How is Christ's Body and Blood present in this Ordinance Our Lord is Ascended into Heaven with his Human Body and the Heavens are to contain him till the Restitution of all things And therefore as the Bread and Wine are not annihilated or not destroyed nor changed into the Flesh and Blood of Christ according to the Romanists So nor present with in and under the Bread and Wine according to the Lutherans So that we need not say that the Body and Blood of Christ are at all present there for they are in Heaven But the Bread and Wine are the Signs and Memorials of the Sacrifice and Sufferings of Christ The Death of Christ and his Sacrifice upon the Cross with the Fruits and Effects thereof unto us are especially to be understood by his Body and Blood And it is in these that we have Communion in the Ordinance of the Supper The Expressions therefore which some Protestant Writers have used about the Real Presence of Christ's Body and Blood in this Sacrament are very * See a Tract on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper by Mr. John Hales of Eaton Colledge in Oct. unwary For thereby they seem to make Mysteries where there is no need at all of any It is true in the next Chapter it is said of the Bread This is my Body that is the Sign and the Memorial of it Yet here the Bread broken is said to be the Communion or the Communication of his Body that is A Solemn Rite instituted by God to communicate to us the Fruits and Benefits of Christ's broken Body or of his Sacrifice and Sufferings Represented by it That as verily as we are Treated at the Table with Bread and Wine so the worthy Receiver shall share in the Benefits of Christ's Death This is Intelligible and Plain 3. This will help us to understand what is meant by the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ By this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Communication as it may as well be rendred that we have in the Body and Blood of Christ in the Ordinance of the Supper Two Things may this Import 1. Our Participation of the Fruits of Christ's Death and Sacrifice That we share in the Priviledges of Reconciliation to God Forgiveness of Sin Peace of Conscience and the Promise of Eternal Life by Vertue of Christ's Death 2. That Others share with us therein or that we Partake of these Benefits with others For so it follows in the next Verse That though many Members we are all one Body and one Bread for we are all Partakers of that one Bread That is We are all one Church and one Body of Christ by Covenant Union unto him And of him we do all Sacramentally and Spiritually partake in this Ordinance As many Grains of Corn make one Loaf and many Members one Body We being many are one Bread and one Body The Church of Rome from that Expression might have as well argue That all Christians are substantially changed first into the Bread and then into the natural Body of Christ by partaking of this Sacrament As well as that the Bread is changed into the Body of Christ for all Christians are said to be but one Bread and one Body by vertue of their Communion in this Ordinance 4. Hereby also we understand how we have Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ by the Lord's Supper How we and others partake in the Benefits of his Death and Passion And that two ways As this Sacrament is a Sign and a Symbol of it and as it is a Means 1. It is a Sign of it All that eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup do thereby Commemorate the Death and Passion of Jesus Christ and profess to own that the Body and Blood of Christ offered upon the Cross is the Food and Nourishment of their Souls to Eternal Life That Christ is their Saviour and Redeemer That they hope for all their Acceptance with God in both Worlds only upon the account of the Sacrifice of Christ They professedly declare that living and dying they are and will be his They hope for Victory over Death and the Devil by the Cross of Christ and for a Glorious Resurrection from Death as the Fruit of his Death and Resurrection 2. These Words do import further That the eating of this Bread and drinking of this Cup are the Means appointed by Christ for our Communion in his Body and Blood We share in the Benefits of his Death and Sacrifice and by due Attendance upon this Ordinance the precious Fruits of his Death and the Gifts and Graces of his Spirit are augmented and encreased in us in order to our full and final Blessednes in the other World which this is preparatory to and fits us for As the partaking of things sacrificed to Idols was a Fellowship with Devilss 1 Cor. 10.20 So the partaking of that which was sacrific'd to God is a Fellowship with him * See Mr. Charnock 's 2d Vol. p. 759. And of the Divine Attributes p. 638. Prayer is an Act of Homage and Praise of Gratitude but we have not so near a Communion with a Person either by Petitioning for somewhat we want or by returning him Thanks for a Favour received as we have by sitting with him at his Table partaking of the same Bread and the same Cup. In all Nations the nearest Fellowship consists in things of this nature Take Eat manifests a Communion It would be an empty Mystery and unworthy of an Institution by Divine Goodness if there were not some Communion with God and Christ in it There would be some kind of Deceit in the Precept Take Eat and Drink this is my Body and Blood If there were not a Conveyance of Spiritual Vital Influences to our Souls For the narural end of Eating and Drinking is the Nourishment and encrease of the Body and Preservation of Life by that which we Ea and Drink I might consider this Ordinance as a Sign and Means of our Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ or of our sharing in the Fruits of his Death And amplifie it several ways 1. By considering on what Accounts this is a likely Means of such a Communion And 2. How Faith must be acted that it may be so as to us As to the former 1. As this Ordinance is Commemorative of the Sacrifice of Christ and being to be observed in Remembrance of him 2. As it is an open Profession of the Cross of Christ that we glory in it and therefore shew forth the Lord's Death that way professing our selves not to be ashamed of our Character as the Followers of a crucified Jesus 3. As it is a Renewal and Confirmation of the Covenant between God and Us through Jesus Christ Renewing our Engagements and Obligations to be the Lord 's for ever In the Celebration of this Ordinance we have a Special Opportunity for this it is a principal part of our Work at this Table 4. As it
