THE DIVINE PORTRAIT. OR, A true and lively Representation of the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper: with our due Preparation how to receive the same worthily. Delivered in a Sermon, at the Reformed Church of Paris (on Easter day last:) By Monsieur john Mestrezat, Minister of the Word of God there: Upon these words of our Saviour, This is my Body.  
Englished by John Reynolds.  
LONDON, Printed by A. M. for G. Baker, and are to be sold at his shop near Charing-cross. 1631.   

TO THE RIGHT HOnourable, Most Religious, and Virtuous Lady, MARIE, Countess of DORSET, Governess to our High and Hopeful young Lord, and Master, Prince Charles.  
MADAM,  
Knowing, and considering, that your Honour, (as a sanctified vessel of Piety, and as another Elect Lady) spends the greatest part of your time, and of yourself, in Prayer, and in the sweet and sacred calms of Heavenly Meditations, and Contemplations; And that you make, and esteem the first to be, (as indeed it is) your chiefest joy; the second, your greatest Delight, and both of them your divinest Ambition, and Felicity here on Earth. I therefore (according to the dignity of your merits, and the quality of my duty) do here embolden myself, most humbly to present, and Dedicate to your Honour, a small Translation of mine from French, Of a Sermon lately delivered (by a worthy Servant of the Lord) in the Protestant Church of Paris, upon the firmest point of our Faith, and the greatest, and most Sacred Mystery of our Salvation, The Lords most blessed Supper; And if my affection to the Author thereof, do not deceive my judgement, He hath drawn this Divine Portrait of that blessed Sacrament, so divinely, and so artificially and curiously depainted it at life, according to the sacred Will and Testament of the Great and Heavenly institutor thereof, Our Lord and Saviour CHRIST JESUS; as I both hope with confidence, and presume with safety, that your Honour will receive it graciously, behold it affectionately, and love and cherish it religiously; and (consequently) that all other Readers will do the like, by the powerful Influence of your Honourable Precedent, and pious Example.  
And in regard, that your constant Piety, and inflamed Zeal towards God, (as the Queen of all your other relucent Virtues) generally makes you to be, rather admired, then imitated of the best and Noblest Ladies of Great BRITAIN; Therefore (neither to flatter your Honour, or to infringe the truth) I confidently believe, that this Piety, and this Zeal of yours, was the primary cause, which first moved God, to move and inspire the heart of our Potent and Prudent King, to give you the superintendency over his young Son, our Prince; A singular favour of God, a most special honour of our Sovereign towards you, which yet your Honour deserved before desired, and received before you (any way) expected, or dreamt thereof; And the which so infinitely rejoiceth the hearts and and souls of the most and best of all his Subjects, that they triumph in this his Majesty's happy choice and election of you, and in your Honourable and Virtuous Administration over this our Royal Faglet; As fully hoping, and therefore perfectly assuring themselves, that as you are now made Governess to the first Son, of one of the first and greatest Kings of the world: So that, your Illustrious virtues in yourself, your watchful eye over him, and vigilant care of, and for him, will (by God's propitious Favour and Assistance) infallibly crown his Royal Parents, with true Content, and their Kingdoms and Subjects with perfect Felicity, to see this Princely Blossom, and Royal Plant, futurely flourish, and sprout forth to be one of the loftyest Cedars of Christendom, and (next to our Sacred Sovereign, King CHARLES his Father,) the greatest Champion of Christ and his Gospel, and the Truest Defender of his Heavenly Spouse the Church.  
And Madam, because if we make Piety and Religion the Soul of our life here on Earth; That we are therefore assured, God will then hereafter infallibly make it the life of our Souls in Heaven; was likewise a strong motive, and a most pleasing and acceptable Inducement to me, to make this Sermon, (or Divine Portrait of the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper) to speak English; for that this spiritual and celestial Banquet, (given by our great Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST to his beloved Apostles, and in them to us, a little before his glorious departure, and ascension from Earth to Heaven) is the very true life and essence, yea, the spiritual Food, and sacred Manna, whereby all faithful and regenerate Christians, are eternally incorporated into Christ, and Christ into them A sweet and sacred Meditation, for every one to know and contemplate, and also most infinitely necessary for all, (by a lively Faith) very often and frequently to apply unto their Consciences and Souls, because it is a matchless jewel, and an inestimable Treasure, which includeth all earthly riches, and compriseth and contains all Heavenly benefits and felicities in it.  
Neither am I, or so Ignorant, or so Presumptuous, to direct this Sermon of the Lords Supper to your Honour, out of the least shadow of any premeditated intent or purpose, thereby to instruct, or teach you in this sacred Mystery of your Salvation; because contrariwise I firmly know, that your Honour is truly able to teach, and infinitely capable to instruct others therein: But I did it purposely to recreate your Zeal, and to foment and cherish your Piety, in this your solemn Preparation to receive that blessed Sacrament, now at this approaching, great and joyful Feast of Easter, and next thereunto, as an eternal pledge and testimony of my duty to your Honour's Service. The operation, ●ind benefit, which the reading and meditating of this small Book, may work in your heart and soul, I wholly leave to the Divine Providence and Pleasure of Almighty God, whom I religiously pray, may ever bless your Honour (and yours) with all true prosperity and happiness in this life, and with all perfect felicity and glory in that to come.  
April 2. 1631. Your Honour's humblest servant, john Reynolds.   

