AN EARNEST INVITATION TO THE SACRAMENT OF THE Lord's Supper.  
By JOSEPH GLANVILL Rector of Bath.  
The Second Edition.  
LONDON, Printed for john Baker, at the Sign of the Three Pigeons in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1674.   

To the Right Reverend Dr. Peter Mews, LORD BISHOP Elect OF Bath and Wells.  
MY LORD,  
I Was just sending away the last sheets of the ensuing plain discourse to the Press, when the news came of your being made Bishop of this Diocese: I was exceedingly transported with the tidings of so great a blessing befallen this part of the Church, and could not restrain my joy from running out into this Application & Address, which I intent not so much to congratulate your new Dignity, as the happiness of Us, your Clergy, and this whole People, in the relation we now have to so excellent a person. Your Lordship's wisdom, justice, piety, and diligence have made themselves so eminent in the long continued, happy, and applauded Government of one of the most famous Universities of the world, that we confidently promise ourselves great felicities from the Paternal Presidency and Authority of such an experienced Governor; And I believe there is not a concerned man, who is sensible of the advantages of good order, but blesseth God and the King for so gracious and desirable an Election. This, My Lord, I might speak upon the public Fame of your known merits, but besides that I have had particular experience of your wisdom and candour, which gives me a greater passion to declare the veneration I have for you; and I wish I could do it in a way suitable to your great worth, and mine own resentments of it; but instead of a proper testimony, I must beg your Lordship to accept of a sincere one; and such I here make you in this small offering, the slender First-fruits of your Diocese.  
The Discourse I first designed only for the use of my own people, but I knew not how to get transcribed Copies enough for them; and I considered too many others needed some such exhortation, as well as those of my particular Charge, and therefore thought that this little Essay might not be wholly useless to the Public. I have writ it in a plain and unheeded style, because I judge such most fit for practical matters, especially in applications to the populace; and take it for an established, eternal Rule for such Addresses, whether by preaching or writing, that they should be performed in the way that is most easy and natural; and nothing aught to be studied in the language for such occasions, but how to express the matter most suitably and plainly. But I need not have made this Apology to your Lordship, who know, That good sense in an easy and proper phrase is for ever the truest and best eloquence: There is more cause I should crave your pardon for prefixing your Lordship's name before a discourse of so many other imperfections: This, my Lord, I do, and have this to plead for the obtaining it, that I was transported by the occasion and the desire I have to make known how happy I esteem this Diocese in so venerable a Prelate; and how much particularly I am rejoiced at this welcome Providence, being  
Right Reverend Father, Your Lordship's most affectionate Honourer and humble Servant, I. G.   

TO THE PEOPLE of my Charge.  

My Dear Neighbours.  
ALthough We of the public Ministry cannot expect to do much by our persuasions, and endeavours, in such an Age as this; Yet we ought to persevere in our work with Courage and Resolution, and not suffer ourselves to be overborne by any difficulties, or discouragements what soever: For Duty belongs to us, but events unto God, who will reward the Labourers whatever be the success of their Labours. And as every Minister of Religion ought to be active, and resolved in the work and patience of the Gospel; So he shall then best acquit himself in it when he studies the proper needs of the Age, and place wherein he lives, and accordingly directs his endeavours to provide for them. Now there is nothing, that I know, that is wanted more in our Days, than a due sense of the necessity, and advantages of the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the general neglect, not to say contempt of which, hath, I am persuaded, been a great and sad occasion of the debauchery, and divisions that are amongst us; And I verily think, that there could not be a more effectual means to reduce us to Sobriety and Union, than a frequent, and reverend use of that divine justitution. From this persuasion I have earnestly, and often (as you can bear me witness) pressed this great duty upon your consciences, and affectionately recommended it to your practice. I have represented its Nature with all possible plainness, and urged its Necessity with a vigour in some measure suitable to so great an occasion; I have told you the danger of wilful neglect on the one hand; and the benefits of due performance, on the other; But notwithstanding all, there are too many of you, that seem yet insensible, and unconcerned. I have publicly desired those that are either ignorant or dissatisfied, to accept of my private help, and Instruction, and have offered them the utmost of my assistance for their better information, and direction. And after all this, I know not what I can do more to serve you in this great interest of yours, except I put something into your hands that may be ever with you, and that you may consider on all occasions. Public Teachings by word of mouth, are too much looked upon as customary exercises, and on that account, they lose their force with some; and the greatest part even of the better Auditors cannot keep their minds so close, and intent, to a Discourse spoken, as to receive it in its full evidence, and power; or though the hearers are never so diligent, and careful, our words are forgotten quickly, and the affections that they raise, vanish without any considerable effect upon their wills. For which Reasons, I have resolved upon this Course, to cast some of the plain things I have preached concerning the Holy Sacrament into writing; That those who are unfit for that great duty by reason of Ignorance, may have the properest means of Instruction that I can provide for them, always in their power, and when they please, before their eyes: And that those that deprive themselves of the Benefits of this most excellent Ordinance, by reason of the Mistakes of their erring understandings: may also have the most suitable help I can give, towards the setting their minds right, and the reconciling them to their Privilege, and Duty.  
For these purposes, I shall (as my manner is) represent what I have to say in the most distinct, and easy way I can contrive, avoiding all things that are hard, either in notion or expression; And strive, as near as is possible, to speak all along to the most ordinary understandings. For I look upon plainness as the best dress for Truth; and my great care, and endeavour constantly is, to be understood by all, as far as the subject will bear.  
In the pursuit of what I intent I mean, by God's help, to proceed in this order. (1) I shall discourse with all convenient brevity, and plainness, the Nature and design of the Lords Supper; and  
(2) Give the General Reasons to enforce the Duty; under which head, I shall apply myself to two sorts of Refusers, viz. Those that neglect (1) on the account of pure carelessness, and stupidity, and (2) Those that stand off upon the score of mistakes of Conscience. In treatting with the former, I shall show that their obstinate refusal takes off all pretence they can have to Christianity, and puts them into the state of Infidels, and Heathens, yea into a worse condition, than that of mere unbelievers. As to the other sort, viz. The dissatisfied in Conscience, I shall consider their Reasons against Communicating with us according to the way of our Church, and show that they are no justifiable grounds, why they should refuse to join with us in that solemn part of Christian worship.   

CHAP. II.  
I Begin with the First, The Nature of the Lords Supper. Concerning this, there hath been an infinite diversity of opinions, and disputes; The effects of which differences have been much Noise, and many Tumults, Schisms and Wars, with a vast heap of mischiefs, and calamities to the Christian world: I shall not therefore trouble you with any thing of needless controversy, or notion, on this argument; but state it so far only, as it relates to practice; And I shall take all I have to say about it from the Word of God, the best Rule to guide us in the Enquiry. And if disputing men would have been content with its declarations in this matter, all the trouble, and mischiefs had been avoided. But this hath been the misery; some govern their thoughts of this Holy Institution by corrupt, and novel Traditions, and others by mere vain and arbitrary fancies; Yea, Those who have been right in the main, have yet so mingled the plain truth with allusions, and spoken of it in such a fantastical, and uncertain way, that ordinary understandings have been confounded, and those that are for downright sense, without the mixtures of imagination, have not been able to tell what to make of that, which they heard described in such a phanciful, and various fashion. This particularly hath been my own case; I had heard men preach so humoursomely, and so diversely about the Sacrament; So much out of their own heads, and so little out of the Oracles of God, That I was quite bewildered, and lost, and come at last to that pass, that I knew nothing at all of it; which ignorance, and confusion of thoughts was the natural effect of such discourses; For when men once ramble in the way of phrases, metaphors, and conceits, as they lose themselves, so they perfectly dazzle, and amaze those others, whom they should instruct. I therefore betook myself to the plain expressions of Scripture concerning this matter; In them I found an easy account in the nature, and design of this divine Ordinance. And whither shall we go to inquire after it but to the words of Institution themselves? These I shall consider first; and then gather together those other passages of Scripture, which tend to the further explication of it.  
1. The words of Institution are Mat. 26. [Take, Eat, This is my Body. v. 26. and Drink ye all of it. For this is my blood of the new Testament, v. 27. 28.] To which is added in the Gospel of St. Luke [Do this in Remembrance of me.] Luke 22. 19 These words I shall severally explain, and then infer from them what is the nature, and design of the holy appointment.  
Take, Eat, This is my Body— and, This is my Blood— Here I take notice, That Body, and Blood, do not relate to the bread, and wine; But to the actions, Eat and Drink, as appears plainly in the 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  Original. ' This not this bread, and this wine, are my body and blood, but this Sacramental eating and drinking of it; In this Christ's body and blood, viz His Incarnation, and sufferings are represented to us. And yet by a Figure, The consecrated Elements may be called his body and blood also; so the Form at the eating the paschal Supper was, This is the bread of affliction which our Fathers did eat in Egypt; Not the very same, but a Memorial of it, and the State of bondage from which they were delivered. Thus 1 Cor 10. 3, 4. Manna is called spiritual bread, and the Rock, spiritual drink, and that Rock, Christ: Not that they could possibly be so in the Letter, but they signified that spiritual food, and were tokens of Christ's presence. And thus the Sacramental Bread, and Wine may be called his Body and Blood, that is, Figures and Representations of them: and that, not barely of his sufferings, but (as the 
* Basil.  Father notes) of all the Mysteries of the Incarnation, which are signified, and included. Thus anciently the Elements were called, Figures, Symbols, Images, sensible things instead of spiritual, and we know 'tis in common use to call the Picture by the name of that it represents, as this is a man, and that an Angel. So that there is no ground for the Doctrine of Transubstantiation, in these words, as the Roman Church pretends. But I wave disputes, and come to the next expression to be considered.  
[This is the New Testament, or 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  Covenant in my Blood] viz. The Sign, and Seal of the Covenant made in his Blood; a Covenant wherein God engageth to bestow on us pardon of Sin, and eternal Life; and we promise faithful and sincere obedience. Thus in the eldest times, Eating, and Drinking were Covenant Rites: as we may see in the compacts between Isaac and Abimilech, Gen. 26. 30. and between jacob and Laban, Gen. 31. 44, 46. So that the Sacrament is not a bare Sign, but 'tis the Seal of God's gracious Covenant made with us in his Son.  
[Do this in Remembrance of me] It hath always been usual to commemorate, and remember Benefactors and great Mercies by Feasts, and Festivals. The Heathens had their 
* AS 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉—  Feasts in memory of their Heroes; And the Passover, a Type of this Supper, was appointed to preserve the memory of the Israelites deliverance out of Egypt. Exod. 12. 14. The Lamb was eaten with bitter herbs, to commemorate the bitterness of their servitude; the Red Wine was a Remembrance of their blood which Pharaoh spilt, and the unleavened bread, to remember them, that they carried such out of Egypt at their departure: and thus our blessed Saviour hath appointed this holy Rite to imprint upon us the memory of what he hath done, and suffered for us, that we might not forget our Deliverance by him, from a bondage greater than Egyptian.  
