Galatians, who had embraced much false doctrine, mingled Judaism with the gospel: yet" as many of you as are baptized into Christ have put on Christ." d Can any thing equal all these heart-refreshings that swim in the pool of baptism? Therefore, in many ages past, the joy of the neophytes was excessive, that came to be baptized. Many torches were lighted, and carried before them, to show it was the day of their illumination. They came in white garments, and wore them constantly eight days together, a most festival habit. Yet they affected too much to defer their baptism till their elder, nay, their later years, out of the erroneous principle, that baptism was the healing water for the remission of sins past and they rather relied upon repentance than upon the baptism which they had received, for the remission of sins that did follow. Whereas repentance is not a new paction with God, but a return to the use of the old; a restitution, as it were, of our blood, when we had been tainted by committing treason against God; that is, repossession of mercy endangered to be forfeited. But were it a new covenant, we should have some new visible sign for it, which never was. Therefore, this is the very soul of mine and every one's baptismal consolation,—that, being once done, it seals pardon for all our sins, through Christ's blood, unto our life's end. : : But as if many spouts should open into one cistern, so all comforts conspire to meet in the sacrament of the Lord's supper. Nothing else but the actual enjoying of heaven is above it. The church, which dispenseth all the mysteries of salvation, can bring forth no better. Children that are come to age, can ask no more than the whole portion of their father's goods that come unto them and what is that but the blood of Christ? and this is the New Testament in that blood. Christ is mine, his body is mine, his blood is mine, all is mine. "O be glad and rejoice, and give honour to the Lord God omnipotent, for the marriage of the Lamb is come." e And the Spirit saith, write, "Blessed are they that are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb." It is much to be received into the covenant with God by the former sacrament: is it not more to be kept in covenant by the other? It is much in baptism to be brought from death to life: but what is life without nourishment to preserve it? This keeps us in the lease of the old covenant, that the years of it shall never run out, and expire. This is food to keep us in health and strength, that we never decay and faint. By it we lay hold of the promise," My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." g Then why should I not imbolden my heart with holy security against all fears? for the Lord hath put himself into my hand, and into my mouth, and into my spirit of what then should I be afraid? This is that courage which our liturgy sounds forth, as with a shrill trumpet, to all that come to this banquet well prepared. It begins, that" it is a comfortable thing to all them that receive it worthily;" it bids us "come with a full trust in God's mercy, and with a quiet conscience" it proclaims aloud, Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all that truly come unto him, "So God loved the world," &c. "This is a true saying," &c. It hath gathered the sallies of spiritual joy, as it were, into a bundle of myrrh. It adds, "Christ hath instituted and ordained holy mysteries, as pledges of his love, and for a continual remembrance of his death, to our great and endless comfort." And if all this put together will not blandish our conscience, and stablish our joy, we would be dull and spirit-broken, though an angel from heaven should come and say unto us, as he did unto Gideon, "The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour." For an angel of the Lord cannot plead so much to the solace of the heart, as the great Angel of the covenant hath done in these great demonstrations of love, as followeth. 1. First; As baptism was the former, so this is the second visible publication of God's apparent mercy. It is not a bare message, but a lively apprehension of them by palpable means: not in a vision, or a dream, but in a real object. Call to mind that the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice. Once the Lord hath appeared unto us in the token of his love by water: and once again he appears unto us in the elements of his holy table. Twice he hath appeared to bless thee. Therefore, "eat thy br.ad with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart."k For if you turn away from comfort, when the Lord hath appeared twice unto you to give it you, he will be angry, and leave you to a thick darkness of sorrow, such as fell upon the land of Egypt. 2. Secondly; The Lord can appear comfortably unto us, though with a sword in his hand, and in the midst of a camp, as he did to Joshua: or, in a flame of fire, as he did to Manoah:m or, in a tempest upon the sea, as he did to the apostles:" or, at the grave's mouth, as he did to Mary Magdalen. But here he appears unto us in a feast, which is a time of innocent delight. The glory of God, which we look for, is set forth unto us in that which our senses apprehend for sweetness and pleasure: as, "I appoint unto you a kingdom-that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom :" which is translated from bodily pleasure to spiritual, that, in the heaven of blessedness, the soul shall feed continually as at a banquet: of which we have now a taste in the kingly provision of Christ's supper. It is a kingly feast, although imparted in a little pittance of bread and wine: yet it is more costly and precious in that which it signifies, than Solomon and all his court had for their diet day by day. We 1 Kings xi. 39. n Matt. xiv. 27. d Gal. iii. 27. e Rev. xix. 7. 