702. As the spiritual sense of the Word is at this day revealed, and together with it the science of correspondences, these being the mediatory links which connect the spiritual sense of the Word with the natural, we shall here but just adduce some passages from the Word, which clearly shew what is meant by flesh and blood, and by bread and wine, in the holy supper. But in the first place some account shall be premised of the institution of this sacrament by the Lord, together with His doctrine concerning His flesh and blood, and concerning the bread and wine.

703. THE INSTITUTION OF THE HOLY SUPPER BY THE LORD. "Jesus kept the passover with His disciples, and when the even was come, he sat down with them; and as they did eat, Jesus took BREAD, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to His disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is MY BODY. And he took the CUP, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of this, for this is My BLOOD, the blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many," Matt. xxvi. 26, 27, 28, Mark xiv. 22, 23, 24, Luke xxii. 19, 20.

WINE.

CONCERNING HIS

THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD FLESH AND HIS BLOOD, AND CONCERNING BREAD AND "Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give unto you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven; for the bread of God is He who came down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. I am the bread of life, he that cometh unto Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. I am the bread which came down from heaven. Verily, verily, I say unto you; he that believeth in Me hath eternal life; I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead; this is the bread which came down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. 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 which 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 cateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him 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. 27, 32, 33, 35, 41, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56.

704. Every one who has received any illustration from heaven, may perceive plainly in himself, that by flesh, in these passages, is not meant flesh, nor by blood, blood; but that in the NATURAL SENSE they both mean the passion of cross, in remembrance of which they were to be received; wherefore the Lord said, when He instituted this supper as a conclusion of the Jewish, and a beginning of the Christian passover, "Do this in remembrance of Me," Luke xxii. 19, 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25. In like manner, it must be plain, that by bread is not meant bread, nor by wine, wine, but that in the NATURAL SENSE they signify the like as flesh and blood, namely, His passion of the cross; for it is written, "Jesus broke bread, and gave to His disciples, and said, This is My body; and taking the cup, He gave it to them, saying, This is My blood," Matt. xxvi. Mark xiv. Luke xxii. for which reason He also calls the passion of the cross, a cup, Mark xiv. 36, John xviii. 11.

705. That spiritual and celestial principles are meant by these four things, flesh, blood, bread, and wine, and that they correspond with these natural things, may appear evidently from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned. That by FLESH, as applied in the Word, some spiritual and celestial principle is meant, is plain from the following passages: "Come, and gather yourselves together unto the SUPF F

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PER OF THE GREAT GOD, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great," Apoc. xix. 17, 18; and in Ezekiel: "Gather yourselves on every side to My SACRIFICE that I do sacrifice for you, even a GREAT SACRIFICE upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood; ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth; and ye shall eat fat to satiety, and drink blood to intoxication, of My SACRIFICE which I have sacrificed for you; and ye shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war: and I will set My glory among the heathen." chap. xxxix. 17 to 21. Who cannot see that flesh in these passages does not mean flesh, nor blood, blood, but spiritual and celestial principles which correspond to these natural things? For otherwise, how unmeaning and strange would be these expressions, that they should eat the flesh of kings, of captains, of mighty men, of horses, and of those that sit on them; and that they should be filled at His table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war; and that they should drink the blood of the princes of the earth, and drink to intoxication! That these expressions relate to the holy supper of the Lord, is very manifest, for it is called the supper of the Great God, and also a great sacrifice. Now as all spiritual and celestial principles bear relation to good and truth, it plainly follows, that by flesh is meant the good of charity, and by blood the truth of faith; and in the supreme sense, the Lord Himself,as to the divine good of His love, and the divine truth of His wisdom. Spiritual good is likewise signified by flesh in these words in Ezekiel : "1 will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you, and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh," chap. xi. 19, chap. xxxvi. 26; by heart, in the Word, is sig

nified love, hence the love of good is meant by a heart of flesh. Moreover it appears from the signification of bread and wine, which will be given presently, that good and truth, each of them spiritual, are meant by flesh and blood, for the Lord declares, that His flesh is bread, and His blood is wine.

706. The reason why the divine truth of the Lord and of His Word is signified by His blood, is, because the divine good of His love is spiritually meant by His flesh, and these two, divine love and divine truth, are united in the Lord. It is acknowledged that the Lord is the Word; and there are two principles to which all the contents of the Word bear relation, divine good and divine truth; suppose then the Word to be substituted for the Lord, it is evident that these two principles are meant by His flesh and blood. That the divine truth of the Lord, or of the Word, is meant by blood, appears from several passages, as where blood is called the blood of the covenant, for a covenant signifies conjunction, and conjunction is effected by the Lord by means of His divine truth: thus it is written in Zechariah, "By the BLOOD OF THY COVENANT I will send forth thy prisoners out of the pit," chap. ix. 11; and in Moses, "Moses, when he had read the Book of the Law in the cars of the people, sprinkled half of the blood upon the people, and said, BEHOLD THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words," Exod. xxiv. 3 to 11: "And Jesus took the cup, and gave it to them, saying, This is My blood, the [blood] of the NEW COVENANT," Matt. xxvi. 27, 28, Mark xiv. 24, Luke xxii. 20: by the blood of the New Covenant, or Testament, nothing else is signified but the Word, which is called a Covenant and Testament, both old and new, thus the divine truth contained in it. This being the signification of blood, therefore the Lord gave His disciples wine, saying, This is My blood, and wine signifieth divine truth: hence too it is called, "the

blood of grapes," Gen. xlix. 11, Deut. xxxii. 14. This is yet more evident from the Lord's words, "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; for My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed; whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him," John vi. 50 to 58: that the divine truth of the Word is here signified by blood is very plain, since it is said, that he who drinketh hath life in Him, and dwelleth in the Lord and the Lord in him; it may be known too in the church, that these effects are produced by divine truth, and a life according to it, and are confirmed by the holy supper. As blood signifies the divine truth of the Lord, which is also the divine truth of the Word, and this is the covenant and testament both old and new, therefore blood was the most holy representative of the Israelitish church, in which all and every rite were correspondences of natural things with spiritual; thus it is written, "That they should take of the blood of the paschal lamb, and put it on the two side-posts, and on the upper lintel of the door of the houses, wherein they should eat it, lest the plague should come upon them," Exod. xii. 7, 13, 22; and again, "That the blood of the burnt-offering should be sprinkled upon the altar, at its foundation, and upon Aaron, and upon his sons, and upon their garments," Exod. xxix. 12, 16, 20, 21, Levit. i. 5, 11, 15, chap. iii. 2, 8, 13, chap. iv. 25, 30, 34, chap. viii. 15, 24, chap. xvii. 6, Deut. xii. 27; and also, "upon the rail, which was over the ark, upon the mercy-seat, and upon the horns of the altar of incense," "Levit. xvi. 12, 13, 14, 15. The like is signified by the blood of the lamb in the Revelation: "These have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," chap. vii. 14: "There was war in heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony," chap. xii. 7, 11; for it cannot be conceived that