See also: Holy Communion; Mass; Means of grace
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.
The Bible, 1 Corinthians 10:21
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
The Bible, 1 Corinthians 11:26–28
The Church of England has wisely forborne to use the term Real Presence in all the books set forth by her authority. We neither find it recommended in the Liturgy, nor the Articles, nor the Homilies, nor the Church Catechism, nor Nowell’s Catechism. For though it be once in the Liturgy, and once more in the Articles of 1552, it is mentioned in both places as a phrase of the Papists, and rejected for their abuse of it. So that if any Church of England man use it, he does more than the Church directs him; if any reject it, he has the Church’s example to warrant him.
Dean Aldrich
The proper effect of the Eucharist is the transformation of man into God.
Thomas Aquinas
Whereas it is ordained in this Office for the Administration of the Lord’s Supper, that the Communicants should receive the same kneeling; (which order is well meant, for a signification of our humble and grateful acknowledgment of the benefits of Christ therein given to all worthy Receivers, and for the avoiding of such profanation and disorder in the Holy Communion, as might otherwise ensue;) yet, lest the same kneeling should by any persons, either out of ignorance and infirmity, or out of malice and obstinacy, be misconstrued and depraved; It is hereby declared, That thereby no adoration is intended, or ought to be done, either unto the Sacramental Bread or Wine there bodily received, or unto any corporal presence of Christ’s natural Flesh and Blood. For the Sacramental Bread and Wine remain still in their very natural substances, and therefore may not be adored; (for that were Idolatry, to be abhorred of all faithful Christians;) and the natural Body and Blood of our Savior Christ are in Heaven, and not here; it being against the truth of Christ’s natural Body to be at one time in more places than one.
Book of Common Prayer, Rubric at the end of the Communion Service
The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ to be administered with the elements of bread and wine, and to be observed by His Churches until the end of the world. It is in no sense a sacrifice, but is designed to commemorate his death, to confirm the faith and other graces of Christians, and to be a bond, pledge and renewal of their communion with him, and of their church fellowship.
James Boice
Although [at the Lord’s Supper] my mind can think beyond what my tongue can utter, yet even my mind is conquered and overwhelmed by the greatness of the thing. Therefore nothing remains but to break forth in wonder at this mystery, which plainly neither the mind is able to conceive nor the tongue to express.
John Calvin
As concerning the form of doctrine used in this Church of England in the Holy Communion, that the Body and Blood of Christ be under the forms of bread and wine, when you shall show the place where this form of words is expressed, then shall you purge yourself from that which in the meantime I take to be a plain untruth.
Thomas Cranmer
But every Lord’s day, do ye gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one that is at variance with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. For this is that which was spoken by the Lord.
Didache
The Lord’s Supper (re)-presents the death of Christ and proclaims that death in and through the shared celebration.
James D.G. Dunn
‘Twas God the word that spake it,
He took the bread and brake it;
And what the word did make it,
That I believe, and take it.
Elizabeth I, when asked what she believed about the presence of Christ in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
The four views which have unhappily divided the Christian world on the subject of the sacrament [i.e., Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper or the Mass] are the following:
1. The Romish doctrine, or transubstantiation. This maintains the absolute change of the elements into the actual body and blood of Christ; so that though the elements of bread and wine remain present to the senses, they are no longer what they seem, being changed into the body, blood, and divinity of Christ.
2. The Lutheran view, called consubstantiation. This maintains that after consecration the body and blood of Christ are substantially present, but nevertheless that the bread and wine are present, unchanged.
3. The Anglican view – that Christ is present in the sacrament only after the spiritual manner, and that his body and blood are eaten by the faithful after a spiritual, and not after a carnal manner, to the maintenance of their spiritual life and their growth in grace.
4. The Zwinglian, which declares the sacrament to be no channel of grace, but only a commemorative feast, admitting only a figurative presence of Christ’s body and blood.
Alas! that prisons should have been peopled, and thousands immolated on the pyre, for the sake of opinions; and that nothing but death could atone for the horrible crime of individual judgment, instead of allowing each to stand or fall to their own master.
John Foxe
To eat or drink unworthily is not to eat and drink with a consciousness of unworthiness, for such a sense of ill desert is one of the conditions of acceptable communion. It is not the whole, but the consciously sick whom Christ came to heal. Nor is it to eat with doubt and misgiving of our being duly prepared to come to the Lord’s table; for such doubts, although an evidence of a weak faith, indicate a better state of mind than indifference or false security. In the Larger Catechism of our Church, in answer to the question, whether one who doubts of his being in Christ, may come to the Lord’s supper, it is said,
“One who doubteth of his being in Christ, or of his due preparation to the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, may have true interest in Christ, though he be not yet assured thereof, and in God’s account hath it, if he be duly affected with the apprehension of the want of it, and unfeignedly desires to be found in Christ, and to depart from iniquity. In which case (because promises are made, and this sacrament is appointed, for the relief even of weak and doubting Christians) he is to bewail his unbelief, and labor to have his doubts resolved, and so doing, he may and ought to come to the Lord’s supper, that he may be further strengthened.”
