Sermons, Treatise · Chapter 1
CHAPTER I. Of the Paſseover or Paſchall-Lamb; Its ſignification, and the Analogy or Reſemblance between it and Chriſt our Paſſeover.
1 COR. 5. 7, 8.
For Chriſt our Paſseover is ſacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the Feaſt, not with old leven, &c.
§. 1.
IT is uſuall in handling the nature and uſe of Sacraments to begin with the notion of a Sacrament in generall, and then to deſcend to particular Sacraments, which we call Baptiſm and the Lords Supper in their order, But the Field is large and the compaſſe great, and therefore I begin where the Lords Supper it ſelf began, and therefore I begin where the Lords Supper it ſelf began, and that is at the Paſſeover, at the death whereof, and out of the aſhes of i…, this Sacrament of ours like another Phoenix did ariſe, for our Lord at his laſt Paſſeover called foreign his dying Paſſeover, did inſtitute and ordain this, which is to live and remain till he come again, and which Scaliger and others have obſerved, the very materials of our Sacramental Supper were taken out of the Paſchall Supper, for that very bread which the Maſter of the Family uſed of cuſtome (not by any Scripture-command) to bleſſe and give to the fraternity, ſaying, Holachma degnania, foreign, This is the bread of affliction which the Fathers did eat in Egypt, and that Cup which he bleſſed and gave to them to drink called the Cup of the hymn, or Cos hallel, becauſe the hymn followed after and cloſed all; That bread, and that Cup, did Chriſt according to the rite ſeverally bleſſe and give, ſaying, This is my body, This Cup is the New Teſtament in my bloud, and ſo he put a new Superſcription or ſignification upon the old metall, and let all blinde and bold Expoſitors know, that if they expound not many phraſes and things in the New Teſtament out of the old Records of Jewiſh writings or cuſtomes, they ſhall but fancy and not expound the Text as may be confirmed, ſaith Scaliger ſexcentis argumentis by very many arguments.
In handling of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper I ſhall ſelect ſuch practical and preparative doctrine as is neceſſary for your knowledge that ye may diſcern the Lords body, and not be guilty of it, and for your practiſe that you may examine your ſelves, and not eat and drink unworthily: For if I ſhould lanch out into controverſies, there would be no end; There hath been more paper written upon thoſe ſix ſyllables, but five in Engliſh, This is my body, then would contain a juſt and large Commentary upon the whole Bible.
I begin with the Paſſeover which was the ſecond (for Circumciſion was the firſt) ordinary ſtanding Sacrament of the Jewiſh Church, beginning at their going forth out of Egypt, and continuing till the Death of Chriſt, when the Lords Supper did commence or begin, and ſo diſplaced it; The Paſſeover, ſignified what ſhould be the Lords Supper, what is fulfilled in Chriſt; In the Paſſeover, were repreſented the Sufferings and Death of Chriſt by a Lamb ſlain roſted with fire; In the Supper, by bread broken, and wine poured forth. The outward ſymbols or ſigns differ; But Chriſt is the ſame under both; As Circumciſion theirs, baptiſm ours, are different ſigns and rites, but the inward Circumciſion and Regeneration both one; Theirs were both bloudy Sacraments, for the bloud of Chriſt was to be ſhed, ours unbloudy, for the bloud is ſhed, and our Engliſh well tranſlates the word Paſſeover, the Greek and Latine keep the word Paſcha, which gave ſome occaſion to derive it from the Greek foreign to ſuffer a miſtake; The word is Peſach, from Paſach, which is to leap or paſſe over: For when Iſrael after long ſervitude in Egypt was on wing to be gone, God commanded them in their ſeveral Families to kill Seh a Lamb or kid, to roſt it whole, to eat it within doors that night, to ſprinkle the ſide and upper door-poſts with the bloud, not the threſhold propter reverentiam & ſignificationem, Chriſts bloud muſt not be trampled on, and ſo doing they ſhould be ſafe from the deſtroying Angel that rode circuit that night to kill all Egypts firſt-born, but he paſt over all the houſes of Iſrael ſprinkled with bloud, and hence the name Paſſe-over the Etymon whereof is given by God himſelf, Exod. 12. 27. We have the kernell in this ſhell, the marrow of this bone, a Paſſeover as well as they, but ours is Chriſt, our Paſſeover is Chriſt, ſaith the Text.
§ 2.
