TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL SIR HENRY MARTEN, KNIGHT, JUDGE OF THE ADMIRALTY, AND OF THE PREROGATIVE COURT OF CANTERBURY. SIR, SAINT Jerome having, in the heat of his youth, written an allegorical exposition upon the prophet Obadiah, did, in his riper age, solemnly bewail unto his friend Pammachius, both his rashness in that attempt; and his infelicity farther herein, that what he thought had been buried amongst his private papers, was gotten into the hands of a certain young man, and saw the light. The selfsame complaint am I forced to make, touching this little manual of "Sacramental Meditations," which I humbly put into your hands. It was written with respect only to mine own private use many years since, when I was a young student in the university, as my first theological essay. And now lately, by means of a private copy, long ago communicated unto a friend, it had, without my knowledge, received a license for the press. My earnest care was, upon the first notice thereof, wholly to have suppressed the publication: but the copy which had been licensed, being, by I know not what miscarriage, lost, I have found it necessary, for fear of the like inconvenience again, to review a broken copy which I had by me, and have rather chosen to let it pass forth with some brief and sudden castigations of mine own, than once more run the hazard of a surreptitious edition. Mine apology shall be no other than that of the good Father; "Infans eram, nec tum scribere noveram: Nunc, ut nihil aliud profecerim, saltem Socraticum illud habeo, Scio quod nescio."- And now since I find that the oblation of the first-fruits, though haply they were not always the best and ripest, did yet find favourable acceptance with God himself; I have been emboldened to pre sent this small enchiridion (the very first fruits of my theological studies) unto the hands and patronage of so greatly learned, eloquent, and judicious a person:-and that upon this assurance; That as many times aged men, when they walk abroad, lean upon the hand of a little child, so even in this little and youthful treatise, such comfortable truths may be, though weakly, delivered, as may help, in your journey towards a better country, to refresh and sustain your aged thoughts. The blood of Christ, and the food of life, are subjects worthy of all acceptation, though brought unto us in an earthen vessel. Elisha was not a whit the less valued by that noble Naaman, though it were a handmaid which directed unto him. Neither was David's comfort in rescuing of his wives, and recovering of the spoils from the Amalekites any jot the smaller, because a young man of Egypt made way for the discovery. The sovereignty of the gospel is herein most excellently set forth, in that it many times leadeth the soul by the hand of a child, and is as truly, though not as abundantly, powerful from young Timothy, as from Paul the aged. As Christ can use weak elements to exhibit, so can he also use a weak pen to express, the virtue and comforts of his body and blood. In this confidence, I have made bold to prefix your name before these meditations; that therein I might make a public acknowledgment of my many deep engagements for your abundant favours, and might, with most hearty prayers, commend you and yours to that blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things for us than that of Abel. In which desires I daily remain, MEDITATIONS ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT. CHAPTER I. Man's being to be employed in working; that working directed unto some good, which is God; that good, a free and voluntary reward, which we here enjoy only in the right of a promise; the seal of which promise, is a sacrament. THE almighty power and wisdom of God hath given unto his creatures a triple degree of perfection, their being, their working, and their good ;-which three are so subordinate to each other, that working is the end and scope of being, and good is the end and scope of working: but no being can produce any work, no work reach unto any good, without something that may be a rule of working, and a way to good. And therefore Almighty God, in the work of the creation, imprinted in each creature a secret principle, which should move, govern, and uniformly direct it to its proper work and end; and that principle we call a law, which, by assigning unto each thing the kind, measure, and extent of its working, doth lead it on, by a straight and infallible line, unto that good for which it worketh. All other creatures below the sphere of reason, being not only, in the quality of their nature, of a narrow and strait perfection, but, in their duration, finite and perishable; the good unto which this law of their creation directs them, is a finite good likewise. But men and angels, being both in nature more excellent than all others, and, in continuance, infinite and immortal, cannot possibly receive from any thing, which is a mere creature, and less perfect than themselves, any com plete satisfaction of their desires; and therefore must, by at circle, turn back unto God, who is as well the Omega, the end and object of their working,-as the Alpha, the cause and author of their being. Now God being most free, not only in himself, but in the diffusion and communication of himself, unto any thing created (which, therefore, he cannot. be naturally or necessarily bound unto), and being also a God infinitely beyond the largest compass of the creature's merit or working,-it follows, that neither men nor angels can lay any necessary claim unto God, by a debt of nature (as a stone may unto the centre by that natural impress, which directs it thither); but all our claim is by a right of promise and voluntary donation: so that that which, in other mere natural creatures, is called the term or scope, is, in reasonable creatures, the promise or reward of their working. "Fear not, Abraham; I am thy exceeding great reward." So then we have here our good, which is God,-to be communicated unto us, not in the manner of a necessary and natural debt, but of a voluntary and supernatural reward. Secondly, We have our working required, as the means to lead us, in a straight line, unto the fruition of that good. And inasmuch as man's will, being mutable, may carry him unto several operations of different kinds,-we have, Thirdly, A rule or law, to moderate the kind and manner of our working, whereby we reach unto our desired good: which rule when it altereth, as in the new covenant of grace it doth, the quality of that work, whereby we reach unto our desired good, doth alter likewise. Now, Fourthly, We must farther observe, That between our working, which is the motion towards our good,-and our fruition, or resting in it, there is a distance or succession of time. So that while we are in our estate of working, we do not enjoy God by any full real presence or possession, but only by a right of a covenant and promise; which makes the apostle say, That, in this life, "we live by faith, and not by sight." Now promises or covenants require to have annexed unto them evidence and certainty, so far as may secure the party that relies upon them; which, in human contracts, is done by giving our words and setting-to our seals for confirmation. And now, Lastly, Inasmuch as that duty, on condition whereof God maketh this promise of himself unto us, is - |