of Blessing which we bless says St. Paul 1 Cor. 10.16 Is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ Not only a Remembrance of his Body broken but a Communion or a participation of the Body by which according to the fairest and most natural construction of the words we can understand no less than this that as we bodily and carnally partake of the Bread and Wine which are the signs and representations of His Body that was broken and His Blood that was shed for us so Morally and Spiritually we shall also partake of the benefits the intention and end of breaking his Body and shedding His Blood the Pardon of our sins and the Salvation of our Souls if we receive the same with such affections and dispositions of mind as we ought to do and this our Church has taught us in her most Excellent and Comprehensive Catechism That the Body and Blood of Christ are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper By these Visible signs as by the Rod in your Copy-hold Courts you have Livery and Seisin given you of all the blessings purchased for you by the Body and Blood of Christ under the Conditions of Fealty to the Lord and the Customs Rents and Services of the Mannor Par. Methinks it is not so difficult to understand the nature of this Holy Sacrament and the reason of its institution as I thought it was I am heartily troubled that I have so long neglected it I am convinced what an enemy I have been to my self and am now resolved that I will never miss an opportunity of Receiving Min. But hold a little You had best consider what you say and what has been said to you For as the most nourishing of meats received into a sick and crazy stomach instead of that wholsome juice that strength and spirit which it contains in it self and would certainly yield and give out to the body does now but feed the diseases of it and fill it fuller of evil humours not for want of vertue in the food but for want of proper dispositions in the Recipient So also the Holy Eucharist though it contains and is ready to confer those benefits and Graces I have informed you of yet you must not think that it operates as a charm by the repetition of certain words or the punctual celebration of the Ceremony as you have already been instructed but in a way that is Natural and Rational that is to say upon this Condition that the mind of the Receiver be duly qualified and prepared There is therefore more imployed in this so solemn a Remembrance of our Saviour's Death and Passion than it may be you are aware of It will not be the Body and Blood of Christ to every one that receives the Elements of Bread and Wine which are the signs thereof but only to such as are duly qualified and prepared to receive them God is ready to perform his part of the Covenant if we have fulfilled or are resolved to fulfil the conditions which are required of us Par. I beseech you let me understand the utmost of my Duty that I may prepare my self as I ought to do Min. I will so and because the just and necessary preparation to any action whatsoever depends upon and is measured by the nature the end and design of the Action it self therefore I shall only trouble you with such preparatory exercises as you your self shall acknowledge to be fairly inferr'd from the nature of the Holy Sacrament as I have explained it to you First then Is the Communion a Sacrament does the outward action represent and signifie the whole transaction of our Redemption Begun in the Birth continued in the Life and Preaching of our Saviour and finished in his Death upon the Cross Then a Religious Commemoration hereof implyes and supposes a sufficient explicit knowledge of that which we so solemnly Commemorate because the Knowledge of the Fact goes before the Remembrance or recollection of it in the nature of the thing It is necessary therefore that you acquaint your self distinctly with the History of our Saviour's Life and Death contained especially in the four Evangelists before you can be qualified to receive Again Do we understand the Holy Sacrament not only as a bare external Ceremony of Remembrance but as a confirmation of the Covenant of Grace as the Seal of that Covenant and all the Blessings of it to every Communicant that is willing to accept the terms Matt. 26.26 This Bread is my body and This Cup is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins or according to S. Luke Luk. 22.19 This Cup is the New Testament in my blood or as S. Paul expresses it 1 Cor. 10.16 a Communion of the body and blood of the Lord then this implyes a competent knowledge at least of the grounds and principles of the Christian Faith And therefore it is absolutely necessary that every Communicant be well informed First In the miserable condition of all mankind as well by reason of the corruption of our nature as because of our many actual and obstinate transgressions which expose us to the Anger and Justice of God and to those grievous punishments annexed to his Laws which we are neither able to undergo nor avoid And Secondly in the nature and conditions of our Saviour's Mediation between God and us Heb. 10.10 who by the will of God has sanctified us who has put us into a