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God gives us a heart prepared for duty, it is a token he hath a hand prepared for mercy.

Hence it is, that the Lord makes that gracious promife, Pfal. lxxx, 19. "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." I'll enlarge my hand, as you enlarge your hearts. He faith, as Jofeph to his fteward, Gen. xlv 1. "Fill the mens facks with food, as much as they can carry." According as Jofeph's brethren prepared facks in number and largenefs, fo did they carry corn away; and the fewer and finaller facks they had, the lefs they carried away. So here, if you bring prepared and enlarged hearts to the ordinance, you thall be fupplied with as much as you can carry.

DIRECT. V. Confider, that both habitual and actual preparation is requifite for worthy communicating.

1. HABITUAL Preparation is neceffary to every communicant, that is, that he be a believer, a man in a gracious ftate, furnished with the graces of the Spirit, endued with knowledge, faith, repentance, love, and new obedience. No man is fit to approach the Lord's table, till he have thefe gracious habits planted in his foul. He must be a man that is renewed inwardly by the Spirit of God, and aims at holiness in all manner of converfation. This new wine must not be put into an old veffel, elfe the wine will be fpilt, and the ve ffel perish, It was an ancient abuse of this facrament, condemned by the Carthaginian council, to give it to dead men; fo it is an abuse condemned by the word of God, to give it to dead fouls, and those who have no fpiritual life. Under the law, God did forbid the offering of facrifices that either were blind or lame, Mal. i. 8. and they that were ceremonially unclean, could not keep the pallover. The ignorant perfon's facrifice is blind, for he cannot give account of his own work: The hypocrite's facrifice is lame, for he halteth in God's way: The profane man is morally unclean, and fo cannot entertain communion with a holy God. Holinefs becomes God's houfe, and 3 C 21

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in a special manner his table. Habitual holiness is requifite for all that would be worthy communicants. You must be holy univerfally, holy in the frame of your hearts, and in all the actions of your lives; holy in your fhops, by diligence and juftice; holy at your tables, by fobriety and thankfulnefs; holy in the streets, by an innocent useful converfation; holy in your closets, by prayer and meditation. Yea, you must account your whole lives nothing but an opportunity of ferving a holy God, and of mortifying fin and corruption; and this habitual holiness would difpofe your fouls for the acts of immediate worship.

But unholy perfons are altogether unprepared for fuch a near approach to God. Hearts full of rancour and malice, are not meet to come to this feaft of love: Feet that walk in the ways of fin, are not fit to tread in God's holy place Hands ftained with injustice are unfit to handle thefe holy myfteries; mouths that are polluted with fwearing and evil fpeaking, are not fit to eat and drink the facred fymbols of Christ's body and blood; eyes defiled with unchafte looks, and bewitched with the world's vanities, are unfit to look on the holy Jefus; ears that entertain reproaches of God's people, and hearken not to the counfels of his word, are not fit to hear the joyful found of pardon intimated at his table. They who expect the King of glory to enter into their fouls, at the folemn occafion, muft have the doors thereof cleanly and pure. Unhallowed finners are not fit to receive this hallowed bread and wine. Our Lord's body never faw corruption in the grave, nor will he lodge in those bodies that are as naufeous fepulchres, and corrupt finks of fin. It lay only in a Virgin womb and fepulchre, to fhew that he will only refide in virgin fouls, that are devoted and confecrated to his ufe, and kept pure and chafte for his fervice, and do not entertain his rivals. I grant, indeed, impure thoughts will fometimes be crowding into the beft hearts; but if we do not entertain them, but fincerely ftrive against them, and earnestly wish for better company, it is a token Chrift's spirit hath entered, and is about his work of purifying the heart.

If we would be habitually prepared for the Lord's table, we must be daily acquaint with the work of mortification and true repentance. We must always eye fin as our Saviour's deadly enemy, have no pity on it, but feverely condemn ourselves for every trefpafs, inftantly grieve for it, look to the blood of sprinkling for pardon, renew our refolutions to amend, and pray for fpecial ftrength against every particular fin. We muft daily meditate on precious Chrift, and upon his first and fe cond coming, and live continually in the view of death. And, if we lived thus, it would not be fo hard to prepare ourselves for the Lord's table. If we lived in a habitual preparation for the day of death, we would also be habitually prepared for the day of communion. Had we God frequently in our thoughts, and lived conftantly under the fenfe of his all-feeing eye; on the communion-day we should find little e fe to do but to revive our graces by the exercise of prayer and praise.

