A PREPARATION FOR THE LORD'S SUPPER To which are Added MAXIMS OF TRUE CHRISTIANITY Written Originally in French by P. Allix Englished by P. Lorrain LONDON Printed for Brab Aylmer at the Three Pigeons over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1688. IMPRIMATUR Jun. 13. 1687. Guil. Needham TO THE Right Honourable The LADY MARGARET RUSSELL May it please Your Honour BEING to expose this Translation to a World who generally have a great indifference not to say aversion for the Mysteries of OUR RELIGION especially That of the HOLY EUCHARIST and have espoused Maxims quite opposite to Those here laid down I had reason to believe it would stand in need of a Powerful Authority to support and vindicate it against the Cavils and Prejudices that in the minds of many may rise against the Subjects it treats of And as I was looking about for such a PATRONAGE which at once might as well by its GREATNESS authorize and commend as by its GOODNESS exemplifie and attest them it was my happiness to fix upon YOUR HONOUR who is so signally and incontestably possest of both these Advantages This MADAM was the Consideration made me aspire to the boldness of craving YOUR ILLUSTRIOUS NAME to countenance these Papers in condescending to which as your HONOUR will do manifest Justice to PIETY so will it be interpreted a transcendent Favour to and ever acknowledged as such by May it please Your Honour YOUR HONOUR' 's most humbly devoted obedient Servant Paul Lorrain THE PREFACE THERE are three Things absolutely requisite for the making of any one a Worthy and Happy Communicant 1. HE must throughly understand those Truths the Memory whereof Our LORD design'd to preserve in the Institution of the Holy Eucharist For no Man can with any benefit receive this Sacrament unless his Spirit be filled with the same Thoughts which Our Saviour did thereby suggest to his Apostles 2. HE ought to have a lively Sense of those Comforts arising from a Consideration of the Important Truths which CHRIST so clearly represents to us in the Celebration of this Sacred Mystery for as much as our Communicating in the LORD'S SUPPER ought not only to consist in the having our Spirits possessed with the Image of Him who was crucifi'd for us but in our gathering the precious Fruits which accrew to us by his Death 3 and Lastly As it would be an extreme Injustice for us to be found wanting in our Faithfulness Acknowledgement Love and Obedience to GOD who so graciously acquaints us with and makes us sensible of these Wonders of his Mercy and Compassion towords us so we may easily conceive the Necessity Reasonableness and Extent of the Duties our Participation of the Holy Sacrament engages us to which we ought with a Religious Care to discharge through the whole Course of our Lives NOTHING can therefore be of greater Use to Christians with respect to the Holy Communion than to have the great Truths imply'd in the Eucharist distinctly propounded to them and be made apprehensive of those delightful Comforts treasur'd up therein to the end they may thereby be disposed to a ready performance of the Duties it layes upon them THIS is my Design in this small Treatise wherein I shall follow no other Method than that just now hinted at that is I shall First of all endeavour to make out that the Eucharist exhibits the most weighty and Fundamental Points of Christianity to our View In the next place demonstrate that the Meditating upon these important Verities which are frequently called to mind by this Sacrament kept up in the Church is to true Believers a Well-Spring of inexhaustible Comfort and indefectible Joy. And finally conclude with pointing at those several Duties which this Holy Institution does so necessarily charge us with that we cannot neglect the same but at the peril of our Everlasting Ruin. To which three things I intend to speak without entring upon any of those Controversies which divide Christians in this Matter my Design here being not chiefly to oppose Error but to excite and fortifie their Devotion and Piety who are already acquainted with the Truth though they do not always duly consider and reflect upon it GOD grant we may so plainly discover to them the Connexion there is between the Truths Consolations and Duties of OUR RELIGION that while they are seeking for Comfort in the Meditation of DIVINE TRUTHS they may at the same time meet with strong and urgent Motives to apply themselves with all Diligence and Perseverance to the Practice of True Holiness A PREPARATION FOR THE Lord's Supper CHAP. I. THE History of the Institution of the LORD'S SVPPER THE Meaning of Our LORD in his instituting of the Fucharist can no way be better understood than by a careful Examination of the Terms He us'd and the Circumstances of his Discourse HIS Words express the Thoughts He would suggest to the Minds of his Apostles and all other Christians after them and to the end we should the better apprehend the Sense of them the Evangelists have not only given us a plain Relation of his Institution but been very careful in describing all the Circumstances thereof to us THEY therefore acquaint us that JESUS CHRIST instituted this Holy Sacrament that same Night He was Betrayed and delivered up to the Jews by one of his Disciples after he had celebrated with them the Anniversary of their Fore-fathers Deliverance out of Egypt in eating the Paschal Lamb according to the Law of God. Exod. 12. AS to the Form or Manner which CHRIST observ'd in his Celebrating the Eucharist the Evangelists agree that after the Paschal Supper He took Bread and having given Thanks brake it and distributed it to his Disciples saying Take eat this is my Body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me THEN they tell us further that Our Lord having likewise taken the Cup and given Thanks He deliver'd it to his Disciples saying Drink ye all of this for this is my Bloud the Bloud of the New Testament which is shed for you do this as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me IN a word they intimate to us that the Disciples did all drink of it and that having sung an Hymn they accompany'd JESUS to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives where after his having endur'd a most Bitter Agony He was laid hold of in order to be exposed to all the Reproaches He soon after suffered both from the Jews and Romans and sinally to be crucify'd Thus ending his Life by a Punishment that was equally painful and accursed MOREOVER it appears that the Design of our Lord JESUS CHRIST was That this Ceremony should be in all After-ages exactly observ'd in his Church This may plainly be seen First From his Substituting it to that of the Passover which was to continue as long as the Jewish Religion lasted as being that which took its Beginning from the Rise or at least the Grand
