AFTER some agitation of thoughts , what most opportunely I might this day entertaine your noble audience withall , at length I fastened on this Text ; which is that sacred Map , in which we have compendiated the summe of those choice favours from above , that now this gladsome anniversary of our Saviours all-glorious Resurrection hath occasioned to his Church : For now we have more solemnly , and more generally renewed our Covenant with our God , and received the Seale of all our pardons in the blessed Sacrament : Now also hath the all-powerfull arising of our Head Christ Jesus , carrying away in triumph ( as a a Jud. 16.3 . Samson did the gates of Azzah on his shoulders ) the bars of Death , Hell , and the Grave ( and all this to [ assure ] his members of their complete b b Rom. 4.25 . justification before his offended Father , yea , of their sure possession of eternall blisse ) offered it selfe unto our meditations . We are ( too many of us ) as Christ said unto the two Disciples , ( whereof the one was named Cleophas , and the other one Ammaon , as St. Ambrose ; or Nathanael , as c c Epiphan. haer. 23. ad finem . Epiphanius ; or else S. Luke himself , the Writer of the story , as Haymo , Lyranus , and Theophylact opine ) to these two ( what ever was the others name ) going to Emmaus ; we are , I say , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , d d Luk. 24.25 . slow of heart to beleeve , at least wise , through want of a more earnest taking-heed unto the things we heare ; so sieve-like are our memories , that they doe e e Heb. 2.1 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as St. Pauls word is , let slip , and to run out as leaking vessels , what should better be retained . Wherefore as the Manna , on the Jewish Sabbath , being f f Exod. 16.24 laid up in a pot , was rendred sweet and fresh for use ; so , that we may not , as ingratefull Israel , so soone g g Psa. 106.13 forget the wonders of the Lord , so marvellous in our eyes , but rather on the contrary ; as Ophir , in the dayes of Solomon , was the place for gold , because the most and best was there ; so went I for a seasonable Text herefore , to this golden and beaten chapter ( as well travelled in this kind , as Ophir was for gold ) because here was the richest veine to furnish such an occasion : thence have I extracted a small modell for my building , the two chiefe Pillars of which building , as h h 1 Kin. 7.21 . Jachin and Boaz in Solomons Temple , are the two maine Articles of our Christian faith , viz. the resurrection of the dead , and the life everlasting : And that which , as John Baptist did to Christ , fore-runneth , and i i Mat. 3.3 . prepares the way to solid comfort in them both , is , to eat the flesh , and to drinke the bloud of Christ ; whose flesh is meat indeed , and whose bloud is drinke indeed , verse 55. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [ indeed ] because no food in shadow , or in type , but truely , and in substance ; [ indeed ] because not provant for the body , but spirituall nourishment of the soul ; [ indeed ] because not k k Col. 2.22 . perishing with the using , but an heavenly viond , a food l l 1 Cor. 8.8 commending us to God , and nourishing up for ever unto life eternall : These four then , viz. The division . 1. The manducation of the flesh of Christ . 2. The compotation of the bloud of Christ . 3. The resurrection of the body : And lastly , 4. The possession of eternall life ; the certain issue of the other three .

These foure , like the foure rivers in the garden of m m Gen. 2.10 . Eden , doe all spring from the pure fountaine of this Scripture , and must now flow abroad into so many severall streames of discourse , which in their present spreading shall make glad , I hope , this City of God : The same hand that gave the opportunity , vouchsafe to give successe to this businesse .

Whoso eateth my flesh , and drinketh my bloud , hath eternall life , and I will raise him up at the last day .

I shall begin in that n n Singula quaeque locum teneant dicenda decenter . Horat. de Arte Poetica . order which the Text presenteth the parts in , and in the former generalls observe , 1. The guest invited to this heavenly Feast [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] Whoso , or , as the Genevians render it , Whosoever , answering to that [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] in Saint o o 1 Cor. 11.27 Paul , the parallel Scripture unto this , 1 Cor. 11.27 . 2. The provision made to entertaine these guests , the flesh and bloud of Christ , for meat and drink . 3. The two actions , with their relation to their severall object , [ eating ] the flesh , and [ drinking ] the bloud of Christ . 4. And fourthly , the conjunction of both these together ( for which cause I called it a compotation ) not flesh onely without bloud , but bloud also as equally as the flesh ; and both respectively to the [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] in the beginning . Of these in their order .

