the Custom of Christians to close their Agapae or Love-Feasts with singing either some portion of Scripture or something of their own Composure * Tertull. Apol. cap. 39. p. 106. Edit Cantab. I 've insisted the longer on this Head because there are some Persons who I think very unreasonably not only neglect the Practice of this Angelical Duty themselves but even censure it as unlawful in others to whom we may answer We have such a laudable Custom and so have the Churches of God had in all Places and all Ages § X. Yet farther there is a remarkable Analogy or resemblance in the End of their Institution between the Passover and the Supper of the Lord God said concerning the Passover to the Children of Israel This day shall be to you for a Memorial †Exod. 12. 14. Ver. 27. and you shall keep it a Feast to the Lord throughout all your Generations ‖ Exod. 12. 3. Remember this day in which you came out of Egypt and thou shalt shew thy Son c. * Exod. 13. 8. Lxx. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Red Wine which they made use of therein was to signifie either the Blood of their Children shed by Pharoah or rather the Death of Pharoah's first-born as well as afterwards of himself and the rest of the Egyptians in just Vengeance for their Cruelty to the Israelites and of the Blood which was on their own Door-Posts whereby they were preserv'd from the Pestilence Thus in the Lord's Supper our Saviour commands his Followers to do this in Remembrance of him and thereby to shew forth his Death till he come as the Israelites were to keep the Passover for ever or throughout all their Generations Much the same word being here used by the Apostle to express our Celebration or Annuntiation of our Saviour's Death in the Sacrament that is used by the antient Greek Translators of the Bible to signifie that of the Passover enjoyn'd to the Iews †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In which sacramental Feast we are to preserve the Memory of our Deliverance from the slavery of Sin much worse than that of Egypt § XI Lastly There are several Expressions in the New Testament which will not suffer us to doubt of the Analogy between them Thus the Baptist calls our Saviour The Lamb of God * St. Ioh. 1. 29. and St. Peter says That we were not redeemed with corruptible things but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without Blemish †1 St. Pet. 1. 18 19. And St. Paul alludes most manifestly unto it Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the Feast not with the old Leaven c. ‖ 1 Cor. 5. 7. From all which it appears that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was instituted in the room of the Passover and that our Saviour retained many of the Ceremonies therein as well such as God himself had immediately Vid. Cudworth and Discourse of the Holy Eucharist p. 6. appointed as such as the Jewish Church had added either for the more lively Representation of the thing or else for decency and order and from what has been said we may have great Light into the Nature of the Holy Communion especially as to the last Head insisted on that 't is a Memorial and Representation of our Saviour's Death of his Body which was broken and his Blood which was shed for us § XII I proceed to the Matter of this Sacrament the exterior Matter or outward Elements the visible and sensible Signs namely Bread and Wine which the Lord has commanded to be taken and received 'T was from the Fruits of the Ground that the first Offerings were made to the Lord Some have been of Opinion that Noah was the first that offer'd Bread in Sacrifice and that thence he received a Name among the Antients * Dickenson in Delphi Phoeniciss p. 169. And Dr. Spencer de Sacrificiis thinks that Noah was called Ogyges from Ogh which signifies Panis subcineritius Bread baked under the Embers and offered in Sacrifice p. 659. Melchisedeck's bringing forth Bread and Wine has also been thought an Act of his sacerdotal Office and not an Instance of Hospitality only We are sure that the Mincha Meat-offering or Bread-offering so often mention'd by Moses which was to be offer'd every Morning and Evening and is call'd the Most Holy of all the Offerings of the Lord was composed of Fine-Flower with a proportion of Wine added unto it †Exod. 29. 40. Levit. 2. 3. Bread is the most simple and common Food the most easie to be obtained and yet the most necessary the Staff of Life Wine was also as common in those Countries as it is useful and refreshing making glad the Heart of Man Psal. 104. 15. Nay cheering God and Man Iudg. 9. 13. That is Wine was acceptable to God in Sacrifices For some or all of which Reasons was our Saviour pleased to make Choice of Bread and Wine in the Celebration of these Mysteries as well as because they were used by the Iewish Church in the Passover And these are in the Sacrament solemnly offered to God as an acknowledgment of his being the Creator of all things and Sovereign Lord of the World according to the antient Doxology * Vid. Mede of Christian Sacrifice p. 359. at the presenting of them on the Lord's Table which was much the same with that in the Revelations Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created § XIII And Bread and Wine they are still after the Consecration not common but Sacred and Sacramental They are changed in their Use but not in their Substance They are not changed into the Substance of the Natural Body of Christ which hung upon the Cross and his Blood which was there shed for us a monstrous and novel Opinion first established by the Concil of Lateran above twelve hundred Years after Christ and then by that of Trent among other Articles of their New Creed no where to be found in Scripture as some of the most Learned Romanists have confessed but directly contrary to it as 't is to the Writings of the Fathers not believed at present by many Learned Men in the Church of Rome * Vid. Preface to Discourse of the Eucharist overthrowing the very Nature of a Sacrament and leaving nothing for an outward Sign destroying the Foundation of our Faith which is grounded on Miracles which imply the certainty of the Judgment of our Senses on their proper Objects introducing the most monstrous absurdities which if granted would render the Christian Religion which is the only reasonable Religion in the World the most absurd and most unreasonable supposing actual length without any thing long and the same of whiteness redness solidity moisture breadth and thickness involving the most horrid as well as most