participating of the Sacrifice offer'd up by our Lord. INDEED if this Sacrament had been instituted by CHRIST after his Resurrection which wholly effaced the Pourtraiture of his Shame and Sufferings it would have been much more difficult to have thence inculcated to us this important Truth of the Christian Religion But Our Lord did expresly choose the time immediately before his Death that so the Ceremony which was to preserve the Memory of it might so fill us with the sense of the Shame and Punishment he endured that it might lead us to make a continual Reflection upon these Truths viz. That when JESUS CHRIST dy'd He dy'd for Sinners That when He was nail'd to the Cross He bore their Sins in his Body on the Tree That when He was wounded it was for our Transgressions and that by his Stripes we are healed THE fifth Truth which our Saviour was willing continually to set before our Eyes by the Celebration of the Eucharist is That this Bloody Death of his was the Blessed Means by which GOD entred into Covenant with Mankind Moses had said of the Blood he sprinkled upon the People Behold the Blood of the Covenant which the Lord has made with you concerning all these words Exod. 24.8 And Our Saviour plainly opposing his Blood to that says concerning the Cup This Cup is the New Covenant or Testament in my Blood which is shed for the remission of your Sins This Covenant is the greatest and most important Truth of our Religion By it GOD delivers Men from Hell and restores them to his Favour and Protection It is this also displays before us the whole Mystery of our Redemption as 1. That Man being created Innocent fell into Rebellion against GOD by list'ning to the insinuations of the Devil 2. That though Man deserved to be not only reduc'd to nothing from whence the Hand of GOD had raised him at the first but to be cast into Hell there to undergo the punishment due to his Disobedience yet GOD being mov'd with pity resolv'd to forgive all and make a New Covenant with him 3. That it was the Will of GOD that his Own Son taking in due time Human Nature upon Him should be the Person in whose Blood this Covenant was to be Established 4. That JESUS CHRIST having really shed his Blood this Covenant was fully ratify'd and confirmed and Remission of Sins offer'd to all that would repent For that is the thing which is meant by the New Covenant according as GOD expresses it in Jeremy 31.34 saying I will forgive their Iniquity and remember their Sin no more THE sixth considerable Truth is That our Saviour would have us always to bear in mind his Last Coming to judge the World and consummate the Work of Our Redemption Accordingly this Sacrament contains solemn Marks and Instances of the fulfilling of the Promises God had made to send the Messias into the World. It sets forth in what manner He began to act and suffer for Mankind But He being to continue but a little while here upon Earth and to be taken up to Heaven there to remain to the End of the World this Ceremony acquaints us that He is then to come again from thence in order to fulfil our Hopes by causing us to reap the last Fruits of his Expiation of Our Sins that is in destroying Death by a glorious Resurrection and making us to live for ever with GOD a Life that neither Sin nor Death which Sin has brought into the World can ever disturb And it may be said that as the first Coming of the Messias was the great Object of the Religion Desires and Hopes of the Jews Art thou say they He that should come or do we look for another Mat. 11.3 as likewise of the Promises of Blessings which GOD had made to the Gentiles themselves He being called the Expectation and desire of all Nations Hag. 2.7 so is his second Coming the great Object of the Christian Religion This same JESVS said the Angels to his Disciples gazing up to Heaven who is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into Heaven Act. 1.11 On this account also the Church is represented to us Rev. 22.17 calling for her Bridegroom And the Spirit and the Bride say Come And let him that hears say Come And indeed as the Prophets describe these two Comings of the Messias under the notion of one single Object so we see that according to the mind of St. Paul who assigns for the continuance of this Holy Ordinance the whole Interval of time to the end of the World and Christ's Return Our Saviour has in this Sacrament united this his two Comings as being the greatest Objects of our Religion CHAP. V. Of the Comforts the Holy Eucharist administers to us THUS having explain'd the important Truths which the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper engages us to meditate upon it is very Evident that Our Participation of this Sacrament furnishes us with most lively and refreshing Comforts which I now come to propose in order with reference to the foregoing Truths FIRST then What joy must we needs feel when we reflect upon this great Event viz. the Death of Our Saviour Let us but compare our Happiness with the Condition of the Patriarchs and we shall easily perceive how high a pitch our Joy ought to be raised to St. Peter tells us that the Prophets have enquired and searched diligently what or what manner of time the Spirit of CHRIST which was in them did signifie when it testifi'd before-hand the Sufferings of CHRIST and the Glory that should follow 1 Pet 1.10 11. The Promises of GOD did fill their Hearts with gladness even before they came to pass yea tho' it was revealed to them that it was not to themselves but to us that they ministred those things which have been declar'd to us by the Preachers of the Gospel 1 Pet. 1.12 They rejoyced to see the Faithfulness of GOD in the future accomplishment of his Promises And to this purpose St. Paul informs us that the Patriarchs and Holy Men of old dy'd in the Faith not having receiv'd the Promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them Heb. 11.13 Yet all this at a distance Thus Balaam Numb 24.17 I see Him but not now I behold Him but not nigh But 't is our happiness that we are come to that Blessed State which Our Saviour appropriates to his Disciples We see those things which so many Kings and Righteous Persons desired to see and did not see them John the Baptist who Baptized Him bore Witness of Him and foretold his Death yet never saw it This was an Advantage reserved for us His Death is now in most lively Colours presented to our View It is Matter of Fact certain and indubitably attested He is come down from Heaven He has taken our Flesh upon Him discharged the Functions of his Ministery
