Declaration of their Church probably they would have been contented that those words at the Institution should have born such a construction as would not have shook the Reason of men so notoriously 2. If we frame notions of things just according to the clink of a Phrase we must needs entertain very strange apprehensions of our Saviour himself because he is usually called a Lamb a Lyon a Shepherd a Rock a Door a Way a Vine and the like 3. As Christ saith here This is my Body so in Job 6. he saith also that he is the Bread of life and that his Flesh is Meat and his Bloud Drink He speaks as plainty and positively in the one place as he doth in the other Now if men affirm that the bread is changed into Christs Flesh because Christ saith positively This is my Body they have equally the same reason to affirm that Christs Flesh is turned into Bread and his Bloud into Drink because he said as positively My Flesh is meat indeed and my Bloud Drink indeed A latitude must be allowed to be as to the sense of those expressions or else men must fall into a Labyrinth of absurdities and contradictions which they can never wind themselves out of by the help of any clue 4. If we observe what our Saviour said to the Capernaites upon the like occasion we cannot but conclude that his meaning at both times was mystical The story we have in the 6th of S. John verily verily saith our Lord except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink his bloud ye have no life in you vers 53. This seem'd a very Harsh expression because they conceived as the Romanists do now that Christ intended his Flesh should be torn in pieces with their Teeth and that his Natural bloud should be suckt out of his veins with their mouths The bare apprehension of this matter turn'd their stomachs so that they were scandaliz'd presently and fell off from him Therefore to rectifie their mistakes he expounded himself telling them that they were not to understand him in a literal and carnal sense no the words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are life vers 63. meaning that he spake Mystically and that they were to interpret So that place was understood by the Ancients his words after a Spiritual manner and of a Spiritual and Divine way of feeding upon him and so we feed upon Christ who laughd at the Doctrine of Transubstantiation and so all good Christians fed upon him for many hundreds of years before that Doctrine was dreamt of or thrown about to debauch and intoxicate the world CHAP. VIII The Doctrine of Transubstantion inconsistent with and contrary to the Doctrine of the Primitive Church Proved by five Observations touching the common sense of Christian in the most ancient times A short account of the Doctrine of the Church in succeeding Ages till the twelfth Century 3. 'T Is true the Papists are wont to crack of Tradition and Antiquity as if all the ancient Fathers of the Catholick Church were on their side And nothing hath prevailed more with ordinary people to turn or continue Papists than an opinion that Transubstantiation was all along the Faith of the Christian Church I confess I wonder much that common people will pretend to be judges in this case when they understand little of Greek or Latine much less have skill to tell which of the Books that are ascribed to the Fathers are Genuine and which are supposititious But alass they are taught by their leaders to believe any thing and to talk by Rote like a sort of men among our selves who are readily perswaded to act any thing that is for the Cause for the Cause for their darling and dearly beloved Cause though they venture their Necks and their very Souls for an evil cause sake Therefore to clear this matter fully we will once for all try the point by unquestionable authorities and examine particularly what the sense of the Christian Church was chiefly in the Primitive times and ex abundanti in the times following And I am fouly mistaken if we do not find upon the whole enquiry that Tradition which the Romanists brag of so much is plainly against them for above a thousand years In the prosecution of this thing I beg leave to go a little out of the common rode not to trouble my self with an endless fatigue of collecting a world of sentences out of the Fathers a course which tho it be proper enough for a Disputant yet may be liable to a great many Cavils I shall rather chuse to argue from some observations that may be made upon those Controversies the Ancient Church had with Infidels and Hereticks which will evidently shew the sense of the Ancient Christians as to the point under our hands for this is certain that we can never better learn the sense of the Ancient Church than out of their Disputations especially when they go upon the same grounds and use the same way of Argumentation 1. Now first it is easie to observe what the sense of the Ancient Church was as to the eating of Humane Flesh and the drinking of Bloud The Pagans were wont for a long time to throw this in the teeth of the Primitive Christians that they celebrated Thyestean banquets and stories ran about that at their sacred Assemblies they killed a Child and then junketed together upon the tragical dish The Christians granted that the feasting upon Humane Flesh and Bloud was a most Barbarous and Flagitious crime but they proved themselves Innocent they abominated the very thoughts of any such detestable practice and in all their Apologies they declared their utter Abhorrence thereof so Justin Martyr in the Age next to the Apostles then Tatian after him Athenagoras and Theophilus Justin Martyr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Apolog. 2. Tatian Orat. cont Graec. P. 162. Athenagor legat pro Christian P. 4. 35 36. c. Theophil ad Autol. lib. 3 P. 119. 