bread and wine as signs of his flesh and blood, that we may by then be led up and enabled to see the painfulness, and the efficacy of his suffering and love to procure the pardon of sins, and to satisfy the hungry soul, and that he hath instituted these signs. and obligated us to use them, that we may by means of them think on him, and what he hath done and suffered: "Do this," saith he, "in remembrance of me." Yea. we ought to contemplate and receive the signs as seals, to assure the soul, that he hath truly suffered his body to be broken, and his blood to be shed for her, in order to obtain the remission of her sins, and that he also will assuredly feed and nourish. her with his flesh and blood: and therefore we must rely upon his word of promise, and urge him by means of that word to satisfy and refresh us; for this belongs to the natne of the sacrament, and for this purpose the apostle delivers the institution of Christ to the churches in the text. 4. Doth he thus entertain you, do ye then also entertain him with the fruits of his sufferings and of his Spirit. A guest must sometimes be also a host; Jesus feasts you, that ye may also feast him. The soul so entertained by him and bedewed and fanned by his Spirit, must necessarily become fruitful and flourishing, and produce abundantly the fruits of humility, faith, love, hope, heavenly-mindedness, self-denial and thanksgivings; for when the Spirit, "the north wind awakes," to humble and cleanse her from her sins, and when the south wind comes," in order to warm the soul with the love of Jesus, and blows upon the garden of the soul, then the spices thereof flow out, for which the spouse wished, Song iv. 16. Therefore invite Jesus also to eat his fruits; the spouse said, "Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." Fetch and call him in affectionately; saying "Come in, thou blessed of the Lord, why standest thou without?" He would then come in, and say, as he did, Song v. 1. "I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk," Let him then see you engage in a solemn manner at the administration of his supper, yea, repeatedly, to serve him; "show him your" humble "countenance, let him hear the voice" of your earnest prayers: "for your voice is sweet to him, and your countenance is comely," as he saith, Song ii. 14. Give him "the kiss, the spiced wine, and the juice of the pomegranates," of your faith, hope, self-denial, heavenly-mindedness and thanksgivings, for which the spouse was so ready, Song viii. 2. While the king sitteth at his table, your spikenard ought to send forth the smell thereof," Song i. 12. 5. But will it suffice to exercise fellowship with Jesus in such a separate manner, as if we were alone with him in the world? By no means. The supper is a common feast, designed for the exercise of fellowship with all those believers, who are invited to it, as appears from what hath been said above. We must therefore, as one people, and as fellow-partakers of Jesus and his benefits, "eat together with joy and singleness of heart," as the best Christians acted, Acts ii. 46. This also is not sufficient, but we ought to exercise also a constant communion with the saints, to which we solemnly obligate ourselves, and of which we make a public declaration in the supper; but of this we have spoken more fully on the twenty first Lord's day. 6. "Show forth the death of Christ until he come," according to the admonition of the apostle in the text. O how precious should his death be to you, for it is your bread, your life, your joy, your salvation and satisfaction, and ye should therefore think on it, contemplate its virtue, glory in it, and speak of it to others continually; that ye may excite them thereby to seek an interest in his sufferings and death. Hear how Paul acted in this manner, Gal. vi. 14. “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." He gives you also the signs and seals of his death, that ye may think on it; he makes his death meat and drink for you, that he may "cause your lips to speak, even when ye sleep," Song vii. We might cry out concerning his death by his Spirit, according to the prophecy of Zechariah, chap. ix. 17. "How great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids." But show forth his death not only with your mouths and hearts, but also with your conversation, that men may see that ye are "become conformable to his death," as Paul endeavoured to be, Philip. iii. 10. This we would show, if by the virtue of his death we mortifed our sinful selves, so that we lived only in him and for him, as Paul testifieth of himself, Gal. ii. 20. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." And he saith of believers, Col. iii. 3, "Ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God." I add finally, complain not believers that ye are poor, for ye are rich in Christ, ye are enrolled as his heirs in his testament, and it is sealed: Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the pour of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom?" Thus speaks James, chap. ii. 5. "Ye are children, and therefore heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ," saith Paul, Rom, viii. 17. Is not this enough? Do ye not see many evidences of it yet, through all your tribulations? It will soon appear, when the full enjoyment of your inheritance shall be granted to you in that great supper of the Lord; for it is written, "Blesed are they," and they shall be blessed, "who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb,” Rev. kix. 9. Amen. TRANSUBSTANTIATION CONFUTED. XXIX. LORD'S DAY. 1 Cor. x. 15, 16. I speak as to wise men, judge ye, what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? the bread, which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? Q. 78. Do then the bread and wine become the very body and blood of Christ? A. Not at all; but as the water in baptism is not changed into the blood of Christ, neither is the washing away of sin itself, being only the sign and confirmation thereof appointed of God; so the bread in the Lord's supper is not changed into the very body of Christ; though agreeable to the nature and properties of sacraments it is called the body of Christ Jesus. Q. 79. Why then doth Christ call the bread his body, and the cup his blood, or the new covenant in his blood; and Paul "the communion of the body and blood of Christ ?" A. Christ speaks thus not without great reason, not only thereby to teach us, that as bread and wine support this temporal life, so his crucified body and shed blood are the true meat and drink, whereby our souls are fed to eternal life; but more especially by these visible signs and pledges to assure us, that we are as really partakers of his VOL. II. N true body and blood (by the operation of the Holy Ghost) as we receive by the mouths of our bodies these holy signs in remembrance of him; and that all his sufferings and obedience are as certainly ours, as if we had in our own persons suffered and made satisfaction for our sins to God. THE natural nian receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned;" thus speaks Paul, 1 Cor. ii. 14. The natural man is one who hath no more than what he hath received by his natural birth; "being born of the flesh, he is flesh," John iii. 6, and being thus without the Spirit, not having the Spirit," Jude, vrs 19. And therefore he cannot know the spiritual things of God, they are foolishness to him, for his understanding is not disposed so, as to be able to know them, and it is incapable of such knowl◄ edge. The Spirit must irradiate his understanding with the light of spiritual things, that he may behold them in their proper light, if he shall receive and discern them: "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, must shine in his heart, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," 2. Cor. iv. 6. For, according to the words of the apostle, Eph. iv. 18, "his understanding is darkened, he is alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in him, and through the hardness of his heart." How then should he apprehend divine and spiritual things, and not reject them as foolishness Natural men have often manifested this, when they have exalted their "imaginations, their thoughts," and imaginary " heights against the knowledge of God." If natural men could understand divine things, Hymeneus and Philetus would never have erred concerning the truth; Jannes and Jam bres would not have withstood Moses; the Libertines and others would not have disputed with Stephen; the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers would not have railed at Paul, as a babler, and Felix would not have said that he was mad. Whence is it, that so many withstand the truth, and how doth it happen that so many monstrous and foolish opinions are entertained in the Christian world? do they not proceed from "men of corrupt minds?" Paul tells us that they do, 2 Tim. iii. 8. It is still more evident, that the natural man doth not receive nor discern divine things, when those spiritual things are proposed to hem under corporeal similitudes and emblems, These ought to illustrate those things to him, but through the corfuption of his understanding, they become still more obscure by |