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OF THE

IMITATION

OF

Jefus Christ.

The Fourth Book.

Of the Lord's Supper.

CHAP. I.

The Reverence due to this Holy Sacrament.

Chrift.]"

The INVITATION.

C

John vi. 51.

OME unto me, all ye Mat. xi. 28. "that labour and are "heavy laden, and I "will refresh you. "The Bread that I will give, is my Flefh; "which I will give for the Life of the "World. Take, eat, this is my Body "which is given for you; This do in re"membrance of me. He that eateth my "Flesh, and drinketh my Blood, dwel"leth in Me, and I in Him. The Words

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Cor. ix. 24.

John vi. 56.

63.

"which

"which I fpeak unto you, they are Spirit, and the

"are Life.

Difciple.] Thefe, Bleffed Jefus, are thy Words, on which my Soul fecurely refts it felf, because my Saviour who is Eternal Truth, hath spoken them. These the gracious and condefcending Invitations, which I find fcattered in Holy Scripture, as Occafions offered for making them. These therefore I will receive with Holy Gratitude, with humble but entire Confidence'; and grave them upon my Soul in deep and indelible Characters. For tho' they be thine, as the Author; yet do I claim a Property in them, and juftly call them Mine too, as a Person, for whose Benefit and Salvation thou wer't pleased to utter them. Most gladly therefore will I receive them at thy Mouth, that the Authority of the Divine Speaker may make the more Effectual Impreffion. And ftupid I must be beyond Imagination, if Encouragment fo fweet, fo kind, do not awaken, and very Senfibly affect me. But alas! at the fame time, that thy Call inclines me to come, my own grievous Tranfgreffions fly in my Face, and the Terrors of a guilty Confcience keep me away. Thy Goodness, I own, imps my Wings, and bids me boldly attempt the raifing my Soul to Heaven and Happinefs; but I feel the bitter Remembrance of my Sins checking thofe Flights, laying me proftrate upon Earth, reproaching my better Hopes, and nobler Intentions, with Prefumption; and ever weighing down my Mind, with the intolerable Burthen of heinous numberlefs Offences, which render me unworthy the leaft of all thy Mercies.

In this Perplexity of Thought thou haft moft feafonably interpofed with thy reviving Comforts; hast made that Faith and Trust a Virtue and a Duty, which I fhould have fhunned as a Crime, and, confcious of my own Vilenefs, durft not have entertained. Thou bidft me raise my dejected Looks, and direct my Steps

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to Heaven; and I seriously defire, (as who indeed can but defire ?) Life and Glory. Thou exhorteft me to begin to live immediately, by taking the fweet Foretastes of Immortality, in that Bread, which is the Food of Souls. Thy kind Invitation therefore I greedily attend to, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy. laden, and I will refresh you. Ocharming Sound in the Ears of a Sinner! How joyful is the News to a poor, loft, impotent Wretch! One, who, in a due Sense of his own Vileness, thinks even the meaneft of thy Gifts, which conduce to his bodily Suftenance, too good for him. To be invited to eat of thy moft Bleffed Body, and admitted to partake of the lively Figures of thy Divine Blood; the Commemorations of thy Death, and fure Pledges of Salvation! Lord! What am I, that I fhould thus be fuffered to approach thee? Nay rather, that thou fhould't come to Me, and dwell under my Roof? O unfpeakable Condefcenfion! O unexampled Kindness! Behold the Heaven, and Heaven of Heavens, cannot contain thee, and yet thou vouchsafest to take up thy Abode with Man, that is a Worm? The Angels are not pure in thy fight, and yet thou fayeft to wretched Sinners, Come unto me, ye that travel, and are beavy laden.

