[130] Matt. 26. 17. Mark 14. 22. Luke 22. 19.
Object.But if it be said, That Jesus Christ calls the Bread here his Body, and the Wine his Blood, therefore he seems to have had a special Relation to his Disciples partaking of his Flesh and Blood in the Use of this Thing;
Answ.I answer, His calling the Bread his Body, and the Wine his Blood, would yet infer no such Thing; though it is not denied but that Jesus Christ, in all Things he did, yea, and from the Use of all natural Things, took Occasion to raise the Minds of his Disciples and Hearers to Spirituals. The Woman of Samaria, John 4. 14.Hence from the Woman of Samaria her drawing Water, he took Occasion to tell her of that living Water, which whoso drinketh of shall never thirst; which indeed is all one with his Blood here spoken of; The Well, the Loaves, the Bread and Wine, Christ takes Occasion from, to shew the inward Feeling.yet it will not follow that that Well or Water had any necessary Relation to the living Water, or the living Water to it, &c. So Christ takes Occasion, from the Jews following him for the Loaves, to tell them of this spiritual Bread and Flesh of his Body, which was more necessary for them to feed upon; it will not therefore follow that their following him for the Loaves had any necessary Relation thereunto. So also Christ here, being at Supper with his Disciples, takes Occasion, from the Bread and Wine which was before them, to signify unto them, That as that Bread which he brake unto them, and that Wine which he blessed and gave unto them, did contribute to the Preserving and Nourishing of their Bodies, so was he also to give his Body and shed his Blood for the Salvation of their Souls. And therefore the very End proposed in this Ceremony to those that observe it is, to be a Memorial of his Death.
But if it be said, That the Apostle, 1 Cor. x. 16. calls the Bread which he brake the Communion of the Body of Christ, and the Cup the Communion of his Blood;
I do most willingly subscribe unto it; but do deny that this is understood of the outward Bread, neither can it be evinced, but the contrary is manifest from the Context: For the Apostle in this Chapter speaks not one Word of that Ceremony; for having in the Beginning of it shewn them how the Jews of old were made Partakers of the spiritual Food and Water, which was Christ, and how several of them, through Disobedience and Idolatry, fell from that good Condition, he exhorts them, by the Example of those Jews whom God destroyed of old, to flee those Evils; shewing them that they, to wit, the Corinthians, are likewise Partakers of the Body and Blood of Christ; of which Communion they would rob themselves if they did Evil, because they could not drink of the Cup of the Lord and the Cup of Devils, and partake of the Lord’s Table and the Table of Devils, Ver. 21. which shews that he understands not here the using of outward Bread and Wine; because those that do drink the Cup of Devils, and eat of the Table of Devils, yea, the wickedest of Men, may partake of the outward Bread and outward Wine. The wickedest may take the outward Bread and Wine.For there the Apostle calls the Bread one, Ver. 17. and he saith, We being many, are one Bread, and one Body; for we are all Partakers of that one Bread. Now if the Bread be one, it cannot be the outward, or the inward would be excluded; whereas it cannot be denied but that it is the Partaking of the inward Bread, and not the outward, that makes the Saints truly one Body and one Bread. And whereas they say, That the one Bread here comprehendeth both the outward and inward, by Virtue of the sacramental Union; The sacramental Union pretended, a Figment.that indeed is to affirm, but not to prove. As for that Figment of a sacramental Union, I find not such a Thing in all the Scripture, especially in the New Testament; nor is there any Thing can give a Rise for such a Thing in this Chapter, where the Apostle, as is above observed, is not at all treating of that Ceremony, but only, from the Excellency of that Privilege which the Corinthians had, as believing Christians, to partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ, dehorts them from Idolatry, and partaking of the Sacrifices offered to Idols, so as thereby to offend or hurt their weak Brethren.
Object.But that which they most of all cry out for in this Matter, and are always urging, is from 1 Cor. xi. where the Apostle is particularly treating of this Matter, and therefore, from some Words here, they have the greatest Appearance of Truth for their Assertion, as Ver. 27. where he calls the Cup the Cup of the Lord; and saith, That they who eat of it and drink it unworthily, are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord; and Ver. 29. Eat and drink their own Damnation; intimating hence, that this hath an immediate or necessary Relation to the Body, Flesh, and Blood of Christ.
