Part 43

§. V. [Sidenote: I.] _First_, It must be understood that I speak of a necessary and peculiar Relation otherwise than in a general Respect: For inasmuch as our Communion with Christ is and ought to be our greatest and chiefest Work, we ought to do all other Things with a Respect to God, and our Fellowship with him; [Sidenote: _That the Communion of the _Body_ and _Blood_ of _Christ_ has no special Relation to the Ceremony of _breaking Bread_, neither by Nature nor Precept._] but a special and necessary Respect or Relation is such as where the two Things are so tied and united together, either _of their own Nature_, or _by the Command of God_, that the one cannot be enjoyed, or at least is not, except very extraordinarily, without the other. Thus _Salvation_ hath a necessary Respect to _Holiness_, because _without Holiness no Man shall see God_; and the _Eating of the Flesh and Blood of_ Christ hath a necessary Respect to our having Life, because if we _eat not his Flesh, and drink not his Blood_, we cannot have _Life_; and our _feeling of God’s Presence_ hath a necessary Respect to our being found meeting in his Name by divine Precept, because he has promised, _Where two or three are met together in his Name, he will be in the Midst of them_. In like Manner our receiving _Benefits_ and _Blessings from God_ has a necessary Respect to our _Prayer_, because if _we ask_, he hath promised _we shall receive_. Now the Communion or Participation of the _Flesh and Blood of Christ_ hath no such necessary Relation to the _breaking of Bread_ and _drinking of Wine_; for if it had any such necessary Relation, it would either be from the _Nature of the Thing_, or from some _divine Precept_; but we shall shew it is from neither: Therefore, _&c._

_First_, It is not from the _Nature of it_; because to partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ is a spiritual Exercise, and all confess that it is by the Soul and Spirit that we become real Partakers of it, as it is the Soul, and not the Body, that is nourished by it. But to eat Bread and drink Wine is a natural Act, which in itself adds nothing to the Soul, neither has any Thing that is spiritual in it; because the most carnal Man that is can as fully, as perfectly, and as wholly eat Bread and drink Wine as the most spiritual. _Secondly_, Their Relation is not _by Nature_, else they would infer one another; but all acknowledge that many eat of the Bread and drink of the Wine, even that which they say is _consecrate_ and _transubstantiate into the very Body of Christ_, who notwithstanding have not Life eternal, have not Christ dwelling in them, nor do live by him, as all do who truly partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ without the Use of this Ceremony, as all the _Patriarchs_ and _Prophets_ did before this Ordinance, as they account it, was instituted. [Sidenote: _The Patriarchs and Prophets, without this Ceremony’s Use, were true Partakers of Christ’s Flesh and Blood._] Neither was there any Thing under the Law that had any direct or necessary Relation hereunto; though to partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ in all Ages was indispensably necessary to Salvation. [Sidenote: _The Paschal _Lamb_ its End._] For as for the _Paschal Lamb_, the whole End of it is signified particularly, _Exod._ xiii. 8, 9. to wit, _That the_ Jews _might thereby be kept in Remembrance of their Deliverance out of_ Egypt.

_Secondly_, It hath not Relation by _divine Precept_; for if it had, it would be mentioned in that which our Adversaries account the Institution of it, or else in the Practice of it by the Saints recorded in Scripture; but so it is not. For as to the _Institution_, or rather _Narration_, of Christ’s Practice in this Matter, we have it recorded by the Evangelists _Matthew_, _Mark_, and _Luke_.[130] In the first two there is only an Account of the Matter of Fact, to wit, _That _Christ_ brake Bread, and gave it to his Disciples to eat, saying, This is my Body; and blessing the Cup, he gave it them to drink, saying, This is my Blood_; but nothing of any Desire to them to do it. In the last, after the _Bread_ (but before the _Blessing_, or giving them the _Wine_) he bids them _do it in Remembrance of him_. [Sidenote: _The _Institution_ of the _Supper_, or Narration of _Christ’s Practice_ therein._] What we are to think of this Practice of Christ shall be spoken of hereafter. But what necessary Relation hath all this to the Believers partaking of the Flesh and Blood of Christ? The End of this for which they were to do it, if at all, is to _remember_ Christ; which the Apostle yet more particularly expresses, 1 _Cor._ xi. 26. _to shew forth the Lord’s Death_; but to _remember the Lord_, or _declare his Death_, which are the special and particular Ends annexed to the Use of this Ceremony, is not at all to partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ; neither have they any more necessary Relation to it than any other two different spiritual Duties. For though they that partake of the _Flesh and Blood of_ Christ cannot but remember him, yet the Lord and his Death may be remembered, as none can deny, where his Flesh and Blood is not truly partaken of. So that since the very particular and express End of this Ceremony may be witnessed, to wit, the Remembrance of the Lord’s Death, and yet the Flesh and Blood of Christ not partaken of, it cannot have had any necessary Relation to it, else the Partaking thereof would have been the End of it, and could not have been attained without this Participation. But on the contrary, we may well infer hence, that since the positive End of this Ceremony is not the Partaking of the Flesh and Blood of Christ, and that whoever partakes of the Flesh and Blood of Christ cannot but remember him, that therefore such need not this Ceremony to put them in Remembrance of him.

