Meditations on the Lords Supper, Chapter 12
CHAP. XII.
Inferences of Practice from the consideration of the former Actions.
THESE are all the holy actions we finde to have been by Christ and his Apostles, celebrated in the great mystery of this Supper: all other humane accessions and superstructions, that are by the policy of Satan and that carnall affection, which ever laboureth to reduce Gods service unto an outward and pompous gaudinesse, foisted into the substance of so divine a work, are all of them that strawa1 Cor. 3. 12. and stubble, which hee who is a consuming bHeb. 12. 29.fire, will at last purge away. Impotent Christ was not that he could not, nor malignant that hee would not appoint, nor improvident that he could not foresee, the needfulnesse of such actions, which are by some proposed, not as matter of ornament, comelinesse and ceremony, (a thing left ever arbitrary to the Church) but are obtruded on consciences (swayed with superstitious pompousnesse) for matters substantiall and necessary to be observed. As if God, who in the first Creation of the world from nothing, did immediately after the work produc'd cease from all manner of further Creations, did in the second creation of the world from sinne, not finish the work himselfe, but leave it imperfect, to be by another consummated and finished. Certainly whatsoever humane Inventions doe claime, direct, proper, and immediate subscription of Conscience, and doe propose themselves as essentiall, or integrall, or any way necessary parts of divine mysteries; they doe not onelyonly rob God of his honour, and intrude on his Soveraignty, but they doe farther lay on him the aspersion of an imperfect Saviour, who standeth in need of the Churches concurrence, to consummate the work which he had begunne. Away then with those Actions of elevation, adoration, oblation, circumgestation, mim…call gestures, silent whisperings, and other the like incroachments, in the supposed proper and reall sacrifice of Christ in the Masse, (wherein I see not how they avoyd the guilt of Saint Pauls fearfull observation. To crucifie againe the Lord of glory, and put him unto an open shame:) In which thingsgDoct. Reynolds conference with Hart. Cap. 8. divis. 4. et M…rnay de Eucharist. pag. 82. in fol. as in sundry others they do nothing else, but imitate the carnall ordinances of the Jewes and the Heathenish will-worship of the Ethnicks, who thought rather by the motions of their bodies, than by the affections of their hearts, to wind into the opinion and good liking of their Gods. CertainlyhMentior si non Idolorum solemnia de suggestu et apparatu de que sumptu fidem et authoritatem sibi extruunt Tert. de Bapt cap. 2. affectation of Pomp, Ceremony, and such other humane superstructions on the divine institution (I alwaies except Ecclesiasticall observances which being imposed for order, and used with decencie, Paucity, and indifferencie, are not lawfull only, but with respect to the Authority which requires them, obligatory also) I say all other pompous accumulations, unto the substance of Christs Sacramentr, are by Tertullian made the characters and presumptions of an Idolatrous service. True it is indeed that the Ancients make mention, out of that fervour of Love and Piety towards so sacred mysteries of Adoration iCarne Christi in mysteriis adoramus Ambros de spirit: sancto. l. 3. c 12. Ma…d…cant & ado…ant. Aug cp 12…. c. 27.at them, and of carryingkforeign. Iustin. Mart. Ap 2. pro Christian. the remainders of them unto the absent Christians; but as in other things, so here likewise wee finde it most true, that things by devout men begunne piously and continued with zeale, doe after, when they light in the handling of men otherwise qualified, degenerate into superstition, the forme purpose, end and reason of their observation being utterly neglected; It being the contrivance of Satan to raise his Temple after the same forme, and with the same materialls whereof …ods consisteth, to pretend the practice of the Saints for the enforcement of his owne Projects, to transforme himselfe into an Angell2 Cor. 11. 14. of light, that hee may the easier mislead unstable and wandring soules, and to retaine at least a forme m2 Tim. 3. 