with the multitude to the House of God with the voice of Joy and Praise O let me consider it is the All-seeing God in whose Presence I stand and that the Holy Angels are sent to observe my Devotion Give me sober Thoughts holy Affections devout postures steddiness of Mind ardent Desires modest Looks a grave Behaviour especially when I am going to contemplate the precious Sacrifice offered by the Son of God for the Sins of the World let all that is within me turn into holy breathings represent that comfortable Object in lively Characters to my Understanding that I may think nothing unworthy of my Saviour banish from me all undecent Thoughts or if thou dost not think fit to free me from Temptations encourage me however to resist them vigorously that I may discover my Zeal for thy Glory by my abhorrency of all Imaginations that exalt themselves against the Obedience of Christ Jesus Amen CHAP. IV. Of Eating the Lord's Supper The Nature of it and how it is to be Eaten The CONTENTS A great difference betwixt coming to the Lord's Supper and Eating the Lord's Supper Several Reasons why Men come though they do not Eat as they ought to do What Eating the Lord's Supper is viz. To Eat it with a relish of the Benefits of Christ's Death with longings to be conformable to Christ in his Graces and to Eat it with unfeigned Resolutions to resist Temptations Much depends upon the manner of any Religious Performance Conversation with God with our selves and with the Holy Angels a great means to Eat as we ought to Eat The Prayer I. THat there are many who come to the Lord's Supper and yet Eat not the Lord's Supper as they ought to do is evident from Experience and will appear more fully in the sequel of this Discourse when we shall tell you what it is to Eat and Drink unworthily When some of the looser sort of the Corinthian Christians 1 Cor. 11. 20. came drunk to this Sacrament it 's certain they only eat the Bread of the Lord but not the Bread the Lord as the Fathers speak and if Simon Magus Acts 8. 13. came to this Feast as I am apt to believe he did for in those days they that were baptized were soon after admitted to the Lord's Supper as appears from Act. 2. 41 42. this must necessarily have been his case and who can doubt of this Truth that in the Age we live in sees so many come to this Royal Supper and go away unreformed untouch'd and unconcerned than which there cannot be a greater sign that they do not eat the Supper of the Lord though they approach and feed upon the External Elements And Men may very easily know it by such Marks as these 1. If they come without any sense of the designs Christ had in Instituting this Sacrament one of which certainly was to engage us to the generous contempt of the World in imitation of him who for the Glory set before him not only undervalued the Pomp and Grandeur of the World but endured the Cross and despised the shame as we are told Heb. 12. 2. And when we see Men and women approach the Table of the Lord with all the Gaudes and Gayeties their vain desires prompt them to like Ranters rather than Penitents more like soft Sybarites than frighted Disciples dressed to allure Mens eyes more than to invite the Crucified Jesus into their Souls like players rather than like Christians And when we see how the very next day after this Feast if they stay so long they quarrel fight contend and fall out about the trifles of the World run to Theatres and Play-houses and with as great greediness as ever pursue the Riches and Glories and Fashions of the World how can we imagine that such Persons came with the sense of the aforementioned design of Christ in instituting this Sacred Feast 2. If they come without any sense of the love of God of which there is so curious a Picture drawn in this Sacrament as is enough to make even the most hard hearted Heathen weep And what sense of this Love can we suppose to have been in Men when after their Receiving they do not so much as look into a Bible to see what Precepts and Commands of Christ they mean for the future to be more observant of Is it possible such Men had sense of the Love of God upon their Spirits that day they receiv'd the Holy Elements when the next day they offend him as boldly as ever and hug the same sins they entertained several years before and are now as little concerned to please God as they were some Months ago and consequently such Persons come to the Lord's Supper yet do not eat as they ought to do for none eat it truly but such as eat with this sense and where this sense is it will make the Soul cautious of offending God II. Yet such Guests are very common at this Table which would make a wise Man wonder why they will come at all when their coming signifies so little and as will appear afterward doth them more harm than good Yet the Reasons may easily be guess'd at For 1. Conviction brings them to it They are convinced that coming is a commanded Duty not a thing indifferent and that they may not seem dispisers and contemners of so great a Law they come though they put strange Fire in their Censers Conviction hath great power even upon unregenerate Men It made Felix tremble Acts 24 25. and Judas throw down the Thirty Pieces of Silver the reward of his Treason in the Temple Matth. 27. 4. and Simon embrace Christian Baptism Act. 8. 13. And where a Man is teazed and haunted by his Conscience he 'll do something to stop his mouth and though he doth it but slovenly yet he 'll bribe Conscience with this trifle as we do Children that cry for a Jewel with a Rattle and in this manner Conviction Works upon some Men and Women and that force puts several upon coming to the Lord's Table 2. Their Office and Employment obliges them to receive and that makes not a few appear at this Table The Law of the Land excluding Men from publick Offices and Charges that receive not the Communion we may very justly believe that abundance come to satisfie the Statute more than their Conscience and fear of losing or missing of the Office they are ambitious of hath a stronger influence upon them than the fear of losing God's Favour not but that a man may Eat the Lord's Supper to his great comfort and edification because an Act of Parliament commands it at his entrance upon an Office for a man who fears God may make use of any occasion to receive and consequently may make his present Office an opportunity of coming to the Sacrament But I speak my just fears that many receive on this account whom neither Love to God nor to their own Souls could have obliged to come had it
To delight in filthy Sights and looking upon Objects which raise evil Thoughts in us Matth. 5. 29. 47. To try Experiments in Lust and to act our Lewdness over in our Minds again Ephes. 4. 19. 48. To go into Company where we are sure to be tempted and persuaded to that which is evil Matth. 5. 30. 49. Drunkenness or Drinking and Tippling to the Disorder of our Reason 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. Ephes. 5. 16 18. 50. To flatter our Neighbours and to have their Persons in Admiration because of Advantage Jude 1. 16. 51. To lye unto our Neighbours and to speak that to them which we know is not true Ephes 4. 25. 52. To dissemble with God and with our Neighbours and give them fair Words while we hate them in our Hearts Rom. 12. 9. 53. To bid our Servants or Friends or others to tell Lyes for us Heb. 3. 13. 54. To follow a Multitude to do evil and to do ill things because they are done commonly Ephes. 5. 11. 55. To be greedy and covetous after the Things of this World to the Neglect of our Souls and Spiritual Welfare Ephes. 5. 3. 56. To delay our Repentance and to drive off our Seriousness from time to time Heb. 3. 15. 57. To do Wrong to our Neighbours and particularly to a poor Man or Stranger or to an Enemy Ephes. 4. 32. 58. To glory in bad Actions Philip. 3. 19. 59. To aim at the Praise and Applause of Men in good Actions Matth. 6. 1 2. 60. To mis-spend our Time by Idleness and Laziness and Gaming and immoderate Recreations Ephes. 5. 15 16. 61. Gluttony and Intemperance in Eating or eating more than Nature requires 2 Pet. 1. 6. 62. To delight in gaudy Cloathing and Fondness of imitating of every Fashion 1 Pet. 3. 3 4. 63. To render Evil for Evil aâ—d Reviling for Reviling 1 Pet. 2. 23. 64. To be ashamed of the Gospel and of Religion or of Religious Duties or of doing the Will of God Mark 8. 38. 65. To be weary of Well-doing or of any commanded Religious Duty and to give over our Seriousness Gal. 6. 9. 66. To be uncharitable and to harden our Hearts and Bowels against the Distressed and Needy 1 John 3. 17. 67. To scandalize others or to give Offence by Actions either needless or sinful Matth. 18. 6 7. 68. To follow an unlawful Profession that necessitates us unto Sin Matth. 18. 8. 69. To entice and encourage and draw others into Sin by our ill Example or Sollicitation Rom. 1. 22. 70. To comply with other Men in their Sins because they urge or press us to it 2 Cor. 6. 17 18. 71. To be proud haughty self-conceited and to entertain an high Opinion of our selves Parts Abilities and Accomplishments and to despise others Luke 14. 10 11. 72. To neglect the Service of God for every Trifle and every little Business that would draw us from it Luke 2. 49 and 10. 41 42. 73. To use needless Asseverations in common Discourses anâ— in trivial Matters such as I vow I protest I swear c. Matth. 5. 37. 74. To reveal our Neighbour's Secrets which they in love communicate to us Philip. 2. 4. Matth. 7. 12. 75. To rejoyce in our Neighbour's Fall or Misfortune or Misery Rom. 12. 15. 76. To be careless negligent slovenly or superficial in any part of God's Service Rom. 12. 11. 77. To presume upon God's Goodness or to sin and go on in Sin because God is merciful and patient Rom. 2. 4 5. 78. To despair of God's Mercy or to think that he either cannot or will not pardon upon our sincere Repentance Matth. 12. 31. 79. To fancy that a customary Faith without suitable Works will save us Jam. 2. 26. 80. To be morose surly ill-natur'd and give rough and imperious Language to our Neighbours 1 Pet. 3. 8. 81. To let our Neighbours and Friends go on in their Sins without reproving them Ephes. 5. 11. 82. to set our Hearts and Affections upon the Riches and Comforts of this Life Mark 10. 24. Col. 3. 1 2. 83. To mourn and take on under any Cross and Loss like Men without Hope 1 Thes. 4. 13. 2 Cor. 7. 10. 84. To be careless and neglectful of a faithful Discharge of the Duties of our several Callings and Relations As 1. For Husbands to be churlish bitter and unkind to their Wives Col. 3. 19. 2. For Wives to be froward talkative brawling and injurious to their Husbands Goods and Name 1 Pet. 3. 1 4. 3. For Magistrates to suffer Injustice Oppression Murther Irreligiousness Atheism and Profaneness to go unpunished Rom. 13. 3. 4. For Subjects to raise ill Reports of their Magistrates and mis-conster their Actions to the Disturbance of the Government 1 Pet. 2. 13 14. 5. For 〈◊〉 to shew their Children bad Examples to indulge them in their Sins or to suffer them to do what they list without Correction Ephes. 6. 4. 6. For Children to be disobedient to their Parents lawful Commands or to deny them Maintenance when they are in want and the Children able to relieve and assist them Ephes. 6. 1 2. 7. For Masters to keep back the Hire or Wages of their Servants and to suffer them to neglect God's Service and the Concerns of their own Souls Col. 4 1. 8. For Servants to grumble or mumur at their Masters lawful Commands or chiding of them to answer again to be unfaithful to disparage their Masters and Mistresses and to discover to others what their Superiors would have kept secret Tit. 2. 9 10. 85. To neglect or defer our Baptism in case we were never baptized before and to forbear bringing our Children to be baptized Matth. 28. 19. 86. Not to come to the Lord's Supper after we come to Years of Understanding and Discretion Matth 26. 26 27. 87. To eat and drink unworthily at the Lord's Table 1 Cor. 11. 29. 88. To neglect thinking of good things Philip. 4. 8. 89. Idolatry Witchcraft Seditions Schisms Heresies Gal. 5. 20. 90. Whispering to our Neighbour's prejudice Back-biting Despightfulness Boasting Inventing of evil Thinge Covenant-breaking and being without Natural Affections and delighting in other Men's Sins Rom. 1. 29 30 31 32. 91. To do Evil that Good may come of it Rom. 3. 8. If any Sins are left out in this Catalogue they are such as may be referred to those which are mention'd And though some that are mention'd as distinct Sins may very well go for one yet the Reason why a distinct Number is allowed them is merely because Vulgar Capacities might thereby get a clearer Knowledge and Apprehnsion of them A Catalogue of DUTIES Commanded in the Gospel 1. TO believe that God is One in Three and Three in One and that the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are that one God 1 Joh. 5. 7. Joh. 10. 30. 2. To believe that the Son of God was incarnate and came into this World by his Holy Life and Death to save Men from their Sins Joh. 3.