delight to do thy Will O my God. O Ineffable and amazing Love to Mankind who deserved nothing but an Eternal Curse AS it was in the Blood of Lambs that GOD made a Covenant with the People of Israel so the Eucharist representing to us in the fifth Place that the Blood of CHRIST is the Ground and Foundation of the New Covenant which GOD has made with Christians we cannot look upon the Sacrament as the Pledge and Seal of this Covenant without being filled with an Excess of Joy and Consolation For indeed what greater Glory can be imagined than for Man to be admitted to a Treaty with GOD And what an inconceivable Advantage is this that GOD should vouchsafe to enter into Covenant with us There are none but are sensible of the Happiness of the Israelites in this regard To be convinc'd of which we need only hear them even at this day speaking with the greatest Comfort of the Honour GOD therein has done them notwithstanding their total dispersion and groaning under the Burthen of that Curse which pursues and overtakes them every where Now that ancient Covenant GOD has abolished as being imperfect but this which we commemorate is to endure for ever The Design of the former was only to give the Jews a lively Sense of Sin or at the best to administer a Typical Expiation whereas the latter viz. the New according to the Prophet Jeremy makes a true Atonement for Sin and affords a Remission rightly and properly so call'd That had no promises but what concern'd a Happiness here on Earth whereas This does promise a Resurrection and Eternal Glory THE greatest Honour the Old Covenant did confer upon the Jews was this That the MESSIAS should be born of their Blood but the Advantage of the New is That the MESSIAS partaking of Flesh and Blood with the rest of Mankind has given his own Blood to raise them to the Glory of Adoption who shall believe in Him. O how happy is the People whose God is the Lord And what does this Expression to be the God of any one import but this viz. To be his Great and Soveraign Benefactor Of old He was the GOD of Abraham but not of Loth and his Posterity Of Isaac but not of Ismael and his Off-spring Of Jacob but not of Esau and the Edomites Now He is the GOD of all the Earth But he has not made this Covenant with all the Nations of the World save only by virtue and on the Sole Account of the Blood of CHRIST And can we with any attention reflect on this Truth represented to us in the Holy Eucharist without feeling a Joy unspreakable and full of Glory GOD had promised to enter into such a Covenant as this and Jeremy describes it in the 31. Chap. of his Prophecies Yet the Old lasted till John the Baptist and so long the Ceremonies of it were in use But then comes CHRIST and instead of continuing the Celebration of the Old Covenant which was made in the Blood of the Paschal Lamb He abrogates it and in its room substitutes the New Covenant made in his own Blood. Do this says He in remembrance of me Not That which was done before but This For this Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for the Remission of your Sins TO conclude 't is to be considered and this is the last Vein of Comfort hid in the Eucharist that this Holy Sacrament inviting us to take a View of CHRIST'S second Coming as well as of his Dispensation in the Flesh 't is impossible but it must fill our Souls with surpassing Joy and Comfort The full Salvation of Believers does as yet only consist in Hope GOD indeed pardons their Sins but they are still subject to all the Miseries Sin has brought into the World. They hope for Eternal Life and yet dye like other Men. Their Bodies are laid in the Grave and become the food of Worms So that their Expectation seems to be quite frustrated And as the Jews and Gentiles find Matter of Scandal and Derision in the Death of the Son of GOD so according to all outward appearance they have the same reason to insult over the Faith and Hope of his Followers when they compare these with their present Condition which to the Eye differs not from that of other Men. But all these dark Clouds shall at last be scatter'd these Shadows vanish and the Glory of our Lord and his Faithful be revealed He shall appear from Heaven in the Glory of his Father and every Eye shall see Him even they who have pierced Him. And as He will thus display his Majesty in the Sight of all the World so will He at the same time unvail the Life and Glory of his Children who at present are ready to sink under the burthen of Sin the Violence of CHRIST's Adversaries the deceits of the World and the Devil and the Power of Death which is the last Enemy of CHRIST and his Church He that eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has Eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day Whosoever eats of this Bread shall live for ever These are our Saviour's Promises wherein as He terms the Embracing of Him by Faith an Eating of his Flesh in opposition to the Type of Manna So this Eating may be as truly ascribed to them who by Faith consider Him as the Sacrifice that has taken away the Punishment due to Sin. O what comforts do arise to the Faithful from the Expectation of this his Return What exulting Joys will they be filled with at his Coming What Delights flow in upon them as they mediate hereon What ravishing Pleasures does it afford us amidst the greatest Evils of this Life What quiet in the sharpest Trials And what Confidence even at the time when Death stares us in the Face CHAP. VI. Of the Duties prescribed to us in the Holy Eucharist I SUPPOSE I have very clearly made out that it is impossible attentively to consider the Truths which the Lord's Supper discovers to us without reaping the unspreakable Comforts which so naturally spring from it And it may with as much Ease be demonstrated that these Truths indispensably engage us to the most Essential Duties of our Religion and that GOD having comprehended what is most capable to administer the sweetest Consolations to our Souls in this Mystery it cannot but at the same time be very influential towards Sanctification and a Godly Life To the making out of which I design the Conclusion of this Treatise where I intend to represent these Duties as the necessary and natural Consequents of what I have before laid down It behooves every Communicant seriously to consider of these Engagements And the rather because this is a sure way for them to know whether they have worthily receiv'd the Sacrament or to amend the faults by them committed in any preceding Communion for want of discharging these Religious performances as they ought FIRST then
