it to his own Damnation So also such as observe this Ceremony of Bread and Wine it is to them the Bread of the Lord and the Cup of the Lord because they Use it as a Religious Act And forasmuch as their End therein is To shew forth the Lord's Death and to Remember his Body that was Crucified for them and his Blood that was shed for them If notwithstanding they believe it is their Duty to do it and make it a matter of Conscience to forbear if they do it without that due Preparation and Examination which every Religious Act ought to be performed in then instead of truly Remembring the Lord's Death and his Body and his Blood they render themselves Guilty of it as being in one Spirit with those that Crucified him and shed his Blood though pretending with Thanksgiving and Joy to Remember it Thus the Scribes and Pharisees of Old though in Memory of the Prophets they garnished their Sepulchres yet are said by Christ to be Guilty of their Blood And that no more can be hence inferred appears from another saying of the same Apostle Rom. 14. 23. He that doubteth is damned if he eat c. where he speaking of those that judged it unlawful to Eat flesh c. saith If they eat doubting they eat their own Damnation Now it is manifest for all this that either the doing or forbearing of this was to another that placed no Conscience in it of no moment so I say he that Eateth that which in his Conscience he is perswaded is not lawful for him to Eat doth Eat his own Damnation So he also that placeth Conscience in Eating bread and wine as a Religious Act if he do it Unprepared and without that due respect wherein such Acts should be gone about he Eateth and Drinketh his own Damnation not discerning the Lord's Body i. e. not minding what he doth to wit with a special Respect to the Lord and by way of a special Commemoration of the Death of Christ. § VI. I having now sufficiently shewn what the True Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ is how it is partaken of and how it has no necessary Relation to that Ceremony of bread and Wine used by Christ with his Disciples it is sit now to consider the Nature and Constitution of that Ceremony for as to the proper Use of it we have had occasion to speak before Whether it be a standing Ordinance in the Church of Christ obligatory upon all or indeed whether it be any necessary part of the Worship of the New Covenant-Dispensation or hath any better or more binding Foundation than several other Ceremonies appointed and practised about the same time which the most of our Opposers acknowledge to be ceased and now no ways binding upon Christians We find this Ceremony only mentioned in Scripture in four places to wit Matthew Mark and Luke and by Paul to the Corinthians If any would infer any thing from the frequency of the mentioning of it that will add nothing for it being a matter of Fact is therefore mentioned by the Evangelists And there are other things less Memorable as often yea oftner mentioned Matthew and Mark give only an Account of the Matter of Fact without any Precept to do so afterwards simply declaring that Jesus at that time did desire them to Eat of the Bread and Drink of the Cup To which Luke adds these Words This do in Remembrance of me If we consider this Action of Christ with his Apostles there will appear nothing singular in it for a Foundation to such a strange Superstructure as many in their Airy Imaginations have fought to build upon it for both Matthew and Mark press it as an Act done by him as he was Eating Matthew saith And as they were Eating and Mark And as they did Eat Jesus took bread c. Now this Act was no singular thing neither any solemn Institution of a Gospel Ordinance because it was a Constant Custom among the Jews as Paulus Riccius observes at length in his Celestial Agriculture That when they did Eat the Passover the Master of the Family did take Bread and bless it and breaking gave of it to the rest and likewise taking Wine did the same So that there can nothing further appear in this than that Jesus Christ who fulfilled all Righteousness and also observed the Jewish Feasts and Customs used this also among his Disciples only that as in most other things he laboured to draw their Minds to a further thing so in the use of this he takes occasion to put them in mind of his Death and Sufferings which were shortly to be Which he did the oftner Inculcate unto them for that they were Averse from believing it And as for that Expression of Luke Do this in Remembrance of me it will amount to no more than being the last time that Christ did Eat with his Disciples he desired them that in their Eating and Drinking they might have regard to him and by the Remembring of that opportunity be the more stirred up to follow him diligently through Sufferings and Death c. But what man of Reason laying aside the Prejudice of Education and the Influence of