IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 1.0 I.I 1-12^8 12.5 |5o "*^" IMHB •I Sf ■- t Hi. 112.0 Ji& 1.25 ||.4 U^ ■• 6" — ► %-v^ 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation as WIST MAIN STRUT WnSTH.N.Y. MSIO (716) •72-4303 1^ /<'^ L<5> \;^o CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microraproductions / Institut Canadian da nticroraproductions historiquas Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The CO to the The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. n D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagte Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^e et/ou pellicula Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes gAographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bieue ou noire) □ Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur E Bound with other material/ Reli4 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serrAe peut causer de I'ombre ou de ia distortion le long de la marge IntArieure D Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certalnes pages blanches aJoutAes lors d'une restauration apparalssent dans le texte, male, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 4t« f limAes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppUmentaires; L'Institut a microfilm* le meilleur exemplaire qu'ii iui a At* possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibiiographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la methods normale de filmage sont indiqute ci-dessous. □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur □ Pages damaged/ Pages endommagies I — I Pages restored and/or laminated/ D Pages restaurtes et/ou pellicultes Pages discoloured, stained or foxe« Pages dAcolortes, tachettes ou piques Pages detached/ Pages ditachies Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of prir Quality inAgale de I'lmpression Includes supplementary materii Comprend du materiel supplAmentaire Only edition available/ Seule MItion disponible I — I Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ r~n Pages detached/ fyl Showthrough/ r~T| Quality of print varies/ r~~\ Includes supplementary material/ r~n Only edition available/ Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been ref limed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partieliement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata. une pelure, etc., ont AtA fiimAes A nouveau de fa9on h obtenir la meilleure image possible. The in possib of the filmint Origin beginr the iai sion, ( other ( first pi sion, • or lllui The la shall c TINUE which Maps, differi entirel beginr right I requin methc This item Is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film* au taux de rMuction 'ndiquA oi*dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X y 12X 16X 20X a4x 28X 32X ilaire m details quM du It modifier tiger une l« fiimage d/ {uAas The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanlcs to the generosity of: Matropolitan Toronto Library fiinadian History Department The images appearing here are the best quaiity possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol ▼ (meaning "END"), whichever applies. L'exemplaire filmA fut reproduit grice A la gAnirositA de: (Metropolitan Toronto Library Canadian History Department Les images suivantss ont 6tA reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition st de la nettet* de l'exemplaire film*. «t en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de fiimage. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimis sent fiimte en commen^ant par le premier plat at en terminant soit par la dernlAre page qui comports une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustrstion. soit par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exempleires originaux sent filmte en commen9ant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, seion le cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbols ▼ signifie "FIN". aire Maps, plates, cherts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hend corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams Illustrate the method: Les cartes, pianchss. tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmis A des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un ssul clichA, il est filmi A partir de I'angle supArisur gauche, de gauche h droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'imeges nicessoire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrnnt la methods. by errata ned to lent une pelure, faqon A ] 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 Us. FOITR SEBMOKS ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT t , OF" TBE LOED'S SUPPER PUfiAClTEI) m ST. |^TRR*S CfilTRCH, C0i0l7R6rBUii]|# THE SEASON'OF ADVEIST, i860 : / " BY A. N. BBTHUNE, DiD., TOBONTO: **■ H .f'"-* ■ mmmmmm ■ f _''?'. ^ i f 1 1 •■'-,13 lK>- ♦ ^ -«* FOUR SERMONS ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER PREACHED IN ST. PETER'S CHURCH, COBOURG, DURING THE SEASON OF ADVENT, 1850: BY A. N. BETHUNE, D.D., ^rjfhdeacon of York, and Rector of Cobourg. TORONTO: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY A. F. PLEBS. MDCCCLII, ^ ^^ v^'i > /'(^ ¥. :f! ;R i.i :. < * 3^ift .»■ 'V- /; «i,i 1^ U> vii '. 1.1 ■ ., .•■,»f. I . ' THE HOLY SACRAMENT OP THE LORD'S SUPPER. SERMON I. 1 Corinthians xi. 26. — *' As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." __ . \ ?,. , With the present day, my brethren, we commence again the Christian year. This takes its beginning, not from revolutions or observations of the heavenly bodies, — not from the material sun, nor from the course and order of this perishable world, but from the rising of the " Sun of righteousness." — The birth-day of the Saviour is fixed at a period a little onwards ; but as, in the natural world, there is a twilight brightness which indicates the coming light and splendour of the sun, so, in the world of grace, w^ave a few Weeks of preparation for the manifestation of that day when the ** Sun of righteousness " is to be hailed in the fulness of his glory. Christian worshippers are not to be surprised, as it were, by the advent of this season of rejoicing ; but time is allowed for meditation and devout exercises specially befitting that happy, yet solemn period : opportunity is graciously permitted in which to prepare their hearts for a chastened gladness, and to temper and restrain the feeling of exultation by the fear and trembling which becomes the penitent. For in contemplating the voluntary humiliation of our Lord in assuming our nature, in becoming flesh, and in suffering for us, we cannot but feel humbled ourselves ; so that in rejoicing that the Lord was pleased thus to look upon and save us, we must be abased by the remembrance of our own unworthiness, — of the sin, and the deserved punishment of sin, which produced all this degradation and ignominy for our sakes. --.