. INQUIRY, ON GROUNDS OF SCRIPTURE AND REASON, INTO THE USE AND IMPORT EUCHARISTIC SYMBOLS. DUBLIN : FRINTED BY RICHARD BEERK &. CO. 28, UTTUE STRAND-STHEET. 1824 THE subject treated of in the following pages has long impressed itself on the mind of the Writer ; but it did not occur to him to examine it at large, until the precise question ivas proposed by a friend, to whose satisfac- tion he wished to contribute, as far as in his power. When the result of his endeavours was read by his friend, he intimated a wish to have it in a form, better fitted than manu- script, for close consideration. Another friend, into whose hands it was afterwards put, expressed the same desire. To the con- current suggestion of those two worthy and intelligent persons, the Writer has thought it his duty to accede ; in the humble hope, also, that others of his friends may deem his at- tempted elucidation of so interesting a topic not wholly unworthy of their attention. 2007342 ERRATA. Page. Rnt. 1,5 last, for " that of grace," read " of that grace." 21 19 omit " be " after " will." 28 5 for " so," read " such." 45 19 for " its," read " the," 53 26 insert " had " after " what." 87 last, for ' supporting," read supplying." AN INQUIRY, AS the great body of Christians who, three centuries ago, rejected the Romish yoke, differ generally from the Church of Rome on the subject of the Eucharist, so do they also among themselves, maintain cer- tain specific differences respecting the design and import of that sacred institution. The principal point of controversy appears to turn upon this question : Is the blessing, to be expected in the Eucharist by qualified receivers, a mere communication of the ordina- ry grace of God, obtained in the same purely inward and mental manner, as in other exer- cises of devotion ; or, is there in this holy sacrament a peculiar effluence of supernatu- ral grace, mysteriously united icith the con- B 2 secrated symbols, so as to make them the vehi- cles of heavenly benediction to the capable communicant ? \ -0 Jioif run r rpo;.' . o Jim -^nrr- The maintainers of the former of these views have doubtless explained themselves, with much verbal difference, and in the ear- lier times of the Reformation, with not a little obscurity. But their great point of agreement seems to have consisted in their se- parating the sacramental blessing, in whatever manner they denned it, from the sacramental symbols, and regarding the spiritual part of the transaction as exclusively within the mind of the receiver. Of this way of thinking were, most bably, all the Helvetic Reformers. Calvin, though accustomed to use strong language respecting the Eucharist, must still be under- stood to have connected the grace of the Eucharist with the commemorating act, but, in no manner with the symbols. And Bucer, who was invited into England in the reign of Edward VI. to give counsel in farther changes which were meditated in the lately established English Liturgy, was clearly and zealously of the same opinion. Our justly celebrated Ridley, in his rejec- tion of Roman Catholic excesses, had been led to take a different view, and no less clearly to connect the grace communicated in the Eucharist with the received symbols. His influence, there is reason to believe, had predominated in the first reformation of the Liturgy ; inasmuch as in every part of the Communion Service, the idea of a blessing, strictly through the consecrated elements, is impressively conveyed. But by the advice of Bucer, the first service, after a year or two, was re-modified ; and the idea of com- bination of grace with the symbols, had not, in the former service, been more carefully intimated, than it appeared afterward to be studiously excluded. l In this alteration Ridley obviously could 1 And yet, after all, the exclusion was not complete. Probably Cranmer did not wish to carry his changes as far as would have been necessary for this purpose. The original doctrine, therefore still remained, by the most obvious implication, in the commencing sentences of the exhortation, " Dearly beloved in the Lord," &c. in which Ridley's view of the Holy Eucharist appears to be con- veyed, if not as expressly, yet as substantially, and with as much simple sublimity, as it could be in human language. B2 not concur, though conscientious prudence restrained him from actual opposition. Most probably it was with particular reference to this very matter that he acknowledged, in a letter to a former chaplain, written during his confinement, that, in the recent times, it " had " chanced him to mislike some things ; for" he adds, " sudden changes without substantial " and necessary cause, and the heady setting " forth of extremities I did never love." 2 Besides, in the very last period of his life, he declared his own belief, that in the Eucha- rist " what was before common bread, is now " made a lively representation of Christ's " body; and that it is not only a figure, " but effectuously representeth his body " such a sacramental mutation," he says, " I " grant to be in the bread and wine ; which, " truly, is no small change; but such a " change, as no mortal man can make, but " only the omnipotency of Christ's word." 3 But it is remarkable, that notwithstanding the change in the Communion Service, those 2 Ridley's Life of Ridley, p. 578. 3 Wordsworth, vol. iii. p. 237.~Ritt o4.t m *l->tVy: Mfij Vi -.'jU'.rt " I in him. As the living Father hath sent " me, and I live by the Father, so he that " eateth me, even he shall live by me ;" these words, I say, could not but associate themselves in the minds of the apostles, with the strictly corresponding language used at the institution of the eucharistic Sacra- ment ; and it would be not merely natural, but inevitable for them to explain our Lord's words on the one occasion, by what he had so emphatically spoken on the other. In that memorable discourse, he had clear- ly intimated, that his death was to make provision for that divine nutriment, which he was to furnish from himself. " The bread " from heaven," said he, " is my flesh which " I will give for the life of the world." When, therefore, just before his entrance on the great concluding scene, he took bread, and having blessed and broken it, gave it to his disciples, saying, " Take, eat, this is my " body which is given for you," it was impossible not to connect these words, and this act, with the corresponding expressions uttered at Capernaum. When they saw that last Paschal supper, (in itself a type of the Redeemer) formed into a new ordinance, in 30 which the acts of eating and drinking were to have an import, and the aliments fed upon to bear a denomination, identical with the terms of that former announcement ; what could be their conclusion, but that not only the ordinance generally, but the specific acts and aliments so distinguished, were to be instrumentally conducive to that divine be- nefit with which they were, thus intimately conjoined ? I must venture to add, that in proportion to their high apprehensions of the blessings to be conferred, the more disposed would they be to recognize the entire fitness of such means of conveyance. It has been seen, that their minds were habituated to the transmis- sion of such influences as were strictly super- natural and heavenly, through sensible and material vehicles. But what influence could they have conceived, more supernatural or more heavenly, than such a communication of himself, as their divine Master had war- ranted them to expect ? The terms in which that assurance had been given, were so defi- nite, so distinctive, and so reiterated, as to re- quire an adequate construction, and to convey a substantive idea ; and our Lord, after using 31 them, was pleased, emphatically to attest their high and holy import, by declaring, " the words which I speak unto you, they ' are spirit and they are life." The promise, therefore, of our Lord's flesh and blood to be to them meat indeed, and drink indeed, to be the spiritual and eternal life of their souls, by virtue of which he should dwell in them and they in him, and they should live by him as he lived by the Father this promise, I say, could not, consistently with the terms in which it is expressed, be understood to mean any thing less than an inconceivable, but most real emanation from his divine person, in which there would be the same exercise of his divine power, for the animation and sustenance of the soul, as when divine virtue had gone out of him, for the healing of the body. I conceive, they could have given no other in- terpretation than this to our Lord's prospec- tive assurances. In the appointment, there- fore of visible symbols, to be instrumentally effective in conveying the promised blessing, they would see nothing but that, which, ac- cording to all their experience, was suitable and proportionate. They would, moreover 32 perceive, that a two-fold communication, the flesh and blood of the Redeemer, was provid- ed for by a two- fold medium ; the lowliness of which, only the more evinced the power of the invisible agent; while, in such an operation, it would not appear unfitting, that bread, the prime nourishment of human life, and wine, the prime cherisher of human weakness, should be the material instru- ments of this heavenly purpose. I do not mean to say, that such thoughts were likely to Have occurred at that hour, when the sacrament of the Eucharist was first instituted. At no time were the Apos- tles less competent to have discovered the weighty import of our Lord's expressions. Probably, in the depth of that sorrow which had filled their hearts, they did not recollect the particular discourse, by which alone his language could have been fully explained. But afterwards, when the promise was ful- filled, that all things which they had heard