The Right Administration and Receiving of the Lords Supper, Treatise · Chapter 30
CHAP. XXX. The CaUſe of this Sinne, viz. Not diſcerning the Lords Body.
§. 1 2. THe caUſe of this ſinne of eating unworthily is, not diſcerning the Lords body, ver. 29. The word foreign ſignifies to make difference between one thing and another; Act. 15. 9. Heb. 5. 14. and in this place to diſcern and put a difference between two, and thoſe two things, as the common ſtreame runs, are common bread and wine, and this Bread and Cup of the Lord, which are imploy'd to another Uſe and end than promiſcuous and common bread at your own tables, for this is called the Bread of the Lord, the Body of Chriſt in reſpect of ſignification and Uſe, I finde no fault with this expoſition, foreign, &c. ſaith Juſtin, We receive not this Bread as common bread, nor this Cup as common wine, which hath no other Uſe than to refreſh the body, I ſay, I finde no fault, but why may not, Not diſcerning the Lords Body ſignifie thus much? Not minding the body of Chriſt ſignified by the Bread, but looking all upon the ſhell or ſign, and not the kernel or inward thing, which ſhould be regarded with greateſt intention: Let me not offend in the terms of this diſtinction.
§. 2. What it is not to diſcerne the Lords Body ſpeculatively.
§. 2 There is a ſpeculative diſcerning of the Body of Chriſt, and there is a practical.
The ſpeculative diſcerning is the notion or knowledge of the ſignification of the outward elements.
That the Bread and Wine do repreſent Chriſts Body and Bloud, That the Bread broken repreſents his Body broken &c. This is an eaſie piece of knowledge, as eaſie as to know that a picture or figure do repreſent ſuch a man, and there is no great meaſure of knowledge to conſtrue all parts or rites of the Sacrament into a true meaning.
In this ſenſe not to diſcern the Lords body is directly to inhere and ſtick in the bread and wine, as bread and wine, and to take the picture for the man: It may be there be ſome ſuch bruitiſh ignorants, that diſcorn not the meat from the diſh, nor the marrow from the bone, ſuch as theſe are, are fit to be excluded, becaUſe where there is no Analogy holden, there can be no Sacrament. The Analogy, I ſay, between the outward Sacrament, and inward thing, muſt either be known, or it is to us no Sacrament; For a ſimilitude, reſemblance, or Analogy, muſt be between two things at leaſt, and therefore thoſe that in a blinde and bruitiſh ignorance know nothing, but the outward part do not properly receive a Sacrament, but are like the carnal Jews that knew not the meaning of their Sacrifices, or of thoſe types of Chriſt which they had; The brazen Serpent was Chriſt, the Rock they drank of was Chriſt, but many of them dream'd not of him in the Uſe of them. I do not believe theſe Corinthians, men of ſuch knowledge, were ſuch bruits, for the Apoſtle, 1 Cor. 10. 16. ſpeaks to them as wiſemen, who knew this, ſaying, The Bread we break, Is it not the Communion of the body of Chriſt, &c. Therefore
§. 3. What it is not to diſcerne the Lords Body practically.
§. 3 The practical diſcerning of the Lords body is, when the body and bloud of Chriſt are ſo minded and intended, as to compoſe the inward man, and the outward behaviour of the Communicant into ſuch a poſture of ſpirit and carriage, as is ſuitable to Chriſts body and bloud there offered and exhibited unto faith, and the not diſcerning the Lords body, is when the behaviour is ſo looſe and rude, the inward man ſo diſcompoſed and carnal, as that interpretative, they may be ſaid not to minde, or not to diſcern the Lords body; So we would ſay of one whoſe carriage is wanton and looſe in the preſence of his fathers corpſe lying in preſence in a coffin or beer, you doe not minde, you conſider not who lies there, becaUſe if he did, another countenance and carriage would beſeem him, and ſo the Corinthians are taxed here for ſuch carriage of theirs, as proclaim'd they had no ſerious thoughts, no ſad and fixed minde upon Chriſt bleeding and broken, for that conſideration would have beſpoken another frame of ſpirit, and forme of behaviour. The reſult of this explication is,
The Apoſtle gives us a two-fold caUſe of eating and drinking unworthily.
1. If we underſtand not, know not the Analogy or reſemblance of the bread and wine to the body and bloud of Chriſt, but ſtick in the rind or ſhell, and feed only on the husks, as upon common bread and common wine, and reſting in that, as knowing not the Uſe or end, which makes the difference, which renders all bruitiſh ignorant people unworthy receivers, And how ſhould I make them know the danger that know not thus farre of the Uſe of this Ordinance? Willingneſſe to be taught would help it, if they were not more willing to runne blindefold into the pit, than proudly unwilling to diſcover their fillineſſe and ignorance, and if they be unwilling, It's no cruelty but charity to keep a blinde man from running into a pit.
2. If we underſtand the meaning of the outward elements by rote or notional knowledge, but do not ſeriouſly and with a fixed intention conſider and look wiſhly upon Chriſts body and bloud repreſented, offered, and to be exhibited to our faith, for this will compoſe our outward behaviour and inward ſpirit; this beſpeaks faith, repentance, affections ſuitable; this compoſes us unto reverence and ſerious behaviour: Imagine the very Body of the Lord Jeſus was preſented to your eye, broken, bruiſed, bleeding for thy ſinnes under the ſtroke of Gods terrible juſtice, and ſo offer'd unto thee for thy ſalvation, Would not thy ſoul raiſe up all affections, and muſter up all it's forces, to receive him, to open to him, to thirſt after him, to admire and praiſe him? And doth not God in this Ordinance really hold him forth to thee as ſuch, and ſo to be received? The nature of the feaſt to which we are invited, teaches us how to dreſſe our ſelves; To a funeral we come in mourning, to a marriage in a wedding-garment; The very minding of the body of Chriſt teaches men to come worthily, that is ſuitably, and the not minding of it with fixed intention is the caUſe that we come looſly, carnally, and ſo unworthily.