[130] Matt. 26. 17. Mark 14. 22. Luke 22. 19.

[Sidenote: Object.] But if it be said, _That _Jesus Christ_ calls the Bread here his _Body_, and the Wine his _Blood_, therefore he seems to have had a special Relation to his Disciples partaking of his Flesh and Blood in the Use of this Thing_;

[Sidenote: _Answ._] I _answer_, His calling the Bread his _Body_, and the Wine his _Blood_, would yet infer no such Thing; though it is not denied but that Jesus Christ, in all Things he did, yea, and from the Use of all natural Things, took Occasion to raise the Minds of his Disciples and Hearers to Spirituals. [Sidenote: _The Woman of_ Samaria, John 4. 14.] Hence from the Woman of _Samaria_ her drawing _Water_, he took Occasion to tell her of that _living Water_, which _whoso drinketh of shall never thirst_; which indeed is all one with his _Blood_ here spoken of; [Sidenote: _The _Well_, the _Loaves_, the _Bread_ and _Wine_, Christ takes Occasion from, to shew the _inward Feeling.] yet it will not follow that _that Well_ or _Water_ had any necessary Relation to the _living Water_, or the _living Water_ to it, _&c._ So Christ takes Occasion, from the _Jews_ following him for the _Loaves_, to tell them of this _spiritual Bread_ and _Flesh_ of his Body, which was more necessary for them to feed upon; it will not therefore follow that their following him for the _Loaves_ had any necessary Relation thereunto. So also Christ here, being at Supper with his Disciples, takes Occasion, from the _Bread_ and _Wine_ which was before them, to signify unto them, That as that _Bread_ which he brake unto them, and that _Wine_ which he blessed and gave unto them, did contribute to the Preserving and Nourishing of their Bodies, so was he also to give his _Body_ and shed his _Blood_ for the _Salvation_ of their _Souls_. And therefore the very End proposed in this Ceremony to those that observe it is, to be a _Memorial of his Death_.

But if it be said, _That the Apostle, _1 Cor. x. 16._ calls the Bread which he brake the Communion of the Body of Christ, and the Cup the Communion of his Blood_;

I do most willingly subscribe unto it; but do deny that this is understood of the outward Bread, neither can it be evinced, but the contrary is manifest from the Context: For the Apostle in this Chapter speaks not one Word of that Ceremony; for having in the Beginning of it shewn them how the _Jews_ of old were made Partakers of the _spiritual Food_ and _Water_, which was Christ, and how several of them, through _Disobedience_ and _Idolatry_, fell from that good Condition, he exhorts them, by the Example of those _Jews_ whom God destroyed of old, to flee those Evils; shewing them that they, to wit, the _Corinthians_, are likewise Partakers of the _Body and Blood_ of Christ; of which Communion they would rob themselves if they did Evil, because _they could not drink of the Cup of the Lord and the Cup of Devils, and partake of the Lord’s Table and the Table of Devils_, Ver. 21. which shews that he understands not here the using of outward Bread and Wine; because those that do drink the _Cup of Devils_, and eat of the _Table of Devils_, yea, the wickedest of Men, may partake of the outward Bread and outward Wine. [Sidenote: _The wickedest may take the outward Bread and Wine._] For there the Apostle calls the Bread _one_, Ver. 17. and he saith, _We being many, are one Bread, and one Body; for we are all Partakers of that one Bread_. Now if the Bread be _one_, it cannot be the _outward_, or the _inward_ would be excluded; whereas it cannot be denied but that it is the Partaking of the _inward Bread_, and not the _outward_, that makes the Saints truly _one Body_ and _one Bread_. And whereas they say, That the _one Bread_ here comprehendeth both the _outward_ and _inward_, by Virtue of the _sacramental Union_; [Sidenote: _The _sacramental Union_ pretended, a _Figment.] that indeed is to affirm, but not to prove. As for that _Figment_ of a _sacramental Union_, I find not such a Thing in all the _Scripture_, especially in the _New Testament_; nor is there any Thing can give a Rise for such a Thing in this Chapter, where the Apostle, as is above observed, is not at all treating of that _Ceremony_, but only, from the Excellency of that Privilege which the _Corinthians_ had, as believing Christians, _to partake of the Flesh and Blood_ of Christ, dehorts them from _Idolatry_, and partaking of the Sacrifices offered to _Idols_, so as thereby to offend or hurt their weak Brethren.