•From the beginning of Christian time, — to mark out the practical duties which, on our part, befit the festival, — it has been appointed that the commemora- tion of our blessed Lord's Nativity should be accom- panied with the fulfilment of an ordinance of grace, which, of all others, is calculated to bring us most closely to the Saviour; to present Him to us in the completeness of his love and the richness of his gifts ; to shew Him, as He is, the Redeemer of every believing soul. We are then called upon to crown the celebration of our Saviour's appearance in the flesh with his own appointed and peculiar feast, — that which, in a distinguishing degree, marks out the brotherhood of Christians, and testifies their faith in Him who died for them. On this account, as an appropriate subject for pui meditation^ during this season of Advent, — that 1 we may approach, with holler affections and a deeper piety, the celebration of our Lord's mysterious incarna* tion, I have resolved, in dependence upon the strength and blessing of Almighty God, to appropriate the morning discourses of thesse Sundays in Advent to a consideration, in all the bearing of the obligation and the duty, of the solemn Sacrament of the Supper of THE Lord. There may be little that is new elicited in the course of these proposed remarks ; but we have no need of novelty to awaken our interest, or quicken our attention, on the subject of religion. The Bible is not a new Book, and it is our comfort and our confidence that it is an old one ; that its great truths and revela- tions are traceable upwards to the date of man's creation ; and that its very antiquity, and the long course of ages during which it hath been read and studied, have caused it to be more appreciated and better understood. And so to Christian congregations there can be little that is new in the truths and princi- ples which, drawn from that precious fountain, are set before them : it may be so as to the form and aspect in which our teaching is presented, but not as to he material from which it is derived ; and may God grant us an " understanding heart " to feel, accept, and act upon these gracious truths ! ^ m . fi^^i^f, <;- '. ^ '-.;;3.*fl5Ti The words of the text appear to point out how fitting such a subject of meditation is to the present season, — " as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." Till HE COME, — in these words we have an indication of one great and solemn purpose of the Church's appointed season of Advent : it is to prepare ourselves for our Lord's second coming to judgment, as well as for the worthy commemoration of his appearance in the flesh ; and the text points out that this memorial of his passion in which, by his own command, we are called upon to join, links the believers of every generation to that great event. Time flows on ; generations rise, and pass away ; believers die, and fresh ones 'appear in their room ; but through this never ceasing, never intermitted memorial of his love, there is a continuity of age with age, — of Christians past, and present, and to come, — of all that sleep their temporary sleep of death, with those that shall be alive at the Lord's last coming. Until he come, his death upon the j^ross as the atonement for sin must be our comfort, stay, and hope ; and we testify the fulness of our consolation and the stedfastness of our faith in this atonement, by joining in that sacrificial feast, — by " eating of that bread and drinking of that cup." In that well known and practical summary of our faith, the Apostles' Creed, we are called upon to make profession of our belief in the " communion of saints." This means a real and visible bond of unity and fel- lowship amongst the believers on the Lord Jesus ; but there could be no such fellowship or union without a common tie, — a common bond to influence and keep us all together, and also to maintain our union with J> ome." Till cation of one 's appointed Ives for our ell as for the in the flesh ; f his passion called upon ation to that ns rise, and 38 ^appear in asing, never a continuity present, and •ary sleep of e Lord's last I the cross as art, stay, and isolation and onement, by ating of that Him to whom our allegiance and our faith is due. But if we are to have this real communion with one another and with our Head, it must be known and manifested ^*y outward acts ; it must be shewn and proved in the ordinances and means of grace ; it must be testified especially in our concord and communion in that commemorative sacrificial feast which the Lord hath instituted. To designate its end, and at the same time to mark out its influence and results, it is said by the Apostle St. Paul, — " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ? the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ ? — And here, as these woidsl stand, what is the meaning of "communion?" Surely, a par- ticipation in the benefit of the Saviour's blood, — a freshened influence upon the earnestness and comfort of our spiritual life, — the infusion of a new and reviving energy into our condition as believers, every time that we, in heartiness of faith, " eat of that bread and drink of that cup." The wonder only is, my brethren, that any should think of neglecting it, — much more, of presuming to set it at nought. For who does not know and fee], that a work or enterprise of high promise, begun and afterwards dropped, not only confers no benefit, but ;«tands a monument of the folly and irresolution of him that undertook it ? The Christian work, the Christian life is begun in baptism ; but who can have thought so little or so lightly of that divine and solemn ordinance, as to suppose that no after effort or responsibility is a implied in that holy and weighty covenant ? Who can think that no exertion afterwards is to be made, — no struggle against the world's snares and enticements, — no warfare against the flesh and its evil passions, — no resistance to the seductions of the great tempter, the devil? 'Is nothing to be done to quicken, and revive, and keep within us the imparted grace, — nothing to preserve the good seed, and make it grow and flourish ; but, on the contrary, is every thing to be indulged in that may thicken the harvest of tares, and stifle all the good and holy impulses of God's gracious Spirit? • ''1 If, then, we recognize and admit all the meaning of our position as Christians admitted into covenant with God, can we think ourselves safe in neglecting or slighting what keeps that covenant in force, — what preserves to us the favour of God through Christ, — what makes the contract binding, if we may use the words, as respects the promises of God ? For, if we do not follow up a course of earnest piety and holy duty ; if we do not, or strive not at least, to lead that godly and Christian life which will allow us to fulfil all holy ordinances, and join especially in the feast of the body and blood of Christ, what can avail our baptismal covenant ? how can the early conferred privileges of our Christianity benefit us, when they have been annulled by neglect, or even, it may be, cast rudely and con-^ temptuously away? •'For further evidence of the obligation we are urging, let us look, my brethren, to the analogy & between the Passover of the Jewish dispensation, and Christ the'real paschal Lamb. In regard to the former, it was, in the Law, emphatically stated, — " The man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut ofi" from among his people : because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin." — To revert to the immediate occasion of that institution, who will not understand that if any Israelite, — through perversity or pride, — from a distrust, real or feigned, of the efficacy of the means provided, — or from an alleged unwillingness to adopt what the wisdom of this world could not com- prehend, or approve of ; suppose that any such should have foreborne to sacrifice the paschal Lamb, or sprinkle with its blood the casements of his doors, can we doubt that the destroying angel would have smitten that house, as well as the habitations of the Egyptians ^ And as this text assures us, it was just the same in after years. As long as that dispensation lasted, — until it became merged in one more pure and spiritual, the Passover, as the memorial of God's mercy and of their deliverance, must be kept ; otherwise, they should be cutoff from among his people, — their privileges would be forfeited, — they should be dealt with as aliens, idolaters, and outcasts. ♦ri ■,;.