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
Christ than any of them all For Christ in this Chapter perceiving that the Jews did follow him for Love of the Loaves desires them ver 27. to labour not for the Meat which perisheth but for that Meat which endureth for ever But forasmuch as they being Carnal in their Apprehensions and not understanding the Spiritual Language and Doctrine of Christ did judge the Manna which Moses gave their Fathers to be the most Excellent Bread as coming from Heaven Christ to rectifie that mistake and better inform them affirmeth First That it is not Moses but his Father that giveth the true Bread from Heaven ver 32. and 48. Secondly This Bread he calls himself ver 35. I am the Bread of Life And ver 51. I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven Thirdly He declares that this Bread is his Flesh ver 51. The Bread that I will give is my Flesh And ver 55. For my Flesh is Meat indeed and my Blood is drink indeed Fourthly The Necessity of Partaking thereof ver 53. Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood ye have no Life in you And lastly ver 33. the blessed Fruits and necessary Effects of this Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ This Bread giveth Life to the World ver 50. He that eateth thereof dyeth not ver 58. He that eateth of this Bread shall live for ever ver 51. Whose eateth this Flesh and drinketh this Blood shall live for ever ver 54. And he dwelleth in Christ and Christ in him ver 56. And shall live by Christ ver 57. From this large Description of the Origine Nature and Effects of this Body Flesh and Blood of Christ it is apparent that it is Spiritual and to be understood of a Spiritual Body and not of that Body or Temple of Jesus Christ which was born of the Virgin Mary and in which he walked lived and suffered in the Land of Judea because that it is said both that it came down from Heaven yea that it is He that came down from Heaven Now all Christians at present generally acknowledge that the outward Body of Christ came not down from Heaven neither was it that part of Christ which came down from Heaven And to put the matter out of doubt when the Carnal Jews would have been so understanding it he tells them plainly ver 63. It is the Spirit that quickeneth but the Flesh profiteth nothing This is also founded upon most sound and solid Reason because that it is the Soul not the Body that is to be nourished by this Flesh and Blood Now outward Flesh cannot nourish nor feed the Soul there is no proportion nor Analogy betwixt them neither is the Communion of the Saints with God by a Conjunction and mutual Participation of Flesh but of the Spirit He that is joined to the Lord is One Spirit not one Flesh. For the Flesh I mean outward Flesh even such as was that wherein Christ lived and walked when upon Earth and not Flesh when transposed by a Metaphor to be understood Spiritually can only partake of Flesh as Spirit of Spirit As the Body cannot feed upon Spirit neither can the Spirit feed upon Flesh. And that the Flesh here spoken of is spiritually understood appears further in that that which feedeth upon it shall never dye But the Bodies of all Men once dye yea it behoved the Body of Christ himself to dye That this Body and Spiritual Flesh and Blood of Christ is to be understood of that Divine and Heavenly Seed before spoken of by us appears both by the Nature and Fruits of it First It 's said It is that which cometh down from Heaven and giveth Life unto the World Now this answers to that Light and Seed which is testified of John 1. to be the Light of the World and the Life of Men. For that Spiritual Light and Seed as it receives place in mens Hearts and room to spring up there is as Bread to the hungry and fainting Soul that is as it were buried and dead in the lusts of the World which receives Life again and revives as it tasteth and partaketh of this heavenly Bread And they that partake of it are said to come to Christ neither can any have it but by coming to him and believing in the appearance of his Light in their Hearts by receiving which and believing in it the Participation of this Body and Bread is known And that Christ understands the same thing here by his Body Flesh and Blood which is understood John 1. by the Light inlightening every Man and the Life c. appears for the Light and Life spoken of John 1. is said to be Christ He is the true Light and the Bread and Flesh c. spoken of in this 6th of John is called Christ I am the Bread of Life saith he Again They that received that Light and Life John 1. 12. Obtained Power to become the Sons of God by believing in his Name So also here John 6. 