by the Death of a Redeemer as Justification or actual Pardon of our Sins the reinstating us in God's Favour and assuring us that he is reconciled to us and that we are accounted righteous before him as well as Sanctification or actual Strength and Grace to conquer our Sins and to obey his Commands 'T is true the beginnings of these are conferred in Baptism we are so far regenerate therein as to be grafted into the Body of Christs Church and to partake of its Privileges by the operation of his Holy Spirit within us who will never be wanting to us or forsake us unless we our selves do put a Bar to the Divine Assistance by confirm'd ill Habits and by a wicked Life But since the Divine Image which we there recovered is very often obscured again by the Temptations of the World and the Devil and the remains of Sin within us there is need enough of our being renewed again by Repentance nor has God here left us without Hope or Comfort but notwithstanding the Dream of the old Novatians has appointed a Remedy even for those who sin after Baptism and that is this other Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord wherein as we renew our Covenant with him we receive new Strength to obey his Commands as hath been the constant Faith of all good Christians in all Ages we therein obtain not only the strengthning but likewise the refreshing of our Souls as the Catechism expresses it which includes Divine Consolation and Ioy in believing and such Peace as passes all Understanding § XXVIII But may some here object Where is this Blessedness you speak of Where are these Promises in Holy Scripture of such wonderful assistance in this Sacrament In answer This Holy Communion is the Substance of all other Christian Duties to which so many Blessings are promised throughout the whole Gospel or else why do we perform them of Faith and Repentance and Thanksgiving and Holy Vows and Prayer and Praise and Confession and Adoration and consequently it must share in all their Blessings and Benefits 'T is a Memorial or Commemoration of our Saviour's Love and Sufferings and if God has promised in the old Law that in every place where there is a Memorial of his Name he will meet and bless his People * Exod. 20. 24. much more may we expect it under the Gospel If our Saviour has so solemnly promised that where two or three are gathered together in his Name there he will be in the midst of 'em and bless 'em much more will he be so at this great Synaxis this more general and solemn Assembly of Christians to celebrate his Name and record his Praises †Thus Ignatius in Epist. ad Ephes. If the Prayer of one or two be of so great force that it brings Christ among them how much more will the unanimous Prayers of the Bishop and the whole Church ascending to God prevail with him to grant all they desire He has not commanded us to seek his Face in vain nor is it in vain to do this in Remembrance of him The shewing forth the Lord's Death cannot be without exceeding Comfort to those who have reason to hope they have a share in it 'T is a big Expression The Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ 't is surely far more than an empty Figure 'T is not a little matter to eat the Lords Supper to partake of the Table of the Lord wherein if he that eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks Damnation surely he that does it worthily must eat and drink Salvation No less can be intended in our Communion of Christ's Body and Blood than the eternal Son of God's uniting himself by his Spirit to our Souls in this Holy Sacrament and even by his own Divine Nature whereby he in a sense and in some degree makes us Partakers thereof and communicates unto us all the Blessings he has obtained for us by this Heavenly Food nourishing up our Souls to everlasting Life Giving us herein the Earnest and Pledge of our Immortality as well as the means of it and assuring us that because he lives we shall live also which is the meaning of those Expressions Dwelling in Christ and Christ in us and being one with Christ and Christ with us and of the Ministers praying in the very delivery of the Elements That the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ may preserve our Bodies and Souls to Everlasting Life according to our Saviour's own Words He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him he shall live by me he shall never die he hath Eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day And whether or no these Expressions were then precisely meant of the Sacrament which they might well be by Anticipation and Prophesie though it were not then actually instituted for he speaks in the same place of his Death in the same manner they are yet certainly true of the partaking of Christs Sacramental Body and Blood and feeding on him in our Hearts by Faith with Thanksgiving § XXIX Which brings to the close of our Description that all these Benefits are conferred in the Sacrament only on the faithful Receiver For none but such are properly Partakers of the Body and Blood of the Lord. If Iudas did outwardly partake of this Sacrament as our Church seems to have thought he did †See the Exhortation Lest after the taking of the Holy Sacrament the Devil enter into you as he entred into Judas Satan did but the sooner enter into him because he received with a Heart full of Treachery Covetousness and Malice I take Faith here in the largest Sense for a practical assent to the whole Scheme of the Gospel and consequently a ready and firm Belief of its Revelations Threatnings and Promises accompanied with sincere Resolutions and Endeavours to obey its Commands Tho' the more peculiar object of Faith in this Sacrament must be the Merits of our Saviour and that Pardon which he purchased for us by his own Blood But of these hereafter more at large under those Qualifications which are requisite to those who would partake worthily and profitably of this Holy Communion CHAP. II. Of the perpetual Obligation that lies upon adult Christians to communicate and even to frequent Communion § I. WHerein I shall first prove in general the indispensible Obligation which our Saviour has laid upon us to receive this Sacrament 2. The Extent of it it reaches all adult Christians 3. It s Duration 't is perpetual it lasts till the End of the World 4. That we ought to receive it frequently And in the 5th and last place I shall answer those Objections which are brought either against receiving the Communion in general or against frequently receiving it § II. 1st Of the Obligation in general to receive And one would wonder how any who are called Christians and do but remember the Reason of
IV. Our Behaviour in it And in the V. After we have received and during the whole course of our Lives especially the Time betwixt different Celebrations To which shall be added Prayers Meditations and Hymns suited to the several Parts of this Holy Office CHAP. I. Of the Nature of the Sacrament § I. THE Sacrament of the Lord's Supper may be thus described 'T is a Memorial and Representation of the Sacrifice of the Death of Christ instituted by Christ himself in the room of the Jewish Passover wherein by the breaking of Bread and drinking of Wine we renew our Covenant with God praising him for all his Goodness and testify our Union with all good Men and whereby the Benefits of our Saviour's Death are sealed and applyed to every faithful Receiver § II. 