William Law · 6 of 14

A DEMONSTRATION of the Gross and Fundamental Errors · Part 5

[Dem-163] The way therefore that this author came by his Plain Account of the sacrament, was not, as he would have you believe, from a bare impartial consideration of the words of the institution, but from his wrong knowledge of the Christian faith. He had first lost and renounced all the right and true knowledge of our savior in the scriptures, and therefore was obliged not to find it in the sacrament. And because it would be openly confessing to the world, that he was in the sense of the scripture an anti-Christ, if he should plainly have told you, that he did not believe Christ to be truly and essentially God, or the atonement and satisfaction for our sins, or a principle of life to us; therefore he only tells you, that he has been led into this account of the sacrament, by a bare consideration of the words of the institution, according to the common rules of speaking.

[Dem-164] Now if this author will declare, that he sincerely believes Jesus Christ to be truly and really God by nature, and the true real atonement and satisfaction for our sins, and a true and real principle of life to us; I shall be glad, and he ought to be glad, that I have been the occasion of his declaring things so important to himself, and to the matter in hand. But this I may still say, that he could not have had this faith, when he wrote his Plain Account, unless he may be supposed to have had it, but would not write of the sacrament conformably to it.

[Dem-165] And, secondly, if he will now declare, that without any equivocation or mental reserve, he fully believes these great truths, no further recantation of his whole book need to be desired.

[Dem-166] For if these things are true and undeniable characters of our savior; then it follows, that the nature and end of the sacrament must be essentially concerned with them, since it is the confessed nature and end of the sacrament, to remember and acknowledge Christ to be that which the scriptures testify him to be.

[Dem-167] The short of the matter is this; either this author will plainly own a sincere belief of these doctrines, or he will not: if he will not own the belief of them, you have no reason to consider him as a Christian writer upon this subject; and so ought no more to learn from him, than from a Jew, the nature of the sacrament. But if he will declare his full belief of these doctrines, then you have the fullest assurance from himself, that his Plain Account cannot be Christian: because if these things are true of Christ, they must be remembered and acknowledged in that sacrament, which is appointed for the remembrance and acknowledgement of him.

[Dem-168] Now these two essential parts of the sacrament, relating to this twofold character of our savior, as he is the atonement and satisfaction for our sins, and as he is a principle of life to us, contain the whole nature, end, and effects of the sacrament. You are to look nowhere, nor in anything else, for the right knowledge of this sacrament, but in the right faith and knowledge of these two great points. And everything that they teach you, and everything that scripture teaches you of these two great points, is the only true doctrine of the sacrament.

[Dem-169] All that you know of Christ, as the atonement for our sins, all that you know of him, as a principle of life to us, is neither more nor less than that which you are to know, and confess, and appeal to, in and by the use of the sacrament. And indeed these two great points do so plainly show themselves, at first sight, to be in the words of the institution, that any man upon the bare reading of them, without any further knowledge, might justly say, If Christ is not an atonement for our sins, why is his body said to be given, and his blood shed for our sins? If he is not a food to our souls, or a principle of life to us, why are we commanded to eat his body, and drink his blood?

[Dem-170] So that though a man could not say, that these things were certainly true, or in what sense they were true, merely from the mention of them in the sacrament, yet he might justly say, that the words of the institution pointed at such truths, and could have no foundation, unless these things barely mentioned in it, were in the scriptures proved and declared to be true doctrines of the Christian religion.

[Dem-171] And as these two great points are so visibly plain in the sacrament, and constitute its whole nature; so as soon as we rightly understand what the scripture has taught concerning these points, they make known to us, in the shortest and plainest way, all the merit, dignity, and value of this sacrament, all the blessings and advantages derived to us from it, and all the pious dispositions with which we are to approach it. Hence it was that the apostles, after the day of Pentecost, when they had all their ignorance dispelled, yet gave us no further or particular explications of the nature of the sacrament; because as soon as it was known, that Christ was a real atonement and satisfaction for sins, and a real principle of life to us; as soon as these two great doctrines were known, the sacrament had all the explication it could possibly have.

[Dem-172] For no more can be known of the sacrament, than is signified by them. All that is great, mysterious, and adorable in these doctrines, as found in the scriptures, is equally great, mysterious and adorable in them as they are found in the sacrament.

