of our Depraved Nature And if we do not Profess and undertake these things at other times we are not so much indeed as Christians and if we do them sincerely now we are fit to be Communicants So that I confess I do not see what Reason any Conscientious and Good Hearted Man hath to be afraid of this Ordinance rather it should be his Comfort and Joy that he hath liberty to use it because it is the Seal of those Promises of Pardon and Mercy which God hath made to every broken Heart No scruples therefore are sufficient to beat off any Pious and Penitent Souls for if Men do not Repent and Reform they are not the Disciples of Christ and if they do they are in a good Condition to be Guests at Christ's Table I have more to say concerning this matter when I come to treat of the Nature of that Preparation which is necessary but this I hope is sufficient for the present CHAP. III. Of the Necessity of Preparation THE Necessity of Receiving the Holy Sacrament being thus proved it is time now to consider those Disposititions and Preparations wherewith all People are bound to come to the Lord's Table that they may Eat and Drink aftr a worthy manner AND here two things are to be enquired into for the full satisfaction of Mens Consciences 1. First concerning the Necessity of Preparing our selves before hand how that doth appear 2. Secondly concerning the Nature of this Preparation wherein that doth consist 1. FIRST touching the Necessity of Preparing our selves before we presume to eat of this Bread and to drink of this Cup. It is observable That our Blessed Saviour himself gave his Disciples no particular Instructions about this matter when he Instituted this Solemnity He commanded them indeed to do this and to Celebrate this Mystery in Remembrance of him but we do not Read of any express Directions he gave touching Preparation thereunto However that no Man may be emboldened to use this Ordinance after an Irreligious or rash manner the Necessity of Preparing our selves will evidently appear from these following Considerations 1. From the consideration of that Analogy which this Mystery bears to those Ancient Sacrfical Feasts that were Celebrated by all Mankind These I have treated of at large because the full Knowledge thereof is very serviceable in helping us to understand both the Nature of this Feast and our own Duty too in the use of it which probably might be the Reason of our Lord's Silence in this point Because it was not so very necessary for him to give particular Instructions in a matter which was so obvious to all that Men could easily be led to a Sense of their Duty by those common Notions and Apprehensions which both Heathens and Jews had of Banquets of this Nature AS for the Heathen part of the world they saw by the Light of Nature that Holy things ought to be used with a great deal of Reverence and by Men of Holiness and Purity And for this Reason their constant Custom was before they went to their Sacrifical Banquets to Prepare themselves with many previous Rites and Ceremonies supposing that thereby they did Sanctifie and fit themselves for the Service of their Deities Thus the Pagan Priests were wont to forbear the very touching of Farinam fermento imbutam attingere ei fas non est Aul. Gell. de Flam. Dial. Noct. Attic. lib. 10. c. 15. Of these Preparatory Rites See Stuckius in Sacror Sacrificior descrip pag. 79. c. Gyrald Hist Diorum Syntag. 17. p. 497. Natal Mythol lib. 1. c. 9. 14. Alex. ab Alex. Gen. dier l. 4. c. 17. any Bread that was Leavened lest they should be polluted They used many sorts of Lustrations and Washings cleansing as well their Cloathes as their Bodies especially their Hands with the Purest Water that was appropriated to that purpose They abstained for many days before hand from Eating of Flesh and from Drinking of Wine They refrained from the Nuptial Bed and from all Carnal Pleasures using many Artificial Methods to subdue and Mortifie their Sensual Appetites And when the time for Sacrificing was come they arrayed themselves with clean and spotless Garments which they called their Holy and Religious Dress Nor was this the Practice of the Priests only For all the People that were to Eat and Drink before their Deities were required also to Prepare and Purifie themselves throughly after their way believing that the outward Sanctifications of their Bodies did serve to Sanctifie and Cleanse their very Souls and Spirits Thus they were wont to wash themselves often to give themselves to Fastings and much Abstinence to deny themselves those Fleshly Satisfactions which at other times were lawful Their Custom too was to make solemn acknowledgments of the Sins of their Lives Praying to their Gods not to take Vengeance upon them If any Man had his Hands Defiled with Blood or was polluted and stained with any gross Wickedness he was not to come to the Altar And when their Services were See the Authors above mentioned beginning Proclamation was made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who are here Whereunto they Answered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Many and Good Men And if any was found there that was known to be otherwise or to be in a State of Guilt he was turned out of the Company of the Rest the very Heathens believing that none were fit to meddle with things In Sacrificiis rite celebrandis majorem nullam ceremoniam fuisse videmus quam nihil sibi conscire bonos ac pios esse Gyrald Syntag. 17. pag. 492. Sacrificed but such as were Vpright in Mind and void of an Evil Conscience AND as touching the Jews every one knows how strictly they were commanded to Cleanse and Purifie themselves according to the Sanctifications of the Law before they presumed to Eat and Drink before the Holy One of Israel especially at the Paschal Supper in lieu whereof this Christian Solemnity is substituted and appointed No Man was permitted to partake of the Passover that was not duly Prepared for it by the Rite of Circumcision No Proselyte was suffered to come that was not first Sanctified and fitted for it according as the Law directed in that case None that were in their Uncleanness or in any respect legally Impure whether Men or Women were to be admitted till they were cleansed from their Pollutions Nay not the People themselves only but their very Houses also were to be free from all defilements And hence it was that some days before the Feast they purged all manner of Leaven out of their Rooms and for fear any ferment should remain in any part of their dwellings they were wont the Night before the Passover to search with a Candle into every hole in their walls and into every chink