Tradition will say that this Account of the Matter of Fact given by Matthew and Mark or this Expression of Luke to do that in Remembrance of him will amount to these Consequences which the generality of Christians have sought to draw from it as calling it Augustissimum Eucharistiae Sacramentum Venerabile Altaris Sacramentum The Principal Seal of the Covenant of Grace by which all the Benefits of Christ's Death are sealed to Believers and such like things But to give a further Evidence how these Consequences have not any bottom from the Practice of that Ceremony nor from the words following Do this c. let us consider another of the like Nature as it is at length expressed by John c. 13. v. 3 4 8 13 14 15. Jesus riseth from Supper and laid aside his Garments and took a Towel and girded himself After that he poured Water into a Bason and began to Wash the Disciples Feet and to wipe them with the Towel wherewith he was girded Peter saith unto him Thou shalt never Wash my Feet Jesus answered him If I Wash thee not thou hast no part with me So after he had Washed their Feet he said Know ye what I have done to you If I then your Lord and Master have Washed your Feet ye also ought to Wash one anothers Feet For I have given you an Example that ye should do as I have done to you As to which let it be observed that John relates this Passage to have been done at the same time with the other of breaking Bread both being done the Night of the Pass-over after Supper If we regard the Narration of this and the Circumstances attending it it was done with far more Solemnity and prescribed far
of having things in Common But notwithstanding so far at least to Remember or Continue that Antient Community they did at certain times come together and break Bread together Hence it is said Acts 20. 7. that Paul coming to Troas And upon the first day of the Week when the Disciples came together to Break Bread Paul preached unto them ready to depart on the Morrow and continued his Speech until Midnight Here is no mention made of any Sacramental Eating but only that Paul took occasion from their being together to preach unto them And it seems it was a Supper they intended not a Morning-Bit of Bread and Sup of Wine else it s not very probable that Paul would from the Morning have preached until Midnight But the Eleventh Verse puts the matter out of Dispute which is thus When he therefore was come up again and had broken Bread and eaten and talked a long while even till break of day so he departed This shews that the Breaking of Bread was deferred till that time for those words and when he had broken Bread and eaten do shew that it had a relation to the Breaking of Bread aforementioned and that that was the time he did it Secondly These words joined together and when he had broken Bread and eaten and talked shew it was no Religious Act of Worship but only an Eating for bodily Refreshment for which the Christians used to Meet together some time And doing it in God's Fear and Singleness of Heart doth notwithstanding difference it from the Eating or Feasting of prophane Persons And this by some is called a Love-Feast or a being together not meerly to feed their Bellies or for outward Ends but to take thence occasion to Eat and Drink together in the Dread and Presence of the Lord as his People Which Custom we shall not Condemn but let it be observed that in all the Acts there is no other nor further mention of this matter But if that Ceremony had been some Solemn Sacrifice as some will have it or such a Special Sacrament as others plead it to be it is strange that that History that in many lesser things gives a particular Account of the Christians Behaviour should have been so silent in the matter Only we find that they used sometimes to Meet together to break Bread and Eat Now as the Primitive Christians began by degrees to depart from that Primitive Purity and Simplicity so as to accumulate Superstitious Traditions and vitiate the Innocent Practices of their Predecessors by the intermixing either of Jewish or Heathenish Rites so also in the Use of this very early Abuses began to creep in among Christians so that it was needful for the Apostle Paul to Reform them and Reprove them therefore as he doth at large 1 Cor. 11. from ver 17. to the End Which place we shall particularly Examine because our Adversaries lay the chief Stress of their matter upon it and we shall see whether it will infer any more than we have above granted First Because they were apt to use that Practice in a superstitious mind beyond the true Use of it as to make of it some Mystical Supper of the Lord he tells them v. 20. That their Coming together into one place is not to Eat the Lord's Supper he saith not This is not the right Manner to Eat but This is is not to Eat the Lord's Supper because the Supper of the Lord is Spiritual and a Mystery Secondly He blames