Sacramental Discourses Before and After the Lords Supper, Discourse 4

Sacramental Discourses Before and After the Lords Supper · Discourse 4

p. 129The Fourth Diſcourſe, After the LORD's SUPPER. OF THE Communion OF Chriſt's Body and Blood.

From 1 COR. X.xvi.

The Cup of Bleſſing that we bleſs, is it not the Communion of the Blood of Chriſt?

The Bread which we break, is it not the Communion of the Body of Chriſt?

WHen the Apoſtle would Reform the Church of Corinth, as to that profane liberty which ſome of them took, boldly to meddle with the Mysteries of Paganiſm, and to Eat of things offered unto Idols; He gives an Account of the Nature of this Divine Inſtitution p. 130of the Lord's Supper, and leaves it to themſelves to judge, whether they did not do very ill, to be preſent at the Feaſts upon the Heathen Sacrifices, and to eat of things that were offered unto Idols I ſay, he leaves it unto themſelves, Verſe 15. I ſpeak as unto wiſe men; Judge ye what I ſay.

That was the Caſe amongſt many of theſe Corinthians, they did not ſcruple to accompany their Unbelieving Neighbours and Acquaintance, to the Banquets that they made in Honour of their falſe Gods; They did not ſcruple to Eat with them, of thoſe things that were taken from their Execrable Altars, as a Part and Remnant of thoſe Sacrifices to Idols, which were performed in the City of Corinth with all the Pomp of an Abominable Superſtition. This the Apoſtle ſhews to be unſuitable to their Profeſſion of Chriſtianity, and that it could not agree with the Honour they had, of eating at the Table of the Lord: For theſe Heathens were ſeduced by Satan to make thoſe Sacrifices, and they were Devils whom they Worſhipped, as ſuppoſed Demi-Gods, and in ſuch Feaſts they had a familiar Communion with them. And I would not, ſays the Apoſtle, that you ſhould have fellowſhip with Devils, Verſe 19, 20, p. 13121. You cannot drink of the Cup of the Lord, and the Cup of Devils: You cannot be partaker of the Lord's Table, and the Table of Devils.

In the Words of the Text, he leaves it to them to judge, Whether it be not a moſt horrid Impiety, to pretend to joyn theſe Two together, the Divine Body and Blood of Chriſt, with the Impious Sacrifices of theſe Idolaters. For he makes the partaking of the Lord's Table, not only a Teſtimony of our Ʋnion unto Christ, and our Communion one with another, as his Members, but alſo a Testimony of our Diſunion and Separation from all Idolatrous Worſhip.

The Cup of Bleſſing that we bleſs, is it not the Communion of the Blood of Chriſt? And the Bread that we break, &c. Where we are to conſider: 1. The two Sacramental Signs, the Cup, and the Bread. 2. What is to be underſtood by the Body and Blood of Chriſt. 3. What by Commmnion in them. 4. How the Cup and Bread in the Sacrament of the Supper, are the Communion of the Body and Blood of Chriſt: And then I ſhall help you to Apply it.

1. Concerning the Sacramental Signs, the Cup, and the Bread. The Cup for the Wine in it, by an ordinary Figure: and p. 132the Bread which we break. Theſe are the two outward Elements in this Inſtitution, and neither of them muſt be omitted. Whereas in Baptiſm there is but one outward Element, here are two. And there is good Reaſon for it.

1. Becauſe this Repreſents the Violent Death of Chriſt, wherein his Blood was ſhed and ſeparated from his Body. It is therefore neceſſary there ſhould be one Sign to Repreſent his Body, and another Sign to Repreſent his Blood, there having been a Separation by Death, which is here to be Repreſented.

2. The Lord's Supper being the Myſtery of our ſpiritual Nouriſhment by Christ, it was proper to employ both Eating and Drinking, which are the two parts of our Corporal Nouriſhment, and that could not have been entirely Repreſented by either of them alone.

The Cup of Bleſſing, or Benediction, which we bleſs, or give thanks for, i. e. Which we ſet apart by Prayer, and Thankſgiving, Bleſſing, and giving of Thanks being often put one for another, 1 Cor. 14.16. And in the Evangelical Hiſtory, Matth. 26. and Mark 16, What one Evangeliſt calls Bleſſing, another calls Thankſgiving. By vertue of which Bleſſing, or Prayer by a Miniſter of Chriſt▪ p. 133in his Name, and according to his Example and Order; That which before was common, is ſet apart to an holy uſe, and becomes the Sign and Seal of the Body and Blood of Chriſt.

