is ceas'd also together with the Law and in stead thereof a Sacrament more sutable to the Gospel is instituted in Bread and Wine which of all sensible substances here below are the most pure and so the fittest to set out the spirituall service of the Gospel The consideration whereof should teach us that live under the Gospel not to rest our selves in any bodily or outward observations as if they were the onely or principall duty of the Gospel but to use them as helpes onely the better to enable us for the due performing of our spirituall services which is the perfection the Gospel cals us to and without which all other performances like a hungry and barren soyle will yeeld but little solid fruite or comfort to our soules And so I passe from the more sensible and earthy part of this Sacrament to the spirituall and heavenly part to wit the Body and Blood of Christ which is imported in the Emphasis of the Articles here This Bread and This Cup. Where before we come to the Emphasis and what it imports give me leave to observe First that the Apostle here cals the Sacramentall Elements Bread and Wine and that after the words of Institution and Consecration So they retaine their nature and substance still and remaine Bread and Wine even after this great advancement And here you may see upon what a sandy foundation the Church of Rome hath built that most dangerous and destructive doctrine of Transubstantiation Saint Paul calls the Elements Bread and Wine after consecration the Church of Rome saith they cease then to be Bread and Wine their very substance is converted into the substance of the naturall Body and Blood of Christ by a new way of their owne fancying which Biell a prime Doctor of theirs confesses is not to be found in the Canon of the Bible * Biel Lect. 40. in Can. Missae for which they have sutably invented a new Name of Transubstantiation And I call it a destructive Doctrine and that most justly and in many Regards For first it destroyes the nature of the Elements of Bread and Wine by a totall Conversion of them into the substance of Christs Body and Blood Secondly it destroyes the nature and properties of Christs Body by ascribing Infinitenesse and Omnipresence not onely to the Person of Christ but to his naturall Body which was borne of the Blessed Virgin Thirdly it destroyes the Peace of Christendome or at least it hath a great share in it as being boldly and rashly defin'd by the Church of Rome and presumptuously impos'd as an Article of Faith to be beleev'd upon Necessity of Salvation Fourthly it is notoriously knowne the denyall of it hath destroy'd the Lives of many of Gods faithfull Servants both here and in other parts of the Christian world Fifthly and Lastly to adde no more it 's destructive of Piety and Devotion in diverting the Soule from devout and usefull Meditations and drawing it aside to subtleties of wit and empty speculations To this purpose Master Hooker * Eccles. Poliâ— lib. 5. sect 67. excellently observes that the Discourses of the Romanists concerning Transubstantiation are hungry and unpleasant full of tedious and irkesome labour heartlesse and without Fruite whereas the Discourses of Ancient and Later Writers concerning the Mysticall presence of Christ the use efficacy and benefit of the Sacrament are heavenly and devout their words sweete as the Honeycombe their tongues melodiously-tun'd Instruments and their sentences meere Consolation and ioy The second thing which I will observe from this part is that Saint Paul doth not call the Consecrated Elements bare Bread and Wine and no more but Bread and Wine with an Emphasis This Bread and this Cup of which it was said before in the words of Christ This is my Body which is broken for you and this Cup is the New Testament in my Blood How the Bread and Wine in this Sacrament are the Body and Blood of Christ is a great Mystery to unfold Master Calvin in his fourth Booke of Institutions Calv. lib. 4. Instit cap. 17. sect 7. Cap. â—vij calls it sublime mysterium cui nec mens plane cogitando nec lingua explicando par esse potest A Mystery so sublime that the minde of Man is not able to comprehend it much lesse the tongue to unfold it Quod ergo mens nostra non comprehendit concipiat fides so hee goes on excellently in the same Chapter Sect. 10. What therefore our Reason cannot comprehend let Faith conceive Christ hath said it this is my Body let us therefore beleeve the Truth of the thing But hee hath not said the manner how let us not therefore search into that which is not written For mine owne part saith the same Authour * Lib. 4. Instit c. 17. sect 19. Caeterum his absurditatibus sublatis quicquid ad exprimendam veram substantialemque Corporis ac sauguinis Domini communicationem quae sub sacris Coenae symbolis fidelibus exhibeÌ„tur facere potest libenter recipio atque ita ut non imaginatione duntaxat aut ment is intelligentia percipere sed ut re ipsa frui in alimentum vitae aeternae intelligantur his absurditatibus sublatis set