8 Isaiah liv. 10. m are brought to eat at the king's table, as Mephibosheth was, like one of the king's sons to eat together is a communion of more than ordinary acquaintance: do you note the endearing favour of God in that? And what are we, that are not thrust, as our kind might look for it, to gather up crumbs under the board, but to eat our portion before the Lord, with the Lord, out of the hands of the Lord? For he that brake bread, and gave it to the apostles, gives it to us, as our High Priest, though he be in heaven. I exhort you, therefore, to enter into the guest-chamber with a quiet and unshaken heart: for the Lord hath not invited us as Absalom did Amnon, to kill us; nor as Esther did Haman, to accuse us; but, as Melchizedec brought forth bread and wine to Abraham, to bless us. He gives us Asher's portion, bread that shall be fat, and royal dainties. Only the case is altered, if Christ shall say, "The hand of him that betrays me, the hand of him that loves me not, the hand of him that believes not in me, the hand of him that will not keep my sayings, is on the table;" that wretch shall be thrown out, and be fed with bread of sorrow and water of affliction, nay, where there shall not be a drop of water to cool his tongue. 3. Thirdly; That which astonisheth the communicant and ravisheth his heart, is, that this feast affords no worse meat than the body and blood of our Saviour. Those he gave for the life of the world, these are the repast of this supper, and these we truly partake. For there is not only the visible reception of the outward signs, but an invisible reception of the thing signified. There is far more than a shadow, than a type, than a figure. Christ did not only propose a sign at that hour, but also he gave us a gift, and that gift, really and effectually, is himself, which is all one, as you would say, spiritually himself; for spiritual union is the most true and real union that can be. That which is promised, and faith takes it, and hath it, is not fiction, fancy, opinion, falsity, but substance and verity. Being strengthened with power, by the Spirit, in the inward mind, Christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith.' As by a ring, or a meaner instrument of conveyance, a man may be settled in land, or put into an office; and by such conveyances, the ratification of such grants are held to be real; how much more real is the gift and receipt of Christ's body and blood, when conveyed unto us by the confirmation of the eternal Spirit! For observe, "it is the same Spirit that is in Christ, and that is in us, and we are quickened by one and the same Spirit." Therefore it cannot choose, but that a real union must follow between Christ and us; as there is a union between all the parts of the body, by the animation of one soul. But faith is the mouth wherewith we eat his body, and drink his blood; not the mouth of a man, but of a faithful man; for we hunger after him, not with a corporeal appetite, but a spiritual; therefore, our eating must be spiritual, and not corporeal. Yet, this is a real, a substantial partaking of Christ crucified, broken, his flesh bleeding, his wounds gaping: so he is exhibited, so we are sure we receive him, which doth not only touch our outward senses in the elements, but pass through into the depth of the soul. For, in true divinity, real and spiritual are æquipollent; although with the papists nothing is real, unless it be corporeal: which is a gross way to defraud us of the sublime and soul-ravishing virtue of the mystery. "A mystery neither to be set out in words, nor to be comprehended sufficiently in the mind, but to be adored with faith," says Calvin. But herein we pledge Christ in the cup of love; herein we renew the covenant of forgiveness strongly assured by the sprinkling of blood; the life is in the blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission of sins,-because death is the wages of sin. Sin is the greatest dishonour that can be done to God: and death in Christ's person is the greatest satisfaction that can be made. He died, and gave himself for me; he died, and gave himself to me, as he was dead in his gored and pierced body, that his sacrifice might be in me, and in all those that are redeemed by it. We read of some mothers, that, in a great famine, have eaten their own children; but what mother, in the time of famine, did ever give her own flesh to save the life of her child? But Christ hath given himself for us, that we might not perish. "O Lord, I owe all my life to thee, because thou hast laid down thy life for me; O let me bleed out my sins, that thy blood may fill all the veins of my spirit; O let my body be transfigured to the heavenly by cleanliness and chastity, by being used only for thy worship and service, that the body of my Saviour may come under the roof of it. Then when the King shall set forth his table, and give himself to me in his wonderful feast, my spikenard shall send forth a sweet smell; my soul shall magnify the Lord, and my spirit shall rejoice in Christ my Saviour." 