The Cup of Bleſſing. The Jews were wont at the Paſſover Feast, or rather after it, to drink of a Cup which the Maſter of the Family did bleſs, i. e. Did pray over it, or concerning it. To diſtinguiſh this from that, the Apoſtle ſays, The Cup of Bleſſing, which we bleſs, which we Chriſtians ſet apart in our Aſſemblies, to ſhew forth the Lord's Death by. And from this Paſſage of the Apoſtle, this Ordinance is called by the Ancients, the Euchariſt, upon the account of the Bleſſing, or giving of Thanks. Juſtin Martyr who lived but Fifty Years after the Death of the Apoſtle John, calls it the Bread of the Euchariſt, in memory of the Paſſion of Chriſt. Nay the Greek word for Bleſſing, in this Text, foreign, as well as the other, foreign, giving of Thanks, is ſometimes uſed by the**See Mr. Daille in loc. Ancients, as the Name of this Inſtitution. Among others, Cyril Biſhop of Alexandria does often call it by the Name of foreign.

p. 134The Cup of Bleſſing which we bleſs, and the Bread which we break. At the Feaſt of the Paſſover the Jews made uſe of ſuch Bread, as was flat and round, and ſo was to be broken, and cut aſunder: And the unleavened Bread among the Jews to this very day is of this kind. Now our Lord Inſtituting his Supper, the ſame Evening after the Celebration of the Paſſover, we may ſuppoſe made uſe of the ſame ſort of Bread: That is, As he changed the Signification of this Bread, from that of their unleavened Bread, to be a ſign of his Body; ſo he imployed the breaking of this Bread, to ſignifie his cruel Sufferings in that body upon the Croſs.

This Cup, and this Bread, even after Conſecration, (For the Bread is not broken till after that) is ſaid to be the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, not his real Fleſh and Blood. For, beſides the Vanity of ſuch a Senſe, and the Indecency and Uncomelineſs of it; yea, the Contradiction, and Impoſſibility of it; It is againſt the expreſs Teſtimony of the Apoſtle here, and in other Places. According to the new Doctrine of Rome, Inſtead of ſaying here, The Cup that we bleſs; He would have ſaid▪ The Cup that we Tranſubſtantiate, and change into the proper Subſtance of the Body and Blood of Chriſt: p. 135The Cup, in which we leave not one drop of Wine; But, by pronouncing four or five little words, fill it with the Body of Chriſt. And is not this a ſtrange way of bleſſing a Perſon or Thing? to deſtroy the very Nature of the Thing; that it ſhall be no longer what it was before? The Bread was not bleſſed, that it might be deſtroyed; nor given to be eat… that it might ceaſe to be before it was eaten. 'Tis to ſuppoſe God to put forth Miraculous Power, to make his own Command (of eating the Bread) impoſſible. The Bread that we break; it is therefore Bread after it is broken, after the Conſecration and breaking, it is Bread ſtill: For the Tranſubstantiation, if there be any, is upon the Conſecration, before it be broken. But I hope moſt Engliſh Proteſtants are pretty well Inſtructed in this Truth, and therefore I need not inſiſt longer upon it.

2. What are we to underſtand by the Body and Blood of Chriſt, of which this is ſaid to be the Communion? How is Chriſt's Body and Blood preſent in this Ordinance? Our Lord is Aſcended into Heaven with his Human Body, and the Heavens are to contain him, till the Reſtitution of all things. And therefore p. 136as the Bread and Wine are not annihilated, or not deſtroyed, nor changed into the Fleſh and Blood of Chriſt, according to the Romaniſts; So, nor preſent with, in, and under the Bread, and Wine according to the Lutherans. So that we need not ſay, that the Body and Blood of Chriſt are at all preſent there, for they are in Heaven: But the Bread and Wine are the Signs and Memorials of the Sacrifice and Sufferings of Chriſt. The Death of Chriſt, and his Sacrifice upon the Croſs, with the Fruits and Effects thereof unto us are eſpecially to be underſtood by his Body and Blood: And it is in theſe that we have Communion in the Ordinance of the Supper.

The Expreſſions therefore which ſome Proteſtant Writers have uſed about the Real Preſence of Chriſt's Body and Blood in this Sacrament, are very**See a Tract on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, by Mr. John Hales of Eaton Colledge, in Oct. unwary. For thereby they ſeem to make Myſteries where there is no need at all of any. It is true, in the next Chapter it is ſaid of the Bread, This is my Body; that is, the Sign and the Memorial of it: Yet here the Bread broken, is ſaid to be the Communion, or the Communication p. 137of his Body; that is, A Solemn Rite inſtituted by God to communicate to us the Fruits and Benefits of Chriſt's broken Body, or of his Sacrifice and Sufferings Repreſented by it; That as verily as we are Treated at the Table with Bread and Wine, ſo the worthy Receiver ſhall ſhare in the Benefits of Chriſt's Death. This is Intelligible and Plain.

