Gospel-worship, or, The right manner of sanctifying the name of God in general and…

5. In the fifth place there must be an exercise of faith for the Sanctifying of Gods Name here; Faith that is both the hand and the mouth of the taking of this spiritual meat; and spiritual drink; when thou comest to the Feast of the Lord, Faith first is the eye, and then the hand and mouth; it is the eye of thy soul to give a real sight to what there is here, you are not able to discern the body of the Lord but by the eye of Faith; if thou comest only with bodily eyes to look upon what is here, thou seest nothing but a little Bread and Wine; but now where the eye of Faith is, there is a real appearance of Jesus Christ to the soul, as if Christ were bodily present, and we need not have the bread turned in to his body; for Faith cannot see the body of Christ through the bread, and the blood of Christ gushing in the Wine. And it is a mighty thing to have Christ and such spiritual things made real and not to be a fancy. If one look upon the fire that is painted, one cannot heat ones self in cold weather with that, but fire that is really burning upon the hearth; so those that ⟨p. 253⟩come to receive the Sacrament, and not come with Faith, that have only the eye of their bodies, they only see as it were a painted Christ, they do not see Christ really, his body and blood and those great mysteries of the Gospel are not presented as real things to their souls; and hence it is that they go away and get nothing; but now when the soul comes with the eye of Faith, the soul sees the wonderful things of God, it is the most glorious sight in the world; all the glory of God in the Heavens and Earth is not like this Sight of Jesus Christ and the mysteries of the Gospel that do appear to the eye of Faith; therefore you may by this know whether you have come with Faith or no to the Sacrament, whether you have seen the most glorious Sight that ever your eyes did behold, Alas! with our natural eyes, we behold a Minister coming with a piece of Bread, and a little Wine: but when the eye of Faith is opened, then we behold the glorious things of the Gospel: Many times when you come to hear the Word, your hearts burn within you; as they that went to Emmaus; but when you are breaking bread, the eye of Faith that must look upon Jesus Christ: and in this sense, those that have pierced Christ must look upon him; that Scripture is fulfilled in Zachariah, 12.

5. In the fift place there must be an exercise of faith for the Sanctifying of Gods Name here; Faith that is both the hand and the mouth of the taking of this spiritual meat; and spiritual drink; when thou comest to the Feast of the Lord, Faith first is the eye, and then the hand and mouth; it is the eye of thy soul to give a real sight to what there is here, you are not able to discern the body of the Lord but by the eye of Faith; if thou comest only with bodily eyes to look upon what is here, thou seest nothing but a little Bread and Wine; but now where the eye of Faith is, there is a real apperance of Jesus Christ to the soul, as if Christ were bodily present, and we need not have the bread truned in to his body; for Faith cannot see the body of Christ through the bread, and the blood of Christ gushing in the Wine. And it is a mighty thing to have Christ and such sprituall things made real and not to be a fansie. If one look upon the fire that is painted, one cannot heat ones self in cold wether with that, but fire that is really burning upon the harth; so those that