that Mr H s is cleare beside the scope when he will have the feast there to be solemnized at the Lords Table belike because Luke calleth it a Supper so wise a man he is and so rationall a schollar in divine matters for he will have the invitation be as generall come ye all to the Lords Table But now he will contradict himselfe and speake against his owne experience He invites all and admits all to the Lords Table and who refuseth to Come But there the bulke of the Jewes mane light of the feast and their invitation to it and went their way they all with one Consent saith Luke made their excuse they had matters of more Concernment as they thought than that feast We read also how despitefully they used the servant sent to Call them in It is certainly the feast of the Gospell that meets with such opposition and as certaine it is That none of us Gentiles will Come-in to This feast neither to receive Christ there till we see need of Him and that He hath no need of us for we are in our owne eyeâ— being Convinced thereof by the Word and Spirit poore maimed halt and blind or if Luke 14. 21. Revel 3. 17. you please wretched miserable and naked being Convinced that such we are In we come then and not till then before thus Convinced Thus we stand out contradicting and Blaspheming and dealing as despitefully with the Lords Messengers now as once they did But you finde it not to be so with the Guests you invite to the Lords Table who refuseth to Come or who deales despitefully with you inviting them to Come we can name hundreds of those we thinke thousands who deale despitefully with the Lords Messengers that will not suffer them to Come to the Lords Table while they Contradict and blaspheme Christ offered them in the Gospell And so having cleared our way the sense and scope of this Parable we argue from it against this free admission to the Lords Table That they who turne their backes upon Christ offered to them in the Ministery of the Gospell must not be admitted to Communion at the Lords Table We take this to be so cleare to every one that hath not put out his owne eyes nor is blinded with light that to argue it further were to hold a Candle before the Sunne Yet this more we will say They that tread His most precious blood underfoote tendered unto them in the Gospell will deale with Him as swine like offered unto them at His Table not possible they should reject Him at one place and receive Him at another They goe from the place of hearing full of themselves they goe as full to the place of receiving Then it must needs follow that they loath the honey-Comb they trample it under-foote Prov. 27. as in the one place so in th' other You will say how doe we know that we are to hope well of all men they come to the place of heareing We answer you to that in anothers words to one that said he kept his Church so may your dogge too Yea but we heare so may your dogge too a sound Truely Sir this is not our English though yet we allow it knowing it to be a truth Alas Sir you know they were in the hearing place and they were hearing while they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulders and stopped their eares that they should not heare Yea they made c. Zach. 7 11. 12 They did not shutt the eare against audience but they did shutt the heart against Obedience hearing in Scripture account is obeying is beleiving if we obey not what we heare we are not said to heare as you know it is clearely made out to us from John 5. 37. 8. 47. by our Lords owne testimony And truely Sir you must if there be a must to doe your duty examine your people at this point whether they have through their eares received Christ into their hearts before you admitt them to the Lords Table But we may Contribute more to this hereafter onely this we have cleared in the 1 place against this your free admission to the Lords Table That they and they are the Greatest number must not have admittance thither that have refused Christ yea rejected Him in the Ministery of the Gospell for why should those tremenda mysteria be so prophaned why should those be be dealt with swine-like by swinish men worse than if trampled under-foote in the face of the Congregation SECT II. WE argue from the Covenant of Grace and mercy by Jesus Christ that He will be a God and a Father unto us very gracious for His Son's sake And that we may argue it more Clearely we should give our minds to Consider That there is an height and depth and length and breadth of grace love and mercy in this Covenant of God with us It is that which the Saints have laid up to use excellent Preston's words whereby he yet speaketh for the foundation of all their Comforts It hath been the Corner Stone upon which the Saints have been built from the beginning of the world to this day There is no ground we have to beleive we shall be saved no ground to beleive any promise of God shall be made good unto us that we shall have the price of the high Calling of God in Jesus Christ and those Glorious riches of the inheritance prepared for us in Him we say there is do ground at all but on this Covenant All that our Ministers teach us from day to day are but Conclusions of this Covenant they are built upon this God hath made a Covenant with us in Christ and we are in Covenant with Him He is our God in Christ and we His people through Him and have accesse to Him by one Spirit Now hence we argue THEY THAT ARE whoâ—y ignorant