Part 8

3. The reward you shall have for the faithfull continuance in your office, [109]is not from men, (though you deserve, and ought to have even from men double honour, and are to be had in high esteem from your work sake,) but from God, who hath promised to give you a [110]_crown of glory, that fadeth not away, when the chiefe Shepherd shall appear_; which promise is applicable, not only to the teaching, but Ruling Elder; the Apostle speaking there of Elders indefinitely, without restriction or limitation.

4. The strength by which you act, is the strength of Christ; and though in your selves you be insufficient for so great a work, (_for who is sufficient for these things_) yet _by Christ that strengthens you, you are able to do all things_. God never calls a man to any employment, but he giveth a competent ability thereunto; and is angry with those that pretend insufficiency for that Office to which he calls them, as appears by the example of _Moses_, _Exod._ 3.10, 11, 13, 14.

5. Consider what great things God hath brought to pass with weak instruments. _Moses_ a shepherd was the deliverer of the Israelites out of _Egypt_; and a great part of the World was converted by a few Fisher-men. God delights to convey grace by contemptible Elements; as Water, Bread, and Wine, and to manifest his great power in mans great weakness, that so all the glory may redound to him alone.

6. That the greatest undertakings in the Church, have met with greatest difficulties and oppositions. [111]_Jerusalem_ was built again even in troublous times. _Tobia_ and _Sanballat_, and all their Adherents set themselves against it, both with scorns, false informations, and acts of violence, yet the work went on and prospered: and though it had very many years interruption, yet at last God raised up the spirit of _Haggai_, _Zecheriah_, and of _Zerubbabel_ and _Joshua_, and the work was suddainly finished. _Who art thou O great Mountain before_ Zerubbabel_? thou shalt become a plain_, &c. Oppositions should rather quicken, then cool activity.

7. That the greatest affairs and achievements are wont at first to have but small beginnings, like the Prophet _Elias_ cloud. The repair of the Temple and of the City of _Jerusalem_ was so small at first, as that the enemies mockt, and said[112]; _Even that which they build, if a Fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall._ And _Iudah_ her self said[113], _The strength of the bearers of the burden is decayed, and there is much rubbish, so as we are not able to build the wall._ And yet notwithstanding God saith[114], _Who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of_ Zerubbabel. _The hand of_ Zerubbabel _laid the foundation of this house, his hand shalt also finish it, not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord[115]._

8. Consider, _who_, and of what _carriage_ the most of those are that oppose this Government, and upon what grounds they are against it, and it will adde a singular testimony to the goodness of it, and incourage you the rather to stand for it, seeing so many erroneous, superstitious, hereticall, leud and licentious persons of all sorts, are so violent against it.

9. If God countenance the Government, it is the less matter if it want the countenance of man. Let not the faultinesse of others, discourage Gods faithfull Ones from their trust and duty: The fewer stand for it, the more reason there is that we should. _The Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge_: And therefore let us not fear what man can do unto us, for there are more with us, then against us.

10. God hath the hearts of all men in his hands, and he can in an instant raise up a _Cyrus_ to appear for his People, and his Cause; he can raise up _Zerubbabels_, _Nehemiah's_, and _Ezrah's_; he can, and he will raise up Kings to be the nursing Fathers, and Queens the nursing Mothers of his Church; he can turn the hearts of people, and make them willing to submit their necks to the yoak of the Lord; and he hath promised, _that in the day of his power, the people shall be willing_.

11. Lastly, consider _what great things God hath done already for us_; and if he had meant to have destroyed us, he would not have done all this for us: He hath broken the iron yoak of Prelacy, removed superstitious Ceremonies, and Service-book, established a more pure way of Ordination of Ministers, and of worshipping of God, and there are hopefull beginnings of this Government in many of our Congregations; and we doubt not, but that God, who hath been the Author, will be the Finisher of this mighty Work.

Let the consideration of these particulars exceedingly affect you, and stir you up to persevere, & hold out in that great office you have undertaken, in nothing being terrified or discouraged, but trusting in the great God, who never faileth those that put their trust in him.

