and to engage them to a ſuitable practice, I ſhall now endeavour with all plainneſs and force of perſwaſion I can: And ſo much the more, becauſe the neglect of it among Chriſtians is grown ſo general, and a great many perſons from a ſuperſtitous awe and reverence of this Sacrament, are by degrees fallen into a profane neglect and contempt of it.
I ſhall briefly mention a threefold Obligation lying upon all Chriſtians to frequent Communion in this holy Sacrament, each of them ſufficient of itſelf, but all of them together of the greateſt force imaginable, to engage us hereunto.
1. We are obliged in point of indiſpenſable duty, and in obedience to a plain precept, and moſt ſolemn inſtitution of our bleſſed Saviour, that great Lawgiver, who is able to ſave and to deſtroy, as St. James calls him: He hath bid us, Do this. And Saint Paul who declares nothing in this matter, but what he tells us he received from the Lord, admoniſheth us to do it often. Now for any man that profeſſeth himſelf a Chriſtian, to live in the open and continued contempt or neglect of plain Law and Inſtitution of Chriſt is utterly inconſiſtent with ſuch a profeſſion. To ſuch our Lord may ſay as he did to the Jews, why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I ſay. How far the ignorance of this inſtitution, or the miſtakes which men have been led into about it, may extenuate this neglect is another conſideration. But after we knew our Lord's will in this particular, and have the Law plainly laid before us, there is no cloak for our ſin. For nothing can excuſe the wilfull neglect of a plain Inſtitution from a downright contempt of our Saviour's Authority.
2. We