many infirmities then it is time to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit to enter at least upon a Life of Holiness to wash our hands and hearts in Innocence and so to compass the Altar of God BEING thus rightly disposed we are then to behold the Fountain which is opened to us for Sin and for Uncleanness I mean the blood of Christ which purgeth our Consciences from all dead works to serve the living God Heb. 9. 14. Now 't is a seasonable time for us to call to mind the coronary Thorns the Scourge the Nails and the Spear which opened this Fountain To remember our blessed Lord's Agony in the Garden his bloody Sweat his Buffetings and Stripes his dolours and most bitter Death upon the Cross To consider that all this was for us sinful Men and for our Salvation to reconcile us to his Father to Redeem us from all Iniquity and to beget us again to a lively Hope to an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us because he so loved us all that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have Everlasting Life These Holy Meditations are not only proper and seasonable when we are now at the Supper of the Lamb but they are moreover naturally apt to enflame your Affections with the love of Jesus to dissolve and melt you into Penitential showers to ravish your Hearts with a sense of his infinite Goodness to fill you with Divine Extasies and Raptures and to fix your Resolutions of obeying for ever the Author of your Salvation of following his blessed steps with all Meekness and Humility and of bearing not only his Yoak but even his Cross too and in all things of being made conformable to his Image NEXT to the love of God and of Christ let the love of all Mankind replenish and possess your Hearts God forbid that Malice or Uncharitableness or Bitterness and Rancour of Spirit God forbid that any of these or such unclean things should ever be brought before the Altar of Peace and Reconciliation If he so loved us we ought to love one another because he tasted Death for every Man he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance he is the Saviour of all Men especially of them that believe and seeing every Soul is precious in his sight every Soul should be dear to us and our Love to all Mankind should be extensive and unlimited as his was And to express this Love we should be ready to do good to all desire and endeavour the Salvation of all and devoutly pray as the Primitive Christians did whose Hearts were so warm with the Blood of Christ for the whole Race of Mankind not only for the Church of God and for every part and Member thereof but for all too that are as yet without the borders of the Sanctuary and for all Estates and Conditions of Men that no corner of the Universe may be too remote for our Charity and that however the Uncertainties and Chances or the Evils of this World may sever or distinguish us yet nothing may be able to separate us from the love of those for whom Christ died THESE are Divine things to exercise and employ your Minds at this great Solemnity And as touching your outward deportment there are these particulars which I would recommend to your Christian practice at the time of Ministration 1. THAT ye dispose of your selves as near as may be to the Lord's Table that you may behold what is transacted there For besides the Decency which is in the thing it self when the Children of God humbly present themselves round about his Table this is apt to exalt and heighten your Devotion still and to give your Affections a new warmth when you see as it were Jesus Christ crucified before your Eyes 2. THE Mystery of his Passion being thus visibly represented by the breaking of the Bread the Symbol of his Body and by the pouring out of the Wine the Symbol of his Blood then sursum corda as the Exhortation was in the Primitive Ages of Christianity lift up your Hearts to him who was dead and is now alive for evermore and offer unto him privately these or the like holy Ejaculations O Lamb of God that takest away the Sins of the World grant us thy Peace O Lamb of God that takest away the Sins of the World have Mercy upon us 3. THROUGHOUT the Prayer of the Church wherein you are concern'd be sure to bear your Parts with Heart and Voice too For this doth not only help to preserve a Man 's own Zeal in a due Fervour and to keep his mind fixt and intent and free from distraction but it is moreover an excellent means to raise the Devotion of other Communicants When every one assisteth and all jointly mingle their Devotions the common flame is very much increased every one bringing sparks to the Altar to kindle in each others Heart the love of Christ For the confirmation of this I appeal to every sensible Mans experience who desires to serve God in the Beauty of Holiness How lovely how delightful a thing is it when People meet together to Worship God to send up their Prayers and Praises to him with one Lip And how apt is this to inspire every good Heart with Fervency and to heat every ones Affections each Man catching some fire from his Neighbour How like then is the Church to Heaven and how transported do we seem to be as if we were among that blessed Quire above where St. John in his Vision saw the four and twenty Elders falling down before him that sat on the Throne and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever and cast their Crowns before the Throne saying Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy Pleasure they are and were created Rev. 4. 10 11. And where should we imitate this blessed and Heaven-like Harmony if not at this Divine Solemnity where we celebrate the memorial of our Redemption too of our Redemption I say the great work of God a work so worthy of God so stupendious so full of the Riches of his Grace that to be unconcern'd among the common Thanksgivings of the Church must needs be an Argument of a Mind very dull and insensate very deeply possest with a Spirit of Slumber 4. WHEN you are now to receive the Divine Food and Jesus as it were coming under your Roof receive with all Humility let every lofty imagination fall and every Knee Bend Not that we may adore the Sacramental Bread and Wine that were Idolatry to be abhorred of all faithful Christians but as an humble Profession of our own great unworthiness and as a grateful Acknowledgement of those infinite Mercies werewith God is pleased to crown us at this time it is no more than what is decent and becoming us to be prostrate