of all this and will be so turning their backes upon the meanes of Gods appointment whereby to make knowne this Covenant to the Children of Men and say in their heart the language whereof the Scripture speaketh We have made a Covenant with Hell and with death are we at an agreement these manner of persons thus sottish and brutish as we have heard have nothing to doe with the Seales thereof But thus sottish and brutishly ignorant are they for whome no other plea can be made for their admission to the Lords Table but that they were borne in England and Baptized there This therefore is our faith as to this point of admission That it is the duty of every faithfull Minister of Christ well and throughly to examine their people what knowledge they have of this Covenant at least what breathings they have after it and to make out their interest to it in the conscionable use of the meanes appointed by God for that Glorious end before they Give admission to the Lords Table or Bring their Children to Baptisme In our Earthly matters as Conveyances
Counsell if it had been taken well But it was very ill taken for when Hezekiah sent the posts from Citie to Citie through the Countrey of Ephraim and Manasseh with this Message That he would have a reformation according to the first institution or patterne and would not have them doe as their immediate forefathers had done It is said verse 10th That they laughed the Messengers to scorne and mocked them What! may we not doe as our Fathers have done must we now be wiser than they Yes saith he you must be wiser than they and you must doe better than they else you will shew your selves arrand fooles and utterly undoe your selves for your fathers were stiff-necked and did not yeild themselves to the Lord to serve Him and to doe as He bad them But they would doe as pleased them and was good in their owne eyes and so brought all this evill upon themselves You must not doe as they did for then you must suffer as they did whom God gave up to desolation as you see Now read how these words wrought with some of them not a few the Lord by His Spirit setting them home vers 11. There was a Reformation in those matters and things must be done according to their first institution We hope it will teach you very much in point of admission to the Lords Table And yet to set home your lesson and to helpe you in your choice of fit Guests for the Lords Table Take in the last place an example from Ezra Who would have none to joyne with him in the Passeover But such onely as had seperated themselves from the filthinesse of the Heathen and joyned themselves to Gods people to seeke the Lord God of Israell Ezra 6. 21. So much to your fourth objection You have yet more to say to justifie your Doings SECT V. THat you see not why you should exclude any from the Lords Table because how know you whether they may God is the onely â—â—wgâ—ver and we must receive the Law from His mouth He that will please God must shut all his own Imaginations out of dooâ—es and have nothing to doe with thâ—m We never dishonour God more than when we take upâ—n uâ—â—o serve Him oâ—r own way and leaving His rule make a rule for our selves Mr. C on Job 23. p. 405. Ab extra ordinario ad ordinarium non valet argumentum not be converted there It is you know Mr H s conceite and we know you have said no lesse To this we say That you give us but your word for this but give us one word from your God and we will give you one of our eyes Then search againe for another word to prove that this sealing ordinance is converting and give it us and we will give you the other eye so for two Scriptures you shall have two eyes deare though they are to us yet not so deare as the truth the least jóta whereof is of more account with our God and so with His good people than are the visible heavens and the earth Therefore Sir Mr H s we would rather mention his name than yours so much we favour you shall not put out our eyes with his conceits now that he hath put out his owne by his sensuality He shall not abuse us as he doth the Scripture shamefully after his manner touching the Centurions Conversion by seeing Christ onely upon the Crosse It was as miâ—aculous and extraordinary as was the Renting of the vaile and rockes and opening of the Graves And he is as well able to prove That when he last administred this ordinance he raised dead bodies out of the Graves as that he raised dead soules by his administring to them the Bread and the Wine which yet is the thing he is to prove That Conversion which is the raising of the soule from its grave is wrought in this way we meane by giving out this ordinance It is true The people will speake Highly of it That they never found the Word of Gods grace so prevailing with them as was that they heard delivered to them at the graves mouth and at the Lords Table But he that cannot see that this is a meere delusion and devise of Satan and our owne heart which is blind and cannot see a farre-off and will make us beleive a lye That God will step out of His way and worke extraordinarily for us while we neglect and turne our backs upon the ordinary meanes He hath appointed for the turning the heart unto Him We shall speake more to this in another place for the present we say onely thus That this tenet That Sacraments doe convert senteth strongly of Poperie and is most unsavoury and loathsome to every good mans heart being assured That