A Body of Practical Divinity, Sermon 82 · Part 4
Mark XIV.22.
Iesus took Bread, &c.
(7.) Self-examining is needful, in respect of the Danger in coming unworthily without Examination, 1 Cor. 11.27. He shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Par facit quasi Christum trucidaret. Grotius.—i. e. God reckons with him as with a Crucifyer of the Lord Iesus. He doth not Drink Christ's Blood, but sheds it, and so brings that Curse upon him as the Jews, His Blood be upon us and our Children. The Vertue of Christ's Blood nothing more comfortable, the Guilt of it nothing more Formidable.
4. We must examine our selves before the Sacrament, in respect of the Difficulty of Self-examining Work. Difficulty raiseth a Noble Spirit. Self-examining is difficult: (1.) Because it is an Inward Work, it lies most with the Heart. External Acts of Devotion are easie: To lift up the Eye, to bow the Knee, to read over a few Prayers, this is as easie as for the Papists to tell over a few Beads. But to examine a Man's self, to take the Heart as a Watch, all in pieces, to make a Scripture-Trial of our Fitness for the Lord's Supper, this is not easie. Reflexive Acts are hardest: The Eye cannot see its self but by a Glass. We must have the Glass of the Word and Conscience to see our own Hearts. 'Tis easie to spy the Faults of others, but it is hard to find out our own. (2.) Self-examination is difficult in regard of Self-Love. As Ignorance blinds, so Self-love flatters. What Solomon saith of Love, Prov. 10.12. Love covereth all Sins, is most true of Self-love. A Man looking upon himself in the Glass of Self-love, (that flattering Glass) his Vertues appear greater than they are, and his Sins lesser. Self-love makes a Man rather excuse himself, than examine himself. Self-love makes one think the best of himself; and he who hath a good Opinion of himself, doth not suspect himself; and not suspecting himself, he is not forward to Examine himself. The Work therefore of self-Examination being so difficult, it requires the more Impartiality and Industry. Difficulty should be a Spur to Diligence.
5. We must examine our selves before we come, because of the Beneficialness of Self-examination. The Benefit is great which way soever things turn. If upon Examination we find that we have not Grace in Truth, then the Mistake is discovered, and the Danger prevented. If we find that we have Grace, we may take the Comfort of it. He who upon Search finds that he hath the Minimum quod sic, The least Degree of Grace, he is like one that hath found his Box of Evidences, he is an happy Man, he is a fit Guest at the Lord's Table, he is Heir to all the Promises, he is as sure to go to Heaven as if he were in Heaven already. These are the Reasons why we must examin our selves before we approach to the Lord's Table.
Quest. 5. What must we Examine?
Answ. 1. Our Sins.
2. Our Graces.
First, Our Sins. Search if any dead Fly might spoil this sweet Oyntment. When we come to the Sacrament, we should do as the Jews did before the Passover; they searched for Leaven, and having found it did burn it. 1. Let us search for the Leaven of Pride: This sowres our Holy things. We are born with a Spiritual Tympany. Will an humble Christ be received into a Proud Heart? Pride keeps Christ out—Intus existens prohibet alienum—"Pride swells the Heart; and Christ cannot come into the Heart if it be full already. To a proud Man Christ's Blood hath no Vertue, 'tis like Dioscordium put into a dead Man's Mouth, which loseth its Vertue. Let us search for this Leaven of Pride and cast it away. 2. Let us search for the Levaen of Avarice. The Lord's Supper is a Spiritual Mystery, it represents Christ's Body and Blood; what should an earthly Heart do here? The Earth puts out the Fire. Earthliness quencheth the Fire of holy Love. The Earth is Elementum Gravissimum, it cannot ascend. A Soul belimed with Earth cannot ascend to Heavenly Cogitations. Col. 3.5. Covetousness which is Idolatry. Will Christ come into that Heart where there is an Idol? Search for this Leaven before you come to this Ordinance. How can an earthly Heart converse with that God which is a Spirit? Can a Clod of Earth kiss the Sun? 3. Search for the Leaven of Hypocrisie. Luke 12.1. Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees, which is Hypocrisie. Aquinas describes it, Simulatio Virtutis. Hypocrisie is a counterfeiting of Vertue. The Hypocrite is a living Pageant, he only makes a show of Religion: He gives God his Knee, but no Heart; and God gives him Bread and Wine in the Sacrament, but no Christ. Oh let us search for this Leaven of Hypocrisie, and burn it!