should be brought to their remembrance, the connexion between the discourse at Caper- naum and the eucharistic institution, would impress itself on them in all its clearness and importance ; and may it not be presumed, 33 that the more they considered the subject, the greater reason would they perceive, for acknowledging the divine goodness and wisdom, not only in the transcendent na- ture of the blessing thus entailed upon the church, but also in the choice of such an appropriate provision for its stated and per- petual communication. It would be obvious to them, that if the sacrament of the Eucharist had been ordain- ed, merely as a commemorative celebration that is, if our Redeemer had said nothing more than " Do this in remembrance of me," its institution would rather have implied the injunction of a permanent duty, than the pledge and means of a permanent blessing. In that view, it might have afforded an occa- sion for the more solemn expression of Chris- tian gratitude, or the renewal of Christian obligation ; but it could not be thought to give the prospect of any special spiritual benefit, beyond what might be found in an equally ardent exercise of devotion, on any other religious occasion. The ordinary grace of God might have been relied upon, for co-operation, in such an effort of the mind to think more closely on the love of D 34 their dying Lord, or to feel it more deeply ; but, as it should seem, only as equal efforts would he assisted in the common acts of pious supplication. Yet still on this ground, it might not have been easy to account satis- factorily, for introducing into a simple com- memoration any outward or visible part. The merely natural effect of the eucharistic signs on the external senses, would hardly explain their adoption in a religion, in which rites and ceremonies were so professedly to give place to spiritual worship ; and it would be still more difficult to conceive, how the eating and drinking of those visible symbols should be an essential co-ingredient, in the exercise of a purely commemorative devo- tion. But in ascribing to the eucharistic sym- bols the instrumental effectiveness with which the significant word of their divine Master had appeared to invest them, the Apostles would see in that institution a provision for their spiritual consolation and benefit, in which all their pre-existing habits of mind were consulted, and all their mental and moral exigencies richly supplied. The nature of the eucharistic Sacrament was 35 clearly such, as to have in it no other virtue than what flowed into it from him by whom it was instituted. The eating of bread and drinking of wine had, in itself, neither con- duciveness nor any obvious congeniality, to a spiritual purpose. It could therefore only have that precise import, which our Redeem- er was pleased to give to it ; namely, that it was a visible method, appointed by him, of spiritually eating his flesh and spiritually drinking his blood ; and that it must accord- ingly derive its spiritual efficacy from the concomitancy of his omnipotent power. The Eucharist, when thus regarded, would be to the disciples of our Lord, such a pledge as was given them in no other instance, of their living by his life, being strong through his strength, and growing in grace by a vital effluence from himself. The means otherwise afforded them, of building themselves up in their most holy faith, they would, doubtless, value and im- prove. But in this superadded provision, there was a source of satisfaction peculiar to itself. In all other exercises of religion, the mind was to contribute its own exertions; and though subordinately, yet directly, to D 2 36 minister to its own benefit or comfort. In the eucharistic institution alone, human co- operation could have no share in the effect ; because the medium employed could com- municate influence or blessing, only through the direct operation of Almighty Power. It was not to be questioned, that in every in- stance in which spiritual benefit was confer- red, the goodness of God was to be regarded as its supreme source. But where the ra- tional powers of man intervened, whether those of the recipient himself, or of any human helper of his faith, the sensible ad- vantage would seem, more or less to resem- ble the blessings of nature and providence, which are apparently the result of general laws. It might therefore have appeared as reasonable, as it was gracious, that for the per- petual comfort and assurance of the Church, in the highest and noblest instance in which divine blessing was to be conferred, the su- preme source of that blessing should condes- cend to be its direct and immediate dis- penser ; and should prove himself to be such, by employing means of communication, which, venerable and impressive as they should become, by being made, not merely the instruments of his power, but the effec- 37 tual representatives of himself, 5 would be not only weak but fruitless, in any other hands than his own. If we may believe these views to have presented themselves to the minds of the Apostles, we must also suppose them to have been heightened in their effect, as far as that was possible, by the pre-existing ha- bits already adverted to. It must be remembered, that the Jewish religion was not wholly typical ; on the con- trary, it contained much, which was natu- rally and intrinsically attractive and endear- ing. Above all, the special presence of God in his holy temple, held a place in the mind of every pious Jew, for which nothing but a full equivalent could compensate. We are to observe, that there was nothing in that presence, except the limitation to one exclusive spot, which savoured of an im- perfect dispensation. It was not to the in- fancy of human nature, but to human nature itself, that this instance of divine condescen- 5 He that eateth me, even he shall live by me." John, vi. 57- 38 sion was engaging. That presence had, in- deed been for ages, as much a matter of faith, as the glory of God in heaven ; but it was not the less apprehended, as an invaluable and delightful reality. This it was, which made the Mount Sion attractive to every devout Israelite ; which induced the inspir- ed Anna not to depart from the temple; which detained the child Jesus, when Mary and Joseph had departed from Jerusalem ; - 5 and which afterward roused his holy zeal to an intensity, never manifested on any other occasion. Had nothing parallel to that grace and glory of the Old dispensation been retained in the New, a want might have been felt, which all its other benefits would not have supplied ; but, in the Eucharist, as seen in the light of our blessed Saviour's w r ords, there was the imperishable pledge of an equally glorious, but far more gracious pre- sence ; a presence, not confined to a single r> It would seem that our Lord's answer to his Mother and Joseph, St. Luke, ii. 49. might most fitly be render- ed, " Why is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I " must be in the house of my Father ?" 39 spot, but to be realized, in our Lord's ap- pointed way, wherever his word should be received, and his church established ; a pre- sence, not merely to be approached with confidence of being heard, and mercifully re- garded, but with which, an incomparably nearer communion was to be vouchsafed ; and from which, an inexpressibly more effica- cious influence was to be communicated, than, in the former dispensation, could even have been conceived. All, therefore, and far more than all, that the Ark of the Covenant had been to pious Israelites, the Sacrament of the Eucharist, must, on the grounds which have been stated, have appeared to the Apostles and their initiated disciples. Our Lord's assur- ance to them, in general terms had been, " Lo, " I am with you always, even to the end of " the world ;" and a still more consolatory promise had been given " Where two or " three are gathered together in my name, " there am I in the midst of them." The eucharistic institution, understood as has been stated, would necessarily imply the most substantial fulfilment of those compre- hensive declarations. However otherwise 40 the great head of the Church should be pre- sent witli his members, he must then be specially present with them, when he gave them spiritual life and nourishment from himself. In the very idea of such a communica- tion, there was something so sublime and heavenly, that the more it was dwelt upon, the more it would fill the mind with all the impressive results to which it led. And it might not be too much to say, that the pil- lar of cloud, or of fire, could not have been to the senses of the Israelites a surer token of the special presence of Jehovah, than the consecrated symbols in the Eucharist were, to the minds of the Apostles and their fel- low-christians, of an equally special, and much more endearing and effective presence of the incarnate Word, In this ordinance they would see a mercy-seat as sensibly esta- blished, as in the former dispensation ; but with far nobler hopes, and better promises : and in the light of our Lord's infallible words, it would place before their mental eye a Shechinah, as real as that which had visibly possessed itself of the holy of holies, at the dedication of Solomon's temple. In witness- 41 ing our Lord's institution of the Eucharist, and his divinely significant consecration of its symbols, they had seen and heard what was far more than equivalent to that earlier manifestation. They would rely on the faithfulness of their omnipotent Lord, at all times, and in every instance, to verify his own words, by making the eucharistic ele- ments to be effectually, what he had named them ; and in this assurance, they would contemplate him, as not less graciously and influentially present in those holy mysteries, than he had been personally