us on the other hand the excellence of Virtue and the beauty of Holiness It proposes Christ's Yoke as an easie thing especially to such as make a due use of the Spirits Assistance and accustom themselves to the familiar practice of Religion And though at the first entrance upon a Life of Holiness there may be many difficulties for us to grapple with Affections to be regulated evil Habits to be eradicated Pleasures and secular Advantages to be denied when they stand in competition with our Duty and though in the progress of our life many temptations from within and without us are to be resisted many hardships and tryals to be expected and abundance of discouragements of several kinds to be met with before we die yet we learn from our Religion that the present satisfactions which attend a course of Virtue are so great and the future Rewards which are to crown it are so endless and unspeakable that upon weighing the one against the other we cannot but conclude that neither the Pleasures nor the Sufferings of this life are worthy in the least measure to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed Now if we bring such a Faith as this with us to the Sacrament if we be strong and stablish'd in it this alone will naturally serve to defend us as with a Shield from all Fiery Darts of the Devil and to render us puissant enough to overcome the World 1 Joh. 5. But to prepare us the better still for an uninterrupted course of Virtue we are moreover to repent us throughly for all our past Sins and to present our selves before God with new Hearts and new Spirits which is not required as a Temporary Disposition to be brought only at this time before the Altar there to languish and die with Vows that are Abortive and that yield either no Fruits at all or at least no perfect Fruits of Repentance No this is to be the beginning of a new life the first rise and starting towards the Race that is set before us and as we run it our Repentance must improve and grow from Shame and Sorrow for Sin to an Hatred of it from this Hatred of it to strong Resolutions against it and from those Resolutions against it to an utter abandoning and forsaking of it abstaining not only from all sorts but as far as 't is possible from all appearance of evil 1 Thes 5. 22. In like manner those Bowels of Mercy and Kindness which we put on at this time are to entender our Nature for ever and to produce in us such large and generous Affections as may extend not only to our Brethren and Friends and to the Family of Christ but to the whole Offspring of Adam to whom we are so to open our Compassions that such as are within our reach may participate those of our Bread those of our Instructions all of our good Wishes and Prayers in imitation of that most blessed Pattern and Idea of Charity who went about doing Good Heb. 10. 38. Briefly all other Spiritual Graces as Humility Meekness Patience Self-denial Heavenly-mindedness and the like wherewith our Souls are to be arrayed and adorned at this Solemnity if we consider the tendency of them they are so many initial Virtues to be improved and heightned still by the continual practice of them so that from Acts they may turn into Dispositions and from Dispositions may grow into Habits which will quite change purifie and raise our Nature till we all come in the Vnity of the Faith and of the Knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect Man unto the measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ Ephes 4. 13. I have the more particularly insisted upon this to shew you the necessity of your Watchfulness and Industry after this blessed Solemnity is over You must not by any means sit down presently as if the work of the Day and the business of your Souls were quite done You must ever bear it in your minds that Christianity requires a life of Virtue You must carry a steddy Eye upon the Scope and Design of our Holy Religion and employ all your utmost endeavours in the vigorous pursuit of its noble End Brethren saith the Apostle I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things wich are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3. 13 14. And as it follows there Let us as many as be perfect be thus minded still running and stretching as hard as we can towards the end of our Faith and Hope by an earnest pursuit of whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely and whatsoever things are of good Report Phil. 4. 8. Remember I beseech you that this and other instituted Ordinances though they bring great Peace and Comfort to pious Souls by the present Administration of them they are still instrumental Helps to carry on the main Purpose and Will of God even our Sanctification So that if we do not use this Ordinance as an Instrument of improving and perfecting Holiness and as a Means pursuant thereunto whatever Relish and Pleasure it carries with it for the present it will not avail us as to the main FOR the benefits which are conveyed to all well-disposed Hearts by this Sacrament are not only the enlivening Influences of Christ's Spirit called Christ's Spiritual Body and Blood because they flow and are derived from him as he is the Head of his Church and the Disposer of all those Blessings which are the Fruits of his Intercession but moreover the Pardon of Sin past and a Title to an happy Resurrection and Eternal life to come Now as the First of these the Influences of Christ's Spirit are intended to transform us into the Image of God and to con-naturalize our Spirits to the Nature of God so are the latter the Effects of his pure Love and Goodness whereby he rewards those that resemble him by a similitude of Nature I speak now not of God's general love of Benevolence which moves him to do good to us as we are meerly his Creatures without any regard had to our probity or improbity in which sence he is said to have loved the World Joh. 3. 16. But of that particular Love which Divines call Love of Friendship and Complacency the formal Object whereof is Righteousness or a Rectitude of Nature conformable in a great measure to his own as the Psalmist tells us Ps 11. 7. The Righteous Lord loveth Righteousness his Countenance doth behold the upright This is a ray of his own Glory and the Correspondence thereof to his own Divine Perfections is the true Ground and Reason of that especial Love he bears to some more than he bears to others because it is impossible but he must love the Image of