^.»' But if Jews, my brethren, dared not, without a penalty so fearful, neglect the meft»'8 at first, and the commemoration afterwards, of th. . deliverance ; shall we be justified, shall tM incur a lighter sin, if we • 10 . ' neglect the means of the greater deliverance which has been vouchsafed to us ? Christ is our Passover ; but when He, our paschal Lamb, is slain, may we, without sin, — without fear, indeed, of God's over- whelming wrath, — ^turn away from the sacrifice as worthless, or needless to us? May we forbear from applying, through faith, — and that faith above all things manifested in this commemorative feast, — the sprink- ling of that blood to ourselves, and yet be safe ? May we, by disregard of that holy banquet, lose sight and sense of the propitiatory sacrifice made for us upon the cross, and yet not forfeit the privileges of God's people, — not be "cutoff" from his chosen Israel, — not be rejected from his kingdom of glory ? If He be a God eternal and unchangeable, " the samo yesterday, to-day, and forever," then must the exactions of his justice, as well as his purposes of mercy, stand as firmly now as then. The redeemed of Christ, not less than those who were redeemed under the Law, are bound to the way and the means of the redemption provided for them. If Christians, then, neglect their paschal sacrifice, — in other words, look off from Christ for safety to some device or means which God has not revealed, — they must ^^ bear their sin ;" and if the*' do not timely have recourse to the only refuge, they must " die in their sin." ' * But, brethren, is it not neglecting Christ, and looking off from Christ, if we regard not, and share not in, the commemoration of his passion, appointed %^ 11 •ance which ir Passover ; in, may we, God's over- sacrifice as forbear from owe all things —the sprink- safe ? May )se sight and r us upon the God's people, rael, — not be geable, "the len must the I purposes of J redeemed of ieemed under means of the istians, then, words, look ice or means It ** bear their icourse to the Christ, and ot, and share Dn, appointed so solemnly by himself? B^aith, we are taught, is the main spring of Christian conduct: this it is which impels us to the Saviour ; and without it, we could not be considered to have either " part or lot " in him. But what must be the character of that faith which moves us not to an enjoined and positive religious duty, — to that which constitutes the representation of the Saviour's sufferings, and is revealed as a channel of his sanctifying and invigorating grace to our hearts ? It would seem, indeed, as if Christian faith was parted with, when the Lord's Supper is neglected ; as if there was an abandonment of the grqat principle which causes us to recognize and rest upon the Saviour ; a surrender of the tie which links the sinner to the Redeemer, and makes him capable of the deliverance wrought out upon the cross. — Many may deny that it is so; and say that, notwithstanding the neglect complained of, their dependence is still upon Christ Jesus for salvation. They may be sincere in that presumption, but there are no grounds for it. The essence, the meaning, the proof of faith is in obedience ; but where this is not rendered, we are bound to dis- pute and doubt the genuineness of the faith which is professed. It is a name and sound, but not a principle : it is a theory only, to all practical purposes valueless : there is nothing operative or quickening about it, and therefore it must be reckoned at and go for nothing. Are we not right, indeed, in believing that this very ordinance of his holy Supper was instituted for the perpetual manifestation, as well as steady revival, of 13 the faith which the Lord insists upon ? And, ia this view of the case, we must feel persuaded that every time that ordinance is neglected, — every time it is passed by or overlooked, — every time, from whatsoever cause, it is slighted, — there is a giving up, nay, a casting away of Christian faith. Nor does it here mitigate the evil or the offence, that people at such times may plead impediments from things without, or things within, to the fulfilment of this duty. Such impedi- ments are working just the influence, under any circumstances, that it should be the great business of life to counteract : they are destroying in the soul the principle of obedience, sapping the root of faith in Christ, and estranging us from God. So that, in rea- lity, they only aggravate the evil of our case, by keeping us away from duty and holding us at a distance from God ; and whilst we are, through our own indolence or perverseness, kept in that condition, we can have no reasonable hope of salvation should we thus be surprised by death. ; So far, my brethren, I have treated of the duty of partaking of the Lord's Supper on the great ground of its obligation from the very nature and meaning of the ordinance, — from the high principle of Christian faith involved in its very constitution and appointment. This will prepare us for other considerations, touching this great duty, upon which I purpose hereafter to dwell. And, in furtherance of the arguments I have already laid before you, I would ask, in conclusion, — What should we think of one who, pleading his privileges as |\..alriMl 13 a subject and claiming protection from the laws of his country, refused to bear his share in the necessary burdens and imposts that are to maintain the majesty and power of those laws, and uphold the very structure of society upon that moral basis by which our protec- tion is secured ? And what should we think of profes- sions of loyalty from one who refused to take up arms at the command of his sovereign, when his country was menaced by foreign foes or internal enemies ? — Would not indifference, in such an hour of peril, be proof of treason as real and as punishable as if it were evinced in positive desertion or open hostility ? But to adapt the similitude. — What must we think of the Christian soldier, pledged from his infancy to his Master's standard, who disregards even the signs and evidences of his loyal allegiance ; and, virtually deserting his Lord, keeps on the side of those enemies, " the world, the flesh, and the devil," which he had covenanted to renounce and fight against ? What must we think of him, who, pleading the privileges of son- ship and claiming protection from wrath eternal, declines to employ his spiritual armour in his Mas- ter's cause; and offers, as his exemption from the duties which that Master claims, his unwillingness, from a temper wedded to the world, to make a solitary sacrifice on his behalf? "Out of thine own mouth will I condemn thee, thou wicked servant," — may not such expect this lan- guage to be addressed to them ? But God forbid that ^, . ■•*»,. ^ • 1 ■ ■ 14^ any should continue in this wickedness. Raiher let i them awake 1 to consideration I and watchfulness, — correct what is amiss,- —root ( Dut what is contrary to God's will,- -revive what is holy and pure, — and " strengthen the things which remain and are ready | 1 to die." i i : 1 i ' ■': ' ■ :', i,.'... '--'■ ' ;■ ! 1 j ... , • ' \ \ * i !: i ■ , -'tmt ■'^''' «'^'i' 1 . , >.' f. y- .w" ' •i' i '• »■• , • '--'"^ "•' ••S'i'h ^-y^i .-..■:;. ;■ ,. ■ r , : . • ^''VV, V.'- ,.. .>4 . frn ;>f?^ '■>■ '" .-i.^ ' •^. ■ 'I ' ? .•. /, SERMON 11. 1 Corinthians, x. 16.