From rea

all the arts of government, as well as any that went before them? If the principles of religion had been first introduced Ner from merely by a state-policy, the politicians and goverpoliticks. nors of the world, one would think, fhould be likely to have known fomething of it; at least, fo much, as to be lefs fubject to the anxieties of confcience, which the defpifing of fuch principles, and living in oppofition to them, generally creates: whereas we find, on the contrary, that, in all ages, the greatest of men, who have had nothing to fear from human power, have been as much affrighted by the fecret terrors of religion, and have undergone as great agonies of mind, as the meanest mortals. And, as the reason of the thing is fufficient to convince us, that religion at jon. first was no state juggle; fo, if we look into the records of antiquity, we fhall eafily perceive, that, the farther we go backwards, the ftronger is our evidence against this fuggeftion. The moft ancient writings, that are in the world, without all controverfy, are thofe of the holy fcriptures; and, among thefe, the bock of Jcb is defervedly accounted one of the earlieft: and yet we may obferve therein not only the fenfe of the duties of religion, wherewith the people were poffeffed in those days, but even how customary it was to appeal to the tradition of former times concerning thefe matters: Inquire, I pray thee, of the former age (fays one of Job's friends) and prepare thyjfelf to the fearch of their fathers for we are but of yesterday, and know nothing. But what is it for, that he thus appeals to the obfervation of former ages? Even to evince the bad condition of all that are not fincere in their religion; for as the rush, fays he, without mire, and the flag without water, wither before other herbs; fa are the paths of all that forget God, and the hypocrite's hope And anti- fhall perish. From whence it is apparent, that, in quity. the earliest times we can read of, men had the fame fenfe of religion, and the fame notions of God's indignation against impiety, that we now have: and therefore, confidering that no time or place can be afliged to give any reafonable ground for fuppofing, that the art principles of religion were any human contrivance, we nay, without farther arguments, conclude that they were from the beginning.

The infe-.

rence.

In fine, if religion had been a trick and contrivance of so long a date, as these deluded men would pretend, it must neceffarily have been found out at one time or other, and, in confequence of that, banished out of the world leng before now: but, thanks be to God, the credit of it is not yet extinct; which can be owing to nothing but the invincible reafons whereon it ftands. In every age, there has not been wanting the wit and malice of profane perfons, to undermine and blow it up; but the foundations, whereon it is built, are fo firm and ftable, and have endured the violent fhocks and fecret attempts of fo many ages, that, as long as reason and good order prevail in the world, we have no occafion to doubt, but that religion will not fail. Were religion and the Being of a God matters of mere fpeculation indeed, these men might trifle and sport themselves with them, as long as they pleased; but, as they are made fundamental parts of every man's falvatian, they feem to run too great a hazard, for the bare gratification of a foolish fingularity, who adventure to deny them. For, as thefe men cannot fancy things into being, so neither can they make them vanish into nothing, by the ftubborn confidence of their own imagination. What is it then, you'll fay, makes them thus fool-hardy, and tempts them to be thus defperate? Why truly if you'll believe them, 'is to fet thè world free from the prejudices of vulgar errors, and the flavery of that bug-bear conscience. Ah wretched freedom! which, to deliver us from one imaginary evil, brings upon us a thousand real mischiefs, which degrades the dignity of human nature, faps the foundation of all focieties, open a fluice to all kinds of wickednefs, and takes away from man his only comfort in time of diftrefs. The comFor, fince man of himself is infinitely infufficient for forts of rehis own happinefs; is liable to many evils and miferies, ligion. which he can neither prevent nor redrefs; is full of wants, which he cannot supply; furrounded with infirmities, which he cannot remove, and obnoxious to dangers, which he can no ways escape; where can he turn himself without a God, or where repofe his anxious thoughts, but in his divine providence? In the day of adverfity especially, when all other friends are apt to forfake him, how dark and gloomy muft every thing about him look without God! An unhappy mortal deep funk in miferies and misfortunes and ftruggling with innumerable hardships here upon earth, and at the fame time deftitute of a protector and patron in heaven, is a condition not to be imagined without borrer and trembling a

mazement.

K 4

SUNDAY

SUNDA Y VI.

I. Of the facrament of the Lord's Supper, why it was ordained; and II. Of the preparation before receiving it, by examination of confcience, repentance, faith, obedience, and making fatisfaction. III. Of thofe duties to be done at the time of receiving, and IV. After receiving; and the benefit of frequent communion. V. Of the honour due to GOD'S Name; and of the fins against it, as blafphemy, fwearing, including affertory, promiffory, and unlawful oaths. VI. Of perjury. VII. Of vain oaths, or common fwearing, curfing, and the fin of them; and VIII. Of vows.

HA

Of the

per.