3. This will help us to underſtand what is meant by the Communion of the Body and Blood of Chriſt; By this foreign, or Communication, as it may as well be rendred, that we have in the Body and Blood of Chriſt, in the Ordinance of the Supper: Two Things may this Import.

1. Our Participation of the Fruits of Chriſt's Death and Sacrifice: That we ſhare in the Priviledges of Reconciliation to God, Forgiveneſs of Sin, Peace of Conſcience, and the Promiſe of Eternal Life, by Vertue of Christ's Death.

2. That Others ſhare with us therein, or that we Partake of theſe Benefits with others. For ſo it follows in the next Verſe; That though many Members, we p. 138are all one Body, and one Bread, for we are all Partakers of that one Bread. That is, We are all one Church, and one Body of Chriſt, by Covenant Union unto him; And of him we do all Sacramentally and Spiritually partake in this Ordinance: As many Grains of Corn make one Loaf, and many Members one Body.

We being many, are one Bread and one Body. The Church of Rome, from that Expreſſion, might have as well argue, That all Chriſtians are ſubſtantially changed firſt into the Bread, and then into the natural Body of Chriſt, by partaking of this Sacrament; As well as that the Bread is changed into the Body of Chriſt: for all Chriſtians are ſaid to be but one Bread, and one Body, by vertue of their Communion in this Ordinance.

4. Hereby alſo we underſtand, how we have Communion in the Body and Blood of Chriſt, by the Lord's Supper: How we and others partake in the Benefits of his Death and Paſſion. And that two ways: As this Sacrament is a Sign and a Symbol of it; and as it is a Means.

p. 1391. It is a Sign of it. All that eat of this Bread, and drink of this Cup, do thereby Commemorate the Death and Paſſion of Jeſus Chriſt, and profeſs to own, that the Body and Blood of Chriſt, offered upon the Croſs, is the Food and Nouriſhment of their Souls to Eternal Life: That Chriſt is their Saviour and Redeemer; That they hope for all their Acceptance with God in both Worlds, only upon the account of the Sacrifice of Chriſt. They profeſſedly declare, that living and dying, they are, and will be his: They hope for Victory over Death and the Devil, by the Croſs of Chriſt, and for a Glorious Reſurrection from Death, as the Fruit of his Death and Reſurrection.

2. Theſe Words do import further, That the eating of this Bread, and drinking of this Cup, are the Means appointed by Chriſt for our Communion in his Body and Blood. We ſhare in the Benefits of his Death and Sacrifice; and by due Attendance upon this Ordinance, the precious Fruits of his Death, and the Gifts and Graces of his Spirit, are augmented and encreaſed in us, in order to our full and final Bleſſednes in p. 140the other World, which this is preparatory to, and fits us for.

As the partaking of things ſacrificed to Idols, was a Fellowſhip with Devilss, 1 Cor. 10.20. So the partaking of that which was ſacrific'd to God, is a Fellowſhip with him. **See Mr. Charnock's 2d. Vol. p. 759. And of the Divine Attributes, p. 638.Prayer is an Act of Homage, and Praiſe of Gratitude; but we have not ſo near a Communion with a Perſon, either by Petitioning for ſomewhat we want, or by returning him Thanks for a Favour received; as we have by ſitting with him at his Table, partaking of the ſame Bread, and the ſame Cup. In all Nations the neareſt Fellowſhip conſiſts in things of this nature. Take, Eat, manifeſts a Communion.

It would be an empty Myſtery, and unworthy of an Inſtitution by Divine Goodneſs, if there were not ſome Communion with God and Chriſt in it. There would be ſome kind of Deceit in the Precept, Take, Eat, and Drink, this is my Body and Blood; If there were not a Conveyance of Spiritual, Vital Influences to our Souls: For the narural end of Eating and Drinking is the Nouriſhment and encreaſe of the Body and Preſervation p. 141of Life, by that which we Ea and Drink.

I might conſider this Ordinance as a Sign, and Means of our Communion in the Body and Blood of Chriſt; or of our ſharing in the Fruits of his Death: And amplifie it ſeveral ways.

