1. So that I must, first, examine myself, xvliether that I have understanding ; and secondhj, whether I have grace, whereby I must make use of it, for I must be knit to it, not by the brain, but by the afiection. Otherwise, if I come to it as the Papists, to a dumb show, not bringing an understanding heart of the mysteries thereof, I shall come unworthily. Now for the first point. The matter to be considered is, whether thou art an ignorant body ? whether thou knowest what is meant by these ? That this is needful, it may appear by this : this is the Lord's table, and he inviteth hitherto his friends and acquaintance. And dost thou think that thou, which knowest neither Father, Son, nor Holy Ghost, mayest come ? For thee to thrust in amongst his friends and familiars, is not this presumption ? Therefore, first ye must examine yourselves. And besides this, they that are ignorant are not only strangers, but also enemies to God ; yea, such as against whom the Lord will come, 2 Thess. i. 7, 8, ' in flaming fire, rendering vengeance unto them which know not God, nor obey unto the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.' Here you see the enemies of Christ, against whom ho shall stand, are ranked into two kinds : fii'st, they are such as know him not ; secondly, they are such who^have knowledge and understanding, but they have not grace, * they obey not the gospel of Christ Jesus.'
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66 THE PwIGUT RECEIVING.
Examine, then, yourselves. ~ Doth the ignorance of God make you to be his encmi(js ? Of this examine thyself ; fur dost thou think that ever God will endure his enemies shall come unto his table ? Let all ignorant per- sons examine themselves ; for howsoever they may come, yet it grieveth the Lord that they come. And this shall be a judgment unto them at the last, that they were so bold to come without examination. I speak not this to discourage a man from coming, for thou shalt pay for it if thou comest not ; but know this, if thou come ignorantly, there standeth the angel of the Lord to keep thee, as Adam was, Gen. iii. 24, from this sacra- ment, or any comfort by it.
% 2. Another reason why the sacrament was instituted, is it not to strengthen faith ? as Horn. v. 4. ' It was the seal of faith.' Well ; and can there be faith without knowledge ? No ; Isa. liii. 11. ' J'y his knowledge' (speak- ing of his Son) ' shall my righteous servant justify many.' -By faith ; and this faith is expressed by knowledge, to shew that where there is no know- ledge, there is no faith. The sacrament is instituted for this end. And where there is no fixith, there is no worthy receiving of the sacrament. As then thou lovest thine own salvation, inform thyself in this point ; please not thyself in thine ignorance. For the informing then of our understand- ing, two things are here to be considered ; Jirst, we must not here have any dumb shows, but we must understand that all these things are a gospel, preached uii.to our eyes. Now, the things presented to our eyes are two :
1. Outward elements. 2. Certain actions done hij ns.
For the outward elements, you see there are bread and wine, set apart for an holy use. The bread is broken, and the wine is poured out. All this is done before we partake. When we come to see these things done, we must bring with us looking hearts and affections to see what God hath done for us. The next thing is, we see not only bread and wine set apart, but it is given unto us, taken by us, drunk of us, and nourisheth us. It first shews us that accomplishment of our redemption by the Son of God. Dost thou see thee sanctified to this work ? What, then, dost thou think is meant by the breaking ? what by the pouring out of the wine ? This is my body broken, this is my blood shed for many. It is the man Jesus Christ who is put before your eyes. When you come thither, there is a spectacle of Christ crucified. And it is set apart to shew that, as it was in the paschal lamb, there was a lamb to be taken out of the flock, to be sepa- rated from the rest, to shew that it was set apart for some extraordinary ■work. I say, what doth this shew, but that our high priest, Christ Jesus, was separated from sinners ? More ; thou seest the bread broken, and the wine poured forth. This should stir thee up to be in the same estate, as if thou wert upon Golgotha, at the place whereupon he was crucified, cry- ing with a loud voice, ' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ;' as if thou sawest him sweat water and blood. And our affections should be like that of the blessed virgin, to whom the sight of her son in his anguish could not but be a great vexation and grief. Consider that this is a pro- perty of God's Spirit, Zech. xii. 10 : ' I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of compassion : and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall lament and mourn for him, and be in bitterness,' &c. Such should be thine affec- tions, when thou seest the bread broken and the wine poured forth. Thou must consider the circumstances of Christ's breaking, and his soul poured out for sin ; that God had broken him, ' then shall they look upon him whom they have crucified.* It is not sufficient for thee to say that they,