We proceed, Our Paſſeover Chriſt is or was ſacrificed for us; Our Paſſeover Chriſt was a true Sacrifice, but whether their Paſſeover was a Sacrifice or no, it is in queſtion: The Papiſts ſwallow it greedily, hoping thereby to prove our Supper to be both a Sacrifice and a Sacrament as their Paſſeover (they ſay) was, but there are others both Lutheran and Calvinist, as Gerald. in harmon. Rivet on Exod. 12. that do not yield the Paſſeover a proper Sacrifice, though it be ſo called Exo. 12. 27. It is the Sacrifice of the Lords Paſſeover, for the Greek word foreign, and the Hebrew Zabach are ſometimes taken generally for mactare, when there is no Sacrifice, and they finde in Egypt at the firſt Paſſeover no Prieſt but the head of the Family, or foreign, no Altar, no offering of the Lamb to God, no expiation, nor is it neceſſary that it ſhould be a Sacrifice to type a Sacrifice, for the Serpent on the Pole ſignified Chriſt crucified, and ſo the Paſſeover as a Sacrament may figure out a Sacrifice, as our Supper is the commemoration of a Sacrifice, but not a Sacrifice; On the other hand Calvin and others, the Jewiſh Writers and many from them do hold it to be a Sacrifice and a Sacrament, for the Scripture cals it Sacrifice, and this bloud is ſhed at firſt by the Pater-familia's that was a Prieſt (no other being yet conſecrated) in after times by the Prieſts or Levites, and the bloud brought to the Altar, as it w…s bloud ſhed to a religious end, a bloud preſervative from deſtroying Angels, and therefore a proper Sacrifice: What ſhall we ſay? I'le promiſe you not to puzzle you with controverſies and diſputes, for I had ratherThe difference between a Sacrifice and a Sacrament. ſet meat before you which you may eat, then hard bones to gnaw upon; The truth is, a Sacrifice is ſomething offered up to God by men, a Sacrament is offered and given to man by God to be eaten or uſed in his Name, and ſo that part of the offering which is offered up to God may be called a Sacrifice, and that part eaten or uſed by man a Sacrament, the very body and bloud of Chriſt was a Sacrifice, no Sacrament: The bread and wine as uſed are a Sacrament no Sacrifice, The Paſſeover was the figure of a trueDeut. 16. 5. Sacrifice, Chriſt and we may call it ſo, becauſe the Scripture doth: It follows foreign Let us keep the Feaſt, What is that? Ye ſhall finde that after the Paſſeover Lamb was eaten the next day began the Feaſt, Numb. 28. 16, 17. and the Paſſeover is called Feaſt, too, Ex…d. 12. 15. &c. and that continued ſeven daies, kept in great feſtivity and ſolemnity, but with unleavened bread, the Apoſtle alludes hereunto, Our Paſſeover is ſacrificed, therefore let us henceforth, &c. We that have received the ſprinkling of bloud, and eaten his fleſh by faith, live all our daies in a holy rejoycing and thankſ-giving, which is a continuall Feaſt, and let us caſt out the inceſtuous Corinthians out of our Society, for he is a leven, ver. 6, 7. and let us purge out of our ſelves, malice, wickedneſſe, &c. For they are leven, ver. 8. that we may be a holy Congregation, and a holy people, and ſo the argument of the Apoſtle ſtands thus, from the example of the Old Paſſeover, Thoſe for whom Chriſt the Paſſeover is ſacrificed ought as holy Congregations and holy people to be unleavened with ſin and wickedneſſe, and to walk before God in an unleavened ſincerity, but for us Chriſt the Paſſeover is ſacrificed, therefore let us keep the Feaſt, &c.
I have explained the words, and now we ſhall conſider this Paſſeover two waies.
1. As a Sacrifice or figure of a Sacrifice, and ſo it refers to Chriſt our Paſſeover, Christ is ſacrificed for us.
2. As a Sacrament, and ſo it relates to us, and ſhews us our duty upon that Sacrifice, foreign Let us keep the Feast, The Sacrifice is given for us, the Sacrament is given to us: From the firſt,
Our Paſſeover is Christ ſacrificed for us, We have aDoct. Our Paſſeover is Chriſt ſacrificed for us. Paſſeover, but it is Chriſt ſacrificed: And here before I ſhew the Analogy or reſemblance between the Paſſeover and Chriſt, we ſhall note three or four things.
§. 3.
1. They in the Old Church of Iſrael had Chriſt as well (though not ſo clear) as we, 1 Cor. 10. 4. The Rock that followed our Fathers in the Wilderneſſe was Chriſt, the Paſſeover was Chriſt, the perſonall Types ſuch as Iſaac on the Wood, the reall Types as their bloudy Sacrifices were Chriſt; He was then in his ſwadling clouts ſwathed up in ſhadows and types, and not naked; as now Gal. 3. 1. thoſe Types being anatomized, unbowelled are full of Goſpel, full of Chriſt, the death of Chriſt pecus proſunt quam fuit, ſaith Bernard de coena; Chriſt is the marrow in the bone, the kernell in the ſhell, yeſterday, and to day, and the ſame for ever, the ſumme and ſweet of all Ordinances, therefore thoſe that ſay they were filled with temporall promiſes, but had no ſpirituall, derogate too much from them as that they were Swine filled with husks, and ſpeak a wondrous Paradox; that thoſe that had ſo much faith, Heb. 11. ſhould have no Chriſt, we give them the right hand of fellowſhip, and they were the elder brother, yet we have the double portion.
