The dying man's testament to the Church of Scotland, or, A treatise concerning scandal…

But yet two things are to be satisfied. 1. It may be said, But are not the Ordinances of Christ someway polluted by the unworthiness of such scandalous partakers? and if so, can polluted Ordinances be partaken of without sin? Answ. We may consider polluting of Ordinances in a threefold sense. 1. An Ordinance may be said to be polluted, when the essentials and substantials thereof are corrupted, so as indeed it ceaseth to be an Ordinance of Jesus Christ: Thus the Mass in Popery, is a fearful abomination, and a corruption of the Sacrament: in this respect, the Ordinance (if it may be called an Ordinance after that, for indeed it is not an Ordinance of Christ) is polluted, and this may be many ways fallen into, and communion in this, is indeed sinful and cannot but be so.

BUt yet two things are to be satisfied. 1. It may be said, But are not the Ordinances of Christ someway polluted by the unworthinesse of such scandalous partakers? and if so, can polluted Ordinances be partaken of without sin? Answ. We may consider polluting of Ordinances in a threefold sense. 1. An Ordinance may be said to be polluted, when the essentials and substantials thereof are corrupted, so as indeed it ceaseth to be an Ordinance of Jesus Christ: Thus the Masse in Popery, is a fearfull abomination, and a corruption of the Sacrament: in this respect, the Ordinance (if it may be called an Ordinance after that, for indeed it is not an Ordinance of Christ) is polluted, and this may be many wayes fallen into, and communion in this, is indeed sinfull and cannot but be so.

2. An Ordinance may be said to be polluted, when ⟨p. 148⟩it is irreverently and profanely abused, though essentials be kept: Thus the Lords Sabbath may be polluted, which yet is holy in it self; So was the Table of the Lord polluted, Mal. 1. And in this sense the Sacrament of the Lords Supper was indeed polluted by the Corinthians, 1 Cor. 11. when some came drunk or otherwayes irreverently to the holy Ordinances; in this respect, an Ordinance may be said to be polluted to him that so goeth about it, because to the unclean all things are unclean; but it is not polluted in it self, nor to any other that examine themselves, as the former instance doth clear, because that pollution cometh from nothing in the Ordinance, (it being in its essentials complete) but doth arise from the sinfulness of such and such persons, and therefore must be commensurable with them.