participating of the Sacrifice offer'd up by our Lord. INDEED if this Sacrament had been instituted by CHRIST after his Resurrection which wholly effaced the Pourtraiture of his Shame and Sufferings it would have been much more difficult to have thence inculcated to us this important Truth of the Christian Religion But Our Lord did expresly choose the time immediately before his Death that so the Ceremony which was to preserve the Memory of it might so fill us with the sense of the Shame and Punishment he endured that it might lead us to make a continual Reflection upon these Truths viz. That when JESUS CHRIST dy'd He dy'd for Sinners That when He was nail'd to the Cross He bore their Sins in his Body on the Tree That when He was wounded it was for our Transgressions and that by his Stripes we are healed THE fifth Truth which our Saviour was willing continually to set before our Eyes by the Celebration of the Eucharist is That this Bloody Death of his was the Blessed Means by which GOD entred into Covenant with Mankind Moses had said of the Blood he sprinkled upon the People Behold the Blood of the Covenant which the Lord has made with you concerning all these words Exod. 24.8 And Our Saviour plainly opposing his Blood to that says concerning the Cup This Cup is the New Covenant or Testament in my Blood which is shed for the remission of your Sins This Covenant is the greatest and most important Truth of our Religion By it GOD delivers Men from Hell and restores them to his Favour and Protection It is this also displays before us the whole Mystery of our Redemption as 1. That Man being created Innocent fell into Rebellion against GOD by list'ning to the insinuations of the Devil 2. That though Man deserved to be not only reduc'd to nothing from whence the Hand of GOD had raised him at the first but to be cast into Hell there to undergo the punishment due to his Disobedience yet GOD being mov'd with pity resolv'd to forgive all and make a New Covenant with him 3. That it was the Will of GOD that his Own Son taking in due time Human Nature upon Him should be the Person in whose Blood this Covenant was to be Established 4. That JESUS CHRIST having really shed his Blood this Covenant was fully ratify'd and confirmed and Remission of Sins offer'd to all that would repent For that is the thing which is meant by the New Covenant according as GOD expresses it in Jeremy 31.34 saying I will forgive their Iniquity and remember their Sin no more THE sixth considerable Truth is That our Saviour would have us always to bear in mind his Last Coming to judge the World and consummate the Work of Our Redemption Accordingly this Sacrament contains solemn Marks and Instances of the fulfilling of the Promises God had made to send the Messias into the World. It sets forth in what manner He began to act and suffer for Mankind But He being to continue but a little while here upon Earth and to be taken up to Heaven there to remain to the End of the World this Ceremony acquaints us that He is then to come again from thence in order to fulfil our Hopes by causing us to reap the last Fruits of his Expiation of Our Sins that is in destroying Death by a glorious Resurrection and making us to live for ever with GOD a Life that neither Sin nor Death which Sin has brought into the World can ever disturb And it may be said that as the first Coming of the Messias was the great Object of the Religion Desires and Hopes of the Jews Art thou say they He that should come or do we look for another Mat. 11.3 as likewise of the Promises of Blessings which GOD had made to the Gentiles themselves He being called the Expectation and desire of all Nations Hag. 2.7 so is his second Coming the great Object of the Christian Religion This same JESVS said the Angels to his Disciples gazing up to Heaven who is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into Heaven Act. 1.11 On this account also the Church is represented to us Rev. 22.17 calling for her Bridegroom And the Spirit and the Bride say Come And let him that hears say Come And indeed as the Prophets describe these two Comings of the Messias under the notion of one single Object so we see that according to the mind of St. Paul who assigns for the continuance of this Holy Ordinance the whole Interval of time to the end of the World and Christ's Return Our Saviour has in this Sacrament united this his two Comings as being the greatest Objects of our Religion CHAP. V. Of the Comforts the Holy Eucharist administers to us THUS having explain'd the important Truths which the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper engages us to meditate upon it is very Evident that Our Participation of this Sacrament furnishes us with most lively and refreshing Comforts which I now come to propose in order with reference to the foregoing Truths FIRST then What joy must we needs feel when we reflect upon this great Event viz. the Death of