And now from these main passages thus explained, 'tis easy to infer, That The Sacrament of the Lords Supper is a Memorial Feast appointed for a solemn Remembrance of Christ our Lord; and a Seal of the Covenant that God hath made with us in him. Two things then it is principally designed for, (1) To Remember us of our Lord, and Saviour, and (2) to be a Seal of the Covenant of Grace; of each briefly.  
(1) 'Tis for a Remembrance, not only of his Person, or only of his Sufferings, or any other particular part of his Ministry; But we are by it required thankfully, and affectionately to call to mind, All that he hath done, and all that he hath suffered; His Life, Doctrine, and Laws; His Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension; His Victory over Sin, Death, and Hell; and the gracious Covenant that God hath made with us through him: These are all included in his Body, and Blood (as I intimated before) of which the Holy Sacrament is a Sign, and Memorial: And the remembrance of these, which we are called to by the Divine Institution, is not only some slight, and passing thoughts, but a solemn and most serious fixing of them upon our minds, in order to the inflaming our affections with love, and our wills with resolution, that we may live answerably to that excellent Religion of the Holy Jesus which we profess.  
(2) 'Tis the Seal of a Covenant [The new Testament in my blood] The Covenant is, That God will give pardon of Sin, and eternal Life, upon the conditions of Faith and Repentance. This He seals to us in the Sacrament, and assures us, that he, for his part, will make good his Promises, and we on ours, seal, that we will endeavour to perform the conditions. So that the Lords Supper is a Sacrament by which we confirm those engagements we are entered into at Baptism. Then our Sureties undertook for us, that we should be faithful in the Convenant, and in this holy Ordinance we take all those obligations upon ourselves, and in our own persons promise to act according to them.  
This plainly, and in short, is the nature and design of the Holy Sacrament; concerning which, there are some other expressions in Scripture which I shall consider briefly, in order to the further explication of the sacred Mystery. The chief are these. 'Tis called (1) The Cup of blessing. 1 Cor. 10. 16. 2) The communion of the Body, and Blood of Christ, 1 Cor. 10. 16 and in the duty 'tis said (3) That we show the Lords Death. 1 Cor. 11. 26.  
(1) The Cup of Blessing, viz. of Praise and Thanksgiving. Our Saviour Matth. 26 gave thanks when he took the Cup. The Jews used to conclude their paschal Supper with a Cup of Wine, at which time they sung an Hymn and therefore called it the cup of 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  praising and 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  blessing. And the Heathens also after their feasts had their 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  cups of Praise to their Gods; which some take to be the Cup of devils mentioned by the Apostle, I Coa. 10. 21. So that by this we are taught to remember our Lord at his Table with praise and grateful acknowledgements: And therefore the Ancients from hence called the Lords Supper, the Holy Eucharist, namely, a Feast of Thanksgiving, and the Solemnity was always attended with an hymn of Praise.  
(2) Communion, (or 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  Communication) of the body and blood of Christ, viz. The Sacrament is a sacred Rite in which God communicates, and imparts to all worthy Receivers, the Benefits of Christ's Incarnation, and Sufferings. He doth then ratify, confirm, and solemnly exhibit them, to those that duly attend upon that Divine appointment.  
(3) [As often as ye eat— ye do show the Lords death] viz. (1) Declare unto men, with joy and glorying, that we believe he died for such purposes and that he hath procured inestimable benefits for us by his Death. That therefore we will adhere, and stick unto him; and that neither death, nor life shall separate us from the love of God in Christ jesus our Lord. And (2) Imports our showing and declaring this also unto God, and pleading it with him for his pardon, and his grace, for the sake of that meritorious Passion which we set forth, and commemorate. These passages fall under the Account I have before given of the Ordinance, and show how we are to Remember our Lord in it, and what we may expect in so doing.  
Thus briefly of the Nature and design of the Sacrament, I might have run the matter into a large Discourse, but I resolve all convenient brevity. In what I have said, you will find all things that are necessary and essential to the Ordinance; For the niceties and disputes that are about it, you need not trouble yourselves with them; But so much of it as I have represented (I mean in the substance of the particulars) 'tis fit you should know: And therefore I entreat you, especially those of the more ordinary understandings, to return back, and fix your thoughts a while upon those periods, and read them over and again, till you have a clear, and distinct apprehension of the Subject they explain. I know the thoughts of most are very confused, and much in the dark about it, and while they are so, they cannot demean themselves as they ought in the performance of the Duty, nor receive those benefits that otherwise they might from it. I beseech you therefore not to content yourselves with a single, and running reading; Many Divine Truths will not enter into our minds at first sight; or, if they do, they are gone, as soon as they are received: Though they are never so plainly expressed, yet they many times seem dark, till we look again; Or though they strike our minds fully, yet they pass out of Memory, except we reflect, and think them over; I hope therefore you will do yourselves this right; And I thus urge you to consideration of my accounts, not as if I fancied I had made any discoveries in them, which were not made before (No, These are known things among the Intelligent sort of Christians) But I do it, because I speak to the meaner, and less improved understandings. And perhaps from the Representation of the affair which I have given, the others also may receive the advantage of a clearer order, and method to their thoughts, and be delivered from many unnecessary and uncertain notions that they have imagined to be of great consequence to be believed and known, when either they are not true, or not considerable.   

CHAP. III.  
I Come now to the main thing I design, viz. (TWO) To urge this great duty which I have thus explained, and to do what I can to persuade you, to the conscientious practice of it. Now there are two things that commonly oblige men to action, namely Considerations of Duty and of Interest. And there are both here, in the highest degree, to engage us. I shall discourse of each.  
(1) We have the Motive, and Reason of Duty, and Duty in such circumstances, as have the greatest obligation in them. A Lord, who hath all right to our obedience both by nature, and by dear purchase, hath commanded us to do this. And, A Saviour, who hath rescued us from the Jaws of Hell, and Earth, and hath procured for us endless life and glory, hath required it of us. Here is the Authority of just Power, and the Obligation of astonishing Love. We are bound by the submissions we owe a Sovereign Lord, and by the gratitude we owe an adorable Benefactor. The Son of God, the King of both the worlds, The Redeemer of Men, 'tis He that commands; and his commandments are not grievous; had he put upon our necks a yoke heavier than the jewish ceremonies, had he enjoined a greater number of costly and laborious Rites than those, and required so many of such services from us, as would have taken up all our time, and employed all our strength, and wearied all our powers; Yet these we ought to have observed without repining, and thought all but small homage to his Greatness, and small acknowledgement of his Love. All these had been nothing in compare with what he hath done for us freely without merit, or obligation; Nothing, to his leaving the bosom of the Father, and the glories of the upper world, and the Hallelujahs of the blessed; Nothing, to his descending to a world of Infamy, and woe; Nothing to his suffering the scorns and contradictions of Sinners, the Death of the Cross, and the wrath of God: So that we had been wretchedly ungrateful should we have stuck at any of these, or as much as murmured at them: But our Lord hath not given us any such trial of our Love, and obedience; He hath delivered the world from the Yoke of Ceremonial bondage, And (besides Baptism) hath appointed but this one Rite for us to observe; A Rite, that is neither troublesome, nor costly, tedious, nor laborious. And what Prodigies of baseness shall we make ourselves, if we refuse to take notice of this his gracious Institution? With what face can we look up and call ourselves by his name? How shamefully are we upbraided by the practice of those we count barbarous? Let us look abroad into the world and consider the most brutish Idolaters; They will cut their beloved flesh, and burn their dearest children, and sometimes, suffer themselves to be crushed to death by the Carriages that bear their Idols, because their Infernal Gods require, and are pleased with such testimonies of their homage. Hath the Devil such obsequious servants? Are those Cruel Rites, which he appoints, observed with so much duty; Will those poor wretches do, and suffer any thing rather than displease their ugly Deities? And are we Christians; Professing Servants of the Son of God, our Sovereign and Redeemer. and do we neglect this his main, just, and gracious appointment Is this too much to do for him? and do we owe him so much less than Cannibals do their Idols? Certainly those men of the Desert, those wild Savages of the Woods shall rise up in judgement with such a Generation of pretending Christians, and shall condemn it. Methinks their diligence and exactness in those hard and painful services, should cover us with blushing and confusion at our carelessness and neglect of the easy duty our Lord requires from us: And we shall see great reason to be ashamed of our omissions, if we consider, that our blessed Redeemer had lived a Life of poverty and dishonour for our sakes; He had instructed us in the way of Happiness by his excellent Doctrine and Precepts; and had gone before us in an incomparable example; and now he was just about to complete his Love, by offering himself unto death to deliver us from it, and thereby to give an instance of the most amazing goodness that ever was; At this time, he injoines his Disciples to do something in Remembrance of Him. And Lord! What is sufficient to be done in memory of such Love? Had he required the dearest of our blood, and the choicest of our substance to be offered to him in acknowledgement, should we have thought such demands unreasonable? Would ordinary ingenuity have scrupled to make those Sacrifices for such kindness? But he calls not for these. He looks for no Firstborn of our bodies, nor chief of our Flocks; No, He appoints only a feast of Memorials, and commands us to remember his Love in that: And shall we not observe him in so small a matter? Hath he not deserved to be remembered by us? or do we know any better way, to signify our remembrance of him, then that which himself hath prescribed? Should we not do as much as this, at the request of an ordinary dying Friend? And is not the greatest, and the best that ever creatures had, worthy of such a testimony of affection from us? I am sure there is no one can be so brutish as to deny the justness of the Duty, and methinks none should be so unworthy as to refuse compliance with it. I beseech you therefore, if the Considerations of Duty can do any thing with you; If there be any obligation in the highest Authority, if there be any allurement in the sweetest love, If your profession of subjection to Christ be not only a Compliment, and if he have any real interest in your Souls; give this proof then, of your being in earnest, that, which you would be thought, Refuse no more of his Invitations; Neglect no more of his calls; Consider the expresness of his command, and that this Law is peculiarly his; His in such a sense as (Baptism excepted) no other Law is. For his other injunctions are but enforcements of the Laws that God had written in the old Scriptures, and in our hearts, But this is his own proper commandment; by obeying him in this, we particularly own him as our Lawgiver, and by refusing we renounce him.  
But if the considerations of Duty should not prove so powerful with you; there are others which generally use to be of more force, namely those taken from our interest. And here  
(TWO) I desire you to consider the great benefits that a worthy Communicant receives from the holy Sacrament. This is not a mere barren Ceremony, or unprofitable Rite, but an instrument and means to produce and to convey unspeakable blessings to us. Here we receive  
(1) Confirmation of our Faith: All habits are increased by being exercised, and this Ordinance requires great exercises of the grace of Faith: For here we make a solemn declaration of it, and thereby bind it stronger upon our souls. And to the exercise of this Divine Grace, and the sincere and public profession of it, there is no doubt but God will superadd his special aid and blessing, that out of weakness it may be made strong. So that if your Faith be weak and trembling, if you are perplexed with vexatious doubts, and temptations to unbelief, apply yourselves to this holy Ordinance as to the proper remedy. Declare your Faith, and pray for more. If you believe, God will help your unbelief, Mark 9 24.  
