Sermons, Treatise · Chapter 3
CHAP. III. That the Lord Jeſus is the Authour of this Sacrament.
1 COR. 11. 23.
That the Lord Jeſus, &c.
I Shall follow the track of the Apoſtle, who goes before me in the two points I am to entreat upon.
1. The Nature and Uſe of this Sacrament.
2. The due Preparation of the Communicant.
Of theſe in order, and with what brevity I can, contenting my ſelf to ſpeak in decimo ſexto, what might be ſpoken in folio, in hope that your proficiency byMr Anthony Burgeſs and Mr Love. your former moſt worthy teachers, may excuſe me the labour of ſo large a volume.
The next words I come unto, do plainly point out unto us.
1. The Author of the inſtitution, The Lord Jeſus.
2. The Time of it, The ſame night in which he was betrayed.Doct. 1. The Authour of this Sacrament.
The Authour of this inſtitution is the Lord Jeſus. The conſent of all the Evangeliſts that write the Hiſtory, puts this out of all controverſie; Chriſt was perſonally preſent both celebrating and inſtituting this Ordinance; He is res Sacramenti, the thing of the Sacrament, and Author Sacramenti, the Authour of the Sacrament, the feaſt-maker, and the feaſt; Out of this pierced ſide (as Austin alludes) there came forth both bloud and water, the two Sacraments of the Church; He took the bread, he bleſt, he brake it, he gave it, it may well be called the Lords Supper, yea the Lord is the Supper, This is my body, this is my bloud.
§. 1.
Firſt, The Lord Jeſus is Authour, the Mediatour of the new Covenant, the Teſtator of the new Teſtament, appoints the ſeal of that Covenant, and ratifies that Teſtament with his bloud; He is the Lord to whom is committed the Soveraignty and Government of his Church, therefore he makes Officers, Laws and Ordinances. The Lords day, and the Lords Supper are particularly in Scripture called byRev. 1. 10. 1 Cor. 11. his name, The Lords; The Lords day ex illius reſurrectione feſtivitatem ſuam habere coepit, took its feſtivityEpiſt. 119. from his Reſurrection, as Auſtin; The Lords Supper is the memorial of his death, ſo his death and reſurrection, a Supper, and a day to memorize them.
As he is Lord, ſo his Laws binde whatſoever they be, though Abraham be commanded to kill his ſonne, for the Laws of God have not their obligation from the quality of the Law, but from the authority of the Lord the Law-giver: As he is Jeſus a Saviour, ſo his Laws are benefits and liberties tending to ſalvation; as the Laws of your City are freedoms, and your freedoms laws, ſo you obey them …s Laws, enjoy them as freedoms, they are our benefit and our duty; His invitation is to a Supper, it's the invitation of a Lord, it's the Supper of a Saviour.
§. 2.
Secondly, There muſt be inſtitution of a Sacrament. The elements are cyphers, till the inſtitution make them figures. Inſtitution is as neceſſary to a Sacrament, as ſuperſcription is to money, for it is created foreign, of things that did not appear, Sacraments are of that rank of things, Quae nihil ſunt ſine inſtitutione, ſaith Chamier, they were bread and wineChamier. de Euchar. l. 7. c. 10 indeed before, but they were nothing to that relation which Chriſt put upon them; a ſeal of a thouſand a year is made of a peny-worth of wax; What was a piece of braſſe to the healing of a mortal ſting? Nothing, till God put an uſe upon it, that all that lookt to it being bitten ſhould be healed.
§. 3.
Thirdly, There muſt be a divine inſtitution to make a Sacrament. The Legatee doth not ſeal the will, but the Teſtatour, the Granter ſeals the Deed, not the Grantee; the Delinquent ſeals not the pardon, but the Keeper of the ſeal, Sola divina institutio facit Sacramentum, Montac. origin. part. 1. pag. 73.ſaith a learned man; Take that away, and it ceaſeth to be a Sacrament; The Supream Power only can coyn money, in other its capital. All the whole Church together cannot make a Sacrament, then it ſhould be the Churches Supper, not the Lords, and it is theirs to eat, but not to make, Ejus eſt ſigna Synopſis de coena §. 7.gratiae addere, cujus eſt gratiamtribuere, He may adde the ſigns of grace, that can give the grace. There is a four-fold word requiſite to a Sacrament,
1. A word of inſtitution, which appoints the matter and form.
2. A word of Sanctification or bleſſing, to ſet them apart from common uſe.
3. A word of Promiſe of ſome good to the Communicant, and ſo we have here a promiſe of the Lords body and bloud; The promiſes of Sacraments, (as is well obſerved by the Centuriators) are veſtitae Centur…mag. ce…t. 1.promiſs…ones, cloathed promiſes: He that believes ſhall be ſaved, is a naked promiſe: He that eats this bread, &c. ſhall have Chriſt as a cloathed promiſe.
4. A word of Command, as we have the foreign Buckler. Pr…t. evidence.in Baptiſm, ſo hoc facite here, as a learned man. Let the Word be added to the Element, and you have a Sacrament. Auſtin.
§. 4.