* * * * *

Our second Exhortation is unto _those of our respective Congregations, that submit unto the Government, and are admitted unto the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ, in the_ Presbyterian way; That we are to exhort you unto, is,

1. That as you are Saints outwardly, and such who live (as we hope) unblameably in the eyes of the world; so you would labour to be Saints inwardly, approving not only your wayes unto men, but your hearts and consciences unto the heart-searching God. And for this purpose, we perswade you, [116]_to wash not only your hands, but your hearts, from all iniquity, and not to suffer vain thoughts to lodge within you; To put away the evill of your doings from before Gods eyes; [117]To be Jews inwardly circumcised with the circumcision of the heart, in the_ Spirit, _not in the_ Letter, _whose praise is not of Man, but of God_; To labour more to be _good_, then to seem to be _good_; to be more ashamed to be _evill_, then to be known to be _evill_; to strive more to get your sins _cured_, then _covered_; and to be not _gilded_, but _golden Christians_. Alas! what will it avail you, to be esteemed by your Minister and Elders reall Saints, when the Lord who is your Judge, knows you to be but painted Sepulchres: What will it profit you to have our _Euge_ and approbation, when you have the _Apage_ and disallowance of God, and all his holy Angels? And therefore our prayer to God for you is, that he would make you not only nominall, but reall Christians; not only Saints by profession, but by conversation; not only morally and formally, but Spiritually and Theologically good, having your persons, principles, and aims holy, as well as your actions. _He and he only is a right Christian, whose person is united to Christ by a lively Faith; and whose nature is elevated by the_ Spirit of Regeneration, _and whose principles, practices, and aims, are divine and supernatural._

Secondly, as it is your great honour and priviledg to be admitted to the Sacrament, when others by reason of ignorance or scandal are refused; so it must be your great care, to come _worthily_; and so to demean your selves, that you may be made partakers of the graces & consolations of this heavenly banquet; And for this end, we think it our dutie to propound certain necessary directions to you, for the right ordering of your Sacramental approaches; and to perswade you by the mercies of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the diligent and conscientious practice of these following particulars.

1. Not to rest contented with the examination of your Minister and Elders, but chiefly and especially to examine your selves, and so to eat of that bread, and drink of that cup: To examine your selves, whether you be in Christ or no, whether You do truly repent; whether You do hunger and thirst after Christ in the Sacrament; whether You have an unfeigned love to God, and Your Neighbour, manifested by an impartial respect unto all the Commandements and Ordinances of Christ: For though we may and ought to admit you upon the profession of these graces; yet Christ will not bid You welcome, unless You have them in truth and sinceritie. And though we cannot discern who are hypocrites, and who are sincere amongst You; yet he that can distinguish between star and star, can and will distinguish between a true Saint, and a formal Hypocrite: and therefore labour to be such, indeed and in truth, as You seem to Us, to be in _word and profession._

Secondly, As not to come without preparation and examination; so also _not to trust to your preparation and examination_. Sacraments do not work as Physick, whether men sleep or wake, _ex opere operato_, by vertue inherent in them; but _ex opere operantis, according to the disposition and qualification of the party that partakes of them_. If the party be not qualified according to the tenour of the Covenant of grace, he eats and drinks damnation to himself, and not salvation; and when he hath done all he can by grace received, to prepare himself; yet he must not relie upon his preparation, for this were to make an Idol of it, and set up dutie in the room of Christ. Excellent is that saying of _Austine_[118], _He that stands upon his own strength, shall never stand_; and of _Bernard_[119], _That man labours in vain, that doth not labour resting upon Christ and his merits_; and therefore we exhort You, after all your care of preparation, to renounce it as to the point of confidence, and _to come to Christ in the strength and confidence of Christ alone_.