Aving thus learned, and refolved to believe ALL the ARTICLES of the chriftian faith, our next duty is to partake of the Lord's fupper, which, as we are Lord's fup- taught by the church, is not only a fign of the love that chriftians ought to have among themfelves one to another; but rather it is a facrament of our redemption by Chrift's death: infomuch that to fuch asrightly, worthily, and with faith receive the fame, the bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Chrift, and likewife the cup of bleffing is a partaking of the blood of Chrift; the body of Chrift is given, taken, and eaten in the fupper only after an heavenly and fpiritual manner. And the means whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the fupper, is faith:'* and therefore this is justly reckoned one of the most important actions of our holy religion; whereby we repeat and renew the covenant we made with God in our baptifm; diftinguifh ourselves to be the disciples of the bleffed Jefus, and are admitted to the highest act of communion with his facred perfon: For therein our

Its benefits. corrupt nature is purified, by applying the merits

of Chrift's blood; and our weakness is ftrengthened, by receiving the influence of his grace, which he has purchased for us by his death. But he that lives in the habitual practice

See the 28th Article of Religion.

of

of any known fin, without repentance, muft not approach to the holy table, left he be found to mock God, and contemn his authority. Nevertheless it may not be inferred, that the danger of unworthy receiving makes it fafeft to abstain from receiving at all, or at least to receive but feldom; because the danger of neglecting and contemning a plain command of our Saviour is more hazardous to our falvation, than performing it without fome due qualification to make it worthy. For the clearer understanding of this matter, it may be neceffary to take notice, that fince it is allowed on all hands, that there can be no just bar to frequency of communion, but the want of preparation, which is only fuch a bar as men may themfelves remove, if they pleafe; it concerns them highly to take off the impediment as foon as poffible, and not to truft to vain hopes of alleviating one fault by committing another. The danger of mifperforming any religious duty is an argument of fear and caution, but no excufe for neglect; God infifts upon the doing it, and the doing it well alfo. It was no fufficient plea for the flothful fervant, under the gofpel, that he thought his mafter hard to please, and thereupon neglected his bounden duty: but, on the contrary, the use he ought to have made of that confideration was to have been fo much the more wakeful and diligent in his master's fervice. Therefore, in the cafe of the holy communion, it is to very little purpose to plead the strictnefs of felf-examination, or preparation, by way of excufe either for a total, or for a frequent, or for a long neglect of it. A man may fay, that he comes not to the Lord's table, because he is not prepared, and fo far he affigns a good reafon : but if he should be farther asked why he is not prepared, when he may; then he can only make fome trifling infufficient excufe, or remain fpeechlefs. Therefore, the duty being neceffary to be performed, the true confequence we fhould draw from the dan

ger

of performing it unworthily, fhould be to excite ourfelves to care and diligence in preparing ourselves for the due difcharge of it; but never to delude ourselves by falfe reafons to fuch a neglect as will certainly increase our guilt.

There lies an obligation upon all christians to receive the holy communion, from the plain and pofitive command

of

A neceffary

al duty.

*

of our bleffed Saviour, to do this in remembrance of him. This makes it a neceffary and perpetual duty inand perpelu- cumbent upon all chriftians; and to live in the neglect of a plain law of the author of our religion is no way consistent with the character we profefs of being the difciples of Chrift. This worship is peculiar to the christian religion, and thereby, in a particular manner, we proclaim ourfelves followers of the bleffed Jefus: upon which account the primitive christians (at least in some places) never held their public affemblies without it; and the faithful, that joined in all the other parts of public worship, never failed in partaking of the communion of the body and blood of Chrift. Yet the church declares, that the wicked, and fuch as be void of a lively faith, although they do carnally and vifibly prefs with their teeth the facrament of the body and blood of Chrift; yet in no wife are they partakers of Chrift, but rather to their condemnation do eat and drink the fign or facrament of fo great a thing." + And, before we can be qualified to participate of his holy facrament, we must underftand the nature and end of its inftitution, or we cannot offer an acceptable fervice to God. And, therefore,

Remember that the facrament of the Lord's fupper was

Why or

Chrift.

ordained for a continual remembrance of the facrifice dained by of the death of Chrift, and of the benefits which we receive thereby. The Son of God made man, by fuffering death upon the cross, made a full, perfect, and fufficient facrifice, oblation, and fatisfaction for the fins of the whole world; he intercedes for us by virtue of this facrifice in heaven; fo we on earth fhould commemorate this his facrifice on the crofs, by offering bread and wine, which after confecration become the reprefentatives of his body and blood, which in this facrament are offered to God the Father that he may be favourable to us, and give us his grace, through the merits of the death of Chrift. And,

II. As we ought not, and must not neglect coming to this holy facrament, fo no-body muft dare to approach that holy

table

And the laws of England have injoined, That every Parishioner shall communicate at the least three times in the Year; of which Eafter to be one. See the Rubrick at the end of the Communion-Service.

See the 29th Article of Religion.