breaking of bread and in prayers And it is said ver 46. They continued daily with one accord in the Temple that is joyning with Gods people the Jews in prayers there and in their Temple Service and breaking bread from house to house that is in the Upper room where they as Christian Professors met together and joyned together in other worship proper to them as Christians particularly Communicating together in this Sacrament of breaking of bread as it is often called in the Acts whence that in ch 20.7 Vpon the first day of the week the Disciples came together to break bread that is the Sacramental Bread which by the figure Synecdoche means the whole Sacrament So now let us consider the parts thereof Q. What is the Outward part or sign in the Lords Supper A. Bread and Wine which the Lord hath commanded to be received Q. What is the inward part or thing signified A. The Body and Blood of Christ which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lords Supper Catechist Let us again reduce these Answers into more particular ones for your fuller knowledge of the Instructions contained in them Q. What is it that you see with your bodily Eyes in the Lords Supper A. Bread and Wine Catechist Mark it well we Protestants do in opposition to the Papists gross Errour of Transubstantiation or the Bread and Wines being turned into the Substance of Christs Body and blood hold that they remain Bread and Wine still as well after their Consecration as they were before that there is no Substantial change of them but only a Sacramental one as to their Use And enough it is to tell you here for proof hereof that in all the Scriptures I have cited you may observe they are constantly called so by the names of bread and wine and we know by our sences they are so Q. Will it avail men to look or gaze on these Elements A. No unless they withall receive them that is eat and drink them Catechist I have received of the Lord saith S. Paul 1 Cor. 11.23 that which I have delivered unto you how that the Lord Jesus the same night that he was betrayed and so was shortly to dye for us took bread and when he had given thanks he brake it and he said Take eat c After the same manner ver 25. He took the cup and said drink ye all of this Matth. 26.27 This do ye as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me 1 Cor. 11.25 For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup c. So to eat and drink are absolutely required by Christs Institution So that you must learn to answer the next question in opposition to the custom of the Romish Church wherein many are present when the Lords Supper is Administred who do not receive it and in their Mass the Priest alone Communicates the people are spectators only gazing upon the Host Q. Who Commanded these then to be received A. Our Lord Jesus and that the same night wherein he was betrayed Catechist You have heard his express Commandment Take eat and drink Do this So that it can be no Sacrament which is of Christs Institution or according to his Commandment where these are not done But being rightly Administred as Christ Instituted and Commanded it to be done it should make us in love with this Sacrament that he Instituted and ordained the celebration thereof just the same night wherein he was betrayed that is a little before his death when he was shortly to give his life a ransome for us so that he left it as a token of his dying love and what man will not highly value his friends gift and token when he dyed much more if he laid down his life for his sake Q. What think ye then of those that will not receive the Sacrament A. They reject Christs own Commandment and so in effect disown their being his Disciples or him being their Lord. Catechist Which are so plain by what I have said already that I need say no more but only mind you of what Christ himself said Joh. 14.15 If ye love me keep my Commandments Now here you have heard Christs positive Commandment and therefore by his own Rule they shew they love him not that observe it not Matth. 7.21 It is in vain to say Lord Lord or to pretend any love to Christ or yourselves to be Christians if ye reject his Ordinance and utterly neglect what he himself Commanded Q. What do the Bread and Wine which you see with your bodily eyes signifie and represent to the eye of Faith A. The Body and Blood of Christ Catechist They are called Christs very Body and Blood Mat. 26.26 This is my Body and This is my Blood that is Sacramentally so as the Rock was Christ 1 Cor. 10.4 because the Bread and Wine signifie and represent and convey his very body and blood to the worthy Receiver and observe every Ministerial Action hath its proper signification Q. What doth the Consecrating or setting apart the Bread and Wine signifie A. Christs Separation or Consecration for the Work of our Redemption Catechist That is When God laid help upon him that is mighty and exalted him as One chosen out of the people Psal 89.19 And when Christ voluntarily undertook this great work to redeem us saying Psal 40.7 Loe I come to do thy will O God Q. What do the breaking of bread and pouring out the Wine signifie A. Breaking the Bread represents the tearing Christs body on the Cross and pouring out the Wine shews the shedding of his Blood Catechist For thus as I have often said we do in these signs and in using these significant Rites Ceremonies and Actions shew forth the Lords death till he come 1 Cor. 11.26 Q. What doth our eating and drinking them signifie A. Our receiving Christ and Union with him Catechist Even as our bodily food being taken into our mouth and chewed with our teeth and digested in our stomach becomes incorporated into our bodily Substance flesh and blood so are we as Members of Christ United to him by eating him Spititually as the bread of Life Joh. 6.35 Christs flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink indeed Whoso eateth my flesh said he himself and drinketh my blood hath Eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day ver 55. And again he saith ver 54 56. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him And ver 57. He that eateth me shall live by me And ver 58. that for ever Upon such good ground and warrant is it so expressed in the Communion Office that hereby he becomes One with Us and We One with Him and we shall evermore dwell in him and he in us But Q. May not one of these Elements be sufficient for these great ends A. No Both are expressly required by the Command and practice of Christ and his