aside the absurdities which boldly and falsely define the manner of the presence of Christs body and blood in the Lords Supper Hee meanes Consubstantiation and Transubstantiation whatsoever may be said to expresse the Communication of the true and substantiall Body and Blood of the Lord which are exhibited to the Faithfull under the holy Symboles of the Supper J willingly admit and that in such sort that this participation may be understood not in Imagination onely and Apprehension of the minde but a Reall Fruition to nourish the body and soule to eternall Life Thus that Reverend Author and much more to the same purpose in that place With the same wisedome and sobriety the Church of England speakes of this great Mystery shee does not as the Church of Rome unjustly charges us exclude Christ out of the Sacrament and make it a bare signe and Figure of his body and blood shee indeed denyes their Carnall and Corporeall presence of Christ in the Sacrament and acknowledges onely an heavenly and spirituall presence without any farther defining of the manner in particular But for the Truth of the thing it selfe shee beleeves and acknowledges expressely That to such as rightly worthily and with Faith receive the same the Bread which we breake is a partaking of the body of Christ and likewise the Cup of blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ in the * Art 28. relig 28. Article of Religion and more fully in the * Doctr. of the Sacraments Catechisme The body and blood of Christ are verily and indeed taken of the Faithfull in the Lords Supper I goe on to the Sacramentall actions which are likewise two answerable to the parts of this Sacrament to wit Eating of this Bread
diffitemur quin ita nobis monstraturillic Christi immolatio ut crucis spectaculum pene ob oculos statuatur qualiter in oculis Galatorum Christum suisse crucisixum dicit Aposte dum illis propositacrucis predicatio suerat Calvin l. 4. Jnllit c. 18 § 11 For first The Ministers setting apart the Bread and Wine upon the Holy Table and Consecrating them represents God the Fathers unspeakeable Love to mankind in setting apart and sending his only begotten Son into the World to dye for us here 's the prime cause of his death Againe the breaking of the Bread that resembles the brusing of our Saviours body the Agonies of his soule for our iniquities and the powring forth of the Wine and the distribution of the Bread and Wine severally and apart doth most aptly resemble the shedding of his most precious bloud and the severing of it from his Body on the Crosse wherein consisted the very Passion And lastly the Effects and Operations of Bread and VVine upon the Bodies of men they doe most Lively resemble the Effects and Operations of the death of Christ upon the Soule To the sound and healthfull body Bread satisfies Hunger and strengthens life And Wine makes glad the heart of man saith the Psalmist * Psa 104.15 But on the contrary to a foule or feverish body wine is turned into poyfon and there is nothing surfets the body more suddenly nor more dangerously then bread according to the Aphorisme Hippo. Aphor. l. 7. Aphor. 62 Si quis febricitanti cibum dederit quem sano exhibet valenti Robur aegrotanti morbus fit In like manner the death of Christ applyed to the faithfull and devout soule satisfies his spirituall hunger strengthens the life of grace in him fills him with joy unspeakable and most glorious It is to him the savour of life unto life but to the unbeleever and impenitent that wilfully perishes It becomes the savour of death unto death * 2 Cor. 2.16 vid. S. Cypr de coena Domini §. 7. Let our soules goe along here and meditate of these and the like Analogies in the time of receaving Hoc age doe this And this is the first sence of shewing forth Christs death in the Sacrament In this Sacrament wee doe not onely make a bare shew of Christs death by way of representation and resemblance but we shew it forth also by way of evidence and confirmation For this Sacramentall Cup is the New Testament in Christs Bloud And all the promises in the Gospell which are the Legacies of the New Testament and Benefits of Christs death are in the right use of this Sacrament conveyed and assur'd to us In this Sacrament Christ sets his Scale to his Testament and delivers it particularly into every worthy Communicants hand and every such Communicant receaves it to his soules comfort from God as his deed and gift and hereof hee may assure himselfe as verily as hee receaves the outward Elements of Bread and VVine to his bodily nourishment And though a fraile and mortall man be the Minister and Jnstrument to convey this assurance to you yet what he doth herein he doth it in the Name of Christ by Commission from Christ and in Christ's stead So that it is Christ's Act and deed and the Assurance is Authentically and Originally from Him who is Jnvisibilis Sacerdos the Invisible High Priest John 4 v. ◠2 In the 4 of Saint Iohn wee read that Christ Baptized more then Iohn though