(2) Our Repentance will be heightened by our Due Communicating at the Lords Table, and that in respect of all its great Acts, viz. 1. Sense and Sorrow for Sin; 2. Confession of its and 3. Aversation from it. For the First,  
(1.) The evil of Sin is never so well discerned as in its effects. It is sweet in the mouth, but bitter in the belly; And there is no greater evidence of its vileness and malignity, then that we have in the sufferings of our Lord, which are set before us in the Holy Sacrament. And certainly sin must needs be an accursed thing (saith the considering Communicant) That the blessed Jesus must thus be made a Curse for it; That is doubtless a mighty evil, that cannot be expiated but by the blood of God; And Sin, without question, hath unspeakable malignity in it, since it laid such a load of wrath upon the shoulders of Omnipotence, as made him complain, and sweat, and groan, and die. The good man hath never such a sense of the evil of sin, as when he is awakened by the signs and images of Christ's Sufferings, and when he sees it writ in Characters of Blood. Besides, the baseness and ingratitude of Sin is made evident in all the representations of the Divine Love, which we have at the Lords Table; We see there, that it is an abuse of the greatest, and most tender Goodness; and there is nothing that more affects ingenuous Souls, than the sense of such unworthiness, and this will beget the liveliest, and most kindly sorrow. They shall look on me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn. Zech. 12. 10. The tenderest grief ariseth from the apprehension of abused Goodness; And the more ingenuous Spirits are sooner brought to be troubled for their sins, by a sense of Mercy, than of Terrors. Now there is nothing that gives a truer, or greater representation of Divine Grace and Kindness than the Holy Sacrament, and therefore this is a very effectual means to beget and increase a penitential sense, and sorrow for sin. And upon this  
(2) Follows Confession, which is one expression of these. The apprehension of an Angry Majesty drives a sinner to desperation, and prevents his Confession. When the Lord asked the man in the Gospel with some severity, How camest thou hither, not having a wedding garment, he was speechless. Terrors beget stupifying fear, which stops the mouth, and damns up all the passages to and from the soul; whereas the discoveries of goodness and mercy open the heart, and melt the seal upon the lips; They invite Supplications, and beget Confessions; and therefore the Sacrament, which is a memorial of the greatest, sweetest, and freest mercy, tends in the nature of it to the producing humble confessions and acknowledgements; and it doth it likewise.  
(3) As to the Aversation of Repentance by the same way. The top and perfection of Repentance, is, to turn from our evil ways. God invites his People to this, by the Argument that is most powerfully pressed upon us in the Sacrament, namely, That of his pardoning mercy and kindness. Return thou backsliding Israel— and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you, jer. 3. 12. His readiness to pardon is the great motive to return, and the Sacrament is the Seal of the Covenant of Pardon. Despair of Mercy keeps men on in a sinful course. Thou sayest there is no hope, say they in the Prophet jerem. 2. 25. They thought their case desperate, and it follows, I have loved strangers, and after them will I go. The Devils persist irreclaimably in their hatred of God and Goodness, because the unalterable Sentence is passed upon them; And if men come once to quit their hopes of Happiness, they will also in a short time quit the thoughts of God and Virtue, and give themselves up to the swinge of their Appetites and Inclinations. Whereas on the other side, Hope is the great Encouragement and Spring of Endeavour, and where this is enlivened by a full and quick sense of pardoning Goodness, that Soul will feel a mighty Motive to reform and turn from sin. Now the Sacrament is the Seal of that Covenant which assures us of Grace, and pardon, and the firmest ground of our best hopes, and most glorious expectations. Thus the Grace of Repentance receives increase in all its exercises, from this Divine Institution; and so doth  
(3) That other most excellent Grace, Love, both as it relates 1. to God, and 2. to our Neighbour. (1) In the Holy Sacrament the Mysteries of Divine Love are unfolded in all their circumstances of wonder. There we see pardoning, redeeming, bleeding, dying, Love. Love, suffering for all our sakes; and Love, procuring all things for our interests. Love descending to the Grave, and Hell; and Love triumphing over both; Love leading Captivity captive, and obtaining gifts for men, Light, Life, and a glorious Immortality. Such Love, and Love beyond what we can say and beyond what we can think, is represented at the Holy Sacrament; and this must needs fire every soul, that is not as cold as the earth, and as dead as the Grave. Love begets Love, and one flame kindles another. And if we think of this Love, and consider it as we ought when we come to the entertainment of Love, this would excite our affections, and turn our Souls into holy flames, and so our dead Powers will live, and our dull sleepy affections will awake into new spirit, and vigour. We shall live by Love, and act by Love, till we are received into the nearest embraces of Love, and swallowed up in that immense ocean of Love. Now Love is the best, and most pleasing of all our passions? and Love to God is the best, and most pleasant of all Loves; A Love free from those tortures, and disquiets, that shame, and those griefs, that are produced by absence and uncertainties, loss and guilt, when this passion is placed upon other objects. This Love is the Fountain of Delight, and the spring of Action; that sweetents our troubles, and stirs up our endeavours, that makes duty agreeable, and difficulties easy, that is a present Heaven, and the foretaste of a greater. This also (2) Tends to the increasing our Love one to another. It is a Feast of Love to our Father's House, and our Lord's Table; The Guests are Brethren, and professing Children of Love. Here are all the engagements to love set before us; The Love of our Lord, and his express Commandment job. 13. 34. The Relations we stand in to God, and to one another. We cannot well choose but pity our Brother's Infirmities, and pardon each others faults, when we see how much God hath pitied our miseries, and how graciously he hath pardoned our offences. Our animosities will be abated, and our thoughts of malice and revenge will die. Our Indifferences will be kindness, and our kindness Love; when we consider the inexpressible Love of our common Lord, and the blessed effects of that Love; Reconciliation made, Happiness procured, and Sin, and Death, and Hell conquered: A sense of these, will swallow up all our little picques, and displeasures, and so fill us with the thoughts of Gratitude, and Love; That we shall forget our enmities, and embrace our enemies, and shed abroad our kindness upon all about us, yea and extend it to all the world in prayers, and good wishes. And now, This Spirit of Charity is a most divine temper, and a great happiness: 'Tis a sweet, serene, and pleasant thing, a reward to itself, if there were no other: Whereas envy, and malice, and all the degrees of them, are an hell and torment to the Soul, they are great sins and their own punishment; And a right use of the holy Sacrament will abate, and remove these, and therein also administer blessed and unspeakable advantages to us.  
(4) Our Hopes are nobly advanced, and strengthened by this Ordinance. When the good man considers the justice and Holiness of God, and the perfection of his Law; and then takes a view of his own sinfulness, and innumerable imperfections; His Spirits fail, and his hope is giving up the Ghost; he sinks into trouble, and almost into the regions of despair: Now all the relief that a man can have in such a state, is to be drawn from God's Covenant to pardon sin, and to accept of faith and repentance instead of perfection. This is the Tenor of the Gospel, and the foundation of our hopes; and this Covenant is sealed and assured to us at the Sacrament; so that thence the fainting Soul may derive life, and quickening. And when the drooping Christian comes from seeing God putting his Seal to his pardon, and to the promises made him of eternal Life; His hopes recover, and his spirits return unto him; His Soul leaps for joy, and all his powers are full of content, and pleasure: And over and above this, God is pleased at such times especially, to vouchsafe more abundant manifestations of himself to the Soul, sealing his love upon it, and giving it so much assurance as may deliver it from its unreasonable doubts and suspicions, and make it in part partaker of our Master's joy. But this will be a particular by itself. Therefore  
(5) The holy Sacrament is an excellent means to heighten a Christians joy and Comfort. For there we are in a special exercise of our Graces, and by them are prepared for Divine peace and pleasure, That peace of God which passeth all understanding, Phil. 4. 7. and this is something more than that content that naturally ariseth upon, and results from the Actions of holiness and virtue; and is superadded by the nearer applications of the Spirit of God to the Soul; This pleasure and satisfaction God is always willing to bestow upon us, but we by our sins indispose ourselves for it, and it is not to be given but to prepared Souls; And now according to the greater, or less degrees of our preparations, and exercise of our graces, we shall have more, or less of this spiritual joy, and satisfaction in our Communions. But besides the joy which is special, and extraordinary, The Ordinance in its own nature tends to delight and pleasure. We had raised storms, and tempests by our sins, and provoked him whom we can neither resist, nor avoid; His Countenance was full of dread and terrors, and Death and Hell stood ready for the command to seize upon us: And must it not needs fill those with joy and transport, that were just now in this dreadful state, when they shall see the Heavens cleared, and the storms gone; to behold smiles and love in the face of the offended Majesty; to be assured that he is reconciled, and his Arms are open to receive us; That Hell and Death are destroyed, and Life and Happiness procured for us? All these are set before us in the holy Sacrament, and did we use it as we ought, our souls would be transported with joy, and we should have a delightful foretaste of the happiness and triumphs of the Blessed; and all our Lives would be Anthems of Praise and acclamation to the adorable Author and procurer of our Blessings, And this  
(6) Is another happy advantage we derive, or may do, from the holy Sacrament, viz. That it heightens and spirits our Gratitude and Praises. Praise and acknowledgement of Divine favours, are all the return we can make for them; and we are to offer up these Sacrifices for ourselves, and all the other creatures: But the commonness of our mercies takes away the sense of them; and we pass them over with slight and customary acknowledgements; This ordinarily is our course, and 'tis a very disingenuous and ungrateful carriage to the bountiful Author of our beings, and blessings: But now at the Holy Sacrament, Divine favours are particularly and solemnly represented, our remembrance awakened, and our affections excited; and the devout Soul pours itself forth into holy Eucharist, and thanksgiving. The heart is full, and the mouth flows: All the powers rejoice, and rejoicing breaks forth into Songs of Praise: And so begin that blessed employment, which shall be the work and happiness of Heaven.  
Thus we shall receive increase to our Graces, and our Comforts, from the frequent, and due use of the Holy Sacrament, and all other spiritual advantages are contained under these. And as by these particulars we may encourage ourselves to our duty, so in them likewise we may see how we are to demean ourselves in the discharge of it: what acts we are to exercise, and by what considerations we may stir up our graces, inflame our affections, and strengthen our resolutions.  