present in those interviews, with which he had favoured them before ascending to his throne of glory in the Heavens. I have thus ventured to suppose, as mat- ter of moral certainty, the estimate of the Eucharist which would be made by the Apostles, under the mere guidance of our Saviour's expressions. But I am ready to acknowledge, that the force of this argu- ment may not be felt to imply actual demon- stration ; and that its success will only be in proportion to a certain mental pre-disposi- H tion. Many will, doubtless, still ask, if these things are so, why has not this view of the Eucharist been expressly given in holy Scripture? If such had been the judg- ment of the Apostles, might we not expect to find an explicit declaration of it, in some part of the Apostolic writings ? This question would be reasonable; but the answer is easy, since, through the wis- dom of heaven, St. Paul has been led by certain irregularities among the Corinthians, so to speak of the Eucharist, in his first epistle to that church, as to place the Apos- tolic doctrine beyond possibility of doubt. It appears that many members of the Co- rinthian church had defiled their Christian purity, by participating in feasts celebrated in heathen temples, and consisting of viands, which had been offered at the shrine of idols. Of this practice, as might well be suppos- ed, St. Paul speaks with horror ; but it is very remarkable, that in his expostulation, he dwells, neither on the sanctity inherent in the Christian character generally, nor on the spiritual privileges and blessings so often the subject of his discourse: instead of this, he urges his charge on the single ground, that the mysterious sanctity of the Lord's Supper was grossly and dangerously profaned, by any intermixture, in its recipi- ents, with the table and the cup of demons. The Apostle commences, by addiicing the case of the ancient Israelites, whose special relation to God, he so describes, as to evince the close analogy between their peculiar cir- cumstances and those of Christians general- ly, in point of characteristic distinctions, and of the Corinthian Christians particularly, in point of crime and punishment. The analogy in characteristic distinctions, he thus intimates, " They (the Israelites) " were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud " and in the sea ; and they did all eat the " same spiritual meat, and did all drink the " same spiritual drink ; for they drank of " that spiritual rock which followed them ; " and that rock was Christ." It need not be remarked, that in this exor- dium, St. Paul, as if with all the skill of a master in discourse, lays a ground for making the holy Eucharist his theme. But does he 44 not do more than this ? Does he not, even already, intimate the specific view, which he took of that ordinance, and in which he meant to represent it? The Israelites, he would have it understood, resembled Chris- tians, in having been sustained with spiri- tual meat and spiritual drink ; that is, evi- dently, Avith meat and drink, which had in their nature and substance, something super- natural and divine. But what, by conse- quence, does this pointed parallel imply re- specting its Christian counter-part ? It was, surely, far from St. Paul's thoughts, to give to the type the greater, and to the anti-type the lesser glory. It follows, therefore, that in so designating the sustenance of the Israel- ites, he intended to convey, even before- hand, a like idea of the eucharistic sym- bols ; these, he implies, are also spiritual meat and spiritual drink; that is, have in them a transcendent quality, similarly su- pernatural, and divine. After an enumeration of instances, in which the Israelites had signally transgres- sed, and were as signally corrected, the Apostle enters directly upon his subject, and in the first place appeals to the settled be- 45 lief of Christians, universally, respecting the nature of the Lord's Supper, " The cup of " blessing," says he, " 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 ?" . .: This interrogatory form deserves particu- lar notice ; it implies, that there was already such unanimous consent in the Christian church, respecting the nature and import of the Lord's Supper, as only to make it neces- sary to take for granted the matter of that belief. Let, then, the terms of the Apos- tle, thus deliberately and decisively applied, be attentively weighed; he does not give a general estimate of the Eucharist, as being the most important and appropriate act of Christian devotion; but he distinctly and emphatically specifies Hhe. mysterious charac- ter and efficacy, which the material elements of bread and wine acquired, by their conse- cration to the holy purpose for which they were appointed. In a word, according to the Apostle, and that universal belief to which he appeals, the commemorative celebration of the Eu- 46 charist, as a devotional act, is not that which makes it peculiarly beneficial and venerable ; but it is so, because in this ordinance, the aliments which Christ has appointed, be- come, through his designation and bless- incr the direct vehicles of his own divine o' influences to capable receivers. Nothing short of this notion would accord with the ascribing of spiritual virtue, specially to each visible sign ; and, what is still more, to each, not as becoming efficacious through the act of receiving, but as endued with efficacy through the act of consecration. For, we must observe, it is not " the cup " of blessing which we drink" nor " the " bread which we eat" that are declared to be the communion of the blood, and the communion of the body of Christ ; but it is said, " the cup of blessing which we bless ; " and the bread which we break ;" clearly in- dicating, that the eucharistic elements, when once solemnly sanctified according to our Lord's appointment, are to be regarded as being, in an inexplicable, but deeply awful manner, the receptacles of that heavenly virtue, which his divine power qualifies them to convey. On such a subject it would 47 be presumptuous to indulge hi any hypothe- tic speculation. But it would be still more blameable, and at least as prejudicial, not to allow to the Apostle's words all their due import ; especially as those very words con- tain the only direct definition of the Eucha- rist in the sacred writings. If the language of St. Paul could need elucidation, it might be strictly compared with the several expressions of our Lord, already adverted to ; but these must, of them- selves, recur ; and, at once, fix the unequivo- cal, however mysterious import of the com- munion of his body, and the communion of his blood. In this accumulated light, it must be felt impossible, that the thing signified should be disproportioned to the force of the expression ; and the conclusion, on the whole, must inevitably appear to be, that as our Lord had taught his followers to ex- pect from his divine person, such influences of his body and of his blood, as should be not figurative or illusive, but substantive and vital, and as in his institution of the Eucharist, he constituted the consecrated bread and wine, the virtual representatives of his body and blood, and by consequence 48 the effective vehicles of their influences to all capable partakers, so, what our Lord had thus declared, and thus established, is com- prehensively contained, and as if solemnly countersigned, in the clear and authoritative recognition of his Apostle. But even this emphatical passage is only a part of what St. Paul has delivered on the subject of the Eucharist. As, in the wis- dom of God, it was on this occasion alone, to be directly the theme of discourse, so, accordingly, the Apostle seems anxious to leave nothing unsaid, that could illustrate the doctrine, or enforce the consequent duty. Having, therefore, by his interrogatory ap- peal, called attention to the profound and awful nature of the Eucharist, he proceeds to argue from the case of Jewish sacrifices, with what cautious veneration this Christian mystery ought to be treated. " Consider *' Israel, after the flesh," he says, and asks " were not they who ate of the sacrifices *' partakers of the altar?" The argument is brief, but the inference cannot be mistaken. The Apostle clearly implies, that the same kind of sanctity, which had been ascribed to things offered on God's altar, under tiie old 49 law, was now to be ascribed to the eucha- ristic symbols. That sanctity, he intimates to have been given to the Jewish sacrifices by the altar on which they had been offered; according to our Lord's declaration, that it is " the altar which sanctifieth the gift;" and such he conceives to have been the communication of sanctity to the matter of the sacrifice, that the partakers in the one, participated also in the other. Such then, he would have it understood was, strictly in its kind, however more spiritual in its purpose, the sanctity derived by the eucha- ristic symbols from their high designation, and through them conveyed unto the per- sons of those who partook of them. That this was, distinctly, St. Paul's mean- ing, is confirmed by the design which he had in view ; namely, that those Corinthians, who had frequented idolatrous banquets, might be awakened to a full sense, not only of the gross profaneness, but also of the personal danger of then* conduct. On this particular point he proceeds to enlarge. Even already however, he has said enough to shew, that in his judgement, a divinely effective vir- tue became, through consecration, myste- E 50 riously united with the Eucharistic symbols, and was, through them, communicated bene- ficially to capable receivers ; and, as it should seem, in some such awful manner to every receiver* as to make his contact with any unholy thing, a matter not less of peril to himself, than of insult to the- majesty of heaven. In continuing his expostulation, the Apos- tle retains the idea of sacrificial communica- tive influence, and applies it to that crimi- nal intermixture which it was his immedi- ate object to reprobate. " The things," says he, " which the Gentiles sacrifice, " they sacrifice to demons, and not to God, " and I would not that ye should be commu- " nicants of demons." 