The crucified Jesus, or, A full account of the nature, end, design and benefits of the sacrament of the Lords Supper with necessary directions, prayers, praises and meditations to be used by persons who come to the Holy Communion / by Anthony Horneck ...

The Preceding Considerations reduced to Practice.

I. CHrist's Example makes it lawful to set up Monu∣ments of Mercies, and to preserve the Memory of any signal Deliverance or Providence, either by Ex∣ternal Symbols, or by keeping Anniversaries, and Days of Devotion. Indeed, this was a very ancient Practice, countenanced by God, and warranted by his Approba∣tion. It was from hence, that Moses preserved a Pot of Manna, to put After-Generations in mind how God had fed his People in the Wilderness; And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commandeth; Fill an Omer of it, to be kept for your Generations, that they may see the Bread wherewith I have fed you in the Wilderness, when I brought you forth out of the Land of Egypt, Exod. 16. 32. It was from hence, that Aaron's Rod budding, blossoming, and bearing Fruit, was kept in the Ark, to tell Posterity, how miraculously the Priestood was established in the Line of Aaron, and for a Token against the Rebels, as the Holy Ghost speaks, Numb. 17. 10. It was from hence, that Joshua commanded Twelve Stones to be taken out of the River Jordan; That this, says he, may be a Sign among you, that when your Children ask their Fathers in time to come, saying, What mean you by these Stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the Waters of Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, when it passed over Jordan: And these Stones shall be for a Memorial unto the Children of Israel for ever, Josh. 4. 6, 7. In imitation of these Precedents, the Jewish Church afterward, of their own Accord, unanimously agreed to keep an Anni∣versary, to remember their Deliverance from the Rage of Haman, Esth. 9. 17. Both Eusebius and Sozomen tells us of a Statue which the Woman, who was cured by our Sa∣viour of her Bloody Issue, erected to his Honour at Caesarea; which lasted a considerable time, till Julian the Apostate pulled it down,

and erected his own in the room of it. After such Ex∣amples, who can think it unlawful for a private Chri∣stian to keep either a Fast, or a Day of Thanksgiving, when either some signal Affliction hath befallen him, or some remarkable Mercy hath happen'd to him, and to spend that Day in Exercises of Devotion; whereby he may either work his Soul into greater Detestation of his his Sins, or into greater Admiration of God's Goodness? Such Exercises the Divine Clemency accepts of, ap∣proves of them, and blesses them with new Favours; repeals the Judgments threatned, and confirms the Soul in her holy Zeal, and makes those Devotions Occasions of opening the Windows of Heaven, to shower down larger Benedictions upon her.

II. It must follow from hence, that those who do not come to remember Christ's Death in this Sacrament, do strangely forget themselves: How great is their Num∣ber! What vast Multitudes of Men and Women live in this Neglect! O ye, that are sensible of their Sin and Blindness, when you meet with any of them, tell them, they forget that they are Christians, they forget that their Lord and Master hath peremptorily commanded them to come, and remember him in this Feast; and that consequently they are disobedient, perverse, stub∣born, wilful; and if they obey him not, are no Servants, no Children of his: For, If he be their Master, where is his Fear? If he be their Father, where is his Honour? Tell them, they forget the Danger they run into, and neg∣lect the Means whereby their Souls must be snatched from the Devil's Power, and shun the Remedy that must give Health to their Souls; and therefore are guilty of the highest Contempt, and set up their carnal, shallow, bruitish Reason, againt the Infinite Wisdom of God. Tell them, they forget they have Souls to be saved, and how long it is before a Soul be wrought into a total Con∣formity to Christ; and that therefore they had need be∣gin betimes, and tye and engage their Souls to God, un∣der the Cross of Christ, and do it often, and force them∣selves

into an holy Life. Oh, tell them, how they will repent, when it is too late, of their Neglect of so great Salvation. Tell them, Christ will not remember them in the last Day, but prosess to them, I know you not, be∣cause they were not sprinkled with his Blood, and had not the Character of Christians on their Souls; which will infallibly drive them into Desparation.

