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 BV 825 .G743 1839 
 Grierson, James. 
 A doctrinal and practical 
 treatise on the Lord's 
 
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL 
 
 TKEATISE 
 
 ON 
 
 THE LORD'S SUPPER 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 COPIOUS ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE LEADING DOCTRINES OF THE 
 
 GOSPEL, AND OF THE LEADING DUTIES AND VARIED 
 
 EXPERIENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 THE REV. JAMES^GRIERSON, 
 
 MINISTER OF ERROL. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 JOHN JOHNSTONE, HUNTER SQUARE. 
 
 WHITTAKER & CO.; AND NISBET & CO., LONDON. 
 
 MDCCCXXXIX. 
 
edinbliroh : printed by ballantynk and hughes 
 Paul's work, canongate. 
 
TO 
 
 THE REVEREND ROBERT GORDON, D.D., 
 
 ONE OF THE MINISTERS 
 
 OF THE HIGH CHURCH, EDINBURGH, 
 
 THIS A^OLUME, 
 
 HONOURED IN MANUSCRIPT BY HIS PERUSAL, 
 
 IS INSCRIBED, 
 
 WITH EVERY SENTIMENT OF AFFECTIONATE REGARD ; 
 
 WITH A JUST ADMIRATION 
 
 OF HIS PIETY, DEVOTEDNESS, AND EMINENCE, 
 
 AS A MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST; 
 
 WITH A PLEASING RE^NtEINLBRANCE 
 
 OF THE COMFORT AND DELIGHT WHICH WERE ENJOYED 
 
 FROM HIS FELLOWSHIP AND ASSISTANCE, 
 
 ON THE FIRST OCCASION ON WHICH THE AUTHOR PRESIDED 
 
 AT THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SOLEMN ORDINANCE 
 
 TO WHICH IT RELATES; 
 
 AND WITH A LIVELY SENSE OF THE HAPPINESS 
 
 WHICH HE HAS LONG EXPERIENCED 
 
 IN THE POSSESSION OF HIS FRIENDSHIP. 
 
\!\^'C^U 
 
 PKIITCETOXT 
 MO, NO]/ I8b0 
 
 THSOLOGIOIL 
 
 '^^J^i-irv* * v/^"* 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 This little volume is with much diffidence sub 
 mitted to the attention of the Christian reader. It 
 embodies the views and illustrations which the 
 Author has been accustomed to present to the 
 earnest consideration of those young persons who, 
 in a populous parish, have successively applied to 
 him for admission to the most solemn ordinance of 
 our holy religion. 
 
 After maturing his thoughts on this sacred and 
 interesting subject, during a period of nearly twenty 
 years, and making trial of various methods of in- 
 struction and means of illustration, particular cir- 
 cumstances occurred which suggested to the Author 
 the propriety of committing his thoughts to writing. 
 This he first did while lecturing to his congrega- 
 tion on that part of the Shorter Catechism 
 which relates to the Sacraments, Soon after this, 
 the Introductory Chapter of the present Treatise 
 was printed in the Scottish Christian Herald 
 
2 PREFACE. 
 
 for April 1837; but, instead of continuinp^ the 
 series in that publication, it was proposed to the 
 writer to put the whole into the form of a separate 
 volume, which he was the more disposed to do, as 
 many among his hearers had expressed a desire to 
 the same effect. 
 
 At the time when the work was undertaken, 
 and even for some time after it was completed, 
 there had not for nearly a century been presented 
 to the public any regular treatise on the Lord's 
 Supper, avowedly from the pen of a Minister of 
 the Church of Scotland, and in acknowledged ac- 
 cordance with her doctrinal standards. Several 
 useful and excellent catechisms, communion ser- 
 vices, and collateral publications, had appeared on 
 the subject ; and within the last few years a small 
 volume, containing Three Addresses,* distinguished 
 alike for soundness of views, fervour of piety, and 
 beautiful simplicity of language ; but during the 
 whole of the long period which has now been men- 
 tioned, there had not, so far as the writer of this 
 is aware, been any minister of our National Church 
 who had taken up the subject in all its branches 
 and bearings, with the view of forming a treatise 
 which should, in its general structure, manner of 
 treatment, and style of composition, be specially 
 
 * Bv the Rev. Dr Watson of Burntisland, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 adapted to the moral condition, tlie spiritual exi- 
 gencies, and the literary taste of modern society, 
 although it cannot be denied that this was an object 
 not only desirable but important. 
 
 Many of the older treatises are almost entirely 
 out of print, or to be found only in the voluminous 
 works of their respective authors, and are therefore 
 beyond the reach of the general reader. Some of 
 them, moreover, contain directions to communi- 
 cants, which by many most competent judges are 
 now regarded as injudicious — because proceeding 
 on the supposition of greater uniformity in the 
 experience of those who are in a proper state for 
 communicating, than Scripture warrants us to ex- 
 pect or require — and as more likely to discourage 
 and afflict the conscientious and humble, than to 
 arouse the heedless or repress the formalist. And 
 although others of these treatises, which have recent- 
 ly been reprinted in a separate form, may, in point 
 of intrinsic excellence, greatly surpass any modern 
 production, they are yet so complex in their struc- 
 ture, the unity of their plan is often so obscured 
 by multiplied divisions, and they are written in a 
 style so foreign to our present modes of thought 
 and expression, as thus to lose much of their 
 attraction to the popular mind. 
 
 Part of these objections, it is true, may be said 
 to have been obviated by the more recent publica- 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 tions — few as they are — which have been given 
 forth by the ministers of other religious commu- 
 nions. There is neither vanity, illiberality, nor 
 presumption, however, in supposing, that the mem- 
 bers of our own Church may naturally desire and 
 expect to be furnished with the means of private 
 instruction and meditation, with respect to the most 
 interesting of Christian ordinances, by works pre- 
 pared for them by Ministers of that Church to 
 which they themselves belong. Independently of 
 this consideration, it so happens, that one of the 
 ablest, fullest, and best written of these recent trea- 
 tises, is rather lengthened and expensive for the 
 generality of readers, and that no inconsiderable 
 proportion of its pages is occupied with a large se- 
 lection of mere texts, arranged under different 
 heads, with an extensive series of Psalms and 
 Hymns, and a pretty long chapter on the Com- 
 munion Service of the Church of England — 
 things which are either of collateral importance 
 only, or which, to the majority of the Christian 
 community in this part of the kingdom, cannot be 
 supposed to possess any particular interest. 
 
 On the several grounds which have now been 
 alluded to, it did not appear to the writer either 
 superfluous or unseasonable to contemplate an ad- 
 ditional Treatise on the Lord's Supper ; and he 
 hopes he may be permitted to say farther, that, in 
 
PREFACE. 5 
 
 the course of instructing and training many successive 
 classes of young communicants, some important 
 topics were suggested to his thoughts, which, so far 
 as he was aware, had not been brought forward or 
 iihistrated in any existing publication on the sub- 
 ject. He here alludes in particular to that which 
 forms the leading topic of his Introductory Chap- 
 ter, in which, as he thinks, a conclusive argument 
 for our Lord's inherent Divinity^ is derived from 
 considering the particular time when, and the cir- 
 cumstances under which, the Supper was instituted. 
 It also occurred to him, that the nature of the 
 ordinance, and of the obligations involved in its 
 celebration, admitted of being pointed out in a far 
 more simple and less abstract manner than had 
 been commonly attempted— deducing these from a 
 more close analysis and carefid interpretation of the 
 sacramental signs and symbolical actions in which 
 they are so beautifully and expressively exhibited. 
 In following out this plan into its practical details, 
 it may possibly occur to the reader that the Author 
 has sometimes been led into unnecessary repeti- 
 tion ; but those who honour it with an attentive 
 examination will find that this, in reality, is not the 
 case ; but that, whenever the same topics are a 
 second time presented to view, it is for a purpose 
 totally different from that on account of which they 
 had been previously introduced ; as, for instance, 
 
b PREFACE. 
 
 that it is one thing to consider the things which are 
 represented or brought to remembrance in the 
 Lord's Supper — another thing to consider the feel- 
 ings and affections which these same things are 
 fitted to awaken — and another still, to consider and 
 ascertain whether such feelings and affections have 
 been brought into actual, lively, and adequate 
 operation. 
 
 It will be observed, that the present Treatise 
 does not contain any series of separate Meditations 
 on the subjects connected with the holy ordinance 
 of which it treats. The reason of this is, that the 
 necessity of such meditations was, in a great 
 measure, superseded by the particular plan which 
 had recommended itself to the Author's adoption — 
 that plan leading him to illustrate in their order, 
 and as an essential part of the work, all those sacred 
 and devotional topics which the different views of 
 the ordinance are fitted to suggest. He was de- 
 sirous, besides, to avoid swelling the volume either 
 by a variety of meditations, by specimens and forms 
 oi prayer, by special addresses, or by the transcrip- 
 tion oi psabns and hymns, however appropriate and 
 beautiful. All these can be much more conveni- 
 ently and copiously obtained in publications more 
 expressly devoted to such subjects. For similar 
 reasons, he has not occupied any part of his pages 
 with specimens of the various services of Presby- 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 terian worship on a Communion Sabbath or during 
 a Communion Week. In this country, such spe- 
 cimens are already abundantly familiar to the per- 
 sonal observation of almost every individual ; and 
 from our Southern neighbours they would probably 
 attract little attention. 
 
 As matters exist, it appeared to him to be of 
 greater consequence to enter fully, and if possible 
 searchingly, into the subject of which he had to 
 treat. How far he has succeeded, others must be 
 left to judge ; but it has been his object, at least, 
 to produce a Treatise, in which, while the nature 
 and design of the Lord's Supper are freely ex- 
 plained, and the duty of observing it pointed out, 
 all those leading doctrines of the gospel which are 
 immediately connected with it are copiously illus- 
 trated, and the various subjects of meditation 
 which it suggests largely unfolded, together with 
 the several requisites to its devout and profitable 
 celebration, the benefits which it is fitted to im- 
 part to the souls of those who worthily partake of 
 it, and the peculiar obligations under which they 
 are brought to the practice of all the duties, and 
 the cultivation of all the graces, of the Christian 
 lifig. It has been his desire that, while his little 
 volume should be level to the comprehension of 
 the humblest individual who has carefully and 
 prayerfully given himself to the reading of the 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Word of God, it should serve the purpose of assist- 
 ing the inquiries of the more thoughtful and edu- 
 cated ; that it should not only satisfy an inquiring 
 mind, by treating none of the topics superficially, 
 but, if God shall be pleased so to honour it, 
 should, after a first perusal, serve to prepare the 
 reader for renewed communion " with the Father, 
 and with his Son Jesus Christ;" that it should 
 serve as a book of reference to private Christians, 
 and not only so, but as a book of household in- 
 struction and comfort, at seasons the most inte- 
 resting in the history of a Christian household. 
 
 It only remains to be remarked, that although 
 the Author has, in the course of his reading, had 
 occasion to peruse or examine various publications 
 on the subject to which his own volume relates, 
 and has, in this way, been indebted to them for 
 some suggestions, he is not conscious of having 
 servilely copied from any ; but has, on the con- 
 trary, on all points thought for himself, and pur- 
 sued a plan which, in many respects, differs from 
 all of them. He is far, indeed, from undervaluing 
 the labours of any of his predecessors, though he 
 ventures to think that there is still an opening, if 
 not a call, for his own ; but, far as he is from un- 
 dervaluing any of those who have been before him, 
 he has till now scrupulously declined to peruse 
 the volume which has lately been published by a 
 
PREFACE. 9 
 
 brother minister* of our National Church, though 
 it did not make its appearance for several months 
 after the manuscript of the present volume was 
 finished. 
 
 He now commits what he has written to the 
 candour of the Christian community, and com- 
 mends it to the blessing of the Great Head of 
 the Church, by a desire of promoting whose glory 
 he can solemnly say that he was influenced in 
 preparing it. And, in conclusion, he fervently 
 prays, that it may be especially for the edification 
 and spiritual nourishment of the members of his 
 own congregation, to whom, in another form, the 
 substance of it was originally addressed, and whose 
 affectionate interest in its statements and appeals 
 has been one reason of its being offered to the 
 public. 
 
 Err ol Manse, Oct. 25, 1839. 
 
 The Rev. Alex. "Whyte, A.M., Minister of Fettercairn. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 ON THE KEMARKABLENESS OF THE PARTICULAR TIME 
 
 CHOSEN FOR THE INSTITUTION OF THE LORd's SUPPER, 13 
 
 That time a proof of Ms inherent Deity. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON THE PECULIAR SUITABLENESS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE 
 lord's SUPPER, AS AN ORDINANCE DESIGNED FOR SHOW- 
 ING FORTH THE DEATH, AND KEEPING UP THE REMEM- 
 BRANCE OF CHRIST, ...... 24 
 
 The Lord's Supper both a commemorative and a Sa- 
 cramental ordinance. 
 
 The things which are directly represented in it — its 
 symbols — and symbolical actions. — The things which 
 it is intended and naturally fitted to bring to our 
 remembrance — The condescension of the Son of 
 God in becoming man — his leading objects or pur- 
 poses — his competency to accomphsh them — his 
 motives in undertaking them — the love with which 
 he still regards us — the fact that he will come 
 again. 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON THE OBLIGATION WHICH LIES ON ALL THE DISCIPLES OF 
 CHRIST TO REMEMBER HIM IN THIS ORDINANCE ; AND THE 
 EXCUSES AND DISCOURAGEMENTS WHICH ARE COMMONLY 
 PLEADED FOR NEGLECTING IT, .... 53 
 
 The obligation to observe the Lord's Supper arises 
 from his having expressly commanded it — The 
 considerations by which obedience to this command 
 is very specially recommended — Those by which 
 the sinfulness of neglecting it is particularly mani- 
 fested — The excuses and discouragements which 
 are commonly pleaded, considered and answered. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON THE FEELINGS WHICH THE THINGS REPRESENTED AND 
 SUGGESTED TO OUR MINDS, IN THIS ORDINANCE, ARE NA- 
 TURALLY FITTED TO AWAKEN, AND UNDER THE INFLU- 
 ENCE OF WHICH WE SHOULD STUDY TO BE, WHENEVER 
 WE ENGAGE IN IT, . 
 
 The tilings here referred to and previously illustrated, 
 are naturally fitted respectively to awaken in us — 
 A feeling of most devout and profound admiration 
 — a feeling of profoundest reverence towards God 
 — a holy hatred of sin — a deep and awful sense 
 of the rectitude and sacredness of the divine law, 
 and of the inflexibility of di^ ine justice — together 
 with a suitable sense of our own guilt and helpless- 
 ness, and a deep feeling of humility — A feeling of 
 ardent gratitude and of godly sorrow — and an 
 earnest desire after personal holiness. — They are 
 also fitted to awaken in us — A feehng of entire 
 confidence in Christ, accompanied ^\dth one of com- 
 fort and joy — a feehng not only of gratitude but 
 of love to him, devoted and growing love — a feel- 
 icg of tenderest love to our brethren, and of unfeign- 
 ed good- will toward all men — a solemn yet joyful 
 anticipation of our Lord's second coming, and a holy 
 solicitude to be like Him. 
 
CONTENTS. *13 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON THE WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS OUGHT TO EX- 
 AMINE, AND MAY ASCERTAIN, WHETUEB THEY POSSESS 
 THOSE FEELINGS AND AFPECTIONS WHICH THE THINGS 
 CONTEMPLATED IN THE LORd's SUPPER ARE FITTED 
 TO AWAKEN, BY WHICH TRUE CHRISTIANS ARE DISTIN- 
 GUISHED, AND WHICH ABE PECULIARLY REQUISITE AS A 
 PREPARATION FOR PARTAKING IN THAT ORDINANCE, 112 
 
 How to ascertain the existence, genuineness, and 
 due exercise of those feehngs which enter into the 
 nature of true Repentance — Of saving Faith — its 
 Author and production — its grand object — its prac- 
 tical tendency and effects — It is that by which God 
 purifies the heart — it worketh by love — it over- 
 cometh the world. — Of Love to Christ, showing it- 
 self by the keeping of his commandments, whether 
 in reference to God — to our neighbours — or to our- 
 selves — What constitutes and demonstrates New 
 Obedience — Whether those feelings are possessed 
 which should be awakened by the belief of Christ's 
 second coming. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON THE BENEFITS RECEIVED BY THOSE WHO WORTHILY 
 PARTAKE OF THE LORd's SUPPER, OR IN THE EXERCISE 
 OF THOSE FEELINGS WHICH IT IS FITTED TO AWAKEN, 161 
 
 The benefits arising from having these feeUngs in- 
 creased and strengthened — and from being, by faith, 
 made partakers of his body and blood. — In this 
 ordinance, " Christ and the benefits of the New Co- 
 venant are" not only " represented, but sealed and 
 appUed to beUevers." 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ON THE GUILT AND DANGER OF THOSE WHO UNWORTHILY 
 
 PARTAKE OF THE LORd's SUPPER, . . , 175 
 
 What is implied in partaking of this ordinance un- 
 worthily — different wavs in which this is done — the 
 
14* CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGl 
 
 guilt of those who do so — What is implied in being 
 " guilty of the body and blood of the Lord/' and of 
 " crucifying Him afresh" — the danger of those who 
 incur this guilt — What is implied in " eating and 
 drinking judgment to themselves" — What the judg- 
 ment here threatened — The sin of communicating 
 unworthily an alarming and aggravated sin, but not 
 beyond the reach of forgiveness. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ON THE DUTY AND IMPORTANCE OF SELF-EXAMINATION 
 
 AFTER HAVING COMAIUNICATED, .... 198 
 
 Whether the ordinance has suitably awakened our 
 feelings toward God — our feelings toward Christ — 
 our feelings in regard to sin — and our feelings 
 towards our brethren. — Disappointment in the com- 
 fort expected from partaking of the ordinance — the 
 causes from which it may have proceeded — how 
 these may in future be obviated — The highest mea- 
 sure of enjoyment in communicating — how to be im- 
 proved. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ON THE GENERAL CONDUCT WHICH ALL WHO PARTAKE OF 
 THE lord's SUPPER SHOULD BE CAREFUL AFTERWARDS 
 TO MAINTAIN, ....... 210 
 
 Consider what Avas implied in the solemn act of com- 
 municating — In doing this in remembrance of Christ 
 — and Avith a vicAv to the spiritual nourishment of 
 those Avho communicate — The general conduct 
 which they ought to maintain in regard to the Avorld 
 — in regard to the Church — in regard to the rela- 
 tive duties of social and domestic life — and in re- 
 g.'ird to their personal and secret duties. 
 
COxNlENTS. *]5 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 oc 
 
 ON THE DUTY AND DESIRABLENESS OF A FREQUENT CELE- 
 BRATION OF THE lord's SUPPER, .... 
 
 This ordinance was of frequent celebration in Apos- 
 tolic times — and ought still to be so, wherever the 
 spiritual desires and attainments of the generality 
 of the members in a Christian community render it 
 expedient — The frequency of its celebration ought 
 never to outrun the spirituality of those who engage 
 in it — With tliis understanding, its frequent celebi-a- 
 tion is of eminent advantage to the cause of Christ 
 in the world — to the Church as a community — and 
 to the communicants themselves. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ON THE COMMUNION WHICH THE SAINTS SHALL HEREAFTER 
 HAVE WITH CHRIST IN THE KINGDOM OF GLORT, 
 
 The ordinance of the Supper is to be superseded by 
 our Lord's second coming — The communion of his 
 people vi-ith Mm to be then more intimate and ex- 
 alted than ever — That communion still presented to 
 us under the similitude of a supper or feast — It im- 
 plies that his saints shall be for ever vath. Him — 
 that they shall behold his glory— that they shall 
 be Uke Him — that their joy shall be full — that they 
 shall for ever reign Avith Him — and that they shall 
 be unceasingly engaged in adoring and serving Him. 
 
 Concluding Observations. — On the ordinance of the 
 Supper as an emblem of, and a preparation for, the 
 heavenly communion — The admirable fitness of that 
 ordinance for promoting the spiritual welfare and 
 comfort of true Christians, under every possible 
 variety of circumstances, .... 266 
 
 251 
 
ON 
 
 THE LORD^S SUPPER. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 ON THE REMARKABLENESS OF THE PARTICULAR TIME CHOSEN 
 FOR THE INSTITUTION OF THE LORD's SUPPER. 
 
 The two Sacraments or sealing ordinances of the New 
 Testament, are Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Of 
 both of them it may justly be said, that, while they 
 illustrate the nature, they also aiford one of the most 
 conclusive evidences of the divine authority, or truth, of 
 the Gospel. At the same time that they set forth, 
 under the most simple and appropriate emblems and 
 actions, the peculiar doctrines of our holy religion, they 
 exhibit, if duly considered, a most striking demonstra- 
 tion of its heavenly origin. The same thing may be 
 said with respect to the two corresponding ordinances 
 which existed under the Old Testament dispensation, 
 namely, Circumcision and the Passover. 
 
 The importance of all these ordinances, in establish- 
 ing the truth of that religion to which they belong, has 
 been beautifully pointed out in that admirable and 
 well-known treatise by Leslie, entitled " A Short and 
 Easy Method with the Deists." Fie justly observes, 
 that if the matters of fact which are recorded in the 
 Scriptures be true, they will sufficiently evince the 
 
14 TIME CHOSEN FOR INSTITUTION OF THE SUPPER, 
 
 truth of the doctrines which are there deHvered. He 
 therefore lays down four rules as to the truth of mat- 
 ters of fact, which, as he shows, are of such a kind that 
 those matters of fact, in which they all meet, cannot 
 possibly be false. " The rules are these : 1. That the 
 matter of fact be such, as that men's outward senses, 
 their eyes and ears, may be judges of it. 2. That it be 
 done publicly in the face of the world. 3. That not 
 only public monuments be kept up in memory of it, 
 but some outward actions be performed. 4. That such 
 monuments, and such actions or observances, be insti- 
 tuted, and do commence from the time that the matter 
 of fact was done." The substance of the treatise is 
 then taken up in demonstrating- that all these four 
 rules hold good, and are strictly fulfilled, in regard to the 
 leading facts which are recorded in Scripture, such as 
 those which are connected with the Passover, and with 
 the institution of Baptism and of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 It is chiefly of the last-mentioned ordinance that we 
 propose at present to treat ; but, in so doing, our ob- 
 ject is, not to exhibit the particular subservience of this 
 institution to the general argument which Leslie has 
 so amply and ably maintained for the truth of the Gos- 
 pel, but simply to direct the special attention of our 
 readers to some very interesting reflections, connected 
 with the jjtarticular time at which the Lord's Supper 
 was instituted. To that general argument, all that is 
 required, in regard to the time of the institution, is 
 merely, that it shall be immediately connected with the 
 matters of fact which it is intended to commemorate. 
 Now, for this purpose, it is obviously suflicient that the 
 monument or memorial should '' commence from the 
 time that the matter of fact was done." But while the 
 observations, which are now about to be made, will di- 
 rect our thoughts to a very striking evidence of our 
 Lord's divinity, and therefore to the truth and divine 
 origin of our religion, — the circumstance to which they 
 relate is the remarkable one, that the ordinance of the 
 
A PROOF OF Christ's inherent deity. 15 
 
 Supper was instituted, not immediately after^ but im- 
 mediately before that event, of which, after the event 
 had taken place, it was to continue, till the time of his 
 second coming-, to be the solemn and significant com- 
 memoration. 
 
 It is obvious, from the narrative of the evangelists, 
 and expressly declared by the Apostle Paul, on the 
 special testimony of our Lord himself, that this holy 
 ordinance was instituted by " the Lord Jesus," and for 
 the first time administered, " the same night in which 
 he was betrayed." The principal object which the Sa- 
 viour had in view, in instituting this ordinance and 
 enjoining its future observance, is sufficiently intima- 
 ted by the words of his solemn injunction, " This do in 
 remembrance of me," (Luke ii. 19;) and by the re- 
 mark of the Apostle, " For as often as ye eat this bread 
 and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he 
 come." Now, it may, without irreverence, be said, 
 that, so far as this particular object was concerned, it 
 would have been perfectly sufficient had the institution 
 of the Supper been postponed till after his resurrection 
 from the dead. This was the method actually adopted 
 in regard to the ordinance of Baptism. Those persons, 
 indeed, who became our Lord's disciples during the 
 period of his personal ministry, and previously to his 
 death, were baptised in his name, and were thus dis- 
 criminated not only from those Jews who had not 
 been baptised, but also from those who had been bap- 
 tised <'into the baptism of John." But although previ- 
 ously to our Lord's death there was a baptism, adapted 
 to existing circumstances, by which those who became 
 his disciples made a public profession of their faith in 
 him, as " the Christ, the Son of the living God ;" yet 
 it is plain that what is strictly speaking denominated 
 Christian Baptism, that is, " baptism into the name of 
 the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," 
 was not instituted till after his resurrection, and imme- 
 diately before his ascension into heaven. 
 
]G TIME CHOSEN FOR INSTITUTING THE SUPPER, 
 
 This being the case, there would have been nothing 
 inconsistent with the nature of our Lord's personal 
 ministry, had he deferred the institution of the Sup- 
 per, as well as of Baptism, till after his resurrection — 
 that event by which he was " declared to be the Son of 
 God with power." We are well aware that it was not 
 consistent with the Divine counsels, that he should, after 
 that event, in any respect resume his public ministry. 
 " God raised him up the third day, and showed him open- 
 ly ; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before 
 of God ;" (Acts X. 41 :) and very satisfactory reasons can 
 be assigned, illustrative of the wisdom and expediency of 
 this determination and procedure. But as both Baptism 
 and the Lord's Supper were ordinances which were speci- 
 ally and exclusively intended for his own disciples, and 
 could not be administered to any till such times as they 
 could be regarded in that character, there would not have 
 been any thing in the institution of the latter, any 
 more than of the former, even if it had taken place 
 after his resurrection, in the least degree at variance 
 with the wise and righteous purpose of not resuming 
 his public ministry among those who, notwithstanding 
 all the words which he had spoken, and all the mighty 
 works which he had done in the midst of them, had not 
 only despised and rejected, but crucified and slain him. 
 There appears, therefore, to be something not a little 
 remarkable in the particular time which was chosen by 
 our Lord for instituting the ordinance of the Supper. By 
 his instituting it previously to his death, we are taught, 
 indeed, to regard it as being at that moment a predic- 
 tion, or typical representation of his death, as an event 
 then future, though near at hand. Viewed in this light, 
 there is, of course, nothing remarkable in the time of 
 its appointment, — unless it be, first, its coinciding with 
 the time of celebrating the ordinance of the Passover ; 
 and, secondly, the tenderness of heart, yet the sublime 
 composure, and, as it were, the eager anticipation, with 
 which he conducted the deeply affecting solemnity. 
 
A PROOF OF Christ's inherent deitv. 17 
 
 It cannot be doiibtefl that the ordinance of the Lord's 
 Slipper was intended to be at first a sacramental type^ 
 and afterwards as a sacramental commemoration of his 
 death. It was only at the time of its original celebration, 
 however, that it possessed the character of a type. This 
 character it could not retain beyond the moment of his 
 death, and that took place in the course of the follow- 
 ing day. The other is the principal character which 
 it was intended to bear, and to bear as long- as we shall 
 he required to observe it in remembrance of an absent 
 Lord. 
 
 Considering, then, that this last is the leading and 
 permanent character of the Lord's Supper, we cannot 
 help thinking, that, besides the purpose of constituting 
 it a prediction of his death — of making it typical, though 
 only for a day — there must have been other and higher 
 ends to be served, by instituting it previously to that 
 all-important event of which it was ordained to be the 
 sacred and endearing memorial. Nor will it be difficult- 
 to perceive what these ends must have been. Nothing 
 is more obvious, or more certain, than that the future 
 observance of this ordinance, even by our Lord's imme- 
 diate disciples, depended entirely on the consequences 
 with which his death was found to be connected, and 
 especially on the fulfilment of his promise, that he 
 would " rise again the third day." Had he not risen, 
 " as he said,"— in other words, had he been left in the 
 grave to " see corruption " — had he thus been utterly 
 forsaken or disowned of God — had he been proved to 
 be guilty alike of impiety and imposture — how could it 
 have been expected that any of his followers, however 
 devoted and enthusiastic they might have been in his 
 cause, should have continued to cherish his memory 
 with affection and reverence — to glory in his cross — 
 and pubKcly to proclaim how fervently they honoured 
 the character, and how devotedly they celebrated the 
 love of one who, if not deluded and infatuated himself, 
 had so plainly deceived, so grossly insulted, and so 
 
 £ 
 
^8 TIME CHOSEN FOR INSTITUTING THE SUPPER 
 
 grievously exposed them ? If the event had proved that 
 he was either a blind enthusiast or an audacious im- 
 postor — either deceivedjor a deceiver, — if, by his con- 
 tinuing- permanently under the power of death, a signal 
 refutation had been given to all his promises and pre- 
 tensions — his followers could never have had the hardi- 
 hood, or the weakness, openly to proclaim that they 
 were not ashamed of his cross. In such circumstances, 
 they never would have encountered and braved the ridi- 
 cule, the indignation, or the scorn of their countrymen. 
 We know that when he was merely apprehended and 
 delivered into the hands of his enemies, one of his dis- 
 ciples disowned him, while the rest " forsook him and 
 fled." And can it be supposed, that any thing would 
 have ralHed their courage, or re-animated their faith, had 
 he, after expiring on the cross, continued to slumber in 
 the grave ? The thing is absolutely impossible. Had 
 he continued to " be holden of death," the ordinance of 
 the Supper would never have been celebrated after the 
 occasion on which it was instituted. Its first celebra- 
 tion would also have been its last ! His disciples, instead 
 of seeking and exulting in an opportunity for devoutly 
 remembering him, would have considered only how they 
 might contrive to hide from others the fact that they 
 had ever known him, and prevent them from " taking 
 notice of them that they had been with Jesus." 
 
 Now, the Author of the ordinance could not but be 
 perfectly aware of all this. It required no supernatural 
 penetration to perceive a consequence so obvious and 
 inevitable. The most ordinary measure even of the 
 unaided faculties of the human mind, must have been 
 fully sufficient to force it on his attention ; and he must 
 have been the most infatuated, or the most reckless of 
 men, if he could either overlook or disregard it. There 
 have been instances, indeed, where the pride and pre- 
 sumption of a warlike and ambitious ruler, or where 
 the fierce and persecuting spirit of bigotry and supersti- 
 tion, have prepared the materials for celebrating a vic^ 
 
A PROOF OF Christ's inherent deity. 19 
 
 tory which, as the event showed, was 7iever to he 
 gained^ or forged and held in readiness the instruments 
 of torture which could not be applied to the limbs of 
 free-born Christian men till after the success of an en- 
 terprise which it was the gracious purpose of Provi- 
 dence, by the combined opposition of the winds and 
 waves, utterly to defeat.* But do not these very in- 
 stances stand out as signal and humiliating exceptions 
 to the ordinary prudence and common sense that guide 
 the proceedings of niankind in matters of this descrip- 
 tion ? And would an ambitious ruler be disposed, after 
 an ignominious defeat, to produce and exhibit the 
 monuments of his own presumptuous folly ? Or, could 
 he expect his feelings to be soothed by an annual cele- 
 bration by his subjects, not of a victory won, but of a 
 victory lost ? 
 
 The dignified composure, however, the surpassing 
 wisdom, and the solemn earnestness by which our Lord 
 was at all times distinguished, and especially as the 
 hour of his sufferings approached, render it of all things 
 the most preposterous to imagine, that he was capable 
 of any act of extravagance, recklessness, or presump- 
 tion. This being admitted, it is manifest that the in- 
 stitution of the Supper as an ordinance, to be, from that 
 time and for ages, celebrated hi commemoration and 
 honour of his death, w\a\Q that event had not yet taken 
 place, nor its consequences been ascertained — is a cir- 
 cumstance which can be accounted for only on the sup- 
 position of his being fully conscious at the moment, 
 and all along, that in him "dwelt all the fulness of the 
 Godhead bodily," — that he was indeed the Son of God 
 — that he had life in himself — that he would obtain the 
 victory over sin, and death, and the grave — that he laid 
 down his life of his own accord — that he had power to 
 lay it down, and power to take it up again. He knew 
 that he should conquer death, and " destroy him that 
 
 * Alluding to the Spanish Armada. 
 
20 TIME CHOSEN FOR INSTITUTING THE SUPPER 
 
 had the power of death, that is the devil ; and dehver 
 them who throug-h fear of death were all their lifetime 
 subject to bondage," (Heb. ii. 14.) He kjiew, therefore, 
 that although his death should, for a season, cause the 
 greatest distress and dismay to his followers ; yet that 
 they should soon after, and for ever, have the strongest 
 reason for remembering it with gratitude, exultation^ 
 and delight. We find, accordingly, that, while address- 
 ing his disciples immediately after the institution of 
 this solemn ordinance, he made use of these memorable 
 and affecting words : " And ye now therefore have 
 sorrow ; but I will see you again, and your heart shall 
 rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you," (John 
 xvi. 22.) 
 
 Here, then, we see, that a most important end has 
 been served by our Lord's instituting the Supper jtjre- 
 viously to the time of that event which it was intended 
 to commemorate — an end much more important than 
 that of merely once more predicting the event. His 
 instituting it at the time when he did, has served to 
 demonstrate the thorough and abiding consciousness 
 which he possessed of his oiv7i inherent Deity ; his con- 
 sciousness that though " crucified through weakness,'" 
 yet he should live, as he now "liveth by the power of 
 God," (2 Cor. xiii. 4.) In that ordinance he regard- 
 ed and represented himself as " put to death in the 
 flesh ;" but in the perfect certainty that he should soon 
 be " quickened by the Spirit," or the power of his own 
 Godhead, (1 Pet. iii. 18.) 
 
 In regard to the remarkable circumstance which has 
 now been pointed out, there is not, so far as we can re- 
 collect, any other ordinance parallel to the 'Lord's Sup- 
 per, except that one which it superseded, namely, the 
 Passover. The latter also was instituted, and, for the 
 first time, celebrated the night before the occurrence of 
 the event of which it was intended to be the annual 
 commemoration. Towards the evening of that night 
 in which the Israelites were led forth out of Egypt, 
 
A PROOF OF CHRIST S INHERENT DEITY. 'J 1 
 
 Moses commanded them to take for each family a lamh, 
 and having offered it up in sacrifice to the Lord, to 
 sprinkle its blood on the lintel, and on the two side- 
 posts of the doors of their houses ; after which thev 
 were to roast the liesh with fire, and eat it with un- 
 leavened bread and bitter herbs ; to eat it in haste, with 
 their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their 
 staff in their hand. The reason which he assigned for 
 this injunction was, that the Lord would that night pass 
 through the land of Egypt, and smite all the first-born, 
 both of man and beast, but that he would pass over, or 
 spare, all the houses on which was to be found the ap- 
 pointed token — the blood of the sacrifice. This ordinance, 
 Moses told them, they were to observe for ever — that 
 is, till abrogated by divine authority — in all their gen- 
 erations. In other words, it was to be prophetical at 
 first, and commemorative ever afterwards, in regard to 
 the deliverance from Egypt ; although, as we have 
 since learned from the language of an apostle, it was, 
 in both cases, typical of a still more glorious deliver- 
 ance — the deliverance eff"ected through that very death 
 of which the ordinance of the Supper became, in due 
 time, the sacred memorial. But it is manifest that, if 
 the deliverance in Egypt had not taken place, as Moses 
 had expressly intimated, he could never have expected 
 that the Israelites, either of the then existing, or of 
 any subsequent generation, would have observed or paid 
 any attention to the sacrifice and feast of the Passover. 
 On the faith of his testimony, they might, on the night 
 specified, have complied with the injunctions which he 
 delivered, but they would never have done so again, 
 had that night passed away without the execution of 
 the threatened judgment, and the fulfilment of the pro- 
 mised interposition. Of this Moses must have been 
 fully aware; and therefore his commanding them to 
 observe, beforehand, and ever after, that solemn or- 
 dinance, affords a clear and a striking demonstration 
 of his distinct and infaUible conviction that he was 
 
22 TIME CHOSEN FOR INSTITUTING THE SUPPER 
 
 divinely commissioned, that the Lord was with him, and 
 that that should indeed be proved to be *' a night to 
 be much observed unto the Lord," (Exod. xii. 42.) 
 Without such a conviction, Moses would no more have 
 hazarded his reputation and his life by doing what he 
 did on that occasion, than the people would have com- 
 plied with his instructions, without believing that there 
 was that night any danger to be incurred, or any de- 
 liverance to be wrought. 
 
 The peculiarity which we have now been contem- 
 plating, as belonging exclusively to the ordinance of 
 the Passover, and of the Lord's Supper, is exceedingly 
 striking and instructive. Something of the same sort, 
 indeed, may be alleged to belong to the institution of 
 Baptism. This is true, however, only in so far as it 
 was meant to prefigure the outpouring of the miracu- 
 lous influences of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pen- 
 tecost. In regard to his ordinary influences, and their 
 effects on the souls of men — and it was of these chiefly 
 that baptism was meant to be an emblem — they had 
 been imparted or exhibited long before the institution 
 of that ordinance, which did not take place till just on 
 the eve of our Lord's ascension into heaven. The pe- 
 culiarity, therefore, of which we have been speaking, is 
 one which manifestly belongs only to the Lord's Sup- 
 per, and to that ordinance, in the room of which it has 
 been instituted. And such is the peculiarity, that while 
 it was his resurrection from the dead that completed 
 the demonstration of his being the Son of God, it was 
 the institution of the Supper, previously to his death, 
 that showed, more strikingly than any thing else could 
 show, his sublime consciousness ih?iith\^\\B.s indeed his 
 character, and that " he thought it not robbery to be 
 equal with God." 
 
 What an exalted and animating view is thus pre- 
 sented to us of that Saviour, in remembrance of whom 
 this ordinance is to be celebrated ! It soon ceased to be 
 
 i 
 
A PROOF OF Christ's inherent deity. 23 
 
 a type^ though it has never ceased, and, till he come 
 ag-ain, never will cease to be a memorial of his death. 
 Of that second coming, however, it still affords a most 
 interesting, though an indirect, intimation. While it 
 leads our thoughts back to his death, it also directs 
 them forward to his return, with all its certainty, with 
 all its glory, and with all its momentous consequences. 
 As the Lord's Supper is the connecting link between 
 the Mosaic and the Christian dispensations, so it is the 
 connecting link between the Church on earth and the 
 Church in heaven — between the kingdom of grace and 
 the kingdom of glory. The ordinance of the Passover 
 directed the eye of the believer to a Saviour yet to 
 come : the ordinance of the Supper, while it directs it 
 to Christ our Passover, as actually slain, directs it also 
 to him as yet to " appear a second time, without sin 
 unto salvation." While it sets before us the most sub- 
 lime and affecting proof of his confidence of success in 
 the transcendent work of accomplishing our redemp- 
 tion, it teaches us to look with full assurance for the 
 accomplishment of all things which are connected with 
 our being made conformable to his image, and partakers 
 of his glory. We see that, at the very moment of en- 
 tering into the deadliest conflict with the powers of 
 darkness, and while he was encompassed with all the 
 sinless infirmities which belonged to his state of humi- 
 liation, he felt a trmmphant certainty of getting him the 
 victory ; and we cannot reasonably entertain a doubt, 
 that now that he has been exalted to " the right hand 
 of the Majesty in the heavens," he will gloriously ful- 
 fil all his promises, and in spite of all our sins, all our 
 weaknesses, and all our adversaries, " sanctify us 
 wholly," and " save us to the uttermost." 
 
24 THE SUPPER EOTH A COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 on the peculiar suitableness and significance of the 
 lord's supper as an ordinance designed for showing 
 forth the death, and keeping up the remembrance 
 of christ. 
 
 Thjere is a very obvious and important difference 
 between a sacramental and a merely commemorative 
 ordinance, or between a sacramental and a merely com- 
 memorative sign. Of a merely commemorative sign 
 we have a striking example in the pillar which Jacob 
 set up at Bethel, on the morning after the remarkable 
 vision, in which he had there received so glorious an 
 evidence of the divine presence and protection. We 
 have a similar example in the golden pot, containing 
 manna, that was laid up before the Lord within the vail, 
 as a memorial, through all their generations, of the 
 heavenly food which the Israelites had received from 
 him during their forty years' journeying in the wilder- 
 ness. We have another example in the twelve stones 
 which Joshua caused to be taken out of the channel of 
 the Jordan, and erected on its bank, to mark the place 
 where the priests' feet had stood when they held up 
 the ark of the Lord till all the tribes passed through on 
 dry land. We have another example in the stone which 
 Samuel, after the defeat of the Philistines, set up near 
 Mizpeh, and which he called Ehenezer, or the Stone 
 of Help, saying, " Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." 
 These were commemorative signs, and merely com- 
 memorative. But there were also among the Israelites 
 commemorative ordinances, such as the Feast of Pen- 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. '2o 
 
 tecost, the Feast of Tabernacles, and others. During 
 the last-mentioned feast, the people, at a particular 
 period every year, erected to themselves booths or tents, 
 and dwelt in them for a week ; thus exhibiting a beau- 
 tiful and affecting- memorial of that species of dwellings 
 which their forefathers had been obliged to occupy 
 during their lengthened wanderings in the desert. Of 
 the same nature is the ordinance of the weekly Sabbath, 
 — commemorative at first of the holy rest which ensued 
 after God had completed the work of creation, and 
 latterly also of that rest into which Christ entered after 
 completing the still more glorious work of our redemp- 
 tion, extending as it did to the last moment of his state 
 of humiliation. 
 