assured None can be in Christ without it none in Christ so as to have any special distinguishing saving Benefit by him Application 1. Are none in Christ but new creatures How many then must be excluded How many of excellent and laudable Qualifications of great Attainments and high Professions and moral Accomplishments must yet he excluded and shut out from having any part in Christ because they are yet Strangers to this New creation and consequently are not in Christ but under condemnation Meer Civility and a plausible inoffensive Carriage is quite another thing We need but view the Lives and Actions of the generality of such as are called Christians to confirm this That the Number is but small of those who are in Christ How few have had any awakening Convictions about these things and many such miscarry 2. How miserable is the condition of all unrenewed Souls without a change they are excluded from all saving benefit by the Redeemer They are not in Christ and therefore are under the Curse and Condemnation which by union to Christ we are delivered from Rom. 8.1 Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye are Reprobates 2 Cor. 13.6 All our hopes of Life and Salvation by Christ depend upon it The Guilt of all our Sins doth otherwise lye upon us And all the black Clouds of Divine Vengeance hang over our heads The Wrath of God bides upon us as if there were no Christ no Gospel And there is nothing between us and Everlasting Ruine but a little Breadth 3. Then none but New Creatures have a Right to the Lord's Table For the invited Guests are such who are in Christ The Covenant of Grace cannot be sealed in that Ordinance to those who are not under the Bond of the Covenant The Benefits purchased by Christ are not confirmed at his Table unto those who are none of his I grant there is an Unworthiness as to present frame that even those who are in Christ may have but it is the Unworthiness as to state that I am speaking of Such as are not in Christ having nothing to do to eat his Flesh and drink his Blood lest they eat and drink Judgment and Condemnation to themselves He that doth not truly Repent cannot be truly Interested in the Promise of Pardon and therefore cannot have a Right to the Seal of it They are dead in Sin cannot receive Nourishment by this spiritual Food The least that can be said as one observes is this That it is in vain and to no good purpose for such can no more receive Christ in the Sacrament than a Chicken that should come into the Assembly and pick up some of the crumbs of the bread from the ground after Consecration can be said to receive the Body of Christ But the Danger is unspeakable of Eating and Drinking unworthily for such eat and drink Judgment to themselves not discerning the Lord's Body You may desire to come to this Table and you may say enough it may be to satisfie a Minister of Christ who cannot judge of your Heart and Conscience doth not know the whole of your Life But you your selves must look to it that you be in Christ and that you evidence you are so by being New Creatures We can but Warn and Admonish you and offer our Assistance and help At your own peril be it if you come and yet live in any known Sins and cherish the Enemies of Christ though you profess to be his and presume upon all the Priviledges of his House and Family as real members of it But I will yet add That those who are in Christ if they would have Assistance and Grace from the Spirit of Christ to walk as New Creatures they ought on the other hand to take heed how they absent themselves from that Ordinance If they would either have the comfort of their being in Christ or would have supplies of Grace to walk as New creatures they should be frequent and serious in Sacramental Duties Have you not weak Graces to be strengthened and manifold Corruptions to be more subdued Inordinate Love to this World more Crucified Do you not need more Ability to discharge several Duties and overcome divers Temptations Do you not desire to be more Partakers of the Image and Life and Spirit of Christ Is your likeness to Christ so compleat your Faith in all its branches so active and firm your Love to Christ so warm your Heavenly Desires so fervent your Patience and Resignation so perfect your Obedience so exact your standing so sure that you need no more Influence of the Spirit of Christ Should not your own necessity oblige you to be frequent in this work besides the Authority of your Lord which is motive enough to those that are in Christ And he requires you should remember his Dying Love this way and show forth his death tiâ—l he come It is proper work for us to begin the year with To renew our Covenant with the Lord by partaking of the Symbols of Christ's Body and Blood giving up our selves again to be the Lords with renewed Repentance for the sins of the Year past and repeated Exercises of Faith for Pardon and Peace and Grace and Righteousness and