A Compendium of the Chief Doctrines of the True Christian Religion/Chapter 33
XXXIII. The Holy Supper.
BAPTISM being an introduction into the church, the holy supper may be considered as an introduction into heaven, being intended to open a more direct and immediate communication with heaven, and also with the Lord himself, than is usually effected by any of the other ceremonies of the church. It is, therefore, the most sacred and solemn of all worship. How such an effect is produced by means of the holy supper, cannot be comprehended by those, who confine their ideas to the mere literal expression of the Word; for they imagine, either with the Roman Catholics, that the elements of bread and wine are miraculously converted into the real natural body of the Lord, which hung upon the cross, or else with the Protestants, that they were enjoined merely as memorials of the Lord's crucifixion, whereby divine justice was satisfied, the wrath of the Father appeased, and the redemption of man accomplished. It is from a knowledge of the internal or spiritual sense of the Word only, that the real uses of the holy supper can be discerned; and this teaches what is truly signified by the Lord's body and blood, what by the bread and wine, and what by eating and drinking thereof.
According to this sense, by the Lord's body or flesh is meant his divine love and goodness towards the whole race of mankind; which love is embodied in, and proceeds from, his Divine Humanity, through the medium of his Holy Word: this is represented and signified by the bread. By the Lord's blood is meant his divine wisdom and truth, likewise embodied in, and proceeding from, his Divine Humanity, through the medium of his Word: this is represented and signified by the wine. Eating and drinking denote the reception and appropriation, on man's part, of the heavenly influences of love, charity, and true faith, represented by the bread and wine, and at the same time conjunction with the Lord, which constitutes heaven and eternal life.
That this interpretation of the Lord's flesh and blood is in agreement with his own doctrine concerning himself, his divine love, and his divine wisdom, is plain from these his words in the Gospel by John, "I am the living bread, which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread, that I will give, is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Verily verily I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise hiin up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him," John vi. 51, 53 to 56. Now since nothing can nourish the spiritual life of man, but that which is itself spiritual, it is evident, that by the Lord's flesh and by bread is meant his divine good, that by his blood is meant his divine truth, and that by eating and drinking is meant the reception of both in heart and in life.
It may be further observed, in illustration of the uses effected by the holy supper, that the angels, who are present with man while he partakes of it, have no other perception of the bread and wine then taken, than what is spiritual: and hence the very expressions, bread, wine, body, flesh, and blood, as well as the act of eating and drinking, excite in their minds both the ideas and the affections of love, charity, and faith; the consequence of which is, that an immediate communication of holy and heavenly influence from them, or rather through them from the Lord, takes place with all such as are in a fit state for it's reception. In this way the holy supper, which may well be denominated the very marriage-supper of the Lamb, is productive of consociation with the angels of heaven, and of conjunction with the Lord himself. For though celebrated on earth, the Bridegroom actually honours the repast with his divine presence; and at one and the same table angels and men promiscuously feed. Yea, and "they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures," Ps. xxxvi. 8.
Since therefore the Lord is present in the holy supper with the divine good of his love, and the divine truth of his wisdom, which are the universals of heaven and the church, it follows, that the particulars depending upon them are also included and contained in it. That the Lord is present therein as to his Humanity, is plain from these express words of the institution, "This is my body; this is my blood:" and as his Divinity can no more be separated from his humanity, than the soul can from it's body, without the loss of life, we conclude, that the Lord is wholly and completely present in the holy supper, as well with respect to his Essential Divinity, as with respect to his Glorified Humanity: and wherever these are acknowledged and adored, there is heaven, there is the church, and there are the fruits of redemption.