§. 4.
2. Mark the form of ſpeech, Chriſt our Paſſeover, that is, our Paſchall Lamb, which is alſo called the Paſſeover, Exod. …2. …1. Kill the Paſſeover, Now the Paſſeover properly was the Angels paſſing over the Iſraelites houſes, and not the Lamb, but we muſt learn to underſtand Sacramentall phraſes, the ſigne called the thing ſignified, the figure called the thing figured, The Rock was Chriſt; Chriſt our Paſſeover, that is, paſchal Lamb, Circumciſion called the Covenant, Gen 17. 13. My Covenant ſhall be in your fleſh, this will be allowed in every place but one, and that is this one, This is my body, For the Lutheran ſtands up for a corporall preſence under the Signes, The Papiſt for a change of the Bread and Wine into Chriſts body and bloud; No conferences, no diſputes, no condeſcenſions will ſatisfie them, and yet we ſay very fairly, the very body of Chriſt born of the Virgin, that died on the Croſſe, that ſits in heaven, is preſent in this Sacrament, but not in the Bread or Wine, but to the faithfull Receiver, not in the Elements but to the Communicants, but all this will not ſerve turn; Theſe two Prepoſitions Con and Trans have bred more jarres, and coſt more bloud ſince they were born (and there is neither of them in this cauſe ſix hundred years old) then can be well imagined.
§. 4.
3. The Paſſeover figured Chriſt, and yet the Jews ordinarily ſaw not Chriſt in it; It is plain in their celebration of the Paſſeover, or their Rituals, they take notice of, and commemorate their Egyptian ſlavery, and their deliverance, and ſo they were commanded, but of Chriſt not a ſyllable; It entred not into them that a Lamb roſted ſhould figure the Meſſiah, as they had formed him in their thoughts, and ſo they held the Paſſeover as a foreign looking backward, but as a Type looking forward, no knowledge except the faithfull had ſome glimpſe of it, and this is the great fault of men in all Sacraments, they minde not the inwards of a Sacrament, nor look for the kernell, they did ſo, and we alſo, not diſcerning the Lords body, is not that it which makes us guilty of his body and bloud, there is in all Sacraments res terrena & res coeleſtis, as Irenaeus. Earthly men ſee the earthly part, they eat, they drink, It feeds not, they eat ſhells, the inwards within the bone are marrow, Chriſt; Chriſt ſet ſpirituall food before our bodies, viz. ayery, ſet corporall before the ſoul, and you illude both, ſaith Pariſienſis, de Euchar. ſub finem.
§. 5.
…. The Paſſeover is Chriſt ſacrificed, not Chriſt a Lamb unſpotted, but Chriſt a Lamb roſted with fire, and this tels you that the Paſſeover and our Supper repreſent Chriſt crucified, Chriſt dying or dead; It is the death of Chriſt, not his Reſurrection, nor aſcenſion, that is here ſet forth, Ye ſhew the Lords death till he come, this is the ſight which a ſinful ſoul would ſee, this is the comfortable ſpectacle, to ſee the price paying, the ranſome laying down, the thing in doing; Hence he draws the hope and comfort of Redemption, and therefore the bread was broken, and the Cup was full of bloud to repreſent to the life this life giving Death to Chriſt; The Papiſts have cheated the people of the bloud by a trick of concomitancy, telling them that the bread is his body, and his body hath bloud in it, we have a word of Inſtitution of both ſeverally, the life of the repreſentation is the bloud ſhed, the Paſſeover is a Lamb ſlain and roſted, and the bloud on the doorpoſ…, and by providence, if the Papiſts will allow all to eat, then we have expreſly for the Cup a Bibite ex hoc omnes, Mat. 26. 27. Drink ye all of it; So that it is the Death of Chriſt here repreſented, and which is one ſtep further, it is a Sacrifice Death, which works and makes atonement, this was it that all the Sacrifices, that the Paſſeover did prefigure, a Sacrifice death, that ſhould deliver and make expiation; This Cup (ſaith Chriſt) is the New Teſtament in my bloud, which is ſhed for you and many for remiſſion of ſins, a death, and ſuch a kinde of death as in our Sacrament ſet forth a Sacrifice Death, therefore it's ſaid ſacrificed for us.
§. 7.
