THE INTRODUCTION . Of the Circumstances of Religious Worship in private .

IT is fit that every man who intends to live well , should set himself Rules how to spend every portion of his time as usefully , and as much to Gods , and his own honour , as he can : And because the Reputation of Religion is secured , and its Interests fenc'd by Ceremonies and Circumstances ; and holy Offices require a fit place , and select opportunities , wherein they may be performed , it will be necessary , first , to speak of those Circumstantials which are so conducive to the advantageous discharge of this duty . And First , That it is requisite that the considerate Christian should have a place of Retirement , is , I suppose , disputed by none but the rash , the vicious , and ungovernable . If therefore a mans worldly concerns will afford it him , the devoutly inclined should allow himself a Closet ; which Room , tho not by a solemn consecration , yet by designation and use , should be deputed to the private discharge of the duties of Piety . Now a Closet is an Oratory ; and therefore whensoever I go thither , I ought to be free from worldly considerations , and wholly intent upon the business of eternity : for who ever turned a Chappel into a Counting-house , or a Shop ? And this also brings a new advantage with it : For whenever I go there again , the view of the place brings to my mind the good thoughts , devotions and resolves , that when I was last there , took up my time ; and consequently with ease , puts me afresh upon the same performances : And therefore whenever I go , tho but occasionally , into my Closet , I am bound to say a short Collect before I leave it ; as he who by chance only goes through a Church , looks on himself obliged to make an halt , and to say his prayers . For let the apartment seem what it will to others , it is to me the house of God : it is no place for sport or society ; for loose thoughts , or vain words : it is a place of retirement , and not of company : and therefore should be most remote from noise , and the disturbances of the house ; and because it is the place I first go to after I am out of my bed , and the last that I take my leave of before I go to sleep ; this course not only secures Gods blessing on my undertakings , since I begin nothing without begging his help , nor end any thing without giving him thanks ; but withal it makes me careful and devout , since I must do nothing upon which I dare not desire Gods blessing .

The situation of the Closet should be properly , if conveniently , toward the East ; and that way the Window should look , not only because it is the pleasantest situation , and introduces the early light , one of the best of Gods temporal Largesses ; but because in that part of Heaven probably my Mediator and Advocate sits at the Right Hand of his Father ( for in his Humane Nature he must be confin'd to some certain place ) and toward that part the ancient Christians ( and to them I must always pay a deep veneration ) used to direct their prayers . This place should be furnisht either for Necessity or Ornament . Some things are necessary for the discharge of the duties of reading , praying , and meditating , which every good mans prudence will dictate to him . And here for my self I profess , That I think my self always bound to pray on my knees , or in the more humble posture of prostration ; and to read standing , if my health will give leave , because then I hear the Commands of my dearest Master and Saviour ; but I would meditate sitting , if walking be not more acceptable to me , because the man who would meditate to advantage , should be no way discomposed by any thing of uneasiness that may disturb the mind or body .

The ornamental furniture should be plain , but so ordered , that it may appear like an Oratory , and be a representation in little , of the house of God . For that some Ornament is necessary , I am convinc'd , because our blessed Saviour in the time of his lowest humiliation , would not celebrate the Passeover , but * * Mar. 14.15 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . in a room that was furnisht and adorn'd and fit for such a Sacred Office . To the Window there should be fixt a little Table and that should be my Altar , whereon I may offer my God a broken and a contrite heart , pierc'd through with the Darts of Divine Love , and the Ardors of Zeal for the honour of my Saviour . A little remote from it should be a Desk , whereon the Book of God should be always plac'd , and always open ( which very sight is an intimation of my duty ) . Nearer the door ( and that in the Church was the place of Penitents ) should be a space where I may prostrate my self in the time of my sorrow , and my humiliations ; and there also should be a little Treasury , like the Treasury of the Temple , or the Poor Mans Box in our Churches , where , on every day in which I fast , and on other occasions , as God shall enable me ( especially when I have received some signal deliverance from danger , or other testimony of Gods love and favour ) I may lay up something for the poor ; by which means I shall have a stock of Charity always by me , whenever I see a fit Object for it : And no necessity shall make me alienate what hath been so devoted ( for it is Corban , consecrated to God and his service ) , tho perhaps I meet not the same day with some indigent person to bestow it on : For how poor and naked are my Humiliations , or Thanksgivings , without Alms ?