capacity of Renovation Pardon Mercy and Eternal Life by the offering up of his Body once for all 2 Cor. 5.21 who knew no sin himself but was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God through him Heb. 9.26 1 Pet. 3.18 Who therefore took our nature upon him that he might be capable of bearing our sins in his own body In a word who by his death and sufferings according to the wonderful Council of God to us unknown has offered such a satisfaction to God as with safety to the honour of his Laws and the Justice of his Government he has been pleased to accept of and has thereupon abundantly assured us of his readiness to be reconciled to us So that if any difference continue still between us the reason thereof shall be wholly on our part Col. 1.21 2 Cor. 5.18 For all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ That he hath now restored us all to a capacity of favour Pardon and eternal Happiness upon condition that we believe and hope in his Mercy through the merits of his Son Repent of all our past transgressions and sincerely endeavour to govern our lives by the Laws of his Gospel for the time to come That instead of a perfect and exact obedience which the best of us are not able to perform
that this is done for the sake of the Bread the Wine or the Company as an ordinary friendly Compotation but it is an act of Religion which we are obliged to celebrate in Obedience to our Saviour Jesus Christ who has made and ordained this breaking of Bread and drinking of Wine together S Mat. 26. S. Luk. â—2 the most solemn Ordinance of the Christian Worship Par. To eat and to drink together the most solemn Ordinance of the Christian Worship how should that be surely there must be something farther in it that does not appear to the eye there must be a reason of this Religious action that I at present do not apprehend but am very desirous to be instructed in Min. Most certainly there is for you know it is commonly called the Sacrament and the principal reason of that Catech. as our Church hath taught us is this because the outward sign that is to say the whole action that is done before our eyes by the express command of God preserves in memory represents and signifies some other thing that is invisible some Historical passage of former times some duty thereupon to be performed together with the several advantages we shall certainly receive thereby which are assured unto us and conferr'd upon us by the will and appointment of God in the due Celebration and use thereof and thus a Sacrament is distinguished from a bare religious Ceremony of remembrance or instruction Par. I beseech you Sir be more particular Min. I am very glad of your attention Briefly then our blessed Saviour as you may read in the 22. of St. Luke at the 19th Verse as He was eating the Passover with his Disciples immediately before He was betrayed set forth and represented to them His ensuing death upon the Cross by breaking of Bread and distributing the same unto them saying Take eat this is my body which is given for you and by taking the Cup full of Wine and giving that also to them saying This Cup is the New Testament in my blood or as Saint Matthew recites it Matt. 26. This is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins and at the same time commanded them by the same most proper and natural signs of blessing and breaking of Bread pouring out of Wine and eating and drinking the same together to continue a fresh remembrance of Him and more particularly of His death to the end of the World Do this in remembrance of me v. 19. Par. Thus far I hope I understand you the Death and Passion of our Blessed Saviour is that in especial manner which the outward Signs commemorate exhibit and refer to But you said that this Holy Sacrament was more than a Religious Ceremony of Remembrance and therefore I pray inform me in the full intent and farther signification of it Min. It is very well remembred and if you observe the words of institution which I but now recited you will easily perceive that our Blessed Saviour appointed these Sacred Signs not only for a perpetual Remembrance of His Death and Passion but also of the ends and reason of it as His Death was the Seal or ratification of the New Testament or Covenant of Grace which God has entred into with Man consisting principally in this that our sins shall be forgiven and our Souls shall be saved through the satisfaction which our Saviour has made to God for us if we on our part believe His Gospel rely upon His merits and amend our lives For so says our Saviour Take eat This is my Body there He appoints the Commemoration of His death Given for you there is the end and reason of it which is given for you Now once for all in substance and reality and hereafter to the end of the World in the sign and figure as often as you celebrate the Mystery And again This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood the Covenant of Grace between God and us which was sealed and ratified in the Death of our Saviour is revived renewed and confirmed to every particular Person in this his Holy Sacrament that receives it as he ought to do You are therefore to understand