III. See here, my Friends, what an Obligation the Re∣membrance of Christ's Death lays upon us all, to forget the World, and to mind the greater Concerns above. Christ died to the World; his Life, his Death, and all his Actions, shewed his Contempt of this present World. He regarded not the Vanities, the Lusts, the Recrea∣tions, the Slanders, the Reproaches, the Censures of the World; but for the Glory set before him, endured the Cross, and despised the Shame. Can we remember his Death in this Sacrament, and think that he did all this, only for us to admire his Actions, without transcribing all this on our own Lives? Surely, we may live in the World, and yet not be of the World; we may sojourn in the World, yet not be greedy after the World; we may mind our Work in the World, and yet not make the World our highest Good; we may converse with Men of the World, and yet not set our Hearts upon the World; we may be industrious in the World, and yet not suffer the World to ingross our Affections; we may provide for our Families in the World, and yet not conform to the World; we may eat and drink in the World, and yet not participate of the Sins of the World; we may trade and traffick in the World, and yet not have the Spirit of the World; we may suffer Afflictions in the World, and yet be far from the Sorrow of the World; we may prudently con∣trive Things in the World, and yet be Strangers to the Wisdom of the World: In a Word, Our living in the World is no hindrance to our arriving to an holy Con∣tempt of it: And though there be some Difficulty in this Task, yet the Necessity of the Work, and the Reward in the World to come, and Christ's Example, and the

Apostles Practice, and God's Readiness to assist, and the All-sufficiency of Grace, are Persuasives and Encourage∣ments strong enough to prevail with any Soul that is not bent upon her own Ruin.

IV. The best Defensative against Sin at any time, is, the Remembrance of Christ's Sufferings. Not only at the Sacrament, but where-ever we are, this Remem∣brance is an excellent Shield in the Day of Battel. Art thou walking, art thou standing, art thou sitting, art thou going out, or coming in? Set a Bleeding Saviour before thee: When Sinners entice thee, think of thy Sa∣viour's Wounds: When thou art tempted to over-reach or defraud thy Neighbour in any Matter, think of the bitter Cup thy Master drank off: When any Lust, any vain Desire rises in thy Mind, think of thy dear Redee∣mer's Groans: When thy Flesh grows weary of a Duty, remember who suffered on the Cross: When thou art tempted to be indifferent in Religion, and saint in thy Mind, look upon him who made his Soul an Offering for thy Sin: When thou art loth to overcome, think of him who, by his Death, overcame him that had the Power of Death: When impatient Thoughts assault thy Mind, think of the Lamb that before his Shearers was dumb; and sure, under this sad Scene, thou wilt not dare to sin. And there is this Advantage in such a Re∣membrance, that there is a Book of Remembrance writ∣ten before the Lord, for them that speak often to one another, and think of his Name; insomuch that he will remember them in that Day, when he makes up his Jewels, Mal. 3. 16.

V. To remember Christ's Death in this Sacrament with greater Life and Sense, it is very necessary to re∣member him often at other times: And that is the Rea∣son why Christ calls himself by many familiar Names; and the Holy Ghost gives him Titles and Epithets taken from Things we daily see, that we might not look on those Things, from which he takes those Denominations,

without remembring him. To this End, he is called a Door, Joh. 10. 9. that we might not go in or out, but think, O thou who art the Gate of Mercy, by whom whoever enters, will find Mercy; open thy Bosom to my wounded Spi∣rit, and let me find Rest in thy All-sufficiency, and the Merits of thy Passion. For this Reason he is called a Sun, Mal. 4. 2. that we might not view that splendid Luminary, without thinking, O thou glorious Light, that didst shine to those that sit in Darkness; shine into my Soul, dispel the Clouds that darken my Understanding, and warm my Heart, that it may long for thy Salvation. Hence it is, that he is stiled the Morning-Star, that whenever we take notice of that Son of the Morning, of that Harbinger of the Day, we might reflect, O thou who tellest the Number of the Stars, and callest them all by their Names; rise, rise unto me, and irradiate my Inward Man, that I may delight in Vertue. Be thou my Guide, lead me to thy Kingdom, keep me from going astray, and preserve me, that I may be thine for ever. It is from hence that he is called Alpha and Omega, Rev. 1. 8. which are Letters of the Alphabet, that we might not look upon Letters in a Book, without thinking, Lord, be thou the First and the Last in all my Actions: Let me begin with thee, and end with thee: Be thou my Book; let me read the Characters of thy Love, and rejoyce in thee for ever. For this Cause he is styled a Shepherd, that whenever we cast our Eye upon a Man of that Employment, we may beg of Christ to feed us with his Spirit: And a Lamb, that when∣ever we see one, we may intreat him to cloath us with his Innocence: And a Sower, that whenever we see the Hus∣band-man throwing Seed into the Ground, we may beseech him to manure the Ground of our Hearts, that we may be neither barren nor unfruitful in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he that thus remembers him, in Season, and out of Season, will, without dispute, be the better able to remember him in this Sacrament: And to such a Soul, David's Saying may justly be applied, The Righteous shall be had in Everlasting Remembrance; surely he shall not be moved for ever, Psal. 112. 6.

Notes

• Euseb. Hist. lib. 7. c. 17.
• Sozom. Hist. 1. 5. c. 20.