On the days of my humiliation , I would have no other Pictures in the Closet ( while at other times any draught that represents a grave and honest Subject , may well enough become the place ) , except a Mary Magdalen , or Peter in his penitent posture after the denial of his Master , or a lively Representation of my dying Saviour , with this Motto , I desire to know nothing but Jesus Christ , and him crucified : For I would willingly have my bleeding Master always present to my eye , when I am well inclined , to encourage me ; when bent to do evil , to reclaim me . He pray'd often , and meditated frequently , and was continually a man of sorrows and mortification : But his Passion is an indispensible Obligation to Piety : For what can endear holiness so persuasively , as the remembrance that Christ died to purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works ? Can I look upon that sad spectacle , and not be toucht with remorse and compassion , and with a due consideration , that my sins brought my Saviour to so much shame and torture ; and nothing but my Repentance can answer the ends of his sufferings ?

A Lute , or some such grave instrument ( if the devout person hath any skill in Musick ) , were very proper to joyn with the Voice in the praises of God . The room also should be hung , so as the Windows may be darkned , to make the Closet gloomy and awful , upon any time when it may be convenient , but more especially during the Lent , the weekly Stations ( or half fasts ) of Wednesday and Friday , but above all on Good-Friday , and the Holy-Saturday , the days when our blessed Master suffered on the Cross , and lay in the grave . I know nothing more necessary , but that the place should be furnisht with Books according to every mans capacity , as he is able to buy , and to understand ; but nothing should be there but what is devotional , such as Sacred History , Divine Poems , devout Meditations , and the Rules of Holy Life : Nor should these be intermixt with any Books of other sorts ( for tho Secular History and Poems , Romances and Plays , be an allowable diversion , yet because the Closet is a Chappel , I think them not allowable in that place : For the men who are lovers of those Writings , never carry them to Church with them : And therefore any other room in the house is better fitted for such Books ) . Those who can only read English ( for the Masters of Languages are best able to advise themselves ) , I counsel , That , whatever else may be either admitted , or wanting , the devotional Works of the Reverend Dean of Peterborough , Dr. Patrick , with his excellent Paraphrases , may always find a shelf there ; and with them the Writings of that good person the Author of the Whole Duty of Man , who hath given so liberally to the Treasury of the Church , and so humbly denied himself his due praises , by a studious concealing of his Name ; together with the Primitive Christianity of Dr. Cave , that they who cannot read the Works of the Ancients , may in that Learned Author , admire , and imitate their transcendent Virtues . And I mention these Books only , not that I undervalue any other Authors who have writ on Pious Subjects ( for I know that there are now extant many very valuable Treatises , set out by the Divines of our Church , and perhaps more and better than all the rest of the Christian World can boast of ) , but because in so great a multitude there ought to be some choice ; and I think these the most convenient , and best adapted to the necessities of the persons to whom I undertake to prescribe ; tho at last I must acknowledg , that all this discourse hath its relation only to people of condition , of estate and leisure : For to the poor , every room in the house that is private , is a Closet , and the Liturgy of our Church , with the Whole Duty of Man , a Library .

When the Closet is so furnisht , the next thing considerable is , what time must be spent in it ? And here it is impossible to prescribe the same Rules to all persons ; only it is to be remembred , that the rich and prosperous are freed from the drudgeries of Life , and so have much time to dispose of ; as also have Scholars , and all that are studiously inclined . And that whereas twice or three times a day may be enough for a man of business to retire , and serve his Maker , I much question whether people of leisure can be dispenc't with , unless they observe all the Canonical hours , at lest those which happen between six in the morning and nine at night inclusively , as long as health will permit . I am injoin'd in the Name of our Holy Saviour , and St. Paul * * Luke 21.36 . 1 Thes. 5.17 . to pray always , and without ceasing ; that is as often as I can conveniently , for the other duties of my Calling , as a Man , and a Christian ; but I must never omit doing it every day , at some set seasons and returns of time : For so the good Widow is said * * Luke 2.37 . to have served God day and night at the Temple ; i. e. at the accustomed hours of the Jewish devotion : And so this Example binds me also to the publick service of the Church , if I am where I can enjoy that honour and priviledg , as well as to the private performances of my Closet . And to encourage this , it is well worth the remembring * * Act 2.1.15 . V. Basil . regul. fusior . inter . 37. , that the Holy Ghost , the most glorious and useful donative that ever the Christian Church did enjoy , was bestowed on the Apostles when they were celebrating the Festival of the Pentecost with prayers and praises , and that upon one of the solemn set-hours of prayer , the third hour of the day .

