in thy house Ps 84.1 4 10. Then be carefull to discharge those duties which God there requireth of thee and they ordinarily are two 1. Prayer 2. Hearing the Word In prayer first look to the devotion of thy soul It must be the lifting up of the soul Psal 25.1 The powring out of the soul 1 Sam. 1.15 A strong crying Heb. 5.7 A wrastling with God Hos 12.4 Without this thy prayer will be but babbling Mat. 6.7 The howling of a dog or wolf Hos 7.14 A bell without a clapper A pile of wood without fire A bullet without powder A bird without wings A cloud without water A tinkling cymball The Jews writ this sentence also over the doors of their Synagogues and Oratories Prayer without intention is as the body without the soul Then in the next place look to the reverence of thy body God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the Saints and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him Psal 89.7 Uncover thy head The four and twenty Elders fell down before him that sate on the throne casting their crowns from their heads Rev. 4.10 Bend thy knee O come let us worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord our Maker Psal 95.6 The other duty is the hearing of the word read and preached which requires of us First attention Speak Lord for thy servant heareth 1 Sam. 3.10 Hearken O daughter and consider and incline thine eare Psal 45.10 I will hear what God the Lord will speak unto me Psal 85.8 The Lord opened the heart of Lydia that she attended unto the things that were spoken by Paul Acts 16.14 He that hath an eare let him heare what the Spirit saith unto the Churches Rev. 2.11 My sheep hear my voice John 10.27 And for this end we must consider it is The word of God 1 Thes 2.13 The word of Grace Act. 14.3 The word of truth John 17.17 The word of reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.19 The word of righteousness Heb. 5.13 The word of faih Rom. 10.8 The word of etenal life John 9.68 That it is Good seed Mark 4. Sincere milk 1. Pet. 2.2 Strong meat Heb. 5.14 That it is A wholsom word 2 Tim. 6.3 A lively word Heb. 4.12 A good word Heb. 6.5 That it is Better then thousands of gold and silver Psal 119.72 Sweeter then the hony and the hony comb Psal 19.10 And all this because it is that word which is able to save our souls Jam. 1.21 Secondly the hearing of the Word requires retention as well as attention Therefore ye shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul Deut. 11.18 Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee Psal 119.11 Mary kept all these sayings in her heart Luke 2.51 And lastly people must be here admonished not to depart from the Church till the Minister hath pronounced the blessing All the people departed every man to his house 1 Chron. 16.42 But it was after David had made an end of offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings and had blessed the people in the name of the Lord ver 2. Surely there is something in the blessing of the Minister Then the Priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people and their voice was heard and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place even unto heaven 2 Chron. 30.37 Leave not then thine Angel till he hath given thee a blessing AFTER CHURCH AND now being come home it is thy duty yet further 1. To meditate upon such things as have been taught thee His delight is in the Law of the Lord and in that Law doth he meditate day and night Psal 1.2 O how I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day Psal 119.97 I have more understanding then all my teachers for thy Testimonies are my Meditation vers 99. My meditation of him shal be sweet Ps 104.34 My heart was hot within me while I was musing the fire burned Psal 39.3 The beasts that chewed not the cud were unclean Secondly thou must praise God for so much of the means as he was pleased to afford thee that day Blessed be the God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things Ephes 1.3 As the liberty of his house The comfort of his Day The communion of his Saints The instruction of his Word The dispensation of his Sacraments The gifts of his Ministers Thirdly we must pray for a blessing upon the means of our salvation He only it is that can put his Law in our inward parts and write it in our hearts Jer. 31.33 Paul may plant and Apollos water but God gives the increase 1 Cor. 3.6 The excellency of the power is of God not of us 2 Cor. 4.7 Lastly teach it thy family You shall teach them your children talking of them when thou fittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way when thou liest down and when thou risest up Deut. 11.19 I know him that hee will command his children and his houshold after him to keep the way of the Lord to doe justice and judgment Jer. 18.16 I and my house will serve the Lord Josh 24.15 If thou doest thus sanctifie this Day of rest here thou shalt celebrate an everlasting rest and Sabbath hereafter All manner of persons within the Church of England shall from henceforth celebrate keep the Lords day commonly called Sunday and other holy days according to Gods holy wil and pleasure and the orders of the Church of England prescribed in that behalf that is in hearing the word of God read and taught in private and publick prayers in acknowledging