This [ Whoso ] is not either so universall , The first particular . or indefinite , that pell mel promiscuously , by vertue of [ it ] all commers , or intruders were to be admitted to this sacred soules-repast , ( though it be true , that every worthy and accomplished guest may take [ p p Isa. 55.1.2 . freely ] of the heavenly Supper , and without cost ; Come , saith the Prophet , eat ye that which is good , and let your soule delight it selfe in fatnesse , and all without money , and without price , Isa. 55.1.2 . ) — Procul hinc , procul ite profani : For if he that thrust himselfe in without his q q Mat. 22.11.13 . wedding garment to the Kings Feast , was shamefully bound hand and foot , and cast into outer darknesse , where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth ; if there bee a Nolite sanctum canibus , r r Mat. 7.6 . holy things , and pearles be interdicted unto dogges , and swine , unto persons of a currish , and swinish disposition , that still , as a a 2 Pet. 2.22 . Peter saith , are turning backe to their vomit , and to their wallowing in the mire of all impenitency : — Was a beast slain for touching the b b Heb. 12.20 . mount ? and shall not a person that is embrutished , and sunke below his species in vile affections , bee punished for touching that Table , where the Lord is present ? Loe ! He that eates Christs flesh with a foule mouth , and receives him into an uncleansed and sinfull soule , doth ( as one saith well ) all one , as if he should sop the bread he eates in dirt , or lay up his richest treasures in a sinke : No such unworthy and undressed guests are to touch here ; yea , if they should , all that they eat or drinke , is but sure c c 1 Cor. 11.29 judgement , and damnation to themselves , by such a presumptuous impreparation laying themselves open to the strokes of Gods displeasure ; of which Nadab and Abihu , in a parallel case , are exampled out for our warning , being suddenly destroyed for offering d d Lev. 10.2 . strange fire at Gods Altar : and no lesse are those endangered , that present strange souls , and a false faith at Christs Table ; for surely , as Moses said to Aaron , God wil be e e Ver. 3. sanctified in them that come nigh him : Wherefore our Saviour , whose essence was Purity it self in abstracto , when he meant , though not to lay downe any thing which he had before , to wit , his Divinity ( save only , as f f Pantolcon , tract . de lumin . sanct. pag. 587. in patrum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Pantoleon hath it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in the act , and time of his exinanition , he seemed awhiles to shadow the manifestation , and as it were to hide the glorious splendour of the same ) yet to assume unto his divine Person another Nature , and that not of Angels , for [ some ] of them stood , but of Man , whose [ whole ] species was quite lost , as say the School-men , in the fall of Adam : In this his incarnation , or assumption of his humanity , he chose the wombe of none but of a pure Virgin to be lodged in ; for as no uncleane thing can enter into the kingdome of Heaven , no more would the King of Heaven enter into any uncleane thing : hee was a Lamb without h h 1 Pet. 1.19 . spot , or blemish , and could not therefore enter into a leprous soule ; yea , his very body , and his flesh so pure , that those two noble Converts of his , Joseph of Arimathea , and his i i 1 Joh. 7.50 . night-Disciple Nicodemus thought it fittest , as Primasius noteth out of St. John , to be wound up onely in [ linnen ] cloaths , and with sweet spices and fragrant odours , to be interred in a [ new ] sepulchre , never soyled by a sinfull body , Joh. 19.40 , 41. And when himselfe was now about to give this same body of his in Sacrament , at the first institution of his last blessed Supper , unto his Disciples , its noted by the same Evangelist , chap. 13.4 , 5. that he riseth from supper , that is , if I misconceive not , from the second and common supper ( now begun ) next to the eating of the Passeover , which was the first and legall supper , which the word [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] rising up , partly intimates : For the legall Passeover , as we may gather from Exod. 12.11 . was to be eaten [ standing ] with staves in their hands ; and at which [ common ] supper it was , before it was wholly ended , that Judas eate the sop , and had his traiterous hand with his Master in the dish : after which sop ( no Sacramentall sop , as I beleeve , with a n n Dr Kellet Canon Residentiary in his book entituled , Tricoenium Christi , not more full of soliditie , then curiosity of all great learning : now pregnant , and ready to be delivered from a well-furnished Librarie into publike . learned Professor of Divinity a member of this Church ) immediately he went out , Ver. 30. to doe that work of darknesse , for to serve his truest Master the Prince of Darknesse , in betraying the o o Matth. 27.4 . innocent bloud of the Prince of light , into the murtherous hands of the Children of Darknesse : He went out , and it was Night , that is , saith Alcuinus , He , Judas himselfe , was so personally , and in abstracto , he had a soule within so foule and blacke with this deed of darknesse : I say , from this second and common supper ( thus begun ) and before the institution of the third , and last holy supper , which was not till after he sate downe again , upon the ablution of his Disciples feet , and after too , that Judas was gone out for to betray him ; which p p Beza ad Joh. 13.20 . Beza noteth from the adverb [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] ver. 30. [ Immediately ] hee went forth , that is , immediately after the sop , taken from the dish in that common supper , ( for where is the Sacramentall bread called a sop ? Joh. 6.26 . or at least , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a [ dipped ] sop , as this is said to be , ver. 26 ? ) I say , once more , from this second , and this common supper Jesus riseth , and laid aside his garments , and took a towell , and girded himselfe ; after that , he poureth water into a bason , and began to wash the Disciples feet , and to wipe them with the towell wherewith he was girded . The maine passage in this Scripture that I mind for my present purpose , is the [ washing of the Disciples feet ] : and yet because we cannot baulk that Theological Maxime here , which saith , that omnis Christi actio nostra est instructio , Every action of Christ ( onely those excepted which were of r r Nos non tenemur Deum imitari in operibus [ potestatis ] imò tenemur velle non imitari ipsum , quia debemus ei velle soli omnipotentiam . Vide Alex. Hales par. 4. quaest. 33. mem. 1. Art. 1. p. 827. edit. 1622. miraculous and extraordinary dispensation , which by vertue of the union hypostaticall were done alone by him , in which we cannot , nor ought to strive to resemble ) is our instruction , and calls for our observation and imitation , at least , quantum ad substantiam actus , though not to be hoped , or attained by us , quantum ad agendi modum , as s s Alex. Hales , par. 4 qu. 10. p. 298. edit. 1622. Alexander Hales distinguisheth : that is , for the substance , though not the full manner , or measure of exact performance of the action ; ( for what comparison ? ) Therefore I will first a little touch upon the depending t t Solet [ circumstantia ] Scripturae illuminare sententiam , cùm ea quae circa Scripturam sunt praesentem quaestionem contingentia , diligenti discussione tractantur . August . qu. 69. l. de divers . quaest. — Confer Primasium in 1 Cor. c. 15. p. 229 in 8ᵒ. circumstances : First then , he rising from the second supper [ laid aside his garments . ] For the better understanding of the mystery hereof , we may remember , that the Scripture mentions a threefold glorious garment , that the Lord puts on , as the King of glory , to whom the everlasting u u Psal. 24.7 . doores stand open . 1. The first is a garment of strength , Psal. 93.1 . The Lord raigneth , he is cloathed with Majesty , hee is cloathed with [ strength ] wherewith he hath girded himselfe . 2. The second is a garment of honour , and beauty , Psal. 104.1 . Thou art cloathed with [ honour ] and Majesty . 