1 Cor. v. yourselves that way to rife up again, which way ye fell into the well or pit of fin. If by your tongue you have offended, now thereby rife again, and glorify God therewith; accuftom it to laud and praise the name of God, as ye have therewith difhonoured it. And as ye have hurt the name of your neighbour, or otherwise hindered him, fo now intend to restore it to him again. For without reftitution God accepteth not your confeffion, nor yet Reftitution. your repentance. It is not enough to forfake evil, except you fet your courage to do good. By what occafion foever you have offended, turn now the occafion to the honouring of God, and profit of your neighbour. Truth Pfal. xxxvi. it is that fin is ftrong, and affections unruly. Hard it is to fubdue and refift our nature, fo corrupt and leavened with the four bitterness of the poifon, which we received by the inheritance of our old father Adam. But yet take John xvi. good courage, faith our Saviour Chrift, for I have overcome the world, and all other enemies for you. Sin fhall not have power over you, for ye be now under grace, faith St. Paul. Rom. vi. Though your power be weak, yet Chrift is rifen again to ftrengthen you in your battle, his Holy Spirit fhall help Rom. viii. your infirmities. In truft of his mercy, take you in hand to purge this old leaven of fin, that corrupteth and foureth the sweetness of your life before God; that ye may be as new and fresh dough, void of all four leaven of wickedness; fo fhall ye fhew yourselves to be sweet bread to God, that he may have his delight in you. I fay, kill and offer you up the worldly and earthly affections of your bodies. For Chrift our Eafter Lamb is offered up for us, to flay the power of fin, to deliver us from the danger thereof, and to give us example to die to fin in our lives. As the Jews did eat their Eafter Lamb, and kept their feaft in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt; even fo let us keep our Eafter feaft in the thankful remembrance of Chrift's benefits, which he hath plentifully wrought for us by his refurrection and paffing to his Father, whereby we are delivered from the captivity and thraldom of all our enemies. Let us in like manner pass over the affections of our old conversation, that we may be delivered from the bondage thereof, and rife with Chrift. The Jews kept their feast in abstaining Exod. xii. from leavened bread by the space of feven days. Let us Christian folk keep our holy-day in fpiritual manner; that is, in abftaining, not from material leavened bread, but from the old leaven of fin, the leaven of maliciousness and wickedness. Let us caft from us the leaven of corrupt B b 3 rupt doctrine, that will infect our fouls. Let us keep our feast the whole term of our life, with eating the bread of pureness, of godly life, and truth of Chrift's doctrine. Thus fhall we declare that Chrift's gifts and graces have their effect in us, and that we have the right belief and knowledge of his holy refurrection: where truly, if we apply our faith to the virtue thereof, and in our life conform us to the example and fignification meant thereby, we fhall be fure to rife hereafter to everlasting glory, by the goodness and mercy of our Lord Jefus Chrift: to whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghoft, be all glory, thanksgiving, and praise, in infinita feculorum fecula. Amen. AN AN HOMILY, OF THE Worthy receiving and reverent efteeming of the THE great love of our Saviour Chrift towards mankind, good Chriftian people, doth not only appear in that dear-bought benefit of our redemption and falvation by his death and paffion, but alfo in that he fo kindly provided, that the fame most merciful work might be had in continual remembrance, to take fome place in us, and not be fruftrate of his end and purpose. For as tender parents are not content to procure for their children coftly poffeffions and livelihood, but take order that the fame may be conferved and come to their use; fo our Lord and Saviour thought it not fufficient to purchase for us his Father's favour again, (which is that deep fountain of all goodness and eternal life,) but alfo invented the ways moft wifely, whereby they might redound to our commodity and profit. Amongst the which means is the public celebration of the memory of his precious death at the Lord's table. Which although it seem of fmall virtue to fome, yet being rightly done by the faithful, it doth not only help their weakness, (who be by their poisoned nature readier to remember injuries than benefits,) but ftrengtheneth and comforteth their inward man with peace and gladness, and maketh them thankful to their Redeemer, with diligent care and godly converfation. And as of old time God decreed his wondrous Exod. xii. benefits of the deliverance of his people, to be kept in memory by the eating of the paffover, with his rites and ceremonies; fo our loving Saviour hath ordained and established the remembrance of his great mercy expressed in his paffion, in the inftitution of his heavenly fupper, Matt. xxvi. B b 4 where 1 Cor. xi. where every one of us must be guests and not