the Sacrament as a display of the whole Religion of Christianity God on his part signing and sealing his Covenant of Pardon and Peace to us and we on the other part covenanting with God to perform the Conditions required of us with all possible exactness for the time to come Par. I perceive then that the Holy Sacrament is a Remembrance of the Sufferings of our Blessed Saviour together with the design and intention thereof the Remission of our sins That it is a confirmation of the Covenant of Grace on the part of God that He will be reconciled unto us through the blood of his Son which is therefore called the blood of the Covenant Heb. 10.29 and on our part it is a Profession of our Faith in the Mediation of Christ and a solemn obligation of our selves to perform the Conditions required of us Now I pray Sir give me leave to ask you what those benefits and Graces are which you said were assured unto us and conferred upon us in the due Celebration of this Holy Sacrament Min. You may easily find out that your self if you consider what has been said already concerning the nature of the Sacrament and the end of its Institution Is it understood as the Seal and Confirmation of the Covenant of Grace Why then the benefits we receive thereby are no less than all the blessings and promises of that Covenant which is so solemnly confirmed and assured unto us Namely the pardon of our sins upon Repentance Grace and strength to persevere in a course of new Obedience and Eternal Glory in the life to come This New Testament this Covenant of Grace is sealed and delivered to every particular Person in the Holy Sacrament all such Persons present as believe the Gospel of our Saviour rely upon his Merits and Repent of their sins are at that very instant pardoned if they persevere So sure as they eat that Bread and drink that Wine in Remembrance of our Saviour's death so sure shall they partake of His Body and Blood that is of all the Blessings which were purchased for us by His Death and Passion and this is grounded upon the words of our Saviour Take eat This i. e. this Bread which you are about to eat is my Body which is given for you and This Cup i. e. this Wine in the Cup which you are about to drink is my Blood of the New Testament They shall not only be the signs of your Redemption by my Death but they shall be the thing it self they shall be my Body and Blood that is to say the intention and end of my sufferings pardon of sins and Eternal life are assured unto and actually vested in all those who worthily receive these outward signs For the Cup
then that comes to the Holy Communion with evil will or malice in his heart must needs be out of countenance as a man that wants the wedding Garment Matt. 22.11 But he whose soul is free from that unchristian vice he who is an enemy to none but delights in the happiness of all and is ready to assist whom he may he who loves his Neighbour as himself may approach with an humble confidence such a suitable temper will give him courage rational expectation and a modest assurance that his address will be accepted and his sins forgiven Finally and above all the particular necessity of universal Charity at the Holy Sacrament is grounded chiefly upon that passage of S. Paul 1 Cor. 10.16 17. The Cup of blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ for we being many are one bread and one body for we are all partakers of that one bread In the 16th Verse you see the Apostle affirms that the faithful in the Holy Sacrament communicate together of the body and blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ and from thence in the following words he infers the most perfect Love and Unity amongst themselves v. 17. For we being many are i. e. we ought to be one bread and one body why because we all partake of that one bread or loas which words of the Apostle may be understood in a double sense according to the several significations and constructions of the Holy Sacrament First The first interpretation of the 16th ver as this Supper of our Lord is the Christian Passover and bears an Analogy to the Jewish feast upon the Sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb which they are together after the Priest had presented and offered it up to God And to this the Sacrament succeeds and is understood as a perpetual feast upon the Sacrifice of our Blessed Saviour whose body was offered once for all Heb. 10.10 which body and blood we eat in the sign and figure to the end of the world by his own Command Christ our Passover says the same Apostle is sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the feast 1 Cor. 5.7 8. Now thus to eat and drink together at the Table The first interpretation of the 17th ver and upon the Sacrifice of our Lord engages us to one another in the strictest tyes of Love and Charity as children of the same Father redeemed by the same Lord co-heirs of the same inheritance fed at the same Table and nourished by the same Loaf which by common acceptation and fair construction is both a Token a Profession and a solemn League of Love and Friendship Again The second interpretation of the 16. v. according to the second Notion of