God in the eternal life and happiness of my body and soul which consists in my union with and fruition of God in heaven for ever which is effected by the Spirit and grace of God through the merits of Jesus Christ drawing my soul through faith in the Son of God made Man to himself who by the evil of sin both original depravation and actual Commissions am removed at an infinite distance from the love of God the fountain of happiness and placed in a state of Guilt liable to the justice and wrath of God and by consequence to eternal misery and Damnation II. A State not more miserable in it self than unavoidable by me unless the free grace immense goodness of the Almighty which brings sinners to repentance had prevented both my desert and desire by an eternal purpose of offering pardon life and salvation to sinful mankind which good pleasure and purpose in himself God hath clearly revealed according to the divers dispensations of his wisdom and providence even from the first promise of Christ made to the first sinners to the personal coming of the Son of God into the World to bear the Name and Office of the Saviour of Sinners and hath fully accomplisht and clearly reveal'd unto Mankind this undeniable truth of the eternal purpose of God to give pardon life and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ his only Son who became Man and died for the sins of the World and so satisfied the Justice of God for them that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life III. That great saying and most comfortable Truth Preached by Christ witnessed by the Apostles Dictated by the Spirit of God written by the Evangelists Confirmed by many Miracles delivered by the Church by constant Tradition and believed on in all ages this God requires me to believe as a certain and infallible truth in it self and by faith it becomes to me saving and comfortable It brings my soul to see by the law it s own sinful and desperate estate it calls me off from my self and all Creatures and assures me of immortal happiness for ever by adhering and relying upon Christ and that free grace of God in him and through him bestowed upon my soul IV. This faith and trust in the free Grace through Jesus Christ as it is first wrought by the word of God and his holy Spirit in my soul which is the beginning of this spiritual and eternal life so that it may be further nourished and strengthened to a farther degree of comfort and assurance God hath out of a wonderful Indulgence to our weakness and difficulty of believing annexed to his word these holy Sacraments as visible and most manifest Seals of this Covenant of Grace and Mercy that the soul might in no sort doubt of it nor be discouraged at the sight of it 's own sin and unworthiness when it sees the love of God and its pardon confirmed and assured to it by all its senses and his Saviour the great worker and teacher of this salvation by these sensible means lively set forth in his death and sufferings and himself with all his merits personally offered and conveighed to its self in particulars V. This then is the End to which this holy Sacrament as other means of grace is especially directed that it may be to the souls spiritual life of such efficacy as Food is to the Temporal life of our Bodies a means to maintain life to encrease strength and inward comfort to enable holy actions and cheerful obedience to assure our hopes and affiance in the great truth of God for the pardon of sins and bestowing the Son of God Jesus Christ our great Redeemer who is the Fountain and conveigher of life through these Conduits of the outward means to the penitent and believing soul Secondly The Author by whom it was Instituted I. Was the Lord Jesus Christ the Saviour of the World who being the Lord of power and the Jesus of Mercy is both able and wiling to make this holy Ordinance the means of that Mercy and Grace which he promiseth to us which means are effectual to this supernatural end not by any proportion of innate vertue or Physical efficacy of themselves as food hath to our temporal life by the common rule and ordination of Providence but by a Spiritual Divine and most Mysterious appointment Instituted by our God and Saviour himself whose Authority only could Institute and whose power only can make effectual his Institution by uniting earthly sensible so small and unproportionable means to so heavenly spiritual and excellent an End II. So that in this great mystery though reason assures us in the general assent that the Omnipotency of God can make effectual whatever means he pleaseth in his wisdom to ordain to an end though never so unproportionable yet for the particular demonstrating of the matter of efficiency whereby such means do certainly convey to us so great an end and benefit Reason is quite dazl'd and blind having no ground to fasten upon but devolving all the work of this holy mystery to faith which relies upon the truth power and love of the Institutor Jesus Christ who while he was yet on Earth by a Corporal and Natural presence