Now let us come to the Analogy or reſemblance between the Paſſeover and Chriſt ſacrificed, wherein I ſhallThe reſemblance between the Paſſeover and Chriſt ſacrificed. endeavour to avoid the vanity and curioſity of making ſimilitudes to run of all four, which is incident to men in handling Types, Parables, and ſimilitudes which like a ſtring over-ſtretched makes a jar and diſharmony, and ſhews more fondnes, then ſoundneſs.
1. The Paſchal muſt be a male-Lamb without blemiſh, the ſon of a year taken from the Sheep or Goats, Exo. 12. 5. and this reſembles Chriſt himſelf and his perfection, there were many blemiſhes which the ſuperſtitious or curious Jews obſerved to the number of fifty or ſeventy, any blemiſh diſabled i…, Chriſt was without all blemiſh, nothing was excepted from other men, or his likeneſſe to them but ſin, in all Points tempted like as weare, yet without ſin;Heb. 4. 15. He was of maſculine perfection, at the perfection of his age, about 33 or 34 years, of Lamb-l…ke humility and meekneſſe; which are noted in him as exemplary graces; He was figured out in the Lamb of the daily Sacrifice, in the Lamb of the Paſſeover, in Abrahams Ram in ſtead of Iſaac, in the Scape-goat, Lev. 16. 21. and pointed out by John Baptiſt under this Name, Behold the Lamb of God; It's implied, Heb. 9. 28. he ſhall appear the ſecond time, foreign, that in his firſt coming he was not without, but we muſt diſtinguiſh of ſin, ours imputed to him, and ſo he was made ſin for us, ſo as to bear it in his body, which at his ſecond coming he ſhall not bear nor be loden with as he was before, and therefore is ſaid to come without ſinne both his and ours.
2. This Paſchall-Lamb was to be ſeparated from the flock, and ſet apart for Sacrifice on the tenth day of the monethmonth, but not killed till the 14. day in the Evening, or according to that vexed phraſe between the two Evenings, that is, in the afternoon, when the Sun declined before Sunſet, and about the ſame time of day our Saviour (the true Paſſeover) was ſlain, but in a further meaning it ſhews that Chriſt was ſet apart and fore-deſigned of God to be our Paſsover long before, not in his decree, but his promiſe, and the predictions of the Prophets which have been ſince the world began, Luk. 1. 70. but now in the end of the world hath he appear'd to put away ſinne by the Sacrifice of himſelf, Heb. 9. 26. He ſuffer'd between the two Evenings of the world, which was in his declination, when he came that was our Evening, and the latter is to come, the dayes of his appearance are called often the laſt daies, and though that have another meaning, ſhewing the unalterableneſs of the Goſpel-Ordinances, contrary to thoſe of the Law, yet we may affirm, that it was paſt the noon of the world, when he came, and the time ſhall not be ſo long after unto Sun-ſet, as before.
3. This paſchal Lamb muſt be killed, the bloud taken into a baſin, ſprinkled with hyſop, ſhall be on every door, the fleſh roſted with fire not eaten raw or boyl'd in water, the head, the legs, the inwards, Exod. 12. 7, 8, 9, 22. and this may ſet forth unto us the unutterable ſufferings of Chriſt, both in his ſoul and body, which the Scripture ſets out to the life with ſuch an emphaſis of words, I mean eſpecially thoſe of his ſoul, ſcorched with the ſenſe of Gods extream wrath, which are expreſt by words extraordinary, foreign, Sweating like drops of bloud, with expreſsion of ſtrong cries and tears; Oh man thou underſtandeſt not the ſufferings of this Paſſeover roſted with fire forbidden to be boyl'd in ſcalding water, for that expreſſes not the ſufferings in extremity, and what is all this for? Even to make Chriſt more pleaſant meat to thee, which if thou feed upon, and with a bunch of hyſop ſprinkle this bloud, applying it by faith, eating this roſted fleſh, and drinking this bloud poured forth, it will feaſt thy ſoul, and ſecure thee from the wrath of God, which is the next.
4. The deſtroying Angel ſeeing this blood on the door poſts, paſſes over the houſe, goes and kils the Aegyptians firſt-born, and executes Gods laſt plague upon them, in the mean time the Iſraelites were ſafe within the protection of blood, Exod. 12. 12, 13. and here is the ſafety of thoſe Iſraelites; Believers that have applied by faith the blood of Jeſus Chriſt, when God ſhall let looſe his laſt and final plagues upon the world, they ſhall be ſafe; Hell, and wrath, and condemnation ſhall not touch them, When I ſee the blood (ſaith he) I'le paſs over you, Exod. 12. 13, 23. nothing elſe will ſave you; God looks at nothing but the blood of Chriſt upon you; Happy they, that before God ride his circuit of deſtruction, to make a cry in all Aegypt, are gotten under the Sanctuary of blood, for then the plague ſhall not be upon you, when I ſmite the Land of Aegypt, Exod. 12. 13.