I find my felf at a lofs, whence fuch astonishing Kindness fhould proceed, or what may be the meaning of fo friendly an Invitation. My Mifdeeds teftify against me, and I am but too fenfible, that no Merit of mine could induce my Lord to make it. So far from that, that, even now it is made, I know not with what Face I can either approach my God and Saviour, or bring him to Me, or hope to keep him there; Him, whom I have fo often, fo grievously provoked, fo justly made my Enemy for ever. But, were there no Demerits of my own to difcourage this Attempt, yet, Who am I, that the Majefty of Heaven and Earth should stoop fo low, as to enter under my Roof: Be

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hold, Angels and Archangels, Principalities and Powers fall down and worship thee; Behold, the brightest Saints, and Spirits of juft Men made perfect, tremble at thy Prefence, and yet thou fayeft, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden. Had this been spoke by any Mouth but thine, Men could not have believed it. Had not thy own command infpired this Confidence, Sinners durft not have attempted to move towards thee, but would have rather used their utmost Industry, to flee from the Prefence of their Master and Judge. But be it fo; We are commanded to come to Thee; and thou vouchfafeft to come to Us. Yet what Solemnity, what Preparation, can be fufficient for thy Reception? Noah, that righteous Perfon, employed a Hundred Years in building an Ark by God's Direction, for the faving himself and a very few Souls befides; and how fhall I be qualified, by the Application of an Hour or two only, to entertain the Maker of the Universe, and meet him with that humble Reverence, which is due to fo terrible, fo glorious a Creator, from the vileft and moft unworthy of all his Creatures? Thy Servant Mofes admitted into familiar Converfation with thee, by a Privilege not imparted to the rest of Mankind, framed an Ark of Cedar-wood, and overlaid it with pure Gold, to be a fit Repository for the Tables of the Law: and fhall I, wretched rotten Trunk, take upon me without Ceremony to receive the Almighty Maker and Giver of that Law? Solomon, the wifeft of Princes, fpent feven Years in building a Magnificent Temple to the Honour of thy Name; Eight Days were taken up in the Dedication of it; a thousand Peace-Offerings were then facrificed upon the new erected Altars; and the Ark of the Covenant with Sound of Trumpet, and much other holy Pomp, was conducted into the Place appointed to receive it: And how unlike to these great Saints am I, Duft and Ashes, Chief

of

of Sinners and Meaneft of Men? How shall I pretend to invite thee my God into my House, who am fo far from spending a Number of Years or Days, that I can very hardly afford one poor Half Hour? Nay, would to God that wretched Remnant of one poor Half Hour were but employed, as attentively, as devoutly, as it ought to be, to provide thee a clear and acceptable Apartment, in this homely Cottage of my Heart. How eager, O my God, how perfevering was the Zeal of those Ancient Worthies? How cold, how fhort is mine, when I fet my felf to prepare for meeting and receiving thee? My Thoughts, alas! are very rarely confiftent, but thousand Wandrings and impertinent Distractions intrude upon me; and hardly can I collect the Powers of my Soul into fo compofed a Frame, as becomes our more immediate Addreffes to Thee. I am not unmindful of thy Presence, then more peculiar than at other times; I reflect upon the Indecency and Sin of fuffering my Heart to divide it felf; I know, that when an Honour fo great is intended me, as that of Receiving the Lord of Men and Angels, it ought to enlarge and devote its whole Capacity to thee. And yet I cannot fix and fill it with this one Ob. ject; but, in defpight of all my Endeavours and Selfreproaches, Frailty will prevail.

Nay, the fame Care and Reverence were much too little, where the Dignity of the Thing is fo much greater. For what Comparison can there be, between an Ark with its Ceremonial Symbols, and the Mystical Body of my Bleffed Saviour, with all the wondrous Effects of his Paffion? How poor and defpicable were thofe Legal Sacrifices, whofe greatest Excellence and Commendation was, that they typified, and foretold, That One only perfect and fufficient Sacrifice upon the Cross, which in this Sacrament we at once commemorate, and apply the Virtue of to our felves? If then the Patriarchs and Prophets heretofore express'd

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