[Dem-173] Needless therefore would all books be upon the nature of the sacrament, and the right preparation for it, did we but truly know and believe Christ to be the atonement and satisfaction for our sins, and a principle of life to us; for the belief of these things in the sacrament, would like the unction, spoken of by St. John, teach us all things concerning it; and we should have no need of other teaching.

[Dem-174] No one need then, as this author vainly does, enquire for some promise of scripture annexing a benefit to this sacrament, to know what good we are to receive by it. For the knowledge of these two great parts of the sacrament, would sufficiently show us the inestimable benefit that we receive by it.

[Dem-175] For if this sacrament is appointed by Jesus Christ, as the acknowledgement of his being the atonement of our sins, and a principle of life to us; if it is appointed to stand between him and us, as a declared proof on his side, that he is thus our atonement and life; and as a declared proof on our side, that we own, seek, and apply to him as such; and if this is not set as a mark once for all, but as a proof that is to be repeated continually, and that is to be made good to us, not by our once having done it, or he once owned it, but to be perpetually owned and done, both on his side and ours, can we want any other assurance of the benefit and advantage of observing this sacrament, than the thing itself by its own nature declares?

[Dem-176] For if we are in covenant with Christ, and have an interest in him, as our atonement and life; not because he once said, that this was his body and blood, given and shed for our sins, or because we once owned it, and pleaded it before him; but because he continues to say the same thing in the sacrament, and to present himself there to us as our atonement and life, and because we continue to own and apply to him as such; it necessarily follows, that the sacrament rightly used, is the highest means of finishing our salvation, and puts us in the fullest possession of all the benefits of our savior, both as he is our atonement and life, that we are then at that time capable of.

[Dem-177] For if the atonement of our sins by Christ, and that life which he communicates to us, is not to be considered as a transient matter, as something that is done and past, but as something that on the side of Christ is always doing, and never will be done, till the consummation of all things; if our applying to, and receiving Christ as our atonement and life, is not to be considered as a transient act, as something that is done and past, but as something that is always doing, and never will be done, till we depart out of a state of trial; then it follows, that that which is the appointed means or proof of Christ's continuing to communicate himself to us, as our atonement and life, and of our continuing to apply to, and receive him as such, is in its own nature, unless hindered by us, a certain means and instrument of conveying and imparting to us all the benefits of Christ, both as he is our atonement and life. To ask therefore for a particular promise annexed to this institution, which in its nature communicates to us all that ever was promised to us in a savior, is highly absurd.

[Dem-178] But after all, it can be truly said, that the scriptures are very full and particular in setting forth the benefits and advantages of the holy communion, to all those that have eyes that see, and ears that hear. For do not the scriptures plainly enough tell us of the benefit of believing, seeking, and applying to Christ as the atonement for our sins? And is not the benefit of this faith the benefit of the sacrament, if Christ is there believed, sought and applied to as our atonement?

[Dem-179] And is it not the sole end of the sacrament to continue, confirm and exercise this faith, to which all the blessings of our salvation are annexed? Therefore, all that the scriptures say of the riches and blessings, and treasures, which faith in Christ as our redeemer, can procure to us, all that they say of the benefit of that faith, which is absolutely required and exercised by this sacrament.

[Dem-180] Again, do not the scriptures plainly and frequently enough tell us of the benefit of the new birth in Christ, of the putting on Christ, of having Christ formed in us, of Christ's being our life, of our having life in him, of his being that bread from heaven, that bread of life, of which the manna was only a type; of his flesh being meat indeed, and his blood drink indeed; of our eating his flesh, and drinking his blood, and that without it we have no life in us; and are not all these things so many plain and open declarations of that which we seek and obtain, by eating the body and blood of Christ?

