The Communicants Guide, Chapter 8
CHAP. VIII. How we are to behave our selves at this Sacrament.
¶AS thou goest to the Church, meditate all the way, or discourse with thy Company of the Goodness of God in inviting poor Sinners to his own Table: Say thus with thy self.
O my sinful Soul, taste and see that the Lord is good! O what a Love and Goodness is this! that such wicked Prodigals as we, who have so long abused all the good Gifts which our heavenly Father hath bestowed upon us, in a vain, foolish, and sinful way of living, should have such Encouragements as these to return to our offended God and Father! I will go unto him, and say, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before thee, and am not worthy to be called thy Son, or to appear and feed amongst thy Children. O Lord, not considering what thou hast made me, a rational Creature, to know, love, and honour thee my great and good God, I have used my self like a Beast, and have fed with Greediness and Delight amongst swinish Sinners, upon empty Husks and Vanities. O blessed be thy Name, who hast brought me to my self again, to see, and lament, and hate my past Folly. I am now in all Humility coming to feast my Soul with thee in thy House, where there is ever bread enough and to spare, even the Bread of Life, my ever blessed JESUS. O send out thy Light and thy Truth! let them lead me, let them bring me unto thy holy Hill and to thy Tabernacles; then will I go unto the Altar of God, unto God my exceeding Joy, and with all my Soul will I praise thee O God, my God. I will enter into thy Gates with Thanksgiving, and into thy Courts with Praise, I will be thankful unto thee and bless thy Name: For the Lord is good, his Mercy is everlasting, and his Truth endureth to all Generations.
¶Entring into the Church, have such Thoughts as these before the Service begin.
O how dreadful is this place! This is no other but the House of God, and the Gate of Heaven. Holiness, O God, becometh thine House for ever. One day in thy House is better than a thousand. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy Courts. I come, O Lord, into thy House in the multitude of thy Mercy, and in thy Fear will I worship thee in thy holy Temple. I have loved the Habitation of thy House, and the place where thine honour dwelleth. O let me be abundantly satisfied with the Fatness of thy House, and make me drink of the River of thy Pleasures.
¶Ioyn devoutly with the Congregation in the Prayers of the Church, and attend diligently to God's Word read and preached. And when the Minister is going to the Table, say thus:
Blessed be God for affording us Pastors and Teachers: O how beautiful are the Feet of them that preach the Gospel of Peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! O Lord bless and assist this thy Servant in this holy Ministration. Thou, O Lord, art our Shepherd, we can want nothing; thou preparest a Table before us, surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow us all the days of our Life.
¶When the Bread and Wine are placed upon the Table, and thou art preparing thine Offering, say thus:
O gracious Lord, what a miracle of Divine Love do we here behold! We have sinned against thee, and yet thou callest not upon us for Sacrifices and burnt Offerings, but hast prepared a Body for thy eternal Son, that he in that might do thy Will, live among us, and die a Sacrifice for us, and here feed us on that Sacrifice of himself to eternal Life. I have abundantly deserved to be at this time in Hell amongst the Devils, and dost thou yet vouchsafe to feast me at thy Table, amongst thy Children, on the Body and Blood of thy dearest Son? O astonishing Love! Let this thy love, O God, pierce my Heart, and do thou, O blessed JESUS, dwell therein for ever.
The Earth is thine, O Lord, and the fullness thereof. What can I render unto thee for all thine inestimable Benefits. My Goodness extendeth not unto thee, but to the Saints that are in the Earth. Thou, O God of thy Goodness, hast prepared for the poor. Accept, I beseech thee, of my poor Mite, receive this my humble Acknowledgment of thy Bounty to me poor Sinner, whereby I confess and declare my self and all that I have, to be at thy Command and Service, accept of me for Iesus Christ his sake.
¶When the Exhortation is read, mind it well, and observe whether you come so duely prepared as is therein said you ought to be. Then say,
Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Who can understand his Errors? Cleanse thou me from my secret Faults.
¶When you are bid to draw near, do so, both with Body and Soul, saying;
My Heart is ready, O God, my Heart is ready; I will wash my hands in Innocency, and so will I compass thine Altar, O God.
I come, O my God I come, for whom have I in Heaven but thee, and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee. O hide not thy comfortable Presence from me.
¶Then humbly joyn in the Confession of Sins, saying after the Minister, and receive in the humblest Posture the Absolution as from Christ himself interceding for you at God's right hand and blessing you. Draw Comfort from the Sentences of Scripture read unto you, and lift up your Hearts with joyful Praises unto God, as you are called upon to do, heartily joyning in the following Devotions.
When the Minister consecrateth the Elements, fix your Eye upon the whole Action, and your Heart upon your crucified Jesus, considering with what Pains and Tortures on the Cross he finished your Redemption.
When the Minister draweth near you with the Bread, say;
Create in me a clean Heart, O God, and renew a right Spirit within me.
¶When you take the Bread, say;
With all Humility and Thankfulness of heart I take this sacred Pledge of thy Love, O dearest Saviour. Be it according to thy Word, with thy crucified Body feed my Soul to Life eternal.
¶Then eating the Bread, say;
O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one God blessed for ever, I am wholly thine and not my own; reign in me, rule over me, O blessed Iesus, now and for ever. By thee I live, through thee let me grow in Grace and Goodness. Keep me from hungring any more after Sin and Vanity. Lord, evermore give me this Bread till thou bring me to thy eternal Supper in thy Kingdom of Glory.
¶Receiving the Cup, say,
I will receive the Cup of Salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord.