Deliverance of that People Secondly Because this Ceremony was to be the Sacrament of a New Covenant that should not be abrogated by any other whatsoever Thirdly and Lastly Forasmuch as the Apostle St. Paul who had been rapt up into the Third Heaven there to be further acquainted with the great Mystery of Faith informs the Believers that they ought to declare that is according to the Jewish way of speaking to celebrate the Memory of CHRIST's Death untill his Coming again that is to the End of the World when he shall return from Heaven to judge both the Quick and the Dead in order to the Completion of his Promises and our Hopes CHAP. II. That JESVS CHRIST borrow'd the Actions and Expressions HE made use of in the Institution of the Eucharist from the Jews THERE are two sorts of Reflections may be made upon the Institution of the Lord's Supper Some do serve to explain the Letter and out-side of this Sacrament and others again inform us of the great Aim and Design of it I begin with the First AS it is well known that in the Institution of Baptism CHRIST borrowed the Rite of Washing practised by the Jews on those Gentiles they admitted to the Publick Profession of Judaism so it is as plain that our Saviour in the Institution of his Holy Supper did so far comply with the Jewish Customs after the Celebration of their Passover yet raising some of them to a much more excellent Sense than they had before that He follow'd closely the Notions and Expressions of the Jews TO clear this we must know that the Evening of the Passover the Master of the House began this Solemnity with Praises to God holding in his Hand a Cup of Wine whereof himself having first drunk he gave it to all the Company AFTER this instead of the usual Blessing of the Bread he was wont to take an unleavened Cake in his Hand saying This is the Bread of Affliction which our Fathers did Eat in Egypt Words that had a Natural Relation to the History of their Bondage and Deliverance of old I omit the whole Ceremony of the Paschal Lamb which is described in the 12th Chapter of Exodus and shall only remark that after this Feast the Master of the House was us'd to take the Cup again which at first he had consecrated and having given thanks to present it to the Participants saying to them that That was the Fruit of the Vine and the Bloud of Grapes An Expression borrow'd from Genesis Chap. 49.11 and Deut. Ch. 32.14 FINALLY after this Ceremony their Custom was to Sing the 113th 114th Psalms as an Hymn that concluded the Devotion of this Solemnity Which Song of Praise they still at this day call the Hallel 'T IS evident our Lord did imitate this Usage which is still observ'd by the Jews save only that they don't eat a Lamb. When therefore He had eaten the Paschal Lamb He took the Bread which was designed to commemorate the Misery the Children of Israel underwent in Egypt and made use of the same Blessing and Giving of Thanks which was received among the Jews Brake the Bread He had taken and intending this Ceremony should preserve the Remembrance of his Death He still prosecuted the same Notions and Expressions of the Jews saying that it was his Body which was now to be broken for the Remission of the Sins of Mankind AFTER this He according to the Practice of the Jews took the Cup gave thanks a second time and having ended his Blessing or Prayer for these signifie the same thing among the Jews He declared that this Cup was the New Testament in his Bloud or the Bloud of the New Testament by which God granted penitent Sinners the Pardon of their Sins WHICH Expressions clearly shew that He would have this Cup to be consider'd as a Memorial of the New Testament of which he was the Mediator IN short is it not manifest that He together with his Disciples sang the same Hymns which were solemn and customary with the Jews on this occasion THERE is no man who does not easily perceive that JESUS CHRIST found in this constant Custom of the Jews a just ground for expressing himself as He did when he design'd to institute and perpetuate in his Church a Publick Memorial of his Death and Sufferings THE Jews themselves the Mortal Enemies of our Religion do agree with this They highly maintain that according to CHRIST's Sense these Words This is my Body c. which He pronounced in shewing the Bread cannot import the notion of Reality but only of Signification that his Meaning was very apparent both because He said in the 6th of St. John concerning the Eating here mentioned The Words that I speak to you are Spirit and Life that is they are to be understood in a Spiritual Sense and because it was an usual Expression with them to say This is the Bread which our Fathers did Eat though indeed it was but the Memorial of it Fortalit Fid. L. 3. § 11. p. 172. Thus the Expressions of our Lord being as appears made up of those common Idea's so current among the Jews it is evident that his Design in instituting of the Eucharist was to represent his Death to us as a thing which for time to come was to be commemorated by the Church He substituting it in the room of the Memorial of the Deliverance out of Egypt and the ancient Covenant God had made with the Jews after his having set them at Liberty from their hard Bondage BUT these Remarks which only respect the out-side of the Eucharist are of much less importance than those of the Second Order which refer to our Lord's Design in his Institution of this Holy Sacrament CHAP. III. That JESVS CHRIST in his Institution of the Eucharist has followed Idea's or Notions quite opposite to those of the Paschal Lamb And what those Idea's of the Paschal Lamb are OUR Saviour's Words are not to be compar'd only with those the Jews made use of at the Eating of their Unleavened Bread which they call'd the Bread of Affliction because it was a Representative of it but that they may be throughly illustrated they are to be considered with opposition to the Idea's of the Paschal Lamb to which our Lord was willing to make the Celebration of this Sacrament to succed And indeed not only St. Paul leads us naturally to look upon the Sacrifice of the Passover as a he says 1 Cor. 5.7 that CHRIST our Passover is Sacrificed for us nor only did JESUS CHRIST for this choose the time of the Passover to ordain the Memorial of his Death but the Jews themselves seem fully to agree with it when they propound this as one of their most ancient Traditions That the Messias is to procure their Salvation the self same Day in which they were deliver'd from their Egyptian Bondage Fagius ad Exod. 12.13 First then I say that it is evident our Lord's Design was