THE TRANSLATOR his Preface to the Christian Reader.  
IT was with a holy admiration, and a religious and sanctified zeal, that the Royal Prophet King David (contemplating on the excellency of God's creatures, and meditating on the pre-eminence and dignity which he gave man over them) Cried out, 
Psal. 8.4.  O Lord, our God, how excellent is thy name in all the world, And what is man, that thou art so mindful of him, and the Son of man that thou visitest him. If David (who was a lively Type and Figure of Christ) were rapt into this spiritual ecstasy of admiration and joy, when he considered of God's power and providence, in the works of his creation; How much more infinitely and thankfully should we poor miserable sinners, rejoice with true admiration, and admire with perfect joy, at the unspeakable and incomprehensible love of God towards mankind; 
Phil. 2.8. Col. 1.14.  In giving up his only begotten Son Christ jesus to death; yea, to the shameful death of the Cross for our redemption, and that he was so gracious a God, and so merciful and indulgent a Father to us, that he suffered his blessed Son to dye for us, 
Tit. 2.14.  That he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purge us, to be a peculiar people to himself. For, wretched sinners that we are; In Paradise, where our Forefathers gained their life, there (by their wilful disobedience and transgression) they lost their righteousness and we in them; because the foul stain and Leprosy of that their original sin, hath successively and actually, made us, their unfortunate seed and posterity, guilty both of Death and Hell; and there justly adjudged to have our Portions with the Devil and his Angels. But notwithstanding all this; God (yet) hath been as merciful to us, as we have been sinful to him; for although we were lost in Adam, by Nature, yet we are again, both found and saved in jesus Christ by grace; 
1 Tim. 2.6.  Who hath given himself a ransom for all men; 
Isai 53.4,5  Hath borne our infirmities, and carried away our sins and sorrows, by suffering himself to be wounded for our transgressions, and broken for our iniquities. So that it is the present joy of our hearts, and the future happiness of our souls, 
Eph. 2.4,5.  That God, who is rich in mercy, 
Eph 2.4,5  (through the great love wherewith he loved us) when we were dead by our sins, hath quickened us together in jesus Christ, by whose grace we are saved.  
And to the end that all true Christians should not despair of Christ's promises unto them nor so much give themselves over, either to the reprobate sense and pleasures of sin, or to the sugared insinuations and treacherous temptations of Satan, as any way to doubt of their salvation in the Lord: Why, this our sacred Lord & Master, Christ jesus (the great Shepherd of his Flock, and Saviour of his people) who by incorporating his Divinity with his humanity) was wholly composed of love & mercy toward them. He, I say, a little before his bloody, yet blessed death and passion on the Cross) was graciously pleased, to honour and sanctify his Apostles, and, in them us, who are of the true seed of Abraham; with the holy Sacrament of his most blessed Supper, as a divine pledge, and a firm & authentical confirmation of his inestimable love towards us, and of his watchful care and vigilancy for our salvation; I mean for the full perfecting and accomplishing of our glorification in Heaven with God his father: 
Rom 6.4.  That sin might have no more dominion over for us; because we are now no longer under the Law, but under Grace; but that by the worthy receiving, and holy partaking thereof (In the imitation of Christ and his blessed Apostles) 
Ephes. 2.6.  we might be raised up together with him in heavenly places.  
It is therefore not our own merits, but only God's mercies, not our own works which are sinful, but only the blessed death and passion of Christ jesus which is sacred, that must be, both the triumph, and glory of a Christian: And I confess with joy, and acknowledge with Confidence and Consolation, that this holy Sacrament of his most blessed Supper (wherein the bread of his body was broken, and the wine of his blood poured out and shed, for the sins of all mankind) is the perfect pledge, the sacred seal, the full ransom, and the divinest mystery of our redemption in jesus Christ: And that as we are absolutely cleansed and washed from our original sin, by the water of Baptism, when we enter into the State of Grace, in the Church militant here on earth; That so by the blood of this Paschall Lamb, Christ jesus (in the Sacrament of his blessed Supper) our sins are wholly defaced, and washed away and consequently, that therefore we shall enter into the state of glory, in the Church triumphant in heaven; So that fight under the banner of Christ his Cross, and being spiritually armed with these two sacred Sacraments, we may boldly believe, & confidently assure ourselves, that neither Satan, nor hell shall have power to prevail against us.  
And here (Christian Reader) before I proceed farther in this my Preface to thee; I give thee to understand, That I am not ignorant, with what a great world of different opinions and controversies this our little world of Christendom, is perplexed and troubled with, about this blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper, betwixt the Protestant, and the Papist, & especially about Transubstantiation, the Real Presence, and communicating in one kind: In so much that an infinite number (yea too great a number) of pens, pulpits, and presses, are pitifully (because unprofitably) oppressed therewith: and that Christ's blessed body in this Sacrament (without piety, reason, or charity) is daily dilacerated and torn in pieces with these contentions, whereas his own Coat, (or vesture) was without piece or seam; So that our silly souls may well fear drowning, when the bark of our weak faith (masted and rigged with curiosity) saileth in so dangerous and turbulent an Ocean, that hath neither bottom nor shore; and which is daily and hourly tossed, and ready to be split, and dashed in pieces, either with the wavering waves of levity and inconstancy, or with the boisterous winds of propensd malice, or scandalous and erroneous virulency: without looking up to the true daystar of their hope, jesus Christ; or to the Sun of their salvation, God; or without endevoring or thinking, safely to arrive, and cast anchor in the Cape of good hope; Heaven. O that the spirit of Piety, should (without piety) thus be converted, and transformed into the spirit of Contention. And as for me (who am the meanest, and most unworthy of all God's Servants and Children) bingeniously confess and acknowledge; that in some few languages I have read so many of these intemperate Contreversies, and untimely Contentions, that I am weary of reading them; And yet so, That I rather pity, then malign, first their Authors for their sakes, and then them for their Author's sakes; and my witness is in heaven & in mine own bosom, that with my heart & soul I wish, that all these unspirituall quarrels might be composed in peace and amity, and that these unfortunate disputes and lines might terminate in one, and the same Centre, Charity, and that their learned Authors, (having their curiosity vanquished with the honour and glory of God) as Christian members, might be inseparably fast knit and united to their Head, and grand Captain, jesus Christ: and because contention is not the way to heaven, and that God was found in the still and quiet, and not in the whirl and tempestuous winds; As also that where the great Lamps of learning and lights of the Church, contend & fight about matters of faith, that there assuredly the weak ones, and the more illiterate Christians do infinitely suffer in this quarrel: That therefore (in the name and fear of God) they would please to take up, and embrace this saying of the blessed Apostle 
Heb. 12.14  Fellow peace with all men, and also holiness, without which no man shall see God: and again to the same purpose, 
Ephe. 4.15  Let us fellow the truth in love, and in all things grow up in him, who is the Head, (to wit) jesus Christ.  
To call our religion in question, is to doubt thereof, and to halt between two opinions in matters of saith is (with the Lukewarm Laodicean) to be of neither: I know we are commanded by the Apostle, To make our election sure, and taught by the Prophet, 
Hosh. 4.14.  That the people who do not understand shall fall. I likewise know, that curiosity in matters of Faith and Religion is dangerous, and that for being too curious in prying into the sacred secrets of God, it is a fatal Rock, whereon some excellent judgements have suffered Shipwreck wilfully, and a world of weak wits ignorantly. That Gods unrevealed mysteries and purposes are as secret, as sacred, and as occult, and abstruse, as they are divine, and that we are positively told, and taught by the Prophet, 
Isa. 40.28.  That there is no searching out of God's understanding; Wherhfore as I envy no man for his religion; so (I praise and bless my Redeemer) I am not so wretchedly instructed in piety, as to deny mine to the world: much less to dare to dissemble it to God: It shall suffice me; that I had rather believe the truth, than quarrel with it, and fare sooner (and with more alacrity and promptitude) to embrace and follow it, then to contend or contest against it.  
As therefore we cannot believe in God, before we first know him; So we cannot perfectly know this Sacrament of his blessed Supper, except we first believe in it, and in the pure truth, and naked virtue and integrity thereof. I am not therefore of the union or communion of those uncatholique Romanists, who are carnal, and not spiritual eaters of this blessed Sacrament, and who tie their implicit faith only to the bare letter, not to the true sense, and to the sight, not to the figure or commemoration, which this heavenly mystery infoldeth and contains; Who can dispense with their consciences (yea with their souls) rather to eat their God, then to obey him; and daily to tear his blessed body in pieces with them teach, as they do hourly with their sins; and who rely on their own poor & wretched merits, rather than on Christ's rich promises, or on the inestimable treasure of his blessed death and passion, premised and prefigured unto us, in the bread and wine of his sacred Supper: But for my part; I really and confidently believe, that Christ's own words, Take, eat, and drink this in remembrance of me; doth make this Sacrament of his holy Supper to be a mystical, not a corporal, a spiritual, and not a carnal sacrifice.  
But to leave Controversy and contention, to those who love them, (in and about this divine doctrine of this Sacrament of the Lords Supper) and to come to that which more nearly and narrowly concerns our edification to Christ, and sanctification by Christ; I joyfully affirm, and aver, That it hath been a great part and degree of my earthly selicity, to have heard many excellent Sermons, and seen, and read many comfortable Tracts upon this sacred Supper of the Lord, aswell on this side, as beyond the seas; and preached and written, aswell by the Samts of God abroad, as by our own English Saints and Servants of the Lord here at hom●… who have most painful●… and industriously travell●… herein, with much tru●… glory to God, with infini●… praise and honour to the●… selves; and with a world o● consolation and happines●… to their Christian Auditor● and Readers; have piously chalked them out the tru● and safe way to Heaven, and most divinely pointed and shown them the righteous pathway, and glorious narrow way to God.  
And now (by God's providence and mercy) meeting very lately with a Sermon of that heavenly nature, preached (on Easter day last) to the famous and flourishing assembly of the Protestants in the reformned Church of Paris, (at Charenton) upon these words of our Lord and Saviour (in the blessed Sacrament of his last Supper) This is my body: By the learned and reverend Servant of the Lord, Monsieur john Mestrezat, the first Pastor and minister of that great, and godly congregation, and the worthy Successor of that famous divine, Monsr. P. Du. Moulins, the great light of his time, and Ornament of his Church. I say, I no sooner seriously perused and religiously considered it; but finding it to be penned in an elegant & excellent phrase, and digested and cast into a most spiritual order a●… method; at last (after ● short parley with my soul●… and a little reluctation wi●… my resolutions) God n●… only suggested, but commanded me to teach it to spea● English, and especially fo● these two reasons, and considerations.  
I. That the translation thereof, infinitely tended t● God's honour and glory, a● being a perfect and a promising way to draw many souls to God, aswell by their seeing and knowing of it, as by practising and putting into execution, that sacred discipline, and doctrine which it contains.  
TWO For that the Author and Preacher of it, is so worthy a Minister of God's word, as Saint Paul wished and counselled his beloved titus to be, (to wit) 
Titus. 2.7.  That his life is a Pattern and example of good works, and of uncorrupt doctrine, gravity, and integrity; for to my knowledge (as also to all others, who know him, or his endowments and abilities) he is so learned, and of so meek, and Saintlike a conversation, that it is a disputable question, whether his doctrine do more crown, and grace his life, or his life his doctrine: And that thorefore it might well stand with God's pleasure (as it doth refer, and conduce to his honour) that the reading hereof might refresh, and profit some Christians here in England, as well as the preaching thereof hath done many in France. As also, that as (at my residence in Paris) I have taken singular delight and comfort to have often heard him preach, so consequently that others might do the like here, by visibly reading, or tacitly seeing, and hearing him preach in this his Sermon, (or Divine Portrait) which so lively (yea so truly at life) representeth the Sacrament of the Lords blessed Supper unto us, I being as confident of this truth, as of this presumption; That as in most of his Sermons he excelleth and surpasseth others, so in this; that he hath infinitely both surpassed and excelled himself.  
And although (Christian Reader) I have formerly in this my Preface, expressed and signified to thee, that this little, (yet most excellent) Sermon of his doth most sweetly show thee, the sure, the righteous way to heaven and to God, and with a happiness (peradventure) beyond expectation, hath most fully performed, and most divinely acted thee that part, (whereunto I will refer and commend thee in the Lord) Yet because I am an humble Servant to Christ (both in my desires and affections) aswell as I am the shadow, and Echo of my Author in this my translation: Therefore I trust in the goodness of God, and hope in the integrity of mine own heart, that I shall rather right thee, than any way wrong him, in presuming poorly to glean after his rich harvest, by adventuring to propose and give thee a word or two of spiritual advice and directions of mine own, upon the receiving of this blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper, before I commend this Divine Portrait thereof to thee, thee to it, and you both unto God.  
When therefore thou resolvest 
jam. 4.8.  to draw near unto God, that God may draw near unto thee, by receiving and partaking of this his blessed Sacrament, Thou must (in the innocency of thy heart, and the purity of thy soul) 
1 Pet. 5.6.  first humble thyself under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt thee. 
jam. 4.10.  And cast thyself down before him, that he may lift thee up. 
1 Cor. 15.34.  Thou must awake to live righteously, and resolve to sin no more; but henceforth to become a new man, and a new Christian: 
Gal. 3.24.  for they that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh with the lusts thereof. Thou must set thy affections on things which are above, and not on things which are on the Earth. 
Phil. 3.20.  An● thy conversation must be i● heaven, from whence tho● must expect thy Saviour, eve● the Lord jesus Christ; 
Gal. 5.25,  Fo● if thou live in the spirit, tho● must also walk in the spirit, 
Psal. 4.4,  Thou must tremble, but n●… sin, and thou must examine thyself upon thy bed: 
Psal. 68. 1●  Fo● God will try thee, as silver i● tried: Thou must not deceive thyself, 
Galat. 6.7.  for God wil● not be mocked. Thou mus● not be hot in thy sins, an● cold and frozen in thy devotion and piety towards God, neither must thou seem now to be that in thy humility and zeal, which thou art not: Because Hypocrisy towards God, proves treachery towards our own souls: But run thou a Contrary Course with thy heart and soul, at thy receiving of this great act of thy Salvation, this blessed Sacrament; for be thou the death of thy sins, and then God will assuredly be the life of thy Soul.  
As for those who either unworthily receive, or carelessly defer, or wilfully contemn the receiving of this blessed Sacrament, they do assuredly spin out the web of their own damnation, and so being dead in the Lethargy of their own security and profaneness, they hood-wincked ride post to Hell: Consider and remember with thyself, 
joel. 1.15.  That the day of the Lord is at hand. 
2 Pet. 3.10  And that death and destruction comes from the Lord, as a Thief in the night: That death (the grim Pursuivant, and Sergeant of the Lord) d●th neither spare nor pardon any sex or age, but with his fatal Dart, and Mace (without respect or difference) aresteth as well the King as the beggar, the Priest as the people, and the young as the old.  
We must not therefore put fare from us the evil day, 
Amos. 6.3,4,5.  nor stretch ourselves on our beds of Ivory, nor sing to the sound of the Viol, whereby the Prophet means all excess of riot, and understandeth all degree of obscene pleasures, and beastly voluptuousness: For if we love God, we must honour him, and if we will honour him, we must love him, 
Amos 6.3,4,5.  And not weary him with our sins, nor press him down with their burden, as a Cart is with Sheaves.  
Consider we again, That as there is but one way forus to come into the world, so that there are a thousand ways to go out of it. That we are subject to as many diseases as sins; yea, and that diseases do as frequently, and as insensibly steal into our bodies, as sins do into our souls; That we are never nearer death, then when we think ourselves farthest from it, and that when we suppose ourselves to be strongest in Nature, we commonly are than weakest in Grace: As also, that a thievish Impostume, a poor Apoplexy, a Cutthroat Squinancy, or a fierce and furious visitation of the Pestilence, doth many times (in a moment of time) violently snatch us away from the world, and the world from us, yea, and which is more to be admired, though no less to be pitied, That some times, in the very twinkling of an Eye, we are choked with a Fly, a Kernel of an apple, a crumm of bread, or a small Fish bone; Or else have our brains dashed out with a fall, either from a Horse, or a stair. O (therefore) how seriously ought we to ponder in our hearts, and how maturely and religiously to consider in our souls, how extreme dangerous it is for us, to procrastinate, and defer: and (consequently) how infinitely necessary, & expedient it is for us frequently to receive this blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper.  
Consider we further, 
jam 4.14.  That we cannot tell what shall betide us to morrow, for that our life is but a Vapour, that appeareth for a small time, and then vanisheth away. 
1 Pet. 1.24  That all flesh is grass, and all the glory of man, is as the flower of grass, and that the grass withereth, & the flower thereof falleth away, 
Heb. 13.14.  That we have no abiding City here, but must therefore seek one to come, which is above: That as the tree falleth it lies. That there is no sorrowing for our sins in the grave, and that after our death, there is no place nor hope left us for a second repentance: 
Heb. 10 31  And that it is a fear full thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  
Armed in this manner with a lively faith towards God, and with periect love and Charity towards our neighbour, and having freed and cleared those sinful spots of our hearts, and reform and cleansed those foul affections and imperfections of our souls by our (unfeigned) godly repentance and sorrow; And having now assumed and taken up a firm resolution, ever hereafter, 
Eph. 5.10.  to approve and do that which is pleasing to the Lord; And contracted a solemn Covenant between God and our souls, 
Eph. 5.11.  never any more to have any fellowship with the works of darkness, but reprove them, and not henceforth to dare to look back (with affection) on our forepast, dearest and darling sins, but with infinite hatred & detestation of them. Then, I say, let us follow the advice of the Apostle. 
Heb. 4.16.  Let us go up boldly to the Throne of Grace, that we may receive mercy. Let us go boldly to this table; to this precious banquet of the Lords blessed Supper, and eat that sacred bread of his body, and drink that heavenly wine of his blood, in a strong Confidence and Commemoration, That Christ died for us on the Altar of the Cross, and for the free reconciliation, and full satisfaction, and redemption of our sins.  
And having thus filled our hearts with sacred joy, and replenished our souls with spiritual and heavenly gladness, by receining of this most blessed Sacrament, we must then have an infinite watchful eye over our hearts, and place a most strong and religious guard over our souls, that we do not henceforth once presume to hearken to sin, or so much as give way, or dare to consent to look, or listen after the treacherous lures and temptations of the world, the flesh or the devil; and so to fall back into a spiritual relapse of sin, which is ten thousand times worse, and infinitely more dangerous and pernicious then that of any Corporal disease whatsoever, For it is a woeful, yea a wretched misery, which leaves us no hope of better fortunes, nor place for worse, 
2 Pet. 2.22  If with the Dog we return to our own vomit, and with the Sow, that we again wallow in the filthy mire of our former beastly sins and transgressions, For then our end will be fare worse than our beginning, 
Hos 4.7.  Then God will change our glory into shame, And then we shall make ourselves guilty of the body and blood of Christ, (which without his all saving grace and mercy) is the high way to endless perdition, and the true way to eternal damnation. No, No, fare be such  and rebellious thoughts from our hearts, and such unspirituall treason against God from our souls; And let us (who are the seed of Abraham by nature, and the Sons of God by Grace) 
Hos. 10.12  still break up the fallow ground of our hearts with a holy repentance and sorrow for our sins, and with a constant and inviolable resolution never to sinne more; and as (therefore) we have received Christ Jesus by faith, 
Collos. 2.6.  So let us walk in him, 
Thes. 1.11,  and walk worthy of him, who now calls us to his Kingdom of glory, and, which is more, who in a spiritual Contract, 
Hos. 2.19.  hath united and married us to himself in righteousness.  
In which regard and consideration, because we are so highly beloved of God, and so infinitely honoured with the name of Christians (wherein we aught more to insult, and triumph, then in all things else which are under Christ) Let us, I say, forsake the stinking garlic and unions of Egypt, (I mean our old beastly sins and transgressions) and for ever henceforth smell to the sweet Roses and Lilies of Heaven, (the delectable love, and promises of our Saviour Christ jesus unto us) which are so sweetly watered with his precious blood, and so odoriferously perfumed, not with fragarant odours, or costly spices of Arabia, but with the rich myrrh of God's sacred mercy, and with the sweet and precious frankincense of his divine favour and loving countenande towards us. 
Psal. 134.2  Let us (I say) lift up our hands to his holy Sanctuary, & praise the Lord, 
jer. 31.3.  for that he loves us with an everlasting love, and that (by the blessed death and passion of his Son Christ) 
Psal. 68.20  he is become our God, and the God that saveth us, The which, If we religiously & constantly perform; 
jer. 31.12.  Then our souls shall be as a watered Garden, and we shall know no more sorrow: Then we shall be as the 
Hos. 14.6.  Dew unto Israel, and God will make us grow as Lilies, & will fasten our roots as the trees of Lebanon; Then 
2 Cor. 3.18  we shall see God face to face in his Kingdom of glory, and there (both) live and reign with him eternally, 
1 Tim 4.8.  And then he will crown us with a Crown of righteousness which he hath reserved and laid up for his elect, Children and Servants. Of which blessed number, I beseech thee, O God, who art our Creator and Reedeemer, (for thy promise sake, for thy Zions sake, and for thy Son, Christ jesus his sake) to make us: Amen.  
Thy Christian Friend, JOHN REYNOLDS.   

