danger of receiving it unworthily, fuch doubts and fears have been raised in the minds of men, as utterly to deter many, and in a great measure to difcourage almost the generality of Chriftians from the use of it; to the great prejudice and danger of mens fouls, and the vi ible abatement of piety, by the grofs neglect of fo excellent a means of our growth and improvement in it; and to the mighty fcandal of our religion, by the general difufe and contempt of so plain and folemn an institution of our bleffed Lord and Saviour.

Therefore I fhall take occafion, as briefly and clearly as I can, to treat of these four points.

1. Of the perpetuity of this inftitution. This the Apostle fignifies, when he faith, that by eating this bread, and drinking this cup, we do fhew the Lord's death till he

come.

2. Of the obligation that lies upon all Christians to a frequent obfervance of this inftitution. This is fignified in that expreffion of the Apostle, As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup: which expreflion, confidered and compared together with the practice of the primitive church, does imply an obligation upon Chriftians to the frequent receiving of this facrament.

3. I fhall endeavour to fatisfy the objections and fcruples which have been raised in the minds of men, and particularly of many devout and fincere Christians, to their great difcouragement from their receiving this facrament, at leaft fo frequently as they ought: which objections are chiefly grounded upon what the Apostle fays: Wherefore, whofoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord; and doth eat and drink damnation to himself. \ 4. What preparation of ourselves is neceffary, in order to our worthy receiving of this facrament: which will give me occafion to explain the Apostle's meaning in thofe words, But let a man examine himself, and so let bim eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

I. For the perpetuity of this inftitution, implied in thofe words, For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do fhew forth the Lord's death till he come : or the words may be read imperatively, and by way of precept, fhew ye forth the Lord's death till he come..

In

the

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the three verfes immediately before, the Apoftle particularly declares the inftitution of this facrament, with the manner and circumftances of it, as he had received it, not only by the hands of the Apoftles, but as the words feem rather to intimate, by immediate revelation from our Lord himself: y 23. For I have received of the Lord that which I alfo delivered unto you, That the Lord Jefus, in the fame night that he was betrayed, took bread and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and faid, Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the fame manner alfo he took the cup, when he had fupped, faying, This cup is the new teftament in my blood: this do, as often as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of me. So that the inftitution is in thefe words, This do in remembrance of me. In which words our Lord commands his difciples, after his death, to repeat these occafions of taking, and breaking, and eating the bread, and of drinking of the cup, by way of folemn commemoration of him. Now, whether this was to be done by them once only, or oftener; and whether by the difciples only during their lives, or by all Chriftians afterwards in all fucceffive ages of the church, is not fo certain merely from the force of these words, Do this in remembrance of me. But what the Apostle adds, puts the matter out of all doubt, that the institution of this facrament was intended, not only for the Apostles, and for that age, but for all Chriftians, and for all ages of the Christian church: For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do fhew the Lord's death till he come; that is, until the time of his fecond coming, which will be at the end of the world. So that this facrament was defigned to be a standing commemoration of the death and paffion of our Lord till he should come to judgment; and confequently the obligation that lies upon Chriftians to the obfervation of it is perpetual, and shall never cease to the end of the world.

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So that it is a vain conceit, and mere dream of the enthufiafts, concerning the feculum Spiritus Sancti," the age "and difpenfation of the Holy Ghoft;" when, as they fuppofe, all human teaching fhall ceafe, and all external ordinances and inftitutions in religion fhall vanish, and there fhall be no farther use of them. Whereas it is very

plain, from the New Teftament, that prayer, and outward teaching, and the use of the two facraments, were intended to continue among Christians in all ages. As for prayer, befides our natural obligation to this duty, if there were no revealed religion, we are, by our Saviour, particularly exhorted to watch and pray with regard to the day of judgment, and in confideration of the uncertainty of the time when it fhall be: and therefore this will always be a duty incumbent upon Christians till the day of judgment; because it is prescribed as one of the best ways of preparation for it. That outward teaching likewife, and baptifm, were intended to be perpetual, is no lefs plain; because Chrift hath exprefsly promifed to be with the teachers of his church in the ufe of thefe ordinances to the end of the world: Matth. xxviii. 19. 20. Go and difciple all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft and lo I am with you alway to the end of the world; not only to the end of that particular age, but to the end of the gospel-age, and the confummation of all ages; as the phrafe clearly imports. And it is as plain from this text, that the facrament of the Lord's fupper was intended for a perpetual institution in the Christian church, till the fecond coming of Chrift, viz. his coming to judgment; because St. Paul tells us, that, by these facramental figns, the death of Chrift is to be reprefented and commemorated till he comes: Do this in remembrance of me for as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do fhew the Lord's death till he come.