126. Tertullian Apologet. cap. 9. Origen cont Cels l. 6. P. 302. Minut. Felix in Octavio the Patriarch of Antioch After these Tertullian after him Origen and after him Minutus Faelix For an hundred years together were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Theop. ad Autolyc the Primitive Christians busie in vindicating themselves from that Atheistical and Savage Practice as Theophilus calls it of eating mans flesh And to make this evidently appear the ancient Christians did appeal to their very Enemies who could not but know that some Christians were wont to refrain from all flesh whatsoever that none of them would taste of that which was strangled or which was destroyed Tantum ab Humano sanguine cavemus ut nec edulium pecorum in cibis sanguinem noverimus Minut. Felix P. 34. Denique inter tentament a Christianorum botulos cruore distentos admovetis certissimi scilicet illicitum esse penes illos c. Tertull. Apol. c.
receive from Christ are called his Body his flesh and Blood upon these three accounts 1. First because they have the like Natural Properties which Flesh and blood hath and tend to the like Ends and Purposes to which flesh and blood serveth For as this helpeth to corroborate and animate our Bodies so do these Divine Virtues help to strengthen and enliven our Souls In which respect Christ Panis est esca sanguis vita caro substantia panis propter nutrimenti congruentiam sanguis propter vivificationis efficientiam caro propter assumptae humanitatis proprietatem Panis iste communis in carnem sanguinem mutatus procurat vitam incrementum corporibus ideoque ex consueto rerum effectu fidei nostrae adjuta infirmitas sensibili argumento edocta est visibilibus Sacramentis in esse vitae eterne effectum c. Author de Can. Domini Cyprian is to us meat indeed and drink indeed for these Spiritual Influences which spring from him are as Flesh to feed and as Bloud to preserve our Spirits to Life everlasting 2. These Spiritual Virtues do issue immediately from Christs Humane Nature and therefore when we receive them we are truly said to participate of Christs Body For the Body of Christ by being united to the Deity is become a Quickning Body This S. Cyril 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Cyril Alex. in Joan. l. 4. of Alexandria teacheth us that the Son of God is by Nature Life as being begotten of the Living Father yet nevertheless that his Holy Body is Vivifick too as being joyned and United after an ineffable manner to the Word which Quickneth all things This S. Cyril of all the Ancient Doctors I know of hath given the Fullest the Clearest the most Substantial account of this matter though what he says is very agreeable to the sense of the Rest who by Christs Real Presence in the Sacrament understood nothing else but the Presence of those Heavenly Virtues and Influences which are called his Body because they are the Distillations and Effects of his Glorified Humane Nature For as a Learned Doctor of our own Church hath confidently affirmed though the Divine Nature be the Prime Fountain of life to Dr. Jaekt son vol. 3. l. 2. c. 3. all and an inexhaustible Fountain in it self yet a Fountain it is whereof we cannot drink save as it is derived to us through the Humane Nature of Christ And though God the Father doth convey unto us many inestimable blessings yet he conveys them only through his Son and not only through him as our Advocate or Intercessor but through him as our Mediator that is through his Humanity as the Organ or Conduit So that we are as truly said to partake of Christs Body when we partake of these Blessings as we can be said to partake of a Spring when we drink of the Waters which stream and flow from it 3. Besides nothing is more usual among Mankind than to give the Denomination of things to the Virtue and efficacy of those things So we are said to be warmed with the Fire when we onely feel its Heat and to have the benefit of the Sun when we are comforted onely with its Rayes Which Two Similitudes I make use of the rather not onely because they serve to illustrate the matter in hand but also because S. Chrysostome calls that Heavenly thing we receive at Sacrament Spiritual Fire and because the Holy Scripture it self calls our Ad Pop. Antioch Hom. 60. Saviour the Sun of Righteousness And as it is not Improper to say that the Sun though it be at a vaste distance from us reacheth every corner of the Earth so that in the Fields in our Houses in our Closest Retirements we feel it and nothing is hid from it from the moss upon the wall to the Vegetables that are wrapped up in the bosome of the earth when yet all these are cherisht not by the Sun it self but by its Beans onely so it is not a Paradox to believe that the Sun of Righteousness casteth his Influences from above and quickens his Church and every part thereof so that every heart that is not quite Dead in Trespasses and Sins Ecclesia corpus Christi effecta obsequitur capiti suo superius lumen in inferior a diffusum claritatis suae plenitudinae a fine usque ad finem attingens totum apud se manens totum se omnibus commodat caloris illius identitas it a corpori assidet uta capite non recedat Panis itaque hic azymus cibus verus sincerus per speciem Sacramentum nos tactu Sanctificat c. De Caena Dom. opusc S. Cypriano ascript like a Rotten Root Receives the benefit of his Operations neither is it any Impropriety of speech to say that our hearts are wrought upon by the Body of Christ that we are Partakers of his Body that we are enlivened and comforted by his very Body when we receive those Spiritual Virtues which are darted from that Glorified Body of his which is in Heaven 4. By this time I hope it doth appear how necessary the distinction is between Christs Natural and Spiritual Body and what is meant by that Spiritual Body and why it is so called I