And now the Benefits that I have represented to encourage and invite you to the holy Sacrament do not only concern the thorough, and grown Christian, but even all that own the profession of Christ's Religion, and have not renounced their baptismal engagements by lewdness, and impiety; For such have some degrees of Faith, Love, Repentance, and other virtues; But the unhappiness is, that these, in the most, are very low, imperfect and in a degree that will not secure their condition: These graces must be advanced to nobler measures, and to such degrees, as may prevail over the contrary habits, and dispositions; Till the matter comes to this, we are under the Law and a spirit of bondage; in a condition of impotency and weakness, and not arrived to the glorious Liberty and Power of the Sons of God: This, all that profess the Christian Faith and Hopes, aught to aim at, and endeavour after; and the Sacrament is the most proper and likely means for the advancing of our imperfect Graces to that noble height. So that all professing Christians are concerned in the duty, and capable of the benefits. And to all those that have such thoughts, and such desires, the Considerations I have presented will be of moment. But for the rest that are careless and unconcerned, dead to such spiritual Motives, and stupidly careless of the duty, and the privileges that attend it; They are not Christians, but do as much as in them lies, to renounce their Religion, and to put themselves into the condition of Heathens and professed Infidels. This is that I come next to discourse.  
After all my persuasions, and most earnest endeavours, I have too much cause to think that some among you neglect the holy Ordinance not for any reason that they have, or can as much as pretend; but from mere brutish stupidity and unconcernment. They care not for these things. The motives of Religion, and another world can do nothing with them; such considerations are not felt, but past over their Souls without making any impressions on them. And now, as for such, I come to show, That they disclaim Christ, and his Religion, and are by no means to be reckoned into the number of Christians. This I prove by the following particulars.  
First, They renounce a main Article of the Creed, viz. The Communion of Saints, their Communion with (1) Christ, and their Communion with (2) one another. (1) Christ invites us to his Table, and prepares a spiritual entertainment for us; and in that there is a solemn and special intercourse between him, and his Church; which on our part consists in the exercise of our Graces; and on his, in the benefits, and blessings he bestows. He invites us to come and to meet him there to enjoy spiritual correspondence, and communion with him: And now, wilfully to refuse the invitation, is to signify our contempt of the holy Jesus, and so declare that we care not for any nearness of correspondence with him. And such neglectors in effect say, that they love the converse and communion of their vain, and vicious company; That they can spend their time pleasantly in their conversation, upon an Ale bench, or place of idleness, or debauches: But for Christ jesus they like not his company, and care not for any intimacy of acquaintance with him. This is the direct language of such practices, and neglects, and what kind of Christians are such as these? (2) They renounce the Communion of Saints one among another. The holy Sacrament is the Feast of Charity, and Christian Love, and there our affections are united to God, and to our brethren. There we profess to be of one Body, one Society, and to be all members one of another. So that those who neglect and refuse this holy Symbol of Love; break off from the Society of Christians, and declare they will have nothing to do with them, as far as they are concerned in that name, and relation: That they will not be of the flock, and number that Christ calls his; but would rather have their lot with the world, and herd of mankind, who are strangers to the Covenant of Promise, without hope, and without God in the world. Eph. 2. 12. That they value not their privileges, nor care for their hopes. This is the meaning of their neglect, and such Christians are the wilful refusers.  
(2) They renounce their Baptism. This is the Sacrament of entrance into Christianity, and here engagements are laid upon us without our knowledge or consent. At the Sacrament of the Lords Supper we solemnly engage, and take those obligations upon ourselves. If we refuse to do this, we withdraw our consent from what was done in our stead; we make our Baptism void, and put ourselves into the state of Infidels and Heathens. The Indians were by the Spaniards driven to Baptism in droves, like cattle to the water, without knowing what it meant, or what they did in it: were these Christians by virtue of such a Baptism? Especially, is there any reason to think those of them such, who as soon as they were free, made open declarations against it. And are those among us Christians, who were signed with that Religion when they could not help it? and profess against it by their actions and neglects, as soon as they are in capacity to do it? who disown it, when they are solemnly called to put their seal, and to declare their allowance and approbation? Their sureties engaged for them that they should believe the Christian Faith; keep God's Commandments, and renounce the World, the Flesh and the Devil: But say these by their practice, what had they to do to undertake such things for us; we will stand to no such engagements: we are called on to make this good ourselves in person at the other Sacrament, or by our neglects to declare it void: but we will not tie ourselves, or own any such engagements on us; we will leave ourselves at large to believe what we please, and to practise what we fancy, and to gratify and worship, as long as we think fit, the World, the Devil, and the Flesh, our friends, and dearest correspondents. All this likewise is plainly signified in the neglect of the holy Sacrament; and therefore certainly such are no better Christians than the wild men of America: which will further appear if we consider.  
(3.) That by it they deny the very profession of Christ jesus; They will not as much as claim, nor pretend to him, in any solemn, significant way. To say that we are Christians, and now and then to hear a Sermon, these are not profession enough: They are but cold declarations of our opinion; no good significations of our Faith. The right profession of Christianity is made, by our presenting ourselves at the Lord's Table, and owning our Faith there; that is a solemn and public confession and acknowledgement. To hear Sermons is too often but curiosity or custom; to say we are of the Christian Religion, is but a declaring in what way we have been brought up; and mere education-Faith is but a faint, unsignifying thing; It is but opinion and a low degree of assent. 'Tis true, a man may be a Formalist and an Hypocrite when he comes to the Lords Table, as well as in other lower significations of his Religion. But however, he makes a profession, and that which is proper and solemn: whereas the wilfully negligent refuse to make any due confession of Christ and his Religion. They openly deny him before men, and such he will deny before his Father which is in heaven, Mat. 10. 33. To withdraw from the profession of Christianity in times of difficulty and persecution is a great sin; but 'tis such a one as admits of some extenuation from the frailty of humane nature, and the temptations of fear and self love; But to deny the profession of Christ in times of Liberty and encouragement, this is an affront to the Holy jesus, for which there is no shadow of excuse, and must arise from contempt, and a confessed neglect of him. Such persons publish to the world, that they own nothing of Religion; but count it a disparagement to be thought any way concerned for it. And so are by no means to be accounted Christians. Further,  
(4.) Their refusal and neglect is a quitting and renouncing the whole Covenant that God hath made with sinners in his Son. The Covenant on God's part offers Grace and Glory; and on ours, it binds to Faith and sincere obedience. We are called to the Sacrament to see God confirming what he hath promised, and assuring us to make good what concerns him: On the otherside, we are to present ourselves there, to profess our readiness and resolution, to perform our part, to keep the terms to which we are engaged, and upon which we expect the promised blessings. Now if we wilfully refuse this Confirmation, we withdraw ourselves from the Covenant, and declare that Grace and Glory are things that we neither care for nor expect; and that we will not tie ourselves to any faith or homage; but would be as free as we can, to follow the Devil and our Lusts: and so are far off from being. Christians.   

CHAP. IU.  
I Have thus briefly shown you what is signified and employed in the neglect of the Holy Sacrament. Many of you that are guilty of this sin, would I supposed be loath openly, and in words, to renounce Christ and his Religion, and yet while you continue in this obstinate, dangerous neglect, you do it, as fully as if your tongues declared against that name and profession. And I think when any such as these turn Papists, Turks, or jews, they do but change to some show of Religion, from none at all. So that it is no real disparagement, or loss to our Church, when those Infidels declare in words, what before they sufficiently signified by their practice. They go out from us, because they were never of us, 1 john 2. 19 They do not change their Religion, for they had never any before which they might exchange.  
This, Sirs, in serious truth, is the condition of those that wilfully refuse, and neglect the Duty of Holy Communion: And me thinks it should make such tremble to consider, that they live in a professed and impudent contempt of God. You pity Heathens, and ignorant Americans; but there is work enough for your pity at home, and their condition certainly is not worse, than the condition of those careless negligent sinners among ourselves. Yea, the Apostle tells us, That 'tis better never to have known the way of truth, than after we have known it to turn away from the Holy Commandment, 2 Pet. 2. 21. and our Saviour saith, It shall be more tolerable for the dark Tyre and Sidon, at judgement, than for the enlightened Capernaum and Bethsaida, Matt. 11. 22. We think their condition dreadful that say, there is no God, and no doubt it is so: And certainly their state is not less deplorable, That acknowledge there is a God, but defy him, and carry the matter so, as if in good earnest there were no such being. To live at large without the ferious profession of some Religion, is brutish, and unnatural; And those Savages that do so, deserve not to continue in the societies of men, but are fitter to range among the wild beasts of the woods. And such are those among us, that never make any solemn profession of any Religion, by any act of their own. They have no Religion, but that of their Climate, which they neither understand, nor mind; they are Christians by the Christianity of others (viz. the general profession of their Country) or they are none at all; and if they live and die in this condition, wild men and Cannibals will at the last be in a better state than they.  
And now, Sirs, Reason for this carelessness and dangerous neglect, I am sure you have none; Nor do the sort I am now dealing with, pretend Scruples of Conscience; But yet some Excuses there are, which you know are but vain, that you use upon occasion to take off the edge of reproof, and to seem to justify yourselves by them in the sight of men.  
Thus they that were invited to the Supper in the Parable, Like 14. 18. made excuses, One had bought ground, and he must see it; a second, had bought Oxen, and he must try them; and a third, had married a Wife, and could not come. None of these pretences had any good reason in them; they were some thing to say, and had a little colour, but they were not the causes of their not coming to the Supper, No, the true ground was their contempt of the Master, and his Invitation: and therefore Matt. 22. 3. 'tis said, They would not come; Their excuses were looked on, as flat denials, and the reason is given after: It was not their Ground, nor their Oxen, nor their Marriage; but their disesteem of the Lord, and his Feast, They made light of it, v. 5. But though these excuses were not good, yet they had something specious in them: 'Twas business, and considerable occasions that were alleged: and such affairs they really had, for 'tis said in St. Matthew, that they went their way, one to his Farm, and another to his Merchandise; so that there was something true in their pleas, though the main thing for which they were brought was false. But now, if they had sent word, that the Lord's house was so far off, that they were not able to go to it, though really it were within some few furlongs of their remotest dwellings, and not further than the Markets, which they constantly frequented: There had been more folly in this excuse. If they had said, that there was not room for them all in the Lord's House, when they knew, that it was never full on such occasions, and that a great part of those that were invited, would not come, so that they were sure to find too many empty places; the excuse would have been interpreted as a mockery, and a scoff at the invitation. If they had told the Messengers, that they would not come, except they had each of them a Chair and Cushion provided for him, and might sit in state and ease at the Entertainment, this had been greater arrogance than appears in those Refusers. If they had sent the Lord word, that they would not feast with him, at such, or such of his Houses, that were appointed, and were most convenient for their reception; but they would have it here, or there; at home, and next door; in places much less fit: This would have been a very humoursome and very rude answer to the Invitation. If further they had said, that the Feast began too soon, and that they could not rise so early, though the Sun was up many hours before, and they were abroad every day earlier about their other business; This also had been an affront to the Master, and a contempt to his kindness. But if these surly, unworthy people should have been humoured in all particulars, and things should have been so managed, as to have avoided all these pretences: And yet if after such condescension they should have refused, they had confuted themselves, and given the lie to their excuses: But, if notwithstanding all this, they should have cried out that they were perishing for want of bread; and clamoured, and complained heavily that provision was not made for them; what could have been said to such an impudent, brazened sort of Hypocrites?  