3. A third is the garment of light ; Who coverest thy selfe with [ light ] as with a garment , Psal. 104.2 . All these garments our Saviour laid aside , when he rose up , and came downe from heaven , and put on our z z Phil. 3.21 . vile flesh upon him , ( not indeed as ever losing his first glory , but under the vaile of our nature covering the manifestation thereof ) by that meanes becomming , as Esay hath it , Deus absconditus , a God that a a Isa. 45.15 . hideth himselfe ; for in stead of strength , of beauty , and of light , loe ! the three contrary weeds of infirmity , of humility , of obscurity ; He emptied , he b b Phil. 2.7 , 8. humbled himself , saith the Apostle ; he hath no forme , nor comelinesse , and when wee shall see him , there is no beauty that we should desire him , a man of sorrowes , and we hid , as it were , our faces from him ; He was despised , and wee esteemed him not , Isa. 53.2 , 3. So were all his [ glorious ] garments laid by , represented now by his laying aside of these . 2. Having laid aside his garments , he next took a towel , and girded himselfe , being so found in the form of a servant , and in d d Phil. 2.8 . fashion of a man , that came not to be ministred unto , but to e e Mat. 20.28 . minister . 3. After this , he poureth water into a bason ; hereby signifying , partly , the cooling of the heat of concupiscence , by the f f Ezek. 36.25 . water of his grace in the hearts of his servants , as g g Perer. disput. 15. ad cap. 13. Johan . Pererius ; and partly shewing , as h h Ludolph . de Saxon. part. 2. cap. 54. de vita Christi . Ludolphus out of St. Austin saith , how now shortly he would poure out his bloud , and shed it on the ground , for the abstersion and cleansing of their soules from the filthinesse of sin , 1 Joh. 1.7 . 4. All this done , Then he began [ to wash the Disciples feet ; ] by which action he first shewed the depth of his abjection , and likenesse even unto the vilest servant upon earth : therefore when humble and discreet Abigail would abase her self even unto the meanest offices , as k k Pet. Martyr . loc. commun . class. 4. c. 11. sect. 15. p. 887. Peter Martyr hath well noted , as thinking her selfe unworthy of any higher , in Davids Court , she saith , Let thine handmaid be a servant to [ wash the feet ] of the servants of my Lord , 1 Sam. 25.41 . Set these two together , The King of glory , the shame of men ; the m m My Lord Jos. Hall the now peerlesse Bishop of Exon. Passion Serm. p. 505. edit. 1617. more honour , the more abasement : In the third verse , St. John saith of our Saviour , He came from God , and went to God ; Loe ! what a disparity is here ; by Nature , God cloathed with Majesty , and eternall glory , n n Phil. 2.6 . equall to God the Father , consubstantiall with the holy Ghost , now a servant , and employed in the lowest offices of the vilest servant : Who must not here cry out with the Prophet , o o Isa. 45.8 . O drop downe righteousnesse ye Heavens , and let the earth be astonished at this ? And in the use , thus must we apply it : When we addresse our selves to eat that supper , which now was , in this fashion , about to be instituted by Christ , we must lay by all thoughts of honour , of place , of all kind of selfe-worthinesse , if we minde to eat with profit . p p Sulpit. Sever. lib. 1. Sulpitius much magnifieth the humility of St. Martin , for that he sometimes ministred unto his owne servant ; others , that Lewis King of France , who was wont to serve the poore with his owne hands ; which thing likewise q q Niceph. l. 8. c. 21. Nicephorus reporteth of Helena the mother of Constantine the Great ; and r r Platin. in vita Leonis noni p. 171. Platina noteth it as a high point of piety in Pope Leo the ninth , that seeing a Leper lying before his doore , commanded him to bee layed in his owne bed : But alas ! as St. Andrew said of the five loaves , and two fishes , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; Alas ! s s Joh. 6.9 . what are these ? when loe ! the God of glory humbleth himselfe , as 't were unto the very dust