Life 4. The next Vse may be of Examination To try whether we are in Christ or no by inquiring whether we are New creatures or not Your Love to Christ your Likeness to him your Subjection to him your Fruitfulness in him will discover it Are old things done away with you and all things become new Is there still the old Darkness and Blindness that was upon your minds or Are you Light in the Lord Doth the old Deadness Security and Carelessness remain upon your Hearts and Consciences old Thoughts and old Designs old Discourses and Conversations as little Savour in the things of God as ever As little Victory over the Temptations of the World and the Flesh as formerly Are your Wills as rebellious and stubstorn as ever Are your Desires after Vanity and your Affections towards Earthly Things the same as formerly So for your Hopes and Fears Joys and Sorrows What Change hath been wrought Does fleshly Appetite and Sense and Carnal Interest sway and govern as much as ever Or is there a New Creation wrought in you Have you a new Mind and Judgment a new Heart and new Affections Do you walk in Newness of Life Is your Internal Principle changed and the External Rule of your Actions changed too Are you no longer conformed to the World but transformed by the renewing of your Minds Rom. 12.2 Is that sin hated and crucified that before was indulged Is that Saviour prized for to them that believe he is precious and the Chiefest of ten thousands that before was slighted Do you delight in the Law of God after the Inward Man Do you find the Holy Law of God written in your Hearts setting you against every sin in your selves and others Do you walk in the Spirit and after
Creation because of the necessity of Divine Grace and the power of the Spirit of Christ that Power that made us at first and raised Christ from the Dead 'T is the necessity of that Power unto this Change that is the principal ground of this term Creation The Efficiency of it by the power of victorious Grace making us a willing and holy People in the day of his Power comprehending habitual Sanctification as the root and life of actual holiness The Excellency and Extent of this I might shew as to the inward and outward Man Heart and Life all the Powers of the Soul and Members of the Body and our whole Carriage Course and Behaviour And that this is common unto all the Children of God all that are created again in Christ Jesus all that are born from above If any Man be in Christ he is a new creature To this end III. Let us consider the certain and inseparable connexion between these two That all who are in Christ are and must be new Creatures Every real Christian he is in Christ Jesus his Union to Christ doth constitute him a living Member and his being a New Creature doth prove it The one is the Essence the other his Property but they are inseparable What makes a Man but the Union of Soul and Body What makes a Christian but the Union of the Soul with Christ How know we that a Man hath a Soul but by the Motions Actions Operations of a Reasonable Soul How know you that such a Professing Christian is United to Christ by his Spirit but by the Effects and Operations of this Spirit making such a Change in Heart and Life from which they may be denominated New Creatures Therefore they are said to walk in the Spirit and after the Spirit And at other times as the Foundation of this to be born of the Spirit and born from above so as the Divine Life and Likeness is introduced But more particularly 1. They who are thus spiritually united to Christ they must be new creatures because they partake of the Divine Spirit the same Spirit that formed Christ in the Womb of the Virgin hath formed the new Creature in all that are in Christ the same Spirit that quickned the dead Body of Christ and raised him from the Dead imploies the exceeding greatness af his Mighty Power towards them that believe and by Faith are united to him the same Spirit that carried out the Soul of Christ to go to God as a Father doth enable Believers to cry Abba Father For the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of Adoption Gal. 4.6 The same Spirit that led Christ into his Tryals and Temptations and brought him off with Victory doth the like for all the Followers of Christ They are partakers of his Spirit The blood of Christ cannot save those who are destitute of his Spirit The same Spirit of Holiness conforms them to the Image Life of God they are under the conduct of the same Spirit of Humility Meekness Love Charity Prayer Courage Resignation and the like which acted in Christ And this makes them like to him like him in their Judgments and Opinions of things like him in their Affections like him in their Designs and Ends and like him in a course of Actions by which they prosecute those Designs for the Glory of God I might shew their Resemblance and conformity in Graces unto Christ in the Rise of them in the Kinds of them in the Exercise of them All which depends upon their Participation of the same Spirit 2. They must be new Creatures if they are in Christ because the new Creature is an Imitation of Him It is a little Module of Christ in its Birth and a conformity to his Pattern in its Growth and fully so in its Perfection And therefore we read of coming to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Ephes 4.12 All that are united to Christ are conformed to him Every Branch in him answers to the Root every Member suits to the holy Head in Heaven and in some measure doth resemble him That the Members of Christ should be of a contrary Temper to their Head is utterly impossible I might here urge the Imitation of Christ as becoming those who profess to be in him in several Instances as in the inward Delight which he took to do the will of his Father in his active Zeal for his Father's Glory in a patient submission to the hand of his Father tho' never so heavy in his firm Faith and Dependance on him under all Discouragements and in his Constancy and Perseverance to do good notwithstanding all the Hatred and Malice of the World c. 3. Because the New Creature is Represented in Scripture as a Conformity to the Death and Resurrection of Christ Philip. 