the Holy Sacrament as it is an inward and spiritual grace a Seal of the New Testament a confirmation of all the blessings of the Gospel to every individual Person that accepts the terms and will fulfil the Counterpart the sense of the 16th Verse is this viz. that all who perform the Conditions required of them shall as surely enjoy the benefits of our Saviour's death as they partake of the visible signs thereof as they eat the Bread and drink the Wine by which it is shewed forth and represented The Cup of blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ that is of the benefits of both Now this consent to the Conditions of the Gospel this entring into Covenant with God this sincere and chearful dedication of our selves to the Government of our blessed Saviour which render the Elements the Body and Blood of Christ to the receiver is expressed in Scripture by all such Metaphors as denote the most intire and perfect union which can be possibly conceived between us as that between the Husband and the Wife Eph. 5.23 Jo. 15.1 Jo. 10. 1 Cor. 12.27 the Vine and the Branches the Shepherd and the Flock the Head and Members the Soul and Body which Unity is not natural and personal that were Blasphemy to imagine but Intellectual and Moral one Vital Principle moves them one spirit acts and inhabits in them both our Saviour and his true Disciples have the same opinions of what is good and evil the same affections to every thing that is good the same will to proceed and act according to the most perfect reason Rom. 8.10 If Christ be in you says St. Paul the body is dead Now the manner of His being in us is explained in the former Verse V. 9. by His temper spirit and disposition For if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his as in another place it is explained by his Mind That the same Mind may be in us which was in him Phil. 2.5 Eph. 3.17 And again That He may dwell in our hearts by Faith Now from this spiritual Union betwixt our Saviour The second interpretation of the 17. v. and those who worthily receive the Sacrament that is who have resigned themselves to the obedience of the Gospel the Apostle infers the most intire and perfect unity of the whole body of faithful Christians amongst themselves Ye are says he united to Christ by eating His Body and drinking His Blood He becomes a principle of new life to every one that receives the Sacrament as he ought to do Now says he the union is the very same and upon the same account between the faithful amongst themselves For carrying on the Metaphor We being many are one body and one bread V. 17. because we are all partakers of that one bread We all receive nourishment from the same root and are therefore vitally united to one another We are all made to drink speaking of the Cup in the holy Sacrament into one spirit All which laying aside the Allegory is thus to be understood that forasmuch as all sincere and faithful Christians have entred themselves into the same Society undertaken the same institution and rule of life consent and agree in the same mind affections desires and converfation therefore they are morally united to one another as well as to our blessed Saviour For our Saviour is not divided He is one and the same in his Nature his Life his Gospel his Laws and Promises so that if innumerable individuals devote themselves to the belief of his Propositions to the love and obedience of his instructions if they resign themselves their wills and affections to his Command Jo. 17.21 whereby they become in a Moral sense united to him these of necessity by the same Moral unity are joyned and knit amongst themselves One common soul and spirit acts and influences them all they have parted from their own private will and conduct
and resolved themselves into the guidance of another whose Law is immoveably perfect and the same to every particular person There must be therefore an Universal and intire consent in their opinions desires and course of life as being derived from one and the same unalterable Law Iph. 4.15 They grow up into him in all things says St. Paul which is the head even Christ. And thus the unity of all sincere and faithful Christians with Christ and with one another may be easily understood of all and yet it is as real as strict and proper as the Metaphor in the Text before us by which it is exprest namely the unity of innumerable Particles of Flower by the balm or leaven which pervades and binds them all in one Lump or Loaf For we being many are one body and one bread V. 17. for we are all partakers of that one bread The Conclusion then is this that if all the faithful Christians upon earth are as the several parts of the same loaf if they are members one of another if they receive their vital influence from the same root 1 Cor. 12.20 if they are moved and acted by the same principle then we ought that is we must we can do no other than love one another intirely no love like that which sympathy and consent of will creates or to speak more properly love is not the creature of sympathy and consent but sympathy and consent of Will are Love they are the thing it self they cannot be distinguished And therefore