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bloud, that is of his death and paſſion; And if heretofore he hath been guilty of any diſorder and irreverence (ſuch as the Apoſtle here taxeth them withall) let him cenſure and Judge himſelf for it, be ſenſible of and ſorry for his fault, and be carefull to avoid it for the future; and having thus Examined himſelf, let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. This, I think, is the plain ſenſe of the Apoſtle's diſcourſe; and that if we attend to the ſcope and circumſtances of it, it cannot well have any other meaning.
But ſome will ſay, is this all the preparation that is required to our worthy receiving of the Sacrament, that we take care not to come drunk to it, nor to be guilty of any irreverence and diſorder in the celebration of it? I anſwer in ſhort, this was the particular unworthineſs with which the Apoſtle taxeth the Corinthians, and which he warns them to amend, as they deſire to eſcape the Judgments of God, ſuch as they had already felt for this irreverent carriage of theirs, ſo unſuitable to the holy
Sacrament: He finds no other fault with them at preſent in this matter, though any other ſort of irreverence will proportionably expoſe men to the like puniſhment. He ſays nothing here of their habitual preparation, by the ſincere purpoſe and reſolution of a good life, anſwerable to the rules of the Chriſtian Religion; this we may suppoſe he took for granted. However, it concerns the Sacrament to more than it does Prayer or any other religious Duty. Not but that it is very true, that none but thoſe who do heartily embrace the Chriſtian Religion, and are ſincerely reſolved to frame their lives according to the holy rules and precepts of it, are fit to communicat in this ſolemn acknowledgment and profeſſion of at. So that it is a practice very much to be countenanced and encouraged, becauſe it is of great uſe, for Chriſtians by way of preparation foe the Sacrament to examine themſelves in a larger ſenſe than in all probability the Apoſtle here intended; I mean, to examine our paſt lives and the actions of them, in order to a ſincere repentance of all our errours and miſcarriages, and to fix us in the ſteady purpoſe and reſolution of a better life; particularly, whenwe