 Now, the Lord's Supper,^ although a memorial of 
 
 * The name which is here adopted, and generally adhered to 
 throughout this little work, is the one which is perhaps the most 
 familiar, or which, at all events, is in the estimation of the writer 
 the most appropriate and scriptural name (1 Cor. xi. 20) that can be 
 applied to the solemn ordinance of which he is treating. This 
 ordinance is called a Supper, in reference to the time at which it was 
 instituted, and for the first time celebrated, which was immediately 
 after our Lord had eaten the Passover, or Paschal Supper, along 
 with his disciples — the one ordinance being from that moment 
 superseded, and the other substituted in its room. And it is called 
 the Lord's Supper, first, because it was the Lord Jesus Christ by 
 whom it was instituted and commanded to be observed ; and, 
 secondly, because it was in honour and remembrance of Him, and 
 especially in remembrance of his death, that his disciples were com- 
 manded to observe it. This ordinance is also alluded to in Scrip- 
 ture under the title of the Feast, (1 Cor. v. 7,) in reference, as 
 before, to the feast of the Passover, which it has thus superseded ; 
 and it is again alluded to (1 Cor. x. 21) as the Lord's Table. 
 It is in like manner alluded to under the expression, the breaking of 
 bread, (Acts xx. 7 :) and it is frequently called the Communion, 
 because, in partaking of it, there is, as the Apostle tells us, 
 (] Cor. X. 16,) and as will be found more fully explained in a sub- 
 sequent part of this treatise, a spiritual commiinion, or participation 
 of Christ's body and blood ; or because, in other words, all who 
 worthily partake of it have spiritual fellowship with Him, and with 
 one another. There are two other names which have often, and 
 
26 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 Christ, and in particular of his death, is different from 
 all these ordinances. It is a memorial, but it is, at the 
 same time, something more than this, and something of 
 far higher and more peculiar significance. 
 
 The Lord's Supper is an ordinance in which the 
 gospel is preached by means of sensible signs, and pro- 
 fessedly accepted of by all the communicants. It is an 
 ordinance in which, on the part of its author, the most 
 solemn proclamation is given, and the most affecting 
 pledges are exhibited, of the blessings of the covenant 
 of grace; and in which, by the public acceptance of 
 these pledges, there is, on the part of the worshippers, 
 the most solemn acknowledgment that they have come 
 under the bond, and are alive to all the obligations of 
 that covenant. Not only is there, in this ordinance, a 
 representation of Christ's body and blood — nay, of his 
 body6roAe?zandof his blood shed in behalf of sinners, and 
 of his actually and freely giving himself " for the life 
 
 from a very early period, been applied to this ordinance, although 
 they are not thus used in Scripture. It has been called the Eu- 
 charist, from a Greek word which signifies thankxgiving, not only 
 because our Lord gave thanks to God at the time of its institution, 
 but also because, when engaged in its celebration, we are required 
 and understood to oflfer up thanksgivings, and express our infinite 
 obligations, both to the Father and the Son, for all the benefits of 
 redemption. It has also been, and is very frequently, called a 
 Sacrament, from a Latin word which signifies an oatli, and in 
 particular the oath of fidelity which soldiers took to their general. 
 It may thus be denominated, chiefly because in this ordinance we 
 have presented and exhibited to us an outward seal of the solemn 
 oath (Heb. vi. 17) by which God has been pleased to confirm to 
 believers the blessed promises ot salvation, as these are embodied in 
 the Covenant of Grace, ratified as this covenant has been by the 
 death of Jesus Christ his Son ; but also because, in this oidinance, 
 by accepting the visible signs and seals of the covenant, through 
 which God significantly speaks to our faith, (comp. Gen. xv. 8-17 ; 
 Judges, vi. 3(3-40 ; and 2 Kings ix. 8-11,) we make a solemn and 
 public avowal that we are Christ's disciples, and that we have 
 entered into engagements to honour and obey Him as the Captain of 
 our Balvatioa. 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. 2/ 
 
 of the world," — but to the worthy partakers there is, 
 through faith, a real, although, of course, a spiritual 
 participation of his body and blood, with all the bene- 
 fits and blessings which they have purchased, and of 
 which they are declared to be the emblems or the means. 
 *' For," to use his own words, " my flesh is meat 
 indeed, and my blood is drink indeed," (John vi. 55.) 
 And, says the Apostle, " 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?" (1 Cor. x. 16.) Through faith, 
 there is a real though spiritual union formed between 
 Christ and the souls of his people ; for he is said (Eph. 
 iii. 17) to " dwell in their hearts by faith." Those 
 therefore who, in the exercise of that faith which is 
 wrought in them by the influence of the Holy Spirit, 
 participate in the ordinance of the supper, do not more 
 truly, by their bodies, partake of the outward bread and 
 wine than, by means of faith, they partake of spiritual 
 nourishment to their souls, in the blessings which he 
 has provided for them by his flesh and blood. " Worthy 
 receivers," says our Confession of Faith, (ch. xxix. § 7,) 
 " outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this 
 sacrament, do then also inwardly by faith, really and 
 indeed, yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually, 
 receive and feed upon Christ crucified, and all the benefits 
 of his death : the body and blood of Christ being then 
 not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the bread 
 and wine ; yet as really, but spiritually, present to the 
 faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements 
 themselves are to their outward senses." 
 
 Without entering further at present on the considera- 
 tion of the special and spiritual benefits which worthy 
 partakers derive from this ordinance, it seemed to be 
 proper, before proceeding to point out its peculiar suit- 
 ableness and significance as a commemorative and sym- 
 bolical ordinance, to leave no room for the impression 
 that this was the tvhole of its character. It is clearly 
 
28 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 of the nature of a covenant transaction between God 
 and bis spiritual worshippers. It is one in which they 
 have a real communion with Christ and with one ano- 
 ther. It is one in which, as they then make the most 
 solemn and public profession of faith in him, so they, 
 by this faith, in a peculiar manner realize and appro- 
 priate all those exalted privileges and blessings which 
 are made over to them in that covenant which has been 
 ratified by his blood. While this, however, is the true 
 — the peculiarly hig-h and holy character of the Lord's 
 Supper, it does not cease to be really, though not 
 merely, a commemorative and symbolical ordinance ; 
 and it is interesting for us to observe and to consider, 
 how admirably it is adapted to serve the important pur- 
 poses for which, in this point of view, it was intended. 
 The language of our Lord, at the time of instituting 
 the supper, distinctly intimates, that it was intended to 
 be a commemorative and symbolical ordinance. '• This 
 do," said he, " m remembrance of me." And being 
 thus intended to afford to his disciples a special oppor- 
 tunity for caUing him to their remembrance, and pro- 
 claiming before the world their obligations to him and 
 their reliance on him, it is natural for us to expect that, 
 if carefully examined, it w^ill be found to be peculiarly/ 
 fitted to serve these interesting and important purposes. 
 Its commemorative character is no less obvious from 
 the language of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, 
 when he says, " For as often as ye eat this bread, and 
 drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he 
 come." It is worthy of remark, that the word here 
 translated shoio^ is the same that the apostle uses when 
 he tells the Roman converts " that their faith is spoken 
 o/' throughout the whole world ;" that is to say, it was 
 universally celebrated. In all the other places where 
 the word occurs in the New Testament, it is used in 
 reference to the preaching or public proclaiming of 
 Christ to mankind — in reference to the preachi7ig of the 
 gospel, or of some one or other of its fundamental and 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. 29 
 
 peculiar doctrines. As here used, therefore, by the 
 Apostle, in regard to the celebration of the Lord's Sup- 
 per, it serves to convey to us the idea, not only that 
 Those who, in obedience to the Saviour's dying- injunc- 
 tion, engage in this solemn ordinance, in this manner 
 celebrate the event of his death, as that in which they 
 themselves rejoice and glory to put their trust ; but also 
 that they thus puhlicli/ jn^Gclaim if and set itforthhe- 
 fore the eyes of the world, as an event the most amazing 
 and the most momentous that the world ever beheld ; 
 and one which claims from every sinner of the human 
 race, whenever it is announced to him, the most solemn 
 and profound attention. 
 
 This, then, is the comprehensive idea which is im- 
 plied in " shotving the Lord's death." From the words 
 of his own injunction, however, which we have already 
 quoted, it is obvious that, while his death was the prin- 
 cipal thing which the ordinance was intended to cele- 
 hrate and proclaim, and the principal, though not the 
 only thing which it was intended to represent — yet 
 that was to be celebrated and proclaimed in connexion 
 with its causes, its consequences, and all the displays 
 which it had thus served to give of the divine attributes, 
 and, in particular, of the love of God towards fallen 
 man. 
 
 To judge, therefore, oi ihe peculiar suitableness and 
 significance of the Lord's Supper, as a commemorative 
 and symbolical ordinance, it seems to be requisite that 
 we should attend, in the first place, to the things which 
 were meant to be directly represented in it ; and, in the 
 second place, to the things which it is naturally fitted 
 to bring to our remembrance. 
 
 I. The things which are directly represented in the 
 Lord's Supper. 
 
 The principal thing, as has already been observed, 
 which the Lord's Supper was intended to represent was 
 — his death. It is to this ordinance, we doubt not, that 
 
30 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 the Apostle especially refers, when he says to the Ga- 
 latians, (chap. iii. 1,) " O foolish Galatians, who hath 
 bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, be- 
 fore whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set 
 forth crucified among you." Not that there is any such 
 thing as an actual sacrifice for sin made whenever this 
 ordinance is celebrated, — for this idea is manifestly in- 
 consistent with the whole tenor of Scripture on the 
 subject ; but the language, both of the text now quoted, 
 and of that in which the inspired author speaks of our 
 showing the Lord's death, affords us a sufficient warrant 
 for saying that in this ordinance Christ is set forth as 
 symbolically crucified before our eyes. Now let us, 
 while carefully guarding against all fanciful and strained 
 resemblances, examine, with devout attention, the num- 
 ber and exactness of those particulars which we have 
 either the express authority, or the clear analogy of 
 Scripture, for regarding as so many representations of 
 things connected with his death. 
 
 1. We have then, at the outset, his own authority 
 for regarding the bread used in the Supper as an em- 
 blem * or representation of his body^ and the wi?ie as a 
 representation of his blood. We cannot, therefore, even 
 for a moment, behold these sacred elements on a com- 
 munion table, without calling to remembrance the 
 amazing fact, that our adorable Redeemer, although in 
 the highest sense the Son of God, condescended to be- 
 come ?k partaker of flesh and blood. 
 
 2. As these elements, however, thus represent his 
 body and blood, we are naturally led to infer, that 
 every use which is made of them, and every action 
 which is performed in regard to them, in this sig- 
 nificant ordinance, is intended to represent something 
 correspondent in regard to his body and his blood. 
 Nor is this inference unsupported by explicit state- 
 ment. From the language of our Lord himself, we 
 
 * S.'e Chapter VI. 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. 31 
 
 learn that the breaking of the bread was intended to 
 represent the breaking, or the jnei-cing and ivounding 
 of his body — in other words, his being- crucified and 
 slain ; and the wine in the cup, that is, the wine when 
 poured out, was intended to represent the shedding of 
 his blood. " This," said he, after having broken the 
 bread, " this is my body which is broken for you/' 
 (1 Cor. xi. 24.) " This cup," said he, in like manner, 
 " this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which 
 is shed for you" — " shed for many, for the remission 
 of sins," (Luke xxii. 10, and Matt. xxvi. 28.) And to 
 the same effect his Apostle also said, " For even Christ 
 our passover is sacrificed for us," (1 Cor. v. 7.) 
 
 3. But if the breaking of the bread was thus mani- 
 festly intended to represent his death, then the circum- 
 stance of his breaking it with his own hand was not less 
 manifestly intended to represent the voluntary nature 
 of his sacrifice ; which accords with his express and 
 memorable declaration — " No man taketh my life from 
 me, but / lay it down of myself ; I have power to lay it 
 down, and I have power to take it again," (John x. 18.) 
 The same grand truth is still exhibited when the bread 
 is broken by his ministering servants, in his name, by 
 his authority, and after his example. 
 
 4. And while these actions in regard to the sacramen- 
 tal elements thus beautifully represent his death as a 
 sacrifice for sin, and the voluntary nature of that sacri- 
 fice; so his giving the bread when thus broken, and the 
 wine when thus poured out, to all the disciples who 
 were with him at the time when he instituted the supper, 
 cannot but be regarded as a representation of his offer- 
 ing himself to them and others as a crucified Saviour. 
 The previous part of the ordinance, as a representation 
 of his death, represents, of course, his " offering himself 
 without spot to Gody It represents that *' one offer- 
 ing," in which he has " put away sin by the sacrifice of 
 himself." But the giving of the bread and wine to the 
 
32 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 C07n7nunicants represents his offering himself to them 
 as " a propitiation through faith in his blood," and as 
 the source of spiritual life, and the means of spiritual 
 nourishment. " Jesus," says the Evang-elist, " took 
 bread, and blessed it, and gave it to the disciples, and 
 said, Take, eat ; this is my body. And he took the 
 cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink 
 ye all of it." " Take this, and divide it among your- 
 selves." This last action of dispensing the bread and 
 wine, especially when taken in connexion with the 
 words which he at the moment addressed to the dis- 
 ciples, represents not the sacrificing of the Lamb, but 
 the furnishing of that feast of which the Lamb slain is 
 the substance. It represents, not his death, but the 
 manifold blessings which have been purchased for, and 
 sealed to, believers, by his blood. It exhibits him in 
 the same point of view as does the figurative language 
 which he has employed, when he says, (John vi. 48, 
 51, 53,) " I am that bread of life." " 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 that 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." 
 
 5. It may here be added, in concluding this part of 
 the representation, that our Lord's addressing himself to 
 all the disciples, when he offered them the sacramental 
 elements, bidding them all take, eat, and drink, and 
 divide it among themselves, plainly implies and was 
 meant to signify, first, that they are all alike dear to 
 him, all alike dependent on him, and all alike pro- 
 vided for ; and secondly, that, especially when thus 
 assembled together and treated as his friends and guests 
 at his table, they are significantly taught to regard each 
 other as brethren, and to bear in remembrance that 
 their high and holy communion with himself was par- 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. 33 
 
 ticularly intended, as it is eminently calculated to make 
 them duly prize and cultivate the privilege of having 
 fellowship one with another. 
 
 The various particulars which have now been noticed, 
 seem to be all, so far as the actions and directions of 
 our Lord himself on this occasion were concerned, that 
 were intended to bear a strictly representative charac- 
 ter. It is worthy of observation, however, that the 
 whole of his proceedings, from the moment w hen he 
 took up the bread, were connected with, and, if we 
 may so speak, consecrated by, an act of devotion. The 
 evangelists Matthew and Mark state, that " having 
 pronounced a blessing, he broke the bread and gave it" 
 to the disciples ; and that, " having taken the cup and 
 given thanks, he gave it to them." Now, although a 
 different word was here used in giving the bread, from 
 that which was used in giving the cup, it cannot be 
 supposed that any blessing was bestowed on the former, 
 which was not also bestowed on the latter ; or that 
 thanks were given to God in connexion with the pre- 
 senting of the one, which were not also given to him 
 in connexion with the presenting of the other. We 
 are quite aware that the first of these w^ords, which is 
 commonly used to signify praising or blessing God, 
 signifies also the bestowing of a blessing on man, or on 
 something belonging to man ; but, in reference to the 
 solemnity which we are now considering, it seems to be 
 used as just equivalent in meaning to the other word 
 which is here rendered, " having given thanks." It is in 
 this way that they are used by Mark, (viii. 6, 7,) in 
 describing our Lord's miraculously feeding the four thou- 
 sand — the latter word having been employed by him in 
 distributing to them the loaves, and the former in dis- 
 tributing to them the fishes. The evangelist Luke, 
 indeed, and after him the Apostle Paul, when speaking 
 of the holy ordinance of the Supper, makes mention of 
 only one of these words, namely, that which is trans- 
 lated, ** having given thanks," and evidently leaves us 
 
 
 
34 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 to understand, that it was applicable alike to the giving^ 
 of the bread and to the giving of the cup. 
 
 From all this, then, we learn, that our Lord, both in 
 offering himself up to God as a sacrifice for sin, and in 
 presenting himself to the acceptance of sinners, intended 
 that he should be regarded as engaged in a solemn reli- 
 gious act ; and that he made both the one thing and 
 the other the subject of praise and thanksgiving to that 
 heavenly Father by whom he was " set forth to be a 
 propitiation through faith in his blood." He is thus 
 exhibited as " the Lamb of God" — the Lamb which God 
 had required — which he had appointed — which he had 
 provided — and the only Lamb which he would accept. 
 To die the death of which the Supper was to afford an 
 affecting representation, the Son of God had been sent 
 into the world, and him had the Father sealed. In 
 him were fulfilled the words of the prophecy — " Then 
 said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is 
 written of me) to do thy will, O God," (Psal. xl. 7.) 
 This was the deep and sublime consciousness which he 
 felt when he addressed himself to God at the institu- 
 tion of this solemn ordinance ; and it was the anticipa- 
 tion of what he felt when about to expire on the cross, 
 he exclaimed — " Father, into thy hands I commend 
 my spirit." 
 
 As the language of our blessed Lord, at the institu- 
 tion of the Supper, was in this manner expressive of 
 praise and thanksgiving to God on account of that 
 sacrifice for sin which he was soon to offer up on the 
 cross, and vv'hich he had the fullest and the most glo- 
 rious conviction that God would accept, it was not less 
 expressive of similar praise and thanksgiving that he 
 had thus an opportunity of offering himself to the ac- 
 ceptance of sinners, and of making them partakers 
 through faith of that redemption which he was to pur- 
 chase, and which he has purchased with his blood. 
 There " he saw," by anticipation, " of the travail of his 
 soul, and was satisfied." Knowing that his sacrifice 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. 35 
 
 woiili be accepted by God as a sufficient atonement for 
 sin, bis soul was filled with praise and thankfulness at 
 the thoug-ht that, in offering himself to those whom 
 God had given him to redeem, he should draw many of 
 •' all nations to himself" — that he should be " believed 
 on in the world," and " bring many sons and daughters 
 unto glory." 
 
 Having thus considered all the circumstances which 
 are of a strictly representative character, so far as 
 relates to the actions and language employed in this 
 solemnity hy our Lord himself, we have now very 
 briefly to consider the significance of the actions which 
 are performed hy those ivho engage in its celebration. 
 
 On the part of those who are admitted to partake of 
 this solemnity, the actions performed are few and sim- 
 ple. They consist in their accepting — in then eating 
 the bread and drinking the wijie — and in sharing 
 them with one another, as presented to them for this 
 purpose, according to the injunction and directions of 
 Him whose sacrifice these elements symbolically repre- 
 sent. 
 
 1. In accepting, or taking into their hands, the con- 
 secrated emblems and memorials of his broken body and 
 shed blood, they significantly declare their accepta7ice 
 of Him who " suffered, the just for the unjust, that he 
 might bring us to God,'' They declare that they re- 
 nounce every other, and accept of him as their only 
 and all-sufficient Saviour ; that they accept of him in 
 all his offices, as a prophet, a priest, and a king ; that 
 they accept of the salvation which he offers to them, 
 simply and exclusively as a free gift. They declare 
 that they are indebted to him not only for the expia- 
 tion of their sins, but also for the spiritual nourish- 
 ment of their souls, — not only for their deliverance 
 from guilt and punishment, but also for their redemp- 
 tion from all iniquity, and their final admittance into 
 glory. 
 
 2. The latter part of the declaration, ho\vever, is 
 
36 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 more explicitly made by their actually eating of the 
 bread and drinking of the wine which they, for this 
 purpose, receive into their hands. In this part of the 
 proceeding-, they feast, as if they were, on the sacrifice 
 which has been offered up. They eat the Lord's Pass- 
 over. They declare that Christ's flesh is meat indeed, 
 and that his blood is drink indeed. They declare that 
 he is their life — that from him alone they derive their 
 spiritual life, and all the means by which it is nourished 
 and perfected within them — that he supplies to them 
 the bread of life and the water of life. They say, in 
 effect, that they appropriate Christ — that they take 
 him to be their own ; that they not only believe in 
 him, but that, by their faith, they feed on him ; and 
 that, as he became a partaker of flesh and blood, in 
 order that he might lay down his life for their sakes, 
 so they desire to be united to him by a living faith, 
 and thus to be made partakers of that eternal life 
 which he has the right to bestow on as many as the 
 Father hath given him. They say, in effect, " We are 
 members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones," 
 (Eph. V. 30.) The language of every true believer and 
 enlightened partaker of this holy ordinance, at least if 
 he had attained to any comfortable or satisfying evi- 
 dence that this is his character, corresponds with the 
 language of the apostle when he said, " I am crucified 
 with Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ 
 liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh 
 I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, 
 and gave himself for me," (Gal. ii. 20.) 
 
 3. But while communicants, by partaking of the 
 outward elements in the Lord's Supper, significantly 
 declare their cordial acceptance of him as their only 
 Saviour, and their entire dependence on him as the 
 author and upholder of their spiritual life, there is 
 another point of significance in the manner in which 
 they share these outward elements with each other. 
 They all symbolically declare that they receive Himy 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. 37 
 
 and that from him they all derive their spiritual 
 nourishment ; but they all symbolically declare, at the 
 same time, that they have fellowship one with another. 
 They are not only his guests, but guests at the satne 
 table. They not only all partake of the bread which 
 he has supplied, and of the wine which he has mingled, 
 but they partake of them in common. In compliance 
 with his express injunction, " Take this and divide it 
 among yourselves," they jointly participate in the 
 bounties of the table which he has spread. One is 
 their Master, even Christ, and they are all brethren. 
 He has drawn them around him by the invitations of 
 his love ; and each is expressively intimating his love 
 to his fellow communicants, for various reasons, but 
 especially for this — the love which they declare that 
 they cherish towards the Master whom he loves. 
 
 Such are the things which are represented in the 
 Lord's Supper, by the proceedings of those who are 
 permitted to engage in its celebration. The language 
 of these proceedings, though addressed, not to the ear 
 but to the eye of the intelligent observer, is language 
 on which as solemn and explicit a declaration is made 
 as could be embodied in articulate speech, of their ac- 
 ceptance of Christ as their only Saviour — of their entire 
 dependence on him for their acceptance with God, and 
 for the supply of all those blessings that are necessary 
 to prepare them for the heavenly inheritance which 
 he has purchased-^ and of their deliberate engage- 
 ment that, through the aids of his Holy Spirit, they will 
 " henceforth live not unto themselves, but unto him 
 who died for them, and rose again." Although the 
 officiating servant of the Lord, addressing them in his 
 Master's name, were to interrogate them individually on 
 each of these points — although he were to call on them 
 to stand up, in succession, at the table of communion 
 around which they had taken their places, and give a 
 distinct and special reply to the question, Do you, 
 without reserve, accept of the terms of the gospel? 
 
38 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 Do you solemnly declare that you cordially and grate- 
 fully accept of Christ as all your salvation and all your 
 desire ? And do you not less solemnly engage, through 
 divine assistance, that you will " follow him through 
 good report and through bad report ;" and " that, denying 
 ungodliness and worldly lusts, you will live soberly, 
 righteously, and godly, in this present world ?" — the 
 most emphatic reply that could be framed in words and 
 uttered by their lips, could not be more unequivocal or 
 more obligatory than that which we have a right to 
 draw, and which they themselves authorize and expect 
 to be drawn, from the simple but significant transac- 
 tions in which they publicly engage, when they partake 
 of the solemn ordinance of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 II. The things which the Lord's Supper is naturally 
 fitted to bring to our remembrance. 
 
 The things which are here directly represented, are, 
 as we have already seen, far from being numerous. They 
 are, however, exceedingly striking and momentous, 
 and cannot be attentively contemplated by any intelH- 
 gent individual, and especially by any enlightened 
 Christian, without suggesting to his mind, or bringing 
 to his remembrance, many most interesting truths and 
 most important doctrines. The things represented are 
 thus made the medium through which are suggested 
 to us the other things which we are called upon to re- 
 member. 
 
 1. When the bread and the wine are placed before 
 us in this holy ordinance, and before any further use is 
 made of them, then, being taught by our Lord himself 
 to regard them as a representation of his body and 
 blood, we are at once*" reminded of, and called on to 
 commemorate, the momentous fact, that " the Eternal 
 Son of God became man" — that " the Word was made 
 Jlesh, and dwelt among us." This momentous fact, 
 however, it is impossible to contemplate without being 
 called upon devoutly and gratefully to remember the 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. 39 
 
 amazing condescension which is implied in his humhling 
 himself to be made " in the likeness of man." Apart 
 altogether from the sinless infirmities of our nature 
 which he had to experience, and the complicated agonies 
 which he was appointed to endure, there is, in the mere 
 participation of a created nature, something which is 
 apparently so incompatible with the dignity of Him 
 who is the Maker and Heir and Lord of all, that the 
 more undoubted the fact is rendered, the more over- 
 whelming does it appear to our thoughts. It is one of 
 the things into which we are told that the angels them- 
 selves desire to look. There is so wide a contrast^ — so 
 incalculable, or rather, so infinite, a distance between 
 the nature of man, even in its best estate, nay, between 
 any created nature, how exalted soever, and the na- 
 ture of the Godhead — that nothing but the authority 
 of the Godhead itself could either constrain or warrant 
 us to believe that they are united in the person of Jesus 
 Christ ; and even when we are forced to do so, we are 
 filled with unutterable amazement at this sublime and 
 mysterious truth. We are certain that this, and all of 
 God's works, shall be made to show forth and make his 
 praise glorious ; but this very conviction only prepares 
 the way for further amazement at the thought that there 
 should be any thing to counterbalance, and more than 
 counterbalance, the unparalleled humihation to which 
 he voluntarily stooped who " thought it not robbery 
 to be equal with God ;" and who is expressly declared 
 to be " the only begotten of the Father." Now, the 
 humiliation here referred to, as it is one of the things 
 which are necessarily suggested to our minds, even by 
 the mere exhibition of the outward elements in the 
 Lord's Supper, so it is one of the circumstances which 
 we are there called upon most devoutly to remember, 
 and most gratefully and publicly to celebrate. 
 
 2. It seems impossible for us, however, to have our 
 thoughts so forcibly directed to our Lord's amazing 
 humiliation, and publicly to engage in showing it forth, 
 
40 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEiMORATIVE 
 
 without having them directed at the same time to the 
 leading objects or purposes^ momentous as they must 
 assuredly be, on account of which he submitted, not 
 only to this marvellous humiliation, but to all the un- 
 paralleled agonies by which it was completed. The 
 primary object in all this was undoubtedly the fuller 
 manifestation of the divine glory. Accordingly we 
 find, that when the time of his concluding sufferings was 
 close at hand, the words in which he addressed himself to 
 his Heavenly Father were the following, — " I have^fo- 
 rified thee on earth ; I have finished the work which thou 
 gavest me to do," (John xvii. 4.) But, comprehended 
 under this primary object, we are necessarily led to 
 think of that to which the Scriptures have assigned so 
 prominent a place, and so special an importance, namely, 
 the salvation of sinners. " This," to use the language 
 of the Apostle, " this is a faithful saving, and worthy of 
 all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world 
 to save sinners," (1 Tim. i. 15.) In this character all 
 mankind had been involved, by reason of transgression 
 against the law of God ; and by transgression they had 
 not only entirely forfeited his favour, but had exposed 
 themselves to his wrath and curse, both in this life, 
 and in that which is to come. " The wages of sin is 
 death" by which we are taught to understand, not 
 only natural and spiritual death, but death also in that 
 awful sense in which it is directly the opposite of 
 « eternal life," (Rom. vi. 23.) 
 
 Now, it is obvious, that to save beings who had 
 become liable to all these fearful penalties of transgres- 
 sion, very peculiar endowments must have been requi- 
 site on the part of the Redeemer. In denouncing these 
 penalties against sin, the divine law must be shown not 
 to have uttered a mere empty threat. Its denunciations 
 could not be cancelled or recalled. Instead of having 
 its authority shaken, or its righteousness rendered 
 questionable, it was necessary that the law should be 
 " magnified and made honourable." Whatever method 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. 41 
 
 might be adopted for exempting- sinners themselves 
 from the endurance of that punishment to which the 
 law had condemned them, it was necessary that it 
 should be one by which the righteousness of God, the 
 exceeding sinfulness of sin, and his infinite indignation 
 against it, should be, at least, as fully and effectually 
 demonstrated as though his unmitigated vengeance had 
 been poured out on the head of every individual who 
 had sinned. God has distinctly given us to understand, 
 that sin must be expiated, or at least means must be 
 taken to secure its expiation, before forgiveness can be 
 extended to the sinner. It is expressly stated that 
 " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, 
 being made a curse for us ; " and that God held it to 
 be indispensable that he should " declare his righteous- 
 ness for the remission of sins that are past," in order 
 *' that he might he just ^ and," at the same time, " the 
 justifier of him who believeth in Jesus," (Rom.iii. 26.) 
 On this principle, and for this purpose, was the Son of 
 God manifested in the flesh. He appeared in the nature 
 of man, and as the substitute of sinners. He appeared 
 in this capacity, ^>'5^, for the purpose of showing, that, 
 as it was man who had sinned, so it was against man 
 that the wrath of God, the righteous lawgiver, was di- 
 rected ; and, secondly^ for the purpose of enduring in 
 that nature the punishment to which sinners had be- 
 come justly liable, and to which he could not have 
 been subjected if he had not taken a created nature into 
 union with his Godhead. Had he not taken to himself 
 the nature of man, it could not so plainly have appeared 
 that he died for our offences ; and if he had not been 
 inherently one with God, he could neither have endured 
 the whole amount of punishment due to transgressors, 
 nor have wrought out for them an everlasting salvation. 
 " He took part of flesh and blood," in order " that 
 through death he might destroy him that had the power 
 of death, that is the devil." '< Now once in the end of 
 the world," says the Apostle, " hath he appeared to put 
 
42 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 away sin by the sacrifice of himself," (Heb. ii. 14, 
 and ix. 26.) 
 
 The end, then, for which the Son of God conde- 
 scended to subject himself to the wondrous humiliation 
 of becoming a " partaker of flesh and blood," was to 
 prepare the way for the still deeper humiliation of being 
 wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our 
 iniquities." It was to open up a way for the exercise of 
 God's mercy and grace towards sinners, in a manner 
 which was not only entirely consistent wdth all the rest 
 of the divine perfections, but pre-eminently illustrative 
 of them, and especially of his holiness and justice. It 
 was to expiate sin, and to bring redemption to his 
 people ; and that in a manner which afforded by far the 
 fullest and the most transcendent display that either 
 raen or angels could behold of the glorious attributes 
 of the Godhead. This is another of the sublime and 
 affecting things which are suggested to our contempla- 
 tions, or brought to our remembrance in the ordinance 
 of the Lord's Supper, and which we are there called 
 upon most gratefully and devoutly to proclaim and to 
 celebrate. 
 
 3. But this end, for the sake of which Christ was 
 manifested and put to death in the flesh, cannot be 
 seriously and deliberately contemplated without our 
 being emphatically reminded that he is thoroughly fur- 
 nished, and gloriously competent to its attainment. 
 Both his obedience and his suff"erings were infinitely 
 precious. He was not only entirely free from sin, but 
 essentially holy. There was a meritoriousness in his 
 obedience, which never could have belonged to any one 
 who, as a mere creature, was subject, in his own 
 nature, to the moral government of God, bound to 
 fulfil the law for himself, and thus to discharge the 
 obligations which he individually owed to the Author 
 of his being. He was made under the law, only be- 
 cause he came to redeem others from the penalties of 
 disobeying it. He not only fulfilled all the righteous- 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. 43 
 
 ness which it required, but his obedience to it as much 
 transcended in value that which could have been ren- 
 dered by the whole human race, (supposing they had 
 never sinned,) as the glorious perfections of the Creator 
 transcend the endowments which he originally bestowed 
 on the creature ; and standing in no need of that obe- 
 dience to justify himself, he treasured it all up, that it 
 might be imputed to those who, being convinced of 
 their own demerit and destitution in the sight of God, 
 are persuaded and enabled to embrace him as " the end 
 of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." 
 His " righteousness," though the righteousness of 
 ^^ one" is sufficient to "justify" not only one but 
 " many,'* — even as many as the Father hath given him, 
 and as shall believe on his name. — The same remarks 
 apply to his sufferings. " He who knew no sin was made 
 to be sin for us ;" and in this capacity he was subjected 
 to what was fully equivalent to all the pains and agonies 
 which justice could have demanded to be inflicted on 
 the guilty. In extending pardon, therefore, to the 
 ungodly who believe in Jesus, God is exhibited as tak- 
 ing the most awful vengeance on sin, and as requiring 
 the most exalted species, and the highest degree of 
 righteousness as the foundation of a sinner's acceptance. 
 These considerations are sufficient to remind us of 
 Christ's infinite abihty, and worthiness, to be the Sa- 
 viour of sinners. But this has been practically demon- 
 strated by his resurrection from the dead. He could 
 not, consistently with the glorious purposes for which 
 he had come into the world, accept the insulting chal- 
 lenge by which his enemies sought to embitter his dy- 
 ing agonies, " If thou be the Son of God, come down 
 from the cross." " Let him come down from the cross, 
 and we will beheve him." No: he would not, to 
 silence the taunts of his enemies, abandon the cause of 
 those whom the Father had given to him to redeem. 
 He would not demonstrate his Godhead by coming 
 dotvn from the cross, because a more glorious demon- 
 stration of it was soon to be afforded by his coming 
 
44 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 forth from the tomb. He did not do that which they 
 challenged him to do, but he performed a still greater 
 miracle, which they did not expect, and yet one against 
 which they were at the utmost pains to guard. Re- 
 membering his saying, " After three days 1 will rise 
 again," and anxious to prevent, as they said, any of his 
 disciples from coming by night and stealing his body 
 away, they rolled a great stone, and laid it on the 
 mouth of the sepulchre, got Pilate to seal it with his 
 own seal, and set a band of soldiers to guard it. But, 
 in spite of all their precautions, Jesus came forth as he 
 had foretold ; and though their unbelief remained, thus 
 did he signally triumph over death and the grave. By 
 this event he has triumphed over all the penalties which 
 he had to encounter, as the Substitute and Redeemer of 
 the guilty, and has been " declared to be the Son of 
 God with power." His sacrifice for sin has been ac- 
 cepted. In recompense of his mysterious humiliation, 
 God " hath highly exalted him." He has " raised 
 him up from the dead, and given him glory," (1 Pet. 
 i. 21.) The confidence of victory which our Lord 
 evinced, by instituting the Supper previously to his 
 death, and appointing it to be observed by his disciples 
 for ever after, in commemoration of that event, has thus 
 been both amply explained and justified ; and the most 
 glorious proof has been afforded, that " he is able to 
 save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, 
 seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them," 
 (Heb. vii. 25.) All this, then, is necessarily suggested 
 to the contemplative worshipper when engaged in the 
 service of communion ; and how can it be remembered 
 without being devoutly and gratefully celebrated ! 
 
 4. We have now to observe, that the Lord's Supper 
 is naturally fitted to stir us up to the remembrance of 
 the motives, so to speak, hij which he was actuated in 
 coming into the world to lay down his life for sinners. 
 From this observation, as compared with the second 
 one which has been made under this branch of the sub- 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. 45 
 
 ject, it will be perceived that a distinction is carefully 
 to be made between the objects, or purposes, with a 
 view to the accomplishment of which the Son of God 
 came into the world, and the motives^ or feeling-s, by 
 which he was influenced to undertake them. Of the 
 former we have already spoken, and it is now with the 
 latter only that we have to do. With respect, then, to 
 these motives or feelings, it will be recollected, that he 
 himself has very strikingly referred to what must, in 
 one point of view, be regarded as the grand and para- 
 mount principle by which he was actuated in under- 
 taking the glorious work of man's redemption, where 
 he says, " I came down from heaven, not to do mine 
 own will, but the will of Him that sent me," (John vi. 
 38.) Here, it is obvious, that he alludes to the eternal 
 counsel or purpose of the Godhead, to which he him- 
 self was a party, and in which the plan which he came 
 to execute had its origin. That plan was the plan of 
 Him " who worketh ail things after the counsel of his 
 own will." With God the highest of all motives 
 must ever be the execution of such counsels, including, 
 as this must of necessity include, the manifestation of 
 his own glorious perfections, in proof of which we find 
 that the practical and blessed fruits of the work of re- 
 demption are expressly declared to " be to the praise 
 of his glory," (Eph. i." 12.) 
 
 But while there can be no doubt that the manifesta- 
 tion of the divine glory, by the fulfilment of the divine 
 eternal purposes, constituted the primary motive of the 
 Saviour's interposition for the redemption of a lost 
 world, let us never forget that among these purposes 
 was comprehended one of mercy and love to the souls 
 of men. The Father and the Son are one in all their 
 attributes and purposes ; and in nothing is this funda- 
 mental truth more conspicuously demonstrated in Scrip- 
 ture, than in regard to the everlasting love which the 
 Godhead has entertained towards immortal souls. The 
 Father " hath chosen us," says one apostle, " chosen 
 
46 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 US in Christ before the foundation of the world," 
 (Eph. i. 4.) " God so loved the world," says another, 
 " that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
 beheveth in him should not perish, but have everlast- 
 ing life," (John iii. 16.) And again, " Herein is love, 
 not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent 
 his Son to be the propitiation for our sins," (1 John iv. 
 10.) Nor was this feeling towards us, less sponta- 
 neous, less intense, or less unbounded on the part of 
 the Son himself. Of him it is declared, that his " de- 
 lights" have ever been ''with the sons of men." Of 
 him, too, it is said, that, " having loved his own which 
 were in the world, he loved them unto the end," 
 (Job xiii. 1.) " Christ also loved the Church, and gave 
 himself for it." " Christ hath loved us, and hath given 
 himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a 
 sweet-smelling savour." And that we might be per- 
 suaded of the special love which he felt toward every 
 individual of all those whom the Father had given him 
 to redeem, the Apostle Paul, when proclaiming his obli- 
 gations to the Son of God, seems to delight in saying, 
 " And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by 
 the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave 
 himself for me," (Gal. ii. 20.) 
 
 In showing, then, and celebrating the death of 
 Christ, can we fail in a special manner to remember 
 and celebrate that ineffable love for our souls, which 
 prompted him to lay down his life for our sakes ! We 
 are aware of the high value which he put on the im- 
 mortal souls of men, as well as of the deep concern 
 which he felt for the avenging of sin, for the uphold- 
 ing and magnifying of the divine law, and for the raain- 
 tainingand promoting of righteousness and true holiness. 
 But the value which belongs to the souls of men, has 
 been derived, in an eminent degree, from the very cir- 
 cumstance that he has thus graciously interposed in their 
 behalf. The spirits of the fallen angels must have been, 
 in themselves, at any rate as precious as the souls of 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. 47 
 
 men ; and certainly they were originally possessed of far 
 hig-her endowments. Yet these spirits have not, since 
 their fall, participated in his love. " For verily," says the 
 Apostle, " He took not on him the nature of angels ; but 
 he took on him the seed of Abraham," (Heb. ii. 16.) In 
 the state and character of the sinful children of men, 
 there was enough to be found which would have fully 
 vindicated the divine procedure, though they had been 
 left to perish — as shall, in reality, still be the case with 
 respect to all who finally reject him ; — but, in that state 
 and character, — in what is purely inherent in themselves 
 — there is nothing to be found which could at all entitle 
 them to his favourable regard, or which can in anywise 
 account for the distinguished loving-kindness of which 
 he has made them the objects. Nor is it merely com- 
 passion and love, in their ordinary manifestations, that 
 he has exercised toward us. He has not only pitied 
 us in our low and lost estate, and acted on the benevo- 
 lent desire to promote the welfare and happiness of our 
 souls — he has graciously interposed, not only in be- 
 half of those who were helpless and miserable, but in 
 behalf of those whose helplessness and misery had 
 been entailed on them by their sins, and whose sins had 
 been so many acts of disobedience, rebeUion, and ingra- 
 titude against himself. Hence the exclamation of the 
 Psalmist, " Thou hast received gifts for men ; yea, for 
 the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell 
 among them," (Psal. Ixviii. 18.) God has loved us when 
 we were, in a moral point of view, altogether unlovely, 
 and therefore undeserving of his love ; when we were 
 " living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one an- 
 other," (Titus iii. 3.) Nay, he has " commended his 
 love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners," and 
 consequently ^'■enemies" "Christ died for us," (Rom. 
 v. 8.) There is thus displayed, on the part both of 
 the Father and of the Son, not only a love toward us, 
 hut a generosity' — a "breadth, and length, and depth, 
 and height" — of love, " which passeth knowledge." 
 
