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
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
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