ARTICLE XXVIII.

Of the Lord's Supper.

THE supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another ; but rather it is a sacrament of our redemption by Christ's death, insomuch that to such

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a The institution of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is recorded by the three first evangelists, and by the apostle St. Paul, whose words differ very little from those of his companion St. Luke: and the only difference between St. Matthew and St. Mark is, that the latter omits the words, "for the remission of sins." There is a very general agreement among them all. This sacrament being thus instituted, was adopted by all early Christians, with very few exceptions; and no modern sect rejects it except the quakers, and some mystics who make the whole of religion to consist of contemplative love.

THE LORD'S SUPPER A SIGN OF LOVE AMONG

CHRISTIANS.

b The Lord's Supper is, indeed, a sign of that mutual love and of that intimate fellowship, which is, or ought to be, among Christians: "For we being many, are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread." 1 Cor. x. 17. But it chiefly points out to us Christ offered as an expiatory sacrifice for us, and as such it really exhibits him to every one who worthily partakes of the sacred elements of bread and wine.

A SACRAMENT OF OUR REDEMPTION.

c Matt. xxvi. 26, 27, 28. "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink

as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same, the bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ; and likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ.a

Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of bread and wine) in the supper of the Lord cannot be proved by holy writ, but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions.

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ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins." Also, Luke, xxii. 19, 20.

BENEFIT OF WORTHILY RECEIVING THE LORD'S SUPPER.

d This is thus expressed in 1 Cor. x. 16. "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 ?"

In arguing against this doctrine, we may first observe, that it is contradicted by our senses, since we see and taste that the bread and wine after consecration and when we actually receive them, still continue to be bread and wine without any change or alteration whatever. And again, was it possible for Christ, when he instituted the Lord's Supper, to take his own body, and his own blood into his own hands, and deliver them to every one of his apostles? Or was it possible for the apostles to understand our Saviour's command to drink his blood literally, when they were forbidden, under the severest penalties, to taste blood by the law of Moses, of which not only they themselves, but Christ also, had been a strict observer? they expressed not the slightest surprise or reluctance when Christ delivered to them the bread and wine, which could not have been the case had they conceived them

The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the supper only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the supper is faith.

selves commanded to eat the real body and drink the real blood of their Lord and Master. The bread and wine must have been considered as symbolical, and indeed the whole transaction was evidently figurative in all its parts; it was instituted when the Jews, by killing the paschal lamb, commemorated their deliverance from Egyptian bondage by the hand of Moses, which was typical of the deliverance of all mankind from the bondage of sin by the death of Christ, the lamb slain, from the foundation of the world; and as the occasion was typical, so likewise were the words used by our Saviour, "This is my body which is broken, and this is my blood which is shed." But his body was not yet broken, nor was his blood yet shed; and therefore the breaking of the bread, and the pouring out of the wine, were then figurative of what was about to happen, as they are now figurative of what has actually happened. He also said, "This cup is the new testament in my blood," 1 Cor. xi. 25: which words could not be meant in a literal sense; the cup could not be changed into a covenant, though it might be a representation or a memorial of it. Our Saviour called the wine, after it was consecrated, "the fruit of the vine," (Matt. xxvi. 29.) which implied that no change had taken place in its real nature. Since then the words, "This is my body, and this is my blood," upon which the Papists pretend to support this doctrine, were manifestly used in a figurative sense, and must have been so understood by the apostles, to whom they were originally addressed, we may safely pronounce that transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of bread and wine) in the supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by holy writ. 1 Cor. xi. 26. “As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come."

THE BODY OF CHRIST RECEIVED SPIRITUALLY.

'John vi. 51.54. "I am the living bread, which came down

The sacrament of the Lord's supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or

worshipped.

of this bread, he shall live for give is my flesh, which I will Whoso eateth my flesh, and

from heaven; if any man eat ever and the bread that I will give for the life of the world. drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

FAITH THE MEANS OF DULY RECEIVING.

8 Since Christ saith (John vi. 53.) "Except ye eat the flesh," &c.; and since he also saith, (ver. 47.) that "he that believeth on him hath everlasting life;" it is manifest, that faith is the mean by which the body of Christ is eaten. John vi. 35. "And Jesus saith unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me, shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me, shall never thirst."

h Christ said, "Take, eat, drink;" but not, "Reserve, carry about," &c. This last part of the article refers also to the Papists, among whom it is the custom to reserve part of the consecrated bread, for the purpose of giving it to the sick, or other absent persons, at some future time: they also carry about the host, when consecrated, in solemn procession; elevate it with superstitious ceremony, and worship it in the same manner as they would worship Christ himself. None of these practices are warranted by Christ's ordinance, or any authority of Scripture; they are utterly inconsistent with the simplicity and spiritual nature of Christian sacraments; they were unknown in the primitive ages of the Gospel; and have evidently originated from the doctrine of transubstantiation.

ARTICLE XXIX.

Of the Wicked which do not eat the Body of Christ in the Use of the Lord's Supper.a

THE wicked, and such as be void of a lively faith, although they do carnally and visibly press with their teeth (as St. Augustine saith) the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ; yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ, but rather to their condemnation do eat and drink the sign or sacrament of so great a thing.b

This article is connected with the preceding, and follows from it: it was probably directed against the Papists, who contend that the mere receiving of the Lord's Supper procures remission of sins ex opere operato, as it were, mechanically, whatever may be the character and disposition of the communicant. But this is a manifest and dangerous error: for since faith is the mean whereby we eat the body of Christ in the Lord's Supper, it is impossible that the wicked, who have no true faith, should be partakers of the body of Christ. But whilst they receive the symbols, or signs of the Lord's body, they receive them to their own condemnation, and sin against Christ, by using such holy things in so unworthy a manner. THE WICKED NOT REAL PARTAKERS OF THE LORD'S SUpper.

b 1 John i. 6, 7. "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all sin."

1 Cor. xi. 29. "He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body."