[Dem-181] For we eat the sacramental body and blood of Christ, to show that we want and desire, and by faith lay hold of the real, spiritual nature and being of Christ; to show that we want and desire, the progress of the new birth in Christ; to put on Christ, to have Christ formed and revealed in us, to have him our life, to partake of him our second Adam, in the same fullness and reality, as we partake of the nature of the first Adam: and therefore all that the scripture says of the benefits and blessings are sought and obtained by the eating the body and blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper. For to eat the body and blood of Christ, is neither more nor less than to put on Christ, to receive birth and life, and nourishment and growth from him; as the branch receives its being and life, and nourishment and growth from the vine. And because Christ is that to us, which the vine is to the branches, therefore there is a strict truth and reality in these expressions; and the same truth and reality, whether it be expressed, by saying, that we eat the flesh and blood of Christ, or that we put on Christ, or that Christ is formed, manifested or revealed in us.

[Dem-182] For if you could bid the branch to eat the substance and juice of the vine, the same must be intended, as if you had said, that the vine must be formed in the branch, or must manifest itself in the branch. So when it is said, that we must eat the flesh and blood of Christ, it is the same thing as saying, that Christ must be formed in us, or manifested in us.

[Dem-183] But you will perhaps say, How does it appear, that these expressions of putting on Christ, of Christ's being formed in us, of his being our life, the bread of life, and his flesh meat indeed, and his blood drink indeed; how does it appear, that these and the like places of scripture are to be understood sacramentally?

[Dem-184] I answer, it does not appear. And the question itself is as absurd, as if it was asked, How does it appear, that the scriptures are to be understood sacramentally? Whereas, if the question began at the right end, it should proceed thus, How does it appear, that the sacrament is to be understood scripturally, or according to the plain doctrines of scripture? Was the question thus put, as it ought to be, it would fall of itself. For surely it need not be proved, that the things spoken of Christ in the sacrament, are to be understood according to that which is spoken of Christ in the scripture. When our savior said in the sixth of St. John, "that his flesh was meat indeed, and his blood drink indeed, and that except a man eat his flesh, and drink his blood, he hath no life in him; and that he who eateth his flesh, and drinketh his blood, dwelleth in him, and he in him"; he did not speak of the sacrament, nor could possibly speak of it, for this plain reason, because he spoke of the truth, the reality, and the thing itself; for the sake of which, and for the application of which to ourselves, he afterwards instituted the sacrament.

[Dem-185] But if the sacrament was instituted for the sake of that truth and reality, of which he then spake; then the sacrament must be essentially related to that which he then said, and must have its meaning and end according to it.

[Dem-186] And if what he then said, was that truth and reality of the thing itself, and the sacrament was instituted as an outward sign, proof or declaration of it; then what he said in St. John, he spoke not of the sacrament; and yet what he instituted in the sacrament, has all its meaning according to that which he said in St. John.

[Dem-187] To ask, whether our savior meant the sacramental bread and wine, when he said, my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed, is as absurd as to ask, whether he did not mean the flesh and blood of some other person, when he said, my flesh and my blood?

[Dem-188] And, on the other hand, to ask, whether the sacramental bread and wine does not signify to us that flesh and blood which is our meat indeed, and drink indeed, is as absurd, as to ask, whether the appointed sign of a thing, does not signify that which it is appointed to signify?

[Dem-189] These two things therefore are evidently plain: First, that our savior in the sixth of St. John did not, could not possibly speak of his sacramental body and blood, or bread and wine, because he spoke of himself, of his real, natural, and true life, of which we must partake: Secondly, that what he calls his body and blood in the sacrament, or has appointed to be the signs of his body and blood, must be understood according to that which he has said in St. John, of his flesh which is meat indeed, and his blood which is drink indeed; for this plain reason, because the appointed sign of a thing must signify that which it is appointed to signify.

[Dem-190] Therefore in St. John there is nothing said of the sacrament; and yet what is said in the sacrament, is to be necessarily understood of that very thing which is said in St. John. And the reason is plain; for the thing is essentially different from that which is appointed to be a sign of it; therefore, he that speaks of the thing, cannot in speaking of that, speak of the sign. But the sign, as such, has all its nature from the thing that it is to signify; and therefore the thing itself must be meant by that which the sign speaks of.