My first employment in my closet is Prayer , and that either supplication or praises , as I am sensible of what either sins I have lately committed , or blessings received . And if the Aegyptians , acted only by the light of Nature in the beginning of all their ceremonies , made three solemn acclamations to the Unknown Darkness ; i. e. to that God whom humane faculties cannot comprehend ; ought not I to preface my service with as many acts of solemn adoration to the blessed Trinity ? After I have prayed , I am under obligation to read some part of Holy Writ ( and after it some Paraphrase , or other suitable discourse ) , with awe and attention : And when I have so done , I meditate ; which when I do , I fly the society of the World , to converse with God and good Angels ; I put my self into the true way to that peace of mind which a sinner wants ; and I walk directly toward Heaven ; I follow my Saviour , who left the multitude , and went into a mountain apart , to enjoy the society of his Father : I am taken from the occasions of censuring others , or judging my Neighbours ; and have nothing to do , but to contemplate the state of my own foul , and the Mercies of my God . In this place also do I chuse to fast , that I may do it in secret : and by avoiding being seen of men , may earn an open Reward from my Father that seeth in secret . And tho on every day I give my God my earliest attendance , yet on the days of my solemn Vows , I bind my self to prevent the morning , that in the beginning of the watches I may pour out my heart like water before the Lord . Thus every day will be a day of business and traffick , and every night I shall be some steps nearer to my Fathers Palace .

CHAP. I. Of the Obligations of Religion , especially the Sacraments , to Holiness .

WEre the Christian Religion to be judg'd of by the excellency of its Author , and the purity of its Precepts , by the wisdom of its contrivance , and the usefulness of its designs , it would need no other Credentials that it came down from Heaven , and that its Original was from God : But if we judg of it by the practices of its professors , who under the mask of Piety , allow themselves in all sorts of sensuality , who scruple not to break all their Vows made to their Maker , tho confirm'd and renew'd in the presence of Men and Angels , and sealed by the most precious Body and Blood of the Son of God ; who call themselves Saints , and yet live more irregularly than Brutes : This very consideration is enough to encline a man to applaud the Morals of the Heathen World , and to believe , that either that body of holy Precepts is not the Gospel of the blessed Jesus , or such men are not professors of it : so strongly are the generality of Mankind in a loose and ungovernable Age , bent towards Vice and Ruin : Nor can it otherwise be expected , when men put on the form of godliness , in defiance to the power of it ; and think , that the Redemption wrought out for them by Christ , is only a deliverance to do all sort of abominations . Nor can I give a better Reason , why the Christian World are so degenerate from truth and holiness , than that so few of us reflect on the Obligations of the Covenant that we have enter'd into with God , tho so often and so solemnly acknowledged by us , that we confidently lay claim to the Priviledges , but never mind the Duties of Religion . May our gracious God so mercifully forgive me , and the rest of sinners , our former neglect , as we may resolve for the time to come , to alter our course , and put on more becoming Resolutions , and faithfully make good what we have so solemnly promis'd our Redeemer .