conversing with men but chiefly with his choice and Domestick Company the Twelve Apostles a little before his death Instituted this Sacred Mystery after his last Supper which he made with them III. By the evidence of this Sacrament exhibiting himself to them and all beliving souls in such an extraordinary and eminent degree of comfort and personal assurance as might greatly establish their faith and hearts in the near and dismal Times of his sufferings shortly ensuing and after his Ascention might be a continual memorial and Seal of the Covenant of Grace established in the death of Christ a support of the faith of Belivers a lively token pledge of his spiritual presence with his Church during his bodily absence till his second coming as also a badge of the profession of the Christian Religion and that mutual love and charity of Believers who are all united by faith to one and the same Saviour of whom they are all partakers in this one Sacrament as well of the invisible Grace as the outward and visible signs the bread and wine Thirdly The outward Means suitable to this end I. The choice of which familiar signs made by our Saviour for the outward means discovered a wonderful wisdom and no less love and condescention to his Church while he made choice of such things for the Representation of his greatest Grace and our comfort as best sitting this staâ—e of Senses and Infirmity such as for the Community may be had of all Nations and in all Countries either by native Commodities as in most or by cheap and easy Commerce with others whose abundance may spare though where the proper species of bread and wine cannot be had those means of nourishment
which are proportionable may be used so that no Nation or man may think himself excluded from the use and comfort of this Sacrament of the Lords Super. II. For their necessity such as no man in an ordinary way of living can dispence with the want of them and live long healthfully implying that Food is not more necessary for sustaining this present life and strength of the body than the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is for the supporting the life and well-being of the soul to all eternity III. For their plainness and simplicity it is such as may take off Christians minds from placing Piety and the Mysteries of Grace and Religion in any external pomp and vanity which doth but dazle the eyes and amaze the senses and detain vulgar and common minds by the outward glory of the senses Objects from that inward retiring of the Spirit and Soul to its proper and comfortable Objects which are Spiritual Invisible and Intellectual and far remote from the Senses and abstracted from them So that Christians cannot easily be so grossly and stupidly sensual as to imagine any efficacy in these small and simple elements of themselves no more than in Wax or Parchment which not of their proper virtue but only of the will of the conveigher have power to convey an estate to the Receiver of them IV. For their proportionable suitableness and familiar correspondency of Virtues and Efficiency first the bread and wine being apt to nourish the body by common ordination of Providence the body and blood of Christ fit to nourish the soul by special ordination of Grace Secondly the bread and wine at a distance will not feed us but must be personally applyed by taking eating drinking and digesting The body and blood of Christ looked on only by knowledg and Historical speculation will not profit the soul except by a lively Faith which is the hand mouth and stomach of the soul it accepts and takes hold on Christ and applies his merits to it self for Salvation V. The Bread after it passeth much violence of the Mill hand and fire is made wholesome for Food and the Wine after it hath endured the torture of the Press is prepared for drink the body and blood of Christ not whole entire and unsufferable but Crucified and Broken in his Passion when he did undergo the burthen of the sins of the world and was under the pressure of the Justice of God and Sacrificed for the redemption of mankind under this consideration is received by the believing Soul for its life and comfort looking on all these sufferings of Christ not as his own demerits whose innocency was without spot or blemish but as the satisfaction of the Justice and appeasing the wrath of God for the sins of them that shall believe in his name which work of reconciling Heaven and Earth God and Man as Christ willingly undertook so he fully performed and is fully performed and is by God accepted in full discharge whose mercy to man designed his only Son for this great End VI. For the facility of the performance both in respect of cost and labour the Indulgence of Christ seeking to render Christian services to God and the Offices of the Gospel as easy and as cheap as might be that neither the cost nor the pains might deter any from the frequent partaking of these Mysteries the comforts of which are the free gift of God and cost us nothing but acceptance for the evidence and perceptibleness