The Right Administration and Receiving of the Lords Supper, Treatise · Chapter 11
CHAP. XI. Of Chriſts mandate or charge for the celebration of this Ordinance in remembrance of Him.
1 COR. 11. 24, 25, 26.
This do in remembrance of me. This do ye, as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as often, &c.
§. 1 SO much be ſpoken upon the outward part or Sacrament of the Lords Supper, the Elements and Rites: He took bread, and giving thanks he brake it, and gave it: Likewiſe alſo the cup after Supper. And ſo much alſo touching the Kernell and Marrow of the Feaſt; This is my Body broken for you: This Cup is the New Teſtament in my blood. And now having paſt through our thorny and perplexed way, encombred with adverſaries, through whom we muſt fight our way, we are come into a fairer and clearer road, as into a champain, not ſo much infeſted with enemies and Diſputes: For whether it be that a practicall conſcience be eaſilier ſatisfied than a ſubtill wit, or that the devil doth moſt labour to corrupt our intellectuals, that ſo as once he may corrupt our worſhip and our morals, or whatſoever the Reaſon be, there are more wranglings and Diſputes raiſed about ſpeculative and theoreticall Points, than about matters of practice or morall obedience.
Theſe words contain our Saviour his mandate or charge for the celebration of this Ordinance, together with the end whereunto it ſerves: This do in remembrance of me: This do as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me. This do ye, there is the charge: for remembrance of me, there is the end. None of the Evangeliſts have theſe words but Luke only, out of whom either our Apoſtle takes the words, or at leaſt ſymbolizeth with him, making them or rendring them as part of Chriſts own words ſpoken by himſelf at the firſt Inſtitution and Celebration of his Supper; and which you may Obſerve, the two Elements Bread and Wine taken and received, though they have diſtinct ſignifications, Chriſts Body broken and his Blood ſhed, yet they meet as two lines in this one point, The remembrance of Chriſt. This do in remembrance of me, is ſpoken of eating the bread, ver. 24. This drink in remembrance of me, is ſpoken of the cup, ver. 25. The Uſe of both the ſignes makes up but one memoriall of Chriſt, once dying, once ſacrificed up to God for us; and I ſhall take up the words in this one Point,
§. 2 Doct. The Lord Chriſt hath left it in charge and commandment, that his Church or people ſhould celebrate this Supper for a remembrance of him. Or if you will read the words thus, foreign, for my memoriall, or for my commemoration. What impreſſion hath the dying charge or commandment of a Teſtator upon his children or executors? Chriſt builds a monument for himſelf before he die, plain and ſimple to the eye, but a laſting monument that muſt continue till he come again, ver. 26. One of the ſeven wonders of the Heathen world was Mauſolaeum, a Monument or Tomb. The goodlieſt monument which diſtinguiſhes and beautifies the Chriſtian Church, is this of Chriſts own erecting, his Memoriall. The ſecond Temple built after the captivity of Babylon, was farre inferiour in outward magnificence and ſplendour to the firſt, built by Solomon: and the Jews obſerve five things to be wanting in the ſecond, which were in the firſt, as the Ark, &c. yet God promiſeth, Hag. 2. 9. The glory of this latter hoUſe ſhall be greater then the former, becaUſe Chriſt the deſire of all Nations ſhould come, and fill it with glory, ver. 7. And ſhall not the preſence of Chriſts Body and Blood in this Sacrament excell in glory, all the typicall glory of Sacrifices and Sacraments of the Law? They were but ſhadows of him that ſhould come, this the memoriall of him that died and is alive. The particulars comprehended under this Point are theſe:
§. 3 Firſt, There is a command and charge in the words, Do this, it is more then a Warrant which gives authority, it's a Command that requires duty: It is more than a Command, it is a Charge of a dying Teſtatour or Saviour, laying an injunction upon his Church to do this. For both Sacraments of the Goſpel we have the word of command: The Baptizate, Go and Diſciple all Nations, baptizing them, is the word for Baptiſm: Hoc facite, This do ye in remembrance of me, is the word for the Supper. There muſt be in a Sacrament, Firſt, An outward Element. Secondly, A word of promiſe. Thirdly, A word of command to Uſe it to that end, as none but Whitak. de Sacr. Qu. 6. de numero.the ſupream power hath authority to ſtamp or coyn legitimate, and currant money, ſo none but God can inſtitute and make a Sacrament. The Sacraments are parts of Gods inſtituted worſhip, ſtanding by poſitive appointment of God, The eating and drinking of bread and wine in their natural being or Uſe, are no more memorials, ſymbols and pledges of Chriſts body and bloud, than the form of a Serpent in braſſe of healing thoſe that were bitten with fiery Serpents; no man can authoritatively inſtitute a Sacrament, or preſcribe to God any part of his worſhip, I have received of the Lord, ſaith the Apoſtle, that which I delivered alſo unto you, and the Reaſon is good; He onelyonly can make a Sacrament, who can make good the promiſe or grace thereby repreſented and exhibited.