For when I seriously , and as becomes a Christian , consider with my self the Relation which every baptized person hath to the Son of God ; and that that initiatory Sacrament was design'd , as to free him from his share in Adam's sin , so to engage to a life of Obedience to the Laws of our blessed Saviour ; and that therefore we are buried with him in baptism , that like as Christ was raised up from the dead , by the glory of the Father , even so we also should walk in newness of life , reckoning our selves to be dead indeed unto sin , but alive unto God , through Jesus Christ our Lord ; I cannot but remember , that among all those holy and beneficial Precepts which he hath blest the World with , that is none of the least in advantage and usefulness , that injoins me to do as he did in remembrance of his Passion , the great cause of our redemption and happiness , and encourages me to frequent communicating , because as often as I do eat that bread , and drink that cup , so often do I show forth the Lords death till he come ; so often do I call to mind my old promises of obedience and conformity to the divine prescription , and enter into new engagements to love and adore my Saviour .

How eagerly therefore ought my soul to pursue after , and to embrace all Opportunities of coming to that holy Table where God exhibits himself ? Happy are those Servants of his , who stand continually before him , and keep themselves always in that frame of mind that fits and encourages them to communicate every day . Happy are those men who only want Occasions , but are never defective in intention or preparation ; who are never without the Wedding Garment , nor without Oyl in their Lamps . How did our dear Saviour long to institute the Sacrament * * Luke 22.15 . ; with desire did he desire to eat the passeover , at the close of which the Eucharist was celebrated , before he suffered ? And shouldst not thou , my soul , as earnestly long to receive it ? Were this Sacrament like that of Baptism , not to be re-iterated , or but once only in my life to be received , and that just before my death , with what ardors of mind should I wish to be dissolv'd , that I might thus also be with my Saviour ? And must the Blessing , because it is common , be for that Reason cheap ? Is the bread of Heaven become contemptible , because it may be my daily food ?

But remember , O my soul , it is not enough to approach this Venerable Altar , unless thy Repentance be sincere , thy Sorrow hearty , thy Resolutions unalterable , thy Piety flaming , and thine Alms generous . My preparations should be the same with those of dying persons , not of those who have lived loosly all their days , in hopes to make their faint desires of Heaven , when the pleasures of the Earth have deserted them , to pass for true love to those joys ; but of those who all their lives long have been crucified to the world . My care ought to be so to approach Gods Table on Earth , as if I were the next moment to be carried by Angels to eat bread with him in his Kingdom . It is true , I am too sensible that this is more easily talkt of than done ; that when the good Man is acting the Priest , and sacrificing himself to God , then Satan is at his right hand , perplexing him . And I have sadly experimented , how difficult it is to deny my self , to put off the Old Man , and to crucifie my transgressions : But is it not , O my soul , much more sad and difficult , more uneasie and distracting , to be confin'd to utter darkness , and to endure the tortures of Hell in a remediless Eternity ? To argue from a present state of ease , is a shortness of discourse that is not to be allowed . Were I never so passionately bent to gratifie an unreasonable Lust , I doubt not but I should be afraid to proceed , did any man but threaten me with immediate death , if I should pursue my unlawful design : And ought I not with greater Reason to forbear , when that God who can neither lie nor deceive , threatens me with everlasting damnation ? Am I afraid of the crackling of Thorns , and will not Thunder scare me ? Do I run away from an ignis fatuus , and wilfully throw my self into insufferable flames ? In the Name of God therefore I do now resolve to fit my self for the approaching Festival of Easter : and whatever I have heretofore done , I will no longer put off my dear Saviour , but will from this instant give my self intirely to his service .

CHAP. II. Of the common Excuses for not communicating .