35. He that cometh unto this Bread of Life shall not Hunger and he that believes in him who is this Bread shall never thirst So then as there was the outward visible Body and Temple of Jesus Christ which took its Original from the Virgin Mary so there is also the Spiritual Body of Christ by and through which He that was the Word in the beginning with God and was and is GOD did Reveal himself to the Sons of Men in all Ages and whereby Men in all Ages come to be made partakers of Eternal Life and to have Communion and Fellowship with God and Christ. Of which Body of Christ and Flesh and Blood if both Adam and Seth and Enoch and Abraham and Moses and David and all the Prophets and Holy Men of God had not eaten they had not had Life in them nor could their inward Man have been nourished Now as the outward Body and Temple was called Christ so was also this Spiritual Body no less properly and that long before that outward Body was in Being Hence the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 10. 3 4. That the Fathers did all eat the same spiritual Meat and did all drink the same spiritual Drink for they drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. This cannot be understood otherwise than of this Spiritual Body of Christ Which Spiritual Body of Christ though it was the saving Food of the Righteous both before the Law and under the Law yet under the Law it was vailed and shadowed and covered under divers Types Ceremonies and Observations yea and not only so but it was vailed and hid in some respect under the outward Temple and Body of Christ or during the continuance of it so that the Jews could not understand Christ's Preaching about it while on Earth And not the Jews only but many of his Disciples judged it an hard saying murmured at it and
Manichees were Condemned for denying that Grace is universally given by Baptism and Julian the Pelagian by Augustine for denying Exorcism and Insufflation in the use of Baptism All which things Protestants deny also So that Protestants do but foolishly to upbraid us as if we could not shew any among the Ancients that denied Water-baptism seeing they cannot shew any whom they acknowledge not to have been Heretical in several things to have used it nor yet who using it did not use also the Sign of the Cross and other things with it which they deny There were some nevertheless in the darkest Times of Popery who testified against Water-baptism For one Alanus page 103 104 107. speaks of some in his Time that were burnt for the denying of it For they said that Baptism had no Efficacy either in Children or Adult Persons and therefore Men were not obliged to take Baptism Particularly Ten Canonicks so called were burnt for that Crime by the Order of King Robert of France as P. Pithaeus tells in his Fragments of the History of Guienne Which is also confirmed by one Johannes Floracensis a Monk who was famous at that Time in his Epistle to Oliva Abbot of the Ausonian Church I will saith he give you to understand concerning the Heresie that was in the City of Orleans on Childer-mass-day For it was true if ye have heard any thing that King Robert caused to be burnt alive nigh Fourteen of that City of the Chief of their Clergy and the more Noble of their Laicks who were hateful to God and abominable to Heaven and Earth for they did stiffly deny the Grace of Holy Baptism and also the Consecration of our Lord's Body and Blood The Time of this Deed is noted in these Words by Papir Masson in his Annals of France lib. 3. in Hugh and Robert Actum Aureliae publice Anno Incarnationis Domini 1022. Regni Roberti Regis 28. Indictione 5. quando Stephanus Haeresiarcha Complices ejus damnati sunt exusti Aureliae Now for their calling them Hereticks and Manichees we have nothing but the Testimony of their Accusers which will no more invalidate their Testimony for this Truth against the use of Water-baptism or give more ground to charge us as being one with Manichees than because some called by them Manichees do agree with Protestants in some things that therefore Protestants are Manichees or Hereticks which Protestants can no ways shun For the Question is Whether in what they did they walked according to the Truth testified of by the Spirit in the Holy Scriptures So that the Controversie is brought back again to the Scriptures according to which I suppose I have formerly discussed it As for the latter part of the Thesis denying the Use of Infant-baptism it necessarily follows from what is above-said For if Water-baptism be Ceased then surely Baptizing of Infants is not warrantable But those that take upon them to Oppose us in this matter will have more to do as to this latter part For after they have done what they can to prove Water-baptism it remains for them to prove that Infants ought to be Baptized For he that proves Water-baptism Ceased proves that Infant-baptism