5. After the Iſraelites had been ſecured from the ſtroke of that diſmall night, then preſently they march away, are hired by the Aegyptians to be gone, the four hundred and thirty years were out, and God being punctual in his times, finiſhes their captivity that hour, and begins to fulfill his promiſes that he had made to them of bringing them to their promiſed Land, Exod. 12. 31, 32, 33, &c. 41, 42. and here we ſee, that when a ſoul hath long lien in the baſe bondage under ſinne and the devil, and comes to take hold of Chriſt, and is ſprinkled with his blood, and enters Covenant with God in Chriſt, then is he ſet free from his bondage, and then he goes out of Aegypt, and then all the promiſes begin to open upon him, and he ſets upon his heavenly journey, and no Pharaoh can hinder him any longer; All the ſweet promiſes of peace, and comfort, and hope, begin to be made good to him, for they are all Yea and Amen in Chriſt; the Devil, and all his power and inſtruments cannot hold him, the blood is upon him, from that hour he is a free-man, to own no Lord but God, and yet ſtill he hath a Wilderneſs to go thorow, but he is miraculouſly carried as Iſrael was thorow it; but this muſt not be expected, that they ſhould eat the Paſſeover and ſtay in Aegypt ſtill, they muſt go out of their bondage, that are ſprinkled with this blood by the blood of thy Covenant, I have ſent out thy priſoners out of the pit wherein is no water, ſaith he in a like caſe, Zech. 9. 11. and haply this Type is yet to be fulfilled in the Goſpel Churches, whom the Lord will deliver out of the hands of their oppreſſing tyrants, Pope or Turk, not by the Sword but Ordinances of his Covenant, and then if they ſhall purſue a people under blood, as Pharaoh did, there will be a red Sea to ſwallow them horſe and man. And ſo much for the Paſſeover, as referring to Chriſt our Sacrifice, for that it doth ſo, is plain by this. That which is ſaid of the Paſchal Lamb, Exod. 12. 46. is expreſly applied to, and fulfilled in Chriſt, John 19. 36. So much for the Paſſeover as a Sacrifice, or as the figure of our Sacrifice and theirs, Chriſt Jeſus.
§. 8.
Now we proceed to conſider it as a Sacrament, not ours, but theirs, nor yet a figure of our Sacrament inConſidered as a Sacrament. propriety, though often ſo called in tranſi…, and much contended for by Papiſts, For what Jew could ever have found out our Supper figured in that Paſſeover? and in what propriety can our Sacrament be the Sacrament of another? Chriſt is the res Sacramenti of theirs and ours, there they meet, as the inward Circumciſion and Regeneration is the thing of their Circumciſion and our Baptiſm, but that one Sacrament ſhould be the figure of another, is abſurd and void of reaſon; As two pictures of one man, are both reſemblances of that one man, but one is not the picture of another, and yet becauſe the Paſſeover hath the common nature of a Sacrament, doth ſet forth the ſame Chriſt as our Supper, and that the Apoſtle draws an Argument from it, to perſwade Goſpel-Chriſtians to holineſs: Therefore we ſhall conſider what ſignificancy there is in it, for though the ſigns be not ours, yet the ſignificancy is
§. 9.
Firſt, The Paſſeover or Paſchal Lamb, as killed and roſted, and the blood ſprinkled was a Sacrifice,The ſignification of the Paſſeover. as eaten by the Iſraelites and feaſted upon, it was a Sacrament, and in after-times, both by Jewiſh Records, and by Scripture, I conceive it appears, 2 Chro. 3…. 11. Ezra 6 20. that the Levites killed the Paſchals, the Prieſts ſprinkled the bloud on the Altar, and then they took the Lamb to their foreign, or Families, or Chambers in Jeruſalem, and there did eat it; ſo in our Supper there is a Sacrifice ſlain, and offer'd up for atonement, and that is Chriſt his body and bloud, and then there is an eating and drinking of this Sacrifice in the Sacrament of bread and wine, as in many Sacrifices of the Law, there was firſt an offering up to …od, and then a feaſting on the remainder; we have a true Sacrifice, Chriſt offer'd up to God for us; we have a true Sacrament, as that Sacrifice is eaten and drunk by us; the oblation belongs to God to propitiate and redeem; the communication belongs to us, to be refreſht and nouriſht; their eating the Paſſeover was no Sacrifice, but a Sacrament; our eating and drinking bread and wine is no Sacrifice but a Sacrament; their killing and roſting of the Lamb made it eatable; Chriſt his ſacrificing of himſelf for us, renders him fit nouriſhment to us; Had he not been a Sacrifice offer'd up for us, what profit had there been in eating and drinking ſacramentally and ſpiritually that body and bloud? This conſideration is of ſpecial remark, you feaſt upon a ſacrifice, you live, you feed upon a ſacrifice tolle Sacrificium. tolle Sacramentum, the mouth eats the Sacrament, the eye of faith diſcerns the ſacrifice, Chriſt is the ſacrifice, the Sacrament no ſacrifice, but the commemoration and communication of a ſacrifice; and here the reaſon muſt be obſerved, why God did inſtitute their Paſſeover, and our anſwerable Sacrament to conſiſt in meat and drink, eating and drinking, and I conceive thus, th…t it being the moſt proper way to partake of a ſacrifice, for how elſe can it be? Therefore we eat and drink in way of participation of our ſacrifice; Hence the phraſe, Living upon Heb. 13. 10.the Altar, eating of the Altar; and thus if we carry our eye to the earthly part in the Supper, and to the heavenly part, that is to the Sacrament, and the ſacrifice repreſented, and feed upon the ſacrifice repreſented, as well as the Sacrament repreſenting, we then diſcern the Lords body. This is the firſt foreign, de hoc plus intra.
