The Practice of Piety, Treatise · Part 23
An humble confession of sins, to be made unto God before the receiving of the holy Communion.
O God and heavenly Father, when I consider the goodness which thou hast ever shewed unto me,Luke 15. 21. and the wickedness which I have committed against heaven and against thee, I am ashamed of my self, and confusion seems to cover my face as a veil; for which of thy Commandments have I not transgressed? O Lord, I stand here guilty of the breach of all thy holy Laws. For the love of my heart hath not so intirely cleaved unto thy *The first Commandment. Deut. 6. 5. Psal. 22. 5, 6. Psal. 38. 8. Majesty as to vain and earthly things: I have not feared thy judgments to deterr me from sins, nor trusted to thy promises, to keep me from doubting of my temporal, or from despairing of mine eternal state. I have made the rule of thy†The second ment. Deut. 12. 32. Mat. 15. 9. Gal. 3. 1. divine worship, to be what my mind thought fit, not what thy Word prescribed; finding my heart more prone to remember my blessed Saviour in a painted Picture of Man's device, rather than to be behold him crucified in his Word and Sacraments, after his own ordinance. Where*The third Commandment. Phil. 2. 10. 1 Kin. 19. 10. Jer. 5. 2. He…r confess thy rash and false swearing. I should never use thy Name (whereat all knees do bow) but with religious reverence; nor any part of thy worship, without due preparation and zeal: I have blasphemously abused thy holy Name to rash and customary oaths; yea, I have used oaths by thy sacred name, as false covers of my filthy sins. And I have been present at thy Service oft-times more for ceremony than conscience, and to please Men more than to please thee my gracious God.
Where I should sanctifie thy†The fourth Commandment, Sabbath-day, by being present at*Act 20. 7. the publick exercises of the Church, and by meditating privately on the word and works of God, and by visiting the sick anda1 Cor. 16. 2. relieving of my poor brethren: alas I have thought those holy Exercises a burden, because they hindred my vain sports: yea, I have spent many of thy Sabbaths in my own bHere confess thy travelling on the Sabbath, and thy leaving the holy exercise, to go to sporting o… feasting.prophane Pleasures, without being present at any part of thy divine worship.
Where I should have given all due reverence to mycThe fifth Commandment. Natural, Ecclesiastical, and Politick Parents, I have not shewed that measure of duty and affection to my Parents, which their care and kindness hath deserved. I have not had thy Ministers in such singular d1 Thes 5. 1… Gal. 4. 15.love for their works sake, as I ought: but I have taunted at their zeal, and hated them because they reproved me justly. And I have carried my self contemptuously against thyeHere confess thy disob… …. M…gistrates and Ministers, though I knew that it is … ordinance, that I should be obedient unto them.
f…Where I should beg… sl…w to wrath, and h…ready to forgive offences, and not … the Sun to go down upon my wrath, but to … good for evil, loving my very enemies for thy sake: I, alas, for one sorry word, have burst out into open rage; and harbouring thoughts of mischief in my heart, I have preferred to feed on mine own malice, rather than to eat of thy holy Supper,
Where I should keep my Mind from all filthy lusts, The seventh Commandment.and my Body from all uncleanness: 1 Thess 4. 3, &c.O Lord, I have defiled both, and made my Heart a Cage of all impure thoughts,Rom. 6. 13. Here confess unto God thy secret Pollutions, Fornication, or Adultery, if Satan hath so f…r prevailed over thee. and my Mind a very st…e of the unclean Spirit. Yea, the remedy which thou (Lord) hast ordained for incontinency, could not contain me within the bounds of Chastity: for by doting on beauty, whose grounds is but dust, Satan hath bewitched my flesh to lust after strange flesh.
Where I should have lived in uprightness, The eighth Commandment.giv…ng every Man his due, being contented with mine own Estate, and living cons…ionably in my lawful Calling, should be ready (according to mine Ability) to lend andaEph. 4. 28. Luk. 6. 34, 35. Lev. 25. 35. Here confess if thou hast secretly stoln, or openly obbed any thing, or hast detained from any fatherless Child that which is his by right. give unto the Poor: O Lord, I have by oppression, extortion, bribes, cavillation, and other indirect dealings, under pretence of my Calling and Office, robbed and purloined from my fellow Christians: yea, I have received and suffered Christ, where I was trusted, many a time, in his poor members, to stand hungry, cold and naked at my Door, and hungry, cold and naked to go away succourless, as he came; and when the leanness of his checks pleaded pity, the hardness of my heart would shew no compassion.