'T is a Memorial of the Sacrifice of the Death of Christ. I confess the whole Sacred Action has been stiled by the Fathers as well as by some Excellent Persons of our own Church the Christian Sacrifice the unbloody Sacrifice and is indeed such in the same Sense that Prayer and Praise whereof it is in a great measure compos'd are styled under the Gospel spiritual Sacrifices Nay it comes yet nearer to the Nature of the old Eucharistical and other Sacrifices because 't is an Oblation of something visible namely Bread and Wine to be consum'd to God's Honor which are then offer'd when the Minister places them on the Christian Altar or Holy Table as was done more solemnly by lifting them up in the antient Church immediately after which in the Prayer for the Church Militant he beseeches God to receive our Oblations as well as Alms and Prayers which may relate to the Bread and Wine newly offered But since it has no shedding of Blood therein which has been thought essential to a proper Sacrifice * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 macto facio is used in the same Sense and that the shedding of our Saviour's Blood is only Sacramentally represented in it and not actually and properly poured forth as it was upon the Cross whereon he was once offered to take away Sin and since the Sacrament is a Memorial of that one Oblation of Christ and 't is contrary to the Nature of a Memorial or Remembrance of the Sacrifice of the Death of Christ to be the same with that Sacrifice it remembers for these Reasons we cannot own any such proper propitiatory attoning Sacrifice * Homily of the Sacrament Part 1. We must take heed lest of the Memory it be made a Sacrifice exactly as Eusebius who says our Saviour left us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Sacrament as the Romanists do believe any more than we can think with them that 't is available both for quick and dead of neither of which we find any Footsteps in the Holy Scriptures Suffice it therefore that we believe it a Sacrifice in the highest Sense that Prayer and Praise are so call'd in the New Testament because it requires and is compos'd of the most exalted Acts of both that we believe it an Offering or Dedication of the Bread and Wine to the sacred use as well as we therein offer our selves anew to God and that we believe the whole Action a Memorial a Commemoration and Representation of the inestimable Sacrifice of the Death of Christ whereby alone we expect Life and Salvation § III. First 'T is a ' Memorial or Commemoration of Christ's Death and of the Sacrifice which he thereby offer'd for us That is by this sacred Action we record and keep it in mind till he come again to Iudgment And that according to his own Command as St. Luke * St. Luk. 22. 19. 1 Cor. 11. 24 25. relates it of the Bread and St. Paul both of the Bread and Wine This do in remembrance of me As forgetfulness of God's Goodness and Ingratitude for it must needs have been great occasions of the fall of Man so that very fall renders us still more forgetful and ungrateful Mankind will therefore have always need enough of Helps to their Memory in religious Matters And some of these God has appointed wherever there has been a revealed Religion Thus the Sacrifice of the Passover was instituted for a Remembrance of what the Israelites suffered in Egypt and of God's wonderful Mercy in delivering them from it as well as to typify or shadow forth unto them Christ himself our great Passover The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was in like manner instituted That we might keep in memory that which Christ suffered for us and delivered to us such a sensible Sign and remarkable solemn Action being much more likely to preserve a lively impression of it than if it had been only barely recorded in History Now this Commemoration may be considered either with respect to our selves or with respect to God as it respects our selves we not only therein commemorate God's Love in general to Mankind in giving his Son and our Saviour's Love in giving himself a Ransom for all Men to bring them into a Capacity of Salvation on their Faith and Obedience but yet farther the actual Application of his meritorious Sacrifice to our selves on our performing the Conditions of his Covenant and his infinite Goodness in making us partakers of his Holy Word and Sacraments and thereby calling us to this State of Salvation and preserving us in it As this Commemoration relates to God we do also in the Communion present a Memorial of a sweet Savour before him and beseech him for the sake of his dear Son and by his Agonies and bloody Sweat by his Cross and Passion and precious Death to have Mercy upon us and grant us the Remission of our Sins and all other Benefits of his Sufferings Not that God is either ignorant of our Wants or unwilling to relieve us or forgetful of us But we must be sensible of these things our selves and of God's Power to help us and seek for Relief in those ways he has appointed And well may we more solemnly commemorate our Saviour's Sacrifice in this Sacrament when we do the same in some degree even in our daily Prayers and ask all for his sake and in a Sense offer him anew to his Father applying his Attonement and pleading his Merits and trusting in his Intercession and Meditation Nor ought we to forget that the antient Liturgies did not only commemorate our Saviour's Death in the Sacrament but likewise his Resurrection and Ascention into Heaven § IV. Secondly But there is not only a Commemoration but a Representation too of our Saviour's Death in the Holy Communion 'T is not a bare Remembrance of it 't is a lively Scheme and Figure of what he endur'd As oft as ye eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup says the Apostle ye do shew forth or rather by way of Command shew ye forth the Lord's Death till he come Declare it proclaim it tell the People what great things he has done Whence
ridiculous Consequences That our Saviour did eat his own Body and gave it to his Disciples to eat making Christians the worst of Cannibals to eat their God a thousand times over * Eoquem tam amentem esse putas qui illud quo vescatur credat Deum esse Tully de natura Deorum implying penetration of dimensions contradicting the very Nature of a Body which cannot be in two places at the same time †Rubrick after Communion much less in Earth and Heaven contradicting our Saviour's own Words that we should not have him always ‖ St. Mat. 26. 11. that is his Body with us tho' in his Divinity his Spirit his Power his Graces he 's with the Church to the End of the World * St. Mat. 28. 20. contrary to the End of the Institution which was to be a Memorial of his Body broken and Blood shed for us contrary to the Words of the Apostle †1 Cor. 11. 26 27 28. who calls it Bread and Wine after Consecration thrice in one Chapter ‖ Vide supra For which Reasons and many others that might be alledged our Church declares in her Twenty Eighth Article of the Lord's Supper That Transubstantiation or the Change of the Substance of the Bread and Wine in the Supper of the Lord cannot be proved in Holy Writ but it is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture overthroweth the Nature of a Sacrament and hath given occasion to many Superstitions § XIV But how is it then called the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ and in what Sense is he present there and how are the faithful said therein to eat his Body and drink his Blood both by the antient Fathers and by our own Church and most other Protestants of all denominations * Lutherans Calvin Beza Assemb Catechism great and less Cranmer Ridley Communion Service English Tigur Liturg. c. That this is true in some Sense is evident from Holy Scripture it self as well as from the Consent of all Christian Churches Our Saviour said This is my Body and this is my Blood And the Apostle * 1 Cor. 10. 