A Preparation to the Receiving of the Lords Supper, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII. Of the things ſignified, by the Signes aforeſaid.
HItherto of the outward ſignes in this Sacrament. The myſteries contained, in and vnderunder theſe ſignes, and expreſſed by thm, are the greateſt that can be imagined.
The breaking of the bread ſignifieth, the breaking of Chriſts body, that is, all the vnſpeakable torments that hee ſuffered in his humane nature for our ſins; which were greater, then if his liuing Body, had been rent and torne into a thouſand pieces, and all his bones broken and beaten to powder.
The eating of this bread, and drinking this wine ſignifieth, that ſpeciall benefit (which the Receiuer of this Sacrament ſhall reap by the death and ſufferings of Chriſt, if by a liuely faith he apply vntounto himſelf the merits thereof. This Bread (ſaith our Sauiour, according to the Apoſtles relation) is my body which was broken for you: And this Cup is the New Teſtament in my bloud, verſ. 24.25. or, is my bloud in the New Teſtament, that was ſhed for many, for the remiſſion of their ſinnes; as it is more plainely related, by the Euangeliſt Matthew. And therfore our Sauiour bids them, Take & eate the one, and drinke the other.
As though he ſhould hauehave ſaid;
This bread, ſo broken as you ſee, ſhall bee a ſigne & token vntounto you, & vntounto al others that beleeue in my Name, of that which I hauehave done, and ſuffered in my fleſh for you. This wine, more eſpecially, ſhal be a ſigne euen of that blood, which hanging vponupon the Croſſe I ſhed, to purchaſe the pardon and remiſſion of your ſinnes; which is not ſuch bloud, as was offered in the old Teſtament; viz. The bloud of Oxen, Goates, and Sheepe: but is in very deed, the bloud of God and man, whereby the New Teſtament is ſealed & ratified, which offereth ſaluation to all them who ſhall repent and beleeue in mee, and rely vponupon the merits of this my bloudy paſſion.
Therefore, take and eate, this myſtical bread, and drinke this wine, & and let them be as ſeales and pledges vntounto you, & vntounto all others (who ſhal worthily receiue the ſame; That as verily, as wth your bodily mouthes you eate this bread, and drinke this wine, and are comforted and refreſhed by them; ſo verily ſhall your ſoules taſte of, and by the mouth of Faith, feed vponupon, and be refreſhed with my Body and Bloud; yea, in and by the eating of this bread, and the drinking of this wine (as you ought to do) you ſhall ſpiritually eat and drink my Body & Bloud: That is, the merits of my Paſſion ſhall (by meanes therof) be ſo effectually applied vntounto you, that thereby (as it were by daily food) you ſhall liue euerlaſtingly. So that, that which you eat and drinke in this Sacrament, is not onelyonly bread and wine, but after a ſort, my Body and bloud, which was ſacrificed for you.
Is not then this Sacrament, a myſtery to bee trembled at? Is it not a brutiſh ſin, without any preparation to ruſh vponupon the ſame? If wee did but eat and drinke ordinarily, for bodily neceſſitie, or pleaſure; it were brutiſh to runne vntounto the ſame, as a horſe to the maunger, or a ſwine to the trough, not lifting our hearts (at the leaſt) to God in thankfulneſſe for them. How much more brutiſh is it, to eat this bread, and drinke this wine, without due reuerence and regard of ſo high and heauenly a myſtery? It were an indignitie offered to the great worke of our Redemption, but occaſionally to thinke or ſpeake thereof without reuerence: But to be irreuerently affected then, when by ſuch a ſpecial ordinance it is ſo effectually repreſented & applyed vntounto vsus, muſt needs be a dreadfull and damnable ſinne.
For the further confirmation whereof, let vsus conſider ſome ſpeciall inſtructions, from the particulars, in regard of the ſpeciall analogy betweene the ſignes and the things ſignified.