Iesus himselfe Baptized not saith the Text but only His Disciples If therefore Baptisme be our Saviours Act In and by the Ministery of His Disciples which He never administred by Himselfe how much more is this Blessed Sacrament His Act and Deed by the hands of his Ministers which He Jnstituted Consecrated and Administred Himselfe in His own person And as much Comfort and Assurance may Yee reape from it now by the hands of Christs Ministers as if Ye should receive it from Christ's owne Blessed hands as the Disciples did Onely as yee desire to enjoy the Comfort of it be carefull to observe Theophylact's Counsell which he gives upon this very Ground in his Comment on my Text Eo affectu debetis esse imbuti Yee ought to be so well disposed when yee come to receive the Eucharist as yee your-selves thinke yee should and could have beene if with the Disciples yee had enjoy'd the happy presence of our Saviour at his last Supper and had taken this Blessed Sacrament at the first Institution of it from our Saviours owne hands Yee ought to aspire after it now that yee may bee affected with the same heavenly Devotion and humble Reverence with the same fervent Charity and hearty thankefulnes toward our blessed Saviour considering it is the same Holy Supper and no other and the very same Death which wee now shew forth and unto the worlds end as then at the first Institution and Ordination of it Thirdly and lastly we doe in this Sacrament shew forth Christs Death by way of Memoriall and Commemoration Do this in remembrance of Mee saith our Saviour * 22. S. Luk. 19. And for this end mainly was this Sacrament instituted by our blessed Saviour And from this main end of it this Sacrament is and hath been in all Ages of the Church called by the name of the Eucharist as being a sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving to God in Remembrance of our Saviours Death and Passion And accordingly our Church exhorts and practices in the service of the Communion * The last Exhortation before the Communion and the first Prayer after the Communion Above all things we must here give humble and heartie Thanks to God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of our Saviour Christ both God and Man who did humble himselfe to the Death upon the Crosse for us miserable sinners And to the end wee should always remember the exceeding great Love of our Master and only Saviour thus dying for us he hath instituted and ordain'd these holy Mysteries To Him therefore with the Father and the Holy Ghost Let us give as we are most bounden continuall Thanks And that this our Thansgiving may be acceptable to God let us first conform ourselves to our blessed Saviour in his Death and Passions let us die to sin and live to Christ Consider we therefore the worke we have in hand and the end of our comming as often as wee come to Celebrate the Holy Eucharist We come here to Commemorate the Death and Passion of our Saviour for our sins and it would ill beseem us then to solemnize the Funerals of our Lord and Master not having on our mourning Garments without suitable sorrow and suffering in our owne souls Should we suffer sin to live in us which cost our Saviour his Life and make that our Delight which caused his Death and that at the very time when wee
and Drinking of this Cup. First we must Eate this Bread There is a fourefold benefit which wee receive by our bodily Eating Nourishment Society Delight and Physicke You know there is a Meale for Nourishment a Feast for Society a Banquet for Delight and a Medicine for Physicke This fourefold benefit wee receive to our soules in a farre more eminent manner by this Sacramentall Eating and for this fourefold benefits sake we must taste and eate this Sacrament and we shall find it if we prepare our selves aright before we eate it to be through the Grace of Christ First Coelestis Refectio an Heavenly Repast to nourish us up to eternall Life Secondly Sacrum Convivium a holy Feast to mainetaine the mysticall society betwixt Christ and his members and to be a bond of Love and Vnity amongst Christians Thirdly Spirituale Epulum * Cal. lib. 4. Instit c. 17. sect 1. a spirituall Banquet for inward and unspeakeable Delight Fourthly and lastly to be Medicina animae as * Medicina enim spiritualis est quae cum reverentia degustata purificat sibi devotum Ambr. tom 5. Oper. in Epist ad Cor. cap. 11. Saint Ambrose calls it i. e. to them that are rightly prepared and through the grace of Christ Soveraigne Physicke for the Soule Secondly wee must Drinke the Sacramentall Cup as well as Eate the Bread For as oft as ye eate this Bread and drinke this Cup too saith the Text. They are joyned together in the Text and they may not be severed in our Practice And that for these three reasons First propter Perfectionem Repraesentationis that in this Sacrament there may be a perfect resemblance and representation of Christs Passion on the Crosse for there the Blood was severed from the Body and therefore here to keepe the