is Vain But he that should prove that Water-baptism continues has not thence proved that Infant-baptism is necessary That needs something further And therefore it was a pitiful Subterfuge of Nic. Arnoldus against this to say That the denying of Infant-baptism belonged to the Gangrene of Anabaptists without adding any further Probation Concerning the Communion or Participation of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ is Inward and Spiritual which is the Participation of his Flesh and Blood by which the Inward Man is daily nourished in the Hearts of those in whom Christ dwells Of which things the Breaking of Bread by Christ with his Disciples was a Figure which they even used in the Church for a time who had received the Substance for the sake of the Weak Even as Abstaining from things strangled and from Blood the Washing one anothers Feet and the Anointing of the Sick with Oil All which are commanded with no less Authority and Solemnity than the former yet seeing they are but the Shadows of better things they Cease in such as have obtained the Substance § I. THE Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ is a Mystery hid from all natural men in their first fall'n and degenerate State which they cannot understand reach to nor comprehend as they there abide neither as they there are can they be Partakers of it nor yet are they able to Discern the Lord's Body And forasmuch as the Christian World so called for the most part hath been still labouring working conceiving and imagining in their own natural and unrenewed Understandings about the things of God and Religion therefore hath this Mystery much been hid and sealed up from them while they have been contending quarrelling and fighting one with another about the meer Shadow Outside and Form but strangers to the Substance Life and Vertue § II. The Body then of Christ which Believers partake of is Spiritual and not Carnal and his Blood which they drink of is pure and Heavenly and not humane or Elementary as Augustin also affirms of the Body of Christ which is Eaten in his Tractat Psal. 98. Except a Man eat my Flesh he hath not in him Life Eternal And he saith The Words which I speak unto you are Spirit and Life understand spiritually what I have spoken Ye shall not eat of this Body which ye see and drink this Blood which they shall spill that Crucifie me I am the Living Bread which have descended from Heaven he called himself the Bread who descended from Heaven exhorting that we might believe in him c. Quest. If it be asked then What that Body What that Flesh and Blood is Answ. I Answer It is that Heavenly Seed that Divine Spiritual Coelestial Substance of which we spake before in the 5th and 6th Propositions This is that Vehiculum Dei or Spiritual Body of Christ whereby and where-through he communicateth Life to Men and Salvation to as many as believe in him and receive him and whereby also Man comes to have Fellowship and Communion with God This is proved from the 6th of John from verse 32. to the end where Christ speaks more at large of this matter than in any other place And indeed this Evangelist and beloved Disciple who lay in the Bosom of our Lord gives us a more full account of the Spiritual Sayings and Doctrine of Christ And it 's observable that though he speaks nothing of the Ceremony used by Christ of Breaking Bread with his Disciples neither in his Evangelical Account of Christ's Life and Sufferings nor in his Epistles yet he is more large in this account of the Participation of the Body Flesh and Blood of
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
wrest the Scriptures for to tie this Spiritual Communion of the flesh and blood of Christ to outward Bread and Wine and such like Carnal Ordinances no wonder if by their carnal Apprehensions they run into Heaps and Confusion But because it hath been generally supposed that the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ had some special relation to the Ceremony of breaking Bread I shall first Refute that Opinion and then proceed to consider the Nature and Use of that Ceremony and whether it be now necessary to Continue answering the Reasons and Objections of such as plead its Continuance as a necessary and standing Ordinance of Jesus Christ. § V. First It must be understood that I speak of a Necessary and Peculiar Relation otherwise than in a general Respect For forasmuch as our Communion with Christ is and ought to be our greatest and chiefest Work we ought to do all other things with a Respect to God and our Fellowship with him but a special and necessary Respect or Relation is such as where the two things are tied and united together either of their own Nature or by the Command of God that the one cannot be enjoyed or at least is not