5.of Godlinesse, that he may with lesse clamor and reluctancy with-draw the substance. And as in many other things, so hath hee herein likewise abus'd the Piety of the best men, unto the furtherance of his owne ends. That Adoration, which they in and at the mysteries did exhibit unto Christ himselfe, (as indeed they could not choose a better time to worship him in) he impiously derives upon the creature, and makes it now to bee done not so much at, as unto the elements, making them as well the terme, and object, as occasion of that worship which is due only to the Lord of the Sacrament: That carrying about and reserving of the Eucharist, which the primitive Christians used for the benefit of those who either by sicknesse, or by persecutions, were with-held from the meetings of the Christians (asnIustin. Mart. ut supra. in those dayes many were) is by him now turned into an Idolatrous circumgestation, that at the sight of the Bread, the people might direct unto it that worship, which is due only to the person whose passion it representeth, but whose honour it neither challengeth nor knoweth; and certainly if wee veiw the whole fabrick either of Gentilisme or Heresie, we shall observe the methods and contrivances of Satan, most often to drive at this point, that either under pretenceoScriptum est Matth. 4. of divine truth or under imitationpVid. …ert. de coron, milit c. 15 & de baptis. c. 5. & de praescript. cap. 40. de cont. Praxea…. …. 1. & de specta. cap 27. & Apolog. c. 47. & Ioh. stuck. de Antiquit. convival. lib. 1. 33. & lib. 3. c. 21. of divine Institutions retaining the same materiall Actions which God requires, or with the godly have piously, or upon temporary reasons observed, he may convay into the hearts of men his owne poyson, and imprint an opinion of holinesse towards his owne devices: for howsoever his power and tyranny have done much mischiefe to Gods Church, yet his master-peece is that cunning and deceit which the Scripturesqforeign 2. Cor. 11. 3. foreign Eph. 6. 11. foreign Revel. 2. 24. foreign. 2 Cor. 2. so often takes notice of.
Secondly, we see here what maner of men wee ought to be in imitation of these blessed Actions, that we may be conformablerPhil. 3. 10. 1 Pet 4. unto the death of Christ. First, as he when hee took these elements, did consecrate them unto a holy use, so we when we receive them, should first consecrate our selves with thanksgiving and prayer, unto a holy life. For if not only amongst Christianss1 Cor. 10. 31. 1 Tim. 4. 4. 5 Non prius. discumbitur quam oratio ad deum praegustetur. Tert. Apolog. c. 39. but even amongst HeathenstInter epulas ubi bene pre…ri mos ess…t. Li…. lib. 39. themselves, it hath been by the Law of nature receiv'd for a religious custome not to eat their ordinary food without blessing, and prayer, with how much more fervency of prayer should we call upon the name of the Lord, when we take this Cup of salvation, this bread of life, wherein we doe not only taste how gratious the Lord is, but doe eat and drink the Lord himselfe. And thereforeuIustinus Martyr …use explicat in Apolog. 2. et Tertul. cont. Marc. l. 1. c. 23. the Church hath both at first and since most devoutly imitated our blessed Saviour in consecrating both these mysteries, and their owne soules by thanksgiving and prayer, before ever they received the elements from the hands of the Deacons, that so that same pure Wine, that immaculate Blood might be put into purexMath. 9. 17. Vasa purae ad rem divinam. Plaut. in Captiu. Act. 4. sc. 1. and untainted vessels, even into sanctified and holy hearts, lest otherwise the wine should be spilt, and the vessells perish. And indeed the Sacrament is ignorantly and fruitlessely received, if we doe not therin devote, consecrate, and set apart our selves unto Gods service; for what is a Sacrament, butySacramentum visibile Iuramentum. Pareus, in Heb. 6. 17. vid. Aug. ep. 57. Verbum a militari Iuramento sump…um. vid. Dempter. s in Rosin. Antiq. l. 10. cap. 3. a visible oath, wherin wee doe in consideration of Christs mercies unto us vow eternall alleigeance and service unto him against all those powers, and lusts which warre against the soule, and to make our members weapons of righteousnesse unto him?