II. Actual preparation is also neceflary before our approach to the Lord's table. Seeing, alas, the moft part of Chriftians, in this degenerate age, are fo defective in their habitual preparation for this ordinance; they ought to be the more diligent in actual preparations for it. And this doth confift of a great many particulars; fuch as, 1. Sequeftrating ourselves from the world: 4. Selfexamination 3 Humiliation for fin: 4. Renewing our perfonal covenant with God in Chrift: 5. Reformation of what is amifs: 6. Exciting of all the graces to a lively exercife: 7. Meditation on the death and fufferings of Jefus Chrift: 8. Earneft prayer to God for preparation and affiftance in the work. All thefe belong to our actual preparation for the Lord's fupper; and of them I fhall afterwards treat more particularly.

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Only I fhall here obferve, that both habitual and actual preparation muft go together, if we would be worthy communicants. We must both have grace in the habit, and grace in the lively exercife. All wife virgins that wait for the coming of the bridegroom, do take care to have oil still in their veffels, as well as in their lamps: Nay, they must fee to have their lamps burning every day. But when they hear that the bridegroom is

actually

actually coming, then, in order to meet him, they do arife and fall afresh to the trimming of their lamps; they fouff them, ftir up the light, and apply more oil to make them burn the brighter and clearer. And thus ought you to do, O communicant, if you would have a joyful meeting with your lovely bridegroom in the facrament. Nay, if you come not with actual, as well as habitual, preparation, the facrament may prove to you as the fummer brooks to the thirsty traveller, of which Job fpeaks, Job vi. 19, 20. "The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them. They were confounded, because they had hoped; they came thither and were afhamed." Some come to the facrament with a fort of actual preparation, but have no habitual preparation, no grace in the habit. Some again have habitual preparation, but not actual preparation; they want grace in the exercife. Both thefe will go from the ordinance, as the troops of Tema and companies of Sheba, disappointed of fpiritual refreshment. If we would reap fpiritual advantage in this ordinance, we must take care to be ready both ways, habitually and actually; for it is only fuch that the all-feeing master of the feaft will look upon as worthy communicants.

DIRECT. VI. Be convinced of the greatness of the fin, and hazard of unworthy communicating.

WE are told both the one and the other in very plain terms, 1 Cor. xi. 27, 29, "He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, is guilty of the body and blood of Lord." And again, "He eateth and drinketh damnation or judgment to himself." So that we fee the fin or crime is no lefs than that of murdering of Jefus Chrift, and of being found accomplices of the Jews and foldiers, who imbrewed their cruel hands in the innocent blood of the Son of God, which is a most dreadful charge! The hazard which this fin expofes to, is both temporal ftrokes, and eternal damnation. Seeing I have spoke of the nature and danger of this fin, Sacr. Cat. p. 107, 108, 110, &c. (firft Edit.) I fhall fay the lefs in this place.

Only

Only to communicate unworthily, is to approach in an unworthy state, or in an unfuitable frame, or with wrong ends. When a perfon comes to the Lord's table in ignorance, without felf-examination, without grief for fin, love to Chrift, or faith in his blood, and is unprepared for this folemn ordinance, then he is an unworthy communicant.

Now, this must be a very heinous fin; for it imports your undervaluing the blood of Jefus Chrift, as if it were the blood of an impoftor or malefactor. For, if you look on the fufferings of Chrift here reprefented, as the fufferings of the innocent Son of God, and glorious Saviour of mankind; why do you not come suitably affected therewith, and grieved for your fins that were the cause thereof? But, if you do not really own or regard them as fuch, then, on the matter, you charge Jefus Chrift as being the greateft impoftor and criminal in the world, in declaring himself to be the Son of God and Saviour of finners, when, in your esteem, he was

not.

If you fay, God forbid we be guilty of this, we own Chrift to be the Son of God, and the King of glory; why then are you guilty of treafon, and of offering the greateft indignity to your prince, by throwing his picture or great feal into a mire, by defacing and defiling a statue erected for his honour and remembrance? For any difhonour done to the image or reprefentation reflects upon the original. What horrid contempt would it be for a fubject to come in with nafty clothes and filthy hands, and offer to fit down at his fovereign's table, and dip into the dish with him? Now, all this, and much worse, you do, when you fit down unpreparedly at the Lord's table, and eat and drink unworthily.

Nay, you are hereby guilty of the bafett difingenuity, and of folemn mocking of the Lord Jefus Chrift: For, by coming to the Lord's table, you pretend to be doing honour to Chrift, to be deeply affected with his fufferings, and to declare your abhorrence of fin, that was the caufe thereof. Now, when there is really no fuch thing, but, on the contrary, fin is hugged and embraced, whit is this but horrid diffimulation with an all-feeing God?

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