them in that they come together for the worse and not for the better the Reason he gives of this is ver 21. For in Eating every one hath taken before his own Supper and one is hungry and another is drunken Here it is plain that the Apostle Condemns them for that because this Custom of Supping in general was used among Christians for to increase their Love and as a Memorial of Christ's Supping with the Disciples that they should have so vitiated it to eat it apart and to come full who had abundance and hungry who had little at home whereby the very Use and End of this Practice is lost and perverted And therefore he blames them that they do not either Eat this in Common at home or reserve their Eating till they come all together to the Publick Assembly This appears plainly by the following verse 22. Have ye not Houses to eat and to drink in Or despise ye the Church of God and shame them that have not Where he blames them for their Irregular Practice herein in that they despised to Eat orderly or reserve their Eating to the Publick Assembly and so shaming such as not having Houses nor Fulness at home came to partake of the Common Table who being hungry thereby were ashamed when they observed others come thither full and drunken Those that without prejudice will look to the place will see this must have been the Case among the Corinthians For supposing the Use of this to have been then as now used either by Papists Lutherans or Calvinists it is hard making sense of the Apostle's words or indeed to conceive what was the Abuse the Corinthians committed in this thing Having thus observed what the Apostle said above because this Custom of Eating and Drinking together some time had its rise from Christ's Act with the Apostles the Night he was betrayed therefore the Apostle proceeds ver 23. to give them an Account of that For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus the same Night in which he was betrayed took Bread c. Those that understand the difference betwixt a Narration of a thing and a Command cannot but see if they will that there is no Command in this place but only an Account of Matter of Fact He saith not I received of the Lord that as he took Bread so I should command it to you to do so also there is nothing like this in the place Yea on the contrary ver 25. where he repeats Christ's Imperative Words to his Apostles he placeth them so as they import no Command This do ye as oft as ye drink it in Remembrance of me And then he adds For as often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew the Lord's Death till he come But these words as often imports no more a Command than to say As often as thou goest to Rome see the Capitol will infer a Command to me to go thither Object But whereas they urge the last words Ye shew forth the Lords Death till he come insinuating That this imports a necessary Continuance of that Ceremony until Christ come at the end of the World to Judgment Answ. I Answer They take Two of the Chief Parts of the Controversie here for granted without proof First That as often imports a Command the contrary whereof is shewn neither will they ever be able to prove it Secondly That
many from that time went back from him and walked no more with him I doubt not but there are many also at this day professing to be Disciples of Christ that do as little understand this matter as those did and are as apt to be offended and stumble at it while they are gazing and following after the outward Body and look not to that by which the Saints are daily fed and nourished For as Jesus Christ in obedience to the Will of the Father did by the Eternal Spirit offer up that Body for a Propitiation for the Remission of Sins and finished his Testimony upon Earth thereby in a most perfect Example of Patience Resignation and Holiness that all might be made Partakers of the Fruit of that Sacricrifice so hath he likewise poured forth into the Hearts of all Men a measure of that Divine Light and Seed wherewith he is Cloathed that thereby reaching unto the Consciences of all he may Raise them up out of Death and Darkness by his Life and Light and they thereby may be made Partakers of his Body and therethrough come to have Fellowship with the Father and with the Son Quest. § III. If it be asked How and after what manner Man comes to partake of it and to be fed by it Answ. I Answer in the plain and express words of Christ I am the Bread of Life saith he he that cometh to me shall never hungeh he that believeth in me shall never thirst And again For my Flesh is Meat indeed and my Blood is drink indeed So whosoever thou art that askest this Question or read'st these Lines whether thou account'st thy self a Believer or really feelest by a certain and sad Experience that thou art yet in the Unbelief and find'st that the outward Body and Flesh of Christ is so far from thee that thou canst not reach