proceed next to shew that He hath indeed such a Spiritual Body wherewith he really quickneth and strengthneth every faithful Christian For the clearing hereof we must observe our Saviours discourse which the Jews in the sixth chapter of S Johns Gospel by occasion of their speaking of the Miracle of the Manna he told them that he would give his followers the true Bread from Heaven that his Flesh which he would give for the life of the World should be that Heavenly Bread that his Flesh should be meat indeed and his Bloud drink indeed and that it was necessary for every one who hoped for life to eat that Flesh and to drink that Bloud of his To conceive as the Socinians and some other modern Writers do that by his Flesh is meant his Doctrine only and that by eating his Flesh and drinking his Bloud is meant the Believing of his Doctrine and no more to me seems a forced a foreign and very weak Notion and an inexcusable act of Singularity For all the Fathers of the Greek and Latin Churches do with one mouth interpret our Saviours discourse of that Spiritual Communication of his Flesh and Bloud wherewith every good Christian is blest Now that our Saviour might make this credible and easie to his Auditors that his Flesh and Bloud should be meat and drink to the Souls of his Disciples he opens the matter to them these two ways 1. By intimating to them that he was to Ascend up in his Body into Heaven vers 62. what if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before For this reason saith Athanasius he put them in mind of his Ascension 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas in illud si
but remained perfectly United to it by a Substantial Conjunction and by reason of that Conjunction it was restored to life after so many hours In like manner when we give up the Ghost the Body parteth with the Soul and during this state hath no manner of sensation or Motion having lost the Natural Principle of Both but yet it is not separated from Christ though it Corrupteth in the Grave while its Mate is in the enjoyment of Bliss yet it is still United to its Lord by a Mystical Conjunction and by reason of that Union it shall be reunited to the soul in Gods good time that Both may have their Partnership in the fruition of an endless Life 3. This consideration were it duely weighed would be of very great Use and Comfort to good men when they are going out of this world But there is besides a third thing to be considered viz. that as we are united to Christ so Christs Nature is also communicated to Us by means of this Sacrament which doth further conclude an Assurance of an Happy Resurrection This Nature thus communicated is as it were a Spark of the Divine Nature which gives the Body a Disposition and Aptitude to Rise again like that Vital Principle in wheat that makes it Apt to spring out of the earth again when 't is committed to the ground though it hath been laid up a long time in the Granary S. Cyril calls Christs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a living Body and so corpus vitae in some of the Latines as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Glorious Body Phil. 3. 21. Living Body meaning the Virtue of it or his Spiritual Body the Quickning Seed that is in us For Christ by Divine Influences from his body giveth vitality to our mortal Bodies by that vivifick Virtue which is communicated by the Bread it entreth into the bodies of the Faithful though it be Substantially absent And hence he argues that if the dead in our Saviours time were raised to Life onely by being touched with his Holy Body out of which there went Virtue certainly the vital 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Cyril in Joan. lib. 4. cap. 14. Blessing must be much more abundant which we receive who even Taste and Communicate of it because it transforms Communicants into its own Blessed Condition that is into Immortality In like manner Ireneus proved the Certainty of a Resurrection from the Virtue and efficacy of this Sacrament supposing it a thing very Unreasonable to deny that Flesh to be capable of Incorruption which is nourished with This is plainly the meaning and force of those words of Irenaeus Quomodo dicunt Haeretici carnem in corruptionem scilicet finalem devenire non percipere vitam quae a corpore Domini sanguine alitur Quemadmodum qui est e terra panis percipiens invocationem Dei jam non communis panis est sed Eucharistia ex duabus rebas constans terrena caelisti sic corpora nostra percipientia Eucharistiam jam non sunt corruptibilia spem Resurrectionis habentia Adv. Haeres lib. 4. cap. 34. Quando mixtus calix fractus panis percipit verbum Dei fit Eucharistia sanguinis corporis Christi ex quibus augetur consistit carnis nostrae substantia quomodo negant carnem capacem esse donationis Dei quae est vita aeterna quae sanguine corpore Christi nutritur membrum ejus est Id. lib. 5. cap. 2. that Bread which carrieth with it the vital Virtues of the Flesh of our Lord because those Virtues turn to the advantage of that Body as well as of the soul by reason that our Flesh being United to the Flesh of Christ by the Spirit is by the Eucharist Prepared and Disposed for and made capable of the gift of God which is eternal Life But to conclude this point besides these arguments drawn from the Reason of the thing it self and from the sense and suffrage of Antiquity our Saviours own words are abundantly demonstrative of this matter in S. Jo. 6. The bread of God is be with cometh down from heaven and giveth Life unto the world I am that bread of Life Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead this is the bread which cometh down from Heaven that a man may eat thereof and not dye for ever I am the Living bread which came down from heaven if any man eat of this bread he shall Live for