16. The Cup of Blessing is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ the Bread of the Body of Christ And to the same purpose in the next Chapter Thus our fore-mentioned Article That the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ and the Cup of Blessing a partaking of the Blood of Christ. And in the Catechism that the inward part or thing signified in the sacrament is The Body and Blood of Christ which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper And the like in several places in the Communion-Office From all which it appears how little Reason our Adversaries have to brand us for Sacramentarians or such as deny the Body and Blood of Christ in a sound Sense to be received in the Lord's Supper § XV. But what Sense that is we come now to enquire First The Symbols the very Bread and Wine are in a figurative typical and sacramental Sense the Body and Blood of our Saviour They are more than a bare or ordinary Figure they do really and actually from their Institution represent and exhibit Christ's Death unto us as did the Paschal Lamb the delivery of the Iews out of Egypt This our Church affirms in her Homily of the Sacrament Part I. That we must be sure to hold that in the Supper of the Lord there is no vain Ceremony no untrue Figure of a thing absent but the Bread and Cup of the Lord the Memory of Christ the Annunciation of his Death c. § XVI But there 's yet more in it for 2. There is in the Blessed Sacrament a real spiritual presence of the Body and Blood of our Saviour to every faithful Receiver Christ as to his Divinity is every where and more effectually and graciously present to his own Institutions and will make his Promise good to be with his Church to the End of the World * St. Mat. 28. 20. and doubtless is so in this Sacrament as well as in the other of Baptism and herein he conveys all the real Benefits obtained by his Sufferings to every faithful Receiver His Natural Body is in Heaven where it will remain till he comes to Iudgment He is spiritually present in the Sacrament present by Faith to our Spirits The fore-mentioned Homily tells us that in the Supper of the Lord we are not only to hold that there is a Memory of Christ's Death but that there is likewise the Communion of his Body and Blood in a marvellous Incorporation wrought in the Souls of the faithful And again If God hath purified our hearts by Faith we do at this Table receive not only the outward Sacrament but the spiritual thing also not the Figure but the Truth not the Shadow only but the Body And to the same purpose our Learned Bishop Iewell That not the naked Figure and bare Sign and Token only but Christ's Body and Blood are verily and indeed given unto us in the Sacrament we verily eat it and drink it and live by it and thereby Christ dwells in us and we in him Yet he goes on ' We say not that the Substance of Bread and Wine is done away or that Christ's Body is fleshly present in the Sacrament but we lift up our hearts to Heaven there to feed on him Tho' by the way What need would there have been of the Sursum Corda or Invitation to the People in the Primitive Church to lift up their Hearts to Christ in Heaven if whole Christ God and Man were actually present upon the Altar § XVII But neither the Apostles nor the Primitive Church nor our Church of England ever held that the Sacrament was so much as in this latter Sense the Body and Blood of Christ to all that received but only to the faithful Receivers For those who received unworthily the Apostle tells us they were guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord therefore surely they did not properly communicate of his Body and Blood which he that does has eternal Life nay they did eat and drink their own Iudgment or Condemnation not discerning the Lords Body And to the same purpose is that famous saying of one of the Fathers That the Wicked do only press with their Teeth the Sacrament or outward Sign of the Lords Body but do not really communicate in it Neither did the Fathers ever think that we were to eat the Flesh of Christ in a gross carnal Capernaitical sense whatever high Expressions they may have sometime used concerning this Mystery wherein they may have been followed by devout modern Writers Hear one for all 'T is St. Augustine de Doctrinâ Christianâ Lib. 3. Cap. 16. where in his Rules for interpreting Scripture he instances in that Text which has been so much controverted of late years the 6th of
VI. But our Obligation to receive will appear yet stronger if we consider the great Sin we are guilty of in neglecting it and the heavy punishment we may expect for the same Whatever our pretences are for it we do hereby in effect slight the Inviter and Invitation as well as that divine Feast that Heavenly Food which he has provided saying in our Hearts and by our Actions as Israel of the Manna Our Soul loaths this light Bread We separate from our Brethren and are guilty of a partial Schism We are disobedient to the just Laws of our Country both Civil and Ecclesiastical We discourage our Pastors by the thinness of the Appearance on these occasions We neglect the means which God has appointed to strengthen us in Virtue We are unthankful as well as disobedient and too like those in the Gospel who slighted the repeated Invitations of the King who sent out his Messengers to call 'em to the Marriage but they would not come St. Matt. 22. 2 3 c. for which he justly declared that those who were bidden were not worthy v. 8 there are unworthy Non-Communicants as well as unworthy Communicants and that none of them should taste of his Feast nor was this all for he sent forth his Armies and destroyed those Murderers and burnt up their City v. 7. Which Parable tho' it seems to relate more immediately to the Iews whose City and Nation were destroyed for rejecting the Gospel yet those must likewise be included in it by parity of Reason who refuse to obey that Gospel which they pretend to receive and will not come to this Marriage-Supper of the Lamb tho' so often and so kindly invited but neglect it either for the most part or even for all their Lives upon how frivolous Pretences we shall see hereafter and it is accordingly applied to such by our Church in the Exhortation which is appointed to be read when the Minister perceives the People backward to come to the Communion § VII Next as to the Extent of this Obligation It reaches all adult Persons who have been baptised This was carried so high by the antient Church that they thought the Communion was absolutely necessary to Salvation and therefore gave it to Infants as soon as baptised as do the Greeks to this day wherein tho' I think 'em mistaken it shews their Opinion of the universality of its Obligation and the necessity of receiving it The Apostle says of the Iews in the Wilderness 1 Cor. 10. 3 4. That they did all eat of the same spiritual Meat and did all drink of the same spiritual Drink and much more ought all Christians to do so who have a much more spiritual Religion The Passover was enjoyn'd to all the Congregation and even to every Man's Servant that was circumcised with this severe Sanction that the Man who neglected it without a lawful Excuse That Soul should be cut off from among his People * Numb 9. 14. Our Lord said to all his Disciples Take eat and particularly of the Cup Drink ye all of this his infallible Spirit foreseeing that some would deny it to the Laity in after-Ages and it 's said in St. Mark they all drank of it St. Paul stiles it the Communion because all Christians did partake of it as appears from that Expression * 1 Cor. 10. 