Where I should have made conscience toaZ…ch 8. 16. Mat 10. 16. speak the truth in simplicity, The ninth commandment.without any falsehood;b…. 13. 7. prudently imaging aright, and charitably con…ing all things in the best part; and should have defended thecMat. 1. 18, 1…. good name and credit of my Neighbour: alas, (vile wretch that I am) I have belyed anddPsal. 50 20. P…l 15. 3. … confess if tho… hast …lyed or s…dered thy neighbour or not spoken the truth to cl…ar his …, when thou …st called thereto. slandered my fellow-brother, and as soon as I heard an ill report, I made my tongue the Instrument of the Devil, to blazon that abroad unto others, before I knew the truth of it my self. I was so far from speaking a good word, in defence of his good name; that it tickled my heart in secret to hear one that I envied, to be taxed with such a blemish: tho' I knew that otherwise the graces of God shined in him in abundant measure. I made jests of officious, and advantage of pernicious lies: herein shewing my self a right *Tit. 1. 12.Certain, rather than an upright Christian.
And lastly (O Lord) where I should have rested†The tenth … Heb. 1…. 5. … Tim 6 6. Phil. 4. 11, 12. fully contented with that portion which thy Majesty thought m…r…st to bestow upon me in this Pilgrimage; and rejoyced in anothers good as in mine own: alas my life hath been nothing else but a greedy lusting after this Neighbours house, and that Neighbours land; yea, secretly wishing such a man dead, that I might have his living or office, cov…i…g rather those things which thou hast bestowed on another, rather than being thankful for that which thou hast given unto my self. Thus I, O Lord, who am a carnal sinner, and sold under sin, have transgressed all thy holy and spiritual Commandments, from the first to the last, from the greatest unto the least: and hear I stand guilty before thy Judgment-seat, of all the breaches of all thy laws; and therefore liable to thy curse, and to all the miseries that Justice can pour forth upon so cursed a creature. And whether shall I go for deliverance from this misery? Angels blush at my Rebellion, and will not help me: Men are guilty of the like transgression, and cannot help themselves. Shall I then despair with Cain, or make away my self with Judas? No, Lord, for that were but to end the miseries of this life, and to begin the endless torments of hell: I will rather appeal to thy Throne of Grace, Heb. 4. ult.where mercy reigns to pardon abounding sins; and out of the depth of my miseries, I will cry with*Psal. 130. 1. David, for the depth of thy mercies. Though thou shouldest kill me with afflictions, yet will I, like Job,bJob 13. 12. put my trust in thee. Though thou shouldest drown me in the Sea of thy displeasure, with Jonas, yet will I catch such hold on thy Mercy, that I will be taken up dead, clasping her with both my hands. And though thou shouldest cast me into the bowels of Hell, Jonah 2. 2.as Jonas into the belly of the Whale: yet from thence would I cry unto thee; O God the Father of heaven, O Jesus Christ the Redeemer of the World, O Holy Ghost my Sanctifier, three Persons, and one eternal God, have mercy upon me a miserable sinner. And seeing the goodness of thine own Nature first moved thee to send thine only begotten Son to die for my sins, that by his Death I might be reconciled to thy Majesty: O reject not now my penitent Soul, who being displeased with her self for sin, desireth to return to serve and please thee in newness of life; and reach from Heaven thy helping hand to save me thy poor servant who am (like Peter) ready to sink in the Sea of my sins and misery. Wash away the multitude of my sins with the merits of that Blood which I believe that thou hast so abundantly shed for penitent sinners.