THE Crucified Jesus OR A full ACCOUNT OF THE Nature End Design and Benefits OF THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORDS SUPPER With Necessary DIRECTIONS PRAYERS Praises and Meditations To be used by Persons who come to the HOLY COMMUNION By ANTHONY HORNECK D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties The Third Edition Corrected and Amended In the SAVOY Printed for Samuel Lowndes over-against Exeter-Change in the Strand 1695. ΑΓÎΩΣΤΩ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΗ TO THE Unknown Benefactor SIR THE following Discourse being the substance of several Sermons Preach'd at your desire and incouragement before the Monthly Sacraments though I am ignorant who you are and what part of the City or Country you live in yet I thought it my Duty to let the Publick know that there is such a Man in the World who is desirous to do good and loves not to be known This Treatise you have a proper Title too not only as one whose Hearts desire is to see the Church of England flourish but as a Benefactor too and to have Dedicated it to any other Person had been injurious to your Character You were sensible how backward the generality are to come to the Holy Communion how much ground the Church and Christianity it self loses by this stupid negligence of it's pretended Votaries and how not a few absent themselves for want of understanding the true nature and design of this Blessed Sacrament and therefore justly thought that if by a previous Monthly Sermon Mens Hearts were warm'd into consideration of the Use and Necessity of this Ordinance the Mists which hitherto have clouded their Vnderstandings would be dispell'd and they become acquainted with their Duâ—y which was the cause of your exciting me to this Publick Service Your Judgment hath not fail'd you for since these Religious Exercises have been among us abundance of Persons who before look'd upon their coming to the Holy Table either as indifferent or unnecessary or unseasonable have through the Blessing of God bethought themselves considered the Obligations that the mighty Work of Redemption lays upon them and conscientiously applyed themselves to the frequent Use of this Universal Medicine And all I can tell you for your incouragement is this That as we owe the beginning and progress of these Monthly Sermons to your Zeal and Influence so you will have a share both in the good that 's done by them and in the Rewards of those who are thereby brought to a serious sense of the wonderful Love of God in Christ Jesus It was a publick good you design'd by your munificence and that which makes the Pious Work the greater is that you do not care your left hand should know what your right hand doth The Almighty hath enrich'd your Heart with the Noblest Charity even with that to the Souls of Men an Emplâ—yment which God himself disdains not to travel in and what are all the Angels of Heaven but Ministring Spirits sent forth to be helpful unto those that shall be Heirs of Salvation Nothing is more pleasing to God than to be instrumental in bringing many Sons unto Glory and though you are no publick Orator yet you help towards Mens Conversion and in employing others to rouze them from their Spiritual slumber your Self have a hand in their Reformation And by that means Preach though you be not in Orders yet without offence to the Law and at the same time observe the Canons of the Church and win Souls without being engaged in the Sacred Function Some Criticks think that S. Paul in his Address to the Athenians doth not find fault with but commends them for Erecting an Altar To the unknown God and if so I hope none will blame me for raising this Monument To an unknown Benefactor Good Works are the sweetest Incense that can be laid upon God's Altar and though some that have concealed their Names have been discover'd by the Charitable Deeds done by them yet yours are so order'd that though for some time you have thus generously employ'd part of your means to advance this publick Good yet still you are a stranger to me and in that happier than the Roman Senator who hiding himself in the time of Proscription his Perfumes betrayed him May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath already touch'd your Heart with a sense of his Glory enrich you with all Spiritual Blessings and make you to abound more and more in Faith in Love and in all Goodness May that Great Shepherd of Souls enlighten your Understanding with greater brightness raise your Soul above this transitory World teach you to despise the things that are seen and fill you with earnest longings after those which are not seen that after having serv'd your Generation here your Immortal part may be admitted to the Enjoyment and Embraces of the Holy Trinity the Festivals of Seraphim to Mount Sion to the City of the Living God to the innumerable Company of Angels to the general Assembly of the First-born which are written in Heaven to the Spirits of Men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Testament whose Blood speaks better things than that of Abel So wishes SIR Your Affectionate Friend And Servant ANTH. HORNECK THE PREFACE THE vast number of Books about the Sacrament of the Eucharist as it shews the richness of the Subject so it discovers the Zeal and Industry of good Men to uphold the power of Religion in these perilous times as they are call'd by the Apostle of the Gentiles And indeed if we consider the influence this Ordinance hath yet on Men who have not altogether sold themselves to do Evil and are not gone so far as to make a mock of Religion it is no small motive to busie our selves in recommending and pressing the frequent use of it I look upon it as a special Providence of God that in this Iron Age wherein Men have made a shift to baffle all the Rules of Discipline they have yet some Reverence for this Ordinance insomuch that if we can oblige them to make use of it we may entertain great hopes of their future sobriety and seriousness The generality shun it because they are loth to shake hands with their looser lives and they are sensible that the use of this Ordinance and a disorderly Conversation are things inconsistent and incompatible and therefore could we perswade them to come we might promise our selves a rich and plentiful Harvest there being nothing more likely than the fruitfulness of that Ground which is water'd with the Blood of Jesus What I publish here is in order to make good my promise in a lesser Piece call'd The Fire of the Altar and when a Man hath once either rashly or premeditately made himself a Debtor to the Publick I think it is Justice and good Manners if he be able to discharge the Obligation I do not hereby discourage the Reader from perusing other Mens Labours He 'll possibly think there is no danger but desire only to
of the Wheat Psal. 147. 14 so it s like they would not in their Passover in the Bread they used omit the commemoration of that Mercy and the same Bread which Christ made use of in the Passover we must suppose he made use of in the institution of this Sacrament This will give us occasion to enquire whether any other thing Men make use of instead of Corn-Bread may be used in this Holy Sacrament for it 's certain that in some Countries they have no Corn and divers Authors tells us how much the Bread differs in the several parts of the habitable World according to the nature of the Soil and temper of the Inhabitants The Egyptians heretofore made Bread of Millet and Milk and Water and in some part of the West-Indies at this day they make Bread of the roots of certain Trees which they dry and powder and then make up into Paste or Bread and so they do in divers parts of Africa And as it may be the lots of many Christians to be cast upon such places so the question may justly be ask'd Whether in the administration of the Lord's Supper being destitute of Bread made of Corn they may with a safe Conscience make use of any other And most Divines answer in the affirmative For tho' the Canonists among the Papists will allow nothing to be Bread but what is made of Corn yet whatever it is that nourishes like Bread made of Corn is Bread to them who are so nourish'd by it And since the reason of Christ's making use of Bread in this Sacrament was to represent the Spiritual nourishment of our Souls by application of the benefits of his death or as we commonly speak by his Body and Blood Why should not any Nation or People make use of that in the Sacrament to represent this Spiritual nourishment which serves them instead of Bread and gives the same nourishment to their Bodies that ordinary Bread doth especially where Bread of Wheat or Rye or Barley is not to be had Yet this is not to be applied to other Fruits of the Earth such as Pears and Apples and Figs and Melons c. as if they in case of necessity might be made use of instead of Bread for though they nourish too yet no Nation makes use of them as their Bread And since Bread is not only used by Christ but by all the Christian Churches in all Ages something that hath the nature and the name of Bread must still be used in this Holy Sacrament and all care imaginable taken that by making use of something else Men run not into Profanation of this Ordinance 3. As it was unleaven'd and wheaten Bread Christ made use of in the Institution of this Holy Sacrament so it was also substantial Bread not a Wafer as is now used in the Church of Rome That Christ used substantial Bread no Man ever doubted that understood what Bread the Jews made use of in the Celebration of the Passover and for a thousand years after Christ the Church was wholly ignorant of Wafers It 's granted that the Sacramental Bread was antiently called Host from the Latin Hostia a Sacrifice because the Bread represents the Body of Christ which was offered in Sacrifice for the sins of the World which name of Host the Church of Rome still applies at this day to their Wafers in the Mass but then it was substantial Bread or a whole Loaf they called by that name How these Wafers first came in is explain'd by Honorius Augustodunensis The report goes saith he that it was usual in former times for the Ministers of the Church when the Sacrament of the Altar was to be Celebrated to fetch a quantity of Meal or Flower from every House or Family in the place they lived in which Custom is yet observ'd among the Greeks and of that to make the Bread which was to be used at the Lord's Table and distributed among the Communicants But after the Church increased in number but decreas'd in Holiness it was order'd for the sake of carnal Men that those that could should communicate either every Lords Day or every Third Lord's Day or on the Festivals of the Year But the People not coming and there being no need of so great a Loaf as formerly it was thought good to use Wafers in the form of a larger Penny and that they might not want a Mystery for these new doings the People desired instead of Flower to offer every Man a Penny that thereby they might acknowledge how their Lord and Master was betraid for Thirty pieces of Silver So far he And it 's probable that from hence came the Easter-Offerings which as yet are usual in most Churches of the Nation And since these Wafers are the effects of so great no abuse which the wickedness of the times brought into the Church it can be no great encouragement for those that would preserve the solemnity of this Mystery to keep them up or plead in vindication of them It 's true the Wafers they use this day in the Church of Rome are made of Flower and Water But 1. There is not that quantity of Flower and Water in them as is required in substantial Bread Neither 2. Are they wrought or baked as common substantial Bread is Neither 3. When they are made are they design'd for any thing but to seal Letters withal I mean in the ordinary use of them before the Priest doth lay them upon the Altar which shews that they are not intended for nourishing Bread nor have they the right taste or smell or strength of Bread neither are they commonly sold for Bread nor doth any Man make use of them for his daily Bread thereby to strengthen his Body So that they do not answer Chrst's design and the Analogy that ought to be betwixt the thing signifying and that which is signified i. e. They being no substantial Bread cannot exactly represent the substantial Nourishment of the Soul and therefore have been most justly rejected by most Churches but by that which hath made bold with God himself with Scripture and the express Laws of our Saviour and substituted their own Inventions and Traditions IV. Why Christ made use of Bread in this Holy Sacrament is next to be consider'd Besides the general Reason I have already mentioned viz. To represent the Nourishment he intends our Souls by his Death and Crucifixion if we lay hold of it by an active and fruitful Faith there may these following Reasons be also given for it 1. To put us in mind that he was the Person prefigured by the Bread variously prepared and ordered under the Law and in the Temple and in the Rituals of the Jews The Shew-bread was to be before the Lord continually Exod. 25. 30. In the Original it 's called The Bread of Faces The Mystery of it was to shew that Christ was to be the great Mediator who should be always in the Presence of God behold his
call his Friends the Angels together saying Rejoyce with me for I have found him that was lost He saw what it was for God to humble himself and take upon him the Nature of Man a Thing infinitely below him and to advance it above all Heavens above Angels Powers Ceraphim and Cherubim and place it at the Right Hand of God He saw what it was for Infinite Majesty to fall in love with Misery and for him that was adored by all the Host of Heaven to make himself of no Reputation on purpose to magnifie his Mercy in the greatest Misery He saw the happy Strife and Contention that was betwixt God's Justice and Mercy He saw how these Twins struggled in the Womb of Eternity and Mercy got the better and triumph'd over the Almighty's Rods and Axes He saw the Beginning Progress Order and Beauty of that Love He could measure the vast Distance betwixt Heaven and Earth betwixt God and Man betwixt the Judge and the Malefactor betwixt Infinite Purity and extream Wretchedness betwixt Righteousness and Sin betwixt perfect Innocence and perfect Misery And what a Paradox it must be to the holy Angels to see that Light which lights every Man that comes into the World submit to the Darkness of the Grave that some of Adam's Posterity might be Partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light This he saw and as a Man who was to shew his Church an Example he gave Thanks VI. Christ's Actions as they were intended for our Instruction so we cannot think that his Giving of Thanks was only to express his own Devotion as Mediator but that it was designed to teach us 1. Never to sit down at our common or ordinary Meals without praising God for the Blessings his bountiful Hand hath vouchsafed unto us This it seems is so necessary that the Holy Ghost reckons those Men among the Workers of Iniquity that sit down to Meat and praise not the Creator for the Provision he hath made for them Psal. 14. 4. Have the Workers of Iniquity no Knowledge who eat Bread and call not upon the Lord We render the Words As they eat Bread our Translators thinking the Expression to be a Similitude to express the Greediness of Persecutors who make a Prey of God's Servants but the Particle As being left out in the Original the Words denote another Sin of those Men that do eat Bread and call not upon the Lord at their Eating 'T is true the Duty seems to be observed by most People and there are few so profane as not to say Grace at their Meals but it is for the most part done so slovenly and so carelesly without any Sense of the Greatness of the Duty and of the Goodness of God that it is made a mere Formality which is as bad as the total Omission of it The Giving of Thanks before and after Meals must be performed with a Sense of our Unworthiness and God's Charity This is to be thought and taken notice of as much as the Meat that is set before us and Admiration of God's Compassion in feeding us will add to the Relish of the Victuals set upon the Table and that is to eat to the Glory of God as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 10. 32. 2. It was also to teach us Gratitude to our Benefactors here on Earth Though Men are but the Instruments whereby the Almighty's Blessings are conveyed to us yet there is a Gratitude due to them and such Gratitude as is expressed in kind Offices and Readiness to assist and help them when they stand in need of our Services But then this Gratitude must not be stretched to assisting of them in their Sins or complying with them in their Viciousness and Debaucheries or flattering them in their sickly Passions Man must not be pleased to the Dishonour of God And where Dust and Ashes is loved more than he he protests we are not worthy of him But to pray for them to honour them to study and embrace all lawful Opportunities to express our Respect and Esteem of them to requite their Kindnesses with equal Civilities or spiritual Advice and Counsel and Consolation is to act like Persons prompted by Christ's Example to be thankful 3. It was more particularly to direct us in our Praises and Thanksgivings when we come to the Table of our dearest Lord Here certainly if any where our Hearts ought to be fixed and ready to sing and give Praise 1. For putting us in a Way of being pardon'd and happy for ever We were all concern'd in Adam's Fall had all forfeited our Right to God's Favour and the Happiness we might have expected at his Hands God might have lock'd up the Gate of Mercy and made the Access to it impossible Having desperately turned our Backs upon him he might have let the Rebels sink deeper and deeper till they had come into the bottomless Gulf of Eternal Misery and no doubt all the Host of Heaven would have applauded his Justice And for him who was cloathed with Majesty and Honour unexpectedly and of his own accord to turn the Stream and to promise a Saviour and instead of making a Way to his Anger shew Men a Way to his Bosom and in the midst of all this Confusion and Perplexity to proclaim the acceptable Year to the poor Prisoners How can this be thought of in the holy Sacrament without Praise and Admiration 2 For revealing this wonderful Love to us A Favour Thousands of Heathens and Infidels enjoy not at this Day nay are wholly ignorant of A Love which is a Mystery that puzzles the Understandings of the wisest Men. How God intends to deal with Heathens and Mahometant is hard to determine only in general we are told that those who have sinned without Law shall be judged without Law Rom. 2. 12. Nor can we assign a just and satisfactory Reason why he makes not these Nations Partakers of the glad Tidings of the Gospel much less why he continues these Revelations to the Christian World though corrupt and debauched to a Prodigy But this we know That if any Thing in the World deserves our Praises this that we have such a Treasure communicated to us deserves it and more especially in this Sacrament where this Mystery of Reconciliation is a most proper Object of our Meditation 3. For passing by the Apostate Spirits and offering the Mercy of Reconciliation to the Children of Men. The evil Angels sinned as well as we yet the Son of God took not upon him the Nature of Angels â—ut took the Seed of Abraham 'T is true there was more to be said for Adam's Fall than that of Lucifer That Son of the Morning was all Spirit and Understanding and Man had a Body of Earth about him which though not troublesom in Paradise yet was the apter to receive Impressions of Sin from external Objects The rebellious Angels were the first that made a Breach betwixt God and the Creature and Man was seduced by them
