Book ·iv. THE 'L '() R D ' s s u p p E R. M ET A PHO R. VI. TheDifciplcseattheBread. Bread will do us no good, unlefs it be ra·ken and eaten. VI!. Bread is the Stay and Staff .ofMan's natural Life: I will break the Stajj"of Bread, Ezek. iv. 16. It is that ,vhich preferves rhe Life of the Body. VIII. Bread is the beft ofearthly Bleffincrs; hence in Scripture it is fometi;;'1es put for all good Things, Jfa. lv. I, 2. PARALLEL VL Unlefs we receive Chrift by a lively Faith', and feed upon him, that is, fetch all our Comforts from l1im, relying wholly by Faith upon htm, he will av.ail us nothing ·tO eternal Life: Unlefs ye .eat the Flejh of the Soil of Man, and drink his Blood, ye have no Life in you., John vi, 53• VJL Chrift is the Stay or Staff of the Life of our Souls: When Chrifl, who is our Life, /hall ap– pear, &c. ·Col. iii. 3· Chrift preferveth the Life of our inward Man: Becauft I live, ye jha/1/ive alfo. VIIT. .Chrift is the beft and chiefeft Bl~ffingthat ever God gave to his People; he comprehends all other Good: I-1e that hath Chrill:, hath every TJllng. Al(Things are )'Ours, 2 U!r. iii. 22. why fa? Becaufe they had an lntereft in Chrift, Cl1rift .was theirs. Hence ·he is called the chief eft among ten Thoufand, Cant. v, 10. IX. Bread is of a fatisfying NaIX. Chrift received by Faith, moft fweetly fills ture; hence God faith, .He willfaand fatisfies the Soul of a Believer. He that eateth lisfy his Poor <oith Bread. of the Bread of Life, and drinketh of the Water of Life, jha/1 hunge>: or thirjf no mare, John iv. 14. X. Bread is made of Seed, or Corn, wl\ich before it rifeth, or <becomes fruitful, or yields incr.eafe, is fowed, and dies. Verily, verily, I fay tdtto you, except a Cor.n of Wheat fall into the Ground, and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringetb forth much Fruit, John .xii. '4· Such have whot they defire. X. The Lord .Jefm, like a Seed of Corn, was fawn, and did die, that fo he might not remain alone, in the perfeC\ Enjoyment of himfelf~ but for great Increafe, viz. to raife up with him all his Eleft; he was coment, when his Hour was come, to yield himftlf up to Death. He died, and rof~ again, and thereby bringeth forth much Fruit, All that ever were, or fhall be .quickened, and raifed out of a State of Death by Sin, wer.,, and . fhall be quickened by the Death and Refurretlion of Chrirt. Such hath been the Fruit of the preaching of Chrift crucified, that Mul– titudes of Sinners thereby through the Spirit have been converted to God, whence alfo hath fprung forth a Seecj to ferve him, whnm he hath accounted to the Lord for a -Generation, of all which he will not fulfer one Grain to be loft, but will raife it up at the laft Day. A Parallel much like this might be run, in refpet't of the Cup or Spirit of the 'wilie. See Wine. N F E R E N C E S. l. THE Apoftle faith, That what he received of the Lord Jefus, he ddivered ta the Saints : How the Lord Jefus, the fmne Night in which he 'Was bctra)'ed, took Bread, and blejjfd it, &c. And in like ma11ner took the Cup, whw he had fupped, &c. t Cor. xi. 23, 24, 25. From whence we infc:r, that whatloever we do in tbe Vilorfhip of God, we muft fee we have a Command from God to warrant our Practice, and alfo exattly to do it according to the Pattern he hath left us, or DireClions he hath criven ·us; we muft not add to, nor diminifh from, nor alter any Thin<> of the Words ;;f the lnftitution; if we do, God will not hold us guiltlefr. 0 I!. This rebukes the Papifts, who deny the People the holy ·Cup of our Lord, and -give the Sacrament, or holy Ordinance, only in one Kind, when nothing is more clear, than that.Jefus Chrift gave his· Difciples the Cup, as well as the Bread. ff<t!eft. Wh)' did Chrifl ilzjlitute this holy Ordinance, and give it to his Difciples, the very Night in which.he was betra)'td? .dnfw. 1. To ftrengthen their Faith in an Hour of Temptation, that wasj u£1: at the door, and ready to come' upon them. \Vhen is a Cordial more nece!Ta·ry, than when the Patient is r~ady to faint, and his Spirits fail? Chrill: faw what a fad ~alm was comtng upon htS poor Samts, and therefore <>ives them this Soul-revivincr Cordial, to :bear \JP their ~pirits. 0 0 z. Becaufe
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=