To eat or drink unworthily is in general to come to the Lord’s table in a careless, irreverent spirit, without the intention or desire to commemorate the death of Christ as the sacrifice for our sins, and without the purpose of complying with the engagements which we thereby assume. The way in which the Corinthians ate unworthily was, that they treated the Lord’s table as though it were their own; making no distinction between the Lord’s supper and an ordinary meal; coming together to satisfy their hunger, and not to feed on the body and blood of Christ; and refusing to commune with their poorer brethren. This, though one, is not the only way in which men may eat and drink unworthily. All that is necessary to observe is, that the warning is directly against the careless and profane, and not against the timid and the doubting.
Charles Hodge
The real presence of Christ’s most blessed body and blood is not to be sought for in the sacrament, but in the worthy receiver of the sacrament.
Richard Hooker
Take great care to keep one Eucharist, for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup to unite us by his blood.
Ignatius of Antioch (being the first occasion on which the word Eucharist [thanksgiving] was applied to the Lord’s Supper)
I desire God’s bread, which is the flesh of Christ who was from David’s seed; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible.
Ignatius of Antioch
There is a change in the bread and wine, and such a change as no power but the omnipotency of God can make, in that that which before was bread should now have the dignity to exhibit Christ’s body. And yet the bread is still bread, and the wine is still wine. For the change is not in the nature but in the dignity.
Hugh Latimer
In short, the Mass itself and anything that proceeds from it, and anything that is attached to it, we cannot tolerate, but must condemn, in order that we may retain the holy Sacrament pure and certain, according to the institution of Christ, employed and received through faith.
Martin Luther
The words of the priests do not transform the bread into Christ’s body or the wine into His blood. Christ is present no matter what words are spoken or ceremonies performed.
Martin Luther
The sacrament is the eaten word of God.
Martin Luther
The sacraments have been given to us in order to stimulate our faith. In fact, they are means of grace mainly because they are means of faith. And the Lord’s Supper is a means of faith because it sets forth in dramatic visual symbolism the good news that Christ died for our sins in order that we might be forgiven.
John Stott
The flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ so that the soul may be fattened on God.
Tertullian
This meal is for sinners only.
David Watson
Author of life divine,
Who hast a table spread,
Furnished with mystic wine
And everlasting bread,
Preserve the life thyself hast given,
And feed and train us up for heaven.
John Wesley
Lord’s Supper,
Preparation for
John Willison
A proposal for young communicants, for expressly renewing the baptismal engagements, before their first admission to the Lord’s table.
The Young Communicant’s Catechism
Question 1. What moves you to seek access to the Lord’s table?
Answer. The Lord’s command, and because I desire to renew my baptismal engagements, and declare myself a Christian by my own free choice and consent, and would join myself unto the Lord by my own voluntary act and deed.
Q. 2. Why do you desire to do so?
A. Because, when I got the first seal of the covenant, namely, baptism, I knew not what was done for me, nor was I capable to consent to my parents’ deed; but now, when I am come to some knowledge and capacity, I am willing to declare, that I make religion my free choice, and reasonable service.
Q. 3. Why do you come so early? Will it not be soon enough to mind religion in old age?
A. No; for besides that I may die young, these who neglect religion, and give themselves up to the world, or the flesh in their youth, do fall into hardness of heart, from which few recover.
Q. 4. What is the most proper season to seek acquaintance with Christ and religion?
A. The time of youth, because in this age the heart is more easily melted, and the habits of vice are not so riveted as afterward; and because God has a special delight in early piety.
Q. 5. What views then have you got of your natural state and condition?
A. I do see it to be a most sinful, wretched, and helpless case; I am condemned to perish under a load of guilt and wrath, having broke the covenant of works, which I cannot fulfill, offended the justice of God, which I cannot satisfy, and lost the image of God, and my precious soul, which I cannot recover. O what shall I do to be saved?
Q. 6. Where do you look for relief?
A. Only to Jesus Christ, who hath, in his free love to lost sinners, undertaken as Surety and Mediator in the new covenant, which is exhibited and sealed to believers at the Lord’s table.