[Dem-191] To say, as some do, that our savior could not speak of that in St. John, which is intended by the sacrament, because the sacrament was not then instituted, is very weak and unreasonable; for it is saying, that he could not then speak of a thing or doctrine, because he afterwards appointed something to be a sign or outward declaration of it. For if he had appointed an institution, or positive rite, which related to nothing that he had before taught, it must have been very unaccountable. Thus to command us to eat his body and blood in the sacrament, if he had not beforehand taught that we had our life from him, and that his flesh was our meat indeed, and his blood our drink indeed, had been very unaccountable. But seeing he had in the openest, plainest manner declared, that he was the life of men, and that except we eat his flesh and drink his blood we have no life in us; the command to eat bread and wine as his body and blood, is plain and intelligible; and we have the fullest assurance of the meaning of it, for this reason, because Christ had often, and long beforehand taught that truth, of which he afterwards appointed the sacrament to be an outward sign, and an outward means of our owning, confessing, and embracing it. Thus all the controversy about this place in St. John, and other like passages of scripture, is at an end, and has the most plain and satisfactory solution; such passages do not speak of the sacrament, because they speak of the thing itself, of which the sacrament is an appointed outward signification; but the sacrament directly speaks of, and points to those passages, because they contain that truth and reality which the sacrament is appointed to signify.

[Dem-192] For were not Christ our real life, there had not been any outward figure or declaration of it appointed; was there not a real eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ, was there not a true substantial putting on of Christ, or partaking of the nature of Christ, the sacramental eating and drinking of his body and blood, had not been appointed; there could have been no foundation for it; or if appointed, it could have had no meaning suitable to the words. But since that which is sacramentally figured or signified, by the eating and drinking the sacramental body and blood of Christ, is in the scriptures declared to be a real truth, since its reality is taught, declared and explained by various ways and manners of speech, it is undeniable, that the sacrament, which is an appointed figure, must be explained and asserted according to that truth and reality, of which it is the appointed figure.

[Dem-193] When our savior said, "he that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him": when he said, "I am the life"; and again, "I am the true vine, and ye are the branches," &c., he spake as much strict and real truth, and as much according to the letter, as when he said of himself, he came down from heaven, or that he is in the Father, and the Father in him. What is there said, is no more to be considered as a metaphor, or figure of speech, than when it is said, that God is our Father, or that in God we live, move, and have our being.

[Dem-194] For what is said of Christ, as our life, is as strictly true, as when it is said, that in God we live, and move, and have our being; and what is said of Christ's being the true vine, has the same real truth in it, as when God is said to be our Father.

[Dem-195] Had Christ indeed said, This vine is me, and these branches are ye, what he said must then have been as figurative, as when he said of the bread, "This is my body"; and his speaking so of a vine, must have been only a sign to us, that he was in truth and reality that to us, which the vine is in a poor, earthly, perishable manner to its branches. But seeing he does not speak of a vine, but speaks directly of himself, and says, that I am the true vine; it is as if he had said, I am the vine in truth and reality, as God is the Father of you all in truth and reality, because I am that in a true and real, and living manner to you, which the vine is in a poor, earthly, perishable manner to its branches.

[Dem-196] Therefore all that is here said, is the real truth, as far as human words can set it forth; and when it is said, that we must put on Christ, or that Christ must be formed in us, or that he is the true vine, and we are the branches, there is the same literal, real, immutable and eternal truth in these expressions, as when it is said, that "in God we live and move, and have our being," or that God is our Father, and we are his children.

[Dem-197] Now to deny that Christ is thus our life, is as great a denial of him, as to deny him to be the eternal Word, or the Son of God, or the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And to deny that we receive our life from him, or eat his flesh and blood in the same reality as the branch eateth of the substance and juice of the vine, and receiveth what it hath from it, is as great a denial of him, as if we deny that he came from heaven, and was in heaven, even when he was upon earth.

[Dem-198] But if we own these great truths, which are the very heart and substance of Christianity, if we know and acknowledge that we are thus of him, and by him, that our inward man, which is all that is Christian within us, has all its birth, life, and growth from Christ, as its principle, eating, drinking, and drawing in life from him, as the branch eats, drinks, and draws its life and substance from the vine; then we cannot be at a loss either to know what is meant by the sacrament, and the benefits we receive thereby, or to know what parts of scripture explain those benefits to us. Since it must appear to us beyond all doubt, that all that which the scriptures speak to us of Christ, as the atonement for our sins, and our peace with God, and all that they speak to us of our life in Christ, of his forming and manifesting himself in the birth and growth of our inward new man; is that which it speaks to us of the meaning and benefits of this holy sacrament, which is solely appointed as the figure of all this, as the application of all this to us, and as an established means of exercising, increasing and strengthening our faith in him, as he is all this to us.