That the â—ord preached is the great Appointment of God to bring Christ and the soule together never to be parted againe Preaching is the Chariot that Carrieth Christ up and downe the world here is Christ for you who sanctifieth Himselfe for your sakes That He might doe for you and in you all that was to be done and to suffer all that was to be suffered for the satisfying of His Fathers justice and the Compleating of an everlasting Righteousnesse That ye might be Compleate in Him and wholy sanctified through the Truth and throughly furnished to every good worke Then preaching Christ Crucified is the Appointment of God for the salvation of soules so many Scriptures give-in their evidence that we know not how many The dead shall heare John 5. â—5 the voyce of the Son of God in the preaching of the Gospel and they that heare that is beleive and obey shall live Other sheepe I have He meanes us Gentiles them also I must bring belonging Jâ—hn 10. 16. Eph. 5. 14. John 17. â—0 2 Tim 1. 10. 1 Coâ— 18. 21. 23. 2. 14. to the Election of Grace but how wilt thou bring them Lord Thou art in Heaven and they on Earth they shall heare my voice The preaching which Christ bids His Ministers preach is no other but Christs voice which bids the sleeper awake and arise from the dead It is that whereby the Spirit workes faith in the soule it is that whereby life and immortalitie is brought to light through the Gospell All the Angells in Heaven cannot convert one sinner it is not their office or appointment from God But the word preached which the wisdome of the world counts foolishnesse converteth all that are converted being that great Appointment of God for that end It is just so with us now dry bones when Conversion is wrought as once it was And as I prophesied there was a noise and behold a shaking Ezek. 37. 7. 10 breath came into them and they lived and stood up upon their feete an exceeding great Army As then so now and to the end of the world life and immortalitie is brought to light into our soules by the Gospell It is the Chariot of Christ of
vile and debauched that he is more like a Devill than a Disciple then admit him not but excommunicate him Cast him out We cannot thank the man for his remedie It is not worth so much if he had been serious therein which we think he was not being against his own principles for whether shall we cast him unles into the same place Mâ— Hs. deserves to be himselfe cast and it is his lightest punishment for indeed he hath offended the Lords little ones every Math. 18. 6. one of them we thought till we thought of you into the Sea with a mill-stone about his necke for all the dry Land is a Church as you so well know and can make full proofe In the next place SECT III. 3. WE would say in Allusion to excellent Calvin's words Si dimidio Christi convuti effemus if we could be content with half a Christ our work would quickly be at an end and we should agree So if we could be content with an halfe Reformation which will content the Godly party as the halfe of her deare Child the deare mother ye do not bid us the halfe no nor the least part or peice of Reformation for making no separation from the world at the Lords Table where or when will ye seperate All one at the Lords Table and every where one The world and you cannot be two while professedly one at the Lords Table We will take leave to set downe excellent Burroughs his words we have read or heard upon this subject Whensoever you receive the Communion with any Company Reade Master Palmer p. 100. you doe Confesse your selfe to be of the same body with that Company I must professe that I doe beleeve my selfe to be of the same Body that this drunkard is off this Idolater this covetous person is off this whore-master this swearer is off joyning with them to eate Bread at the Lords Table where these uncleane ones must needs be where all are admitted to be professing nothing against them nor taking any Course at all with them for the exclusion of them or purging of them-out Allowance of a thing done is as good as a Commission for the doeing of it Therefore it concernes us very much to looke unto it That it be an holy Communion we receive the bread and wine-in In the last place SECT IV. 4. WE would adde this That we are as unable to keepe silence Inveniar sanè superbus avarus omnium vitiorum reus modo impij silenâ—ij non arguar dum dominus â—atitur as we are to speake as the Learned doe observing the ordinance of our dearest Lord and Saviour so prophaned His owne order in His owne house whereof He is so tender so blasphemed and by those who should be most observant thereof His stewards there We professe we wish our eyes fountaines of teares and that our hearts could melt like wax and our Luth ep ad Staupitium bowells yearne upon these stewards in Gods house who admitt all to his Table come who will all are welcome Surely if they repent not of these horrid doings the Master of the house and Lord of the Table will rise-up against these stewards as once He did in Mount Perazim He will be wroth with them as in Mount Gibeon for by their meanes it is that a brutish sottish people admitted by them to eate and drinke at the Lords Table doe eate and drinke their owne damnation encreasing their guilt there and hardning themselves to their utter ruine and everlasting destruction And is this nothing Nothing saith Mr H s for which some other will deale with him assuredly and