Secondly, as Christ brake the bread before he gave it, so must our hearts before they be offered up to God for azRom. 12. 1. reasonable sacrifice, be humbled and bruised with the apprehension of their owne demerits, for a Broken aPsal. 51.and contrite heart O Lord thou wilt not despise: shall wee have adamantine and unbended soules, under the weight of those sins which brake the very Rockb1 Cor. 10. 4. of our salvation, and made the deadcMath. 27. 51. stones of the Temple to rend in sunder? Was his body broken to let out his blood, and shall not our soules be broken to let it in? Was the Head wounded, and shall the Ulcers and Impostumes remaine unlanced? Would not God in the Law accept of any but pushedpLevit. 16. vid. Tertul. cont. Iudaeos. cap. 14., and dissectedqLevit. 1. 6., and burned sacrificesrLevit. 1. 9.? was his Temples1 Kings 6. 7. built of none but cut and hewed stones, and shall we think to have no SwordtEph. 6. of the Spirit divide us; no HammeruIer. 23. 39. of the Word break us; none of our drosse and stubble burnedx1 Cor. 3. 13. up; none of our fleshy1 Cor. 9. 27. beaten downe; none of our oldzEph. 4. 22. Col. 3. 5. Math. 5. 29. 30. man crucified and cut off from us, and yet be still livingaRom. 12. 1. sacrifices, and livingb1 Pet. 2. 5. stones in his Temple? Whence did David cPsal. 69.call on God, but out of the pit and the deepe waters, when his bonesdPsal. 51. were broken & could not rejoyce? Certainly we come unto God, either as unto a Physitian, or as to a Judge: wee must needs bring soules either full of sores to be cured, or full of sins to be condemned. Againe, in that this Rock of ours was broken, we know whither to flie in case of tempest and oppression, even unto the holeseCant. 2. 14. of the Rock for succor. To disclaime our owne sufficiency, to disavow any confidence in our owne strength, to flie from Church treasures and supererrogations and to lay hold on him in whom were the treasuresfCol. 2. 3., the fulnesgCol. 1. 19. of all gracehIohn 1. 16., of which fulnesse we all receive; to forsake the private Lampes of the wisest Virgins, the Saints and Angels, which have not light enough to shine into anothers house; and to have recourse only unto the Sonne of righteousnesse, the light not of a House, but of the World, who inlightneth every man that commeth into it. Think when thou seest these Elements broken, that even then thou applyest thy lips unto his bleeding wounds, and doest from thence suck salvation. That even then with Thomas thy hand is in his side, from whence thou mayest pluck out those words of life, My God, my God; that even then thou seest in each wound a mouth open, and in that mouth the blood, as a visibleiHeb. 12, 24. prayer to intercede with God the Father for thee, and to solicite him with stronger cries for salvation, than did Abels for revenge. Let not any sins, though never so bloody, so numberlesse, deterre thee from this pretious Fountaine. If it be the glory of Christs blood to wash away sinne, then is it his greatest glory to wash away the greatest sins. Thy sinne indeed is the object of Gods hate, but the misery which sinne brings upon thee is the object of his pitty. O when a poore distressed soule, that for many yeares together hath securely weltered in a sinck of numberlesse and noisome lusts, and hath even beene environed with a Hell of wickednesse, shall at last, having received a wound from the sword of Gods Spirit, an eye to see, and a heart to feele, and tremble at the terrors of …ods judgements, shall then I say flie out of himselfe, smite upon his thig…, cast away his rags, crouch and crawle unto the throne of grace, solicite Gods mercy with strong cries for one drop of that blood which is never cast away, when powred into sinfull and sorrowfull soules, how think we will the bowels of Christ turne within him? How will he hasten to meet such an humbled soule? to embrace him in those armes which were stretched on the Crosse for him, and to open unto him that inexhausted Fountaine, which even delighteth to mix it …elfe with the teares of sinners? Certainly, if it were possible for any one of Christs wounds to be more pretious than the rest, even that should be opened wide, and powred out into the soule of such a penitent. Yea, if it might possibly be, that the sins of all the World could be even throng'd into the conscience of one man, and the whole guilt of them made proper and personall unto him, yet if such a man could bee brought to sue for grace in the mediation of Christs broken body, there would thence issue balme enough to cure, blood enough to wash and to drowne them all. Only let not us sin, because grace abounds; let not us make work for the blood of Christ, and go about by crimson and presumptuous sins, as it were to pose Gods mercy. The blood of Christ, if spilt and trampled under foot, will certainly cry so much lowder than Abels for vengeance, by how much it is the more pretious. It may be as well upon us, as in us. As the vertue and benefit of Christs blood is in those that imbrace it unto life and happinesse, so is the guilt of it upon those that despise it unto wretchednesse and condemnation.