3.10 By putting off the old man we dye unto Sin by putting on the new we are alive to God and live to Righteousness We are hereby changed into the Image of Christ and that good work begun which is to be finish'd and consummated in the Day of Christ Phil. 1.6 There is a Conformity to his Death and Sufferings in the mortification of Sin Our old man is crucified with him Rom. 6.6 Gal. 5.24 And a conformity to his Resurrection in Heavenliness of Mind Col. 3.1 and in Newness of Life Rom. 6.4 4. Because nothing else will so prove our Vnion to Christ as to enable us to take Comfort in such a Priviledge no external Advantages whatsoever will do it For neither circumcision nor uncumcision availeth any thing but a new Creature Gal. 6.15 The highest Profession of Religion without such a Change will not save thee Except a man be born again or from above he cannot enter into Heaven John 3.5 Neither can he be accepted of God or have fellowship with him 1 John 3.2 No External Duties or Performances will avail you without this You may Read and Hear and Pray and give Alms and do many other things and yet not be in Christ if you are not Regenerated Renewed and inwardly changed by the Power of the Divine Spirit If you are not made New Creatures you can never prove that you are in Christ You may be Baptized in the Name of the Sacred Trinity you may continue in the Bosom of the Church hear the sound of the glorious Gospel and receive the Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper and yet not be united unto Christ You may have some lesser change from the grosser Pollutions of the World you may have some partial Reformation which is far short of being new Creatures some outward temporary change in your carriage conversation while the Heart is unrenewed In a word our present Fellowship and Communion with God our after Service and Obedience in the Fruits of Righteousness to the praise of God and our final Blessedness in the enjoyment of him do all depend upon this Change this new Creation And therefore be
the Spirit of Christ and not after the Flesh or according to the course of the World as formerly Is the Life you lead in the Flesh by the Faith of the Son of God How do you stand affected as to inward Spiritual Duties that concern the inward workings of your Thoughts and Conscience and Affections and such things as none but God and you do know of Is it as great a burden and trouble to your Souls to act contrary to the renewed Nature as before to contradict the Inclinations of the Flesh Is Prayer your dayly work and delight Do you cherish and promote the new Creature Are you restless after you have fallen into Sin till by Repentance you recover Pardon and Peace Do you grow up daily into greater Conformity to Christ and Imitation of him Desiring nothing more than that his Image may be drawn more lively on your Hearts and exprest more fully in your Lives according to the various Providences of God that call for the exercise of such and such Graces and according to the various Institutions of Christ wherein such and such Holy Affections are to be imployed The knowledg of this Union to Christ upon examination will give us the Comfort of all those Priviledges which result from it Examine how matters are with you as to these things and what care you take to maintain the bonds of Union to strengthen Faith and obey the Spirit and whether it be better now than it was a year ago While Merchants and Tradesmen cast up their Books and make up their Accounts at the end of the Year let us not neglect the like work as Christians with reference to our Spiritual State Let us not be less concerned to know whether we Thrive or Decay whether we advance and go forward or else decline 5. The next Vse may be of Comfort to such as are in Christ Our Union to him is the Foundation of all our Fellowship with him and after supplies of Grace and Life If we are in Jesus Christ he is made of God unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 Such shall be delivered from Wrath entituled to Eternal Life have the Pardon of all their Sins Christ as their Advocate pleads for 'em in Heaven in him they are Adopted and have free access to God his Spirit dwells in them their Services are accepted c. If we are in him there is no condemnation unto such Rom. 8.1 Such a man is not condemned is not in a state of condemnation for the present John 3.18 And such a Member of Christ cannot Perish who by Union to him is United to God the Fountain of Life Our Lord speaks of the Union of the Father unto him as Mediator and his Union unto us as both in order to our Perfection and eternal Felicity John 17.20 23. I in them and thou in me that they may all be made perfect in one But there is no Reconciliation to God no Remission of Sins no Adoption no Salvation by Christ but for such as are in him Whereas all things are yours even Life and Death things present and things to come when you are Christ's There is a Train of invaluable Blessings follow this new Creation and Union to Christ where it is truly wrought * See Mr. Polhill 's Christus in Corde chap. 8. 