without Charity without intire and perfect Love amongst our selves we cannot be united to Christ we cannot have eaten his Body or drunk his Blood The Elements will be no more to such as these nay less than common bread and wine We cannot be the members of the mystical body of Christ so long as we are separated from one another by the least degree of malice and evil will for no man ever hated his own flesh He then that loves not 1 Joh. 4 8. knows not God has no true principle of Religion for God is love Upon all these accounts it is that the Holy Sacrament has been always esteemed a token of Vnity a bond of Charity and a symbol of peace and concord And hence it was that in former times the Communicants brought their Offerings to the Minister Fruits of the earth or any Viands for entertainment which when the Sacrament was ended were eaten as a common feast by all degrees and ranks promiscuously without respect to place or quality And this was the feast of Charity â— Pet. 2.13 mentioned by S. Jude v. 12. and was concluded with a kiss in token of entire and perfect friendship But these pure and innocent Ceremonies being soon abused were afterwards disused Nevertheless we have something like them still continued in our Church namely in the Collection that is ordinarily made for the poor and after the Communion in eating and drinking what remains of the Consecrated Elements in the Church Rubr. without distinction of persons but as the custom is the meanest persons are invited to be the chief partakers of it Par. Sir I hope I understand you and I am heartily glad that I did not receive before I was instructed and I find upon the matter that it requires both time and retirement to prepare our selves as we ought to do and the first time more especially but I will endeavour by God's assistance to follow your directions Min. You have made a very good inference from our whole discourse the reason of the action and the solemnity of this most sacred Ordinance the several parts of our Religion which it has respect to require a very strict examination of our Knowledge Repentance Affections purposes and desires that so our apprehensions of the thing and the intention of our mind may bear a proportion to the outward action to the design the words and the gestures of the service Our devotion as you have heard is to be exercised upon every part of Christianity our particular defects are here to be bewailed the several graces of Faith Hope and Love universal Love towards God and Man are to be exerted in this solemnity and therefore it is very necessary to withdraw our selves from the world and retire into our selves some time before we receive That we may recollect the principles and the duties the blessings and the promises of our Religion that we may examine the state of our Soul what necessary Article of Faith we doubt of or do not understand what evil habit remains unmortified or is most unwilling to be subdued what is the sin that so easily besets us that has the advantage of our natural complexion violent inclination or present profit what methods we have taken or may take for the future to subdue it what improvements we have made since we last received and how we have kept our resolutions That we may sufficiently bewail our failings and take pleasure and satisfaction in our proficiency That we may excite and stir up our devotions by proper Meditations These are weighty matters yet very necessary and therefore require a previous consideration But to say how long how many hours or days or weeks a man ought to spend in Meditation and Prayer before he may presume to receive or to what degree of Knowledge and Virtue he must attain is both impossible and unnecessary Do you but remember that competent knowledge and great integrity with an hearty desire to grow in Grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 2 Pet. 3.18 is the true preparation of the Soul and you shall be able with Sobriety to judge for your self He that wants this is not fit to receive but he that is thus qualified is a worthy Communicant though his knowledge may not be so distinct and clear or his virtues so shining and perfect as some other Christians possibly may be Has not God encouraged persons of weak Faith and a frail virtue provided it be true to hope for his acceptance Aatt 12.20 For he will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax says our Saviour that is he will support it and inflame it by the influences of his Grace if we have but the first beginnings of Holiness an hearty liking of it and desire after it he will nourish it and bring it to perfection Aatt 7.7.5.6 For to them that knock it shall be opened They that ask shall have They that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled No man therefore that is inquisitive to know and sincere in practice has any reason to be discouraged For the Grace and assistance which God has promised he bestows and infuses into the hearts of men as by the immediate influences of his Spirit upon the Soul so especially through his Word and Sacraments It is certain we cannot be too well prepared but we may be too scrupulous about the degrees of Knowledge