Thirdly, in that Christ gave and delivered these mysteries unto the Church▪ we likewise must learne not to ingrosse our selves, or our owne gifts, but freely to dedicate them all unto the honour of that God and benefit of that Church, unto which he gave both himselfe and them. Even nature hath made men to stand in need of each other, and therefore hath imprinted in them a naturallaArist polit. l. 1. inclination unto fellowship, and society, in one common City: by Christ we are all made of one CitybEph. 2. 19. 21., of one houshold, yea, of one Church, of one Templec1 Cor. 6. 19. 1 Pet. 2. 5.. He hath made us membersd1 Cor. 12. 12. of one body, animated by onee1 Cor. 12. 13. Rom. 8. 11. Eph. 4. 4. and the same Spirit; stonesf1. Pet. 2. 5. of one entire building, united on one and the same foundationgEph. 2. 20. 1 Cor. 3. 11.; brancheshIohn 15. 2. of one undivided stock, quicknediRom. 11. 16, 17, 18. by one and the same root, and therefore requires from us all a mutuall support, succour, sustentation, and nourishment, of each other a kind of trafique, and continuall intelligence from part to part; a union of members by the supply of nerveskEph. 4. 16. and joynts, that so each may be serviceable unto the whole. The eye seeth not for it self, but for the body; and therefore if the eyelMat. 6. 22. be simple, the whole body is full of light, for the light of the body is the eye. Nay, God in each creature imprinteth a love of community (which is that whereby one thing doth as it were bestow it selfe on another) farre above the private and domestick love, whereby it labours the preservation and advancement of it selfe: from which generall charity and feeling of communion it comes to passe, that if by any casualty the whole body of the Universe be like to suffer any rupture or deformity (as in the danger of a vacuum, which is the cōtumely of nature) each particular creature is taught to relinquish his owne naturall motion, and to prevent the publike reproach, even by forsaking and forgetting of themselves. Agreeable unto which noble impresse of nature was that Heroicall resolution of Pompey, when the safety of his countrey depended on an expedition dangerous to his own particular: It nNecesse est ut eam, non ut vivam,is not (said he) necessary for me to live, It is necessary that I goe. And more honourable that of …odrus to dedicate his owne life as a sacrifice for his Countries victory: But yet more honourable that of the blessed ApostleoActs 20. 24. I count not my life deare unto my selfe, that I may finish the Ministry which I have received of the Lord: But lastly, most admirable was that of the same blessed Paul pRom. 9. 3.and Moses qExod. 32. 32, whose feeling of Community transported them not only beyond the feare, but even into a conditionall desire of their owne destruction. In mans first Creation what was that great endowment ofrAquin. sum. part… quaest. 95 … 1. originall righteousnesse, but such a harmony of all mans faculties, as that there was no Schisme in the Body, no part unsubordinated, or unjoynted from the rest, but did each conspire with other unto the service of the whole, and with the whole unto the service of God? and what was the immediate effect of that great fall of man, but the breaking, andsZeemannus de Dei Imagine in▪ Hos…. c. 5. foreign. Vide Arist. Ethic. l. 3. c. 12. foreign. Vide Arist. Eth. l. 1. cap. 13. unjoynting of his faculties, the rebellion of his members each towards other, whereby every faculty seeketh the satisfaction of it selfe, without any respect unto the Common Good? And as it bred in man an Enmity to himselfe, so to his neighbour likewise. So long as Adam remained upright, his judgement of Evah was a judgement of unity,uGenes. 2. 33. Bone of bone, no sooner comes sinne but we heare him upbraid God with thexGen. 3. 13. woman that thou gavest mee, termes of dislike and enmity. For the removall whereof wee must imitate this great example of Christ our head, whose sufferings are not only our merit but oury1 Pet. 2. 21. example, who denying himselfe, his owne naturallzMath. 26. 39 will, and life, bestowed himselfe on us, that we likewise might nota1 Cor. 10. 24 Phil. 2. 21. seek every man his owne, but every man the good of another,bPhil. 2. 17. Acts 20. 24. bestowing our selves on the service and benefit of the Church, and socEphes. 4. 15. grow up and bee built up together in love which is thedforeign. Ephes. 4. 12. concinnation, or perfecting of the Saints.