[Dem-199] Here therefore is full room for all our devotion, and at the same time a full security against all delusion. For whilst we believe nothing of the sacrament, seek nothing in it, nor plead anything by it, but such scripture truths and benefits as we are obliged to believe, own and plead, though the sacrament had not been appointed, all the devotion which the sacrament thus raises in us, is as secure from delusion, has as much the stamp of truth upon it, and is as proper an exercise of solid piety, as when any thing or occasion excites us to an act of loving God with all our mind, and heart, and strength. For as we cannot too much esteem, love and adore our savior, both as he is the atonement for our sins, and a principle of life to us; so if the use of the sacrament quickens, nourishes, keeps up, and increases this esteem, love and adoration of him, as such, it cannot do this too much.

[Dem-200] For as we do nothing in the sacrament, but what is our natural duty, and good and right in itself; as we seek to Christ, trust in Christ, rely upon his merits, desire to have life in and from him, only in such a manner as we ought to do, though we were not assisted in it by the sacrament; so all this faith and hope, and love and desire, and devotion which we practice by means of the sacrament, has everything in it, that can prove to be right, and just, and good. And the want of this faith, hope, love, desire, adoration and devotion, is more blamable in the use of the sacrament than anywhere else, because it is there more properly required, and has the most proper object and occasion to excite it.

[Dem-201] You must therefore consider the sacrament purely as an object of your devotion, that is to exercise all your faith, that is to raise, exercise, and inflame every holy ardor of your soul that tends to God. It is an abstract, or sum of all the mysteries that have been revealed concerning our savior, from the first promise of a seed of the woman to bruise the serpent's head, to the day of Pentecost.

[Dem-202] As you can receive or believe nothing higher of our savior, than that he is the atonement for our sins, and a real principle of life to us; so every height and depth of devotion, faith, love, and adoration, which is due to God as your creator, is due to God as your redeemer.

[Dem-203] Jacob's ladder that reached from earth to heaven, and was filled with angels ascending and descending between heaven and earth, is but a small signification of that communion between God and man, which this holy sacrament is the means and instrument of.

[Dem-204] Now here it may be proper for you to observe, that whatever names or titles this institution is signified to you by, whether it be called a sacrifice propitiatory, or commemorative; whether it be called an holy oblation, the eucharist, the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the heavenly banquet, the food of immortality, or the holy communion, and the like, matters not much. For all these words or names are right and good, and there is nothing wrong in them, but the striving and contention about them.

[Dem-205] For they all express something that is true of the sacrament, and therefore are every one of them, in a good sense, rightly applicable to it; but all of them are far short of expressing the whole nature of the sacrament, and therefore the help of all of them is wanted.

[Dem-206] He therefore that contends for one name, as the only proper one in exclusion of the rest, is in the same mistake, as he that should contend for one name and character of our savior, as the only proper one, in exclusion of all the rest. For as all the names and titles by which Christ is described, from the seed of the woman in Genesis, to the Alpha and Omega in the last chapter of the Revelation, are only to help us to know, believe, and experience more of him as our savior, than can be expressed by all these different characters of him: so all the various names and titles given to the sacrament, are only to teach us to know, believe, and find more of our redemption and salvation in the sacrament, than can be pointed out to us by any or all these expressions.

[Dem-207] If you have yet known Christ in any true degree, what must you think of him, who should contend that the Lamb of God was the only proper character of our savior, and that therefore those other names, seed of the woman, root of David, bright and morning star, bread of life, tree of life, son of man, first-born of all creatures, Word of God, could not belong to him as our savior, because of the disagreement there is between a lamb, and the bread of life, or a tree of life?

[Dem-208] Now this is the learning this author is full of; from this scrupulous attention to words, and the ideas annexed to them, he rejects almost all the names by which the sacrament has ever been expressed.