gazers, eaters and not lookers, feeding ourselves, and not hiring others to feed for us, that we may live by our own meat, and not perish for hunger whilft others devour all. To Luke xxii. this his commandment forceth us, faying, Do ye this, 1 Cor. xi. drink ye all of this. To this his promife enticeth, This is my body, which is given for you; this is my blood, which is Matt. xxvi. fhed for you. So then as of neceffity we must be ourselves partakers of this table, and not beholders of other: fo we must addrefs ourselves to frequent the fame in reverent and comely manner, left as phyfic provided for the body, being mifufed, more hurteth than profiteth; fo this comfortable medicine of the foul undecently received tendeth to our greater harm and forrow. And St. 1 Cor. xi. Paul faith, He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh his own damnation. Wherefore, that it be not faid to us, as it was to the gueft of that great fup, Matt. xxii. per, Friend, how cameft thou in, not having the marriage garment? and that we may fruitfully ufe St. Paul's coun1 Cor. xi. fel, Let a man prove himself, and fo eat of that bread, and drink of that cup; we must certainly know, that three things be requifite in him which would feemly, as becometh fuch high myfteries, refort to the Lord's table. That is, firft, a right and worthy eftimation and understanding of this mystery. Secondly, to come in a fure faith. And thirdly, to have newness or pureness of life to fucceed the receiving of the same. But, before all other things, this we must be sure of especially, that this fupper be in fuch wife done and miniftered, as our Lord and Saviour did, and commanded to be done, as his holy Apostles used it, and the good fathers in the primitive Church frequented it. For (as that worthy man St. Ambrofe faith) he is unworthy of the Lord; that otherwife doth celebrate that mystery, than it was delivered by him. Neither can he be devout, that otherwife doth presume than it was given by the Author. We must then take heed, left, of the memory, it be made a facrifice; left, of a communion, it be made a private eating; left, of two parts, we have but one; left, applying it for the dead, we lofe the fruit that be alive. Let us rather in these matters follow the advice of Cyprian in the like cafes; that is, cleave faft to the first beginning, hold faft the Lord's tradition, do that in the Lord's commemoration which he himself did, he himself commanded, and his Apostles confirmed. This caution or forefight if we ufe, then may we see to those things that be requifite in the worthy worthy receiver, whereof this was the firft, that we have a right understanding of the thing itfelf. As concerning which thing, this we may affuredly perfuade ourselves, that the ignorant man can neither worthily esteem nor effectually use those marvellous graces and benefits offered and exhibited in that fupper; but either will lightly regard them, to no fmall offence, or utterly contemn them, to his utter deftruction. So that by his negligence he deferveth the plagues of God to fall upon him, and by contempt he deferveth everlasting perdition. To avoid then these harms, use the advice of the Wife Man, who willeth Prov. xxiii. thee, when thou fitteft at an earthly king's table, to take diligent heed what things are fet before thee. So now much more at the King of kings' table, thou must carefully fearch and know what dainties are provided for thy foul, whither thou art come, not to feed thy fenses and belly to corruption, but thy inward man to immortality and life; not to confider the earthly creatures which thou feeft, but the heavenly graces which thy faith beholdeth. For this table is not, faith Chryfoftom, for chattering jays, but for eagles, who fly thither where the dead body lieth. And if this advertisement of man cannot perfuade us to refort to the Lord's table with underftanding, fee the counfel of God in the like matter, who charged his people to teach their posterity, not only the rites and ceremonies of the paffover, but the cause and end thereof: whence we may learn, that both more perfect knowledge is required at this time at our hands, and that the ignorant cannot with fruit and profit exercise himself in the Lord's Sacraments. I But to come nigher to the matter: St. Paul blaming 1 Cor. xi. the Corinthians for the profaning of the Lord's Supper, concludeth that ignorance both of the thing itself, and the fignification thereof, was the cause of their abuse: For they came thither unreverently, not difcerning the Lord's body. Ought not we then by the monition of the Wife Man, by the wisdom of God, by the fearful example of the Corinthians, to take advised heed, that we thrust not ourselves to this table with rude and unreverent ignorance, the fmart whereof Chrift's church hath rued and lamented thefe many days and years? For what hath been the caufe of the ruin of God's religion, but the ignorance hereof? What hath been the cause of this grofs idolatry, but the ignorance hereof? What hath been the caufe of this mummifh maffing, but the ignorance hereof? Yea, what hath been, and what is at |