Sirs, there are some among you that understand what I mean: I speak not thus out of ill will to upbraid any of you, but I ought to mind you, and to endeavour to convince you of your sins. What ever colours the guilty may set upon their neglects, and contempts of Holy Ordinances, before men, God will not be deceived, or mocked; there is no putting tricks upon him. If you will not be persuaded to your duty, he knows the reason, and 'tis in vain to make false flourishes, and excuses. Yea, some men's pretences are so openly untrue, and gross, that they cannot as much as hope to deceive men by them. Every one sees the falsehood, and lying of their allegations; all their actions proclaim that they do not themselves belive, or mean any thing that they say; and yet they have the prodigious impudence to lie on in the face of God, and conscience, and men. So seared, and hardened are some in their perverseness and hypocrisy, and act at that rate, as if it were a play-game, and sport of wit to show how many ways they had to evade their duty, with some show of reason. Sirs, when this vile sort of evil men have the forehead to pretend Religion, they become the most mischievous miscreants upon earth; and the fittest Instruments that Satan can desire or use for the affairs of his Kingdom. But no more of them now.  
Friends, I am exceeding troubled to see how undutiful to God, and how unkind to themselves, how foolish and unreasonable many men are, when they seek for little occasions to pretend, as reasons against the greatest and most important Duties; when that which would excuse nothing else, shall excuse them unto God for a neglect of his worship, in the greatest Instances of it: An aching finger, a few Drops of rain, the cold Air, a Fit of Drowsiness, an impertinent visit, or such like trifles, are enough to be pleaded for absence from the House of God, and Holy Communion with him. My wife was not at home, or she was busy, my Child's head ached, or I had friends to dine with me, therefore I could not be at the Sacrament. Therefore I could not! For shame false man! offer such excuses to thy Master, or thy Prince, when he commands, and expects thine attendance, see how he will take them from thee: yea offer such but to thine equal, that waits for thee on affairs of moment, and try how kindly he will receive the disappointment on such grounds. Dost thou use to say, I could not go out to market to buy necessaries, because 'twas cold weather; I could not go to Dinner to my kind Neighbour next door, that invited me, because I had a corn upon my great Toe? Are such pretences too trifling to be used on such ordinary occasions, and are they enough for the greatest? will they serve to excuse thy neglect of feeding thy soul with the bread of life, and thy making provision for eternity? Will they answer for thy not waiting on thy Lord, the Lord of Life and Glory, when he invited thee to the Feast of Love, at the House of Banquets? What thoughts hast thou of the privileges of the Gospel, the Communion of Saints, the peace of Conscience, the joys of the Holy Ghost, the foretastes of Glory; what, I say, dost thou think of these, if they have not so much power with thee as the most acknowledged trifles? With how much less respect and devotion dost thou serve God, than wicked men do the Devil and their Lusts? When they invite to jolly meetings and communion in debauchery and beastial madness, do the Blades use to make such excuses? Are they diverted and kept off from their brutish satisfactions by such Nothings? certainly they could not so excuse themselves to their lusts and vile Companions. And do you pretend to be worshippers of the God of Heaven, and worshippers of the best and purest sort, to be Christians, and expectants of eternal glories as rewards of your services; and do you thus serve your Maker; now and then when the humour takes you, when the Devil hath no business for you, and you have nothing else to do? Are you not ashamed to confess that Religion hath so little power with you, and that every thing can do more with you, than your duty to God, and the interest of your souls? Do you thus work out your salvation? Do you thus seek a Kingdom, a heavenly Kingdom, and everlasting Kingdom? Is this the work and patience of the Gospel? Is this running, and striving, and fight, and giving diligence? Is this cutting off right hands, and plucking out right eyes? Is this forsaking all and following Christ? If there be any reason, if there be any shame, if there be any Conscience, if there be any sense of God and Religion in you, let not small matters keep you from this your greatest duty and concern; Make no more such vain and self-condemning Apologies. I know not whether it were not better for you once for all, to say you are no Christians; than to insist on such shameless pretensions for your neglects of Christ and his appointments. I add no more on this head now; I pray God you may lay to heart what I have said.   

CHAP. V.  
I Pass now to discourse with the other sort of Refusers, viz.  
(2) Those that stand off upon the score of mistakes of Conscience. In applying myself to them, I shall consider the most weighty objections that carry any colour of conscience with them. And though I know many pretend scruples of this sort, when in earnest they are not the reasons of their neglects; yet because they are so to some, I shall take them to account. They are of two sorts,  
(1) Such as hinder men only sometimes, and in part.  
(2) Such as wholly obstruct their Communion, and are pretended as grounds, why they cannot partake with us at any time.  
Of the first kind are these that follow; viz.  
(1) We hear sometimes, [I would not have neglected the holy Sacrament, but I was not in charity; such, or such a person hath abused me, and I was at odds with him; so that I durst not come.]  
To this I say, That in such an occasion, thou art seriously, and impartially to consider, whether thy displeasure were just, or unjust; upon the determining of this will depend the state of the case If  
(1) Thy displeasure were just, and thy Neighbour hath done thee wrong, and persists in it without repentance, or reparation; 'tis no uncharitableness to be out with him, or think amiss of him. In such a case, thy anger is no sin; so long as it keeps itself within just bounds. Be angry, and sin not, saith the Apostle, Eph. 4. 26. they may be parted And what is no sin cannot unfit us for the holy Communion. For that Ordinance doth not oblige us to be reconciled in our thoughts to wicked, and injurious men, while they impenitently continue such: It will indeed require us not to revenge ourselves on them, to do them wrong, or to desire their ruin, or as much as hurt; but not to have kind and good thoughts of them while they continue obstinate in their sins, and injustice: otherwise it were in the power of every wicked person to hinder the good man from the Sacrament, when he pleased. On such an occasion (I say) we may be innocently angry, and not only pity the injurious man, which many times is but a proud, though more plausible word to disguise anger by. And the man that is but thus justly pleased with an offender against God, and himself, is not indisposed for the Sacrament thereby. If this be your case at any time, you ought not to permit the injury of another to do you so much more, as to keep you from your attendance on Christ at his Feast of Love.  
But (2) If upon examination you have found, that your anger, and displeasure was unjust; then the sin, and the wrong was on your part, and you ought to repent of it, and resolve against it, as a preparation for the holy Sacrament. And if you do so, the Sacrament will be a proper means to your end? There you will find considerations, and helps for the cooling of the heats of your passion; and for the allaying the boilings of your rage, and animosity: I say, if you are convinced in your conscience, that your wratb is undeserved, you ought to repent, and if you do so, you ought to use the Holy Sacrament for the confirmation of your repentance.  
So that the scruple of not being in charity cannot justly keep any from the Sacrament, but those that know they hate their brother without a cause, and are resolved to persist in that hatred; such as will not be reconciled to one that hath done them wrong, though he reputes, and endeavours reparation: And such, in effect, renounce Christ, and declare that they expect no benefit from his merit, or mediation for the obtaining pardon for themselves. If this be your condition, you may well be afraid to come to the Holy Sacrament; and you may as well tremble to pray, Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass againstr us. For this is directly praying against yourselves. I hope it is not thus with any of you that make this exception.  
But your neighbour you think is an evil man, hath done you injury, and not asked your pardon, or sought your amends; you are therefore displeased with him, and feel much anger in your mind against him; but yet are very ready to forgive him upon his acknowledgements and desire of forgiveness. If it be after this manner with you, you ought not to abstain from the Sacrament for this reason; but rather to address yourselves to it, to provide and pray that your just anger may not grow into malice and rage; that you may not be provoked to repay your enemy one injury for another, but that by the due use of those holy mysteries you may be more inclined to forgiveness, when he shall be fit for it. This I think is sufficient for that doubt.  
(TWO) Some plead; [I have so much business fallen upon me, that I have not time to prepare myself, and therefore I cannot come]  
In Answer to this, I shall say something that concerns ¹ Business, and something 2 that concerns Preparation.  
(1) As to Business. Doth your Business afford you time to eat, and drink, and sleep, and none to fit your souls for spiritual entertainments, and converse with God?  
(2) Have you any greater, have you any better business, than to prepare yourselves to remember the Love of your dear Lord, to meet with him, to renew your Covenant with God, and to receive pledges of his pardon, and his love? Do you not reckon, that this is business; and the most important and necessary business; and shall the greater matters give place to the less?  
(3) Is not much of the business that hinders, needless? have you not voluntarily involved yourself in more affairs than it was necessary you should, or than your state or station in the world required? might not some of it have been put off to some other time; or might not the time that you spend in impertinencies be employed in some of that business?  
Ask your Consciences these questions; and know, that what ever business you take upon you more than is consistent with your duty to God, and to your souls, that business is your sin. But if your business were not voluntary, but thrown on you by Providence; the doing such necessary business is God's work; and while you do it in his fear, and with an eye to his glory, you are doing somewhat that is a preparation for the Holy Sacrament, or at least that which doth not by any means indispose you for it. And hence I pass to the Answers that concern  
II. Preparation. As to this take these two things.  
(1) There are Preparations required to Prayer and Hearing, as well as to the Sacrament; Meditation is the Preparation for Prayer, and Prayer the Preparation for Hearing; and I hope that notwithstanding your business you perform these duties: If not, you are to repent speedily of your neglect, and to take the first opportunity of the Sacrament, there to confess your sin, to declare your repentance and resolutions of amendment; to beg pardon for what you have omitted, and grace to assist you in what you resolve. But if you have performed those holy services, than I say,  
(2) That those performances joined with faith and repentance are preparations for the Holy Communion. For when we hear, and when we pray, we do the same thing that we do at the Sacrament, though not with that solemnity; we remember Christ when we hear, and we do the same, and renew our Covenant with God when we pray, (in which two I have told you the nature of the Ordinance consists;) so that these acts are dispositions and preparations for that which is the more solemn performance. A good life in the discharge of our duties towards God and man, is an habitual and constant preparation for the Sacrament; and a true Christian is always ready and prepared to remember Christ, and to confirm the Covenant whereby he is a Christian. It is indeed very fit, that we should take some time before we approach the Lords Table, to call together into our thoughts the several great instances of the love of our dear Saviour, which we are to remember there; what particular sins we have to confess, and to resolve and covenant against; what graces we want, and are more especially to implore. These things we should do, but they are not works that will require much labour or time, if we have been constant in the other preparatory duties of Meditation, Prayer, and Hearing; for they do habituate such thoughts and resolutions to the souls of good men. But if thy case be such, that thou hast been an evil man, and negligent of all spiritual duty; but art now sensible of thy sin, and desirous to reform; that sense and those desires of amendment (if they are sincere, and if thou understandest the nature of the Sacrament, and God's Covenant that is sealed by it) are thy preparations. The more time thou takest, and the more prayers and thoughts thou imployest with other means, to make the sense of sin deep, and the desires of reformation intense and great; the more thou art prepared, and the better things are like to succeed with thee: But if thy preparations are of a lower, and more imperfect degree, (if of the true kind) thou oughtest not therefore to abstain; God will pardon thy infirmities, and accept of thy sincerity, and strengthen thee so, that thou shalt be better prepared against another opportunity, if thou art not wanting to thyself. But as to this, I may have occasion to speak more under the next Head, to which I now come:  
Viz. (TWO) To consider the Scruples of Conscience, that keep some off wholly from public Communions. They are either of such as refrain, because (1) they think themselves unworthy, or (2) of those that do it because they think others unworthy, or (3) of such as refuse on the opinion, that the way of administration is unworthy. Most of the considerable and usual doubts will fall under one or other of these. I begin with those of the first sort.  