§. 4 Secondly, The charge is to Do this, that is, to celebrate this Supper: Chiſt limits and confines us to Janſ. Harm in Mat 26.this, as God did Moſes: See thou do all things according to the patern ſhown thee in the Mount; If we vary from the patern there lies a quis requiſivit againſt us, Who hath-required this at your hands? So God checks our inventions and ſuperſtition in creating will-worſhip, by adding or detracting, as we may not coyn, ſo neither waſh, or clip, or embaſe that which is ſtamped by the Lord, foreign, referrs to that which went before, Eat this bleſſed and broken Bread, the next words explain it, Do this as oft as ye drink it, principally it relates to the actions of Gerard. Harm. cap. 171.Communicants, Do this, that is, Eat ye, Drink ye, and conſequently to the actions of the Diſpenſer or Miniſter, Do this, that is, Bleſse ye, Break ye, which are antecedent to eating and drinking, and ſo all the external rites or actions of this Sacrament may come under the command, Do this, but we may not ſtretch the foreign to acceſſories and circumſtances appendant, not to the upper room, nor to the night after Supper, nor to the geſture of diſcubiture; for neither the injunction of the Paſſeover did in after times extend to all the circumſtances Uſed at the firſt Paſſeover in Aegypt, as the Hebrews note. The Papiſt ſeems to eſpie here ſome glimpſe of proof of the real Sacrifice of Chriſt in his Maſſe, from the word here Uſed Facite, which in Latine ſometimes ſignifies to ſacrifice or offer, and ſo it doth with an ablative caſe, which is not here, but the thred is too fine to hold, for if the word ſignifie ſo ſomewhere, it is not conſequent that therefore here; where the word foreign, Do this, plainly limits it to the actions of the Communicants, as I have ſaid. The Ordinances of God are moſt powerfull and proper, when they are themſelves pure, plain, naked of all humane diſguizes or embelliſhments, and therefore I beſpeak all Communicants, Miniſters and people, not to ſtudy how to add more glory or gracefulneſſe to this Ordinance, as they ſuppoſe, but to reſt in, and ſubmit to that which we finde in Chriſts example, or firſt original, and ſuffer your ſelves to be limited to do this, Do this in remembrance of me.
§. 5. Who are commanded to receive this Sacrament.
§. 5 Thirdly, This charge or command, Do this, is given to the Church, the Saints, Diſciples of Chriſt. It is true, the Apoſtles only were preſent at Chriſts firſt celebration, He ſate down with the twelve, ſaith the Text, and ſo the command was directed to them only; But how? Not to the Apoſtles as Apoſtles, but as Communicants, as repreſenting the Church Lucas Brug. in Evang.or people of Chriſt, or to the Apoſtles as Diſpenſers of it, and to them as receivers of it; For when Chriſt ſaid to the Apoſtles, Go and baptize, Do this in remembrance of me, he intended not that either Sacrament ſhould die with them, but from them continue in ſucceſſion of all times, therefore Do it in remembrance of me; they received it in anticipation of his death, but it was to endure as a memorial of it, as the Paſſeover-Lamb was firſt eaten in Aegypt, or ſlain before the deſtroying Angel paſſed through the Land, but intended for a memorial for ever in all generations, till Chriſt came, and therefore the Apoſtle here delivers it to the Church of Corinth, the very inſtitution of Chriſt is deliver'd to this Church, and the Uſe of it enjoyned to them, and all Churches till he come again, ver. 26.