17. we are all partakers of that one Bread and in the next Chapter he fairly implys that the main End of all regular Christians meeting together in publick was to eat the Lord's Body And all that believed at the first planting of the Gospel Chap. 11. v. 20. continued stedfastly in the Apostle's Doctrine and in the Communion * Acts 2. 42. as it ought to be translated †Vid. Mede of the Christian Sacrifice whose outward part consisted in the breaking of Bread and drinking of Wine as the inward in Prayer and Thanksgiving To this agrees Antiquity For the Primitive Christians allowed no such thing as coming to the publick Assemblies and going away without receiving which none did unless the Catechumens and Excommunicate there being a very antient Canon ‖ Can. IX among those which are called the Apostles that forbids any such disorderly practice on pain of Excommunication Our own Church reckons all Persons who are of years of Discretion as Communicants which has been also the Opinion of the wisest and most learned among our dissenting Brethren The Covenant we all enter'd into at Baptism must be renewed by us in the Lord's Supper unless there be any such as do repent the making it or as have never broke it And the same might be made appear from the Nature of the Sacrament insisted on at large in the first Chapter § VIII And its Duration is as perpetual as its Obligation is universal The Passover was to be kept by the Iews for a Memorial for ever Exod. 12. 14. throughout all their Generations This for ever lasted till the end of the Jewish Age or World and the Passover is to be observed till the end of the visible World the Consummation of all things The Institution it self being without any Term and Christ having commanded his Followers to do this in Remembrance of him they must still continue doing it unless he fixes a Term or gives them a dispensation for the doing it But the Nature of it proves that it still remains for a Remembrance implys absence and the Reason of the Remembrance lasts as long as the absence continues and since Christ will not be with us as to his corporeal presence till the Time of the Restitution of all things or the end of the World we must till then remember him in this Holy Sacrament § IX Which is as evident from Scripture as 't is from Reason As oft as ye eat of this Bread shew ye forth the Lord's Death till he come 1 Cor. 11. 26. namely till his second coming to judge the World in which sense that Expression is generally used in Scripture especially by this Apostle Thus he tells us That at the last day those which are alive and remain till the coming of the Lord shall not prevent those which are asleep * 1 Thess. 4. 15. which whole Description evidently relates to the last Iudgment And our Saviour uses that Expression in the same Sense in relation to St. Iohn who himself interprets that Phrase if I will that he carry till I come by that other that that Disciple should not die Now it 's evident that what St. Paul here declared was by express Command and Revelation and that he committed no more to Writing than he had before in the Name of Christ delivered to the Churches For thus he himself assures them I received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you c. †1 Cor. 11. 23. whence he goes on to give an exact Account of the Institution of this Sacrament § X. But further None will deny that we must
awful presence of that God to whom he had made them Psal. 16. 8. I have set the Lord always before my Face that I might not sin against him And Psal. 119. 106. I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous Iudgments § XIV The third thing concerning which we are to examine our selves before we approach this Holy Table is Whether we have a lively Faith in God's Mercy thro' Christ. Not a dead cold and unactive but a lively Faith for Faith without Works is dead and such is the ungrounded fatal Presumption of every impenitent Sinner for what is more common than for bad Men who live in direct contradiction to our Saviour's Laws in repeated Acts of Intemperance Injustice Uncleanness immoderate Love to this World and in the neglect of their Duty of Praying of God's Word and Sacrament What is more common than to hear such mistaken Wretches as these cry out that God is merciful that Christ has died and they hope to be saved tho' they bring forth no Fruits meet for Faith or Repentance They believe the Promise of the Gospel tho' they never take care to perform the Conditions of it But they forget or are willingly ignorant that it contains threatnings too and that very terrible ones against the Impenitent and Disobedient and that Christ himself has told such that he 'll say to them at the last day Depart from me I never knew you because Workers of Iniquity But the true lively Faith here required is Such a Belief of God's Word and such a Trust in his Mercy thro' his Promises by our Saviour as produces a constant and ingenuous Obedience Now if we find this Faith weak and languishing we must pray as the Disciples did Lord encrease our Faith And to that End we must consider the Promises of God unto us for the sake of his dear Son our Lord in whom all the Promises are Yea and Amen ratified and certain In whom alone the Father is well pleased by the Merits of whose Obedience and Sufferings his Satisfaction his Intercession and Mediation he is reconciled to lost Mankind and offers Pardon to all that are penitent and obedient And this is all our Salvation and all our Desire the Hope of Holy Souls the Ground of their Consolation and their Triumph which are fixed so firmly upon that Rock of Ages that they can never be moved who has told us That if we believe in God we must believe also in him as the means of conveying all the Father's blessings nay as being himself as he is God the Author and Finisher of our Faith Whence it follows that he himself the second Person of the glorious Trinity may and ought to be the object of our Trust our Faith and our Adoration both in this Life and in the hour of Death as he was of blessed St. Steven's who cried out in his last Agonies Lord Jesus receive my Spirit * Act. 7. 59. And thus in our preparation for the Holy Sacrament without the reception whereof I see not how any can live comfortably or die happily we must actually advert unto deeply and seriously consider those Promises which God has made us by his Son of Grace and Pardon on our Repentance and Obedience That those who come to the Father by him he will in no wise cast out St. Iohn 6. 37. That they shall not see Death but are passed from Death unto Life St. Iohn 8. 51. 5. 24. That there is no condemnation for them which are in Christ Iesus and who those are we are immediately told who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. That all who are weary and heavy laden with the Burthen of their Sins if they come unto him he will refresh them St. Matt. 11. 