except very extraordinarily without the other Thus Salvation hath a necessary respect to Holiness because without Holiness no Man shall see God And the Eating of the flesh and blood of Christ hath a necessary respect to our having Life because if we eat not his flesh and drink not his blood we cannot have Life And our Feeling of God's Presence hath a necessary respect to our being found Meeting in his Name by Divine Precept because he has promised Where two or three are Met together in his Name he will be in the midst of them In like manner our receiving benefits and blessings from God has a necessary respect to our Praying because if we Ask he hath promised we shall Receive Now the Communion or Participation of the flesh and blood of Christ hath no such necessary relation to the breaking of Bread and drinking of Wine for if it had any such necessary relation it would either be from the Nature of the Thing or from some Divine Precept But we shall shew it is from neither Therefore c. First It is not from the Nature of it because to partake of the flesh and blood of Christ is a Spiritual Exercise and all confess that it is by the Soul and Spirit that we become real Partakers of it as it is the Soul and not the Body that is nourished by it but to eat Bread and drink Wine is a natural Act which in it self adds nothing to the Soul neither has any thing that is Spiritual in it because the most carnal Man that is can as fully as perfectly and as wholly eat Bread and drink Wine as the most Spiritual Secondly Their relation is not by Nature else they would infer one another but all acknowledge that many eat of the Bread and drink of the Wine even that which they say is Consecrate and Transubstantiate into the very Body of Christ who notwithstanding have not Life Eternal have not Christ dwelling in them nor do live by him as all do who truly partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ without the Use of this Ceremony as all the Patriarchs and Prophets did before this Ordinance as they account it was Instituted Neither was there any thing under the Law that had any direct or necessary Relation hereunto though to partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ in all Ages was indispensibly necessary to Salvation For as for the Paschal Lamb the whole End of it is signified particularly Exod. 13. 8 9. to wit that the Jews might thereby be kept in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt Secondly It has no relation by Divine Precept for if it had it would be mentioned in that which our Adversaries account the Institution of it or else in the Practice of it by the Saints recorded in Scripture But so it is not For as to the Institution or rather Narration of Christ's Practice in this matter we have it recorded by the Evangelists Matthew Mark and Luke In the first two there is only an Account of the matter of Fact to wit That Christ brake Bread and gave it his Disciples to eat saying This is my Body and blessing the Cup he gave it them to drink saying This is my Blood but nothing of any desire to them to do it In the last after the Bread but before the Blessing or giving them the Wine he bids them do it in Remembrance of him What we are to think of this Practice of Christ shall be spoken of hereafter But what necessary Relation hath all this to the Believers partaking of the Flesh and Blood of Christ The End of this for which they were to do it if at all is to Remember Christ which the Apostle yet more particularly expresses 1 Cor. 11. 26. To shew forth the Lord's Death But to Remember the Lord or Declare his Death which are the special and particular Ends annexed to the Use of this Ceremony is not at all to partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ neither have they any more necessary Relation to it than any other two different Spiritual Duties For though they that partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ cannot but Remember him yet the Lord and his Death may be Remembred as none Gan deny where his Flesh and Blood is not truly partaken of So that since the very particular and express End of this Ceremony may be witnessed to wit the Remembrance of the Lord's Death and yet the Flesh and Blood of Christ not partaken of it cannot have had any necessary Relation to it else the partaking thereof would have been the End of it and could not have been attained without this Participation But on the contrary we may well infer hence that since the positive End of this Ceremony is not the partaking of the Flesh and Blood of Christ and that whoever partakes of the Flesh and Blood of Christ cannot but Remember him that therefore such need not this Ceremony to put them in Remembrance of him Object But if it be said That Jesus Christ calls the Bread here his Body and the Wine his Blood therefore he seems to have had a special relation to his Disciples partaking of his Flesh and Blood in the use of this thing Answ. I Answer His calling the Bread his Body and the Wine his Blood would yet infer no such thing Though it is not denied but that Jesus Christ in all things he did yea and from the use of all Natural things took occasion to raise the Minds of his Disciples and Hearers to Spirituals Hence from the Woman of Samaria her drawing Water he took occasion to tell her of that Living Water which whoso drinketh thereof shall never thirst which indeed is all one with his