THE DIVINE PORTRAIT. OR, A TRUE AND lively Representation of the blessed Sacrament of the LORDS SUPPER. With our due Preparation how to receive it worthily. Upon these words of our Saviour: This is my Body, etc.  

THe Sacrament of the 
* Eucharist.  Lords Supper, (because of its excellency) hath been, and is worthily termed a Mystery; for this Sacrament collecteth and gathereth together all that the new Testament hath of most admirable, and most excellent; and discovereth unto us the Treasures of Wisdom and Intelligence, which are hidden in jesus Christ; And truly, that which men and Angels themselves have most to admire in this new Testament, are especially two things: The one is the means whereby Salvation hath been purchased, and procured to poor sinners; The other the means whereby this Salvation being first merited, procured and given to them by jesus Christ, is afterwards applied, and administered to them. In the first is seen the height, and depth, the length, and breadth of God's mercy, in sending here below on Earth his only Son in the form of sinful flesh, and for exposing him to the shameful death of the Cross, for sinful Creatures, and conjointly therewith is likewise seen, the infinite virtue of Christ's blood, to redeem and expiate the sins of the world, and to obtain eternal life and glory for those who were dangerously ingulphed, and almost lost in the death and misery thereof: In the second is remarked and seen, that by the means of faith & repentance, wretched sinners, are so united to the Son of God, as if they were composed of that body, whereof he is the head, and they the members; and by this Communion are made Partakers of all the graces and benefits which jesus Christ hath deserved and purchased for them.  
Now this blessed Sacrament of the Lords holy Supper, which is as visible as his Sacred written Gospel, and Divine Testament; produceth and exposeth to us th●se two efficable points and considerations. One way the bread broken, and wine filled out, presenteth to our eyes the first: To wit the body of jesus Christ broken, and his blood shed and spilt on the Cross, for the remission of men's sins: And on the other part, man's action in taking and eating this bread, and drinking this wine, denoteth and showeth us the interior action of the soul, who being hungry and thirsty, hath justly her recourse to this body and blood offered up to God on the Cross, and there finds her peace and society, uniting herself by faith unto jesus Christ, the Head spring, and fountain of righteousness and life.  
Wherefore one way to contemplate the wonders of God towards us, and the other, our duties towards him, that hereby we may partake worthily of this blessed Sacrament, It is needless for us to extend the eyes of our understandings any farther, then to this very same Sacrament, which in itself will furnish us with all things needful and requisite for the pertinent disposition of our souls, in the participation and receiving thereof. But the excellency of this Sacrament is fully comprised and contained, in the very words whereby our Lord, and Saviour jesus Christ doth institute it to us, which were a brief declaration of his own use and custom; So that, as this Sacrament is a short abridgement and epitome of the mystery of our redemption, so the words which jesus Christ hath pronounced therein, contain the most excellent matter, and the most necessary meditations of faith, and to give but a word for all, is the very true Epitome and Compendium of all that which Faith ought to contemplate and behold in jesus Christ.  
Wherefore, Since by the Grace of God, we are here this day assembled, to prepare and dispose ourselves for the celebration of the Lords holy Supper, We have now purposely chosen for our text and meditation the words of jesus Christ, which he used in that Supper not to stay, or make you listen to points of Controversy, which at the first hearing of the text you may conceive or imagine, (which is not so requisite for this time and occasion; wherein we have more cause to dispute, and reason, to fight against the obdurateness of our own hearts, against our impenitency, diffidency, presumption, and the like vices and sins, then against our adversaries;) But to represent and show you what meditations and functions, the words of jesus Christ should produce and propagate in our souls, when we present ourselves to his holy Table to receive this Sacrament. And although (as we have formerly said) It be not now my intent or meaning to treat of Controversies, yet notwithstanding, we are obliged to deduce and give you the occasion, and reason of these words, and to show the clear and pure sense thereof, thereby to cause to slide into your hearts, and to distil into your souls, the holy doctrine and Instructions, which they contain: To which end and purpose by God's assistance we will especially treat & insist on three main points and general heads. 

1. The Reason and Sense of these words.  
2. The Meditations which these words administer, and furnish us with.  
3. The Duty and Functions whereunto they oblige us.     