Fourthly, It's the inſtitution that gives the nature and efficacy to a Sacrament. He that mints the money, ſets the value and price upon it. A Sacrament is an outward and viſible ſigne, but it is not a natural, but a voluntary ſign, nor yet a bare ſigne as the picture of Hercules is a ſigne of Hercules, and no more; we muſt not make the Sacraments, foreign, empty names, empty figures, empty repreſentations, that reſemble and ſignifie ſomething, and no more; as the Sacrament was a crucifix, and the Supper painted reſemblances of meat and drink, this is a hungry feaſt; he muſt have his ſtomack in his eye, that is fed with it, but the Sacraments are ſignacula, ſymbola, ſeals and pledges, or inſtruments offering, exhibiting and making preſent to our faith the very benefits which they ſignifie, the very body and bloud of Chriſt is not only repreſented, but preſente to a believer, and brought home to his ſoul, yet they are not natural inſtrumentsMontac. orig. part. 1. p. 67. in which the inward grace is contained, as in a veſſel, as the Romiſh Praeſentialists and Schoolmen dream, like plaiſters which have in themſelves a virtue or power to heal a wound, or a medicine to expell poiſon, but they are moral and voluntary means or inſtruments ſerving to the purpoſe ex deſtinatione by appointment, as the brazen Serpent to heal the ſting. Bernard hath writ upon it, As (ſaith he) in veſtitures, and poſſeſſions,Bernard. de coena. and aſſurances, do paſs by the ſtaff and ring, Annulus non valet quicquam, haereditas eſt quam quaerebam, The ring avails little, I ſeek the inheritance that is confirmed and convey'd by it; ſo we ſay, the Lands, Inheritance, &c. do paſſe by the great Seal, for ſo I come to have and hold, and they are mine by it; Thus the Sacrament is a ſeal of confirmation and conveyance of the inward grace to the hand or faith of a believing ſoul; And as really as the eſtate doth paſſe by the Seal into your right and poſſeſſion, not by any inward work or power of the Seal in it ſelf, but by the uſe it's of, in ſealing and conveying; ſo really is Chriſt, and all his treaſure paſſed over unto you that receive him by faith, not in reſpect of any worthineſs or vertue in the very outward Sacrament, but in and by the uſe it's of, by Chriſts appointment to ſeal, confirm and convey; that excellent place ſpeaks my minde fully, 1 Cor. 10. 16. The Cup of bleſsing which we bleſs, Is it not the Communion of the bloud of Chriſt? The Bread which we break, Is it not the Communion of the body of Christ? He ſaith not barely repreſentation, as a ſigne, but communion or participation as a conveying ſeal; I declare this to you, becauſe ſome believe too much, and think the outward Sacrament works (I know not how) like a plaiſter by ſome vertue contained in them, that is opere operato, as they barbarouſly ſpeak; and others believe-too little, as if they were meer and empty ſigns and reſemblances of Chriſts body and bloud; as if a woman ſhould receive a ring meerly, becauſe the picture of her beloved is engraven on it, and not as a ring of eſpouſals, really ſealing and confirming the contract, and aſſuring himſelf hers, ſed de hoe infra.
§. 5.
The Uſe which may be hence inferr'd is twofold.
Uſe 1 The Lord Jeſus is authour, therefore this Supper is not ours that are Miniſters, but it is the Lords. Alexander Aleſ. pars 4. quaeſt. 49. memb. 1.Hales hath an excellent Rule, which I ſhall make uſe of hereafter, it's this, Sacerdos est diſpenſator non Dominus Sacramentorum Eccleſiae, non dat ſuum, ſed reddit alienum, quod de jure negari non potest, The Miniſter is the Diſpenſer or Steward, not the Lord of the Sacraments of the Church. He gives not that which is his, but reſtores that which is anothers, which de jure cannot be denied to him to whom it'sHomil. 83. in Mat. due, and therefore Chryſoſtom ſpeaks to his fellow Miniſters, and cals them foreign, Diſtributers, Diſpenſers, as you are of the poors bread in the Church, which ſome Benefactour formerly appointed to be beſtowed on them by his Will, and of his Gift, to whom the Lord gives it; We cannot deny, if they be within the Sphere of our office, and to whom the Lord denies we cannot give. A man comes to an Executour, Sir, I come to you for a certain Legacy given me by my Fathers will, whereof you are Executour, the gift bequeathed is not yours, and you are but the hand, whereby the Donour was pleaſed to hand it unto me: True, ſaith the Executour, there is ſuch a Legacy bequeath'd, but if you look the Will, you ſhall finde it given with ſome limitations and proviſo's: See the words, ver. 28. of this Chapter, foreign, and ſo, there is an And ſo; But let a man examine himſelf, and ſo let him eat, and ſo let him drink: It is confeſt on all hands, The Conditions being performed, the claim is good; but if it can be ſaid, You are not a Diſciple, and to ſuch only this Legacy was bequeathed by Chriſt, or the Church hath ſet on you the brand of a Heathen or a Publican, though you was a Diſciple, and you have for the preſent by your ſinne forfeited the right you had, untill by your repentance you return again, why then all will ſay, that an Executour or Adminiſtratour may not act directly contrary to the Will, for he is not the Teſtatour to do what he will, but he is Adminiſtratour to obſerve, and not to violate the Will.