48 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 In addition to all these causes for remembering and 
 celebrating the love of God in Christ, we ought to con- 
 sider not only the love which was manifested by his 
 humihation, sufferings, and death ; but, moreover, the 
 love which is implied in the gift of the Holy Spirit, 
 bestowed on us through him, and in all the means thus 
 provided for applying to us the redemption which he 
 has purchased. On this subject, how can we fail to 
 think, with admiration and gratitude, of the love which 
 is implied in the provision that is made for turning us 
 from our sins unto God — for sanctifying us wholly in 
 soul, and spirit, and body — for making us conformable 
 to the image of the Son of God, and for introducing 
 us at last into the kingdom and presence of his glory ! 
 When we reflect on this, how can we help exclaiming 
 with the beloved Apostle, " Behold what manner of 
 love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should 
 be called the sons of God !" (1 John iii. 1.) Such and 
 so manifold are the considerations which, during the 
 celebration of the Lord's Supper, are naturally suggest- 
 ed, to remind us of " the love " — the unparalleled love 
 " wherewith he hath loved us." 
 
 5. But, while the ordinance of the Supper is thus 
 naturally fitted to remind us of that love which 
 prompted its Author to humble himself by becoming a 
 partaker of our nature, and laying down his life for our 
 sakes, it is not less fitted to remind us of the love ivith 
 which he still continues to regard us. Having suf- 
 fered, according to the Scriptures, all those things 
 which were required of him as the Substitute and Re- 
 deemer of sinners, he has long ago entered into his 
 rest. But although he has been exalted far above the 
 reach of suff'ering, he has never been above the reach 
 of affection or of sympathy. He has " sat down on 
 the right hand of the Majesty on high," and been glo- 
 rified by the Father with the glory which he had with 
 him before the world was. But this is far from having 
 impaired either his capacity of feeling for us or his 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. 49 
 
 readiness to succour us. '' For we have not an high 
 priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our 
 infirmities ;" but one who, " having suffered," and 
 " having been tempted in all points like as we are, yet 
 without sin," "is able to succour them that are tempted." 
 (Heb. iv. 15.) There is joy in heaven among the angels of 
 God over every sinner that repenteth ; but still higher 
 joy must there be in the mind of him who, in such an 
 event, " beholds the fulfilment of his own purpose, and 
 the fruit of his own sufferings and intercession. Then, 
 indeed, he " sees of the travail of his soul, and is satis- 
 fied." Now, surely, his interest and delight in his 
 people cannot be diminished in consequence of that 
 very change by which they are made partakers of the 
 divine nature, or by any thing which takes place in the 
 course of that progressive work of sanctification car- 
 ried on within them by his own Holy Spirit, by which 
 they are made to increase in their conformity to his 
 own blessed image. What stronger proof can they have 
 of his continued love to their souls, than the continued 
 advancement of a work by which, while they are made 
 more and more like him, they are necessarily rendered 
 more and more capable and desirous of enjoying him, 
 and of seeing him as he is ? 
 
 But, if the advancement of such a work as that now 
 mentioned must necessarily be regarded as an undoubt- 
 ed and striking indication of his unchangeable love, so 
 must every means and ordinance be regarded, which he 
 has appointed and employed for promoting this impor- 
 tant object. Now, this is manifestly the intention and 
 tendency of the Lord's Supper. The institution of 
 such an ordinance, for the very purpose of giving his 
 disciples an opportunity of specially remembering him, 
 and of entering into the most intimate and endearing 
 fellowship with him, that can be enjoyed on this side 
 the gate of heaven, is a most affecting evidence of his 
 love. If it were not that he loved them and delighted 
 in them, he would not have manifested such a desire to 
 
 D 
 
50 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEMORATIVE 
 
 fee the frequent object of their special and affectionate 
 remembrance. In thus inviting- them to remember 
 Him, and all that he has done for their souls, and to 
 accept anew the solemn pledges of his everlasting and 
 unspeakable love, while they, at the same time, pledge 
 themselves to be his entirely and his for ever, he 
 gives them the most conclusive and sig-nificant proof 
 how affectionately and graciously he still remembers 
 them. This is the natural conclusion w^hich we should 
 be certain to form with respect to a case of mere hu- 
 man friendship. The persons with whose remembrance 
 of us we are accustomed to feel the most highly grati- 
 fied, are those towards whom we ourselves have been 
 accustomed to cherish the highest measure of attach- 
 ment ; and from the value which we express for the 
 continuance and manifestation of their regard for us, 
 especially when we happen to be long separated from 
 each other, they may safely judge of the share which 
 they have in our affections. On the very same prin- 
 ciple, every one must perceive, that the Lord's Supper 
 is admirably calculated to bring to our remembrance 
 the delightful certainty that our absent and exalted 
 Saviour continues to regard us with unabated and un- 
 changeable love ; and this unabated and unchangeable 
 love is one of the most elevating and affecting of the 
 things which, in observing that ordinance, we are ex- 
 pected to celebrate and proclaim. 
 
 6. This leads us to observe, in the last place, that 
 the Lord's Supper serves to bring- to our remembrance 
 the solemn intimation and assurance that he will come 
 again. The certainty, manner, and objects of his se- 
 cond coming are repeatedly stated or alluded to in Scrip- 
 ture. The scene of his actual ascension into heaven 
 was no sooner closed, than a communication on this 
 subject was made by two angels to his disciples. When 
 the time here referred to shall arrive, he " shall be re- 
 vealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance 
 on them that know not God, and that obey not the 
 
 J 
 
AND A SACRAMENTAL ORDINANCE. 51 
 
 gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." But, at the same 
 time, as is further intimated, « he shall come to be glo- 
 rified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that 
 believe," (2 Thess. i. 7-10.) To them who, thus believ- 
 ing, " look for him, shall he appear the second time, 
 without sin unto salvation," (Heb. ix. 28.) Now, it is till 
 the time of his second coming, as the apostle tells us, 
 that this ordinance must continue to be observed. '' For 
 as often," says he, " as ye eat this bread, and drink this 
 cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come," (1 Cor. 
 xi. 26.) Of that coming, therefore, it was intended, 
 and can scarcely fail to remind us. While it points 
 backward to his death, of which it is the instituted and 
 hallowed memorial, it also points forward to his second 
 coming, of which it affords, as it were, the pledge and 
 the foretaste. While it reminds us of his absence, it 
 also reminds us of his future return, when he shall re- 
 ceive us to himself, that where he is there we may be 
 also, to behold his glory. This ordinance forms the 
 connecting link between two dispensations. It was at 
 the last Passover ever celebrated by Divine authoritv 
 that it was instituted ; and by Divine authority it took 
 the place of that venerated solemnity. It is, in like 
 manner, the connecting link between the Church in a 
 state of trial and the Church in a state of triumph and 
 beatitude. It affords the nearest resemblance to that 
 fellowship which the saints in light enjoy with him 
 who is " the Lord" alike "of the dead and of the liv- 
 ing." It is the ordinance over which, at its first cele- 
 bration, he himself presided in person ; the ordinance 
 in which we have the most endearing pledge of his 
 abiding spiritual presence with his people while on 
 earth, and the ordinance in which we have the liveliest 
 representation of that renovated enjoyment which they 
 shall have of his personal presence, when that which is 
 in part shall be done away. It is, in short, the sweet- 
 est and the most appropriate earnest of that beatific 
 and indescribable state of things, for which alone it is 
 
52 THE SUPPER BOTH A COMMEMORATIVE, &C. 
 
 to be abolished, when Christ himself shall again, and 
 for evermore, preside in person over that general as- 
 sembly and church of the first-born, whose sins have 
 been expiated by his blood ; whose souls have been jus- 
 tified through his righteousness, and sanctified by his 
 Spirit ; and whose highest felicity will, through eternity, 
 consist in honouring, serving, and adoring him as the 
 author of their salvation. 
 
 Such, then, is an imperfect delineation of the things 
 which the Lord's Supper is naturally fitted to bring to 
 our remembrance. It gives us an opportunity of remem- 
 bering, while it emphatically calls on us to celebrate, 
 1. His amazing condescension in taking upon him our 
 nature ; 2. The grand object which he had in view in 
 his humihation and sufferings unto death, namely, his 
 making atonement for our sins, and rendering the ex- 
 ercise of mercy towards us consistent with the mani- 
 festation and maintenance of all the other perfections 
 of the Godhead ; 3. His being thoroughly furnished and 
 gloriously competent to the attainment of this object ; 
 4. The motives by which he was actuated in coming 
 into the world and laying down his life for us ; 5. The 
 love with which he still continues to regard us; and, 
 6. The solemn intimation and pledge that he will come 
 again, to bless us with his presence, and receive us 
 into his glory. When we think of all these things, 
 which the Lord's Supper thus serves to bri7ig to our 
 remembrance, and also of the things previously enu- 
 merated, which are directly represented in it, we can- 
 not fail to perceive that, while it is something far 
 higher in its nature than a merely commemorative and 
 symbolical ordinance, it is, even so far as this view 
 of it is concerned, peculiarly suitable, significant, and 
 affecting. 
 
[ 53 ] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON THE OBLIGATION WHICH LIES ON ALL THE DISCIPLES OF 
 CHRIST TO REMEMBER HIM IN THIS ORDINANCE ; AND THE 
 EXCUSES AND DISCOURAGEMENTS WHICH ARE COMMONLY 
 PLEADED FOR NEGLECTING IT. 
 
 FroxM the Statements and illustrations which have 
 been given in the foregoing- chapter, it is hoped that 
 the nature and design of the Lord's Supper will be suf- 
 ficiently obvious, and also that the attentive reader will 
 clearly perceive the beautiful and admirable adaptation 
 of that ordinance, in all its parts, to serve the purposes 
 for which it was intended. It must be obvious, at the 
 same time, on what class of persons the observance 
 of this ordinance has been enjoined. This is apparent 
 from the very circumstance that, at the time of its in- 
 stitution, the only persons present with our blessed 
 Lord were those who were avowedly his disciples, and 
 who had been assembled together to eat the Passover 
 with him before he suffered. It was only to them, 
 therefore, and other professing disciples such as they, 
 that he addressed the solemn injunction in regard to 
 the celebration of the Supper, " This do in remem- 
 brance of me." None else, indeed, can be supposed to 
 have any conscientious and intelligible reason for en- 
 gaging in its celebration. They can have no scriptural 
 reason for remembering Christ, and he can have no 
 pleasure in seeing himself professedly remembered by 
 those who are not actuated by any feeling towards him 
 either of piety, gratitude, or love ; who are actuated 
 only by worldly, hypocritical, or superstitious considera- 
 tions, and who may thus be chargeable with making the 
 
54 THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 hig-hest solemnities of his relig-ion nothing else than a 
 cloak for their unrighteousness. 
 
 There are two observations, then, which at the very 
 outset, naturally suggest themselves to our minds. The 
 first is, that before any persons either presume or 
 resolve, even with the permission of the Church, to 
 engage in the holy ordinance of the Supper, they are 
 bound to consider, with the greatest seriousness, whe- 
 ther or not they have indeed become disciples of Christ ; 
 and the second is, that on the supposition that this is 
 indeed their character, they are not at liberty to decline 
 or neglect to take part in its solemn celebration. 
 
 1. In a country where all or almost all the inhabi- 
 tants have, in their infancy, been admitted to Christian 
 baptism, where the great majority of them at least have 
 afterwards enjoyed the benefit of a professedly Christian 
 education, and where, moreover, a certain degree of out- 
 ward respectability is understood to belong to the enjoy- 
 ment of the privileges of the Church, — it is naturally to 
 be apprehended that, in many instances, individuals 
 will be found to seek and obtain admission to the ordi- 
 nance of the Lord's Supper, who are far from being in 
 reality his disciples, and far from having any just im- 
 pression as to the nature and consequences of the very 
 transaction in which they have unwarrantably and un- 
 happily engaged. It is no difficult matter to acquire a 
 competent degree of mere knowledge on the leading 
 doctrines of the gospel ; and when such knowledge is 
 accompanied by a decent external deportment, and by 
 solemn professions of religious feeling, and the habitual 
 observance of private religious exercises, what can the 
 ministers and other office-bearers of the Church be rea- 
 sonably expected to do, but admit such persons to the 
 privileges which they so earnestly solicit ? Under such 
 circumstances, indeed, they would not be justitialde in 
 refusing them admission. The traitor Judas himself 
 was permitted by our Lord to eat the Passover with 
 him and his friends ; because, although he knew what 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IS THIS ORDINANCE. 55 
 
 was in his heart — nay, expressly stated that he it was 
 who should actually and ere long; betray him, there was 
 not, at that time, any outward and ascertained act of 
 offence that could be adduced against the false disciple, 
 as the ground of his exclusion. 
 
 But while, under such circumstances, it may be im- 
 possible to prevent the evil of admitting to the table of 
 the Lord many who have no right, and never were in- 
 vited to be there — many who, in point of fact, are not 
 of the number of his genuine disciples — this is no rea- 
 son why they themselves should presume to approach 
 it, without considering, in the most serious manner, 
 the actual relation in which they stand to him. To 
 render their participation in the ordinance either pleas- 
 ing to him or profitable to their own souls, it is necessary 
 that their transaction with him there, should be the 
 solemn and public ratification of a covenant already 
 made with him in secret ; a covenant in which they have 
 devotedly, cordially, and gratefully accepted of him in 
 all his offices, as their only and all-sufficient Saviour, 
 and have, at the same time, unreservedly dedicated them- 
 selves to his service and glory so long as they have a 
 being. Judging themselves with the utmost serious- 
 ness and impartiality, they ought to have some good 
 grounds to believe that they have really forsaken all and 
 followed Christ — that they have been made sensible of 
 their guilty and ruined condition, as sinners by nature 
 and practice — that they have been persuaded, that he, 
 and he only, hath the words of eternal life ; that he is 
 both able and willing to save all " that come unto God 
 by him," and that, having been persuaded and enabled to 
 embrace him as he is freely offered to them in the gos- 
 pel, they now feel that they take pleasure in his word, 
 in his worship, and in the keeping of all his command- 
 ments. In these different ways it must be made to ap- 
 pear, that they have been covenanting with Christ in 
 secret, before they profess to do so in the public cele- 
 bration of his supper, and that they have been taught 
 
58 THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 eagerly to embrace the opportunity, and highly to esteem 
 the privilege of daily communion with him at the foot- 
 stool of his grace, before they venture to think of having 
 communion with him at his holy table. Those who 
 have been brought up within the bosom of a Christian 
 church, and in the enjoyment of those advantages which 
 such a situation ordinarily implies, can scarcely be sup- 
 posed to be free from what is both culpable and crimi- 
 nal in the sight of God, if they reach the age of matu- 
 rity without being in a right condition for complying 
 with the special commandment of Christ with respect 
 to the observance of the Supper. Their criminality, 
 however, would not be removed but increased, by par- 
 taking in that holy ordinance while they continue to be 
 spiritually strangers to the power of his gospel, and to 
 the constraining influences of his love. They are 
 guilty, no doubt, of the sin of neglecting to do this in 
 remembrance of him ; but this is not the whole of their 
 guilt. They have been guilty of a prior and more com- 
 prehensive sin, namely, that of never having accepted of 
 Christ himself, or cordially embraced the truths of his 
 gospel. This is the sin of their unbelief; and while 
 they continue in this sin, it would only aggravate both 
 their guilt and their danger, were they to add to it 
 the sin of impiety and hypocrisy, by professing to ac- 
 cept of him in the solemn though symbolical transac- 
 tions of that ordinance of which we are speaking. 
 
 Considerations such as these should make all persons 
 very careful in enquiring into the real nature of their 
 spiritual state, and into the true relation in which they 
 stand to Christ, before they venture, even with the 
 sanction of official authority, to encompass the Table of 
 the Lord. 
 
 2. We now come, however, to direct our attention 
 to the second observation which was suggested on this 
 subject, namely, that on the supposition of our really 
 believing, or finding reason to conclude, that we are in- 
 deed his disciples and have indeed embraced the doc- 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. 57 
 
 trines and promises of his gospel, it is not a thing which 
 is optional — not a mere matter of choice or indifference, 
 of convenience or supposed expediency — whether we 
 shall, or shall not, pubHcly remember Christ, and show 
 forth his death by partaking of the ordinance of the 
 Supper. On this supposition, we a7'e bou7id to partake 
 of it, not only by a regard for our own consistency and 
 our own spiritual edification and comfort, but also, and 
 especially, out of respect and submission to his express 
 and dying commandment. 
 
 All those to whom this commandment is addressed, 
 are no more at liberty to dispense with its observ- 
 ance than they are to dispense with the observance 
 of any other commandment that he ever gave. It 
 is worthy of particular notice, that at the same time 
 that he instituted the ordinance to which this command- 
 ment refers, and indeed before rising from the table at 
 which it was dispensed, he gave to his disciples what 
 he called a new commandment — that they should love 
 one another. Now, on what ground can it be imagined 
 that his authority in regard to the latter should be held 
 to be absolute, while, in regard to the former, it may be 
 held to be dependent on circumstances ; or that an un- 
 qualified and uniform obedience is to be expected from 
 them in the one case, which is not to be insisted on in 
 the other ? It will he observed, that we are here speak- 
 ing, not of the fitness or unfitness of the state in which 
 his professing disciples are, for engaging in the service 
 which is required of them, but only of the obligation 
 under which they are placed, to obey his injunction con- 
 cerning it ; and however solemn and peculiar the nature 
 of the duty may be, we cannot understand how this 
 should, in the slightest degree, affect — unless to increase 
 — the obligation which that injunction imposes. We 
 can no more understand how the strict observance of 
 our Lord's commandment, in regard to the Supper, 
 should be left to the choice or discretion of those to 
 whom it is so plainly and emphatically addressed, than 
 
58 THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 we can admit that this should be the case with respect to 
 the other sacramental ordinance of Baptism. If the gos- 
 pel had but lately been conveyed to any individual, and 
 if, after being fully instructed in its doctrines, promises, 
 and obligations, he had solemnly professed to be tho- 
 roughly convinced of its truth, and to believe in Christ, 
 as " the power of God, and the wisdom of God," for 
 salvation, — would it be consistent with such a profes- 
 sion, or with the duty which the Scriptures themselves 
 distinctly intimate that he owes to Christ, for him to 
 neglect, or even needlessly to postpone, that public an- 
 nouncement of his faith, for which, in the ordinance of 
 Baptism, a special provision has been made ? In all such 
 cases, is not the language of the New Testament, 
 " Arise, and be baptized" — " Repent, and be baptized 
 every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ ? " Should 
 it not be the enquiry of such convert, " What doth 
 hinder me to be baptized ?" and should not the answer 
 to him be, " If thou believest with all thy heart, thou 
 mayest?" (Acts ii. 38; viii. 36, 37; and xxii. 16.) 
 Both of these ordinances rest on the same authority ; 
 the commandment requiring the observance of the one, 
 is as express as that requiring the observance of the 
 other ; and if there exists in the case of any individual 
 that faith which would justify his reception of Baptism, 
 there exists that faith which makes it incumbent on 
 him, when he has an opportunity, to join in the cele- 
 bration of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 And while the obligation of observing the Lord's 
 Supper, is thus manifestly one which lies on all who 
 may warrantably be regarded as his disciples, it must 
 evidently appear, from what has been already stated, 
 that this obligation 7'ests entirely on the express com- 
 mand of Him hy whom the ordinance was instituted. 
 " The word of God is the only rule to direct us how 
 we may glorify and enjoy him." He, and he only, has 
 the right to prescribe the religious worship v/hich we 
 ought to render to him, and the ordinances which we 
 
RExMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. 59 
 
 ought to observe. It is our duty to keep them pure 
 and entire, without any unhallowed admixture or un- 
 authorized addition, and without any careless omission 
 or impious curtailment. But although, on this princi- 
 ple, the obligation to observe the ordmance of the Sup- 
 per, arises entirely out of the express command of Him 
 by whom it was instituted, and of whom it was intend- 
 ed to keep up the devout and grateful remembrance, 
 there are various considerations by which obedience to 
 this command is very specially and powerfully recom- 
 mended. To these, in their order, let us briefly direct 
 our attention. 
 
 1. The observance of the Lord's Supper is recom- 
 mended by the consideration, that it is, in the highest 
 sense, a reasonable service. Christ is infinitely worthy 
 to be had in remembrance, and he must appear to be so 
 to all who have been enlightened and enabled to believe 
 in him. Not only is he a person of the most transcen- 
 dent dignity, but he came into the world for the accom- 
 plishment of an objectof themost unparalleled magnitude 
 and glory ; forthe accomplishment of thisobject he stoop- 
 ed to the utmost depths of an unheard-of humiliation, 
 and underwent the most overwhelming accumulation of 
 mental anguish and bodily suffering ; and in all this he 
 was actuated by a feeling of such ineffable compassion 
 and loving-kindness to the souls of men, as was equalled 
 only by his profound and manifest concern for the glory 
 of the Father — of that God with whom he thought it 
 not robbery to he equal. His success was as complete 
 as his undertaking was benevolent and glorious ; and 
 as the best proof of his being entitled to receive glory 
 of men, and especially to be remembered and admired by 
 all them that believe, it is declared and demonstrated, 
 that " God hath highly exalted him, and given him a 
 name which is above every name." The ordinance, 
 too, in which his disciples are required to celebrate and 
 remember him, is one which, with all its beautiful 
 simplicity, is admirably fitted for its purpose. By its 
 
60 THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 beautiful and significant symbols, it sets before them 
 almost all the leading and peculiar doctrines of the gos- 
 pel; the most amazing circumstances connected with 
 his personal dignity, as being at once the eternal Son 
 of God and yet a partaker of the nature of man ; and, 
 in particular, the nature, the cause, the importance, the 
 efiScacy, and the glorious consequences of his death. 
 And while all these circumstances unite in illustrating 
 the reasonableness of this holy ordinance, it is not un- 
 deserving of attention, that it is one which imposes no 
 hardship — that it implies no costly sacrifice of time or 
 of substance — that it requires no distant or toilsome 
 journey, no serious interruption to the ordinary busi- 
 ness of life, and no inconvenient separation from the 
 society and superintendence of our own families. Al- 
 though, therefore, the obedience which is due to the 
 express command of Christ in regard to this ordinance, 
 does not need to be enforced by these or any other 
 considerations — although the divine authority of that 
 command is, or ought to be, sufficient to enforce the 
 obedience which it requires, — yet it is impossible not to 
 feel how much the consideration of its manifest and 
 entire reasonableness must increase the guilt of failing 
 to obey it. 
 
 2. Obedience to the command of our Lord is recom- 
 mended by a sense of the gratitude which is due to him. 
 Men are accustomed to keep up the remembrance and 
 celebrate the discoveries, inventions, achievements, or 
 munificence of those who have, in any of these re- 
 spects, conferred on them distinguished and lasting be- 
 nefits. To express their gratitude, and perpetuate the 
 remembrance of those gifts or performances which have 
 called it forth, they are accustomed to record them in 
 history, to erect monuments, and to hold anniversaries, 
 in honour of their departed benefactors ; or, when these 
 latter forms of commemoration are not adopted, the 
 public gratitude is perhaps still more aflfectingly ex- 
 pressed, by pointing from age to age to the visible and 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. 61 
 
 imperishable results of their doings, and by imbuing 
 the youthful minds of each successive generation with 
 a mingled feeling of admiration and gratitude for all 
 that was profound in their wisdom, noble in their be- 
 nevolence, magnanimous in their conduct, heroic in 
 their sufferings, devoted in their patriotism, or sublime 
 in their religion. But what benefactor of mankind had 
 ever such claims on their gratitude and admiration as 
 the Lord Jesus Christ ? The benefits and effects of his 
 undertaking have not been confined to any age or coun- 
 try. That undertaking has not been limited to tem- 
 poral or terrestrial objects. He has brought redemption 
 lo his people, and that the redemption of their immor- 
 tal souls — a redemption, too, not obtained by " corrup- 
 tible things, as silver and gold," but by his own " pre- 
 cious blood." He has redeemed them from the curse 
 of the divine law, being made a curse for them ; and 
 not only so, but he has brought in everlasting right- 
 eousness, through faith, in which the chief of sinners 
 may be justified. Nay, he has, at the same time, ob- 
 tained for them the gracious influences of the Holy 
 Spirit, so that they shall be sanctified wholly, and 
 finally made partakers of glory, and honour, and im- 
 mortality. If, then, even " the righteous" among men 
 " shall be in everlasting remembrance," with what pe- 
 culiar fervour of gratitude ought "Jesus Christ the 
 Righteous" to be remembered ! And how ready ought 
 his professing disciples to be, to remember him in the 
 sacred, sublime, and endearing ordinance which he has 
 instituted for this very purpose, and which thus be- 
 comes, by itself, an additional ground for their gratitude 
 and love ! 
 
 3. Obedience to Christ's express command regarding 
 the observance of the Supper, is further recommended 
 by a regard to his honour and interests in the world. 
 In the case of mere human benefactors, there is no way 
 in which we can promote their interests after they are re- 
 moved from the scene of their earthly labours. We may 
 
62 THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 cherish toward them the sincerest gratitude, and load 
 their memories with the highest honours ; but they have 
 ceased to have any further connexion with the world in 
 which they lived, " neither have they any more a por- 
 tion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun." 
 We may honour them by prosecuting- and seeking to 
 advance those objects which were peculiarly dear to 
 them while they sojourned on earth, but they have no 
 longer personally any interest here that we are capable 
 of promoting. The case is very different with respect 
 to Him who was " the Saviour and the Friend of man." 
 Though no longer tabernacling with men upon the 
 earth, he is so far from having been entirely separated 
 from its concerns, that he is ruling and superintending 
 the whole of them, in subordination to the display of 
 his glory and the spread of his gospel. He is still 
 " touched with the feeling of our infirmities," and by 
 the very fact that he commands us to observe a special 
 ordinance in remembrance of him, distinctly shows that 
 he has not ceased, and never will cease, to feel the 
 deepest interest in that great and glorious undertaking, 
 of which only one part was accomplished before he re- 
 ascended into heaven. His kingdom on earth has not 
 yet attained to any thing like its appointed magnitude 
 or prosperity. The gospel has not yet been preached 
 to every creature. His saving health has not yet been 
 made known to all nations. Multitudes are yet to be 
 converted to the belief and obedience of the truth, who, 
 though not unaccustomed to the sound of it, are still 
 entire strangers to its power. He is still engaged in an 
 enterprise which he is pleased to prosecute through the 
 instrumentality of those who have already avowed 
 themselves as his disciples. He is pleased to honour 
 them by making them, in this respect, workers toge- 
 ther with himself; and it is partly by the conspicuous 
 testimony which they bear to the world around them, 
 in the ceUhy^ation of this holy ordinance, that they con- 
 tribute to the furtherance of this illustrious and most 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. 63 
 
 important work. In this significant and mo8t delight- 
 ful ordinance, Christ is clearly preached to them — He is 
 set forth evidently crucified, as it were, in their pre- 
 sence ; and in their partaking- of it they contribute, by 
 the significant demonstration of their own faith, and 
 gratitude, and devotedness, to preach and recommend 
 him to the acceptance of others. By their participa- 
 tion of this ordinance, they not only show their respect 
 for his dying injunction, but they proclaim that they 
 glory in his cross — that he and none but he has made 
 reconciliation for transgressors, and that he is all 
 their salvation and all their desire. Such being the 
 import of their engaging in this ordinance, and such 
 the important ends which their doing so is calculated 
 to promote, in regard to Christ's honour and interests 
 in the world, surely it must be admitted that another 
 very powerful recommendation is thus addressed to all 
 his disciples, for yielding a strict and ready obedience 
 to his solemn and emphatic commandment, " This do in 
 remembrance of me." 
 
 4. We have to remark, lastly, on this part of the 
 subject, that obedience to this commandment is recom- 
 mended by a consideiation of the spiritual benefits 
 which the ordinance is fitted to impart to the partakers 
 themselves. This topic will be treated of more fully 
 hereafter, when we come to consider, under a separate 
 chapter, the benefits which are received by those who 
 worthily partake of the Lord's Supper. For this rea- 
 son, we shall not enlarge on these benefits at present. 
 Since, however, they are intimately connected with the 
 particular branch of the subject now under discussion, 
 it is necessary that we should allude to them in general, 
 as serving to recommend the observance of this holy 
 ordinance. Without anticipating the illustration which 
 is afterwards to be given, it is obvious, even from 
 what has been already ^tated, that these benefits must 
 be numerous and important. It is impossible that 
 the disciples of Christ should be engaged in an ordinance 
 
64 THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 such as we have already seen the Lord's Supper to be — 
 it is impossible that they should have their minds occu- 
 pied in such sublime and holy contemplations as those 
 which it is fitted to suggest — that they should have 
 their gratitude to their Divine Master so called forth 
 and enUvened — and that they should, in obedience to 
 his own express command, find themselves engaged in 
 a solemn service which is so manifestly connected with 
 his honour and interests in the world, — without being 
 made to derive from it many spiritual advantages. 
 This being the case, it is enough for us, at present, to 
 urge the fact, as a powerful consideration which must 
 not be overlooked, for recommending the strict obser- 
 vance of the Supper, whenever they have an opportu- 
 nity, and when their existing circumstances enable them 
 to embrace it. 
 
 We now proceed to view the subject under another 
 aspect. It is manifest, that in proportion to tTie force 
 of those considerations which have just been urged, as 
 enhancing the obligation which lies on all the disciples 
 of Christ to obey his dying injunction, must be the sin- 
 fulness of neglecting it. But there are other considera- 
 tions by which the sinfulness of this neglect admits of 
 being more directly and particularly manifested. 
 
 1. The sinfulness of this neglect is particularly mani- 
 fested by the consideration, that it is a slighting of 
 Christ's authority. The command which our Lord has 
 given for the observance of his Supper by all who may 
 warrantably be ranked among his professing disciples, 
 is most explicit and unquahfied. It says nothing, in- 
 deed, as to the particular frequency with which the 
 ordinance ought to be celebrated ; but it seems obvi- 
 ous, from its being instituted at the time of the great 
 yearly feast of the Passover, and from the circumstance 
 that Christ himself is called our Passover, that its cele- 
 bration was intended to be once a year at least; and, as 
 we shall afterwards see,* there appears to be sufficient 
 
 • Chap. IX. 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. b5 
 
 evirlence that, during- the apostolic age, it was much 
 more frequent. Every careful and impartial inquirer, 
 therefore, must perceive that it never could have been 
 the intention of him from whom that express and abso- 
 lute command proceeded, to permit any of those to 
 whom it was addressed, to let an indefinite period elapse 
 without their observing- the ordinance at all. They 
 are, indeed, to be careful as to the manner in which 
 they partake of it, and for this reason they are specially 
 exhorted to examine themselves ; but they can find no 
 authority in his word for continuing in the entire neglect 
 of it, while they continue at the same time in the pro- 
 fession of faith in his name. Such conduct must be 
 regarded as a distinct slighting of his authority, and 
 consequently implies a very high degree of guilt. If 
 that authority is deliberately dishonoured in any one 
 particular, it is impossible that they should have for 
 the authority itself much respect in any instance 
 whatever — although, undoubtedly, the sinfulness of 
 such disobedience is highly aggravated by the cir- 
 cumstances under which the injunction was originally 
 given, and by the nature of the solemnity to which it 
 relates. 
 
 2. This leads us next to remark, that the sinfulness 
 of neglecting the Lord's Supper, is particularly mani- 
 fested by the consideration that it is cm undervaluing 
 of his death. His death is the thing which that ordi- 
 nance was intended principally to commemorate. It is 
 that by which alone expiation has been made for our 
 sins, and in which we have the fullest and most over- 
 whelming demonstration of the love wherewith he has 
 loved us ; and it was for the very purpose of affording 
 his disciples an opportunity of publicly avouching- their 
 faith in his blood, and of expressing their infinite obli- 
 gations to his love, that the ordinance in question was 
 instituted. The neglect of the ordinance, therefore, 
 distinctly implies that his death is not valued as it 
 ought, and as he himself meant it to be. It is no ex- 
 
66 THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 cuse for this neglect to allege, that his death is often 
 the subject of grateful meditation and of humble thanks- 
 givings in secret. This plea might have been used, 
 and with as much justice, perhaps, in behalf of Peter, 
 at the time when he disowned his Lord, as it ever can 
 be in behalf of those who neglect to acknowledge and 
 honour him at his table. He must be confessed hefoi^e 
 men, and confessed in the special and solemn manner 
 which himself has appointed. The soul cannot be in 
 a state to hold very intimate or endearing fellowship 
 with him in secret, nor be in the exercise of much gra- 
 titude and love, if it does not recognise the duty and 
 experience the desire of" offering the sacrifice of thanks- 
 giving," of " calling upon the name of the Lord," and 
 of " paying its vows unto the Lord in the presence of all 
 his people." Is it not obvious, then, that the neglect 
 of this public duty on the part of his professing dis- 
 ciples, involves them in all the baseness, guilt, and 
 impiety of undervaluing his death ?" 
 
 3. But we have again to observe, that the sinfulness 
 of this neglect is particularly manifested by its being an 
 u?idervaluing of communion with him and with his 
 people. Even from what has been already stated re- 
 specting the nature and import of the Lord's Supper, 
 it is sufficiently evident, not only that it contains a sig- 
 nificant representation of the communion which his 
 genuine disciples have with Christ and with one an- 
 other, but that it affords the most favourable opportu- 
 nity, and the most special means of actually enjoying 
 that spiritual and exalted communion. At present, we 
 need only direct our attention to the fact ; but the fact 
 })eing admitted, it necessarily follows that the neglect 
 of the ordinance embodies in it all the aggravated sin- 
 fulness of lightly esteeming the fellowship to which 
 Christ there invites us with himself, and with those 
 whom he owns and delights to honour as his people. 
 If Christ were as precious in our estimation as he ought 
 to be, then would we evince a greater desire to meet 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. 67 
 
 with him in the feast of his own Passover, and there to 
 enjoy the fellowship of those who also feel him to be 
 precious. Then, instead of resting contented with the op- 
 portunities which we may have of seeking- him in secret, 
 we should find that the more these opportunities were 
 improved, the more indispensable and delightful did 
 that solemnity appear, in which is made the nearest 
 approach that can, on this side eternity, l)e made to his 
 blessed presence. Then should we more eagerly long 
 to go to his altar — to the altar of God our exceeding 
 joy. But if remissness or indifference is manifested 
 with respect to the ordinance in which he gives his 
 people to expect the nearest and most hallowing inter- 
 course that can be afforded to them till " our earthly 
 house of this tabernacle be dissolved," surely w^e are 
 chargeable with a sin of peculiar heinousness. In this 
 state, how can we be prepared for relishing, or even for 
 being admitted to the participation of that fellowship 
 which the saints in light have with one another, and 
 with him who is ever in the midst of them as the King 
 of saints, and who is the glorious object of their adora- 
 tion, gratitude, and delight ! 
 
 4. We have still further to remark, that the sinfulness 
 of neglecting the Lord's Supper is particularly mani- 
 fested when viewed in connexion with the inconsistericy 
 of acting differently with regard to other ordinances. 
 It has already been noticed, in the earlier part of this 
 chapter, that, under certain circumstances, there are 
 multitudes of cases in which individuals press forward 
 to the participation of this ordinance, without any suit- 
 able or serious enquiry into their religious state. In 
 so doing, they are influenced only by mere worldly mo- 
 tives — guided, at first, by nothing better, perhaps, than 
 the example of the generality of those around them, or 
 by a regard to their outward respectability, and after- 
 wards, by an anxiety to maintain their place in society 
 or in pubhc estimation. But there are other circum- 
 stances under which an opposite practice very widely 
 
68 ' THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 prevails, and where either the peculiar disposition of 
 the individuals, or the general character of that portion 
 of the community with which they come most into 
 contact, has the effect of rendering them exceedingly 
 indifferent, or altogether negligent, in regard to this 
 highest solemnity of our holy religion. This is the less 
 astonishing on the part of men who manifest a woful 
 indifference to all religious ordinances whatsoever ; but 
 it is most inconsistent and distressing — though by no 
 means inexplicable — on the part of those who profess- 
 edly exhibit their respect for the other ordinances of 
 the gospel. Such persons are sometimes to be found 
 among those who are not inattentive to the ordinary 
 services of the sanctuary — who, though making no pre- 
 tension, probably, to the observance of family worship, 
 would not wish to be thought totally regardless of per- 
 sonal prayer — and who certainly, instead of manifesting 
 any hesitation about accepting of God's covenant on 
 behalf of their children, in the equally sacred ordinance 
 of Baptism, would be apt to complain of the harshness, 
 illiberality, or injustice, of any decision by which they 
 should, for the present, be withheld from that privilege. 
 Yet what can be more inconsistent than such conduct ! 
 What right have they to be admitted to the privilege 
 of Baptism, except on the understanding that they are 
 partakers of faith in Christ, as indeed they themselves 
 wish it to be believed ? And on this understanding, 
 what plea can they consistently employ in vindication 
 of their neglect of the Lord's Supper? Both ordi- 
 nances are of the same divine origin — both of them, 
 notwithstanding their distinguishing peculiarities, dis- 
 tinctly point to the grand fundamental doctrines of 
 the gospel — both of them exhibit the signs and seals 
 of the same new and everlasting covenant — and both 
 of them were meant to be administered only to those 
 by whom that covenant has, through faith, been ac- 
 cepted. They ought, therefore, either to seek admis- 
 sion to both or to neither. Nothing can be more in- 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. 69 
 
 consistent than to act otherwise ; and nothing can show 
 more clearly the sinfulness of neglecting- the observance 
 of the Supper. It is a manifest affront against him 
 whom they profess to reverence as their Master, be- 
 cause, contrary to any thing which he himself has re- 
 vealed, they presume to assign a different degree of 
 sacredness to the one ordinance from that which they 
 assign to the other. It is no mitigation of their sin 
 that the ordinance which they esteem the most sacred, 
 is that also which they practically dishonour, by dis- 
 obeying his express injunction to observe it. 
 
 5. This brings us to remark, in the last place, that 
 the sinfulness of deliberately neglecting the Lord's Sup- 
 per, is particularly manifested by the consideration, 
 that it amounts to a virtual renunciation of our baptism. 
 Under the last of the foregoing particulars, we had to 
 considerthe sinful inconsistency of neglecting the Lord's 
 Supper, while, by the observance of other ordinances, 
 a profession was made of that very faith which not only 
 warranted, but called for, the observance of both. 
 Under the present particular, we have to consider the 
 sinfulness of this neglect under a different aspect. All 
 persons who have been dedicated to God in baptism, 
 have, by this circumstance, been brought into a very 
 pecuHar relation to him, and one which has conferred 
 on them very important privileges. If they are spared 
 to arrive at an age when they become capable of un- 
 derstanding the nature of that ordinance, and the sacred 
 import of those obhgations which their parents early 
 contracted by thus entering into covenant with God 
 on their account, they are bound to take this subject 
 into their most serious consideration, — especially on the 
 supposition that their parents have all along been at 
 due pains to explain it to them, as they grew up under 
 their care. If the result of a careful and thorough 
 examination of the subject is a persuasion that their 
 parents have made a profession of faith, and been en- 
 gaged in a solemn transaction of which they conscien- 
 
70, THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 tiously approve, and in which they cordially acquiesce, 
 then they are bound, both out of respect to the autho- 
 rity of God, and out of gratitude for the kindness and 
 fidelity of their parents, to let their convictions be 
 publicly known. Nay, they are bound to show their 
 approval of God's covenant, by accepting it for them- 
 selves, and by doing so in a manner not less solemn 
 and public than that in which they were originally de- 
 dicated to him in baptism, and thus received into con- 
 nexion with the visible Church. Now there is only one 
 way in which this can be done, and that is just by ap- 
 plying for admission to the ordinance of the Supper. 
 This was one of the very purposes for the sake of which 
 it was instituted ; and therefore if baptized persons, 
 after having reached the years of maturity, deliberately 
 continue to neglect it, what conclusion can be formed 
 concerning them, but that they do not approve of the 
 deed of their fathers ? — that instead of adopting, they 
 have renounced the faith which their fathers professed 
 — that, like Esau, they despise their birthright — and 
 that they disdainfully cast away from them all the 
 blessed privileges and provisions of that covenant which 
 was ratified by the blood of Christ, thus counting that 
 precious blood itself as " an unholy thing ?" Here, 
 then, we have another and most appalling manifestation 
 of the sinfulness of neglecting the Lord's Supper ; and 
 taking into one view all those particulars which we 
 have now been attempting to illustrate, what a fearful 
 exhibition do they present to us of the aggravated 
 guilt of those who are chargeable with doing that which 
 may justly be called, " denying the Lord that bought 
 them !" 
 
 Having thus endeavoured to illustrate the obligation 
 which hes on all the disciples of Christ to remember 
 him in the ordinance of the Supper, and pointed out, 
 not only the considerations by which the duty of ob- 
 serving it is recommended, but those also by which the 
 sinfulness of neglecting it is particularly manifested, 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. 71 
 
 we come now to consider the excuses and discourage" 
 ments which are commonly pleaded for this neglect. 
 