3. Not be satisfied in the bare bringing of the forementioned graces with you to the Sacrament, but to labour according to the advice of the Apostle[120], _to stir up the gift of God that is in you_. The Greek is, _to blow up_, and cause the grace of God within us to kindle. Fire, as long as it lyeth raked up in the Embers, will give no heat; a man may die with cold, for all such a fire. Grace, as long as it lyeth dead in the habite, will not avail a man at the Sacrament. And therefore, that you may be worthy receivers, you must take pains to blow up the grace of God that is in you. You must arise and trim your _spirituall lamps_, (as the _wise Virgins_ did,) that so you may be fit to meet with your _Bridegroom_. You must _brighten_ your _spirituall armour_, & gird up the loins of your mind; You must not only have, but put on your _wedding garment_, and come to this heavenly feast apparrelled in all your spiritual ornaments. For it is a certain truth, that not only a wicked man, that wants grace, but a childe of God that hath true grace, may receive the Sacrament unworthily; though he cannot come unworthily as the wicked do, out of a total want of grace, yet he may come unworthily out of grosse negligence, and sinful carelesness, in not exciting and stirring up, and improving the grace of God that is in him.[121] For not to _use grace_, and not to _have grace_, in this case, do little differ in Gods account. And therefore, if you would be worthy guests at this Supper, you must not only have a _true_ Faith, but a _fit_ Faith; not only a true repentance, but a _fit_ repentance; you must not only have grace, but act grace; you must set your _Faith_ on work, to feed upon that blessed Sacramentall promise, _Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you; This is my blood which is shed for you_. And you must labour to make strong and particular applications of Christ to your souls, and to believe, that as verily as you eat the Bread, and drink the Wine, so verily you are made partakers of Christs body and blood, to your everlasting happiness. And so likewise you must act repentance, love, thankfullness, and obedience, according to the direction of the Word of God.

4. _To do all that you do at the Sacrament, in remembrance of Christ._ For this is the main design of Christ, in appointing this Ordinance, that it might be a _Love-token_ from Christ alwaies by us, and an effectual means to keep his death in perpetual remembrance, that it might be a lively picture of Christ crucified; and he that will receive aright, must be eying this Picture while he is at the Sacrament; and the more he minds it, the more he will admire it: The Angels[122] [123]_stoop down_ to _look_ upon Christ incarnate, and it is the happiness of heaven to have Christ alwaies before them; and it is our happiness on earth, that we have such a blessed commemoration of Christ crucified: As Christ is all in all, in all Creatures, in all Relations, in all Conditions, and in all Ordinances; so more especially in this: For the Elements of Bread and Wine are not appointed for natural ends and purposes, but Christ is all in all in them: They are Representations, Commemorations, Obsignations, and Exhibitions of Jesus Christ. You must labour with the Eye of Faith to see Christs name written upon the Bread and Wine, and you must read Christ in every Sacramental action: when You behold the Bread and Wine consecrated; You must remember how Jesus Christ was set apart by his Father, from all Eternity, to be the Redeemer of his People: And when the Minister breaks the bread, You must remember the great sufferings that Jesus Christ endured for Your sins; and when You take the Bread, and drink the Wine, you must do this in remembrance of Christ; You must believe, that now Christ giveth himself to be Your nourishment, and your Comforter unto eternal life; and you must labour by a lively Faith, to take him as your Lord and Saviour, and to cry out with _Thomas_ in the highest degree (if it be possible) of rejoycing, _My God, and my Lord_: [124]And when you eat the Bread, and drink the Wine, you must remember, that Christ _is the living Bread that came down from Heaven, and that whosoever eats of this Bread, shall live for ever: and that whosoever eateth the flesh of Christ, and drinketh his blood, dwelleth in Christ, and Christ in him_. And you must endeavour to receive Soul-nourishment from Christ, as your bodies do by the bread you eat; and as the bread is turned into your substance, so to be made more and more one with Christ by faith: that having a reall, though spirituall union with him, You may have a happy interest and communion in all his purchases. This is the life of the _Holy Sacrament_, without which, all is but a dead and empty Ceremonie. But we adde further, That this remembrance of Christ must not be barely _notionall_, _doctrinall_, and _historicall_, but it must be also _practicall_, _experimentall_, and _applicative_; it must produce these and such like blessed effects and operations in your hearts.