When I ſay it is a command given to the Church, or to the Saints, I mean, that it is an inner commandment, an inner Ordinance, (as there was inner Ordinances in the Temple) for Church-members and Diſciples. The command of hearing the Word is given to all. The commandment of being baptized is to believers, as a Sacrament of their initiation or entrance, or admiſſion. To make a Diſciple, and to baptize one, ſeems to be put for the ſame, John 4. 1, 2. but this commandment, Do this, lies more inner yet, it appertains to them that are Diſciples already, or Church-members, which was ſignified in the ancient Chriſtian Churches by the baptiſtery or font at the Church-door, and by the Table intra Cancellos within the Chancel; ſo in the Paſſeover, a ſtranger was not admitted to the Paſleover, but when he was circumciſed, then let him come near and keep it, Exod. 12. 44, 48. Let him come near, ſaith the Text, for it is an inner Ordinance, and the Communicants muſt be ſuch at leaſt, whom the Apoſtle cals foreign, 1 Cor. 5. thoſe that are within, for here is that inner fellowſhip and communion of the Saints and members of Chriſt exerciſed and profeſſed. This then is that peculiar and moſt inward command and priviledge that appertains to an incloſed company, it is a paſture incloſed, not a common; Here Chriſt holds a more familiar preſence and fellowſhip with his peculiar people, to whom he vouchſafes an interiour admiſſion; Shall not we then keep this charge, and Obſerve this commandment, and enjoy this priviledge properly belonging to Diſciples? Oh it was this that made Chriſtians of old, when they were for their ſinne debarred and excluded, ſo cry, weep, lament their ſad caſe, that they ſhould depart as it were from the preſence of their Lord, and ſtand aloof in the court that had been admitted into the parlour or chamber of preſence; and for thoſe that were in the ſchool of catechiſm, called foreign, it was the utmoſt end to which they did aſpire, and for which they waited a long attendance to be admitted to this communion, and then properly called ſideles, this was the higheſt form.
§. 6. The End of the Inſtitution and Celebration of this Ordinance.
§. 6 Fourthly, The end wherefore this Ordinance was inſtituted, and is celebrated is for the remembrance of Chriſt, for it is foreign, a memorial of that great, that univerſal Sacrifice, Chriſt Jeſus; Memorials of dying friends, though plain are precious, and of great account with all men, being kept amongſt their foreign, or eſteemed tReaſures, and we may ſee how little Chriſt receded from the intent of the Paſſeover, which was a memorial of the Hebrews deliverance in Aegypt, Exod. 12. 14. and transferr'd to a greater memorial of himſelf, by whom is wrought a greater and more univerſal deliverance of the Church; The day of the Jews Sabbath was changed to the firſt day of the week for celebration of the reſurrection of Chriſt, and ſo the creating of a new Heaven, and a new earth that day; The paſchal rite of the Jew was changed from a memorial of their deliverance from Aegypt into a memorial of the death of Chriſt, by which we have a greater deliverance; Their Paſſeover was to be Obſerved by them in their generations for ever, Exod. 12. 24. and our Supper is an Ordinance to be Obſerved by the Goſpel-churches for ever; Their ever was Chriſts firſt coming, our ever is till he come again; It's twice repeated, For remembrance of me; both the eating of the bread and drinking of the wine are but one memorial, which is the foreign, or bufineſſe of this Ordinance; All Churches and Chriſtians could not ſee the Lord dying, for he died but once, and therefore they have a glaſſe or repreſentation of that death, which as it is alwayes in the efficacy and effect, ſo it might alwayes live and be freſh in our memory, the commemoration of that Sacrifice which never is, never needs to be repeated, is repeated often in this Sacrament, and this Sacrifice of Chriſt as it was promiſed and prefigured in old Types and Sacrifices, ſo was it performed ence in truth upon the croſſe, and is often celebrated in this Sacrament of memory.
This memorial is ſolemn, this remembrance muſt be practical.