ever and the bread that I will give is my Flesh which I will give for the Life of the world Who so eateth my Flesh and drinketh my bloud hath eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day for my Flesh is meat indeed and my bloud is drink indeed As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father so he that eateth me even he shall live by me These words are so plain that they need no Explication if by eating the Bread the Meat the Flesh here spoken of we understand not of Believing the Doctrines of Christianity as some most Absurdly imagine nor of eating the very Substance of Christs Body as others most Ridiculously conceive but our partaking and communicating of the Virtues of his Flesh and Bloud which is the genuine and Catholick construction Now by a right use of this Holy Sacrament we do this effectually and consequently may be assured that as we are blest with the Spirit and Life and Communion of Christ in this world by so doing so we have an undoubted Title to a Life of Glory and Immortality in the next CHAP. XII Two Practical Conclusions from the Whole Discourse I Have now done with the Speculative or Doctrinal part of this Subject having after a plain Didactical manner delivered and asserted the true Catholick Faith concerning this Sacrament and from the consideration of those blessings which it brings with it I shall briefly draw these following Inferences and so conclude the whole matter 1. That we are not to rate this Mystery according to its Face and Outward Appearance nor judge of its efficacy and Dignity by the Elements For though our Senses do infallibly assure us that it is Bread and Wine yet our Faith ought to assure us too that it is not Common bread or Bare Wine but something more By the word and Prayer and by the Secret but effectual operation of the Holy Ghost there is besides the Natural and true Substance of the materials an Addition of Grace which is chrefly und principally to be considered by us And this is that Change of the Elements which the Catholick Church ever did believe meaning not a change of their Nature but of their Use of their Quality of their Condition As when we say such a man is turned a Christian or such a Christian is turned a Minister or such a Fabrick is turned into a Church our meaning is not that
eo dictum est Ecce ego vobiscum sum usque ad consummationem seculi Secundum carnem vero quod verbum assumpsit secundum id quod de Virgine natus est secundum id quod a Hudaeis prebensus est quod ligno confixus quod de cruce depositus quod linteis involutus quod in sepulchro conditus quod in resurrectione manifestatus non semper habebitis vobiscum S. Aug. Tractat. 50. in John plainly in respect of that Body which was assumed by the Word which was born of the Virgin which was apprehended by the Jews which was nailed to the Tree which was taken down from the Cross and was wrapped up and laid in the Sepulchre in respect of that Body we have him not with us but in respect of his Majesty in respect of his Providence in respect of his Ineffable and invincible Grace that promise of his is fulfilled lo I am with you alwayes even unto the end of the world And speaking of the Eucharist he doth distinguish between Nam nos bodie accipimus visibilem cibum used aliud est Sacramentum aliud virtus Sacramenti S. Aug. Tractat. 26. in John Usque ad Spiritûs participationem manducemus bibamus Id Tract 27. the Sacrament it self and the virtue of the Sacrament calling that the Grace of Christ which is not consumed with our Teeth and the participation of the Spirit This is that which S. Austin elsewhere calls the Intelligible the Invisible the Spiritual Body of Christ that which Ireneus calls the Heavenly thing that which Clement and Jerome call the spiritual Flesh and Bloud of the Lord That which Pseudo-Cyprian calls the Divine Virtue the Divine Essence the Divine Majesty the participation of the Spirit the drink which flowes and streams from that Spiritual Rock Christ Jesus That which S. Ambrose calls the spiritual Aliment and the Body of a Divine Spirit that which others call the Lords Immortality his Divine Body the Truth of his Body the Nutriment of the Inward Man the vital Pulment of the Incarnate Deity and divers other expressions we meet with in old Authors signifying the wonderful vertues of Christs Glorified Humanity whereof every Faithful Soul is made Partaker S. Ifidore Pelusiot conceived that the roasting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isidor Pelus Ep. 219. l. 1. of the Paschal Lamb with Fire did Typically fignifie that Christ the true Pasleover was to unite the Fire of the Divine Essence to his Flesh to be eaten of us That 's his Experssion and it shews his opinion that we receive the virtue of his Divine through his Humane Nature Among modern Foreign Writers none seems to me to have explained this thing better than the moderate and Judicious Author of the Diallacticon Eucharistiae a Book written about 130. years ago to compose all controversies Hoc corpus hunc sanguinem carnem hanc substantiam corporis non communi more nec ut humana ratio dictat accipi oportet sed it a nominari existimari credi propter eximios quosdam effectus virtutes proprietates conjunctas quae corpori sanguini Christi natura in sunt nempe quod Pascat animas nostras vivificet simul corpora ad resurrectionem immortalitatem praeparet Dialact pag. 33. 