their offences to God and amendment of the same in reconciling themselves charitably to their neighbours where displeasure hath been in oftentimes receiving the communion of the body bloud of Christ in visiting of the poore and sick using all good and sober conversation Canon 13. of those 1603. A short Evening Prayer for the Lords day O Most glorious God and in Jesus Christ my mercifull and loving Father I confesse and acknowledge those many weaknesses imperfections which have passed from me in the performance of the duties of this day I have called upon thee for the pardon and forgivenesse of my sins but so coldly and carelessy that my very prayers are become sins and stand in need of pardon I have heard thy holy Word but with such deadnesse distraction of spirit that I have been a very unprofitable and forgetfull hearer So that O Lord though I have done thy work yet I have done it so negligently that I may rather expect a curse then a blessing from thee But O God who art rich in mercy and plenteous in redemption mark not what amisse hath passed from me remember that I am but dust pardon and passe by all my sins negligences and ignorances look not upon the weaknesse of my
flesh but upon the willingness of my spirit and so cover all my imperfections with the perfect and absolute obedience of thy dear Son that those Sacrifices which I have offered up unto thee this day may be accepted in and for that sacrifice which Christ Jesus offered up upon the cross for me And as I desire that my sacrifices may be pleasing to thee so let thine ordinances be profitable to me And as thou hast this day sown my heart with the precious seed of thy Word so let neither the fowls of the air devour it nor the cares of the world choak it but let the gracious rain of thy blessing come often upon it that it may bring forth in mee the fruits of repentance and amendment of life And forasmuch as thy Word is an unvaluable inestimable treasure better then thousands of gold and silver sweeter also then the hony the hony comb blessed Lord God be pleased still to continue it to our Land and Nation let not our crying sins of unthankfulnesse impenitency hardness of heart unfruitfulnesse under so great means of grace cause thee to remove thy candlestick or to quench the light of our Israel Inlighten also with the beams of thy Gospel those nations which yet sit in darkness and in the shadow of death adde unto thy Church daily such as shal be saved that so these sinful days being shortned the number of thine elect accomplished we may celebrate that eternal rest and Sabbath of our souls with thee in thy Kingdome Blesse O Lord all the people of this land from the highest to the lowest our King Queen our Prince the rest of the roiall stock our Ministers and Magistrates thy whole Church and every member of it in what place or case soever and prosper all designs and enterprises that are undertaken for the advancement of the Gospel and the inlargement of thy Kingdome Finally O Lord as thou hast been good to me in the passages of this day refreshing my body with thy good creatures and my soul with the spirituall rest of this holy Day so continue thy goodness to mee this night receive me into the arms of thy providence cover me with the feathers of thy wings that I may lay me down in peace and take my rest that being awakened to the comforts of the next day my mouth may be filled with thy praises and I may doe thee service in the duties of that calling wherein thou hast placed disposed of me that so thy good blessing may be still upon me and thou maist never be weary to doe me good all this and what else thou knowest needfull and expedient for me I beg in the name merits mediation and words of thy Sonne Christ Jesus saying as he himself hath taught me Our Father which art in heaven c. Directions for the due receiving of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper WEE may not presume to come to the Lords Table without a due serious preparation That which is holy must not bee given to Dogges neither must pearls bee cast before swine Mat. 7.6 Josiah charged the Levites to prepare themselves and to pray for their brethren and so to kill the passeover 2 Chr. 35.4 6. The neglect of preparation is very dangerous After the sop Satan enters into Judas John 13.27 Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shal be guilty of the body and bloud of the Lord 1 Cor. 11.27 Hee that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation unto himself 1 Cor. 11.29 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep 1 Cor. 11.30 Now this preparation consists principally in five things The first is a self-examination Let a man examine himself and so let him eate of that bread and drink of that cup. 1 Cor. 11.28 The thing chiefly to be examined is sin 1. In thought The thoughts of our hearts are only evil and that continually Gen 6.5 Out of the heart proceed evill thoughts Mat. 15.19 2. In word Idle words I say unto you that of every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof at the day of judgement Mat. 12.36 Filthy and immodest words Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth Eph. 4.22 Angry and rash words As calling our borther Raca or Thou fool Mat. 5.29 False and untrue words as lies