BEcause through our natural aversness to all that is good , my own evil heart is inclinable to supersede this so beneficial a commerce with my God , I will first show how vain my pretences are for absenting , and then how dangerous it is to come unprepared . And first , the common Excuses are very vain and unbecoming : For the command to receive this Sacrament , is so plain and obligatory , that I am convinc'd nothing should excuse me from frequent communicating ; And yet so perverse is my will , so ungovernable are my passions , that the good which I would do , Heave undone , and the evil which I should not do , that I do ; so that sometimes when I have a desire to communicate , I presently find that Ardor easily cool , and end in an unbecoming lukewarmness , and unconcernedness for the Offices of Religion . Thus I grow old before I am good : And to learn an act of Vertue is a business of time : while on the contrary , my sins grow to maturity in their Cradle , and are like a spot of Oyl , which being at first hardly perceivable , suddenly spreads its self , till it fully the whole Garment . Satan , the Adversary of Mankind , musters many little Arguments to affright me , and my own heart is strongly inclinable to comply with him ; as if when God had made so noble a provision , and sent out his servants , his Ministers , to call them who are bidden to the Wedding , he would contentedly be put off with slight answers , and poor excuses . Oh , how apt is my Vicious Nature , either wholly to neglect the Offices of Religion , or to look on them as burthensome and tedious , that the Prayers are too long , and the Reproofs of the Sermon too sharp ! But if to the Prayers and Sermon the Eucharist be added , I am too prone not only to be weary , but angry with God ; and think it is well done to be so , not considering what an happiness it is to have Communion with my Saviour , and how much more uneasie my state would be , should my God require from me , as he did from the Jews , such expensive sacrifices , and personal attendances on the solemn Feasts at his Temple : as also how unreasonable it is to imagine , that God hath adorn'd this inferior world with such Variety of good things , only to swell my Pride , and pamper my Lusts ; and in the mean time hath reserved nothing for himself , but what is cheap , contemptible , and of no value ?

One solemn excuse is , I have no leisure : and 't is the plea of the men in the * * Luke 14.18 ; &c. Parable . This , says a good man , sounds like confession and humility , but is in truth denial and defiance : it is called want of leisure , but is in reality sloth , idleness , and irreligion . Can I judg it equitable , to give all my time to my secular Business and Recreation , and none to my God , to whom I owe a liberal portion of my enjoyments ; nay , all my enjoyments , and my self too ? Have I so many days to trifle away , and none for the concerns of Eternity ? My whole life should be one continued Sabbath , and every act of my Calling , either as a Man , or a Christian , a preparative to the Communion , and to my Death . And would a man spend his hours so vainly , that when he hath most need of comfort , he should most want it ; and when he comes to die , be bereaved of all consolation ? And is not the same care to be taken , to fit my self for the Sacrament , as for my last Account ? What God now invites me to , is a matter of great weight ; the business is , whether I intend to be saved , or not ? If I think Heaven not worth the looking after , it is no wonder if I am to every good work a Reprobate , and insensible of my need of the means of Grace : But if I resolve to be a Candidate for Glory ( as it were better for me that I had never been born , than to live voluptuously here a while , and be damned for ever ) , I must apply my self to that method that will give me a title to it ; and the only method is an holy life ; and that state is not attainable without means , among which , frequent communicating is an excellent instrument of conveying Grace into the mind , of renewing my Resolutions , and applying to my soul the Merits of my Saviour : So that if I put any estimate on my salvation , there is a necessity of my coming often to God's Table ; and when I say , I want time to prepare my self , I mean , I want leisure to be a Christian ; and I am not willing to take pains to be saved .