(1) We would come to the Holy Communion, but alas we are not worthy of so great an honour and privilege; and we are afraid to come, because we hear that he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks his own damnation.]  
To this, proposed thus in the general, I answer (1) we are also unworthy of common mercies, of meat and drink and raiment; and of the more usual spiritual mercies, that God should speak unto us, or that we should be permitted to speak unto him; shall we therefore starve ourselves, and go naked? shall we therefore refuse to hear, and pray? In the Sacrament there is something of duty, and something of privilege; when we are commanded to do a duty reasonable and just, shall we refuse because we are unworthy? when we are invited unto a benefit great and free, and necessary, shall we resist it because we are not worthy? To do thus is to render ourselves more undeserving. When God offers favours, we may and aught to accept, though we are unworthy of them.  
(2) All men are unworthy in the sense of the Law. Every man in his best estate is altogether vanity, Psalm 39 5. We are all an unclean thing, and our righteonsuess is as filthy rags, Isa. 64. 6. The meaning is, all men are sinners, and their best services are imperfect and polluted. There is none righteous, no not one, according to the strictness and severity of the Law, which require unsinning obedience. This unworthiness than is not a reason why thou shouldst refrain; yea  
(3) If thou art sensible of this thine unworthiness, and desirous to be made more worthy, thou oughtest for that reason to come. 'Tis such that Christ invites: Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, Matth. 11. 28. He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance, Matth. 9 13. Ho every man that thirsteth, come— Isa. 55. 1. The Spirit and the Bride say come, and let him that is athirst come,— Rev. 22. 17. Sense of spiritual wants, and desire of spiritual supplies, is part of Gospel-worthiness; and that which gives a right to the Sacrament. Thy being an unworthy sinner, is not a reason why thou shouldst refrain, except thou art obstinately resolved to continue so. The Beggar is never the more unworthy of an alms, because he is in rags, and great misery; nor the sick man the more unworthy of the care and pains of a Physician, because his disease is great and violent upon him. If indeed the Beggar loves and chooseth want, and scorns charity; if the Patient hates and resists the Physician and his applications; in such a case the one is unworthy of relief, and the other of the means of health. If this be thy case in spirituals, thou art unworthy; and till thou art of another temper, I would not persuade thy coming. But if on the other hand, thou art sensible of thy sins, and desirous of pardon and grace to reform, thou hast the qualification that renders thee one that may and aught to come: and thou art worthy, as a Beggar is of an alms, or the Sick of physic; that is, thou wantest it, and Christ invites thee to come, to receive supplies suitable to thy wants. So that if it be thus with thee, the sentence of the Apostle pronounced on him that eats and drinks unworthily will not concern thee.  
But the doubter presseth the matter more particularly; Knowledge, Faith, and Repentance are necessary to this worthiness: But I have no knowledge; I cannot believe, I cannot repent; and therefore am not worthy.]  
I shall speak to these distinctly, and apart.  
As to what concerns (1) Knowledge, I propose these things.  
(1) Perhaps thou art mistaken in the degrees of Knowledge that are necessary. It is not necessary that thou shouldst have knowledge in deep and controversal points, no, nor yet in many doctrinal opinions about Religion, that are less speculative, and nice: It is not necessary that thou shouldest be acquainted with the disputed matters about the Sacrament, or be able to discourse largely upon the subject. No, Necessary knowledge is in few things, and those practical. If therefore thou art instructed in the main plain points of Christian Doctrine, and in the great rules of Christian Life; if thou understandest the Sacrament to be a Remembrance of Christ, and a confirming our Covenant with God; and knowest those easy things I have before set down about it: There is no reason then why thou shouldst plead ignorance in bar to thy duty and privilege. But  
(2) If thou art really ignorant in those plain things, thy ignorance is inexcusable; 'tis a great sin, and an argument of prodigious carelessness and neglect. For no one can want capacity to know things so easy, and no one can want opportunity to know things so common, and no one can plead excuse for not endeavouring to know things so necessary. If this than be thy case, repent of thy stupidity and carelessness that occasioned thy ignorance, and apply thyself presently to thy spiritual Guide, or some honest knowing Neighbour to instruct thee in those great and necessary matters. Be afraid and ashamed to live a day longer in such dangerous darkness amidst so much clear light: And till thou hast got out of this state of wilful blindness, meddle not with holy mysteries. But this, I hope, is the condition but of very few of you: Those that make the objection are mostly such as do it upon the former mistake, which I have endeavoured to rectify.  
(TWO) Want of Faith is pleaded. And to this scruple I say,  
(I) Perhaps thou art out, and hast been mis-taught in the Doctrine of Faith. It may be thou takest Faith to be an assurance of salvation; or supposest that it requires thy assent to many Principles, and such as are unreasonable, or doubtful; or perhaps thy mind hath been confounded by phrases, and various, metaphorical; and dark representations of Faith; so that thou dost not as much as know what it is, or wherein it consists. These all have been, and often are the cases of many well-disposed Christians. The good man is not absolutely assured of his salvation; or he doubts sometimes of many doctrines and opinions that he hath been taught to believe as Fundamentals, or his understanding is confused by variety of odd notions; and therefore he thinks he hath not Faith, and dares not approach the Holy Table. If any of these be thy condition, rectify thy thoughts; and thou wilt be rid of thy vain fears: Consider the matter freely; look on it in the light of Scripture and Reason, and thou wilt find, that those conceits about Faith were groundless. Lay this down for certain, that the plainest and most obvious account of it is truest; For God would not make that the great condition of the Gospel, which is difficult to understand.  
Now the plain, scriptural, rational Notion is this, Faith in the general is the belief of a Proposition affirmed; Divine Faith, the belief of something upon a Divine Testimony; Gospel-saving Faith is such a belief of Divine Testimony, as hath influence upon the heart and practice, and conforms them unto it. If now we believe other Testimonies, but not that which God hath given us by, and of his Son, our Faith is merely humane, and we have nothing to do with the holy Sacrament. If we believe the Revelations of God in the Gospel, but that belief hath not yet had such power upon our affections and conversations as it ought, and as we desire: In this case we may, and 'tis our duty, to come to the Lords Table, to profess that degree of Faith which we have, and to pray for more; that it may be made so strong and lively, as to transform our hearts, and all our powers into the likeness of it, and into his likeness who is the Author and finisher of our Faith. And finally, if our faith hath already had this effect upon us, we are to come to the Sacrament for further confirmation of it. This is the short and plain account of the matter; and if I should run it out into further discourse, this part would be disproportioned to the rest. If my brevity leave any of you unsatisfied in this, or any other thing belonging to my subject, I am at hand, willing and ready to give you further satisfaction. But  
(2) It may be the weakness and imperfection of thy Faith makes thee think thou hast none. In this case ask thyself the question. Do I think that Christ jesus was an Impostor, and that the Gospel is a Fable? Thou startlest and abhorrest these thoughts: Hence thou mayst be assured that thou hast some degree of Faith. But that (it may be) is very small and low: Be that the case; Ask thyself then again, whether thou hast any desire that thy weak Faith should be strengthened, and thy imperfect Faith should be improved to greater and nobler measures? If thou art a person fit to be dealt with under this Head of Conscience, it is thus with thee; thou art sorry for this imperfection, and desirous of growth and improvement: And if so, apply thyself to the Holy Sacrament, as to the proper means of growth, and remedy of thy imperfections. Here thy Faith will be exercised, and by exercise it will be felt; so that thy doubts, whether thou hast any or no, will be cleared off, experience will assure thee. And how thy Faith will by the use of this Ordinance be quickened and advanced, I have shown already. Thus to the Objection from the supposed want of Faith. But  
(III) The good man thinks that he wants Repentance too: He cannot repent he saith, and therefore is not worthy. In answer, I take notice that  
In Repentance two things are considerable, viz. 1. Sorrow for sin, and 2. Turning from it to a life of Holiness and Virtue.  
(ay) It may be thy sorrow is not so intense and great as thou thinkst is fit and suitable to such an occasion: Thou canst not weep and grieve so much for thy sin as the evils of it requires, and yet thou mayst not wholly want the grace of Repentance. All indeed are sinners, and all must repent: But men are sinners in different measures, and degrees of guilt; and their sorrow and humiliations will likewise be different. Deeper Convictions and greater agonies and pangs of sorrow may be expected from them whose sins have been capital and notorious, than from those others whose lives have been more civil, and less tainted with ranting enormities. It may be then, thy Education hath been sober, and thy inclinations not bend towards the grosser vices; thou hast not committed any horrid crimes, or such sins as look ghastly in the conscience; and consequently thy Conversion hath not those terrors, and that dread in it, those melting sorrows, and violent expressions of grief that thou observest in some others. Though it be thus, thou hast no reason to be discouraged, if thy sorrow be so much as to engage thee to humble thyself before God, sincerely to beg grace and forgiveness, and to obtain from thee hatred of thy sins, and resolutions against them; that sorrow of thine is godly sorrow, and part of true repentance, though it have not the greatest degrees of vehemence: These may be wanting on another account also in them that are truly penitent; their tempers may be more cold, and their passions calmer, than others are; and on this score their resentments less notable, and the expressions of them less eager: So that violences in sorrow are not always arguments of true repentance, nor the absence of them a sign of impenitency and hardness. If thou art so sensible of sin as to desire and endeavour to overcome and forsake it, thou art a penitent in part, and thou oughtest to come to the Sacrament for the strengthening of that sense, and to gain more assistance, and more resolution to subdue thy sin. And if there be any real defect in thy sorrow, repair thither, that it may be awakened, and excited to degrees more becoming and effective.  
But (2) The Objection presseth as to the other part of Repentance. I cannot leave my sin, and therefore dare not approach the holy Mystery. But dost thou desire it? dost thou endeavour it? If so, though thy desires are imperfect, and thy endeavours weak, yet it is thy duty to present thyself at the holy Table. There thou mayst expect to have thy desires increased, and thy endeavours heightened and encouraged. And how both the former act of repentance, which is sorrow, and this of aversation, are promoted by the Sacrament, I have particularly shown in the former periods, to which I refer you for fuller answer to this and such like objections.  
Thus of the scruples that arise from the first Head, the apprehension of our own unworthiness. I descend to another.  
