Disorders before spoke of were not only disus'd but forbid The Sacramental Action as hath been said was celebrated after the Morning Prayer beginning with the Oblation of Bread and Wine and the Wine we may observe by the by was ordinarily mix'd with Water For those Creatures they bless'd God the Father through Jesus Christ and then after some Prayers and Hymns He is invok'd to send down his Holy Spirit on the offer'd Bread and Wine to sanctifie it and that it may become to the Worthy Receivers the Body and Blood of his Son m after which it was distributed by the Deacons to the People and sent also to the Absent f § II. This was the Christian Practice undoubtedly in the Primitive Church nor does it want a Jewish Pattern Our Saviour as it hath been premis'd (a) 〈…〉 took occasion from the Paschal Memorial of the Redemption of Israel out of their Egyptian Slavery to institute a commemoration of a new and far greater Deliverance of all Mankind from the enteral Bondage of Satan and â—lell And whereas it has been observ'd (b) 〈…〉 that the first Paschal Lamb of the 〈◊〉 was a Sacrifice of a mix'd extraâ—â—dinary nature being in part Propiâ—â—â—tory in part Federal and partly â—â—charistical It is likewise manifest that the Sacrifice of our Saviour was also of an eminent extraordinary kind It was a Sacrifice for Sin taken in the most strict acception being perfectly Expiatory It was also Federal for in that Blood the New Testament or Covenant was made and in that same respect it was in some sort an Offering of Peace obtaining not only Pardon but Favour for Men. And further as the succeeding Paschal Sacrifices tho' commemoratory of the First yet vary'd something from it being chiefly of an Eucharistical nature and not perform'd with the same Ceremony for neither was the Blood sprinkl'd upon the Doors of the Offerers neither was the Lamb eaten with their Staves in their Hand and in a travelling posture (c) Maim de Sacrif Pasch cap. sect ult so it is not to be wonder'd if the succeeding Commemorations of our Lord's Sacrifice tho' it was chiefly Expiatory were Eucharistical and differing also from the manner in which the first was celebrated by our Lord himself Now such a Change in the nature of the Commemoration from that of the Original Sacrifice tho' not express'd in the words of the Institution may yet be the better admitted if we find cause to suppose it because our Saviour instituting the Memorial of the Action before it was done by himself or so much as understood by the Apostles may therefore be presum'd neither to have held his Supper exactly and altogether in the same manner in which that Sacrament was afterwards to be nor clearly to have express'd its Nature but to have left the more particular Directions for it and Explanation of it to the supervening Instructions of the Holy Spirit Tho' therefore the Lord's Supper was erected out of a Paschal Supper yet the Apostles as it has appear'd did not understand it to be confin'd to that time of the year only or to the use of Unleaven'd Bread neither did they think their Duty discharg'd by an Annual Celebration of it And so in the judgment of their Disciples the Christians of the next Generation it is still more manifest that the one Supper succeeded the other not in its strict but in its general nature and as it was of the Eucharistical kind a solemn Festival kept in Thanks for a great Deliverance and for a most beneficial and gracious Covenant that as our Deliverance was not Temporary belonging to the present Age only and from an Enemy once slain but was to extend to each Person of all Generations to come and to be perpetually afforded against our continual spiritual Enemies so neither should its Recognition be restrain'd to one Season but offer'd unto our God throughout the whole Year as the Sacrifices of Praise and Thanks were us'd to be offer'd by the Jews with very frequent and solemn Devotion This therefore seems to have been the Construction of the Primitive Christians That the Sacrament of our Lord's Body and Blood answer'd to the Jewish Sacrifices of Thanks and that this Correspondence may the better appear we shall do well to recollect a little the nature and manner of such Oblations § III. THE nature of a Peace-Offering in general is well known It was the Oblation of a Sacrifice some certain parts of which were burnt on the Altar others belong'd to the Priests and the rest was return'd to be eaten by the Offerer To this Sacrifice a Meat-offering and Drink-offering were join'd and by it the Offerer pray'd for future Prosperity or thank'd for that he enjoy'd (a) Abarban Exordium Com in Levit. Edente de Viel p. 330 332. In the more solemn kind of Peace-offerings that of Thanks the Bread of the Meat-offering is expresly requir'd and particulariz'd (b) Lev. 7.13 Maim de Cult Div. Tr. 5. cap. 9. §. 