I. Point, or General Head.  
The words are; Take eat, this is my body, which is broken for you; Where first we must know, why it was that jesus Christ spoke of eating, and why he proposed this Sacrament under the words of Meat, and Drink. It is not sufficient to allege that jesus Christ did this occasionally, that is to say, because he was at Table, as by occasion he found himself near a well, and demanding water to drink of the Samaritane woman; that the spoke to her of the grace, & efficacy of the holy Ghost, under the names of water and drink. This answer sufficeth, when we demand why jesus Christ speaking to the troops and multitude of people, before he instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist, proposed himself as bread descended from Heaven; and his flesh as meat, which gave everlasting and eternal life; For it is clear and apparent that jesus Christ spoke so by occasion, answering those troops and multitudes which asked him for bread, and who followed him for earthly meat, and for this occasion he therefore assumed the names of those things, to the which he saw them affected: But here, where it concerns and depends of the Institution of the Sacrament, the answer drawn and derived from the occasion to be at Table, is not sufficient; For we may demand again, why jesus Christ placed and sat himself at Table, to institute and celebrate this Sacrament: For answer whereof, they allege, and propose three reasons.  
I That jesus Christ having already instituted Baptism under the similitude of a Birth; It, was likewise very fit, and expedient, that he should institute his holy Supper under the similitude of nutriment, or nourishment; For if the beginning of Grace, and of spiritual life had been proposed in the first Sacrament, by a Birth in comparison of a temporal life: It was very requisite and reasonable, that the advancement, and progress of Grace, should by the same comparison, be proposed by a nourishment in the second Sacrament. As than jesus Christ had in Baptism given water, which is the principal of the generation of corporal things, to be a figure of the Holy Ghost, which is the principal, and efficient cause of the regeneration of our souls; So he instituted the Sacrament of his blessed Supper, by those things from whence we have and receive our temporal nourishment, to wit, Bread and Wine; thereby to represent unto us the life, which our souls receive of his body and blood offered on the Cross, from whence it follows, that the word of eating is no more meant, or taken of the letter in this Sacrament, then that of Birth in the Sacrament of Baptism, and that he who thinks or pretends to nourish himself of jesus Christ, by his bodily mouth, commits the same error which Nicodemus did, who because Christ spoke to him of being borne again, 
john. 3.4.  Asked, if man, when he were grown old, could reenter into his mother's belly, and be borne anew.  
II. Reason. That our union with jesus Christ, being the foundation of the application which is made and given us by the merits of Christ (For the death and passion of jesus Christ is not applied or given, but to those who are one, and the same body with him; according as it is said, that jesus Christ is the Saviour of his body,) It is expedient that this union should be represented unto us: But it cannot more perfectly, or lively be represented or figured to us, then by the union of meats with our body, Sith there is nothing which nature doth more strictly or efficably unite to our bodies, than meats by our eating thereof. As then by eating, meats do become our own proper flesh and bones, so we are taught, that by the faith and virtue of Christ's holy Spirit, we become one with jesus Christ, and are made flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone: And again, that as by the union of meats we receive our temporal life, so by our union with jesus Christ we receive our spiritual and eternal life.  
III Reason. That jesus Christ would institute his holy Supper, at the Sacrament of Easter, in which Sacrament the jews were accustomed to eat a Lamb. And indeed jesus Christ was at the table for the celebration of Easter, But at the Sacrament, or Passeover of Easter, two things were done and performed, first there was a Lamb eaten, and after as for a banquet (and this is verified and recited by those who have written the jews Liturgy) the Father of the family took bread, to wit, unleavened bread, which was held course and poor bread, and in giving it to every one of his family, which were sitting at Table, said. Take, eat, this is the bread of misery, which our fathers have eaten in Egypt, and taking the Cup, blessed it with a solemn prayer, which done, they rendered thankes to God, for that he had brought and established them in a Country, which abounded with all prosperity, and plenty of Bread, and Wine, in Comparison of the misery and dearth, wherein their Fathers had lived in Egypt, As in very deed all believed and held, That the unleavened Bread, which God had appointed and instituted for Easter, was a true symbol and figure, of the bread of misery and affliction, which the Israelites had eaten during their captivity in Egypt. Now Christ jesus, who would not permit or suffer that jewish Ceremonies should any longer remain in the Christian Churches; instead of the Passeover or Feast of Easter, placed and instituted his blessed Supper, as he had formerly appointed and introduced, Baptism instead of Circumcision, leaving in all Christian Churches, none but these two figures and Sacraments in place and steed of all that great multitude, which were formerly under the old Law. And according as the service of the new Testament was spiritual, It was also convenient and fitting, those few Ceremonies, which Christ instituted, were likewise simple and easy, as depending and having relation to the Nature and Condition of the Evangelical Law and service, which is wholly spiritual, and heavenly, whereunto these Ceremonies were tied and conjoined; In which regard jesus Christ in his Supper, took no figure of any formerly prepared meat, procured with cost or care, or which could not be hourly provided, and had, as was the Paschall Lamb, but took simply Bread, and Wine, as in the same sort and manner that in the Sacrament of Baptism, instead of the painful and grievous Circumcision, he instituted the easy and simple aspersion of water.  
Now for that jesus Christ hath substituted his blessed Supper instead of the feast of Easter: It follows of necessity, that there must be some resemblance and conformity of the Lords Supper to the Feast of Easter, and of the actions of Christians in receiving the same, to the actions of the jews in eating of their Paschall Lamb. But as this great Feast and Passeover of the jews, was a Sacrament and religious mystery; so, notwithstanding, it was yet more to feed the mind then the body; wherefore we must observe and remember, that beside, yea above the eating of the mouth, there was the eating of the mind, which was a holy and religious meditation, whereby their souls should be refreshed and comforted according to the quality and Condition of the Churches of their time. That which they did eat with their Corporal mouths, was a Lamb, some bitter herbs, and unleavened bread; And that which their minds and heart ought to meditate on, was the grace and favour, which God had bestowed on them, in delivering them from the miserable servitude and slavery, wherein their Forefathers had lived in Egypt; and for bringing them to enjoy the fruits and fatness of the Land of Canaan. So that at the same time, which their bodies did eat; their souls likewise had their spiritual meat and food, and tasted how good and gracious God was to them, by giving them their deliverance. In the same manner jesus Christ, instituting his Blessed Supper at Easter, proposed to Christians a double form of eating; the one of the mouth, which was that of Bread; and the other of the Soul, which was the meditation of the great goodness and mercy of God, whereby jesus Christ having been crucified to death for us, hath victoriously and gloriously delivered us from all our miseries.  
Now let us here remark & observe, the excellent sympathy & conformity, whereunto the Israelites were called at their Passeover, (or Feast of Easter) to the meditation wherein our Saviour Christ called Christians in his blessed Supper, to relish the goodness of God. The jews in their Passeover, considered that by the blood of a Lamb, their Forefathers were delivered from the destroying and persecuting Sword of the Angel; the slayen and immolated Lamb, being the Ransom of the first borne; And in the fraction (or breaking) and eating of the Bread of the Eucharist: we Christians do consider, That the body and blood of jesus Christ, (as of an immaculate Lamb without spot or blemish) hath been offered up to God in Sacrifice, and that by this Ransom we are delivered delivered from the destroying Sword of the Angel, (to wit) from all the power and malice of Satan. As the Apostle tells the Corinthians, 
1 Cor. 5.7.  that Christ our Paschall Lamb hath been sacrificed up for us. As then the jews considering the Lamb, meditated and celebrated the goodness of God, for giving deliverance to their Forefathers, by the Ransom of a Lamb: So we Christians should feast our minds, and refresh our hearts with the meditation of God's singular goodness towards us, which is infinitely greater and more admirable, in that he hath delivered up his own, yea his only Son, to death for the Ransom of we poor and wretched Sinners, wherein appears a dilection and love, which surpasseth all understanding, and wherein (faithful Servants of the Lord,) you may apparently see the excellency of your advantage, and benefits above those of the ancient Testament: That which they meditated in their Passeover, was a temporal deliverance; That which you meditate in the Lord's Supper, is a deliverance both spiritual and eternal: That which they considered for a Ransom and deliverance, from the Angel's Sword of persecution and pestilence, was a simple terrestrial, and carnal Lamb; But that which you meditate on for your Ransom in this sacred Supper, is the proper body of God's only Son, crucified and slain for your Sins. The joy and refreshing which the Israelites conceived in their hearts and minds by their meditation, was their delight and contentment to have been delivered from Pharaoh, and to be brought into the promised Land of Canaan: But what is this in Comparison of the joy and refreshing, which our souls conceive, to see, and contemplate the unspeakable goodness of God, whereby you are delivered from eternal death, and conducted and brought into a spiritual, and heavenly Canaan; O therefore if those of the Church of Rome, would consider, how great, how excellent, & how inexpressable, this feeding and refreshing of our souls is by this meditation; They would not then say, that we return empty from this blessed Sacrament; It is then the Church of Christ, which hath the true eating and true refreshing and satiety thereof, and there only it is, where true peace and felicity is to be found; And therefore it is, that the word of God teacheth us concerning the ancient Israelites, That what content soever they received by their Passeover, there yet remained in their memories a degree of slavery and servitude, 
Rom. 1.15.  whereof they were still afraid, and the Reason of it was, that the curse of the Law, still echoed and resounded aloud in their ears; and that the promises of remission and pardon for their sins, were still concealed and obscured from them, and the death of Christ crucified for the transgressions of men, was hidden, and overclouded from them by the veil of Ceremonies. Whereas here (O ye faithful Christians,) jesus Christ calls you to the public Meditation and Contemplation of his death, and of the pardon and remission of your sins, to refresh and fill your souls with peace and felicity; And for which cause and reason he saith, in Saint john, 
joh. 6.35.  Whosoever comes unto me, shall not be hungry, and those who trust in me, shall not be dry, or thirsty.  
And, therefore jesus Christ taking bread, said, Take, eat, and then he added, thereunto, This is my Body; So that which he came from taking of, and which he held, (to wit) Bread, he said it was his body, A thing which he then spoke most easily, and clearly; For as there was not the smallest Child among the jews, but understood, when the Father of his family said, (Take eat, this is the Bread of misery, which our Forefathers, did eat in Egypt) that this Bread was so named and called by the Father of the family, because it was a Commemoration of the bread of affliction, which their Forefathers had eaten in Egypt, according as it is said in Deutr. 
Deut. 16.3.  Under the Law seven days thou shalt eat unleavened Bread, which is Bread of affliction, because thou didst hastily departed and fly away from Egypt:) So there was none so ignorant, or simple, but understood well, That Christ said the bread was his body, because he was the Commemoration thereof, and as the unleavened bread had been yearly or dayned for a Memorial, (or Comemoration) of the miseries, which the Israelites had suffered in Egypt: That jesus Christ established Bread to remain till the end of the world, the sign and Commemoration of his Body offered on the Cross: which again was clear and evident, because they named the Lamb, which they did eat, Pasque, an Hebrew word which signifieth Passeover, and which every one well understood in that Language; Where wilt thou (said the Apostles to jesus Christ) 
Mat. 26.17.  that we prepare for thee, the Passeover. The Lamb which they eat was so called, because it was instituted in Memory and Commemoration of the Passing over of the destroying Angel from above, and beyond the Israelites houses. And in this same sense they easily understood, that the Bread was called the body of jesus Christ, because it was purposely instituted to be the Remembrance or Commemoration of his body offered on the Cross, for the sins of the world: Now although this were sufficiently clear and palpable of itself, yet observe here the singular bounty, goodness, and wisdom of jesus Christ, to repel, and prevent the error which he foresaw; In that he conjoined and added thereunto (as Saint Luke and Saint Paul affirm it, in express terms; Do this in remembrance of me; Is there not here then, just cause to admire and wonder, that after all this, That Bread should be understood by transubstantiation, to be the body of jesus Christ, and fare different and otherwise then by Remembrance, or Commemoration; From whence it necessarily results and follows; That in the Church of Rome, a morsel of Bread, is adored for the body, and person of jesus Christ, The Sacrament and Remembrance having been confounded with that, whereof it is the Sacrament and commemoration.  
So then Christ jesus said, This is my Body, This is my blood, and yet not simply so, but according as Saint Luke tells us; 
Luc. 22.19.  Which is given for us, and as Saint Paul affirms, Which is broken for you, So then Christ representing us his body, understands thereby, that he hath been delivered up for us to the Cross, that is to say, that he hath been broken, and sacrificed, And likewise for the Cup, he said, This is my Blood which is shed for you, speaking in terms of the time present, and not only for regard of what he knew should befall him the very next day, in respect of the truth thereof; But also because he gave and rendered in a present figure, that which should be done on the Cross, the fraction of Bread being a true, and lively representation of the fraction of his body, as a canon of the Church of Rome, acknowledgeth it in these words. 
De consecr. Dist. 2. Canon Hoc est quod.  The immomolation of the flesh of Christ, which is done by the Priest's hands, is termed the Passion, Death, and crucifiing of jesus Christ, but not by the truth of the thing but by the signification of the mystery thereof. From whence, doth clearly result and stream forth unto us two especial things; The one, that in the same manner, that the breaking (or fraction) of bread in the Lord's Supper is the breaking of Christ's body. So in the same manner the Bread is the body of Christ: but the breaking of bread in the Lord's Supper, is the fraction and crucifying of Christ's body, not by the truth or reality of the thing, but by the signification of the mystery, And so likewise, the bread is the body of jesus Christ, yet not by the truth or reality of the thing, but by the signification of the mystery.  
The other branch or point, which results hereof is, That this holy Supper is the sacrifice of jesus Christ, not by the truth of the thing, but by the signification of the mystery, and that it is not a sacrifice, but a remembrance and commemoration of a Sacrifice; As indeed Christ offered up no oblation to God, but broke the bread and gave it to his Disciples.  
From whence (beloved in the Lord) you plainly see that, to esteem and hold the Lords Supper, to be a real sacrifice, wherein jesus Christ hath offered himself up a propitiatory Sacrifice for the sins of the living and the dead, Is a humane Invention; opposite and contrary to the Institution of jesus Christ, and to the use of this Sacrament, which was ordained to show forth and proclaim his death and passion: And likewise it is contrary to the only oblation of the cross; the Apostle Saint Paul affirming to the Hebrews, 
Heb. 10.10  That we are sanctified by the oblation once made, of the body of jesus Christ, and therefore that there is no more oblation for sin.   

TWO Point, or general Head.  
Thus much for the sense of Christ's words. And now faithful Christians, (to whom God hath revealed and made known the truth, and purity of these high and sacred mysteries) come, and meditate on these words of the Son of God, all which Heaven hath of most admirable sweet, and delicious; And you (godly souls) who justly hunger and thirst for this grace and mercy of the Lord; come you to feed and refresh yourselves with the fat of the house of God, and to quench your thirst in the River of his delights: But first we here require two things of you, (that is to say) some Meditations, and then some Functions of the heart proceeding from these meditations, and both which on these words, This is my Body, which is broken for you, This is my Blood, which is shed for you.  
This Meditation hath three Points and Objects. 