it nor feed-upon it Yea though thou hast often swallowed down and taken in that which the Papists have perswaded thee to be the Real Flesh and Blood of Christ and hast believed it to be so though all thy Senses told thee the Contrary Or being a Lutheran hast taken that Bread in and with and under which the Lutherans have assured thee that the Flesh and Blood of Christ is Or being a Calvinist hast partaken of that which the Calvinists say though a Figure only of the Body gives them that take it a Real Participation of the Body Flesh and Blood of Christ though they neither know how nor what way I say if for all this thou find'st thy Soul yet barren yea hungry and ready to starve for want of something thou longest for know that that Light that discovers thy Iniquity to thee that shews thee thy Barrenness thy Nakedness thy Emptiness is that Body that thou must partake of and feed upon But that till by forsaking Iniquity thou turn'st to it com'st unto it receiv'st it though thou may'st hunger after it thou canst not be Satisfied with it for it hath no Communion with Darkness Nor canst thou drink of the Cup of the Lord and the Cup of Devils and be Partaker of the Lord's Table and the Table of Devils 1 Cor. 10. 21 But as thou suffer'st that small Seed of Righteousness to arise in thee and to be formed into a Birth that New Substantial Birth that 's brought forth in the Soul naturally feeds upon and is nourished by this Spiritual Body Yea as this outward Birth lives not but as it sucks in Breath by the Outward Elementary Air so this New Birth lives not in the Soul but as it draws in and breathes by that Spiritual Air or Vehicle And as the Outward Birth cannot subsist without some Outward Body to feed upon some Outward Flesh and some outward Drink so neither can this Inward Birth without it be fed by this Inward Body by this Inward Flesh and Blood of Christ which answers to it after the same manner by way of Analogy And this is most agreeable to the Doctrine of Christ concerning this matter For as without Outward Food the Natural Body hath not Life so also saith Christ Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood ye have no life in you And as the Outward body eating Outward food lives thereby so Christ saith That he that eateth him shall live by him So it is this Inward Participation of this Inward Man of this Inward and Spiritual Body by which Man is united to God and has Fellowship and Communion with him He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood saith Christ dwelleth in me and I in him this cannot be understood of Outward Eating of Outward Bread And as by this the Soul must have Fellowship with God so also in so far as all the Saints are Partakers of this One Body and this One Blood they come also to have a Joint-Communion Hence the Apostle 1 Cor. 10. 17. in this respect saith That they being many are One Bread and One Body And to the Wise among the Corinthians he saith The Bread which we break is the Communion of the Body of Christ. This is the True and Spiritual Supper of the Lord which Men come to partake of by hearing the Voice of Christ and opening the Door of their Hearts and so letting him in in the manner above-said according to the plain words of the Scripture Rev. 3. 20. Behold I stand at the Door and Knock if any Man hear my Voice and open the Door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me So that the Supper of the Lord and the Supping with the Lord and partaking of his Flesh and Blood is no ways limited to the Ceremony of breaking Bread and drinking Wine at particular times but is truly and really Enjoyed as often as the Soul retires into the Light of the Lord and feels and partakes of that Heavenly Life by which the Inward Man is nourished Which may be and is often witnessed by the Faithful at all times though more particularly when they are Assembled together to Wait upon the Lord. § IV. But what Confusion the Professors of Christianity have run into concerning this matter is more than obvious who as in most other things they have done for want of a true Spiritual Understanding have sought to Tie this Supper of the Lord to that Ceremony used by Christ before his Death of breaking Bread and drinking Wine with his Disciples And though they for the most part agree in this general yet how do they Contend and Debate one against another How strangely are they pinched pained and straitned to make this Spiritual Mystery agree to that Ceremony And what monstrous and wild Opinions and Conceivings have they invented to inclose or affix the Body of Christ to their Bread and Wine From which Opinion not only the greatest and fiercest and most hurtful Contests both among the Professors of Christianity in general