 When we reflect for a moment on the plain and express 
 nature of the commandment which he has given to his 
 disciples on this subject, it may well seem not a little 
 surprising-, that while wishing- to retain this character, 
 they should either feel a moment's doubt as to the ob- 
 ligation which that commandment imposes, or discover 
 any backwardness to comply with it. The more in- 
 excusable and reprehensible, however, that their ne- 
 glect of it is, the more anxious, in many instances, do 
 they appear to justify, or at least extenuate, their con- 
 duct ; and the more averse they are to acknowledge the 
 true reason of their omitting to fulfil so undeniable a 
 duty, the more industrious are they in collecting and 
 bringing forward such reasons as may soothe their own 
 consciences or obviate the censure of others. 
 
 1. The first excuse that we shall notice, as pleaded 
 by professing Christians for neglecting to observe the 
 Lord's Supper, is — that they are too young, or that it 
 is yet time enough to engage in so solemn an ordi- 
 nance. It is impossible to assign any particular age at 
 which all who make a credible profession of their faith 
 in Christ, are bound and expected to ratify such a pro- 
 fession, by publicly engaging in that solemnity. The 
 Scriptures are totally silent on this point. The time 
 at which the powers of the human mind unfold them- 
 selves and reach any thing like their maturity, is so 
 diflferent in different individuals — their general circum- 
 stances are so diversified, even where all have enjoyed 
 the advantage of a Christian education — and particular 
 difficulties or occurrences may have operated in such a 
 manner on their religious perceptions and attainments — 
 that, even where there is no ground for the charge of 
 indifference or neglect, there must be some who are 
 much later than others in arriving at the period when 
 their participation of the Supper would be either salu- 
 
72 ; THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 tary or warrantable. It is not the less true, however, 
 that there is nothing; which it is more unseemly or in- 
 consistent for young persons to delay, than the duty of 
 diligently preparing- to partake in this holy ordinance. 
 It is mentioned of Moses, and as an instance of his 
 faith, that " when he was come to years, he refused to 
 be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter." He had 
 profited by the religious instructions which he had 
 received from his own mother ; and it appears that he 
 embraced the earliest opportunity of manifesting his 
 adherence to the faith in which, under such remarkable 
 circumstances, he had been educated. From the laws 
 and history of the Jews, in regard to the celebration of 
 the Passover, it is evident that they sought, at a very 
 early period, to interest their sons and daughters in that 
 most distinguished solemnity of their religion — a cir- 
 cumstance which is rendered so much the more memo- 
 rable and instructive, by the particular instance of our 
 blessed Lord himself, who not only went up with his 
 mother and Joseph to the feast, but on one such occa- 
 sion, when only " twelve years old," was found " in 
 the Temple, sitting in the midst of the Doctors, both 
 hearing them and asking them questions." 
 
 In pleading youth, therefore, as an excuse for delay- 
 ing to partake of the Lord's Supper, it would need to 
 be well considered by those who make use of the plea, 
 whether it is one which they can use consistently. Are 
 they so young as not to be able, after the most diligent 
 study and the fullest examination, to understand the 
 nature of the gospel plan of salvation, or to become 
 guilty of the sin of rejecting it ? Are they so young 
 as not to be capable of understanding the nature, de- 
 sign, and obligation of the ordinance? Are they so 
 young as not to be able to comprehend the nature of 
 covenanting with Christ, or to be in no danger of be- 
 ing held chargeable with the guilt of despising and 
 rejecting his covenant ? If they are not so young in 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. 73 
 
 years or in understanding- as to be unfit for accepting the 
 one, they surely cannot be so young as to be unfit for 
 partaking of the other. 
 
 But this is not the whole of the excuse which we 
 are now considering. There are many who, after they 
 have ceased to plead that they are too young, continue 
 to plead that it is yet time enough to think of joining 
 in this holy ordinance. Being not yet settled in life — 
 not yet being Heads of families — not yet having the 
 charge of others to whom they are specially bound to 
 set an example in every religious duty — they take the 
 liberty of supposing that, although they have already 
 reached the years of maturity, and although they still 
 expect to be included among the disciples of Christ, 
 they cannot justly be subjected to any particular blame 
 for deferring to comply with his dying injunction to 
 remember him in the solemn ordinance which he him- 
 self has appointed. Now, not to speak of the uncer- 
 tainty of their living to be in any of those relations, the 
 existence of which would, on their own showing, ren- 
 der the neglect of that ordinance peculiarly reprehen- 
 sible — what do they think of the idea that the obligation 
 of the ordinance depends, not so much on the authority 
 of the divine commandment, as on the social or domestic 
 relationships of those to whom it has been addressed ! 
 Would any of these things be admitted as an excuse 
 for delaying their acceptance of the salvation offered to 
 them in the gospel? And if not, then how can they 
 be admitted as an excuse for neglecting to make a 
 solemn and public declaration of accepting it? In this 
 way, however, it has not unfrequently happened, that 
 persons who had enjoyed all the ordinary advantages 
 of religious instruction, have entered into the most im- 
 portant and sacred relations of human life, without 
 manifesting any serious concern as to the relation in 
 which they really stand to the Redeemer of sinners — 
 that they have become Heads of families before they 
 have become Communicants — and that the first time 
 
74 THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 that they ever intimated a desire to make a public pro- 
 fession of their faith in Him through whom they had 
 been early dedicated to God in baptism, was not till 
 they applied, or were about to apply, for the admini- 
 stration of that ordinance to their own infants I Can 
 any thing- be more shamefully inconsistent than such 
 conduct, or more miserably empty and impotent than 
 the excuses by which it is usually palliated ? 
 
 2. Another, and perhaps the most frequent excuse 
 that is pleaded by those who neglect the ordinance of the 
 Lord's Supper, is — that they are unworthy to partake of 
 it. This excuse is adduced by two very different classes 
 of apologists. It is employed, in the first place, by a 
 class of persons who, however much they may be mis- 
 taken with regard to it, are perfectly conscientious in 
 their scruples, and who are under the influence of such 
 painful and depressing feehngs on the subject of their 
 own unworthiness, as entitle them to be treated with 
 the greatest tenderness and sympathy. They have not 
 perceived the distinction between the unwortbiness of 
 the individual, and of the manner in which he may 
 unhappily communicate. The fact of his unwortbiness 
 must be admitted by every, even the most devout and 
 exemplary, believer. In all things we are at best but 
 unprofitable servants ; and how can any of us be worthy 
 of so high and peculiar an honour as that of being 
 treated as the friends of Christ and the sons of God, 
 and of enjoying communion with him at his table ? It 
 is not this sense of unworthiness, however, that makes 
 it unsafe or unwarrantable for us to approach him. It 
 is not this that exposes us to the guilt and danger of 
 eating and drinking judgment to ourselves. On the 
 contrary, the want of this feeling is one of the very 
 things which lead men to eat and drink unworthily, and 
 therefore to their own condemnation. It is the want 
 of this feeling which makes them approach the ordi- 
 nance of the supper without duly examining themselves, 
 and which leads them to partake of it in ignorance, 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. 75 
 
 with irreverence, under the influence of unsanctified 
 affections, and prompted by the impulse of selfish and 
 worldly motives. — In regard to those, then, who con- 
 scientiously plead their unworthiness as an excuse for 
 their neglecting this holy ordinance, it is sufficient to 
 remind them, that while the fact of their unicorthiness 
 must be admitted, and while it cannot be too deeply 
 impressed on their minds, it must not be confounded 
 with the sin of partaking iimvorthily ; and that, in- 
 stead of its affording any reason for neglecting what 
 the Saviour has expressly commanded them to observe, 
 it is one of the very things the feeling of which is most 
 indispensable to its profitable and acceptable obser- 
 vance. 
 
 But this excuse, as we have said, is employed by 
 another, and very different class of persons — those who 
 either have no such feeling as that which they plead, or 
 who, though conscious indeed of their own unworthi- 
 ness, are far from being suitably affected by it ; and 
 who, at the very time that they are urging this as their 
 excuse, are perfectly aware that it is not the rea/ reason 
 of their neglect. They may feel and acknowledge 
 themselves to be unworthy, but they afford no evidence 
 that they are humbled as they ought to be under the 
 feeling of their unworthiness. They show no symptom 
 of regret, and no earnest desire to get the acknowledged 
 obstacle removed. They continue from year to year, 
 perhaps, to make the same confession, showing little or 
 no concern about the unworthiness which they pro- 
 fess to lament, and giving themselves little uneasiness, 
 notwithstanding the obvious reflection, that if their un- 
 worthiness is such as to keep them aloof from com- 
 munion with Christ at his table, they have the utmost 
 reason to doubt whether they be not yet altogether 
 strangers to his grace. It is their sins which render 
 them unworthy — it is their sins which keep them aloof 
 from him — and yet they continue in their sins. If their 
 sins have not hindered them from accepting of that 
 
76 , THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 salvation which is freely offered, in all its fulness, even 
 to the most unworthy — to the very chief of sinners — 
 how should they thus continue to hinder them from 
 expressing- their grateful and devout remembrance of 
 him through whom that salvation has been purchased 
 and proclaimed ? The excuse which we are now con- 
 sidering is one, in short, in which they cannot thus in- 
 definitely persevere, without affording a demonstration 
 that, without having- the honesty openly to renounce 
 the faith of the g-ospel, they are in reality wedded to 
 their sins — that they refuse to forsake all and follow 
 Christ — and that, while pleading- their unworthiness of 
 approaching his table, they really feel no desire to be 
 deprived of this plea — empty as we have shown it to 
 be — if the consequence must be a more entire separation 
 from the objects of their ungodly attachment. 
 
 3. Another of the excuses which is sometimes pleaded 
 by those who neglect the ordinance of the Supper is — 
 that they are too much engaged in the business of the 
 world to have time duly to prepare for it. That the 
 ordinary business of life should, in the case of mankind 
 in general, be found to occupy the greater part of their 
 time, is nothing more than a knowledge of their cir- 
 cumstances teaches us to expect. It has been ordained 
 by God, that in the sweat of their face they should 
 eat their bread ; and so far is He from requiring- of us 
 any service which interferes with a due attention to 
 the supply of our own wants, that he has allowed us 
 six days of the week for our own employments, and 
 claimed only one to be devoted exclusively to the public 
 and private exercises of his own worship. In his holy 
 word, he commends diligence in all our lawful callings 
 and pursuits ; and, while we depend on his blessing-, 
 he encourages our industry with the hope of success, 
 so far as he shall see this to be really for our good. 
 
 He gives not men, however, any reason to imagine 
 that they are at liberty to become so totally engrossed 
 in worldly business, be the particular nature of it what 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORI^INANCE. 77 
 
 it may, as that any one part of the service which he 
 requires of them, or any one of the ordinances which 
 he has commanded them to observe, mav safely he 
 disregarded, even though the plea for so doing- is that 
 of the necessity and the difficulty of being suitably 
 prepared. We do not deny, that in order to the due 
 observance of this holy ordinance, there is need, not 
 only for general, but special preparation ; but we do 
 deny that there is any thing to render suitable pre- 
 paration for this ordinance a more difficult and tedious 
 duty than various others which the persons who resort 
 to this excuse would not be thought to have neglected. 
 Generally speaking, they would not like it to be sup- 
 posed that they had neglected to search the Scriptures — 
 to form their opinions, and make up their minds as to 
 the leading doctrines of the gospel, as to the message 
 of salvation to which it commands them to listen, and 
 on which it summons them to decide. And is this a 
 duty which requires little thought and little leisure ? 
 Is this a duty that can be suitably discharged without 
 frequent and prolonged enquiry and meditation ? Is not 
 this a duty with which the absorbing and exclusive 
 affairs of worldly business are just as incompatible as 
 with the duty of serious preparation for the service of 
 communion ? We do not wish to lower the estimate 
 which they should form of the preparation requisite for 
 such a service ; but surely it must appear strange, that 
 they should give themselves credit for having searched 
 the Scriptures, so as to have come to the conclusion, 
 that Christ, and Christ alone, is both able and willing to 
 save, and that the soul that rejects him must perish, — 
 and yet that, having had leisure seriously to investigate 
 and solemnly to decide on these important points, they 
 should find it impossible to obtain sufficient leisure to 
 prepare for making a public avowal of their faith, and 
 for openly entering into covenant with the God of their 
 salvation. 
 
 It is more than probable, however, that those who 
 
78 / THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 are so much engrossed with worldly business as to have 
 no time to make due preparation for partaking of the 
 Lord's Supper, have in reaHty ceased to pay — if they 
 ever paid — any serious attention to the other duties of 
 reHgion. They must evidently be deceiving them- 
 selves, if they think that they have found time tho- 
 roughly to study the method of salvation revealed in 
 the gospel — that, in spite of all their earthly engage- 
 ments, they have deliberately accepted of the salvation 
 which is there offered to them — that they are habi- 
 tually attentive to the duty of private and spiritual 
 prayer — and that they are not less in the practice of 
 considering their latter end, or of making daily prepar- 
 ation for death and a judgment to come, — and yet ima- 
 gine that it is mere want of leisure to prepare for the 
 Lord's Supper, which makes them keep aloof from par- 
 taking of that ordinance. The latter requires not nearly 
 so large a portion of their time as the other daily and 
 important duties to which we have alluded. The plea, 
 therefore, which they attempt to support as an excuse 
 for their neglect of that ordinance, amounts, in fact, to 
 nothing more than a confession, that they are in bond- 
 age to the world — that worldly business, interests, and 
 pleasures have a paramount influence over their hearts. 
 If this be the case, they may continue to show an out- 
 ward respect to other ordinances, and perhaps to keep 
 up the form of prayer even in private ; but it is all in 
 vain ; for if they are habitually in such a state of mind 
 as to be unfitted for joining in the service of commu- 
 nion, they may as well at once push their plea to its full 
 and legitimate extent, and say that they are too much 
 engrossed in secular affairs to be fit for the proper study 
 of the word of God, for the maintenance of spiritual 
 prayer, or for attending to any of the things which 
 belong to their everlasting peace. 
 
 4. A fourth excuse, which is sometimes pleaded hy 
 those who neglect the Lord's Supper, is — their being 
 afraid that their future conduct might not be suitable, and 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. 79 
 
 therefore that par tciMng of that ordinance would be to 
 God's dishonour and their own detriment. It is impos- 
 sible to deny that there are many most lamentable in- 
 stances in which those who have partaken of this 
 ordinance have manifested little anxiety to depart from 
 iniquity — to bear about with them the dying- of the 
 Lord Jesus, or to crucify the flesh with its affections 
 and lusts. It is not less undeniable, that, if the sub- 
 sequent conduct of communicants is not such as be- 
 coraeth the gospel, or such at least as is outwardly 
 decent and exemplary, it is certain to bring a reproach 
 on the profession which they make. Indifferent as the 
 world is to genuine religion, it still knows what is con- 
 sistency, and what it has a right to expect from the 
 professors of the gospel. The ungodly may secretly 
 be gratified by those very blemishes and inconsisten- 
 cies in the conduct of professors which they hold up 
 to reproach, and their censures may, in many instances, 
 be marked by an undue severity ; but still the reproach 
 and the censures themselves, are not without founda- 
 tion; and professing Christians cannot afford them 
 these opportunities of reproaching them, without, at 
 the same time, furnishing them a plausible apology for 
 continuing in their ungodliness, and a specious pretext 
 for undervaluing and disregarding the gospel and all its 
 ordinances. These, it must be admitted, are evils of 
 great magnitude, whether we consider the honour of 
 religion, the welfare of its professors, or the conversion 
 of those who have hitherto been opposed to it ; and 
 they are evils which professing Christians, it may be 
 supposed, cannot see and lament, as produced by the 
 inconsistent conduct of others, without a natural de- 
 sire to avoid contributing to their increase or conti- 
 nuance, by similar inconsistencies in their own. They 
 have undoubtedly the highest authority for saying, 
 " Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that 
 thou shouldest vow and not pay," (Eccles. v. 5.) 
 It does not follov/, however, from all this, that the 
 
80' THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 fear, whether real or pretended, of being- betrayed into 
 subsequent inconsistencies of conduct, should be held to 
 be a valid excuse for the neglect of that which is an 
 express and commanded duty. Supposing- that indivi- 
 duals really have the fear of dishonouring- their profes- 
 sion at a communion table, by afterwards falling into 
 conduct which is alike displeasing to God and detri- 
 mental to their own souls, they should consider that 
 this fear will no more excuse their neglect of the duty 
 of publicly acknowledging and entering into engage- 
 ments with Christ, in whom they otherwise profess to 
 believe, than a similar fear of subsequent inconsistencies 
 would justify them in neglecting prayer — in disregard- 
 ing all outward ordinances whatever — or in keeping 
 aloof from God altogether, and positively declining to 
 have any thing to do with the message of salvation 
 addressed to them in the gospel. Is there no incon- 
 sistency in professing to believe the gospel and yet 
 neglecting to comply with one of the plainest, most 
 solemn, and most affecting injunctions that its author 
 has given to" them? In many things we all offend, and 
 in all things we come short of the glory of God. The 
 vows which we make, and the pledge which we give in 
 entering into some of the most sacred relations of life 
 with one another, possess a peculiar sacredness in 
 being, at the same time, personal engagements with God; 
 and does the fear of failing in any part of the social 
 duties which they involve, ever hinder us from entering 
 into these relations ? Are there not many dangers 
 arising to parents from neglecting the moral and 
 spiritual welfare of those children, in behalf of whom 
 they professedly enter into covenant with God in 
 Baptism? and does the fear of these consequences pre- 
 vent one in ten thousand among the class of which we 
 are now speaking, from undertaking the responsibilities 
 of such a covenant ? 
 
 But why need we ask? The fact too manifestly is^ 
 that these fears have, generally speaking, very little to 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. 81 
 
 do with the neglect of the Lord's Supper. If those 
 who profess to heheve the gospel were really afraid of 
 such inconsistencies as those to which they refer in 
 excusing themselves for their neglect of that ordinance, 
 they would seek another way of avoiding them. With- 
 out having the folly, presumption, and guilt of rushing 
 into the most solemn of all ordinances and engagements, 
 under the idea that this was the best way of imposing 
 an effectual check on their sins, whatever might still be 
 the state of their hearts — they would seek to make the 
 state of their hearts the first subject of their consider- 
 ation. Their fear would be, to think that the state of 
 their hearts was such as to unfit them for covenanting 
 with Christ at his table. We may safely assert that 
 the excuse which we have now been examining is one 
 which has far more the appearance of a plea for con- 
 tinuing in sin — for retaining a certain degree of license 
 in their deportment — and for escaping the irksome 
 restraints which the gospel lays on all its disciples, 
 but especially on communicants, than of a deep and 
 conscientious apprehension, that by falling into sins 
 more or less flagrant, after communicating, they would 
 increase the guilt and aggravate the ruin of their 
 souls. 
 
 5. This leads us to remark, in the fifth place, that 
 some are induced to decline to participate in the 
 Lord's Supper, not so much from a concern for their 
 future consistency, as from the idea which they have 
 been led to entertain of the continued hardshijJSf self- 
 denial, and gloominess of the life ivhich^ if they par- 
 ticipated, they should afterwards he bound and ex- 
 pected to observe. That there are many difficulties 
 and hardships, many trials, suiferings, and sorrows con- 
 nected with the consistent profession of the gospel, is 
 what no one who knows any thing of the subject, would 
 think of denying. It was the distinct announcement 
 of our blessed Lord, from the very outset, " If any 
 man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take 
 
82; THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 lip his cross daily and follow me." — *' Whosoever doth 
 not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my 
 disciple." To the same effect we find the Christian 
 life spoken of in Scripture under the figure of « yoke — 
 a burden — a race — ajiglit — a warfare. We are told 
 that they who are Christ's " have crucified the flesh, with 
 the aifectious and lusts " — that in this life his disciples 
 " shall have tribulation " — and that " all who will live 
 godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution." They 
 are exhorted " not to love the world, nor the thing^s 
 that are in the world," — not to be " conformed to the 
 world," — to keep themselves " unspotted from the 
 world," — and to remember that "the friendship of the 
 world is enmity with God." Such statements and con- 
 siderations as these make it evident, that to maintain a 
 conversation such as becometh the gospel, implies a 
 conflict of no ordinary kind; and that, from the account 
 which the Bible gives of the natural state of the hu- 
 man heart, it is not to be supposed that men can main- 
 tain any thing like consistency in the Christian profes- 
 sion, without having to incur many trials, afHictions, 
 and sorrows. 
 
 The gospel, however, is not, on these accounts, to 
 be regarded as repulsive in its aspect, or stern and ex- 
 orbitant in its demands. It is not the fault of the gos- 
 pel that it requires a hoher manner of conversation 
 than even its professed disciples are prepared to exhi- 
 bit ; or that, previously to communicating, they are 
 often content with a lower measure of sanctity than 
 they admit to be incumbent on them afterwards. 
 A certain measure of wretchedness must often be ex- 
 perienced even by the best, for even they must often 
 have cause to exclaim, that they find a law in their 
 members, warring against the law of their minds, and 
 oringing them into captivity to the law of sin. But 
 as to the various afflictions to which they are liable, it 
 should be sufficient for them to know, that the gospel 
 never subjects its disciples to any thing of this nature, 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. iSS 
 
 under which it does not provide them with the most 
 suitable and abundant consolations, and which its Au- 
 thor is not able to employ in making- them more fully 
 " partakers of his holiness." " Godliness is profitable 
 unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, 
 and of that which is to come," (1 Tim. iv. 8.) " We 
 know," says the Apostle, " that all things work to- 
 gether for good to them that love God, to them who 
 are the called according to his purpose," (Rom. viii. 
 28.) " For our light affliction, which is but for a mo- 
 ment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory," (2 Cor. iv. 17-) It is on this account 
 that believers are able to " glory in tribulations." They 
 are enabled patiently to bear both " reproaches and 
 afflictions," and to " take joyfully the spoiling of their 
 goods, knowing in themselves that they have in heaven 
 a better and an enduring substance," (Heb. x. 33, 34.) 
 They " endure chastening," knowing that " whom 
 the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every 
 son whom he receiveth ;" and that, though " no chas- 
 tening for the present seemeth to he joyous, but grie- 
 vous," it " afterward yieldeth the peaceable fruit of 
 righteousness," (Heb. xii. 6-11.) They are at times 
 " in heaviness through manifold temptations," yet do 
 they " greatly rejoice," in the hope of that salvation 
 which shall ultimately be revealed, " that the trial of 
 their faith, being much more precious than of gold that 
 perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found 
 unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of 
 Jesus Christ," ( 1 Pet. i. 5-7.) The Christian is aware 
 that he has to " wrestle not only against flesh and 
 blood," — not only against the deceitfulness and despe- 
 rate wickedness of his own heart, and against the 
 allurements or the opposition of a world which " lieth 
 in wickedness," — but also "against principalities, 
 against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of 
 this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." 
 But he is also aware of the declaration, " Greater is 
 
84 / THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 He that is in you, than he that is in the world ;" anrl 
 aware of the animating appeal, " If God he for us, who 
 can be against us ?" he comforts himself with the as- 
 surance, " My grace is sufficient for thee ; for my 
 strength is made perfect in weakness." And thus com- 
 forted, he is enabled to exclaim with the apostle, 
 " Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my in- 
 firmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 
 (2 Cor. xii. 9.) 
 
 Although, then, the Christian has to take upon 
 himself a yoke and a burden — the yoke of Christ's 
 commandments and the burden of many afHictions in 
 his service — yet, through Christ's strengthening him, 
 the yoke is easy, and the burden light. The Christian 
 has to go on a warfare, but it is not on his own charges. 
 He has to fight a fight ; but it is " the good fight of 
 faith," — that faith through which he obtains the vic- 
 tory. He has to take up his cross daily and follow 
 Christ ; but the cross of Christ is that in which alone 
 he glories, and that through which the world is cruci- 
 fied to him, and he to the world. Taking all these 
 considerations into view, it is manifest that those pro- 
 fessors of the gospel who attempt to excuse their ne- 
 glect of the Lord's Supper, on account of the continued 
 hardships, self-denial, and supposed gloominess of the 
 Christian life, have no correct idea either of its priva- 
 tions or of its privileges, of its sufferings or of its en- 
 joyments. Christians, like their Divine Master while 
 here tabernacling among men, have meat to eat which 
 others know not of. They are at once approved and 
 comforted of God. It is their honour to be in the 
 world " as deceivers, and yet true ; as unknown, and 
 yet well known ; as dying, and, behold, they live ; as 
 chastened and not killed ; as sorrowful, yet always re- 
 joicing ; as poor, yet making many rich ; as having 
 nothing, and yet nossessing all things," (2 Cor. vi. 9, 
 10.) 
 * 6. It may be mentioned, in the last place, that there 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. 85 
 
 are some who plead as their excuse for not partaking of 
 the Lord's Supper, — that they have, on former occa- 
 sions partaken of the ordinance^ tvithout deriving from 
 it any comfort or advantage. In reply to those by 
 whom this excuse is pleaded, we would suggest the pro- 
 priety of their taking into careful consideration what 
 sort of comfort, and what sort of advantages they had 
 expected to derive from the ordinance of communion. 
 Even the genuine disciples of Christ do not always 
 experience all the sensible enjoyment, and all the im- 
 mediate benefits which they anticipated, although for 
 such disappointments they are generally enabled, by 
 reflection afterwards, to obtain a satisfactory explana- 
 tion. If the partakers of that holy ordinance have 
 been indulging in the expectation of other comforts and 
 advantages than those which the Scriptures warrant 
 them in expecting, or of receiving them when they 
 have been sinfully remiss and indifferent as to their 
 previous spiritual state, their recent transactions, or the 
 manner in which they engaged in the solemn service — 
 then there is no wonder that they should be disap- 
 pointed. The ordinance was undoubtedly intended for 
 the spiritual editication, comfort, and refreshing of 
 those vvho worthily receive it ; but it was never in- 
 tended that men should, at any time, put a supersti- 
 tious confidence in the ordinance itself; it was never 
 intended that they should act as if the mere adminis- 
 tration of the ordinance were to impose on its Author 
 the necessity of making it invariably the season of im- 
 parting to them the tokens and blessings of his grace ; 
 and it was never intended that, at every such season, 
 the comforts of their souls should be so great and un- 
 failing as entirely to do away the effect of all their past 
 offences, however serious, and of all their recent ne- 
 glect of other ordinances, however sacred. It would be 
 neither for the glory of God, nor for the real good of 
 their souls, that, in such circumstances as these, the 
 professors of the gospel should enjoy peculiar comfort 
 
86 THE OBLIGATION ON BELIEVERS TO 
 
 and immediate benefit in the celebration of the Supper. 
 The feeling- of comfort, in such circumstances, indeed, 
 would be a mere delusion — implying a miserable igno- 
 rance both of the ordinance and of themselves, the re- 
 moval of which, sooner or later, was certain to involve 
 them in the deeper wretchedness. 
 
 The disappointment, then, which is sometimes plead- 
 ed as an excuse for the neglect of the Lord's Supper, 
 is an instance, not only of divine justice, but also of 
 divine mercy, — being calculated to apprise thoughtless 
 professors of their presumption and their guilt. It 
 affords a reason, not for their renouncing the obser- 
 vance of that solemnity, but for their searching them- 
 selves with greater care, and seeking God with greater 
 earnestness, before they again approach it. They have 
 treated him with irreverence ; and because, for this of- 
 fence he has " sent leanness into their souls," they 
 would adopt the resolution, still more impious, of en- 
 tirely neglecting one of the most solemn institutions 
 of his worship ! This is not the conduct of such as 
 really bewail the hiding of his face. If on account of 
 the want of comfort in that ordinance in times past, 
 their hearts were filled with such a sorrow as the ge- 
 nuine disciples of Christ might feel, they would not 
 resolve to forsake any one of his ordinances, but would 
 seek him more earnestly in all. They would seek him 
 sorrowing, but still they would seek him — they would 
 seek his face above all things. They would see, how- 
 ever, that to enjoy any thing like fello?v ship with him 
 in the ordinance of the Supper, it must diligently be 
 cultivated in every other ordinance which he has insti- 
 tuted ; and that, if these others have not been neglect- 
 ed and forsaken, it is not because they have afforded 
 them the full measure of spiritual advantage and com- 
 fort which they were meant to afford, but because their 
 whole religious desires and affections are in so languid 
 and degraded a condition, that they are quite content 
 
REMEMBER CHRIST IN THIS ORDINANCE. 87 
 
 to remain without the knowledge and experience of 
 such invahiable blessing-s ! 
 
 We cannot better conchide these remarks on the 
 subject of the obligation to observe the Lord's Supper, 
 and the excuses which are commonly pleaded for ne- 
 glecting it, than in the striking language of the celebrat- 
 ed Jeremy Taylor.* 
 
 Speaking of the sacrament of the Supper, he says : 
 " All Christian people must come. They, indeed, that 
 are in the state of sin, must not come so, but yet they 
 must come ; first, they must quit their state of death, 
 and then partake of the bread of life. They that are 
 at enmity with their neighbours must come, that is no 
 excuse for their not coming ; only they must not bring 
 their enmity along with them, but leave it, and then 
 come. They that have variety of secular employment 
 must come; only they must leave their secular thoughts 
 and affections behind them, and then come and con- 
 verse with God. If any man be well grown in grace, 
 he must needs come, because he is excellently disposed 
 to so holy a feast ; but he that is but in the infancy of 
 piety had need to come, that so he may grow in grace. 
 The strong must come, lest they become weak ; and 
 the weak, that they may become strong. The sick 
 must come to be cured, and the healthful to be preser- 
 ved. They that have much leisure must come, be- 
 cause they have no excuse ; they that have no leisure 
 must come hither, that by so excellent religion they 
 may sanctify their business." 
 
 To this we shall only add, that every Christian 
 should be ready to adopt the prayer of the psalmist : 
 " O send out thy light and thy truth ; let them lead 
 me, let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy 
 tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, 
 unto God my exceedingjoy : yea, upon the harp will I 
 praise thee, O God, my God," (Psalm xliii. 3, 4.) 
 
 * Holy Living, chap. iv. sect. x. 
 
88' FEELINGS WHICH THIS ORDINANCE 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON THE FEELINGS WHICH THE THINGS REPRESENTED AND 
 SUGGESTED TO OUR MINDS, IN THIS ORDINANCE, ARE NA- 
 TURALLY FITTED TO AWAKEN, AND UNDER THE INFLUENCE 
 OF WHICH WE SHOULD STUDY TO BE, WHENEVER WE ENGAGE 
 IN IT. 
 
 In the course of our previous inquiries in regard to 
 the Lord's Supper, we have had an opportunity of ob- 
 serving how admirably it is calculated either to repre- 
 sent, or to suggest to our contemplation, those facts 
 and doctrines — connected with himself and his media- 
 torial work — which we are there called upon to remem- 
 ber and celebrate. It is not more admirably calculated, 
 however, vividly to present these things to our contem- 
 plation, than the things themselves, when rightly con- 
 templated, are calculated to awaken in our minds those 
 very feelings which form, not only the most suitable 
 preparation for engaging in that holy ordinance, but 
 the sweetest exercises of the soul during its actual cele- 
 bration ; and feelings the invigorating and enlargement 
 of which constitute one of the richest benefits that the 
 Master of this spiritual feast intended, through it, to 
 convey to the souls of his people. What those feel- 
 ings are, it is now the next part of our plan to consider 
 and illustrate. 
 
 For this purpose, we shall recall to our attention the 
 various circumstances which, as has been already shown, 
 the Lord's Supper either represents, or is naturally 
 fitted to suggest to our remembrance ; and shall endea- 
 
IS FITTED TO AWAKEN. 89 
 
 vour to show, with respect to each of them in succes- 
 sion, what feeling", or feelings, it is calculated to awaken 
 in our minds. We are not going again to enlarge on 
 any of those circumstances which, in this part of our 
 subject, we may have occasion to introduce, but shall 
 advert to them only so far as is necessary to illustrate 
 the nature and amount of the feelings which they are 
 severally litted and intended to excite. 
 
 I. The first of the circumstances now alluded to is 
 our Lord's amazing and unparalleled condescension. 
 This, then, consisted in that, while he was the eternal 
 Son of God, the Lord and Heir of all things, he volun- 
 tarily took upon him the nature of man, with all its 
 sinless infirmities ; nay, that he appeared not only " in 
 fashion as a man," but in " the form of a servant ;" 
 that he dwelt among men, having " his righteous soul 
 vexed from day to day with their unlawful deeds," and 
 bearing " the contradiction" and reproach "of sinners 
 against himself," although he " went about doing good ;" 
 that he submitted to be persecuted, reviled, and rejected 
 of men ; that he suffered pain and ignominy, and un- 
 utterable agony ; and that at last he submitted to death 
 itself, even the accursed death of the cross ; nay, to the 
 hiding of his Father's countenance, and to be con- 
 signed for a season to the imprisonment of the tomb. 
 Now, what is the feeling which such amazing con- 
 descension is naturally fitted to awaken in our minds? 
 Is it not a feeling of most devout and most profound 
 admiration ? We are speaking at present only of the 
 condescension evinced by the circumstances which have 
 just been enumerated. They afford, as we shall have 
 afterward to notice, a striking illustration of other 
 things besides this ; and in reference to these, there- 
 fore, they may be expected to give rise to other feel- 
 ings besides admiration ; but of these we have not, 
 under the present head, any occasion to treat. Con- 
 descension of such a kind, and to such an extent as is 
 
90' FEELINGS WHICH THIS ORDINANCE 
 
 here exhibited, is the proper object of admiration. 
 Apart altogether from the deep interest which all of 
 lis, as sinners, must be understood to have in the end 
 for the attainment of which our blessed Lord humbled 
 himself and became obedient unto death, there is 
 enough in the mere humiliation itself, at least when 
 we consider its spontaneous and disinterested nature, 
 to command the profoundest admiration that we are 
 capable of feeling. Granting that this humiliation was 
 to be conducive to the fullest display ever afforded of 
 the divine perfections, and preparatory to the most 
 glorious exaltation of the Redeemer in the nature 
 which he condescended to assume ; and granting, 
 moreover, that there was no other way in which the 
 fullest demonstration of the guilt, and the most unmi- 
 tigated infliction of the punishment of sin, could be 
 rendered consistent with the redemption of sinners, 
 still the greatest amazement must be excited, and the 
 highest admiration called forth by the thought, that 
 even such objects as these should be attempted at so 
 vast an expense as the unparalleled humihation of him 
 in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead ! We 
 admire the condescension of a fellow-creature, although 
 it has been exercised toward others, and not toward 
 ourselves. We know that even an adversary or a rival, 
 unless where the heart is seared against every generous 
 impression, cannot help admiring it; and that if any 
 one is base enough to withhold the due tribute of com- 
 mendation and applause, the very effort which this 
 costs him, and the very consciousness which he feels 
 of his own baseness and injustice, afford, to himself at 
 least, the most emphatic testimony to the claims which 
 the other party has to the respect and admiration of 
 all who know him. We know, in like manner, the ad- 
 miration which was felt, and the rapturous praises 
 which were uttered by the heavenly host, when they 
 first proclaimed to the shepherds of Bethlehem the 
 actual manifestation of the Son of God in the flesh ; 
 
IS FITTED TO AWAKENT. 91 
 
 and we know that the things connected with this mar- 
 vellous humiliation, and the g-lory which was to follow, 
 are the thing's into which the angels still desire and 
 delight to look. And shall not we, then — we on whose 
 account he thus condescended to "make himself of no 
 reputation," — shall not we he filled with an over- 
 whelming feeling of devout and grateful admiration 
 when we contemplate, — and especially in celebrating the 
 ordinance of the Supper, — the amazing condescension 
 of the Son of God ? 
 
 II. But while the greatest condescension was mani- 
 fested in every part of our Lord's humiliation, this was 
 not the only thing which was there manifested. In 
 that humiliation it was at once his object, and the object 
 of him that sent him, to manifest and declare the 
 righteousness of God — to demonstrate the guilt and 
 evil of sin — by satisfying divine justice, to redeem sin- 
 ners from the curse and the punishment due to them — 
 and to encourage and promote, especially among men, 
 the cause of universal holiness. Infinite as was his 
 own condescension, let us never forget that the cha- 
 racter in which he condescended to appear was one in 
 which he had to fulfil all righteousness ; to magnify 
 the law and make it honourable ; to have " his soul" 
 made "an offering for sin ;" to suffer, <' the just for 
 the unjust, that he might bring us to God." And what 
 are the feelings which the contemplation of such things 
 as these is fitted to awaken in our souls ? 
 
 Here, it is obvious, that there is a call made on us 
 for the exercise of other, and still higher feelings, than 
 admiration ; and that we may more distinctly perceive 
 what these feelings are, let us now consider them seve- 
 rally in connexion with the particular objects by which 
 they are excited. 
 
 1. He came, then, and was set forth, to manifest and 
 declare the righteousness of God. There could be 
 
92' FEELINGS WHICH THIS ORDINANCE 
 
 but one Mediator between God and man — One who, 
 partaking- of the nature of both, bad as deep and per- 
 sonal a concern in the honour and glory of the former, 
 as he had an unbounded sympathy for the misery, and 
 an unquenchable desire for the salvation, of the latter — 
 One who, being- infinitely holy in himself, was worthy 
 to hold immediate fellowship with Jehovah ; and who, 
 without any compromise of his inherent excellence, 
 could enter the society — yea, and engage the affections 
 even of the chief of sinners. " For such an high priest 
 became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate 
 from sinners, and made higher than the heavens," 
 (Heb. vii. 26.) Surely, then, we cannot think of the 
 unspotted holiness, the infinite and unchangeable 
 righteousness of that God " with whom we have to 
 do," without feeling the force of his own announce- 
 ment, " I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, 
 and before all the people I will be glorified," (Levit. x. 
 3.) " God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of 
 the saints, and to be had in reverence by all that are 
 about him," (Psalm Ixxxix. 7.) Surely we should feel 
 that the profuundest reverence is due to him — that we 
 cannot venture to approach his presence, except through 
 the medium of his own Holy One — and that the beco- 
 ming language of our hearts is that of the Psalmist, — 
 " Holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, for ever." 
 
 2. But in considering the objects or purposes for 
 which the Son of God was sent into the world, it is 
 further manifest, that he was appointed to demonstrate 
 the guilt and evil of sin. The whole of his suflferings 
 were ascribable to sin, although he had no sin of his own. 
 In nothing does sin so distinctly " appear sin," or " be- 
 come" so " exceeding sinful," as when viewed through 
 the medium of His humiliation and sufferings. In His 
 case, it is seen coming into open and impious collision, 
 if we may say so, with the honour and sovereignty of 
 the Godhead. After destroying the peace, and deso- 
 
IS FITTED TO AWAKEN. 93 
 
 lating the prospects, and debasing the soul of man, it 
 audaciously steps forth, as the first-born of the powers 
 of darkness, to assail the steadfastness and attempt the 
 overthrow of Him who was " God with us." After 
 having- insulted and violated that law of which he was 
 the author, it presumptuously aims at involving- Him- 
 self in the charge of its violation. Having- first taught 
 men to desire what He had forbidden — to set his autho- 
 rity at nought, and thus to expose themselves to the 
 awful effects of his righteous displeasure, it is seen 
 persuading- them to reject, and instigating them to 
 revile him, and struggling to turn them away from 
 accepting the gracious offers of his unmerited mercy. 
 What an evil and accursed thing must sin be, when it 
 seizes, as it were, on the very Individual by whom 
 alone its fearful enormities can be counteracted, and 
 nails him to the cross ! This is what sin has done — 
 this what we are here called upon to contemplate as its 
 doings ; and surely, then, tne feeling which this view 
 of it ought to awaken in our mind, is that holy hatred, 
 in some degree, with which it is regarded by Him of 
 whose law it is the transgression. 
 
 3. The guilt and evil of sin, however, are to be 
 judged of, not so much by the manner in which it has 
 exalted itself against God, as by the means ivhich he 
 has employed at once for its condemnation andpunish- 
 ment — in other words, for the satisfying of his justice — 
 and for the redemption of sinners from its awful penal- 
 ties. God has declared that " the wages of sin is 
 death ;" and it is stated, on his authority, by the 
 apostle, that " God, sending his own son in the like- 
 ness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the 
 flesh." " Cursed, ' says the Scripture, " is every one 
 that continueth not in all things which are written in 
 the book of the law to do them." But on Christ, as 
 the appointed Substitute and Redeemer of sinners, the 
 whole weight of this curse was made to rest. *' The 
 Lord laid," or caused to meet, '• on Him, the iniquity of 
 
94' FEELINGS WHICH THIS ORDINANCE 
 
 US all." This being the case, " he was wounded for our 
 transg-ressions, he was bruised for our iniquities." He 
 *' gave his life a ransom for raany,"(Isa. liii. 5, 6.) " His 
 own self," says the apostle Peter, " bore our sins in his 
 own body on the tree ;" and, therefore, as he elsewhere 
 reniarks, " Ye were not redeemed with corruptible 
 things, as silver and gold," " but with the precious 
 blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and with- 
 out spot." It was while " tasting death for every 
 man," and undergoing the punishment which the law 
 had denounced against every transgression and diso- 
 bedience, that Jesus exclaimed, " Now is my soul 
 exceeding sorrowful, even unto death ;" nay that, in 
 the extremity of his anguish, and while exhausting the 
 very dregs of that cup of wrath which the Father had 
 given him to drink, he cried out, " My God, my God, 
 why hast thou forsaken me ?" 
 