Secondly, in that Christ gave this Sacrament, and did thereby testifie his most willing obedience unto a cursed death, we likewise should in all our respects back unto him, break through all obstacles of selfe-love, or any temptations of Satan, and the world, and though contrary to the bent of our owne desires, to the propension of our owne corrupt hearts, most willingly render our obedience unto him, and make him the Lord of all our thoughts. First for our understandings, we should offer them as free and voluntary sacrifices, ready not only to yeeld unto truth out of constraint, but out of willingnesse and love to embrace it, not only for the evidence, but for the AuthorlTertul. de paenit. cap. 4., and goodnesse of it, and thus to resigne our judgements into Gods hands to be (though never so much against its owne naturall and carnall prejudices) inform'd and captivated unto all kind of saving knowledge, even to the extirpating of all those presumptions, prepossessions, and principles of corruption which use tomforeign. Arist. Eth. l. 6. smother and adulterate divine truth; for there is naturally in the mindes of men, (though otherwise eagerly pursuing knowledge) a kind of dread and shrinking from the evidence of divine truthes, (as each facultie avoydeth too excellent an object) a voluntary andnforeign. Arist. Eth. l. 3. cap. 1. 2 Pet. 2. 5. affected ignorance, lestoSimul ut desina…t ignor…re cessant & od…sse. Tertul. Apolog. cap. 1. knowing the truth they should cease to hate it; a facultie of making doubts touching the meaning and extent of such truths, whose evidence would crosse the corruptions of our practice, and then a frameing of arguments and presumptions for that part which is most favourable and flattering unto nature, a certaine privatecDomestica Iudicia Tertul. Apol. cap. 1. Clemens Alex. strom. lib. 4. vid. Herald. in Tertul. Apol. c. 1. prejudice against the lustre of the most strict and practicall principles, a humour of cavilling and disputing dAudacium existimo de bono divini praecepti disputare Tertul. de paenit. cap. 4.about those parts of Gods will, which bring with thē a more strait obligation on the conscience, a withdrawing the thoughts from acquainting themselves with the more spirituall parts of divine truth under pretence of more important imployments, about scholasticall and sublime speculations. All which do evidently prove, that there is not in the understanding that willingnesse, to give up it selfe unto God, which there was in Christ to bestow himselfe unto us.
Secondly for our wills and affections, wee should be ready to crosse & bend them against all the noyse of corrupt delights, to cut out our right eye, our right hand, to be crucified to the world, to be disposed of by Gods providence cheerfully in any course whether of passive obedience to have a minde submitingeQui perspicit apud te paratam fuisse virtutem, reddet pro virtute merc…dem. Cyprian de mortal. unto it, & rejoyceingfVide Tertul. Apol. c. 49. in it; or of active obedience to obey him contrary to the streame, & current of our naturall desires, though it be to offergQuid faceres si filium jubereris occidere? Cyprian. de mortal. unto him our Isaack, our closest and choysest affection, though to shake of the child that hangethhLicet parvulus ex collo pendeat nepos, &c. Hieron. ad Heliodorum. about our neck, to stop our eare to the voice of her that bare us, to throw the wife out of our bosome, when they shall tempt us to neglect God, to spit out the sweetest sinne that lies under our tongue, briefly to take under Christs banners the Roman gforeign. Vid. Brisson. de formulis lib. 4. & Iustin Martyr. Apolog. 2.oath to goe and doe where and whatsoever our great Captaine commanded, neither for feare of death or dread of enemy to forsake service, or resigne weapon till death shall extort it.