—" The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ? The bread w^hich we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ 1 " Nothing, my brethren, can more forcibly represent to us the nature as well as the benefits of the Holy Sacrament of the Lord*s Supper, than the words of the text ; words, too, which serve to prove and make clear the obligation we all are under to participate in this blessed ordinance. They shew very distinctly that it is a mark and evidence of our fellowship with Christ, — nay more, of our communion with him in the bene- fits of his death ; that, believing on Jesus, and looking to Him for salvation, we are bound to prove the sin- cerity of our faith and the reality of our interest in his cross and passion, by uniting in this commemo- rative feast. — And my design is now, more particu- larly, to shew that such was the intention and purpose of our Lord in instituting this Holy Sacrament, and that such intention is proved from the sentiments and practice of the Church in every age. 16 In looking, brethren, to the several ages of the Church, we are not to limit ourselves to the Christian dispensation. As soon as Adam fell, the Church began. Nay, we jptiay consider it as having had an existence even before his fall, though in a different aspect and effect. Had Adam never fallen, he and all the multi- tude that should spring from him, would have formed a Church, in which, — more perfect type of the highest heaven, — praise and thanksgiving should alone be heard. There would have been no sin, and therefore no need of confession of sin ; no gift nor blessing from Almighty God withheld, and therefore no cause for the supplication of His bounties. It would have been, in the inhabitants of the world, one continued, never- ending strain of praise for their creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life. . ill *" I ■ But when Adam fell, there was then a further covenant. Sin entered into the world, and an atone- ment for sin must be provided : death, present and eternal, was threatened ; and if a temporal dissolution must ensue, the way and the means must be devised by which the " wages of sin," eternal death, shall be averted. -i»f Of this promised sin-offering, even the patri- archal history contains many indications ; nor were these cheering revelations limited to words, but declared also by signs which should be a more lively and impressive remembrancer of the comforting an- nouncement of a Deliverer. The first, or at least most 17 obvious, of these ritual indications were sacrifices ; but we have evidence that there was something more^ We read, in the early part of the Book of Genesis, of " the tree of life " in the midst of the paradise of God ; on which a pious and learned prelate, Bishop Home, remarks, — " The tree of life was, doubtless, a material tree, producing material fruit ; proper, as such, for the nourishment of the body. The question will be, whether it was intended to be eaten, in common, for that end alone ; or whether it was not rather set apart, to be partaken of, at a certain time or times, as a symbol or sacrament of that celestial principle which nourisheth the soul unto immortality ; meaning, by that term, not a natural immortality, or bare exis- tence, but that divine, spiritual, eternal life, which was lost by the fall, and the restitution of which is now * the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.' The thing speaks for itself. A material tree could only confer eternal life as a divinely instituted symbol o? sacrament ; as ' an outward visible sign of an inward spiritual grace, given to him, as a means whereby he was to receive the same, and a pledge to assure him thereof.' Hereby he would be continually reminded of the truth communicated to him, without all doubt, from the beginning ; that there was another and a better life than that led by him in the terrestrial and figurative Paradise ; a life on which he was to set his affections, and to which he was to look as the end, tlie reward, the crown of his obedience ; a life sup- ported, as it was given, by emanation from that Being *fSi*'v.'^, 7 ^ri-*-?«v?:•^.i..;|fp!H^^;^ !' ( 18 « whq only hatJi life in himself, and is the fountain from which) in vajious ways, it flows to all his crea- tures. )> <- Proceed we further on in the Patriarchal age, and we have indications again of the comfort and refresh- ment of these sacramental signs. When the victory of Abraham over part of the host of the foar kings is. recorded, and when the king of Sodom is introduced as going forth to congratulate him upon it, another remarkable personage, Melchizedeck, king of Salem, and " priest, of the most high God," salutes him tooy and bjcings forth '' bread and wine," and blesses him. In this whole transaction there is something of a reli- gious character ; the priest of God, and the blessing, appear to render the distribution of the bread and wine more than a common-place occurrence. If theri^ waa an intention of material and physical nourishment m the dispensing of them, the sacred acta and oluces accompanying would seem to shew that it was to be looked.upo)! also as something religious and spiritual, — a sign, a Tic- remembrancer, and pledge of a higher and greater deliverance 1o Abraham's progeny, when, in the fullness ot time, the victory should be not over temporal enemies only, but over sin and (death, the power of the gmve, and Satan's kingdom. It cannot but be well known to you, my brethren, that the Law under Moses was little more than a reiteration of the Law under the Patriarchs. In all its great particulars, — ^in what referred especially to H '■ ^-'•^m 19 Christf ths antitype of both, — ^we can trace it upwards even to the Fall ; but while they had, all along, their offeriijgs, the figurative atonement for sin ; the sacrifice of the pasclial Lamb,~-ordered to be continued while that dispensation lasted, — was, in a more marked degree, commemorative of Christ's oblation on the cross. And it was the more remarkable, as being sacramental in its character; a standing memorial of a great deliverance past, and the type of a greater one to come ; something to quicken hope, while it awakened thanksgiving ; at each recurrence of it, a refreshment and comfort amidst the woes and trials of their pilgrimage ; reminding them, by more than a naked sign, that the God of mercy is unchangeable, and that their Deliverer from Egyptian bond€ige would be their Deliverer still in every after trouble and dis- tress, if they but adhered to the covenant which this anr aul commemoration brought so impressively and cheeringly before them. .. \'.^ Such was the Fassover, the Jews* great Sacra- ment ; but ages pas^d away, the " fulness of time " arrived, the true 1 .imb of God was sacrificed, and types and shadows gave platen; to the high and spiri- tual reality. The Lord of glory assumed our nature, and conversed with men ; but, after a short sojourn of grief and sorrow, he departed from us. Yet he left us the Comforter ; and he left us his feast, where, to the true penitent and real believer, he is always present. He left us the significant representation of himself, the > memorial of his passion, tokens of his love ; something^ m ii., i 20 for the eye to rest upon, as well as for the mind to contemplate ; something for the hands to handle^ as well as for the heart to hold within its deep recessej*. Yes, with the eye of faith we discern the Saviour there ; in that bread and wine, we see presented more vividly before us the cross and passion of the Lord ; in that feast, so simple and yet so solemn, we have Christ, in all the fullness of his love and condescen- sion, placed before us ; in those creatures, thus re- ceived by faith, we experience solace to the weary heart, — ^refreshment to the fainting soul, — strength for thf struggles of the spirit with the flesh and the world. Here, in short, we have a " continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the benefits which we receive thereby." And thus, by this visible memorial of the Lord's atonement, we are urged to mortify and crucify our own evil affections ; we are moved, by this continual representation of its benefits, to evince a never-failing thankfulness to our God and Saviour; we are impelled lo prove our hearts' deep gratitude, by having in us " the same mind which was also in Christ Jesus." It were a sad impiety, my brethren, to suppose that the Lord would frame an institution, at a time so solemn and under circumslancos so impressive, with- out intending that it should stand for ever as a memo- rial of him, as well as a channel of the benefits con- ferred by his death. Not so thought his first followers and disciples : with them there was a high and deep appreciation of the boon thus conferred. Thousands* ■ the mind lo to handle^ as eep recesses, the Saviour esented more [>f the Lord ; mn, we have d condescen- ires, thus re- to the weary -strength for nd the world, nembrance of >f the benefits )y this visible are urged lo ions ; we are )f its benefits, our God and hearts' deep nd which was 1, to suppose , at a time so ►ressive, with- r as a memo- benefits con- first followers igh and deep Thousands • '.