1. By conſidering on what Accounts this is a likely Means of ſuch a Communion. And,

2. How Faith muſt be acted, that it may be ſo, as to us. As to the former, 1. As this Ordinance is Commemorative of the Sacrifice of Chriſt, and being to be obſerved in Remembrance of him. 2. As it is an open Profeſſion of the Croſs of Chriſt: that we glory in it, and therefore ſhew forth the Lord's Death that way, profeſſing our ſelves not to be aſhamed of our Character, as the Followers of a crucified Jeſus. 3. As it is a Renewal and Confirmation of the Covenant between God and Us, through Jeſus Chriſt; Renewing our Engagements and Obligations to be the Lord's for ever. In the Celebration of this Ordinance, we have a Special Opportunity for this: it is a principal part of our Work at this Table. 4. As it is a fit Seaſon for extraordinary Thankſgiving and Praiſe, bleſſing God for Jeſus Chriſt; p. 142Which Thankfulneſs for Chriſt diſpoſes and fits us for the Reception of further Grace, as the Fruit and Purchaſe of his Death; and ſo is the Means of our Communion in his Body and Blood. Thus it is the Cup of Bleſſing and of Thankſgiving that we there Receive: which Cup of Bleſſing, upon ſuch Accounts as theſe, is our Communion in the Blood of Christ.

2. You will hereby the better perceive, what is to be done on our part in order to this Communion.

1. Our Faith muſt Eye the Authority of Christ enacting it. We muſt act in Obedience to an Inſtitution and Appointment of Chriſt. It was a Remarkable Inſtance and Act of his Kingly Office, to enjoyn this Memorial of his dying Love. And the Seaſon of its Inſtitution is the more obſervable, viz. In the cloſe of his Publick Miniſtery, of his Prophetical Office upon Earth, and in his Entrance upon the Execution of the Principal part of his Prieſtly Office, by being made a Sacrifice: between both of theſe; And to render both Effectual, our Lord interpoſed an Act of his Kingly Office in the Inſtitution of this Ordinance. Accordingly it ſhould be eyed, and owned by us, p. 143in order to our Communion with him therein.

2. The Love of Chriſt muſt eſpecially be Eyed and Attended to, in this Supper, as Expreſt by his Death and Sufferings. Of this we have here the moſt lively Repreſentation, with the Glorious Effects of that Love, which are not Repreſented with ſuch a Beauty and Luſtre by any other Ordinance, as by this. The conſtraining Love of Christ in his whole undertaking, is better diſcerned and taſted in this Ordinance, than as it is propoſed … ſeveral parts in the Holy Scripture: Here we are called to the particular Application of it, He loved me, and gave himſelf for me, Gal. 2.20 Rev. 1.5.

3. The Soveraignty, and the Wiſdom of God, in Inſtituting theſe External Signs and Elements, of Bread and Wine, muſt alſo be Eyed, and Attended to. They moſt fitly Signifie, and Repreſent the great Things they are deſigned for, and yet without a Divine Inſtitution could have no Relation to the Thing ſignified.

How ſuitable is the plain matter of this Sacrament unto the holy Author of it. We remember in this Supper his Body hanging on the Croſs, and therefore it was not fit the Sacrament of his Body ſhould be ſumptuous p. 144and rich upon the Table. Nevertheleſs by Bread to ſtrengthen, and Wine to comfort, all the Benefits of a crucified Saviour are fitly Repreſented, and much better, than they could have been by the choiceſt Delicates.

In order to this Communion of the Body and Blood of Chriſt, we muſt take heed to our ſelves, not to reſt in the External Signs; but to diſcern the Lord's Body, to apprehend the Spiritual Import and End of this Divine Inſtitution; That by Faith we may Receive Christ, and feed upon him, ſo as to Experience the Communications of his Grace, and Receive freſh Influences of his Spirit: That we may Accept all the Benefits of the New Covenant, which are here Offered and Sealed to us; and that we may Devote, Reſign, and Dedicate our ſelves afreſh to be the Lord's; to Obey him, and ſerve the Purpoſes of his Glory, while we live, in hope of the bleſſed Recompence which he has Purchaſed and promiſed, and is gone to prepare, and which he will not fail to come again and beſtow. Until which time this Ordinance is to continue in the Church, To ſhew forth the Lord's Death till he come.

p. 145Ʋſe 1. The firſt Reflection I would make on this, is upon the Sacrilegious Confidence of thoſe Men, who deny Chriſtians the Means of their Communion in the Blood of Chriſt; who rob them of one half of this Sacrament, by denying the Cup of Bleſſing to the Laity. The Cup is the Communion of the blood of Chriſt, ſays the Apoſtle. Drink ye all of it, ſays our Lord. And yet the Church of Rome will not ſuffer the People to taſte it. But as one Errour makes way for another, they pretend that by the New Doctrine of Concomitancy, the Bread, or the little Wafer, which is not broken neither, according to the order of Chriſt, but put whole into the Peoples Mouths, by the hands of the Prieſt; This Wafer ſhall be enough for the People, and by the help of a ſtrong Imagination of the Authority of their Church, the very Body, Blood, and Bones of Chriſt ſhall be contained under the Form and Appearance of Bread.