of them falling under the perception of four several fenses by whose joyâ—t testimony of their proper Objects our minds and reason naturally gains the certainty and infallibility of natural truths whose Testimonies now by Christs institution are raised higher to give evidence and witness to Faith of the truth and certainty of its Objects VII The Body and Blood of Christ broken and shed in his death and sufferings which by these sensible signs are clearly represented and the merits and efficacy of his death as truly perceived and as really conveighed by faith to the soul and person of a Believer for life and happiness as the nutritive power and virtue of the Bread and Wine is perceived approved and applyed by the Senses to the Body that as by one sense of Hearing faith is begun so by the other four Senses in this Sacrament it might daily be encreased and strengthned there being not a greater Physical certainty given into our common Sense and Reason by our senses of the Truth of the bread and wine which the body receives then there is a Theological and Sacramental certainty given into Faith depending upon the Authority truth and power of the Institutor of a real and most effectual perception of the body and blood of Christ for the nourishment of our souls and bodies to eternal life that as our souls are here helped by the senses of the Body and its food in the way of a natural and momentary life so the body may at last be saved by the souls perception of its Spiritual Food to Glory and Immortal life Fourthly The Mystical Vnion by which they effectually attain and convey to us that end and benefit which is propounded I. For the Sacramental Union of the outward signs which are the proper Objects of our senses to the body and blood of Christ which are the proper Objects of our Faith this I conceive to be not by any Physical or natural Union as the Fruit to the Tree or the effect to its proportionate Cause nor yet by any Miraculous working of Omnipotency in changing the substance of these Elements into the substance of Christ's Body and Blood which makes the Judgment of Faith contradict the Judgment of the Senses which the will of God hath appointed by the Law of Nature to give a true Testimony of their proper Objects rightly dispos'd and withal do witness these to be indeed true bread and wine and the same for Substance after Consecration as they were before though wonderfully different from their use neither is faith ever commanded by any Divine will to deny or contradict the truth of Senses for the substance and nature of things Though it raiseth us far above them and bids us look infinite beyond them in a Divine and Supernatural relation and use annexed to them II. Nor may Omnipotency the common retreat and subterfuge be so far extended by Human fancy and imagination to maintain them as to imply a necessary contradiction in the Will of God about one and the same subject which Will is but one and regular setting bounds to Omnipotency agreeable to it self which cannot be avoided here if we say that God's Will is in the way of nature that the Senses judge truly of their Objects which They do here and tell us jointly that they are bread and wine and yet his Will is at the same and about the same thing that Faith should contradict the Senses Testimonny and believe truly that they are not bread and
wine but substantially flesh and blood besides innumerable monstrous and most absurd Consequences and Contradictions which follow that Opinion which all do infinitely perplex and torture the minds of Christians If the Opinion were granted and all these absurdities swallowed by a wide and enormous Faith yet were there no advantage of Efficacy or Comfort gained to the Receiver by a gross and Carnal Eating and Drinking the body and blood of Christ. III. If those which Crucified him had done so or they who then believed in him when he was slain yet would they not any way have furthered their souls good and life which can no more be fed with carnal and sensible Objects than the body with light and truth which are of a Spiritual nature nor doth this first violent act of faith which they require of a Receiver in believing the essential change of the Bread and Wine into the body and Blood of Christ make a worthy Receiver except his Soul by a further act of Faith apply the virtue and merits of Christ's Death and Passion which is done effectually without the thought of Transubstantiation by that Faith which we say is necessary for a worthy Receiver which doth as clearly perceive and as really receive its proper Objects the Truth and Merits of Christ's Death and Sufferings to which no distance of place or time can be any impediment as the Sence doth its sensible Objects which requires a fit time and distance for perception IV. As for the Sacramental words given in the name of the Body and Blood of Christ to the consecrated Bread and Wine I believe them to be most true in the sense and meaning of our Saviour which sense I do not only guess at or implicitely believe but easily