Meditation Ii
Sacramental Meditations.
Now, which of these is to be attended with a dead, careless, and flight spirit ? Is it the representation of Christ's death ? God forbid! On ! if there be any subjectofmeditation in the world, able to drink up the very spirit ofa man, this is it !
The fun fainted, the heavens mourned in black, the very ocks rent in pieces, when this tragedy was acted ; and shall our hearts be more senseless and obdurate than they, at the representation of it ? But, lo ! here is more than a representation :
Christ is set forth in this ordinance, as crucified for you ; as suffering, and enduring all this, in your room andstead. Now,
Suppose, reader, thyself to be justly condemned to the torture of the rack, or strappado ; and that thy father, brother, or dearest friend, preferring thy life to his own, would become thy ANTIPSYxos, ransomer, by undergoing the torment for thee; and all that is left for thee to suffer, were only by way of sympathy with him : suppose now thyself standing by that engine of torture, and beholding the members of thy dear friend distorted, and all out of joint; hearing his doleful groans, extorted by the extremity of anguish ; and under all these torments, still maintaining a constant love to thee ; not once repenting his torments for thee ; couldestthou stand there with dry eyes ? Could thy heart be unaffected, and stupid at such a fight ? Write him rather a beast, a stone, than am an, that could do fo.
But this is not all: the believer's interest in Christ is sealed, as well as the sufferingsofChrist represented, in this ordinance.
And is a sealed interest in Christ so cheap or common a thing, as that it should not engage, yea, swallow up all the powers of thy soul ? Oh ! what is this ? what is this?
The feal of God, set to the soul ofa poor simmer, to confirm and ratify its title to the person of Christ, and the ine . stimable treasures of his blood. Surely, as the sealing up of a mantodamnation, is the sum of all misery ; and that poor creature that is so sealed, hath cause enough to mouin and wail to eternity; so the sealing up ofa foul to salvation, is the sum of all mercy and happiness ; and the soul that is so sealed, hath cause enough to lie at the feet of God, overwhelmed with the sense of so invaluable a mercy.
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 ifa man be here without his wedding-garment, if he eat and drink unworthily, it is at the greatest peril of his
Gg2
Sacramental Meditations . foul that he doth so ; 1 Cor. xi. 27. " Wherefore, whosoever
" shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unwor- " thily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord."
To profane and undervalue that body and blood of the Lord, is a fin above measure sinful; and the punishments of such fins, 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 foonmay 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 " fickly among you, and many sleep ;" verse 30.
It is a most weighty note, that a * worthy pen sets upon this scripture :
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
' ofmenthemselves,than all other creatures whatsoever, whe- ، ⚫ther in heaven or earth : They handled, and dealt by it in ' both kinds, as if it hadbeenacommon unsanctified thing :
Thus they discerned not the Lord's body.'
And as they discerned not his body, so neither did God (in some sense) discern theirs ; but in those sore strokes and heavy judgments which he inflicted on them, had them in no other regard or consideration, than as if they had been the bodies of his enemies, the bodies of wicked and sinful men ; thus drawing the model and platform of their punishment (as usually he doth) from the structure and proportion of their fin.
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 ruins of that honour which he had given unto ours, in health, strength, life, and many other outward comforts and supports.
Othen 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 fufMr. Tho. Goodwin's epistle to Mr. Fenner's sermons.
Sacramental Meditations.
fered those things for us, should compose our spirits, into a frame more suitable and agreeable to his.
When we fee his death, as it were acted over again before 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 up-
on that text, Luke xxii. 44. and you shall fee 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 ofbloodfalling to the ground." And Matth . xxvi. 38. he faith, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful,
" even unto death."
His soul was full of sorrow : And is thine fullofstupidity ? 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 unsuitable is a dry eye, and hard heart, to such an ordinance as this !
Reason 4. As the frame Christ's Spirit was 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 reft,
First, 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 Father said, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I " am well pleased," Matth. xvii. 5. Of whom he said, " I " have laid help upon one that is mighty."
This was he that " was made fin for us, who had no fin, that we might be " made the righteousness of God in him," 2 Cor. v. 21. Who trodethe wine-press alone, and is here to be seen in his red garments.
Every drop of his precious blood hath a tongue, calling for faith to behold it, poured forth as a sacrifice to God for fin.
" This (faith he) is the cup of the New Testament " in my blood, which was shed for many, for the remission
" of fins ."