And now that I am to receive this day the blessed Sacrament of thy precious Body and Blood; O Lord I beseech thee, let thy holy Spirit, by thy Sacrament, seal unto my soul, that by the merits of thy Death and Passion, all my sins are so freely and fully remitted and forgiven, that the curses and judgments which my sins have deserved, may never have power either to confound me in this life, or to condemn me in the world which is to come. For my stedfast faith is, that thou hast died for my sins, Rom. 4. ult.and risen again for my justification. This I believe, O Lord, help mine unbelief. Work in me likewise, I beseech thee, an unfeigned repentance, that I may hear…ily bewail my former sins, and loath them, and serve thee henceforth in newness of life, and greater measure of holy devotion. And let my soul never forget the infinite love of so sweet a Saviour, that hath laid down his life to redeem so vile a sinner. And grant, Lord, that having received these seals and pledges of my Communion with thee, thou maiest henceforth so dwell by the Spirit in me, and I so live by faith in thee, that I may carefully walk all the days of my li…e, in godliness and piety towards thee, and in Christian love and charity towards all my Neighbours: that living in thy fear I may die in thy favour, and after death he made partaker of eternal life through Jesus Christ, my Lord and only Saviour. Amen.
3. Of the means whereby thou maiest become a worthy Receiver.
THese means are duties of Two sorts: the former respecting God; the latter our Neighbour Those which respect God, are Three: First sound Knowledge: Secondly, true Faith: Thirdly, unfeigned Repentance. That which respecteth our Neighbour, is but one sincere Charity.
1. of sound Knowledge, requisite in a worthy Communicant.
Sound aHeb. 6. 1, 2. John 17. 3. 1 Tim. 2. 4. 2 Cor. 13. 5.Knowledge is a sanctified understanding of the first Principles of Religion. As first, Of the Trinity of Persons in the unity of the God-head. Secondly, Of the creation of Man, and his Fall. Thirdly, Of the curse and misery due to sin. Fourthly, Of the Natures and Offices of Christ, and redemption by faith in his death, especially of the doctrine of the Sacraments, sealing the same unto us. For as an house cannot be built unless the foundation he first laid; so no more can Religion stand, unless it be first grounded upon the certain knowledge of God's Word. Secondly, If we know not God's Will, we can neither believe nor do the same. For as worldly businesses cannot be done but by them who have skill therein; so without knowledge must men be much more ignorant in divine and spiritual matters. And yet in temporal things a Man may do much by the light of nature: but in religious misteries, the more we rely upon *1 Cor. 2. 14. Rom. 8. 7.natural reason, the further we are from comprehending spiritual Truth. Which discovers the fearful estate of those who receive without knowledge, and the more fearful estate of those Pastors who minister unto them without Catechising.
2. Of sincere Faith, required to make a worthy Communicant.
Sincere Faith is not a bare knowledge of the Scriptures, and first grounds of Religion,…m 2. 19. (for that Devils and Reprobate have in an excellent measure, and do believe it and tremble)Heb. 4. 2. but a true persuasion as of all those things whatsoever, the Lord hath revealed in his Word; so also a particural applications unto a man's own soul of all the promises of mercy which God hath made in Christ to all believing sinners. And consequently, the Christ and all his merits do belong unto him as well as to any other. For first if we have not the righteousness of Faith, Rom. 4. 11.the Sacrament seals nothing unto us; and every man in the Lord's Supper receiveth so much as he believeth. Secondly, because that without Faith we communicating on earth, cannot apprehend Christ in Heaven. For as he dwelleth in us by Faith, so by faith we must likewise eat him. Eph. 3. 17.Thirdly, because that without faith we cannot be perswaded in our consciences,Heb. 11. 6. that our receiving is acceptable unto God.Rom. 14. 23.
3. Of unfeigned Repentance requisite a for true Communicant.
True Repentance is a holy change of the mind, Isaiah 55. 7. Ezek. 33. 11. Act. 26. 29. Act. 3. 19. Luk. 1. 74, 75.when upon the feeling sight of God's mercy, and of a man's own misery, he turneth from all his known and secret sins, to serve God in holiness and righteousness all the rest of his days. For as he that is glutted with meat, is not apt to eat bread: so he that is stuffed with sins, is not sit to receive Christ. Heb. 2. 13. 14. Tit. 1. 15.And a conscience defiled with wilful filthiness, makes the use of all holy things unholy unto us. Our sacrificed spotless Passover cannot be eaten with the sowre leaven of malice and wickedness, saith Paul, 1 Cor. 5. 8. Neither can the old Bottles of our corrupt and impure Consciences, retain the new Wine of Christ's precious Blood, as our Saviour saith, Mar. 2. 22. We must therefore truly repent, if we will be worthy partakers.