I. The body and blood of jesus Christ, in these words. My Body, My Blood.  
II. The Oblation of this Body, and of this Blood, in these words, Which is broken, which is shed.  
III. The Fruit of this oblation, intimated in these words, Broken For You, Shed For Many, for the remission of Sins.    
In the first of these, when you hear jesus Christ proposing his body, and his blood, the meditation then required of you is, That it being so, that we have so exposed ourselves to the wrath, and so incurred the indignation and revenge of God, by reason of our sins, and transgressions, that the justice of God must be satisfied, & consequently, that either we must bear God's wrath and malediction, and so for ever stoop and faint under the heavy burden thereof, or else that some other thing must be substituted in our steed and place, to satisfy the justice of God; But nothing could be found out in the whole world to be appointed in the place of man, and worthily to satisfy for his sins. From the beginning of the world, beasts have been offered, and these Sacrifices of beasts by the sense and feeling, which our conscience hath ever given to men of a sufficient & valable satisfaction for sin, have been practised in all the whole world: In the old Law, a man came and put his hands on the head of the beast which was to be sacrificed, as putting her in his place and room, with an intent and hope to discharge and transfer his sins on her: but contrariwise natural reason showeth, that that could no way appease or satisfy God; For God's justice being (of itself) most perfect, can no way content itself, with a payment or satisfaction, so unequal and imperfect to the Debt, because all the beasts of the Earth, placed and numbered up together, are not equivalent or to be compared in value to one man; Here then, O here, is the Sacrifice (or Victim) after which (without knowing it) all the world sighed and respired, in offering these Sacrifices; and this is the Sacrifice, which all others ought to reverence and look on; When therefore you hear jesus Christ saying, This is my Body, you must figure, and represent him to you, as proffering and offering up to God his Father, these admirable words and speeches, recited by the Apostle to the Hebrews; 
Hebr. 10.  Thou wilt have no Sacrifice, or offering, but thou hast given and appropriated me a body, Thou hast taken no delight in Sacrifices, And then I have said, here I am, I come; And in the beginning of the Book, it is written of me; that I do thy will O God.  
So here Christ jesus, coming to present himself in the place and steed of all these Sacrifices, which had been offered up under the Law, and which were daily reiterated & continued, because, as the same Apostle said in the same Chapter, 
Ibid. v. 4.  That it was impossible, that the blood of Bulls and Goats should take and wash away Sins; And therefore (my beloved brethren) observe here, the readiness, and favour, which the providence of God makes and provides for you, of a most convenient and requisite Victim and Oblation. When Isaac was to be sacrificed, there was a Ram found tied by the Horns to a bush, to be sacrificed for him; But here, O Sinners, behold in these words, This is my body, that great Sacrifice and Oblation, which the wonders of Gods divine providence have addressed, and sent you: and rejoice that here is the true Sacrifice (or Victim) which comes to assist and defend you from God's heavy wrath and Indignation.  
But jesus Christ, as being simply God, could not present himself in a Sacrifice for men, for there wanted a humane Sacrifice, because Sin had been committed, and perpetrated by man, wherefore our Saviour Christ tells you, This is my body, He saith not, This I am, but, This is my body, thereby purposely to conduct and lead you to the mystery of his Incarnation, whereby he is descended from Heaven, hath taken and assumed a carnal body, and is made man for us, so that conjointly with these words, you at one time see your great Sacrifice taken from Earth, and yet descended from heaven; Taken from Earth, for it is a body, descended from Heaven, for it is, My Body, said our Saviour jesus Christ; (that is to say) of me true God with the Father; Here therefore is the wonder which you ought to meditate on, That nothing being found in all the world, no nor in the infinite multitude and infinity of all God's Creatures, which could be capable to be our ransom towards God; Then lo: jesus Christ himself, the only Son of God, (descended so low) as he made himself man, and a creature, to the end, that he might be offered up a Sacrifice for us: He whose Essence was wholly simple, and spiritual, assumed a body, and being material, and carnal. He who was invisible to our eyes, hath made himself conspicuous, and visible to us, permitted and suffered himself, to be beaten, tied and nailed to a Cross, yea to be run thorough with a Spear, and in a word, capable to be sacrificed. And here you may know and find, why jesus Christ, holding the Bread, said not, This is my Divinity, but, This is my Body, (That is to say) because not his Divine, but only his Humane nature could be offered up in Sacrifice: The Divinity is well considered, but still as offering, not as offered, according as the Apostle said to the Hebrews, 
Heb. 9.14.  That jesus Christ offered himself up to God, by the eternal Spirit; By which means, It is not the eternal Spirit which hath been offered (For that which was offered was to die) But the body hath been offered by the eternal Spirit.  
And here ariseth unto us another wonder (to wit) that although Christ's humane nature be offered, nevertheless it is of as great a price and value, as if his Divinity itself could have been offered, and the reason hereof is, because this his humane nature composed not, but one, and the same person with the divine nature. For this body which was crucified, was personally united to the eternal Spirit; and this miracle or wonder, is given you for your meditation, in that jesus Christ holding the bread, said not indefinitely, This is my Body, which is broken for you, but This is my Body, as if he said, This is a humane Body, and yet mine; to the end we might know that this vivifying, or quickening flesh, that is to say, to be a worthy Ransom for the life of the world. Sith it is the flesh of a man, who is both God and man: In the levitical Law Moses sprinkling of blood, when God contracted Alliance with the Israelites, said, This is the blood of the Testament, which God hath ordained for you; But this blood was the blood of Beasts; Now here in the Sacrament of his Supper is proposed and presented to you the blood of God, according as the Apostle saith in the Acts, 
Acts 20.28.  That God hath purchased the Church, by his blood. And behold my brethren to what a degree of glory of the Gospel caries you in the New Testament above his faithful Servants of the old: wherefore here revoke to your mind and memory, these passages of Paul's Epistle to the Galathians, 
Gal. 4.4,5  God sent forth his Son made of a Woman, and made under the Law, And writing to the Romans, again likewise said, 
Rom. 8.3.  God sending his own Son in the Similitude of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.  
And before were pass to the Meditation of the ensuing words, I pray observe here again with me in these, This is my Body, the clear refutation of all which Superstition, and humane Inventions propose of the intercession and meditation of Saints, and of their suffering for the expiation of the temporal pain of our sins; which pretended sufferings and satisfactions are partly the treasure, whereof the Bishop of Rome, draws his Indulgences, and Pardons, which makes, that the Saints are a piece and part of our Sacrifice; But jesus Christ hath designed it, and the price of our deliverance in these words, This is my Body, for he said not, This is a part of my Body, and part of the bodies of Saints, who shall suffer for you; If our Adversaries consider, that the Sacrament of the Lords Supper presenteth and exposeth to our eyes, our Price, and Ransom (as some of the Ancients for that cause and reason term the Sacrament, our Price, and if they likewise consider, that this Sacrament proposeth not to us the bodies of men, but the body of Christ, they shall find that there is no other price for our Ransom and Redemption, but this body. And although these people which say, That this Sacrament of the Lords Supper is the Abridgement of the mysteries of the Gospel, do they accuse it of Imperfection not to have proposed or given it all our Price and Ransom, And those who daily make and create the body of Christ, and who pretend daily to offer him, wherefore do they not content themselves. But here let them understand, and hearken to the thundering words of the Apostle writing to the Corinthians, 
1 Cor. 1.13.  Is Christ divided, hath Paul been crucified for you? I affirm that the Bread of this holy Supper showeth us also a Communion of the faithful with jesus Christ; for as the same Apostle writes again to the Corinthians, 
1 Cor. 10.17.  We who are many, are one Bread and one Body; But it is a Communion with jesus Christ, To receive, and not To give; To receive (I say) of jesus Christ the expiation and remission of our sins, and not to give or confer it to other men's merits. A Communion to be freed, bought, and vivified (or quickened) by him, and not to free, buy, and vivify with him.  
The second Object of our Meditation, is the Oblation of this body in these words, Which is broken; This is my Blood which is shed. In the words, This is my body; you have seen Christ jesus made capable to be this Sacrifice, but in these latter words, you see him actually to be a Sacrifice, and here is given, you, to meditate and contemplate first the Immolation, and then the Oblation of the Sacrifice; The Sacrifice is a sovereign honour given and yielded to God, which consists in an extreme unmaking and dissolution of the Creature, which dissolution and unmaking, is not nor cannot be extreme, except by the destroying of the thing which is offered; wherefore all things (heretofore) which were offered up in Sacrifice to God, were first to be destroyed; For it is one thing to be offered simply, and another thing to be offered up in Sacrifice; As for example, The Sacrificators, the Levites and the first borne of Israel, were offered up to God, But how not offered up in Sacrifice, because they still remained living: All things then offered in Sacrifice ought sirs to be destroyed, if they were liquid, or wet things without life, they were to be shed; If  things, without life, they were to be burnt; Or if living things, they were to be killed, and for witness and Testimony of a true death, there must needs be an effusion of the Beasts blood, because blood being the seat of the Beasts life, the separation of blood from the flesh, showed and figured the separation of life from the body, and consequently an entire death; And in the expiatory, and propitiatory Sacrifices this was the more requisite and needful, for that these Sacrifices were satisfactions for typical and carnal sin; But the absolute satisfaction and expiation for sin, must consist in the death and destruction of the thing offered; because the Apostle peremptorily and truly tells us, 
Rom. 6.33  That the wages of Sin, is death, from whence you first see wherefore it was, that of necessity Christ must die, For the wages of Sin being death, it must needs follow, that he who placed himself an Undertaker for Sinners, must undergo the punishment ordained for Sin: Secondly from hence you likewise see, wherefore it was, that the blood of Christ was shed in his death, and separated from his body; to wit thereby to express and show the truth of the death, and expiation of Sin, as the Apostle to the Hebrews proves by legal figures, that jesus Christ must die, and shed his blood in Sacrifice, because saith he, 
Heb. 9.22.  That according to the Law, all things are purged and purified by blood, and without the effusion of blood there is no remission. So jesus Christ, by shedding his blood, hath accomplished the figures of the Law, and given us this Consolation, that the Ransom and expiation of our sins is entire and perfect. And hence (as it were in passing) you learn two things.  
I. That it is impossible, that there is any propitiatory Sacrifice without blood, and consequently impossible, that the Mass, wherein there is neither death, nor effusion of blood, be a propitiatory Sacrifice for sins, as our Adversaries call it.  
TWO In the Lord's Supper, It was needful that the body and blood of jesus Christ, was represented to us distinctly and severally, for that there were two signs, (to wit) The Bread broken, and the Wine filled out, which was the Reason why jesus Christ did not only say, This is my Body broken, but also takes the Cup and said, This is my blood which is shed, Because without effusion of blood there could be no remission of sin, From whence it follows, That the taking and cutting away of the Cup in the Lord's Supper (which shows the blood of Christ to be separated from his body) takes away from the mystery of that sacred Supper, it's plenitude, power, & perfection, depriving it of the sign of the Condition requisite for the expiation of sins, (to wit) the effusion of blood.  
But this is told you but cursorily, and as it were in passing: Now the chief and principal Meditation, which we require of you in this object, is three things. 