64 We have found the Messias," says Philip to Nathanael; and where have we found him? at a feast: a feast of his own body and blood, but set ont with no more cost and show than a piece of bread and a sip of wine. In this manner, it is brought to pass by the omnipotency of God's pleasure to institute it, with the efficacy of a strong faith concurring to receive it. The church had done very ill, if, of its own head, it had made so mean a representation of Christ; but the Lord must be obeyed, and ought to be admired in the humility of his ordinance, who hath not given us rich viands, and full cups, but made the feast out of the fragments of the meanest creatures. Let them that will make themselves fit to be his guests, bring a preparation of humility suitable to the exility of those oblations. "The meek shall eat and be satisfied, they shall praise the Lord, and seek him ;" and at that season, let the riotous remember his fulness of bread, and excess of wine. God is honoured in a little, and his liberality is abused in the excess of his creatures. And it is worth the noting, that the elements which C "b we are invited to take, are of fruits that grow out of the earth; to show that the earth, which was cursed for Adam's sake, is blessed for Christ's sake. As it brings forth thorns and thistles to call to mind our rebellion, so it brings forth bread and wine to call to mind our redemption. Neither doth God supply us with bread only out of the furrows of the earth, but sometimes it hath fallen out of the clouds of heaven. "Behold," says God, "I will rain bread from heaven for you." This was "manna," called "the corn of heaven." This was the spiritual meat or angels' food, in which the old believers in the wilderness did eat Christ with an implicit faith. Our outward sign is the bread of the earth, true bread that grows in the fields; yet the bread signified is that, which the "Father hath given us from heaven." d Bread is a great part of man's nourishment; so Christ crucified is the sole refection of faith. Bread is champed in the mouth to make it fit for the stomach; so the body of Christ was ordained to be slain, before it could profit us. "If the corn of wheat fall not into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."e By his life we learn to live, and by his death we are made alive. Bread, when it is ground between our teeth, and eaten, is turned by concoction into the substance of our body; which explains our mystical union with Christ, that we are made one spirit with him by faith, as this sensible food is converted into our flesh and bone. : Beside, in the several parts of the outward signs, it is God's meaning we should conceive how he loves the gathering together of many into one, which is thus to be qualified. At a common supper, or any meal, all that are at the board feed of the same meats; yet every one feeds to himself, and to none beside so, every communicant eats Christ to himself, and the just shall live by his own faith. Nevertheless, it is a sacrament to combine, and to knit together, holding us fast into one communion, that there may be no breaking asunder of the parts and members. Many grains of wheat are kneaded into one loaf, many grapes are trodden, that their liquor may be pressed into one cup. We, being many, are one bread, and one body; for," we are all partakers of that one bread." Now, natural learning will teach us, what a comfort there is in union, and that fractions and dissolutions are painful and grievous. Behold, how good and pleasant a thing it is! behold, what a strengthening to the mys tical body to continue in one fellowship and breaking of bread, to link faith and love together in Jesus Christ! It was but one deliverance common to all Israel, whose solemnity was kept at the passover, though every lamb was eaten by itself in a several family; so, it is one cup of salvation which God hath given us to drink, though distributed to the faithful according to the multitude of persons; and it is one bread of which we do all eat, though some have one share of it, and some another. It is necessary that many pieces be broken off from one loaf, to typify the body of the Lord broken for us, and that the benefits of his passion are distributed among us. There are many instances that are pregnant to prove, how pieces of something, broken and divided into many shares, do import a communication of somewhat among the dividers. The heathen, at the making of a league, did now and then break a flint-stone into pieces; and they that entered into a league, kept the parts in token of a covenant. Some upon a contract of marriage will break a piece of gold, and the two halves are reserved by the contractors. Shall I go further, and yet come nearest to our case? The Roman soldiers parted our Saviour's garment among them, and in that symbolical accident is shown, that the gentiles should share in the satisfaction of his death. So Peter takes this morsel of bread,―John, another, &c. ; yet Christ is not divided. The same ticket, as it were, in words in substance, is put into every hand, on which is written, "Take and eat it in remembrance of me." : "Take it," says Christ and be not afraid, as Saul was, to take a kingdom, since Christ hath appointed it; be not afraid, as David was, to be a king's son, since such honour is predestinated to thee. Take it, and fear not, as Peter did, saying, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man;" it is the Lord's delight to seek and to save that which is lost. Take it, and take heed you let not go your hold; the thing is fast and firm, if you do not let it go and lose it. Take it, but not to hold the pleasures of the world and your sinful lusts in your gripe together; if your hands be full of these things, you can never hold this. Take it, and take Christ with it; for he that made the testament in his blood, hath set the seal unto the testament, which gives you interest and possession of the redemption by his blood. Take it, and reach out your hand, to signify that you receive Christ with the hand of faith. They are too nice, for fear of I know not what, in the Roman church, of losing a crumb, or so forth, that they put