Q. 7. What views have you got of that covenant which is there sealed?
A. I see the way of salvation laid down in it through the suretyship and righteousness of Jesus Christ, to be an excellent contrivance, well-ordered in all things and sure. I look upon it as a device every way worthy of God, and of infinite wisdom, and I do heartily approve of it, consent to it, and desire to come and venture my soul and eternal salvation upon it.
Q. 8. What think you of the love of God, that was the spring of this new covenant?
A. I view it as wonderful and amazing; I admire the love of the Father, in contriving and sending his beloved Son to execute it; I admire the love of the Son of God, in undertaking to be a Surety and sacrifice for lost sinners of Adam’s race, when the sinning angels were passed by, and left to perish forever; and I admire the love of the Holy Ghost, in undertaking to apply that redemption to lost elect sinners, by working in them conviction, conversion, and faith in Jesus Christ.
Q. 9. With what disposition do you come to renew your baptismal covenant?
A. I desire to sense my guilt in breaking this covenant, in running away from Christ’s flag, in going over to Satan’s camp, and in standing so long out against Christ’s calls and offers; and I desire now to return to the Lord as a penitent prodigal, and a mourning backslider, with my face toward Zion, weeping as I go, willing to renew my baptismal vows with others, saying, Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten. And, in a word, I desire to go to a broken Christ with a broken heart.
Q. 10. What is that baptismal vow or covenant, which you design to renew?
A. According to my engagement and dedication in baptism, I desire expressly to own and acknowledge the only living and true God as my God in Christ, as he offers himself in the covenant of grace; and to give up myself, soul and body to him, to be for him and not for another. And I design, in the most solemn manner, to go and renounce all the enemies of the Holy Trinity, namely, the devil, the world, and the flesh; and to declare my acceptance of God the Father as my Father, of God the Son as my Redeemer, and of God the Holy Ghost as my Sanctifier; in whose blessed name I was baptized, and to whose service and glory I was dedicated.
Q. 11. What do you think of Jesus Christ, the Mediator of the covenant?
A. I think him a matchless Person, and an excellent and all-sufficient Savior; and I am content to accept him in all his offices, namely, as a Prophet to instruct and teach me, as a Priest to atone and intercede for me, and as a King to rule in me and over me.
Q. 12. What do you think of your own righteousness and strength with respect to your salvation?
A. I look upon my own righteousness and strength as insufficient to answer the demands of God’s law, and therefore I renounce them, and flee to a Surety for both, saying, In the Lord Jesus only have I righteousness and strength; and I am content and resolved to make use of a borrowed strength for my performing of duty, and of a borrowed righteousness for my acceptance in duty.
Q. 13. How do you like this self-denying way of saving lost souls?
A. I am well pleased with it, as it makes me an eternal debtor to free grace, as it doth exclude all boasting and glorying in the creature, and ascribes all the glory of my salvation to Christ only; as it takes the crown off the head of self, and puts it upon the head of glorious Christ.
Q. 14. How do you relish the kingly office of Jesus Christ?
A. I am well pleased therewith, and content to take Christ as a King to govern me by his laws, as well as a Priest to save me by his blood; nay, I am desirous he may come in as a King, and execute his kingly office in my soul; that he may set up his throne in my heart, subdue indwelling sin, and conquer all my rebellious lusts and corruption.
Q. 15. What view have you of the Holy Ghost, the third person in the Trinity, and of his office in the business of saving souls?
A. I look upon him as the blessed applier of Christ’s purchase unto me, and do accept him as such; and I am willing to give up myself to him, to convince, enlighten, renew, sanctify and guide me; and I believe he is as willing and ready to make the application, as Christ was to make the purchase; and therefore I desire to trust him for this blessed effect.
Q. 16. What think you of the things of this world as a portion to the soul?
A. I look upon all its profits, honors, and pleasures, to be insufficient to suit the soul’s desires, and that they are nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit; and therefore I will never set my heart upon the world as my portion: it is only the enjoyment of God reconciled in Christ, that can afford complete satisfaction to my soul; and this only I choose for my happiness and portion.
Q. 17. What do you think of the world to come?
A. I look upon it, and the things thereof, as awful, certain, and very near. I look upon hell as the eternal habitation of unbelievers; but I view heaven as the country and dwelling place of the followers of the Lamb, with whom I desire to join, to seek that country, and dwell with them forever.
Q. 18. What do you think of a holy and religious life?
A. I think a religious life, or a life spent in the service of God, and in communion with him, the most pleasant and comfortable life that a man can live in the world.