I. Of Christ's great debasing, and making himself as it were nothing.  
II. Of the horror, and grievousness of sin, as the direct opposition of the perfect sanctity, and absolute holiness of God.  
III. Of the immense love and charity of jesus Christ towards us.    
I speak first of Christ's great debasing, and esteeming himself nothing; For, (if you formerly understand and remember) jesus Christ abased himself so low, as to  and incorporate himself with our wretched nature, and to make himself after the simple semblance of men. But here behold him now, he makes himself less than man, as he saith in the Psalms, 
Psal. 22.6.  I am a Worm, and no man, the shame of men, and the contempt of the People: Behold how he makes himself a Sacrifice, and assumes and takes on him the condition of Beasts, which were slain in the ancient Law for the sins of men; O Lord jesus, who can sufficiently comprehend the depth of this thy extreme humiliation, and making thyself as nothing, who from the heavenly Throne of thy glory, hast been placed, in form of a Victim, upon the Altar of the Cross; And that thou wouldst die, yea die a shameful and most ignominious death for us, according as it is written, 
Gal. 3.13.  Cursed is every one, that hangeth on a Tree.  
From this, pass we on to the second thing; which is, the Consideration, of the horror, grieveousnesse, yea and the odiousness of Sin: For I pray you, how wicked was it in itself, and how execrable in the eyes of God, that the only Son of God must needs suffer such grievous pains and torments; The Law did well show the odiousness and abomination of Sin, by the Sacrifices, and Aspersions of blood, which it required for the Expiation thereof; But all that is nothing in Comparison of this which the Gospel shows us, because these Sacrifices and Aspersions of the Law were of Beasts, and of the blood of Beasts, but here it is the only begotten Son of God, who hath been given to death, to expiate sin, and to cover the foulness and enormity thereof. Behold then, O Sinners, with astonishment, by the greatness of the satisfaction; the horror of this sin, and thereby to learn to hate and detest it. Nature, to show how grievous and odious sin was, since the fall of Adam, became harried over with thorns and briers, and changed many of her plants into poisons; The air grew thick with storms, and was many times infected, to punish sinners; The Sea impetuously mounted her angry waves and surges, and caused infinite shipwracks; Adam's own person, (and his posterity,) strayed from his temper, and by sickness and diseases had drawn the Empire of death into his own entrailes and bowels; man's wisdom was obscured with ignorance, and tormented with irregular and extravagant passions; and all this befell and happened to the world for sin. But now behold, Heaven, (who against sin, and to the end, and intent to expiate and destroy it,) delivers up to death, that which it had and held dearest, and to reproach, and shame, that which it held and possessed of most glorious For here God the Father of heaven exposeth his sweetest delights to the bitter torments of the Cross. Hear Christ jesus, his only beloved Son, who yields & abandoneth his life, and who to destroy sin, (so extremely he hates it) doth voluntarily and willingly destroy himself. And here considering, and meditating further, how odious sin is to God, let us admire how perfect God's justice and sanctity is, & let us say, that here it is, where this sanctity manifesteth itself at full in her brightest Orient; It is in this mystery, that the Seraphims cry, Holy, holy, holy, the Eternal of Armies: for if he show forth his righteousness and sanctity here below, in punishing and ruining some of his creatures by his judgements; how much more doth he manifest it by the death of his only beloved Son, to whom sin presented itself to be punished.  
Come we now to the third mediation which we require of you, wherein we may behold the exreame debasing & annihilating of the Son of God; to see the immense Love, both of this heavenly Father and Son towards us, for that the Son hath been so grievously handled and tormented for us. What Abyssus of affection and mercy is this towards man? Is there any mind or spirit, though angelical, which cannot be ravished and swallowed up heereat? Profane Infidels and Atheists, who are incredulous of the mysteries of the Christian faith. Know ye, that it shows you the highest charity, and perfectest sanctity, that the heart, or wit of man can possibly comprehend or conceive. And of God be a sovereign sanctity, an immense charity and goodness, (as his being cannot be but all perfection) know that the new Testament showeth God to men, and reveals them this unexpressable and incomprehensible sanctity and charity, which is the same that Saint john said, 
1. john 4.16.  God is Love, and he that dwelleth in Love, dwelleth in God and God in him etc. That God is Charity, and in this is manifested his Charity, For that God hath sent his only Son into the world; to the end that we live by him, and in this again is Charity, not that we have loved God, but because he hath loved us, and hath given his Son to be a propitiation for our sins. And here it is, that the new Testament, hath many great advantages and singular benefits, and prerogatives above the old one of the Law, Seeing that herein God fully discovereth the rich Treasures of his goodness. In nature we see GOD'S goodness towards man, for that for a time he entertains and maintains himself in life by the death of Beasts, whose flesh serves him for food and sustenance; But here God gives and purchaseth to man, an eternal life by the death of his only Son, Here he gives to man not his Creatures, as in the creation, but his only well beloved Son himself; yea and to sinful man. Wherefore it is, that the Apostle affirms to the Corinthians, 
2. Cor. 3.18.  We all behold, as in a Mirror, the glory of the Lord with open face, and jesus Christ tells us, That none having ever seen God, it is he that hath revealed him to us. Faithful brethren in the Lord, open the eyes of your understandings, and see how God manifesteth himself, and how he makes himself palpably visible to you, by this immense Love and Charity, which this Sacrament of the Eucharist presenteth and representeth to your eyes. If then on these words, This is my Body, you have meditated on the Love, and Charity of Christ humbling himself so low, as to clothe himself with our weak body and nature, then meditate on this greater degree of Charity, which hath caused him to assume the form of a servant for us (which was already exceeding much, to him who was the Creator, and the King of glory) but also to expose himself to death in this form and shape of a Servant, yea to the shameful death of the Cross, which is the very meditation of the Apostle to the Philippians, 
Philip. 2.6,7,8.  jesus Christ, being in the form of God, thought it no robbery to make himself equal to God: But he made himself of no Reputation; and took on him the form of a Servant, and was made like unto man, and found in the shape of a man, who humbled himself, and became came obedient to death, yea to the death of the Cross; And the same Apostle, ravished in this meditation, saith in another place, 
Rom. 8.32  Who spared not his own Son for us, but gave him for us all to death; He saith not simply, that he hath given him, but that he hath not spared him, as if he should have said, he made no difficulty, to expose him for us to extreme pain and torments. A degree of Charity, which the Angels themselves cannot sufficiently comprehend, and therefore the Apostle postle requireth in us, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, to wit, that the eyes of our understanding be so illuminated, 
Ephes. 3.13.  that we may know, what is the length, breadth, height, and depth of this love of God towards us.  
In a word, upon this object, let us briefly collect and consider against our adversaries of the Church of Rome, That in this holy Supper and Communion, the body of jesus Christ is not simply proposed, as understanding it to be a body; nor the blood, as taking it for blood, but the body, as understanding it to be broken, and the blood, as taking it to be spilt; Because in that consisteth all the merit of our salvation, and all the cause of our life. From whence it follows, That the action wherewith we receive the body and blood of Christ, cannot choose but be spiritual, to wit, an action of the soul, and no way of the body, because the body cannot be taken as understood, broken; nor the blood, as meant shed, except by Faith: For those forepast, and betided things on the cross, that is to say, the breaking of the body, and the effusion of blood, cannot be given or presented to the soul, but by the meditation of Faith.  
The third object of our Meditation, is the fruit and benefit of this obligation which were received by Christ's body and blood, in these words, Broken for you, Shed for many, for the remission of sins. And here two considerations again present them to us: 

I. Of the persons, for whom jesus Christ is offered.  
II. The profit and benefit which it brings them.    
Of the persons; understanding, that he offereth himself for wretched and sinful creatures, who in regard of his excellent being, are nothing but dust and ashes: and as it were form but yesterday; but, which is more, for creatures infected with sin, guilty of rebellion against him, and professed enemies of his divine majesty, both in their thoughts, and wicked works and actions, which the consideration of the Apostle to the Colossians thus expresseth; 
Col. 1.21.  You which in times past, were strangers and enemies; because your minds were set in evil works; he now also hath reconciled, in that body of his flesh, to make you holy, and unblameable, and without fault in his sight. And also writing to the Romans, saith, 
Rom. 5.6,7,8.  For Christ, when we were yet of no strength, at his time, died for the , adding again farther, doutblesse one will scarce die for a righteous man, but yet for a good man, but God setteth out his love to us, seeing that whiles we were yet Sinners, Christ died for.  
The other consideration, proceeds from the profit and benefit which it brings us; and jesus Christ defines it, when he saith, that it is for the remission of sins: And this is the profit and benefit, which to express the Prophets aleage, that our sins have been thrown into the bottom of the Sea, and that God remembreth them no more, and that as fare distant, as the East is from the West, so fare from him, the Lord hath cast away our sins, and the figures under the Law, to wit, that of the Goat Hazazel, teaching, that our sins have been carried into a desert and unhabitable Country, never to return more in God's sight and Presence; Which believing, we see all evils, as they are pains and torments, to have lost their being in the faithful righteous man; yea and that death itself is swollen up in victory, and the Law with his curses, (which were as a contrary obligation) is quite razed out & defaced by the blood of the Son of God, clear abolished, canceled, and fastened to his Cross, as the Apostle teacheth to the Colosians: 
Col. 2.14.  Likewise Satan, who performed nothing, but as the Executioner of God's justice against Sinners, by this alone death found all his power to be vanquished and overthrown, as the Apostle showeth us in the same Chapter, of the same Epistle to the Colossians, in these words, 
Col. 2.15.  Christ hath spoilt the Principalities and Powers, and hath made a show of them openly, and hath triumphed over them on the Cross: But beside, that our enemies and afflictions are taken away and defaced, by this oblation of jesus Christ, so likewise all sorts of profits and benefits are put in place thereof; as many promses as there are; they are so many, Yea and Amens in Christ jesus; life is given, which is a new, spiritual, and divine life by regeneration; and the new heavenly Sanctuary is opened unto us, 
Heb. 10.19  for there we have leave and liberty to enter by the blood of Christ: and therefore it is that the earthly veil of the Templerent in pieces at his death. The Kingdom of God is given unto us, and we are made children, and heirs, to possess and enjoy all the goods and treasures of God, as the Apostle saith, 
Gal. 4.6,7.  That jesus Christ having been made subject under the Law, hath redeemed us from the Law, to the end, that we should receive the adoption of children: and that if we are children, we are also heirs of God by Christ, 
john 17.11.  yea God himself is given to us in his Son, to the end, that we be in him, and he in us, 
1. Cor. 1.  and likewise that one day, he be all things in all.   

