Damnation to themselves when Persons in their eating and drinking at this Table look no farther than at what presents its self to the eye of the Body at the outward signs and Elements only not discerning the broken Body and the shed Blood of Christ to be wrapped up in them and represented by them Putting no difference between the Sacramental Bread and Wine and common bread and wine putting no difference between the Body and Blood of Christ and the body and blood of a meer Man Between Bread Representing the Body of Christ and bread the ordinary staff of Life Between Wine as representing the Blood of Christ and Wine that is the ordidary Cordial and refreshment to the natural Spirits Why such a person when he cats and drinks at this Table eats and drinks unworthily not discerning the Lord's Body Eats the Bread and drinks the Wine but doth not cat the Body and Blood of Christ spiritually And well may he be said to eat and drink unworthily because by thus eating and drinking he violates in those outward Signs and Elements the honour and regard due to the Majesty and Glory and Merit of the Lord Jesus Christ Now Faith is that eye which pierceth through the Clouds and Shadows of the outward Signs and Elements to those Heavenly great and glorious Mysteries in and beyond them even Christ's Body broken and his Blood shed for us Christ's Sweating drops of Blood in the Garden and dying a Painful Shameful and Accursed Death upon the Cross Faith eyes the great and wonderful Mysteries that are in this Death and the great Benefits slowing from thence to Believers Faith gives us a discerning of these things in the Supper not a Speculative discerning but a Spiritual and Practical apprehension of them such as stirreth up sutable reverence and holy Affections as if we had seen him hang bleeding upon the Cross Sweating under that load and burden of Divine Wrath and Displeasure due to the sins of the Elect World which he bare the least of which would have broken the back of the Whole Creation to have stood under it Many a Man may be able to Discourse very well and understandingly about these Great Mysteries of the Supper To tell what is the meaning of the Bread and what the meaning of the Wine is that have no Spiritual discerning but is meerly the Fruit of an Historical Faith or Tradition that is current in the Age or Country he lives in But Faith gives a Spiritual Discerning such a sight and sense of these great Mysteries as doth impress an holy dread and a we upon the Soul and an holy rejoycing and delighting in the Soul So that upon this account we see what great need there is of Faith in our Receiving and Partaking of this Supper Again There is great need of Faith and work for Faith in this Ordinance to reconcile us to the meanness and despicableness as to outward appearance of this as well as other Ordinances of Christ Ordinances are simple in appearance and therefore the Creature is ready to carp at them It is a Saying of one Nihil adeo offendit hominum mentes ac simplicitas divinorum operum c. There is nothing doth so much offend the Minds of Men as the Simplicity of God's Ordinances As in Baptism there is but a little common Water And what can this do to cleanse the Soul from Sin So in the Lord's Supper there is but a little Morsel of Bread and a small Draught of VVine a poor Feast to a Carnal Man Carnal and corrupted Reason is greatly prejudiced stumbled and offended at so mean and despicable an appearance Therefore see the need of Faith and the Great Work for Faith in this Ordinance How mean and despicable soever these may seem as to out ward appearance yet they are high and Mysterious Instruments of our Peace Growth and Comfort And altho' Carnal Sense and Corrupted Reason cannot see it yet Faith doth How mean soever as to outward appearance these may seem yet Faith eyes the Institution and Blessing that goes along with them And where the Institutions of Christ are attended with his own Blessing there Ordinances though never so simple in appearance yet shall become effectual for producing great Effects and for obtaining high and glorious Ends. Lastly There is great need of Faith and Work for Faith in this Ordinance for a real and close application of those great Benefits and Mysteries that are represented to us and discerned by us in this Ordinance Faith is not only the Spiritual eye of the Soul whereby we discern Christ Crucifyed and the Mysteries and Merits and Benefits of his Death in this Supper Vailed under the outward Signes and Ellements but it is also the Spiritual hand of the Soul whereby we take Christ his Merits and Benefits offered and tendered to us in this Supper and apply to our own Souls benefit comfort and advantage Of what advantage will the finest dainties be that can possibly be provided for nourishment and refreshment if not fed upon and digested by