Blood here spoken of Yet it will not follow that that Well or Water had any necessary relation to the Living Water or the Living Water to it c. So Christ takes occasion from the Jews following him for the Loaves to tell them of this Spiritual Bread and Flesh of his Body which was more necessary for them to feed upon it will not therefore follow that their following him for the Loaves had any necessary relation thereunto So also Christ here being at Supper with his Disoiples takes occasion from the Bread and Wine which was before them to signifie unto them that as That Bread which he brake unto them and That Wine which he blessed and gave unto them did contribute to the preserving and nourishing of their Bodies so was he also to give his Body and shed his Blood for the Salvation of their Souls And therefore the very End proposed in this Ceremony to those that observe it is to be a Memorial of his Death But if it be said that the Apostle 1 Cor. 10. 16. Calls the Bread which he brake the Communion of the Body of Christ and the Cup the Communion of his Blood I do most willingly subscribe unto it but do deny that this is understood of the outward Bread neither can it be evinced but the Contrary is manifest from the Context For the Apostle in this Chapter speaks not one Word of that Ceremony For having in the beginning of it shewn them how the Jews of Old were made partakers of the Spiritual Food and Water which was Christ and how several of them through Disobedience and Idolatry fell from that good Condition he exhorts them by the Example of those Jews whom God destroyed of Old to flee those Evils shewing them that they to wit the Corinthians are likewise partakers of the body and blood of Christ of which Communion they would rob themselves if they did Evil because they could not drink of the Cup of the Lord and the Cup of Devils and partake of the Lord's Table and of the Table of Devils ver 21. Which shews that he understands not here the using of outward Bread and Wine because those that do Drink the Cup of Devils and Eat of the Table of Devils yea the Wickedest of Men may partake of the outward Bread and outward Wine For there the Apostle calls the bread One ver 17. and he saith We being many are One bread and one body for we are all partakers of that One bread Now if the bread be One it cannot be the Outward or the Inward would be excluded whereas it cannot be denied but that it 's the partaking of the Inward bread and not the Outward that makes the Saints truly One body and One bread And whereas they say that the One bread here comprehendeth both the Outward and Inward by vertue of the Sacramental Union that indeed is to affirm but not to prove As for that Figment of a Sacramental Union I find not such a thing in all the Scripture especially in the New Testament Nor is there any thing can give a rise for such a thing in this Chapter where the Apostle as is above observed is not at all treating of that Ceremony but only from the Excellency of that Priviledge which the Corinthians had as believing Christians To partake of the flesh and blood of Christ dehorts them from Idolatry and partaking of the Sacrifices offered to Idols so as thereby to offend or hurt their weak Brethren Object But that which they most of all Cry out for in this matter and are always Noising is from 1 Cor. 11. where the Apostle is particularly treating of this matter and therefore from some Words here they have the greatest Appearance of Truth for their Assertion As ver 27. where he calls the Cup the Cup of the Lord and saith That they who eat of it and drink it unworthily are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord and ver 26. Eat and drink their own Damnation intimating hence that this hath an immediate or necessary relation to the body flesh and blood of Christ. Answ. Though this at first View may catch the Unwary Reader yet being well considered it doth no ways Evince the matter in Controversie As for the Corinthians being in the Use of this Ceremony why they were so and how that obliges not Christians now to the same shall be spoken of hereafter it suffices at this time to consider that they were in the Use of it Secondly That in the Use of it they were guilty of and committed divers Abuses Thirdly That the Apostle here is giving them Directions how they may do it aright in shewing them the right and proper Use and End of it These things being premised let it be observed that the very express and particular Use of it according to the Apostle is To shew forth the Lord's Death c. But to shew forth the Lord's Death and partake of the flesh and blood of Christ are different things He saith not As often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye partake of the Body and Blood of Christ but Ye shew forth the Lord's Death So I acknowledge that this Ceremony by those that practise it hath an Immediate Relation to the outward Body and Death of Christ upon the Cross as being properly a Memorial of it but it doth not thence follow that it hath any inward or immediate Relation to Believers communicating or partaking of the Spiritual Body and Blood of Christ or that Spiritual Supper spoken of Rev. 3. 