34. Non hic cogitandûm est nos crudas bominis carnes comedere vel sanguinem bibere Sed verba spiritalia esse spiritualiter intelligenda carnem quidem sanguinem nominari sed de Spiritu Vita idest vivifica dominicae carnis virtute debere intellagi c. Ibid. pag. 25. Quia figur a veri corporis panis est jure Corpus appellatur quia virtutem ejusdem vitalem conjunctam habet multo magis tum vero maxime quod utrumque complectitur Ibid. pag 54. Panis Domini Corpus Christi est quia gratiam virtutem ejus vitalem conjunctam habet Quod outem haec non commentitia aut nuper nata sententia est sed ab antiquis recepta approbata Scriptoribus claris ipsorum testimoniis confirmabimus Ibid. pag. 57. about the Sacrament and he too goes altogether this way shewing that that Body of Christ which is present with us is his spiritual Body and that we communicate thereof by deriving Efficacy Power and Vital Virtue from the Body of the Lord. And this account I am the better pleased and satisfied with because it was a Notion that was en tertained and really asserted by a very Learned Doctor of our own Church with Dr. Jack vol. 3. p. 325. Seq whose words I shall conclude this consideration we must not collect saith he that Christs Body because comprehended within the Heavens can exercise no real operation upon our Bodies or Souls here on Earth or that the live Influence of his Glorified Humane Nature may not be diffused through the World as he shall be pleased to dispense it no we must not take upon us to limit or bound the Efficacy of Christs Body upon the Bodies or Souls which he hath taken into his Protection there are Influences of Life which his Humane Nature doth distill from his Heavenly Throne And the Sacramental Bread is called his Body and the Sacramental Wine his Bloud as for other reasons so especially for this because the Virtue and Influence of his most Bloudy Sacrifice is most plentifully and most effectually distilled from Heaven unto the worthy Receivers and many more things he saith to the same effect By this account we may easily undergand the meaning of the sixth chapter of S. John which hath so puzled many Learned Interpreters and we may fairly give the reason of the Sentence of our Lords Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink his Bloud ye have no life in you For the Principle of life comes from our Lords Glorified Humanity and unless we receive into our Souls the vital Virtue which distilleth from it we can be in no other than a dead Condition I do not mean that 't is impossible to have life without receiving the Sacrament no there is that which Divines call a Sacramental and Spiritual receiving of Christ and a Spiritual receiving only when men eat and drink after a right manner they receive both the Sacrament and also the thing or virtue of the Sacrament but yet men may derive and by Faith do derive virtue from Christ without the Sacrament if they do not abstain through negligence or the love of sin and the like The Grace of God is not tyed to Sacraments so but that God may dispense it as he pleaseth nor are we to conceive that the Blessed Body of Christ doth quicken none but at the Communion CHAP. X. That Christs Spiritual Body is actually verily and really taken and received by the Faithful in the Lords Supper Proved from the Analogy thereof to other Sacrifical Feasts among Jews and Heathens From S. Pauls Viscourse 1 Cor. 10. and from the sense of
Kindness and gratious Intentions towards them for this is matter of Faith and Hope which are the things we must necessarily go upon in all our addresses unto the Father of mercies but yet the fruit of eating and drinking here is Joy and Peace to every honest hearted Communicant because his Faith and Hope is hereby much the stronger and built upon more sure and certain grounds 'T is true also that a mans pardon is begun before he doth make his appraoches that is if he makes his approaches regularly and like a good Christian for he must repent first of all his transgressions and that doth dispose him for Gods mercy and makes him meet to be a Partaker of it We must not presume to go to the Lords Table with guilt about us or while we are Reeking in our Sins but Repentance must wipe our defilements off because Christs Body and Bloud is not food for Swine As the Paschal Lamb was not to be eaten but by persons that were pure and clean according to the Sanctifications of the Law so this Christian Passeover Feast is not to be celebrated but by such persons as are purged by Repenance which is the Sanctification of the Gospel Yet all this not withstanding the Blessed Sacrament is an Ordinance of very great concernment and comfort to the cleanest Communicant for though he hath Repented long ago and though upon his having done so he hath great Reason to Hope that he is Reconciled unto God yet this Reconciliation is as yet but imperfect in comparison A man is not fully perfectly and finally pardoned till he hath Ended his Life well While we Live we are still Transacting our business with Heaven but do not finish our work till we dye My Pardon is Inchoa ted upon my Repentance 't is compleatd and irrevocable upon my Perseverance unto the End but t is Confirm'd to me upon my due Eating and Drinking at this Solemnity Hereby all former Grants are Ratified and Sealed anew so that now we have a fair Evidence to shew for our discharge and such an Evidence as will be valid and hold in the day of Judgement if we be not so Foolish as to Cancel the Deed our selves and render our Title to a blessed Eternity Null and void by returning again with the dog to his vomit A Release you know may pass between Parties onely by the Consent and Promise of the Injured Person but when once it is committed to Deed the act is then Confirmed and the Seal which is affixt to the Deed makes that Sure in Law with before was onely Parol or by Promise In like manner though our forgiveness be Inchoated and Begun upon our Repentance yet it is Continued Ratified and Ascertain'd unto us upon our Participation so that he who was justified is justified still and his Justification is more certain certitudine Subjecti than it was before that is a Sincere Commu nicant hath better Hopes to comfort himsurer grounds