We often think of salvation as the pivotal issue of the Reformation. Crucial though it was, part of the Reformers' concern for a recovery of Biblical truth was a right understanding of the sacraments. Though the abuse of Jesus' gift to His Church provoked strong, and at times polarised, positions from the early Reformers, Calvin's view was adopted by the Westminster Assembly and became the standard for many of our churches. That said, I dare say that were a poll to be taken today as to the purpose and benefit of the sacrament within our congregations, we might encounter many scratched heads. Is there a communication of grace through the sacrament or merely a helpful aid to failing memories? If we have received Christ through the hearing of the Gospel, why do we need the sacrament? If we have received grace, can we receive more grace? It's with questions like these that Robert Bruce (1554-1631) is able to help. He preached a series of sermons in 1589 that were so well received that they have been in print ever since, and were thought by the editor of the 1614 edition 'worthy to be written in letters of gold'. It's not that Bruce adds anything to Calvin's excellent work on the Supper, but that in the context of congregational ministry he is able to communicate with a pastor's sensitivity and understanding to a congregation of folk just like you and me.
1. What is a Sacrament?
Bruce tells us that a sacrament is 'a (a) holy sign and (b) seal that is (c) annexed to the preached Word of God to seal up and confirm the truth contained in the same Word'.
a. As a sign the sacrament in both the elements and actions points us in a very visceral manner to the reality of Jesus' sacrifice for our sins. The bread and the breaking of it point to the flesh of our Lord as well as His 'pain, anguish and distress of heart under the weight and indignation of the wrath of God'. The wine and the pouring of it point to His blood and its separation from His flesh. However, as a sacramental sign the Lord's Supper actually delivers Christ and His benefits to the believer because of a God-ordained connection between the sign and the thing signified. Bruce said, 'I call them signs because they have the Body and Blood of Christ conjoined with them. Indeed, so truly is the Body of Christ conjoined with the bread, and the Blood of Christ conjoined with the wine, that as soon as you receive the bread in your mouth (if you are a faithful man or woman) you receive the Body of Christ in your soul'. Why? A picture or an idea of Jesus cannot save you. As with a decent meal, in order to get the benefits, you can't just look at it. And in the same way, if we are to enjoy the benefits of Jesus, we must receive Him.4 Our Lord says, 'this is my Body'. This iS a promise which, rightly understood, indicates the presence of Christ and His benefit in the Sacrament. Other texts like 1 Cor 12:13 describe the sacraments as truly conveying the spiritual benefits they represent.
b. In times past, any official document would have been given a seal, a wax lump imprinted with the mark of the authority that stood behind it, in order to confirm its authenticity to the recipient, The Sacrament as a seal confirms that Christ is truly delivered to the faithful recipient.' It is as though you were given the title and deed to a piece of land. You are then in no doubt about the lawful possession of that land. Well, when you receive the sacrament in faith, you lawfully receive possession of Jesus Christ, and are in no doubt that He is truly yours.
c. It is crucial to catch that the Word is part of the definition of a sacrament. We are reminded that the sacrament must be regulated by the express commands and instructions of our Lord and His Apostles, which safeguards us from all the profanations of Rome and others, for example removing the cup from the people of God. The moment you cease to have a sacrament regulated by the Word, it is no longer a sacrament.
2. What is the purpose of the Sacrament?
There are four.
1. It is a public testimony to the whole world that we 'avow and worship Christ', and 'that we might also testify of our love towards His members, our brothers'. What a great display to the world of our collective dependence on Christ, and bond in Him, as we humbly and reverently gather around His table.
2. It is an opportunity for thanksgiving; every time we come, we have set before us all that He has done for us.
3. It is sovereign medicine for all our diseases. It is a regular call to repentance, an invitation to reconciliation, a declaration of assurance, one that can remove all doubts and fears.
4. It is nourishment for the soul. As the 'bread is able to nourish your body for this earthly and temporal life; so the flesh of of Christ, signified by the bread, is able to nourish both body and soul to everlasting life'.
3. How do we receive Christ through the Sacrament?
We've said that the sacrament truly delivers Jesus, and that this is because of a God-ordained connection between the sign and the thing signified. But what is the nature of that connection, and how does it work? It is not that the bread and body of Christ occupy the same physical place (against the Lutheran teaching of consubstantiation). Nor is the physical flesh of Christ in any way present (against the Roman Catholic teaching of transubstantiation). Our Lord has a real body and He is seated at the right hand of our Father in Heaven.