 Now, how should it be possible for us to contemplate 
 such things as these, without feeling awakened in our 
 souls a deep and awful sense of the infinite rectitude, 
 the terrible sanctions, and the transcendant sacredness 
 of the divine law, and an auful sense of the absolute 
 inflexibility of divine justice. Mercy spared the sin- 
 ner, but only because, at the same time. Righteousness 
 proclaimed " 1 have found a ransom." When the Son 
 of God appeared in the nature, and in the room, of the 
 guilty, not even the ineffable love of the Father toward 
 him was permitted to cancel, or even to mitigate any 
 part of the punishment which the guilty themselves 
 would otherwise have had to endure. God " spared not 
 his own Son, but delivered him up for us all." How 
 deeply, then, should we feel the terrors of the law, how 
 profoundly should we stand in awe that we sin not! 
 
 But the manner in which the Son of God accom- 
 plished not only the punishment, but also the expia- 
 tion of sin, and thereby the redemption of sinners, is not 
 less fitted to impress us with a sense of our oivn deme- 
 rit and helplessness^ and therefore to inspire us with a 
 
IS FITTED TO AWAKEN. 95 
 
 deep feeling of humility . The sins for which He suf- 
 fered were our sins ; and the nature and amount of his 
 sufferings were such as greatly to increase, instead of 
 diminishing, the idea which we should entertain of their 
 real and inherent enormity. Were any of us to think 
 lightly of sin, on the ground that we have been deli- 
 vered from suffering in our own persons the punish- 
 ment which it deserved, there would need no stronger 
 proof that the wrath of God was yet abiding on us. 
 And if the sufferings of Christ are thus fitted to im- 
 press us with a sense of our deme7^it, so are they, with 
 a setise of our helplessness. " The redemption of the 
 soul is precious," — so precious as to be altogether 
 beyond the reach of human wisdom, human worth, or 
 human effort. " None of them can by any means redeem 
 his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." When 
 there was no eye to pity, and no hand to help, then did 
 God say to his Holy One, " I have laid help upon one 
 that is mighty." " For," says the apostle, " when we 
 were yet vv'ithout strength, in due time Christ died for 
 the ungod'y." Not that our helplessness entitled us to 
 his gracious interposition, or that it was either the only 
 or the principal thing which induced him to interpose 
 in our behalf ; but assuredly if, consistently with the 
 divine perfections, effectual deliverance could have been 
 furnished in any other way, the Son of God w^ould 
 not have been subjected to the ignominy and agonies 
 which He was appointed to undergo. 
 
 Now, under the painful sense of our own demerit 
 and helplessness, what feeling can it better become us 
 to cherish than one of deep and unfeigned humility ? 
 Without this, we can have no just idea of what we owe 
 to Christ, or of the condition in which we were placed 
 when he came in the name of the Lord to save us. 
 " Casting down imaginations, and every thing that 
 exalteth itself against the knowledge of God," we 
 must be ready to admit — nay, we must rejoice to pro- 
 claim, that Christ is " all our salvation." There is nu 
 
96, FEELINGS WHICH THIS ORDINANCE 
 
 grace more essential to the Christian character than 
 that of humility, and no feeling- more suitable or indis- 
 pensable on the part of every acceptable guest at a 
 communion table. 
 
 But we have next to remark, that the redemption 
 which Christ, by his expiatory sufferings, has purchased 
 for sinners — even previously to any special considera- 
 tion of the love toward us by which he was actuated — 
 is admirably calculated to inspire us with the feeling 
 of ardent gratitude. The sufferings to which he has 
 submitted are those from which, through faith in his 
 blood, we have obtained a blessed exemption. We were 
 all under the sentence of death. We lay under the 
 wrath and curse of God. The fire and the wood were 
 ready to consume us on the altar of his vengeance, 
 when a voice from heaven itself commanded that our 
 blood should not be shed. Whatever were the grate- 
 ful and rapturous feelings of devotion which glowed in 
 the breast of Abraham, when his sacrificial hand was 
 suddenly arrested — when he unbound his beloved son 
 Isaac, and liTted him up from the altar that was about 
 to be imbrued with his blood; and whatever were the not 
 less grateful feelings of the intended victim — still more 
 ardently grateful, in some respects, ought to be the 
 feelings of every ransomed sinner. Had Isaac been 
 put to death, it would have been an act, on the part 
 both of the father and the son, of the sublimest faith 
 and devotion — and a prelude to the admission of both 
 into the blessedness of eternal life. But had tve 
 been made to suffer what offended justice demanded, 
 our portion must have been everlasting perdition. 
 What unutterable gratitude, then, ought we to feel 
 toward Him on whom was laid " the chastisement of our 
 peace," and by " whose stripes we are healed !" 
 
 In proportion, however, to this our gratitude, should 
 be our godly sorrow on account of the sufferings to 
 which our sins have subjected him. The more that 
 we owe to him, the more should we be grieved for the 
 
IS FITTED TO AWAKEN. 97 
 
 sufferings which our sins have accumulated on the 
 " Man of Sorrows." In contemplating his body broken, 
 and his blood shed, we ought to feel the utmost broken- 
 ness of heart and contrition of spirit. " When we 
 remember these things," we should " pour out our soul 
 in us." We should " look upon Him w^hom we have 
 pierced, and mourn for him, as one mourneth for his 
 only son, and be in bitterness for him, as one that is in 
 bitterness for his first-born," (Zech. xii. 10.) 
 
 4. We have now to notice, in the last place, under 
 this head, that another object of Christ's coming into 
 the world and laying down his life, was not only to de- 
 ter us from sin, but to allure us to holy obedience — 
 to encourage and promote, especially among men, the 
 cause of universal holiness. He came to exhibit an 
 example of perfect obedience to the law of God, as well 
 as to make a full and adequate atonement for those who 
 had been guilty of transgressing it. He embodied in 
 his own life all the graces which he inculcated, and all 
 the righteousness which the law of God required for 
 the justifying of the ungodly. In all that he did, he 
 glorified him that sent him. His whole life was one 
 spotless and splendid oblation of praise and glory to 
 God. In all this he has left us an example that we 
 should follow his steps ; and how inadequate soever we 
 may be to follow him wholly, no one can deny that this 
 is our duty, and ought to be our constant desire. We 
 ought to be habitually endeavouring to " glorify God 
 in our body, and in our spirit, which are God's." This 
 is the best way by which to express toward Christ both 
 our admiration and our gratitude. Naming his name, 
 we should live under the abiding influence of the holy 
 desire and earnest endeavour to " depart from iniquity." 
 Contemplating the beauty of his holiness, we should be 
 won by the voice of gracious and constraining love, 
 " Be ye holy, for I am holy." — " Beholding, as in a 
 glass, the glory of the Lord," we sbould desire to be 
 " changed into the same image, from glory to glory, 
 
 G 
 
98' FEELINGS WHICH THIS ORDINANCE 
 
 even as by the Spirit of the Lord." — " Putting off, 
 concerning the former conversation, the old man, vi^hich 
 is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts," we should 
 seek to be " renewed in the spirit of our mind ;'' and 
 to " put on the new man, which after God is created 
 in righteousness and true holiness," (Ephes. iv. 22, 
 24.) 
 
 III. We now proceed to consider, in the third place, 
 the feelings which should be awakened in our minds by 
 the thought of our Lord's infinite sufficiency for accom- 
 plishing all the objects of his undertaking. That suffi- 
 ciency has already been illustrated. The objects, in- 
 deed, which he undertook and was appointed to accom- 
 plish, were such as could not have been acoraplished 
 by any one to whom the attributes of divinity did not 
 inherently belong. His death was a sufficient sacrifice 
 " for the sins of the whole world." — " The blood of 
 Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." His righteous- 
 ness is sufficient to justify all that come unto God 
 through him, and his grace is sufficient to sanctify 
 them wholly, so that they shall be presented " holy and 
 unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight." Now 
 these considerations are calculated to impart to sinners 
 a feeling of confiderice, comfort, and joy. They are 
 encouraged to come to him, under the conviction that 
 he will neither cast them out, nor send them away 
 empty. The thousands and tens of thousands who have 
 already applied to him and succeeded in their applica- 
 tion, have neither exhausted his power nor diminished 
 his compassion. He is mighty to save — to save all that 
 call on him, and to save them to the uttermost. His 
 bounty never fails, and " his mercy endureth for ever." 
 He is never so engrossed with the affairs of his king- 
 dom, or distracted with manifold avocations, as to have 
 no leisure to listen to the cry of the destitute. His ear is 
 ever open, and he " ivaiteth to be gracious." He regards 
 every fresh application made to him as an honour, and 
 
IS FITTED TO AWAKEN. 99 
 
 must remember every instance of backvvardneps or 
 distrust as an insult. He is a physician out of whom 
 there goes virtue to heal all manner of spiritual diseases. 
 There is none of them that can bafBe his skill ; none 
 that requires a remedy more costly than that which he 
 already offers to all, "without money and without price." 
 The sufferer is criminal in delaying-, even for a moment, 
 to spread out his case before him ; but if he can never 
 come too early, neither can he ever come too late, pro- 
 vided he only comes in good earnest. The fountain 
 which Christ has opened for sin and for uncleanness, is 
 not like the pool of Bethesda, which, only at a certain 
 season, had power to heal such as first stepped into 
 it. Our Lord himself found there an impotent man, 
 who had long- been waiting in vain, who had met with 
 repeated disappointments, and who had no person to 
 put him into the pool; but instead of assisting him in 
 this way to g-et the benefit of the water, he only spoke 
 the word, and he was immediately made whole- 
 He is still ready to act in the same manner toward 
 every one who seeks or will accept of his aid. Oh, the 
 fulness that there is in Christ, for the healing of all 
 our diseases, and the supply of all our wants ! The air 
 which we breathe, and which fills, all around us, the 
 firmament of heaven, may either become exhausted, or 
 so changed, as no longer to serve the purposes of 
 healthful respiration. The sun itself which, from the 
 moment when the Creator first stationed that " greater 
 light to rule the day," has shed its streaming and 
 boundless effulgence on this nether world, and on all 
 those kindred planets that travel through the spaces of 
 immensity, and whose beams seem as plentiful and 
 powerful as ever — may yet at length become dim with 
 age. At all events, we know that the time shall come 
 when it may well be said of God, " He commandeth 
 the sun and it riseth not." But the time shall never 
 come when the arm of Christ shall be " shortened that 
 it cannot save." " He fainteth not, neither is weary." 
 
105 FEELINGS WHICH THIS ORDINANCE 
 
 The time shall never come when " the children of 
 men" may not implicitly put their trust under the sha- 
 dow of his wings.'' At all times, " they shall be abun- 
 dantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and thou 
 shall make them drink of the rivers of thy pleasures. For 
 with thee is the fountain of life, in thy light shall we see 
 light," (Psalm xxxvi. 8.) Out " of his fulness have all we 
 recei ved, and grace for grace." He makes offer of himself 
 to all, and as the nearness of each that comes to him is 
 in no degree diminished by the thousands who have come 
 already, so it shall in no degree affect the nearness of 
 those who shall come to him hereafter. There is no 
 room for jealousy or envy of each other; for the portion 
 of good things which he bestows on each is enhanced 
 by the very circumstance that he has been equally 
 bountiful to thousands. His gifts to them are multi- 
 plied in proportion to their necessities and their num- 
 bers — like the loaves and fishes which he miraculously 
 distributed to the multitude in the desert place. Come, 
 then, and with hearts overflowing with joy, abounding 
 in comfort, and reposing with confidence in his infinite 
 sufficiency — come and let us proclaim these feelings at 
 his table — come and let us adopt the language of the 
 Psalmist, *' Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the 
 Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemp- 
 tion." Oh, that we may have faith to " believe" in him 
 " to the saving of the soul," and that we may be " filled 
 with all joy and peace in believing !" 
 
 IV. The next thing which the Lord's Supper pre- 
 sents to our contemplation is — the grand motive hy 
 which he ivas actuated in coming into the world and 
 laying down his life for our sakes. The grand motive 
 for his so doing was love to our souls. We have already 
 shown, that although this love was subordinate to his 
 desire of manifesting the divine glory, and fulfilling the 
 divine purpose, yet that that purpose itself was one in 
 which love to our souls was a principal element. On 
 
IS FITTED TO AWAKEN. 101 
 
 this point we do not think it necessary to enter on any- 
 additional illustrations ; hut proceed at once to consider 
 uhat feelin]Li;^s should be awakened in our minds by the 
 contemplation of this love. Now, is it not deeply 
 affecting- for us to know, that the redeeming- love of 
 which we have been the objects, is a principle which 
 had been in operation from of old, even from everlast- 
 ing ? Nor is it less affecting to think, that while this 
 love has been eternal in its origin, it has been unquench- 
 able in its ardour, and unbounded in its extent. It has 
 been displayed by the humiliation, sufferings, and death 
 of no less a person than Him who was the only be- 
 gotten and well-beloved Son of God. If any thing, 
 in the whole compass of events that ever reached our 
 ears, be capable of affecting us, surely it is this. And 
 how should it affect us, but by awakening and imflam- 
 ing our gratitude and love to him? — according to the 
 principle implied in the statement of the apostle, " we 
 love him, because he first loved us." The guilt as well 
 as the wretchedness of our condition, at the time when 
 the love of God toward us was exercised and displayed 
 — the nature and awful severity of those sufferings by 
 which the end which he had in view was to be attained 
 — and the ineffable glory and blessedness of that state 
 to which it is the purpose of the love of God in Christ 
 to exalt us — all conspire to impress us with a most 
 affecting sense of our obligations to this adorable attri- 
 bute. The love which God has displayed toward the 
 holy angels, in the original endowments with which 
 they were created, and in the divine influences by 
 which they have been upheld in a state of uninterrupted 
 obedience and undisturbed felicity, does not amount to 
 any thing so transcendently glorious as that love which 
 he has displayed in redeeming our life from destruction, 
 in crowning us with loving kindness and tender mercies, 
 and in ultimately glorifying us together with Christ. 
 
 This may help us to form some estimate of the love 
 wherewith we ought to love Him " who loved us, and 
 
102 FEELINGS WHICH THIS ORDINANCE 
 
 gave himself for us." Our present capacities, indeed, 
 are far inferior to those of angels ; and therefore we 
 cannot expect to reach either the intenseness of the 
 love which they feel, or the force of those expressions 
 in which they delight to give utterance to their feel- 
 ings. Still less can we expect, while thus compassed 
 with inlirmities, and exposed to manifold temptations, 
 that we shall be able to equal them in that steadfast 
 uniformity of obedience to his holy pleasure, in which 
 they embody their feelings of devout and grateful 
 affection. But surely, if we have any just idea — any 
 realizing view, of our surpassing obligations to the love 
 of Christ, as manifested in our redemption, and so 
 strikingly set forth in the ordinance of the Supper — 
 this may be expected to give a higher tone and a much 
 more powerful influence to our devotional feelings than 
 they would otherwise possess. If we cannot yet attain 
 to so high an elevation of love as that which the angels 
 possess, we may at least endeavour to live under the 
 abiding influence of the conviction, that we have a 
 higher motive than they for loving Him whom they 
 supremely love. In our praises of him notv, as well as 
 in our praises of him hereafter, there is one element, at 
 least, which does not enter into theirs ; for in addressing 
 to him our praises we can exclaim, " Thou hast loved 
 us, and washed us from our sins;" "■ thou wast slain, 
 and hast redeemed us to God hy thy blood." We may, 
 therefore, study at least to attain and keep up that 
 frame of mind, in which we may be able to adopt the 
 language of the apostle, " For the love of Christ con- 
 straineth us ; because we thus judge, that if one died for 
 all, then were all dead ; and that he died for all, that they 
 which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, 
 but unto him which died for them, and rose again," 
 (2 Cor. V. 14, 15.) If we cannot love him as he deserves, 
 or even as we ourselves may desire, we may at least love 
 him so as to demonstrate, that we sincerely regard it as 
 the first of our duties to love and obey him. 
 
IS FITTED TO AWAKEN. 103 
 
 V. But among the things of which the Lord's Supper 
 puts us in remembrance, and which we are there called 
 upon to celebrate, is included, not only that love which 
 prompted him to come into the world and lay down his 
 life for our sakes, but also that love tvith which he still 
 continues to regard us. In other words, we have to 
 contemplate and show forth, not only the love which 
 was manifested in his humiliation but the love also 
 which, in his state of exaltation he continues to mani- 
 fest. Of this continued love toward his people, we 
 have abundant evidence in the repeated interviews which 
 he vouchsafed to the disciples during the forty days 
 which he spent on earth after his resurrection from the 
 dead — in the manner in which he took leave of them 
 at the moment of his ascension into heaven — in the 
 effusion of his Holy Spirit on them not many days 
 after, according to his previous promise, that he would 
 thus be with them " alway, unto the end of the world" 
 — in the nature of that sovereignty which he exercises 
 over his people, and of that continual intercession which 
 he employs on their behalf, — and, lastly, in the admi- 
 nistration among them of the word and ordinances, and 
 of that ordinance especially, in which, while he calls on 
 them to remember him, he so strikingly shows the 
 value which he puts on their affectionate remembrance, 
 and the concern which he feels for affording them that 
 spiritual fellowship with himself, by which the best 
 interests of their souls may be promoted. 
 
 Now, if the love of Christ in working out the redemp- 
 tion of his people, is well calculated to inspire them 
 with gratitude and love to him in return, surely his 
 claims to these feelings must, if possible, be strength- 
 ened, by the consideration that his love is not less 
 unequivocally shown in the means which he has pro- 
 vided /or applying to their souls that redemption which 
 he has purchased. The love of Christ toward his 
 people is not a principle which, having led him to con- 
 
104 FEELINGS WHICH THIS ORDINANCE 
 
 fer on them one hig-h and distinguished favour, has 
 afterwards left them to their own unaided efforts and 
 their own imperfect wisdom. On the contrary, it is 
 not only " from everlasting," but " to everlasting-." It 
 has not spent itself all at once. He who came into the 
 world to lay down his life for them, came also " that 
 they might have life" — spiritual life — *' and that they 
 mig-ht have it more abundantly." " He g-iveth grace 
 to the humble," and " he giveth more grace." " The 
 Lord will give grace and glory : no g-ood thing will he 
 withhold from them that walk uprightly." And all this 
 corresponds most strikingly with the language of the 
 apostle, where it is said, '' He that spared not his own 
 Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not 
 with him also freely give us all things ?" — all things 
 " that pertain unto life and godliness." Although, then, 
 we may not, like the Apostle Peter, have at any time 
 openly disowned out Lord, yet, taking this view of the 
 subject, can we fail to acknowledge the propriety and 
 importance of having put to us the searching and 
 emphatic question which He put to that individual, 
 — " Lovest thou me ? lovest thou me ? " And if we 
 think that we are fully prepared to reply with that 
 humbled yet ardent disciple, " Yea, Lord, thou knowest 
 that I love thee." " Lord, thou knowest all things ; 
 thou knowest that I love thee," — (John xxi. 15, 
 16 ;) let us consider that we are then called upon to 
 demonstrate our love by a faithful and zealous dis- 
 charge of the duties which he has assigned to us ; and 
 that it becomes us not only to labour, but also, if need 
 be, to suffer for his sake. He may never require us 
 actually to lay down our life for his sake ; but he does 
 require us to lay down our sins — to " crucify the flesh 
 with the affections and lusts" — to " mortify the deeds 
 of the body — and to exercise a holy violence in resist- 
 ing, renouncing, and subduing our besetting sins, 
 although this should be like plucking out a right eye, 
 
IS FITTED TO AWAKEN. 1 ()5 
 
 or cutting- off a ri^ht hand. He requires us, in short, 
 to be " dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 VI. We have now to remark, in the sixth place, 
 that in the Lord's Supper there is a representation of 
 the union and brotherly love ivhich ought to subsist 
 among those who partake of it. They sit at the same 
 table — they are guests of the same Entertainer — dis- 
 ciples of the same Master. They partake in common 
 the same elements — and they do so in compliance with 
 tl^e same injunction, and professedly with the same 
 intention, namely, that of gratefully remembering him 
 — of proclaiming- their engag-ement to be his servants — 
 and of seeking to share in the blessings of his salva- 
 tion. These circumstances are evidently calculated to 
 awaken in our minds, when we find ourselves in such 
 a situation, the tenderest emotions of brotherly love. 
 It is a situation in which, if we are agreed on the grand 
 fundamental points of Christian doctrine, and on what 
 are held to be Scriptural forms of worship and Scrip- 
 tural terms of communion, — and if, in the judgment of 
 an enlightened charity, we can regard each other as 
 possessing the leading features of the Christian cha- 
 racter, — we must feel disposed to forget all other dis- 
 tinctions. It is a situation where the rich and the 
 poor, the young and the old, parents and their upgrown 
 children, masters and their servants, friends and neigh- 
 bours, ministers and people, are accustomed to meet 
 together in the most solemn act of religion in which 
 they shall ever engage, till they all meet before the 
 throne of judgment. Under the deep sense of their 
 common obligations to Christ, all ordinary distinctions 
 are, for the time, forgotten. The idea, that whoever 
 be the worshipper nearest us, that individual may also 
 be nearest us in the glorious mansions of our Father's 
 house in heaven, is so peculiarly touching and sublime, 
 that we cannot help feeling that it has a powerful effect 
 
10^ FEELINGS WHICH THIS ORDINANCE 
 
 in awakening and enlivening- our benevolent and bro- 
 therly affections. We feel that every one of those 
 around us has been specially commended to our love 
 by the Divine Master of the feast ; and to experience 
 any thing like indifference or dislike to them, would be 
 like declining the honour which that Master himself 
 had graciously offered us — of leaning on his bosom. We 
 cannot but be, at such a moment, peculiarly alive to the 
 reflection, that if the last commandment which he gave 
 to his disciples as to the duty which they owed to him- 
 self, was embodied in the very words which have 
 brought us together — '• This do in remembrance of me," 
 — the last which he gave to them in regard to their 
 brethren, was embodied in these, not less affecting and 
 memorable words : " A new commandment I give unto 
 you, That ye love one another ; as I have loved you, 
 that ye also love one another." It is by living and 
 acting under the influence of this love, that, as he him- 
 self reminds us, we afford to the world the best evi- 
 dence that we are his disciples, and that we employ 
 one of the most intelligible and effective means for con- 
 vincing mankind of the divine origin of that gospel 
 which they are called upon to embrace. It is thus, 
 also, that while we exhibit a blessed conformity to one 
 of the most attractive features of the image of the Son 
 of God, we obtain one of the safest and most satisfy- 
 ing evidences in regard to our own spiritual state. 
 " We know," says the Apostle, " that we have passed 
 from death unto life, because we love the brethren : 
 he that loveth not his brother abideth in death," 
 (1 Johniii. 14.) 
 
 Connected with this part of this subject we may 
 further observe, that the circumstances which are thus 
 peculiarly calculated to awaken our special love toward 
 our brethren in Christ Jesus, are also calculated to fill 
 our hearts with unfeigned good-will toward all our 
 brethren of mankind. Of all this vast community, 
 there are none in a more guilty and helpless condition 
 
IS FITTED TO AWAKEN. 107 
 
 than we ourselves once were, when we mig^ht justly 
 he descrihed as " having no hope, and without God in 
 the world." If we have indeed been " called out of 
 darkness into his marvellous light" — if we have indeed 
 been made members " of the household of faith" — we 
 cannot but reflect that it is his own grace alone which 
 has made us to diiTer from others; and that we are in- 
 debted for all our privileges and prospects solely to 
 that love which we assemble to celebrate at a com- 
 munion table. In the special tenderness of the en- 
 dearments which Jesus bestowed on those whom he 
 had converted from enemies into friends, we have not 
 a more captivating and constraining example of the 
 love which we ought to cherish towards one another, 
 than, in the " great love wherewith he loved us" when 
 we " were dead in tresspasses and sins," we have, of the 
 disinterested, active, and persevering good-will which 
 it becomes us to exercise toward those who still have 
 their conversation in the world, and are living as the 
 children of disobedience and of wrath. We cannot, in 
 common with our fellow-communicants, adore and 
 celebrate the love which he has manifested towards 
 our own souls without feeling our hearts melted, and 
 our compassions kindled together in behalf of the souls 
 of others, and without earnestly desiring and endea- 
 vouring that they may speedily be brought under the 
 enlightening and renovating influences of his grace. 
 
 VII. The only other circumstance, connected with 
 the Lord's Supper, which we have to notice for the 
 purpose of pointing out the feelings which it is fitted 
 to awaken, is the circumstance of his second coming. 
 Now, what are the feelings which the contemplation 
 of this event is fitted to awaken in our minds ? It 
 is evidently fitted to remind us that he is not forget- 
 ful of us during his absence. " I go," said he, 
 " to prepare a place for you ; and if I go and prepare 
 a place for you, I will come again, and receive you 
 
108 FEELINGS WHICH THIS ORDINANCE 
 
 unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be 
 also." It is fitted, in like manner, to inspire us with 
 patience under the trials and disappointments of this 
 present life. " Be ye also patient," says St James ; 
 '< stablisb your hearts : for the coming- of the Lorrl 
 draweth nigh," (James v. 8.) It is fitted to awaken 
 in us a holy solicitude that, when he appears, we may 
 he like him, arid ready to receive him. In this view 
 of the matter, another apostle says, " The Lord make 
 you to increase and abound in love one toward another, 
 and toward all men, even as we do toward you : to the 
 end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holi- 
 ness before God, even our Father, at the coming- of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints," (1 Thess. iii. 
 12, 13.) "And now, little children," says a third, 
 " abide in him ; that when he shall appear, we may 
 have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his 
 coming," (1 John ii. 28.) It is by an appeal to this 
 most glorious and momentous event, that the apostles, 
 in various instances, stir up the zeal and animate the 
 hopes of believers, " teaching us, that, denying ungod- 
 liness, and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righte- 
 ously, and godly in the present world ; looking for that 
 blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of our great 
 God and Saviour Jesus Christ," (Tit.ii.^12, 13.) They 
 teach us to regard it, however, not only as an event for 
 which we should diligently prepjare — one, in the pros- 
 pect of which, we should be led carefully to consider 
 " what manner of persons we ought to be in all holy 
 conversation and godliness," and to be " diligent that 
 we may be found of him in peace, without spot, and 
 blameless " — but also as an event which should be the 
 object of our desires and anticipations ; "looking for 
 and hasting unto the coming of the day of God." 
 While he shall, at that day, distinguish, and enable all 
 to " discern between him that serveth God, and him that 
 serveth him not," — and while we cannot but be solemn- 
 ly affected by the consideration, that "the Lord know- 
 
IS FITTED TO AWAKEN. 10.9 
 
 eth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to 
 reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to he 
 punished," (2 Pet. xi. 9,) — we are inspired with the 
 joyful hope of then receiving- from him that " crown 
 of righteousness," ** which is laid up for all them that 
 love his appearing." 
 
 If, so far as concerns his own people, this is the great 
 end of Christ's second coming, and if we really possess 
 that admiration for him, that faith and confidence in 
 him, and that love, gratitude, and devotedness toward 
 him, for the awakening of which in our hearts, there 
 exists such abundant cause — then, surely, we may regard 
 that event, not with alarm, but with solemn yet joyful ex- 
 pectation. What are the feelings with which a grateful 
 and devoted people contemplate the approach of the brave 
 and patriotic leader, who, while deploring the horrors of 
 war, has vindicated their independence, and been the 
 means of securing to them the blessings of peace; or the 
 feelings with which they hail the constitutional monarch, 
 whose noblest prerogative and highest ambition is that 
 of maintaining their rights and promoting their happi- 
 ness — " ruling in the fear of God ?" What are the 
 feelings with which we meet the return of a friend from 
 a distant land, who has been eminently distinguished, 
 not only for the high office which he has held, the great 
 po'vver which he has possessed, and the vast wealth 
 which belongs to him, but for the many striking in- 
 stances which he has given us, during his absence, of his 
 unparalleled beneficence and of his still more munifi- 
 cent intentions ? But what temporal deliverer, what 
 gracious monarch, or what generous benefactor, should 
 excite, by his approach, such emotions of reverential 
 gratitude and joyful expectation, as the Lord our Re- 
 deemer ? In the case of most of us, a large portion of 
 our time, in the present state, is spent in procuring the 
 things which are needful for the mere subsistence of 
 the body. The pains, discomforts, and diseases to 
 
Il6 FEELINGS WHICH THIS ORDINANCE 
 
 which it is liable, engross much of our attention, and 
 are the source of much apprehension and misery. But 
 from all this the Saviour will come to set us free. 
 That which was sown in corruption, dishonour, and 
 weakness, shall, by him, be raised in incorruption, 
 glory, and power. The Lord Jesus Christ, for whom 
 we look, shall, at his coming, " change our vile body, 
 that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, 
 according to the working whereby he is able even to 
 subdue all things unto himself," (PhiHp. iii. 21.) In 
 the present state, in like manner, we are surrounded 
 with manifold temptations ; we live in a w^orld which 
 " lieth in wickedness ;" we are exposed to the assaults 
 of spiritual enemies, who are both numerous and power- 
 ful ; and we fall into many sins by which, while we dis- 
 honour our profession, our own peace is wounded, our 
 consciences defiled, and our progress in holiness ob- 
 structed. But the Lord, at his coming, shall deliver us 
 from all these evils. He shall convey us to a land of 
 purity and blessedness — a land into which neither temp- 
 tation, nor sin, nor sorrow, nor death, shall ever enter. 
 There shall be nothing to " hurt or destroy in all his 
 holy mountain." We shall there be separated from all 
 that we ought to hate, and delivered from all that we 
 had to fear ; but united for ever to all that it is our 
 happiness to love, and surrounded by all that a glori- 
 fied spirit can desire to enjoy — the Lord himself being 
 our supreme and everlasting portion. What feelings, 
 then, but those of solemn joy and holy desire, can we, 
 if indeed his disciples, be supposed to entertain, in the 
 prospect of his appearing ? And when at length the 
 cry is heard, " Behold the bridegroom cometh ; go ye 
 out to meet him ;" — what language will be more suit- 
 able as the utterance of what is in our hearts than 
 the language of his own blessed word, " Lo, this 
 is our God; we have waited for him, and he v/ill 
 save us : this is the Lord ; we have waited for him, 
 
IS FITTED TO AWAKEN. Ill 
 
 we will be glad, and rejoice in his salvation?" (Isaiah 
 XXV. 9.) 
 
 Such, on the whole, then, in their nature and their 
 number, in their practical importance and their elevat- 
 ing effects, are the feelings which the things represented 
 in the Lord's Supj)|?r, or there brought to our remem- 
 brance, are so admirably calculated to awaken in our 
 minds. 
 
ii2 
 
 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON THE WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS OUGHT TO EXAMINE, 
 AND MAY ASCERTAIN, WHETHER THEY POSSESS THOSE 
 FEELINGS AND AFFECTIONS WHICH THE THINGS CONTEM- 
 PLATED IN THE lord's SUPPER ARE FITTED TO AWAKEN, 
 BY WHICH TRUE CHRISTIANS ARE DISTINGUISHED, AND 
 WHICH ARE PECULIARLY REQUISITE AS A PREPARATION 
 FOR PARTAKING IN THAT ORDINANCE. 
 
 Having now endeavoured to illustrate the various 
 feeling-s which the things presented to our contempla- 
 tion in the Lord's Supper are naturally fitted to awaken 
 in our minds, it will at once be admitted, that these 
 feeling-s are what all who venture to partake in this 
 holy ordinance should be anxious to possess and stu- 
 dious to cultivate. Those persons must surely be 
 regarded as in an unprepared state for partaking in it, 
 whose feelings and affections are not in accordance 
 with those which the ordinance itself is naturally fitted 
 to awaken and calculated to invigorate. The special 
 purpose for which this ordinance was instituted, as ap- 
 pears from the language of our Lord himself, at the 
 moment of its institution, was that of aftbrding to his 
 disciples an opportunity of solemnly and affectionately 
 remembering him. His express and positive command- 
 ment to do this, in the manner there prescribed, is one 
 which is addressed only to those who are understood to 
 possess this character ; and they only can be supposed 
 to have an honest and intelligible reason for calling him 
 to their grateful remembrance, or celebrating their ob- 
 ligations to him for all that he has done. It is evident, 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSEi, VIIS. 1J8 
 
 however, that no person can be justly accounted as one 
 of Christ's disciples, in whose heart the things present- 
 ed to our contemplation, in this instructive and endear- 
 ing ordinance, do not awaken, in some degree, all those 
 sentiments and affections to the excitement of which 
 they are so admirably adapted. Hence the necessity 
 which arises for all those who feel themselves called 
 upon to remember the Lord at his table, seriously and 
 impartially to examine, and carefully to ascertain whe- 
 ther they really possess the sentiments and feelings to 
 which we have already referred. 
 
 The indispensableness of these feelings, indeed, is 
 distinctly admitted by all such as have any thing like 
 just views of the nature of that service, in which, as 
 communicants, they engage. They wish it to be un- 
 derstood, or rather, they solemnly profess, that, in ap- 
 proaching or engaging in this holy ordinance, these are 
 the actual feelings by which they are influenced. The 
 more indispensable, however, that these feelings are for 
 an acceptable and profitable celebration of the Lord's 
 Supper, of the greater consequence is it carefully to in- 
 quire, and accurately to ascertain, whether we really 
 possess them, and how far they have been called into 
 lively and vigorous exercise. This, therefore, is the 
 next thing that we have to consider. 
 
 L We have already shown, that the first thing which 
 the Lord's Supper is fitted to bring to our remembrance 
 is, his amazing condescension, and that the feeling 
 which this condescension is naturally calculated to awa- 
 ken in the minds of communicants, is one of r.iost de- 
 vout and most ji'^'ofound admiration. Now, before 
 partaking in that holy ordinance, every intending com- 
 municant has good reason to examine himself, in order 
 to ascertain whether he is indeed animated by a feel- 
 ing of this kind, toward the Saviour of sinners ; and 
 whether it is exercised and cherished by him in any 
 suitable degree. This cannot be the case, if he does 
 not feel himself led to make that Saviour the subject of 
 
 H 
 
114 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 his frequent and devout meditation. If he does not 
 delight in occupying many of his secret thoughts in 
 contemplating the glorious perfections and transcendent 
 majesty of the Redeemer, and in contrasting these with 
 the deep and mysterious abasement to which he was 
 pleased to stoop, it is impossible to suppose that he can 
 entertain toward him any such feeling of admiration as 
 that which has already been described. The absence 
 of this feeling will be still more evident, if he not only 
 does not often meditate on Christ in secret, but seldom 
 or never, out of the fulness of his heart, speaks to 
 others on the subject, and rarely feels much to interest 
 or aflPect him when others introduce it into their con- 
 versation, or when he hears it enlarged upon in the 
 public discourses of the sanctuary. 
 
 When we think of that Invisible God who " has set 
 his glory above the heavens," who " covereth Himself 
 with light as with a garment," — who " telleth the num- 
 ber of the stars," and " calleth them all by their 
 names," — and whose almighty arm, from age to age, sus- 
 tains, while his infinite wisdom regulates, the whole 
 system of those stupendous orbs which replenish the 
 immensity of space ; — and when from these we turn our 
 attention to the myriads of living tribes, many of which 
 are so exceedingly minute that the individuals of which 
 they are composed are many hundreds of times too 
 small to be discerned by the naked eye, — we cannot help 
 being tilled and overwhelmed with a feeling of devout 
 amazement and admiration. We cannot help reverting 
 again and again to the interesting subject ; we cannot 
 help speaking of it ; we rejoice in every fresh illustra- 
 tion of it which is brought under our notice ; and we 
 are delighted when we meet with any person who can 
 expatiate with us in a field of inquiry which is so ex- 
 haustlessly rich and so inconceivably boundless. But 
 what diversity is there between the greatest and the 
 very least of the Creator's works, or what contrast is 
 there between the invisible point which one of the mi- 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 115 
 
 nutest of them occupies, and the utmost limits of the 
 material universe — or what is even the contrast between 
 that exercise of power by which the universe was 
 created, and that other exercise of power by which the 
 smallest of microscopic animals is produced, preserved, 
 and provided for, — compared with the contrast between 
 the original and essential dignity of the Eternal Son of 
 God, " by whom also he made the worlds," and the 
 state of deep and mysterious humiliation to which he 
 submitted when he was not only " made in the likeness 
 of men,'' " and took upon him the form of a servant," 
 but became " a man of sorrows and acquainted with 
 grief," — nay, when he was counted as the chief of ma- 
 lefactors, and when he " humbled himself and became 
 obedient unto death, even the death of the cross I" 
 
 If admiration, then, of the works of creation and pro 
 vidence, is naturally and necessarily manifested by our 
 often thinking and speaking on these subjects, surely it 
 is not unreasonable to expect that, where a similar ad- 
 miration is felt for the Saviour's unparalleled conde- 
 scension, it should, in a similar manner, be expressed. 
 Surely we must be possessed of but a small share of that 
 admiration to which He is entitled, if we are conscious 
 of thinking and speaking much less frequently on the 
 things which Christ has undertaken and accomplished 
 as our Redeemer, than on the things which belong to the 
 kingdom of nature or the administration of providence. 
 In this way, therefore, let a man examine himself; for 
 in this way he may sufficiently ascertain whether he 
 possesses any suitable degree of that peculiar feeling 
 which the contemplation of the Saviour's amazingconde- 
 scension is so admirably calculated to excite. 
 
 II. The next of those feelings as to the existence and 
 exercise of which communicants ought to examine 
 themselves, are those which are naturally awakened by 
 the contemplation of the leading objects which our 
 Lord had in view by his marvellous humiliation. 
 
life 
 
 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 1. Subordinately to the general object of promoting 
 the divine glory, the first of these objects was, that he 
 might manifest and declare the righteousness of God ; 
 and the appropriate feeling which, as we have already 
 attempted to show, this important object wasintendedand 
 calculatedto produce, is a feeling oi the profoundest reve- 
 rence for this divine attribute. As communicants, then, 
 let us be careful to ascertain whether we are possessed 
 of this feeling, and if we are, to stir it up and strengthen 
 its influence within us. It becomes us to observe, that 
 that God who is the best judge and the best guardian 
 of his own perfections, has assigned a conspicuous pre- 
 eminence to the attribute of his righteousness. We 
 learn from his own inspired word, that he has taken 
 effectual means to " declare" or demonstrate " his 
 righteousness for the remission of sins that are past," — 
 " in order that he might be just," at the same time 
 that he is " the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus." 
 This demonstration of his righteousness, by the obe- 
 dience and sufferings of that Saviour " whom he hath 
 set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his 
 blood," must in every case precede, or, at least, be in- 
 separably connected with, the exercise of mercy to the 
 sinner. It is God's declared and unchangeable determina- 
 tion, that sin shall never escape the highest mark of his 
 righteous displeasure, and that every sinner towards 
 whom He graciously extends forgiveness, shall be taught 
 to feel, and forward to proclaim, that He from whom 
 this forgiveness is received is that same God to whom 
 sin is an inconceivable abomination. 
 
 Now, if we are actuated by that profound reverence 
 for the righteousness of God, with which the contem- 
 plations of a communion-table are so well fitted to in- 
 spire us, that special display of his perfections to which 
 we are accustomed to apply this title, must be supposed 
 to occupy, in our estimation, the same relative position 
 that it occupies in his own. We cannot be ignorant, 
 that in proportion as men have, by their sins, become 
 
'OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 117 
 
 liable to his wrath, and are in danger of being at last 
 overtaken by his vengeance, they have been disposed 
 either to keep his righteousness altogether out of view, 
 or at least to displace it from that lofty pre-eminence 
 which he himself has assigned to it among his glorious 
 attributes. There are many who would fondly persuade 
 themselves that the divine character consists entirely of 
 benevolence and mercy, as if, neither in this present life 
 nor in that which is to come, would he " discern" or 
 make any distinction " between the righteous and the 
 wicked ; between him that serveth God and him that 
 serveth him not." In their fondness for regarding him 
 in the character of a Father, they strangely overlook the 
 representation which he has given of himself as a Law- 
 giver, a Sovereign, and a Judge; and the injurious effect 
 which such a delusion produces, even as to the estimate 
 which they form of that paternal character in which 
 they so exclusively regard him, appears but too ob- 
 viously in the inferior measure of dutiful homage 
 and affectionate veneration which they render to him 
 as his children. Is it, then, in a different manner 
 from this that we are habitually disposed to contem- 
 plate the character of Him who is " glorious in holi- 
 ness" and " fearful in praises ?" — who is " righteous in 
 all his ways, and holy in all his works ?" When we 
 meditate in private on his infinite perfections, are we 
 sensibly filled '' with reverence and godly fear?" When 
 we are invited, as it were, to draw near to him in secret, 
 and enter into fellowship with <' the Father of our 
 spirits," do we recollect that " the heavens are not 
 clean in his sight ?" and feel as if we heard him address 
 to us the solemn admonition which he addressed to 
 Moses from the midst of the Burning Bush on Mount 
 Horeb — '' Put off thy shoes from oflf thy feet, for the 
 place whereon thou standest is holy ground ?" And when 
 we enter the sanctuary or approach his altar, is it under 
 a lively impression of the momentous truth, recorded in 
 these words which his own inspiration has delivered to 
 
lis 
 
 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 US — <« God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of 
 the saints, and to be had in reverence by all that are 
 about him?" 
 