III. Point, or general Head.  
These are the Meditations, which the words of jesus Christ in his Supper requireth of us; And now come we to see the acts & functions, which these Meditations ought to produce in our hearts, the which likewise result and descend from these words of jesus Christ: These acts and functions are five, to wit, 

I. The feeling of our misery, and a godly sorrow for having sinned.  
II. The belief and assurance of the remission of our sins.  
III. The sanctification of the soul, and particularly, of Love and Charity towards our neighbour.  
FOUR Our consolation, and patience in afflictions.  
V Our hope of heavenly felicity.    
I begin with the feeling of our misery, and a religious or godly sorrow for having sinned; that is to say, by considering by the breaking of Christ's body, which is proposed and intimated to us in the breaking of bread, the pain and torments which we have deserved. For my beloved Brethren, it is for us, that Christ's body hath been broken with cruel torments on the Cross; and therefore this sad & woeful spectacle doth both show and teach us, that in requital thereof, we have deserved to be bruised and broken with torments for ever. Christ's sufferings, and groans under the burden of God's wrath, is a portrait (or map) of that misery, wherein we all should have perished for our sins. Behold then, O sinner, the terrible indignation & curse of God, which violently was coming to alight and fall upon thee. Thou who art insensible of thy misery, here behold and see thy condition in the estate of jesus Christ on the Cross. See, I say, thy torments and misery; and when thou seest this Bread in the Sacrament of his Supper, broken, say: O Lord, here I am, who have deserved to be bruised, & broken with the rod of thine anger. It was I who had sinned, and therefore merited to support and suffer thy fierce indignation, & from thence there must be engendered and borne in our hearts, a holy and a religious sorrow, for that we have been the efficient and real cause, that the Son of God hath suffered all these undeserved tortures & afflictions. Seest thou, (O Christian) the body of jesus Christ broken on the Cross? It is therefore requisite, that thou break thy heart with sorrow, for that thy sins have produced all this evil, and caused all this calamity. Therefore behold the drops of blood trickling down the face of jesus Christ. Thou who drinkest and suppest up sin as water, lo, thy sins are the sharp thorns, which have pricked and pierced his head. Thee, to whom thy sin is so sweet and delicious, behold, they are thy sins which have been the nails and spear, that have transpierced thy blessed body. Thou who esteemest thy sins to be but some indifferent or trivial thing; what deep passions of sorrow should thy heart and soul conceive, to have been the cause of the death of thy friend, thy brother, thy father, or thy child, by any action or accident of thine own. But how much more grief & sorrow than oughtest thou hereto retain & feel at the remembrance of thy sins, which have caused thy Creator to be murdered, and thy God to be crucified to death.  
The II. Act of our hearts, which ought to stream forth and arise from that which the Lords blessed Supper exposeth and presenteth to our eyes, is the faith and assurance of the remission of sins. Thou sayest to thyself, O Sinner, I have offended God, and broken and transgressed his Law, therefore who shall ransom and redeem me from his furious wrath and indignation: But be cheerful and courageous, for lo here is thy ransom, which jesus Christ brings and denounceth unto thee in these words, This is my Body which hath been broken for thee, This is my Blood that hath been shed for thee, and wilt thou therefore doubt, when the only Son of God is he who hath satisfied for thee, and that it is not a silly man, but the eternal himself, who is both thy righteousness and thy Redeemer; say then with the Apostle, who is he, that will condemn, sith it is Christ that is dead: dost thou doubt of God's love, where his own Son, the only beloved of his Father, is the propitiation for thy sins. If thou propose to thyself, thine own merits, or the sufferings of any other creatures or persons, thou shouldest fear, that God will not receive them for satisfaction, because they are too base money, and of a false and counterfeit mettle, to be approved and received of God: But we must present him, the body of his only Son broken, and his blood shed, and then he cannot, but approve thereof as a full and valable satisfaction. God heretofore knew the blood of the Lamb, upon the posts of the doors, when he sent his destroying Angel against Egypt; and will he not then know the blood of his own Son, as of a Lamb without spot, or blemish, whereby you have besprinkled your consciences. Be therefore bold, and confident, and say with the Apostle to the Hebrews, 
Hebr. 10.21,22.  Seeing we have a high Priest, which is over the house of God, let us draw near, with a true heart in assurance of faith, our hearts being pure, from an evil conscience, that so we may obtain mercy and find grace in due time: And here again O faithful Christian, two reasons of thy assurance and confidence drawn from this Sacrament. The one is, that as in Baptism, it is to thyself, to thine own body, that the water is applied; that thou mayest thereby know, that thou art washed in the blood of jesus Christ, so in this Sacrament of his blessed Supper; it is to thee that he gives his body, yea it is into thine own hands, which he commits and puts this Sacrament, to assure thee, that it is only to thee, which he gives himself, and not to others whom thou mayest hold and esteem to be better than thyself: In which regard, for that this Sacrament is given to thee, and put into thine own hands, it is because thou must esteem, and believe, that Christ's body is thine, as a Ransom which is given into thy hands to present unto God: wherefore doubt not, but it properly belongs and appertains unto thee, for otherwise thou dost annul and annihilate the Sacrament which Christ gives thee, and thou doubtest that he be true in giving it to thee.  
The other reason is, That although there he a great distance betwixt jesus Christ & us, as betwixt the Saint of Saints, and poor and miserable sinners; nevertheless we learn by this Sacrament, that we are incorporated with Christ, and into Christ, and that we become his members, his blood, and his bone, as flesh which we eat becomes our blood and bone. But to the members and body, rightly belongs the power of the Head, which cannot be denied her. Thou mayest then infer, O Christian, that the righteousness of jesus Christ is thine own, and that it properly belongs and appertains to thee.  
The third Act of our hearts in the participation of this Sacrament, is the sanctifying of our souls, by the love of God, and the denying and renouncing of ourselves, the which is performed by three things that are seen, & appear in this Sacrament, that is to say: 

I. The great Charity, and love of God towards us.  
II. The foulness and odiousness of sin.  
III. The example of our own duty.    
I say first, The great charity & love of God: For (my brethren) should not this infinite love of God, in exposing and delivering up his only begotten Son to death for us, replenish, inspire, and fill us with a reciprocal love towards him; should we have such stupid and senseless hearts, that the Lords great compassion towards us, should nothing move, or stir them up; and such frozen souls, that the burning charity of jesus Christ, dying for us, could not heat and inflame them in his love. Should we wilfully offend so great a goodness in him, when we see, he hath spared nothing for us? Or is it possible, that so great (yea so extreme) an ingratitude, hath possessed our hearts, and seized our souls, as to displease God, who hath loved us so infinitely, as not to spare his only Son for us.  
II. I speak of the foulness and odiousness of sin, which appears in this Cross: for shall we not hate sin, which is so displeasing, and odious to the eyes of our heavenly Father, that he would redeem and expiate it with the death of his Son. Of a truth, if we repute & esteem not Christ's blood, for a light and trivial thing, needs must sin be very odious & grievous unto us; and then needs must jesus Christ crucified, be unto us the powerful motive to crucify the flesh with the lusts thereof, and to mortify in us all, that which is of the old man, and of sin.  
III. We have the example of our duty. In this Sacrament (O Christian) thou seest the sacrifice of the Son of God, which is a lesson to teach thee to present thy body unto God, as a living, holy and pleasing sacrifice. The pattern and model of thy sanctification, consisteth in breaking, and chasticing in thee the Old man, as thou seest the body of Christ broken on the Cross, and consequently, to dye unto sin, as thou seest him dead. What, wilt thou now live unto that, for which jesus Christ died, and his flesh which he crucified on the Cross, shall it again revive, and assume life, and full and perfect vigour in thy members? 
Rom. 6 5.  Must thou not be made the very same plant with jesus Christ, conformably to his death, to wit, that the body of sin be destroyed in thee, to the end, that thou no more, nor no longer serve sin.  
But amongst the parts of sanctification, Charity and love towards our neighbours, is particularly requisite and required in this Sacrament, according to that of the Apostle: 
john. 4.10,11.  Herein is that love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a reconciliation for our sins. Adding likewise thereunto; Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one the other. Wilt thou refuse, O Christian, to love and assist thy neighbour, for whom thou seest that Christ jesus refused not to shed his blood? Wilt thou refuse to give bread to him, to whom jesus Christ refused not his body? See therefore in this Sacrament, that which thou owest to thy neighbour, to wit, not only to expose thy goods, but thy life for him; at least, if thou think to have any part in jesus Christ, according to that of Saint john: 
2. john 3.16,17.  Hereby have we perceived love, that he laid down his life for us, therefore we ought also, to lay down our lives for our brethren: and whosoever hath the goods of this world, and seethe his brother have need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him; Thou therefore, who knowest not what it is, to give unto the poor, and to comfort the afflicted; art thou not amazed and confounded in thyself, to consider and behold, that Christ died for those, with whose poverty and misery thou art so little (or rather nothing at all) moved or touched. Thou also who contemnest thy neighbour, as thy inferior, and unworthy of thy company: behold how our Saviour Christ placeth him at the same table with thee, and nourisheth him with the same meat, and gives him his own Cup, as to thyself; and thou who livest in contention and division, with thy neighbours, behold how Christ in this Sacrament calls thee to the Communion of one and the same body, and will, that we who are many, be one only bread, and one only body partaking of the same bread, as the Apostle speaks to the Corinthians, 
1. Corint. 10.3. .  
The fourth Act and duty, which must be engendered and propagated in our hearts by the meditation of this blessed Sacrament, is patience and consolation in afflictions. Dost thou see God's Church persecuted; It is the Body of jesus Christ, which is again broken, and his blood which is shed, that which was the condition of this body on the Cross, and which is presented to thee in this Sacrament, the same is the condition of the mystical body on earth. What my brethren, do we so often see Christ's body broken by the Sacrament, to be afterwards so strangely affrighted and astonished, to see the Church, which is the body of Christ, to suffer the like measure and fortune here on earth? Let us therefore learn by this Sacrament, That jesus Christ crucified, is our ensign here on earth, and that we thereby know, that we are asommoned and called to his Cross, and that we are indeed his true body and members, if we suffer with him, to the end, that we may likewise be glorified with him; Say then all ye, who see this Sacrament; 
Heb. 13.13  Let us go forth therefore to him out of the Camp, bearing his reproach. 
Col. 1.24.  Let us accomplish and bear the sufferings of Christ in our flesh, for his body's sake, which is his Church, yea let us every where, 
2. Corint 4.10.  bear about in our bodies, the death of jesus Christ, and that the life of our Lord Christ, may be manifested in our mortal bodies: and all in general, let us comfort ourselves in our afflictions; and present and figure this belief to our hearts and minds, that they come not from God, who punisheth our sins in his wrath and indignation; sith this Sacrament testifieth, that those punishments, and revenges have alighted and fallen on jesus Christ himself, when his body was broken, and his blood shed and spilt on the Cross; but they proceed simply from God, chasticing, correcting, approving, and teaching us as a Father, 
1 Cor. 11.32.  that we be not condemned with the world; 
Hebr. 12.10.  that here below, being made Partakers of his holiness; we may hereafter in heaven be made Partakers of his felicity and glory.  
The fifth Function, which the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper should produce in us, is, our hope of heavenly felicity, according as Christ jesus himself said to his disciples, at the celebration of this Sacrament, 
Mat. 26.29  I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I shall drink it new with you, in my Father's Kingdom: by which words jesus Christ will now raise, and elevate our hearts from the feast, which he makes us here below in his favour, to that which he will hereafter make us above in his glory: and whereof he feast (or banquet) which he makes us here on earth, in his Sacrament gives us the first tastes and relishes, because the peace and joy of conscience, and the refreshing and replenishing of the soul in God, is a true beginning, and a shining ray of the delights and felicities of heaven: wherefore faithful Christian, rejoice thou at these beginnings, in hope of that happy & heavenly accomplishment, which is promised thee, and through the eyes of thy faith, behold cheerfully and joyfully, the tree of eternal life, which is in the Paradise of God, and the hidden Manna (the bread of Angels) which thy Lord and Saviour prepares for thee: and behold the fullness and satiety, which is prepared for thee, in the sacred and glorious face of God, whereof David (in the times of the thickest, and obscurest shadows) said, 
Psal. 16.11  In thy presence, O Lord, is fullness of joy, and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore. And again in another place, 
Psal. 65.4.  O how blessed is he whom thou choosest, and causest to come unto thee, he shall dwell in thy courts, and shall be satisfied with the pleasures of thine house and of thine holy Temple: and likewise in another, 
Psal 36.8  They shall be satisfied with the fatness of thine house, and thou shalt give them drink out of the River of thy pleasures. Contemn, therefore (O Christian) all earthly pleasures in Comparison of those heavenly delights which pass all understanding; because by this blessed Sacrament thou art invited and called to the wedding banquet of the Lamb, where thou halt sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and jacob, and where thou shalt be satisfied, and ravished with God.   