2 Ephes 13.14 1 Cor 3.22 You are brought under the bond and blessing of the New Covenant Jer. 31.33 You are dignified with a new Name Rom. 2.17 You are begotten to a new Hope entitled to a new Inheritance 1 Pet. 1.3 1 John 12.13 And you shall be preserved and kept by the powerful Grace of Christ unto the full possession of it None shall pluck you out of his hands because he lives you shall live nothing shall be able to separate you from him If you are planted into the likeness of his Death for the destruction of the Body of Sin you shall grow up with him in the likeness of his Resurrection Rom. 6.5 6. Not only shall you receive Influence of Spiritual Life from him while you live but by vertue of this Union you shall dye in the Lord and sleep in Jesus Rev. 14.13 1 Thes 4.14 You shall be with him in Glory and your Bodies shall be raised by him and be made like his most glorious Body Rom. 8.11 But Lastly Let me close with Exhortation 1. Unto all to labour after Vnion to Christ 2. Unto those that have good hope through Grace that they are in him and profess to be so Let me exhort them that they would live as new Creatures 1. Labour after Vnion unto Christ How earnestly should this be desired how diligently pursued For we can have no Communion no Adoption no Freedom from Condemnation without it Faith on our part and the Spirit on Christ's are the Bonds of Union Let us carefully make use of the Word and Prayer in order to both waiting and begging of God and using all the hopeful means that are in our power in order to it How earnest should be our pursuits of this Priviledge how fervent our Prayers and constant our Endeavours after it Never leave solliciting the Throne of God till the Creator and Father of Spirits have created another breath into your nostrils another spirit into your Souls even the Spirit of Christ whereby we are united to him lay your self at his feet and with all the violence and importunity and humility that your distressed case may prompt you to beg the holy spirit to over shadow thee And yet learn so much Patience from thy beggarly state as not to challenge him at thine own times but wait his leasure and observe his motions doing all that possible thou canst in the use of common Grace to prepare the room against his coming and continue in Prayer watching thereunto in the use of all the out means which God hath afforded thee 2. Be exhorted to live as New creatures You are obliged to it by your Baptism and by your Profession of Christianity You that come to the Lord's Table are especially obliged That old things should be done away and all things become New You consider his Sufferings from time to time as represented in that Ordinance You there feast upon his Sacrifice and consider the cause of his Sufferings your own Sins and the end of them your Redemption from the Guilt and Filth and Power of Sin Can you do this and not feel the Obligation to live as New creatures and resolve upon it Do you not there renew your Covenant and engage your selves afresh to walk as the Redeemed of the Lord unto all well pleasing Do you not there cast your selves into the Arms of a Crucified Saviour and plead the Merits of his Death and beg the Supplies of his Spirit and bind your selves to strict fidelity to him as long as you live under a grateful sense of his kindness who has loved you and washed you from your sins in
a Scene and a Part and have only a Form of Godliness but must expect to pay dear for your Solemn Hopocrisie Let me therefore Advise you to three things in your Retirement after the Publick Worship and Solemn Ordinances of Christ as the End and Reason for which I will press it 1 That you retire in order to the confession of Sin and the Exercise of Repentance That when you have finished the publick work of a Sabbath or come from any special Ordinance of the Gospel by after Meditation you would reflect upon your selves and take notice of your Defects and Failings Discomposures and Distempers of Mind What unsuitableness of Spirit there has been to heavenly Mysteries or what unprepared Addresses we have made to the Majesty of Heaven and Earth the roving of our Fancies the vanity of our Thoughts c. We should humble our selves on such Occasions That we attended with no more Reverence and Diligence to the Word of God That we did not receive the Truth in the Love of it That it was not mixed with Faith Tnat we did not make particular and close application of it to our selves That our Hearts were not lâ—ft up in the ways of the Lord and our Souls under an awe of God in Prayer with becoming Affections and suitable Exercise of Grace under the influence of the Divine Spirit and in the Name of the Mediator That we approached the Table of the Lord with no more Examination of our Hearts and Ways before we came with no more Repentance for our past Guilt no more hungering after the Bread of Life no more spiritual Thirst for the Fountain of Living Waters That we beheld the Memorials of a broken bleeding Saviour with no more Contrition and Brokenness of Heart That we received the Seals of his dying Love with no more raised Affection That we remembered the Agonies of his Soul with no more correspondent Impressions upon our own In a word we may lament for the most part I fear we may after such Ordinances that our Spirits were but in a common frame our Repentance so partial our Love so cold our Faith so weak our Hope so low Desires so faint Charity so narrow Thankfulness and Joy so little in the Participarion of such Glorious Mysteries in conversing with such adorable Objects under the Offers of such rich Grace under the loud Calls to such manifest Duty under the Assurances and Expectations of such great and blessed things as the Word and Sacraments propose and Seal 2. Another Reason and Ground of this Retirement is in order to Petition and Intercession for needful Mercy to our selves and others Have we been convinced of any Duty we had formerly