us Or the most excellent Medicine that ever was compounded Of what advantage will it be to a Sick Person for Health and Recovery if he do not take it and apply it So of no more avail or advantage would Christ be and all his excellent Benefits to us in this Ordinance without a real and close application of them to our own Souls unless taken and received fed upon and digested and this must be the work of Faith to take and eat to take and drink VVhat Bread and VVine only no these are the least matters but Christ's Body and Blood also and all the Benefits thereof must by Faith be taken and received eaten and digested to our Spiritual Nourishment and growth in Grace This may suffice to shew the great need that there is of Faith and the great Work that there is for Faith in our partaking of this Supper There is also great work for Faith after our receiving and partaking and that is stedfastly to rely upon what Christ hath done and Suffered for us upon his Righteousness and Satisfaction upon the efficacy and sufficiency of his Death and Sufferings of his Blood and Merit all which have been in a most lively manner exhibited and represented to us in this Supper And our work and business is to walk with a fiducial dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ in every act and duty of worship for access to God for asistance from God In every fresh perplexity of Mind doth Satan accuse Conscience accuse the Law accuse why yes it may be all these accuse us why then our work and business is to plead the fulness of Christ's satisfaction and the sufficiency of his Merit against all these charges and accusations and here is enough in this Righteousness and Satisfaction of Christ to answer all And the great work of Faith is to rely and depend upon it Under a fresh sense and feeling of Guilt we are
us Others passed by us and took no notice of us but he looked upon us and behold it was a time of Love with us He threw his Skirt over us and covered our Nakedness and poured Water upon us to wash away our filthiness He Swear unto us and entred into Covenant with us to be ours and we to be his he to be our God and we to be his Peculiar People He hath given Himself his Son his spirit to us Himself to be our God and Portion Jer. 31.31 32 33. But this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days saith the Lord I will put my Law into their hearts and write it in their inward parts and will be their God and they shall be my People And what Tongue can express What Pen can describe the happiness of that People who have God to be their God David in the 144 Psalm v. 15. says Happy are the People whose God is the Lord. He doth not say how happy for it is beyond express But this we may truly say that all our happiness and felicity and comfort lies in this in having God to be our God If there be no want to them that fear God I am sure there can be none to them that enjoy God who is a Soul-comforting Soul-refreshing Soul-satisfying Object It matters not what our Circumstances and Conditions are here in this World be they never so low and inconsiderable if we have but God for our God we are happy Happy is that People whose God is the Lord. He hath given us not only himself but his Son too John 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Given him for us To obey and suffer to bleed and dye and suffer and satisfy for us to rescue and redeem us from those evils and miseries under which we lay viz. the Wrath of God the Curse of the Law by laying down his life for us a life more precious than the lives of all the Angels in Heaven or Men upon Earth Not only given him for us but given him to us to be believed in and rested upon for Life and Salvation to dwell in us and be united to us to be made of God Wisdom and Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption to be to us and do for us all that God hath appointed and designed him to be Again he hath not only given us himself and Son but his Spirit also to us To open our Eyes to enlighten our Minds to incline our Wills to change our Hearts to Turn and Convert us to himself To convince of Sin to lead to Christ to be the guid of our ways to be the death of our sins to quicken and enliven and strengthen our Graces To witness with our spirits that we are the Children of God To comfort us in all our Troubles to succour us in all our Temptations to resolve us in all our Doubts to help us against all our Infirmities To conduct us safe through this evil World and to seal us up to the day of Redemption But yet farther he gives us liberty to wait upon him in the solemn Dutys of his Worship He gives us Praying seasons and Hearing seasons and Communicating seasons for the carrying on begun Grace in our Souls Thus richly doth he furnish our Table in this howling Desart and bountifully provides for us in a strange Land We have not