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
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
corrupt affections from every evil habit that is contrary to his Holy nature to his most pure and righteous Law that you may serve and worship him with some degrees of knowledge and with a sincere and perfect heart then you may assure your self that you are worthy to receive that your Devotion will be accepted and your Offering rewarded that you shall have Grace and assistance from above to grow better and better till you come to be perfect in Christ Jesus The sum of all is this the Minister by the command and in the name of God exhibits and offers the blessings of the Gospel to the Communicants and they by receiving the outward signs thereof profess themselves the Disciples of our Lord that they believe his Doctrine trust in his Mediation hope in his Promises and are resolved to live according to his Laws He then who is sincere in these his professions and resolutions receives worthily and he who presents himself in such a solemn manner at the Holy Sacrament making and being understood to make profession of his Christian Faith and a solemn dedication of himself to the obedience thereof for ever when at the same time he neither understands it regards it or designs to practise it is an Hypocrite a Prophaner 1 Cor. â— 27 a Blasphemer of God and therefore eats and drinks damnation to himself incurs the high displeasure of God and may therefore expect that the Judgments of God should follow him For for this cause many are sick and weak among you and many are fallen asleep as S. Paul interprets the damnation spoken of before v. 30. Par. Sir I thank you with all mine heart and if I be not too tedious to you give me leave to ask you one question more before I go Min. Pray ask me what you will for I assure you I am mightily pleas'd to find you so inquisitive Par. What is the reason then since as I understand by you a disposition to every Christian Grace is requisite in a worthy Communicant that the Rubrick â—re the â—â—munâ—ice and all Divines insist in a particular manner upon Love and Charity reconciling and being reconciled to our enemies Min. It is well observed they do so yet not as exclusive of any other duties But indeed there is all the reason in the world to remind our Communicants in a more particular manner of the duties of Love and universal Charity First Because the Religion of our Blessed Saviour which we here so solemnly profess is founded in Love and Mercy in the most perfect and ineffable goodness which moved Almighty God by the mediation of our Blessed Saviour to offer easie terms of Pardon Peace assistance and eternal Life to all that should embrace them 1 Joh. â— 10 Joh. 3 1â— Rom. 5. â— For He loved us when we were yet his enemies and sent his only begotten son into the world that whosoever would but believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life And therefore malice hatred envy and evil will are dispositions radically contrary to Christianity such as render us utterly unfit to have any thing to do with the solemn rites of this Religion Moreover secondly The Religion it self that Christian Law which we here profess to embrace and resolve to practise is a Law of Love Universal Charity is the principle and life of our Religion which influences the whole and mingles it self with every part thereof insomuch that it is distinguished and describ'd by this single Grace of Love â—om 13.9 â—al 5.14 â—att 22 â—9 â— Joh. 3.9.23 For love is the fulfilling of the law saith S. Paul And Hereby sayes S. John speaking of Love we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him And this is his commandment that we believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us Commandment So that all our professions of Faith and Obedience at the Holy Table are a prophanation of the name of God and wholly ineffectual to us so long as the temper of our minds and the dispositions of our Souls are contrary to the Religion we profess For unless Christ be in us Cor. 13. says S. Paul that is the Spirit of Christ the Goodness Love Meekness Compassion Patience Forbearance Condescension of Him and his Religion We are reprobates Malice indeed is an indication of a Diabolick Nature of a mind throughly vicious and degenerate It is a temper wholly inconsistent with a true principle of Christianity For in this the children of God are manifest 1 Joh. 3 10. and the Children of the Devil whosoever doth not Righteousness is not of God neither he that loveth not his Brother Again There is a particular fitness and congruity in forgiving injuries and reconciling enemies to the tenor and intention of the Holy Sacrament God is there exhibited as willing to be reconciled to repenting sinners He there renews and revives his Covenant of Grace and Mercy to us Does not reason then that is to say the Law of our Nature and the eternal immutable Law of reasonable Beings require of us that we in our capacity should do the same How can we expect that from another which in the change of circumstances we are not willing to do Therefore Matt. 7.12 if thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift Which words though they are spoken by our Saviour with immediate respect to the Peace-Offerings for the Atonement of sins yet the reason holds in all our addresses to God for pardon and has been generally applied by Divines to the Holy Sacrament Here in especial manner we pray for and expect his Mercy But is it reasonable to hope for such a favour at the hands of God unless we are willing to give satisfaction to our power for the injuries we have done to others and are ready to forgive offences against our selves Our very nature will rebuke such a vain presumption And our Saviour has expresly taught us in the Parable of the Lord and his steward that a readiness to forgive our enemies is indispensably necessary in order to the pardon of our own miscarriages The Lord forgave his steward a vast debt but he forgetting the goodness of his Lord to him sues and seizes his debtors and fellow servants for trivial sums Wherefore his Lord was wroth Matt. 18. ult and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him So likewise says our Saviour shall my heavenly father do to you if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses Nay he has taught us to acknowledge the reasonableness of it in our daily prayer Matt. 6. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us He