all such as at any time met together in the House of God to hear the Scriptures should be Excommunicated if they stayed not to Receive the Holy Communion Devotion which now is as it were vanish'd into Smoak in those times shined in a mighty Flame The Hearts of Men were on fire and their Zeal was Active and Sprightly in this particular because they reckoned it a necessary piece of Religion I confess the Practice of the Church is not that which maketh a thing Necessary Yet 't is a fair and strong Argument of its Necessity as being a good Comment upon our Lord's Command The continued Practice of the Church from the Apostles downward doth shew that the Wisest and most Learned among them did look upon themselves greatly obliged by the Law of Christ to a frequent Participation of this Mystery Because he said Do this as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me they concluded themselves bound to do it often and lest they should not do it often enough they did it daily BUT I will not urge the Necessity of a daily Communion Yet this we must affirm indefinitely and in general that 't is necessary to Communicate often so that if nothing be wanting but a willing and ready Mind to omit it is a Sin a Violation of Christ's Law And if we think the Primitive Christians did it too often they are infinitely more to be followed yet than many now a days who either do it not at all or at most but once or twice a year and even then it may be questioned whether it be not something else besides the Love of Christ that doth constrain them 2. THUS much may suffice to be spoken of that Necessity which is grounded upon our Lord's Command But besides this we are to consider that the neglect of this Sacrament is Evil not in it self only but in respect of a very Evil Cause whence this shameful Neglect cometh for that cannot well be supposed to be any other than some lurking Sin and Wickedness in Mens Hearts which makes this Sacrament so formidable in their Eyes Since at this Ordinance God offereth to Men all the Mercies of the Gospel and nothing can hinder the conveyance but an Impenitent and Wicked Heart on the Recipient's part Hardly would any Man refuse so great Salvation did not his Conscience tell him that by Reason of his Love of Sin he may take Poyson into his Mouth instead of the Bread of Life It must needs be that the great Contempt of this Sacrament is caused mostly by some root of Bitterness that is in Men's Breasts which renders the Cup of Blessing very unsavoury and loathsome unto them The World generally is Evil and many Love to be so and for that Reason they dare not come to the Lord's Table How else comes it to pass that they croud many times into the Church in Throngs and Multitudes to Prayer and especially with itching Ears after a Sermon when yet we see a very slender appearance especially in some places at the Sacrament Certainly we must conclude or mistrust at least that People are Conscious to themselves of many Vices which they are fond of and willingly allow and indulge themselves in and rather than they will forsake those Vices they forbear this Ordinance because they cannot live Wickedly and Participate too without Eating and Drinking their own Damnation And is not this a most horrible Crime to value a few paltry Lusts above the Body and Blood of Christ And to prefer some Sensual and Bruitish Enjoyments before those Admirable and Astonishing Blessings which are tendred at the Lord's Table It was the Sin of the Jews and that which greatly kindled the Anger of the Lord against them that they slighted the Manna which David called the Food of Angels and lusted after the Fleshpots of Egypt the Cucumbers the Melons the Leeks the Onions and the Garlick Num. 11. Much more will it be lookt upon as an intolerable Crime in us if we make light of the greatest Blessings that Heav'n can bestow as the Comforts of the Holy Spirit the Fellowship of Christ the Pardon of our Sins the Peace of our Consciences an Assurance of a Glorious Immortality and whatsoever is the Felicity of Blessed Souls I say if we slight and reject all these out of favour to our Sensitive Appetites that we may still pursue the Unprofitable Works of Darkness and Enjoy the Pleasures of Sin which are both Beastly in their Nature and very short for their continuance As Maximus Max. Tyr. Ser. 20. Tyrius an Heathen Philosopher argued Who is so Mad so Bewitched so Byassed by his Affections that for the love of small and Transitory Pleasures of uncertain Enjoyments of doubtful Hopes and questionable Prosperities would not change his Life for a Better and betake himself to that which is Solid and Vnquestionable Happiness Yet of such corrupt and object Spirits are they who neither Love nor dare to partake of this Covenant Feast Men of such Debaucht Minds and Impure Consciences that they prize the most fordid Considerations above the Love of God and a Blessed Eternity like unclean Swine that contemn the sweetest Repose in comparison of a Dunghill and a Bed of Mire Were not Men Earthly and Sensual every one wou'd strive to be a Companion at the Altar 'T is a Polluted Heart that hindreth Men's approaches because they that are Wicked will be Wicked still and that is a great Reason why the Neglect of this Sacrament is Sinful forasmuch as it proceedeth from a sinful Cause an Evil and a Rotten Heart 3. I Heartily wish that all Persons who are concern'd would seriously consider these things and be so Provident too as to look upon the sad Consequence of this Neglect and see what an immediate and irreparable Injury they are like to do to their own Souls by it which is the Third and last Consideration For the words of Christ are plain Joh. 6. Except ye Eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink his Blood ye have no life in you This place of Scripture all the Ancients do with one a Illud in primis animadvertendum occurrit quoties apud veteres agitur de hoc Sacramento verba Domini nostri quae Joan. cap. 6. referuntur caro mea verè est cibus sanguis meus verè est potus Panis quem ego dabo caro mea est Et nisi ederitis carnem silii hominis c. ad hoc Sacramentum omnes applicant Nec audiendi sunt qui tanta nube testium refragante negant illud caput Joannis huc referendum Diallacticon Edit Londin 1688. p. 15. 9. v. consent and mouth apply to this Blessed Sacrament and St. Austin himself urged it to prove the necessity even of Infant Communion which was then a Custom in the Church That indeed was an Error that proceeded from the abundant Piety of those times and the Reason upon which that Custom was grounded was not strong
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