the Lord. Catechist I shall reduce this Question and Answer to these that follow for your better understanding their importance Q. What are the ordinary means of Grace and Salvation A. The Word Prayer and Sacraments Catechist Hence we call them Ordinances Now for the word of God read or preacht or the Reading and Preaching thereof by lawful Mininisters set apart and ordained to this Holy Function by those that have Authority in the Church to send forth labourers into the Vineyard for these I say being Gods Ordinances or ordinary means of mens Salvation it is plainly proved by divers Texts particularly that of the Apostle Rom. 1.16 I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to Salvation to every one that believeth whether Jew or Gentile Therefore he told the Jews Act. 13.26 That to them the word of this Salvation is sent And by the Gospels being published to the Gentiles he saith Rom. 11.11 That Salvation was come to the Gentiles And hence his charge to his Son Timothy 1 Ep. 4.16 Take heed to thy self and to thy doctrine continue in them for in so doing thou shalt save thy self and them that hear thee And it is an excellent place in S. James 1.21 Lay apart all filthiness and superfluity os naughtiness and receive with meekness the ingrafted word which is able to save your Souls And for both the Word and Prayer being such ordinances for mens Salvation there seems to be no less than a Demonstration in Rom. 10.13 14. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved But how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed or how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a Preacher And to shew that we can have no grounds to hope for Salvation by hearing any but lawfully ordained Ministers it follows How shall they preach unless they be sent Lastly for the Sacraments being ordinary means of mens Salvation what can be more express than our Saviours words for Baptism John 3.5 Verily verily I say unto you except a man be born again of water and of the spirit be cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Mark 16.16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved For the Apostle saith Gal. 3.27 As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ And he calls it therefore Tit. 3.5 The Laver or washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost And St. Peter saith expresly 1 Ep. 3.21 The like Figure whereunto speaking of Noahs Ark wherein he with Eight Souls was saved in the Deluge even Baptism doth now save us and for the Lords Supper being an Ordinance for mens Salvation as it is evident by the Rule of Contraries for if He that eats and drinks unworthily not discerning the Lords Body eats and drinks his own damnation 1 Cor. 11.29 then he that eats and drinks worthily discerning the Lords body eats and drinks his Salvation so Our Saviour spake punctually hereof Joh. 6.53 54. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of God and drink his Blood ye have no Life in you Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my Blood hath eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day I have been the larger in proving all these to be Gods ordinances to save mens Souls that you may see good Children what cause you have to abhor the Quakers Sect as damnable Hereticks who utterly reject nay even make a mock at them especially both the Sacraments Know therefore in doing so they reject and despise the manifest Ordinances of God and certain it is that as for us Ministers in the Dispensation of the Word and Prayer and Sacraments consists that whole Ministration which we have received of the Lord for the Salvation of men so for you the people I speak in the Apostles words Heb. 2.3 How shall ye escape if ye neglect so great Salvation which at first began to be spoken by the Lord himself and was confirmed to the world by them that heard him and by them whom they Commissioned for it such as Timothy and Titus it was Committed to other faithful men from age to age successively able to teach others also 2 Tim. 2.2 Let us then go on Q. Who ordained the Sacraments A. Jesus Christ Catechist It is not in the Churches power to ordain new Sacraments it belongs only to God and his Son Christ Jesus For the Covenant is Gods and therefore it is his Prerogative to ordain Sacraments to be Seals of the Covenant And who but he can either give the Grace signified by the outward Signs or Elements or can punish the unworthy Receivers of them or such as be unfaithful to their part of the Covenant made and renewed in them Q. How many Sacraments then did Christ ordain A. Two only as generally necessary to Salvation Q. Why do you hold two Sacraments and no more A. Those other five which the Papists account Sacraments viz. Orders Confirmation Extreme Unction Penance and Matrimony answer not the Definition of a Sacrament for they neither were all ordained by Christ nor have they any visible sign representing some Spiritual Grace nor any promise to make them Seals of Grace and pardon unto us Catechist It is apparent Christ ordained two Sacraments Matth. 28.19 Go teach and baptize all nations in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and that his mind was that this should continue always in his Church is manifest from his promise and Loe I will be with you and your Successors so teaching and baptizing alway to the end of the world And for the Lords Supper Christs Institution thereof is to be seen in the Holy Gospel and it is as fully recited by St. Paul 1 Cor. 11. as by any of them ver 23. What I have received of the Lord that have I delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus the same night that he was betrayed took bread and brake it and gave it to them all saying ver 25. This do in remembrance of me in like manner he took the Cup c. and that it was his mind that this also should be a standing perpetual Memorial of himself in his Church appears ver 26. As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew forth the Lords death till he come that is to Judgement even till the end of the world These are plain Texts against the Anabaptists Catabaptists and Quakers who clearly abolish both these Sacraments But no apperance of any such Texts is there for the other five added to these two in the Romish Church I need but give you an abstract of what the Article of our Church saith that for Penance as the Papists use it and Extreme Unction they are no better than cortupt imitations of the Apostles without any shew of warrant for so-doing And others of them as Orders and Matrimony are states