28. and several others of the same nature the substance of the Gospel being promises of eternal Life to those who yield a sincere and impartial tho' not absolutely sinless and perfect obedience to the Commands of it all the threatnings thereof being only the unavoidable Consequences of wilfully rejecting it Now the very Nature of the Sacrament shows the necessity of Faith towards worthy Receiving for how can we renew our Covenant with God unless we believe he 's really willing to be reconciled to us and have a firm Faith in his Truth his Power and his Goodness And how could we have any well grounded hopes of Pardon but from the Revelation of the Gospel and by the merits of a Redeemer And to the exercise of this Grace the Church also directs us when we approach this Holy Table requiring us to have a lively and stedfast Faith in Christ our Saviour and so in the Exhortation the Sunday before the Communion that 't is requisite that those who come thither should have a full Trust in God's Mercy Not that all are required to have the same degrees of Faith for there are doubtless different measures of it as in the Resurrection one Star shall differ from another in Glory 1 Cor. 15. 43. But our Faith ought certainly to be so strong as to overcome our Infidelity to over come the World It is to be sincere and then it will not want acceptance tho' it be but as a Grain of Mustard-Seed for our gracious Lord has promised that he will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax St. Matt. 12. 20. Tho' we are always to press forward that this as well as all other Graces may still be encreased towards which nothing can more highly conduce than the frequent and devout reception of this Sacrament § XV. The 4th thing concerning which we are to examine our selves in our preparation is whether we have a thankful Remembrance of Christ's Death whereunto the Church directs us in such pathetical Expressions as were scarce ever excelled and I question whether equalled in any other Liturgy tho' not only the antient Churches but our Protestant Brethren particularly the French and the Tigurine have excellent Forms on this occasion I mean that passage wherein we are exhorted * Exhortation at the time of the celebration above all things to give most humble and hearty Thanks to God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of our Saviour Christ both GOD and Man who did humble himself even to the Death upon the Cross for us miserable Sinners who lay in darkness and the shadow of Death that he might make us the Children of God and exalt us to everlasting Life This we are to do above all things because this true and unfeigned Gratitude is the principal Ornament of the Wedding-Garment This seems to have been the chief and immediate End of the Institution Do this in Remembrance of me and hereby ye shew forth the Lord's Death till he come And how is it possible for any ingenuous mind to remember to reflect upon our Saviour's sufferings without the most tender Resentments
Manna that Angel's Food of Ioy in Believing the pleasures of God's House and Table the Fruits of the Tree of Life the foretasts of Heaven for which he pants as the thirsty Hart does after the refreshing Streams being fully perswaded by Reason Experience and Scripture that Ioy in the Holy Ghost and Fellowship with the Father and the Son are something more than Enthusiastical Fancies that God can communicate himself to his Creatures in what measure and by what means he pleases and that his own Institutions are those means whereby he does thus communicate himself to prepar'd and holy Minds and therefore he cannot rest in the outward only but prays for the Light of God's Countenance and the Ioy of his Salvation which make up so great a part of the Happiness of Heaven and when he has thus tasted how good the Lord is he cannot but be entirely thankful for it But yet neither does he estimate his Profit in any religious Duty or the presence of God in them by these sensible Ioys only He knows our weak Nature is neither able long to bear them nor is often fit for them He expects not all Canaan while on this side Iordan tho' he cannot but be delighted with a taste sometimes of the Fruits of that happy Country He believes he has then Benefit by any Duty and particularly by this Sacrament and that then God is present with him in it when he finds that he is thereby more settled in his Faith his Hope and his Obedience more rooted and grounded in Holy Love both to God and his Christian Brother when he finds his will more submissive and entirely resigned to God's Sovereign Will and the Duties of Religion growing gradually more easie and as it were natural and delightful to him And consequently he cannot be so well satisfied of his profiting by a Sacrament immediately after he has received for he expects it not all at once as at some distance of time when the Grace he then received is as it were digested in his Mind and spreads it self thro' all the Parts and Offices of an holy Life § IV. After examining the Frame of our Minds at the past Communion we are in the next place exactly to reflect on those Holy Vows and Resolves which we have made at God's Altar whether against Passion Impurity Intemperance immoderate Love to the World neglect of Sacraments or of publick private or Family Devotion or of the Souls of those whom God's Providence has committed to our Charge or any other failure whereof we found our selves guilty in our former Preparation and Examination and which we have anew vowed against at the Communion all which Vows if we did now again solemnly renew and implore and expect the continuance of Divine Strength to perform them and consider the means to obtain and preserve it we should doubtless find great Advantage by it especially if we renewed the same in our daily Examination which must needs preserve both the sense of God's Goodness and of our own Obligations more fresh and lively on our Minds and have a good Influence on our Practice tho' at greater distance from the Communion § V. And indeed this is the main hinge of the whole matter the great means whereby we must gain advantage by the Sacrament and which if we neglect we must at least expect the loss of our Comfort if not our Souls 'T is to remember all is not over as soon as we have received No nor that Day nor Week nor indeed while we live for the Obligation is for ever We do in the Sacrament shew forth the Lord's Death Till he come We engage our selves by this Oath as well as by that at Baptism to be his faithful Soldiers and Servants to our Lives End We are not to think the Oath it self is all since 't is but a Security to our future Faith and true Allegiance 'T is not enough to Vow nay 't is better not to vow at all than to vow and not to pay tho' to do both is still better than either We cannot too often remember that those Graces which we exercise at this Ordinance must also be put in Practice thro' the whole course of our Lives and 't is the reason of its Institution that they may by degrees be reduced into holy Habits We must be inwardly better'd by the Sacrament as well as by other Duties or else indeed we are not better at all for as one well observes Religion is not a Road of Performances but a New Nature evidenced by a New Life § VI. But more especially are we to call to mind these Promises and Obligations when we find our selves again attack'd by any Temptation either to those Sins which we have formerly committed or to any others Wo to him who after he has escaped the Pollutions of the World and tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come in this Ordinance shall yet fall away again return like a Dog to his Vomit shamefully yield to the same Sin which he has before so solemnly renounced and pretended to forsake and thereby in a great measure trample under foot the Blood of the Covenant crucifie the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame I speak not of lesser unavoidable Infirmities