We thought of the falsity of the doctrine of transubstantiation in the previous article.  The Prayer-book of the Church of England reads, “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 Saviour 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.”  There can be no literal presence of Christ’s body in the Lord’s Supper, because His body is in heaven and not on earth, though as God, He is everywhere. 

Let me quote a few people, men of no mean authority, about their thoughts on the bodily presence of the Lord in the Lord’s Supper. 

(1) The body and blood of Christ are taken and received by the faithful, not corporally, not internally, but verily and indeed, that is effectually.  The sacred symbols are no bare signs, no untrue figures of a thing absent, but the force, the grace, the virtue, and benefit of Christ’s body broken and blood shed, that is of His passion, are really and effectually present with all them that receive worthily.  This is all the real presence that our Church teaches” (Waterland’s Works, vol. 6, Oxford, 1843, 42). 

(2) Henry Philpotts, Bishop of Exeter, wrote to Charles Butler as following: “The Church of Rome holds that the body and blood of Christ are present under the accidents of bread and wine; the Church of England holds that their real presence is in the soul of the communicant at the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.  She holds, that after the consecration of the bread and wine, they are changed not in their nature but in their use; that instead of nourishing our bodies only, they now are instruments by which, when worthily received,  God gives to our souls the body and blood of Christ to nourish and sustain them: that this is not a fictitious, or imaginary exhibition of our crucified Redeemer to us, but a real though spiritual one, more real, indeed, because more effectual, than the carnal exhibition and manducation of Him could be (for the flesh profiteth nothing).  In the same manner, then, as our Lord Himself said, ‘I am the true bread that came down from heaven’ (not meaning thereby that He was a lump of baked dough or manna, but the true means of sustaining the true life of man, which is spiritual, not corporeal), so in the Sacrament, to the worthy receiver of the consecrated elements, though in their nature mere bread and wine, are yet, given truly, really, and effectively, the crucified body and blood of Christ; that body and blood which were the instruments of man’s redemption, and upon which our spiritual life and strength solely depend.  It is in this sense that the crucified Jesus is present in the Sacrament of His Supper, not in, nor with, the bread and wine, nor under their accidents, but in the souls of communicants; not carnally, but effectually and faithfully, and therefore most really.” (Philpott’s Letter to Butler, 8 vols edition, 1825, 235-36). 

IV.      There will be a real bodily presence of Christ when He comes again the second time to judge the world.  When our Lord had ascended before the eyes of His disciples, the angels said to them, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).  There can be no mistake about the meaning of these words.  Visibly and bodily our Lord left the world, and visibly and bodily He will return in the day which is emphatically called the day of “His appearing” (1 Peter 1:7). 

That same Jesus who came 29 centuries ago in lowliness and poverty, to be despised and crucified, shall come again one day in power and glory, to raise the dead and change the living, and to reward every man according to his works.  Those solemn words which Jesus addressed to the High Priest the night before His crucifixion shall at length to be fulfilled: “Ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64).  The godly shall see the Saviour whom they have read of, heard of, and believed, and find, like the Queen of Sheba, that the half of His goodness had not been known. 

This is the real bodily presence of Christ for which every true-hearted Christian ought daily to long and pray for.  Then, and then only, will the devil be bound, the curse be taken off the earth, the world be restored to its original purity, sickness and death be taken away, tears be wiped from all eyes, and the redemption of the saint, in body as well as soul, be completed.  1 John 3:2 reads, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”  The highest style of Christian is the man who desires the real presence of his Master, and “loves His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8). 

V.       We should be able to find some applications from this great truth of the presence of the Lord.  First, what do we know of Christ ourselves?  We have heard of Christ thousands of times.  Literally, every day we call upon His name, but the fundamental question is “whether we know Christ personally and really.”  What do we know of Him experientially, as our own personal Saviour, our own Priest, our own Friend, the Healer of our conscience, the comfort of our heart, the Pardoner of our sins, the Foundation of our hope, the confidence of our souls?  Second, we should not rest till we feel Christ “present” in our own hearts and know what it is to be one with Christ and Christ in us.  This is real religion.  To live in the habit of looking backward to Christ on the cross, upward to Christ at God’s right hand, and forward to Christ coming again – this is Christianity which gives comfort in life and good hope in death.  Third, we must reject erroneous views about the Lord’s Supper, and especially about the real nature of Christ’s “presence” in it.  There is no sacrifice in the Lord’s Supper, no sacrificing priest, no altar, no bodily “presence” of Christ in the bread and the cup.  Lastly, we ought to keep continually before our minds the second coming of Christ and that real “presence” which is yet to come.  Let our loins be girded and out lamps burning, and ourselves like men daily waiting for their Master’s return.  Only then, our souls will be satisfied.  Let our daily cry be, “Come, Lord Jesus.” 

Heidelberg Catechism explains the Lord’s Supper:

(1) Q&A 76, “Q. What does it mean to eat the crucified body of Christ and to drink his poured-out blood?  A. It means to accept with a believing heart the entire suffering and death of Christ and thereby to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life.  But it means more.  Through the Holy Spirit, who lives both in Christ and in us, we are united more and more to Christ’s blessed body.  And so, although he is in heaven, and we are on earth, we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. And we forever live on and are governed by one Spirit, as the members of our body are by one soul.” 

(2) Q&A 78, “Q. Do the bread and wine become the real body and blood of Christ?  A. No.  Just as the water of baptism is not changed into Christ’s blood and does not itself wash away sins but is simply a divine sign and assurance of these things, so too the holy bread of the Lord’s Supper does not become the actual body of Christ, even though it is called the body of Christ in keeping with the nature and language of sacraments.”

Lovingly,

Your Pastor

More Lively Hope

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