-^ 21 were gathered into the flock of Christ ; and it was the praise of all, that they "continued in thfr Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking ofbread,^^ And that there might be no misconception, no doubt as to their practice on iliese occasions, it is said a little after, " And they continued daily in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house." That is, they performed their ordinary devotions in God's still recognized temple ; but the ministrations peculiarly Christian were fulfilled, as it has been judiciously interpreted, " at the house," — in the house set apart for those solemn and commemorative exercises ; the same, we can believe, in which they were all with one accord the day of Pentecost. We go onwards in the Apostolic history to tlie time when believers were vastly multiplied, and Churches were established far and near. Speaking of the jour- neys of St. Paul, and of his arrival at Troas, the sacred historian says, " Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread^ Paul preached unto them." — Yxom this we perceive that the solemn commemoration of the Lord's sacrifice for sin was never stopped, was never intermitted ; that it was maintained, and steadily kept up, as a memorial precious in itself and binding as commanded by the Saviour: more than this, that it- was part of the stated duties of the Lord's day, — as usual an obligation then lo break this sacramental bread, as to join in prayers and praises. Again, St. Paul's epistles teach us that, when he wrote, the same was an established custom, — the rule of all the Churches. In addressing his Corinthian converts, he takes occasion to correct errors and abuses that had crept into the institution ; to regulate, and to restore to their pure intention, the antecedent feasts of charity. In doing so, he takes the opportunity of recapitulating the cause and the manner of the whole institution of the Supper of the Lord, — ** For I have received of the Lord," he says, " that which also 1 delivered unto you ;" explaining then the manner in which the Lord appointed and ordained it ; and ending with the words which formed the subject of our last discourse, "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. »» And if we pass on beyond the limits of the Apostolic age, we shall find the Christians, — now in every country of the habitable world, — whether in prosperity or adversity, in the calm of peace or in the stern trials of persecution, uniformly observing this holy and sacrificial feast. The writings of fathers and martyrs, then and for ages onwards, are too full of allusions, expressed in the most glowing terms, of the privileges and benefits of this blessed Sacra- ment, to need recapitulation ; and we have the words of a learned and distinguished heathen to attest, that before day light the Christians came together to sing a hymn to Christ us God, and to bind themselves by ts 1 that, when he *^ torn, — the rule his Corinthian ors and abuses regulate, and tecedent feasts opportunity of jr of the whole -'*For I have t which also I the manner in it ; and ending ect of our last lis bread, and 's death till he limits of the itians, — now in 1, — whether in peace or in the observing this ings of fathers 9, are too full flowing terms, blessed Sacra- lave the words 1 to attest, that 9gether to sing themselves by an oath, — or, to take his expression literally, by a sacramenti — to commit no wickedness, and to abstain from every evil deed. There is one point, my brethren, instructive in all this history. We are assured, upon the testimony of these fathers and confessors, that it was a feast uni- versally participated in ; and that it was a grief aYid distress to any Christian to be excluded from it. To some this exclusion may be said officially to have extended : the extremely young, — the novices, as the newly-converted were termed, — the catechumens, or such as were still under instruction and not yet sufficiently informed of the great and leading princi- ples of Christianity, — for such as these there was a temporary exclusion, but one that involved not any moral impediment or included any reflection upon personal character. But there were others formally shut out from this holy and invigorating feast ; who, from immoral or ungodly conduct, were pronounced unworthy to approach its high and solenm mysteries. Far, however, was this case from one that tended to awaken the pride of individual independence, or to harden the heart : it served rather to soften, and in the spiritual sense to break it ; to cause this sufferer in spirit to go softly and penitently, — to mourn over his transgressions, — to grieve for his estrangement from the Lord*s house, and the best and holiest privileges there, — and never to be content until he had recovered the position he had forfeited, and been hailed by the brethren as one of themselves again in all the fulness of privilege, duty, and hope. 24 If, my brethren, we discern a different state of things now, it should be our labour, as far as ourselves are concerned, to correct it. That wholesome discipline of early Christianity is unhappily relaxed, weakened, and well nigh gone ; and the excommunication now from the feast of the Lord's Supper, is a self-excom- munication, indulged in too widely, — it is to be feared, too, without much sorrow or compunction of heart, and with little reference to God's displeasure, or to the consequences at last of the neglect and contempt of our Redeemer and Judge. Alas! in such a state of things, does not our blessed and holy Christianity exhibit, in its practical induence, too much the aspect of a barren land ; with here and there a thriving plant, but in its larger space appearing blighted and fruitless ! In other words, here and there a consistent, sincere, and devoted follower of the Lord ; but where far the larger number are self-seekers and self-pleasers, negligent and indif- ferent ; and where too many have thrown off well nigh altogether the form and spirit of their Christian vocation. They " eat, and drink, and are merry," perchance because " to-morrow they die ;" while it is this very fact which should make them watchful and thoughful. The certainty that " to-mcrrow they die," should assure them that there is no time lo waste thus in irreligious neglect and unholy practices. Rather should it urge them to prove that they are on " the Lord's side," by doing what the Lord commands, — by fulfilling his positive injunctions, — by walking in the steps of his most blessed example. ^5 Commanion with a civil society, connexion with a human association for good or evil, is testified by an adherence to its rules, and a strict upholding ot" its ordinances and formalities. It is a test of union one with another ; it is a bond of fellowship with their head ; it is the proof of their adherence to the foundation upon which they profess to build.