[Sidenote: Object.] But that which they most of all _cry out_ for in this Matter, and are always _urging_, is from 1 _Cor._ xi. where the Apostle is particularly treating of this Matter, and therefore, from some Words here, they have the greatest Appearance of Truth for their Assertion, as Ver. 27. where he calls the _Cup_ the _Cup of the Lord_; and saith, _That they who eat of it and drink it unworthily, are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord_; and Ver. 29. _Eat and drink their own Damnation_; intimating hence, that this hath an immediate or necessary Relation to the Body, Flesh, and Blood of Christ.

[Sidenote: _Answ._] Though this at first View may catch the Unwary Reader, yet being well considered, it doth no Ways evince the Matter in Controversy. As for the _Corinthians_ being in the Use of this Ceremony, why they were so, and how that obliges not Christians now to the same, shall be spoken of hereafter: It suffices at this Time to consider that they were in the Use of it. _Secondly_, That in the Use of it they were guilty of and committed divers Abuses. _Thirdly_, That the Apostle here is giving them Directions how they may do it aright, in shewing them the right and proper Use and End of it.

These Things being premised, let it be observed, That the very express and particular Use of it, according to the Apostle, is _to shew forth the Lord’s Death_, &c. But _to shew forth the Lord’s Death, and partake of the Flesh and Blood of_ Christ, are different Things. He saith not, _As often as ye eat this Bread, and drink this Cup, ye partake of the Body and Blood of_ Christ; but, _ye shew forth the Lord’s Death_. So I acknowledge, _That this Ceremony_, by those that practise it, hath an _immediate Relation_ to the _outward Body_ and _Death of_ Christ upon the _Cross_, as being properly a Memorial of it; but it doth not thence follow that it hath any _inward_ or _immediate Relation to Believers communicating or partaking of the spiritual Body and Blood of _Christ_, or that spiritual Supper_ spoken of _Rev._ iii. 20. For though, in a general Way, as every religious Action in some Respect hath a common Relation to the spiritual Communion of the Saints with God, so we shall not deny but this hath a Relation as others. Now for his calling _the Cup the Cup of the Lord_, and saying, _They are guilty of the Body and Blood of _Christ_, and eat their own [131]Damnation in not discerning the Lord’s Body_, &c. I _answer_, That this infers no more necessary Relation than any other religious Act, and amounts to no more than this, That since the _Corinthians_ were in the Use of this Ceremony, and so performed it as a religious Act, they ought to do it worthily, or else they should bring Condemnation upon themselves. Now this will not more infer the Thing so practised by them to be a necessary-religious Act obligatory upon others, than when the Apostle saith, _Rom._ xiv. 6. _He that regardeth the Day, regardeth it unto the Lord_, it can be thence inferred that the Days that some esteemed and observed did lay an Obligation upon others to do the same. But yet, as he that esteemed a Day, and placed Conscience in keeping it, was to _regard it to the Lord_, and so it was to him, in so far as he dedicated it unto the Lord, the _Lord’s Day_, he was to do it worthily; and if he did it unworthily, he would be guilty of the _Lord’s Day_, and so keep it to his own Damnation; so also such as observe this _Ceremony of Bread and Wine_, it is to them the _Bread of the Lord_, and _the Cup of the Lord_, because they use it as a religious Act; and forasmuch as their End therein is to _shew forth the Lord’s Death_, and _remember his Body_ that was crucified for them, and his _Blood_ that was shed for them, if, notwithstanding, they believe it is their Duty to do it, and make it a Matter of Conscience to forbear, if they do it without that due Preparation and Examination which every religious Act ought to be performed in, then, instead of truly remembering the Lord’s Death, and his Body and his Blood, they render themselves guilty of it, as being in one Spirit with those that crucified him, and shed his Blood, though pretending with Thanksgiving and Joy to remember it. [Sidenote: _The _Pharisees_ guilty of the Blood of the _Prophets.] Thus the _Scribes_ and _Pharisees_ of old, though in Memory of the Prophets they garnished their Sepulchres, yet are said by Christ to be _guilty of their Blood_. And that no more can be hence inferred, appears from another Saying of the same Apostle, _Rom._ xiv. 23. _He that doubteth is damned if he eat_, &c. where he, speaking of those that judged it unlawful to eat Flesh, _&c._ saith, _If they eat doubting, they eat their own Damnation_. Now it is manifest from all this, that either the doing or forbearing of this was to another, that placed no Conscience in it, of no Moment. So I say, he that eateth that which in his Conscience he is persuaded it is not lawful for him to eat, doth eat his own _Damnation_; so he also that placeth Conscience in eating Bread and Wine _as a religious Act_, if he do it unprepared, and without that due respect wherein such Acts should be gone about, he _eateth and drinketh his own Damnation, not discerning the Lord’s Body_, i. e. not minding what he doth, to wit, _with a special Respect to the Lord, and by Way of special Commemoration of the Death of Christ._