to go upon more to shew and say for himself more to plead against the clamours of his Conscience more and better Reasons to be Quiet in his mind than when he was barely a Penitent To say the Truth if he doth not Backslide and Revolt he hath a certain Title to the Kingdom of Heaven Upon this account 't is every mans Interest to Communicate often The longer he lives the Older he grows the more he draws towards his grave still he should be the more intent upon this Duty that his Peace and Comfort may still receive the more Additions and that his Assurances may be the more and more strong so that by the blessing of God he may at last use such expressions as S. Paul did which I am sure no Non-Communicant in the world can with such Reason use I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith hence forth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness 2. Tim. 4. 7. 8. CHAP. VII Thirdly We really communicate of Christ Glorified The Doctrine of Transubstantiation condemned as utterly contrary to sence Reason and the Holy Scriptures BEsides that participation of Christ Crucified which is Mystical by Interpretation and Construction as I have shew'd already there is also at this Ordinance a participation of Christ Glorified So 't is Exprest in the Prayer of Consecration which is Real by our being actually made partakers of his most Blessed Body and Bloud This is manifestely the Doctrine of our Church that the Body and Bloud of Christ are verily and indeed taken and received by the Faithful in the Lords Supper and that our Souls are strengthened and Refreshed by the Body and Bloud of Christ as our Bodies are by the Bread and Wine Now our Bodies receive nourishment by our actual receiving the very Substances of Bread and Wine and so according to the Comparison our Souls also do receive strengh and Comfort by actually receiving and participating of the very Nature of Christ After the same manner was the Faith of the Church of England delivered in the beginning of the Reformation by that truly Learned and Great man Arch-Bishop Cranmer in that Admirable Book of his called a Defence of the true and Catholick Doctrine of the Sacrament wherein he doth often use Fol. 32 33 73 100. Et alibi fol. 42 76 84. that Similitude That as the Bread and Wine Corporally comfort and feed our Bodies so doth Christ with his Flesh and Bloud spiritually comfort and feed our Souls and he positively affirms that by the Communion we receive spiritual food and supernatural nourishment from Heaven of the very true Body and Bloud of our Saviour Christ that our Souls by faith do eat his very body and drink his Bloud though spiritually Sucking out of the same everlasting Life and that the Hearts of them that receive the Sacraments are secretly inwardly and Spiritually Transformed renew'd fed comforted and nourisht with Christs Flesh and Bloud through his most holy Spirit the same Flesh and Bloud still remaining in Heaven So that according to the sense of the Church of England not onely the Sacrifice of Christs Death is in the account of God Sacramently Imputed unto us for the Pardon of sin but moreover the very Glorified Jesus now Living and sitting in Heaven is in the Reality of the thing Actually Communicated unto us from above and verily received by us in the Sacrament And the outward Elements of Bread and Wine are not onely Signes and Tokens much less Empty Tokens and Bare Signs of Christs Body and Bloud but are also the Means and Instruments of bringing the whole Christ to us so that his Flesh and Bloud do Really but after a Spiritual and wonderfull manner go along with the Bread and Wine to Sustain and Refresh the Soul as They do the Body I know very well that I am now entring upon the Tenderest point concerning this Sacrament perhaps upon the Nicest speculation in the whole Body of Divinity
Ireneus tells us particularly of that Wizard Marcus Iren. adv Haer. l. 1. c. 9. that he became familiar with Demons and fascinated his Disciples especially of the female Sex after this manner Now this I take to be the full importance and design of that Phrase 1 Cor. 10. 20. where S. Paul saith I would not that ye should have fellowship with Divels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be Communicants with and Partakers of Divels meaning that they should not have any the least society with them lest by sitting at their Tables they should come to be governed acted and inspired by them as Demoniacks were And this gives a great deal of Light to those places of Scripture where we are said to have the Communication of the Body and of the Bloud of Christ and to be partakers of the Lords Table For the full meaning of these expressions is that by feasting together at the Table of the Lord we do participate of our Lords Spiritual Body and of his Spiritual Bloud so as that we are Influenced by him and receive Spiritual Virtue Power and Energy from him that as the Possessed of old were thought to have a Divine Numen in them so every devout Receiver of the Lords Supper may be said to have God and Christ in them because they are lead by Hence Demoniacks were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Maxim in Pseudodyonis de Eccl. c. 3. So the Saints of Christ were ancienly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Ignatius the Martyr was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Trajanus dixit Quis est Theophorus Ignatius respondit Qui Christum habet in pectore vide Acta Ignatii pag. 3. c. the Spirit and receive the Graces of the Spirit of God Christ in Virtue of Christs Body and Bloud The Socinians go a great way round about to fetch a wrested interpretation of these words of S. Paul The Cup of bessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the Bloud of Christ the bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ 1 Cor. 10. 