— In a higher and holier sense, my brethren, tve must shew our dependence upon and connexion with Christ, and our communion one with another as belonging to him, by maintaining the rules and tests of fellowship which he has ordained. It has been so, as we have seen, from the beginning ; first, by types and shadows, and afterwards by a more distinct and significant memorial . But the reasonableness of this it cannot be necessary to dwell upon : no where can it be more clearly or forcibly represented than in the words of the text, — " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the commwiion of the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ ? '* iJt SERMON III. St. John, vi. 53.—" Then Jesut said unto them verily, verily, I say onto you, £xcept ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and diink his blood, ye have no life in you." If these words, my brethren, be strictly applicable to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, we shall feel that they convey a command of irresistible force. Nothing, indeed, could more strongly express the obligation for which we are contending ; nothing could have more power to assure us of the necessity of holding this visible and appointed communion with Christ. But even supposing these words not to be directly applicable to the Sacrament of the Eucharist ; supposing it to be erroneous to appropriate them to this subject, they are not at all stronger than the words which our Saviour used at the institution of the feast itself; " Take, eat, this is my body : this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins." IMP I 1 1$ 28 The words of the text may not improbably have been intended to mean our Lord's doctrine : his Jiesh^ the bread of life ; his blood, a near, intimate, and necessary connexion with his atonement. To partake of the Messiah truly, as has been well stated, is to partake of himself, his pure nature, his riijhteousness, his spirit ; and to live, and grow, and receive nourish- ment from that participation of him : all which he expresses in a lively and comprehensive manner, by the phrase of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. But though there may be force in the impression that these words of our Lord were not originally applicable to the holy Sacrament we are considering, as having been spoken before its actual institution ; yet to us who hear them now, after that ordinance has been formally established, there is not only no impropriety, but rather a suitableness, in thus appro- priating them. And this, as we have said, because the language employed at the institution of this Sacra- ment is just as direct and strong. And the Chufch in fact reiterates that language in these words of her comprehensive Catechism — '* The body and blood of Christ, which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper." That is, they who come, with a right faith and an earnest Christian feeling, to that holy Sacrament; they jwho receive it piously and worthily are, after a spiritual manner, • partakers of Christ's body and blood ; they become one with Christ, and Christ with them ; they really and truly partake of the benefits of his passion and media- 29 ^lon, as living members of his body. A late prelate observes, " as he is the ' bread of life,' they are then nourished, strengthened, and supported by him ; they receive him by faith ; by faith they feed upon him ; and the divine life which is begun in their souls, is thus, in a spiritual manner, upheld and carried on in them." When, indeed, St. Paul speaks of the participation of these elements as the " communion " of Christ's body and blood, he expresses all which the words of the text, in their application to the Lord's Supper, could possibly be thought to convey. " Communion," as here employed, denotes not only an association, but intimate connexion, — making the parties thus engaged, as it were, one. So that, in this blessed Sacrament, — in shewing thus the Lord's death until he come, — we have not only a sign and memorial of our belief and profession, but a communication also, in some spiritual and mysterious way, of the efficacy of Christ's atone- ment. There is, by this means, to the faithful an application o^ the benefit and blessing of his sacrifice on the cross; a renewal to such, at every communion, of the comfort, hope, and joy which flow from the acceptance of this great truth, — ^justification by faith in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and his perpetual intercession for such as lay hold upon that faith, at bis Father's right hand. -,* ^^S^<^^ ■f ^*^H- This, my brethren, we must feel to be a deep and mysterious subject ; calculated to raise and purify our . Illi! d I'll ; i 30 thoughts upon this solemn duty ; permitting us not to view it as a bare memorial or merely outward sign, but directing our hearts and hopes and confidence to an inward and attendant efficacy, — to something that can warm, refresh, invigorate, — something that can kindle up the decaying spiritual life, — something that can rouse, and cheer, and strengthen those energies, which, through the world's conflicts and temptations, are wont to grow weak and fail. But high and elevated as our faith should be on this divine commemorative feast, we are not allowed, by a sound and scriptural appreciation of its import, to rush into flights of enthusiasm or sink into depths of superstition. A right understanding of this Sacrament will cause us to avoid those mystic views which would spiritualize the ordinance away, and leave no outward sign to contemplate, nor, through the outward senses, allow us to appropriate the inward grace to the heart's holiest affections. And, on the other hand, a correct view of this Sacrament will be found directly and positively to contradict the novel tenet of Tramubstan- tiation^ — which asserts that the bread and wine in the Sacrament is literally and substantially changed into the body and blood of Christ. Our branch of the Church Catholic protests against this err >r, as " repug- nant to the plain words of Scripture, overthrowing the nature of a Sacrament, and giving occasion to many superstitions." It is absurd and irrational,* too, from the fact that our Lord, when he used the words that instituted this Sacrament, was still in bis own person tiiL 51. ng us not to ^ It ward sign, onfidence to tnelhing that ing that can mething that lose energies, temptations. should be on 5 not allowed, )f its import, into depths of lis Sacrament which would e no outward tward senses, I to the heart's and, a correct directly and ►f Transitbstan- d wine in the changed into )ranch of the jt, as " repug- srlhrowing the ision to many onal,' too, from le words that lis own person before those to whom he addressed them ; so that to I be consistent in this Rombh view, it would be neces- isary to believe that His whole and complete nature [was transferred to those elements, at the very time he ras standing before them, and before his body was [broken, or his blood shed, upon the cross. Again, this doctrine of Transubstantiation, if ^there be any thing in it, must be considered to involve :what is directly miraculous ; for it cannot be thought ess than a miracle that bread and wine should be onverted into the actual body and blood of Christ. ut to assent to, or be persuaded of a miracle, requires he testimony of the senses ; for without some convic- ion brought to them, we could not know or say what ccurrence was ordinary or extraordinary. Without uch a testimony, — of the understanding, sight, or e^ing, — none could have known, for