(TWO) Some abstain from the Sacrament because of the Unworthiness of Others; wicked men are admitted, and they will not have communion with such. Yea, they are commanded to have no fellowship with them, Ephes. 5. 11. and to come out from among them, 2 Cor. 6. 17.  
For the answering this, I propose these things to be considered.  
(1) Hast thou taken the Method of our Saviour, Matth. 18. 15. with the sinner, from whose communion thou thinkest thou must withdraw? Hast thou privately told him of his faults? Hast thou admonished him before witnesses? Hast thou told the Church? If so thou hast done, and he persist still in his wickedness, he will no doubt be legally excluded from Christian Communion; and so the foundation of thy doubt will be taken off.  
(2) How art thou sure, when thou seest those thou callest wicked come to the Sacrament, that they do not repent of their wickedness, and come to the holy Ordinance to beg pardon for their sins, and strength against them? How dost thou know that they are not come to bind themselves by deep resolutions, and sacred vows, to a spiritual warfare, and a new obedience? Their coming makes profession of such designs and resolutions, and how dost thou know that that profession is insincere? Hast thou a way of prying into the heart?  
But the man returns to his sins as soon as he hath done, and hence thou wilt say, thou knowest his hypocrisy. This indeed were something, if it could be certainly foreseen; but how he will demean himself after the Sacrament, thou canst not foretell; This may have more effect upon him than former Sacraments have had: This, I say, may be, and charity thinketh no evil, but believeth all things, hopeth all things, 1 Cor. 13. or, if it now again prove otherwise, it is no certain evidence that the man only made pretence, and show; he might then mean and design truly and well; but temptations and his lusts were too strong for him, and carried him away against all his endeavours and resolutions.  
(3) Thou performest other sacred duties, in which thou remember'st Christ, and hast communion with God, in the company of evil men. Thou joinest in hearing, and public prayers with such; and why mayst thou not be present at the Sacrament with them?  
If it be pretended as a reason of difference, That hearing the Word, and Prayer, are converting Ordinances, but the Sacrament is not so: I ask thee then, whether thou meanest by [converting] a turning men from open Infidelity to the Profession of the Christian Faith, and the owning of Christian Virtues? or only the turning those that professed this Faith and Religion before, to the practice of them. If thou intendest the former, the Sacrament indeed is no converting Ordinance; nor are the Word and Prayer ordinarily used for such purposes among us, where the Gospel is already generally professed: And thou dost not bear the company of the wicked of which we speak in the places of public worship, upon any such expectation.  
But if by converting ordinance, thou meanest (as is most likely) such a one as God useth as a means to cause men professing the name of Christ to depart from iniquity, to turn from sin to holiness, and from the power of Satan unto God; I see no reason why any should think, or say that the Sacrament is no converting Ordinance.  
If it be not, either 'tis because the Sacrament is no proper means, or because God will not concur by his Grace with it. Neither of these can be said with any show of reason: Not the former; for why should not the solemn remembrance of Christ, and the consideration of what he hath done and suffered be a means for the kill of sin, which he came to destroy, and the promoting holiness, which he lived and died to advance? yea, what can be supposed more likely and powerful for the promoting of that blessed purpose? why should not the sign and seal of God's gracious Covenant to give pardon and eternal Glory to all that forsake their sins, and live an holy life, be a fit instrument to provoke those that understand it, to renounce their sins, and to devote themselves unto holiness? why should not that solemn, sacred engagement, that all that know what they do lay on themselves at the Sacrament, to endeavour to depart from every known evil, and to practise every known duty, be a means to oblige them to it? Certainly there is nothing that in the nature of the thing seems to be a more likely instrument to convert men from a life of sin to a life of holiness; than the sacred remembrance of our Lord at his Table. So that if this Ordinance be not converting, it must be, because God will not concur by his grace in it: But whoever saith that, speaks what he cannot know, and cannot prove; he talks without book, and against it; and is so extravagant in his assertion, that it would be folly to attempt the confuting of him.  
This I have said on this occasion, not to engage in a Controversy, but to clear a matter of Christian practice. And the very root of this Objection lies in this conceit, That the Sacrament is not a converting Ordinance; For which, there is nothing but Fancy, and the bare sayings of some mistaken men. But now if, as I have proved, The Sacrament may be, and is an Instrument of Conversion; Then, why should any refrain, because evil men are admitted to it?  
(4) If wicked men come to the Sacrament that are not prepared for it, their unpreparedness is their sin, and they shall answer for it; But we ought not therefore to neglect our duty, because they have omitted theirs. We may, and we ought to advise, and admonish them to prepare themselves for the Ordinance before they come to it: If they will not follow our brotherly admonition, we cannot help it; we have done what we can to render them more worthy, and their sin shall not be laid to our charge. To prepare ourselves for the holy Communion, and to address ourselves unto it, is that which we are sure concerns us; If we neglect, 'tis our sin, and other men's sins will not excuse us. Their sinning in one kind, should be no reason why we should sin in another: There is no reason that we should starve ourselves, because others take the bread that belongs not to them.  
(5) If we are worthy Communicants, and others receive unworthily, They have no Communion with us, nor we with them: They only eat bread, and drink wine; but we partake of the mystical body and blood of our Lord. Our Communion is with the Father, and with his Son jesus Christ, and with the Faithful, worthy Receivers; but the unworthy partake neither with us nor them. If an Ape leap upon the Table, and eat of the bread where Friends are met at an entertainment, Is he therefore a Guest? is he one of the Company? If writings are to be mutually sealed there among the Friends, and that Creature catcheth up the Seal, and doth as the Covenanters do, is he therefore a party? He doth the same action, but not with the same designs and ends; and these make the communion. The case is thus in reference to those ungodly men that intrude to the Sacrament; and the pious Communicants have no reason to think themselves concerned in their company. Their bodies are together, but their spirits act and move different ways. The Communion is spiritual; and only those that receive as they ought have fellowship with Christ, and with one another. And this were enough to answer that part of the objection also, that is taken from Scripture, where we are forbid to have fellowship with wicked men. But I add  
(6) When Christians are prohibited wicked Fellowship, Ephes. 5. 11. It is evident that the prohibition concerns heathen mysteries, which are there called the unfruitful works of darkness, because they were used in close recesses; and v. 12. the Apostle saith, It is a shame to speak of those things that are done of them in secret. Christians were not to communicate with the Heathens in their abominable Mysteries: No, nor may they partake with wicked men in any action of vice, nor make them their bosom friends, nor be concerned with them in other matters more th●n needs; especially if they are openly profane, and obstinately ungodly. But it doth not therefore follow, that they must forsake their Lord's Table, and the most solemn expressions of duty to him, because evil men intrudingly present themselves unto it.  
And whereas Christians are commanded to come out from among them, and to be separate, 2 Cor. 6. 17. 'Tis plain, that the persons they are required to separate from were Heathens and Idolaters: For they are called unbelievers, v 14. Infidels, v. 15. And that they were Idolaters, is intimated v. 16. What agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols? whence it follows, wherefore come out from among them. So that this place doth not concern the present business; Christians were to separate from the Worship of Heathen Idolaters, but it doth by no means follow hence that they must forsake the true Christian Worship, because evil men (who yet profess Christ) afford their presence at it.  
And this may suffice for Answer to the Objections taken from the unworthiness of others that are admitted in mixed Communions.  
Lastly, The unworthiness of our Way of administration is pretended by some, as a reason why they cannot communicate with us. As to this Objection I shall not say much, because the Toleration His Majesty hath granted, hath given the Dissenters the liberty of their own supposed better and fitter methods. Therefore I shall only speak briefly to two exceptions of this sort.  
(1) The Sacrament is administered among us in the way of Forms of Prayer, which they think to be contrary to spiritual Worship. And (2) kneeling at it is required, which they suppose to be contrary to the first example, and so an irregular posture of receiving.  
To the first, I say these things, (1) Worship and Prayer may be spiritual, where Forms are used: For the spirituality doth not consist in the invention of words, but in the due intention and engagement of the soul. If we pray in faith, with humility, self-resignation, and holy desire of the good things we pray for, we pray in the spirit, though by a Form. And if, on the other hand, we express ourselves in conceived Prayers never so fluently and earnestly, and have not those dispositions of soul upon us when we pray, our prayers are formal, though without a form. Which of these is fittest in itself, I shall not dispute, but only say, that neither is unlawful, but both have their use: and add, that one sort may be properest at one time, and the other sort at another season, so that 'tis silly superstition to be devoted to the opinion of one of them, as absolutely to condemn the other as unlawful. In public Worship, Forms have the advantage in securing the gravity and solemnity of it, and in this too, that the Worshippers know what it is they join in: But in secret devotions conceived prayers may sometimes suit better with particular occasions, and may engage the affections more. So that either of these may be used, as shall best accord with the ends of pr●yer. And when the public Authority of the Church requires the one, we may not scruple it, though we are more affected with the other; especially, since we may in private take the liberty to use which of them we think fittest. (2) Those that are most against Forms, pray by them, when they join with another that prays, though he do it never so much extempore: For the People's minds are not concerned in inventing the words they pray by; the Minister gives a Form to them. And if you may pray in the Form of a private person, dictated to you suddenly, and without deliberation, and which you do not know before, whether it will agree with good sense, or sound doctrine; why then may you not do it in the Forms of the Church, composed by wise and reverend persons upon mature consideration and advice; especially when they are such, as we do, or may know before to be pious and grave, suitable to Christian necessities, and Christian truths? There is no good reason that I know to make a scruple of the latter, if we admit the former. But I shall say no more now of this subject, which would require a particular discourse. I come to the second Branch of the Objection.  
(TWO) Kneeling at the Sacrament is not agreeable to the first example; our Saviour administered to his Disciples sitting, and perhaps you fear there is something of Popery in the posture of Kneeling.  