obtained and did obtain that Prerogative that in the Lords Supper only and at no time else it had the priviledge to be in many places at once About 150 years after him one James Faber of Stapula enlarged this Privilege of Christ's Human Nature and what Gerson had restrain'd only to the Sacrament he extended to the whole World and made Christ's Human Nature as extensive as his Divinity Luther afterward exceeding fond of this Opinion establish'd it in the Churches of Saxony insomuch that he averâ—'d Christ's Body was as much in a Baker's Shop as in the Eucharist only in the Shop he did not desire to be taken and worshipp'd because he had not tyed himself to a Shop by any word of Promise Nay that his Body was in the very Rope wherewith Judas hang'd himself and went through doors that were lock'd and through the very Stone that was laid upon his Sepulchre A strange fancy For certainly Christ's Body was Crucified at Jerusalem and not in all places of the World and when he fate at Table with his Disciples he did not sit at the same time at Rome or in the East-Indies How near this Doctrine approaches to the errors of the Marcionites and Manichaeans of old who taught that Christ had no real or substantial Body but only a Bodily Shape and that when he was felt and found to have Flesh and Bones it was only by special Dispensation how near this Doctrine I say approaches these Errors condemn'd by the Antient Church I will not determine It cannot be denied that Luther was not always the same and sometimes he seem'd to deny what he asserted before But still those among the Lutherans that are for this Ubiquity make him the Great Patron of their Doctrine And though some of them give out that they do not assert the Ubiquity of Christ's Body so much as his Omnipresence yet it will be a hard matter to shew how Ubiquity and Omnipresence differ Some pretend that the fore-mention'd expressions were not Luther's expressions but foisted in by some that would fain take Sanctuary at his Books for the defence of their Opinions But the composers of the History of the Augsburg Confession are ashamed of this Conceit and the Elector of Saxony when in the Year 1574. he came to examine the thing found that it was only an idle report and that in the Edition of Luther's Works there was no variation used from his own words and expressions And if Luther writes in some places against this Ubiquity of Christ's Body it 's an argument that he ought not to be believ'd in other Books where he asserts it Thus came in Consubstantiation and this Opinion the Lutheran Churches do at this time follow and maintain very eagerly And though in all other Points they differ very little from the Protestants of the Reformation for with us they protest against Popish Invocation of Saints Religious Worship of Images Human Satisfactions Indulgences Purgatory Worship of Relicks Prayers in an unknown Tongue Merit of Works Transubstantiation Adoration of the Sacrament Sacrifice of the Mass Monarchy of the Pope pretences of Infallibility and blind Obedience to the decisions of Councils c. Yet this Point they do so stifly and so uncharitably maintain that the greatest part of them refuse communion with us upon this account which as it is an error so we believe it is no fundamental one especially since all this while they are against Transubstantiation and Adoration of the Sacrament and though in the point of their Consubstantiation they ground themselves much upon that saying of Christ Matth. 28. 20. Lo I am with you always even into the end of the World Yet this is easily answer'd For 1. From hence it doth not follow that he will always vouchsafe them his Bodily Presence for he was after this receiv'd into Heaven and therefore could not be present with his Body at that time 2. What he promises here he made good when he sent the Holy Ghost or the Spirit of Truth upon them Which Spirit though not as to his miraculous Gifts yet as to his saving Graces is with all true Believers to the end of the World So that 3. His being always with them must be understood of his Power and Virtue and Influence which would be with them and with the Churches they should Plant unto the end of the World as the Sun is in Heaven and with his Virtue and Influence cherishes this lower World And thus far we agree with them that Christ is present in the Holy Sacrament by his Power and Influence and Gracious Assistances which sincere Believers feel in their worthy Receiving But from hence it can never be made out that his Body therefore is hid under the Bread in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist III. In what sense the Bread in this Sacrament is the Body of Christ we may easily guess if we explain Scripture by Scripture and compare this expression with others not unlike it 1. This is my Body i.e. This is a significant Emblem or Sign or Figure of my Body Or this Bread thus broken represents my Body that shall be Crucified for the Sins of the World Thus not only Rabanus Maurus Erigena Bruno Berengarius and other wise Men understood it in the Ninth and Eleventh Centuries but most of the Fathers that lived before Pasâ—â—sius or before 800 Years after Christ. So that This is my Body is as much as this Bread is representative of my Body As Bread is proper Food for your Bodies so my Crucified Body is proper Food for your precious and immortal Souls As Bread strengthens your Bodies so shall the Comforts and Benefits of my Crucified Body support and fortifie your inward Man As Bread nourishes your mortal Bodies so shall the Love and Charity express'd in my giving my Body to be Crucified for your Sins nourish your better part and a sense of that Love cause a reciprocal Love and Charity in your Souls As Bread unites with your Bodies and turns into the substance of your Bodies So my Crucified Body or Faith in me who give my self for you shall be a means of my being one with you and of your being one with me And this interpretation is conformable to the sense of parallel places I am the door of the sheep saith our Saviour Joh. 10. 9. i.e. As the Door opens and being open'd the Sheep are let into the Fold so I am he by whose Light and Influence Men are admitted into the number of God's Children or by my Gospel they get admittance to God's marvellous Light by this they are let into the knowledge of the greatest Mysteries and by believing in me Men have access to the greatest Felicity So Joh. 15. 1. I am the true Vine and my Father is the Husbandman i. e. As the Vine hath Branches so I have Disciples As the Branches are nourish'd by the Vine so are my Disciples by me As the Vine yields an excellent Juice so my
his his Sins or into greater Admiration of God's Goodness Such Exercises the Divine Clemency accepts of approves of them and blesses them with new Favours repeals the Judgments threatned and confirms the Soul in her holy Zeal and makes those Devotions Occasions of opening the Windows of Heaven to shower down larger Benedictions upon her II. It must follow from hence that those who do not come to remember Christ's Death in this Sacrament do strangely forget themselves How great is their Number What vast Multitudes of Men and Women live in this Neglect O ye that are sensible of their Sin and Blindness when you meet with any of them tell them they forget that they are Christians they forget that their Lord and Master hath peremptorily commanded them to come and remember him in this Feast and that consequently they are disobedient perverse stubborn wilful and if they obey him not are no Servants no Children of his For If he be their Master where is his Fear If he be their Father where is his Honour Tell them they forget the Danger they run into and neglect the Means whereby their Souls must be snatched from the Devil's Power and shun the Remedy that must give Health to their Souls and therefore are guilty of the highest Contempt and set up their carnal shallow bruitish Reason againt the Infinite Wisdom of God Tell them they forget they have Souls to be saved and how long it is before a Soul be wrought into a total Conformity to Christ and that therefore they had need begin betimes and tye and engage their Souls to God under the Cross of Christ and do it often and force themselves into an holy Life Oh tell them how they will repent when it is too late of their Neglect of so great Salvation Tell them Christ will not remember them in the last Day but prosess to them I know you not because they were not sprinkled with his Blood and had not the Character of Christians on their Souls which will infallibly drive them into Desparation III. See here my Friends what an Obligation the Remembrance of Christ's Death lays upon us all to forget the World and to mind the greater Concerns above Christ died to the World his Life his Death and all his Actions shewed his Contempt of this present World He regarded not the Vanities the Lusts the Recreations the Slanders the Reproaches the Censures of the World but for the Glory set before him endured the Cross and despised the Shame Can we remember his Death in this Sacrament and think that he did all this only for us to admire his Actions without transcribing all this on our own Lives Surely we may live in the World and yet not be of the World we may sojourn in the World yet not be greedy after the World we may mind our Work in the World and yet not make the World our highest Good we may converse with Men of the World and yet not set our Hearts upon the World we may be industrious in the World and yet not suffer the World to ingross our Affections we may provide for our Families in the World and yet not conform to the World we may eat and drink in the World and yet not participate of the Sins of the World we may trade and traffick in the World and yet not have the Spirit of the World we may suffer Afflictions in the World and yet be far from the Sorrow of the World we may prudently contrive Things in the World and yet be Strangers to the Wisdom of the World In a Word Our living in the World is no hindrance to our arriving to an holy Contempt of it And though there be some Difficulty in this Task yet the Necessity of the Work and the Reward in the World to come and Christ's Example and the Apostles Practice and God's Readiness to assist and the All-sufficiency of Grace are Persuasives and Encouragements strong enough to prevail with any Soul that is not bent upon her own Ruin IV. The best Defensative against Sin at any time is the Remembrance of Christ's Sufferings Not only at the Sacrament but where-ever we are this Remembrance is an excellent Shield in the Day of Battel Art thou walking art thou standing art thou sitting art thou going out or coming in Set a Bleeding Saviour before thee When Sinners entice thee think of thy Saviour's Wounds When thou art tempted to over-reach or defraud thy Neighbour in any Matter think of the bitter Cup thy Master drank off When any Lust any vain Desire rises in thy Mind think of thy dear Redeemer's Groans When thy Flesh grows weary of a Duty remember who suffered on the Cross When thou art tempted to be indifferent in Religion and saint in thy Mind look upon him who made his Soul an Offering for thy Sin When thou art loth to overcome think of him who by his Death overcame him that had the Power of Death When impatient Thoughts assault thy Mind think of the Lamb that before his Shearers was dumb and sure under this sad Scene thou wilt not dare to sin And there is this Advantage in such a Remembrance that there is a Book of Remembrance written before the Lord for them that speak often to one another and think of his Name insomuch that he will remember them in that Day when he makes up his Jewels Mal. 3. 16. V. To remember Christ's Death in this Sacrament with greater Life and Sense it is very necessary to remember him often at other times And that is the Reason why Christ calls himself by many familiar Names and the Holy Ghost gives him Titles and Epithets taken from Things we daily see that we might not look on those Things from which he takes those Denominations without remembring him To this End he is called a Door Joh. 10. 9. that we might not go in or out but think O thou who art the Gate of Mercy by whom whoever enters will find Mercy open thy Bosom to my wounded Spirit and let me find Rest in thy All-sufficiency and the Merits of thy Passion For this Reason he is called a Sun Mal. 4. 2. that we might not view that splendid Luminary without thinking O thou glorious Light that didst shine to those that sit in Darkness shine into my Soul dispel the Clouds that darken my Understanding and warm my Heart that it may long for thy Salvation Hence it is that he is stiled the Morning-Star that whenever we take notice of that Son of the Morning of that Harbinger of the Day we might reflect O thou who tellest the Number of the Stars and callest them all by their Names rise rise unto me and irradiate my Inward Man that I may delight in Vertue Be thou my Guide lead me to thy Kingdom keep me from going astray and preserve me that I may be thine for ever It is from hence that he is called Alpha and Omega Rev. 1. 8. which are Letters of
yet surely it will transform a Soul sick to death into a lively and healthful constitution though with the Woman in the Gospel she hath lain under her distemper a considerable time II. Among the Scythyans as Herodotus tells us there was a custom for the Princes of the Country to meet once a year at a certain Feast where a Cup was set upon the Table a Cup of Honour which none durst presume to drink of but such as had signaliz'd their Valour in Battel and kill'd more or less of their publick Enemies Though this Sacramental Cup is too High too Sacred and too Lofty a thing to be compared with Cups used at the Feast of Barbarians yet I may take occasion from hence to tell you that this Holy Cup is fit for none to drink of but such as have either shewn or are at least resolved to shew their Valour against their Spiritual Enemies Christian if thou hast fought with the Old Serpent encountred the Hellish Dragon wrestled with Powers and Principalities exprest thy Courage against Temptations defied Goliah the Lion and the Bear the World the Devil and the Flesh or art resolv'd to be a Champion for thy God and fight the Battels of the Lord Thou art that valiant Man that may drink of this Cup Thy God will give thee leave to drink of it with other Hero's with the greatest Worthies with Men of whom the World was not worthy with Men whose Faith hath advanced them above the Stars and who are to shine as the Sun in the Firmament in their Father's Kingdom Let no despairing Thoughts no suggestion of the Devil no slavish Fear no pretence of Unworthiness discourage thee from touching this Cup or drinking of it It 's mingled for thee for thee it is prepared The King expects thee at this Feast thou art called to this Banquet Thus shall it be done to the Man whom the King of Heaven intends to Honour What If thou hast not slain thy Thousands with Saul nor thy Ten thousands with David What if thou hast not brought thy Two hundred Foreskins of the Philistins to thy Lord and Master thou dost a greater act in conquering thy Thoughts thy Desires thy Passions thy Appetite thy vain Imaginations than if thou hadst laid Countries waste ruin'd Kingdoms or bound their Kings in Chains and their Nobles with Fetters of Iron Such Honour have all all his Saints III. Hear this thou fainting Soul that groanest under the burthen of thy Sins goest heavy laden with Sorrow and like Rachel wilt not be comforted Behold thy Lord and Master touched with the feeling of thy infirmities and afflicted in all thy afflictions who waits to be Gracious and loves to converse more with a weeping Publican than with a jovial Herod he reaches forth a Cup to thee a Cup of Joy a Cup of Gladness a Cup of Comfort It is this Sacramental Cup. Drink of it thou thirsty Soul Why shouldst thou fear This Cup is design'd for labouring Souls they that have born the heat and burthen of the day are to taste of it It is design'd to recreate design'd to refresh desing'd to revive design'd to support their Spirits Dost thou believe this Christian Dare to believe it Take thy Saviours word for it and triumph in the Promise The Mercy may be too big for thee to ask but not too big for him to grant Thou hast a Master to deal withal who gives like himself like a King like a Prince whose Stores are inexhaustible Let no Senacharib deceive thee regard not what such a Rabshakeh says Hearken not to the frightful Stories of thine enemies who rejoyce to see thee discourag'd are glad to see thee forbear drinking of this Cup and think it their interest to keep thee from that which may and will give thee everlasting health I have read of a precious Stone of considerable value that dropt no Man knew how into the Holy Cup while the Priest was administring the Sacrament There needs no precious Stone to drop into this Cup to make it of greater value That which is in it is of greater worth than Ten thousand Worlds It represents that which neither Pearls nor Rubies nor Diamonds can counter-balance The Papists boast much of the Gifts of their Popes how Sylvester gave three Golden Cups to be used in the celebration of the Eucharist How John the Second gave a Cup of Gold weighing Twenty pound How Gregory the Second and Leo the Third presented their respective Churches with Cups all beset with precious Stones What if thou canst bring no such Presents to God thou bringest a better when thou bringest a Spirit a Heart a Soul lamenting and mourning because thou hast departed from him contented thy self with a form of Godliness and under the profession of Religion hast denied him in thy actions A Heart toucht with the sense of the unreasonableness odiousness and loathsomness of all this and finding a relish in the things of God and of Salvation qualifies a Man more for comfortable drinking of this Cup than if with the Wise Man he had offer'd Gold and Myrrh and Frankincense to Christ Jesus Is not this the Cup whereby my Lord divineth saith Joseph's Steward Gen. 44. 5. Christian by drinking of this Sacramental Cup thou may'st divine thy future happiness guess at what will become of thee hereafter make conjectures of thy Glory and conclude that thou shalt feel the comfort of drinking the Cordials of a Blessed Eternity The PRAYER O Jesu Great Fountain of all Goodness who didst drink of the bitter Cup which my Sins had mingled I am sensible there was no sorrow like thy sorrow which was done unto thee and wherewith the Lord afflicted thee in the day of his fierce anger How was thy Spirit disturb'd How sore amaz'd was thy Soul How dismay'd thy Mind To such an exceeding heighth of Grief and Sorrow did the Sense of the incumbent load of my sins and the prospect of calamities hanging over my head together with the reflexion on my wretched condition skrew up thy Affections innumerable evils encompass'd thee thou sawest the wrath of God flaming out against my Sin and trembledst Thou stoodst before the mouth of Hell which I had deserv'd and wast astonish'd Thou with thine own Heart Blood didst quench the wrath of Heaven O how am I obliged to adore thy Love O everlasting Father What Charity was it not to spare thine own Son but to deliver him up for us all What pity and compassion was it O thou Eternal Son of God thus to pour forth thy Blood What Affection what tenderness to my Soul O thou Eternal Spirit hast thou express'd in inspiring my Blessed Redeemer with Charity more than Human and in supporting him to undergo all pressures with invincible patience If I forget thy Love sweet Jesu let my right hand forget her cunning What an encouragement is here to believe thy Word which I see so punctually accomplish'd The antient Prophets foretold that Christ should
