A Book for Beginners, Chapter 1 – Chapter 2
CHAP. I. Of the Duty.
WHEN God's Miniſter declares, as he is required to do, that he intends on ſuch a day to adminiſter the moſt comfortable Sacrament of Chriſt's Body and Bloud; and invites you to it, beſeeching you to diſpoſe your ſelves religiouſly and devoutly for it: you muſt conſider, that it is your duty to prepare your ſelves, to come and partake of ſo great a Bleſſing; and not to think it enough that you have been preſent at Divine Service, and heard the Sermon, and then may turn your back on the Table of the Lord. Which is a very great diſreſpect to Him, and forgetfulneſs of Him, and cannot be excuſed ſo eaſily, as mens naughty hearts incline them to believe. For though God's Goodneſs. is ſuch, that He prefers works of Mercy to your Neighbours, before Sacrifice to Himſelf, when one of them muſt be omitted: yet He doth not make the ſame allowance for your Worldly buiſineſs, (which well may be let alone till another time;) much leſs for your vain Pleaſures or Recreations, which never ought to hinder or put by this or any other holy Duty in the ſeaſon proper for it.
Come therefore, as oft as you are invited; and when God's Miniſter, after Sermon ended, goes up to the Holy Table to prepare this Heavenly food for you, (that is, to conſecrate Bread broken and Wine poured out, that it may repreſent the Death of Chriſt to you; and to give it you, ſaying, Take, eat, and drink this in remembrance of Chriſt) do you ſtay in God's Houſe, and draw near unto his Table, and thankfully receive it from him, for that end for which he gives it, in commemoration of Chriſt's Death and Paſſion upon the Croſs for your ſake.
It is the duty of God's Miniſter, to ſet the Bread and Wine apart, to preſent them unto God, to break the one and pour out the other, to bleſs them, and to give them unto you: And then it is your duty, to look upon this Bread and Wine, thus bleſſed, as repreſenting Chriſt unto you; and accordingly to receive them, not as mere Bread and Wine, but as things deputed by Chriſt to be in ſtead of His Body and Bloud, and to communicate them to worthy Receivers.
CHAP. II. Of the Neceſſity of this Duty.
TO doe thus you are ingaged,
Firſt, by the expreſs Commandment of our Lord Chriſt; which you find four times recorded in the New Teſtament: by the three firſt Evangeliſts, Saint Matthew, XXVI. 26, 27. Saint Mark, XIV. 22, 23. Saint Luke, XXII. 19, 20; and by Saint Paul, in his firſt Epiſtle to the Corinthians XI. 23, 24, 25. All which places, eſpecially the laſt, you will doe well to reade ſeriouſly. And then conſider,
Secondly, that there is the greater regard to be had to this Commandment, [Doe this in remembrance of me,] which Saint Paul ſaith he received of the Lord, becauſe it was his laſt and dying Commandment, in the night when He was betrayed, juſt before the day of his Paſſion. We are wont, in other caſes, to be inclined to remember, and carefully perform the laſt deſire of a dying Friend: and therefore what other account can we give of it, if we live in a neglect of this Duty, ſo ſolemnly enjoyned, but that we are ſtrangers, or, at beſt, very cold in our love to Him? which you had need to quicken, becauſe,
Thirdly, your care in this Duty will be a means to make you obſerve the reſt of his Commandments better; which now, alas! are little regarded, becauſe little or no regard is had to this laſt Commandment; which our Lord ſeems to have added, when He left the world, for the ſecurity of all the other that He had delivered before. For the doing this hath a mighty power in it to ſtir up the love of Chriſt in our hearts. And the love of Chriſt conſtraineth us, (as S. Paul teaches, 2 Cor. V. 14, 15.) becauſe we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that He died for all, that they which live, ſhould not henceforth live unto themſelves, but unto Him that died for them, and roſe again. Doe this therefore in remembrance of Him, which is ſuch an efficacious means to make you always doe well. Yea, more then this,
Laſtly, it will be a means to make you obſerve his Commandments with love and delight: which if they be wanting, your Obedience will be little worth. For without Love, all that you doe will not be acceptable to Chriſt; and unleſs you delight in what you doe, it will not be acceptable to your ſelves. But neither of theſe will be wanting, if you religiouſly frequent this Holy Sacrament; where He is repreſented to you as deſirous to ſave you, though it were by dying for you; ſaying, when this was firſt propounded to Him, Lo, I come, I delight to doe thy will, O God. How can you then refrain, when you think of this, from expreſſing the ſame affection and the ſame joy; when it is ſo much eaſier for you to doe God's will, then it was for Him to ſuffer ſuch things as he did, in obedience to it.