And these (my beloved brethren) are the meditations and functions, which God requires of us, condignly and worthily to receive the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper, and to entertain us religiously & piously in the expectance of his coming; as this Sacrament was purposely instituted, to declare and foretell us his death, and the inestimable benefits which issue and proceed thereof unto us, until he come. Let us therefore examine and prove ourselves, if we are of this holy disposition, for fear lest eating this Bread, or drinking this Wine unworthily, we thereby make ourselves guilty of the Lords body and blood, and consequently eat and drink our own damnation: And if we find not this holy & sanctified disposition in our hearts; let us then effectually endeavour to produce & enkindle it in us, by the often reading and meditating of the sacred Bible, (the divine Oracles) and written Word of God; as also by frequent & incessant Prayer. For this Word of God (I say) is the Looking glass, wherein openly beholding the glory of the Lord face to face, 
1. Cor. 3.18.  we are transformed and changed into the same Image from glory to glory, as saith the Apostle. I say likewise, by Prayer, because the Lord most benignly, and graciously confers, and gives wisdom to all those who seek it of him, and hath promised his holy spirit to all those, who with humble & contrite hearts demand it of him. And let us possess and retain this consolation amidst the defects and imperfections which we feel in our hearts; that if we are discontented or sorrowful, if we are afflicted & heavy laden, that yet notwithstanding, Christ will not reject us, because he saith, Come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden: Or if we hunger & thirst after righteousness, (for this hunger and thirst is a desire of God's grace, proceeding from a lively and sensible feeling of our sins) he promiseth to replenish and satisfy us. May it therefore please thee, O our blessed Lord and Saviour, to call us to this sacred Banquet, to send us thy holy Spirit, and give decent and religious dispositions; and because he now knocks at the door of our hearts by his holy Word, give us grace, that we may open it unto him in the obedience of our faith, to the end 
Revel 3.  that he may sup with us, and we with him; and that he himself may be both our Host, and our Banquet.   
Amen.   

A Prayer, to prepare ourselves, before we receive the holy Supper of the Lord.  
O God, how shall I present myself before thee, being a wretched creature, defiled & polluted with sin; If the Angels (who have never sinned) overvaile and cover their faces, when they appear before thy holiness, how much greater ought my astonishment and confusion be, who am guilty of so many foul faults & transgressions, and likewise my grief and sorrow, sith thy wrath reveals itself from heaven against sin, and that on every side we see the effects thereof. Nature is afflicted and troubled, and our bodies are already possessed of diseases and death, and therefore what greater punishment may our souls attend and expect; and if in this life thy wrath and indignation be thus manifested, what will it be when we shall appear before thy Tribunal; and that thou pronounce a sharp and heavy sentence against us: but O Lord in this fearful amazement, here ariseth up to us news of grace, and matter of comfort and consolation. Thou hast had compassion of mankind, thou hast sent thine only Son here below to reconcile and expiate our sins; the earth had nothing for the salvation of man, the Angels who have no part of righteousness, or of life, but for themselves could not resist thine anger, but in stooping and sinking down under the burden thereof. But O Lord thou hast opened thine own bosom, from whence alone could come salvation; and from it thou hast sent thine only Son to cloth himself with our nature, and to suffer therein the punishment due to our sins, and fully to satisfy thy justice for all our transgressions, so that we have redemption by his blood (to wit) remission of sins, according to the riches and treasure of thy mercy; and we hear this thy Son to pronounce these sweet & pleasing words in his Gospel, Come to me all ye that are oppressed and heavy laden, and I will refresh and comfort you. Overloaden then as I am, with the heavy burden of my sins, I come to discharge & disburden them on thy cross, because he hath borne our sins in his body on the wood thereof And wherefore should not I fully believe it, sith this sovereign love, & immense goodness was worthy of thee, and that not only by thy Testament, but also by this Sacrament of thy blessed Supper, thou givest me this redemption, and placest it (as it were) before mine eyes: For wherefore serveth this great Sacrament, but to represent to my soul, by faith, this great sacrifice of Christ's body, which he hath given & presented thee on the Cross. So because I see my ransom and redemption, have I not therefore just cause, O my God, to rejoice and comfort myself in thee, that ransom (I say) which thine own self hast freely given me. A divine ransom, of a most inestimable price and value, because it is the body of thine only begotten Son, true God together with thee. Hear, here, O my God, it is, where my soul, (hungering and thirsting after thy favour) finds wherewithal to freed & refresh herself. This body crucified, is my true restority; and this blood spilt and shed on the cross, is the liquor, wherewith my soul fills herself with unspeakable joy. And here it is, where thy goodness is so great, so infinite to all mankind, that thou invitest all those who are hungry and thirsty; jesus Christ himself saying, Happy are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. O then, let my soul, which hungreth & thirsteth after righteousness, (to wit, that righteousness, wherewith thou absolvest, and justifiest Sinners) obtain the fullness and refreshing of eternal life and salvation. Then depart and fly hence from me, all my doubts and diffidences, I will confirm and seal it, that God is true, in believing in his Son. For, shall I offer him this injury, to doubt that he is good enough to pardon my sins, and merciful enough to have compassion of my miseries? If I behold, or look up to his justice, I am sure that is appeased, and satisfied, because Christ is he, who died for me, and I cannot doubt, that this death shall be objected or approved against me; because jesus Christ became pledge, & defender of all those, who with repentant and contrite hearts, had recourse to him. To whom therefore shall I run, or fly, but to him, and why shall I not repent me, to have offended thee, in that thou art so gracious & merciful towards us, and that I see sin is so execrable, that only thine own Son must of necessity die to expiate it; And if my repentance be defective, and my faith infirm and weak, I will represent and show thee that which thou thyself hast said, That thou wilt not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax; & I will say as he did in the Gospel, I believe, therefore O Lord, help my unbelief. It is not for my repentance and faith to give, but to receive salvation, the which is already purchased and deserved by thy Son Christ jesus. We refuse not a rich gift, either from a poor person, or a trembling hand: therefore, O Lord, I rejoice and comfort myself in this, that I am displeased with mine own sins and transgressions, and am truly sorrowful, and infinitely repentant, that I can repent them no more. O good God, were I free & exempt of sin, I then needed not this Sacrament which thou givest me, for that it is a remedy against sin, & that thou dost continually invite us to think and meditate with ourselves how odious sin is, and aught to be to us, because of the filthy lusts, and pernicious inclinations, which reside & dwell in our members: for in heaven, where we shall sinne no more, this remedy is needless; Be merciful therefore unto me, O God, because of thy loving kindness, and according to the infiniteness of thy compassion, deface and do away my transgressions: for I know that my sins are ever before me. O God create in me a pure heart, and revive and renew in me thy holy spirit; Cleanse & wash me, O Lord, in the blood of thy blessed Son; feed my soul, which seeks her nourishment and life in him; and if I am unworthy of thy favours, yet refuse not some crumbs of mercy to him, who humbly presents himself to thy Table; Deny not (O Lord) the effect of thy mercy to him, who laments and weeps under the heavy burden of his own sins and misery, and who is religiously and constantly resolved, for ever to celebrate thy infinite mercy and compassions.   

A Prayer of Thanksgiving after our receiving of the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper.  
O Eternal God, Illuminate more and more the eyes of my understanding, that I may conceive and comprehend what is the height, depth, length, & breadth of thy love towards us in jesus Christ; what depth, when thou hast drawn us from the bottom of death, by the death of thy Son; what height, when thou hast raised and elevated us for him and with him to Heaven; what length but the lasting eternity (from age to age) of all felicity, which thou hast prepared for us; what breadth, but as fare as the East is distant from the West; so fare thou hast banished & separated our sins from us; and that as many promises and blessings, as thou hast pronounced unto us, they are so many, yea, and Amens in jesus Christ. O God who causest me to behold this thy so wonderful a goodness, and who right now comest from showing it to the eyes of my soul, in the receiving of this blessed Sacrament. Give me grace, O Lord, to meditate and contemplate thereon, till I am ravished in a spiritual ecstasy, yea, until I am transformed into the Image of this thine own love; and that I become all love towards thee; that I live no longer to myself, but that thy Christ may live in me, through the love of thy divine goodness & beauty; and that I may embrace and retain no other desires, but for thee, and for the Kingdom of Heaven, which thou hast transferred and given me by thy blessed Son Christ jesus. O let me behold Sin no more, but with horror and detestation, because it is contrary to thy essence and being, as also to the work of my redemption, which thy blessed Sacrament hath now proffered and presented unto me. I see (O God, that thy Son is dead for Sin; and therefore shall I live who am the vildest of all Sinners. That thy Christ hath been crucified to destroy Sin, and therefore shall I give it strength and vigour, to live and reign in me. O then (my merciful God) let me no longer live to, or for, the things of this world, but that I may crucify my flesh with all the sinful lusts thereof, and that the holy Sacrament, which I came now from receiving, may be the example and portrait of my duty, and my continual lesson, tending and working to the true mortification of sin in me, and that it may be bruised and broken, and left without strength or life, as was the blessed body of my Saviour jesus Christ, who died on the Cross for me; and that also conformably to his resurrection, I may henceforth live a spiritual and heavenly life, still seeking those things which are above, and not those which are below on earth. And indeed, O Lord, by this thy holy Sacrament I see that I am united & incorporated to thy Son Christ; and that I am thereby made flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone, and being thus adjoined with him; must I not also be conjoined with him in the same functions, and affections. Shall I dishonour the body of jesus Christ by my sins and filthiness, and shall I take away his members, to make them the members of the world, or of Satan. O how careful ought I to be of my actions and duty, sith in this union I reap this consolation: that the obedience of Christ is imputed to me, as if I myself had satisfied his justice, to wit, That I am now made one, and the self same body with Christ, who hath fully paid and satisfied for me. How dear aught this Communion to be unto me, whereby my Soul enjoyeth peace, and assurance, seeing the full remission of my sins, and my absolute and free deliverance from God's heavy curse, and fierce wrath, and indignation, whereby I see, that jesus Christ, esteemeth, and chearisheth me as his own body; aswell, to preserve me from all evils; as to bestow on me all good things, which are necessary for me, according as the Apostle says on this same subject. That no man ever hated his own flesh, but doth nourish and cherish it, as God doth his Church. So then let Satan practise all his power, and exercise all his malice against me, I (notwithstanding) cannot but be more than a Conqueror over all things in this body of jesus Christ, and that if this his Communion oblige and tie me to crosses and afflictions (for here on earth I must thus bear the death and passion of our Lord jesus) yet it doth assure me both of victory, and triumph: for the Spirit of God, which conducts & quickeneth this mystical body of Christ in us, is infinitely greater than that of the world, & the communion which I have with the Cross of my Saviour, is my direct & true way to glory. O my God, who makest me to relish these delights of thy love, and who in this manner feedest & replenishest my soul at thy holy table; Give me grace, that henceforth I may no more trust the delights and pleasures of sin. Let my desires & delights be to obey and do thy will, and that all the whole course & progress of my life, may be a sanctified preparation to this great wedding banquet of the Lamb, whereunto we are invited & called, & where thy holy & sacred sight willbe unto us a fullness of all joy, & thy right hand an unspeakable delight, & pleasure for evermore. Let me then (O Lord) at this very instant, cloth myself with the wedding garment of thy sanctification, therewith to be present at this Feast, whereof this of the Sacrament, (whereunto thou hast now invited me) is an earnest & pledge; and that separating myself from the people of this world, (whose only portion is in this present life) I may say with the royal Prophet David, As for me (O Lord) I shall see thy face in righteousness, and I shall be filled with thy image and resemblance, when I shall awake.  
FINIS.