suffer and so it came to pass Let me for ever believe thy promises In all Dangers in all Troubles in all Necessities let thy Promises be for my Comfort Let me never mistrust thy Goodness after so great an instance of thy Goodness as the Gift of thy Son must be How can I despair of Mercy upon unfeigned Repentance when in this passion Mercy was drawn out to that length on purpose that it might reach the greatest Sinners O Jesu thou hast defeated all mine Enemies Thou hast evacuated all the obstacles of my Salvation Let me pretend and plead excuses no more Now let me run with patience the race which is set before me the way being open'd into the Holy of Holies encourage me to walk in it with all that wait for the Salvation of God Affect my Heart with a Religious Fear and let thy humble Passion kill my Pride Let my Sins appear more dreadful to me when I contemplate thine Agonies and let the World with all its deceitful Vanities become loathsome to me when I see how little thou didst regard it Let every thing die in me that is not agreeable to thy Life that when thou who art my Life shalt appear I may also appear with thee in Glory Amen Amen CHAP. XIV Of the Covenant represented by the Cup in this Holy Sacrament The CONTENTS A seeming contradiction betwixt the Evangelists reconcil'd The Greek Word which we render Testament prov'd to signifie a Covenant too The manner of making Covenants in ancient times applied to the Covenant made in this Sacrament The difference between the Old and New Covenant discover'd In this Sacramental Covenant the parties mutually engaging one to another proved to be God and Man Under what Notions both parties are to be consider'd explain'd The nature of this Sacramental Covenant its beginning and first rudiments in our Baptism the necessity of renewing it when we come to some maturity of Understanding Our consent to it and how that consent must be qualified This Covenant if broken after a due ratification of it whether it may be renew'd What things do not break or null it What Sins they are that make it void How it may be renew'd by sincere Repentance and what kind of Repentance it must be Great presumption to enter into a Solemn Covenant with God and not to consider the wieght and importance of it The great misery and wretchedness of Men who are not actually in Covenant with God How necessary it is for persons when young to make or renew their Covenant No impossible thing to come to a rational Confidence that we are in Covenant with God The Mercies and Advantages of being God's faithful Confederates The Prayer I. CHrist in describing the Nature of this Sacramental Cup or the Wine in the Cup tells us as St. Matthew and St. Mark relate it This is my Blood of the New Testament or as St. Luke and St. Paul rehearse it This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood St. Luke being St. Paul's companion in Travel it 's like the Apostle made use of St. Luke's Commentaries which he had by him though perhaps they were not yet published to the World nor must we therefore suspect a contradiction in these different expressions for the Evangelists in their Histories do not always tye themselves to the very number and order of Words and Syllables which our Saviour spoke but many times think it sufficient to express the Sense and that the Sense is the same here though the Expression be different will easily appear to an impartial Reader though it may be said that Christ might very justly use both expressions one after another say that which St. Mark and St. Matthew mention and afterwards that which St. Luke and St Paul take notice of by way of explication and for brevitys sake one Evangelist might set down one and another the Sense being the same another II. The word which we render Testament is in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which indeed in some few places of Scripture particularly Hebr. 9. 15. is us'd for the last Will and Testament of a Testator but for the most part stands for a Covenant answering to the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Berith and imports a compact or contract of two Parties mutually engaging to one another to do and perform what is proper convenient and fit to be done and this by the consent of all Interpreters is the chief signification intended here and that which will give Light to this Notion is the custom of the first Ages of the World For Covenants in antient times were usually made by the slaying of a Beast and shedding its Blood which was to put the Confederates in mind that if they broke the Articles agreed upon they must fear as base a death as that Beast did suffer◠and Providence would not only take notice of the violation and revenge it but by the ceremony they imprecated themselves that in case they prov'd false to their promise such a sudden violent death might seize on them Among the more barbarous sort of Mankind when in these cases they had slain the Beast they pour'd the Bloud of the Hog or Calf or Ox that was shed into a Cup and the Confederates drank of it to make the tye stronger and the execration more dreadful and consequently more forcing But the civiller sort after they had kill'd the Beast to seal the Covenant instead of Blood fill'd the Cup with Wine and the respective Parties drank of it which they thought and believ'd to be as obligatory as the other In a word hereby both parties express'd their resolution and serious intent to perform the mutual Engagements and tacitly wished Death and Judgment to themselves in case of nonperformance of the Articles And though this cannot be applied in every circumstance to the Covenant made betwixt God and Man in every particular God not being capable of imprecating himself and his Word being of greater weight and moment than all the Oaths and Execrations Man can take yet from the premises we may easily guess that Christ alludes to these practises of Mankind in saying This is my Blood of the New Testament and that in this Sacrament Men enter into a Covenant with God or rather confirm the Covenant made betwixt God and them by the Mediation of the Blood of Jesus who was the innocent Lamb slain from the foundation of the World for it is with regard to that Blood that God is not only willing to enter but actually enters into compacts and contracts with lapsed Man and as in the afore-mentioned federate Rites and Ceremonies the parties engaging to one another drank of the Blood of the slain Beast or of the Wine which was in lieu of that Blood thereby to confirm their mutual promises so they that come to this Holy Sacrament are not only admonish'd by drinking of the Cup or of the Wine in the Cup representing the Blood of Christ to enter into solemn
or equivocation declare themselves willing ready and resolved to perform the things agreed upon God what he promises and Man what he engages to do For God consider'd as the Father Everlasting promises here to treat us as his Children to be tender of our Spiritual and Eternal Welfare to seek our good and turn all things to our good to pass by the Unkindnesses and Indignities we have offer'd to him to forgive and throw them into the depth of the Sea to impute them no more to count us innocent to justifie us here and like a Father to provide an Eternal Inheritance for us i. e. to glorifie us for ever The Son of God consider'd not only as the Eternal Wisdom of the Father but as Mediator and Redeemer of the World promises to be our Intercessor and Advocate with his Righteousness to cover our Infirmities with his Wounds to cherish our Souls to answer all the Arguments and Objections of the Devil against us and to be our Friend our Brother our Shepherd â—nd our New and Living Way to his Father's Bosom The Holy Ghost doth promise to enlighten us to be our Guide in the dark to comfort us in all our Tribulations to teach us how to pray to assure us of God's love to fill us with joy in believing to increase our Graces to strengthen us in all Difficulties to support us in our Spiritual Dangers to arm us with Arguments against Temptations and to give us a Right to a future happy Resurrection This is the mighty promise God makes to poor Sinners in the Sacrament On the other side we that come to the Table of our Lord and do not intend to come in vain do solemnly promise particularly to the Eternal Father that we will own that relation with joy and walk as his Children not fashioning our selves according to our former Lusts in our ignorance but be holy as he that hath call'd us is holy that we will no longer live like Rebels and Prodigals under the Name of Children but make good that Glorious Title by our Lives shine as Lights in the World and endeavour to be spotless and blameless and by our Lives and Actions and good Works glorifie our Father which is in Heaven We promise here to God the Son and the Great Redeemer that we will not only accept of his purchas'd Blessings but submit to his Scepter too and that he shall be not only our Saviour but our Sovereign King and Master also to whom we will think our selves obliged to submit in all things that he shall say unto us in his Gospel that his Life shall be the pattern of ours and his Example and Command shall do more with us than our Gain or Appetite or Interest that we will be loyal to him who redeem'd our Lives from Destruction and will act as Spiritnal Subjects in his Spiritual Kingdom We promise also to God the Holy Ghost That we will not only expect his Benefit and Comforts but be guided by his Motions That we will not reâ—â—st his Checks and Reproofs but hearken to them whenever our Hearts do smite us That we will not prefer the Dictates of a Lying Devil before his Lively Oracles nor joyn with the Motions of our Fâ—esh against his Intreaties and Obtestations That we will make much of his gracious Visits and take heed we do not by our Sins and Follies defile the Temple of the Holy Ghost That we will cherish his kinder Influences and take care that the Grace and Talent he confers upon us be not buried in the Earth or laid up useless in a Napkin And this is a Scheme of the solemn Covenant a Believer a Receiver a Communicant enters into with the Holy Trinity in this Tremendous Sacrament a Covenant that ought to be more sacred than the Leagues of Princes and more religiously observed than the Treaties and Engagements of the dearest Friends VI. This Covenant we enter into first of all in our Baptism when our Age is Tender our Desires Innocent and our Souls like soft Wax fit for any Impression and consequently fit for the Impress of the Divine Image and though that Age be not capable of entering actually into a Covenant with the Lord of Heaven and Earth yet it 's enough that our Parents and Friends who have Power over us do then make this Covenant with God for us dedicate us to his Service appoint us Candidates of Holiness and consecrate us early to the performance of the Conditions required in this Covenant a Charity just and a genuine effect of Paternal Care which as it loves the Child should share in their Temporal Enjoyments so it cannot but desire it should participate of the Blessings of this Covenant And since these Blessings are not to be had without the Obligation of Faith Repentance and Obedience though the Child cannot actually exercise these Virtues yet being offer'd to God upon these Conditions the Parents do not only shew their good Will to have the Child enrol'd in the Book of Life but lay the strongest Obligations on the Child to stand to the Terms of the Covenant when it comes to display the Glory of its Rational Faculties and therefore may expect an actual Conveyance of the Spiritual Blessings of this Covenant to the Child by the secret Operations of the Holy Ghost which Blessings the Child hath a Right to till enticed by Lust and the Vanity of the World it grows proud rebellious and shakes of the conduct of its Guide viz. The Spirit of the Holy Jesus For God knows the World and the Devil watch the first rising of the Sun I mean the first Appearances of Reason and seek to obscure and darken them by Mists of Sensuality into which Pit the Young Man that was in his Infancy dedicated to God too often falls and there lies and sleeps and many times awakes not till Death summons him to the dreadful Bar of Heaven Where it is so that the Covenant we enter'd into in the Morning of our Days is forgotten slighted and polluted with Filthiness and superfluity of Naughtiness what can we think but that the intended Blessings of the Covenant cease and die and are withdrawn from the degenerate Creature and the Promises of God being our Father our Saviour and our Comforter are null'd at least the performance of them suspended till the Apostate comes to himself again This early perfidiousness too common and too general discovers the absolute necessity of renewing this Covenant when we are able to understand the greatness and importance of the Contract and to enter into that Bond in our own Persons especially in the Supper of the Lord and there solemnly to engage our Souls to the performance of the Conditions required on our side upon which what God hath graciously promis'd will effectually be perform'd again an offer not to be slighted for it is an argument of infinite Patience and Goodness that God will give the Backslider leave to enter into the broken Covenant and
Open still new Springs of Love when I come to this Sacrament of thy Everlasting Love that the New Springs may still give new life to my Soul new courage to do thy Will new Power to tread on Serpents new resolutions to conquer all that stops my way And thus my dearest Lord transform me by the renewing of my Mind that I may prove what is the Holy acceptable and perfect Wall of God Amen Amen CHAP. XVI Of the Perpetuity of this Ordinance and the Necessity of its Continuance to the World's End The CONTENTS St. Pauls Command to the Corinthians of shewing forth the Lord's Death till he come not to be understood of Christ's coming to them in the Spirit but coming to Judgment This proved largely by many arguments The reasons laid down why this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is to last to the end of the World Christ's coming to Judgment proved to be a very proper object of our Contemplation in the Recieving of the Holy Eucharist and a help to Patience and Faith and confidence in the Goodness of God God's Marvellous care of our everlasting welfare shewn in tying us up in Bonds of Obedience in this Ordinance Men who look for Grace and Salvation as they are bound to make use of the means of Grace so they are obliged to make use of this The wretched state of those who neglect to shew forth the Lord's Death in this Sacrament The same temper required in Recieving the Eucharist that we desire to be in when we shall be summoned to Judgment The Prayer I. THat this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is a standing Ordinance and to last to the end of the World St. Paul expresly tells us 1 Cor. 11. 26. For as often as you Eat this Bread and Drink this Cup ye do shew or do ye shew the Lord's death till he come Whereby is plainly meant Christ's coming to judge the World and this hath been the unanimous belief of the universal Church since the Apostles time unto this day which makes us justly wonder at the boldness and ignorance of Quakers and other Enthusiasts who have presumed to abolish this Ordinance in their Conventicles pretending that this Sacrament was fitted only for the Infancy of the Christian Church but intended it should cease when Christ should come to them in the Spirit and having already received Christ as they fancy in their first Conversion and Regeneration they foolishly and ridiculously imagine that they have no need of receiving him again in the use of the outward Symbols tendered to Christians in this Sacrament Puffed up with this airy conceit they run into this Sinister and Childish Interpretation of the Apostle's words contrary to the sense of all Christian Churches as if Till he come were as much as Till he come to you in the Spirit to which impertinent Exposition nothing could possibly lead these silly Men but the Spirit of error and contempt of all human Learning and undervaluing the common dictates of Reason and a monstrous Spiritual Pride which not only swells them with an opinion that they are wiser than all the Christians in the World besides but tempts them to other insolencies and Prophanations of the Written Oracles of the Holy Ghost and therfore lest weak Capacities should be ensnared by such specious pretences it will be necessary to shew the unreasonableness of this interpetation 1. There is not the least Syllable not the least hint given us in all the New Testamenâ— that this Sacrament after it was once instituted was ever to be abolished which made not only the Apostles introduce it into the Christian Congregations while they lived but all the Churches planted and founded by them retained and continued it knowing nothing to the contrary but that this Ordinance was to be perpetual and Eternal and therefore as they had recieved the necessary use of it from those who laid the foundation of their Religion so they propagated the same to their posterity Nay among the Hereticks that left and separated from the Church there were very few but what preserved the use of this Sacrament in their Congregations and though they had the insolence of Blaspheming other Mysteries of Christianity yet this Ordinance they were afraid to abolish being sensible that it was one of the Corner stones of Christianity And who could imagine otherwise that considered how this Sacrament succeeded in the room of the Passover which was Item enough that it was to last for ever for as the Passover after its first Institution was to last to the end of the Jewish Oeconomy that expiring with Christ's Death so this succeeding was an argument that it was to continue while the dispensation of Christianity should last and that is to the end of the World 2. No Man will deny but that those three thousand Souls converted by St. Peter's Sermon did receive the Holy Ghost for St. Peter expresly promises them Acts 2. 38. Repent and be Baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the Remissions of Sins and ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost and this was very common in those days for true Penitents to receive the Holy Ghost immediately upon their Baptism and sometimes before their Baptism as Cornelius and his Company Act. 20. 44. 48. And though by the Holy Chost in those places are meant the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost speaking with Tongues healing diseases c. Yet it must be granted that in their conversion they had the Sanctifying Spirit of God sent upon them yet these very Persons that â—nd so received the Spirit continued in breaking of Bread and in Prayer as we are told Act. 2. 42. And that by breaking of Bread there is not meant sitting down to their private and ordinary meals is evident from hence because it is mentioned as a part of their Devotion and publick Worship to which their ordinary Diet cannot be referred and therefore it must be the Encharist or this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper that 's meant by it for by that Term it was usually expressed in the Primitive Church as we see 1 Cor. 10. 16. 3. Those very Corinthians to whom the Apostle writes in the place aforementioned and gives a Command to shew forth the Lord's death in this Sacrament till he came had already received the Spirit of God as we read 1 Cor. 2. 12. Now we have received not the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given us of God and to this purpose he adds 1 Cor. 6. 11. Such were some of you but ye are Washed but ye are Sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God These Men then had received the Spirit of God and therefore when the Apostle writing to them chap. 11. Saith that they should shew forth the Lords death till he come most certainly he cannot mean till he came