bray him in a morter that his folly may depart from him who saith in effect though not in terminis It is nothing to eate and drinke damnation to our selves as all must doe who eate and drinke unworthily upon account onely of Infant Baptism For by Comming or rashly like naturall bruite beasts rushing to the Lords Table before the word of life hath brought life to their soules they eate and drinke judgement to themselves and have put themselves into an utter incapacity or impossibility ever to be wrought upon thereby we meane as to the strength and power of ordinary meanes That worke on other men for their Conversion who have not willfully perverted the holy order of the Lord which He hath prescribed nor presumptuously passed over the ordinary meanes of Conversion They have hard hearts that doe not melt into teares beholding a poore sottish people encreasing their guilt every day and more and more hardning themselves to their eternall ruine Therefore for our deare Lords and Christs sake whose Body and Blood we cannot see with patience thus prostituted to dogges and swine for His Churches and Truths sake the onely two dearely beloved and regarded in the whole world for Soules sake purchased at so deare a rate which argues the pretiousnesse of them for your owne sakes whose foot stands fixed in Mr Hâ— way his owne a way of sin and death have we spoken hitherto and shall speake in these matters before us as we have beleived And as the Church of Christ hath practised in all times and ages though not with that freedome and blessed libertie as by the abundant riches of Gods goodnesse now they can doe for which liberty they blesse God night and day who hath so changed the times Time was and it was a sad time with all the godly Ministers and people all over the Land when there was no barre to keepe any from the Lords Table but one which superstition made And was it a just Greife to borrow Mr Sanders words then that there was no barre And is it your worke now to remove the Barres yea the Lords and his Churches antient Land-markes and lay all Common The Lord God of gods lookes upon this and will require it Therefore in our tenderest respects unto you we would Caution you in our entrance to this Treatise for with that or the like unto it we meane to end this of all murther take heed of Soules De Eccles lib. 2. murther your owne or others It is Salvians Caution It is true your people will be very wroth with you if you will not murther them let them eate and drinke damnation to themselves The most cruell bloody murther though Mr H s will not beleive it to suffer persons one or more to poison themselves with the Sacrament which workes strongly and kills presently as poison mixed with the strongest wine will doe Vineger you have read 't is filius vini and the sweetest wine degenerates into the sharpest * Gospel Coâ—dials to a fowle heart are thâ— deadliest pâ—yson Mr. Foâ—d Sp. Ad. 470. vineger As there are more liberall doles of Grace in time of the Gospell and specially given forth at the Lords Table to the worthy receivers So are there the largest violls of wrath there also given forth to eate and drinke downe by the unworthy
many hundred to the Sacrament yet I administer it to none that I know to be unbeleivers nay nor that I judge not probably or hopefully beleivers In another booke thus he saith for my Aph. App. 108. selfe I doe administer the Sacrament to none that doe not solemnly professe their assent to every fundamentall Article of faith expressely mentioned to them and their Consent that Christ shall their Lord and Saviour and that they will faithfully and syncerely obey His Scripture Lawes Can a man speak more fully to the point against free admission Truely he might be numbred among the men of the Congregationall way but that it would not be for his honour And yet he may thanke himselfe for that for he indeed hath numbred those holy ones amongst the uncircumcised ones those sons and daughters of Belial And dealt little lesse unmercifully with them than did the persecutors in old time deale with the faithfull witnesses of Christ they put them into beasts skins that so the dogges might hurry them to death But let that passe which we hope he will not passe without Repentance not making a difference he speakes well for the way we wish he walkes with a right foote in it though it is as much above us to reconcile him to himselfe as a Mountainâ— is above a Mole-hill and possible so others may finde it also Heaâ—e â—im what he saith in a third booke You remember when you called R 4. 52. me to be your Teacher You promised me under your hands that you would faithfully and conscientiously endeavour the receiving every truth obeying every command which I should from the word of God manifest unto you I now Charge your promise upon you he goes on bending to his highest end everlasting rest We borrow his words doing him or them no wrong we hope bending to our scope There is not a more apparent Truth than that the Table of the Lord should not be polluted nor a more apparent duty that the Stewards in Gods house should look to it that doggs swine be not admitted to Come thither The sacred Scripture speaks clearely out to this And we thinke if a Child should shew us Scriptures and speake to us the word of God we should not dare to disobey it We might goe on in his words But we passe them taking this onely from them to justifie the Ministers