One would wonder how any Thing can be plainer, both in this and the next Chapter, and in the Inſtitution it ſelf, as Recorded by the Evangelists, than the Univerſal Obligation upon Chriſtians to partake of the Cup, as well as the Bread. And what Authority can any Man, or Number of Men, have to alter p. 146ſuch a Conſtitution? May they not as well take away the Bread from the People, as the Cup? They will grant that for a Thouſand Years after Chriſt, it was the Senſe and Practice of the Christian Church, that the People ſhould partake of the Cup too; And for Fourteen hundred Years, it can be proved that they did, even from the Apoſtle's Time, down to that of Thomas Aquinas in the latter end of the Thirteenth Century. Juſtin Martyr, Cyprian, Nazianzen, Chryſoſtom, and all the moſt conſiderable Writers of the Ancient Church, are expreſs in their Teſtimony for it. But what need we concern our ſelves about the Judgment of Antiquity? When there is a Poſitive Inſtitution of Chriſt, and in a large Account thereof by the Apoſtle Paul in the Eleventh Chapter, he ſpeaks but one word of the Conſecration of the Bread, but uſes divers Expreſſions, to ſignifie the Excellency of the Cup.

This is my Blood, ſays Chr…ſt, The Blood of the New Teſtament, ſhed for the Remiſſion of Sins of many. His ſufferings and the reality of his Death are in a moſt lively manner ſet forth by the ſhedding of his Blood. Not to inſiſt upon his bloody ſweat in the Garden, You know when he p. 147was whipt, and ſcourged, and crowned with Thornes, he then ſhed Blood! Blood iſſued from his hands and Feet when he was nailed to the Croſs; and from his ſide, when he was pierced by the Roman Soldiers. By the ſhedding of his Blood he loſt his Life and without ſhedding of Blood there could be no Remiſſion. So that to deprive the People of the Cup, is to take away the moſt lively, and the moſt eſſential Repreſentation of the Sufferings, and Death of Chriſt.

The Doctrine of Concomitancy will not availe in this Caſe, The partaking of the Bread only is not ſufficient whereby to remember his Death: For the Separation of his Blood from his Body was the means of his Dying. This deſtroys the Diſtinction between the two Symbols, which yet are very different in their Names, in their Properties, in their Ʋſe, and in the Time of receiving them. Beſides, it is contrary to all the Rules of Language, to ſay, I drink, when I only eat. But there is worſe in it ſtill; For they ſeal up the Fountain of Chriſt's Blood from the People, They pour it back again, as it were, into his Body, and ſhut up his wounds; as if his Blood were not ſhed for any but the Priests. God has appointed the double p. 148Elements to increaſe the Conſolation of Chriſtians. And we ſhould not marvel, ſayes one, that they who deny the Certainty of Grace, and the Poſſibility of Aſſurance, ſhould deny the People the double Elements: By their Doctrine they Preach but a half Comfort to Souls, and by their Practice they adminiſter but a half Sacrament to the Laity.

It is true, They tell us, that we read of this Ordinance under the Name of Breaking of bread. We grant it, But they may as well conclude, That when Joſeph Feaſted and entertained his Brethren, that he gave them nothing to Drink, becauſe it is only ſaid, That they did eat with him. Can any one doubt, but when we pray for our daily bread in the Lord's Prayer, that we ask what is neceſſary for the Relief and Satisfaction of our Thirſt, as well as Hunger, in that Petition?

Notwithſtanding all that may be ſaid, againſt their Practice of denying the Cup to the People, we read in the Hiſtory of the Council of Trent, when Communion in both kinds was propoſed by thoſe who were ſent from France; In the Reply made to that Motion, They called the Cup for the Laity, a Cup of Poyſon: And among other Anathema's p. 149in the Council of Trent, there is one againſt all thoſe that ſhall ſay. That the Church had not good reaſon to take away the Cup from the People; And yet they aſſign no Reaſon at all, when there is manifeſtly as much Reaſon for drinking of the Cup, as for eating of the Bread; the ſame Authority requiring both, The Cup of Bleſſing which we bleſs is the Communion of the Blood of Chriſt.

2. With what humble Thankfulneſs ſhould we uſe this Priviledge, and obey this Order of our Lord, Remembring him in this manner, ſince thereby we have Communion in his Body and Blood.