And what footing could thy faith find for pardon and salvation any whereelfe ? It isChrift crucified that faith clasps, as the last and only hope and refuge of a poor sinner : Here al
Sacramental Meditations. believers drop anchor.
This is that blessed object, on whom they take the dead gripe, or last grasp, when their eye strings and heart-strings are breaking. When you fee the blood of Christ flowing forth, how can faith be silent in thy soul ?
Whenhebids thee, as it were, to put thy fingerintohis 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 foul lower in itself, than to fee how low Christ was laid in his humiliation for it.
Here the evil off in is also represented in the clearest glass, that ever the eye of man saw it in.
The sufferings of the Son of God discover the evil of fin, more than the everlasting torments of the damned can do.
So that, if there be but one drop of spiritual sorrow in the heart of a Christian ; here, methinks, it shouldbeseen dropping from the eye of faith.
Thirdiy, The most attractive object of love is here.
Put all created beauties, excellencies, and perfections together ; and what are they but blackness and deformity, compared with the lovely Jesus ? My beloved (faith the enamoured spouse)is white and ruddy, Cant. v. 10. Behold him at the table, in his perfect innocency, and unparalleled sufferings! This is He
"who was rich, but for our fakes became poor; that we, " through his poverty, might be rich," 2 Cor. viii. 9. This is he that parted with his honour first, and his life next; yea, he parted with his honourin his incarnation, that he might be capable to part with his life for our redemption.
Behold here the degrees of his sufferings, and by them meafurethe degrees of his love.
Behold in his death, as in the deluge, all the fountains beneath, and the windows of heaven above, opened ; the wrath of God, the cruelty of men, the furyofhell, breaking in together upon him, and his foul furroundedwith sorrow ; and how can this be represented, and thy soul not astonished at this amazing, matchless love of Christ ? Surely one flame doth not more naturally produce another, than the love of Christ, thus represented to a gracious foul, doth produce love to Christ, and that in the most intense degree.
Use 1. How naturally doth this doctrine shame and humble the best hearts, for their sinful discompofures, vanity, anddeadzness ; for the rovings and wanderings of their hearts, even
Sacramental Meditations.
whentheycome near the Lord in such afolemn ordinance as this is?
The holiest man upon earth may lay his hand upon his breast, and fay, Lord, how unsuitable is this heart of mine,
⚫to such an object of faith, as is here presented to me ? Doth • such a temper of spirit suit thine awful presence ? Should
• the represented agonies and sufferings of Christ for me, be • beheld with a spirit no more concerned, pierced,and wound- • ed for fin ? O how can I look upon him whom I have pierced, and not mourn, and be in bitterness for him, as for an ⚫only son, a first-born ! O the stupifying and benumbing power of fin ! O the efficacy of unbelief!'
It was charged upon the Ifraelites, as the great aggravation of their fin, that they "provoked God at the sea, even at the
" red sea," Psal. cvi. 7. the place where their miraculous falvationwas wrought. But, Lord Jesus! my hard heart pro . vokes thee in an higher degree, even at the redfea of thy precious invaluable blood, by which my eternal salvation was wrought. O my God ! what a heart have I ? Did the blood of Christ run out so freely and abundantly for me ; and cannot I shed one tear for my fins, that pierced him ? O let me never be friends with my own heart, till it love Christ better, and hate fin more..
Use 2. This fcripturehath also an awakening voice, to all that comenigh to God in any of his ordinances, especially in this ordinance. O Christians ! bethink yourselves where you are, andwhatyouare doing : Know you not, that the King comes in to fee the guests ? Yea, you do know, that God is in this place ; an awful Majeft beholds you ! " All the churches " shall know, thatIamhethat searcheththe heart andthereins,
" and will give to every one as his work shall be," Rev. ii. 24.
Thy business, Christian, is not with men, but with God ; and the folemnest business that ever thy thoughts were converfant about.
Thou art here to recognize the sufferings of thy Redeemer ; to take the seals and pledges of thy salvation from. the hand of his Spirit : Imagine the fame thing, which is now to be done spiritually,and by the ministry of faith, were but to be performed visibly and audibly, by the ministry ofthysenses.
Suppose Jesus Chriftdid personally shewhimselfatthis table, and were pleased tomakehimselfknown in breaking of bread, as once he did to the disciples.
Suppose thou sawest him afpear at this table as he doth now appear in heaven, as a Lamb that had been slain : Imagine thou heardst hint fay, Believer, this precious blood of mine was shed for