1 In that our Sauiour repreſents his Body, in this Sacrament by bread; he teacheth vsus thereby, that his Body, is to the ſoule of man, as bread is to the body. Bread is the very ſtaffe of a mans bodily life, the moſt generall food of poore and rich; that which of all other food can leaſt bee ſpared; that which in hunger, men firſt and principally deſire: that the ſcarcitie whereof makes famine; that which if it be plentifully, vſuall makes all other neceſſaries of this life plentifull; that which we daily feed vponupon; that which men generally take greateſt paines for. Hence our Sauiour in the Lords Praier, teaching to craue all the needfull cōforts in this life, comprehends all vnderunder daily bread. And therefore by like proportion, his Body in that manner, that it is heere meant and propounded, is the very ſtaffe and ſtay of a Chriſtian life. That without which, neither poore nor rich, high nor low, ſhall liue eternally. That which, without all other meanes, can feed & nouriſh a man to euerlaſting life; and which of all other meanes cannot be ſpared: That which uery true chriſtian ſoule, firſt and principally hungreth after: That, the want whereof only, famiſheth and ſtarues the ſoule. That which they will take the greateſt paines and toyle to get; and which without the greateſt paine and trauel cannot be gotten. That which they will deſire to feed vponupon eueryevery day, and eueryevery meale, relliſhing nothing elſe without it.
2 In that the bread is broken, to ſignifie his Body broken for vsus, it teacheth vsus: that it is not ſimply the Body of Chriſt by which we are to be fed, but his Body broken: that is, That which Chriſt did, & ſuffered for vsus, eſpecially vponupon the Croſſe. For (to ſpeake properly) his Body was not broken. It is not therefore properly, Chriſt glorified in heauen, or Chriſt ſimply God, or God and man, which is the bread, that a Chriſtian ſoule, humbled for ſinne, can digeſt or reliſh; but Chriſt crucified, Chriſt hanging vponupon the Croſſe. It is Chriſts death, that is indeed, the life of a Chriſtian. It is Chriſt and his Croſſe both together, that is the bread of life: yea not the Croſſe only, but the Thornes alſo wherewith he was crowned, the whippes wherewith hee was ſcourged, the nailes with which he was faſtned, the vineger and gall which he taſted, yea, and Iudas who betraied him, & Pilate that condemned him, and the Scribes & Phariſees, that proſecuted againſt him, and all the people which cried, crucifie him. Chriſt conſidered with al theſe, is that ſpirituall bread, that is typed by the materiall. And without theſe, hee cannot bee the bread of life to a ſinfull ſoule. So that, if there be any Tranſubſtantiation in this Sacrament, either the bread is turned into all theſe, or all theſe into the bread.
3 The vſe of wine, is well knowne, it doth not onelyonly (as water) quench the thirſt, but alſo exceedingly comfort the heart, and refreſh the ſpirits. Seeing then it is the pleaſure of our Sauiour in this Sacrament, to make wine the type of his bloud: It teacheth vsus, what effects Chriſts bloud, and the ſhedding thereof ſhall hauehave in the ſoules of all true Chriſtians, and worthy Communicants. Their ſpirituall thirſt after righteouſneſſe and ſaluation, ſhall be quenched. In the midſt of all the horrors and terrors of death and hell, they ſhal by meanes thereof, bee ſolaced and comforted. This bloud, ſtreaming from the ſides of Chriſt, ſhall in the midſt of their ſorrowes & griefes, and troubles, and vexations, bee as a cup of the excellenteſt wine, to cheere them, & reuiue their ſpirits, and to inflame their zeale. This wine hath that efficaſie and force in it, that it will turne all the bitter potions (that Gods children vſe to drinke) into wine. The Apoſtles of our Sauior, when they were drinking deepely of the whippe, this wine mingled with that bitter potion, turned it alſo into wine: inſomuch as they reioyced, that they were counted worthy to ſuffer that which they did, for Chriſts ſake.
That Religion therefore, which lockes from the people, the wine in this Sacrament, doth therein alſo as much, as lies in it, keep from them alſo that wine, which is typed and ſhaddowed thereby, euen the precious bloud of Ieſus Chriſt, the onelyonly wine that can refreſh and comfort the ſoule of an afflicted ſinner, which is enough to argue the ſame to be Antichriſtian, if there were nothing elſe. And the more Antichriſtian, the more it maintaineth that the wine in this Sacrament, is the very reall bloud of Chriſt. What is this but to teach, that the true bloud of Chriſt belongs not to them, that if they wil be ſaued, they muſt bee ſaued by ſome other meanes; or onelyonly by gazing vponupon, and adoring the painted bloud of ſome painted or carued Crucifix.