Apostles and therefore it is presumption and Sacriledge in the Popish Priests to take the Cup from the Laity Catechist It is necessary to teach you this to arm you against Popery The words of the Institution are express Mat. 26.27 Drink ye all of this And S. Mark saith chap. 14.23 They all drank of it Here is both precept and practice against the Church of Romes presumptuous and Sacrilegious robbing the Laity of the Cup. And I may argue with the Apostle Gal. 3.15 Brethren I speak after the manner of men though it be but a mans Testament no man disannulleth or diminisheth or addeth thereto after it be confirmed by his Death And how then dare any mutilate this Sacrament which is the new Testament in Christs blood Now both fully to arm you against the other great Popish Error that of Transubstantiation and also clearly to explain the truth to you I think it needful to offer you these following Questions Q. Is the Substance of Bread and Wine changed by Consecration into the Substance of Christs Body and Blood A. No for we evidently see the Substance of Bread and Wine to remain after Consecration Catechist I told you this before and I must tell you it again that you may take due notice of it They are called Bread and Wine after as well as before Consecration in the Scriptures And our senses tell us plainly and assure us they are still bread and wine that is We see and feel and smell and tast them to be no other but bread and wine and therefore to say they are changed Substantially that is into the Substance of Christs body and blood is as well to bely our sences as the Scriptures Know this therefore what change there is made of or in the Elements by Consecration it is wholly Sacramental not in Substance but in their Use Q. But do not we then feed on Christs body and blood in the Lords Supper A. Yes as truly and really as we do on the Bread and Wine Catechist So your Catechism teacheth you they are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lords Supper and therefore though we Protestants deny the corporeal we yet do not the Real presence of Christs Body and Blood Real it is though spiritual and not at all the less real for its being wholly spiritual And for proof hereof I need but mind you of the Apostles negative questions which hath the force of the strongest Affirmation 1 Cor. 10.16 The Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ and the bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ Is it not that is it certainly is so We do here as certainly Communicate of Christs body and blood as we do of the bread and wine if we be worthy Receivers I say if we be worthy Receivers for mark the words of your Church Catechism and out of it answer me the next question Q. Do all that receive the bread and wine feed on Christs body and blood A. No but the faithful only Catechist Your Catechism so expresseth it they are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful If Unbelievers and wicked men do with Judas receive the Signs yet do they receive them only not the things signified by them either Christs body or blood or their saving benefits that is the Remission of their sins increase of Grace or assurance of their Eternal Salvation Matth. 16.25 It is not meet to take the childrens bread and cast it to the dogs Such pearls belong not to Swine nay alas coming unpreparedly and eating and drinking unworthily the Apostle tells them what it is that they verily and indeed receive 1 Cor. 11.29 They eat and drink damnation to themselves not discerning the Lords body Therefore saith Holy Church in her warning to the Communicants excellently If any of you be a blasphemer of God an hinderer or slanderer of his word an Adulterer or be in envy or malice or any other grievous crime Repent ye of your sins or else come not to the Holy Table lest after the taking this Holy Sacrament The Devil enter into you as be entred into Judas and fill you full of all Iniquity and bring you to destruction both of body and of Soul It is then the Faithful only that receive real benefit of this Sacrament and really feed on Christs body and blood Now I ask you Q. Do the faithful feed on Christs body and blood carnally A. No it is after a spiritual manner only Catechist I told you this before and now call upon you to speak it yourselves that it may take deeper impression on you And I prove it by one Text Joh. 6.63 when the Disciples were offended at our Saviours telling them of eating his flesh and drinking his blood He thus explained himself The flesh profiteth nothing it is the spirit that quickneth The words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are life that is they have a spiritual and not a litteral or carnal sence and meaning And when I have asked you one question more I must needs think you have attained a competent understanding of the doctrine of this Sacrament as it is thus far taught you in your Catechism Q. Since we see nothing but bread and wine and since our hands handle and feel and our Tast perceives nothing but bread and wine how can we be sure that we do verily and indeed feed on Christs Body and Blood A. By Faith in the promise of Christ for he called the Bread his body and the Wine his Blood and therefore will undoubtedly with the Signs give the things signified Catechist And this I conceive is the great thing assured us by Christs saying Matth. 26.26 28. This is my Body and This is my Blood the Blood of the New Testament not that the Bread and Wine are at all Transubstantiated into Christs Body and Blood or that the Body and Blood are corporally or carnally in or under the Bread and Wine which is the Lutherans Consubstantiation but we are here assured by our Saviour that with the one God will certainly give the other to all worthy Receivers Christs word will be made good to us if the fault be not in ourselves It is Faith in his word and promise who if he speak the word can create a new world that assures us thereof Of receiving and feeding upon Christs Body and Blood and all the benefits of the Blessed Sacrament Q. What then are the benefits you receive thereby A. The strengthening and refreshing of our Souls by the Body and Blood of Christ as our Bodies are by the Bread and Wine Catechist Consider well this answer and then tell me Q. Do we feed our bodies in the Lords Supper A. No it is a spiritual feast for our Souls only Catechist This is no trifling question but needful as experience shews It is our Souls we come to feed here with