Lastly, in that Christ gave his Sacrament, and therin himselfe, the AuthorhH…b. 12. 2. and finisher of our salvation, we learne how to esteeme of our salvation, namely as of a free and unmeritted giftiDeus cogitavit salutem qua redempti sumus, Iudas cogitavit Pretium, &c. Aug. Tom. 9. Tract. 7. in Ep. 1. Ioh.. Christ was sold by Iudas, but he was given by God, and that in the absolute nature of a gift, without so much as suit or request on our part for him. True it is that if man had persisted in the state of his created integrity, he might after an improper manner bee said to have meritted the glory which he was after to enjoy, in as much as he was to obtaine it in the vertue of those legall operations, unto which he was by the habilities of his owne nature, without the speciall influence of a supernaturall infused grace, fitted and dispos'd; though even this was not fromkHabemus nos aliquid Dei sed ab ipso non à nobis, sed ex gratiâ ipsius, non ex nostrâ proprietate Tertul. Cont. Hermogi. c. §. the dignity and value of our work, but from the indulgence of almighty God, who would set no higher price on that glory which he propos'd unto man for the object of his desires, and reward of his works: forkVid: Hooker Eccl. policie. l. 1. sect. 11. if we go exactly unto the first rule of justice, unqualified with clemency and bounty, it could not possibly be that God should be bound to requite our labours with eternall blisse, there being so vast a disproportionlVid. Dr. Field of the Church. l. 1. c. 2. between the fruition of God an infinite Good, and any the most excellent, yet still limited operation of the creature. For as water in its owne nature riseth no farther than the spring whence it first issueth: so the endeavours of nature, could never have raisd man (without a mixture of Gods mercy) unto an higher degree of happinesse, than should have been proportionable to the quality of his work. But now having in Adam utterly disabled our selves to pay that small price, at which God was pleased to rate our glorymNec qu…squam dicat meritis operum suorum vel meritis fidei sibi traditam, &c. Aug. Ep. 46. ad Valentem., all those who are restored thereunto againe, must acknowledge both it, and Christ the purchaser of it, as a free gift of almighty God, by them so farre undeserved, as hee was, before the promise unknowne and unexpected. If it bee here demanded how salvation can be said to be freely given us, when on our part there is a condition requir'd, for the work whereby we obtaine life, is not quitenEvangelium aliud à lege non alienum, diversum, sed non contrarium. Tertul. Cont. Marcion. lib. 4. cap. 11. taken away but onelyonly alterd; before it was a legall work, now an evangelicall; before it was an obedience to the Law, now a beleefe in the promise; before cGenes 2. 17.eat not lest you die, nowdIoh. 6. 51. eat and you shalt live: We answer, that the hand of the beggar, without which the Almes is no way received, doth not prejudice the free donation thereof, that being only the Instrument whereby the gift is convayed. The labourer doth not deserve his wages because hee receives it, but hee receives it because hee hath before deserv'd it, receiving convayeth, it doth not merit it. Neither is salvation given us for our faith in the vertue of a work, but onelyonly because of that respect and relation which it hath unto him who trod the winepresse alone, without any assisting or comeriting cause. Even Adam in innocenry could not be without an Assent and firme beleefe that the faithfull God would performe the promise of life made and annexed unto the Covenant of workes: But this faith could not be the merit of life, but the fruit and effect of merit anteceding; for his performance of the Law (in the right whereof hee had interest unto glory) preceding, there should immediatly from thence have issued, by faith, a prepossession (as it were) and preapprehension of that glory which by vertue of that legall obedience he should have had interest unto; so that it is repugnant absolutely to the nature of faith to be any way the cause meritorious of salvation, it being nothing else but the application and apprehension of that salvation, which in vaine our faith layeth claime unto, unlesse in the right of some anteceding worke either our owne or some others in our behalfe it be first merited for us. Hee which beleeves and so by consequence layes hold on life, without a ground preceding for his claime thereunto, is a robber rather than a Beleever, and doth rather steale heaven than deserve it, though hee is not likely so to speed,aMath. 