[131] Or _Judgment_, as the Greek Word properly signifies.

§. VI. Having now sufficiently shewn what the true Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ is, how it is partaken of, and how it has no necessary Relation to that Ceremony of Bread and Wine used by Christ with his Disciples; [Sidenote: II. _Whether this Ceremony be a necessary Part of the New Covenant, and Obligatory._] it is fit now to consider the _Nature_ and _Constitution_ of that _Ceremony_ (for as to the _proper Use_ of it, we have had Occasion to speak before) whether it be a _standing Ordinance_ in the Church of Christ obligatory upon all, or indeed whether it be any necessary Part of the Worship of the _New Covenant Dispensation_, or hath any better or more binding Foundation than several other Ceremonies appointed and practised about the same Time, which the most of our Opposers acknowledge to be ceased, and now no Ways binding upon Christians. We find this Ceremony only mentioned in Scripture in four Places, to wit, _Matthew_, _Mark_, and _Luke_, and by _Paul_ to the _Corinthians_. If any would infer any Thing from the Frequency of the mentioning of it, that will add nothing; for it being a Matter of Fact, is therefore mentioned by the Evangelists; and there are other Things less memorable as often, yea, oftener mentioned. _Matthew_ and _Mark_ give only an Account of the Matter of Fact, without any Precept to do so afterwards; simply declaring, [132]That Jesus at that Time did desire them to _eat of the Bread, and drink of the Cup_; to which _Luke_ adds these Words, _This do in Remembrance of me_. If we consider this Action of Christ with his Apostles, there will appear nothing singular in it, for a Foundation to such a strange _Superstructure_, as many in their airy Imaginations have sought to build upon it; for both _Matthew_ and _Mark_ express it as an Act done by him as he was eating. [Sidenote: _The breaking of Bread was no singular Thing, but a Custom among the Jews._] _Matthew_ saith, _And as they were eating_; and _Mark_, _And as they did eat, Jesus took Bread_, &c. Now this Act was no singular Thing, neither any solemn Institution of a _Gospel Ordinance_; because it was a constant Custom among the _Jews_, [Sidenote: P. Riccius.] as _Paulus Riccius_ observes at Length in his _Celestial Agriculture_, that when they did eat the Passover, the Master of the Family did take Bread, and bless it, and breaking it, gave of it to the rest; and likewise taking Wine, did the same; so that there can nothing further appear in this, than that Jesus Christ, _who fulfilled all Righteousness_, and also observed the _Jewish Feasts and Customs_, used this also among his Disciples only, that as in most other Things he laboured to draw their Minds to a further Thing, so in the Use of this he takes Occasion to put them in Mind of his Death and Sufferings, which were shortly to be; which he did the oftener inculcate unto them, for that they were averse from believing it. [Sidenote: What it is _to do this in Remembrance of Christ._] And as for that Expression of _Luke_, _Do this in Remembrance of me_, it will amount to no more than this, that being the last Time that Christ did eat with his Disciples, he desired them, that in their eating and drinking they might have Regard to him, and by the Remembering of that Opportunity, be the more stirred up to follow him diligently through Sufferings and Death, _&c._ But what Man of Reason, laying aside the Prejudice of Education, and the Influence of Tradition, will say, That this Account of the _Matter of Fact_ given by _Matthew_ and _Mark_, or this Expression of _Luke_, to _Do that in Remembrance of him_, will amount to these Consequences, which the Generality of Christians have sought to draw from it; as calling it, _Augustissimum Eucharistiæ Sacramentum_; _venerabile Altaris Sacramentum_; _the principal Seal of the Covenant of Grace, by which all the Benefits of Christ’s Death are sealed to Believers_; and such like Things? But to give a further Evidence, how these Consequences have not any Bottom from the Practice of that Ceremony, nor from the Words following, _Do this_, &c. let us consider another of the like Nature, as it is at Length expressed by _John_, Chap. xiii. 3, 4. 