you to destruction both of Body and Soul But though this be a kind of general Excommunication yet except the particular Persons be taken notice of and branded by the Church a private Chrstian must judge charitably of those that come and if he do so their Impiety cannot hinder him from being a worthy Partaker of the Sacrament I have been the longer upon this Point because I have known it to be a great Scruple that hath hinder'd many from coming to the Lord's Table being possessed with Fear that if they should meet with such Persons there they should eat and drink unworthily 12. Eating and Drinking at this Table with some scruples upon the Mind doth not necessarily make a Man an unworthy Receiver By a scrupulous Conscience I do not mean an erroneous nor a doubtful Conscience the former being when a Person thinks that his Duty which is directly against the Word and Will of God as it was with the Jews Joh. 16. 2. The other when a Person doubts whether such and such Actions be lawful or unlawful as it was with those Christians Rom. 14. 23. But a scrupulous Conscience proceeds from fear and fear caus'd by slight and weak Arguments whereby a Person is satisfied that such a Thing or Action is his Duty but Melancholy or the Devil or Converse with scrupulous Persons inject some Thoughts which makes a Person fluctuate or waver in his performance For example a Man conscious of his own wants knows that coming to the Lord's Table is his Duty and accordingly he comes yet comes with fears in his Mind fears caus'd either by what he hath read or by what he hath heard or by what he hath seen in others fears that suggest to him that he should not have come because he hath not every thing that he observes in other good Christians Now I say that eating and drinking with such scruples upon his Mind doth not make him an unworthy Receiver 1. Because notwithstanding these scruples he may be sincere in his Faith and Love he may sincerely desire and be sincerely willing to keep himself unspotted from the World and to embrace the Wisdom which is from above first pure then peaceable gentle and easie to be entreated He may for all this deliberately chuse Holiness as the better part and his Faith may be carried out to embrace Christ as his Mediator and Governor and he may actuate his Love so that he shall be afraid of the appearances of Evil and if it be thus with him notwithstanding his little scruple he may be and will certainly be a welcome Guest at this Holy Table for God judges of us by the sincerity of our Hearts not by every little accidental fear that may surprize us and to discompose a timorous Mind And therefore 2. Such scruples may lawfully be rejected opposed and banish'd out of our Minds without danger Nay they ought to be resisted and a Christian in this case is obliged not to harbour them and to be resolute in stopping his Ears against them especially where he finds so good a foundation in himself as I mentioned in the foregoing Paragraph To give regard to them is the way to multiply them and to ruminate upon them is to let in or to open the Door to greater perplexities Nor is this to act against Conscience but according to the true Rules of Conscience for a Scruple is a needless Fear and without just ground which Fear can bring no obligation upon the Party thus assaulted And it is observed by experience where Persons use a kind of Violence to expel such Scruples they strengthen their Faith and their Conscience fit themselves for greater Duties and become more expedient in their Journey to the City of the living God 13. Want of great Knowledge doth not make a Man an unworthy Receiver It 's confessed that some knowledge is necessary in order to a worthy Receiving for this is Eternal Life that they know thee the only true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ Joh. 17. 3. But the knowledge requisite lies within a small compass and he that knows no more than the six Fundamental Principles laid down by St. Paul Heb. 6. 1 2. knows enough in order to a comfortable Communion Those Principles are 1. Repentance from dead Works That Repentance from our known Sins is absolutely necessary 2. Faith towards God That God must be believ'd according to the Revelations he hath vouchsafed to Mankind in his Word and that the things contain'd in that Book are infallibly true 3. The Doctrine of Baptism That we are Baptiz'd in the Name of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and thereby have given our selves up to his Service 4. Laying on of hands That the Holy Ghost whereof that laying on of hands in Confirmation is an external Sign is certainly dispensed and bestowed in some measure on all those that are Baptiz'd whereby they are enabled to fight against Sin the World the Flesh and the Devil 5. Resurrection of the Dead That there shall be a Resurrection of Men's Bodies wherein they shall be reunited to their Souls and appear before God's dreadful Tribunal to give an account of their Lives and Actions 6. Eternal Judgment That in the last Day the controversie of Men's Happiness or Unhappiness shall be decided and Men shall be either sent into Eternal Life or into Eternal Fire He that knows there Six Principles and believes them and is resolv'd to act accordingly hath knowledge enough to fit him for a worthy participation of this Ordinance for these are sufficient Motives to remember the Death of the Son of God with holy Resolutions to follow him that we may be partakers of his everlasting Bliss But that a Man must needs be a competent Scholar and understand the whole Mystery of Godliness and be able to give an account of the nicer Points of Divinity and to answer the harder Questions about the manner and nature of those Things which God hath revealed This is not necessary Ignorance of the abstruser Problems of Theology doth not make a Man an unworthy Receiver For 1. So much Knowledge is only necessary as serves to make us Practical Christians and a small stock of Knowledge will do that and he that knows that Mankind was lost by Adam's â—all and stands in need of a Saviour to reconcile them to God and that Christ Jesus the Son of God who being in the Form of God assumed our Nature and died for us is that Saviour who is both able and willing to reconcile us to an offended God upon the reasonable terms of turning from a sensual and sinful Life and making his Life and Precepts the Rule of our Conversation whereupon we shall be pardoned and obtain Eternal Life He that knows these few particulars and how easily are they learned and imbibed knows enough to make him a Practical Christian if he will but act according to these Principles and this unfeigned willingness makes him a worthy
that Account makes himself guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Our Church therefore in her Confession before the Sacrament obliges all those that come to receive to say We do earnestly repent and are heartily sorry for these our Mis-doings Now he that is heartily sorry for his known Sins will watch and strive against them and take heed he doth not through Carelesness rush into them again which the unworthy Receiver not being from the Heart resolved to do involves himself in that Guilt we speak of The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice I. HEre I cannot but take notice of the great Errour of the First Council of Toledo celebrated about the Year 400. after Christ which made a Canon that he who had no Wife but instead of a Wife a Concubine ought not to be kept or debarred from the holy Communion provided that he content himself with one Concubine and add no more 'T is evident that such a Conjunction is Filthiness and Uncleanness condemned by the Apostle Gal. 5. 19. Marriage it is not and Carnal Copulations without it are mere Fornications as we see Heb. 13. 4. And therefore such Persons if admitted to the Communion could not but eat and drink unworthily Nor doth it mend the matter that Leo I. Pope of Rome approved of that Canon for that only shews that Popes are as fallible as other Men nay more subject to mistake as they are very jealous of their Riches and Grandeur and Temporal Interest Bellarmine to excuse this Fault alledges that by Concubine in that Canon was meant nothing but a lawful Wife only married and taken without a Portion or publick Solemnity But this Conjecture must be false because both in the Civil and Canon-Laws Concubines are Persons distinguished from lawful Wives and but a better Name for Whores And as that Concil did very ill to admit such Persons that were known to live in such Sins to the Sacrament so they did as ill to prohibit Ministers Widows if they married again or took a second Husband the use of the Communion as if an honst Marriage were more scandalous than Fornication And though a Bishop or Pastor of the Church is ordered by the Apostle 1 Tim. 3. 2. to be the Husband of one Wife yet how doth it follow from thence that his Widow when he dies must never marry again II. There is a great difference betwixt Receiving unworthily and being unworthy to receive Every Man that thinks himself unworthy to receive these Mysteries is not therefore an unworthy Receiver Alas If we go to the Worthiness of the Person that comes to this Table Who of us can be said to be worthy to come before so holy so jealous so great a God Or Who of us is worthy of that incomprehensible and diffusive Love represented to us in this Ordinance If we reflect on the marvellous Purity of the Divineâ—Nature Who of us can be thought worthy to approach it The best of us have reason to cry out at the sight of that Tremendous Holiness Unclean Unclean There are few of us who have not reason to complain to use the Words of Thomas de Kempis that they are yet so carnal so worldly so unmortified in their Passions so full of disorderly Motions of the Flesh so unwatchful over their outward Senses so often entangled with vain Thoughts and Fancies so vehemently inclined to external Comforts so negligent of the Ornament of a meek and quiet Spirit so prone to immoderate Laughter and Immodesty so indisposed to Tears and Compunction so strongly inclined to the Ease and Pleasures of the Flesh so dull to Strictness and an holy Zeal so curious to hear News and to see gaudy Sights so slack to embrace what is humble and low so covetous of Abundance so niggardly in giving to pious Uses so close in keeping what Providence hath bestowed upon them so inconsiderate in speaking so unbridled to Silence so loose in Manners so covetous after Gain so greedy after the Meat which perishes so deaf to the Word of God so apt to sit still so slow to labour so watchful to idle Tales so drowsie in God's Service so hasty to make an end of their Prayers so inconstant in Attention so cold in Devotion so undevout in the holy Communion so quickly discomposed so seldom wholly gathered into themselves so suddenly provoked to Anger so ready to take Displeasure at their Neighbour's Actions so prone to judge so severe in Reprehension so jolly in Prosperity so impatient in Adversity so often purposing much Good and yet performing little There are very few of us who have not reason to deplore such Defects as these and then Who can be worthy to feast with the King Invisible Immortal Blessed for evermore But it is God that makes us worthy He will not count us unworthy if we strive against these Errours if we labour to conquer them if we will not be Friends with them if we proclaim War against them if we are resolved whatever we venture to be rid of them if we will not hug them in our Bosoms if we will open the Everlasting Doors and let the King of Glory come in if we will hate what he hates and love what he loves and will continue our Hostility against those Lusts which interfere with his just Right and Prerogative He will not go to the utmost rigour with us He will deal gently with us liker a Father than a Judge To let us go on in our Offences without Remorse or a serious Care to please him he cannot and such is his Holiness that he must not He considers our Frame that we are Dust and therefore will not take advantage of every accidental Miscarriage But he considers withal that he hath given us his Gospel and Everlasting Motives and his Holy Spirit whereby we may certainly master the Corruptions we find stirring in us though not immediately yet by degrees if we are but willing and labour and wrestle and are active and do not suffer our selves to be overcome by Laziness and the Satisfactions of this present World And upon these Terms he is willing to count us worthy Receivers O Sweetness incomparable O Condescention ineffable beyond all that Kings and Princes express to their Subjects What Christian that is acquainted with this Frame this Spirit this humble and tractable Temper this Resolution and this Willingness and that feels these Characters in his Soul can after all this forbear coming upon a pretence of being unworthy Coming to this holy Table with such Purposes with such Designs with such Qualifications let him be confident that his Father his Saviour his Redeemer will bid him welcome This spiritual Frame Christian will make thee worthy Thou comest not to this Sacrament to give God any thing but to receive a Blessing from him Thou comest not hither to contribute any thing to his Happiness but to open thy Mouth wide that he may fill it Thou comest not hither to proclaim thy
Christ's Merits This previous Meditation softens the Earth makes it fit for the Master's use and for his sowing the good Seed of Grace in it when the Soul comes into the Courts of the Lord. And as he that means to Pray with good attention in publick must not forget his secret Prayers at home so he that will reflect with comfort on his Saviour's Death at Church must meditate of it in his Closet one helps the other and if these go hand in hand together it is the way to put the Soul in an excellent Frame These private Meditations are the Dresses of the Soul she puts on at home that she may look more beautiful and amiable when she comes to stand in her bridegroom's Presence in the Temple III. How this Meditation is to be order'd and managed must be in great measure lest to the Wisdom and Discretion of the Party concern'd yet I should think that the best way would be to lay the Holy Evangelists before us who all have given exact account of their Master's Sufferings especially in the last Scene of his Life here on Earth and to make Spiritual Reflections either on the whole History in general or on some of the principal Points contain'd in it To give the Reader an account of the Proposal I will present him with a Scheme of Meditations on the XXII and XXIII Chapters of St. Lukes Gospel which I do the rather pitch upon because I think this Evangelist hath given us the fullest account of the Circumstances and Particulars of Christ's last Sufferings and I shall go from Verse to Verse not so much to prescribe mine own way as to give the devout Reader an hint how he may improve those Historical Passages and enlarge upon them according to the Gifts parts and abilities God hath given him The XXII Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel Paraphrased 1. Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread â—rew nigh which is called the Passover BEhold O my Soul How busie the Jews are to remove all Leaven out of their Houses against the Passover How loth hast thou been these many years to remove the Leaven of Vanity out of thy Heart when thou hast gone to meet thy Blessed Redeemer What excuses hast thou framed What Apologies hast thou made that thou mightst not part with that Apple of thine Eye What a Benjamin hath it been to thee How unwilling hast thou been to quit it Ungrateful Creature Canst thou name the Name of Christ and keep that which will render that Name and all the Sweets contain'd in it unsavory and insipid to thee 2. And the Chief Priests and Scribes sought how they might kill him for they feared the People AND hath not this been thy Case O my Soul Hast not thou feared Men more than God Hast not thou been more afraid of Dust and Ashes than of the Holy One of Israel How often couldst thou have dispens'd with God's seeing thy folly if it could have been concealed from the knowledge of Men And when thou hast avoided and shun'd a Sin hath it not been more for fear of blemishing thy Credit and Reputation in the World than of love to the Law of God Hath not Temporal Interest restrain'd thee from Sin more than God's All-seeing Eye Think how unkindly and unworthily thou hast dealt with thy best and greatest Friend and act for the future upon nobler Principles 3. Then entred Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot being of the number of the Twelve O My Soul Though thou hast not been guilty of the formal Act of Judas's Crime yet hast not thou too often open'd the door to thy mortal Enemy Hast not thou given him invitations to enter into thee by carnal Security and taking too great liberty in thy conversation When thou hast left thy self without a Guard and hast not watch'd over thy Senses hath not this been an Item to the Serpent to creep into the Garden and to hide himself among the Bushes Nay when thou hast given way to his evil suggestions hugg'd his temptations and embraced the evil he hath prompted thee to when thou hast harbour'd Malice against thy Neighbour when thy Heart hath swelled with Pride when thy Breast hath been filled with Envy when thou hast delighted in Froth and idle Talk have not these been Signs of Satan's entring into thy Heart When in hearing the Word in Prayer and in other Devotions thou hast admitted foolish impertinent frivolous Thoughts into thy Mind and kept out Considerations suitable to the Duty thou wert engaged in was not this to give the Devil Admittance into thy Bosom And shall so dangerous a Guest lodge any longer there Oh bid him be gone that thy House and all thou hast may be in safety 4. And he went his Way and communed with the Chief Priests and Captains that he might betray him unto them AND what pains hast thou taken O my Soul to betray thy blessed Redeemer when thou hast joyned with his Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil When thou hast lain in the World's Arms and solaced thy self with its Airy Pleasures in despight of all Christ's Calls and Intreaties to the contrary What hath thy living in Strife and Variance been but a Conspiring with the Devil against the Holy Jesus that Prince of Peace When thou hast been peremptory and resolute to satisfie the Lusts of the Flesh and its inordinate Desires hath not this been exposing the excellent Religion thou professest to the Contempt and Scorn of Men And how much doth this want of betraying thy Master that bought thee and thy God who redeemed thee 5. And they were glad and covenanted to give him Money HOW hast thou rejoyced in Sin O my Soul How hast thou been tickled with the Infirmities and Reproaches of thy Neighbour How merry hast thou been in ill Company How glad when thou hast heard of the Fall or Trouble of a Person thou hast had a Grudge against What Pleasure hast thou taken in fantastick Dresses in following the sinful Humours of vain Men and gratifying thy foolish Lusts How hast thou laughed when thou shouldst have mourned and sported thy self with Actions that should have drawn Rivers of Tears from thine Eyes How merry hast thou been among thy Cups And how much more hath idle Talk and sinful Lusts and prophane Jests raised and cheared thy Spirits than the most affectionate Sermon What strange Enterprizes hath Money tempted thee to What sinful Compliance what Contempt of the Will of God hast thou been put upon by the Hopes of Gain And how much more real Joy hast thou felt in a full Purse than a rich Conscience 6. And he promised and sought Opportunity to betray him unto them in the Absence of the Multitude HOW faithful is the unhappy Judas in performing his Promise Yet how many Promises hast thou made to God O my Soul and hast not regarded them What Promises of Love what Promises of Obedience what Promises of Reformation When thou hast been sick what Vows of