4. The duty to be performed in respect of our Neighbour, is Charity.
Charity is a hearty forgiving of others, who have offended us, and after reconciliation, an outward unfeigned testifying of the inward affections of our hearts by gestures, words, and deeds as oft as we meet, and occasion is offered. Mat. 5. 23, 24.For first, without love to our Neighbour, no Sacrifice is acceptable unto God. Secondly,John 13. 14. 34, 35. because one chief end wherefore the Lord's Supper was ordained, is to confirm Christians love one towards another. Thirdly, no man can assure himself that his own sins are forgiven of God,Mat. 6. 12, 14, 15. and 18, 35. if his heart cannot yield to forgive the faults of men that have offended him. Thus far of the first sort of Duties which we are to perform before we come to the Lord's Table, called Preparation.
2. Of the Second sort of Duties which a worthy Communicant is to perform at the receiving of the Lord's Supper, called Meditation.
THis Exercise of spiritual Meditation consist in divers Points.
First when the Sermon is ended, and the Banquet of the Lord's Supper begins to be celebrated, meditate with thy self how thou art invited by Christ to be a Guest at his Holy Table, and how lovingly he inviteth thee;*Isa. 55. 1, 2. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters of life, &c. Come, buy wine and milk, without money, and without price: eat ye that which is good, let your soul delight it self in fatness. bMat. 26. 26, 27, 28, &c.Take ye, eat ye: This is my body, which was broken for you; drink ye all of this: for this is my blood which was shed for the remission of your sins. What greater honour can be vouchsafed than to be admitted to sit at the Lord… own Table; What better fare can be afforded, than to feed on the Lord's own Body and Blood? If David thought it to be the greatest favour that he could shew unto good Barzillai, 2 Sam. 19. 33.for all the kindness that he shewed unto him in his Troubles, to offer him, that he should feed with him at his own Table in Jerusalem: how much greater favour ought we to account it, When Christ doth indeed feed us in the Church at his own Table, and that with his own most holy Body and Blood?
Secondly,Gen. 22. 5. As Abraham, when he went up to the mount, to sacrifice Isaac his Son, left his Servants beneath in the Valley: so when thou comest to the spiritual sacrifice of the Lord's Supper, lay aside all earthly thoughts and cogitations; that thou maiest wholly contemplate of Christ, and offer up thy Soul unto him, who sacrificed both his Soul and Body for thee.
Thirdly, Meditate with thy self, how precious and venerable is the Body and Blood of the Son of God, who is the Ruler of Heaven and Earth, the Lord, at whose beck the Angels tremble, and by whom both the quick and dead shall be judged at the last day, and thou among the …est. And how that it is he, who having been crucified for thy sins, offereth now to be received by faith into thy s…ul. On the other side, consider how sinful a Creature thou art: how altogether unworthy of so holy a Guest: how ill deserving to taste of such sacred food, having been conceived in filthiness, and wallowing ever since in the mire of iniquity: bearing the Name of a Christian, but doing the works of the Devil; adoring Christ with an*…ail King. Ave Rex in thy mouth, but spitting Oaths in his face, and crucifying him anew with thy graceless actions.
Fourthly, Ponder then with what face darest thou offer to touch so holy a Body with such defiled hands? or to drink such precious blood with so lewd and lying a mouth? or to lodge so blessed a Guest in so uncle an a stable? For if the Bethshemites were slain, for but looking irreverently into the Ark of the old Testament, what Judgment maist thou justly expect, who with such impure Eyes and Heart, art come to see and receive the Ark of the New Testament, in which dwelleth all the fulness of the God-head, bodily?Col, 2. 3, 9.
If Vzzah for but touching (though not without zeal) the Ark of the Covenant, was stricken with sudden death; 2 Sam. 6. 7.what stroke of divine Judgment mayst thou not fear, that so rudely, with unclean hands, dost presume to handle the Ark of the Eternal Testament; wherein are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
If John Baptist (the holiest man that was born of a Woman) thought himself unworthy to bear his shooes;Mat. 3. 11. O Lord, how unworthy is such a Prophane Wretch, as thou art, to eat his holy Flesh, and to drink his precious Blood.