such as wandring Thoughts the first motions of Passion or being ready to give way to the violence of Temptation tho' recovering again but what I here intend is the relapsing into any grosser Sins such as Uncleanness Injustice Drunkenness habitual Carelessness of Duty and neglect of God's Word and Sacraments and our private stated Devotions which last may justly be ranked among greater Sins as being too frequently the beginning of all the rest Not that even these are unpardonable on true Repentance but that the Aggravations of them are so exceedingly heightned by the addition of Ingratitude and Perjury An old Wound may possibly be cured at last even when 't is badly healed but then there 's a necessity of its being laid open again and the Pain will be more exquisite than it was at the first We ought therefore when attack'd by any old Temptation to oppose immediately this powerful Armor against it and whatever pleasure or profit it 's baited with by the great Deceiver with Indignation to reject it To reflect vigorously on our new Obligations to the contrary both of Promises of Interest and of Gratitude To say within our selves I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep God's righteous Judgments And ' Get thee behind me Satan the God of Peace whose I am and who has promised to help me shall bruise thee under my Feet And to this end we must be always upon our Guard we must be temperate and sober or else we can never be vigilant We must avoid ill Company the great Emissaries of Satan as we would Satan himself A great End of the Sacrament is to make us look forward and remember Christ's last coming
us our Profession which is to follow the Example of our Saviour Christ and to be made like unto him that as he dyed and rose again for us so should we who are baptised dye from Sin and rise again unto Righteousness continually mortifying all our evil and corrupt Affections and daily proceeding in all Vertue and Godliness of living And would to God all who are baptised would but act according to these Directions which would prevent the unspeakable Scandal which is given by the bad Lives of Christians the high Dishonour of God and their own eternal Ruine § XI And this Baptism is to be perpetual to last as long as the Church into which it gives Entrance to the end of the World It must doubtless be highly necessary since without it in an ordinary way there is no Entrance into the Church or into Heaven The outward Baptism is thus necessary as a means to the inward as was outward Circumcision to the Circumcision of the Heart nor would it have availed the Iews to plead that they had the inward and that was sufficient because whoever had not the outward too that Soul was to be cut off from among his People he had despised he had broken Gods everlasting Covenant by despising and neglecting the Seal of it Gen. 17. 14. A Seal must be something visible a Sacrament must consist of something outward as well as inward The very nature of a Type implys the same The Seal of Circumcision was to last among the Iews as long as the Ceremonial Law lasted whereunto it obliged them making them Debters to the whole Law Galat. 5. 3. and when that was abolished and Baptism came in its Room that must also last by Parity of Reason as long as the Gospel Covenant into which it admits and whereunto it obliges all Nations There is no doubt but our Saviour's Commission was to make Proselytes by baptizing with Water for so the Apostles did which they dared not have done had not it been contained in their Commission and this of Gentiles as well as Iews as is undeniably clear from the Acts of the Apostles nay they did not only permit but command and exhort to outward Baptism Thus Ananias to St. Paul Arise and be baptised and wash away thy Sins Acts 22. 16. Thus St. Peter to the Iews Repent and be baptised Acts 2. 38. And to the Gentiles and that with Water Can any man forbid Water that these should not be baptised And it follows he commanded them to be baptised in the name of the Lord which was certainly more than a bare Permission or Condescension Acts 10. 47. And as long as the Commission to the Apostles lasted as long as Christ promised to be with them in the Execution of it so long doubtless were they to exercise it and to baptise as well as to teach for the Commission is to both as the Promise is to both But Christ hath promised to be with them that is by his Spirit in their lawful Successors till the End of the World Which explains that Expression of the Apostle concerning the other Sacrament that therein Christians were to shew forth the Lords Death until he come that is till he come at the last day to judge the world personally and visibly in like manner as his Disciples saw him bodily ascend into Heaven Acts 1. 11. which cannot therefore relate to his coming at Pentecost by his Spirit nor his coming to destroy the Iewish City and Nation which was by his power not his person Nor can the End of the world be here restrained to the Destruction of Ierusalem because that was but about Forty Years after Christs Ascension and we are not to think the Commission was then voided or that he has forsaken his Church ever since which was rather much confirmed by this terrible Destruction which he had foretold should befal his enemies and crucifiers Besides that there 's another word added always Lo I am with you always St. Matt. 28. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which strengthens and explains that Expression to the end of the World And accordingly we are sure that as well the Apostles as their immediate Successors did receive all Nations into the Christian Church by Baptism and none without it and have continued to do the same ever since and doubtless will do so to the End of the World Nor therefore are those to be heard who deny the necessity or perpetuity of outward Water-Baptism § XII But there 's a yet greater Difficulty concerning the Subjects of Baptism whether only adult Persons who can make a personal publick Profession of their Faith and Repentance or the Children also of Believers who are brought unto it on account of the Faith of their Parents and Sponsors or Sureties and may have the beginnings of Faith and Holiness wrought in them by Gods Spirit § XIII And here before I enter upon this Argument I think it may not be inconvenient to declare that I do it not for Argument's sake only I would have no Controversie with any Christian but who should be most charitable nor would I willingly provoke any but to Love and to good Works But yet I am obliged to do what I can to preserve any that are under my Charge from what I my self am convinced is an Error and such is I am satisfied the denying of Baptism to Infants and I shall be very glad if these mean Papers may be useful to any others on the same Occasion Wherein I shall first lay down the Grounds of Infant Baptism taken from Scripture Reason and Primitive and universal Custom And secondly Endeavour to answer the Objections against it § XIV Our Grounds for Baptising the Infants at least of believing Parents are such as these 1. Because all Children are guilty of original Sin and consequently cannot be saved in an ordinary way unless that be washt away in Baptism 2. Because such Children are capable of making a Covenant and were and still are under the Evangelical Covenant and consequently have a right to Baptism which is the initiating Seal thereof 3. Because they may and ought to come to Christ are capable of being admitted into the Church of God and of solemn sacramental Dedication to him 4. Because the Iews did make Proselytes of Children by baptising as well as by circumcising them and consequently our Saviour commanding his Disciples to make Proselytes out of all Nations by Baptism and not forbidding them to receive Children they must needs baptise them also 5. It is very probable if not positively certain from the Acts of the Apostles that the Apostles did baptise Infants 6. As it is certain that the first Christians did so and the Church of God have continued to do it in all Places and all Ages § XV. The first Argument for Infants Baptism may be taken from their being guilty of original Sin and consequently in an ordinary way they cannot be saved unless that be washed away by Baptism
