Reason 2. As the nature and ends of this ordinance call for the greatest composedness of spirit ; so the danger of unworthy receiving, should work our hearts to the most serious frame : for if a man be here without his wedding garment, if he eat and drink unworthily it is atthegreatest peril of his soul that he doth so; ICor. 11.27. "Where- fore, whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord."
To profane and undervalue that body and blood of the Lord, is a sin above measure sinful ; and the punishments of such sins, will be the most dreadful : for still the more excellent the blessings are that come by any ordinance, the more dreadful the curses are that avenge the abuse of such mercies. How soon may a man draw fearful guilt upon his soul, and dreadful judgments upon his body, by an heedless management of such sacred mysteries ? ** For this cause many are ■weak and " sickly among you, and many sleep ;"' verse 30.
It is a most weighty note^ that a * worthy pen sets upon this scrip- ture : ' They discerned not the body of his Son Jesus Christ, in his ordinances; but instead of that holy, reverend, and deep-dyed behaviour, which was due to it, both from their inner and outward man, as being a creature of the highest and deepest sanctification, that ever God sanctified ; sanctified not only to a more excellent and glorious condition; but also to many ends and purposes, of far higher and dearer concernment, both for the glory of God, and benefit of men themselves, than all other creatures whatsoever, whether in heaven or earth : They handled, and dealt bv it in both kinds, as if it had been a common unsanctified thing : Thus they discerned not the Lord's body.'
And as they discenied not his body, so neither did God (in some sense) discern theirs: but in those sore strokes and heavy judgments which he inflicted on tliem, had them in no other regard or con- sideration, tlian as if they had been the bodies of his enemies, the ])odies of wicked and sinful men ; thus drawing the model and plat- form of their punishment (as usually he doth) from the structure and proportion of their sin.
*■ IMr. Tbomas Goodwin's epistle to Mr. Fenner's sermons.
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Thus the just and righteous God builds up the breaches that we make upon the honour belonging to the body of his Son, with the ruinsof that honour which he had given untoours,in health, strength, lite, and many other outward comforts and supports.
O then what need is there of a most awful and composed spirit, when we approach the Lord in this ordinance ?
Reason 3. As the danger of unworthy receiving should compose us to the greatest seriousness, so the remembrance of that frame and temper Christ's Spirit was in, when he actually suffered those things for us, should compose our spirits, into a frame more suitable and agreeable to his. When we see his death, as it were acted over again befoj'e our eyes, was his heart roving and wandering in that day ? Did he not regard and mind the work he was going about ? Was his heart, like thine, stupid, and unaffected with these things ? Look but upon that text, Luke xxii. 44. and you shall see whether it were so, or not. It is said (when this tragedy drew nigh, and his enemies were ready to seize him in the garden) That being * in an agony, he prayed more earnestly ; and his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling to the ground.' And Mat. xxvi. 38. he saith, * My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.' His soul was full of sorrow : And is thine full of stupidity ? God forbid !
If thy heart be cold, Christ's was hot : If thou canst not shed a tear, he poured out clods of blood from every part. O, how un- suitable is a dry eye, and hard heart, to such an ordinance as this !
Reason 4. As the frame Christ's Spirit Mas in at his death, should command the most solemn frame upon our spirits, at the recognizing of it ; so the things here represented, require, and call for the highest exercise of every grace of the Spirit in our souls : For we come not thither as idle spectators, but as active instruments, to glorify God, by exercising every grace upon Christ, as crucified for us. Behold here are, among the rest,
Firsts The proper object of faith.
Secondly, The flowing spring of repentance.
Thirdly, The powerful attractive of love.
First, The proper object of faith is here. This ordinance, as a glass, represents to thine eye that glorious Person, of whom the Fa- ther said, ' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,' Mat. xvii. 5. Of whom he said, * I have laid help upon one that is mighty.' This was he that was made sin for us, who had no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, 2 Cor. v. 21. Who trode the wine-press alone, and is here to be seen in his red garments. Every drop of his precious blood hath a tongue, call- ing for faith to behold it, poured forth as a sacrifice to God for sin. * This (saith he) is the cup of the New Testament in my blood, which was shed for many, for the remission of sins.'
And what footing could thy faith find for pardon and salvation any
S86 SACRAMENTAL MEDITATIONS.
where else ? It is Christ crucified that faith clasps, as the last and only hope and refuge of a poor sinner : Here all believers drop an- chor. This is that blessed object, on whom they take the dead gripe, or last grasp, when their eye-strings are breaking. When you see the blood of Christ flowing forth, how can faith be silent in thy soul ? When he bids thee, as it were, to put thy finger into his side, shews thee his hands and his feet there; it will cry out in thy soul. My Lord ! and my God !
Secondly, The flowing spring of repentance is here. If there be any fire that can melt, or hammer that can break a hard heart, here it is; Zech. xii. 10. " They shall look upon me, whom they have pierced and mourn." Nothing lays a gracious soul lower in itself, than to see how low Christ was laid in his humiliation for it.
Here the evil of sin is also represented in the clearest glass, than ever the eye of man saw it in. The sufi'eriiigs of the Son of God discover the evil of sin, more than the everlasting torments of the damned can do. So that, if there be but one drop of spiritual sor- row in the heart of a Christian ; here, methinks, it should be seen dropping from the eye of faith.