If the blessed Apostle Saint Peter, seeing but a glimpse of Christ's Almighty Power, thought himself unworthy to stand in the same Boat with him; how unworthy art thou to sit with Christ at the same Table, where thou mayest behold the infiniteness of his Grace and Mercy displayed?
If the Centurion thought that the roof of his house was not worthy to harbour so Divine a Guest;Mat. 8. 8. what room can there be fit under thy ribs for Christ's holiness to dwell in?
If the Blood-issued sick Woman feared to touch the hem of his garment; how should'st thou tremble to eat his flesh, and to drink his all-healing Blood?
Yet if thou comest humbly, in Faith, Repentance, and Charity, abhorring thy sins past, and purposing unfeignedly to amend thy life henceforth, let not thy former sins affright thee, for they shall never be laid unto thy charge; and this Sacrament shall seal unto thy Soul that all thy sins, and the Judgments due unto them, are fully pardoned, a…d clean washed away by the Blood of Christ. For this Sacrament was not ordained for them who are perfect, but to help penitent sinners unto perfection. Mat. 9. 12, 13Christ came not to call the righteous, Mat. 11. 28.but sinners to repentance. And he saith, that the whole need not the Physician, but they that are sick. Those hath Christ called; and when they came, them hath he ever helped. Witness the whole Gospel, which testifieth, that not one Sinner who came to Christ for mercy, went ever away without his errand. Bathe thou likewise thy sick Soul in this fountain of Christ's Blood, and doubtless, according to his promise, Zach. 13. 1. thou shalt be healed of thy sins and uncleanness. Not Sinners therefore, but they who are unwilling to repent of their sins, are debarred this Sacrament.
Fifthly, Meditate, that Christ left this Sacrament unto us as the chief token and pledge of his love, not when we would have made him a King, John 6. 15, (which might have seemed a requital of kindness) but when Judas and the High-Priests were conspiring his Death (therefore wholly of his mere favour.) When Nathan would shew David how intirely the poor man loved his sheep that was killed by the rich man, He gave her (saith he) to eat of his own Morsels, and of his own Cup to drink, 2 Sam. 12. 3. and must not then the love of Christ to his Church be unspeakable, when he gives her his own flesh to eat, and his own blood to drink, for her spiritual and eternal nourishment? If then there be any love in thine heart, take the Cup of Salvation into thy hand, and pledge his love with love again, Psal. 116. 11.
Sixthly, when the Minister beginneth the holy Consecration of the Sacrament, then lay aside all praying, reading, and all other cogitations whatsoever; and settle thy Meditations only upon those holy actions and rites, which according to Christ's institution, are used in and about the holy Sacrament: For it hath pleased God (considering our weakness) to appoint those rites as means the better to lift up our Minds to the serious contemplation of his Heavenly Graces.
When therefore thou seest the Minister putting apart Bread and Wine on the Lord's-Table; and consecrating them by Prayers, and the rehearsal of Christ's Institution, to be a holy Sacrament of the blessed Body and Blood of Christ; then meditate how God the Father, of his mere love to Mankind, set apart, and sealed his only begotten Son, to be the all-sufficient means, and only Mediator, to redeem us from sin, and to reconcile us to his grace, and to bring us to his glory.
When thou seest the Minister break the Bread, being blessed, thou must meditate, that Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God was put to death, and his blessed Soul and Body (with the sense of God's anger) broken asunder for thy sins, as verily as thou now seest the holy Sacrament to be broken before thine eyes. And withal call to mind the heinousness of thy sins, and the greatness of God's hatred against the same, seeing God's Justice could not be satisfied but by such a Sacrifice.
When the Minister hath blessed and broken the Sacrament, and is addressing himself to distribute it: then meditate,Mat. 22. 11. That the King (who is the Master of the Feast) stands at the Table to see his guests; and looketh upon thee, whether thou hast on thee thy*This Wedding Garment is righteousness and true holiness R…v. 19. 8. Eph. 4. 24. Wedding-Garment. Think also, that all the holy†1 Cor. 11. 10. A…gels that attend upon the Elect in the Church, andb1 Pet. 1. 12. do desire to behold the celebration of these hol… mysteries, do observe thy reverence and behaviour. Let thy soul therefore, whilst the Minister bringeth the Sacrament unto thee, offer this, or the like short Soliloquy unto Christ.