resemblance perfect the Wine which resembles the Blood must bee taken severally from the Bread which resembles the Body Secondly propter Perfectionem Refectionis That the Lords Supper may bee perfect Nourishment to us For as in bodily sustenance Meate doth not nourish well without Drinke a Meale cannot be perfect without Meate and Drinke So is it likewise in this spirituall Refection wee must Eate and Drinke too else no perfect nourishment to the Soule Vtrumque enim est de perfectione hujus Sacramenti For both Eating and Drinking too are required to the perfection of this Sacrament So much Aquinas * Aquin. Com. in 1 Cor. 11.26 himselfe a prime Schooleman amongst the Papists acknowledges in his Comment on my Text and hee gives these two forenamed reasons for his acknowledgement So that by his owne confession the Church of Rome however she may be more indulgent to her Clergy yet shee is very scanty to the People and halfes out to them but an imperfect Sacrament Thirdly I will adde a third and maine reason for this Sacramentall Action and that is propter perfectionem Obedientiae that our Obedience may be perfect for you see we have Christs Command for both drinking the Cup as well as eating the Bread not onely his Practice as in administring it after Supper but we have his practice and command too for sub utraque specie for the Communion in both Kindes which makes this obligatory to us though not the other according to that excellent rule of Saint Cyprian * S. Cypr. lib. 2 ep 3. quae Christus fecit docuit sunt perpetuae observationis what Christ both did and also taught or commanded must be perpetually observed in the Church The boldnesse therefore of the Councell of Constance was very great in declaring the administring of the Communion in both Kindes to the People to be no more obligatory to us then the administring of it after Supper but their presumption is much more intolerable in establishing the Romish halfe communion with a non obstante in terminis to the Institution of Christ as you may read in the 13. Session of that Councell * Tom. 7. concil edit per Bin. I have done with the Sacramentall actions The third and last particular in the first generall concernes the circumstances of these actions And the first circumstance is of Time As oft Semel nascimur saepius vero alimur we are borne but once into the world and so we receive Baptisme but once which is the Sacrament of our New-birth But we stand in need of often Nourishment and therefore wee are often to receive the Lords Supper which is the Sacrament of our spirituall Nourishment and growth in Christ Accordingly if wee looke into Church story wee shall finde that the first and best ages of the Church and as many of the after ages as desired to conforme to those first and best were all of them for frequent Communions In the times of the Apostles * Acts 20.7 we read of a Communion once every weeke upon the first Day of the weeke which is the Lords Day In the times next to the Apostles Saint Cyprian * Eucheristiam quotidie ad cibumsalutis accipimuâ— S. Cyp. de Orat. Dominica tells us of an every-dayes Communion Every day the Christians lookt for Death in those times of violent persecution and therfore every day they would be provided of this Viaticum In Saint Augustines time which was 400 yeares after Christ some Churches communicated every day some onely upon the Saturday and the Lords day others onely upon the Lords day as we read in his 118. Epistle After that Devotion decaying the Communion was administred generally onely thrice in the yeare at the three great Feasts of Easter Whitsontide and Christ mas and of later yeares under Pope Innocent the Third in the Lateran Councell propter iniquitatis abundantiam refrigescente charitate multorum so * Aquin. Sum. par 3. q. 80. Art 10. ad quintum Aquinas himselfe renders the reason of it By reason of the abounding of Iniquity the Charity and Devotion of many waxing cold in the Roman Church the people were upon this bound onely to receive once in the yeare to wit at Easter But the Liturgy of the Church of England to reforme us neerer to the Piety of the Ancient Church of Christ though it sets not downe a generall Rule to bind every particular Person to Communicate more then Thrice in the yeare which was done no doubt upon most prudent Considerations Because the variety of Cases in regard of the different understandings and imployments of particular persons in regard of the different Capaciousnesse and Receipt of Places and Parishes and divers other Circumstances considerable make the prescribing of a certaine Rule for Particulars in this kinde fittest for private advice and resolution upon due preparation of every Communicant Yet in the Rubricke after the Communion a Communion is enjoyned every Sunday at the least in Cathedrall and Collegiate Churches except they have a reasonable cause to the contrary And in the first Exhortation before the Communion all the People are most pathetically moved and exhorted