17 18. and it consisted half of Unleaven'd and half of Leaven'd Bread tho' Leaven (c) Lev. 2.11 Maim de Cult Div. 4.5.1 was not so grateful to the Altar as ever to be offer'd for a Meat-offering upon it The Unleaven'd half was made into thirty Cakes each ten dress'd a several way and the Leaven'd half into ten The tenth of all that is four Cakes of the several sorts together with the Breast and Shoulder and Inwards were wav'd by the Priest in the Hands of the Offerer before the Lord. Of that Bread so wav'd some was burnt on the Altar with the Inwards and the rest with the Breast and Shoulder all which together was call'd Muram the Separated or Elevated (c2) Maim ut supra §. 12. Rab. Sal. in Exod. 29.27 Portion remain'd to be eat by the Priest and his Domesticks who joyn'd his Thanks to God with the Offerers while He likewise and his Family and Friends feasted before God on the other Nine parts with the Flesh of the Sacrifice remaining to him Portions of which he sent too abroad to his Acquaintance and to the Poor Now this Bread so offer'd being very singular for a Sacrifice by reason part of it was Leaven'd was particularly call'd the Bread of Thanksgiving d and in one case recorded in Scripture e the Bread is suppos'd by the Jews to have stood for the Living Sacrifice and to have supply'd its place And besides it is there conceiv'd that Leaven'd Bread alone was us'd as being the principal part of the Eucharistical Offering and fittest to represent the whole Now the great Entertainments as was now said of the Jews were made of their Peace-offerings on those they feasted together with their Friends at home and of those they made Presents to the absent The Invitation the False Woman makes to the Young-Man in the Proverbs (f) Prov. 7.14 is That she has a Peace-offering at home And with his Sacrifice Jethro entertain'd
actual partaking of the other be render'd in all Points of Privilege a perfect Israelite being admitted up to the Altar and entirely taken in under the Holy Wings The Pattern I now spoke of upon which they found this Proceeding is the course that was taken with the Children of Israel before Mount Sinai upon their Receiving of the Law (o) Mai. Issur Biah 13.2 3. They are suppos'd to have been all already Circumcis'd the House of Levi all along in Egypt and the Rest before the First Passover and now being come to the Mount they were Interrogated by Moses concerning their Obedience to the Covenant offer'd them (p) c. 19. Exod. 5. to which when they had agreed they were then directed to Sanctifie themselves and to wash their Clothes (q) v. 8. their whole Bodies upon which the Decalogue and some other Precepts were deliver'd them And then after another Stipulation made by the People both Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings were Sacrific'd (r) Exod. 24. â— with the Blood of which themselves and the Book of the Covenant were sprinkled And lastly afterwards the Elders in their Name were admitted to come nearer to the sight of God and when they returned they eat of the Peace-Offerings (Å¿) Aben Ezra in loâ—um given them as it were from the Table of God § III. THIS was the manner of Initiation into the Jews Religion And when our Blessed Saviour was pleas'd to Ordain a New Covenant though he set aside Circumcision as belonging to one Sex and not agreeable to his general Design with whom there was to be neither Male nor Female no more than Jew or Greek Yet he retained Baptism for the same use and commanded the Apostles to admit the Converts to his Religion by that Ceremony Go teach says he or make Disciples of all Nations baptizing them (t) Matth. 28.19 And accordingly the Baptiz'd Christian was esteem'd thenceforth to be born again by that Water (u) Joh. 3. for so Nicodemus who was a Master in Israel ought to have understood our Master and Baptism is also stil'd the Washing of Regeneration (x) 1 Pet. 1.23 And with such a regard St. Paul might say (y) 2 Cor. 5.16 thenceforth he knew no man after the flesh whatever Kindred he might have had with him as a Hebrew of the Hebrews no not if he had so known Christ himself as some might then pretend to do For he that is in Christ is a new Creature and old things are past away And as the new Man and new born Babes are spoke in the Phrase of the Jews of the Baptiz'd so in respect to the Interrogatory us'd in that Office after their Example the Answer of a good Conscience towards God is mention'd we find together with the washing by Water or the putting away of the filth of the flesh (z) 1 Pet. 3.23 And lastly the Christian Proselytes by being baptiz'd were likewise render'd capable of receiving the Holy Ghost or as the Jews would speak of being over-shadowed by the Wings of the Divine Majesty and from that also they were in a State of Holiness and to be call'd the Saints of God So plainly does what the Scripture speaks concerning the Sacrament of Baptism discover to us that our Saviour was pleas'd to take it up from the Jewish Church to use it to the like purpose and to assign to it the same effect not varying so much as the Phrase This Accommodation