of those that were concern'd therein A Fifth Reflection upon the Paschal Lamb is this that it was to be consider'd as a Publick Pledge and Token of the Covenant GOD had made with the People of Israel by preferring them before the Ismaelites and Edomites who were descended the former from Abraham and the latter from Isaac The Sign of Circumcision did sufficiently acquaint the Jews that by this distinguishing Character GOD had chosen them from among all other Nations of the Earth to accomplish in the midst of them the Promise He had made to Abraham namely that of his Seed the Messias was to be born in whom all Nations should be blessed But this sign of Circumcision being common to the Jews with the Ismaelites and Edomites the pretences of both these to the Priviledges of the Covenant which GOD had first made with Abraham and afterwards renew'd with Isaac was still kept up It was therefore requisite there should be a Religious Ceremony that might demonstrate that this Covenant was particularly confin'd within the Family of Jacob Which was done by the Paschal Lamb. For this represented to them that according to what was foretold Gen. 15. Affliction and that in this State they had receiv'd a particular Relief and Deliverance from GOD which forasmuch as it could not be said of the Ismaelites or Edomites did most strongly refute all their Pretensions to a Right in God's Covenant with Abraham This likewise most clearly set forth to them that God by virtue of his Covenant had out of his Mercy preserved them at a time when the Egyptians felt the Effects of his Curse and Vengeance and that accordingly He would not fail of fulfilling that Great Promise in order to the accomplishment of which He had so miraculously preserved Isaac and after him their Fathers also from the Sword of the Destroying Angel. LASTLY It is to be observed that as this Ceremony reminded them of GOD'S Love for their Nation of his Faithfulness in making good his Promises of the Expiation of their Iniquities and of his Covenant with them A Covenant by which He had engaged to be their God that is their Benefactor and Protector and one day to give them the Messias who was to be born of their Nation so it naturally led them also to look upon themselves as the People of GOD and to obey Him faithfully In a word to answer by a Holy Life and all the marks of true Gratitude the Honour GOD had conferr'd upon them by his making out of his meer Good Will a Covenant with them and calling them to so great Hopes as those were which He had set before them CHAP. IV. Of the Truths which the Holy Communion represents to us THESE are the Principal Truths great Comforts and just Obligations to serve GOD religiously which so manifestly were imply'd in the Celebration of the Paschal Lamb. But how much more important is the thing our Saviour has made to supply the place of it in his Institution of the Eucharist That which he exhibits to us in this Sacred Mystery whether with respect to the Truths Comforts or our Obligations to Piety it contains is infinitely more Sublime great and real To be assured of this we need only to resume and attentively consider the forementioned three Points I begin with the Truths the Eucharist represents to us THE first of these Truths respects the Purpose and Design of our Lord when He instituted the Sacrament of his Supper Certainly it was as all Christians agree to establish a publick Monument of his Death as being the greatest Event that could ever be commemorated First He brake the Bread and then to express what He meant by this breaking of the Bread He said that it was his Body broken i. e. torn by the cruelty of his Tormenters He presented afterwards the Cup to his Disciples and to unfold the Mystery thereof added that it was the New Testament in his Blood which had a natural reference to his Death This He explains more clearly in his command Do this in remembrance of me that is in commemoration of my Sufferings Which made St. Paul say As often as you shall Eat of this Bread and Drink of this Cup you shew or according to our way of speaking you must shew or declare the Lord's Death i. e. you are to call to mind and solemnly commemorate this wonderful effect of the Love of God. Indeed we see the Evangelists have so exactly described the Death of Christ with all the Circumstances thereof to us that we may aver they have as it were presented us with the very Picture and Lively Image of it So that had we been Eye-witnesses of the same our selves and in company with them upon Mount Calvary we should hardly have been so well acquainted therewith as now we are But besides this it was our Saviour's will that by a Religious Ceremony which should be solemnized to the World's End his Death might continually be placed before our Eyes And notwithstanding this ignomious Death was to prove a Stumbling-block to the Jews and at first be look'd upon as meer Foolishness by the Gentiles yet would He have the Remembrance thereof to be dearly preserv'd in his Church by his instituting of the Eucharist much after the same manner as God the Father had instituted the Ceremony of the Paschal Lamb which did yearly refresh the Memory of the Jews about their Deliverance out of Egypt as the most remarkable Event that had ever happened to their Nation THE second Truth which the Eucharist offers to us is That JESVS CHRIST is the true MESSIAS promised by God and that we have in Him the Accomplishment of the ancient Prophecies which among the diverse Characters that the MESSIAS was to be known by and are exactly found in Our Lord expresly foretold that He was to suffer Death Psal 22. Is 53. Dan. 9.26 And here it is well worth our while to consider First That GOD had stampt the mark of his Curse upon the Punishment of the Cross Cursed is every one that hangs on a Tree Deut. 21.23 Gal. 3.13 Secondly That though GOD had described the MESSIAS as One who was to be the Fountain of Blessings to all Nations Tribes and Families of the Earth yet at the same time He had given forth many Oracles concerning his Death upon the Cross and the several Circumstances of it Thirdly That GOD was pleased to dictate a greater Number of Oracles relating to this matter than to any other of those Glorious and wonderful Events whereby the MESSIAS was to be distinguish'd during his Life here The Prophecies mentioning his Birth and the place of his Nativity are but few whereas GOD presignifi'd by the Prophets and represented by manifold Lively Types and Figures 1. That both Jews and Gentiles were to joyn together in the Destroying of the MESSIAS Psal 2.1 2. That his own Disciple and one that ate Bread with him should betray him Psal 41.9 3. That He should