only Food for our Bodies but Food for our Souls not only the Bread that perisheth but that which endures to Everlasting Life The Lamb is slain and behold all things are ready The Marriage Supper is prepared and a welcome ready for all that come to it This is Christ's language to all his guests O friends drink ye eat â—e drink and eat abundantly O beloved And what do you think is the matter of this Feast Why it is Christ with all his saving Benefits even Peace and Pardon and Comfort This is the Gospel Feast unto which poor Sinners are invited The Lord Jesus Christ is both the master and the matter of this Feast This is that Bread which came down from Heaven which is othergates Food than that Manna was which fell in the Wilderness of which it is said Our Fathers did eat and they are dead but whosoever eateth of this Bread lives for ever John 6.48 49 50. This is the Lamb that was slain from the Foundations of the World whose Flesh is Meat indeed and whose Blood is Drink indeed Thus bountifully hath God provided for our Souls we have not only the sincere Milk of the Word that we may grow thereby but more substantial Food even that sealing strengthening confirming Ordinance of the Lords Supper where Christ and all his Benefits are represented sealed and applied to Belivers who was not only offered up upon the Cross for the Satisfaction of Divine Justice and the expiation of our Sins but offered upon the Table for the satisfying our guilty minds and for the Food and Nourishment of our Souls Here it is that we may take a view of Christ's dying love Here we see him Bruised and Broken and Bleeding for our sakes and for our Sins Here we may see him broken and bruised by his Father in the day of his great Wrath when his Body was torn his Soul in a dreadful Agony his side pierced his Blood shed these are in a most lively manner represented by the breakof the Bread and pouring out of the Wine Here is a Wounded Broken Bleeding Jesus represented to us The Elements in this Sacrament signifie and set forth the unconceivable Sufferings of our blessed Lord both in his â—ody and in his Soul The Bread signifies the Sufferings of his Body And the Wine which is a representation of his Blood the Agonvs of his Soul because the Spirits whereby the Soul acts are in the Blood All the Sacraments that ever were instituted since Adams fall to this very day both ordinary and extraordinary both Old Testament and New Testament Sacraments they all of them principally represent and point at Jesus and him Crucified Adams Sacrifices were Types of Christ the true Sacrifice Circumcision a pledge of our Hearts Circumcision thro' Christs Blood Col. 2.11 In whom also ye are Circumcised with the Circumcision made without hands in putting off the Body of the Sins of the Flesh by the Circumcision of Christ The Passover was a token and Type of Christ our Passover Sacrificed for us 1 Cor. 5.7 Baptism this doth point at the Death of Christ we are said by Baptism to be Baptised into Christ and into his Death Rom. 6.3 4 5. And the Lords Supper is a most lively representation of the Death of Christ 1 Cor. 11.26 As often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye shew the Lords death till he come This is a standing memorial and a lasting monument of our blessed Lords love in bleeding
encrease in it For the stronger our Faith is the greater revenue of Glory we bring to Christ It is said of Abraham He was strong in Faith giving Glory to God Rom. 4.20 But how did he glorify God why by believing in hope against hope He glorifyed the Faithfulness and Truth and the Power of God that notwithstanding the outward Discouragement under which he lay tho' it seemed to be a very unlikely improbable thing to the eye of Sense and Reason that he should have a Child considering his own Age and the Deadness of Sarahs Womb yet he believed in the Power and Faithfulness of God that he was able to performe what he promised to him and that he would be true and faithful to perform it Thus Abraham by his Faith Glorifyed God's Power Truth and Faithfulness And thus by believing we bring a great Revenue of Honour and Glory unto Christ When we stedfastly rely upon the Merit and All-sufficiency of his Blood for the Pardon of all our Sins and under the fresh guilt we are contracting daily we daily apply and betake our selves to this Blood of Christ for fresh Pardon and Cleansing when we stedfastly rely upon his Righteousness for our Justifycation before God not mentioning a word of our own Inherent Righteousness or Holiness for our Justification and Acceptance with God but make mention of his and of his only when under all our Temptations we rely upon his Mercy and Faithfulness to help and succour us In all our ways to rely upon his Wisdom for our guidance and conduct when in every act and duty of Worship we rely upon him for our