in the general is manifest I say from the Scripture where Baptism is simply mention'd and without such Circumstances as might have attended it though not express'd But in the next Age we shall find it accompanied with such Rituals as may answer those other particulars of that Jewish Sacrament which we have set down above and are to remember in their proper place (a) Ch. 6. CHAP. III. § I. The Nature of the Paschal Sacrifice and the Description the Jewish Traditions give of that Supper § II. Agreeable to the History in the Gospels of our Lord 's Supper and to the Nature of it I Come next to the other Sacrament of our Lord's Supper which He was pleas'd to institute at a Paschal Supper and to borrow thence its Provision the Bread and Wine § I. THE Paschal Lamb was a Sacrifice of a peculiar compounded Nature (a) Exod. 12. As it was to be roasted with Fire it had something of a Burnt-Offering and might seem to be expiatory as it was then when the Blood of it was sprinkled upon their Doors at the first Institution By the same Blood it was federal also the Children of Israel entering by it into a New Covenant And as it was to be eaten all that night or burnt with fire and none left to the morning so it seem'd to be as an Offering for Thanksgiving (b) Leâ— 7.15 Now answerable to the kind of the Sacrifice was the Supper for which it was prepar'd It was a Festival Entertainment for Joy of the great Deliverance but it was to be eat with unleavened Bread and with bitter Herbs (c) 8. as Memorials of their former Afflictions And the manner of this Supper was thus as Maimonides pretends to tell (d) Tract de Solemnitat Pasch eodem de Veil interprete Cap. 8. In the first place They mingled a Cup of Wine to every one of the Company and the Master of the Family praising God the Creatour of the Fruit of the Vine in the ordinary Form which they use at other Meals He and they all drank beginning so and consecrating the Paschal Action which they were going now to celebrate For so too they us'd to consecrate and separate other sacred Actions from the common Actions of Life the Solemnity of the Sabbath for Example beginning it with a Cup of Wine at the Supper of the first Evening and concluding it with another at the close of the next Day And now after they had wash'd with a Common Prayer us'd at other Washings the Table was set furnish'd with bitter and sweet Herbs unleavened Bread a Sauce red like Brick and the Body of the Lamb for that is their manner of Expression together with the Flesh of the solemn Peace-Offering which was to be offer'd on some day of the Feast (e) Deut. 16.2 and was commonly sacrifc'd on this Day in the Morning (f) Maim de Sacr. Pasch cap. 10. §. 12 13. to help out the Supper When the Table was so set the Master blessing God for having created the Fruits of the Earth in the ordinary Form and as at other times they use to do took of the bitter Herbs about the Quantity of an Olive and dipping them in the red Sauce eat of them and distributed as much to each of the rest After this the Table was to be remov'd a little way from him to give Occasion and Space for the Questions suppos'd in Exodus (g) Exod. 12.26 about the Particularities of this Supper And in
Holy Entertainment being fitly provided and brought on the Table some part of the Bread and so of the Wine was I suppose taken up by the President or Chief of the company were he Apostle Bishop or Presbyter and bless'd in an extraordinary form expressing the reason of the Thanks then offer'd together with a Prayer that the Holy Ghost would sanctifie the Offering as Gifts brought to the Altar were esteem'd to be and sanctifie it particularly to that purpose for which it was prepar'd that the Bread might effectually represent the Flesh or Body for which it stood This Bread and Wine so offer'd and bless'd by the officiating President as if it had been wav'd at the Altar was the more Holy and Sacramental Part of which they communicated as of the Body and Blood of the Lord while the rest of the Oblation which was less holy as being consecrated only by vertue of the other like the remaining nine parts of the Bread of a Thanks-Offering serv'd together with other Provisions for the furnishing of the Supper at which they then fed And so when afterwards the Sacrament and Supper were divided about the time I presume when the Legal Sacrifices were going to cease the Christian Eucharistical Oblation as the Primitive Church speaks began then more distinctly to appear and was made after Morning-Prayer just as extraordinary Sacrifices with the Jews were offer'd after the Morning daily Sacrifice And then as under the Law what of the Eucharistical Sacrifice was offer'd at the Altar the Muram belong'd to the Priest so that part which had been offer'd by the Christian Priest being more especially sacred and his Portion was eaten in the Morning Sacramentally from his Hands the Congregation being as it were his Family while the other Residual Part