20. For though in a general way as every Religious Action in some respect hath a common relation to the Spiritual Communion of the Saints with God so we shall not deny but this hath a relation to others Now for his calling the Cup the Cup of the Lord and saying They are guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ and eat their own Damnation in not discerning the Lord's Body c. I answer that this infers no more Necessary Relation than any other Religious Act and amounts to no more than this that since the Corinthians were in the Use of this Ceremony and so performed it as a Religious Act they ought to do it Worthily else they should bring Condemnation upon themselves Now this will not more infer the thing so practised by them to be a necessary Religious Act obligatory upon others than when Rom. 14. 6. the Apostle saith He that regardeth the Day regardeth it unto the Lord it can be thence inferred that the Days that some esteemed and observed did lay an obligation upon others to do the same But yet as he that Esteemed a Day and placed Conscience in keeping it was to regard it to the Lord and so it was to him in so far as he dedicated it unto the Lord the Lord's Day he was to do it Worthily and if he did it Unworthily he would be guilty of the Lord's Day and so keep
this Coming is understood of Christ's last outward Coming and not of his Inward and Spiritual that remains to be proved whereas the Apostle might well understand it of his Inward Coming and Appearance which perhaps some of those Carnal Corinthians that used to come drunken together had not yet known And others being Weak among them and inclinable to dote upon Outwards this might have been Indulged to them for a season and even used by those who knew Christ's Appearance in Spirit as other things were of which we shall speak hereafter especially by the Apostle who became Weak to the Weak and All to All that he might save some Now those Weak and Carnal Corinthians might be permitted the Use of this to Shew forth or Remember Christ's Death till he come to Arise in them for though such need those outward things to put them in mind of Christ's Death yet such as are dead with Christ and not only dead with Christ but buried and also arisen with him need not such Signs to Remember him And to such therefore the Apostle saith Col. 3. 1. If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God But Bread and Wine are not these things that are above but are things of the Earth But that this whole matter was a meer Act of Indulgence and Condescendence of the Apostle Paul to the Weak and Carnal Corinthians appears yet more by the Syriack Copy which ver 17. in his entring upon this matter hath it thus In that concerning which I am about to command you or instruct you I commend you not because ye have not gone forward but are descended unto that which is less or of less Consequence Clearly importing that the Apostle was grieved that such was their Condition that he was forc'd to give them Instructions concerning those Outward things and doting upon which they shew they were not gone forward in the Life of Christianity but rather sticking in beggarly Elements And therefore ver 20. the same Version hath it thus When then ye meet together ye do not do it as it is just ye should do in the day of the Lord ye eat and drink Thèreby shewing to them that To Meet together to eat and drink Outward Bread and Wine was not the Labour and Work of that Day of the Lord. But since our Adversaries are so zealous for this Ceremony because used by the Church of Corinth though with how little ground is already shewn how come they to pass over far more positive Commands of the Apostles as matters of no moment As First Acts 15. 26. where the Apostles peremptorily Command even the Gentiles as that which was the Mind of the Holy Ghost To abstain from things strangled and from Blood And Jam. 5. 14. where it is expresly Commanded That the Sick be Anointed with Oil in the Name of the Lord. Object If they say These were only Temporary things but not to Continue Answ. What have they more to shew for this there being no express Repeal of them Object If they say The Repeal is implied because the Apostle saith We ought not to be judged in Meats and Drinks Answ. I admit the Answer but how can it be evited to militate the same way against the other Practice Surely not at all nor can there be any thing urged for the one more than for the other but Custom and Tradition Object And for that of James they say There followed a Miracle upon it to wit the Recovery of the Sick But this being Ceased so should the Ceremony Answ. Though this might many ways be answered to wit That Prayer then might as well be forborn to which also the saving