benefits to ourselves in the most intimate manner, as meat and drink; thus the Savi ur himself explains it, John vi. 56. "He who eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him." Wonderful! Christ is in heaven, and believers are on earth, and yet "faith causeth him to dwell in their hearts. Eph. iii. 17, so that they are not only together" members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones," Epi. v. 30, but as members of one body, they also live and are governed by one soul and one Spirit for ever; whereby "that which is true in him, is also true in them," 1 John ii. 8. Yea, "being thus joined to him, they are one spirit with him," as Paul speaketh, 1 Cor. vi. 17 (c) To this we must also add, that to eat the flesh, and drink the blood of Christ, is to make use of him, and his salutary sufferings, as meat and drink, to stren then ourselves, when wè should faint, so that we "become strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might," Eph. vi. 10 Hear what Paul saith cone rning this, Heb. xiii. 9, 10. "It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein; we have an altar whereof they have no right to eat, which serve the tabernacle." (d) It denotes finally to enjoy a full pleasure, and to delight ourselves in Christ, and in the virtue of his sufferings, as the dainty food of the soul: he doth indeed sup with the soul, and the soul with him, according to his promise, Rev. iii. 20. He invites the soul "to eat that which is good, and to delight herself in fatness," Isaiah Iv. 2. He urges her to eat and drink to her full satisfaction, crying, Song v. 1. Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly. O beloved." That he may satisfy her himself with the goodness of his house, even of his holy temple, he puts the dainty morsel, the power of his goodness, into her mouth, saying, Psalm lxxxi. 10 "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it."

3. We may do this at all times, and upon every occasion, when our faith is only in lively exercise; but Christ chooseth that we should do it particularly in this sacrament, as it is also exceedingly fit to lead us up thereto by the union of the sign with the thing signified: this consists, (1) in the agreement and resemblance of the signs to the things signified by them, whereby they clearly illustrate to us the nature of the things signified by them; for as Christ took, and blessed the bread and cup, so the Father accepted, blessed and sanctified him to be a surety; as Christ broke the bread, and the wine was poured out into the cup, so the body and life of Christ was broken by the shedding of his blood; as he gave the broken bread to be eaten, and the wine to be drunk, so he gives his flesh to be eaten, and his blood to be drunk; as when we eat the bread and

drink the wine, we make them our own, unite them to ourselves, strengthen and refresh ourselves with them, so we make the sufferings of Christ our own, unite ourselves to them, strengthen and refresh ourselves with them This is not sufficient, but to this union belongs also, (2) the conjunction of the sign with the thing signified by the bodily use of the signs, and the spiritual use of the things signified through faith. While we eat the bread and drink the wine with our mouths, our souls do by and in this eating and drinking, raise themselves up through faith, to Christ, and eat his flesh, and drink his blood: therefore the deacon in ancient times cried to them, who partook of the Lord's supper, "Lift up your hearts on high;" and we still cry to them, "That we may now be fed with the true heavenly bread Christ Jesus, let us not cleave with our hearts unto the external bread and wine, but lift them up on high in heaven, where Christ Jesus is." We must eat not only in a corporal manner, and it is not enough to eat and drink only spiritually, but we must do both at the same time, that we may eat and drink sacramentally, and that "the cup may be the communion of the blood of Christ to us, and the bread the communion of the body of Christ," as Paul requireth, 1 Cor. x. 16.

It is true, we can also by our daily meals attain to heavenly enjoyments, and be led up by them to the spiritual eating of Christ'e flesh, and drinking of his blood: but our ordinary meals were not instituted for this purpose, and they have not the promise, that our souls shall be fed by them, as the sacramental feast hath, being founded upon the word of the Lord, by which it was (1) instituted. Christ not only celebrated the supper with his apostles, but he also ordered them and their successors to administer it, after his example, to baptized believers, until he came : therefore he said of the administra tion of the bread, and of the administration of the cup. "Do this in remembrance of me," 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25, and thus Paul also delivered this institution to the church, having received it of the Lord, as he saith in the text; in which he also prescribes to the stewards of the mysteries of God a method of administering the supper, after the example of Christ, to wit, taking the bread, breaking it, and giving it with the cup to the communicants to eat and to drink, accom panying these actions with thanksgivings and blessings, in order to illustrate in this manner the virtue of the sacrament, and apply the promises of the New Testament to the mind, to which the words of Paul and of Christ tend, 1 Cor. x. 16. xi. 24, 25. But it is enjoined not only upon the rulers of the church, but also upon every believer to do this, namely, to eat and drink in remembrance of Christ; there