7 Such, therefore, is his deduction, merely from the contrariety between sacrifices to God and sacrifices to demons. But the particular subject of which the Apostle was treating, called for yet stronger denouncement; he, therefore, im- 7 As before in the 18th verse, the Israelites, by eat- ing the sacrifice, were xouuw TOO Stwaalufjow, so in the 20th verse, the Corinthians, by eating idol sacrifices, are 51 mediately adds " Ye canot drink the cup of * the Lord and the cup of demons ; ye can- *' not partake of the table of the Lord and " the table of demons. Do we provoke the " Lord to jealousy ! are we stronger than he !" The strength of these expressions is re- markable. It seems as if they were intend- ed to convey all possible awfulness of admo- nition ; " ye cannot " do it, says the Apostle, as if he meant to pronounce, that there was some provision in the invisible world, as cer- tain in its operation as the laws of nature, in readiness to avenge such profanation ; to which mysterious vengeance they would in- fallibly expose themselves, should they ne- glect his warning. But on what does he rest the certainty of that result ? Not on the mo- ral contrariety of the two acts, however real or extreme, but strictly, on the opposite import and effectiveness of the two cups, and of the two tables, as being respectively the mediums of communion with the Lord, and of communion with demons. It is, in fact, the profane and unnatural mixture of things the most sacred, with things the most unhallowed, in this visible E 2 52 world, and that in their own persons, with which St. Paul charges the Corinthians; and as if he himself was struck with inexpres- sible horror at the outrage to Omnipotence itself, which such enormity involved, he gives his feelings vent in an appeal to all that was impressible in human nature, " Do " we provoke the Lord to jealousy ! are we " stronger than he !" -*Ol- m ZIiVs Uu 'ihJttfT/VJ^.irf.lit c ^ j til /:'>if$&f It was n6t possible to add greater weight tb 'all that he had spoken, than by this inter- rogatory. The Jewish high priest could not have given a more terrible warning to some daring intruder into the Holy of Holies. The words are awful ; they are as pregnant in meaning, as they are resistless in force. They attest the feeling with which St. Paul had spoken, and guard his words against efVeti the possibility of a figurative construc- tion. And fiere, for the time he drops the subject, perhaps that an interval for reflec- tion on all he had just said, and especially on his last most awful expostulation, might the better prepare the minds of those to whom he "wrote, for what was yet to come. / I'-JC'i.* .'t Y< ' - He had, in fabt, another enormity to com- plain of, and for that purpose he reserves what is, most strictly, the sequel of his for- mer discourse. He had ended, in the first instance with the judgements of God, as matter of awful apprehension. From this point he proceeds, when in the next chapter he brings his second charge against them, re- specting the Eucharist ; namely, that of treat- ing it with disrespect in the very act of cele- bration. In his animadversions on this fla- grant violation of Christian duty, he appeals to then* own experience for frequent verifi- cations, even already, of that tremendous menace, by which he had, as it were, rivet- ted and sealed his preceding remonstrance. That he may the more surely gain his pur- pose, he first lays the strongest possible ground, by reciting the record of the Eucha- ristic institution, not only as received by him from the report of his brethren, but as directly made known by divine revelation to himself. After repeating those quick and powerful words, which had given imperish- able dignity and virtue to that bread and that cup, as implying the shewing fortlyof the Redeemer's death, as well as (whatpeeu before dwelt upon) the communion of his 54 body and blood ; he thus proceeds in his ad- monition " Wherefore, whosoever shall eat " this bread, or drink this cup of the Lord, " unworthily, shall be guilty of the body " and blood of the Lord. But let a man " examine himself, and so let him eat of " that bread and drink of that cup. For he " that eateth and drinketh unworthily, " eateth and drinketh judgement to himself, " not discerning the Lord's body." I have quoted this passage at large, that I may call attention to the closeness with which the Apostle adheres to the idea of the distinct and specifical elements, rather than to the general act of commemoration or com- munion. There is a kind of physiognomy in language, by which we seem to see, as well as understand, the mind of the w r riter. Thus, in the passage now transcribed, we not only receive the instruction intended to be conveyed, but in the precision of the terms, the strictness with which they are adhered to, and the energy with which they are applied, we have, as it were, the very stamp and signature of St. Paul's own mind and heart. Not only from first to last, does he keep the eucharistic elements in his view, 55 but he says nothing which does not expressly refer to them. Tims, as the crime is eating or drinking unworthily, so the punishment is the eating and drinking of judgement, (that is, of bodily infliction,) as if the very receiv- ing of those holy things into the human person, when defiled by polluting contact, or desecrated by actual irreverence, produc- ed of itself (like the Ark of the Covenant when profanely treated) the calamity, or destruction of the offender. Again, the de- secrating irreverence is stated to arise from not discerning the Lord's Body ; that is, from approaching the sacramental symbols, with- out due discrimination of their transcendent quality. In this awful designation of the matter of the sacrament, the Apostle seems to have thought his subject carried to its height. What more, in truth, could even St. Paul have added, either for the correc- tion of the Corinthians, or for the instruc- tion of all succeeding Christians ? He therefore merely strengthens what he has said, by referring to those divine judge- ments, which had been already inflicted. " Fois4;his cause," says he, " many are weak " and sickly among you, and many sleep." 56 The Corinthians themselves, had probably been suffering these calamities, without ad- verting to their actual source. But this awful explanation would at once lead them to com- pare their crime and punishment with those signal cases of a like nature, recorded in holy scripture ; with that, for example, of Nadab and Abihu, who offered strange fire on God's altar; with that of the Philistines, who brought the ark into the house of Dagon ; with that of the Bethshemites, whose profaire curiosity led them to look into the ark, and who became the victims of their own pre- sumption; and with that of Uzzah, who drew his own instant death from the ark, by an inconsiderate touch. They must, at once, have seen and acknowledged, that what was just and necessary in those ancient instances of divine chastisement, must be accounted equally just and necessary in the case then existing; since every reason that could be conceived, for fencing the symbols of di- vine presence and power under the Old Tes- tament, must hold good, for an equal fencing of similar symbols, under the New Testa- ment. It could not, for one moment be imagined, that either the altar, or the ark of the Lerd should be guarded by more terri- 57 jrki,.,!,,-Ui, ble majesty, than that which, on equally divine authority, was to be " discerned" as " the Lord's Body." But does not the awful warning respect- ing " eating or drinking unworthily " inti- mate, by parity of reason, or rather on a still surer ground, the divine potency of the ele- ments to all qualified receivers? For, if to eat or drink unworthily, is to eat and drink divine malediction, then no less surely, to eat and drink worthily, is to eat and drink divine benediction. It is evidently, accord- ing to St. Paul, the mysterious sanctity of the thing unworthily received, which makes it the vehicle of vengeance to him by whom it is profaned. But if the sacred symbols be thus endued with a supernatural influence to avenge their abuse, they must possess a like supernatural influence, where they are duly and reverently received, to benefit and bless the receiver. In fact, we must conclude, that it is their being divinely fitted to bless, which alone could give them an avenging power when profaned; and consequently, that the Apostle in adding this last distinct and emphatical declaration, confirms all that he had said before, and puts the Christian 88 doctrine of the Eucharist beyond the possi- bility of question. To understand the mysterious term of the Lord's Body in any such gross sense as has been fancied in the Church of Rome, would be to overlook our Redeemer's expressions, already in part quoted, " It is the spirit " which quickeneth, the flesh profiteth " nothing. The words which I speak unto " you, they are spirit and they are life." But, let us not therefore, rush into an op- posite extreme ; nor treat the words of an inspired Apostle, as we would not treat those of any common intelligent writer. Let us observe, that every expression St. Paul uses, tends, as it were more and more, to invest the sacramental symbols with an ineffable measure of derivative dignity and instrumental virtue. He gives no shadow of pretext for any carnal interpretation ; but he says all that could be said, to make us regard " that bread and that cup," not only as the visible pledge, but the effective organ of a vital communication from the invisible, but : then specially operative, and there- fore specially present, Redeemer. For he 59 alone it is, who could make those symbols to be, in virtue and efficacy, his body and blood. In thus explaining the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the Apostle most truly tells us a mystery; but a mystery which (as has been observed) the first Christians were pre- pared by every divine analogy to receive; and which could scarcely need vindication in these latter times, if the zeal of contending Christians did not so generally neglect all truth, even of holy scripture itself, which does not directly serve as a weapon against the error, real or supposed, which they are anxious to refute, or as a support to the par- ticular theory, which it is their purpose to maintain. On this account chiefly, rather than be- cause laboured elucidation was at all neces- sary, have I dwelt so long on the Apostle's expressions. I have not wished to add any- thing to their strength, much less to turn them from their intended aim. I have merely been anxious, by the minutest atten- tion, and the most sober consideration, to elicit from them their precise and entire meaning; especially as it has pleased the divine wisdom, that these passages of the 10th and llth chapters of the first Corin- thians, should be the sole instance in which the doctrine of the Eucharist is infallibly stated and explained. But, perhaps, it may still be doubted, whether it be essential to the due estimation and beneficial use of the Lord's supper, that the Apostle's expressions should be as liter- ally interpreted, as they have been, in the preceding observations ; and whether he may not be considered as, in some measure, em- ploying a figurative mode of speech, to which it will not be unreasonable to give a proportionally qualified construction. To this I would answer, that in every passage of holy scripture, as well as in that more immediately in view, it ought to be our first care to ascertain, in what manner the divine speaker or writer means to be understood? If, in a figurative manner, some key will assuredly be given us, where- by to arrive at the simple and solid sense. 61 This, perhaps, will be intimated in the very terms which are used, by the obvious impossibility of any other interpretation ; or, at least, the context will afford such light, as to explain the import, if not also to illus- trate the fitness, of the metaphorical expres- sions. It would be easy to produce exam- ples; but the passage particularly before us, could, on no reasonable ground be included in them: for I conceive it would be impos- sible to point out one strictly figurative term in the entire discourse. : .M;.- ..'_;,;* -*j fcm,ifcrt<,j.t: iffo A figurative term is that, which, by sub- stituting some other term or terms, may be translated into plain language. But if the expressions of St. Paul respecting the Eucha- rist be tried by this rule, their import, be it ever so mysterious, cannot be proved meta- phorical. For instance, what plainer terms could we pretend to substitute for the com- munion of the blood or the communion of the body of the Lord? Nay, the very term of the Lord's body is so used by him, as infi- nitely to transcend all attempts at adequate explication. When the Church of Christ is called his body, we see at once that it is a figure, from our acquaintance with the sub- ject thus denominated. But when we read of the Lord's eucharistic body, we read of something not otherwise made known to us ; and therefore cannot similarly resolve its im- port into a plainer notion ; which will be no less the case with our Saviour's several expres- sions already adverted to. To weigh the consonant terms of our Lord and his Apos- tles with sobriety and humility, will be to feel, that they unitedly assure us of a hea- venly and spiritual reality, divine in its source, infallible in its efficacy, inconceiv- ably venerable in its nature and character, and no less dreadful in its profanation. What is said therefore on this subject, is not figurative, but it is mysterious and trans- cendental ; because, obviously, the thing sig- nified rises, not only above the language, but the conception of man. St. Paul had learn- ed what he delivers, he tells us, by revela- tion ; most probably when he was caught up into paradise, and heard " unspeakable " words." When, therefore, the Apostle speaks, as in the instance before us, of that which is heavenly and divine, we must, in reason believe, that however exalted his lan- guage, the matter of which he speaks is incomparably more exalted ; and that if we 63 would do justice to him, to the subject, and to ourselves, we must understand his terms in the fulness of their import, as even then, we shall only see by means of a glass, ob- scurely ; and therefore, be liable through the least aberration of our mental vision, either to see delusively, or not to see at all. But, may it not be apprehended, that the ascribing of such instrumental importance to the material elements of bread and wine, as the literal interpretation of St. Paul's ex- pression would imply, involves an inconsis- tency with that purely spiritual character, which is regarded as the great distinction of the gospel dispensation ? To this it might, with reason, be answered, that in forming our notions of the gospel dispensation, we are not to trust to any ge- neral conclusions, however plausible, but simply to its own representations of itself. From these we shall learn, that though the gospel is purely spiritual in its ends, the means which it employs are most wisely adapted and proportioned to the mixt na- 64 ture of man. It is the exquisiteness of this accommodation, which constitutes the most conclusive internal evidence, that the author of Christianity needed not that any should testify to him of man, in as much as he knew what was in man. To a creature con- sisting, not of spirit only, but of soul and body also, how disproportionate would have been a scheme of moral improvement, much more of moral disenthralment, adapted ex- clusively to the highest portion of his nature ? "lH> *bjfuTi l>*'-1 ^'V.'.;!. /OiVt.'M JU- < 1 .OcT^f? ul& But the fact is, that the gospel commenced in an accommodation to man's animal exi- gencies, which was as admirable as it was gracious, and which the hosts of heaven con- templated with delight and wonder. The incarnation of the co-eternal Son, through which St. John was enabled to declare, what he and his fellow apostles " had seen with "their eyes, what they had looked upon, ' and their hands, had handled of the word " of life," was, in the first instance, so to consult human nature in its animal and sensitive capacity, as to give the strongest pledge, that a dispensation thus introduced would, in every subordinate provision, niani- 65 rest the same spirit, and operate on the same principle. For, could it be thought that the first wonderful accommodation of Godhead to the sensitive apprehensions of man, should be wholly temporary, and that though that mystery of godliness was ever to be re- garded as the vital source of all spiritual benefits and blessings, no continuance of this wise and gracious condescension should be manifested in the means whereby its re- sults were to be perpetuated and made ef- fectual ? May we not rather conclude, that on the same wise and gracious consideration, which induced the divine nature to enshrine itself in a human person, that through that me- dium there might be a more familiar, more impressive, and more engaging communica- tion of God with man, it would be deemed by the divine wisdom and goodness, most suitable to man's natural feelings and con- ceptions, to convey to him the special influ- ences of incarnate Deity, through a me- dium similarly adapted to his imagination and his senses ? And when we believe, as F 66 if we are Christians we must believe, that he who was God over all, united himself to so low a thing as human flesh, in order to become the fountain of those influences, we surely need not question the credibility of his conveying those influences through any other work of his own hands, which he saw it fit to appoint. When he had condescended to imbody himself in our flesh, that he might, more conformably to the laws of our nature, give spiritual life to the world, and when he was establishing a perpetual ordinance expressly to represent that pri- mary mystery, and to subserve its purpose by instrumentally communicating its vir- tue, was it either unsuitable or improbable, that the heavenly grace, to be thus com- municated, should be, as it were, imbo- died in two of the purest and simplest pro- visions, which, as Creator of the world, he had given, for the sustenance of our animal life, and the refreshment of our animal weakness ? The expediency of such a method, as pe- culiarly fitted to impress the mind of man, 6T is illustrated, (as has been observed) by all the analogous instances already adverted to. In no case could the divine power itself have required any medium of operation ; and therefore every thing of this kind, must have been employed in order to an easier apprehension, and a deeper feeling, of the source from which the benefit pro- ceeded. It was chiefly to give such an apprehension, and excite such a feeling, that miraculous works were wrought; and that end could not have been more infal- libly secured, than by enduing with super- natural efficacy, an instrumental means which, in itself, was utterly inefficacious. It was obviously, by no general law, that a benefit thus conferred had been accom- plished ; nor would it require any reason- ing to establish the