¶Having drunk of it, say,
My Soul was a-thirst for the living God; let thy Blood, O holy Lamb of God, cleanse me and this whole Congregation from all Sin. Let thy holy Spirit be in us a Well of living Water springing up into everlasting Life. I have confessed my Sin, and thou art faithful and just to forgive my Sin, and to cleanse me from all Unrighteousness. Take now, my blessed Lord, a full and everlasting possession of thy dear Purchase. As I believe we have Redemption through thy Blood, even the Forgiveness of Sins; so do I here deny my self, and resolve by thy Assistance to follow thee even unto Death. And, O thou God of Peace, that brought'st again from the dead our Lord Iesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the Sheep, through the Blood of the everlasting Covenant, feed, govern, and protect thy whole Flock the Universal Church, make us perfect in every good Work to do thy Will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in thy Sight, through Iesus Christ, to whom be Glory for ever and ever. Amen.
¶During the time of the Distribution, if no Psalm be sung, (or, if a Psalm be sung, then, during the Oblation, or at any other vacant times) employ your selves in such Meditations as these following.
O how wonderful is the Love of God! How doth the Lord triumph in his Goodness, and rejoyce in his Mercy! We that have a thousand times over deserved to be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of Teeth in everlasting Fire, are here admitted to feast and rejoyce at the Table of the Lord.
O astonishing Love of the blessed Iesus! O abominable Sins of us rebellious Wretches! Was thy holy Body, my dearest Lord and God, thus broken and torn, they precious Blood thus shed and poured out for our sinful Souls? And shall we not abhor those cursed Sins of ours, and with all due Hatred and Indignation cast them off for ever? Shall we not renounce all Kindness to our beastly Lusts, loath our selves for our Iniquities, and give our selves entirely to thy Service (which is perfect Freedom) for evermore?
O ravishing Love, that moved the eternal Son of God to rescue us from everlasting Torments, by the sharpest Pains and Tortures of his spotless Body, and the bitterest Agonies of his purest Soul! That moved the blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to condescend unto Sufferings, Shame, and Death, and to be made a Curse for us, that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him?
Wast thou, O blessed Saviour, content for our sake to be despised and rejected of men, to become a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with Grief, and have we so long hid, as it were, our Faces from thee? Hast thou been despised, and yet have not we esteemed thee? Surely thou hast born ou… Griefs, and carried our Sorrows; thou wast wounded for our Transgressions, and bruised for our Iniquities; the Chastisement of our Peace was upon thee, and with thy Stripes we are healed. All we, like Sheep, have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on thee the Iniquity of us all. Thou wast oppressed and afflicted, yet did'st thou not open thy Mouth; thou wast brought as a Lamb dumb to the Slaughter; thou wast cut off out of the Land of the Living; for the Transgression of thy People wast thou stricken.
O holy Iesus, I do most stedfastly believe, that thou art the Lamb of God that takest away the Sins of the World; that thou hast in thine own Body born our Sins upon the Tree; and that in the Body of thy Flesh, through Death, thou hast reconciled us who were Enemies, to present us holy and unblameable in God's sight. Thou wast not ashamed to call us Brethren; and because the Children are Partakers of Flesh and Blood, thou … thy self tookest part of the same, and through Death hast destroy'd him that had the power of Death, the Devil.
We have not an High-priest which cannot be touch'd with a feeling of our Infirmities, but was in all Points tempted as we are, yet without Sin. Therefore may we come boldly unto the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain Mercy, and find Grace to help in time of need. Thou, O blessed Iesus, being made perfect through Sufferings, art become the Author of Salvation unto all that obey thee.
O Lord, I poor Sinner fly for Refuge, to lay hold on the Hope now set before us. Thou art able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by thee, seeing thou ever livest to make Intercession for us. By thine own Blood hast thou entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal Redemption, for us. Thou art entered into Heaven it self now to appear in the Presence of God for us. Thou art our Advocate with the Father, the Propitiation for our Sins, and we look for thee to appear the second time without Sin unto Salvation.
O Lord, seeing thou hast given us Boldness to enter into the holiest by the Blood of Iesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the Vail, that is to say, his Flesh: and having such an High-priest over thine House, I here draw near with a true Heart, in full Assurance of Faith, having my Heart sprinkled from an evil Conscience, and resolving by thy Grace to hold fast the Profession of my Faith without wavering.
I do here, O Lord, in all Humility, offer up my self to be a living Sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto thee in vertue of the Sacrifice of thy dear Son, desiring to glorifie thee with my Body and Spirit which are thine. Confirm, I beseech thee, now unto my Soul, and to all here present, the Covenant sealed in his Blood. Enable us to continue stedfast therein for …ver.
Lord, make all that profess thy Name zealous of good Works, unite us in the same Faith and Love, and let us keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace. Let us never forsake the assembling of our selves together, to celebrate the Memorial of thy loving-Kindness, and shew thy Death till thou come. Put thy Laws into our Hearts, and write them in our Minds, and enable us to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit, and to perfect Holiness in the fear of God.
¶When the Distribution is ended, joyn heartily in the Thansgiving, and following Hymn of Praise.
Being return'd home, give hearty Thanks for this Mercy afforded you; pray for Grace to perform your Vows, and return not too soon to your common Business. Strive by Meditation to keep a warm sense of God's Goodness in your Heart, and labour to strengthen your Resolutions of a Holy and Christian Life Watch especially against the Sins you have been lateliest guilty of, or … most inclined to, and sin no more lest a worse thing come unto you.