kind and friendly Eye upon his Vices and cherisheth that Uncleanness in his Bosom which by the Laws of God he is bound to cast away For it is no easie matter for any to lead a Lewd Life without some trouble and unquietness of Mind and for a Man first to Sin and then Confess and then Sin again is nothing else but to drive a circular Trade of Hypocrisie for all this is very consistent with a Wicked Life Because after this rate there is no necessity of entire and universal Holiness without which St. Paul saith there is no seeing of God but People may give themselves up all their days to all manner of Wickedness and Villany and may think to be Saved nevertheless What a smooth and pleasant way would this be into the Kingdom of God were it but true How easily after this rate is the Sinner and the Saint reconciled But what a Scandal is it to Christianity and what a fatal prejudice is it to a good Life when Men are taught such an Artificial Method how to Save their Souls and their Sins too For who will undertake that troublesom and painful task of Mortifying his Lusts of parting with a right Eye of cutting off a right hand and of being Crucifyed to the World if he be perswaded that he cannot possibly miscarry as long as he hath at hand such a present and easie Remedy as this is Confess and be Absolved Be not therefore deceived in a case of such huge moment and weight True Repentance is not a thing of such quick and superficial dispatch it must reach to the very Heart and Marrow it must alter and transform the whole Man it must bring forth Fruits meet for Repentance it must express it self by an Universal Obedience to the Precepts of the Gospel it must have that good effect upon Mens Spirits as to make them follow whatsoever things are Just and Honest and Pure and Lovely and of good Report 2. THE Nature of Repentance being thus Explained I shall not need to spend much time upon the next point touching those Special Grounds and Reasons which render Repentance necessary before we go to the Communion For every Man's Conscience cannot but tell him that he ought to come to so Sacred a Mystery with clean Hands and a very pure Heart However that Discourses of this kind may not seem fantastical and groundless the Necessity of this thing will plainly appear from these following Considerations 1. From that Analogy which this Evangelical Christian Feast beareth unto those Antient Sacrifical Feasts of which I have formerly Discoursed at large At those Solemnities as Gyraldus observes even the Heathens thought it the most necessary part of their Religion to be free from an Evil Conscience In Sacrificiis rite celebrandis majorem nullam ceremoniam fuisse videmus quam nil sibi conscire bonos ac pios esse Gyrald Hist deor synt 17. They were wont at those times to Confess their Guilt to Profess Repentance for all their Faults and by their dejected Countenances and Id. ibid. modest Behaviour to express their great Sorrows for what was past They would wash their Bodies in Rivers and present themselves at the Altars of their Gods in pure and clean Apparel with washen Hands and naked Feet as significations of the Purity of their Minds and when the Solemnity began as the Priest asked with a loud voice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who is here So the People answered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 many Men and Good esteeming Sanctity and Goodness to be absolutely necessary in such as were to Feast before their Deities Among the Jews it was customary to use several Ritual ways of Sanctification such as the cleansing of their Bodies and the scowring of their very Cloaths before they presented their Oblations unto God or durst to feed upon the remains of their Sacrifices They had divers washings and carnal Ordinances imposed upon them until the time of Reformation saith the Apostle Heb. 9. 10. One eminent instance we have 1 Sam. 16. there Samuel goes to Bethlehem to Sacrifice unto the Lord and to Feast with Jesse and his Sons upon part of the Oblations but before he would either slay the Heifer or sit down with them at Meat he commanded them to Sanctifie themselves according to the Custom v. 5. Now these legal Purifications were so many Notices and Indications of that inward and Spiritual Purity which is necessary in all who present themselves before the Lord and profess to be of his Houshold and Family For which Reason the Prophets who were Expositors of the Law called upon the People at every turn to mind that Sanctity of Heart and Spirit which was signified by these External Rites and without which all their Services were so many vain Oblations So God himself calls them Jer. 1. 12 13. When ye come to appear before me who hath required this at your hand to tread my Courts Bring no more vain Oblations that is Heartless Sacrifices such Sacrifices as were without the Heart not of the Beast but of the Man empty Services that were without a broken and contrite Spirit To this purpose 't is said Isa 66. 3. He that killeth an Ox is as he that Slew a Man he that Sacrificeth a Lamb as he that cutteth off a Dog's neck he that offereth an Oblation as he that offereth the Blood of Swine and the Reason follows because they have chosen their own ways and their Soul delighteth in their own Abominations 'T is Holiness that God requires rather than Sacrifice and so much was intimated to them when they were appointed to wash before they entred into the Sanctuary To which purpose saith the Psalmist Psal 26. 6. I will wash my hands in Innocence and so will I compass thine Altar Meaning that by cleansing the outward parts Men were taught to Cleanse and Sanctifie their Minds chiefly and that Innocence is mainly necessary in such as go about to meddle with Holy things And this is particularly observable from the Ordinance concerning the Passover which was a Type and Shadow of this Christian Ordinance Though every Jew that was rightly Qualified was bound under pain of Death to bring the Offering of the Lord in his appointed Season yet if he had any Legal Impurities upon him if he were a Leper or had a running Issue or had been Defiled by touching a Dead Carcass then he was severely bound to forbear the Passover for a time he was to defer it for the space of a Month because it was a general Rule the Soul that eateth the Flesh of the Sacrifice of Peace-Offerings having his Uncleannesses upon him even that Soul shall be cut off from his People Lev. 7. 20. Philo the Jew hath rightly observed that God Instructed Men by these Rites and Forms and outward Symbols how they ought to make their approaches unto his Altar either to Pray or to give thanks unto him that they should bring no latent Diseases no
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