fore the instructor saith, "that Christ hath commanded me and every believer to eat of this broken bread, and to drink of this cup in remembrance of him," in the seventy fifth question. Paul delivered the institution, which he had received, not only to the rulers of the church, but also to the common members, who were obliged to show the death of the Lord until he came, and to examine themselves, before they partook of the supper, as the apostle showeth, 1 Cor. xi. 26, 28. This word of the institution obliges believers not only to make use of the supper, but also to make use of the elements, as signs, and in remembrance of him, and by them to rise up to higher things, and to eat of the flesh and to drink of the blood of Christ truly; but since the word of the institution is not sufficient for this purpose, therefore the Lord hath added to it, (2) the word of the promise, by which these signs are constituted seals in order to assure believers, "first, that his body was offered and broken on the cross, and his blood shed for their sins, as certainly as the bread is broken for them, and the cup communicated to them; and further, he also promises that he will feed and nourish their souls to everlasting life, as assuredly as they receive from the hand of the minister, and taste with their mouths, the bread and cup of the Lord, as certain signs of the body and blood of Christ," as the instructor speaks in the seventy fifth question. That Christ promiseth this by these signs, the seventy seventh question shows from the text, and from 1 Cor. x. 16. The apostle relates in the text, that Christ saith, that "the broken bread was his body, which was broken for his people: and that the cup is the New Testament in his blood." How must we understand this? is the bread and wine changed into his body and blood? by no means, as we will show on the following Lord's day; but according to the nature of the sacraments the bread and the wine are the memorials, the pledges and seals, that his body was broken, and his blood shed for believers. And therefore the name and virtue of the thing signified is added to the signs; for these signs are to them instead of Christ's broken body and shed blood. To this it is further added from 1 Cor. x. 16, that "the bread and the cup are the communion of the body and blood of Christ." This must necessarily denote, that the bread and wine signify and seal the communion of the body and blood of Christ.

II. It will not be necessary now to show you, hearers, that the end, for which the Lord Christ gave his supper to his church was, that it might serve for a memorial of him, and might seal his love and kindness, since this hath been shown sufficiently in treating upon the word of the institution and of promise: but that we may not

dismiss our subject thus, we say that there are besides this two other special ends of this supper. The first is, that it may serve for a solemn evidence of the mutual exercise of communion and friendship between the Lord and the church. We know that sincere friends are wont to hold feasts, in order to exercise mutual fellowship and friendship. Christ, that he may allure sinners to open their hearts to him, promiseth his communion under the figure of a feast, of which he would partake with them, and they with him, Rev. iii. 10. And thus also the bread and wine of the supper are "the communion of the body and blood of Christ," as we have heard repeatedly from Paul. Those under the Old Testament, who ate of the thankofferings, were considered, as eating of one table with God, because they partook of the portions of the sacrifices from the altar, which was God's table. Much more then do God and his church exercise communion with each other in the supper, since this is the sign and seal of Christ's sacrifice of atonement, by which all the sins that separate the sinner from God, are taken away. We see that Paul himself teacheth us this, 1 Cor. x. 16-21. Not only do God and every believer in particular exercise communion with each other, but also believers in general with one another, who, as tablefellows, partake of one meat and drink, and do thus publicly testify their mutual love and friendship in the Lord. Paul teacheth us this also: for after he had said, 1 Cor. x. 16, that "the bread and the cup are the communion of the body and blood of Christ," he adds, vrs. 17. "For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread." He hath respect to this, when he saith also, 1 Cor. xii. 13. "We have all been made to drink into one Spirit." in order to strengthen the exercise of this communion still more, they were wont anciently to make also a lovefeast after the supper, and to give each other a kiss of love. See Jude vrs. 12. 1 Peter v. 14. The other end for which the Lord instituted the supper was, that we should "show forth his death," which we do, often as we eat this bread, and drink this cup," as the text speaks. For we do then show in a publick manner that we seek our whole salvation in his death; then his death, and the virtue of his death are shown forth repeatedly by thanksgivings during the administration; and after the administration we sing, in imitation of him, a hymn of praise, as an acknowledgment of his kindness and love; yea, we solemnly oblige ourselves by receiving the signs to show forth his death, and we fulfil our obligation, when we conduct ourselves in all things worthily of his death.

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III. We may not dismiss this subject yet, but must agreeably to

our method, speak also of certain circumstances, and particularly of the communicants. I inquire not at present who have, and who have not a right to the supper, for this we must do, when we treat on the eighty first question: but we attend to the posture of body, in receiving the supper. We do not look upon it to be best to receive it standing, as Israel received the passover, when they departed out of Egypt; it appears exceedingly unsuitable to receive it kneeling, because this savours of idolatry, as it resembles a worshipping of the signs, as the Papists do; but it is exceedingly proper to sit, not only because Christ and his apostles sat, but also because this sacrament is, as it were, a common feast, of which we usually partake sitting. (2) The place must be where the church meets, which used to come together for this purpose, as the apostles commonly administered the supper in those places. See Acts ii. 46. xx. 7. 1 Cor. xi. 20. It is indeed a sacrament for the church: and therefore the private masses of the masspriests, who sometimes partake of the supper alone, are to be condemned, (3) The time when, and how often cannot be determined: we only find that it is to be repeated; therefore the apostle saith in the text, "As often as ye eat this bread," &c. Baptism, which incorporates us into the church, is administer ed only once, but the supper, which nourisheth us, often. We read that "the disciples came together on the first day of the week to break bread," Acts xx. 7, but this was done also daily, Acts ii. 46. It is nevertheless nut to be thought, that the whole church came together every day for this purpose, but the apostles administered it probably so often, on account of the daily accession of new covenant people, or they administered it, on account of the perils of the times, now to one part of the church, and then to another; for they "broke bread from house to house," Acts ii. 46.

APPLICATION.

Behold, hearers, what manner of kindness the Lord shows to his church, when he bestows this supper on her. Is it not a great fa your, that he surrenders himself for vile sinners, to take away their sins once for all, that they may be forgiven? that he suffers his body to be broken, his blood to be shed? that he endures such griev ous sufferings and pains, inflicted on him by wicked men, by angels, yea, even by his Father? what an ardent love must have been in