1. You must so remember Christ, as to find power coming out of Christ Sacramental, to break your hearts for all the sins you have committed against him. Christ is presented in the Sacrament as a broken Christ; his body broken, and his bloud poured out: and the very breaking of the bread understandingly looked upon, is a forcible argument to break your hearts. Was Jesus Christ rent and torn in pieces for you, and shall it not break you hearts, that you should sin against him? Was he crucified for you, and will you crucifie him by your sins? And besides, the breaking of the bread is not only ordained to be a motive unto brokenness of heart for sin, but also in the right use to effect that which it doth move unto.

2. You must so remember Christ Sacramentall, as to find power coming out of Christ, to subdue all your sins and iniquities; as the diseased woman felt vertue coming out of Christ, to cure her bloody Issue; so there is power in an _applicative and fiduciall remembrance_ of Christ at the Sacrament, to heal all the sinfull issues of our souls. There is no sin so strong, but it is conquerable by a power derived from Christ crucified.

3. This is to remember Christ aright at the Sacrament, when you never cease remembring him, till your hearts be brought into a thankfull frame to God, for Christ and for his ineffable blessings and mercies exhibited in the Sacrament to a worthy receiver. And therefore it is called an _Eucharist_, or a feast of thanksgiving. It is as _Justin Martyr_ saith, [125]_food made up all of thanksgiving_. It is a custome in Colledges and houses founded by the bounty of great men, to have a _feastivall commemoration_ of the bounties of their Benefactors. The Sacrament is a _commemoration day_ of your great Benefactor Iesus Christ, wherein you are to remember all those things which he suffered for you; and the proper duty of the day is _thanksgiving_.

4. You must not leave off remembring Christ Sacramental, till your hearts be inflamed with an ardent love to Jesus Christ; for he is set forth in this Sacrament, in all the endearing expressions, as a crucified Christ, as pouring out his blood for us. Now it is an excellent expression of _Bernard_: [126]_The more vile Christ made himself for us, the more dear he ought to be unto us._ You must never leave meditating of his love, [127]_till he be as fast fixed in your hearts, as he was upon the Cross_.

5. You must so remember Christ, as to be willing to do and suffer any thing for that Christ, that hath done and suffered so much for you; till you can say with _David_, _What shall I render for all his blessings towards me?_ till you can say with _Thomas_, _Come, let us go dye with him_; and we add, _for him_: till with the Apostle, you can rejoyce to be _counted worthy to be whipt for his names sake_. And can with _Ignatius_ that blessed Martyr, [128]call your iron chains, not _bonds_, but _Ornaments_, and _Spirituall Pearls_; till you can say, as _Judg._ 8.22. _Rule thou over us_, &c. _for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian_. There is nothing hard to that Christian, that doth rightly remember Christ Sacramental.

6. You must continue in remembring Christ in the Sacrament, till your hearts be wrought up to a _through contempt of the world, and all worldly things_. Christ instituted the Sacrament when he was going out of the world; and when he was crucifying, the whole world was in darkness and obscurity: and he is propounded in the Sacrament, as a _persecuted, broken, crucified Christ, despising, & being despised of the world_. And if you do practically remember the Sacrament of his death, you will finde vertue coming out thereof, to make you dead to the world, and all worldly things. The Sacrament is called by the Ancients, [129]_a feast for Eagles, not for Dawes_; and therefore it was a phrase ordinarily used in the administration of this Sacrament, _Lift up your hearts to heaven where Christ is_.

7. Cease not remembring Christ, till you be made partakers of the rare grace of _humility_. Of all the graces that Christ picks out, in which he would have Christians to imitate him in, _humility_ is one of the chiefest, _Matth._ 11.29. _Learn of me, for I am humble_, &c. And Christ in the Sacrament is presented, as _humbling himself_ to the death of the Cross, for our sakes. And what a shame is it, to remember an humble Christ, with a proud heart? The practicall remembrance of the humility of _Christ Sacramental_, when sanctified, is mighty in operation, to tame the pride of our hearts.