access to God We never bring more honour and glory unto Christ than when we go most out of our selves and rely most upon Christ This is to walk believingly and thus we are to walk after this Supper viz. with a stronger Faith and trust on the Lord Jesus Christ We walk by Faith says the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.7 And in another place The life which I now live in the Flesh I live by faith in the Son of God Gal. 2.20 And thus we are to live and walk viz. with a stronger Faith with a more stedfast trust and reliance upon Christ upon his Obedience and Satisfaction To this end was he lifted up upon the Cross and offered there viz. to be believed in and rested upon Joh. 3.14 15. As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him c. To this end did God the Father give Christ viz. to be believed in and rested upon vers 16 For God so loved the world that be gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish c. To this end is he lifted up in the preaching of the Gospel viz. that poor sinners might believe on and put all their trust and confidence in him for life and for Salvation Mark 16.15 16. Go into all the World and preach the Gospel to every Creature he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved And to this end is he offered to us in the Supper viz. to be believed in and rested upon 1 Cor. 11.23 24 25. The Lord Jesus Christ the same night in which he was betrayed took Bread and when he had given thanks brake it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you After the same manner he took the Cup when he had supped saying this Cup is the New Testament of my blood this do ye as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me And in another place drink ye all of it this do in remembrance of me In the Bread broken upon the Table we have a lively representation of Christ's broken Body In the Wine we have a lively representation of the Blood of the Lord Jesus the price of our Redemption By Eating and Drinking we are to understand believing so that we see the Lord Jesus Christ is oâ—ered to us in this Supper to be believed in and rested upon It is true there is nothing but bare Bread and Wine presents it self to the eye of our Bodies But under these outward Signes and Elements of Bread and Wine there is a broken Crucified Saviour offered and presented to the eye of our Faith O there is great need ' of Faith and great work for Faith in our receiving and after our receiving in our partaking and after we have partaken of this Supper whilst we sit down and after we are risen up from this Table There is great need of Faith and great work for Faith in our receiving We can no more turn Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Christ without faith says one than a Chymist can transmute one Metal into another without the operation of the fire He that comes to this Supper without faith says another is like a Man that thinks to quench his thirst by sucking the Ale bowl Alas what is it that we receive at this Supper why it is but a little morsel of Bread and a small draught of Wine without faith and what can this do to the nourishing and strengthning of our Souls As the word profits not unless it be mixed with faith in those that hear it Heb. 4.2 So the Lord's Supper profits not unless mingled with faith in those that receive it It is true were we only at this Ordinance to receive the Bread at the Ministers hands that gives it then there would be no such need of Faith at this Ordinance But at this Ordinance we are to take Christ out of God's hand who is offered to us there and this cannot be done without faith were we only to eat the Bread and drink the Wine at this Supper this might be done without faith but we are to eat Christ's Flesh and drink Christ's Blood to seed upon a broken Crucified Saviour who is not only the Master but the Matter of this feast and this cannot be done but by faith It is faith that feeds upon Christ and derives virtue and vigour from him His Flesh is meat indeed and his Blood is drink indeed John 6.55 Meat to be eaten not with the teeth but by faith Meat indeed not in Nature but in Effect because it nourisheth the Soul and gives Eternal life to them that eat thereof v. 54. Whoso eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath Eternal life c. Hath Eternal life ay hath it already in a just Right and Title and shall have it in a certain actua Possession There is great need of Faith and Work for Faith in this Ordinance to discern and spy out those great Mysteries that are wrapped up in the outward Elements The want of which viz. a right discerning of the Mysteries that are pointed at by these signes in this Ordinance is the cause of Persons miscarrying under it is the cause of Persons eating and drinking unworthily and as a consequent of that of their eating and drinking