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
it be said That the Time and Manner of doing it by Christ was but Accidentally as being after the Jewish Passover which was at Supper Answ. Besides that it may be answered and easily proved That the whole was Accidental as being the Practice of a Jewish Ceremony as is above observed May it not the same way be urged that the Drinking of Wine was Accidental as being the Natural Product of that Country and so be pleaded that in those Countries where Wine doth not grow as in our Nation of Scotland we may make use of Beer or Ale in the use of this Ceremony or Bread made of other Grain than that which Christ used And yet would not our Adversaries judge this an Abuse and not right peforming of this Sacrament Yea have not Scruples of this kind occasioned no little Contention among the Professors of Christianity What great Contest and Strife hath been betwixt the Greek and Latin Churches concerning the Bread While the one will have it Unleavened reckoning because the Jews made use of Unleavened Bread in the Passover that it was such kind of Bread that Christ did break to his Disciples the other Leavened Therefore the Lutherans make use of Unleavened Bread the Calvinists of Leavened And this Contest was so hot when the Reformation was beginning at Geneva that Calvin and Farellus were forced to flee for it But do not Protestants by these Uncertainties open a Door to Papists for their excluding the People from the Cup Will not Do this infer positively that they should do in the same Manner and at the same Time which Christ did it as well as that they should use the Cup and not the Bread only Or what reason have they to dispense with the One more than the Papists have to do with the Other O what strange Absurdities and Inconveniencies have Christians brought upon themselves by superstitiously adhering to this Ceremony Out of which Difficulties it is impossible for them to extricate themselves but by laying it aside as they have done others of the like Nature For besides what is above-mentioned I would gladly know how from the words they can be certainly Resolved that these words Do this must be understood to the Clergy Take bless and break this Bread and give it to others but to the Laity only Take and eat but do not bless c. Object If it be said That the Clergy was only present Answ. Then will not that open a Door for the Popish Argument against the Administration of the Cup to the People Or may not another from thence as easily infer That only the Clergy ought to partake of this Ceremony because they were only those present to whom it was said Do this But if this Do this be extended to all how comes it that all have not liberty to obey it in both blessing breaking and distributing as well as taking and eating Besides all these even the Calvinian Protestants of Great Britain could never yet accord among themselves about the Manner of taking it whether sitting standing or kneeling whether it should be given to the Sick and those that are ready to Die or not Which Controversies tho' they may be esteemed of small moment yet have greatly contributed with other things to be the occasion not only of much Contention but also of Blood-shed and Devastation so that in this last respect the Prelatick Calvinists have termed the Presbyterians Schismatical and Pertinacious and and they them again Superstitious Idolatrous and Papistical Who then that will open their Eyes but may see that the Devil hath stirred up this Contention and Zeal to busie men about things of small Moment that greater Matters may be neglected while he keeps them in such a do about this Ceremony while they lay aside others of the like Nature as positively Commanded and as punctually Practised and from the Observation of which half so many Difficulties will not follow § VIII How then Have we not Reason not finding the Nature of this Practice to be obligatory upon us more than those other our Adversaries have laid aside to avoid all this Confusion since those that use it can never agree neither concerning the Nature Efficacy nor Manner of doing it And this proceeds