Thus we have briefly the first point which relates to the essence of this Sacrament.Now examine further the efficacy and benefits on account of which really the Sacrament was instituted;which is also its most necessary part,that we may know what we should seek and obtain there.Now this is plain and clear from the words just mentioned:This is My body and blood,given and shed FOR YOU,for the remission of sins.Briefly that is as much as to say:For this reason we go to the Sacrament because there we receive such a treasure by and in which we obtain forgiveness of sins.Why so?Because the words stand here and give us this;for on this account He bids me eat and drink,that it may be my own and may benefit me,as a sure pledge and token,yea,the very same treasure that is appointed for me against my sins,death,and every calamity.
On this account it is indeed called a food of souls,which nourishes and strengthens the new man.For by Baptism we are first born anew;but (as we said before)there still remains,besides,the old vicious nature of flesh and blood in man,and there are so many hindrances and temptations of the devil and of the world that we often become weary and faint,and sometimes also stumble.
Therefore it is given for a daily pasture and sustenance,that faith may refresh and strengthen itself so as not to fall back in such a battle,but become ever stronger and stronger.For the new life must be so regulated that it continually increase and progress,but it must suffer much opposition.For the devil is such a furious enemy that when he sees that we oppose him and attack the old man,and that he cannot topple us over by force,he prowls and moves about on all sides,tries all devices,and does not desist until he finally wearies us,so that we either renounce our faith or yield hands and feet and become listless or impatient.Now to this end the consolation is here given when the heart feels that the burden is becoming too heavy,that it may here obtain new power and refreshment.
But here our wise spirits contort themselves with their great art and wisdom,crying out and bawling:How can bread and wine forgive sins or strengthen faith?Although they hear and know that we do not say this of bread and wine,because in itself bread is bread,but of such bread and wine as is the body and blood of Christ,and has the words attached to it.That,we say,is verily the treasure,and nothing else,through which such forgiveness is obtained.Now the only way in which it is conveyed and appropriated to us is in the words (Given and shed for you).For herein you have both truths,that it is the body and blood of Christ,and that it is yours as a treasure and gift.Now the body of Christ can never be an unfruitful,vain thing,that effects or profits nothing.Yet however great is the treasure in itself,it must be comprehended in the Word and administered to us,else we should never be able to know or seek it.
Therefore also it is vain talk when they say that the body and blood of Christ are not given and shed for us in the Lord's Supper,hence we could not have forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament.For although the work is accomplished and the forgiveness of sins acquired on the cross,yet it cannot come to us in any other way than through the Word.For what would we otherwise know about it,that such a thing was accomplished or was to be given us if it were not presented by preaching or the oral Word?Whence do they know of it,or how can they apprehend and appropriate to themselves the forgiveness,except they lay hold of and believe the Scriptures and the Gospel?But now the entire Gospel and the article of the Creed:I believe a holy Christian Church,the forgiveness of sin,etc.,are by the Word embodied in this Sacrament and presented to us.Why,then,should we allow this treasure to be torn from the Sacrament when they must confess that these are the very words which we hear everywhere in the Gospel,and they cannot say that these words in the Sacrament are of no use,as little as they dare say that the entire Gospel or Word of God,apart from the Sacrament,is of no use?
Thus we have the entire Sacrament,both as to what it is in itself and as to what it brings and profits.Now we must also see who is the person that receives this power and benefit.That is answered briefly,as we said above of Baptism and often elsewhere:Whoever believes it has what the words declare and bring.For they are not spoken or proclaimed to stone and wood,but to those who hear them,to whom He says:Take and eat,etc.And because He offers and promises forgiveness of sin,it cannot be received otherwise than by faith.This faith He Himself demands in the Word when He says:Given and shed for you.As if He said:For this reason I give it,and bid you eat and drink,that you may claim it as yours and enjoy it.Whoever now accepts these words,and believes that what they declare is true,has it.But whoever does not believe it has nothing,as he allows it to be offered to him in vain,and refuses to enjoy such a saving good.The treasure,indeed,is opened and placed at every one's door,yea upon his table,but it is necessary that you also claim it,and confidently view it as the words suggest to you.
This,now,is the entire Christian preparation for receiving this Sacrament worthily.For since this treasure is entirely presented in the words,it cannot be apprehended and appropriated in any other way than with the heart.For such a gift and eternal treasure cannot be seized with the fist.Fasting and prayer,etc.,may indeed be an external preparation and discipline for children,that the body may keep and bear itself modestly and reverently towards the body and blood of Christ;yet what is given in and with it the body cannot seize and appropriate.But this is done by the faith of the heart,which discerns this treasure and desires it.This may suffice for what is necessary as a general instruction respecting this Sacrament;for what is further to be said of it belongs to another time.