Our Saviour Let us but compare our Happiness with the Condition of the Patriarchs and we shall easily perceive how high a pitch our Joy ought to be raised to St. Peter tells us that the Prophets have enquired and searched diligently what or what manner of time the Spirit of CHRIST which was in them did signifie when it testifi'd before-hand the Sufferings of CHRIST and the Glory that should follow 1 Pet 1.10 11. The Promises of GOD did fill their Hearts with gladness even before they came to pass yea tho' it was revealed to them that it was not to themselves but to us that they ministred those things which have been declar'd to us by the Preachers of the Gospel 1 Pet. 1.12 They rejoyced to see the Faithfulness of GOD in the future accomplishment of his Promises And to this purpose St. Paul informs us that the Patriarchs and Holy Men of old dy'd in the Faith not having receiv'd the Promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them Heb. 11.13 Yet all this at a distance Thus Balaam Numb 24.17 I see Him but not now I behold Him but not nigh But 't is our happiness that we are come to that Blessed State which Our Saviour appropriates to his Disciples We see those things which so many Kings and Righteous Persons desired to see and did not see them John the Baptist who Baptized Him bore Witness of Him and foretold his Death yet never saw it This was an Advantage reserved for us His Death is now in most lively Colours presented to our View It is Matter of Fact certain and indubitably attested He is come down from Heaven He has taken our Flesh upon Him discharged the Functions of his Ministery
Deliverance of that People Secondly Because this Ceremony was to be the Sacrament of a New Covenant that should not be abrogated by any other whatsoever Thirdly and Lastly Forasmuch as the Apostle St. Paul who had been rapt up into the Third Heaven there to be further acquainted with the great Mystery of Faith informs the Believers that they ought to declare that is according to the Jewish way of speaking to celebrate the Memory of CHRIST's Death untill his Coming again that is to the End of the World when he shall return from Heaven to judge both the Quick and the Dead in order to the Completion of his Promises and our Hopes CHAP. II. That JESVS CHRIST borrow'd the Actions and Expressions HE made use of in the Institution of the Eucharist from the Jews THERE are two sorts of Reflections may be made upon the Institution of the Lord's Supper Some do serve to explain the Letter and out-side of this Sacrament and others again inform us of the great Aim and Design of it I begin with the First AS it is well known that in the Institution of Baptism CHRIST borrowed the Rite of Washing practised by the Jews on those Gentiles they admitted to the Publick Profession of Judaism so it is as plain that our Saviour in the Institution of his Holy Supper did so far comply with the Jewish Customs after the Celebration of their Passover yet raising some of them to a much more excellent Sense than they had before that He follow'd closely the Notions and Expressions of the Jews TO clear this we must know that the Evening of the Passover the Master of the House began this Solemnity with Praises to God holding in his Hand a Cup of Wine whereof himself having first drunk he gave it to all the Company AFTER this instead of the usual Blessing of the Bread he was wont to take an unleavened Cake in his Hand saying This is the Bread of Affliction which our Fathers did Eat in Egypt Words that had a Natural Relation to the History of their Bondage and Deliverance of old I omit the whole Ceremony of the Paschal Lamb which is described in the 12th Chapter of Exodus and shall only remark that after this Feast the Master of the House was us'd to take the Cup again which at first he had consecrated and having given thanks to present it to the Participants saying to them that That was the Fruit of the Vine and the Bloud of Grapes An Expression borrow'd from Genesis Chap. 49.11 and Deut. Ch. 32.14 FINALLY after this Ceremony their Custom was to Sing the 113th 114th Psalms as an Hymn that concluded the Devotion of this Solemnity Which Song of Praise they still at this day call the Hallel 'T IS evident our Lord did imitate this Usage which is still observ'd by the Jews save only that they don't eat a Lamb. When therefore He had eaten the Paschal Lamb He took the Bread which was designed to commemorate the Misery the Children of Israel underwent in Egypt and made use of the same Blessing and Giving of Thanks which was received among the Jews Brake the Bread He had taken and intending this Ceremony should preserve the Remembrance of his Death He still prosecuted the same Notions and Expressions of the Jews saying that it was his Body which was now to be broken for the Remission of the Sins of Mankind AFTER this He according to the Practice of the Jews took the Cup gave thanks a second time and