neglected Shall not the Reflection on it excite us to beg Wisdom and Strength to perform that Duty Has any sin been called to remembrance by the preaching of the Word Should we not beg Forgiveness and Grace to leave and forsake it as the best Testimony of our Repentance Have we joyned in Prayer and Supplication with others for the greatest Blessings and are sensible we are undone if God deny us and shall we not beg the same things again in secret Have we renewed our Vows and entered into fresh Obligations to be the Lords and shall wâ— not beg that God would heal our â—â—st â—aâ—k slidings and confirm our holy Resolutions That having sworn we may perform it that we will keep his righteous Judgments You therefore who have this Day been at the Table of the Lord let me beseech you in a special manner to retire when you come home and think of these things that you may wrestle with God in secret for a further blessing O what can he deny you when he hath given you his Son and sealed that Gift in so solemn a manner Go therefore and represent to him all your Necessities and Wants all your Griefs and Groans and Complaints and Fears and secret Desires Pray earnestly for your selves your Families and Relatives for your Ministers and Fellow Christians for all that have communicated this day with you and in other Assemblies and for all that desired to do so that were providentially hindered for all your Brethren for all the Churches of Christ throughout the World especially for those in this Nation for those in others which are oppressed by the Tyranny of the Sons of Violence for all actual Believers for all those for whom Christ died for your Friends and Enemies for the whole World 3. Retire in secret to express your Gratitude and Thanksgivings to God for Mercies received and hoped for Thank him for the Liberty of his Sanctuary for Publick Assemblies of Social Worship for Sabbaths and Sacraments and the Ministry of the Gospel considering how the Case now is with our Brethren and Neighbours in other places Thank him for another Opportunity for the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ and for so much health as to be able to partake of such a Priviledge in a publick Solemnity But above all as the Foundation of all the rest for that inestimable Blessing of Divine Love the Gift of his Son for the inexpressible Love of Christ in giving himself for us Sinners and Enemies and while we were so Thank him for the Means of Grace and the Hopes of Glory for any good Hope through Grace of present Pardon and Everlasting Communion with God in Heaven for the Offer of Forgiveness by a Covenant of Grace for the Promise of Eternal Life by Christ purchased by his Blood confirmed by the Word and Oath of God who cannot lye witnessed to many ways by the Holy Spirit made sure by the Everlasting Covenant and that sealed by Baptism and by the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Yea let us thank him for another such solemn Occasion of paying Homage to a Crucified Christ and of holy Fellowship with the Father and the son by the Spirit which this day has been afforded us Praise him for any Aâ—sistance of his Grace in the actual Celebration and for any help in our preparatory Work for reviving any of our Convictions awakening our Repentance strengthening our Faith animating our Hope quickening our zeal exercising and increasing our Love to Christ clearing our Adoption dispelling our Doubts scattering our Fears warming and filling our Desires Let our Souls and all within us bless him for any Beams of his Heavenly Light for any Glympse of his reconciled Countenance for any token of his Love to us any expression and exercise of our own to him Let us thank him for what he hath given us and sealed to us and promised to give us for what we have already received as the first Fruits and the Earnest and the Pledge of a great deal more We may Express our Gratitude and Joy to some such Purpose as this (a) almost in the words of Mr. Baxter which follows O my gracious God thou hast surpast all humane Comprehension in thy Love Is this thy usage of unworthy Prodigals I
is a fit Season for extraordinary Thanksgiving and Praise blessing God for Jesus Christ Which Thankfulness for Christ disposes and fits us for the Reception of further Grace as the Fruit and Purchase of his Death and so is the Means of our Communion in his Body and Blood Thus it is the Cup of Blessing and of Thanksgiving that we there Receive which Cup of Blessing upon such Accounts as these is our Communion in the Blood of Christ. 2. You will hereby the better perceive what is to be done on our part in order to this Communion 1. Our Faith must Eye the Authority of Christ enacting it We must act in Obedience to an Institution and Appointment of Christ It was a Remarkable Instance and Act of his Kingly Office to enjoyn this Memorial of his dying Love And the Season of its Institution is the more observable viz. In the close of his Publick Ministery of his Prophetical Office upon Earth and in his Entrance upon the Execution of the Principal part of his Priestly Office by being made a Sacrifice between both of these And to render both Effectual our Lord interposed an Act of his Kingly Office in the Institution of this Ordinance Accordingly it should be eyed and owned by us in order to our Communion with him therein 2. The Love of Christ must especially be Eyed and Attended to in this Supper as Exprest by his Death and Sufferings Of this we have here the most lively Representation with the Glorious Effects of that Love which are not Represented with such a Beauty and Lustre by any other Ordinance as by this The constraining Love of Christ in his whole undertaking is better discerned and tasted in