6. 20. for in heaven theeves break not through nor steale. Again, suppose Faith, in the quality of the worke, should merit that, which untill merited can in truth be never by Faith apprehended, yet in as much as nothing can merit for another any farther than as it is his owne proper worke,Ioh. 6. 29. Faith therefore being not within the compasse either of naturall or of acquir'd endowments, but proceeding from a supernaturall and infused Grace, it is manifest that even so, it cannot possibly obtaine salvation by any vertue or efficacie of its owne. For as hee which bestowes money on his poore friend, and after, for that money sells him Land farre beyond the value of the money which hee gave, may be thus farre said rather to multiply and change his gifts, than to receive a price for them: so God bestowing eternall life on man upon the condition of beleeving,bGratias ago tibi Domine quia quod quaeris à me, prius ipse donasti. Cyprian de Baptim. Christi. Remunerans in nobis quicquid ipse praestitit et honorans quod ipse perfecit. Cyprian. l. 3. epist. 25. the ability whereunto hee himselfe hath first bestowed, and betweene which life and faith there is an infinite disproportion of worth, may be said rather to heap his gifts, than to bargaine and compact for them, rather to double his free bounty, than to reward mans impotent merit; unlesse wee take it improperly for the performance of a voluntary debt,cDeus prom…tte…do seip…um secit debit… rem. August. wherein it hath pleased God in merciemercy, as it were, to oblige and ingage himselfe upon condition of our faith.
Neither doe wee herein at all make way for that cursed doctrine of Socinianisme (than which a more venemous was never suckt from so sweet and saving a truth) that because salvation is a free gift, Christ therefore did not suffer for the satisfaction of Gods wrath, nor pay any legall price for the salvation of the world, nor lay downe himselfe in our roome, as the ransommer of us, and purchaser of life for us, but became incarnate in the flesh, made under the Law obedient unto death, onelyonly for an example of Patience and Humility unto us, not for a propitiation to his Father, and reconcilement of the world unto God.dforeign Mat. 20. 28 foreign … T…m 2. 5. foreign … 5. 2. H…b. 9. 12. foreign Gal. 3. 13. foreign 1 Cor. 1. 30. foreign 1 …o…n 2. 2. A price was paid, and that so pretious, as that the confluence of all created wealth into one summe, cannot carry the estimate of one farthing in comparison of it; (and indeed it ought to bee a price more valuable than the whole world, which was to ransome so many soules, the losse of the least whereof cannot by thecMath. 16. 2…. purchase of the whole world bee countervail'd.) A price it was valuable onelyonly by him that payd and received it, by us to be enjoy'd and ador'd, by God onelyonly to be measured. Neither could it stand with the truth and constancy of Gods Law, with the sacrednesse and Majestie of his Justice, to suffer violation and not revenge it, and when all his attributes are i… him one and the same thing, to magnifie his merciemercy not by the satisfaction, but the destruction of his Justice, and so to set his owne unity at variance with it selfe, MercieMercy and Truth, Righteousnesse and Peace▪ they were in mans redemption to kisse and not to quarell with each other, God di… not dis…unite his Attributes, when hee did re-unite his Church unto himselfe. A price then was paid unto Gods justice, and eternall life is afforeign Ephes. 1. 14. purchase by Christ bought, but still unto us a gift, not by any paines or satisfaction of ours attain'd unto, but only by him who wasgIoh. 3. 16 Gal. 1. 4. Tit. 2. 14. Esay 9. 6. Rom. 8. 