2. Another plausible pretence for absenting my self , is , I am unworthy ; and he who eats and drinks * * 1 Cor. 11.29 . unworthily , eats and drinks damnation to himself . And whose fault is it , that I have not made my self worthy ? God hath been wanting in nothing that is required on his part ; my unworthiness therefore is both my sin , and also my punishment . Besides , humility is a necessary preparation to this Sacrament , and an absolute Renunciation of our selves , and our own Righteousness , that we may depend solely on Christ , is one of the indispensible qualifications requisite to fit us for the Paschal Feast : For the Centurion , who said , Lord , I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof , did , notwithstanding , accept of our Saviour's Offer , and reapt the benefit of his miraculous Assistances , and was honour'd with his Testimony , that in all Israel the Son of God found not so great faith as his : And St. * * Epist. 118. Austin tells me , That if my sins be such as do not deserve Excommunication from the Church ( i. e. if they be only sins of ignorance and infirmity ) , I ought not to excommunicate my self , but I ought to receive , if I may , every day . Nor is it inconsiderable , that tho my Graces be weak when I approach this Altar , there God gives me his holy Spirit , if my sins hinder it not , to enable me with greater power and vigor to do his will . And as it is very dangerous to communicate unworthily , so to refuse to come , is equally dangerous : For not * * Hom. 24. in 1 Cor. 10. to communicate in this holy Supper , is as dangerous as the Pestilence , or death it self , says St. Chrysostome ; to despise it is Sacriledg , and a scorn of the Bread and Waters of Life , and a depriving my self of the means to make me a true and perfect Christian : For it is an excellent Maxim in Religion , He who is not fit to receive to day , will be less fit to morrow ; and he who is not fit to communicate every day , will be fit to communicate no day , and in a small time will throw off all fear of God . For if the end of the institution be to renew our Covenant made with our Saviour , of taking him for our Master ( which is the true Notion of Religion ) then the withdrawing our selves from this Sacrament can be accounted nothing else but a Virtual slighting of Christianity , and renouncing our Obedience to our Saviour . For do I not put an Affront upon God , when I say , the Table of the Lord is contemptible ? For not communicating ( says a devout person ) is the next sin to apostatizing : for it is an actual disowning our communion with our Head and his Members , and a cutting off of our selves from the body of Christ . And if unworthiness may hinder me from receiving the Eucharist ; am I not as unworthy to pray , or to hear , as to communicate ? And does not this plea tend to supercede all duty ? May I not hear to my prejudice , and pray to my ruin ? May not the word that I have heard , rise in Judgment against me , and my prayer be turned into sin ? And is it not as expresly required of me , to do as my * * Luke 22.19 . 1 Cor. 11.24 . Redeemer did , in remembrance of his Passion , as it is to frequent any other of his Ordinances ? But what if God should make that my fate which is now my choice , and deprive me by his Judgments of the liberty of enjoying those Ordinances which I now contemn ? Wouldst not thou , O my soul , look on it as an astonishing Judgment , and such a Decree , as thou wouldest give part of thy blood to reverse ? And must I be my own Executioner ? And have I not enemies enough in the World , and Hell , that I must be my own most imbitter'd Adversary ?

3. Another hinderance is , that the preparation required is very difficult , and that it is no easie thing to be a Christian . But this also is an unreasonable suggestion : For tho the severities of Mortification and Self-denial , appear in a formidable dress ; yet in themselves they are true satisfactions : For nothing can equal the Joy of that soul that is rescued from eternal horrors . And I should rejoice to be pull'd out of a Dungeon , where else I must inevitably perish , tho it were by the hair ; and to be saved , tho so as by fire . Men are possest before-hand with needless fears , and take characters of the ways of godliness from the sensual and debauch'd ; as if we should put a deaf man to give an account of harmony . But to those who have enter'd seriously upon the profession of holiness , and made themselves proselites to Wisdom , her ways appear to be ways of pleasantness , and all her paths are peace . Besides , the sinner draws himself a Scheme of Vertue that is not correspondent to the dictates of Reason , or Holy Scriptures : For Vertue is a Borderer upon our Natural Habits ; and our evil inclinations may be made subservient to piety ; either , 1. by correcting the Excesses of Nature , and altering the degree of our Passions ; So Grace turns Choler into a well-regulated Zeal , Melancholly into inclinations to Devotion , Abstinence and Mortification : it makes the Flegmatick cautious and fearful to offend his God , and ready to be a penitent whenever he hath offended : and it makes the Sanguine apt to rejoice in God , and in the light of his countenance ; to be easie to forgive , and willing to be reconciled ; it warms the cold and careless into a religious and devout temper ; it abates the eagerness of Covetousness , till it become frugality ; and easily changes the prodigal into a man of a liberal and generous mind . 2. Our evil Passions are without difficulty devoted to God , by altering the Object of our pursuits . For would the Voluptuous person pursue after Eternity , as he hath done after the gratifications of his sensual Appetites ; would the Miser transfer his love from his unrighteous Mammon , to the living and true God ; and were the revengeful thoughts of the angry man no longer fixt upon his offending brother , but employed against his own Vices , how smooth would the path of Vertue appear , and how free from Thorns and Incumbrances ?