As Bruce points out, if the things signified were physically present, the sign would be redundant.13 What then iS the connection? It is a sacramental connection. It is of a 'mystical, secret, and spiritual' nature, one that cannot be fully explained or demonstrated, but one that is to be perceived with the 'heavenly eye', that is of faith.In order to understand the connection we must think about it within the broader category of our union with Christ. How is it that we are united to Christ? Through the Holy Spirit and faith. It is through the operation of the Spirit alone that we enjoy any participation in Christ. It is the Spirit who seals Him up in our hearts, and confirms US more and more in Him' (2 Cor 1:20-22, 1 Cor 6:17, John 3:6), There is no union with Christ apart from the Spirit and therefore the connection between Christ and the believer in the sacrament must be of a spiritual nature.16 It is also by faith. Spirit-enabled faith apprehend Christ as He is offered to us, and He is is offered to us in the Supper. Bruce uses as an illustration the woman with the flow of blood. She reached out and grabbed the hem of Christ's garment, not his flesh, and power went out of Him to heal her. How so? Because 'with faith, which is the hand of the soul, she touched her Saviour, God and man'. Faith was the instrument through which she received grace from Christ. And this is confirmed by His words, 'go your way, your faith has saved you'. As Jesus Christ is received by faith through the Spirit under the ministry of the Word, He is likewise received under the ministry of the Sacrament. Is He then present in the Supper? Yes. 'Not in the bread and wine, nor in the accidents or substance of bread and wine. We hold that Christ is present in the Supper because He is present to our soul, to our spirit and faith' He IS is not present outwardly and physically, but inwardly and spiritually. But can something be truly ours if it is set at a great distance from us? Yes. Again with the example of a a title and deed to a piece of land, it may be very far from you physically, but it is no less yours than if you were standing upon it. Can we truly know the benefits of a thing a far off? Yes. 'Is not the body of the sun in the heavens? It is impossible for you to touch the body of the sun, and yet the body of the sun and you are conjoined by the beams and by the light that shine on you', Thus, Christ is truly present, truly yours, and truly beneficial to your soul as you come to the Table in faith. Bruce summarises his teaching in these words: 'This secret conjunction, then, is brought about by faith and by the Holy Spirit. By faith we lay hold upon the Body and Blood of Christ, and though we are as far distant as heaven and earth are, the Spirit serves as a ladder to conjoin us with Christ, like the ladder of Jacob, which reached from the ground to the heavens. So the Spirit of God conjoins the Body of Christ to my soul'.
4, Why do we need Christ through the Sacrament?
If we can have the Word without the Sacrament, and if it is the same Christ who is ours in the Word and in the Sacrament, then why have the Sacrament at all? And this is Bruce's answer, 'that you may get the same thing better than you had it in the Word', which is to say, you get Christ better. But in what sense? The ideas amount to two things, greater assurance of Christ and His benefits to you, and the greater effects of Christ felt within you. Remember what we have said about the sacrament as a seal. It is like that title and deed. When you look to your baptism, when you come to the Table, it is as though you are receiving a physical, legal, claim to Jesus. When you come, believing, God declares His Son is yours and removes every cause for doubt. Although you may have believed the substance of the Sacrament before, 'by the seals, you believe it better'.
And the more we are assured of Him, the more our faith grows, and the benefits of Christ are felt in our lives. He says, 'where I had but a little grip of Christ before, as it were, between my finger and my thumb, now get Him in my whole hand, and indeed the more my faith grows, the better grip | get of Christ Jesus'. But for Bruce this is not just about affirming faith, and thereby growing it, but also a real increase of spiritual grace through the communication of Christ to the soul. Bruce says, 'The sacrament awakens all the outward senses, such as the eye, the hand, and all all the rest. When the outward senses are moved, without doubt the Holy Spirit concurs, moving the heart all the more'.He says, through the sacrament 'Christ may have more room in which to reside in our narrow heart than He could have by the hearing of the simple Word'.He says, my faith is nourished, the bounds of my soul are enlarged'; each time you come, you grow 'in knowledge, apprehension and feeling'.He says it is like how the soul gives the body life, movement and feeling, so Christ is to our soul, what our soul is to our body. He quickens the soul with heavenly life. But He is to the soul a thousand times greater than the soul is to the body. 'Whereas the body by the presence of the soul gets only an earthly and temporal life, subject to continual misery, but by the presence of Christ in my soul, I see blessed life, I feel a blessed life, and that life daily increases in me more and more'.
5. A Help to you as you approach the Table
Bruce encourages us to keep a distinction in mind made by Irenaeus, who said 'a sacrament consists of two things, the one earthly, the other heavenly', or the sign and the thing signified.So that, at the time of administration, we are to think of a parallelism between sign and substance: 'When you are at the Lord's Table, watching what the minister does outwardly, in breaking and distributing the bread, in pouring out and distributing the wine, think of this: Christ is as busy doing all these things spiritually to your soul. He is as busy giving to you His own body, with His own hand; He is as busy giving to you His own Blood, with its power and efficacy. Likewise, in this action, if you are a faithful Communicant, think of what the mouth does, and how the mouth of the body is occupied outwardly; in the same way, the hand and mouth of the soul, which is faith, are occupied inwardly. As your mouth takes the bread and the wine, so the mouth of your soul takes the Body and Blood of Christ, and that by faith'.
Let me end by commending to you these tremendous sermons. They are in print through Christian Focus under the title The Mystery of the Lord's Supper. They have blessed my soul and moved forward my understanding and practice of the sacrament; since reading them have made several adjustments to the administration of the Supper in Sunderland where I serve as a church planting minister. May the Lord richly bless you as you come humbly and in faith to the feast of grace He has so magnanimously spread before you.
'Robert Bruce, The Mystery of the Lord's Supper, Thomas F. Torrance (Ross-Shire: Christian Focus, watching what the minister does outwardly, in breaking and distributing the bread, in pouring out and distributing the wine, think of this: Christ is as busy doing all these things spiritually to your soul. He is as busy giving to you His own body, with His own hand; He is as busy giving to you His own Blood, with its power and efficacy. Likewise, in this action, if you are a faithful Communicant, think of what the mouth does, and how the mouth of the body is occupied outwardly; in the same way, the hand and mouth of the soul, which is faith, are occupied inwardly. As your mouth takes the bread and the wine, SO the mouth of your soul takes the Body and Blood of Christ, and that by faith'.30 Let me end by commending to you these tremendous sermons. They are in print through Christian Focus under the title The Mystery of the Lord's Supper. They have blessed my soul and moved forward my understanding and practice of the sacrament; since reading them have made several adjustments to the administration of the Supper in Sunderland where I serve as a church planting minister. May the Lord richly bless you as you come humbly and in faith to the feast of grace He has so magnanimously spread before you.
Robert Bruce, The Mystery of the Lord's Supper 2012
Nathan Hilton in Evangelical Presbyterian.
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