the body of Christ into the mouth of their disciples: and in pretence that they give it as a mother doth her breast into the mouth of her child; whereas we receive this sacrament, not as babes, but as those that are grown to the measure of a good age. And if we be not worthy to take it into our hands, we are not worthy to receive it in our mouths. Take it, and eat it; for it is not enough to be sprinkled without, but to feed on Christ, and to digest him within. If upon the supply of corn, and beasts, and cattle, Paul might say, that "God hath filled our hearts with food and gladness;" if we are glad of that which sustains us for a time, and yet we must die; how glad will we be to eat of that, as will give us such a life, that will endure for ever! "Eat of the forbidden tree," says the serpent to Eve, and you shall not die;" but he lied unto her. Therefore, to dissolve the works of the devil, our Saviour hath appointed that which we shall eat, and assured the promise of everlasting life unto it. Eat, as Jonathan did of the honey-comb, that you may be lusty to pursue your enemies; and though Satan hath sworn your death, as Saul did Jonathan's ; the Lord will deliver you. Pine not away with b Exod. xvi. 4. • Psalm lxxviii. 24. d John vi. 31. e John xii. 24 f 1 Cor. x. 17. g Acts xiv. 17. h 1 Sam. xiv. 44. 66 the consumption of an evil conscience; but eat, and be strong in the Lord and in his mercy; as the spirit of the Egyptian, who was half dead, came to him again, when he had eaten a little.' Eat, and grind the bread between your teeth, to show the Lord's death. For Christ could have said,—“This is my body slain,-This is my body crucified," but he had rather say, "This is my body broken for you;" to show the great injuries of his sufferings. Eat, then, and remember you eat the body as it was broken; and remember that you drink the blood, as it flowed out of his wounds. To keep these things in remembrance is the great design of the sacrament; an object which keeps the fancy of the soul waking, that otherwise, it may be, would fall asleep. In the sixth of St. John, Christ preacheth over and over of eating his flesh, and drinking his blood without a sacrament, by the power of faith. But to keep it in fresh and frequent meditation, the Lord hath given us a palpable and signal token, as if he would engrave it upon the palms of our hands, and upon the roofs of our mouths, upon the membranes of our brain, and upon the foreskin of our heart. This is a blessing twice, and twenty times given, because it is given that it may never be forgotten. They that love others, would live in the memory of those they love; it is because Christ loves us entirely, that he would be remembered of us. And no friend will say to another, "remember me when I am gone," but that he means reciprocally to remember his friend, to whom he spake it. If you will remember Christ, he will remember you. And the thief on the cross will teach you, that it is good to continue in his memory; "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." O blessed Christ! thou art good, and dost good: thou hast not only provided an invaluable benefit for thy church, but dost put it into our hands, that we may not lose it; and dost bring it into our eyes by clear ostension, that we may not forget it. We are apt to remember injuries and to forget benefits; unthankfulness will undo us, if we take not heed of it. O rub over your memory, and consider the noble works of the Lord, especially this great work, how he suffered for us unto death. Remember seriously this one thing as you ought, and God will let you forget nothing that will do you good. There is no grievous sin which we incur, but, for the present, Christ is forgotten, as if he had never come to charge us to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. But look upon his wounds which bleed for our transgressions, and it will stanch the flux of sin, and make our hearts bleed, because we have forgotten obedience. In our distresses, our sickness, and losses, we cry out that God hath forgotten us, he hath forgotten to be gracious, and shuts up his loving-kindness in displeasure. But distrust him not; a mother cannot forget her child, much less such a father. Every tribulation which he inflicts, is but a thorn in our sides to prick us and awake us, because we have forgotten God. And remember the death of Christ, not only casting your eyes back to the large histories of it in the Gospels, as if that would suffice,-but affectedly, practically, zealously; and then every thing else will come to mind to perfect holiness. When we remember his death, we are sure he is past death, and risen again, now to die no more, and that he is ascended into heaven, and makes intercession for us. We have obtained that faith that we partake in the New Testament of his blood, and that, our names being found in the Testament, we are heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ. The custom of the world will teach us, that an heir is bound to execute the will of the testator, to see every thing performed, that he hath charged and bequeathed. Do your part like a good executor, with a righteous administration in remembrance of him. But forgetfulness cannot creep upon us, when there is so visible a monument before us to bring it often into our thoughts. Luther says, "It will help a man more in the study of piety, to meditate profoundly upon Christ's passion one day, than to read over all the Psalms of David." A bold comparison: it will, indeed, ravish the soul with trembling, to consider how much Christ loved us, by how much he suffered for us; it will make us look upon sin with horror, which begat such torment