16. For whereas they understand those words to this effect that our celebration of the Eucharist is a Declaration of that Communion we have with that sacred Society the Church which is the Mystical Body of Christ the Interpretation is Impertinent Idle and Ridiculous because that place of Scripture doth plainly signifie a Communication of Christs Bloud as well as of his Body nay of that bloud which was shed and of that Body which was given for us and this cannot be meant of his Body Mystical Some again are as wide on the other hand who though they grant a Communication of Christs very Body yet never the less Deny the Reality of its presence which is a meer Riddle and an unintelligible notion for how can we conceive that we really partake of Christs Body at the Sacrament if it be not really there to deny him to be Present and yet to affirm that we receive him Spiritually Mystically and Sacramentally is nothing else but to use so many dark expressions to cover Non sense it being impossible to imagine how we can Communicate of that which is Not and 't is as plain a Contradiction to say that we eat of Christs Body and drink of his Bloud if his Body and Bloud be not Present as it is to say that we receive Christ and yet not receive him at the same time Nor doth it mend the matter to say that we receive Christ by faith For if Christ be not Present and at our hand I cannot see how all the faith in the world can help us to receive him Christ doth dwell indeed in every Believers heart and faith doth dispose and qualifie us for the reception of him but how can faith bring that to me which is not nigh me and which is not her below to be gime Faith is a perswasion of the mind and this perswasion worketh upon mine own heart but cannot work upon the object of my faith so as to bring that to me which is really above in heaven onely Nay we must suppose the Body and Bloud of our Saviour to be in the Sacrament or else we cannot Rightly believe that we do receive him for to believe that I receive Christ at the Sacrament when at the same time I believe that he is not Really there is a Lying faith that contradicteth and confuteth it self Seeing then 't is reasonable to believe that Christs Body and Bloud are actually and verily in the Sacrament it must be granted that they are there either in respect of their Natural Substance or in respect of their Spiritual but Real Virtues and in respect of those Divine Influences which are by means of the Sacrament derived from the man Christ Jesus But the first of these is a proposition so uncouth so irrational so repugnant to Scripture and all Antiquity and upon every account so impossible to be true that it nomore agreeth with Christianity then darkness doth agree with light Therefore if men well understand and speak sense they must grant S. Paul to speak in the fore-cited place of the Communication of Christs Spiritual Body and Bloud and so the thing will be obvious rational and intelligible for in regard that by the use of the blessed Sacrament we receive virtues and influences from our Lords Glorified Humanity we are very rightly said to Communicate of his Body In regard that these Virtues are not imaginary Ideas but Real things Real in themselves and of real effect and operation it is very proper to affirm that Christ is Really present in the Sacrament Lastly in regard that these virtues are of a Spiritual Nature and flow from him who is a Quickning Spirit and are dispensed by the Holy Spirit and are receive by and work upon our Spirits and are efficacious in order to our Spiritual Life and do make us partakers of the Divine Nature it is easie to conceive the reason why Christ is said to be present in the Eucharist after a Spiritual manner and so by this construction of the matter the Doctrine of Christs Real but Spiritual Presence and of the Real but Spiritual Communication of his Body and Bloud is secured and the darkest part of this Mystery lyes open and fair and easie to be understood by men of the most Vulgar capacities To this purpose Anselm understands those In 1. ad Cor. cap. 10. words of the Apostle the Cup of blessing which we bless is it not the Communication of Christs Bloud that is doth it not make those who drink of it worthily partakers of the Life of Christ which is designed by his Bloud doth it not make us partakers of his blessedness and Glory wherein our souls are made One with his by the Communication of the same Glory And so the Bread which we break is it not the participation of the
2. Whence I proceed to the Second Conclusion that if no special Law had been given us for the celebration of this Mystery if no Positive Command had been annexed to its Institutions were we so wholly left to our own Liberty whether we would Receive the Communion or no that we should not sin against God by not receiving we should nevertheless be very much wanting to our selves and sin against our own souls should we Turn our backs upon this great Ordinance as to their shame many Ill men do some that never yet Communicated in all their Life some that Despise it and Hate to do it some that pretend they are Afraid to do it though it be not the Ordinance but their own Wickedness that scares them some that strive against their own Convictions for the sake of this world some that are so supine and Listless that they care not to set about it and some that do it so seldome that they seem Indifferent whether they do it at all or no. To bring all these wretches to a due Sense and Practice of their Duty I would beseech them to Consult their own Best thoughts if they be ever Thoughtful and Seriously to consider what mercies they wilfully Forsake Is it a slight thing is it Nothing to be made a Partaker of that Great Sacrifice for sin which was offered