4. Another Excuse is , I am deterr'd from approaching to this Feast of fat things , because I am not in Charity . But what should hinder , why I should not love all Mankind ? Did not my blessed Saviour pray for his enemies at his Death ? And is not the Sacrament a commemoration of that his Death ? Now as I cannot call that man a Mariner that never learnt his Compass , nor that man a Souldier that never fought ; how much less can I call my self a Christian , who never conform to my Master's pattern ? What man , but one of an impudent forehead , and most obdurate heart , can dare to pray his heavenly Lord to forgive him ten thousand Talents , who will not forgive his fellow-servant an hundred pence ? And perhaps at last , I think many actions uncharitable which are not so * * Vid. Injunct. 21. of Qu. Eliz. . For I do not believe , that if my Neighbour causelesly quarrels with me the day before I am to communicate , or I am without design engaged in the heat of talk , which is not sinful , or a man forces me to go to Law with him , to recover my just right ; that these things shall deprive me of the benefits of the Sacrament : For these things are my Afflictions , and I suffer them patiently , and still am in Charity . As I do not think , that if I am bidden to a Feast sometime before , or have allowed my self any innocent Recreation , that this shall unfit me for the Christian Passeover . But withal I must say , that were it put to my choice , I would rather omit those Civilities , and deny my self those Pleasures at that time , than lose my spiritual Advantages : And I would avoid all occasions of being angry , or doing any thing that might but give suspicion that I were not thorowly reconciled to all the world , rather than at such a critical time to make my self an Offender : For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God . And when I pray , as I always do when I communicate , I am enjoin'd to lift up pure hands without wrath or doubting . No worldly care therefore , nor the entertainment of friends , nor a small fit of sickness , that does not confine me to my bed , or chamber , shall ever hinder my approaches to God's Altar , nor every little quarrel , which against my will I am engaged in , when I am ready to make satisfaction , if I have given Offence , and to forgive , if I have taken any . For shall I rob my self of Gods be ssing , because another man is froward , stubborn , and untractable ? The case therefore of * * Pallad. vit . Chrysost. p. 126 , 127 , 128. St. Chrysostome did deserve pity , who being just ready to celebrate these Venerable Mysteries , was so unnessarily , and unseasonably , and uncharitably angred by Eusebius , Bishop of Valentinople , that he was forc'd to desist from the Office , and to desire Pansophius , Bishop of Pisida , to consecrate for him ; being perswaded , that that occasional anger was an invalidating of his preparation . And in truth , the * * Conc. Carth. 4. Can. 93. Church was so much an enemy to all quarrels , that it forbad the admittance of the Oblations of those who were not in perfect Charity , either at the Altar , or into the Church-Treasury .

5. But if I sin after so solemn a Renewal of my Vows in this Sacrament , will it not increase my guilt ? So among the Ancients some deferr'd their Baptism till the time of their death , that they might not be impeacht of defiling the White Robes which they then put on . And does not this Argument equally hinder the performance of all other Offices of Christianity ? May I not as well defer to repent , since a relapse into evil habits , after such an ab-renunciation of them , is an heavy aggravation of my Crime ? And is not this to do as it is reported of the Circassians , who follow their Thievery till they are Sixty , and then spend the remainder of their days in Prayers , devoting their Youth and Strength to the Devil , and their Vices ; their Old Age , Impotence , and Diseases to God and Repentance ? But what if death should seize me while I thus defer making up my accounts with my Master ? What if a dull Lethargy ( which perhaps is but the effect and punishment of my irregularities ) should seize my brain , and stifle the spirits , and disable me from thinking ? So that by reason thereof I am dead while I live . What if a Fever should captivate my Reason , and put me into a Frenzy , so as I can only name God in my Oaths and Curses ; will not this hinder all commerce with God , or my own Soul ? And how deplorable must my estate then be ? For Heaven was never design'd a Bedlam , a Receptacle for the Distracted and Vicious . How can I promise my self to repent , or communicate to morrow , who put off hearkening to my Saviour to day , since all his injunctions relate to the present time ? And if that that must save me , be a work of Grace , of time , and perseverance , what folly is it to neglect it ? And will not the slighting these passionate and earnest invitations of my God , be a great increase of my guilt ?