2. Their Paſſeover was inſtituted as an Ordinance for ever, for a memorial of their Deliverance in Aegypt, and their eduction out of it, a commemoration it was, and to be obſerved for ever, that is, in all ſucceeding generations, whiles their Polity and Religion ſtood, Exod. 12. 14, 24, 42. and therefore we read in Jewiſh Writers, and there is ſome foot-ſtep or original of it, Exod. 26. 27. What mean you by this ſervice, that in every company of Paſſeover-communicants, there was ſome one that rehearſed and made commemoration, Haggadah ſhet peſuch, the hiſtoryBuxt…rf. Chal. Lexic. of the Paſſeover, and ſo God that would have the ſacrifice of Chriſt for our ſinne, that greateſt work of his, and our deliverance thereby from worſe then Aegypt, or deſtroying Angel, to be obſerved and kept in minde by a laſting trophy or monument, viz: our Supper: The Apoſtle in alluſion to their cuſtome, uſeth a word foreign … Cor. 11. 26. Ye do ſhew, As often as ye eat this bread and drink this Cup, ye do ſhew forth the Lords death till he come, or ye do commemorate and with affection and thankſgiving ſet it forth, and as theirs was for ever, till Chriſts firſt coming, ſo ours is for ever, till his ſecond coming; ſo long as their Church continued they were charged with this Ordinance; ſo long as the Goſpel-Church continues, they are charged with this, and therefore neither of the Doctrine of the Goſpel, nor of the Sacraments ſhall there be any removal or alteration till Chriſt come.
3. Their Paſſeover in Aegypt was eaten in their ſeveral Families or ſocieties, A Lamb for a houſe, except it were too little, Exod. 12. 3, 4. and in a…ter times when this was repeal'd, Deut. 16. 6, 7. and was confined to the place that God ſhould chuſe, and ſo to Jeruſalem, then though the Lamb might be ſlain in the holy Court, and the bloud ſprinkled on the Altar, yet they did carry it home to their hired chambers, and there did eat in companies, not leſs then ten in a fraternity, Joſeph de bello lib. 7. cap. 17. nor above twenty, but no man alone, Solum epulari non licet, ſaith Joſeph, Chriſt and his company made one ſociety; ſo though Chriſt be our Sacrifice, once offer'd up upon the croſs a ſacrifice to God, yet doth our Supper bring him home to us into our Churches, and into our ſouls. There is an application of him to be made, the bloud ſprinkled on our doors, the Paſchal brought home to our own houſe; Take ye, Eat ye, Drink ye; God comes to particulars with us, and the application of the ſacrifice is the life of the Sacrament; we muſt eat and drink at home, in our own ſouls; Chriſt comes home to us, and yet this Supper ought as the Paſſeover to be eaten in ſocieties, I know no reaſon for one alone, there muſt be a foreign, a company, for it is a communion, one makes not a communion; The Apoſtle 1 Cor. 11. 20. When you come foreign into a meeting, v. 33, 34. when you come together, tarry one for another; hence it hath been anciently called foreign, a meeting, a Congregation. It's Gods Ordinance (ſaith a learned man) that the Lords Hilderſ… Joh. 4 p. 122.Supper be adminiſtred in publick Aſſemblies; How can there be a Communicant without a Communion, ſed de hoc infra, not that the wals of a Church do make it a communion, but a meeting of believers?