hast thou had of thine own Worth And how hast thou undervalued the Man or Woman that have had to no other Crime but Poverty Thou hast thought thy Inferiors scarce worth talking to How unlike thy Redeemer is this Pride and Haughtiness Were Grace an Inhabitant of thy Heart what low Thoughts wouldst thou have of thy self How readily wouldst thou converse even with the meanest Saint How wouldst thou learn to esteem Men more for their Holiness than for their Riches And how lovely would a Creature that hath the Image of God upon him look in thine Eyes Far more lovely than the greatest Monarch or Lady that have nothing to recommend them but their outward Splendor 15. And he said unto them With Desire I have desired to eat this Passover before I suffer HOW doth God long for our Happiness How fervent are his Desires to do us good Yet how little have these Longings prevailed with thee O my Soul Notwithstanding all these Desires of God to make thee happy how hast thou longed after the muddy Waters of Sensual Pleasures Nay longed to be for ever miserable when in despight of his Intreaties not to neglect so great Salvation thou hast longed for the stolen Waters of sinful Delights coveted Death and been enamoured with Destruction How hath God intreated thee to close with him upon his own Terms and how hast thou grieved him with thy Refusal How hath the Almighty beseeched thee by his Ambassadors to be reconciled to him and yet thou hast stood out and baffled the Stratagems of Mercy 16. For I say unto you I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God CHrist rejoyces that the Shadows are at an end and that the Substance or Antitype is approaching for as the Passover was a Sign of the Jews Deliverance from Egyptian Bondage so that Deliverance was a Shadow or Emblem of our Deliverance from Sin here and our Exemption from all Misery and Trouble in Heaven which was now to be effected by the Death of Christ. But O my Soul how hast thou hunted after Shadows and left the Substance unregarded What are the Glories of this World but mere Shews Yet how fond art thou of them and how strangely hast thou been enamoured with them These Shadows intimate that there are more substantial Glories in the Everlasting Mansions yet these thou passest by and the other thou art delighted with See how thou dotest on those painted Coronets those Butter-flies those Airy Nothings while with the Cock in the Fable thou tramplest on the Pearl even on the Pearl of Price to purchase which the Spiritual Merchant in the Gospel sold all he had 17. And he took the Cup and gave Thanks and said Take this and divide it among your selves HOW thankful is our Great Mediator for every Mercy he received from his Everlasting Father Yet how ungrateful hast thou been O my Soul to thy mighty Benefactor What Mercies hast thou received at his Hands and what strange Returns hast thou made for them Thy God hath been kind to thee and thou hast been base and unworthy How hast thou fed on his Blessings and ascribed them to thy Wisdom and Industry How hast thou lived upon his Charity and spurned at his Laws Foolish Creature Dost thou thus reward the Lord thy God Thou shouldest not eat a bit but send some Thanksgiving-Ejaculations to Heaven yet thou contentest thy self with a careless Grace and never thinkest more afterward of God How little dost thou mind the Providences that are sent upon thee And while thou considerest not the Operations of God's Hands how canst thou be thankful 18. For I say unto you I will not drink of the Fruit of the Vine until the Kingdom of God shall come INdeed Heaven hath the best and choicest Wine even the Wine of Angels This Wine is the ravishing Love of God This transports the Understanding and wraps up the Intellect in Extasies of Joy and Comfort A brutish Man knows not this neither doth a Fool understand it And hath not this been thy Case O my Soul How weary hast thou been of thinking of this Banquet How soon have thy Spirits tired with meditating of that Love How ready hast thou been to think of the World and the last Night's Revel and how backward to reflect on this richer Entertainment What a Weariness hath it been to thee to survey these Glories to walk about that Jerusalem and to behold the Towers and Bulwarks of it 19. And he took Bread and gave Thanks and brake it and gave unto them saying This is my Body which is given for you This do in remembrance of me HEre begins the happy Institution of the holy Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood and the great Command to remember the Death of Jesus and together with that an Item of the greatest Love that can be shewn to poor Mortals Yet how backward O my Soul hast thou been sometimes to come to this holy Sacrament Thou should'st have longed for an Opportunity to remember this Death with the People of God What is this Bread but an Emblem of the Communion of Saints and a Representation of thy Communion with the Great Head the Lord Jesus Yet how little Delight hast thou taken in this Ordinance How often hast thou come out of Formality only How little have thine Affections been moved with that stupendous Love Either Sin or Malice to thy Neighbour or some Worldly Trouble hath made thee stay away The Thoughts of this Love should have thrown down all thy Strong Holds of Iniquity and left thee in a calm holy spiritual Temper But how hast thou preferred thy little Concerns in the World before this Feast And what Hazards hast thou run of being doomed to a Spiritual Famine as those Guests against whom the Master of the Feast protested that they should never taste of his Supper 20. Likewise also the Cup after Supper saying this Cup is the New Testament of my Blood which is shed for you AT how dear a rate was the remission of our sins purchased The Blood of the Son of God was the Price Greater Love hath no Man shewn than that he lay down his life for his Friends but here is one that laid it down for his Enemies that they may be pardoned How hast thou looked upon this pardon O my Soul sometimes without standing amazed at the height and breadth and depth and length of the love of God! How cold hast thou been in thy desires after this precious Blood Thou should'st have stood under the Cross waiting for the drops that trickled down But the familiarity of the joyful news of it alas hath too often wrought in thee a dis-esteem of it Nay how light hast thou made of this remission and by making so light of it thou hast profan'd it too when thou hast sinned because God is willing to pardon sinners and hast made that pardoning Blood an encouragement to indulge thy self in thy carnal
satisfactions hath not this been counting the Blood of the Covenant an unholy thing 21. But behold the hand of him that betrays me is with me on the Table AND didst thou never approach the Table of thy Lord with a treacherous Heart O my Soul Hast not thou pretended Friendship when thou hast been an Enemy while thou hast been loth to part with a darling bosom sin or to examine what secret sins thou wert guilty of that thou mightest not be forced to part with them Hast not thou shewn much love with thy Lips while thy Heart hath gone astray from thy Redeemer Thou hast it may be confessed thy self to be a sinner in general and so hast joyned thy self to the croud of God's People and come to the Supper of thy Lord But while thou hast been loth to descend to any particular sins hast not thou thereby discovered thy secret love to sin and thy feigned and counterfeit love to the Holy Jesus 22. And truly the Son of Man goes as it was determined but woe unto that Man by whom he is betrayed HOW dreadful a thing is it to be instrumental in a Sin And yet thou hast made nothing of it O my Soul How hast thou suffer'd thy self to be imployed by others in things which have been apparently unlawful How apt hast thou been to tell a Lye after another especially for a near Relation or a Superiour How apt hath thy Conscience been to dispense with Offences against a Gracious God to please those from whom thou hast expected some benefit and advantage Hath not the Word of God been Blasphemed by wicked Men through thy neglect of thy Saviours Commands How often hast thou scandalized and given offence to other Men by thy unchristian And how little hast thou minded the threatnings of the Holy Ghost in this case And while thou hast not only sinned thy self but holpen to draw others into sin hast not thou thereby made thy self lyable to the Righteous Judgment of God 23. And they began to enquire among themselves which of them it was that should do this thing INdeed Self-examination is the only way to come to a right knowledge of our selves Yet how careless O my Soul hast thou been of this Duty How easily mightest thou have found that thou wert guilty of such a sin and didst transgress such a Command but thou would'st not How much better is it to be acquainted with our own Hearts than to be strangers to our selves And what danger dost thou involve thy self in for want of this Holy search How dost thou prepare for Self-delusion And how impure must thy Heart grow what a Dunghil what a sink what a stye of filthiness where it is not purged by such explorations The Disease being known it may be cured but lying hid it kills and destroys when we think all is safe How easie a matter were it to enquire whether thou art that Hypocrite that unprofitable servant that loiterer that slothful Person that busie body which the Holy Ghost condemns Yet thou hast shunned this search and been afraid of it as of Poison Whereas it is the only Medicine from which thou may'st promise thy self an happy recovery 24. And there was also a strife among them which of them should be accounted greatest SEE how worldly Thoughts will croud in if we do not watch even when we are engaged in the most serious acts of Worship And hast not thou found such worldly sensual Thoughts enter into thy Mind O my Soul when thou hast been employed in the greatest Duties even at the Holy Sacrament it self And have not they come in with thy allowance and approbation and when they have surpriz'd thee hast not thou harboured them made much of them and been loth to expel them How reverend should thy Thoughts be upon such occasions How free from such Extravagancies How sequestred from a vain World How should they be taken up with the love of God! How should the Glory of God ingross their strength and power See by this which way thy Byass leans Behold by this how strongly thy Heart bends to things below O when will it fix upon the things which are above 25. And he said unto them the Kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them and they that exercise Authority upon them are called Benefactors HOW unfit and improper is it for a Christian to conform to the Word As improper as for a Man of reason to imitate Children or Mad-men Yet how fond hast thou been O my Soul of the pomp and glories of this World How hast thou admired the Riches and the Grandeur of it How hast thou wished thy self in such a great Man's place Though the Apostles were somewhat ambitions before Christ's Ascension into Heaven yet after the effusion of the Holy Ghost they saw with other Eyes and despised these sublunary Honours and Dignities as much as they esteemed them before O my Soul when wilt thou follow this great example By the Rules of thy profession thou art to despise the World and though thou art in the World yet not to love the World Notwithstanding this Command how dost thou hancker after these Onions and Garlick those certain Marks of the House of Bondage How strong is thy Appetite to follow the fashions of the World And how apt art thou to make the humour of the age thy pattern 26. But ye shall not be so but he that is greatest among you let him be as the younger and he that is chief as he that doth serve AY Self-denial is that which doth best become a Christian that 's the best Ornament he can put on and which makes him look most lovely in the Eyes of God Yet how inconsiderable hath this dress been in thine Eyes O my Soul How loth hast thou been to deny thine Eyes such a dangerous object thine Ears such a Syren's Voice thy Mouth such a delicate dish thy Feet such vain company thy Tongue such a smutty jest thy Hand such a lustful touch and thy Mind such a lascivious or covetous thought How hast thou thought thy self undone when thou hast not had what thy sensual appetite did crave and how raging have thy desires been after that which would ruin thee How loth hast thou been to deny thy self in superfluities and to bestow them on the poor How hard hast thou thought it to shun such a place where thou knewest thou shouldst be tempted and be perswaded unto Sin 27. For whether is greater he that sitteth at Meat or he that serveth Is not he that sits at Meat But I am among you as one that serveth HOW beautiful is Humility The Son of God himself is enamoured with it tho' his business was to Command not serve yet he chuses to serve rather than to exercise Authority How unlike thy Saviour hast thou been O my Soul How Proud How Self-conceited How apt to prefer thy self before others And how apt to think better of thy self than others How apt to
give nothing to God that is more pleasing to him than his Will and in giving him his Will he gives him all his Content his Love his Honour his Health and his Wealth for he leaves all these to his Disposal 2. Nothing comes to pass without God's Providence Our Sicknesses Poverty Exile Losses Crosses Troubles Accidents which foolish Men are apt to ascribe to Chance are all govern'd by his Almighty Hand and sent by his Order So that not to conform our Wills to his Will in these Cases is a tacit Denial of his Providence Nay though the Afflictions and Miseries which may befal us may be inflicted by wicked Instruments the Devil and evil Men yet as God hath no Hand in their Sins so he hath certainly an Hand in the Affliction And this is one great Design of the Holy Ghost in Scripture to direct us how to refer all things even the most displeasing and the most disagreeable to Flesh and Blood to God's Providence Job therefore though the Chaldeans and the Devil were the External Instruments whereby his Calamities were sent upon him yet he acknowledges God in all and in his Confession ascribes his Losses not to the Devil not to the Chaldeans but to God The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord Job 1. 21. It was therefore a very wise Answer which Lupus the Bishop of Troy gave to Attila the King of the Huns who with an Army of Five Hundred Thousand Men had burnt and destroyed and laid waste abundance of Countries Coming at last before Troy the Bishop and his Clergy in their Robes went out to meet him and as they came into his Presence the Bishop craved Leave to ask him who he was Attila with a fierce and stern Countenance told him I am the Scourge of God Are you so saith the Bishop Who then is able to resist you And since you are so pray come and beat and scourge us as you think fit and as God shall permit you An Answer which Attila was so well pleased with that he spared the Town and passed through it without doing the Inhabitants the least hurt This good Man saw the Providence of God in it and conformed his Will to God's Will and thereby teaches us that this Self-Resignation is the Way to see an happy Issue of our Afflictions 3. As nothing comes to pass without a special Providence so whatsoever befals us is governed by infinite Wisdom and comes upon us wise and holy Ends though for the present we cannot see to the Bottom of them and that is a very great Motive to this Self-Resignation As the whole World is governed by the Inflnice Wisdom of God so Man in a particular manner and more especially those that fear him and whether God commands us any thing or will have us suffer any thing it is still for the noblest Ends even his Glory and our own Eternal Salvation And to say the Truth a Man can give no better no greater Demonstration of his Wisdom then in denying his own Judgment and Will and submitting them to the Wisdom of God For take the greatest and most exact Wisdom that is in man or ever hath been even the Wisdom of Solomon if it be compared with the Wisdom of God it is mere Darkness and Ignorance so that to resign our selves to the Wisdom and Will of God in all things must be the greatest Wisdom If a Man that is born blind should restise to take a wise Guide with him and particularly his own Father who entirely loves him a prudent Man and who knows the Way perfectly all would take him for a Mad-man and blind in Soul as well as Body And how are we better than such a Man if we are afraid to follow our Heavenly Father even then when he leads us over Rocks and Precipices For we have reason to trust the hand that guides us whatever Reasons offer themselves to our minds to the contrary nor can we be deceiv'd in our Trust for he that guides us is infinitely Wise. The Wisdom of God is to be seen in inequalities as much as in any thing A Body would not be beautiful if all the parts were of an equal bigness some parts standing out and others being depressed some being big and others little make up the Beauty of the whole as in the Fabrick of the Earth Mountains and Hills and Dales Rocks and fruitful Fields being mingled one with another make the Fabrick more stately than otherwise it would be the same may be said of our Lives which being chequered with Adversity and Prosperity with Light and Darkness with good Report and evil Report declare at once their Beauty and God's Wisdom so that we may confidently affirm That the Sovereign Reason which is God can do nothing contrary to Reason in things that concern us even then when sometimes they seen to be contrary so that this makes Self-resignation a necessary Duty III. But here a Question will arise Why this Duty of Self-resignation is to be exercised and practised particularly before we receive the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist and how comes this to be a Preparative for this Ordinance and the Worthy Receiving of it To which I must answer as follows 1. This is to imitate our Blessed Saviour who before he went to dye resigned his Will to his Holy Father's Will Luke 22. 42. Father if thou be willing remove this Cup from me nevertheless not my Will but thine be done And what more proper than before we remember this Death to use the same Self-resignation To imitate him in all his Actions except the Miraculous is our Duty and Glory We cannot imitate a better Pattern nay the desin of the Gospel is to plant in us a conformity to his Temper and to oblige us to tread in his steps If we do no not it 's as much as our Lives are worth and he will not own us for his Disciples The very name Christian imports so much and as a Pythagorean is one that believes and lives as Pythagoras lived so a Christian is he that believes and lives as Christ did live and therefore learn of me Matth. 11. 26. contains the whole Duty of a Christian. Of this the late famous Antonette Baurignon if it be true what is said in the History of her Life had very early apprehensions for when she was but a Girl of four years of Age having heard of her Parents and Friends what Christ had taught and how he lived and that by him we must enter into Eternal Life she was exceedingly desirous to go into that Country where Men lived as Christ had taught them and as he lived Her Friends telling her that she lived in a Christian Country and that all that were about her were Christians she shook her Head professing that she could not believe them for those she saw lived not as Christ had taught them or as he lived but rather directly contrary For Christ