be sold for thirty Pieces of Silver Zach. 11.12 4. That his Disciples would forsake Him Zach. 13.7 5. That He was to be the scorn and derision of his Adversaries Psal 22.7 6. That He should hold his Peace as a Sheep dumb before his Tormenters Isa 53.7 7. That the Great Men of the World were to take Council together for putting Him to Death Psal 2.2 8. That He was to be exposed as an Object of Horror and Detestation Isa 53.3 9. That He was to be reckoned among Transgressors Isa 53.12 10. That they should pierce his Hands and Feet Psal 22.16 11. That Lots should be cast upon his Vesture Psal 22.18 12. That He should be insulted over and derided on the account of his trusting in God Psal 22.8 13. That he was to complain of his being abandoned by GOD to the fury of his Enemies Psal 22.1 14. That they would give Him Gall and Vinegar to drink Psal 69.22 15. That He was to commit his Soul into the Hands of GOD Psal 31.5 16. That his Side was to be pierced with a Spear Zach. 12.10 17. That none of his Bones should be broken Exod. 12.49 Psal 34.20 18. That He should be laid in a Rich Man's Tomb Isa 53.9 And besides these there a great many other Circumstances to the same purpose exactly specify'd by the Prophets But I wave them my Design being only to hint at the most remarkable WHAT I have mentioned here is sufficient First to demonstrate that CHRIST'S Death with all the notable passages of it was a convincing Proof of his being the promised MESSIAS But in the second place it is yet more evident that as our Saviour would have a lively Sense of his Bloody Death and Passion to be preserv'd by a publick Monument that might perpetuate the memory of it in his Church so was He willing thereby to inculcate the more forcibly this Proof of his being the Messias A Proof taken from the kind of Death which He suffer'd and the Circumstances attending it For as much as this Death which had so much Scandal in it being the Object of the Christian Religion would inevitably expose it to many Reflections and the Opposition of great difficulties THE third Truth which the Eucharist represents to us is That the Passion of CHRIST which the Jews look upon as an Evident Sign of the Curse of God is most truly a plentiful conveyance of the greatest Blessings to Sinners This we are made sensible of as soon as we reflect upon these two Things 1. That GOD denounced his Curse against Sinners not only when He said Gen. 3.17 Cursed shall be the Ground for thy sake or when in Deut. 27.26 He pronounced him accursed who did not continue in all the Words of the Law to do them But also by annexing this Curse in particular to that kind of Death which our Lord suffer'd it being said Deut. 21.23 He that is hang'd is accursed of GOD. 2. That though GOD by his Oracles given to Abraham had promised that all Nations should be blessed by means of the Messias yet He does no less expresly declare that the Messias was to suffer the Punishment of the Cross and consequently be under the Curse of GOD Psal 22. Zach. 12.10 A man must either make no use of his own Reason or presently infer from these Truths that the MESSIAS was to be a Blessing to the World no other way than by his being exposed to the Curse for a time viz. by undergoing an accursed Death before he could shower down all the Blessings of his Grace and Glory upon us The Eucharist preserving the Memory of our Saviour's Passion naturally leads us to this Reflection Which will be much more sensibly impress'd upon us if with it we joyn a view of JESVS CHRIST who presents Himself on the Cross as a Victim offer'd for Sinners and his Death as a Real Sacrifice THE fourth Truth is that which is most distinctly laid open to us in the Manner and Circumstances of the Eucharist For First of all CHRIST did not only institute this Ceremony after He had eaten the Paschal Lamb with his Disciples which set before their Eyes 1. The Sacrifice of the Ram that was offer'd up in the Room of Isaac 2. That of the Lambs in Egypt for the redemption of the First-born of the Israelites 3. The Testimony of John the Baptist express'd in these Terms This is the Lamb of God who takes away the Sins of the World. Which saying of his explains all the ancient Types and with one word does illustrate whatever we read concerning the Death of the Messias in the 53d of Isaiah And Secondly CHRIST in the Institution of his Sacrament expresses Himself also by way of opposition to the Paschal Lamb and other Sacrifices of the Law thereby to intimate that the ancient Deliverance the Jews had obtained by their offering of Lambs for their First-born was but a Figure of that which was to be procur'd by his Death and that this Death was to be consider'd as a true Sacrifice by means of which GOD was certainly and fully reconcil'd to Sinners And this Truth it is evident CHRIST was willing to declare most sensibly to us 1. When He represents his Body as broken and his Blood as shed 2. When he wills us to eat the Bread of the Eucharist and drink of the Cup as Eating his Body and drinking his Blood. Indeed when Our Saviour commanded his Disciples and in their Persons all the Faithful to eat his Flesh and drink his Blood it is manifest that He would 1. Take off the restraint of the Old Law which forbad Sinners to eat of the Sacrifice that was offer'd for their Sins 2. Abolish that Precept of the same Law which absolutely injoyned Men to abstain from Blood. And as this intimates that those Victims of old had never made any through Expiation so it plainly shews that CHRIST offer'd up Himself as the true Sacrifice from which this Blessed Effect was to be look'd for Moreover after his having suggested these Ideas of Himself as a Victim slain He now represents Himself to us under the Notion of an High Priest when he says Mat. 26.29 I will not drink henceforth of this Fruit of the Vine until that Day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom In which words He alludes to the Custom of of the High Priest who after he had happily concluded his Solemn Sacrifice on the Day of Atonement and was come home safe from the Sanctuary where GOD had killed some he was wont to make a Feast to his Friends in token of joy for the good success of his Function 'T IS this important Truth the Apostle St. Paul so strongly asserts in his Epistle to the Hebrews And it is for the same reason that when he was desirous to take off the Corinthians from the Communion they had with Heathens in their Sacrifices he represents to them the Celebration of the Eucharist as a