instance, , hether our Lord performed a miracle, or not : it was only the evidence of their senses which could have nabled them to judge and decide. But here, in ransubstantiation, we are called upon to believe a iracle without any testimony presented either to our reason or our senses : in fact, we must reject the testi- ony of both, and cast it formally aside, in order to > ccept and believe that doctrine. v^v. But this is not the manner of God's dealing with , lis rational and intelligent creatures. We are required , have faith, a faith unlimited in the powers of God > eftect the most wondrous things by the meanest i ,„;1!!'" I: m u\. St instruments ; but we are not required to believe con- tradictions and essential impossibilities. Faith dege- nerates into superstition and "unsound thinking," when it would include what opposes the tenor and spirit of God*s word, and what the Church universal, in all the earliest and purest ages without an excep- tion, has maintained as the meaning of that word. Yet, my brethren, while we discard such dangerous fancies, and so hurtful a superstition, we must be careful to hold fast a right and scriptural faith upon this point. Our Lord has honoured this sacramental ordinance as no other o Jinance has been honoured : we must view it, therefore, with reverence and as a " great mystery." And as the bread and wine are, in this holy supper, on the highest authority said to be to the faithful the " communion of the body and blood of Christ," we are not allowed to separate our Lord?s presence from this Sacrament. True, it is there in some spiritual and inconceivable way ; but still, upon the authority of Scripture, it is there. While we taste and handle the material elements, we may not be conscious of the spiritual life within or around them ; yet to the faithful it is not the less vouchsafed. The Christian* believer makes not this the subject of cavilling and speculation, because it is not manifest to reason or lies not w^ithin the compass of human experience : it is God's appointment, and that is enough for him. The humble and confiding Christian will not argue that God does not need the medium of sensible objects, such as bread and wine, to invigorate 33 believe con- Faith dege- md thinking," the tenor and irch universal, lout an excep- that word. uch dangerous we must be ral faith upon is sacramental len honoured : mce and as a id wine are, in Ly said to be to '^ and blood of rate our Lord^s it is there in but still, upon While we taste '•e may not be around them ; ichsafed. The the subject of not manifest to ass of human it, and that is iding Christian the medium of le, to invigorate and sustain the spiritual man within : it is enough for him that God has chosen to use such a medium. It is enough for him to be assured, — and there is an unspeakable richness of comfort in that assurance, — that tlie Lord, who by his blood hath bought him, did institute this ordinance for the express purpose of con- veying, through it, to his true and faithful followers continual supplies of that new life which they derived from him. How beautifully and simply does our Church Catechism express this view, in describing the benefits of this holy Sacrament as " i.he strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the body and blood of Christ, \as our bodies are by ilie bread and wine ! " Yes, and [with how animating a motive for regularly and faith- fully fulfilling this duty do these words furnish us ! — and refreshins: of our souls is strengthening I The [promised; and do they not need strength? We have but to look at our hearts within, and at the world without, for an answer to this. From experience we I know too well the nature of the conflict, the terrors of I the warfare, which we all have to bear. The world's [enticements are hard to be withstood, the world's [buffetings hard to be endured ; and we have but a [weak nature to sustain us in the struggle. Without I help from above, we should faint and be dispirited ; and when the Lord, therefore, vouchsafes his presence and his succour in this banquet of his body and blood, shall we not avail ourselves of the strength he so [graciously promises to impart ' . . c , -*'*T •*? X 'I ll>l IIMi Iillill ■li .S4 " The refreshing of our souls," too, — how much, in our pilgrim warfare, do we need this ? How prone are we to grow weak and faint in our Christian calliiig, — to feel a weariness in the combat with all our spiritual foes around us, — to grow lukewarm in our fidelity to the Lord's standard, — to be languid in prayer, when we need to be always earnest in that duty, — to be distrustful of God's promises, when dependence upon them constitutes the real joy and comfort of life, — to make even shipwreck of faith, when, without it, " it is impossible to please God ! " For the correction of all this weakness and the supply of all these-deficiencies, it is indeed comforting to have such a provision : but then, there are qualifi- cations insisted upon; there is, many will argue, something even stern and appalling in the requirementi* from those who are to be partakers of this feast. True, my brethren : Christianity is not a common-place, but a holy thing ; holy in its beginning, holy in its purpose and end ; and all connected with it should be holy too. Christians in early days had even the distinguished name of saiuts assigned them, to mark their separation from the world in belief, and privilege, and conversa- tion. And the Lord's Supper is but a reiteration of our Baptismal engagements, — a renewal of the vows and promises made at that solemn time. All the Lord's ordinances, indeed, mean and imply this, — that "every one that nameth the name of Christ should depart from iniquity." That is our obligation, that is our covenant from the first ; and we but renew it, as in duty always 35 bound, — we profess our determination to stand fast to it, every time that, in sincerity of purpose, we partake of the Supper of the Lord. But let us observe more particularly what those requirements are : our Catechism is an admirable explanation, and it thus states them, — " To examine themselves whether they repent them truly of their former sins, stedfastly purposing to lead a new life ; to have a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of his death ; and to be in charity with all men." Now, in all this, what neto duty are we called upon to fulfil ? What is there here insisted upon, which is not required from all who profess themselves Christians, whether they be communicants or not? What terms, what conditions, what qualifications are here proposed, which are not, under any circumstances indispensable to salvation ? Who has not a proneness to be a self-deceiver, and has not need therefore to " examine himself?" Who is not a sinner, and required truly to repent ? Who can pass a day Vv*i»h.out being upbraided by conscience with his shortcomings and misdoings ? Who feels not, that he is a grievous transgressor against God, and does not acknowledge that the remembrance of his sins ought to be grievous to him and their burden intolera- ble ? And can we be saved in our unrepented sins ? se Can we hope for God's mercy and pardon, if those sins give us no concern and awaken in us no effort to be free from them ? iKii ! I ' ■ 1*,: Again, who, alone and unaided, can work out his salvation ? Who can procure redemption, pardon from God, and everlasting life, apart from Christ's merits ? From all, therefore, is required a " lively faith in God's mercy through Christ." That is our only hope, our only refuge as sinners; and this redemption having been wrought out for us, can we, if we rest upon and are influenced by it, fail to cherish a "thankful remembrance of his death ? " And who, my