wise indeed when I shall learn to submit my self to thy infinite Wisdom then shall I know thee the only true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ to whom with thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen CHAP. XXVI Of Preparatory Devotions and Aspirations fit to be used in Private before we come to the Holy Sacrament The CONTENTS The conveniency of using Devotions suitable to this Holy Sacrament the Week before we Receive Prayers and Aspirations relating to the Afflictions of Christ to Christ's readiness to comfort Persons diseased and in distress to his Praying for his Disciples and those that should believe in his Name c. THough all the preceeding Prayers are nothing but preparatory Devotions and may be used as such yet for varieties sake which may be as delightful in spiritual as it is in temporal Things I shall add some other aspirations and breathings of the Soul after God in this Chapter as preparatives for the Worthy Receiving of the Holy Communion Extraordinary occasions as I have said often and short warnings when a Friend of Neighbour is indisposed and requires our presence and help and joyning with him in the devout use of this Ordinance may oblige us to alter our method but where no considerable impediment straitens us in Time it will be convenient the Week before we Receive besides our standing Devotions to address our selves to God in Supplications as both relate and are subservient to the great Work we intend for And such are the following Aspirations whereof one or two may be used together with our daily Devotion I. O wonderful Saviour What Afflictions hast thou suffered for me Heat and Cold Hunger and Thirst Labour and Miseries Give me an Heart to receive from thy hands chearfully all kind of Adversity Give me that excellent temper which was in thy Apostles whereby they rejoyced in Tribulation and counted it Honourable and Glorious that they had any thing to lose for thy sake I intend to look upon thy sufferings in the Blessed Sacrament O let the sight work upon me that I may be contented to suffer joyfully for thy sake II. Great Prince of Peace Who in thy Converse with Men tookest all opportunities to comfort the distressed and didst most mercifully cure their Diseases Give me a great sense of the Afflictions of my Neighbours that I may have as great a feeling of their miseries as if they were mine own and be ready to help them according to my ability I am going to behold in the Blessed Sacrament what Miracles thou hast wrought for me O let me not come away from thence without working a Miracle upon my Soul III. Great Counsellor of my Soul Who at thy leaving the World didst in Prayer recommend thy Disciples and those that through their means should believe in thy Name to thy Heavenly Father's Care Let me find the benefit of thy intercession Preserve me from this evil World and keep me by thy Truth Take care of my Soul that I may not be lost in the Wilderness of this World in the Holy Sacrament which I mean to be partaker of assure me of that care and that thou wilt not leave me nor forsake me IV. O thou who art Alpha and Omâ—ga the Beginning and the end Who didst suffer thy self to be laid hold of by the Sacrilegious hands of thy furious Enemies and when they bound thee didst not revenge their injuries but spake mildly to them Give me Grace to shew my self loving and mild to all mine Enemies to pardon them from my Heart and to look upon them as Ministers of thy Will and promoters of my Salvation To this end let the Holy Sacrament I intend to take strengthen my Soul that I may become conformable to thee in doing good to them that hate me V. O Thou who art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedeck who didst seck me when when I was a stranger to thee and calledst me when I knew thee not Now I know thee let nothing satisfie me but thy self Give me a flaming Heart a chearful Mind and an enlighten'd understanding O give me thy self for nothing less will content my weary Soul I will seek thee in the Holy Sacrament O let me find thee and say to me In the day of Salvation have I succour'd thee VI. O my compassionate Saviour whose Bowels yearn over the Penitent My Soul is miserable if it loves thee not or if it continues to love the World O let my Soul rest in thee and contemplate thee and shew forth thy Praises and be thou my Song in the House of my Pilgrimage O thou who art rich in Goodness Redeem this poor Captive give Meat to my hungry Soul even the Meat which came down from Heaven In the Holy Sacrament let me find it that I may live and not dye VII O thou who art the only life of my Soul I invite thee to my House I confess a shatter'd a broken and a ruinous House But be thou intreated to rebuild and beautifie it with thy Salvation Set up thy Kingdom in it and make my Flesh obedient to my Soul my Soul to Reason my Reason to Faith my Faith to thy Will Enlarge my Mind loose me from my bonds and let the effects of my coming to the Holy Sacrament be that I may become a Servant of Righteousness and may relish no Wisdom but what is from above VIII O my Redeemer kind unspeakable kind to poor Sinners I am going to remember the great Mystery of thy Death and Passion Establish my Mind with the sweetness of thy Presence Let my Soul feel that thou enterest into her and rejoyce before thee O Sacred Fire which always burnest O Love which always shinest shine in my Soul and Sanctifie that Vessel Empty it of Vanity fill it with thy Grace and keep it full till it be made worthy to Receive the fulness of Joy at thy right Hand for evermore IX O powerful Mediator Thy Love is sweeter than Honey more nourishing than Milk Rule my Soul direct my Understanding animate my Love attract my Heart and let it thirst after the Rivers of thy Pleasures Appease the tumults of my Flesh hush the noise of my Worldly Affections and let my participation of thy Love in the Blessed Sacrament give me confidence that where my Head and Master Reigns and Lives there shall I Reign and Live for ever X. Great lover of Mankind To love thee is a great thing Even so to love thee as to think of thee with delight to relish nothing like thee and to be conformable to thy Will O! Let this Love dwell in me Let this Love captivate my Soul By this Love let me be united to thee Let this good Angel visit me In the Holy Sacrament let this Love be setled in me that my angry turbulent covetous mistrustful and impatient Thoughts may cease and I may feel that calm which those that do entirely
love thee feel XI O Saviour Gentle as the Spirit that in the shape of a Dove lighted on thy Sacred Head Teach me that Meekness which look'd so amiable in thy Life Expel the evil Spirits of Wrath Anger and Pride and Envy out of my Soul Speak the word and these Winds and Waves will obey thee Let thy gentleness make me great When I shall have overcome my wrathful and proud Inclinations and O! let the Sacrament I am going to help me in the Conquest then shall I be great and glorious in thy sight XII Great Shepherd of my Soul whose Wounds are full of Sweetness full of Mercy full of Charity Let thy Wounds prove the most powerful Remedies to rid me of my Corruptions When any impure Thoughts rise in me let thinking of thy Wounds crush them when sluggishness in Religion assaults me let thy Wounds and the remembrance of them make me vigilant in thy service and when in the Holy Sacrament I think of thy Wounds let all my vain imaginations expire XIII Great Friend of my immortal Soul Such a friend is not to be found in all the World as thou hast been to me for thou hast laid down thy Life for me O let me make much of thy friendship and cherish it by being meek and humble and merciful and patient as thou wert that thou mayest be my Friend when I dye and after Death receive me to thy self O confirm and seal thy Friendship to my Soul in the Blessed Sacrament and let the same Spirit move in me which raised thee from the dead XIV O Thou who hast wash'd me from my Sins with thine own Blood chuse I beseech thee my Heart for thy Dwelling place adorn and replenish it with thy Gifts and Graces make me to loath all transitory things make me poor in Spirit cure in me the itch of Self-love throw down all pride and eagerness after the Riches of this World and make the Holy Sacrament I am going to a mean to adore thee in Spirit and in Truth and to persevere in Goodness to the end XV. Great Comforter of all weary and laden Souls Circumcise my Heart from all evil Thoughts and Words and Actions and Comunicate thy self unto me that I may never be separated from thee or ever be deprived of thy Comfort Draw my Soul after thee in the Holy Sacrament and let that Blessed Ordinance powerfully stir up my Heart to love thee XVI O Thou who art the door of thy Sheepfold By thee let me have access to thy Father's Love And as in the Holy Sacrament thou openest thy Bosom to me so let me run and seek shelter there Chain me to thy self by Bands of Love and let no Temptation defile me O keep me that I may never cowardly faint at any adversity XVII Thou who hast endured contradictions of Sinners against thy self Be thou ever in my mind and teach me to bear Calumnies and Reproaches with great tranquility of Mind Let me refer all difficulties to thee and with silence expect thy Grace and Comfort and let the Blessed Sacrament so influence my Soul that I may fear none but thee XVIII Great Captain of my Salvation I am going to learn to fight the good fight in the Blessed Sacrament of thy Love Let thy great example there encourage me to fight against all Ambition and Ostentation against Censoriousness and Uncharitableness against all Intemperance and Gluttony against all proud and covetous Thoughts against Guile and Hypocrisie against discontentedness and misitrinst of thy Providence Against such Enemies give me grace to fight over these let me triumph that having striven lawfully I may at last be admitted to the Glorious sight of thy Sweet Self and be charm'd with thy Love for ever CHAP. XXVII Of the proper Acts of Devotion when we come to the Holy Table The CONTENTS Private Acts of Devotion must be forborn while the Congregation joyns in common Addresses to Almighty God General Acts of Devotion relating to the wonderful Love of Christ and our Love to him Particular Acts of Devotion at the Consecration and Receiving of the holy Symbols I. THE following Acts are fittest to be used before the Prayers of the Church usual at the Communion do begin or before the Minister of the Ordinance comes to us with the sacred Symbols and while others are Communicating II. While the Minister of the Ordinance is engaged in the Prayers of the Church these Ejaculations must be forborn our Duty during the publick Devotions being to joyn with the Congregation in their common Addresses to God These Acts of Devotion are either General or Particular The General I call those which respect the Love of the Lord Jesus The Particular those which are to be exercised at the Consecration and Receiving of the Consecrated Bread and Wine General Acts of Devotion at the Lord's Table I. GReat Saviour of the World Thou art infinitely amiable worthy to be loved by all to whose Ears the joyful Message of thy Love doth come I rejoyce in the Knowledge of thy Love I count my self happy that I am born under the Shadow of thy Gospel in which thy wonderful Love to the Children of Men is manifested I desire no other Knowledge 'T is enough that I know thou hast loved me beyond Example I desire to count all things Dross and Dung for the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ. II. O my Jesus I am not worthy to love thee Yet because thou biddest me love thee and hast told me that my Soul was created on purpose to love thee I chearfully resign my Love and Affection to thee I desire to love thee I wish for nothing more than that I may passionately love thee Whom have I in Heaven to love but thee And there is none on Earth that I desire to love more than thy self For thou art altogether lovely and thy Love surpasses all the Love of Friends and the dearest Relations I have III. O my blessed Redeemer I desire to love thee with all my Heart and with all my Strength Thou gavest me this Heart and this Strength And on whom can I bestow it better than on thee the Author of it Oh that all that is within me might be turned into Desires and Inclinations and Sighs and Languishings and Breathings after thee For I cannot express what thou hast done for me What thou hast done for me is beyond all the Kindness that the greatest Men ever did or can do for the meanest and poorest Creatures IV. Great Advocate of my Soul Thou seest my Desire to love thee Make it strong and powerful Take a Coal from the Altar and give it Fire that nothing may hinder the Flame from mounting up that nothing may weaken this Desire nothing may break it nothing may tire it nothing may mingle with it that is unclean or contrary to thy Love V. Great Object of my Desires Make me a Martyr of thy Love Make me willing even to die for love of thee Raise a
Sacrament pag. 198. Chap. XV. Of frequent Receiving the Holy Communion and the necessity of it pag. 228. Chap. XVI Of the Perpetuity of this Ordinance and the Necessity of its continuance to the Worlds End pag. 250. Chap. XVII Of Eating and Drinking unworthily in this Ordinance and the Guilt the unworthy Receiver incurs thereby pa. 269. Chap. XVIII Of the sad Effects and Consequences of unworthy Eating and Drinking in this Holy Sacrament and first of Temporal Judgments pag. 343. Chap. XIX Of Bodily Sickness Weakness and untimely Death which are sometimes by way of Judgment inflicted on unworthy Receivers of this Blessed Sacrament pag. 360. Chap. XX. Of Spiritual Weakness Sickness and Death the second Temporal Judgment inflicted sometimes on the unworthy Receivers of this Holy Sacrament pag. 375. Chap. XXI Of Damnation which the unworthy Receiver Eats and Drinks to himself pag. 393. Chap. XXII Of Preparation and first of Meditation of Christ's Passion pag. 408. Chap. XXIII Of Sâ—lf-examination the Second Act of preparation for this Holy Sacrament pag. 496. Chap. XXIV Of Judging our selves the Third Preparative Duty in order to our worthy Receiving of the Blessed Sacrament pag. 531. Chap. XXV Of Self-resignation the Fourth Preparatory Duty in order to a worthy Receiving of this Holy Sacrament pa. 553. Chap. XXVI Of Preparatory Devotions and Aspirations fit to be used in Private before we come to the Sacrament pag. 566. Chap. XXVII Of the proper Acts of Devotion when we come to the Holy Table pag. 573. Chap. XXVIII Of the proper Acts of Devotion after we have Receiv'd 582. Chap. XXIX Of the Life we are to lead after we have Receiv'd the Holy Communion pa. 587. Chap. XXX Of the Ceremony or posture of Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament pag. 594. FINIS L. Plotius 2 Tim. 3. 1. 1 Cor. 11. v. 28. l. 19. contr Faust. c. 11. l. 6. de Bell. Gall Acts 2. 36. Oecum in loc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Soc. l. 2. c. 33. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. l. 7. c. 21. Gregor l. 7. Epistol 62. L. 6. c. 23. See Archbishop Spotswood's Hist. Book 2. p. 69. Vid. Vers. LXX l. c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Voss Disp. 19. de Sacris Coen Dom. Symb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vide Platin. in Sixt. 1. Greg. M. l 7. Ep. 63. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. 36. Can. 101. L'Arroque ' s History of the Eucharist Part 1. O. 13. Jac. Goar in Not. ad Miss Chrysost. p.m. 150. Hoc vero nihil aliud est nce aliter nominari aut haberi potest quam magica incantatio Hosp. Hist. Sacrament Part. 2. p. 103. Distinct. 2. de Consecr Can. 74. Lib. 3. de Euch. cap. 8. Suffragatur nobis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 analogia Hebraismus actio circumstantia nihil non Oeconimo Epist. ad Melancth Sir George Wheeler's Voyage l. 2. p. 128. In Ludolph Hist. Aethiop l. 3. c. 5. De Defect Orat. Idiot de Am. div cap. 4 Euseb. Hist. lib. 7. c. 17. Sozom. Hist. 1. 5. c. 20. Zonar ad Can. 32. Conc. in Trulio Epiphan Haer. 46. August Haer. 64 Philastr Haer. 77. Ludolph Histor. Aeth l. 3. c. 6. Platin. in Zephyrin 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Georg Cassand Consult Art 22. Concil Constant. Sess. 13. Hist. Eccl. l. 13. C. 7. Hierom. in 1 Cor. 2. Hist. Fccl. l. 17. c. 25. Hesych in Levit. 18. Can. 3. Petrus de Natalibus l. 5. 21. Herodot l. 4. See The Happy Ascet. Exerc. 6. Just. Mart. Apol. 1. pro Christianis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Psal. 22. 6 7. 8 9. c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Chap. 15. Sect. 5. ¶ 1. Sophr. vel Mosch in prat Spir. cap. 31. Dr. Hammond â— Sam. 14. 31. compared with 2 Sam. â—18 14. Council Eliber c. 3. Ne lusisse decommunione Dominicâ videantur Cap. 8. Serm. 5. de Laps In corpore ore violato Eucharistia permanere non poâ—uit Sanctificatus in Domini sangâ—ne potus de pollutis visceribus â—rupit Id. Ib. Psal. 78. 30 31. Dionys. Areop de Hier. Eccl. cap. 5 De Sacram. Dist. 3. Tract 1. cap. 4. De Myster Miss l. 4. c. 44. Damian in spec Monach. P. Jean Bapt. de St. Jure de la Connois de l'amour de nostre Seign Liv. 1. Sect. 2. Serm. de diligend Deo Hospin Hist. Sacram lib. 2. cap. 2. Conc. Trid. Sess. 5. cap. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Willam de Raley and Wil. Longspe Arrian Epict. l. 2. c. 16. Euseb. Eccles. Hist. lib. 5. cap. 23.