likely it is a Sin against Conscience which is the Highest aggravation any action is capable of So that let him palliate it as he can it is undoubtedly a Wilful Habit. And because it is so such a Repentance is necessary as changeth the whole frame of his Heart and Life such a Repentance as makes a Man lay aside utterly every vicious Custom such a Repentance as effectually bends his Mind to an entire Practice of Virtue and Religion For the great business of Religion being to transform every one into the Divine Image to make him Partaker of the Divine Nature and to render him according to the Capacities of Humane Nature Holy and Pure as God himself is and sorrow for what is past being the first Beginning of such a God-like Life That Repentance must needs be Trifling and Impertinent which doth not powerfully carry on those Divine Purposes and 't is as impossible for one that persists in an Evil State and Course to be a true Penitent at the same time as it is to make Hell and Heaven meet together in one Repentance is an High and Noble act of the Mind that doth not lye in Sobs and Groans nor meerly in the Anguish and Throws of a Spirit that is upon the Rack for notwithstanding all this Guilt and the Love of Sin may be at the bottom and inward torment may proceed purely from a present apprehension of vengeance which every Man would willingly avoid though he delights in that which brings it upon him No Repentance that is genuine works a total Change turns the Desires towards the Glory of God which is the True and Proper Object of the Mind and so by degrees improves and raiseth up the depraved Nature of Man to those perfections which are in God of whose Glory those Divine Graces which Religion proposeth to our practice are a Copy and Transcript INFINITELY distant from this is the Life of that Man who Loves to wallow in Vice Sensuality and Corruption People of this sort and Temper are so far from having a right to the Promises of Pardon and Peace which are tendred by the Evangelical Covenant and which are Sealed at the Holy Sacrament that the Scripture plainly threatens Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish to every Soul that worketh Evil after this manner to such as obey Vnrighteousness to such as are the Servants of Sin to such as let Sin reign in their Mortal Bodies to such as yield themselves up to Vnrighteousness to such as make Provision for the Flesh to such as obey it in the Lusts thereof to such as walk on in darkness and lye in wickedness and conform themselves to this world by all which Expressions and many more to the same purpose the Scripture meaneth such as continue and persist in an Ungodly course in a crooked way in a vicious Manner and Habit of Life For which Reason when Men intend to go to the Holy Communion where every one is sure to receive something either Mercy or Judgment to himself they should take themselves to a very strict account and impartially observe what that way is wherein they are used to go And if they find themselves so ill given as that they willingly follow their own hearts Lusts and resolve to do so still in spight of God's Word and the checks of their own Consciences they must not in any wise present themselves at the Lord's Table but utterly forbear 'till they have truly humbled themselves under such a sense of their impieties as worketh that Repentance which is the entrance upon a Life of Virtue and True Religion If there be not this Divine disposition of Soul in them they are no more fit to receive the Body of Christ than Judas that Betrayed him or Pilate that Condemned him or the Jews that Mock'd him or the Souldier that stuck a Spear into his Side And if he goes to the Holy Sacrament while he goes on still in his wickedness he doth but take a large step towards his own destruction Such a one despiseth the Sufferings of the Son of God tramples the Blood of the Covenant under his feet and accounteth it an Vnholy Thing as if it were a refreshment for a Beast and he is like one that brings a Swine into the Sanctuary to feed upon the Bread of Eternal Life Therefore before we Celebrate so Great a Mystery we are to enter into the strictest Engagements to bind our Souls with the most serious Vows and to set up very strong and powerful Resolutions of Amendment lest in making too great haste to so Divine and Solemn an Ordinance we make haste to Perish and to be Undone For nothing makes us capable without Repentance from dead Works as * Justin Mart. Apol. 2. Justin Martyr said The food at the Eucharist is not lawful to be received but by such as believe the Doctrines of Christianity to be true and have been wash'd in the Laver of Regeneration and lead their Lives according to Christ's Prescriptions * Habentem adhuc voluntatem peccandi gravari magis dico Eucharistiae perceptione quam purificari S. Aug. de Eccles Dogmat. c. 53. And he that approacheth to the Lords Table with a Design and Purpose to Sin on still instead of being refreshed and purified by receiving is the more heavily Laden and receives a Cup of Bitterness instead of a Salutary Cordial Here a Question may arise whether it be Lawful for one to Communicate upon serious Vows and Resolutions only That is before he has tryed the strength and efficacy of them For it is possible for a Man who has led a dissolute Life to be through the piercing Power of the Word of God struck so on a sudden into the Sense of his Guilt and Danger as to resolve and undertake presently to forsake his Impieties And perhaps too his outward circumstances may be such that if he misseth the opportunity he hath now before him he may be in a very great danger of not meeting with another In which particular case I know no Reason sufficient to debar him from the use of this Ordinance which effectually gives the Benefits of our Saviour's Passion to every true Penitent as our Saviour himself gave them to that Thief upon the Cross who was Converted in a moment Indeed where Men seem not to be straitned in their circumstances but have probably time before them to make some Experiment of their Resolutions it is very expedient for them to betake themselves to their Retirements to weep bitterly to observe what ground they are able to gain of their Habitual Vices what Victory they get over their own Hearts by suitable Acts of Mortification and Self-denyal which are necessary to be undertaken for the eradicating of inveterate Habits By these means they will afterwards come to the Blessed Sacrament with better advantage because with more Comfort with more Confidence and Peace of Mind than such as have not made any Tryal of the firmness and