4 This conſecrated bread and wine, muſt alſo (by the precept of our Sauiour) bee eaten and drunken; & thereby we are taught: That thoſe onelyonly ſhal liue eternally, by the vertue of Chriſts Body and Bloud, which feed vponupon the ſame, as mens bodies feed vponupon bread and wine. For as bread and wine (if they be onelyonly looked vponupon, & not taken and receiued into the ſtomacke) can-feed, nouriſh, or refreſh the body of man, or preſerue life in the ſame: No more ſhall the Body & bloud of Chriſt, comfort and refreſh the ſoule of a ſinner, or be a means of ſpirituall and euerlaſting life vntounto him, except they bee receiued & ſpiritually applied to the ſoule, as bread and wine are to the body, when they are eaten and drunken. Thoſe therfore, who are the redeemed of Chriſt, muſt be knit and vnited to Chriſt, and one with him, as the bread that nouriſheth, and the wine that refreſheth the body, is turned into our fleſh, and made one with it. This Sacrament then, which ſealeth ſo great a myſtery as this is, cannot be profaned without great indignity to the myſtery it ſelfe.
5 In that Chriſt ſaith, that that which they take and eat, it is his Body, and that which they drinke, it is his bloud, he teacheth vsus. That this Sacrament doth not onelyonly, (as in a Table) picture & repreſent what Chriſt hath ſuffered for ſinners; but which is a thouſand times more, it is by the dinance of Chriſt (to the worthy Receiuer) a bleſſed inſtrument; by meanes whereof, Chriſt Ieſus and his merits, are applied and made effectuall to their ſoules. So that ſuch is the vnion of the thing ſignified, and the ſigne, that in and throgh the eating of this bread, and drinking this wine, the ſoule of the worthy Receiuer, doth ſpiritually and by faith, eat the Body and drinke the bloud of Ieſus Chriſt, and alwaies findeth ſuch ſtrength, comfort, and life therein, as the body findes ordinarily, in the eating of bread and drinking of wine. So that this bread and this wine, are not onelyonly naked ſignes of Chriſt Body and bloud, as the garland and Iuybuſh are of wine, which onelyonly ſhew that there is wine there to bee bought, but doe not exhibite it: But the Body of Chriſt is in ſuch a manner in this ſacramentall bread, and the bloud in this wine, that in the eating of the one, the worthy Receiuer eats the other, & in drinking the one, drinkes the other. Can there then a greater myſtery be deuiſed by man, in and about which hee ought to bee reuerently conuerſant, & religiouſly and holily affected: And is it not a brutiſh ſinne, to behaue our ſelues vnworthily in ſuch an action?
Let vsus not heere paſſe by, but once againe enter into conſideration, of that execrable Religion of the Church of Rome, which keepeth ſuch a Cup, filled with ſuch wine (without any colour in the world) from the people. They ſay, that the bloud of Chriſt, is in the body of Chriſt; and therefore the people in receiuing the one, receiue therein the other. But this is an Antichriſtian foppery: how can thoſe be together, that Chriſt hath ſo directly put aſunder, the one in a loafe, the other in a Cup? How can the bloud be in a body broken, and pierced? How can that bloud be in the body, which is ſhed out of the body? What bloud of Chriſt can comfort a Chriſtian ſoule, but that which was ſhed? or what bloud is offered in this Sacrament, but that which was ſhed? and though it were in the body, as it is receiued in this Sacrament: yet it being Chriſts wil, his bloud ſhould not only be eaten, but drunken; what a ſacriligious lewdnes is this, where Chriſt eſpecially, and by name, requires the drinking of his bloud, that they ſhould deny the people that, and make them take vp, with the eating of it onelyonly? And how doth it appeare, that the bloud, as it is eaten, is any part of the Sacrament, and if not, what benefit comes to the Receiuer thereby, in that regard? iuſt nothing. It is the drinking, and not the eating of Chriſts bloud in this Sacrament, that muſt refreſh the ſoule of the Communicant: & without this drinking therof, the ſoule can no more be refreſhed with the bloud of Chriſt, in this Sacrament, then the bodily thirſt can bee quenched, by that water that is in bread. And a man, in eating the Body of Chriſt broken, crucified, pierced with a ſpeare, and ſacrificed; ſo as it is exhibited to a Chriſtian, in this Sacrament, can no more be ſaid, in & thereby to drinke the bloud of Chriſt, then the Iewes that did eat the fleſh of ſheepe and oxen, offered in ſacrifice, after that the bloud was ſeparated, and the parcels were roſted and broyled, could bee ſaid then, and therein to drink the bloud of ſheep & oxen. And they might as well proue that wine was in the bread, before the conſecration, as that the bloud of Chriſt, is in the body after the conſecration.