to substitute the Memorial of the Deliverance of Mankind by his Death in the room of the Remembrance of the Jews Deliverance by the Bloud of the Paschal Lamb. He does not now command the Eating of a Lamb as formerly and his Words Do this are not at all spoken to that purpose but his Intent was to abolish the Memory of the Curse GOD had pronounced against the Race of Cham which was executed in the Death of the First-born in Egypt and had been a Principle of Division among those Nations he now unites again It is with respect to his Death which under the Appearance of a Curse has made him the Blessing of the World that he ordain'd this Ceremony of breaking and eating Bread. Which latter Ceremony CHRIST prefers before the Eating of the Paschal Lamb it being his Will that it should thenceforwards be considered as the Chief Ceremony of his Religion as being a solemn Token of his having abolish'd the Curse due to Sinners whereof indeed the Paschal Lamb was a publick Monument with respect to the Egyptians though it was a Signal of God's Blessing to the Israelites IN the second place I say that Christ expresses himself so as to give us Idea's very much differing from those of the Jews For First He speaks of a New Testament in opposition to the Old he was about to abolish Secondly He opposes his Bloud Which was shed for many for the remission of their Sins to the Bloud of the Paschal Lamb that was poured forth only for a few and the Ceremony of it celebrated but in one Nation viz. that of the Jews to which alone the Benefit of the Egyptian Deliverance was appropriate Thirdly He opposes the Eating of his Flesh which he represents as a Sacrifice He was about to offer up for the Sins of the World to the Eating of those Lambs that were slain in pursuance of God's Law. This being laid down which I hope cannot be contradicted it is plain that forasmuch as JESUS CHRIST did partly make use of the Idea's or Notions of the Paschal Lamb and partly express'd himself with opposition to that Ceremony We must necessarily in order to our apprehending the true Meaning of our Lord in the Institution of his Supper and having a perfect Knowledg of it make out a due Parallel between the Paschal Lamb that kept up the Remembrance of the Egyptian Deliverance and the Sacrament of the Eucharist which preserves that of the Death of our Lord and Saviour In order whereto these following Reflections may be made upon the Institution and Celebration of the Paschal Lamb. The First is That is was God's Pleasure in instituting this Ceremony to transmit the Memory of so great and prodigious an Event as that of his People's Deliverance out of Egypt was to all Posterity This He Himself expresses in the 12th Chapter of Exodus in this manner This day shall be unto you for a Memorial and you shall keep it a Feast to the Lord throughout your Generations And when your Children shall answer It is the Sacrifice of the Lord 's Passover who passed over the Houses of the Children of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians and delivered our Houses It was with regard to this that to excite the Curiosity of all the People yea even of the very Children He ordain'd that they who were to celebrate the Passover should take a Journey to the Temple in that Equipage of Travellers in which their Fore-fathers departed out of Egypt He would have them also eat Unleavened Bread for the space of sevendays and bitter or wild Herbs with the Paschal Lamb and He in like manner ordain'd that they should every year renew this Ceremony wherein their Children had a share as soon as they were capable of asking their Fathers the reason of all this change from their usual way of Eating And indeed such a Ceremony thus solemnly observed every year and to which every one from one Generation to another does by a publick Law submit himself is an infallible means to establish the Belief of a Matter of Fact and preserve the Memory of great Events The Second is That GOD would have his People consider with what exact Faithfulness He had acquitted Himself of all his Promises by delivering them with a strong Hand and stretched-out Arm from the cruel Power of the Egyptians at the same time when He made an Example of this Barbarous Posterity of Cham who had afflicted them in a long painful Servitude For as on one hand GOD had subjected all the Progeny of Cham to his Curse as you may see Gen. 9.25 which began to take Effect in those Plagues wherewith He smote Egypt though it was afterwards more exactly fulfilled by the Destruction of the Canaanites So on the other He said to Abraham Gen. 15. v. 13 14 16. where he explains the promised Blessing Know of a Surety that thy Seed shall be a Stranger in a Land that is not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them four hundred years And also that Nation whom they shall serve will I judge and afterwards shall they come out with great Substance But in the Fourth Generation they shall come hither again Behold here the Oracle that contains an Excellent Promise which being made good to the Jews He commands them to celebrate the Memory of the Exact Accomplishment thereof by observing the Anniversary Festival of the Paschal Lamb. THE third Reflection we may make upon the Institution of the Paschal Lamb in this That God would have the Jews look on their Deliverance out of Egypt as the greatest Blessing He had ever vouchsafed to them And certainly as He had express'd an exceeding great Favour in with-holding Abraham's Knife from slaying Isaac and substituting a Ram in the Room of him so there was none of the First-born of the Israelites but could say that GOD had been as favourable to them as He was to Isaac by causing the Sword of the Destroying Angel to fall upon a Lamb at a time when he was commissioned to slay all the First-born in Egypt both of Man and Beast The Fourth Reflection was hinted at just now which is That GOD would have his People understand that the Expiation of the Sins of their Ancestors had been typify'd and prefigur'd by his accepting of the Bloud of their Lambs instead of the Lives and Bloud of their First-born And indeed in agreement to this Observation we may say that the whole Law in all its several Expiations wherein Sin was transferr'd upon the Sacrifice did nothing else but further illustrate and extend the Figure of Abraham's Offering as likewise that of the Sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb and represent the same more lively and distinctly to the Minds of them that Offer'd God having joyn'd to this Expiatory Sacrifice certain circumstances of Places Persons and Time to the end the Impression of it might be the deeper and leave a more lively Sense in the minds