stedfastness of their Vows and Resolutions And yet I do not know but even these may come with Safety especially if as I said they find themselves straitned in their Circumstances and verily believe their Resolution to be sincere in it self and such as will be productive of Good Fruits For all perseverance doth suppose a Beginning and a continued State of Repentance is founded upon some foregoing Acts and the very first act of Repentance begins and works in the Mind so that if that be sincere and genuine there is no doubt but 't is very acceptable with God But because the proof of this Sincerity depends upon Experience and 't is no easie thing to skip in an instant from a course of Immorality to a Life of Holiness 't is necessary for Men to use all possible means to approve themselves to God and their own Consciences before they presume to Eat of this Bread and to Drink of this Wine And so much shall suffice to be spoken of Repentance from such Sins as are habitual 2. THE other sorts of Wilful Sins I call Occasional because they are not a setled Trade but the contingent Effects of some emergent and occasional Temptation which a foolish and negligent Wretch doth not exert his Strength and Courage to overcome nor perhaps endeavours to resist by Reason of some base advantages which are offer'd him upon his Wicked Compliance A Man whose Life is unblameable in respect of its usual tenour and course may fall in some single instances and that deliberately witness King David whom the Scripture gives a great Character of as to the main and yet we know how miserably he Sinned first in the Case of Bathsheba whose Embraces he longed after so passionately though he knew the thing to have been most plainly forbidden by the express Law of God And then in the Case of her Husband Vriah a faithful Subject that had so merited of him by the most Eminent Services and yet nothing would satisfie David at last but Vriah's Ruine an horrible Sin against another express Law of God and to aggravate it a Sin which he brought about after the basest manner by Dissimulation Hypocrisie Perfidiousness and in cold Blood too and with all the Deliberation that usually attends such Politick but Barbarous Artifices I call these Wilful occasional Wickednesses because they were done with his Consent and he became voluntarily Guilty of them upon some special Emergencies And of the same Nature are those Wickednesses which are acted by Persons who are in other instances Men of a fair Reputation and of tolerably good Consciences and yet for some Carnal or Worldly ends do basely yield themselves up by occasion of some Occurrences to commit such Iniquities as make the World to ring and all but themselves to be asham'd of QVESTIONLESS such Sins as these are both for the Matter and Form of them of a very Criminal Nature and a very deep Die and therefore stand in need of a very deep Repentance if God peradventure shall grant it for the recovery of such Men out of the Snare of the Devil For such Impieties as these though but occasional ones do strangely waste and make havock of the Conscience make the Heart callous and crusty are vocal and obstreperous crying aloud to Heaven for Vengeance Grieve the Good Spirit of God and if not throughly and timely retracted by degrees quench him they are horribly Scandalous to Religion Injuririous to the Interests of Mankind and because they are done deliberately and of set purpose are very high Affronts and Contumelies to God himself Nor will it mend the matter to pretend that they do these things with a great deal of reluctancy for it cannot be otherwise if Men have any Sense of God and of their Duty and have any thing of Conscience left them that is not quite seared and past feeling Conscience will recoil though it be never so smother'd or drown'd and the Sin the greater still because acted against Conscience the resistance of Conscience argues the opposition against it to be the stronger and the more violent and consequently renders the act it self the more Malicious and Deadly THEREFORE before such Men presume to go to the Blessed Sacrament it vastly concerns them to make their Peace with God with their own Consciences and with the World too by a pungent and proportionable Repentance For without this their case is equally as bad and dangerous as the most habitual Offenders Repentance from dead works being equally prescribed unto all Nor will it be so much consider'd in the dreadful day of Judgment who Sinn'd oftnest for if a Man be an hardned Wretch let his Sins be many or few Habitual or Occasional his Impenitence must necessarily throw him into a place of Everlasting Torments NOW that Repentance for these occasional Wickednesses may be adequate and full it must have as I conceive these following Qualifications with which I shall conclude this Subject 1. It must be as speedy as 't is possible For if notwithstanding the inward motions of God's Spirit and the importunities of a Man 's own Conscience he puts his Repentance off what is this but a plain Approbation of what he did Which approbation continuing the Sin becomes Habitual though it was a single act and though you suppose it to have been the first and only Sin of his whole Life though it be not repeated yet not being Repented of it is Belov'd which is the same thing in God's Account as if it were acted over and over again For which Reason it cometh to pass by the just Judgment of God that one Occasional Wickedness Unrepented of doth sometimes by degrees and delay harden the Heart strangely and emboldens the Man to go on so that having once Violated his Conscience presumptuously he sticks not to violate and wound it still And thus one Wickedness draws on another God delivering him up to himself for his first Presumption and subsequent Impenitence the Wretch runs on headlong till his Conscience proves Deaf and his Case becomes very deplorable like some obstinate Fools that having made but one false step pursue their Error and trudge forward through thick and thin having not the Heart to retreat though there be a fatal Precipice before them And thus the Man breaks his Neck in the end and falls into Ruine which at first he did not foresee or suspect and all by means of one Occasional Wickedness not retracted not Repented of in time 2. This Repentance ought to be not only speedy but also vigorous extensive and commensurate to the Sin For as it was presumptuous in the Commission so in respect of its circumstances and manifold Enormity it may be exceeding sinful Perhaps it was acted by one whose Place Office and Dignity renders it the more open the more foul and the more Infectious Perhaps it was a Complicated Sin against God and against Men too an Act of Impiety and of Injustice and Oppression Perhaps it was highly