of the Sick is there ascribed Yet I shall accept of it because I judge indeed that Ceremony is Ceased only me thinks since our Adversaries and that rightly think a Ceremony ought to Cease where the Vertue fails they ought by the same Rule to sorbear the laying on of Hands in Imitation of the Apostles since the Gift of the Holy Ghost doth not follow upon it § IX But since we find that several Testimonies of Scripture do sufficiently shew that Such External Rites are no necessary part of the New Covenant-Dispensation therefore not needful now to Continue however they were for a season practised of old I shall instance some few of them whereby from the Nature of the thing as well as those Testimonies it may appear that the Ceremony of Bread and Wine is Ceased as well as those other things confessed by our Adversaries to be so The first is Rom. 14. 17. For the Kingdom of God is not Meat and Drink but Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Here the Apostle evidently shews that the Kingdom of God or Gospel of Christ stands not in Meats and Drinks and such like things but in Righteousness as by the Context doth appear where he is speaking of the Guilt and Hazzard of judging one another about Meats and Drinks So then if the Kingdom of God stand not in them nor the Gospel nor Work of Christ then the Eating of Outward Bread and Wine can be no necessary part of the Gospel-Worship nor any perpetual Ordinance of it Another is yet more plain of the same Apostle Col. 2. 16. The Apostle throughout this whole Second Chapter doth clearly plead for us and against the Formality and Superstition of our Opposers For in the beginning he holds forth the great Priviledges Christians have by Christ who are come indeed to the Life of Christianity and therefore he desires them ver 6. As they have received Christ so to walk in him and to beware lest they be spoiled through Philosophy and vain Deceit after the Rudiments or Elements of the World because that in Christ whom they have received is all Fulness And that they are Circumcised with the Circumcision made without Hands which he calls the Circumcision of Christ and being buried with him by Baptism are also arisen with him through the Faith of the Operation of God Here also they did partake of the True Baptism of Christ and being such as are Arisen with him let us see whether he thinks it needful they should make use of such Meat and Drink as Bread and Wine to put them in Remembrance of Christ's Death Or whether they ought to be judged that they did it not ver 16. Let no Man therefore judge you in Meat or Drink Is not Bread and Wine Meat and Drink But why Which are a Shadow of things to come But the Body is of Christ. Then since our Adversaries Confess that their Bread and Wine is a Sign or Shadow therefore according to the Apostle's Doctrine we ought not to be Judged in the Observation of it But is it not fit for those that are Dead with Christ to be subject to such Ordinances See what he saith ver 20.
BAPTISM AND THE Lord ' s Supper Substantially Asserted BEING AN APOLOGY In Behalf of the People called QUAKERS Concerning those Two Heads By ROBERT BARCLAY LONDON Printed and Sold by T. Sowle in White-Hart-Court in Gracious-Street 1696. TO THE READER Friendly Reader HAving often observed upon serious Discourse with divers Persons concerning our Principles their having received general satisfaction excepting in these Two Heads viz. Baptism and the Lord's Supper and not knowing but that thou may be at a stand concerning the same I do here present thee for thy further information and satisfaction these following Sheets written and published several Years ago upon the same Subjects by my Father Robert Barclay in his Apology Dedicated to King Charles the Second The second and more particular reason of their being thus published by themselves is that being Bound up in a pretty large Book they may not be of such general Service in regard that some dissatisfied only concerning these Two Points may not much care to Buy the whole Being fully satisfied his aim in Penning them was for thy satisfaction I shall commend them no otherways than by recommending them to thy serious perusal not doubting if they be by thee received in the same Spirit of Love they were for thy sake designed they may prove advantageous I do likewise advise thee seriously to consider what woful consequence have been procured in the Titular Christian World since the first Apostacy after the Apostles Days about these things and the setting up of Forms and Ceremonies in the Church in Matters purely Religious and relying thereupon as there are too many in these Days do who by grasping at the shadow do lose the substance I pray God open the Eyes and enlighten the Understandings of such that seeing the emptiness and insufficiency as well as folly thereof they may with their whole Hearts and Souls lay hold upon him who is able to save and that to the uttermost I would have none offended that I call those Ceremomonies which they may think Essential Duties without their being first assured they are such Although I refer thee to the following Sheets for thy more particular Information yet it may not seem impertinent to put thee in mind of that saying of John the Baptist concerning himself I indeed baptize you with Water unto Repentance but he that cometh after me is mightier than I he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with Fire Mat. 3. 