and plainly gather and understand by the like expressions both of our Saviour himself and the stile and phrase of the whole Scripture which never make such substantial predications of one thing to be another by way of transmutation of one into the other but by allusion relation similitude proportion designation of use and Sacramental Union or application no more than the Paschal Lamb which was a Type and Sacrament of Christ and his Sufferings was the very substance of Christ or that Rock on which St. Paul affirms it was Christ or that Christ is to be thought a natural door way vine light c. all which he affirms to be himself by a like manner of speech or more nearer the Cup to be the New Testament c. So that Reason Religion and the Rule of Faith the Holy Scriptures teach Christians to give commodam interpretationem a fit and agreeable interpretation V. Nor can we have a truer interpreter of Christ's meaning than himself who tells us that the Flesh profiteth nothing that is in that carnal and gross acceptation but his words are spiritual and must have a spiritual sense which is suitable to the Nature and Capacity of the Soul the dignity of Chiristan Religion and the sacred Mystery the Propriety of the object of Faith and the stile and tenour of God's Word which never enjoyns us any carnal thing horrible or inhumane For though the Letter may sound so yet the Figure in the words doth relieve our Faith and accommodate a fit and true meaning to such words and expressions nothing being more usual than for the Spirit of God to set forth Spiritual things and duties by corporal notions VI. So that as the Bread and Wine by their natural qualities and vertues are fit to represent the spiritual efficacy of the Body and Blood of Christ yet by a natural power are no whit able to impart to a Communicant the Body and Blood of Christ with the benefits of them to the Soul so that our blessed Saviour hath made choice of them for the First and hath given to them a Sacramental Virtue and a supernatural efficacy for the Second which they truly do as Remembrancers as Signs and Seals really conveying to the believing and prepared Soul by the concurrent Spirit and Power of the Institutor Jesus Christ that which in their nature they do fitly represent VII Which is all that I conceive I need beleive of or expect from this Sacrament which is appointed only to strengthen and confirm that Faith in us by which we believe in Christ crucified for Life and Salvation which Faith grounded on the Word and wrought by the Spirit is first confirmed and sealed by Baptism and may be true and sufficient to save a Christian who never lives to come to the Supper of the Lord nor hath any thought or use of Transubstantiation in this no more than of the substantial change of the Water in Baptism into the Blood of Christ which was never yet dreamed of yet our Saviour tells us Joh. the 6th Except a man eat his Flesh and drink his Blood he cannot have Eternal Life which many have who never eat of the most holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper yet dye believers and by Faith have eaten and drank the Body and Blood of Christ spiritually yet really without which they could not be saved VIII Neither to secure children of Salvation in case they dye before years of discretion need we resume the antient but erroneous practice of the Church now long since abolished by all sides viz. to put the Eucharistical Bread and Wine into the mouths of Infants which Error sprang from the gross and corporeal interpretation of our Saviour's words not considering that every Believer either in the internal disposition which is secretly wrought by the Spirits sanctifying Power in Baptism according to the capacity of the Subject or in the real exercise and actuating of his Faith which comes by Hearing in his riper years must necessarily and doth effectually and really Eat and Drink the Body and Blood of Christ to Salvation though they never come to receive in the Holy Supper so that it is but one Christ his Body and Blood the same Crucified Saviour which is received in both Sacraments and but one Faith for the kind that layes hold and feeds on Christ in them all only it receives degrees and addition of strength in this of the Supper the Word beginning the Life of Faith and by it the Believer into Christ the other maintaining and encreasing it to a further strength and assurance IX We deny not a true and real presence and perception of Christ's Body and Blood in the Sacrament which reality even they of the other gross Opinion do not imagine is to Sence but to Faith which perceives its Objects as really according to the manner of Faiths perception as the senses do theirs after their manner I believe therefore that in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper there are both objects presented to and received by a Worthy Receiver first the Bread and Wine in their own nature and substances distinct do remain as well as their accidents which are the true objects of our sence and fit signs to represent