There are three things whereby Christ makes good this promise, and is with his church to the end of the world : —
First. By his Spirit. " Where," saith he, " two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them," Matt, xviii. 20; — by his quickening, guiding, directing Spirit, as a Spirit of grace and supplication, as a Spirit of light and holiness, and as a Spirit of comfort.
Secondly. Christ is present with us by his word. Saith the apostle, Col. hi. 16, " Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly," or plenti- fully. And how then? " Then," saith he, Eph. iii. 1 7, " Christ dwelleth in your hearts by faith." The word dwelleth in us plentifully, if mixed with faith ; and Christ dwelleth in us, — he is present with us by his word.
Thirdly. Christ is present with us in an especial manner in this ordinance. One of the greatest engines that ever the devil made use of to overthrow the faith of the church was, by forging such a presence of Christ as is not truly in this ordinance, to drive us off from looking after that great presence which is true. I look upon it as one of the greatest engines that ever hell set on work. It is not a corporeal presence ; there are innumerable arguments against that. Every thing that is in sense, reason, and the faith of a man, overthrows that cor- poreal presence. But I will remind you of one or two texts where- with it is inconsistent. The first is that in John xvi. 7, " Nevertheless," saith our Saviour, " it is expedient for you that I go away : for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you." The corporeal presence of Christ, and the evangelical presence of the Holy Ghost as the Comforter, in the New Testament, are inconsistent. " I must go away, or the Comforter will not come." But he so went away as to his presence as to come again with his bodily presence as often as the priests call! No; saith Peter, Acts iii. 21, " The heaven must receive him." For how long? " Till the time of the restitution of all things." — " I go away as to my bodily presence, or the Comforter will not come." And when he is gone away, the heaven must receive him until the time of the restitution of all things. We must not, therefore, look after such a presence.
I will give you a word or two what is the presence of Christ with us in this ordinance, what is our duty, and how we may meet with Christ when he is thus present with us ; which is the work I have in hand. Christ is present in this ordinance in an especial man- ner three ways: — I. By representation ; II. By exhibition; III. By obsignation or sealing.
SACRAMENTAL DISCOURSES. 573
I. He is present here by representation. So in a low, shadowy way God was present in the tabernacle, in the temple, in the ark and mercy-seat; they had a representation of his glory. But Christ here hath given us a more eminent and clear representation of himself. I will name but two things: —
1. A representation of himself, as he is the food of our souls.
2. A representation of himself as he suffered for our sins. These are two great ways whereby Christ is represented as the food
of our souls in the matter of the ordinance; and Christ as suffering for our sins, is represented in the manner of the ordinance ; both by his own appointment. The apostle saith, Gal. iii. 1, " Jesus Christ was evidently crucified before their eyes." " Evidently crucified " doth not intend particularly this ordinance, but the preaching of the gospel, which gave a delineation, a picture, and image of the cruci- fixion of Christ unto the faith of believers. But of all things that belong unto the gospel, he is most evidently crucified before our eyes in this ordinance ; and it is agreed on all hands that Christ is repre- sented unto the soul in this ordinance. How shall we do this? shall we do it by crucifixes, pictures, and images? No; they are all cursed of that God who said, " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image." But that way by which God himself, and Christ himself, hath appointed to represent these things unto us, — that he blesses and makes effectual. This way, as I have often showed, is the way that was chosen by the wisdom and goodness of Jesus Christ ; the name of God is upon it; it is blessed unto us, and will be effectual, if we are not wanting to ourselves.
II. Christ is present with us by way of exhibition ; that is, he doth really tender and exhibit himself unto the souls of believers in this ordinance ; which the world hath lost, and knows not what to make of it. They [the symbols] exhibit that which they do not contain. This bread doth not contain the body of Christ, or the flesh of Christ; the cup doth not contain the blood of Christ : but they exhibit them ; both do as really exhibit them to believers as they partake of the outward signs. Certainly we believe that our Lord Jesus Christ doth not in- vite us unto this table for the bread that perishes, for outward food: it is to feed our souls. What do we think, then? doth he invite us unto an empty, painted feast? do we deal so with our friends? Here is some- thing really exhibited by Jesus Christ unto us to receive, besides the outward pledges of bread and wine. We must not think the Lord Jesus Christ deludes our souls with empty shows and appearances. That which is exhibited is himself; it is " his flesh as meat indeed, and his blood as drink indeed;" it is himself as broken and crucified that he exhibits unto us. And it is the fault and sin of every one of us, if we do not receive him this day, when an exhibition and tender