8. You must not fail to remember Christ in the Sacrament, till by faith you have _applyed Christ, as your Christ_: Till you can say with _Paul_, _Gal._ 2.20. _Who loved me, and gave himself for me._ Propriety in Christ, is that which sweetens all. For what are you the better _for Christ_, if he be not your _Christ_? The Divels and damned in Hell may remember Christ, but not with comfort, because they cannot remember him, but as their enemy. But you must so remember Christ, as to make him yours, by an _appropriating Faith_.

[Sidenote: Quest.]

But how shall we be inabled thus to apply Christ?

[Sidenote: _Answ._]

This is done, by studying the free tender that is made of Christ in the Covenant of grace, which is expressed, _Isai._ 55.1. _Revel._ 22.17. Jesus Christ is that brazen Serpent lifted up upon the Cross, on purpose, that whosoever looks up to him, shall be healed; and whosoever receives him as his Lord and Saviour, _should not perish, but have everlasting life_. You must study the _freeness_, _fulness_, and _particularity_ of the offer of Christ; and pray unto that Christ, who bids you believe, to give you to believe. And truly there cannot be a greater discourtesie to Jesus Christ, then to doubt of his love towards you, while ye are receiving the pledges of his love. For herein hath [130]_God commended his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ dyed for us_. What can Christ do more to manifest his love, or to perswade us of his love he bears to us? Much more might be said to this purpose, but we leave these things to be amplified by the Ministry of your faithful Pastors. And we proceed to give you further directions, for the right managing of your Sacramental addresses.

5. In the fifth place, we exhort you to consider the Sacrament, under a four-fold Notion:

1. As it is a _spirituall medicine_ to cure the remainders of your corruption.

2. As it is _spirituall food_ to strengthen your weak graces.

3. As it is a _spiritual Cordial_ to comfort your distressed consciences.

4. As it is a _strong obligation_ and forcible engagement to all acts of thankfulness and obedience unto Jesus Christ.

Now if you would get the benefit and comfort of the Sacrament, you must when you come to it, carry these four considerations in your mind; and labour to draw out good from the Sacrament, according to each of them.

1. You must consider what sin it is, that is most unsubdued, and unmortified in you; you must use the Sacrament as a _medicine_ made of Christs body and blood, to heal that sin.

2. You must consider, what _grace_ is most weak in you; and you must come to the Sacrament, as to food appointed on purpose to strengthen weak grace.

3. You must consider what _doubt_ it is, that doth most obstruct your full assurance of salvation; and you must come to the Sacrament, as to a cheering Cordial, made for this very end, to revive your fainting spirit. It is also a _sealing Ordinance_ to seal up the love of God in Christ, and to be as a _golden clasp_ to fasten you to Christ, and Christ to you: And in which Christ doth often go from man to man, with his _privy seals_, and his _hidden manna_ of heavenly consolation.

4. You must consider how apt you are to start from God, and his just Commands, and therefore you must at the Sacrament _renew your Covenant_ with GOD, and binde your selves afresh unto GOD, in the strength of Christ, to be his more faithful servants afterwards, then ever you were before.

And hereby likewise you may know when you come from the Sacrament, whether you have received worthily, or no: For if you finde these Effects from the Sacrament, that it hath been _Medicinall, corroborative, comforting, and obliging_: If you find your sins more mortified, your graces more strengthened, your souls more comforted, and your hearts more engaged unto God in obedience; You may certainly conclude, that you are worthy Receivers. Nay we adde, for the comfort of _weak Christians_, if you find any one of these Effects. For sometimes Christ lets out himself in the Sacrament in a way of _Comfort_; sometimes he hides, as it were, his face, and sends us home more _inlarged_ in our _desires_ after him; sometimes he _kisses his children with the kisses of his lips_, and gives them to eat of his _hidden Manna_; sometimes he sends them home inlarged with _godly sorrow_, for want of his imbraces. His dispensations are various. But if you finde his presence in any one of these waies, You are worthy Communicants.