of scorne , of contempt , of shame ; He refuseth not to wash even the very feet of his Disciples : But yet there is a farther mystery in this , which I gather from Joh. 13.10 . where our Saviour tells Peter , He that is washed needeth not save to wash his [ feet , ] for by this action of his was not meant onely , in the letter , his conforming of himselfe unto a Jewish custome , who in those hotter climates went discalceated , and without shooes , at least o o See the Geneva note , at Joh. 13.23 . leaned so at their meales ; but , in the mystery , because done at this [ time ] as the ancients observe , it denoted the abstersion , and washing away , that should be in us , by the waters of teares , and repentance , from the inward affections , which be as the feet of the soule , of that predominant pollution , that as Shechems soule did in a luxurious love to Dinah , Jacobs daughter , doth [ x x Gen. 34.3 . cleave ] too close unto them ; so St. y y Bern. fol. 35. F. in serm. de Coena Dom. Bernard most expresly : summarily then thus , sith as that noble Lord a a Du Plessis , cap. 30. de vera Relig. in fronte . Du Plessis tells us , that Christi tota vita salutis schola , Christs whole life was but the Schoole from whence we must take out the lessons of our practice , and our Saviour himselfe , after these things thus done , saith ver. 15. I have given you an * * Joh. 13.15 . example , that ye should doe , as I have done unto you ; by laying aside his garments , tutoureth us to put off the b b Jam. 1.21 . superfluities of naughtinesse , our c c Isa. 64.6 . menstruous ragges , our d d Jude 23. garments spotted of the flesh , and with Bartimeus , cast e e Mar. 10.50 . away our sinfull garments , when we rise up , and come to Christ ; by girding of himselfe with a towell , which had a respective correspondency to the posture wherein the Jewish Passeover was eaten , to wit , with their f f Exod. 12.11 . loynes girded , to g g 1 Pet. 1.13 . Luke 12.35 . gird up the loynes of our mindes , by curbing of our luxury , and lascivious exorbitancies ; and by washing of the feet , to teach us to h h 2 Cor. 7.1 . rinse , and scoure our affections from all nasty defilements , that doe bespot and besweat the soule , rendring it loathsom to the eyes of the i i Hab. 1.13 . all-pure God : which was also typed in those k k 2 Chron. 4.6 . lavers set before the Temple , wherein the Priest was first to wash , before he entred : And to what end served all those Leviticall Purifications in the mystery , but to this same purpose ? The superficies indeed of the ceremony lay in the outward washings , but the morall intelligence , as the Schoole calls it , eyed the inward rinsing of the soule , and l l Heb. 9.14 . conscience from sinfull impurity ; and for this cause also some have thought that amongst other wood the Lord chose out unto himself for an offering , m m Exod. 25.5 . Shittim wood , and thereof enjoyned the n n Vers. 10. Ark to be made up ; Ligna Sethim sunt * * Vide Pet. Lumbard . l 4. dist. 8 in sinc. imputribilia , for that its thought to be a kind of Cedar , that admits not easily of a rotting ; no more must any soule allow himselfe in any sinne , that in the issue sokes , and rotteth out the soule : Christ owneth no such mouldring guests , nor bids them well-come at his Table .

Wherefore this [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] or , Whoso , or , Whosoever , do here stand as Abraham in his Tent , in the o o Gen. 18.1 . doore of this Text , seeming to invite all passengers , and to call in all commers to this heavenly repast upon the flesh and bloud of Christ ; yet this must be restrained onely unto such as be found p p Mat. 22.8 . worthy , and , as the five wise virgins , have their lampes all q q Mat. 25.7.10 . ready-trimmed , and prepared for admission : I could here take occasion to reckon up those fifteene kinds of persons , which ( during their ill-disposed state ) are excluded by the * * Vide Raynerium de Pisis , tom . 1. Pantheolog . cap. 17. in Eucharistia . Schoole-Divines ; but I would gladly keep my selfe unto the rubrick of my houre .