having ended his Blessing or Prayer for these signifie the same thing among the Jews He declared that this Cup was the New Testament in his Bloud or the Bloud of the New Testament by which God granted penitent Sinners the Pardon of their Sins WHICH Expressions clearly shew that He would have this Cup to be consider'd as a Memorial of the New Testament of which he was the Mediator IN short is it not manifest that He together with his Disciples sang the same Hymns which were solemn and customary with the Jews on this occasion THERE is no man who does not easily perceive that JESUS CHRIST found in this constant Custom of the Jews a just ground for expressing himself as He did when he design'd to institute and perpetuate in his Church a Publick Memorial of his Death and Sufferings THE Jews themselves the Mortal Enemies of our Religion do agree with this They highly maintain that according to CHRIST's Sense these Words This is my Body c. which He pronounced in shewing the Bread cannot import the notion of Reality but only of Signification that his Meaning was very apparent both because He said in the 6th of St. John concerning the Eating here mentioned The Words that I speak to you are Spirit and Life that is they are to be understood in a Spiritual Sense and because it was an usual Expression with them to say This is the Bread which our Fathers did Eat though indeed it was but the Memorial of it Fortalit Fid. L. 3. § 11. p. 172. Thus the Expressions of our Lord being as appears made up of those common Idea's so current among the Jews it is evident that his Design in instituting of the Eucharist was to represent his Death to us as a thing which for time to come was to be commemorated by the Church He substituting it in the room of the Memorial of the Deliverance out of Egypt and the ancient Covenant God had made with the Jews after his having set them at Liberty from their hard Bondage BUT these Remarks which only respect the out-side of the Eucharist are of much less importance than those of the Second Order which refer to our Lord's Design in his Institution of this Holy Sacrament CHAP. III. That JESVS CHRIST in his Institution of the Eucharist has followed Idea's or Notions quite opposite to those of the Paschal Lamb And what those Idea's of the Paschal Lamb are OUR Saviour's Words are not to be compar'd only with those the Jews made use of at the Eating of their Unleavened Bread which they call'd the Bread of Affliction because it was a Representative of it but that they may be throughly illustrated they are to be considered with opposition to the Idea's of the Paschal Lamb to which our Lord was willing to make the Celebration of this Sacrament to succed And indeed not only St. Paul leads us naturally to look upon the Sacrifice of the Passover as a he says 1 Cor. 5.7 that CHRIST our Passover is Sacrificed for us nor only did JESUS CHRIST for this choose the time of the Passover to ordain the Memorial of his Death but the Jews themselves seem fully to agree with it when they propound this as one of their most ancient Traditions That the Messias is to procure their Salvation the self same Day in which they were deliver'd from their Egyptian Bondage Fagius ad Exod. 12.13 First then I say that it is evident our Lord's Design was
delight to do thy Will O my God. O Ineffable and amazing Love to Mankind who deserved nothing but an Eternal Curse AS it was in the Blood of Lambs that GOD made a Covenant with the People of Israel so the Eucharist representing to us in the fifth Place that the Blood of CHRIST is the Ground and Foundation of the New Covenant which GOD has made with Christians we cannot look upon the Sacrament as the Pledge and Seal of this Covenant without being filled with an Excess of Joy and Consolation For indeed what greater Glory can be imagined than for Man to be admitted to a Treaty with GOD And what an inconceivable Advantage is this that GOD should vouchsafe to enter into Covenant with us There are none but are sensible of the Happiness of the Israelites in this regard To be convinc'd of which we need only hear them even at this day speaking with the greatest Comfort of the Honour GOD therein has done them notwithstanding their total dispersion and groaning under the Burthen of that Curse which pursues and overtakes them every where Now that ancient Covenant GOD has abolished as being imperfect but this which we commemorate is to endure for ever The Design of the former was only to give the Jews a lively Sense of Sin or at the best to administer a Typical Expiation whereas the latter viz. the New according to the Prophet Jeremy makes a true Atonement for Sin and affords a Remission rightly and properly so call'd That had no promises but what concern'd a Happiness here on Earth whereas This does promise a Resurrection and Eternal Glory THE greatest Honour the Old Covenant did confer upon the Jews was this That the MESSIAS should be born