 2. We have now to observe, in the second place, that 
 communicants have to examine themselves as to that 
 holi/ hatred of sin, which should be awakened in their 
 souls by the contemplation of what Christ has done in 
 order to demonstrate the guilt and evil of sin. In pro- 
 portion as we are animated by a feeling of reverence for 
 the righteousness of God, we must also be animated by 
 a sincere abhorrence of that accursed thing which his 
 soul hates. Nothing can contribute so much to the 
 awakening of this feeling, as the thought of what sin 
 caused to be inflicted on " the Holy One and the Just." 
 In the sufferings and death of Christ, we behold the 
 most appalling demonstration of the fearful guilt and 
 malignity of sin; and it deeply concerns all who, as his 
 professing disciples, presume to think of approaching- 
 him in the ordinance of the Supper, seriously to in- 
 quire, whether they are really inspired with that just 
 hatred of sin which it ought to awaken. The hatred of 
 sin is a very different thing from some of those emo- 
 tions which may easily be mistaken for it. If possessed 
 in any ordinary degree of a sense of generosity or jus- 
 tice, it would be remarkable were we not to be touched 
 with a certain feeling of indignation, mingled with ten- 
 derness and pity, when we think on the injuries, the in- 
 sults, and the cruelties which wicked men combined to in- 
 flict on One who was not only an innocent and a righteous 
 man, but a public benefactor. This, however, is by no 
 means the same as a feelingof hatred to si?i itself. Where 
 sin itself is the object of our hatred, it will also be the 
 object of our most careful avoidance. There can be 
 no true hatred of sin itself, where there is any prevailing 
 attachment to its pleasures. If we are not prepared " to 
 suffer afiliction," and even to be " persecuted for 
 righteousness' sake," rather than " to enjoy the pleasures 
 of sin for a season" — audit is only for a short season 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 119 
 
 that they can he enjoyed — we have no evidence of pos- 
 sessing- such a feeling' as that which we are now con- 
 sidering. We cannot hoth hate sin and practise it at 
 the same time. We cannot truly hate it, if what we 
 are ready to condemn as sinful in others, we do not 
 scruple to indulge in ourselves. We cannot truly hate 
 it, if we are not impressed with a salutary and abiding- 
 fear of those temptations or associates that may lead to 
 its commission ; or if, in avoiding- it, we are influenced 
 by no higher considerations than the shame or the 
 suffering in which, as its present consequences, it may 
 involve us. Our consciences must bear testimony to 
 the justice of these observations ; and if they do, let 
 them tell us, after full deliberation, whether it is the 
 love or the hatred of sin which, in reality, reigns in 
 our hearts. 
 
 3. But, in the third place, as Christ was manifested 
 in the flesh, not only to demonstrate the guilt and evil 
 of sin, but also " to put away sin by the sacrifice of 
 himself," — in other words, to satisfi/ divine Justice, and 
 to redeem sinners from the curse and punishment due 
 to them, — and as the contemplation of this particular 
 object of his coming, ought, as we have seen, to inspire 
 us with a deep and awful sense of the infinite recti- 
 tude and transcendent sacredness rf the divine lata, 
 and of the absolute infexihility of divine justice, we 
 have next to examine and ascertain whether such a 
 feeling has indeed been impressed on our hearts. The 
 way in which Christ " hath redeemed us from the curse 
 of the law," is one by which he " hath magnified the law, 
 and made it honourable." The way in which we obtain 
 deliverance from the penalties of transgression, is such 
 as to give us higher ideas than ever of the inviolable 
 sacredness as well as of the infinite rectitude of the law 
 which we have been guilty of transgressing. It is one 
 by which the holiness of the law is vindicated, while 
 its supremacy is gloriously upheld ; and one by which 
 the demands of eternal justice are enforced, while the 
 
120 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 awful sentence against sin and disobedience is followed 
 out and executed, with unsparing and inflexible deter- 
 mination. Now, are we penetrated with just feelings 
 and convictions on this subject ? Are we really under 
 the practical impression that the law which we have 
 violated, and by which therefore we are condemned, is 
 a holy and righteous law ? — that it is as express and 
 imperative as ever in its demand of perfect obedience ? 
 — and that, how incapable soever we are in our present 
 state, of rendering it an obedience of this description, 
 God would cease to show his concern for our true 
 happiness as well as for his own glory, if he were 
 to give us any reason to think that less than this was 
 our duty ? Does the penalty of sin, as exacted of our 
 Substitute and Redeemer, appear to us, in itself, a less 
 weighty and serious matter than it would have done 
 had it been exacted of sinners themselves ? Are we 
 sure that the prospect of exemption from the punish- 
 ment of sin does not make us practically less afraid of 
 sinning ? or do we imagine, that without being delivered 
 from the love, the dominion, and the pollution of sin, 
 we can ever be really delivered from the wrath and 
 curse which it deserves ? 
 
 The feelings and impressions, however, of which we 
 have now been speaking, are not the only ones that 
 should naturally be produced in us by the contempla- 
 tion of Christ's giving himself as a sacrifice to satisfy 
 divine justice, and to redeem sinners from the curse of 
 a broken law. This particular object of his coming is 
 also fitted to impress us with a deep sense of our 
 demerit and helplessness, and therefore to beget and 
 keep alive in us a corresponding feeling of humility. 
 The very idea of a satisfaction being due to divine jus- 
 tice, implies the existence of demerit ; and the idea 
 that such a satisfaction needs to be rendered by a suh- 
 stitute in our stead, necessarily implies the existence of 
 an utter inability to give or procure a ransom for our 
 own soul. Now, under the consciousness of guilt, not 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 121 
 
 less than of helplessness — or rather of helplessness 
 arising from guilt, it is evident, as already illustrated, 
 that a feeling of unaffected humility and deep self- 
 abasement should take possession of our hearts. And 
 has this indeed been the case? Does the humility 
 which we profess to feel and to cherish arise merely 
 from a sense of the helplessness and demerit which 
 belong to us in common with the rest of mankind, as 
 standing in need of one who can redeem them from 
 the curse of the law ? or does it also arise from a deep 
 sense of our own personal and individual sins ? Under 
 the combined influence of these causes, do we some- 
 times feel ourselves constrained to exclaim, with the 
 patriarch Job, " Behold, I am vile ; what shall I answer 
 thee? I will lay my hand on my mouth?" When 
 we think of our inherent and actual pollution, do we 
 not see good reason to cry out, " Unclean, unclean 1" 
 and, along with the same submissive mourner, to say, 
 " I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes ?" When 
 the fears of guilt and the misgivings of unbelief threaten 
 to overwhelm us, are we not ready to address ourselves 
 to Christ in the language of the sinking disciple? 
 " Lord save me, I perish ;" or in the language of the 
 centurion, " Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst 
 come under my roof;" or, perhaps, to adopt the still 
 more forcible language of the humbled but returning 
 prodigal, " Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in 
 thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." 
 But the most satisfactory evidence of genuine humi- 
 lity will probably be found in the fact, that its increase 
 keeps pace with the increase of our other graces. The 
 more diligent and successful that any of us are in the 
 cultivation of these graces — the more assiduous that we 
 are in " perfecting holiness in the fear of God" — it 
 might be thought that there would be less occasion for 
 humility, and that it might become in some degree 
 allowable to indulge in a feeling of self-gratulation. 
 The very opposite, however, is what the word of God 
 
122 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 teaches us to consider as our duty, and as the believer's 
 experience. After having- entered into the peaceful 
 inheritance of the people of God, we are not permitted 
 to forget our humble origin or our prolonged afflictions 
 in the land of bondage. We must every year bring 
 before the Lord, as it were, the first fruits of the land 
 which he has given us, saying, " A Syrian ready to 
 perish was my father," (Deut. xxvi. 5.) '' Hearken 
 to me," exclaims the prophet, " ye that seek the 
 Lord; look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to 
 the hole of the pit whence ye are digged," (Isaiah li. L) 
 The greater that our attainments are in the divine life, 
 the more striking is the evidence of our obligations to 
 divine grace. It was one of the most distinguished of 
 the apostles who said, "lam crucified with Christ, never- 
 theless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me," 
 (Gal. ii. 20.) He could say, " I delight in the law of 
 God, after the inner man ;" yet he declares, at the same 
 time, " I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth 
 no good thing," (Rom. vii. 18, 22 ;) and in another 
 place, " By the grace of God, I am what I am," (1 Cor. 
 XV. 10.) The praise of all our spiritual attainments is 
 due, not to us, but to Him who " hath created us again 
 unto good works," and who " worketh in us both to will 
 and to do of his good pleasure." Is it, then, the lan- 
 guage of our hearts, " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto 
 us, but unto Thy name give glory," (Psalm cxv. 1.) As 
 the branch which is the most heavily loaded with fruit 
 bends the nearest to the ground — as the deepest part of 
 a river is that where the water flows the most smooth- 
 ly — and as one of the most deliciously fragrant of 
 flowers is one, the lowliness and obscurity of whose 
 situation would often prevent it from being detected, 
 were it not for the richness of that perfume which it 
 breathes, so that one of the Christian graces which 
 enhances all the rest, and sheds fresh lustre and loveli- 
 ness on each, is humility. 
 
 Besides the feelings which have now been brought 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 123 
 
 under our notice, as awakened by the thought of what 
 Christ has done to satisfy divine justice, and redeem us 
 frona the curse of the law, we have next to consider 
 the feeling- oi gratitude. If the consideration, that we 
 are so guilty as to need an atonement for our sins, and 
 so heljDless as to be unable to render or procure it for 
 ourselves, is peculiarly calculated to inspire us with 
 humility, surely the consideration that such an atone- 
 ment has actually been rendered by the Great Redeemer, 
 is not less eminently fitted to inspire us with the other 
 feeling which has just been mentioned. Let us, then, 
 examine ourselves to see whether the feeling of grati- 
 tude be indeed in lively exercise v/ithin our hearts. 
 
 Gratitude is that respectful and affectionate emotion 
 of the heart by which it expresses a just sense of obli- 
 gation for an act of kindness or beneficence. It is that 
 return for kindness expressed, or a benefit conferred, 
 w hich the very poorest have it in their power to ren- 
 der, and the withholding of which implies peculiar 
 baseness. It is that species of acknowledgment which 
 even the most liberal and disinterested benefactors, who 
 " look for nothing again'' in any other form, are never 
 disposed to disregard, and with whit h they never fail 
 to l3e gratified. Now, is this the acknowledgment and 
 return which our hearts are prepared to render to Christ, 
 the greatest of benefactors ? He gave Himself for us ; 
 he redeemed us with his own blood. We are not our 
 own, but are bought with a price. Do we, then, prac- 
 tically and habitually evince our just feeling of this 
 circumstance, not only by expressing, in acts of daily 
 worship, the thanks and praise which are due to the 
 Author of our salvation, but by *' glorifying God in 
 our body and in our spirit, which are God's?" The 
 value which we set on that redemption which Christ 
 has purchased for us, and the value which we set on 
 our own souls, will both be manifested, by considering 
 the objects to which the energies and affections of these 
 souls are now in reality devoted. It is impossible that 
 
124 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 we can be living- under the influence of gratitude to the 
 Lord that bought us, if we are living in the indulgence 
 of those sins, for the condemnation and punishment of 
 which he was put to death. Such a feeling can have 
 no place in our hearts if the objects which we pursue, 
 and the ends which we seek to promote, are in opposi- 
 tion to those for which he lived and died, and rose 
 again from the dead. 
 
 But there is yet another feeling which ought to be 
 awakened in our souls by the contemplation of what 
 Christ has done to satisfy divine justice, and redeem us 
 from the curse of the divine law — the feeling o^ godly 
 sorrow. Grateful as it becomes us to feel to him for all 
 that he has done and suffered as our Redeemer, it cannot 
 but be a subject of sorrowful reflection to us, that our 
 sins, taken in connexion with those of our fellow-sin- 
 ners, were the source of all the agonies that he had to 
 endure. The deeper our obligations to him, the deeper 
 also should be our griefs when we reflect on the awful 
 amount of suffering to which, on our account, he was 
 subjected. Let us take care, however, that all our 
 feeling on this subject does not expend itself in an un- 
 profitable sentimentalism. We never can be truly 
 sorry for the sufferings of Christ if we experience no 
 repugnance to those things for the sake of which " he 
 poured out his soul unto death." Although he cannot 
 suflfer any more the pangs which he had to endure in 
 making expiation for the sins of his people, yet is he 
 offended and grieved as much as ever by the sins which 
 they commit. These sins of his people shall not, in- 
 deed, rise up in the judgment to condemn them ; but 
 this circumstance will never be allowed, in the case of 
 those who are really his, to diminish the sincerity or 
 amount of the sorrow which their sins awaken in them. 
 On the contrary, the stronger the evidence becomes 
 that they have obtained an interest in his blood, the 
 deeper and the more godly will be their sorrow. It 
 will not be like " the sorrow of the world," which 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 125 
 
 " vvorketh death," but, in <' working repentance to 
 salvation not to be repented of," it will greatly deepen 
 and enlarge their convictions of sin, and teach them to 
 pour out their hearts in the tenderest emotions of hu- 
 mility, gratitude, and contrition. 
 
 4. The fourth and last of the leading objects which 
 we have specified as those for which the Son of God 
 was manifested in the flesh, was to encourage and 
 promote, especially among men, the cause of universal 
 holiness ; and the feeling which the contemplation of 
 this object ought to awaken in our hearts, is that of 
 desiring to he holy in all manner of conversation — to 
 be holy as He is holy — to be in all things conformed to 
 his moral image. Now, what evidence do we find that 
 we are living under the influence of this holy affection ? 
 It is obvious, that if it really exists within us, it will 
 necessarily lead us to take pleasure in contemplating the 
 perfections, studying the character, and cultivating the 
 fellowship of Him " who was holy, harmless, undefiled, 
 and separate from sinners." This implies the dihgent 
 and habitual searching of the holy Scriptures. " Thy 
 word," says the Psalmist, " is very pure ; therefore thy 
 servant loveth it," (Psalm, cxix. 140.) Of the godly 
 man it is said, " His delight is in the law of the Lord ; 
 and on his law doth he meditate day and night," (Psalm, 
 i. 2.) It is there that God in Christ has revealed 
 himself as " glorious in holiness;" and it is there that 
 his saints are exhorted to " give thanks at the remem- 
 brance of his holiness," (Psalm, xxx. 40.) If we indeed 
 desire to be made "• partakers of his holiness," we will 
 neither forget the study of his word, nor forsake the 
 ordinances of his worship : and, in particular, we will 
 as much as possible seek after communion with Him 
 in secret. 
 
 While we are thus careful to be " perfecting holi- 
 ness in the fear of God," we will be not less careful, 
 on the other hand, to " have no fellowship with the 
 unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them/' 
 
126' 
 
 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 bearing" in remembrance the salutary admonition of the 
 Apostle, that " evil communications corrupt good 
 manners." " What fellowship," says he, " hath right- 
 eousness with unrighteousness ? and what communion 
 hath light with darkness?" (2 Cor, vi. 14.) " Ye 
 cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils : 
 ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's Table and of the 
 table of devils," (1 Cor. x. 2L) The man who " feareth 
 an oath," and who never speaks of God or his attri- 
 butes without a feeling of the profoundest reverence, 
 cannot take pleasure in the society of those whose 
 ordinary conversation is intermingled with the language 
 of profaneness. No one can be a man of prayer who 
 discovers a preference for the society of those who 
 virtually, if not in words, say unto God, " Depart from 
 us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What 
 is the Almighty that we should serve him ? and what 
 profit should we have if we pray unto him ?" (Job xxi. 
 14, 13.) No man can truly be a disciple of that " pure 
 religion and undefiled,'* which teaches him " to keep 
 himself unspotted from the world," or be anxious to 
 " cleanse himself from all filthiness of the flesh and 
 spirit," who is conscious that he takes delight in the 
 company of those who are " lovers of pleasure more 
 than lovers of God," and who still " have their conver- 
 sation in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of 
 the flesh and of the mind." No man can be animated 
 by that heavenly love which teaches us to be " kind 
 one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, 
 even as God for Christ's sake hath forg-iven us," (Eph. 
 iv. 32,) if he shows no reluctance to become the asso- 
 ciate of those who are still " foolish, disobedient, de- 
 ceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in 
 malice and envy, hateful, and hating- one another," 
 (Titus iii. 3.) 
 
 But, in concluding this part of the subject, we have 
 to remark, that the desire of holiness cannot really 
 predominate in the heart of any of us if we do not, 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 127 
 
 even outwardly, maintain " a conversation becoming 
 the gospel." It is quite possible, indeed, that our out- 
 ward deportment may be, not only decent, but com- 
 mendable, although we do not " keep the heart with 
 all diligence" — the heart, " out of which proceed evil 
 thoughts,'' and all "those things which defile the man;" 
 but it is not possible that the tree can be good if it 
 brings forth notliing but corrupt fruit, nor possible that 
 the fountain can be sweet which sends forth only waters 
 of bitterness. A man may honour God with his body, 
 and draw near to him with his lips, while the heart is 
 far from him; but if his heart has indeed been brought 
 under the influence of "godly fear," his life cannot fail 
 to be enriched and adorned with " the peaceable fruits 
 of righteousness." We can possess no evidence that 
 the love of God and of holiness has been shed abroad 
 in our hearts, if we are not even outwardly " denying 
 ungodliness and worldly lusts," and "living soberly, 
 righteously, and godly in this present world." 
 
 In the course of these observations, respecting the 
 existence within us of those feelings and affections 
 which ought naturally to be awakened by the contem- 
 plation of the leading objects for which the Son of 
 God came into the world, it will be perceived that we 
 have had to treat of all those elements which enter 
 into the nature of true Repentance. We have had to 
 examine ourselves as to our reverence for the righteous- 
 ness of God — as to our hatred of sin — as to our 
 sense of the infinite rectitude of the divine law, and of 
 the absolute inflexibility of divine justice — as to our 
 humihty arising from a sense of guilt and helplessness — 
 as to our gratitude for being redeemed from the curse 
 of a broken law — as to our godly sorrow on account of 
 those sins for which our generous Redeemer had to 
 sufl'er — and, lastly, as to our desire after that univer- 
 sal holiness, without which no man sball see the Lord. 
 If these things are in us and abounding, there cannot 
 
; 
 128 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 remain any reasonable doubt as to the reality of our 
 repentance. But, however clear and comforting- the 
 evidence may be that we are really partakers of this 
 saving- grace, and that along with repentance we have 
 received from Him who has been *' exalted to be a 
 Prince and a Saviour," the unspeakable blessing of the 
 " forgiveness of sins," we are not, on this account, to 
 be the less, but the more concerned to mourn over them, 
 with an unfeigned and godly sorrow. We are daily to 
 seek that we may be " renewed to repentance ; to be 
 "jealous" over ourselves "with godly jealousy;" to 
 " stand in awe that we sin not ;" and to " watch and 
 pray that we enter not into temptation." We have to 
 mourn over all our sins, over our sins individually, and 
 especially over our besetting sins. We have continu- 
 ally to mourn, not only over our more heinous sins, 
 but also over those which are more ordinary ; not only 
 over the sins of our conduct, but also over the sins of 
 our speech and of our hearts. As communicants, we 
 have to mourn, in particular, over every instance in 
 which we have sinned, by departing from previous 
 engagements of the same kind as those into which we 
 may be again about to enter, by partaking in the so- 
 lemn ordinance of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 III. We come now to examine, in the third place. 
 Whether we really possess, and how far we are in the 
 exercise of those feelings which should be awakened in 
 our minds, by the thought of our Lord's infinite suffi- 
 ciency for accomplishing all the objects of his glorious 
 undertaking. This infinite sufficiency, as has already 
 been shown, is admirably calculated to awaken in us a 
 feeling of confidence, comforti and joy. In other words, 
 it is calculated, as an instrument in the hand of the 
 Spirit, to inspire us yfith faith in Christ — that faith, in 
 the exercise of which alone the soul can be made a 
 partaker of "joy and peace." The joy and peace here 
 spoken of, are as truly the fruit of the Spirit as is faith 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 129 
 
 ifself ; and tliey are mentioned as such in that well- 
 known passage, (Gal. v. 22,) where these fruits are 
 enumerated. As to the order^ however, in which they 
 are produced in the soul, it is obvious, that faith must 
 precede the others. " Being- justified by faith," says St 
 Paul, " we have peace with God, through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." (Rom. v. 1.) " In whom," says ano- 
 ther apostle, " though now ye see him not, yet believ- 
 ing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory,'* 
 (1 Pet. i. 8.) "Now, the God of hope," says the 
 former in another passage — " the God of hope fill you 
 with all joy and peace in believing," (Rom. xv. 13.) 
 Christ's ability to save all, how numerous soever they 
 may be, and whatever may be the multitude and enor- 
 mity of their sins — his ability to save them to the 
 uttermost, and with an everlasting salvation — and his 
 readiness to save all that come to him, at whatever 
 time, and under whatever circumstances they come, 
 on the understanding that they come in good earnest 
 — are considerations which are peculiarly calculated 
 to inspire us with confidence or faith in his name. The 
 moment, however, that we are made partakers of this 
 precious faith, we become spiritually united to Christ. 
 We are then " in him," and constituted one with 
 him in the eye of that God with whom all of us have 
 to do, and in whose sight no flesh living can, in them- 
 selves, be justified. But " there is no condemnation 
 to them who are in Christ Jesus." Now, this is the 
 ground of our peace and the source of our joy. It is 
 the peace of being delivered from the condemnation 
 and the dominion, but not from the fear or the hatred 
 of sin. It is the joy of being restored to the divine 
 favour, of being renewed after the divine image, and 
 thus of being again made meet for the enjoyment, and 
 inspired with the love of the divine fellowship. 
 
 Now, are these the principles and feelings which 
 have been implanted and brought into operation in our 
 hearts ? Have our hearts been made partakers of that 
 I 
 
I 
 130 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 faith, in particular, without which they can have no ex- 
 perience either of spiritual comfort or of lasting- joy? 
 The comfort and joy which, as believers, we experience, 
 may not at all times be in proportion to the measure of 
 our faith ; but they can never be greater or purer than 
 that principle from which they are derived, and on the 
 exercise of which, though often affected by other cir- 
 cumstances, they are chiefly dependent. The principal 
 object of our inquiry, therefore, under this head, should 
 be, whether we have been made partakers of thdXfaitli 
 which " is the substance of things hoped for, the evi- 
 dence of things not seen ;" — that faith through which 
 the patriarchs not only "received the promises" of 
 God's everlasting covenant, but " were persuaded of 
 them, and emhraced them." 
 
 As this is a matter of the highest importance, so the 
 Scriptures are particularly full and explicit in their 
 directions and declarations respecting it. They contain 
 the plainest and the most ample information, not only 
 as to the nature of saving faith, but as to its Author and 
 production — as to its grand object, namely Christ and 
 bis righteousness, according to the testimony, and agree- 
 ably to the command of God — and as to its practical 
 tendency, its effects, and accompaniments. By consi- 
 dering faith in all these several relations, we may with 
 some degree of accuracy determine whether or not we 
 possess it. 
 
 1. First, then, as to its Author and production, we 
 may observe, that Jesus liimself is declared to be, in one 
 sense, " The Author and Finisher of our faith." It is 
 only in such a sense, however, as admits of the Spirit of 
 Christ being the immediate agent, as the word of God is 
 the special instrument of its production in our hearts. 
 The Spirit is Christ's witness to the souls of men. " The 
 Spirit of truth," (John xv. 26,) said Jesus to bis disci- 
 ples, "which proceedeth from the Father, he shall tes- 
 tify of me." " He will guide you into all truth :" <' He 
 shall glorify me ; for he shall receive of mine, and shall 
 show it unto you," (John xvi. 13, 14<) Hence the 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 131 
 
 Apostle says, in addressing the Thessalonians, " For 
 our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also 
 in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much as- 
 surance," (1 Thess. i. 5.) The most express declara- 
 tion, however, that is anywhere to be found respecting- 
 the immediate agency by which faith is produced in the 
 > heart of man, is that which the apostle has recorded 
 where he says, " Wherefore I give you to understand, 
 that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus 
 accursed ; and that no man can say that Jesus is the 
 Lord," — that is, say so, believing it with all his hearty 
 — " but by the Holy Ghost," ( 1 Cor. xii. 3.) This 
 faith, then, is not of man's teaching. It is not produ- 
 ced by the force of mere evidence, or by the skill, clear- 
 ness, and ability with which human teachers may em- 
 ploy that evidence for the purpose of awakening con- 
 viction. No : " It is the gift of God," (Ephes. ii. 8,) 
 through his Spirit — as truly and entirely the gift of 
 God as is that salvation which it is invited to accept, 
 and exercised in embracing. We may sai/, therefore, 
 that we have faith ; and we may be in the actual pos- 
 session of some feeling or persuasion to which we at- 
 tach the name of faith ; but if it has not originated in 
 the way, and been produced by the divine agency, 
 which have now been described, it cannot be the faith 
 which looks to, and lays hold upon Christ. It cannot 
 be that faith, the fruit of which is holiness, and the end 
 eternal life. It cannot be that faith which the sublime 
 and affecting contemplations of a communion service 
 were intended to awaken and enlarge. 
 
 2. But, in the next place, in examining ourselves as 
 to our faith, we have carefully to consider whether 
 Christ crucified — Christ and his righteousness — be the 
 grand object on which it rests. In contemplating his- 
 all-sufficiency as a Saviour, the faith which this is so 
 well fitted to awaken, is evidently a faith which termi- 
 nates on, and affectionately embraces, Him. It must be 
 faith resting and confiding in Christ, and in him alone, 
 
132 ' WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 for salvation. It is a principle which, though implant- 
 ed in our souls by the Holy Spirit, and then exercised, 
 as every such principle must be, by our souls them- 
 selves, must, from its very nature, go out of us to lay 
 hold and rely upon Him " who of God is made unto 
 us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and 
 redemption," (1 Cor. i. 30.) It is a principle most 
 pleasing in the sight of God, and eminently fruitful in 
 every good work ; but it does not rest its regards, nor 
 place its reliance on any thing whatever, inherent or 
 acquired, belonging to the individual in whom it exists. 
 Instead of claiming or arrogating any merit to its pos- 
 sessor, it only directs him to the merits of Christ, as 
 that in which alone a sinner can be accepted as righteous 
 in the sight of God. It is, indeed, the instrument by 
 which the soul lays hold on Christ as " the end of the 
 law for righteousness to every one who believeth ;" 
 but, in the very act of doing so, it pronounces him to 
 be all the believer's salvation, and all his desire. The 
 salvation promised in the gospel, " is of faith, that it 
 might be by grace," (Rom. iv. 16.) Under the influence 
 of this principle, the believer is made to feel, that as he 
 is indebted to God for having, by the Holy Spirit, im- 
 planted it within him, and as it is not in his own 
 righteousness — for his own is only as filthy rags before 
 God — but in the infinite righteousness of the Holy 
 One and the Just, that he is commanded to trust for 
 salvation, so there never can be any merit in faith, al- 
 though there cannot fail to be the greatest crinmiality 
 i?i unbelief. Faith is put forth into lively exercise, 
 when it accepts of and cleaves to the Saviour ; but, in 
 putting it forth, the sinner no more thinks of arrogat- 
 ing any merit to himself, than a drowning man would 
 think of doing so, for taking hold of the hand of the 
 adventurous and generous benefactor who had hastened 
 to his rescue ; or than a person ready to perish with 
 hunger would think of taking credit to himself for hav- 
 ing made use of the feeble power that remained within 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 133 
 
 him, in accepting the seasonable relief which a friend to 
 the destitute had afforded and presented. In the case 
 of a sinner, indeed, the idea of any thing like merit is 
 still more entirely excluded than in the cases now re- 
 ferred to ; for, in this case, the relief is not only brought 
 and offered to him, with directions how to take advan- 
 tage of it, but both the will and t\iQ power are impart- 
 ed to him,, which are necessary to his being made a par- 
 taker of salvation. Unless, then, the faith which we 
 profess is a principle which thus distinctly, implicitly, 
 and exclusively tenimiates on Christ as its grand object, 
 it is not the faith which the thought of his infinite suf- 
 ficiency is calculated to awaken, and by which we be- 
 lieve in him " to the saving of the soul." 
 
 3. To complete the examination which we ought to 
 make into the reality, genuineness, and exercise of our 
 faith, we have to consider, in the third place, its prac- 
 tical tendency and effects. It is best known by its 
 fruits ; and what the fruits of true faith are, and what 
 the fruits of our faith ought to be, will best be ascer- 
 tained by attending to those representations which the 
 word of God has given us on the subject. 
 
 1. Now, the first representation which has there been 
 given us as to the practical tendency and effects of 
 faith is, that in which it is mentioned as the principle 
 by which God purifies the heart. Speaking of God's 
 communication of the gospel, and of the gifts of the 
 Holy Ghost to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews, 
 the Apostle Peter says, " He put no difference between 
 us and them, purifying their hearts hy faith ^' (Acts 
 XV. 9.) This is just what we might expect to be the 
 operation of faith, whether we consider the influence 
 by which it is produced or the objects with which it is 
 conversant. As one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, 
 faith cannot fail to l)e a principle of a holy tendency. 
 Heavenly in its origin, it is conversant about " heaven- 
 ly things." Implanted by the Spirit, it teaches its pos- 
 sessor to " mind the things of the Spirit." It teaches 
 
134 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 him to " endure as seeing Him who is invisible," and 
 to be under the habitual inapression conveyed in these 
 words, " Thou God seest me." It is that principle by 
 which we realize the truths, and embrace the promises 
 of God's word. It is that by which we *' taste the 
 powers of the world to come," and " have respect unto 
 the recompense of reward." It is that by means of 
 which " our conversation is in heaven, from whence 
 also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ," 
 (Philip, iii. 20.) It is that by which we realize the ex- 
 cellencies of the Saviour, and the amount of obliga- 
 tions under which he has laid us. It is that by which 
 we are drawn and engaged to imitate and love him. It 
 is that by which we are led to entertain the hope of at 
 last being <'like him," and of " seeing him as he is ;" 
 and " every man," we are told, " who hath this hope in 
 him, purifieth himself, even as He is pure," (1 John 
 iii. 2.) 
 
 Is this, then, the character of our faith ? — of the 
 faith, which we profess to repose in the only- begotten 
 and well-beloved Son of God ? Does it induce us to 
 use the greatest carefulness to " keep ourselves unspot- 
 ted from the world," knowing that " the whole world 
 lieth in wickedness ?" Does it make us habitually 
 careful to be " blameless and harmless, the sons of God, 
 without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse 
 nation ?" (Phihp. ii. 15.) Does it teach us carefully to 
 " abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the 
 soul?" (1 Pet. iii. 11.) Does it make us anxious to 
 *' cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and 
 spirit," (2 Cor. vii. 1 ;) and careful that " no corrupt 
 communication proceed out of our mouth, but that 
 which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minis- 
 ter grace unto the hearers ?" (Ephes. iv. 29.) What 
 is of greater importance still. Does it make us exer- 
 cise a holy jealousy over " every imagination of the 
 thoughts of our hearts," which, by nature, " is only 
 evil continually ?" (Gen. vi. 5.) When evil thoughts 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 135 
 
 are suggested to us, do we welcome and entertain 
 them ? Or do we seek to banish them from our minds, 
 and take every precaution against their admittance or 
 return ? On the nature of the answers which can con- 
 scientiously be rendered to these questions, must de- 
 pend the satisfactoriness of the evidence that we are 
 possessed of the faith which purifies the heart, and, 
 without the exercise of which, we are altogether in an 
 improper state of mind and feeling for sitting down at 
 a communion table. 
 
 2. The next representation which the Scriptures give 
 of the practical tendency and effects of saving faith, is 
 that in which it is described as ^^ faith which worketh 
 hy love;' (Gal. v. 6.) 
 
 Love, as well as faith itself, is one of the fruits of the 
 Spirit. " The fruit of the Spirit is love," (verse 22.) It 
 is the principle of faith, however, to which the Spirit 
 appeals, in awakening love to God — to God in Christ 
 in the sinner's soul. We must, by faith, at least have 
 seen Christ, before we can have loved him. It is 
 only by believing in him, that we can either " love 
 him," or be taught to "rejoice with joy unspeakable 
 and full of glory," (I Pet. i. 8.) In this respect, there- 
 fore, we may justly regard faith as being instrumental 
 in the production of heavenly love ; and may be assur- 
 ed that, where the love is awanting, there cannot be any 
 evidence of genuine faith. It is impossible to believe, 
 with the heart, the whole of that blessed testimony 
 which God hath given concerning his Son, and, in conse- 
 quence of this, to accept of him to be our Saviour, with- 
 out feeling that we have the strongest reason for loving 
 him, — nay, without making him the primary and abid- 
 ing object of our gratitude and love. There can be 
 no reason for concluding, that we are of the number of 
 them who have received power " to believe" in Christ 
 " to the saving of the soul," unless where there is evi- 
 dence that "the love of God is shed abroad in our 
 hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." It 
 
136 WAY BY WHICH COMxMUNICANTS 
 
 thus appears, that, under the present head, the question, 
 whether or not we are possessed of faith in Christ, re- 
 solves itself into another, and not less important ques- 
 tion, whether we truly love him. But as the investi- 
 gation of this latter question is, according to the plan 
 of this treatise, to form the subject of the next section, 
 we shall dismiss it, for the present, without any addi- 
 tional remarks, and proceed to consider the only other 
 representation which the Scriptures contain of the prac- 
 tical tendency and effects of saving faith. 
 
 3. We observe, then, in the third and last place, that 
 this faith is represented as that which overcomeih the 
 ivorld. " Whatsoever is born of God," says St. John, 
 " overcometh the world ; and this is the victory that 
 overcometh the world, even our faith," (1 John v. 4.) 
 
 This language evidently implies, (what other pas- 
 sages also make abundantly plain,) that faith is a princi- 
 ple which is born of God, — that it is wrought or pro- 
 duced in the soul by the power of the Holy Spirit, — 
 wrought in the souls of those only who are born of the 
 Spirit. Now, of this faith, it may be stated, in the 
 Jirst place, that it overcomes the pleasures and allure- 
 ments of the ivorld. These are by far the most fre- 
 quent, and in some respects the most dangerous, be- 
 cause the most welcome forms, in which the world 
 opposes itself to the welfare and duty of believers. For 
 once that we are threatened with, or exposed to, any 
 serious evil or any painful infliction, on account of our 
 adherence to that which the will of God requires of us, 
 we are many a time assailed by those multiplied allure- 
 ments and everyday temptations, in which the guilt of 
 sin is apt to be overlooked or disregarded for the sake 
 of its present enjoyments. Weak as the principle of 
 conscience now is in fallen man, he never, especially in 
 the first instance, gives way to the enticements of sin, 
 without the miserable excuse, that, in so doing, he is 
 overpowered by the allurement of some present gratifi- 
 cation which he regards as preferable, in the mean time 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE TIIExMSEL VES. 137 
 
 at least, to the calm satisfaction of resisting- when he is 
 tempted. Sin never attempts to bring^ any of its vota- 
 ries into farther captivity to its power, without holding 
 out to them the prospect of those pleasures which it 
 teaches them to regard as an equivalent, or, at any 
 rate, as an urgent plea for submitting to its dictates. 
 But the faith of which we are speaking- overcomes 
 these temptations. Of this we have many instances, 
 in the case of those, the triumphs of whose faith have 
 been recorded in the word of God. Thus we find, that 
 when Joseph was, from day to day, solicited to the 
 commission of sin, his faith so completely gave him the 
 -victory, that he was enabled to say — even at the risk 
 of being- then misrepresented, persecuted, and oppressed, 
 by the very individual whose blandishments he resisted, 
 — " How can 1 do this great wickedness, and sin against 
 God ?" It was under the influence of the same holy 
 principle, that " Moses, when he was come to years, 
 refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter ; 
 choosing rather to suffer afliiction with the people of 
 God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." In 
 these most memorable and striking instances, faith dis- 
 played itself in close and beautiful connexion with two 
 other gracesof the Spirit, "meekness and temperance." 
 Is ours, then, a faith which leads us to " crucify the 
 flesh, with the affections and lusts?" and which makes us 
 habitually attentive to the divine injunction, " Love not 
 the world, neither the things that are in the world ?" 
 
 It may neM be stated, in regard to the faith of which 
 we are now speaking, that it overcomes the threatenings 
 and injiictions of the woi^ld. Although these are not 
 so frequently to be met with as the pleasures and al- 
 lurements to which we have just been adverting, yet in 
 one or other of their forms, they constitute no incon- 
 siderable part of the trials of onr faith. An apostle 
 has assured us, that " all that will live godly in Christ 
 Jesus shall suffer persecution," (2 Tim. iii. 12.) The 
 former companions of those who have been converted 
 
138 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 unto God, often delight in attempting- to draw them 
 again into sin, and if they do not succeed, they will be 
 the first to revile and to slander them. " They think 
 it strange," says another apostle, " that ye run not with 
 them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you," 
 (1 Pet. iv. 4.) The world which hated our Divine 
 Master, still hates and will continue to hate his dis- 
 ciples. It has often laid to our charge things which 
 we knew not ; it often reproaches us with intentions 
 which we never entertained ; it imputes to us motives 
 the very thought of which our soul has at all times 
 utterly abhorred. But the faith which has been im- 
 planted there, by the power of the Holy Ghost, is suf- 
 ficient to overcome even these sore and bitter trials. 
 Of this we have an illustrious example in the case of 
 the three Jewish young men whom Nebuchadnezzar 
 had set over the affairs of the province of Babylon. 
 They steadfastly refused to worship the golden image 
 which he had set up, and persevered in their resolution 
 not to worship it, although they were threatened with 
 being cast, and were actually cast, into " the burning 
 fiery furnace." Their faith triumphed over the threat 
 of that terrific punishment, and the God who inspired 
 and supported their faith, delivered them out of the 
 midst of the flames, after having shown that they had 
 no power over their bodies, or even their apparel, to do 
 them hurt, (Dan. iii. 19-27.) Another instance, not 
 less illustrious, we have in the case of the prophet Da- 
 niel himself, who because he would not abstain, for a 
 given period, from praying to God, was, according to 
 the iniquitous decree extorted from King Darius, " cast 
 into the den of lions." Even this dreadful decree did 
 not shake him from his purpose. His faith overcame 
 the fear of the most horrific death, and the God in 
 whom he trusted shut the hons' mouths, so that they 
 could not hurt him, (Dan. vi. 10, 23.) 
 
 After such instances as these, we need do no more 
 than simply allude to the triumphant faith of Stephen, 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 139 
 
 who was stoned to death, " calling- upon God and say- 
 ing-, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." We need only 
 allude, in like manner, to the triumphant faith of the 
 great Apostle of the Gentiles, who on setting out in his 
 last visit to Jerusalem, knew nothing- of the things 
 which were to befall him there, " save that bonds and 
 afflictions awaited him." His friends united in be- 
 seeching him not to go up to Jerusalem, but he answer- 
 ed, " What mean ye to weep and to break mine 
 heart ? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to 
 die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus," 
 (Acts xxi. 13.) And after all this, we need not detain 
 ourselves with any separate illustration of the fact, that 
 this heaven-born faith is not less able to overcome the 
 sufferings and sorrows of the world — not merely the 
 sufferings which it inflicts, but those which are un- 
 avoidably connected with it. This faith enables its pos- 
 sessors to exclaim, " Nay, in all these things we are 
 more than conquerors through him that loved us," 
 (Rom. viii. 37.) " For our light affliction, which is 
 but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding- 
 and eternal weight of glory ,"(2 Cor. iv. 17.) 
 
 Such, then, is an illustration of the way in which we 
 may, with some degree of accuracy, ascertain whether 
 we are in the possession and suitable exercise of that 
 faith which the contemplation of the Saviour's all-suf- 
 ficiency is, through the blessed influences of the Holy 
 Spirit, so well fitted to awaken, and which it so deeply 
 concerns us to have in lively exercise, when we purpose 
 and are preparing to engage in the solemnity of the 
 Lord's Supper. It was probably to tbis ordinance, in 
 part at least, that the apostle alluded when he addressed 
 to his beloved Timothy the following exhortation : — 
 " Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, 
 whereunto thou art also called, and had professed a 
 good profession before many witnesses," (1 Tim. vi. 12.) 
 This language, thus applied, must evidently be under- 
 stood to intimate, that a most solemn profession of faith 
 
140 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 in Christ is made by our partaking- in this ordinance ; 
 and that such a profession should be regarded by us as 
 a most powerful and constraining- motive for the diligent 
 cultivation of this heavenly principle, and for strenu- 
 ously adhering to Him who alone hath the words of 
 eternal life. The very same profession of faith is 
 implied in what the inspired author calls, narning the 
 name of CJunst ; and the momentous and comprehen- 
 sive duty which this involves, is forcibly stated in these 
 words : — " Let every one that nameth the name of 
 Christ depart from iniquity," (2 Tim. ii. 19.) Is it, 
 then, in the fulness — in the full assurance — in the 
 exercise of a large, and lofty, and increasing measure of 
 this faith in Christ, that we seek to draw near to God 
 in all our religious services, but especially in the service 
 of communion ? — that service in which Christ is evi- 
 dently, though symbolically, crucified among us. 
 
