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56. But a certain maid bebeld him as he fat by the fire, and earnestly locked upon bim, and faid, This man was alf with him.

57. And be denied him, faying, Woman, I know him not.

58. And after a little while another faw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter faid, Man, I am not.

59. And about the space of one hour after, another confidently affirmed, saying, of a truth this fellow alfo was with him, for he is a Galilean.

60. And Peter faid, Man, I know not what thou sayeft. And immediately, while be yet fpake, the cock crew.

61. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter; and Peter remembred the word of the Lord, bow be bad faid unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

62. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

63. And the men that held Jefus mocked bim, and fmote him.

64. And when they bad blindfolded him, they ftruck him on the face, and asked bim, faying, Prophely, who is it that fmote thee?

65. And many other things blafphemously fpake they against him.

66. And affoon as it was day, the Elders of the people, and the chief Priests and the Scribes came together, and led him into their Council,

67. Saying, Art thou the Chrift? Tell us. And be faid unto them, If I tell youý you will not believe.

68. And if I aljo afk you, you will not answer me, nor let me go.

69. Hereafter fhall the Son of Man fit on the right hand of the power of God. 70. Then faid they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And be faid unto them, Ye fay that I am.

71. And they faid, What need we any farther witness? For we our felves havé beard of bis own mouth.

COMMENŤ.

M Supper. Of which this Gofpel relates the InPurpose is

Y Purpofe is at prefent to treat of the Lord's

ftitution; And the Church requires from every Member, of proper Years and Understanding, a devout Participation of it, at the approaching Feftival of Eafter.

The many ufeful Tracts upon this Subject, (fome One whereof, at least, is in almost every hand) have rendred any great Enlargement of mine unneceffary: That therefore, which will beft agree with the Nature of this Work, and abundantly fuffice for the Defign I have in view, is,

First, To confider the Manner, and the End of Inftituting this Sacrament; And then

Secondly, To draw from thence fome Practical Reflections, with relation to it.

In Both thefe I intend to be very Brief and Plain; aud to frame my Difcourfe entirely upon our own Communion-Service. Than which, if carefully attended to, I am bold to affirm, all the Volumes, that have been (or perhaps that ever fhall be) written on this Occafion, cannot give more clear, and pious, and profitable Inftructions.

That,

I begin with the Manner of Inftituting this Sacrament. The First remarkable Circumftance is Its being done at the Clofe of the Pafchal Supper. (I need not fay) was ordained, as a yearly Commemoration of God's great Mercy, in fparing the Families of the Ifraelites, when his Angel destroyed the Firstborn of the Egyptians: And fo bringing off his own People, in Safety and Triumph, from a State of Bondage and infupportable Mifery. This Bleffing, great as it was, did yet prefigure One infinitely greater: Which all Mankind were now about to receive, by the Death of Christ. He, in Allufion to that eminent Type, is called the Lamb of God, and Our Paffover: He therefore, having first fatisfied the Law, in celebrating the Jewish, proceeds to fubftitute Another, Feaft in its room: Thus, as the reft of Their imperfect Ordinances were fwallowed up in Him, fo the Commemoration of the Subftance gave place to that of the Image. Hereby it is eafy to perceive, not only the Fitnefs of fuch an Appointment in general; but the great Affinity it had to a former Establishment, and the Seasonableness of appointing this Sacrament at that Time.

John i. 29.
I Cor. v. 7.

Ver. 19.

I Cor. xi. 24.

Secondly, Our Lord, upon this Occasion, took Bread, and bleffed, and brake it, and faid, This is my Body, which is given (and broken) for you. Here again is a very near Refemblance to the Rites of the Jewish Paffover. In which the Mafter of the Family was wont in general to give God folemn Thanks for the Fruits of the Earth; acknow

ledging

E

ledging Him to be the Creator and Bestower of them:
And then, applying himself to the Occafion of that
Festival, and taking the Unleavened Bread into his
Hand, he faid, This is the Bread of Affliction, which our
Fathers did eat in Egypt. A Form, which muft in all
Reason be admitted, for the best Key to that so very
near of kin to it, by which our Saviour confecrated
Bread, to a Sacramental Ufe, under the New Tefta-
ment. Now this Form seems plainly to fignify, that
neither the One, nor the Other, is ftrictly and literally
the thing it is called; but a Memorial only, and Re-
prefentation, of that thing, whofe Name it bears.
Nor was it indeed poffible, that the Bread in Chrift's
Hand could be in reality his Body broken, at a time
when his Body was not yet broken. But the breaking
of that Bread was a proper Figure, and a lively Image,
of those Wounds and Breaches, which were about to
be made in his Body. Thus it was to those Disciples
then; And thus it is now to Us, by reprefenting them
already made. And of this manner of Speech the Scri-
pture furnishes other Instances in Cafes of like Nature.
God himself fays to Abraham of Circum-
cifion, This is my Covenant, though Abra-
ham was not then actually circumcifed. And when he
was fo, it is evident from St. Paul that
Circumcifion never was the Covenant it-

Gen. xvii. 10.