and ignominy to the innocent Lamb of God; it will comfort our weak faith, that he who hath done so great things for us, will not abandon us,—and having subdued our enemies, will not let them renew the battle to overcome us: it will encourage us to lay down our life for him, who hath laid down his life for us. "My meditation of him shall be sweet, I will be glad in the Lord." He hath drunk up the cup of sorrow, that I might drink of nothing but the cup of salvation. This is the wine, which, being given unto him that hath a heavy heart, confutes all the objections of infidelity, despair, an evil conscience, or whatsoever the tempter can suggest against the hope of my glorification. Says the son of Sirach,m "The remembrance of Josias was sweet as honey in all mouths, and as music at a banquet of wine." If the name of Josias was so precious for restoring religion, what melody is there in remembrance of Christ's name, what music in his banquet, which is the very mercy-seat, from whence the voice of the Lord gives the principal oracles of consolation! whose definition I have reserved to be the last words of all: "Consolatio est conveniens unio potentiæ cum objecto;" as our best scholars have it, "Consolation is convenient union of any faculty with its object." As when the eye meets with light, it is the comfort of the eye: when the ear meets with harmony, it is the comfort of the ear. What is the most transcendent consolation, therefore, but the union of the soul with God, the best object, in a real and most significative manner, the union of the Spirit with Christ in the sacrament of his holy supper! To whom be praise, and glory, and thanksgiving. Amen. i 1 Sam. xxx. 12. k Psalm civ. 34. I Prov. xxxi. 6. m Chap. xlix. 1. THE SECOND EPISTLE DEDICATORY ΤΟ A NEW AND EASY INSTITUTION OF GRAMMAR, 1647.* TO THE MOST HOPEFUL CHRISTOPHER HATTON, ESQUIRE, SON AND HEIR TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORD HATTON, OP KIRBY. SIR, ALL that know the infinite desires and the many cares, my lord your most honoured father hath of your education in learning and exemplary piety, will expound this address to you, as a compliance with those thoughts and designs of his, by which he intends hereafter to represent you to the world, to be a person like himself; that is, an able instrument of serving God, and promoting the just and religious interests of God's vicegerent and God's church. It is yet but early day with you, "Adhuc tua messis in herbâ :" but if we may conjecture by the most hopeful prognostics of a clear morning, we who are servants and relatives of my lord your father, promise to ourselves the best concerning you: and those are, that you will become such as your honourable father intends you, who had rather secure to you a stock of wisdom than of wealth, or of the most pompous honours. These sadnesses, which cloud many good men at this present, have taught us all, that nothing can secure a happiness or create one, but those inward excellencies, which, like diamonds in the night, sparkle in despite of darkness. And give me leave to tell you this truth, that however nature and the laws of the kingdom may secure you a great fortune, and mark you with the exterior character of honour,-yet your fortune will be but a load of baggage, and your honour an empty gaiety, unless you build and adorn your house as your father does, with the advantages and ornaments of learning, upon the foundation of piety. In order to which give me leave to help you in laying this first stone, which is cut small, and yet according to the strictest rules of art, but with a design justly complying with your end; for it is contrived with no small brevity, that since you are intended for a long journey, to a great progress of wisdom and knowledge, you may not be stopped at your setting out, but proceed like the sun, whose swiftness is just proportionable to the length of his course. For, sir, you will neither satisfy your honourable father's care, nor the expectation of your friends, nor the humblest desires of your servants, if you hereafter shall be wise and pious but in the even rank of other men. We expect you to show to the world an argument, and make demonstration whose son you are, that you may be learned even to an example, pious up to a proverb: and unless you excel those bounds, which custom and indevotion hath made to be the term and utmost aim of many of your rank, we shall only say "you are not vicious, not unlearned;" and what a poor character that will be of you, yourself will be the best judge, when you remember who and what your father is. Sir, this freedom of expression I hope you will pardon, when you shall know that it is the sense and desires of one of the heartiest and devoutest of your honoured father's servants; who hath had the honour to have so much of his privacies communicated to him, as to be witness of his cares, his sighs, his hopes, and fears concerning you; and for the advantage and promotion of your best interests. I hope, Sir, that neither this monition, nor the present Institution of the first, but the most necessary, art and instrument of knowledge, will become displeasing to you, especially if you shall accept this testimony from me, that it is done with much care and choice and though the scene lies in Wales, yet the representment and design is one of the instances for Kirby, and that it is the first and the least testimony of the greatest service and affection which can proceed from the greatest affections and obligations; such as are those of, Honoured Sir, Your most obliged and affectionate servant, : J. T. See page v. of the Essay on the Genius and Writings of Jeremy Taylor. |