in the Congregationall way for proposing a Covenant to their people So it seemes Mr B. did doe We mention it not as if the Ministers of Christ have no better â—arrant than his example they take their warrant as we hope he doth from the Scriptures of God and example of all the Godly who can make out their interest in the Covenant of Gods grace with them by Jesus Christ and now enter into Covenant one with another to walke together as fellow-helpers of the truth in the fellowship of the Gospell according to the rule thereof with full consent of minde and heart to promote the prosperity of the same and the Interest of Christ in their soules and through the Nation And they that sticke at this and are strangers to it and will be so doe as is to be feared sticke as much at the Covenant of God to give up themselves in full obedience to it and to Him who is the Mediator of it We have seene Mr Bs. manner with his people and surely it is Commendable and he hath a sure word for it That Minister and people They that owne him for their Minister should walke together in a Gospell-way by a Gospell rule full-up in desire and endeavour to That Covenant Jehojada made between him and all the people that they should be 2 Chron. 28. the Lords people O it is good to be the same we professe to be the Lords and to make cleare proofe that we are His by our circumspect walking watching over each other in our way rendring an account of our way when required so to doe â—eareing each others burthen supplying each others wants pertaking of each others graces doing all things as becometh a Communion of Saints alwayes doing or receiving good O it is good to stand bound with these Cords bonds and engagements of God upon our Spirits we are the Lords people He hath taken us into Covenant with Himselfe In desire and endeavour we will walke as becometh a people in Covenant with their God and one with another Certainly nothing is done decently and in order where this Covenant is not or where it is and is not stood unto there is a Confusion and every evill worke The way of the world right of a Nationall Church there whose way is as broad as the Nation is and puts them that walke in it to no Cost none at all therein they may walke with all their uncleannesses upon them onely they must put themselves into a Comely dresse against the next Communion day as is becoming Beleivers Disciples and Saints who say they are such and their word must be taken having no other testimony of their goodnesse but from themselves and others like themselves or from the mistaken Charity of the Godly if it be possible for Charity it selfe to be mistaken in those who have no other plea for their Christianitie but that they were baptized But now the way of Christ with His people in Covenant with Him and in fellowship one with another is a straight and narrow way it pincheth the flesh still yea it is still storming of it And the orders therein prescribed His followers are so selfe-denying so holy and so heavenly as few that hold for a Nationall Church will arise to the obedience of them which made some prophane Men professe they were of a Nationall Church sure enough when the reformation began in Luther's time That they would rather live under the government of the Turk than where all things should be ordered according to the word of God We thought fitt to adde this thereby to justifie the Brethren of the Congregationall way in Gospell fellowship one with another and in desire and endeavour keeping close to the Covenant of their God taking the hint of it from Mr Bs manner with his people To the close of this Chapter we crave leave to adde a very good man's jealousie Godly we beleive it to be as he himselfe is We thinke our brethren goe beyond their warrant while they take Saints of the first magnitude onely into fellowship God hath a people of all sizes there is the same holinesse but not the same degree of true holinesse in all Beleivers We make bold to tell our perswasion as to this godly jealousie in this matter which may passe as farre as his heare-say whereupon he grounds we thinke what he saith which we in favour of his pietie and goodnesse doe call His jealousie and allow it to be godly That the Brethren of the Congregationall way who walke with a right foote therein are as deare Children ought to
will and as often as you will at the Lords Table and the reason of this is because thereby their lusts are fattened and cherished 2. Therefore Sir presse upon your people the necessitie of heareing and observe them well at their coming to That place and as narrowly their sitting and attending there And having done this doe not thinke you have done all your duty or more than the least part of it They may give you the eare while they give the flesh the world and the Devill their heart You know and you must teach them to know it It is easier to heare an hundred Sermons than to practise one Therefore let them know you will deale with them apart and alone you will single them out of the throng of the world or National Church and out of the crowd of the Common hearers before you admitt them to eate and drinke at the Lords Table They shall give you a perticular account of what they have gained by all their heareing This was the practise of the Lord Christ when He was upon the Earth He spake alone and apart with His Disciples And indeed the Lords people love to be so dealt withall alone and apart from the throng and tumult of the world or a Nationall Church there The Spouse of Christ is modest and will not come to Thee in the throng of worldly Company and employment saith Bernard Come my Beloved saith the Spouse let us goe forth Cant. 7. 