I answer (ay) we are not bound to a nice and punctual observance of all the circumstances that were in the first example: The Sacrament was first administered in the Evening, in an upper room, only to twelve persons, and those Men, and ecclesiastics, or at least such as were destined to be so: But even the Objectors do not think we are obliged to act in the Sacrament strictly after the example of these particulars: and why should we suppose ourselves to be tied in the matter of Posture, more than in those other Circumstances, which we acknowledge to be of no binding nature. (2) The posture of those times at Meals was not sitting, but leaning, according to the then Custom of the Romans. So we read john 21. 20. That the beloved Disciple leaned on his Master's breast at Supper. And though the English Translation renders, Luke 22. 14. He sat down, and the Disciples with him; it is in conformity to our phrase and custom, which is sitting: for the word in the Original [〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉] doth not imply that posture, but is applicable to any other that is used, as well as sitting. So that if we are strictly tied to the original posture, we must lean at the Sacrament, and neither sit nor kneel. But (3) the Institution hath not bound us to either the one or the other, but left the matter to be determined by the general Rules of Decency and Reverence; And since the Fathers of the Church have commanded kneeling, as the posture most expressive of our humility and reverence in receiving the pledges of divine Love, I see no reason why any should boggle at it; much less why they should refuse their Duty, and their Privilege, abstain from their spiritual food, and the solemn remembrance of their dear Lord, rather than do a thing so innocent, so decent, and so reverend, which the Authority of the Church requires from them. He hath but little appetite to his meat, that will not eat it except he may do it in such a fashion as is agreeable to his own humour.  
ay, but the Objector doubts, that there is real danger, and something of Popery in the case; the Papists use kneeling to signify their adoration of the Host, and the Scrupler fears there may be some such thing in our practice. But this fear is very uncharitable and groundless, since our Church doth so vehemently and constantly declare against the Transubstantiation of the Romanists, and the adoration of any creature; And since we are always told, that kneeling is required for no other reason than to signify our humility and reverence: And though the Papists do express more by that posture, yet since our Church declares, that this is all she intends in reference to the consecrated Elements, there is no ground why any should think more is meant by it. Kneeling signifies reverence as well as worship; and the declaration of the person himself is enough to show which of them he intends. But besides, though the Papists adore the Bread as the real Body of Christ, and therefore kneel before it, yet that can be no reason why we should not in this remembrance of our Lord adore Him Himself: They kneel to him as present corporally; we worship him as virtually and spiritually present.  
This I might urge further as a positive Argument for the posture of Kneeling, over and above the use of it, as an Answer to the Objection. Thus all acknowledge, That Christ is to be worshipped. Receiving the Sacrament is the proper worship of Christ; and kneeling is a proper signification of adoration: It follows that on this account kneeling is sit, and fittest to be used in the action of Communion. But I shall pursue this matter no further; what I have said may satisfy the modest and reasonable; and people that are set and resolv●d in their opinions, will not be satisfied with never so much more.  
I should now draw to an end, but I am loath to leave you without some particular Rules of Preparation; These I shall lay down plainly and briefly in the ensuing periods.   

CHAP. VI  
THe Persons that are to come to the Sacrament may be distinguished into two sorts, viz. Either such as do repent and are sorry for their Sins, but have not yet in any good degree prevailed over them; or, Those other more improved and grown Christians, who in considerable measure have mastered their Sins, and are endowed with many habits of Holiness and Virtue. The first sort are yet under the Law, viz. a state of sense and conviction of Sin, but have not attained to the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God, or the state of power over them. But the others have arrived to that power in competent measure, so that sin doth not reign in their mortal bodies, because they are not under the Law, but under Grace. For distinction sake I call the first sort, Bare Penitents; the second, the Faithful. Now the Preparations that concern these are different as their states are.  
1. For the bare Penitents, and sorrowers for Sin, I advise them to prepare by the Rules following.  
(1) Endeavour to make yourselves as sensible as you can of the evil of sin; Consider it as enmity unto God, and to your own happiness; as the basest ingratitude, and the greatest deformity; as a thing to be hated for itself, if there were no consideration had to its effects. Look upon it as the destroyer of your present, as well as future peace and felicity; as the enslaver of your souls to the Devil, and that which debaseth them to the likeness and condition of beasts. Aggravate such considerations in your thoughts by all the circumstances that may render sin odious to you. (2) Consider the gracious nature of the Covenant that God hath made with us in his Son; That by that Covenant he hath assured all true Penitents of pardon of their Sins, and strength against them. So that be our Sins never so many, or so heinous, they will be forgiven, if we repent and turn from them; and be they never so strong and violent upon us, they may be overcome, if we accept, and use the grace that the Covenant offers to us. Represent these things duly, and frequently to your thoughts, and for the making the deeper impressions on them, collect those places of Scripture that speak so fully of the Love and Mercies of God, his readiness to pardon, and desires of our happiness, the frequent and free offers of his kindness; His invitations to Sinners to come unto him, and his often bewailings of their obstinacy and hardness in running from him: Consider that he sent his Son into the World to seek, and to save them that were lost, to bring sinners to repentance, to take away the sins of the World, to deliver us from the wrath to come, and that the World through him might be saved; I say, draw together such passages, dwell upon them in thy Meditations, till thou hast filled thy Soul with them. And then thou wilt find great encouragement to seek for pardon, and wilt be supported against those faintings, and despondencies, that the mere sense of Sin, without a Saviour, might occasion in thy Soul.  
(3) After this, summon up all thy Resolutions against thy Sins: Consider thy Baptismal engagements, how just and reasonable and necessary they were; Resolve to confirm them by new Vows. Content not thyself with some cold and indefinite intentions of leading a new Life some time or other, but endeavour to settle in a firm, unalterable purpose of fight against Sin, and living unto God. Do all thou canst by Reason and Religion, by the Considerations of Duty and of Interest, to fix thy soul here. And then,  
(4) Be earnest with God in Prayer, to give thee a fuller sight of Sin, and clearer, surer thoughts of pardoning Mercy: To present thee with more arguments to heighten thy resolutions, and to make thy soul more capable of being moved by them. I say, apply thyself unto God by Prayer, public, private, and secret prayer, confessing thy own vileness, acknowledging his Mercies, and resolving new obedience. And being thus prepared,  
(5) Look on the holy Sacrament as thy great Duty and Remedy As that to which God calls thee, and the state and necessities of thy soul call thee; As that Ordinance in which thou art to seek, and mayst expect pardon and strength, resolution, and peace. Consider this, and raise thine appetite and expectations; for they that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled.  
And now when thou hast exercised thyself in these acts, and the time of the holy Communion approacheth, Then  
(6) Employ thy time in awakening and affectionate thoughts of Christ thy Lord. Consider the greatness of his Condescension, the kindness of his Undertaking, the boliness of his Life, the purity of his Doctrine, the heaviness of his Sufferings, the power of his Resurrection, and the glory of his Ascension. Turn thy thoughts earnestly, and often, upon these and such instances of the History of the holy Jesus, and by them dispose thyself to a befiting remembrance of him at his Table.  
And (Lastly) Gather up all thy thoughts and resolutions together, viz. thy apprehensions of the vileness of sin, of the Grace of the Covevenant, and the merits of thy Lord; Thy purposes of leaving every evil way, and of renewing thy baptismal Vows; and say to thyself, Now is the time come that I must use these thoughts and resolves, that I may obtain pardon, and strength, victory over sin, and assurance of happiness: My Lord invites me to the great representation of the evil of sin in his own sufferings; to see his Body wounded, and his Soul made an Offering for Sin, in the Type of Bread broken, and Wine poured out, To remember his Conquest over Sin by Death, and a glorious Resurrection; To see the Covenant of Grace and pardon sealed: He invites me to these Privileges, and call upon me to bind myself stronger in this holy Covenant, and thereby to make myself the subject of those blessings it assures and conveys. I say, employ thy Soul in such thoughts, and bring them with thee to the Lords Table, spread them before him there in humble Confessions, Supplications, and Acknowledgements, and thou mayst then expect to receive the benefit thou art seeking after.  
These are Preparations for a bare Penitent, that hath yet made but little progress in subduing of his Sins. And though the highest degrees of all these are not absolutely necessary to the coming of such to the Lords Table; yet the more they have been exercised in them, so much the better it is, by so much they re more prepared, and so much more they may expect of the benefits. But if your minds, that have not been used to spiritual things, will not fix long on such thoughts and meditations: Engage them, as far as you can; proceed in the Method prescribed with that diligence and care that becomes one that is serious. And then, though your preparations be imperfect now, they may be more complete against another season. If thou art sensible they have been so defective, maintain and keep up that sense, and resolve upon it, to endeavour to fit thyself better for another Sacrament, by renewing the same method, which will be easier for thee in the progress than it was in the beginning.  
As for the other sort, viz. II. Those that have advanced in the conquest of their sins; They are to act over all the former particulars, that I have advised to the bare Penitents: For being yet sinners, and imperfect, they have need to use that Method: And there are these few other Directions to be briefly added that do further concern them.  
(1) Call yourselves to a particular account concerning your sins, examining what vices you are most addicted to; and what are the sins of your tempers, or of your Profession and Calling: when you have found those, exercise particular acts of Repentance upon them, and renew your resolutions against them. Consider, that allowance of them is inconsistent with sincerity, and a state of true regeneration; That 'tis necessary you should oppose and subdue them; and that the holy Sacrament is to be used as a means for that blessed end.  
(2) Examine what ground you have got upon your sins since the last Sacrament, whether you are now more tender and fearful of offending God than you were before; whether your inclination to any evil be more weakened and mortified? If so, take encouragement hence to go on with more Christian vigour and resolution. If not, humble yourselves for your unfruitfulness; and endeavour to dispose your souls to make a better use of the next opportunity.  
(3) Inquire into the state of your souls as to your Graces; what Graces are wanting, and what are weak? which are growing, and which at a stand? and when you have found the condition of your souls as to these, then exercise your meditations upon those particulars in the Life, Doctrine, and Precepts of your Lord, whom you are to remember at his Table, that may be proper for your case; Apply your thoughts, and cares, and resolutions that way. Design and resolve to attend the holy Sacrament for the supply of those wants, and to endeavour to use it so, that the needed graces may be obtained, and the weak ones may be strengthened, that those that are at a stay may be put into motion forwards, and those that are growing may be further improved. If you thus provide, and employ yourselves in the method before remembered, you will then be meet partakers of the holy Mysteries, and may assure yourselves of the blessings and advantages which they convey.  
THis Subject would have required larger discourse, but my present business was principally with the careless and negligent, to whose condition I have mostly applied myself. For the others, that are solicitous for their souls, and desirous to be further informed about this great and important affair of Preparation, I shall advise them to get, and carefully to read and digest two excellent Books of the Sacrament: The former called Mensa Mystica, or a Discourse concerning the Sacrament of the Lords Supper; by Dr. Simon Patrick; and the latter, named the Christian Sacrifice, containing most excellent Meditations and Prayers, both before and after the Sacrament.  
In the first design of this little Discourse I intended to have added some things of that sort for your use. But while I was thinking of it, my Pious, Learned, and Excellent Friend the Author, sent me one of those his last Books, the Devotion and Piety of which is extraordinary; and there is nothing, that I know, fitter to prepare your affections, and to excite them to the noblest height of desire and love than those heavenly Meditations: And you cannot use more proper, judicious, or affectionate Prayers than those he hath annexed. So that I was exceeding glad when I saw this useful, much needed Work so incomparably well done, that there was no occasion of my doing any more in it, than earnestly to recommend that book to your perusal. And I entreat you to get it into your Houses, and from time to time to endeavour to warm your souls by it, when you are preparing for the Sacrament, and by it to fix you in your resolutions of living according to your engagements there, when you have attended on that blessed Ordinance.  
And now, my Friends, I leave you to the blessing of God, and the consideration of what I have said: Whatever judgement may be made of it, I have this testimony, that I meant it sincerely. And I shall never cease to pray, that both you and I may sincerely practise according to it.  
Your Faithful Monitor and Servant, J. G.