Advice to an Only Child, Chapter 30
CHAP. XXX. Of the Nature of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper.
ENdeavour to get a right underſtanding of the Nature of this Divine Myſtery, ſo as to know what you feed on there. All People love to have light when they are at a Feaſt, to ſee what they eat. If you have not the light of knowledge, ſo as to ſee what you eat in the Lords Supper, which is the great Myſtery of our Religion, you do not then diſcern the Lords Body, and ſo cannot be a worthy Receiver.
Now as for the Nature of this Holy Sacrament, conſider both the outſide, and alſo the inſide of it.
The outſide contains, 1. The Sacramental Elements, Bread and Wine 2. The Sacramental Rites or Actions.
The Sacramental Elements are Bread and Wine, which being duly Conſecrated, are plain and viſible Repreſentations, and Divine Memorials of the Body and Blood of Jeſus Chriſt: But yet they are not bare Repreſentations thereof, they are not meer ſhadowy Significations and Reſemblances: For God doth not nouriſh and feed our Souls with thin and empty Shadows, weak and languiſhing Repreſentations, or naked Emblems: And therefore we muſt further look on them as real Pledges, and Seals or Inſtruments of Conveyance of Chriſt, and the fruits of his Death, in a Myſtical manner to the Faith of his People, which comes to paſs by Virtue of our Lords Inſtitution, whereupon he that duly receives the Elements, receives the thing ſignified by them, and vail'd therein. As among Men, a pledge confirms a contract, and a Seal conveys an Eſtate, Houſe or Land, by Virtue of the Law of the Land: So by Virtue of Chriſts Inſtitution, the Covenant of grace is by the Sacramental Elements confirm'd betwixt God and the worthy Receiver, and Jeſus Chriſt, with all his benefits, truly exhibited and conveyed from God to the believing Communicant (though not as through a Conduit Pipe, as if they were Locally contained therein, yet) as an Eſtate is Conveyed from the Giver, by Wax and Seal, which is delivered by the Hand of his Meſſenger, or as the Poſſeſſion of a Houſe, is delivered by a Key, and of Land, by a Sod or Turf. And ſo when Chriſt ſaith by the Miniſter, Take, This is my Body or my Blood, he doth as much as ſay, Take theſe, they are to thee my Body and Blood, i. e. real Pledges, together with which I give thee my ſelf, according as a Man in worldly Matters, doth by Pledges give the thing ſignified thereby; as if he that's about giving poſſeſſion of a Houſe, ſhould give a Key, and ſay, Take it, here is poſſeſſion of my Houſe, or delivering an Evidence Sealed, ſhould ſay, Take this, here is my Land. And upon this account, the Cup is called by the Apoſtle, the Communion of the Blood of Chriſt, and the Bread broken the Communion of the Body of Chriſt, 1 Cor. 10.16. where the Apoſtle ſignifies to us, that the Eating and Drinking of Believers in the Lords Supper, is a real Communication in his Meritorious Death, and All-ſufficient Sacrifice, and a true Participation of the Bleſſed Fruits of the Croſs. As among the Jews, thoſe that did eat of the Sacrifice, did partake of the Altar; ver. 18. that is, of the Sacrifice offered upon the Altar: So among Chriſtians, to Eat and Drink by Faith in the Lords Supper, is to be partaker of his Immaculate Sacrifice; once for all, offered up upon the Altar of the Croſs. The Covenant is as the Deed, that intitles us to all the Riches of Grace, and Regions of Glory; but the Sacrament is the Inſtrument, that doth Inveſt us therein.
The Sacramental Actions or Rites, are on the Miniſters part, 1. The Conſecration, by Bleſſing and giving thanks. 2. Breaking and Delivering. And then on the Communicants part, the Actions or Rites are, Taking, Eating, and Drinking.
The inſide of the Sacrament, or the Spiritual thing Signified and Couched in the outward Sacrament; this is Chriſt himſelf, as offered up upon Mount Calvary, together with the precious Fruits of the Croſs, which bare better Fruits to us, than all the Trees of Paradiſe did; as Olives of Peace and Reconciliation with God, Cluſters of the Grapes of Canaan, Righteouſneſs and Grace, Joy and Gladneſs, Life and Salvation. The Elements of the Bread and Wine, ſignifie the Body and Blood of Chriſt, with the pretious Fruits thereof, and the breaking of the Bread, ſignifies the Crucifying or Sacrificing of Chriſt; And the Delivery of the Bread and Wine, Chriſts Delivering of himſelf with his Benefits. And the Taking, Eating, and Drinking point forth the Communicants thankful accepting, and uſing that pretious gift. Here's the glory and divinity of the myſtery.