11. into the fields and lodge in the Villages Let us get from the Tumult of the world The Bridegroome of His Church loves to finde His Spouse alone retired into a Chamber And so must His Paranymphs too give the Church a meeting in some retired place 3. Now because this lyeth under so much obloquy we crave leave to speake a little to it in passage onely in this place we are not ignorant how this Assembling together of Gods people is reproached if not blasphemed thus At your private meetings errours and haeresies what not have been fomented brooded upon and hatched Truely this cannot be denied it is so cleare and evident The Father of lyes with his Children must have their meeting places too wherein to lay their heads together plotting and contriving we are not ignorant of his devises how they may mischiefe if not ruine for they levell to shoot so high the Church of Christ and build up their owne Babel But here is your Comfort they are Masters neither of the meanes nor of the end their endeavours are above their performances as their malice is above their witt which for that is it's doome drinkes-up the greatest part of its owne poison or like Gun-powder consumes it selfe in the flame it hath caused But should not this teach us to assemble our selves together as often as we can there to lay our heads together and contrive the most Compendious way of building-up the Church of Christ and our selves therein the most contemptible parcells thereof O it is good to be plotting for the Church and for the Truth for this is to be plotting for eternity O that all would meete together here and there and every where there to plott how to avoyd Satans plotts Let it be our awakening that Satan is plotting And that our time is short opportunity the flower of time shorter our talents are many our accounts strict our Judge Impartiall O let us not forsake the Assembling our selves together as the manner of some is Having taken off as we could we intend more hereafter that reproach wherewith the enemies of the Lord have reproached the foote-steps of His annointed-ones we proceed to put it upon your thoughts whether it be not your duty to give a meeting to your people in a private place there and then to learne from them what they have gained by all their heareings what a worke is wrought in them or upon them by the word of His grace with power It is not what shew they make in words what doe they that you may beleive them or how humbly doe they speake so as you may conceive hope there is sincerity at the bottome a sparke of fire for there is smoake a little strength though but as much as a reed hath it is in the gaineing hand O how would he and desireous is he in the use of meanes to gaine more Indeed it will be worth your labour to take time and place for the searching out of this You must find-out their desire after the syncere milke of the Word by their growth thereby 1 Pet. 2. It is a Common saying amongst us shew me not the meate but the man So saith the great Shepheard to His sheepe and sheweth what His under-Shepheards should say to them too Not shew me the hay that I have given you but the wooll and the milke that is shew me the fruits and effects of all your heareing What supernaturall worke can you tell us off Is the life of Grace put into the heart by the Spirits working together with the meanes thereof the word of His grace Is there a thorow change not of the actions onely but of the Nature wrought in them The Spirit with the Word changeth the inward man with the outward it changeth the whole frame of the soule it is no halfe-change for that is to be halfe a Christian or allmost which is to be an Infidell indeed It is no light alteration but as the old stamp these are excellent Preston's words one of the usefullest Preachers in His time that was in the world must be obliterate before the new can be imprinted and as the old building must be pulled downe before you can set up a new So this old nature of ours must be broken to peices and new cast and moulded for we are bell-mettle before a man can be made a living man which is done by the infusion of Supernaturall qualities of Grace and holinesse supernaturall he saith for even as the earth may bring forth grasse and common flowers of it selfe but it must be plowed and sowne before any choice herbs and plants can grow there even so those common natures which we all have may bring out things that are morally good but before they can bring forth fruits of true righteousnesse we must be plowed and sowen plowed that is man must be broken in heart for all his animosities and indignities put forth when time was against Christ and the Gospell of His Glory for all those slightings of Spirit he found in himselfe of those glories tendred to him in the Covenant of Gods grace when he was full of himsele and wanting nothing and knew not his owne beggery and nothingnesse and want of all things broken in heart for all this Upon those heads Sir your examination must passe if you doe according to the manner of Gods people and a set time and place must be appointed for it If you cannot goe from house to house as Pauls manner was and Calvins also as