slanders defamations c. Whosoever loveth or maketh a lie is shut out of the new Jerusalem Rev. 22.15 Profane and impious words Against GOD oathes and blasphemies Let your communication be yea yea nay nay for whatsoever is more then these commeth of evil Mat. 5.37 Against our selves or others as curses imprecations c. As he loved cursing so let it come unto him As he clothed himself with cursing like as with a garment so let it come into his bowels like water and like oyle into his bones Psal 109.18.19 3. In deed This is either of Omission or Commission Both are pointed at in that sentence of the Apostle The good which I would do I doe not But the evill which I would not do that I do Rom. 7.19 Thus you have the thing to be examined Now the rule of this examination must be the Law of God For by the Law is the knowledg of sin Rom. 3.20 I had not known sin but by the Law Rom. 7.7 Hence it is that our Church which hath disposed all things wisely and sweetly in the Liturgy hath appointed the commandments to be read before the admimstration of this Sacrament that men might see their sins in the glasse of Gods Law The second thing required of a worthy receiver is Repentance and Contrition The Paschall Lambe was to be eaten with sowr herbs And Christ our Passeover must be received with a broken and a contrite spirit With a bitter soul With a weeping eye This bread must be eaten with the sweat of our brows i.e. our tears And I may say of the wine in this Sacrament as the Mother of Solomon said unto him Prov. 31.6 Give this wine unto such as bee of heavy hearts And though in the sense of our own unworthinesse we may cry out with Paul Who is fit for these things Yet we may comfort our selves with that of the Psalmist A broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise Ps 51. The third thing required of a Comunicant is Faith He must beleeve that Jesus Christ is the Messias and Saviour of the world He must beleeve that he was crucified shed his bloud He must beleeve that the merits of his crosse and passion are able to save sinners He must beleeve that these merits are conveyed to him in this Sacrament being rightly administred and duly received For what was bequeathed in the Testament is dispensed in the Sacraments This faith is the wedding garment he that intruded to the feast without it was bound hand foot and cast into utter darkness Mat.
and him that serveth him not Mal. 3.17 18. I confesse the wicked are sometimes punished in this world to assure us there is a God yet it is but sometimes to assure us there is a day of judgment Verily there is a reward for the righteous verily there is a God that judgeth the earth Psal 58.11 CAP. II. An Objection answered IT is certain that the soul so soon as it is separated from the body is presented to God and receives an irrevocable doome either of woe or weal. The rich man died and presently was in hell in torments the begger died and was immediately carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome Luke 16.22 23. So that it may be demanded What need is there of a general day of judgment seeing every man is judged at the day of his death Answ 1. Every man consists of a Soul and a Body The Soul is judged at the day of death the Body also at the day of judgment For as these two doe either sin together or serve God together so they shall either burn together or reign together Every man must receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 Yet because the Soul may and often doth sin or serve God without the Body it may in the state of separation be either punished or rewarded though the Body rest in the grave Answ 2. There must be a general Judgment for the manifestation of Gods Justice God disposes of every man at the day of his death that according to the rule of Justice yet that which he did in secret he will doe in the view of the whole world that so the generall Assembly of men and Angels may give this testimony and applause of his just proceedings Righteous art thou O Lord and righteous are thy judgments Psal 119.137 Answ 3. There must be a judgment besides that at the day of death because men after they be dead may be Instruments and occasions either of vice or vertue of sin or the service of God The Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and Fathers of the Church are dead and gone yet still they doe good in the Church of God by their godly examples and holy writings Jeroboam Machiavel Marcion all Heriticks and prophane persons die yet they poison the air with ill example wicked books divelish principles and after their death infect posterity for many generations Their word eats as doth a canker or gangrene 2 Tim. 2.17 Hence it is that as there is a particular Judgment to reward the good or punish the evil they have done themselves in their life time so there shall be a generall Judgment to reward or punish them for that which after their death they have occasioned to be done by others V.S. Basil in l. de vera virginit CAP. III. The Names given to this Day THis day is called in the Scripture The day of the Lord. Alas for the day for the day of the Lord is at hand Joel 1.15 Your selves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night 1 Thes 5.2 Looking for and hastning unto the coming of the day of