§. 6.
Uſe 2 The Lord Jeſus is authour from him, therefore let the benefit and efficacy of this Ordinance be expected; for it hath & veritatem, & virtutem, both eſſe and operari, being and working from the authour; As money hath the ſtamp and the value from the ſupream power; and here is the difference between natural and moral inſtruments (we take the word inſtrument largely pro medio for a mean) that if the Sacraments were natural means or inſtruments, in which (as the Schoolman doth) the very vertue, or the grace and benefit by them convey'd were contrived, then were the vertue and benefit to be expected from themſelves, and no otherwiſe from the authour, than as authour of the inſtrument; as the Candle gives light whether the maker of it be preſent or no, and the plaiſter heals by a quality in it ſelf, but a moral inſtrument not ſo, being empty of any vertue to ſuch an effect, except the authour do work by it, or (ad praeſentiamejus) at the preſence of it; as the Serpent of braſſe on the Pole, the Clay and Spittle on the eye, the Lambs bloud on door-poſts, had in themſelves no power to their ſeveral effects, but as they were appointed and uſed by God or Chriſt. It is very hard to believe that there is a true and real exhibition of Chriſts body and bloud to my faith, as there is of the bread and wine to the mouth of the receiver; ſottiſh and ſuperſtitious people, that uſe charms or inchanted means for diſeaſes, &c. never ask themſelves, How theſe things work, by any natural vertue in them, or by the devil the authour of them; And ſo here, there are thouſands that have a reverend eſteem of theſe myſteries, yea and a ſuperſtitious conceit, thinking that there is ſome good in them, and imagining at leaſt that they ſhall be better for them, but whether to apply their eye to the very things themſelves, or to Chriſt they know not, nor matter not, but reſt in a confuſed imagination, juſt as they that u…e charms. Now for redreſs of this confuſed notion, I commend that of famous Dr Whitaker, Quaſi De Euchar. pag. 624. in 40.Chri…s in medio ſederet, &c. As if Chriſt fate amongſt …ou, and did the ſame as in the firſt Supper, ſo ought …ve to think of this Sacrament, and that is to ſee Chriſt, to take, and bleſs, and ſay to us, This is my body, take and eat; This is my bloud, Drink ye all of it, a very effectual conſideration, according to that good old ſolemn word, uſed to be ſpoken to the people at this Table, Surjum corda, Have your hearts upward, to which they anſwered, Habemus ad Dominum.
Now as to others that have their eyes ſo near the book that they ſee the worſe, I mean ſuch as by curious enquiry, and too much niceneſs, how it's poſſible that the eating of a piece of bread, and drinking of a ſup of wine, ſhould exhibit and convey to the faith of a believer, the very true and real body and bloud of Chriſt, do diſpute themſelves into a naked figure and ſign, as a painted ſupper repreſents a true. I ſay this, That God imitates men in their aſſurances or conveyances, as we read of his oath, of his earneſt, of his ſeal; ſo that as men in paſſing of eſtates and inheritances, do make Deeds, and ſeal them, and deliver them, and then the real eſtate is not convey'd out by vertue of a bit of wax, but by the Donors ſealing that wax, and faſtening it to his Deed, and delivering it as his Act and Deed: So God, or the Lord Jeſus Chriſt makes a Covenant of giving Chriſt and eternal life to believers, and appoints Sacraments to be Seals of that Covenant, and delivers this ſealed Covenant to a believer, and thereby really and truly the Lord Jeſus Chriſt; for in hoc ſacro, ſpeaking of the Supper, ſaith Bernard, non ſolum quaelibet gratia. ſed Serm. de caena. 2.ille in quo eſt, omnis gratia, not only ſome one certain grace is given, but he in whom is all grace viz. Chriſt Jeſus the Lord. And yet I muſt not ſay, that God hath ſo tied himſelf, or us, to the ſacrament…l Seals, as that no man can have Chriſt, or the inheritance without them, for that faith which eats and drinks the fleſh and bloud of Chriſt extra Sacramentum, Joh. 6. 50, 51, 53, 54. doth ſave, and the Covenant (whoſoever believes in Christ ſhall be ſaved) paſſes the eſtate effectually to a believer, though it be never ſealed ſacramentally, ſo a Will unſealed and unwritten too, will ſtand good to many purpoſes. The Emperour Valentinian earneſtly deſired Baptiſm, but before Ambroſe could come died; He was ſayed, ſaith Ambroſe, voto Baptiſmi, by the deſire of Baptiſm: No, The deſire was good, but it was his faith in Chriſt that ſaved him. Crede & manducasti, ſaith Auſtin, Believe and thou haſt eaten; What then need we care for Sacraments? Yea, the Covenant paſſes the Eſtate, the Seal ſecures and quiets it; God need neither adde to his Promiſe, Oath or Seal, to binde himſelf thereby, but to ſettle us.