belief, that the virtue which had so wonderfully imbodied itself in a material vehicle, could be no less than a real and substantive influence from the divine omnipotence. Was it not then if possible, still more requisite, that a like apprehension, and a like feeling, should be insured, respecting the highest and holiest communication that had F2 68 ever proceeded from God to man? Esti- mating the blessing conveyed in the Eucha- rist, by the united representation of our Lord, and of St. Paul, can we suppose that any suitable means would be omitted of attesting the divinity of that blessing to our reason and natural feelings ? And what could be more suitable than that the same expedient, which had been employed to impress human feeling with the sense of divine operation, in so many inferior in- stances, should be employed for the same necessary purpose, in the A^ery highest instance in which man, while on this earth, was to be the subject of divine operation, and the receiver of supernatural blessings ? Instead, therefore, of questioning the li- teral import of St. Paul's expressions, shall we not rather recognize in that import the uniformity of the divine proceedings; and the depth of that wisdom which, not more for the humbling of the proud, than for the consolation of the humble, continues, in the sublimest instance on this side of heaven, to make the weakness of the instrument an irrefragable evidence, that the blessing received is directly and purely from himself? 69 The assurance of this fact is invaluable ; and it would be impossible to imagine any more suitable way, in which such assurance could have been given. It leaves to faith its entire exercise, inasmuch as no extraordi- nary impression is made either on the exter- nal or the internal sense; but it exercises faith in the highest and happiest manner, by presenting to it an object, which in its nature, and in its nearness, must be felt to unite heaven with earth, and God with man. Such is the reckoning which even reason must make, if the actual transmission of divine influence through the elements be once admitted. We doubtless can con- ceive heavenly influence to be communi- cated without any medium whatever; but we cannot conceive a spiritual influence con- veyed through such material mediums, to be any other than heavenly and divine. -1 "' >. but 'k/ ^miToliiuf But in addition to what we may deduce from the general method of the divine pro- ceedings, and from the reason of the case, do we not find by actual experience, that such an unequivocal pledge of divine ope- 70 ration was necessary to preserve the belief of such operation " whole and undefiled " in the Christian Church? The fact of strictly supernatural grace, though in itself so con- solatory, is retained with difficulty in the sceptical mind of man. It has, accordingly, been modified in various ways by some persons, and boldly rejected by others. To establish, therefore, an ordinance, in the obvious aspect and consistent import of which, the doctrine of strictly supernatural grace should ever have a divine attestation, was to perpetuate this most important point of faith in the surest and most practical manner. It provided for the close and candid Christian reasoner, imperishable pre- mises leading to the most certain conclu- sions ; and it afforded to the simply devout, an instruction through the senses to the mind, which would teach deeper things than language could convey, and make an impression on the inmost feelings, of which their indistinct apprehension would neither abate the awfulness, nor substantially pre- vent the utility. It is, on the contrary, to be remarked, that where the notion of the Lord's Supper 71 has been such, as to exclude the instrumen- tal efficacy of the sacramental symbols, the ordinance itself has appeared to lose its interest and attractiveness. Of this fact, we have decisive evidence in a complaint, made by the pious Doddridge, in one of his ser- mons to young persons, wherein he invites religious youth to early communion. " I " have frequently found," he says, " and I " believe it has been the experience of many " of my brethren in the ministry, that %< young persons, not only of a very sober " and regular conduct, but even those who " have appeared most deeply impressed with " the concerns of their souls, and experi- " mentally acquainted, so far as we can " judge, with regenerating grace, have in " many instances shewn a strange coldness " to this blessed institution ; and we have " known not a few, who have grown old in " the neglect of it ! " But whence this in- difference, which the worthy Doddridge so candidly acknowledges, and so sincerely laments ? Did it not arise from his, and his brethren's, view of the Lord's Supper, as a mere commemorative and covenanting transaction, in which grace was to be, as in other religious ordinances, exercised and 7* improved ; but no special communication of heavenly influence to be expected? Had the Eucharist been regarded as a divinely instituted conduit of supernatural grace, directly from its fountain, could such per- sons as Doddridge describes, have been remiss in their attendance ? In that case, would not their love and value of the Lord's Supper be in exact proportion to their love and value of religion itself ? But whenever the strictly supernatural influence of the Eucharist is overlooked or unacknowledged, (and such will naturally, if not necessarily, be the consequence of rejecting the mysterious de- signation of the symbols), attention to this Christian ordinance, will be little more than gratuitous ; a natural effect perhaps of Christian ardour, because it is matter of di- vine injunction, but not a necessary result of Christian sincerity. It is in this view of it, merely a positive law of Christianity, acting exclusively upon the feelings of fear, of duty, or of gratitude. Contemplated as the actual vehicle of Christ's own ineffable influences to the capable receiver, it becomes a matter of intrinsic interest, to neglect which would be to neglect both present and everlasting salvation. * n Besides, the sacred Eucharist, when thua conceived, becomes not only more attractive to the upright Christian, but also much more consolatory. When this holy ordi- nance is supposed to rise above the other means of grace, not by any appropriate in- fluence of omnipotent power, but only by its more direct reference to the mercy and goodness of the dying Redeemer, the Chris- tian, in partaking of it, can expect benefit, only in proportion to the actual state of his devotional feelings. Let his confidence in the promised grace of Christ be ever so sin- cere, his hope of a fresh communication will rise or fall with the conscious ardour, or the conscious coldness of his affections. But these not being at human command, and seldom or never moving in exact pro- portion to the settled purposes of the heart, the consequence, on the whole, will natu- rally be, that when animating influences are most needed, they will be least expected. Whereas, if there be a persuasion, that di- vine grace is communicated in and through the Sacrament, by a special exercise of Divine Power, it will follow that, not an inability to co-operate, but solely an ineapa- floiwias 74 city to receive, will obstruct the commu- nication. 7 The importance of this distinction, I humbly conceive, will be felt by every one, who has religiously inspected himself. In efforts of the heart to rise toward God, to will may be most sincerely present with us, when, how to perform that which is good, we find not. Even in an advanced stage of piety, there may be least power of men- tal exertion, when its sensible necessity is greatest ; for instance, under infirmity of body or mind ; or when some distressing 7 It is not possible* within such narrow limits as I have prescribed to myself, to guard the thought ex- pressed in this paragraph, against the danger of mis- apprehension. To answer this purpose, I must have gone into something like digression, which would have perplexed the thread of my discourse. I will therefore merely observe, that I proceed upon a principle of the Catholic Church, rested in by the Revisers of our Li- turgy in 1661, when conferring, previously,, with the Non-Conformist Divines namely, that " God's sacra- " ments have their effects, where the receiver doth not " ponere obicem, put any bar against them." Account of the proceedings of the Commissioners of both persua- sions, &c Page 99. 