16 17 18. 3. To believe that Jesus of Nazareth who appear'd in Days of Pontius Pilate and was Crucified is that Son of God and our Redeemer and Mediator and is both God and Man in one Person Act. 10. 38. Rom. 1. 3 4. 4. To believe that without Faith Repentance and an holy Obedience to the Commands of the Gospel we have no interest in Christ's Death and the Benefits of it Heb. 5. 9. 5. To believe that there is an Heaven and Hell and Eternal Rewards and Punishments after this Life according to the good or evil Lives of Men 2 Thess. 1. 5 6 7 8 9 10. 6. To believe that the Dead Bodies of Men shall Rise again in the Great Day of Judgment 2 Tim. 2. 17 18. 7. To believe that the assistance of God's Holy Spirit in order to a sound Faith and true Repentance is a Gift which may be had by earnest Prayer Luke 11. 13. 8. To love God with all our Hearts and with all our Souls and with all our Minds i.e. with great Sincerity Matth 22. 37. 9. To rely upon God and trust in him in all dangers and necessities whatsoever and firmly to believe that all things will work for our good if we love him Rom. 8. 28. Heb. 13. 5 6. 10. To believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the revealed Word of God and to read and search and meditate in these holy Scriptures in order to know we must do to be saved John 5. 39. 11. To prefer the Will of God before the Will and Favour of Men when these two come to clash or interfere one with another Act. 5. 29. 12. To live and walk in a lively sense of God's Omniscience and Omnipresence Act. 23. Luk. 1. 75. 13. To have great high and reverend thoughts of God and conceptions suitable to his infinite Wisdom and Goodness and Power 1 Pet. 3. 15. 14. To let our Speech be always with Grace season'd with Salt that we may know how to answer every Man Col. 4. 6. 15. To be frequent and serious and attentive in praising of God and praying to him for his Help Assistance and Protection especially Night and Morning Luke 2. 37. Eph. 6. 18. 16. To walk worthy of our Baptism even in newness of Life Rom 6. 3 4. 17 To make great Conscience of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper to come often to that Holy Table and to prepare and examine our selves in order to our worthy receiving of Pardon and Remission of sins 1 Cor. 11. 26 28. 18. To express willingness and alacrity in God's service and to be ready unto good Works Tit. 3. 1. 19. To have pure aims and designs in Holy Duties and good Works viz. The glory of God and the good of others Matth. 6. 22. 1 Pet. 4. 11. 20. To be zealous and fervent in Devotion and in expressing our love to God Tit. 2. 14. Rev. 3. 19. 21. To bring a very serious mind with us to the House of God and to behave our selves there with all decency and gravity 1 Cor. 11. 22. 22. To be not only a hearer of the Word but a doer of it also Jam. 1. 22. 23. To fix our Thoughts upon God in the publick Prayers of the Church and to offer to God the desires of our Hearts in joyning with the Congregatian in their Prayers Rom. 15. 6. 24. To sanctifie the Lord's Day both in private and in publick Acts 20. 7. Rev. 1. 10. 25. To be subject to Principalities and Powers and to obey Magistrates Tit. 3. 1. 26. To obey our Pastors and Teachers that have the rule over us and to submit our selves to them as those that watch for our Souls Heb. 13. 17. 27. To maintain our Ministers and to communicate to them in all good things Gal. 6. 6. 28. Faithfully to discharge the Duties of our respective Relations As 1. Husbands to love and honour their Wives Eph. 5. 25. 2. Wives to be obedient and subject to their Husbands Eph. 5. 22. 3. Parents to provide for the Souls and Bodies of their Children 1 Tim. 5. 8. 4. Children to honour their Parents all their days Eph. 6. 1. 5. Masters to encourage their Servants to Goodness and to be just in paying them their Wages Eph. 6. 9. 6. Servants to serve their Masters in singleness of heart fearing God and to please them well in all things Col. 3. 22. 7. Ministers to be patterns of good Works Tit. 2. 7. 8. Widows to trust in God and to continue in Supplications and Prayers night and day 1 Tim. 5. 5. 9. Virgins to mind those things that may please the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. 7. 32. 29. To learn to be very meek and humble upon all occasions Matth. 11. 29. 30. To hunger and Thirst after Goodness and Righteousness Matth. 5. 6. 31. To purifie the Heart or inward Man from evil Desires and Affections and to season it with holy Thoughts and Contemplations Matth. 5. 8. 32. To labour to make Peace among dissenting Neighbours and to be peaceable our selves and as much as in us lies with all Men Matth. 5. 9. Rom. 12. 18. 33. To rejoyce in being reviled and persecuted for Righteousness sake Matth. 5. 11. 12. 34. To be merciful kind tender-hearted and charitable and ready to forgive Eph. 4. 32. 35. To edifie others by our Conversation and to preserve them as much as in us lies from Sin and Damnation Matth 5. 13 14. 36. To love our Enemies to bless them that curse us to do good to them that hate us and to pray for them which despitefully use us Matth. 5. 44. 37. Rather to lose our Right than quarrel and go to Law about small things Matthâ— 5. 39 40. 38. To use great simplicity in our Speeches and Answers Matth. 5. 37. 39. To give and to lend to our poor Neighbor what is reasonable Matth. 5. 42. 40. To humble our selves sometimes before God by fasting Matth. 6. 16. 41. To be confident God will provide for us in the use of honest and lawful means Matth. 6. 31. 42. To seek God's Kingdom and its Righteousness with more earnest Affections than temporal Things Matth. 6. 20 33. 43. To reform our selves before we seek to reform others Matth. 7. 5. 44. To do to others what we would have others do to us Matth. 7. 12. 45. To enter in at the strait Gate and to deny our selves in our Honour Ease and Pleasure for a better Life Matth. 7. 13. 46. To confess and own Christ and his Religion before Men Matth. 10. 32. 47. To be industrious in the discharge of the Duties of our Calling Rom. 12. 6 7 8. 48. To love without Dissimulation Rom. 12. 9. 49. To be patient in Tribulation Rom. 12. 12. 50. To rejoyce with them that do rejoyce and to weep with them that weep Rom. 12. 15. 51. To condescend to Men of low Estates Rom. 12. 16. 52. To provide things honest in the sight of all Men Rom. 12. 17. 53. To
Days too from Easter to Whitsuntide we know but whether they observed the same Posture at the Sacrament is uncertain though if they used Standing still it was their Posture of Worship and Adoration St. Chrysostom indeed tells us that the Priests in his Time stood at the Altar waiting for Communicants but how they received the Symbols he doth not mention Dionysius of Alexandria speaking of a Person unlawfully baptized tells us that he stood at the Table of the Lord when he was to Receive But Ruffinus interprets that of the Act not Gesture of Receiving it being common among the the Ancients to express their Publick Worship by Standing or Stations 'T is like that when the Apostle had reproved the Corinthians for not distinguishing the Lord's Table from their common Suppers in point of Reverence and Seriousness the Christians bethought themselves of a more humble and suitable Posture than they used at their common Meals There is no Man I hope so wicked as to exclude Prayers and Praises at the Receiving of the Holy Symbols And what can be a more proper Posture for these Devotions than Kneeling Kneeling hath in all Ages been accounted the proper Posture of Prayers and Praises And who can think of the Love of God represented to us in this Sacrament without them And if these be proper and necessary here why should the humble Posture in which they are offered be counted superstitious The Heathens themselves have condemned Irreverence in the External Performance of God's Service And shall Pagans and Infidels out do us in Humility of Worship Whenever Sacrifices were offered heretofore the Officer bowed himself to his God And shall we offer the Sacrifice of Prayer and Thanksgiving to our Crucified Redeemer in this Sacrament without bowing We come before God in this Sacrament as Beggars as Sinners as indigent Worms And what can be more suitable to Persons under those Circumstances than the humblest Postures Here we come to receive a Pardon from the Great King of Heaven And doth a Man receive a Pardon of a Temporal King upon his Knees and shall he refuse to receive a Pardon of far greater Consequence and of a greater Prince too in that Posture We believe that at such Times we receive Christ into our Souls And shall our External Humility be less than the Centurion's who did not think himself worthy that Christ should come under his Roof Or if we have the same Apprehensions of our own Unworthiness shall not we express them by proper External Postures Where the Soul hath a great Sense of the Love and Gracious Presence of God it will even force the Body into humble Postures And it is to be feared where People are loth to kneel they are Strangers to this Sense in the Holy Sacrament What is urged that Pope Honorius in the Thirteenth Century did first bring in Kneeling at the Sacrament is evidently false for all that he ordered was that the Body should be decently bowed when the Holy Symbols were lifted up by the Priest which is nothing to our Kneeling at the Sacrament The Primitive Church though they do not mention Kneeling at the Sacrament yet they exhort their Hearers to Grief and Sorrow and Confessions and an humble Sense of Sin in the Act of Receiving and we may rationally infer that they did not do this with out Kneeling or Prostration And since the Ancient Writers make frequent mention of the Word Adoration in Receiving we cannot but conclude that they used a Posture proper and expressive of that Adoration And why should we scruple to express our Adoration of God by Kneeling in this Sacrament when we see the Church Triumphant in Heaven at their singing the Praises of the Lamb that was slain fall down before the Lamb and say Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing as St. John informs us Rev. 5. 8 12. The PRAYER O Thou Eternal Wisdom of the Father Who being in the Form of God thoughtest it no Robbery to be equal with God but madest thy self of no Reputation and tookest upon thee the Form of a Servant and wast made in the Likeness of Men and being found in Fashion as a Man didst humble thy self and becamest obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross Wherefore God also hath highly exalted thee and given thee a Name which is above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth and that eveey Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father O Lord of Glory Over-awe both my Outward and Inward Man with a Sense of thy astonishing Mercies that both may bow and both may express their Gratitude Let my Body as well as Soul worship thee love thee admire thee and humble themselves before thee who art the Image of the Invisible God the First-born of every Creature for by thee were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers all things were created by thee and for thee To thee be Glory for ever and ever Amen A TABLE OF THE CHAPTERS Contained in this BOOK Chap. I. OF the Name of this Ordinance and why distribution and Participation of Bread and Wine usual in Christian Assemblies is called the Lords Supper Page 1. Chap. II. Of the Mystery of Christ's Instituting the Sacrament that very Night in which he was betray'd pag. 13. Chap. III. Of the place where the Lord's Supper is to be Eaten the Church and of private Communion pag. 24. Chap. IV. Of Eating the Lord's Supper the nature of it and how it is to be Eaten pag. 36. Chap. V. Of the various abuses of this Holy Sacrament pag. 48. Chap. VI. Of Reciving the Lord's Supper Fasting and how far it is necessary pag. 60 Chap. VII Of the Elements in this Sacrament and first of the Bread Christ made use of and of the nature and design of it pag. 71. Chap. VIII Of Consecration and what Consecration Christ used Of his Thansgiving before he broke the Bread and our imitation of him in that particular pag. 85. Chap. IX Of Breaking the Bread and the Mysteries of it pag. 102. Chap. X. Of taking the Consecrated Bread with our Hands and the Mystery of it pag. 116. Chap. XI Of these words This is my Body whether they import a Transubstantiation and how the Bread is Crist's Body and how Christ's Body may and is to be eaten pag. 126. Chap. XII Of Remembring Christ in this Sacrament or doing what we do here in Remembrance of him pag. 148. Chap. XIII Of the other Element or part of this Holy Sacrament viz. The Wine and the Cup Christ made use of in the Institution of the Eucharist pag. 168. Chap. XIV Of the Covenant represented by the Cup in this Holy