Secondly, We must examine our Graces. I shall instance only in one, Our Knowledge.
1. Whether we have Knowledge.
2. Whether it be rightly Qualified.
(1.) We are to examine whether we have Knowledge, else we cannot give God a reasonable Service, Rom. 12.1. Knowledge is a necessary Requisite in a Communicant. Without Knowledge there can be no Fitness for the Sacrament. A Person cannot be fit to come to the Lord's Table who hath no Goodness, but without Knowledge the Mina is not good, Prov. 19.2. Some say they have good Hearts, tho they want Knowledge. As if one should say, His Eye is good, but it wants Sight. Under the Law, when the Plague of Leprosie was in a Man's Head, the Priest was to pronounce him unclean. The ignorant Person hath the Plague in his Head, he is unclean. Ignorance is the Womb of Lust, 1 Pet. 1.14. Therefore it is requisite before we come, to Examine our selves what Knowledge we have in the main Fundamentals of Religion. Let it not be said of us, that to this Day the Vail is upon our Heart, 2 Cor. 3.15. But sure in this Intelligent Age we cannot but have some Insight into the Mysteries of the Gospel. I rather fear, we are like Rachel, who was fair and well-sighted, but barren: Therefore,
(2.) Let us examine whether our Knowledge be rightly Qualified. 1. Is it Influential? Doth our Knowledge warm our Heart? Claritas in intellectu parit ardorem in affectu. Saving Knowledge doth not only direct, but quicken: 'Tis Lumen Vitae, the Light of Life, Iohn 8.12. 2. Is our Knowledge Practical? We hear much; do we live the Truths we know? That is the right Knowledge which doth not only adorn the Mind, but reform the Life.
Secondly, This solemn preparing for the Sacrament, as it consists in examining our selves, so in dressing our Souls before we come. And this Soul-dress is in two things.
1. Washing in the Laver of Repenting Tears: To come to this Ordinance with the Guilt of any sin unrepented of, makes way for the further hardening of our Heart, and giving Satan fuller possession of us. Zech. 12.10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for him. The Cloud of Sorrow must drop into Tears. We must grieve as for the Pollution, so for the Vnkindness in every sin: To sin against Christ's Love who died for us. When Peter thought of Christ's Love, who call'd him out of his Unregeneracy, made him an Apostle, and carried him up to the Mount of Transfiguration, where he saw the Glory of Heaven in a Vision, and then to think of his Denying Christ, it broke his Heart, he wept bitterly, Matth. 26.75. To think before we come to a Sacrament of our sins against the Bowel-Mercies of God the Father, the bleeding Wounds of God the Son, the blessed Inspirations of God the Holy Ghost, it is enough to broach our Eyes with Tears, and put us into an Holy Agony of Grief and Compunction: And we must be so distressed for sin, as to be divorced from sin. The Serpent before he drinks casts up his Poyson. In this we must be wise as Serpents; before we drink of the Sacramental Cup, we must cast up the Poyson of sin by Repentance. *Aug.Ille verè plangit commissa, qui non committit plangenda—He doth truly bewail the sins he hath committed, who doth not commit the sins he hath bewailed. And this is the Dressing our Souls before we come, washing in the Waters of true Rpentance.