The Night before he was betrayed, he took Bread, and took the Cup; He Inſtituted the Feaſt, and bid us Celebrate it in Remembrance of him. You, my Friends and Followers, as if our Lord had ſaid, I am now about to leave you, for the hour is at hand, when I ſhall be Apprehended, Bound, and Judged, Condemned, and Crucified; and then I ſhall Riſe again, and go to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God; E're long I ſhall be received out of your ſight, you ſhall ſee me no more on Earth; you ſhall not eat and drink with me any more as you have p. 150done; But let me not be out of your mind, when I am gone. I have loved you, and I will love you to the Death; And to morrow you ſhall ſee the proof of my Love to you, and to the loſt World, when I ſhall offer my ſelf a Sacrifice for ſin, and lay down my Life for you; And will you forget me? That you may not, I do inſtitute and appoint this Solemn Memorial of my Death, and leave it in Charge upon you, and my whole Church to the end of the World, upon all my Followers in all Ages, to do it in Remembrance of me; As often as you eat this Bread, and drink this Cup of Bleſſing, that you ſhew forth my Death till I come. Accordingly the firſt Diſciples of Chriſt did every Lord's Day make it a part of their Publick Worſhip; But as the Zeal and Fervour of Chriſtians abated, the Frequency of Celebrating this Feaſt did abate too.

But ſome will be ready to ſay, The Priviledge is ſo great I durſt not adventure. It is the Communion of the body and blood of Chriſt, I am not fit for ſo great an undertaking; My Conſcience tells me I am utterly unworthy of ſo high a Favour; My ſins are ſo many, and my frailties ſo many, I p. 151durſt, by no means, as yet, adventure to come.

I Anſwer, 1. That Senſe of our Unworthineſs and Unfitneſs, which keeps us from the performance of a plain Duty, is not true Humility. It is not Preſumption to do what we are required, and to come when we are bidden, though we are Unworthy to come. We are unworthy of Food and Cloathing, Will you therefore ſtarve your ſelves, or go naked? Remember you are Invited, and your Refuſal thereupon may proceed from Pride, if the Senſe of Unworthineſs hinder your Obedience to the Call of Chriſt. It is a bold thing, you think, for you to come; But is there no faulty Boldneſs in your neglecting to come, when Chriſt has bid you remember him this way? For this is not a Priviledge only, but at the ſame time it is a Duty too; And if your ſenſe of your Unworthineſs help you to come humbly and better prepared, it is one of the beſt Characters of a worthy Receiver, but it ought not to keep you from receiving altogether.

2. You ſay you are unfit. It may be you ſay true. Will you continue ſo from p. 152year to year? Is it not a Duty to fit and prepare your ſelves, to repent of all ſin, and give up your ſelves to God in Chriſt, as your God and Saviour, and then renew your Covenant? Do not you know, that the Ignorant and the impenitent, who are unfit to come to the Lords Table, are unfit to die, unfit for Heaven? And will you continue in ſuch a ſtate wherein you are unfit to die? And yet are uncertain to live an hour. Your unfitneſs is your ſin, and will you turn it into an Apology for your other Sin? It is the Duty of all real and unfeigned Chriſtians, to come to this Ordinance; And it is the Duty of all to be ſuch, that they may come. Not to Commemorate the Death of Chriſt this way, as he hath appointed it, is one ſin; To live in the neglect of due Preparation for it, is Another. Will your being Unprepared excuſe your not coming, when it is your duty to be ſuch as may come? How can you think God will forgive one ſin, becauſe you commit another? How can you expect he ſhould pardon your neglect of his Table, when all that you can ſay, is, that you neglect to fit your ſelves for it? Men will not do their duty in other things, and ſo are unfit for this. Therefore,

p. 1533. How is it that you are not as much afraid of diſobeying this Command of thus Remembring the Death of Chriſt, as you are afraid of doing it Unworthily? You are afraid you ſhould offend God by coming; But ought you not to fear, leſt you offend him by ſtaying away? Should not a total neglect be apprehended a Fault, as well as an undue Performance? You do well to fear Unworthy receiving; O be but as fearful to continue Unworthy, and Unfit to receive! This equal fear of Caution on both ſides, would make you diligent and ſolicitous to fit and prepare your ſelves. And this concerns thoſe, who have formerly been at the Lord's Table, but very often do tarry away, though they have time and opportunity, as being afraid to come by reaſon of their own Unworthineſs.