It s true , what a a Granatensis , tom. 2. concio de Temp. concio 4. in coena Dom. Granatensis here observes , that the worthinesse notwithstanding of these guests of Christ , is not to be measured by the nobility of descent , nor ignobility of condition , neither by pompe , nor poverty from without : Our King Christ Jesus hath a Kingdome indeed , but it s not of this b b Joh. 18.36 . world ; therefore the dignity of his guests is to be measured , as the Kings daughter in the Psalme , by what nobility they have [ c c Psal 45.13 . within , ] by what lustre of graces their soules are adorned with [ there : ] if they have d d Mat. 6.22 . single eyes , that is , mindes clearly informed with knowledge , enough to e e 1 Cor. 11.29 discern the Lords body from ordinary refections ; else , as f f Mar. 10.46 . Bartimeus , they are deformed in their sight : if they have cleansed affections ; else , they are as Mephibosheth , g g 2 Sam. 4.4 . lame in their feet : if they have h h Eph. 4.29 . edifying discourse ; else , as that Stutterer in the Gospel , they have an i i Mar. 7.32.35 . impediment in their speech , and the strings must first be loosed : if they be ready to k k Rom. 12.13 . distribute ; else , as Jeroboam , they bee l l 1 Kin. 13.4 . shrunke up in their hands : if free from all sinnes mortall , wounding and wasting the conscience ; else , as those Lamesters at the poole of m m Joh. 5.3 . Bethesda , they are too ulcerous , and full of sores , to be entertained by this King : Go , saith the Lord by Malachi , n n Mal. 1.8 , 13 , 14. offer the lame , and the sicke , and the torne , offer these unto thy Governour , will he be pleased with thee , or accept thy person ? Loe ! thus it is , when wee come with maimed soules , we pollute the * * Ver. 1● . Table of the Lord , we cannot be accepted at his sacred boord . Wherefore , to close up this point , let me exhort you all , as S. Paul doth his o o 1 Cor. 11.28 Corinthians , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , let every particular man examine himselfe , and , as the word imports , put himself upon the tryall . Examination is the eye of the soul , by which reflexively it seeth it selfe , and knoweth what it hath done : Other meates , saith St. Chrysostome , are , e're they be taken , to be first proved , lest they hurt us ; but here , lest this heavenly meat prove noxious to thee , thou must first goe prove [ thy selfe : ] Judge p p 1 Cor. 11.31 your selves therefore , Brethren , that ye be not judged of the Lord : let us be impartiall in the scrutiny of our hollow , and q q Jer. 17.9 . deceitfull hearts ; and , like the woman that sought her groat , in the Gospel , light up the candle of our best faculties , and leave no corner of our soules a a Luk. 15.8 . unswept , till we have found out that sin of our soules , that doth , as Paul speaks , so b b Heb. 12.1 . easily beset us , and , as that Jebusite in Canaan , that will not out of our coasts ; and when we have discovered it , to c c Col. 3.5 . mortifie it , and to d d Gal. 5.24 . crucifie it , with the affections , and lusts thereof : And as the speciall sacrifice that was offered upon the Altar in Jerusalem , was wont diligently to bee looked into by the high Priest , and his Ministers , to spy out the blemishes , or otherwise , of it , before the actuall oblation , so let us . S. e e S. Clement . epist. ad Cor. pag. 53 , 54. Clement in his Epistle to the Corinthians ( a late , and * * See Mr Mede Serm. of the reverence of Gods house , p. 14. genuine monument of antiquity set forth ) hath expressed it to the life thus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word is interpreted by e e Philo Judaeus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Philo Judaeus thus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it implyeth such a disquisition , so exact , as if Momus himselfe with a Lincean eye , were to come after , hee should not finde a thing to carpe at , in the very entrails of our sacrifices of our soules : The same word is used by St. f f Chrys. Hom. 20. in Rom. Chrysostome , upon this occasion of pre-examination , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. Thus we [ should ] doe from the bottome of our soules : wherefore g g Jam. 4 8. cleanse your hands you sinners , and purifie your hearts ye double-minded . Thus if we doe , at least in * * Tota vita boni Christiani est sanctum desiderium . desire , and endevour , we then come under this same [ ὁ ] Whoso , in my Text , and are the men , whosoever we be for externall condition in state or place , that be all invited hither to eat , and to drinke , and that of no meaner cheare then the very flesh and bloud of Christ Jesus himselfe .