11. also HE must Increase but I must Decrease John 3. 30. likewise that of Paul to the Ephesians where he notably argues as there is but one Lord one Faith so there is but one Baptism Eph. 4. 5. which the Apostle Peter positively asserts is not the washing away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God 1 Pet. 3. 21. These I leave without Commentary to thy impartial perusal It were greatly to be wished for that we who covet to be called by that Honourable Name of Christian were more inward less in show more in Substance that our Christianity were more in our Hearts and less in our Heads then would our Religion be pure and undefiled carrying along with it that Characteristick mark of visiting the Widow and the Fatherless and keeping our selves unspotted from the World this is the Description the Apostle James in his Day gave of True Religion James 1. 27. this is likewise the Path the True Christian ought now to walk in it being only as we here abide that we can stand approved in the sight of our Great Creator in which Reader as thou art found a Walker with a single Heart and Eye unto God thou wilt know an eating of the Flesh and drinking of the Blood of the Son of God by which thou vvilt knovv Life unto thy Soul according to that saying of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Except ye eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of the Son of Man there is no Life in you for saith he my Flesh is Meat indeed and my Blood is Drink indeed John 6. 53. 55. This Food is Inward it is Spiritual to the Nourishment of the inner Man not perceptible to the outvvard Notions of Carnal-minded Men this is the true Supper of vvhich the Saints do feed vvhereby they are refreshed to the comforting of their Immortal Souls being the same vvhich the Saints in all Ages vvere partakers of Which that thou may come to knovv and be made partaker of by Waiting for and being Obedient unto the Appearance of his Grace Light Spirit or Word of Life in thy ovvn Soul that being the only Way is the Desire of thy Sincere Friend Robert Barclay London the 12th of the 8th Month 1695. CONCERNING BAPTISM As there is one Lord and one Faith so there is one Baptism which is not the putting away the filth of the flesh but the Answer of a good Conscience before God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And this Baptism is a Pure and Spiritual thing to wit the Baptism of the Spirit and Fire by which we are buried with him that being washed and purged from our Sins we may walk in newness of Life Of which the Baptism of John was a Figure which was Commanded for a time and not to continue for ever As to the Baptism of Infants it is a meer Humane Tradition for which neither Precept nor Practice is to be found in all the Scripture WHen God in Condescension to his chosen people the Jews did prescribe to them by his Servant Moses many Ceremonies and Observations as Types and Shadows of the Substance which in due time was to be Revealed which consisted for the most part in Washings outward Purifications and Cleansings which were to continue until the Time of the Reformation until the Spiritual Worship should be set up and that God by the more powerful pouring forth of his Spirit and guiding of that Anointing should lead his Children into all Truth and teach them to Worship him in a way more Spiritual and acceptable to him though less agreeable to the Carnal and Outward Senses Yet notwithstanding God's Condescension to the Jews in such things we see that that part in man which delights to follow its own Inventions could not be restrained nor yet satisfied with all these Observations but that often-times they would be either declining to the other Superstitions of the Gentiles or adding some New Observations and Ceremonies of their own To which they were so devoted that they were still apt to prefer them before the Command of God and that under the Notion of Zeal and Piety This we see abundantly in the Example of the Pharisees the Chiefest Sect among the Jews whom Christ so frequently reproves for making void the Commandments of God by their Traditions Matth. 15. 6 9 c. This Complaint may at this day be no less justly made as to many bearing the Name of Christians who have introduced many things of this
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