And if this be the end and ufe of this facrament, to be a folemn remembrance of the death and fufferings of our Lord during his abfence from us, that is, till his coming to judgment, then this facrament will never be out of date till the fecond coming of our Lord. The con¬ fideration whereof fhould mightily strengthen and encourage our faith in the hope of eternal life, fo often as we partake of this facrament; fince our Lord hath left it to us as a memorial of himself, till he come to translate his church into heaven, and as a fure pledge that he will come again at the end of the world, and invest us in that glory which he is now gone before to prepare for us. So that as often as we approach the table of the VOL. II.

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Lord,

Lord, we fhould comfort ourselves with the thoughts of that blessed time, when we shall eat and drink with him in his kingdom, and fhall be admitted to the great feast of the Lamb, and to eternal communion with God the judge of all, and with our bleffed and glorified Redeemer, and the holy angels, and the fpirits of juft men made perfect.

And the fame confideration fhould likewife make us afraid to receive this facrament unworthily, without due preparation for it, and without worthy effects of it upon our hearts and lives; because of that dreadful fentence of condemnation which, at the fecond coming of our Lord, fhall be paffed upon those who, by the profanation of this folemn inftitution, trample under foot the Son of God, and contemn the blood of the covenant; that covenant of grace and mercy which God hath ratified with mankind by the blood of his Son. The Apostle tells us, that he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, and eateth and drinketh damnation to himself. This indeed is fpoken of temporal judgment, as I fhall fhew in the latter part of this difcourfe; but the Apostle likewise supposeth, that if these temporal judgments had not their effect to bring men to repentance, but they still perfifted in the profanation of this holy facrament, they fhould at last be condemned with the world. For as he that partaketh worthily of this facrament, confirms his intereft in the promises of the gospel, and his title to eternal life; fo he that receives this facrament unworthily, that is, without due reverence, and without fruits meet for it; nay, on the contrary, continues to live in fin whilft he commemorates the death of Christ, who gave himfelf for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, this man aggravates and feals his own damnation; because he is guilty of the body and blood of Christ, not only by the contempt of it, but by renewing in fome fort the cause of his fufferings, and as it were crucifying to himself afresh the Lord of life and glory, and putting him to an open fhame. And, when the great judge of the world fhall appear, and pass final fentence upon men, fuch obftinate and impenitent wretches as could not be wrought upon by the remembrance of the dearest love of their dying Lord, nor be engaged to leave their fins

by

by all the ties and obligations of this holy facrament, fhall have their portion with Pilate and Judas, with the chief priests and foldiers, who were the betrayers and murderers of the Lord of life and glory; and fhall be dealt withal as those who are in fome fort guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Which fevere threatening ought not to difcourage men from the facrament, but to deter all thofe from their fins who think of engaging themselves to God by fo folemn and holy a covenant. It is by no means a fufficient reafon to make men fly from the facrament, but certainly one of the most powerful arguments in the world to make men forfake their fins; as I fhall fhew more fully under the third head of this discourse.

IF. The obligation that lies upon all Chriftians to the frequent obfervance and practice of this inftitution. For though it be not neceffarily implied in thefe words, As oft as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup; yet, if we compare these words of the Apostle with the ufage and practice of Chriftians at that time, which was to communicate in this holy facrament, fo often as they folemnly met together to worship God, they plainly fuppofe and recommend to us the frequent ufe of this facrament, or rather imply an obligation upon Chriftians to embrace all opportunities of receiving it. For the fenfe and meaning of any law or inftitution is beft understood by the general practice which follows immediately upon it.

And to convince men of their obligation hereunto, and to engage them to a fuitable practice, I fhall now endeavour with all the plainnefs and force of perfuafion I can and fo much the more, because the neglect of it among Chriftians is grown fo general, and a great many perfons, from a fuperftitious awe and reverence of this facrament, are by degrees fallen into a profane neglect and contempt of it.

I fhall briefly mention a threefold obligation lying upon all Christians to frequent communion in this holy facrament; each of them fufficient of itself, but all of them together of the greatest force imaginable, to engage us hereunto.

1. We are obliged in point of indifpenfable duty, and in obedience to a plain precept and most folemn inftitu

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tion