brethren, ca. be called a Christian, — one, at least, who acts in a spirit worthy of his profession, — that does not labour to fulfil the second table of the moral law, to love his neighbour as him- self; to bear no malice nor hatred in his heart, but to be " in charity with all men ;" to strive, in short, lo feel and act as the Saviour felt and acted, — dispensing his bounties to the just and the unjust, to the unthankful and the evil ? Will any, then, say that these are qualificationr for a particular ordinance, or a special religious duty ; and not rather say, that they are the every-day qualifi- cations of the Christian, — not to be put on or off, as solenm occasions come about and depart ; but to be habitually worn, — a never-ceasing appendage of our religious being, — a mark and token, never to be laid aside but always exhibited, of the truth and reality of our life in Christ? Could less, we may ask, be expected of believers on Christ under any circum- stances ? would less be consistent with the common and ordinary profession of our faith in Him as a Redeemer and Mediator ? a Such qualifications may, indeed, be called the marriage garment," which must be found upon all who are admitted to the feast of redemption ; upon all who are summoned from the " highways and hedges " of sin, — from the broad road of destruction, the dark land of the shadow of death, — to enter into the covenant of salvation with the Saviour of the world. — Without Christ, where and what are wc ? unreconciled to God through Christ, what must be our doom ? But redeemed, through that precious sin-offering, from the wages of iniquity, dare we forget that we must be a " peculiar people, zealous of good works ? " And can we think that a " peculiar people," such as Christians are required to be, may exhibit less of holiness and watch- fulness than the qualifications for this holy Sacrament imply, and yet be consistent or safe ? The Gospel itself, in all its hopes and privileges as well as ordi- nances, is a perpetual feast where the Lord's presence always is ; and in the Lord's presence any where, we must not be found unclothed with his robe of righteous- ness. We caimot enter the courts of the Lord's house ; we cannot pray to Him in the midst of the congregation, or in the privacy of our own abodes ; we cannot at m.m Hi:' !:■!. ■m |i| il II iii! i I! H-'hI 38 least, do so acceptably, religiously, or consistently, unless our aim and effort is to be " holy as he is holy in all manner of conversation." The qualifications, then, for the Supper of the Lord, are nothing new, peculiar, or distinctive ; they are what we should possess continually, if we hope to be saved. With less than these, we cannot look with confidence to Christ's atonement ; with less than these, we cannot hope to die in peace, or look forward to the judgment-seat and the last account with any thing else than the dread of condemnation. But as we hope to be saved, let us even now put that armour on, and thus be ready, daily and hourly, for our perpetual warfare with our spiritual foes ; be ready, above all, for the dread conflict with the last enemy ; and through him that loved us and gave himself for us, be assured of victory. - -H"'**^ I M i"; ii ': M r *.^t_^ J^^K./^^,^.^^,^^.^^ r consistently, J as he is holy Supper of the itinctive; they if we hope to mot look with ess than these, forward to the any thing else IS we hope to ir on, and thus petual warfare ire all, for the I through him be assured of SERMON IV. 1 CoRiNTHiANii, xi. 27.—" Whoiocver shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and bloodof this Lord." Having laid before you, my brethren, the nature of tht Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the obligations to partake of it, and the qualifications which are required in those who approach it, we might seeni to have placed this high privilege and duty beyond the reach of dispute or objection. We i.iight confidently entertain the hope, that all would concur in this view of its importance and benefit, and be anxious to gain the strength and refreshment it has the promise of affording to the Christian pilgrim ; and that all would be moved to enter, without delay, upon the earnest consideration and heaity fulfilment of that " bounden duly." Like those, however, who were called at the first to the banquet of the Gospel, and who, on the gracious Il I il'li ' :i|l I I llll' 40 summons of the Master of the feast, **began all with one consent to make excuse," there are, unhappily, too many now who, conscious of their sin and danger in neglecting, — ^we grieve to say it, habitually neglecting, — the ordinances of the Lord, and this memorial of his atoning sacrifice especially, plead excuses, and in those excuses' seek to justify themselves, rather than directly and penitently condemn themselves for the omission and transgression. 1. A prominent ground of reluctance in entering upon this duty, are the strong, and, as they may be deemed, appalling words of the text, and the language even more startling which follows : — " For he that cateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself iioi discerning the Lord's body." Now it must at once be believed that there was something special and particular in the sort of unworth- iness to which St. Paul is here referring ; that there was something of a marked and.ardened them. And by and by, death comes on : and if they are not even then indifferent, dull, and dead, — passing into eternity without concern or preparation, — they are disquieted, dismayed, perhaps in despair. There are clouds and darkness, where all should be brightness and hope ; there is terror and agony, where all should be peace and joy. v.*u- ,A4;^v*«:<';;%^'y^r5^' »i»:>^o%rtt>^ri'*'4":'*;#..4' • And how is this state of things to be counteracted? Most effectually, my brethren, by beginrA^ng the work of religion early, — by having its principles and prac- tice established in youth, — ^by causing the Lc^'s work to be familiarized to us from childhood, and '•o entwined with the heart's fibres that they will grow on together, anvi religion and the things of religion become, what they ought to be, a part of our being. But how can this be, if the Holy Communion, amongst other religious obligations, is habitually neglected r How can the young grow in gmce, if they wait not upon all the appointed means of grace ? How can they odviuice in meetness for the kingdom of ■I ill ■ 'liV' 11 i|il!'"^' ^ ■ l . that by so excellent religion they may sanctify their business. The penitent sinners must come, that they may be justified ; and they that are justified, that they may be justified still. They that have fears, and great reverence to these mysteries, and think no preparation to be sufficient^ must receive, that they may learn how to receive the more worthily : and they that have a less degree of reverence, must . come often, to have it heightened : that us those creatures that live amongst | the snows of the mountains turn white with their food and conversation with ouch perpetual whitenesses, so our souls may be transformed into the similitude and union with Christ, by our perpetual feeding on him, and conversation^ not only in his courts, but in his very heart, and most secret affections, and incomparable purities." . .r - ■■ . • . . , '■•irv'>» . • - UH,w :ri,,;.' - Uti^i*.! >tu:, ■, . . y.N.i- :■. hmn^-' "t\^w 't-* ')v .' '• "'* *'■'- J--Mf'>i,>» . V; ; • ^'* ^'K;'^? •!,«, ^\^y^^r\^^^ V-S^^^-W»^M -V , •'V • y sanf;tify their 3me, that they tificd, that they ears, and great no preparation may learn how that have a less 3n, to have it Lt live amongst with their food whitenesses, so similitade and eeding on him, ;, but in his very 1 incomparable ■-' ¥:. •St*-/" ,