because they take it not plainly as it lies in the Scripture but have so much mixed in their own Inventions For would they take it as it lies it would import no more than that Jesus Christ at that time did thereby signifie unto them that his Body and Blood was to be offered for them and desired them that whensoever they did eat or drink they might do it in Remembrance of him or with a Regard to him whose Blood was shed for them Now that the Primitive Church gathered immediately after his Ascension did so understand it doth appear from their Use and Practice if we admit those places in the Acts where breaking of Bread is spoken of to have relation hereto which as our Adversaries do so we shall willingly agree to As first Acts 2. 42. And they continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and in Breaking of Bread c. This cannot be understood of any other than of their Ordinary Eating for as nothing else appears from the Text so the Context makes it plain for they had all things in common and therefore it is said Ver. 26. And they continuing daily with one accord in the Temple and Breaking of Bread from House to House did eat their Meat with gladness and singleness of heart Who will not wilfully close their Eyes may see here that their Breaking being joyned with their Eating shews that nothing else is here expressed but that having all things in common and so continuing together they also did Break their Bread and Eat their Meat together In doing whereof I shall not doubt but they Remembred the Lord to follow whom they had with so great Zeal and Resignation betaken themselves This is further manifest from Acts 6. 26. For the Apostles having the Care and Distribution of that Money which the Believers having sold their Possessions gave unto them finding themselves over-charged with that Burthen appointed Deacons for that business that they might give themselves continually to Prayer and to the Ministry of the Word not leaving that to serve Tables This cannot be meant of any Sacramental Eating or Religious Act of Worship seeing our Adversaries make the distributing of that the proper Act of Ministers not of Deacons And yet there can be no Reason alledged that that Breaking of Bread which they are said to have Continued in and to have done from House to House was other than those Tables that the Apostles served but here gave over as finding themselves over-charged with it Now as the increase of the Disciples did incapacitate the Apostles any more to manage this so it would seem their further Increase and Dispersing in divers places hindered the continuance of that Practice
or especially to relate to it he might have reached further unto the Knowledge of this Mystery than many that went before him § XI Lastly If any now at this Day from a true Tenderness of Spirit and with real Conscience towards God did practise this Ceremony in the same Way Method and Manner as did the Primitive Christians recorded in Scripture which yet none that I know now do I should not doubt to affirm but they might be indulged in it and the Lord might regard them and for a season Appear to them in the Use of these things as many of us have known him to do to us in the time of our Ignorance Provided always they did not seek to Obtrude them upon others nor Judge such as found themselves Delivered or that they do not pertinaciously adhere to them For we certainly know that the Day is Dawned in which God hath Arisen and hath Dismissed all those Ceremonies and Rites and is only to be Worshipped in Spirit and that he Appears to them who Wait upon him And that to Seek God in these things is with Mary at the Sepulcher To seek the Living among the Dead For we know that he is Arisen and Revealed in Spirit leading his Children out of these Rudiments that they may Walk with Him in his Light To whom be Glory for ever Amen THE END BOOKS Printed and Sold by T. Sowle next to the Meeting-House in White-Hart-Court in Gracious-Street THe Works of that Memorable and Ancient Servant of Christ Stephen Crisp containing also a Journal of his Life giving an Account of his Convincement Travels Labours and Sufferings in and for the Truth Price bound 5 s. A Collection of the several Writings and Faithful Testimonies of that Suffering Servant of God and patient Follower of the Lamb Humphry Smith Price bound 2 s. 6 d. A Collection of certain Epistles and Testimonies of Divine Cousolation Experience and Doctrine Written by that Faithful Patient and Long-suffering Servant of Christ William Bennit Price bound 1 s. 8 d. The Memory of the Righteous Revived being a brief Collection of the Books and written Epistles of John Camm and John Audland Together with several Testimonies relating to those two Faithful Labourers Price bound 2 s. Truth