our Vices and Lusts but must be rather Encouragements to all manner of Sin and Wickedness it being such a strong Temptation to Men to run presently upon a new Score after the Sacrament is over when they believe that all their accounts may be wiped out by those mean and easie methods which reach not the Heart nor meddle with Lusts but let all manner of inward impurities alone though those be the great things which God is angry at EXTERNAL Penance is one thing but the Repentance of the Heart and the Mortification of the Spirit is another and a far different Matter and that which infinitely more deserves our strictest regard for it is the Original of a Divine Temper and of a Life that is truly Christian And I have been the more Copious in Discoursing upon it not only because it is a necessary Preparative to this Heavenly Mystery but also because it is the great business of our whole Life 't is the root of all Religion out of which spring all those particular and various branches of Godliness Righteousness and Sobriety which together make up the whole Duty of Man and are the Genuine and Salutary Fruits of Repentance CHAP. VIII Of Charity I PROCEED next to the Subject of Charity for that is another necessary Preparative it being impossible for Men rightly to Celebrate the memoria◠of Gods infinite Love to Them or to answer the Love of God in any due measure unless their own Souls be inflamed with an Unfeigned and Universal Love to those for whom Christ dyed It is the Apostles own inference 1 Joh. 4. 11. Beloved if God so Loved us we ought also to Love one another In Discoursing upon this Point I am to speak 1. Of the Nature 2. Of the Exercise of Charity 1. AS to its Nature Charity is a Virtue of vast Extent and Latitude so that St. Paul calls it the fulfilling of the Law Rom. 13. Tho' the vulgar sort are apt to restrain it to Alms-deeds yet that is but one Branch of Charity nay when 't is done out of Ostentation and for Popular applause it loseth the Reward and deserves not the very Name of Charity as we find by the Apostle where he tells us that though I bestow all my goods to feed the Poor yet if I have not Charity it profiteth me nothing 1 Cor. 13. In which Chapter we have a large description of Charity that it suffereth long and is kind that it Enviet not that it vaunteth not it self that it is not puffed up that it behaveth not it self unseemly that it seeketh not her own that it is not easily provoked that it thinketh no evil that it rejoyceth not in iniquity but rejoyceth in the Truth that it beareth all Things believeth all Things hopeth all Things endureth all Things By which several Expressions is meant that true Charity hath such an Universal influence upon a Man's Mind that it creates in him an entire Goodness and Loveliness of Nature and restrains him from every thing that is either inhumane or injurious or unbecoming the temper of one that professeth himself a Disciple of the Meek Humble and Beneficent Jesus Therefore before you go to the Lord's Table you should examine and look into your Temper and endeavour to rectifie it wherever any crookedness appears wherever it crosseth the Christian Law wherever it swerves from that Divine Nature and Spirit which was in the great Exemplar of Charity People that are impatient of every little provocation that are rough uncompassionate insensible of other Men's Miseries that begrudge any good which the providence of God casteth into their Neighbour's bosome that out of a Towring and Lofty Conceit of their own Merits look contemptuously and spightfully down upon their Brethren that are intractable disorderly and pursue only their own private satisfaction that are full of rancour and malice that employ their minds upon wicked and mischievous Contrivances that take pleasure in the Sins or Frailties of others that instead of covering and concealing them spread the infamy of them abroad and proclaim them as it were from the House top that are prone to believe any thing that is Evil of those they have no kindness for to judge the worst of them to turn every thing they do to a hard Construction and to treat them so as if they were no other than Reprobates and Cast-aways People I say of this harsh and sower disposition should new-mould their Tempers before they come to the Supper of the Lamb which was Meek Innocent and Spotless and which readily offer'd up himself a Sacrifice and Atonement for the Crimes of the whole World Purge out therefore the old Leaven saith the Apostle that ye may be a new Lump for even Christ our Passeover is Sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the Feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of Malice and Wickedness but with the unleavened Bread of Purity and Truth 1 Cor. 5. 7 8. But there are two special acts of Charity which I am more particularly to speak of because there are at this Solemnity some Special Reasons for them some special Considerations to stir us up to the exercise of them and to single them out particularly from the rest and they are 1. Liberality to the Poor 2. Fraternal Forgiveness 1. FOR Liberality to the Poor * Gyrald Syndagm c. 17. Alex. ab Alex. lib. 4. c. 17. multi alii The Old Heathens themselves especially the Greeks were wont at their Sacrifical Banquets to remember their absent Friends and to send them portions of the Sacrifices †Justin Martyr Apol. 2. The like Custom was in the Christian Churches as Justin Martyr tells us in the very next Age to the Apostles of sending some of the Consecrated Bread and Wine to such Christians as were absent which makes me still believe that the Primitive Christians look'd upon this Sacred Solemnity as Analagous to those Sacrifical Feasts which had been used all the World over In this there seems to be a great difference that among the Pagans distribution was made to their Friends and Relations only whereas the Charity of Christ's Disciples was not limited but extended unto all that were necessitous though they were more especially regarded who were of the Houshold of Faith THIS kind of Charity to our Fellow-Creatures God who extendeth his Mercies to all his works hath still required of Mankind and more abundantly since he hath sent his Son to us which was the most Eminent instance of his own sincere Love and Goodness to the whole World How many Commands do we find in the New Testament to be Merciful as our Heavenly Father is Merciful to lay up our Treasures in Heaven to do Good to be ready to give to be glad to distribute to be Rich in good works and the like But at the Blessed Eucharist we are more especially concern'd to be mindful of this matter because there are more especial Considerations to excite us to it
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
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