4. Conſider further, What are thoſe ſins that you charge your ſelves with, as the ground of your Ʋnfitneſs. They are either of Weakneſs, or of Wilfulneſs; Either ſuch as can hardly be avoided by the Care and Watchfulneſs of Good Men, as ſins of daily infirmity. Theſe do not make you unfit for the Lord's Table: For if they did, who at all p. 154would ever be fit? If a perfect ſinleſs Fitneſs were neceſſary, none could come aright. And by ſuch a thought we make Chriſt an hard Maſter. But if they be ſins of Wilfulneſs, you are Self-condemned if you do not Reform. And yet how many are there, concerning whom we may charitably judge, that they do not allow themſelves in wilful ſins, that do yet tarry away from this Table?

5. Let me ask you further, Have you ever tryed to fit and prepare your ſelves, as worthy Receivers of the Lord's Supper? Have you endeavoured, in the uſe of all God's appointed Means, to obtain that Knowledge, Repentance, Faith, and Love, which ſhould fit you for this Ordinance? If you have never uſed the Means that God hath appointed; if you have never ſeriouſly and in good earneſt ſet about the Work of Preparation, How can you ſay that you never ſhall, or can be fitted for this Priviledge? What Miniſter of Chriſt have you ever conſulted about it? It may be you miſtake the very Notion of the Lord's Supper, and underſtand not the True Nature and Deſign of it. Have you ſet apart time, to ſearch p. 155your Hearts, and examine your Co… ſciences, and Repent of all Sin, and give up your ſelves to God in Chriſt, and beg the help of Miniſters and Friends to that purpoſe?

6. Therefore let me ask you again, Is not your Unfitneſs from ſloath and Idleneſs, or the distracting hurry of Worldly Affairs, that you cannot be brought to ſpare ſo much time, as is neceſſary for this Work? How will you Anſwer this at the Great Day? Will you then have the Courage to tell the Lord Redeemer to his Face, what this Pretence amounts to? Will you tell him in that Awful Solemnity, Lord, I would not have omitted the Ordinance of the Supper, but have remembred Thee, and thy dying Love, by breaking of bread; But, I was unfit for it, altogether unfit, becauſe my Mind was distracted with the cares of the World: I had ſo much of other matters all the Week, from MonethMonth to MonethMonth, to take up my Thoughts and Time, that I had no leiſure for ſerious Preparation. What ſelf-condemning Excuſes will theſe prove at laſt?

Laſtly. Is there not yet ſomething worſe at the bottom, viz. That you are unwilling of that ſtrictneſs and ſeriouſneſs, that you think ſuch are obliged p. 156to, as come to the Lord's Table? Unwilling of that circumſpect walking which ſuch, of all others, ſhould be exemplary in? Are you not afraid, that if you come, you muſt abridge your ſelves of ſome Liberties, that you now take? That you muſt be more conſtant in ſecret Prayer; That you muſt ſet up daily Family Prayer in your houſes; That you muſt ſpend more Time in Reading; be more careful of your Company, and be more faithful and exact in your Dealings, and do many things that now you neglect?

How dreadful is the Import of ſuch an Excuſe for not Coming? of ſuch a Ground for ſtaying away. For it ſeems to lye in this, That Men are reſolved they will live at large, and not be bound up by the Rules of the Goſpel; That is, They never mean to take upon them the Yoke of Chriſt, or to live as his Diſciples; If they would ſpeak it out, it muſt ſignifie thus much; Thou ſhalt not be my Lord and Redeemer, I will not deny Ʋngodlineſs and Worldly Luſts, and live Soberly, and Righteouſly, and Godly, in this World; Notwithstanding my baptiſm, whereby I have ſworn Fidelity to Chriſt, he ſhall not reign over me. This is practically, and, in effect, their Senſe: For this Command p. 157and Order, to do this in Remembrance of Chriſt, is as much a Law of Chriſt, as any in the Bible; And yet many refuſe to obey this Command, leſt they ſhould be obliged more ſtrictly to obey all the other. How little do ſuch Profeſſors conſider, how unbecoming it is to call themſelves Chriſtians; or that they are, (Antecedently by their Baptiſm and Chriſtian Profeſſion) bound to obey Chriſt in all theſe Inſtances: And at the Lord's Table we do but renew the Obligation upon our ſelves to do ſo. We are bound to obey Chriſt as our Ruler, and to yield Obedience to all the Laws of Chriſt, whether we come to this Table or no; Though we are alſo bound to come, and to profeſs and promiſe Obedience there.

There are other Objections I may conſider hereafter, and therefore ſhall now cloſe with a few words of Counſel.