Rom. iv. II.

Exod. xii. II.

felf, but only the Evidence and Seal of that Covenant.
Mofes, in like manner, fays of the Pas-
chal Lamb, It is the Lord's Paffover; when
yet the Lord had not paffed over their Dwellings, till
that Lamb was actually killed, and their Doors fprink-
led with its Blood. And afterwards, that Lamb could
be no other, than the Memorial of his Paffing over
them. So clearly it appears, that the Sign hath often
the Title of the Thing fignified; and, that it hath the
Name and Significance of a thing to be done, as well
as of a thing already done. This is a Figure ufual in
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any

Matth. xxvi. 27, 28.

any Cafe, but most natural, and in a manner neceffary, where a Sacrament is the Subject. For the very Condition of a Sacrament implies, that the thing reprefenting, and that reprefented by it, be different; it being manifeftly abfurd, to make any thing a Sign of itself. And, that we might lie under no Temptation to understand our Saviour's Words, in a Senfe different from thofe other Forms I mentioned; he feems to have fufficiently explained his own meaning, by that Addition, Do this (take, and break, and eat Bread) in remembrance of me. To which Interpretation St. Paul agrees exactly, as I fhall have occafion to obferve by and by. 3. The fame is to be faid, Thirdly, concerning the Other part of this Sacrament. Where our Bleffed Saviour, after Supper took the Cup, and when he had given Thanks, he gave it to them, faying, Drink ye all of this, for this is my Blood of the New Teftament which is fhed for you, and for many, for the remiffion of Sins. Or, as St. Luke expreffes it, in the Gospel now before us, This Cup is the New Tefiament in my Blood, which is shed for you. The Cup here correfponds to the Jews Cup of Bleffing, at the Clofe of the Pafchal Feaft; which is now converted to a nobler and better Signification, in the Ufe Chriftians are commanded to make of it. But, by the manner of Expreffion, it is evident, that by the Cup was intended the Wine in it; that this Wine is the Blood of the New Teftament, or the New Testament in Christ's Blood, no farther, than as it represents and commemorates that Blood, and the Covenant ratified by the fhedding of it. Which Blood yet was not fhed, at the Time, when this Cup first received that Denomination. And therefore here again, to fet us right, St. Paul adds thofe other Words of our Lord, at the Confecration of it, Do this, as oft as ye fhall drink it, in remembrance of me.

Cor. xi.

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Thus did our Lord, the Night before his Paffion. Thus do his Servants, the Minifters of his Gofpel, at every Celebration of his Bleffed Supper, feparate and fanctify the Elements of Bread and Wine to a religious Purpofe. So changing them in their Ufe and Significance, and devoting them to the more immediate Service of God. In this regard they are no longer what they were before, Common Food to our Bodies only; but they become Holy Memorials of our Redemption, the Strength and Nourishment of Souls, and a Feaft of Thanksgiving, fet forth upon our Lord's own Table. The mention whereof puts me in mind to proceed to the Second Branch of the First General Head; the End, I mean, of this happy Inftitution. Which our Church hath declared to be Twofold, in those Words of her folemn Exhortation, To the end we should always remember the exceeding great Love of our Mafter and only Saviour Jefus Chrift thus dying for us, and the innumerable Benefits, which by his precious Blood-fhedding be bath obtained to us, he bath inftituted and ordained holy Mysteries, as Pledges of his Love, and for a continual Remembrance of bis Death, to our great and endlefs Comfort. Now here

First, Let us confider Thefe Mysteries, as Pledges of his Love. The principal and most valuable Effects of Chrift's Love to Mankind, are Bleffings of a Spiritual and Invisible Nature. And because to Men, who in thefe Bodies must lead Lives of Senfe, it is difficult to entertain a firm Perfuafion of things, which do not affect their bodily Organs; Therefore it hath pleased God all along to make ufe of Sacraments in Religion. That is (as our Church in her Catechifm rightly defines) Outward and visible Signs of inward and fpiritual Grace, ordained by our Lord himself, as means whereby we receive the fame, and pledges to affure us thereof. These then we are commanded to apply, as the Methods made choice of, to convey to us the Benefits they betoken.

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Thefe

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