Q. 19. How do you think to attain to holiness for living this life?
A. I look upon Jesus Christ as the Purchaser of holiness as well as of happiness, as he, who, by his death, hath obtained the Holy Spirit to effectuate the new birth, and form the image of God in his people; and therefore desire to come to Christ and his blood for sanctification, as well as for justification; for conformity and likeness to God, as well as for access to fellowship and communion with God, and I will plead, that he may send his Holy Spirit unto my soul, for producing holiness, and all the graces of the Spirit.
Q. 20. What view have you got of the promises of the covenant, and their usefulness?
A. I look upon them as the ground of all my faith and hope, and I desire to make daily use of them, and to plead them with God for strength to perform every duty, and for perseverance in all the steps of my pilgrimage; and I resolve to have recourse to him in every strait and difficulty.
Q. 21. As you profess willingness to accept God in Christ as your God, are ye not also willing to dedicate yourself to him for his use and service?
A. Yes, I am willing (I hope through grace) to give up and surrender unto the Lord myself, and all that belongs unto me, my soul and body, with all their powers, faculties, senses, members, and enjoyments, to be instruments of his glory, and to be disposed of him for his use and service at his pleasure.
Q. 22. How do you instruct your willingness to give up and surrender the powers and faculties of your soul unto the Lord?
A. I think I am willing to dedicate and give up my understanding to the Lord, to contemplate his perfections, and know his will; my memory to him, to retain and treasure up his gracious promises and counsels; my will to him, to choose and refuse every thing according to his will, and to comply therewith in all things, and my conscience to him, to be his deputy, to accuse and excuse according to his direction.
Q. 23. Do you also resign and give up the passions and affections of your soul unto the Lord?
A. Yes, I give up and dedicate my passion of grief to the Lord, to mourn for every thing that is offensive to him; my hatred, to abhor every thing that is hateful to him; my desires, to long for his presence; my love, to embrace and entertain him; my delight and joy, to solace myself, and to acquiesce cheerfully in him as my soul’s portion and happiness.
Q. 24. In what respects do you resign your bodily senses and members to the Lord?
A. I give up my eyes, to read his word, and behold his wondrous works; my ears to hear his word, and attend to his counsels; my taste, smell, and feeling, to discern and relish his sweetness and excellence in the creatures; my tongue, to proclaim his praise, and commend his ways and service; my hands to help his people; and my feet to walk in paths pleasing to him.
Q. 25. How do you resign your enjoyments and comforts to the Lord?
A. I resign my time, my health, my talents, my opportunities, my relations, my gifts, my interest, my power, my wisdom, my substance, my honor, my reputation, and all I have in the world, unto the Lord, to be employed and disposed of by him for his glory, as he thinks proper.
Q. 26. What view have you now of sin, and of these sins you once esteemed as your right hand and right eye?
A. I see and abhor them as the enemies and crucifiers of my Lord Jesus, and as the very nails and spear that pierced him, and desire to throw them out of my heart, and to cut off every right hand and pluck out every right eye, and to renounce all ungodliness and all beloved lusts, and count no sin too dear to part with for Jesus Christ my Lord.
Q. 27. What do you think now of companions in sin and their invitations to join them in sin?
A. I am convinced of their folly, and resolve never to follow the multitude to do evil, nor to join them in any of the common sins of the age, and steadfastly (through grace) to avoid the snares, and resist the temptations of evil company; saying, with David, Depart from me, ye evil doers, for I will keep the commandments of my God.
Q. 28. What thoughts have you of the people of God and these who bear his image?
A. I look upon them as God’s precious jewel, the excellent ones of the earth, and the most desirable company in the world.
Q. 29. But what will you think of them when you see them few and despised?
A. I resolve through grace to join Christ’s little flock, his praying, and sin-hating flock, though they be few in number; desire to love them above all others, and to accept them as my fellow travelers to the heavenly Zion, and that notwithstanding their being despised or reproached by the world.
Q. 30. But what do you think of the cross, and of sharp persecution, that sometimes accompany the confessing of Christ?
A. I desire to take Christ with his cross, as well as with his crown; and to welcome the world’s hatred, reproaches, injuries, or any kind of trouble or persecution I may meet with for confessing Christ, his truth, and ways.
Q. 31. What think ye of the holy scriptures?
A. I believe they are inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, I value them above all books, I accept them thankfully as a guide through the wilderness, a light to my feet, and a lamp to my paths, and a treasure of comforts and cordials suitable for me in all cases and difficulties, which I desire always to search into and study to be acquainted with.
Q. 32. What do you think of the Lord’s Day?
A. I regard it as holy and honorable; and as a standing testimony of the perfection of Christ’s sacrifice; I look upon it as the best day of the week, as being Christ’s weekly market day, for needy souls, which I resolve to improve carefully for getting provision for my soul through the rest of the week.
