511 THE SACRMFÌCE OF CHRIST. deuce, wisdom and virtue as that spiritual rae,at and drink which nourisheth the soul. But to this Ianswer, That though the wise men among ,the Jews represent know- ledge as the meat and drink of the soul, and invite their disci- pies to feed upon wisdom or to drink in their precepts of virtue, yet is it the way of their doctors to represent their own flesh as the meat of souls, or their own blood as proper drink for them ? Do they ever say, that " their flesh is living bread, which they give for the life of the World?" Do they ever tell 'their disciplés, that " their flesh is meat indeed, or their blood drink indeed ?" 1)o they pronounce, " if ye eat not my flesh, and drink not my blood, ye have no life in you ?" Or do they promise, " he that eateth me shall live by me ?" Did you ever read such Ian- guage among the divine prophets of the .Jews ? Could it ever be said, except ye eat the flesh of Isaiah, or drink Jeremiah's blood, ye have no life ? Were the Jews ever invited to feed upon the flesh of Moses or Elias, the founder or the restorer of their religion, or to drink the blood of Daniel or David ? From all this I think I. may infer, that though our Saviour's words may include a receiving of his instruction as a divine prophet or teacher, yet in these strong expressions he designs something more than merely an invitation to hear and receive the lessons of wisdom and virtue which heteaches. And since these expressions of our Saviour concerning eating his flesh and drinking his blood, sound very harsh and absurd in the literal sense of them, we must then seek out the plainest and truest figurative sense : Now this is very near at hand, and might be obvious to those among them who had read the Jewish prophets with care. When he tells them that the living bread is his flesh Which he givesfor the life of the world; John vi. 51.- it gives an intima- tion that his flesh or body, was to be broken and die as a proper .sacrifice of atonement for our guilt, which deserved death; which was not proper to be spoken too publicly and plainly in his- life time: And further, that his blood was to be shed for the remission of our sins, and to procure life for us : And that we must not only receive his doctrine, but we must trust in his atone- ment for our remission, and feed upon this sacrifice by faith, as the Jews eat part of their sacrifices ; and that we must live upon it by trusting therein*. And since the Messiah was foretold to -/ S, Objection. Does not our Lord expressly say, <, except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood, there is no life in you'?" But if faith in his blood, or trust, ing in his atoning sacrifice, was not necessary to salvation in that day, as I sup- pose will be readily granted, then eating his flesh in that day could never signify trusting in his atoning sacrifice. To this I answer, That Christ having promised, to " give his flesh for the life of theworld ;" verse 57. promised therein to make his flesh a sacrifice:" to take away sin" and to give life to the world, and intl- mated also that when this was done, and when he should be preached to men under this character of a sin-offering, then eating and drinking his flesh and blood, or faith in hia'sacrifice, "would be requited in order to spiritual and eter.
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