GOD 2 Pet. 3.12 This life is called Our Day O Jerusalem if thou hadst known at least in this Thy day the things that belong to thy peace Luke 19.42 For we think our own thoughts speak our own words and doe our own pleasure But that shall be the Lords day for the lofty looks of man shall be humbled the haughtiness of men shal be bowed down and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day Isa 2.11 Secondly it is called a Day of Revelation or Opening Rom. 2.5 Never was there such an opening as will be at that day The heavens shall be opened and those everlasting doors shall be lift up that the King of glory may go forth with his Angels to judge the world and return back again with his Saints when he hath judged it The Earth shall be opened for the stone shall be rolled from the mouth of every Sepulchre and the graves shall give up their dead The Books shall be opened I saw the dead small and great stand before the Lord and the books were opened and another book was opened which was the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works Rev. 20.12 The secrets of all hearts shall be opened There is nothing hid that shall not be manifested neither any thing kept secret that shall not come abroad Mar. 4.22 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospell Rom. 2.16 Hell shall be opened to receive those wretches to whom it shall be said Goe ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the divel and his angels Thirdly it is called a Day of refreshing Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord Acts 3.19 What a refreshing wil it be when our rotten and worm-eaten carkasses shall rise up in honor and in incorruption as flowers after a long winter What a refreshing wil it be when these two ancient friends the soul and the body after so long a separation shall imbrace and kisse each other What a refreshing will it be to see the Divel our worst enemy and Death our last enemy cast into the lake of fire What a refreshing wil it be to see Jesus Christ the Savior of the world and the head of his Church come in his glory attended with an innumerable company of Angels What a refreshing wil it be to hear those sweet sentences of absolution Well done good and faithfull servant enter thou into thy Masters joy Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you Fourthly in respect of the wicked it is called a day of wrath After thy hardnesse and impenitent heart thou treasurest up for thy self wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2.5 As also a day of darknesse and gloominesse a day of clouds and of thick darknesse Joel 2.2 The Sun is pleasing to a good eye but offensive to an eye that is ill affected The day of judgment is a bath of refreshing to the godly but a burning Oven to the wicked Behold the day cometh that shall burn as an Oven and all the proud yea and all that doe wickedly shall be stubble Mal. 4.1 Fiftly it is called a great day The Angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting chains of darknesse unto the judgment of the Great day Jude 6. The Sun shall be turned into darknesse and the Moon into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord come Acts 2.20 It is a great day indeed sith so many great and notable things shall be done in it For the Lord himself shall descend
long ver 6. My loins are filled with a loathsome disease and there is no soundness in my flesh ver 7. I am feeble and sore broken I have rored by reason of the disquietness of my heart ver 8. Lord all my desire is before thee my groaning is not hid from thee ver 9. Forsake me not O Lord O my God be not far from me ver 21. Make haste to help me O Lord my salvation ver 22. DIRECTIONS for the Lords Day HEE that would spend a Sunday well living where he hath the liberty of Gods house and Ordinances must do something before Church something at Church something after Church Before Church 1. So soone as we awake we should have our hearts affected with the majesty and solemnity of the day putting a difference betwixt it and others considering that it is The Lords day An holy day An honourable day Great is the honour of this day above others God the Father honoured it On this day he formed the elements of the world On this day he created the Angels On this day he first rained Manna upon the Israelites God the Son honoured it with his glorious resurrection with his gracious apparitions after he was risen For On this day he appeared to the two Maries that came to the Sepulchre Matth. 