75 event has caused what St. Peter calls, " hea- " viness through manifold temptations." How comfortable, then, amid this " weak- ' ness of our mortal nature," to reflect, not only that God can internally aid and strengthen us by his own secret influences, independently of our active co-operation, but that he has assured us of this unspeakable blessing, by such a permanent pledge and means of its accomplishment, as, by its very character and nature, supersedes all co- operation, and solely requires the faculty of reception. If only we are athirst, we have here a fountain of life, to which we may indeed come, without money and without price ; and which comes to us without any diluting intermixture, as immediately flow- ing from the throne of God, and of the Lamb. But this view of the Lord's Supper, not only ministers to encouragement, where encouragement is wanting, but it also serves to repress all spiritual pride, and undue self-gratulation. It is observable that those sincere maintainers of God's effectual grace, who do not regard the Eucharist as the ac- tual conduit of its conveyance, deem it ne- 76 cessary to guard the supposed possessors of that grace, against robbing God of his honour, by ascribing to themselves, what they owe to his bounty. And there can be no doubt, that such a false reckoning is much more than incidental, where the view is directed only to those means of grace, in which the human faculties so co-operate, as to make it impossible to draw a distinct line between what supervenient grace does in the transaction, and what man does for himself. But wherever the Eucharist is considered as the appropriate vehicle of the animating and strengthening grace of Christ to man, such cautions as those adverted to, will hardly be requisite. He who clearly and confidently ex- pects to receive, in " the cup of blessing " which is blessed, the communion of " Christ's blood," and in *' the bread which " is broken, the communion of Christ's " body," will naturally and necessarily de- preciate all that he could do for himself, in comparison with that transcendent com- munication. In the sublime simplicity of the Eucharistic institution, the humble ex- pectant of heavenly blessing is abstracted 77 form all human agency, of others, or of himself. The solemn words, used from the earliest times in both the eastern and west- ern church, and through the distinguishing providence of God, preserved in our own, " Sursum corda" and the reply of the faith- ful " Habenms ad Dom'mum" 8 speak the one common feeling infallibly excited by " discerning the Lord's body " in the conse- crated symbols, and, by consequence, look- ing for the blessing exclusively from him, who makes those elements " the hiding of " his power." 9 The mind thus impressed will feel no tendency to ascribe to itself the benefits it may have received. If spiritual life be consciously felt to gain strength and ascendency, the fixed belief of a sacramental conveyance of that life will at once increase the feeling of delight, and of humility of delight, because the influences thus commu- nicated, are so purely from the Godhead itself, as to imply a real commencement, as well as certain pledge of everlasting be- atitude.; of humility, because the direct 10 Yrtsfcjfr: 8 " Lift up your hearts! R. We lift them up nnlo " fVi T 1 " ' ""' Habakkuk, iii. *.- 78 and unmixed apprehension of the divine power and presence, which the discernment of the Lord's body in the symbols must im- ply, cannot but impress upon the mind of man such a sense of his own comparative baseness and nothingness, and inspire such an habitual and deep sobriety, as could not be conceived equally producible through any other existing means in this lower world. And as the lowliness thus infused is of the same nature with that of angels, and has in it no tendency to superstitious weak- ness, so the satisfaction which is enjoyed, has no relation to enthusiastic illusion. This latter is always the offspring of a sup- posed distinguishing communication from God ; a peculiar afflatus, as it is imagined, by the mere will of the Spirit ; and not sub- ject to be controuled even by the clearest rules of scripture. But however elevating the idea of the Eucharistic intercourse with God, the mind is hereby raised to no giddy height ; the elevation, which must be ex- perienced, under a full apprehension of this divine provision, is as sober as it is sub- lime. The vouchsafement is neither per- sonal nor partial : but extended to every 79 capable member of the Christian Church ; the apparatus is such, as to act neither on the sensitive nor the passionate feelings, but solely on the purest perceptions of the mind, and the soundest sensibilities of the heart; and the adorable agency itself has nothing in it akin to the whirlwind, the earthquake, or the fire ; but in this instance operates as in the great economy of visible nature, with the same silence as in causing the earth to vegetate, or the planets to move in their orbits through the heavens. Need it then be said, that the glare of the meteor does not differ more from the light of the sun, than the transports of the en- thusiast differ from those exalted apprehen- sions, which deep views of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper must naturally both awaken, and sustain, in every devout mind and heart. I have already adverted to the myste- rious communication which the Eucharist imparts, being a pledge of the same divine presence in and with the Christian Church, as the Jewish Church had enjoyed in the inner sanctuary of its Temple. But on this 80 particular point, 1 must beg leave to offer a few additional observations. I observed, that such a communication of divine influence as could be effected only by the omnipotent power of our Redeemer, must also of necessity imply his special and extra- ordinary presence; and I inferred that the Apostles and their brethren would thus feel themselves amply compensated for that noblest of all Jewish privileges, the special re- sidence of Jehovah in the midst of his people ; inasmuch as in the Eucharistic institution, estimated as our Lord himself had taught them, their mental eye, would recognize a Shechinah, as real as that which had taken possession of the Holy of Holies at the dedication of the Temple built by Solomon. To illustrate the importance of this par- ticular consideration, may it not be re- marked, that though the omnipresence of God is a most awful and momentous truth, yet, even in the best disposed minds, the sense, merely of this presence, however it must excite philosophical reverence, would scarcely awaken filial affection ? Then only 81 can we contemplate God as our father, when we have assurance that he regards us as his children ; and that we are distinctly and in- dividually within the gracious notice, and under the direct influence, of our Almighty parent. The patriarchs of old were, doubtless, firm in their belief of the divine omnipre- sence. 1 But this alone would scarcely have '27 ~ 1 The degree and manner in which pious persons, under the Jewish dispensation, were impressed with the divine omnipresence, is admirably exemplified in the 139th Psalm. But the question is, could that great truth have been either so practically felt, or so mag- nificently descanted on, except where the established fact of a special presence gave it animation and sus- tenance ? The prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the Temple, (l Kings, viii.) also contains as sublime a re- cognition of the Divine omnipresence, as could be expressed in words (v. 27) ; and yet every subsequent portion of that noble piece of devotional eloquence, gives evidence of the confidence and consolation, which the devout king derived from the anticipation of a tpecial/y present God, who thus, in boundless mercy, adapted his infinitude to the apprehensions and affec- tions of his limited and dependent creatures. G 82 supported them, when they " went forth, " not knowing whither they went." Their supreme consolation arose from the persua- sion that the eye of God was specially upon them, and the hand of God directly and effectively with them ; to which happy con- fidence they had been raised, by such mani- festations of his special presence repeatedly made to them, as were, at the time, a matter of unutterable comfort, and left behind them a " home-felt delight," and " sober certainty," which no earthly circumstances were suffi- cient to destroy. In those instances, the awe of infinite Deity was necessarily felt ; but this naturally overwhelming sentiment was softened into unutterable peace and joy by such undelu- sive demonstrations of the Friend and the Father. Hence the very places where those manifestations had been made, became dear to the patriarchs. To those memorable scehes they loved to return, that they might there offer up their homage with excited recollection, deeper gratitude, and more sensible consolation. The care which was taken to continue to 83 the posterity of the patriarchs the same sub- stantial demonstration of a specially present God, has been already dwelt upon ; and no- thing additional need be said to shew, that this exercise of divine condescension was carried to its utmost height in the incarna- tion of the Eternal Word ; all former tokens or evidences of the special presence of Jeho- vah being, in comparison with the actual ad- vent of Emmanuel, God with us, but prepa- ratives and prelibations. Taking, then, this long-continued, and at length consummated condescension of God, to that nature which he had given to man, into our consideration ; and keeping in view the entire sameness of human nature under the Christian, as under the patriarchal and Jewish dispensations ; can we imagine that when the Godhead had come nearest, and had most intimately familiarized itself with man, all substantive intercourse with our Emmanuel was thenceforward to cease, and that the highest dispensation should wholly want that natural satisfaction, with which lower dispensations had been so signally fa- voured ; and which, while man possessed the same organization of spirit, soul and G2 84 body, could never cease to be panted after, and virtually demanded ? That the Incarnate Word, after finishing the work of his humiliation, should no longer manifest himself to the external senses, was declared by himself to be expe- dient, as requisite to that spiritual course in which his disciples were from that time to proceed. But it was essential to this very design, that they should consider him as withdrawn from their bodily senses only, and that as far as their exigencies required, he would still be as really present with them, as in the days of his flesh. -.->. M*i;< . ; 'I'- .