here upon Earth Sanctify'd Himself for our sakes suffer'd Death and ordained a Memorial of it as of a thing past and done They of old had no distinct knowledge of the Death of the MESSIAS nor of the kind and manner of it All which is clearly manifested to us at this Day And though the Jew meets with Matter of Scandal and the Gentile and occasion of Reproach yet the Christian finds subject of the most exalted Joy and Comfort in the Celebration of these Holy Mysteries THE Second Comfort the Eucharist administers to the Faithful is exceeding sweet and ravishing We can no sooner in our Meditations reflect upon the fulfilling of the ancient Types of the Paschal Lamb and the Oracles of old concerning the Coming of the MESSIAS but we find the support of our Faith and a solid ground for our Hope to rest on Who can conceive the least doubt of GOD'S performing those Promises the Execution of which seems as yet very difficult and at a great distance since He has already fulfilled that of sending the MESSIAS who had been so long looked for during the Course of so many Ages He sills us with good hopes for things to come says an ancient Father For He who has given Himself to us here will much rather do so hereafter Chrys H. 6. ad Pop. And indeed who sees not that this Dispensation of his being manifested in our Flesh and his Death in particular must fill us with strong and lively Hopes when we address our Prayers to Him Christian 'T is true thou must appear before GOD but GOD has left all Judgment to the Son and He by partaking of Flesh and Blood is become thy Brother He shed his Blood and laid down his Life to redeem thee He dy'd to deliver thee from that Misery and Curse to which thou hadst doom'd thy self to all Eternity Wouldst thou be as fully convinc'd of his tender Love and Compassion as thou art of his Power Consider He feeds thee with his own Blood and is set forth in the Holy Supper as the Lamb of God. is it possible that this Consideration should not remind us of that Excess of Love which prompted Him to die for us We see here not a Sheep but the Shepheard giving his Life for the Salvation of his Sheep Where will you meet with a Shepheard that feeds his Sheep with his own Blood Yet JESUS CHRIST the Great Shepheard feeds us with his What may not we expect from so punctual a Faithfulness supported by a Goodness and Compassion that is beyond all Example THE third Comfort which we may reap hence is this That being deliver'd from the Curse we lay under every one of us may now say to his Soul Return unto thy Rest O my Soul for the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee And with St. Paul triumphantly cry out There is now no condemnation to them who are in CHRIST JESVS 'T is He has deliver'd us from the fear of Death by means of which we were all our Life's time subjects to Bondage Before we are convinc'd of this Truth we are in a State of Misery Terrour and Despair But since CHRIST has alter'd our Condition by removing the Curse that was against us What Peace Joy and Comfort ought not to possess our Consciences If we consider David's Condition before Nathan had assur'd him of GOD'S Pardon we have a lively Emblem of the lamentable Circumstances in which the Sinner is whose Ears always ring with the Sound of this dreadful Sentence Cursed is he that continues not in all the Words of this Law to do them Deut. 27.26 He sees the Sword of the Destroying Angel ready to strike him But now this Sacrament tells him that God has put away his Iniquities and removed the Curse he had so justly drawn down upon himself This Religious Ceremony which CHRIST has annexed to the Declaration of his Gospel is a Publick Monument that GOD henceforth is not only become placable but throughly appeased and reconciled to Man. He cryes to us that our Iniquities are pardon'd but says the Sinner what shall I offer to GOD to make atonement for my offences Shall I offer him as Abraham did Isaac my First-born for my Transgressions And the Eucharist points him as the Angel did Abraham at the Victim prepar'd by GOD or rather bespeaks him in the Words of St. John the Baptist Behold the Lamb of GOD that takes away the Sin of the World. And then the Sinner with Joy and Exultation breaks forth He is He is indeed come into the World He has suffer'd Death to save Sinners whereof I am chief NOW if these Reflections on the Eucharist afford such Comforts to Christians in general they will more sensibly affect us when we come to consider these Comforts more distinctly The Holy Sacrament by preserving the Remembrance of CHRIST'S Death obliges us more particularly to meditate upon this wonder of the Wisdom and Love of GOD whereby He has deliver'd us from our Sins by charging them upon our Lord who like a Sacrifice was slain in the room of Sinners as the Ram was in the stead of Isaac and as the Lambs which were killed to redeem the First-born of the Israelites from the Sword of the Destroyer Now as there is nothing more stupendous than this Substitution so nothing yields Consolation like it For here we see 1. The Love of the Father who withheld the stroke of his Vengeance from Mankind whereas He destroy'd the Apostate Angels without remedy 2. The Charity of the Son who is become our Surety Herein is the Love of GOD not that we loved Him first but that He loved us No man has greater love than this that he lays down his Life not for his Friend but his Enemy And yet thus far did our Saviour's Love carry Him. He presented Himself a Sacrifice to GOD the Father He received the stroke that was to wound us neither the horror of those Crimes we had committed nor the dreadful Punishments that were due to us for them being able to deter Him from taking upon him our Nature and Sufferings GOD gave him to us that He might be the High Priest of his Church But He was not invested in this Dignity nor is represented as making Intercession in Heaven for us neither set forth as Blessing of us but because He has expiated our Sins by offering up Himself a Sacrifice to free us from Death Moses's Wife seeing her Husband threat'ned with Death by the Angel for her Son 's not being circumcis'd thought it expedient to hazard the Child's Life by an hasty and venturous Circumcision that she might secure her Husband from the danger that hung over him GOD in this Case does something far more great and wonderful for us He gives the Life of his own Son to redeem his Enemies and behold the Son readily consents and yields himself as Isaac did Lo I come says He in the Volume of thy Book it is wriiten of me I