ADVANTAGE

OF

FREQUENT COMMUNION.

1 Cor. xi. 26.

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, do show the Lord's death till he come.

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THE Lord's death, here spoken of, is the death of the Lord, the Almighty and eternal Son of God; that death, which he suffered in the nature, and in the stead of mankind in general, and particularly of us who are here present; that death, whereby he expiated our sins, and made complete satisfaction to the divine truth and justice for them: that death, whereby he appeased the wrath which he that made us had justly conceived against us, and hath reconciled him again unto us: that death, whereby he delivered us from the slavery of sin and Satan, and asserted us into the glorious liberty of the sons of God: that death, whereby he redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made himself a curse for us: that death, whereby he purchased for us both

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pardon and peace, and mercy, and grace, and power to eschew evil and do good, and all the blessings we can ever have or desire, either in this world or the next; that death, by virtue whereof he entered into heaven, now to appear in the presence of God for us, and therefore is able to save to the utmost, them that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.' This is that Lord's death, which the apostle here saith we show, as often as we eat the bread, and drink the cup he speaks of in the verses before my text; where he saith, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, take, eat; this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me.' After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.' In which words we have Christ's own institution of the sacrament of the last supper, together with the end of it declared by himself, saying, at the institution of the bread, 'This do in remembrance of me :' and again, at that of the cup, This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me;' that is, (as is signified by the institution itself,) in remembrance of me,' as dying for the sins of the world, and yours among the rest. And that this is the great end of this holy institution, the apostle further proves, and explains in the words of my text, from this reason; because, hereby we show the Lord's death; the bread shows the breaking of his body, the cup shows the shedding of his

1 Heb. vii. 25.

blood; and so both together show the death he suffered for us: 'for as often,' saith he, as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.'

On which words we may first observe, that every time the sacrament of the Lord's supper is administered, his death is thereby shown and declared to all that are there present. As when the Jews eat the paschal lamb, the master of the family declared the reasons why they eat it with bitter herbs, and why with unleavened bread, and the like. So here, when we eat the bread, and drink the cup, according to Christ's institution, we thereby declare the reasons of it, though not by words, yet by the very act itself, and the several circumstances of it. By the breaking of the bread, we declare Christ's body to be broken and wounded to death; by the cup, we declare his blood to be shed, or poured out for the sins of the world; and by distributing both the bread and the cup to each communicant apart, we declare to every one particularly, that Christ died for his sins, and that he may be saved by Christ's death, if he will but receive and apply it to himself, as he ought, by a quick and lively faith.

In the next place, we may here observe, that the apostle doth not say, that Christ's death is repeated, or that he is offered up again every time this Sacrament is administered, but only that the Lord's death is shown by it. And therefore that this is not, as the papists absurdly imagine, a propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead, but only commemorative and declarative of that one sacrifice, which Christ once offered to be a propitiation for the sins of the whole world. We may likewise ob

serve, that the apostle doth not say, as often as ye eat this bread, ye show the Lord's death; but ye do it, as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup. And therefore, unless both kinds be administered, as Christ's institution is not observed, so neither is the end of it attained; for his death is not shown by any one, but by both together.

Moreover, we may observe, that the apostle here plainly calls it bread, and the cup, or wine; not the very body and blood of Christ; yea, he saith, it is bread we eat, and it is the cup, or wine, we drink; and therefore, we do not eat the very body that hung upon the cross, nor drink the blood which was there spilt for us; but only in a sacramental sense, which quite overthrows the doctrine of transubstantiation.

Again, we may from hence observe, that this was no temporary institution, which was to continue only for some time, but to the end of the world; or, as the apostle here expresses it, till he, our Lord and Saviour, come. As from the beginning of the world, as often as they offered, according to its first institution, any bloody sacrifice to God, they thereby foreshowed the death of Christ, typified by it, until his first coming into the world to save it: so since that time, as often as we eat this bread, and drink this cup, according to Christ's own institution, we show forth his death all along, until his second coming into the world to judge it. So that it is now by this sacrament, that mankind is, and always must be, put in mind of their Saviour, and what he suffered for them; and therefore, this can never be laid aside, but must continue in the church to the end of the world. Neither can that be reckoned any part of Christ's church, where

this his own most holy institution is rejected, disused, or never observed as it ought.

Lastly, we may here observe, that as this sacrament is to continue always in the church; so it must be often repeated by the same persons in it. The other sacrament, even baptism, is likewise to be always administered in the church; but it can be administered but once to one and the same person; but the apostle here speaking of the sacrament of the Lord's supper, saith to the same persons, as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup; and to the same purpose our Lord himself, in the institution of the cup, saith, 'This do ye, as often as you drink it:' plainly implying, that this should be often done by those who are once admitted into his church: as a man can be born but once, but when he is once born, he must often eat and drink such things as God hath appointed for the preservation of his natural life; so when a man is once regenerate, and born again of water and of the Spirit, he must often eat this bread, and drink this cup, as the great means appointed by Christ himself for the preservation of his spiritual life; which can never be supported aright without this spiritual food, no more than the natural life can without bodily sustenance.

This, therefore, is that, which I intend by God's assistance, in a more especial manner, to speak to at this time. And it is but time to say all we can of it, when this holy sacrament is so generally neglected, as it now is (to our shame be it spoken) all the kingdom over. Blessed be God, except some few heathens, which are among us, such I mean, as were never yet baptized, the nation in