4. Their Paſſeover was eaten with unlevened bread and ſowre or bitter herbs, Exod. 12. 8. There are many circumſtances and ceremonies found in the Jewiſh Authors about the ſearching out of all leven, yea with candles at noon-day, and an execration of all leven, if any ſhould remain unfound, and the bitter herbs were in conſtant uſe, the unlevened bread remembred them, what haſte they went out of Aegypt in, Exod. 12. 34. and the bitter herbs, what affliction and bondage they had ſuffer'd, and further they ſaw not; The Apoſtle interprets leven, malice and wickedneſs; unlevened bread, ſincerity and truth, 1 Cor. 5. 8. and ſo it teaches us, how Chriſt is to be received by us, and what manner of perſons they muſt be that apply and receive Jeſus Chriſt; They muſt remember their bondage under ſinne, not with delight but bitterneſs, and feel the ſowr taſte of their former wayes, as ſinners contrite and broken; bitter herbs are good ſauce for the paſchal Lamb; ſinne felt ſets an edge on the ſtomack as vinegar; Chriſt reliſhes well to ſuch a ſoul; When thou comeſt to eat his Supper, bring thy own ſauce with thee, bitter herbs, and refreſh on thy ſelf the memory of thy old wayes and former luſts; that's the ſauce, the bread is unleavened bread; you cannot eat the Lamb and leaven togegether; a ſecure hypocrite, a filthy ſwine not purged from ſinne, to think to have Chriſt and his ſinne too, to be pardon'd and not purged, to be ſaved and not ſanctified; Away, and never think to eat this Lamb with leaven'd bread; come with bitter herbs thou maiſt, contrition for ſinne, but come not with and in thy ſins, for that's eating with leaven'd bread; therefore ſearch it out, and let thy ſinnes be ſearcht out as with a candle, and let them be execrable to thee, that God may ſee thy hatred of them, and thy loathing of thy ſelf for them.
5. Their Paſſeover in Aegypt, was to be eaten with loyns girded in procinctu, ſhoes on feet, and ſtaff in hand, and ye ſhall eat in haſte, Exod. 12. 11. and therefore ſtanding as ready to be inſtantly on their march to leave the Land of Aegypt, and go to ſeek their promiſed countrey, which ſignifies to us, that we muſt receive Chriſt and his bloud with intention and purpoſe to leave the dominions of Pharaoh, the Kingdom, ſervice and bondage of ſinne, and the Devil, and from that hour to ſet forward towards our heavenly countrey; This is that hard Doctrine of the Goſpel; This makes men neglect, refuſe Jeſus Chriſt, becauſe they cannot part with ſinne, they will not reſolve to quit their former courſe, as he that went away ſorrowfull, for he had great poſſeſsions: So we would fain be ſaved, but go away ſorrowfull, for we have powerfull, pleaſing and profitable luſts. And as it may allude to our Supper; Let it teach us to come to the Table of the Lord with ſtaves in our hand, and our loyns girded up, as men reſolving to march, and begin a new and holy life, Henceforth not to ſerve ſin, Rom. 6. 6. But of this I ſpake before.
6. In their Paſſeover they muſt roſt and eat a whole Lamb, and nothing of it muſt remain till the morning: If any did remain it muſt be burnt with fire, Exod. 11. 9, 10. the fleſh muſt be eaten, not a bone broken, Numb. 9. 12. This ſhews, that Chriſt is all meat, there is no offal in him, there is variety of nouriſhment for all our uſes, righteouſneſs, and peace, and comfort, and contentment to fill our capacities, relieve temptations, pardon and purge away our ſins, but we muſt not divide, but take him whole, his merit and Spirit, his ſalvation and Soveraignty; Chriſt our Way, our Truth, our Life; What an unhappy Doctrine is that of the Papiſts, that takes the bloud from us, and will not let the people drink? It is as if they ſhould not allow our Paſſeover to be a whole Lamb, and as unhappy they, that do not only rent his coat, but break his bones by depraving the fundamentals of Goſpel-Doctrine, and tearing the Creed, Article from Article, and nothing left, untill the morning, tels us, That in the morning-light of the Goſpel, all thoſe ſhadows ſhould be aboliſht and diſclaimed, or as Rivet ſaith, That Sacraments are not Sacraments, but in their uſe, and while they are uſed, as the bread and wine after the uſe are no Sacraments, as a mear ſtone is a boundary in it's place, remove it, and it is lapis not limes.
7. No uncircumciſed perſon might eat the Paſſeover, nor no unclean perſon that was under an uncleanneſs, Exod. 12. 44, 48. Numb. 9. 7. where the inſtance is of ſome unclean by the dead, but it extendeth to other uncleanneſs, leprous or menſtruous, &c. Joſeph. de bello lib. 7. cap. 17. and yet there was proviſion made for the unclean, that they might keep the Paſſeover in the ſecond monethmonth, as they did in Hezekiah his Paſſeover, 2 Chron. 30. 13. but for the uncircumciſed there was no proviſion, and this ſets forth to us two ſorts of men that are uncapable of worthy coming to the Lords Supper.