upon the Cross when we daily lye at Gods mercy and stand in need of his Pardon and are utterly Undone if we have it not when we feel in our own Breasts the miserable Effects of our Follies those Twinges and Sores in our Consciences those wounds and gashes in the Spirit which are so full of intolerable Anguish that some have hurryed themselves out of the world on purpose to be rid as they thought of the sense of their Torments when we are sensible how the Judgements of God go abroad in the Earth to Punish men for their Impieties when we have seen so many sad Examples of men who have roared and sometimes Despaired upon their death-beds under the burden of their guilt and when none can tell but that he may be tortured punisht and visited after the same manner these things and the like being considered well what can any man desire so much as to have his iniquities forgiven and then what Fools are they that neglect to receive the Holy Sacrament which is the Seal of our Pardon Is it a mean thing not worth our craving or longing for to be nourisht with the most Blessed Body and Bloud of our Redeemer to receive Vitality and Influences of Grace from him to be Refresht and strengthned with that Divine aliment which hath been the Support of Apostles Prophets and Martyrs and without which our Souls can no more live a Life Spiritual and Divine than our Bodies can continue in plight and strength without Sustenance Is it not a mercy invaluable to have the Guidance Aids and Comforts of Christs Spirit when our Natural Corruptions are so strong when the Enemy of our Souls is so malicious and Buisie when the Temptations we meet with are so Thick and ensnaring when the Common course of Humane Life is such that we walk continually among Dangers and Deaths Lord what a Miserable Creature would man be without the care Assistance and Succours of the Spirit In times of Errors and Delusion to be assisted and kept stedfast by the Spirit of Truth in times of Tryal to be led by that Spirit of Power which helpeth our infirmities in times of Impiety to be guided and governed by the Spirit of Grace and Holiness in times of Affliction and Distress whether they be Publick or Private calamities we groan under then to have the Spirit of Comfort to speak peace to our Consciences to take away the Bitterness of our pottage to sweeten and lighten our Griefs with salutary Breathings from above to Support us in all our sufferings to carry us safe through all Difficulties and at last to lead us into a Serene and Calm world Oh! what an Happiness is this and what Improvident people are thy who neglect an Ordinance that is Productive of this Happiness that is so Beneficial and Useful to all these purposes Again to have such a lively Faith as will not fail us however we may be winnowed sifted and tost to have a vigorous Hope that will keep our Heads up when storm and tempest beat down thousands to be full of those Graces which are sweeter then Nard under our nostrils to be United to him who Loved us and gave himself for us and to have this Testimony within us that we are the very Members of Christ and in the end to Dye with Satisfaction and with a strong Confidence that one day we shall rise again and see the Salvation of God in the Land of the Living these are Felicities than which the Nature of man is not capable of Greater in this Life and I have shew'd you particularly one by one that these are the Blessings wherewith God crowneth every Constant and Devout Communicant Briefly there is no Ordinance of God but what doth carry its Advantages with it where men use it after a Regular and Due manner But all other Ordinances seem to center and meet in this so that it is a certain Instrument of an Holy Life and of that which will be Dear and Valuable to us when all the Gayeties of Life are over I mean a Comfortable Death And so I leave it to the thoughts of every Understanding and Thinking Christian to consider what Unwise as well as Unthankfull men they are who are so willing to go from an Ordinance at which others gather up Life and Immortallity It is no wonder that the world groweth so vain and wicked and that the Souls of men are so Improsperous One great reason is because they have Itching ears but Insensate Hearts that neither Crave for the Influences of Heaven nor care to Receive them though they come down in streams God be merciful unto them but they will one day find what a crime and Folly they are guilty of in forsaking thus the mercies of the Cross and in trampling under their feet the Bloud of the Son of God after this manner Not that their imprudence or unthankfulness is their only sin No there is an addition of impiety too which helps to aggravate it For in this case we are not in our own hands neither are we left to our own liberty and Pleasure The Command of Christ whereby we are obliged to solemnize this Mystery is as plain and as peremptory a command as any other in the whole Bible and if a law from Heaven can make any thing necessary then is this so But I will not now meddle with that consideration There being that and many more which relate more immediately to our practice that I see will cost another just Discourse as of the necessity that is incumbent upon us and of the necessity of preparation also together with the Nature and Extent of that preparation which is requisite and divers other the like matters which deserve to be well considered and to be treated of by themselves in their due order and by degrees Here we will end this Discourse beseeching God to help us to a right understanding and to enable us to keep a good Conscience in all things for Christ Jesus his sake to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost three Persons in the Unity of the God-head be all Glory and Honour and Praise for evermore Amen FINIS