this Representation of Christ's Death in the Sacrament has a respect to others to whom we are to declare it as well as it relates like the Commemoration before-mention'd to our selves and to God We do by this proclaim unto Men and Angels the manifold Wisdom and Goodness of God and the Kindness and Condescention of our ever blessed Redeemer and in a manner preach the Gospel to every Creature while we here represent so considerable a part of it as our Saviour's Death and own that we are not asham'd of his Cross but rather Glory in it § V. We represent it also to our selves that is we do by this sacred significant and lively Action fix it more deeply in our Affections and Memories The Bread represents our Saviour's Body who is the true Bread of Life that came down from Heaven The Wine his Blood The Breaking of the Bread the Torments he endur'd on the Cross and the Wounding of his sacred Body as the pouring out of the Wine is a most lively Figure of the shedding his most precious Blood But of this more hereafter § VI. But in the last place we also represent our Saviour's Death to God the Father in the Holy Communion This we do by those Actions which he himself has appointed as means of supplicating him and obtaining his Favour Beseeching our heavenly Father who of his tender Mercy did give his only Son Jesus Christ to suffer Death upon the Cross for our Redemption that we duly receiving the Holy Mysteries according to our Lord Jesus Christ's Holy Institution in remembrance of his Death and Passion may be Partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood The Priest neither makes nor offers the real natural Body of Christ in the Holy Communion but he makes his spiritual or sacramental Body and therein represents his natural Body as well as he also represents what he really suffer'd for us in the verity of that Body this he represents to God as well as to us and every devout Communicant should faithfully joyn in the Representation § VII The next thing observable in our Description of the Holy Communion is That 't was instituted by Christ in the room of the Iewish Passover This as it gives great Light into the Nature of it and the most weighty Controversies concerning it so the Matter of Fact it self is too evident to be doubted or denied and of too great moment to be lightly pass'd over As will appear if we consider the Time the Form the End of the Institution of this Sacrament compared with that of the Passover and the Expressions of Iohn the Baptist and the Apostles relating to the Communion it self or to our Saviour who ordained it The Time of its first Institution and Celebration was the Night of the Paschal Supper immediately after Supper We are told by * Buxtorf Synag cap. 13. p. 302. de Paschat celebrando Fagius in Exod. 12. learned Men that the old Iews had a very antient Tradition amongst them that the Messias should come to redeem them the very same Night in which God brought them out of Egypt the Night of the Passover whereon they also say that God vouchsafed to the old Patriarchs and holy Men most or all of those famous Blessings and Deliverances which we read of in the sacred Writings which is no obscure Indication that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was to succeed the Paschal Supper § VIII The manner of their celebrating the Passover also proves the same For the Master of the House took Bread and brake it and gave it to those about him and said This is the Bread of affliction which our Fathers did eat in Egypt * Buxtorf ubi supra that is the Memorial of that Bread in the same Sense that our Saviour said This is my Body after he had taken Bread and blessed and brake it and gave to his Disciples as the Iews also call'd the Passover The Body of the Paschal Lamb. And in like manner the Cap. The Master of the Feast took it after Supper and when he had given Thanks gave it to the rest and said This is the Fruit of the Vine and the Blood of the Grape This was the third Cup which they drank at the Passover and call'd it The Cup of Blessing * Lightfoot Vol. II. p. 260. All the Company drank of it the sick as well as the healthy †Buxtorf p. 296. Thus our Savior after Supper took the Cup this third Cup and when he had given Thanks gave it to his Disciples and said Drink ye All of this for this is my Blood of the New Testament New Covenant or this Cup is the New Testament New Covenant in my Blood * St. Mat. 26. 28. St. Luk. 22. 20. As Moses said when he sprinkled all the People with Blood †Heb. 9. 20. Exod. 24. 8. This is the Blood of the Covenant which God made with you it was not only the Seal of the New Covenant but likewise the Sanction of it And 't is remarkable that our Saviour calls it the Fruit of the Vine as did the Master of the Feast at the Passover And so the Apostle calls the Sacramental Cup the Cup of Blessing § IX There 's yet another thing remarkable in the Passover which our Saviour retain'd in his Sacrament and that is the Hymn or great Hallel which the Iews always sung at this Festival and still continue to use it in that shadow of the Passover which they yet retain * Buxtorf ubi supr Patrick in 113 Psalm It consisted of six Psalms from the 113 to the 118. inclusively wherein were mentioned as their Rabbins teach 1. Their Deliverance from Egypt 2. The Division of the Red Sea 3. The Giving of the Law 4. The Resurrection from the Dead And 5. The Sorrows of the Messias †Lightfoot Vol. II. p. 354. 'T is expresly said that our Saviour and his Apostles sung a Hymn after they had eaten 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they all doubtless joyn'd in it as was the Custom of their Country-men which they could not have done had it not been a Form well known unto them And what more proper than those Psalms already mentioned which shows the Lawfulness of singing in the Christian Church and of the whole Congregations joyning in it some think Iudas not being here excepted ‖ Lightfoot and that in a set Form out of the Psalms of David which have made a great part of the Liturgy of the Church for near Three Thousand Years Nor was this Sacrament ever celebrated without singing by any regular Christians St. Chrysostom on Heb. 10. says of those of his Time That in the Sacrament they did offer Thanksgiving for their Salvation by devout Hymns and Prayers to God And before him Pliny's famous Letter mentions the Christians as jointly singing Hymns to Christ And Tertullian in his Apology has left it on Record that it was