Answ.Though this at first View may catch the Unwary Reader, yet being well considered, it doth no Ways evince the Matter in Controversy. As for the Corinthians being in the Use of this Ceremony, why they were so, and how that obliges not Christians now to the same, shall be spoken of hereafter: It suffices at this Time to consider that they were in the Use of it. Secondly, That in the Use of it they were guilty of and committed divers Abuses. Thirdly, That the Apostle here is giving them Directions how they may do it aright, in shewing them the right and proper Use and End of it.
These Things being premised, let it be observed, That the very express and particular Use of it, according to the Apostle, is to shew forth the Lord’s Death, &c. But to shew forth the Lord’s Death, and partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ, are different Things. He saith not, As often as ye eat this Bread, and drink this Cup, ye partake of the Body and Blood of Christ; but, ye shew forth the Lord’s Death. So I acknowledge, That this Ceremony, by those that practise it, hath an immediate Relation to the outward Body and Death of Christ upon the Cross, as being properly a Memorial of it; but it doth not thence follow that it hath any inward or immediate Relation to Believers communicating or partaking of the spiritual Body and Blood of Christ, or that spiritual Supper spoken of Rev. iii. 20. For though, in a general Way, as every religious Action in some Respect hath a common Relation to the spiritual Communion of the Saints with God, so we shall not deny but this hath a Relation as others. Now for his calling the Cup the Cup of the Lord, and saying, They are guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ, and eat their own [131]Damnation in not discerning the Lord’s Body, &c. I answer, That this infers no more necessary Relation than any other religious Act, and amounts to no more than this, That since the Corinthians were in the Use of this Ceremony, and so performed it as a religious Act, they ought to do it worthily, or else they should bring Condemnation upon themselves. Now this will not more infer the Thing so practised by them to be a necessary-religious Act obligatory upon others, than when the Apostle saith, Rom. xiv. 6. He that regardeth the Day, regardeth it unto the Lord, it can be thence inferred that the Days that some esteemed and observed did lay an Obligation upon others to do the same. But yet, as he that esteemed a Day, and placed Conscience in keeping it, was to regard it to the Lord, and so it was to him, in so far as he dedicated it unto the Lord, the Lord’s Day, he was to do it worthily; and if he did it unworthily, he would be guilty of the Lord’s Day, and so keep it to his own Damnation; so also such as observe this Ceremony of Bread and Wine, it is to them the Bread of the Lord, and the Cup of the Lord, because they use it as a religious Act; and forasmuch as their End therein is to shew forth the Lord’s Death, and remember his Body that was crucified for them, and his Blood that was shed for them, if, notwithstanding, they believe it is their Duty to do it, and make it a Matter of Conscience to forbear, if they do it without that due Preparation and Examination which every religious Act ought to be performed in, then, instead of truly remembering the Lord’s Death, and his Body and his Blood, they render themselves guilty of it, as being in one Spirit with those that crucified him, and shed his Blood, though pretending with Thanksgiving and Joy to remember it. The Pharisees guilty of the Blood of the Prophets.Thus the Scribes and Pharisees of old, though in Memory of the Prophets they garnished their Sepulchres, yet are said by Christ to be guilty of their Blood. And that no more can be hence inferred, appears from another Saying of the same Apostle, Rom. xiv. 23. He that doubteth is damned if he eat, &c. where he, speaking of those that judged it unlawful to eat Flesh, &c. saith, If they eat doubting, they eat their own Damnation. Now it is manifest from all this, that either the doing or forbearing of this was to another, that placed no Conscience in it, of no Moment. So I say, he that eateth that which in his Conscience he is persuaded it is not lawful for him to eat, doth eat his own Damnation; so he also that placeth Conscience in eating Bread and Wine as a religious Act, if he do it unprepared, and without that due respect wherein such Acts should be gone about, he eateth and drinketh his own Damnation, not discerning the Lord’s Body, i. e. not minding what he doth, to wit, with a special Respect to the Lord, and by Way of special Commemoration of the Death of Christ.
[131] Or Judgment, as the Greek Word properly signifies.