To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
OUR Lord Jesus in the Night wherein he was betrayed, insti∣tuted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood, called the Lord's Supper, to be observed in his Churches unto the end of the World, for the perpetual Re∣membrance,
and shewing forth of the Sacrifice of himself in his Death, the sealing of all Benefits thereof unto true Believers, their Spiritual Nourishment, and growth in him, their further In∣gagement in and to all Duties which they owe unto him, and to be a Bond and Pledge of their Communion with him, and with each other.
In this Sacrament Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any real Sacri∣fice made at all for Remission of Sin of the quick or dead, but only a Memo∣rial of that one offering up of himself by himself upon the Cross once for all, and a Spiritual Oblation of all possible Praise unto God for the same; so that the Popish Sacrifice of the Mass (as they call it) is most abominable, in∣jurious to Christ's own only Sacrifice, the alone Propitiation for all the Sins of the Elect.
The Lord Jesus hath in this Ordi∣nance appointed his Ministers to pray and bless the Elements of Bread and Wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to an holy Use, and to take and break the Break, to take the Cup, and (they Communicating also themselves) to give both to the Communicants, but to none who are not then present in the Congregation.
Private Masses, or receiving the Sa∣crament by a Priest, or any other alone, as likewise the denial of the Cup to the People, worshipping the Ele∣ments, the lifting them up, or carry∣ing them about for Adoration, and the reserving them for any preten∣ded religious Use, are all contrary to
the nature of this Sacrament, and to the Institution of Christ.
The outward Elements in this Sacra∣ment duely set apart to the Uses or∣dained by Christ, have such Relation to him Crucified, as that truely, yet Sacramentally only, they are sometimes called by the name of the things they represent, to wit, the Body and Blood of Christ; albeit in Substance and Na∣ture they still remain truly and only Bread and Wine as they were before.
That Doctrine which maintains a Change of the Substance of Bread and Wine into the Substance of Christ's Bo∣dy and Blood (commonly called Tran∣substantiation) by Consecration of a Priest, or by any other way, is repug∣nant
not to Scripture alone, but even to common Sense and Reason, over∣throweth the Nature of the Sacrament, and hath been, and is the cause of ma∣nifold Superstitions, yea, of gross Ido∣latries.
Worthy Receivers outwardly par∣taking of the visible Elements in this Sacrament, do then also inwardly by Faith, really and indeed, yet not car∣nally and corporally, but spiritually, receive and feed upon Christ Crucifi∣ed, and all benefits of his Death; the Body and Blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the Bread or Wine; yet as real∣ly, but spiritually present to the Faith of Believers in that Ordinance, as the Elements themselves are to their out∣ward Senses.
All ignorant and ungodly Persons, as they are unfit to enjoy Communion with Christ, so are they unworthy of the Lord's Table, and cannot without great Sin against him, whilst they re∣main such, partake of these holy My∣steries, or be admitted thereunto; yea, whosoever shall Receive unwor∣thily, are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord, eating and drinking Judg∣ment to themselves.