2. The Soul-dress is the exciting and stirring up the Habit of Grace into a lively Exercise. 2 Tim. 1.6. I put thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the Gift of God which is in thee: i. e. The Gifts and Graces of the Spirit. The Greek Word to stir up, foreign, signifies to blow up Grace into a Flame. Grace is oft like Fire in the Embers, which needs blowing up. It is possible that even a good Man may not come so well disposed to this Ordinance, because he hath not before taken pains with his Heart to come in Due Order: He hath not stirred up Grace into its vigorous Exercise, and so, tho he doth not eat and drink Damnation, yet he doth not receive Consolation in the Sacrament. Thus you see what this Dressing of our Souls is, before we come.
Thirdly, This Solemn preparing for the Sacrament is, in begging a Blessing upon the Ordinance. The Sacrament is not like Physick, which hath an inherent operative Vertue: No, but the Efficacy of the Sacrament depends upon the Co-operation of the Spirit, and a Word of Blessing. In the Institution Christ blessed the Elements. Iesus took Bread and blessed it. In the Text, the Sacrament, will no further do us good, then as it is blessed to us. We ought then before we come, to pray for a Blessing on the Ordinance, that the Sacrament may be not only a Sign to represent, but a Seal to confirm, and an Instrument to convey Christ and all his Benefits to us. We are to pray that this great Ordinance may be Poyson to our Sins, and Food to our Graces: That as it was with Ionathan, when he had tasted the Honey-Comb, his Eyes mere enlightned, 1 Sam. 14.27. So that by our receiving this Holy Eucharist, our Eyes may be so enlightned, as to discern the Lord's Body. Thus should we implore a Blessing upon the Ordinance before we come. The Sacrament is like a Tree hung full of Fruit; but none of this Fruit will fall, unless shaken by the Hand of Prayer.
(2.) That the Sacrament may be effectual to us, as there must be a Due Preparing for it, so a right partaking of it: Which right Participation of the Sacrament is in Three Things:
1. When we draw nigh to God's Table in an humble Sense of our Vnworthiness. We do not deserve one Crumb of the Bread of Life; we are poor Indigent Creatures who have lost our Glory, and are like a Vessel that is Shipwrack'd: We smite on our Breast as the Publican, God be merciful to us Sinners. This is a right Partaking of the Ordinance. 'Tis part of our Worthiness to see our Unworthiness.
2. We rightly partake of the Sacrament, when at the Lord's Table we are fill'd with Anhelations of Soul, and inflamed Desires after Christ, and nothing can quench our Thirst but his Blood. Matth. 5.6. foreign, Blessed are they that thirst. They are blessed not only when they are filled, but while they are thirsting.
3. A right participation of the Supper is, when we receive in Faith. Without Faith we get no good. What is said of the Word Preached, It profiteth not, not being mixed with Faith, Heb. 4.2. is as true of the Sacrament. Christ turned Stones into Bread: Unbelief turns the Bread into Stones, that it doth not nourish. Then we partake aright when we come in Faith. Faith hath a two-fold Act, an adhering and an applying. By the first Act we go over to Christ, by the second Act we bring Christ over to us, Gal. 2.20. This is the great Grace we must set awork, Acts 10.43. Philo calls it, Fides Occulata, Faith is the Eagle Eye that discerns the Lord's Body: Faith causeth a virtual Contact, it toucheth Christ. Christ said to Mary, Touch me not, &c. Iohn 20.17. She was not to touch him with the Hands of her Body. But he saith to us, Touch me, Touch me with the Hand of your Faith. Faith makes Christ present to the Soul. The Believer hath a real Presence in the Sacrament. The Body of the Sun is in the Firmament, but the Light of the Sun is in the Eye. Christ's Essence is in Heaven, but he is in a Believers Heart by his Light and Influence. Eph. 3.17. That Christ may dwell in your Heart by Faith. Faith is the Pallat which tastes Christ, 1 Pet. 2.3. Faith makes a Concoction; it causeth the Bread of Life to nourish *Crede & manducasti. Aug.. Faith causeth a Coalition, it makes us one with Christ, Eph. 1.23. Other Graces make us like Christ, Faith makes us Members of Christ.
Fourthly, Then we partake aright of the Sacrament, when we receive in Love.