 IV. In the preceding pages, we have been considering 
 what evidence we possess that we are in the exercise 
 of that faith which the all-sufficiency of Christ as a 
 Saviour, is so well fitted to inspire. To assist us in 
 the settlement of this important inquiry, it was shown, 
 among other things, that the Scriptures, in unfolding 
 the practical tendency and effects of saving faith, repre- 
 sent it as a principle bv which God purities the heart — 
 a principle which worketh by love — and a principle 
 which overcometh the world. The second of these 
 representations, however, we stated only in a general 
 manner, conceiving that the best illustration of this 
 part of the subject would be afforded when we came to 
 consider, as we have now to do, whether, and how far 
 we are in the exercise of that love to Christy which the 
 thought of his ineffable and continued love to us, sug- 
 gested as it is by the ordinance of the Supper, is so 
 admirably calculated to awaken. It has already been 
 shown, that this feeling toward Christ ought to be 
 awakened in us whether we consider that love toward 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 141 
 
 US, which prompted Him to come into the world and 
 lay down his life for our saUes, or the love with which 
 it is evident that he still continues to regard us ; in 
 other words, whether we consider the love of Christ in 
 working out the redemption of his people, or his love 
 in applying to their souls, by his Holy Spirit, the 
 redemption which he has purchased. We now proceed 
 to inquire, whether the love which we thus owe to him 
 is actually ruling in our hearts. 
 
 The simplest and the surest of all rules of judging 
 that we can employ on this subject is, that which has 
 been furnished by our Lord himself. " If a man love 
 me,'' said he, " he w ill keep my words," (John xiv. 23, 
 and verse 21.) And again, addressing himself to his 
 disciples, " If ye love me, keep my commandments," 
 (verse 15.) " Ye are my friends, if ye do whatso- 
 ever 1 command you," (John xv. 14.) In order to 
 judge of our love to him, therefore, we have only to 
 consider the commandments which he himself, or others 
 by his authority, have given us, and, after an impartial 
 examination of the ordinary tenor of our lives, to say, 
 whether we are obeying them from the heart. 
 
 1. Now, one of his commandments is, " Thou shalt 
 not take the name qf the Lord thy God in vain.'' (Exod. 
 XX. 7.) Do our consciences, then, bear us witness, that 
 we never blaspheme that high and holy name — that 
 we never use it but with the utmost seriousness and 
 reverence ; and that these feelings have a hold of our 
 minds whenever we think or speak of his attributes, 
 his ordinances, his word, or his works ? Are we sure 
 that we act habitually in the spirit of that kindred 
 precept which our Lord himself has delivered, " Stvear 
 not at all F" (Matt. v. 34.) Are we sure that we are 
 of the number of those who " fear an oath ?" (Eccles. 
 ix. 2 ;) whose communication is, " Yea, yea ; nay, nay ; 
 for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil ?" 
 (Matt. V. 37.) Are we sure that we never swear by, 
 or profanely call upon, " that which is no God ?" and 
 
/ 
 142 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 that we never call on the name of " the only living- and 
 true God," except when we either reverently engage in 
 his worship, or when, on a just and lawful occasion, we 
 solemnly appeal to him as the searcher of hearts, and 
 the judge of all, for the truth of what we utter, or the 
 sincerity of our intentions ? 
 
 But let us turn to another of Christ's command- 
 ments. It was He who spake these words : — " He- 
 member the Sahhaih-day^ to keep it liohjy'' ^c. (Exod. 
 XX. 8-11.) It is obvious to any one who will take 
 Scripture as his only sure guide in interpreting this 
 commandment, that it is literally and absolutely the 
 whole day that is to be kept holy, and that this keeping 
 of it impHes that, with the exception of such works of 
 necessity and mercy as our Lord has instanced, (Matt, 
 xii. 1-13; and Luke, xiii. 10-16,) it is to be devoted 
 entirely to the concerns and exercises of religion. 
 Besides the portion of its sacred hours which ought to 
 be taken up in the duties of public and private worship, 
 there are other portions of it which may be spent in 
 sacred reading, in meditation, in secret prayer, in devout 
 and profitable conversation, and in the giving and 
 receiving of religious instruction in schools and fami- 
 lies ; but no portion of the day ought to be spent in 
 sloth and carelessness — in the avocations of ordinary 
 business — in the pursuits of pleasure — in the recrea- 
 tions of the world — or " in the tents of wickedness." 
 No part of it ought to be spent in giving or receiving 
 entertainments, in visits of ceremony, curiosity, or 
 idleness. Now, on this interpretation of the command- 
 ment, the soundness of which few professing Christians 
 will venture to dispute, what do our consciences say, 
 as to our faithfulness in observing it ? Is it thus that 
 we keep holy to God that day which is now, in a 
 special manner, consecrated to the devout and grateful 
 remembrance of his Son's resurrection from the dead ? 
 Is it thus that we demonstrate the love which we feel 
 toward Christ who over us ? 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 143 
 
 So much for the religious observance of the whole of 
 the Lord's day. But has Christ given us no command- 
 ment as to the religious worship which we ought to 
 render to God on every day of our lives? Yes; In 
 giving his disciples a general direction as to secret 
 prayer, or the devotions of the closet, he taught them 
 to pray for daily bread, as one of the most indispen- 
 sable of earthly blessings. " Give us this day our daily 
 bread." Now, this implies, not only that we are to 
 feel our dependance on God from day to day, and to 
 have no undue solicitude as to the provision of any day 
 beyond the one which is passing, but that we are daily 
 to supplicate these blessings, and, of course, every other 
 that v.e need ; and the spiritual ones, surely, with not 
 less regularity and earnestness than those which are 
 temporal. Accordingly we find that " He spake a 
 parable to this end, that men ought always to pray, and 
 not to faint," (Luke, xviii. L) To the same effect we 
 find his apostle saying, " Be careful for nothing ; but 
 in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanks- 
 giving, let your requests be made known unto God," 
 (Philip, iv. 6.) And, in still more pointed and emphatic 
 language, he says in another place, " Pray without 
 ceasing," (1 Thes. v. 17.) This, of course, does not 
 mean that we should always be in the act of prayer — 
 that we should do nothing else but pray. It only means 
 that we should be as attentive to habitual and daily 
 prayer, as to our daily employments, our daily food, or 
 our nightly repose. It implies that we should never 
 cease from ih^ practice, and that we should live con- 
 tinually in the spirit of prayer — studying to maintain 
 such a frame of mind, such a sense of God's nearness 
 to us, and such a feeling of our dependance on him, as 
 to be ready, whenever opportunity occurs, or other 
 duties permit, to offer up our desires to Him who 
 " knoweth what we have need of," and who " waiteth 
 to be gracious." Now, what kind of observance are we 
 accustomed to render to this one of our Lord's com- 
 
144i WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 mandraents ? Are we not only regular in, but do we 
 " watch unto prayer ?" Do we not only pray with the 
 understanding-, but pray in the spirit? Do we take 
 pleasure in the exercise, and esteem it not merely an 
 indispensable duty, but an invaluable and exalted 
 privilege ? Are we sensible that the practice of thus 
 seeking God's face continually, has a decidedly benefi- 
 cial eifect in keeping us from sin, in making us watchful 
 against temptation, and in enabling us to set our affec- 
 tions on things above ? Let our consciences answer 
 these plain questions, and then let us say what evidence 
 we possess that the love of Christ has been shed abroad 
 in our hearts. 
 
 2. Such are some of the commandments which Christ 
 has given us as to the duties which we owe to God, 
 Let us now consider some of those which have reference 
 more particularly to our brethren of mankind. 
 
 First of all, then, it is his commandment that children 
 should honour and obey their j^arents, (Eph, vi. 1, 2) 
 — this honour including maintenance, when necessary, 
 (See Matt. xv. 4-6, comp. with Acts xxviii. 10, and 
 1 Tim. V. 17, 18.) It is also his commandment, on 
 the other hand, that parents should " not provoke their 
 children to wrath," nor " discourage" them, but " bring 
 them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," 
 (Ephes. vi. 4, and Col. iii. 21.) Now, in whichever 
 of these relations of life we happen to be placed, do our 
 consciences bear us witness that we are scrupulously 
 and habitually attentive to these sacred injunctions of 
 that divine Master who demands of us this proof of our 
 love ? It is his commandment, in like manner, that 
 wives should reverence their husbands., and that hus- 
 bands should love their zvives, " even as Christ" him- 
 self " also loved the Church, and gave himself for it," 
 (Ephes. V. 22-25, and Col. iii. 18, 19.) And, in this 
 most sacred and endearing of all human relations, are 
 these the duties which for Christ's sake we most con- 
 scientiously desire and endeavour to render? It is 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 145 
 
 farther his commandment, that " servants'^ should " he 
 ohed'ient to tJiem that are their masters according to 
 the Jiesh, with fear and treiabling^ in singleness of 
 heart, as imto Christ,'' (Eph. vi. 5); and that, too, 
 ** not only to the good and gentle, but also to the fro- 
 ward," (1 Peter ii. 18.) It is not less his command- 
 ment, on the other hand, that " masters" should " give 
 unto their servants thativhich is just and equal ;' '■'■for' 
 hearing threatening ;' '■'-knoiving that they also have 
 a Master in heaven" (Col. iv. 1, and Eph. vi. 9.) 
 And, on a careful survey of our conduct in either of 
 these last-mentioned relations, have we really reason 
 to think that we are showing our love to Christ by the 
 keeping of his commandments ? 
 
 But, not to confine our attention to the duties which 
 we owe to persons who stand to us in some of those 
 particular relations of life to which we have now ad- 
 verted, let us attend to the injunctions which our Lord 
 has given in regard to the duties which tee owe to men 
 in general. In the language of his Apostle, then, He 
 says to us, " If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, 
 live peaceabhj with all onen" (Rom. xii. 18.) *' Do 
 all things without murmurings and disputings ; that 
 ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, 
 without rebuke," (Philip, ii. 14, 15.) *' Depart from 
 evil, and do good : seek peace, and pursue it," (Psalm 
 xxxiv. 14.) Now, is our habitual deportment in ac- 
 cordance with these sacred precepts ? Are we more 
 ready to submit to some degree of injurious treatment 
 than to avenge ourselves on those from whom it has 
 been received? In thinking of the evil which we have 
 sustained, are we always careful not to overlook the 
 greater evil which may be produced by the intemperate 
 and unchristian spirit in which we express our resent- 
 ment, or demand redress ? We are not only not to in- 
 jure our neighbour, but we are not to " provoke him 
 to anger;" we are not to be " angry with him without 
 a cause ;" we are not to be angry beyond measure ; 
 K 
 
146 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 and we are not to keep up our anger against him — 
 we are " not to let the sun go down upon our wrath," 
 (Eph. iv. 26.) 
 
 Christ has left us a commandment, however, not 
 only about the care which we should use not to injure 
 the person, the property, and the peace of our neigh- 
 bour, but also about the tenderness which we should 
 feel as to his reputation or good name. His words 
 are, not only, " Do violence to no man," and " Ren- 
 der to all their dues," — but, " Let all bitterness, and 
 wrath, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away 
 from you, with all malice" (Eph. iv. 31.) This 
 exhortation implies, that although " evil speaking" and 
 " evil surmisirigs"may sometimes proceed from thought- 
 lessness, or from undue forwardness of speech, they 
 cannot be frequently indulged without demonstrating 
 the existence of malice in the heart. He tells us, by his 
 inspired servant, that the man who shall abide in the ta- 
 bernacle of the Lord, is he who, among other excellent 
 things which are recorded to his honour, is described as 
 one who " backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth 
 evil to his neighbour," nor even " taketh up a reproach 
 against his neighbour," (Psalm xv. 3.) All these 
 statements and injunctions are delivered on the autho- 
 rity of Him " who, when he was reviled, reviled not 
 again ;" and when we bring into comparison with them 
 our own conduct, as his professing disciples, do we really 
 think that we find good reason for concluding that 
 " the same mind is in us which was also in Christ 
 Jesus ? " (Philip, ii. 5.) " Speak not evil one of another, 
 brethren," says Christ by his Apostle, (James iv. 11.) 
 Do we, then, show our love to him by the keeping of 
 this commandment ? 
 
 The only other commandment which we shall at pre- 
 sent consider, in reference to the duties which we owe 
 to our brethren around us, is that in which our Lord, 
 by his servant, has said, " Lie not one to another" 
 (Col. iii. 9.) And again, " Wherefore, putting away 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 147 
 
 lying-, speak every man truth u-'dh his neighbour ,* 
 (Eph. iv. 2b.) There are persons ^vho take to them- 
 selves the credit of adhering to the truth, in all matters 
 but those in which they are pleased to allege that it 
 is of no importance. They make it their boast that 
 they would not tell a lie which should have the eifect 
 of doin^ an injury to their neig-hbour — such as in utter- 
 ing a slander or violating- a promise — but they speak as 
 if there might be a lie which could do no injury, and 
 which need cause no uneasiness, to the individual who 
 uttered it. There are persons who suppose it enough 
 that they never depart from the truth, except when it 
 might be awkward, inconvenient, disagreeable, or dan- 
 gerous to discover or abide by it ; and when, as they 
 fancy, greater evils might arise from its being main- 
 tained than from its being violated. And there are per- 
 sons who, though they do not utter a direct falsehood, 
 yet make use of such equivocations and subterfuges as 
 show, all the more strikingly, the deliberate purpose 
 which they have to deceive others by false impressions. 
 Such persons seem to forget that God requires, and is 
 delighted with " truth in the invKird part ;" and that, 
 although they are not bound, at all times, to teil all 
 that they know on every subject, or to answer every 
 inquiry which an impertinent or frivolous curiosity may 
 dictate, they are bound to be without guile, and " with- 
 out .dissimulation ;" and to speak not only the words 
 which, in themselves, and under a particular interpre- 
 tation, are true, but words of ^' sinceritij and truth,'* 
 " Wherefore, laying aside all mahce, and all guile, and 
 hf/j)ocrisies, and envies, and all evil-speakings, as new- 
 born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye 
 may grow thereby," (1 Pet. ii. 1, 2.) Let us atten- 
 tively consider, then, our Lord's commandment in 
 regard to truth, and the conduct of those who, in vari- 
 ous respects, are guilty of departing from it ; and, after 
 having sat in judgment on ourselves, let us say whether 
 our own conduct is most in conformity with the one or 
 
148 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 with the other. Let us set the matter in the light of 
 God's countenance, and then answer the momentous 
 question put to us by our Lord — " Lovest thou me ? 
 Lovest thou me more than these ?" 
 
 3. With respect to those of Christ's commandments 
 •which enjoin the duties ivhich we oive to ourselves, it is 
 unnecessary that we should here enter into particulars, 
 as they have already been sufficiently illustrated when 
 speaking- of the practical tendency and effects of saving- 
 faith — either as that principle by which God purifies 
 the heart, or as that " which overcometh the world." 
 Christ requires us to " be sober, to be vigilant ; because 
 our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about 
 seeking whom he may devour," (1 Pet. v. 8.) He 
 requires us to be " temperate in all things." He bids 
 -us " walk honestly" — or, as the margin has it, decently 
 — " as in the day ; not in rioting and drunkenness, not 
 in chambering and wantonness." He bids us " put on 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the 
 flesh, to fullil the lusts thereof." (Rom. xiii. 13, 14.) 
 He bids us be " diligent in business." He bids us 
 " abstain from all appearance of evil," (1 Thess. v. 22.) 
 and still more from its reality ; and commands us, 
 saying, " Let not your good be evil spoken of," (Rom. 
 xiv. 16 ;) — so that if, in spite of all our caution, this shall 
 still be the case, " they may be ashamed, ih?Ltfcdselif 
 accuse our good conversation in Christ," (1 Pet. iii. 1 6.) 
 He exhorts us to be w^atchful, not only as to our 
 actions, but as to our speech, and the thoughts of our 
 hearts. He commands us not to indulge either " in 
 filthiness, or foolish talking-, or jesting, which are not 
 convenient," (Eph. v. 4.) He says to each of us, 
 " keep thy heart with all diligence ; for out of it are 
 the issues of life," (Prov. iv. 23.) He bids us '• Take 
 heed, and beware of covetousness," (Luke xii. 15.) 
 He exhorts " the rich in this world, that they be not 
 high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches," (1 Tim. 
 Ti. 17 ;) and would have us all to learn with his apostle, 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 149 
 
 "in whatsoever state we are, therewith to be content," 
 (Philip, iv. 11.) He commands us to " seek first the 
 kingdom of God and his rig-hteousness," assuring- us 
 that all other " things which the Father knoweth we 
 have need of, shall be added unto us," (Matt. vi. 32, 33.) 
 He commands us to "walk as children of light," and 
 to " have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of 
 darkness, but rather reprove them." (Ephes. v. 8, 11.) 
 Such are his exhortations and injunctions as to that per- 
 sonal holiness — that holiness of the heart and life — 
 after which, as his disciples, and as those who, through 
 liim, look for " glory, and honour, and immortality," 
 it is our duty to follow. And when, after attentively- 
 looking at these, to ascertain " what manner of persons 
 we ought to be, in all holy conversation and godliness," 
 we next endeavour impartially to decide what manner 
 of persons we are in reality, do we find that we are, in 
 reality, such as to prove the existence within us of that 
 love Vv'hich is due to Him who has loved us and given. 
 Himself for us ? 
 
 If we really are possessed of that love to Christ, of 
 which the keeping- of his commandments is both the' 
 most acceptable expression and the most conclusive 
 evidence, it will give a totally new character to the 
 whole of our pursuits and deportment. Under the 
 influence of this heavenly principle, our obedience, as 
 compared with any thing that we ever before exhibited 
 under that name, will indeed be a new obedience. It 
 will be the obedience of a new heart — of a new creature. 
 It will aim at new ends; it will be adjusted to a new- 
 standard — such as is to be found only in God's holy- 
 word ; it will be animated by new motives ; it will be 
 sustained and carried out by new and omnipotent assist- 
 ance. If we do good to others, it will not be to be 
 seen or applauded of men ; it will not be to get rid of 
 importunities by which the poor or the friendless might 
 •weary us ; it will not be that we may have the impious 
 comfort of setting our alms-deeds over against some of 
 
150 WAY BY -WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 our cherished and disreputable vices. No ; it will be 
 because we love Christ. It will be because we esteem 
 it an honour to minister to those to whom he minis- 
 tered, and to give even a cup of cold water to a dis- 
 ciple, in the name of a disciple. And — to take but 
 another illustration — if we engage in prayer to God, it 
 will not be merely in compliance with the early usage 
 established by the authority of our parents ; it will not 
 be out of compliment to the decencies that are expect- 
 ed of us in the particular office or situation in which 
 God has placed us ; it will not be merely under the 
 dictation of our fears ; it will not be only under the 
 impulse of some passing occurrences. No ; it will be 
 because " we have received the Spirit of adoption, 
 whereby we cry, Abba, Father." It will be because 
 w^e have been taught to mind the things of the spirit, 
 because we have become anxious to be farther and 
 farther delivered from the pollution of sin ; because we 
 have been made to hunger and thirst after righteous- 
 ness ; and, in a word, because " truly our fellowship is 
 with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ," (1 John 
 i.3.) 
 
 V. The next thing with respect to which it becomes 
 us in a particular manner to examine ourselves before 
 we partake of the Lord's Supper, is that feeling of love 
 toward our hrethreri, and of good-ivill toward alt 
 mankind, which, as already demonstrated, that holy 
 ordinance is admirably fitted to awaken in our breasts. 
 This indeed might legitimately have been included 
 under the foregoing head of inquiry as to that love to 
 Christ, which is best evinced and exercised by the keep- 
 ing of his commandments. One of the most special 
 and memorable of these commandments is, that we love 
 one another ; and as we cannot be supposed to love Him, 
 if we do not keep tfds commandment as well as others, 
 we might, under the previous head, have inquired as to 
 the fact of our keeping or neglecting it. Since, how- 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 151 
 
 ever, the union and brotherly love which should suhsist 
 among- Christians, are expressly and significantly repre- 
 sented in that ordinance, and since the ordinance is spe- 
 cially fitted and intended to call forth the feeling of 
 love to the brethren as well as love to Christ hhnself, 
 it seems to be required, by the importance thus assigned 
 to that affection, to make it the subject of a separate 
 examination. 
 
 The distinguishing marks and properties of Chris- 
 tian brotherly love, are beautifully described and clearly 
 pointed out by the inspired apostles, and especially in 
 the 13th chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians. 
 The/irst distinguishing mark of brotherly love is that 
 in which it is said, " Love worketh no ill to his neigh- 
 bour," (Rom. xiii. 10.) It rejoiceth not in iniquity, 
 (1 Cor. xiii. 6.) It worketh no ill to him, either in 
 person, in property, or in character ; it worketh no ill 
 to him, either directly or indirectly ; either in things 
 temporal or in things spiritual. But then, in the 7ie.vt 
 place, this love studiously avoids whatever might tempt 
 or provoke our brother to do what would be hurtful 
 either to himself or to others. " Love vaunt eth not 
 itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, 
 seeketh not its own," (1 Cor. xiii. 5.) Not only, how- 
 ever, does love thus avoid doing injury or giving off'ence; 
 but, in the third place, it is patient in enduring what it 
 is unwilling to inflict. " Love suffereth long ; love 
 envieth not ; beareth all things ; endureth all things," 
 (1 Cor. iv. 7.) And, lastly, it is not only patient in 
 enduring evil, but zealous, active, and unwearied in 
 doing good. Love not only suffereth long, but " is 
 kind." It not only beareth and endureth, but " it 
 believeth all things, it hopeth all things." It delights 
 in seeking to promote the temporal, and especially the 
 spiritual, welfare of all those towards whom it is cher- 
 ished ; and these are — all whom the Saviour has com- 
 mended to its regards. It teaches us to " do good 
 to all men as we have opportunity, especially unto them 
 
152 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 who are of the household of faith," (Gal. vi. 10.) 
 While it teaches us to "love the brotherhood," (1 Pet. 
 ii. 17,) it enables us to say, with heavenly wisdom itself, 
 that our " delights," our hallowed delights, are " v.'ith 
 the sons of men," (Prov. viii. 31.) 
 
 Now, judging by these characteristic marks and these 
 precious fruits, have we reason to believe that our 
 hearts indeed are actuated by this holy affection towards 
 our Christian brethren ? Do we love them thus 
 unfeignediy and fervently, as those who profess to love 
 the same divine Master as ourselves ? as those whose 
 professions are not contradicted by any thing in their 
 general outward deportment ? and as those, therefore, 
 whom we may in charity regard as conformed to his 
 image, and partakers of his love ? Do we love them, in 
 other words, as we should love those whom He has 
 commended to our special affection, and whom Pie him- 
 self has specially loved ? Do we feel that it is not only 
 a commanded duti/ thus to love them, but that it is 
 impossible for us not to love them — just as impossible 
 as it is for us not to love Him who hath so loved us as 
 to come to earth to die for us, and thence ascended to 
 heaven to live and reign, that he may purify us to him- 
 self, beautify us with his salvation, and at last receive 
 us for ever into the kingdom and presence of his glory? 
 Do we feel, in short, how unavoidable as well as indis- 
 pensable it is, that " every one that loveth Him that 
 begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him ?" (1 John 
 V. 1.) Do we delight in each other's fellowship? in 
 conversing with each other on the things which belong to 
 our peace ? and in provoking one another to love and 
 to good works ? Do we seek to exalt Christ in each 
 other's estimation, and to enhance our affection to each 
 other, by awakening in each other's bosom a more lively- 
 sense of our obligations to the Author of our salvation? 
 And, under the influence of feelings such as these, do 
 we seek to stir each other up to the exercise of deeper 
 and deeper compassion for the souls of those our fellow- 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 153 
 
 men, who are yet without God and without Christ in 
 the world ? Do we, in the exercise of that good-will 
 toward men, which was first taug-ht us, in its purity, 
 only by the love of God towards us, go forth to find 
 another and another of our kinsmen, our brethren 
 according- to the flesh, and use all our persuasions, 
 entreaties, and endeavo>irs, that they may be converted 
 and united to the only Messias — to him who alone 
 hath the words of eternal life ? Let us attentively and 
 solemnly consider these momentous questions ; and then 
 say, whether we be in the exercise — the vigorous and 
 increasing- exercise — of that love to our brethren in 
 Christ, and our brethren of mankind at large, which 
 forms so indispensable a preparation for sitting- down 
 at a communion table, and there partaking in the feast 
 of iove. 
 
 VI. We have now arrived at the last head of that 
 selt-examination in v.'hich we are engaged. We have 
 to examine ourselves as to the possession of tliosefeel- 
 ivgs ivhich the believing contemjilation of our Lord's 
 second coming shoidd naturcUlij aivakeri in our minds. 
 The contemplation of that momentous and glorious 
 event, (of which we are so strikingly reminded in the 
 ordinance of the Supper,) is admirably fitted, as has 
 previously been shown, to comfort us with the assu- 
 rance that he is not forgetful of us in his absence — to 
 inspire us with patience under the trials and disappoint- 
 ments of this present life — to awaken in us a holy soli- 
 citude, that when he appears we may be like him, and 
 ready to receive him — and to inspire us with holy 
 desires and fond anticipations as to its arrival — an event 
 which, though unspeakably awful to his enemies, is 
 fraught with every thing which is glorious and delight- 
 ful to those v/ho are indeed relying and waiting on him 
 for salvation. 
 
 And are these, then, the feelings by which we are 
 really animated when we contemplate the certain and 
 
154 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 glorious return of our already exalted, but still unseen 
 and absent Lord? Does it indeed afford us, in the 
 Jlrst place, sincere and peculiar delight^ to be reminded 
 of the fact that he continues to regard us as the objects 
 of his gracious and affectionate remembrance ? In the 
 case of an earthly benefactor, such a circumstance could 
 rot fail to be, in the highest degree, gratifying and 
 delightful. If any individual who had at one time been, 
 in some respects, our equal, but who has subsequently 
 been exalted to a situation of the greatest affluence, 
 dignity, and honour, is found not only to cherish a live- 
 ly remembrance of the former relation in which he 
 stood to us, but to exercise the highest of those func- 
 tions and prerogatives with which he has been invested, 
 in such a manner as strikingly to evince the peculiar 
 affection which he feels for us, and the pleasure which 
 he takes in promoting our welfare — the circumstance 
 is one on which we must find it impossible to reflect, 
 without the liveliest emotions of gratitude and delight. 
 Now, though our blessed Lord, who was pleased to be 
 made like unto his brethren, is gone into the heavens, 
 we are distinctly given to understand that he will come 
 again — that he will not delay his coming one moment 
 beyond the time which is requisite for the manifesta- 
 tion of his own glory, and the accomplishment of that 
 W'hich is essential to our happiness ; and that one oi the 
 grand objects withw^iich he is ever occupied during his 
 absence, is just that of " purifying us unto himself, a 
 peculiar people, zealous of good works." And, in con- 
 templating these glorious truths, are we sure that we 
 are deeply and suitably affected with those grateful and 
 joyous emotions which they are so peculiarly fitted to 
 inspire ? 
 
 But we have also seen that the belief of our Lord's 
 second coming is not less fitted to inspire us with 
 l^atience under the trials and disappointments of this 
 present life. Is this, then, in the second place, the 
 feeling with which, as often as we are called to reflect 
 
OUGHJ TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 155 
 
 on that glorious event, we feel that our souls are forti- 
 fied and comforted ? Under the ordinary vicissitudes 
 of life, do we feel that our " hearts are stablished " by 
 the consideration that " the coming- of the Lord draweth 
 nigh ?" No effort of mere human fortitude, or self- 
 possession, would be sufficient to support us under such 
 trials and afflictions as those to which we are at present 
 liable. We can thus be supported only when we are 
 thoroughly impressed with the conviction that these 
 trials are appointed and overruled by a gracious as well 
 as a righteous God; and that the time shall come when 
 they shall not only cease, but result in our endless and 
 unspeakable enjoyment. And is this the conviction by 
 which we are practically influenced — is this the way in 
 which we demonstrate to the church and to the world, 
 the same glorious truth which is proclaimed as often as 
 we show forth our Lord's death, by the celebration of 
 the supper — that " He who cometh will come, and will 
 not tarry r" 
 
 But again : We have seen that the contemplation of 
 our Lord's second coming, is admirably fitted to awaken 
 in us a holy solicitude, that when he appears we may 
 be like him, and ready to receive him. And is this, also, 
 in the third place, the feeling which it actually awakens 
 and keeps alive in our souls ? Our blessed Lord has gone 
 into a far country, and has said to all his servants at his 
 departure, " Occupy till I come." He has assigned to all 
 their respective duties, and committed to all the proper 
 number of talents which they have to layout and improve 
 in his service. He has intentionally kept them in ignor- 
 ance as to the precise time at which he may return, for 
 the express purpose of keeping them continually dili- 
 gent and watchful, and constantly solicitous as to the 
 way in which he shall find them employed at his coming, 
 and as to the sentence of approbation or disapprobation 
 which he shall then pronounce on them, (Luke xii. 
 35-46.) Have we, then, been at pains to study the 
 character, to remember tlie injunctions, and to promote 
 
156 WAY BY WHICH COMIMUNICANTS 
 
 the interests of an absent Lord? Are we careful to 
 imbibe bis spirit, to embrace his doctrines, and to imi- 
 tate his example ? Is conformity to his image the 
 ^reat and constant object of our holy ambition ? Do 
 we habitually feel an earnest concern to have our " loins 
 always girded, and our lamps always burning," being 
 <' like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he shall 
 return from the wedding ; that when he cometh and 
 knocketh, they may open unto him immediately ?" 
 We call ourselves, and are called the followers of Christ ; 
 but, alas, alas ! how imperfectly do we follow him ! O 
 for more of ardent and abiding desire to be holy as he 
 is holy, and perfect as he is perfect — that, when he shall 
 appear, we may " be like him, and see him as he is !" 
 
 This leads us to inquire, in the fourtJi and last place, 
 whether we have been enabled to regard our Lord's 
 second coming as the object of those holy desires 
 v,nd fo?id anticipations, which, as we have also seen, it 
 is admirably fitted to awaken in the breasts of his be- 
 lieving people. To many thousands of our guilty race, 
 the day of his coming shall be a day of vengeance — the 
 great and terrible day of the Lord — the day when 
 " they who know not God, and obey not the gospel of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, shall be banished with everlast- 
 ing destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from 
 the glory of his power." It is the day, however, when 
 he shall " be glorified in his saints, and admired in all 
 them that believe ;" the day when he shall complete 
 their deliverance from sin and all its consequences — 
 suffering, sorrow, and death ; the day when he shall 
 make them full partakers of his glory, and receive 
 them into his presence with exceeding joy. Now, is 
 this latter the aspect in which we feel an increasing 
 encouragement to regard it ? In spite of the bodily 
 pangs which we have to endure in our conflict with 
 the last enemy — in spite of the melancholy cer- 
 tainty of separation for a season from all whom we love 
 on this earth — and in spite of the darkness which still 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 157 
 
 broods over the valley of the shadow of death ? do we 
 
 feel that our faith, and hopes, and affections have taken 
 such firm hold on the glorious objects which are beyond 
 it, that they begin to fill ns with a joy which is unspeak- 
 able and full of g-lory ? Under the bondage of corrup- 
 tion, do we earnestly groan for the everlasting- liberty 
 of the sons of God ? While willing still to glorifv God 
 in the flesh, and not impatient of the farther discipline 
 which he may see meet to employ, do we feel that we 
 are becoming- weary of sin, and so powerfully at- 
 tracted by the beauty of holiness, as to rejoice more and 
 more in the prospect of being- introduced into the so- 
 ciety of the spirits of just men made perfect, and of 
 being- for ever in the presence of Jesus, the Mediator 
 of the new covenant ? Do we begin to feel somewhat 
 of the apostle's longing-, " rather to be absent from the 
 body, and to be present with the Lord ?" Does a g-low 
 of rapture ever come over our souls, as we anticipate 
 the happy time v/hen vain thoughts shall no longer 
 lodge within them — when vile im^aginations shall no 
 long-er pollute them. — when sinful desires shall no 
 long-er, even for a moment, be excited within them — 
 and when, vrondrous and delightful as the change must 
 be, of having our bodies freed for ever from pain, and 
 disease, and mortality, and corruption, still more won- 
 drous and delightful will be the change which our souls 
 shall have undergone, in being made perfectly conform- 
 able to the image of the well-beloved Son of God — to 
 the image of him who redeemed them ? Surely, when 
 we reflect that such glorious results are to be accom- 
 plished at the time of our Lord's second coming-, those 
 who truly wait for his salvation may sometimes feel dis- 
 posed in this view to adopt the language of the Psal- 
 mist, " My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they 
 that watch for the morning — they that watch for the morn- 
 ing-," (Psalm cxxx. G.) Or sometimes, perhaps, they 
 may express their longing expectation in the language 
 of a very different individual, " Why is his chariot so 
 
158 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 long in coming ? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?" 
 (Judges V. 28.) When Christ himself saith, " Surely I 
 come quickly ;" ^are we possessed of that elevated faith 
 in him which warrants and prompts us to reply, " Amen. 
 Even so, come, Lord Jesus ?" (Rev. xxii. 20.) 
 
 In the chapter which is now concluded, we have en- 
 deavoured to present an illustration of the way by which 
 communicants should examine, and may ascertain, 
 whether they possess those feelings and that character 
 which are requisite for worthily partaking in the ordi- 
 nance of the Supper. On account of the great import- 
 ance of the subject, we have treated of it at the greater 
 length, and with the greater minuteness ; and in the 
 whole of the practical investigation in which w^e have 
 been engaged, it is hoped that, while a pretty full exhi- 
 bition has been afforded of that personal holiness which 
 is the highest ornament of a true Christian, it has at 
 the same time been mane to appear, that all such holi- 
 ness must be derived solely from the influence of divine 
 grace on the heart — that grace which gives to the doc- 
 trines and promises of the gospel their full, legitimate, 
 and sanctifying efficacy. It has appeared, we hope, 
 that while the peculiar doctrines of the gospel are, all of 
 them, doctrines according to godliness, and that while, 
 therefore, the manifestation of genuine godliness in the 
 life, constitutes the only satisfactory evidence that these 
 doctrines and promises have really been received and 
 embraced by the soul, — there is no possibility of attain- 
 ing to this genuine godliness of life through the influ- 
 ence of any other principle than that of faith in that 
 Saviour, to whom these doctrines and promises relate. 
 It is faith by which, when implanted in the soul by the 
 Holy Spirit, God purifies the heart. It is this which 
 forms the bond of union between Christ and the soul. 
 It is this which worketh by love to Christ; as this love, 
 in its turn, constraineth us to live not unto ourselves 
 but unto him who died for us, and rose again ; or, in 
 
OUGHT TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES. 159 
 
 other words, displays itself by keeping- his command- 
 ments. It is this faith which " overcometh the world," 
 and which makes us in all things " more than conquerors 
 through Him that loved us." 
 
 We must be most careful, however, not to misappre- 
 hend the proper object which we ought to have in 
 view, in endeavouring- to ascertain whether we really 
 are possessed of the various graces of the Christian 
 character, or the exact province which these graces 
 occupy in the economy of redemption. These are 
 things with which we cannot be endowed, till such 
 times as we have been persuaded and enabled to accept 
 of Christ as all our salvation and all our desire — to 
 relv entirely on the merits of his righteousness and 
 death as the ground of our acceptance with God. All 
 the fruits of holiness, however precious, and honour- 
 able, and lovely, are produced in us only through the 
 influences of the Holy Spirit, by whom we have pre- 
 viously been united to Christ ; and it never could have 
 been intended — nay, it is in the nature of things impos- 
 sible, that the blessed fruits which spring from saving 
 faith should encourage us to throw off our dependence 
 on that Saviour, by its embracing- and cleaving to 
 whom, all these fruits have sprung up to enrich and 
 adorn our character. We are called upon carefully to 
 examine ourselves as to the reality, the number, and 
 the increase of our graces ; — not in order that we may find 
 in these graces themselves the ground, either in whole 
 or in part, of our being accounted righteous in the 
 sight of our Father who is in heaven, but in order that 
 we may see what evidence we possess of our interest 
 in and union with Christ. We are required to examine 
 ourselves as to these things — not in order that we may 
 see what satisfying reason we have for trusting in our 
 own righteousness, but in order that we may ascertain 
 what evidence there is that ice are trusting entirely 
 and implicitly in the righteousness of Christ. The 
 practice and cultiv^-tion of personal holiness, are the 
 
160 WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS, &C. 
 
 natural and most acceptable expression of our gratitude 
 and love to Him in whom alone we have placed all our 
 confidence, as " the end of the law for righteousness to 
 every one that belie veth." The greater that is the 
 amount of our obligations to him, and the more lively 
 that is our sense of these obligations, the more will we 
 be prepared to love, to honour, and to obey him. The 
 more that we love him, the more will we study to be 
 like him ; and the more thoroughly that we become 
 conformed to his image, the more sensible will we 
 become of our remaining deficiencies and manifold ini- 
 quities, and the more will we understand the import- 
 ance, and acknowledge the necessity, of being one with 
 Christ — of receiving out of the fulness which is in 
 Him, even grace for grace. (John i. 16) — of being 
 *' complete in Him," (Col. ii. 10) — and of being at last 
 " presented faultless before the presence of his glory 
 with exceeding joy," (Jude 24.) It is only by abiding 
 in Him that we can be fruitful in every good word and 
 work ; and this fruitfulness will be the necessary effect 
 and the most decisive evidence of such a union. 
 «• And now, little children," to use the words of the 
 beloved disciple, " abide in Him ; that, when he shall 
 appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed 
 before him at his coming," (1st John ii. 28.) 
 
THE BENEFITS OF WORTHILY PARTAKING. 161 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON THE BENEFITS RECEIVED BY THOSE WHO WORTHILY 
 PARTAKE OF THE LORD's SUPPER, OR IN THE EXERCISE OF 
 THOSE FEELINGS WHICH IT IS FITTED TO AWAKEN. 
 
 It has already been shown, in the first chapter of this 
 treatise, that the Lord's Supper is not merely a comme- 
 morative, but also a sacramental ordinance. Careful, 
 therefore, as we have been minutely to point out the 
 peculiar import and signiticance of all the emblems and 
 actions which are employed in its celebration — careful 
 as we have been to point out and illustrate, not only 
 the things which are directly represented in the ordinance, 
 but those also which it is naturally fitted to briiig to 
 our remembrance — we must never lose sight of the 
 important fact, that it is an ordinance in which the 
 partakers enter into a solemn covenant transaction with 
 the God of their salvation. It is on this account that 
 we have been particularly anxious to show what are 
 the feelings which the things represented, and the things 
 brought to our remembrance by this holy ordinance, 
 are so admirably fitted to awaken in our minds ; and 
 especially to point out the way by which communicants 
 should examine, and may, with some degree of accuracy, 
 ascertain, whether they be in the habitual possession 
 and in the jjresent e.vercise of those feelings. It is 
 manifest that the chief object of that self-examination, 
 which the apostle exhorts every intending communicant 
 to institute, (1 Cor. xi. 28,) is just to ascertain whether 
 it is under the influence and in the exercise of these 
 feelings, that he ventures to partake of the Lord's 
 
 L 
 
162 THE BENEFITS OF WORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 Supper. In order to his worthily partaking- of this 
 holy ordinance, it is necessary, not only that he should 
 in himself have some experience of the feelings and 
 dispositions by which true Christians are distinguished, 
 hut also that he should carefully examine himself as to 
 their present exercise and activity within him. 
 
 After what has been so fully stated as to the self- 
 examination by which communicants may, in some 
 measure, ascertain whether they have really been made 
 partakers of the graces of the Christian character, it 
 were superfluous to say more than has now been said in 
 general terms, as to what is implied in ivorthili/partaking 
 of the Lord's Supper, This being the case, we proceed 
 at once to consider Vvhat are the henejits which are 
 received by those who worthily partake of it ? 
 
 I. In answer to this inquiry, we may reply, in the 
 first place, that those who worthily partake of this 
 ordinance may expect that it will be rendered the 
 means of increasing and strengthening within them, 
 those feelings and affections which we have seen that it 
 is so well fitted to excite, and in the exercise of which they 
 are understood to approach it. What these feelings and 
 affections are, we have already endeavoured to illustrate ; 
 and, for particulars, must refer to the preceding illustra- 
 tion. It may be proper, however, in this place, to recall 
 our attention to the general nature and happy tendency 
 of the feelings already noticed. 
 