of their Blood but the Advantage of the New is That the MESSIAS partaking of Flesh and Blood with the rest of Mankind has given his own Blood to raise them to the Glory of Adoption who shall believe in Him. O how happy is the People whose God is the Lord And what does this Expression to be the God of any one import but this viz. To be his Great and Soveraign Benefactor Of old He was the GOD of Abraham but not of Loth and his Posterity Of Isaac but not of Ismael and his Off-spring Of Jacob but not of Esau and the Edomites Now He is the GOD of all the Earth But he has not made this Covenant with all the Nations of the World save only by virtue and on the Sole Account of the Blood of CHRIST And can we with any attention reflect on this Truth represented to us in the Holy Eucharist without feeling a Joy unspreakable and full of Glory GOD had promised to enter into such a Covenant as this and Jeremy describes it in the 31. Chap. of his Prophecies Yet the Old lasted till John the Baptist and so long the Ceremonies of it were in use But then comes CHRIST and instead of continuing the Celebration of the Old Covenant which was made in the Blood of the Paschal Lamb He abrogates it and in its room substitutes the New Covenant made in his own Blood. Do this says He in remembrance of me Not That which was done before but This For this Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for the Remission of your Sins TO conclude 't is to be considered and this is the last Vein of Comfort hid in the Eucharist that this Holy Sacrament inviting us to take a View of CHRIST'S second Coming as well as of his Dispensation in the Flesh 't is impossible but it must fill our Souls with surpassing Joy and Comfort The full Salvation of Believers does as yet only consist in Hope GOD indeed pardons their Sins but they are still subject to all the Miseries Sin has brought into the World. They hope for Eternal Life and yet dye like other Men. Their Bodies are laid in the Grave and become the food of Worms So that their Expectation seems to be quite frustrated And as the Jews and Gentiles find Matter of Scandal and Derision in the Death of the Son of GOD so according to all outward appearance they have the same reason to insult over the Faith and Hope of his Followers when they compare these with their present Condition which to the Eye differs not from that of other Men. But all these dark Clouds shall at last be scatter'd these Shadows vanish and the Glory of our Lord and his Faithful be revealed He shall appear from Heaven in the Glory of his Father and every Eye shall see Him even they who have pierced Him. And as He will thus display his Majesty in the Sight of all the World so will He at the same time unvail the Life and Glory of his Children who at present are ready to sink under the burthen of Sin the Violence of CHRIST's Adversaries the deceits of the World and the Devil and the Power of Death which is the last Enemy of CHRIST and his Church He that eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has Eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day Whosoever eats of this Bread shall live for ever These are our Saviour's Promises wherein as He terms the Embracing of Him by Faith an Eating of his Flesh in opposition to the Type of Manna So this Eating may be as truly ascribed to them who by Faith consider Him as the Sacrifice that has taken away the Punishment due to Sin. O what comforts do arise to the Faithful from the Expectation of this his Return What exulting Joys will they be filled with at his Coming What Delights flow in upon them as they mediate hereon What ravishing Pleasures does it afford us amidst the greatest Evils of this Life What quiet in the sharpest Trials And what Confidence even at the time when Death stares us in the Face CHAP. VI. Of the Duties prescribed to us in the Holy Eucharist I SUPPOSE I have very clearly made out that it is impossible attentively to consider the Truths which the Lord's Supper discovers to us without reaping the unspreakable Comforts which so naturally spring from it And it may with as much Ease be demonstrated that these Truths indispensably engage us to the most Essential Duties of our Religion and that GOD having comprehended what is most capable to administer the sweetest Consolations to our Souls in this Mystery it cannot but at the same time be very influential towards Sanctification and a Godly Life To the making out of which I design the Conclusion of this Treatise where I intend to represent these Duties as the necessary and natural Consequents of what I have before laid down It behooves every Communicant seriously to consider of these Engagements And the rather because this is a sure way for them to know whether they have worthily receiv'd the Sacrament or to amend the faults by them committed in any preceding Communion for want of discharging these Religious performances as they ought FIRST then