8. 13, 14, 15. [Sidenote: _Christ’s washing of Feet, and its Manner related._] _Jesus riseth from Supper, and laid aside his Garments, and took a Towel, and girded himself: After that, he poureth Water into a Bason, and began to wash the Disciples’ Feet; and to wipe them with the Towel wherewith he was girded: _Peter_ said unto him, Thou shalt never wash my Feet; _Jesus_ answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no Part with me. So after he had washed their Feet,--he said, Know ye what I have done to you? If I then your Lord and Master have washed your Feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s Feet: For I have given you an Example, that ye should do as I have done to you._ As to which, let it be observed, that _John_ relates this Passage to have been done at the same Time with the other of _breaking Bread_; [Sidenote: _Compared with the _breaking_ of _Bread.] both being done the Night of the _Passover_, after Supper. If we regard the Narration of this, and the Circumstances attending it, it was done with far more Solemnity, and prescribed far more punctually and particularly than the former. It is said only, _As he was eating, he took Bread_; so that this would seem to be but an _occasional Business_: But here _he rose up_, _he laid by his Garments_, _he girded himself_, _he poured out the Water_, _he washed their Feet_, _he wiped them with a Towel_: He did this to all of them; which are Circumstances surely far more observable than those noted in the other. The _former_ was a Practice common among the _Jews_, used by all Masters of Families upon that Occasion; but _this_, as to the Manner, and Person acting it, _to wit_, for the Master to rise up, and wash the Feet of his Servants and Disciples, was more singular and observable. In the breaking of _Bread_, and giving of Wine, it is not pleaded by our Adversaries, nor yet mentioned in the Text, that he particularly put them into the Hands of all; but breaking it, and blessing it, gave it the nearest, and so they from Hand to Hand: But here it is mentioned, that he washed not the Feet of one or two, but of many. He saith not in the _former_, _That if they do not eat of that Bread, and drink of that Wine, they shall be prejudiced by it_; but here he saith expresly to _Peter_, That _if he wash him not, he hath no Part with him_; which being spoken upon _Peter_’s refusing to let him wash his Feet, would seem to import no less, than not the Continuance only, but even the Necessity of this _Ceremony_. In the former he saith, as it were passingly, _Do this in Remembrance of me_; but here he sitteth down again, he desires them to consider what he hath done, tells them positively, [Sidenote: _The washing one another’s Feet was left as an Example._] _That as he hath done to them, so ought they to do to one another_: And yet again, he redoubles that Precept, by telling them, _He has given them an Example, that they should do so likewise_. If we respect the Nature of the Thing, it hath as much in it as either _Baptism_ or the _breaking of Bread_; seeing it is an outward Element of a cleansing Nature, applied to the outward Man, by the Command and the Example of Christ, to signify an inward Purifying. I would willingly propose this seriously to Men, who will be pleased to make use of that Reason and Understanding that God hath given them, and not be imposed upon, nor abused by the Custom or Tradition of others; _Whether this Ceremony, if we respect either the Time that it was appointed in, or the Circumstances wherewith it was performed, or the Command enjoining the Use of it, hath not as much to recommend it for a standing Ordinance of the Gospel, as either _Water-baptism_, or _Bread_ and _Wine_, or any other of that Kind?_ I wonder then what Reason the _Papists_ can give, Why they have not numbered it among their _Sacraments_, except merely _Voluntas Ecclesiæ & Traditio Patrum_.

[132] Matt. 26. 26. Mark 14. 22. Luke 22. 19. 1 Cor. 11. 23. _&c._