28.1 9. On this day he appeared to his Disciples assembled together Thomas then not being present John 20.19 On this day he appeared again to his Disciples Thomas being with them Joh. 20.26 On this day S. John saw him walking in the midst of the seven golden Candlesticks Rev. 1.10 13. God the holy Ghost honoured it On this day he descended upon the Apostles in a golden showr of all spirituall gifts and graces Since which time The Church hath honoured it and made it the day of their solemn Assemblies Acts 20.7 What God and his Church hath thus honoured that do not thou profane Secondly we must lay aside the cares of the world and the works of our ordinary callings leaving them behind us as Abraham did his servants when he went to offer his sacrifice upon Mount Moriah Thirdly we must cleanse our selves by confession repentance for otherwise our prayers in the Church will not be acceptable to God nor his ordinances profitable to us Will ye steal murder commit adultery and swear falsly and burn incense unto Baal and walk after other gods whom ye know not and come and stand before me in this house Jer. 7.9 10. Shall I be enquired of by you ô house of Israel As I live saith the Lord I will not be enquired of by you Ezek. 20.31 God heareth not sinners but if any man be a worshipper of him and doth his will him he heareth John 9.31 The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering But unto Cain and his offering he had not respect Gen. 4.4 5. I will wash my hands in innocency and so will I compasse thine Altar Psal 26.6 Hence was it that the Jews writ over the doors of their Synagogues this saying of David This is the gate of the Lord the righteous shall enter into it Psal 118.20 And now being thus qualified prepared go unto the house of God and in the way meditate of some of these sentences One thing I have desired of the Lord that I will seek after that I may dwel in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his Temple Psal 27.4 I was glad when they said unto me Let us go up unto the house of the Lord Psal 122.1 We will go unto his Tabernacles we wil worship at his footstoole Psal 132.7 My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord Psal 84.2 A short morning Prayer for the Sunday O Most glorious and immortall God the eye of whose providence doth never slumber I yeeld thee humble and hearty thanks that thou hast preserved me from the perils of the night past brought me safe to the light of this day and the comforts thereof It is a day holy and honourable a day which is consecrated to thine own service and set apart for thine own honour Let my heart therefore gracious God be so affected with the glory and majesty of it that I may not doe mine own works nor seek mine own pleasure nor speak mine own words but may wait upon thee in the use of thine ordinances discharge those weighty duties which thou requirest of me Now forasmuch as thou art a God of pure eyes and wilt be sanctified in all those that draw near unto thee a God who regardest not the sacrifice of fools nor hearest sinners though they tread in thy courts and call upon thee in the House of praier I beseech thee to pard on and forgive me all my sins remove them out of thy presence as far as the East is from the West accept of me in the death and passion of thy Son Jesus Christ that when I shall come into thy Temple to compasse thine Altar my prayer may come up before thee as incense and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice And as I desire that thou wouldest hear me calling upon thee in my prayers so give me grace to hear thee calling upon me in thy word It is the word of truth of wisdome of righteousnesse of reconciliation that Word which is able to save my soul in the day of the Lord Jesus grant therefore that I may hear it with reverence receive it with meeknesse and mingle it with faith that it may accomplish in me that good work for which thou hast sent it And that this day may be every where a day of holinesse unto thee sanctifie and prepare the hearts of all thy people for thy service fill the places of thy worship with thy glory be present with the assemblies of thy Saints open the mouths of thy Ministers second the ministry of thy word by the efficacy of thy Spirit that it may be powerfull to the casting down of the strong holds of sin and Satan to the advancing inlarging of thy Kingdome to the edifying building up of thy body the Church and to the perfecting of thy Saints till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man Thou ô God who art able to do exceeding abundantly for us above all that we can ask or think hear me and answer me even for the sake of thy dear Sonne Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and the blessed Spirit be ascribed given all power praise might majesty and dominion now and evermore Amen At Church COnsider first the place where thou art it is The gate of heaven Holy ground The house of God Josh 5.15 Gen. 28.17 O how amiable are thy tabernacles ô Lord of Hosts A day in thy Courts is better then a thousand Blessed are they that may dwell
22 Fourthly there is required a stedfast purpose and settled resolution against sin for the trme to come The Church in the administration of this Sacrament cals such only as intend to lead a new life to follow the Commandements of God to walk from thenceforth in his holy ways The Paschall Lambe was to be eaten by such only as were circumcised The Manna was to be put into a pot of pure gold The body of Christ crucified was wrapt in fine linnen and laid in a new Spulchre Sorrow for sin without resolution of amendment is like the pumping in a Ship without stopping the leak that lets in the water In the Law if a man held the unclean thing still in his hand he was unclean though he washed his hand never so often Fiftly there is required Charity with all men The Paschall Lambe was to be eaten without leaven The Serpent disgorges his poison when he coms to drink Be as wise as Serpents Let us keep the feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice 1 Cor. 5.8 If thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift Mat. 5.23 24. The three wise men went first to Ierusalem then to Bethlehem first to the vision of peace then to the house of bread The cup of blessing which we blesse is it not the Communion of the bloud of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ For we being many are one bread and one body 1 Cor. 10.16 17. The signs of bread wine used in the Sacrament may teach us love charity Many grains are kneaded together into one loafe Many grapes are pressed together in one cup. If thus thou hast made thy peace with God and the world draw neare Tast and see how sweet the Lord is Psal 34.8 Eate O friend drink yea drink abundantly O beloved Cant. 5.1 A short Prayer before we receive the Sacrament O Most gracious and merciful Lord God thou hast called all those that are weary heavy laden with the burthen of their sins to come unto thee and hast promised that thou wilt ease and refresh them thou hast invited all those that hunger and thirst after thy Kingdome and the righteousnesse thereof to come to thy Table to taste of thy Supper and hast promised that thou wilt satisfie them In affiance therefore of these promises I come to thee blessed Lord Jesus beseeching thee to ease me to refresh me to satisfie me with thy mercy for my soul hungers and thirsts after thee thy salvation I confesse and acknowledge that my daily sins have made me unworthy of my daily bread much more of this Manna this bread of life which came down from heaven I confesse also that I am not prepared according to the preparation of thy Sanctuary yet for as much as I have this day set my heart to seek thee thou O good God be merciful unto me And though I cannot bring with me a clean heart for who can say his heart is clean yet behold O Lord I bring with me a contrite heart and a broken spirit despise not O God this sacrifice As for the sinnes that I have committed against thee binde them up into one bundle and cast them into the bottomlesse sea of thy mercy bury them in the wounds and wash them away in the bloud of that immaculate Lamb Christ Jesus and for the time to come so sprinkle my conscience with the same bloud that being clensed from dead works I may serve thee the living God in righteousness and true holiness all the days of my life That so this blessed Sacrament may be a means to quiet my conscience to increase my faith to inflame my charity to amend my life to save my soul to assure me that I am in the number of those blessed ones who shal eate at thy table and be called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Grant this O Lord for Jesus Christ his sake in whose name and words I conclude these my imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught me Our Father c. At the receiving of this Sacrament IN the receiving of the Lords Supper many particulars would rather distract us then direct us these few I suppose most considerable First let thine eyes be upon the actions of the Minister observe the breaking of the bread and the powring out of the wine The breaking of the bread will minde thee how the body of Christ was bruised and broken The pouring out of the wine wil remēber thee of the shedding of his bloud It was shed for thee When he was circumcised When he was scourged When he sweat in the garden When he was crowned with thorns But especially to which this Sacrament hath immediate relation When he was nailed to the cross When his fide was pierced The bloud of Christ clenseth us from all sins 1 John 1.17 It speaketh better things then the bloud of Abel Heb. 12.24 It is precious bloud 1 Pet. 1.19 And all this because it is the bloud of God Acts 20.28 Secondly discern the Lords body 1 Cor. 11.29 We must consider the consecrated bread not as the bread of the Lord but as that bread which is the Lord. Not as our common ordinary daily bread but as the body of Christ sacramentally We must consider the wine not as the bloud of the grape but as the bloud of Christ in a true yet sacramentall manner Christ is truly present in the Sacrament it is the eating of his flesh and the drinking of his bloud John 6.56 Not naturally and corporally This is an hard saying who can hear it Joh. 6.60 The flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and life Joh. 6.63 Thirdly receive it kneeling This gesture is most sutable It signifies an humble and gratefull acknowledgement of those benefits we receive in this Sacrament Again the Minister when he gives and we when we receive joyn together in a short but sweet prayer The body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee c. The bloud of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for thee c. No gesture so sutable for prayer as kneeling Again it is appointed ordered by the Church Let all things be done decently and in order 1 Cor. 14.40 Though I be absent frō you in the flesh yet am I present with you in the spirit joying and beholding your order Col. 2.5 After the receiving of this Sacrament WHen thou hast been partaker of the Lords Supper First of all give thanks It is a duty which we owe for our ordinary suppers It was called the Eucharist from this duty of thanksgiving It is the cup of blessing God blesseth us and we must blesse God God gives us the cup of