(1.) Love to Christ. Who can see Christ pierced with a Crown of Thorns, sweating in his Agony, bleeding on the Cross, but his Heart must needs be endeared in Love to him? How can we but love him, who hath given his Life a ransom for us? Love is the Spiced Wine and Juyce of the Pomgranate which we must give Christ, Cant. 8.2. Our Love to this Superiour and Blessed Jesus, must exceed our Love to other things; as the Oyl runs above the Water. Tho' we cannot with Mary bring our costly Oyntment to anoynt Christ's Body, yet we do more than this, when we bring him our Love, which is sweeter to him than all Oyntments and Perfumes.
(2.) Love to the Saints. This is a Love-Feast. Tho' we must eat this Supper with the Bitter Herbs of Repentance, yet not with the bitter Herbs of Malice. Were it not sad, if all the Meat one eats should turn to bad Humours? He who comes in Malice to the Lord's Table, all he eats is to his hurt: He eats and drinks Damnation to himself, 1 Cor. 11.29.—Come in Love. It is with Love as it is with Fire: You keep Fire all the Day upon the Hearth, but upon special occasions you draw the Fire out larger. So tho we must have Love to all, yet to the Saints who are our Fellow-Members, here we must draw out the Fire of our Love larger; and we must show the Largeness of our Affections to them, by prizing their Persons, by chusing their Company, by doing all Offices of Love to them; counselling them in their Doubts, comforting them in their Fears, supplying them in their Wants. Thus one Christian may be an Eben-ezer to another, and as an Angel of God to him. The Sacrament cannot be effectual to him, who doth not receive in Love. If a Man drinks Poyson, and then takes a Cordial, the Cordial will do him little good. He who hath the Poyson of Malice in his Soul, the Cordial of Christ's Blood will do him no good: Come therefore in Love and Charity. And thus we see how we may receive the Supper of the Lord, that it may be Effectual to our Salvation.
Vse I. From the whole Doctrine of the Sacrament, learn, How precious should a Sacrament be to us! It is a Sealed Deed to make over the Blessings of the New Covenant to us, [Justification, Sanctification, Glory.] A small piece of Wax put to a Parchment is made the Instrument to confirm a rich Conveyance or Lordship to another: So these Elements in the Sacrament of Bread and Wine, tho in themselves of no great value, yet being consecrated to be Seals to Confirm the Covenant of Grace to us, so they are of more value than all the Riches of the Indies.
Vse II. The Sacrament being such an Holy Mystery, let us come to this Holy Mystery with Holy Hearts. There's no receiving a crucify'd Christ but into a consecrated Heart. Christ in his Conception lay in a pure Virgins Womb, and at his Death his Body was wrapped in clean Linnen, and put in a new Virgin-Tomb never yet defiled with Rottenness. If Christ would not lie in an unclean Grave, sure he will not be received into an unclean Heart. Isa. 52.11. Be ye clean that bear the Vessels of the Lord. If they who did carry the Vessels of the Lord were to be holy, then they who are to be the Vessels of the Lord, and are to hold Christ's Body and Blood, ought to be holy.
Vse III. Consolation. Christ's Body and Blood in the Sacrament is a most Sovereign Elixir, or Comfort to a distressed Soul. Christ having poured out his Blood, now God's Justice is fully satisfied. There is in the Death of Christ enough to answer all Doubts. What if Sin is the Poyson, here is the Flesh of Christ an Antidote against it? What if Sin be red as Scarlet, is not Christ's Blood of a deeper Colour, and can wash away Sin? If Satan strikes us with his Darts of Temptation, here is a precious Balm comes out of Christ's Wounds to heal us, Isa. 53.5. What, tho we feed upon the Bread of Affliction, as long as in the Sacrament we feed upon the Bread of Life? So that Christ received aright Sacramentally, is an universal Medicine for the healing, and an universal Cordial for the cheering of our distressed Souls.
III. The Benefits of our Redemption are applyed to us by Prayer.