this Ordinance than as it is proposed 〈◊〉 several parts in the Holy Scripture Here we are called to the particular Application of it He loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2.20 Rev. 1.5 3. The Soveraignty and the Wisdom of God in Instituting these External Signs and Elements of Bread and Wine must also be Eyed and Attended to They most fitly Signifie and Represent the great Things they are designed for and yet without a Divine Institution could have no Relation to the Thing signified How suitable is the plain matter of this Sacrament unto the holy Author of it We remember in this Supper his Body hanging on the Cross and therefore it was not fit the Sacrament of his Body should be sumptuous and rich upon the Table Nevertheless by Bread to strengthen and Wine to comfort all the Benefits of a crucified Saviour are fitly Represented and much better than they could have been by the choicest Delicates In order to this Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ we must take heed to our selves not to rest in the External Signs but to discern the Lord's Body to apprehend the Spiritual Import and End of this Divine Institution That by Faith we may Receive Christ and feed upon him so as to Experience the Communications of his Grace and Receive fresh Influences of his Spirit That we may Accept all the Benefits of the New Covenant which are here Offered and Sealed to us and that we may Devote Resign and Dedicate our selves afresh to be the Lord's to Obey him and serve the Purposes of his Glory while we live in hope of the blessed Recompence which he has Purchased and promised and is gone to prepare and which he will not fail to come again and bestow Until which time this Ordinance is to continue in the Church To shew forth the Lord's Death till he come Vse 1. The first Reflection I would make on this is upon the Sacrilegious Confidence of those Men who deny Christians the Means of their Communion in the Blood of Christ who rob them of one half of this Sacrament by denying the Cup of Blessing to the Laity The Cup is the Communion of the blood of Christ says the Apostle Drink ye all of it says our Lord. And yet the Church of Rome will not suffer the People to taste it But as one Errour makes way for another they pretend that by the New Doctrine of Concomitancy the Bread or the little Wafer which is not broken neither according to the order of Christ but put whole into the Peoples Mouths by the hands of the Priest This Wafer shall be enough for the People and by the help of a strong Imagination of the Authority of their Church the very Body Blood and Bones of Christ shall be contained under the Form and Appearance of Bread One would wonder how any Thing can be plainer both in this and the next Chapter and in the Institution it self as Recorded by the Evangelists than the Universal Obligation upon Christians to partake of the Cup as well as the Bread And what Authority can any Man or Number of Men have to alter such a Constitution May they not as well take away the Bread from the People as the Cup They will grant that for a Thousand Years after Christ it was the Sense and Practice of the Christian Church that the People should partake of the Cup too And for Fourteen hundred Years it can be proved that they did even from the Apostle's Time down to that of Thomas Aquinas in the latter end of the Thirteenth Century Justin Martyr Cyprian Nazianzen Chrysostom and all the most considerable Writers of the Ancient Church are express in their Testimony for it But what need we concern our selves about the Judgment of Antiquity When there is a Positive Institution of Christ and in a large Account thereof by the Apostle Paul in the Eleventh Chapter he speaks but one word of the Consecration of the Bread but uses divers Expressions to signifie the Excellency of the Cup. This is my Blood says Chrâ—st The Blood of the New Testament shed for the Remission of Sins of many His sufferings and the reality of his Death are in a most lively manner set forth by the shedding of his Blood Not to insist upon his bloody sweat in the Garden You know when he was whipt and scourged and crowned with Thornes he then shed Blood Blood issued from his hands and Feet when he was nailed to the Cross and from his side when he was pierced by the Roman Soldiers By the shedding of his Blood he lost his Life and without shedding of Blood there could be no Remission So that to deprive the People of the Cup is to take away the most lively and the most essential Representation of the Sufferings and Death of Christ The Doctrine of Concomitancy will not availe in this Case The partaking of the Bread only is not sufficient whereby to remember his Death For the Separation of his Blood from his Body was the means of his Dying This destroys the Distinction between the two Symbols which yet are very different in their Names in their Properties in their Vse and in the Time of receiving them Besides it is contrary to all the Rules of Language