Vindicated by the Faithful Testimony and Writings of the Innocent Servant and Handmaid of the Lord Elizabeth Bathurst Deceased Price bound 1 s. A Catechism and Confession of Faith By R. Barclay Price bound 9 d. No Cross No Crown A Discourse shewing the Nature and Discipline of the Holy Cross of Christ. By W. Penn In two Parts Price 3 s. An Account of W. Penn's Travails in Holland and Germany Anno MDCLXXVII Price 2 s. A Brief Account of the Rise and Progress of the People called Quakers By W. Penn. Price 1 s. BOOKS Printed and Sold by T. Sowle in White-Hart-Court in Gracious-Street and at the Bible in Leaden-Hall-Street 1699. TRuth 's Principles Or those things about Doctrine and Worship which are most surely believed and received amongst the People of God called Quakers viz. Concerning the Man Christ His Sufferings Death Resurrection Faith in his Blood the Imputation of his Righteousness Sanctification Justification c. by John Crook To wich is added somewhat concerning the Difference between the Persuasions of Reason and the Persuasions of Faith By Isaac Penington price stitch'd 3 d. A Defence of a Paper Entituled Gospel-Truths against the Exceptions of the Bishop of Cork's Testimony Against the Quakers By W. Penn. price Bound 12 d. Anguis Flagellatus Or a Switch for the Snake Being an Answer to the Third and Last Edition of The Snake in the Grass Wherein that Author's Injustice and Falshood both in Quotation and Story are discovered and obviated And the Truth Doctrinally delivered by Us stated and maintained in Opposition to his Misrepresentation and Perversion By Joseph Wyeth To which is added a Supplement by George Whitehead The Christian Quaker and his Divine Testimony stated and vindicated from Scripture Reason and Authority By W. Penn. price Bound 2 s. England's present Interest considered with Honour to the Prince and Safety to the People In Answer to this one Question What is most Fit Easie and Safe to he done for Allaying the Heat of contrary Interests and making them Consistent with the Prosperity of the Kingdom Submitted to the Consideration of our Superiours By W. Penn. price Bound 1 s. The Tryal of Spirits both in Teachers and Hearers Wherein is held forth the clear Discovery and certain Downfal of the Carnal and Antichristian Clergy of these Nations Testified from the Word of God to the University Congregations in Cambrige Whereunto is added a plain and necessary Confutation of divers Gross Errors delivered by Mr. Sydrach Sympson in a Sermon preached to the same Congregation at the Commencement Anno MDCLIII Wherein among other things is declared that the Universities according to their present Statutes and Practices are not as he affirmed answerable to the Schools of the Prophets in the time of the Law but rather to the Idolatrous High Places And that Humane Learning is not a Preparation appointed by Christ either for the right Understanding or right Teaching the Gospel With a brief Testimony against Divinity-Degrees in the Universities As also Luther's Testimony at large upon the whole Matter And lastly The right Reformation of Learning Schools and Universities according to the State of the Gospel and the Light that shines therein All necessary for the Instruction and Direction of the Faithful in these last times By William Dell Minister of the Gospel and Master of Convil and Caius College in Cambrige price Bound 1 s. 6 d. The Defence of the People called Quakers Being a Reply to a Book lately Published by certain Priests of the County of Norfolk under the pretended Title of The Quakers Challenge And containing some brief and modest Animadversions upon the Book it self Several Certificates which Detect the Errors in those of West-Dereham and Clear the People called Quakers of the said Challenge The Letters that passed between Them and the Priests price Stitch'd 6 d. Truth and Innocency Vindicated and the People called Quakers Defended in Principle and Practice against Invidious Attempts and Calumnies Being a just Examination of two Books against the said People Entituled 1st A Brief Discovery c. by three Norfolk Priests 2d Some few of the Quakers many horrid Blasphemies c. being a Scandalous Libel Examined by George Whitehead a Servant of Christ. Containing also many of the repeated Abuses in John Meriton's Antidote and Francis Bugg's Pilgrims's Progress price 9 d. The Friendly Enquirer's Doubts and Objections answered Concerning The Light within the Word of God the Church of Christ Gospel Ministers Ordinances in General and in Particular Water-Baptism and the Lord's Supper Together with a brief Testimony against Oahs and Tithes First intended and written for the Satisfaction of some particular Acquaintance and now published for more General Serâ—â—ce By James Jackson price