1. Let thoſe of us, who have eaten of this Bread, and drunk of this Cup, and ſo have profeſſedly had Communion in the Body and Blood of Chriſt; Let us Examine whether we have really and truly had any Fellowſhip with him in this Ordinance, or no; Whether we have only partaked of the outward p. 158Signs, and been preſent at ſuch a Feaſt of Love, without any Spiritual Nouriſhment to our Souls. Without attending to this, the Deſign of the Inſtitution is overlooked, and all the Genuine Advantages of it will be lost. Without this, we have but played the Hypocrites, and Acted a Part, and ſhall pay dear for our Solemn Trifling, as having ſlighted the Redeemer's Love, and made our ſelves Guilty of his body and blood.

If we have not laboured to ſee the Evil of Sin, and to have our hatred of it encreaſed. If we have not found our Hearts ſet more againſt it, and our Reſolutions confirmed to forſake it. If we have not felt the Attractive Influence of the Love of Chriſt, to bring us to Adore him, and Magnifie his Condeſcention and Love If we have not had Admiring Thoughts of the bleſſed God, of the Purity of his Na…ure, the Juſtice of his Government, and all his Excellent Perfections, which are ſo highly honoured in our Redemption by the bloody Sacrifice of Chriſt. If we have not been cordial and unfeigned in the Dedication of our ſelves to him, and all we have, and are, to be at his Diſpoſe and Order for the reſt of our Time. If we have not had our Thoughts raiſed up to Heaven, to a riſen glorified Redeemer on his Throne, as p. 159triumphing over all the Adverſaries of our Salvation, as able to ſave to the uttermoſt All that come to God by him, as faithful to compleat what he hath begun, and to preſerve what is committed to him, and to give us the full purchaſe of his Meritorious Death in the Heavenly Kingdom.

And if we have not been melted under the ſenſe of pardoning, Mercy to our ſelves, and brought to a better Temper of Mind, as to the Forgiveneſs of Others. If we have not had Love to our Fellow-Chriſtians more excited in us, to all that are Members of the ſame Body; though they err and miſtake, though they diner from us, though they be angry with us, though they think hardly of us, and ſpeak hardly againſt us: Yet if we have not had our Spirits brought to a Temper able to forgive them, to pray for them, and be ready to do them good, &c. We cannot ſay, we have had Communion with Chriſt in his Ordinance. For ſuch Effects as theſe wi…l follow upon it; Or rather it is in theſe things, wherein a great part of our Spiritual Communion doth conſiſt.

2. If there have been any thing of this kind, bleſs God for ſuch a merciful Seaſon: For this is the Real Advantage and Good of any ſuch Ordinance, when p. 160it Rectifies our Spirits, and betters our frame, and ſubdues our Corruptions, and recovers us from our back-ſlidings, and gives us any thing more of the Divine Image and Likeneſs, and makes us hate Sin more, and love God and one another better. This is the Real Advantage of ſuch Seaſons; Theſe are gainful Opportunities indeed, where theſe Things are Attained, where in any meaſure there are ſuch Conſequences of Approaching to the Lord's Table.

3. Let us endeavour hence-forward to walk worthy of ſuch a Priviledge, and long for the Repetition of it. Let us watch our Spirits this Evening, and to Morrow, and the following Week and Month; that we may not preſently loſe the Savour of theſe things, by ſecular and common Diſcourſe, and vain Converſe: When we go away from the Publick Worſhip, let us ſpend the Remainder of the Day in ſuch Offices, and Exerciſes of Religion, as may Aſſiſt us to proſecute our Great Deſign, and may ſtrengthen the Vows of God, into which we have newly entred.

And let us ſhew we like his Fare, and are pleaſed with the Entertainments of his Houſe, by deſiring more ſuch Opportunities, p. 161and by Improving them when-ever they return. One thing have I deſired of the Lord, ſays the Pſalmiſt, and that will I ſeek after, that I may dwell in the Houſe of the Lord for ever. By this means we ſhould endeavour to become growing, thriving, fruitful, humble, ſelf-denying, heavenly, exemplary Chriſtians, walking worthy of our High and Holy Calling, purifying our ſelves more and more from all filthineſs of Fleſh and Spirit. That our Hearts may be more fixed for God and Chriſt, againſt all Competitors, and under all Diſcouragements. That Chriſt Jeſus may have the more intire Poſſeſſion of our Souls, and the Service of our Lives. That his Love being ſhed abroad in our Hearts, nothing may ever be able to ſeparate us from it. That whether we live or dye, Chriſt may be All in All to us. Who hath loved us, and waſhed us from our ſins in his own blood. To Him be Glory, throughout all the Churches for ever. Amen.