to be Saved by Faith in a Mediator as well as we The Gospel was preached unto them as well as unto us 2. Did Christ desire Fellowship with his Disciples Friends and Followers in the Passover What shall we think of those that despise such Institutions and look upon themselves as above such Ordinances as if they had a nearer and better way of Communion with God and Christ then this Remissness and Indifference as to these things Neglect and Carelesness in Preparation for them is likewise a degree of Contempt that deserves to be Reproved 3. Was Christ so desirous to eat his last Passover before he suffered for us because of his Willingness to Suffer What Ingratitude does this imply in our Backwardness and Cowardize when we are called to suffer for him 4. Did our Lord desire to eat this Passover because it was the last and consequently was Willing to be a Sacrifice for us What an Argument of his endearing Love does this afford us And how should it Enflame ours to him It was not from Ignorance of what he was to Suffer he fully knew what he had undertaken he perfectly understood what his Baptism of Blood did signifie and yet he earnestly desired it and was straitned till it was Accomplished He knew the Burden of Sin that he was to Expiate as a Sin-Offering when he bore our Sins in his own Body on the Tree as a Sacrifice to Divine Justice for us He knew the bitterness of that Cup which he was to drink of before-hand and yet for our sakes he desires it What Thankfulness do we owe for such inestimable Love He was willing to submit to such difficult Terms to bring about our Reconciliation to God He was willing to be obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross to turn away the Divine Displeasure from us and to restore us to the Divine Favour and Image again He was willing to be a Sacrifice for sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God through Faith in him He was willing to bear the Curse that the Blessing of Abraham might come upon us He was willing to be our Paschal Lamb to be slain and sacrificed for us that by the sprinkling of his Blood we might be delivered from Sin and Hell that by feeding on him as our Passover we might be Partakers of Spiritual and Eternal Life And even in the midst of his Agony in the Garden notwithstanding the strugling of his Humane Nature against the bitterness of the Cup which made him pray for the passing of it away yet as Mediator he was willing and therefore adds Not my Will but thine be done Father glorifie thy self O matchless and incomprehensible Love How should our Souls be Ravished with the Contemplation of it How hard and insensible are our Hearts if they feel no constraining Vertue in the Consideration of such Love If we do not Sacrifice our Lusts in Requital of his being a willing Sacrifice for us Shall not the Love of Christ which bubbles up in every Drop of his Blood and made him willing and resolved to shed it on our Account make us hate that Sin which he died to Atone for and to destroy Can we consider him Groaning Sweating Bleeding Dying for Sin and yet Retain an Affection to it And rush into it through the Wounds and Blood and Agony and Death of our Redeemer Shall that ever be sweet to us which put so much Vinegar and Gall into his Cup Let me add a few Words for Counsel and Direction 1. Did Christ earnestly desire to eat this Passover and have Communion with his Disciples therein How earnestly should we desire to have Communion with him in that Ordinance that succeeded to it which was Instituted by Christ himself the same Evening in the close of the Paschal Supper Is not a Spiritual Communion with him now he is in Glory as desirable as his Bodily Prâ—sence was when in a state of Humiliation Is it not the Spirit and Temper of all the Disciples of Christ in every Age of the Church to value and to desire such near Approaches to him How did the believing Jews prepare themselves for such a Solemnity as the Passover How did David's Heart pant and faint and long for Communion with God in the Services of the Temple Psalm 27.4 One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the Beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his Temple The Israelites were to eat the Passover in haste with greediness of desire Non lento Corde non languido Ore And is it not a Shame to us to have no Appetite for such a Feast Is â—t not for want of such Desires of Communion with Christ that we meet with so little Satisfaction when we come Let him that is a thirst come and such shall be filled when others shall be sent empty away but the hungry Souls shall not be sent empty away from the Lord's Table We may likewise heighten our Desires and Appetites when we come to this Table by considering For ought we know this may be the last Communion with Christ in such an Ordinance that we shall ever enjoy before it be fully accomplished in Heaven 2. Let us imitate Christ as our Passover Both in his Readiness to Suffer and in his Character and Qualification as the Spotless Lamb of God in Meekness and Patience and Submission c. Without this we can never prove our Interest in him 3. Let us thankfully Contemplate this Lamb of God as desiring to be Sacrificed for us Let us seriously and often consider the Voluntariness of his Death and Sacrifice the Fruits of his Suffering the Merit of his Cross How Acceptable his Sacrifice was to God how beneficial unto us What a Deliverance we have by it what a Bondage we are saved from what a Glorious Liberty he has purchased what a compleat Salvation we expect when all shall be fulfilled in Heaven These are proper Thoughts for those of us this Evening who have Feasted this Day on the Sacrifice of Christ Every one of us in particular not only in publick but in secret should bless God for Jesus Christ Admiring the Matchless Grace and Love of the Redeemer in being thus a Willing Sacrifice for us and calling us to Feast upon it having Instituted this Ordinance on purpose for that very end Lastly Live in the Daily Exercise of Faith on the Blood of Christ as the Lamb of God Sacrificed for us It was the sprinkling of the Blood of the Paschal Lamb that was the Mark of the Israelites Deliverance So the shedding of the Blood of Christ with particular Application by Faith is aâ— necessary for us Without it we cannot escape the Stroke of the destroying Angel Without it the Blood of Christ will call for Vengeance and his very Sacrifice and Sufferings plead against us We should every Day by fresh