-./trVrfoi l**'Afitiv' But, to establish this assurance, some divine pledge was indispensable. Without some token, by which his special approach to them should be notified, and on their recurrence to which, they might confide, that he would be invisibly present with them, to aid and bless them, as effectually as if they saw him in the midst of them without such a pro- vision, I say, the Christian dispensation would have had no adequate security against such vagueness of apprehension, and cold- ness of affection, as would have sunk it far 85 below the level of Jewish devotion. The mind of Christians in that case could have rationally contemplated the divine omnipre- sence alone, and the piety of the intelligent and sober-minded could have been little bet- ter than a more definite, and more firmly grounded natural religion. For those who had more reason than affection, such a sys- tem might have sufficed. But, if we may say it with due reverence, however the dif- fusive rays of Deity, may not only afford light, but excite a degree of warmth in the spiritual, like those of the sun, in the ma- terial world ; still in the one case as in the other, it is not diffusion of rays, but the concentration of them, which produces a melting ardour. That the apprehension merely of divine omnipresence, should not be adequate to the mental exigencies of man is the less to be doubted, as it would seem to be insuffi- cient for maintaining the devotion even of higher intelligences. We read in the book of Job, that there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord ; and that there was another day, when thev did the same. Intimations of 86 a like kind are numerous in the Old Testa- ment, and if we attend to what is said in the Apocalypse, we shall find them still more abundant in the New. Doubtless, we can know but little of these heavenly mys- teries ; still the uniform fact of a Special Presence in the invisible world is indisputa- ble ; and would it not seem to be almost a self-evident truth that finite minds, however exalted, can apprehend the Godhead with a satisfaction proportioned to their nature, only by means of a definite manifestation ? That this exigence is increased in man by his terrestrial nature, needs no proof: It is obvious that in this world, the entire move- ment of things is adapted to that nature, and thus our innate tendencies and our ex- ternal circumstances unite to limit and mo- dify our mental action, be the object of that action ever so exalted. Accordingly, if we examine ourselves, we shall perceive that in whatever concerns us, we require definite matter of fact, on which to repose our minds, as much as we need some solid substance to support our bodies. It is of no essential moment, through what 87 species of evidence the matter of fact is no- tified to us, if only the notification have clear marks of authenticity. Hence, in human affairs there is always more or less exercise of what may fairly be called faith, but al- ways on an understood or supposed ground of unequivocal reality. That the various evidences of our divine religion, and particularly the holy Scriptures are most wisely and graciously adapted to these habits of the human mind, is indis- putable. But whether the utmost plenitude of recorded testimony would meet all our mental exigencies, either as finite or as ani- malized beings, appears a matter of much less easy determination. It would rather seem that, to consult fully fqr our finite, and still more for our terrestrial na- ture, in addition to all other provisions, there would be need of some impressive and demonstrative pledge and token of the con- tinued direct intercourse of the all-gracious Being with his human servants. Such a pledge and token would completely meet the demand of human nature for matter of fact assurance. And if the expediency of supplying that demand could not otherwise 83 be proved, it might be inferred from what has been already adverted to ; I mean the striking tendency of those, by whom the notion of any such pledge and token is re- jected, either to think illusively of the direct intercourse of God with the human spirit, or else utterly to deny its reality. But in following the light of our Redeemer and the guidance of his Apostle, do we not find in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, just such a pledge and token of the special presence, and real influence of our God and Saviour, as at once meets the demand of our nature, and suits the high aim and intellec- tual spirit of the Christian dispensation? That life of faith by which, as Christians, we gradually rise on the moral scale, would have been counteracted, had any impression been made on the senses ; whereas the ab- sence of every such impression preserves the moral evidence of reality from delusive mix-, ture, and fits the mind for the most sober perception of its practical influence. The great point, to which every circumstance in the institution bears witness, is, that the cup of blessing which is blessed, is the communion of the Lord's blood, and that 89 the bread which is broken, is the communion of his body. But reason must pronounce that earthly elements can serve so high and holy a purpose only as instruments of the divine power ; and in such an exercise of the divine power, the special presence of the Almighty agent, according to all our habits of thinking, is necessarily implied. In yield- ing to the force of St. Paul's first position, we are directly led to this impressive conclu- sion. And its unutterable weight and inte- rest must concur with the infinite value of the communicated blessing, to deepen the effect upon every human feeling. ^ In this view, as often as we approach the table of the Lord, we may account our- selves to have admission, in a manner be- yond human conception, into the presence chamber of the King Messiah. Under the full sense of this Christian privilege, we shall not need a Bethel, a Peniel, the Jewish sanctuary, or even its Holy of Holies. In contemplating with St. Paul, the mystery of the Eucharist, the Christian cannot but see, that in this sacred ordinance, especially and most eminently, " a new and living way " is opened for him (far above what was granted even to the Jewish High Priest,) to * enter '* into the holiest by the blood of Jesus." Is it then, too much to say, that the Eucharist, thus apprehended, makes the richest provision which we could conceive to be made by any stated means, in this lower world, for our spiritual sustenance and com- fort ? While as a pledge and token of divine presence and influence, its authenticity never can be impaired its significancy, to close and sober attention, never obscured, its invisible mystery will be as wonderful, as impressive, and as inestimable, in its latest as in its earliest celebration. The com- munion of the Lord's blood, and the com- munion of the Lord's body, must have, as terms, the same profound import as bless- ings, the same infinite value, yesterday, to- day, and for ever. Let not, therefore, the simplicity of what is visible to our bodily sight, veil from our mental eye those invi- sible realities, which are to us so consolatory, and in themselves so glorious. On the con- trary, let us recognize the same spirit of meek majesty, which veiled its transcen- dent brightness in the mystery of the incarnation, as still continuing the like gra- 91 cious condescension in the mystery of the Eucharist ; and let us joyfully and reverently approach to do homage to our King, who in this his own peculiar institution, comes to diffuse benediction in his mystical Zion, with the same apparent lowliness, as when in conformity with the divine prediction, he entered his literal Jerusalem " sitting upon " an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass." ' I might now proceed, in the way of con- trast, to remark more particularly on those views of the Lord's Supper, which stand opposed to the explanation attempted in these pages. I might, possibly, shew that by rejecting the mysterious instrumentality of the symbols, and thereby reducing the sacra- ment itself, externally to a mere ceremony, and internally to an act of common Chris- tian devotion, besides the liberty thus taken with holy Scripture, the Eucharistic celebration at once loses all its proportioned hold, (proportioned I mean to its high origin,) on the natural reason, as well as on the natural feelings of man. But these would be, in some sort, controversial topics ; and I trust the grounds on which the claims of the sacred Eucharist have been shewn to rest, do not need to be defended by such auxiliaries. fdi- I might also pursue still farther, the line of observation, which I have been follow- ing. I might speak of that general influence on the whole mass of professing Christians, which might be looked for, from the doctrine of St. Paul respecting the Lord's Supper, being literally received, and adequately pro- mulgated. I might shew, that by this means, those who are yet insensible to the goodness and wisdom of God, manifested in the gos- pel, would be obliged to recognize another of His divine attributes, before which the hard- est heart must bow, (His almighty power,) as in direct and continued exercise within the Christian sanctuary ; and I might support the justness of this reckoning, by appealing to the precise purpose for which St. Paul in- troduced those invaluable declarations, and the manner in which he enforces them. I might dwell upon the indescribable light and warmth, which all the other solemn services of religion would be felt to derive from such a central sphere of divine presence and opera- 93 tion ; and which would even make each hal- lowed roof to impress him who should come under it, with the feeling of Jacob at Bethel, " How dreadful is this place ! This is " none other than the house of God ; this is * the gate of heaven ! ! " 'nflod ov But I forbear. I have said enough for my special purpose ; and if it gives satisfaction in the quarter, from whence the thought of examining the subject was received, the pleasure I have felt in the employment, will be deeply enhanced by such a reward. :!< - ! >...' rJV Off' OflV HUT ri&orf t9 flies 'to g uq og i :i r y O ( II 1)90 6ott d'jfrfw ni rarmam fl.t no