6. But does not Satan sometimes tempt me to think it unlawful to communicate with sinners , or , as it is worded , with a mixt company ? And am not I my self the greatest sinner ? And who can come there who is not so ? And does not our Church , as well as all other the Reformed , debar all gross and notorious transgressors from the Sacrament ? Can I call this any thing but Cunning in my ghostly Enemy , who first tempts me to mean thoughts of my self , and would keep me from God's Table , because my self am unworthy ; and now tempts me to pride , and contempt of my Christian brother ? I am sure Charity thinks no evil , and obliges us in honour to prefer others to our selves . Besides , why do I pray , or hear with sinners , if I must not communicate with them ? And how do I know but he who offended deeply yesterday , is as deep a penitent to day ? And how dare I to judg anothers servant ? It is not in the diseases of the soul as of those of the body ? Nothing makes the spiritual Plague infectious but my consent : A man may , if he will , live chast in a school of debauchery , and keep himself temperate in the house of an Epicure . If my brother comes unworthily , he eats and drinks damnation to himself , and not to me . And I am sure I have employment enough to examine my self , to keep me from being busied about other mens matters .

Lastly : But is not the posture of receiving , apt to give scandal , and to be mistaken for an act of worship perform'd not to God , but to the Elements ? I am sure Humility is a necessary Attendant on the worthy Communicant ; a Vertue which is peculiarly Christian , which the Philosophers do not so much as name in their Catalogues . I know also , that when I communicate , the Priest prays , that the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ may preserve my body and soul unto eternal life ; and with him I pray when I say Amen : and the posture of prayer is kneeling ; and therefore I fall down , and worship before the Lord our Maker . Perhaps our Saviour gave the blessed Eucharist to his Apostles in another posture ( for we are not sure , because the Scripture is silent ) ; and so also did he give it only to men ( when there were many Female Disciples ) , and in an upper room , and after a Feast ( as it was also in St. Paul's time celebrated after the Love-Feast , or Agape ) . But hath not the Church as much power as the Synagogue ? And did not the Jewish Church alter the posture of the Passeover , which was at first to be eaten standing with the shoes on , to a Table posture , which also our Saviour seems to have observed ? For can we think , that our Saviour's practice binds more than God's express command ? Or does it bind more in one circumstance than in others ? Besides , I am convinc'd , that the practice of the Ancients , and the commands of my superiors , should much sway me in doubtful cases . But they tell me , * * Aug. in Ps . 98. Chrys. To. 3. p. 778. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Id. to 5. p. 518. &c. That it is a sin not to adore when I receive . And when I so adore , I no more worship the Altar , or the Elements , that I bow before , than when I kneel in the Pew , I worship the Desk , or the Book that lies on it . Nor hath the one been more abused to Idolatry than the other : For the Heathen do worship Wood and stone , as much as the Papists the Host . And is not this adoration a part of that honour which is fixt on Christ , the Institutor of this Sacrament ; who also is the thing signified under those Visible Figures ? for he hath sworn by himself , that every knee shall bow to him , which honour he purchas'd by his blood : For because he humbled himself to the death of the Cross , therefore God hath given him a Name above all Names ; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow . And is not this Sacrament a Representation of that Passion ? Nor was it ever heard , that Superstition could abolish the duty of a Text. And if when I kneel , I give countenance to the Papists , who in this case err by attributing such honour to the Son of God , which he allows not of ; I am sure in sitting at this Table I countenance the Socinians , and other Anti-Trinitarians , who debase our Saviour , and degrade him from his Godhead : for which Reason * * Altare Damascen . p. 752. in Four several Synods in Poland , the Protestants , both Lutherans and Calvinists , agreed to abolish that Custom . To conclude , the famous Huniades is as great in Story for his Humility as for his Victories ; and as much celebrated , that he would not , tho on his Death-bed , receive the blessed Sacrament but on his knees , as for the many Overthrows that he gave the Mahometans . Since therefore these , and the like Excuses , are but Engines to entrap and betray me : And since the same Authority that forbids me to kill , or to steal , bids me do this in remembrance of my Saviour ; I do from henceforth resolve to communicate upon every Occasion , as I love my life and my salvation .