Q. 33. What do you think of gospel ordinances?
A. I look upon the word, sacraments, prayer, and praise, to be God’s institutions, and means of conveying grace to souls. I thankfully accept them, as needful helps in the way to heaven, and as meeting places between God and my soul; and I desire to make it my main errand in attending them to meet with him therein.
Q. 34. What do you think of the Lord’s Supper that you have in view?
A. I look upon it as Christ’s banqueting house, and spiritual feast, which in his love he hath provided for refreshing and strengthening his people’s souls, while traveling through this wilderness: desire to bless God for it, and to accept it as a rare privilege, a quickener of grace, a memorial of redeeming love, and a pledge of Christ’s second coming.
Q. 35. What do you think of the duty of prayer?
A. I look upon it not only as my great duty, but also as an honorable privilege, seeing hereby I have access to converse with God; and therefore I resolve, through grace, to live a life of prayer and acquaintance with God, in and through Christ, all my days, and that I will always go to God and consult with him in all cases and difficulties.
Q. 36. What do you think of the rest of the duties of Christianity, and of all these which the moral law enjoins?
A. I look upon the law (which Christ hath adopted into the covenant of grace, as a rule of life to his people) to be holy, just, and good; and the duties enjoined by it to be most reasonable, calculated for the glory of God and his people’s good. The gospel, which is the doctrine of grace, doth strongly enforce this law, by teaching us sobriety with respect to ourselves, righteousness with respect to our neighbor, and godliness with respect to God; and the love of Christ doth mightily constrain us to the diligent performance of all these moral duties.
Q. 37. What do you think of the rods and afflictions which attend the children of God?
A. I believe they are fatherly chastisements for our good; and that they are wisely and seasonably ordered by him, who hedges up his people’s way with thorns, that they may not find their crooked paths, and therefore I desire to submit to the rod, as the needful discipline of Christ’s house, and to welcome his convictions and reproofs, as well as his comforts and smiles; and to bless him for afflictions as well as for mercies.
Q. 38. What do you think of the life of faith?
A. I believe it to be the most happy life, and that it ought to be the daily life of God’s people while in this world. And I desire to study and learn this noble life of faith, and of dependence upon the Son of God, and to make daily use of his blood and righteousness to cover my guilt, and of his grace and strength to enable me to perform duty, conquer sin, resist temptation, and bear affliction.
Q. 39. What do you think of the spiritual warfare which Christ calls you to?
A. I look upon that war as just and honorable; and therefore do come in a volunteer at the sound of the gospel trumpet, to enlist myself a soldier under Christ’s banner, I do forever abandon the devil’s camp, and am willing to swear allegiance to Christ Jesus, to take up arms for him, and to fight against his enemies, the world, the devil, and the flesh, all the days of my life. I resolve never to make peace with these enemies, nor agree to a cessation of arms. I will never wittingly nor willingly reset, nor give harbor to, the bosom traitors of indwelling lusts and corruptions; but under the conduct of my glorious Captain, and in his strength, I will carry on the war, till I attain to that complete victory which is promised to all believers in Christ.
Q. 40. What do you think of these who are deserters and runaways from Christ’s standard?
A. I look upon them as guilty of the greatest madness, and exposed to the greatest wrath, seeing Christ’s soul can take no pleasure in these who draw back from him; and therefore I purpose, through grace, to keep close by my Captain, and to adhere to his cause and interest all the days of my life.
Q. 41. In whose strength is it that you engage to all these parts and articles of the covenant?
A. Only in the strength of Jesus Christ my Head and Surety, who hath undertaken for me, and promised to make his grace forthcoming to me. Wherefore I altogether distrust my own strength and resolution, and betake myself to borrowed strength. I resolve never to trust in my promise to Christ, but in Christ’s promise to me, that he will never leave me, nor forsake me.
Q. 42. Will you satisfy yourself with a public profession and engaging to these things before men?
A. No; I will, through grace, profess and declare all these things also in secret before God. And I will give my consent to all the parts and articles of God’s covenant of grace, in the most serious and self-denied manner: and I will, by grace, bind and engage myself to them, by entering into secret transaction, or personal covenant with God, through Christ, before I come to take the seal of God’s covenant. And afterwards I will adventure, in his strength, to approach to his holy table, to ratify and seal this bargain before men and angels.
John Willison (1680–1750)
Minister at Dundee, Scotland, was a prominent voice against the spiritual laxity of the mid-eighteenth-century Church of Scotland.
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