32. himselfe given unto us, that together with himselfe hee might give us all things. He unto whom I stand ingaged in a summe of mony, by me ever impossible to be rais'd, if it please him to perswade his owne heire▪ to joyne in my obligation, and out of that great estate by himselfe conferred on him for that very purpose, to lay downe so much as shall cancell the bond and acquit mee, doth not only freely forgive my debt, but doth moreover commend the abundance of his favour by the manner and circumstances of the forgivenesse. Man by nature iscMath. 6. 12. a debtor unto God, there is a hand-writingdColoss. 2. 14. against him, which was so long to stand in vertue till he was able to offer something in value proportionable to that infinite justice, unto which he stood obliged; which being by him without the sustaining of an infinite misery utterly unsatisfiable, it pleased God to appoint his own co-essentiall and co-eternall Sonne to enter under the same bondeGal 4. 4. of Law for us, on whom he bestowed such rich graces, as were requisite for the oeconomy of so great a work; by the meanes of which humane and created graces, concurring with, and receiving value from the divine nature, meeting hypostatically in one infinite person, the debt of mankind was discharg'd, and the obligation cancel'd, and so as many as were ordained to life effectually deliver'd by this great ransome, vertually sufficient, and by Gods power applicable unto all, but actually beneficiall and by his most wise and just will, conferd only upon those, who should by the grace of a lively faith apply unto themselves this common Gift. So then all our salvation is a gift fEsay. 9. 6., Christ a gift, the knowledgegMatth 13. 11 of Christ a gift, the faithhIud. vers. 3. Phil. 1. 29. in Christ a gift, repentanceiActs 5. 31. 2 Tim. 2. 25. by Christ a gift, the kPhil. 1. 29.suffring for Christ a gift, the rewardlRom. 6. of all a gift, whatsoevermRestat ut propterea rectè dictum intelligatur non volentis neque currentis, sed miserentis est Dei, ut tolum Deo de▪ tur qui hominis voluntatem bonam & preparat adjuvandam, & adjuvat preparatam, vid. Aug, Enchir. cap. 32. wee have, whatsoever we are, it is all from God that sheweth mercy.
Lastly, in that Christ gives his Sacrament to be eaten, we learne first not only our benefit, but our duty; the same Christ it is who in eating, wee both enjoy and obey, hee being as well the Institutor as the substance of the Sacrament. If it were but his precept, wee owe him our observance, but besides it is his body, and even selfe-love might move us to obey his preceptnNauseabit ad antidotum, qui hiavit ad venenum? Tertul. cont. Gnost. cap. 5.: our mouths have been wide open unto poyson, let them not bee shut up against so soveraigne an Antidote. Secondly we see how we should use this pretious gift of Christ crucified, not to look on, but to eat, not with a gazing, speculative knowledge of him, as it were at a distance, but with an experimentall and working knowledge, none truly knowes Christ but he that feels him. Come oPsal.taste and see saith the Prophet, how gracious the Lord is: in divine things, tasting goes before seeing, the union before the vision pEph. 3. 17. 18Christ must first dwell in us, before wee can know the love of God, that passeth knowledge. Thirdly, we learne not to sinne against Christ, because therein we doe sinne against our selves, by offring indignity to the body of Christ, which should nourish us, and like SwineqPortis comparandi …ui …a prius concu…eant ac …uto canoque involv…t quae mox avide devor…nt. Parker de antiq. Brit. in praesat. by trampling under foot that pretious food which preserveth unto life, those that with reverence eat it, but fatteth unto slaughter those who profanely devoure it. Even as the same raine in different grounds serves sometimes to bring on the seed, other times to choak and stifle it, by the forwardnesse of weeds: for as it is the goodnesse of God to bring good out of the worst of things, even sinne; so is it the malignity of sin and cunning of Satan, to pervert the most holy things, the wordrMatth. 4. 6. of God, yea the very bloodsMatt. 4. 3. of Christ unto evill. Lastly, we learne how pure we ought to preserve those doores of the soule from filthinesse and intemperance; at which so often the Prince of glory himselfe will enter in.