was kept for the provision of the Love-Feast to be held in the Evening its accustom'd time Now as these solemn Suppers call'd by the name of Love or Charity were in imitation of those Sacrificial Feasts held by the Jews so were they of a like Name For if those of the Jews were not stiled Love-Feasts as possibly they might be yet they were plainly Peace-Feasts being made of Peace-Offerings of the most perfect kind and being Symbols and Pledges of Peace both in Heaven and Earth the Offerer and his Guests partaking in some degree of the Table of God and rejoycing together in mutual Good-will and Amity So did the Present partake of both parts of the Oblation in the Ancient Church agreeably to the practice of the Jews And when they sent Portions to the Absent they acted likewise according to their Custom We know that the Lay-Jews sent of their part (b) Neh. 8.10 and I know not whether the Priests might not so do of their share neither is it much material For tho' the Christian's Eucharist was an imitation of the Jewish yet it was not necessary that it should be bound to the niceness of all the Mosaick Rules Tho' therefore a Sacrifice by Moses's Law was not to be offer'd by night as all legal Acts were to be done by the Jews in the day and so the general practice of Christians was to celebrate the Eucharist in it yet they might think themselves at liberty to solemnize it before day whensoever any particular reason should require them so to do for to their Lord the Day and Night were both alike Likewise tho' the Eucharistical Bread was no more to be kept till next day than the Flesh by the Jewish Rituals as being not to be niggardly sav'd but all of it spent that night in a cheerful liberality and in this it was like their Manna yet the Christians might not think it unlawful in some cases to suffer some part of their Eucharist to be left unto another day For they had already invited all to their Feast who were capable of it and they had not been sparing in their distribution as far as was meet However even in this particular they observ'd something of the Levitical Precept burning still what should remain at last unspent And those of Jerusalem if we understand their Hesychius (c) Comm. in Levit. 8.3 with some kept very precisely to the Eucharistical Ordinance burning all that was left of each day's Communion as it is too order'd by our Church to be immediately divided among the Communicants a Rubrick intended to prevent the Papal Superstition but answerable withal to the nature of the Sacrament Now to all this I have nothing to add but only to take notice that the mixture of Water with the Sacramental Wine of which the Ancients speak was done too after the manner of the Jews and in their opinion did not make it less proper for a Cup of Thanksgiving For they likewise do not think (c) Maim de Solenn Pasch c. 7 §. 9. they celebrate their Paschal Supper duly with pure Wine but mix it with Water that they may the more freely drink the four Cups and also for the better Tast and their greater Pleasure § V. IT sufficiently appears I presume that the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord was understood by the ancient Christians to be in the nature of an Eucharistical not of a Propitiatory Sacrifice with the Jews But further That this kind of Sacrifice only should remain when all the rest should cease this also is consonant to the Tradition of the Jews as Kimchi tells us For upon this Saying of the Prophet (a) Jer. 33.11 That there should be heard again in Jerusalem the Voice of Joy and the Voice of Gladness the Voice of the Bridegroom and the Voice of the Bride the Voice of them that shall say Praise the Lord of Hosts for the Lord is good and his Mercy endureth for ever and of them that shall bring the Sacrifice of Praise or Thanks into the House of the Lord he comments on the last words in this manner The Prophet says not that they shall bring Sin-Offerings or Trespass-Offerings because in that day there would be no Wicked nor Sinners among them for as he before b told them they should all know the Lord. (c) Jer. 31.34 And so have our Masters of blessed memory told us That in the time to come all Sacrifices should cease except the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving This Saying of the Masters of Israel is a great Truth and better understood by Christians who know the Lord and themselves so well as to know that the Sacrifices for Sin are not ceas'd by the ceasing of Sin but superseded by the Sacrifice made for them by their Lord and High-Priest and that the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving they are thenceforth to make is the Commemoration their Lord has instituted for that their most gracious Redemption This is the Sacrifice of that New Covenant of which the Prophet there speaks and which the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews from him alledges (c) Hebr. 8.8 And to this Sacrifice the same Author I suppose refers