1. The uncircumciſed that are ſtrangers and foreinersTwo ſorts uncapable of the Lords Supper. to the Church, and not initiated by the firſt Sacrament of Baptiſm, no perſon of what condition ſoever that is unbaptized can come to the Supper, for he is not entred and admitted into Church-fellowſhip or Communion by the firſt Sacrament: He is not one of the houſe, or of the fraternity, where the Lamb is eaten, and out of the houſe the Paſſeover muſt not be carried; they that are out of the Church have no right to the priviledges of the Church, as they that are no freemen have not the priviledge of the City. It was never known in the old Church, that an uncircumciſed perſon, nor in the Goſpel-Church that an unbaptized, did partake of either of the Suppers, theirs or ours, for both of them are ſecond Sacraments, not firſts, the way to the Table hath ever been by the Font or Laver of waſhing. Of this more hereafter.
2. The domeſticks that are of the houſe, that areAlmoſt one and twenty hundred thouſand all pure. Joſeph. cap. 17. lib. 7. de bello Judaic. circumciſed Iſraelites, yet if they be at the time of the Paſſeover unclean, they may not eat it, was a caſe came into queſtion thus, ſome were unclean, put the caſe to Moſes, he reſpited the deciſion till he had asked of the Lord, and the Lord adjudged it, that he ſhould be put off to the Paſſeover of the ſecond monethmonth; and this tels us by way of alluſion, that a member of the Church baptized, yea a true believer may be unfit at ſome particular time to come to the Lords Table, and may eat and drink unworthily; Were not the Corinthians ſuch men, and in ſuch a caſe, 1 Cor. 11? Were they not puniſht for their unworthy coming, and yet doubtleſs ſome of them godly, and all profeſſed Chriſtians? But of this more alſo.
§ 10.
8. There were in the firſt Paſſeover in Aegypt, uſed and commanded by expreſs word, certain rituals or occaſionals, which as Jewiſh Writers and practice ſhews, were omitted and not uſed in after-times. As 1. The eating in diſperſed houſes, afterward in Jeruſalem only. 2. The taking up the Lamb four dayes before, which we reade not of afterward. 3. The ſtriking of the door-poſts with the bloud. 4. The not going out of the houſe that night, which in aftertimes Chriſt and his Diſciples did. 5. The eating it in travelling poſture in procinctu, with ſtaves, &c. which we finde our Saviour, and reade that the Jews did in another poſture of diſcumbency, a lying on beds, &c. Theſe or ſome of theſe were occaſional at the firſt, and the occaſion ceaſing, cuſtom had ruled it otherwiſe without offence; for in our Supper the Lord celebrated and inſtituted it at night, in or at the end of the paſchal and common ſupper. 2. In unlevened bread. 3. Late at night. 4. In a geſture of diſcumbency, a leaning or lying poſture, Joh. 3. 13. 5. In a chamber of a private houſe. 6. Without preſence of any woman. 7. Conſecrating, a bleſſing the bread andSee Evang. for ſo uſed in Paſſeover. the Cup ſeverally and apart. 8. Singing the hymne at the cloſe of all, as was uſual, &c. And theſe, or many of theſe were occaſional circumſtances by reaſon of the cuſtom & Rite of the paſchal Supper, or the particular exigency at that time; And what then? Do they oblige to a hairs breadth all after-ages? Do they that impoſe any one of theſe themſelves hold to all of them? Shall we be ſupercilious and ſuperſtitious in obſerving all occaſional or local cuſtoms? Why do we not appear in ſackcloth at our Faſts? Where is that oſculum pacis? As the Apoſtle ſaid about the1 Cor. 11. 16. length of hair, ſo I ſay, If any man ſeem to be contentious, we have no ſuch custome, nor the Churches of God. If Chriſt had celebrated the Supper with his loyns girt, and ſtaff in hand, had we been bound to it, and yet we muſt not raffle this thred too far, and under colour of an occaſionall circumſtance, change or mutilate the real ſubſtance, as the Papiſt that takes away the Cup which Chriſt bleſt, and breaks not the Bread, as he did, and of a Sacrament makes a Sacrifice; the Matter and Form, the intended Analogy between the Sign, and the Thing ſignified, will guide us in our diſtinguiſhing Subſtance from Accidents.
I here make an end, though in this Point, and in this Lamb, which was ſerved in with Legs and Purtenance, I might finde out other leſſer Reſemblances, which I ſhall not; but having ſhown you, what freſh Marrow lies in the old Bones of this Paſſeover-Sacrifice, will hereafter ſet forth our Lords Supper before you.