 1. Let us think, then, of the nature and tendency of 
 those feelings which the contemplations of a communion 
 table are naturally calculated to awaken in us, in regard 
 to God, These contemplations are fitted to inspire us 
 with the profoundest reverence for his unsullied holiness, 
 his infinite righteousness, and his inflexible justice ; and 
 to fill us, at the same time, with the devoutest admiration, 
 and the warmest gratitude for the display of his mercy, 
 and the exercise of his loving-kindness to us, the sinful 
 children of men. We cannot tell by which we should 
 
OF THE lord's SUPPER. 163 
 
 be the most ajffecteil — the terrors of his law, or the 
 tenderness of his love ; the infinite abhorrence with 
 which he regards sin, and the indexible determination 
 wliich he has manifested to avenge it, or the ineffable and 
 unquenchable love for the souls of sinners, which is 
 manifested in the plan v/hich he has adopted for the 
 accomplishment of their salvation. Now, what greater 
 benefit can be conferred on any communicant than to 
 have such feelings as these more deeply fixed, and more 
 abundantly strengthened in his soul ? It is in this way 
 that the believer's soul is brought into a nearer confor- 
 mity to the mind of God himself, and in this way, 
 therefore, that its sanctification is advanced andpetfected. 
 To grow in these feelings is to grow in resemblance to 
 God — to be progressively made partakers of his holiness, 
 and consequently partakers, at length, of that blessedness 
 which the pure in heart shall experience in seeing and 
 enjoying him. 
 
 2. Let us think, also, of the nature and tendency of 
 those feelings which the contemplations of a communion 
 table are naturally calculated to awaken in us, in regard 
 to Christ. There we are occupied in contemplating' 
 his amazing condescension, not only in becoming man, 
 but " a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;" nay, 
 in becoming " obedient unto death, even the death of the 
 cross." There we are occupied in contemplating the 
 manifold and glorious objects, for the sake of which he 
 underwent all this marvellous humiliation, — his mani- 
 festing the divine perfections — his magnifying the law 
 and making it honourable — his condemning sin in the 
 flesh, and yet expiating its guilt — his bringing in an 
 everlasting righteousness, and his justifying the ungodly 
 who believe in him; There we are occupied in contem- 
 plating his infinite sufficiency to accomplish all the ends 
 for which he came into the world, and the ineifable and 
 everlasting love to the souls of men, by which he was 
 actuated while he continued on earth, and by which he 
 still continues to be actuated, now that he has been 
 
164 THE BENEFITS OF WORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 exalted to be an Advocate and Intercessor with the 
 Father, all power in heaven and on earth having- been 
 committed to Him. There, too, we are occupied in 
 contemplating- the certainty, the glorious objects, and 
 (to believers) the blessed effects of his second coming — 
 his coming- to perfect the salvation of those who wait 
 for him. These also are some of the contemplations in 
 which we are occupied at his Table ; and what can be 
 more salutary or sanctifying than the feelings which they 
 must awaken within us ? They cannot fail to inspire the 
 believing soul with adoration, gratitude, and love. They 
 cannot fail to strengthen the feeling- of confidence in 
 Christ as alike able and willing to save ; and, conse- 
 quently, to impart more and more of joy and peace in 
 believing. And what more precious benefits than these 
 can the soul be supposed to receive? It is thus, that it 
 becomes enriched and invigorated with a larger measure 
 of the fruits of the Spirit. It is thus that it becomes 
 more and more conformed to the image of its Lord, 
 more capable of entering into intimate fellowship with 
 him, and better prepared to rejoice before him at his 
 coming. 
 
 3. But again : The contemplations of a communion 
 table are naturally calculated to awaken in us such feel- 
 ings w regard to sin, on the one hand, and in regard 
 to holiness, on the other, as are eminently beneficial to 
 the soul. We there see sin to be exceedingly sinful. We 
 there see it in its inherent deformity, its malignant ten- 
 dency, and its most awful consequences. We see it bring- 
 ing down the infinite wrath of Offended Justice on Him 
 who was " holy, harmless, undeiiled, separate from sin- 
 ners," but on whom was laid " the chastisement of our 
 peace." This is well fitted to make sin the subject of 
 our grief and the object of our hatred ; and, under a 
 sense of our own utter helplessness, as its victims and 
 its slaves, to inspire us with a feeling of the most pro- 
 found and abiding humility. And while we there con- 
 template the exceeding sinfulness of sin, we contemplate 
 
OF THE lord's supper. 165 
 
 not less distinctly the ineffable beauty of holiness, and 
 the perfection of that beauty as it shone forth in the 
 character of our adorable Redeemer. This new olject 
 of contemplation is admirably fitted to inspire us with 
 the love of that which is holy, and with the desire of 
 imitating- the example of Him in whom the Father was 
 infinitely satisfied, — feelings which must contribute, in 
 the hig-hest degree, to the progressive sanctitication, 
 and, at last, to the unbounded felicity of our immortal 
 souls. 
 
 4. We need scarcely remark, in concluding our 
 reflections on this part of the subject, that similar bene- 
 fits are received by the souls of those who worthily 
 partake of the Lord's Supper, in consequence of that 
 increase of the feeling of brotherly love^ which this 
 endearing ordinance is so peculiarly fitted to inspire. 
 And, in regard to one entire branch of our duties, what 
 feeling can be so conducive as this to our sanctification 
 and our happiness? How much sin and m.isery would 
 be prevented, if more of this blessed feeling were found 
 to rule in our hearts ! This feeling, in its genuine 
 state indeed, can never exist separately from the lovo 
 of God ; but, wherever it does exist in its purity, what 
 is there that can contribute so effectually and so largely 
 either to the happiness of the individual who possesses 
 it, or to the comfort and welfare of those toward whom 
 it is exercised ? 
 
 With respect, then, to all the feelings of which we 
 have now been speaking, and which must be understood 
 to exist, in a greater or less degree, in the heart of 
 every worthy communicant, it is obvious that in their 
 tendency and effects they are of the most benign and 
 sanctifying description. In proportion as they predo- 
 minate and are strengthened in the soul, it is prepared 
 for enjoying the society of " the spirits of just men 
 made perfect," and the beatific presence and fellowship 
 of God himself. These feelings constitute to their 
 possessors the evidence of the life of God in their souls. 
 
166 THE BENEFITS OF WORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 The more that snch feelings are increased, the more 
 thoroughly are his children renewed and perfected in 
 his image, and the more precious is the earnest which 
 they thus ohtain of unmingled and endless felicity. If 
 it were in nothing else, therefore, than even the increase 
 of these saintly feeling sand Christian graces^\\h\ch. the 
 ordinance of the Lord's Supper is so well fitted to excite 
 and to strengthen in the minds of communicants, that 
 sacred ordinance would justly claim to be regarded as 
 conferring the most important benefits on all who wor- 
 thily partake of it. 
 
 II. These, however, are neither the only nor the 
 primary benefits which they derive from their partici- 
 pation of the Lord's Supper; for we have to observe, 
 in the second place, that " the worthy receivers of it 
 are, not after a corporal or carnal manner, but hi/ faith, 
 made partakers of his hody and blood, with all his 
 benefits, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in 
 grace."* 
 
 With persons who have not resolved to embrace an 
 opinion which is expressly contradicted by the united 
 testimony of their bodily senses, it is unnecessary to 
 use any argument to prove that the outward elements 
 of bread and wine, which are made use of in this ordi- 
 nance, are, in no respect, any thing else than what they 
 appear to our bodily senses to be. In the institution 
 of the ordinance, indeed, our Lord said, respecting^ 
 the bread, " This is my body;" and respecting the 
 ■wine, " This is my blood." This, however, was only 
 in conformity to a simple and very natural figure of 
 speech, by which the sign is made to bear the name of 
 the thing signified — the thing for which it stands ; as 
 ■when Joseph, in interpreting Pharaoh's dreams, said to 
 him, (Gen. xli. 26,) " The seven good kine are seven 
 years ;" as when it is said, (Ezek. xxxvii. 11,) in refer- 
 ence to the dry bones which were exhibited to the pro- 
 
 * Shorter Catechism. 
 
OF THE lord's SUPPER. 167 
 
 phet in the valley of vision, " These bones are the 
 whole house of Israel ;" or as when it is said, (Rev. i. 
 20,) " The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are 
 seven churches." Thus, in like manner, we find that 
 Christ is in other passages called "the Lamb of God;" 
 — " our Passover r — and " the Rock,'" in allusion to 
 that from which a supply of water was miraculously 
 furnished to the Israelites in the wilderness. Thus also 
 we find that, long before the institution of the Supper, 
 he called himself "the bread of life" — "the living 
 bread which came down from heaven ;" — that he called 
 himself the door of the sheep-fold ; — that he said I am 
 the vine, ye are the branches ; — that he spoke of the 
 temple of his body ; — of his being the icaij, and the 
 truth, and the life — and that his apostle has spoken of 
 " the new and living loay which he hath consecrated 
 for us through the vail, that is to say, his flesh," or 
 human nature, (Heb. x. 20.) But independently of all 
 this, it is obvious, that, even at the very moment when 
 our Lord, at the institution of the Supper, took the 
 bread, and brake it and said, " This is my body'' the 
 persons whom he addressed were fully sensible, because 
 they saw, that the bread was perfectly distinct from his 
 body. They could no more believe that the one had 
 passed into the other, that the bread had ceased to be 
 bread, or that it had become both bread and something 
 else at the same time, than they could believe, from his 
 saying, " This is my body which is broken for you," 
 that he really meant to affirm that his sacred person, 
 which they at that moment beheld entire and unin- 
 jured, had already been actually pierced, and v/ounded, 
 and crucified, and slain. We shall only add, that al- 
 though our Lord then used the language which has 
 now been quoted, the Apostle Paul, (who tells us 
 expressly that he received his information immediately 
 from the Lord,) in speaking of the sacred symbols, even 
 after thev had been consecrated by the prayers, and 
 communicated by the hands, of the Saviour himself, 
 
168 THE BENEFITS OF WORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 still calls them simply " this bread,'' and *' this cup,'* 
 that is, this wine in the cup, (1 Cor. xi. 26.) 
 
 All, then, that we actually partake of corporeally in 
 the Lord's Supper — all that we actually receive in the 
 form of bodily nourishment — is simply bread andivine. 
 It is not the less true, however, that " worthy receivers," 
 (to use the words of our Confession of Faith, as quoted 
 in a former chapter,) " do then also inwardly by faith, 
 really and indeed," though " spiritually, receive and 
 feed upon Christ crucified, and all benefits of his 
 death." 
 
 1. In treating- of the representative character of this 
 ordinance, we had occasion to show that communicants, • 
 by the act of receiving- the consecrated memorials and 
 emblems of his death into their hands, most expressly 
 and sig-nificantly declare their acceptance of Christ and 
 him crucijied, as he is offered to them in the g^ospel, 
 and symbolically offered to them in the ordinance 
 itFelf. Their solemn acceptance of these outward sym- 
 bols at his Table is an intelligible, explicit, and most 
 emphatical declaration of their faith in him as their 
 only and all-sufficient Saviour. They there speak in 
 the language of signs, but signs divinely instituted, 
 and signs as explicit and binding as any words that 
 they could emiploy ; nay, under all the circumstances, 
 much more affecting — signs which address themselves 
 not only to the understanding but also to the imagina- 
 tion and the heart. Now, in all cases where the com- 
 municants are really in the exercise of that faith in 
 Christ, which they so solemnly profess by the very act 
 of accepting the sacramental emblems, we may rest 
 assured that they shall, through that faith, be made par- 
 takers of all the blessings which are treasured up in 
 Him — of all the blessings which are promised to them 
 in the covenant of grace. That covenant has been 
 ratified on his part by his blood — that blood which one 
 of these emblems is specially appointed to represent. 
 No one can truly have faith in him but by the Holy 
 
OF THE lord's SUPPER. 169 
 
 Ghost, who makes a temple for himself, and takes up 
 his abode in every heart in which he has implanted this 
 heavenly principle. In this way believers are united 
 to Christ. He "dwells in their hearts by faith," (Eph. 
 iii. 17.) Every believer, in like manner, dwells in 
 Christ. " He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth 
 in Him, and He in him," (1 John iii. 24.) Christ is 
 " the life of the world," (iv. 15;) and every believer 
 is specially authorized to say of " Him who is our life," 
 (v. 20,)—" Christ liveth in me," (Gal. ii. 20.) As cer- 
 tainly, therefore, as the communicant receives into his 
 hands the symbols of a crucified Saviour, so certainly 
 does he — if indeed in the possession of that faith with- 
 out which he has no authority to approach the table of 
 communion — become a partaker of Christ Himself and 
 all the blessings of his purchase. The bread and wine 
 thus given, and thus received, are to be regarded not 
 only as signs, but also as seals of those covenant bless- 
 ings v/hich are secured to believers through the death 
 and righteousness of Christ. 
 
 2. But, in considering the representative character 
 of the Supper, we had farther occasion to show, that 
 the communicants, by not only receiving and accepting 
 the elements, but actually eating the bread and drinldng 
 the wine, most solemnly and significantly declare tliat 
 they appropriate Christ — that they take him to be their 
 own — that they not only believe on him, but that by 
 faith they feed on him — that they become spiritually 
 and indissolubly united to him — that they derive their 
 spiritual life and all their spiritual nourishment from 
 him. Now, in virtue of such a faith, they are, in the 
 eye of the law, and agreeably to the provisions of the 
 covenant of grace, constituted as one with him. He is 
 the head, and they are the members. He is the vine, 
 and they are the branches. Out of his fulness they all 
 receive. The outward elements of which communi- 
 cants corporeally partake, by eating and drinking, are 
 things by which " Christ and the benefits of the new 
 
170 THE BENEFITS OF WORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 covenant are," not only " represented," but " sealed 
 and applied to believers.''* It is a covenant transac- 
 tion, in which the partakers of the Lord's Supper are 
 engaged ; and whatever evidence there is, on the one 
 hand, that they really possess that faith by which 
 they close with him and cleave to him — by which they 
 really take him to be their Saviour — the same evidence 
 must there be that he is actually made theirs, and that, 
 in Kim, they have actually received a title to, and an 
 earnest of, eternal life. " The cup of blessing which 
 we bless," says the Apostle, " 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?" (1 Cor. 
 X. 16.) The participation is as real in the one case 
 as in the other, although in the one it is corporeal, 
 and in the other spiritual. 
 
 And here it is manifest, that it were sinking half the 
 import of the Scripture language just quoted were we 
 to suppose that the spiritual communion, or participa- 
 tion now spoken of, consists in nothing more than the 
 mere exercise of faith itself. Instead of supposing that 
 all that our Lord means, when he speaks of our eating 
 his flesh and drinking his blood, (John vi. 51-36,) is 
 merelv our believing on him, we are rather of opinion, 
 with the ablest and profoundest divines,f that our be- 
 lieving on him is only that bi/ ivhich we attain to that 
 spiritual participation which is described by these figu- 
 rative expressions. Our blessed Lord made use of these 
 expressions in a discourse which was delivered long 
 before the institution of the Supper, but in which he 
 was setting forth some of the same momentous truths 
 and doctrines which that symbolical ordinance was 
 intended to exhibit. He there called himself " the 
 living bread " — the true manna " which came down 
 from heaven ;" and said to the Jews, " The bread v/hich 
 I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life 
 
 * Shorter Catechism. f Calvin's Instittttes, chap. 17, § 5. 
 
OF THE lord's SUPPER. 171 
 
 of the world." The Jews felt the same difficulty, in 
 comprehending the meaning of these words, that Nico- 
 demus had felt with respect to his remarkable declara- 
 tion, that " except a man be born again he cannot see 
 the kingdom of God." In neither case, however, did 
 our Lord retract or alter his expressions, which, figura- 
 tive as they were, had been adopted by him as, on this 
 very account, the fittest for arresting the attention, and 
 directing the minds of his hearers to the consideration 
 of a most profound, momentous, and, in some respects, 
 mysterious doctrine. The doctrine, in the latter instance, 
 was that in which he announced the intimate and indis- 
 soluble, tliough spiritual union, which is established 
 between Himself and every true believer, and the blessed 
 effects, both present and future, with which that union 
 is necessarily attended. " Then said Jesus unto them, 
 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 eateth 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* 
 53-56.) 
 
 Now, we readily admit, and it can easily be shown, 
 by a reference to other verses, chiefly in this same 
 chapter, that all the eifects which are here ascribed to 
 eating his f.esh and drinking his bloody are also ascribed 
 to believing on him, (see verses 35, 40, 44-, 47, and 
 1 John iv. 15.) But then, as we have already seen, 
 the soul is, through faith, imited to Christ, while Christ, 
 again, is said to " dwell in our hearts bi/ faith." This 
 consideration is sufficient to show us that the Scrip- 
 tures, in ascribing to faith the same eff"ects that are here 
 ascribed to eating his flesh and drinking his blood, are 
 to be understood as speaking only of an appropriating 
 faith, or of faith in that special and peculiar operation 
 in which the soul not only receives, but feeds upon 
 
172 THE BENEFITS OF WORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 Christ, as the source and support of its spiritual life. 
 This is a higher and more advanced operation of faith, 
 than merely embracing his doctrines and cleaving- to his 
 promises. It is that by which it proceeds and acts 
 upon them. As eating and drinking are the acts by 
 which the body appropriates and participates in the 
 material substances which are necessary to its growth 
 or its nourishment, so this exercise of faith is that by 
 which the soul has actual communion with Christ ; by 
 which it actually joariffti^e^ o/" Christ and all the benefits 
 of his death — such as pardon of sin — acceptance and 
 peace with God, adoption into his family, increase of 
 grace, progressive sanctification — and, in short, every 
 thing which is necessary to the full and final inheritance 
 of eternal life. The actual attainment or participation 
 of these things, then, is not the same as simply believ- 
 ing on him ; but it is by believing on him that the soul 
 is enabled to partake of them. This — in the beautiful, 
 figurative, and expressive language which our Lord 
 Himself has employed on the subject — this is eating 
 his flesh and drinking his blood. This is the faith by 
 which the cup of blessing which w^e bless becomes the 
 communion of the blood of Christ, and by which the 
 bread which we break becomes the communion of the 
 body of Christ. 
 
 To have a correct idea of the participation or com- 
 munion which is here spoken of, it is necessary to 
 remember, that even the actual participation of his body 
 and blood., were that possible, would still be a thing 
 from which our bodies only, and not our souls, could 
 derive any nourishment. Nay, revolting and profane 
 as the very thought of such corporeal nourishment must 
 appear, the thing itself could be of no further use than 
 any other corporeal nourishment, even to our bodies. 
 The actual eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood, 
 could neither exempt nor free these bodies from sick- 
 ness or disease ; and as little could it remove their lia- 
 bility to death, or prevent them from becoming a prey 
 
OF THE lord's SUPPER. 173 
 
 to corruption. It is manifest, that in nsing^ the words 
 ah-eady quoted, " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of 
 man, and drink his hlood, ye have no life in you," — our 
 Lord expressly referred to spiritual, as the earnest of 
 eternal life. This, however, is a life which cannot be 
 secured or supported by any nourishment merely corpo- 
 real, or such as can be incorporated only with the body. 
 To guard, indeed, against any such supposition — to 
 explain the saying which seemed so hard, and occasion- 
 ed such offence, not only to the Jews, but to many of 
 his own disciples — he distinctly and emphatically told 
 them, " It is the Spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh pro- 
 flteth nothing : the words that I speak unto you, they 
 are spirit, and they are life," (John vi. Q'6.^ The attain- 
 ment and possession of eternal life depend on our union, 
 not with the mere human nature of our Lord, but with 
 our Lord himself in both his natures, divine and human. 
 There is only one Christ, and He is both God and man. 
 There is not Christ the Son of man in one person, and, 
 distinct from Him, the Son of God in another ; but 
 there is one Christ the Lord, who unites in his one per- 
 son the nature of God and the nature of man. Now, 
 " we are made partakers of Christ," (Heb. iii. 14,) only 
 through the renewing influences of the Holy Spirit. 
 That Spirit, " by working faith in us, unites us to 
 Christ in our effectual calling ;" and in the progressive 
 work of sanctification, he not only upholds but perfects 
 that blessed union. 
 
 It is in virtue of this union with Christ, that those 
 who worthily partake of the sacramental bread and wine, 
 in the ordinance of the Supper, are, at the same time, 
 and not less really, although spiritually, made partakers 
 of Christ. In the exercise of that faith in him which 
 has been implanted in the heart of all who are born 
 again — of all who are his genuine disciples — they are 
 in that ordinance made more and more sensible of their 
 obligations to his love ; more and more sensible of the 
 preciousness of fellowship with him and with all his 
 
174 THE BENEFITS OF WORTHILY PARTAKING. 
 
 saints ; more and more sensible of the salutary influence 
 of the truths and promises of his gracious word ; and 
 more and more renewed with spiritual strength and 
 comfort, to fit them for the remaining duties of their 
 Christian warfare. They have at once a more distinct 
 conception and a more lively remembrance of the past, 
 and a more vivid and animating prospect of the future. 
 They there experience some of the most peaceful, holy, 
 and happy moments that they can spend on earth, while 
 they are, by this very circumstance, acquiring a greater 
 meekness and a higher rehsh for that more unmingled 
 — that beatific communion, of which their present en- 
 joyments are only a faint emblem, though a solemn and 
 endearing pledge. Even now, they sit under his shadow 
 with great delight ; his fruit is sweet to their taste, and 
 his banner over them is love. But the time shall come 
 — the time which many of them not only fondly antici- 
 pate but eagerly desire — when they shall see and enjoy 
 him, not through the medium of ordinances, however 
 sacred, but in tlie glorious light of his manifested pre- 
 sence, and in the transcendent felicity of those ineffable 
 endearments v/hich he is pleased to share with all in 
 whom " he shall see of the travail of his soul." 
 
GUILT OF UNWORTHILY PARTAKING. 175 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ON THE GUILT AND DANGER OF THOSE WHO UNWORTHILY 
 PARTAKE OF THE LORD's SUPPER. 
 
 In order to our icortliihj partaking of this holy ordi- 
 iKince, we have seen it to be necessary, not only that 
 v/e should carefully and impartially examine ourselves 
 as to the possession of those feelings, sentiments, 
 desires, and dispositions, which the contemplation of 
 the various things which are either represented in, 
 or suggested by, the Lord's Supper, are naturally fitted 
 to awaken, but also that the result of the examination 
 should be such as to show that, in some measure at least, 
 these feelings are distinctly in operation within us. 
 
 We have now to consider, in l\\<$Jirst place, wliat is 
 imjdied in ^^iXi-dkiu^ umvorthily of the Lord's Supper; 
 in the second place, the guilt; and in the if/i2rf/ place, 
 the danger, of those who partake of it in this manner. 
 
 I. Let us consider icJtat is implied in pavtaTcing 
 umvorthily of the Lord's Svpper. Where persons 
 either totally neglect the requisite self-examination, 
 conduct it superficially, or disregard the obviously 
 imfavourable conclusions to which it leads them, it is 
 impossible that their partaking of the Supper should 
 be any thing else than unworthy. In such cases, it 
 cannot be either pleasing to God, honourable to the 
 Saviour, or profitable to their own souls. Speaking in 
 general terms, therefore, it may be said, that to eat the 
 bread and drink tbe cup of the Lord univorthihj, is to 
 do so without being at due pains to make proof either 
 
176 GUILT OF UNWORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 of our habitual, or of our existing- state of heart and 
 practice, — without either habitual or actual prepara- 
 tion. 
 
 We have already seen that those only who either 
 have been in the habitual, or are, at least, in the pre- 
 sent and actual, exercise of suitable feelings on the sub- 
 ject, can derive from a participation in the Lord's 
 Supper any of those benefits which it is calculated to 
 afford. This, however, is not the only consideration 
 which the Apostle presses on our serious attention. 
 He sets before us the guilt and the condemnation of 
 those who partake of the ordinance unwortliily, and 
 addresses to us the most solemn exhortation to guard 
 us against the commission of this perilous iniquity, 
 (1 Cor. ii. 27-29.) It will be observed, that the imme- 
 diate subject of his exhortations is, not the character of 
 the communicants, but the manner of their communi- 
 cating^ because he proceeds on the charitable under- 
 standing, that he is addressing those who are Christians 
 indeed. He does not say that all who are conscious, 
 or who have been convinced, of their own unicorthi- 
 nessy will incur guilt and expose themselves to judg- 
 ment if they approach the table of the Lord ; but that 
 this will be the case if they approach it unworthily. 
 None can have a higher warrant, or be more welcome 
 to approach it — none can be in a fitter condition to 
 profit by such an exercise of worship, than those who 
 are the most deeply impressed with a sense of their 
 utter unworthiness in the sight of an infinitely holy 
 God. Even those persons who are, in reality, under 
 the influence of divine grace, and in a state of actual 
 reconciliation with God, may, nevertheless, through 
 the neglect of the apostle's exhortations on this sub- 
 ject, involve themselves in the guilt of unworthily par- 
 taking in the solemnity of the Supper. It is this very 
 circumstance which gives to his exhortations such 
 peculiar significance and weight. Considering, then, 
 the earnestness and solemnity with which the sin of 
 
OF THE lord's SUPrER. 177 
 
 unworthily communicatino^ is here repeafeJly spoken 
 of, and considering- also the representation which is 
 here j^iven of its appalling- consequences, it is proper 
 that, instead of resting- satisfied with the explanations 
 already given, we should now he somewhat more parti- 
 cular in our inquiries as to the different ways in which 
 this sin may be committed. 
 
 1. It may he remarked, then, in the JirU place, that 
 all those are chargeable ivith partaking of the Lord's 
 Supper unworihily, who partake of it in a state of 
 ignorance. Those persons, though professing- Chris- 
 tians, who, from whatever cause, are grossly ignorant 
 as to the nature of this holy ordinance, as to its 
 author, as to its design, as to its spiritual significance, 
 or as to its spiritual benefits — if they should happen, 
 through oversight or imposition, to obtain admittance 
 to it — cannot possibly partake of it but in a manner 
 which is highly reprehensible. Of these particulars, 
 however, all those persons must be ignorant who have 
 no distinct knowledge of the fundamental principles, 
 and leading doctrines, of that religion to which this 
 solemn ordinance belongs. They cannot be understood 
 by those who have no just notions as to what the 
 Scriptures have revealed, in regard to the guilt and evil 
 of sin — in regard to the necessity of an atonement for 
 it — in regard to the sufficiency of the atonement which 
 has been rendered for it by Jesus Christ, the only 
 mediator betw^een God and man — in regard to the infi- 
 nite righteousness of this Mediator — in regard to the 
 momentous importance of seeking a personal interest 
 in that atonement and righteousness — in regard to the 
 unspeakable obligations under which he has placed all 
 those for whom he suffered and died — and in regard to 
 the nature of that covenant of reconciliation into which 
 Ave enter with God through him, and without our pre- 
 vious entering into which we have neither right nor 
 encouragement to approach the table of communion. 
 Persons in such a state of ignorance cannot approach 
 M 
 
178 GUILT OF UNWORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 that table, except in a most unworthy and criminal 
 manner, because they must be totally disqualified for 
 discerning- the Lord's body — the very circumstance to 
 which the warnings and exhortations of the Apostle so 
 specially and emphatically refer. 
 
 2. We remark, in the second place, that all those are 
 chargeable tvith partaking of the Lord's Supper 
 unworthilij, who partake of it luith irreverence. In 
 the case which has already been considered, the ordinance 
 is profaned through a want of knowledge ; in the case 
 which we are now considering, it is profaned through a 
 want of devotion. In the one case, men are not capable 
 of discerning the Lord's body ; in the other, they do 
 not choose to discern it. They do not trouble themselves 
 to make any distinction between the consecrated emblems 
 of his body and blood, and the elements which are made 
 use of in an ordinary meal. Although they may not 
 he guilty of any outward levity or indecency in their 
 manner of partaking the sacramental symbols ; yet they 
 do not inwardly regard them with that devout, though 
 not superstitious, veneration with which, as instituted 
 by the Lord our Redeemer, and typical of his one and 
 all-sufficient sacrifice, they ought to be regarded by 
 every communicant. From some of the verses preceding 
 those to which our present observations refer, it appears 
 that, even in the Apostles' times, great abuses had crept 
 into the Christian church at Corinth, in regard to the 
 celebration of the Lord's Supper. Excesses had been 
 committed in eating and drinking, by which that solem- 
 nity had been made to assume too near a resemblance 
 to those idolatrous feasts, which formed so conspicuous 
 a part in the religion of the surrounding heathen — that 
 religion in which many of the professed converts had 
 been originally educated. No such excesses would now 
 be attempted — indeed, no such excesses would now be 
 practicable, when professing Christians meet together 
 in one place to eat the Lord's Supper ; but surely those 
 persons must still be regarded as profaning that ordinance, 
 
OF THE lord's SUPPER. 179 
 
 and as treating- it with no greater reverence than an 
 ordinary entertainment, who are not scrupulous of 
 indulging" in excesses elsewhere, up to the very day, 
 })erhaps, in which they engage in its celebration ; and 
 who are as little scrupulous to return to such indul- 
 gences almost immediately afterwards. AH who are 
 guiltyof these sinful indulgences, are "lovers of pleasures 
 more than lovers of God," and consequently idolaters. 
 They have good reason, then, to reflect on the Apostle's 
 solemn warning to the Corinthians, " Ye cannot drink 
 the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils : ye cannot 
 be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of 
 devils," (1 Cor. x. 2L) It would be an utter waste of 
 words, were we to say more, in order to prove that such 
 persons are awfully guilty of eating and drinking the 
 Lord's Supper unworthily. 
 
 3. We remark, in the third place, that all those are 
 chargeable with partaking of the Lord's Supper iinwor' 
 ihilj/, ichopariahc of it chiefs out of regard to their secu- 
 lar interests. There can be no doubt that, in the midst 
 of what is called a Christian community, a certain degree 
 of respectability attaches itself to the participation of 
 sacramental ordinances. No Christian is required to 
 be insensible of, or indifferent to, the value and import- 
 ance which, even as a member of society, he derives 
 from the enjoyment of his religious privileges; but no 
 Christian is at liberty to let this, in the absence of every 
 higher consideration, influence him in seeking at any- 
 time their renewed participation. It is too well known, 
 that, under certain statutes which existed in this kingdom 
 till very lately, partaking of the Lord's Supper was, in 
 some instances, held to be indispensable as a passport to 
 certain public offices, or as a qualification for holding 
 them. The very existence of such a statute was suffi- 
 cient to demonstrate the unsound notions which prevailed 
 as to the nature of this sacred ordinance, and the unsanc- 
 tified motives by which men were influenced in engaging 
 in it. The very individuals who >>ere in the fittest 
 
180 GUILT OF UNWORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 State to receive it, were just the individuals who must, 
 notwithstanding-, have felt the greatest repugnance to 
 receive it for a merely secular purpose ; and it is no 
 want of charity to suppose, that many individuals of an 
 opposite character must, for the sake of such purposes, 
 have thus partaken of an ordinance which, in a religious 
 point of view, they little understood, and except at 
 particular festivals, or on other special occasions, utterly 
 disregarded. This glaring ahuse has happily been done 
 away ; but others, the same in principle, are still existing. 
 Are there not still to be found persons who, to conciliate 
 the good opinion of an individual whom it is their 
 interest to please, or their policy to impose on, would 
 not hesitate to take part in an ordinance which appeared 
 to be a guarantee for the sincerity of their professions, 
 and the amendment of their conduct? Are there not 
 some who have acted, or countenanced others in acting, 
 on the unhallowed and misguided notion, that, without 
 having the least idea of the necessity of first entering 
 into covenant with God in Christ, they might seek 
 admission to this ordinance, simply as an expedient for 
 imposing a restraint on the irregularity of their lives, 
 and for giving an aspect of greater decency to their 
 general deportment ? And are there not still more who, 
 instead of entertaining any idea of checking their irregu- 
 larities or improving their conduct, have sometimes 
 taken their places at a communion table, and appeared 
 to be there transacting with a holy and heart-searching- 
 God, while they were, in reality, only contriving to 
 keep the world a little longer in ignorance of that which 
 it was by-and-by to know ; and who by thus avoiding- 
 the censures or the suspicions of others, were attempting 
 to silence, or at least to alleviate, the reproofs and 
 upbraidings of their own accusing conscience ? Ap- 
 proaching the table of the Lord under the influence of 
 such motives as those which have now been described, 
 can it be doubted for a moment, that men are guilty of 
 it unworthily ? 
 
OF THE lord's SUPPER. 181 
 
 4. Not to multiply particulars, nor resume the con- 
 sideration of those which have already been illustrated, 
 we would observe, in the fourth and last place, that all 
 those are chargeahle with partaking of the Lordi's 
 Supper unworthily , ivho do not do it in devout^ affec- 
 tionate, and grateful reme7nhrance of him ; and, in 
 particular, for the purpose ofshoicing, or publiclij pro- 
 claiming and celehrating, his death. The leading- fea- 
 tures of the unworthiness to which the Apostle refers, 
 when treating of this subject, are these two : — first. 
 That the partakers do not discern the Lord's hodij ; 
 that is, do not rightly comprehend the symbolical im- 
 port of the outward elements by which it is represented ; 
 and that they have no just views of the nature, neces- 
 sity, and efficacy of that sacrifice which he offered up 
 when he bore our sins in his own body on the tree; — 
 and secondly. That they do not examine themselves to 
 ascertain whether, if they do intellectually discern his 
 body, they are really in the possession and exercise of 
 thosefeelings towards Christ and their fellow- Christians, 
 in regard to themselves and in regard to sin, which the 
 contemplation of Christ, and Him crucified, is so well 
 fitted and so specially intended to awaken. Without 
 resuming, on either of these topics, the consideration of 
 what has already been pretty fully illustrated, it is ne- 
 cessary here to observe, that none can worthily partici- 
 pate in the holy ordinance of the Supper, who do not 
 feel, on every such occasion, that they are in a particular 
 manner actuated by the desire of gratefully remembering 
 him, and especially, of showing forth and celebrating 
 his death. This ordinance was instituted for the express 
 jjui'pose of keeping up the devout, affectionate, and 
 grateful remembrance of Christ in the heart of every 
 believer ; and, in particular, to proclaim and celebrate 
 his death as the event which, above all others, is calcu- 
 lated to impress the believing sinner with a lively- 
 sense of his infinite obligations to the Lord that bought 
 him. For men, therefore, to take part in the celebra- 
 
182 GUILT OF UNWORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 tion of such an ordinance, in the character of his dis- 
 ciples, v/itbout being- actuated by a grateful remembrance 
 of all that he has shown himself to be, and of all that he 
 has done and suffered for them, is to proceed in a manner 
 the most inconsistent, the most unworthy, and the most 
 presumptuous. It is losing sight of altogether, or reck- 
 lessly disregarding-, the very end, with a view to which 
 the ordinance was appointed, and which, by its outward 
 observance, they are all the while professedly seeking- 
 to promote. It is impossible, however, to believe that 
 persons, in approaching the table of the Lord, can be 
 actuated by the desire of devoutly and gratefully remem- 
 bering Him as the person by whom they *' have re- 
 ceived the atonement," and by the desire of thankfully 
 celebrating his death, as that by which they have been 
 " reconciled to God/' — if they are conscious to them- 
 selves that they have never in reality been impressed 
 with such a sense of their need of a Saviour, and never 
 been brought under such a persuasion of the ability 
 and willingness of Christ to save them, as have led 
 them unfeignedly and earnestly to apply to him for a 
 personal interest in his salvation, and to dedicate them- 
 selves unreservedly to his honour and service. It is 
 not reasonable to suppose that they can be actuated by 
 the desire of devoutly and gratefuUv remembering- him, 
 if they have never attached so much importance to all 
 that he has done and suffered for the salvation of sin- 
 ners, as to think it worthy of their personal acceptance, 
 or their practical concern. It is contrary to all expe- 
 rience, to believe that they can be prepared in a worthy 
 manner to show forth the death of Christ, if, in their 
 ordinary principles and habits of life, they are nothing- 
 different from what they might have been, although He 
 bad never been manifested in tbe flesh, and never laid 
 down his life as a ransom for our sins. It is utterly 
 absurd to suppose that they can be suitablv affected by 
 the love which he has shown for the souls of men, or 
 suitably prepared to show forth their obligations to Him 
 
OF THE lord's SUPPER. 183 
 
 that loved us, and g-ave himself for iis, if they have not 
 felt it awakening- their love to him in return, and thus 
 constraining- them to live no longer to themselves, but 
 " to him who died for them and rose again." Before 
 they can really be prepared worthily to partake of the 
 Lord's Supper, and consistently to profess in that ordi- 
 nance the grateful remembrance in which they hold 
 him, it is obviously indispensable that they should 
 indeed have seriously considered their naturally help- 
 less and undone condition — that they should, after such 
 consideration, have cordially and thankfully accepted 
 of him as he is freely offered to them in the gospel — 
 that they should personally and privately have entered 
 into covenant with Christ, taking him to be their only- 
 Saviour, and solemnly engaging-, through the promised 
 aids of his Spirit, to *' serve him without fear, in holi- 
 ness and righteousness before him, all the days of their 
 life," (Luke i. 74, 75.) Without this solemn and 
 considerate act of covenanting in private between the 
 soul and Christ, there cannot he any scriptural encour- 
 agement or motive for publicly remembering- him in 
 the sacred ordinance of the Supper, or for comme- 
 morating the awful yet glorious event of his death. 
 These, however, are the very ends for the sake of 
 which that ordinance was instituted ; and therefore, 
 where these ends cannot be conscientiously regarded as 
 those which the professing- worshipper has distinctly 
 and sjiecially in view, it is impossible to avoid the con- 
 clusion, that, in approaching that ordinance, he would 
 do so most unworthily — in a manner highly offensive 
 and dishonourable to God — totally inconsistent with 
 the character which the worshipper has assumed, and 
 imminently prejudicial to the interests of his own 
 soul. 
 
 II. We come now to consider, in the second place, 
 the guilt of those icho partake unworthily of the LorcVs 
 Supper. In regard to such, it is stated by the Apostle, 
 
184 GUILT OF UNWOKTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 that " whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this 
 cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guiltij of the hody 
 and blood oftlie hord^' (1 Cor. xi. :27-) 
 
 It is manifest, that, in the preceding^ verses of this 
 passage, when the words of our Lord are quoted as 
 speaking- of his hody and his blood, these terms are 
 used in a figurative sense — used in reference to the 
 bread and tuine, which were the appointed and conse- 
 crated emblems of his body and blood, as set forth in 
 the ordinance of the Supper. Regarding these terms 
 as retaining, in the 27th verse, the same signification 
 that they must be understood to bear in the preceding 
 Terses, the guilt here spoken of may naturally be un- 
 derstood to be the guilt oi profaning these sacramental 
 emblems, by an ignorant, irreverent, or unhallowed par- 
 ticipation of this sacred ordinance ; or, in other words, 
 the guilt of not discerning the Lord's body ; the guilt, 
 whether through ignorance or indifference, of not ma- 
 king any distinction between these outward elements, 
 when consecrated and set apart for a holy purpose in 
 the Lord's Supper, and the same outward elements 
 when used for ordinary nourishment. Even in this 
 sense, to be " guilty of the body and blood of the 
 Lord," is a sin of no small enormity, and one which 
 must expose the offender to the high and holy displea- 
 sure of that Saviour, in remembrance and in honour of 
 whom the solemnity was instituted, and is professedly 
 observed. He has a holy jealousy for the honour of 
 his word and ordinances, all profaning and abusing of 
 which he will regard and punish as an insult or impiety 
 against Himself. We know that any injury done, or 
 any neglect shown, even to the least and lowliest of 
 his brethren, he will consider as done or shown to 
 Himself, who is not ashamed to call them by this gra- 
 cious and endearing name. To his disciples he has 
 said, "He that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he 
 that despiseth me, despiseth Him that sent me." 
 Nay, the jealous concern which he thus evinces for the 
 
OF THE LORD S SUPPER- 
 
 185 
 
 honour of his disciples and brethren, he feels in a cor- 
 responding degree, in regard to all the ordinances which 
 He has appointed, and especially in regard to that one 
 which has been instituted in honour of his death. 
 
 There is a higher and more awful sense, however, 
 in which those who " eat this bread, and drink this cup 
 of the Lord unworthily," may justly be said to be guilty 
 of his hodi) and Mood. That form of the guilt which 
 has just been alluded to and explained, implies such a 
 state of mind on the part of those who outwardly com- 
 municate, and, in particular, such a state of mind toward 
 Christ himself, that they may justly be regarded as still 
 taking part with those enemies by whom he was cruci- 
 fied and slain. It is true, indeed, as the Scriptures so 
 emphatically and repeatedly declare, that " Christ was 
 072ce,"and only once, " offered to bear the sins of many." 
 Being " an high priest who is holy, harmless, undetiled, 
 separate from sinners, and made higher than the hea- 
 vens," the one sacrifice which he offered " when he 
 offered up himself," constituted a perfect and all-suffi- 
 cient atonement for sin — one which neither required 
 to be, nor admitted of being, repeated. " By one offer- 
 ing he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctitied," 
 (Heb.x. 14.) — that is, ransomed or redeemed. " Christ," 
 says the Apostle elsewhere, *' Christ being raised from the 
 dead, dieth no more ; death hath no more dominion over 
 him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once ; but 
 in that he liveth, he liveth unto God," (Rom. vi. 9, 10.) 
 " He ever liveth to make intercession " for them for whom 
 he died. His own language is, " I am He that liveth 
 and was dead ; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, 
 Amen ; and have the keys of hell and of death," ( Rev. i. 
 18.) But although all this is so expressly and emphati- 
 cally declared in Scripture — although Christ cannot again 
 be actually crucified and slain ; yet there is still the possi- 
 bility of being — nay, many have in reality been — guilty 
 of his body and blood, in the higher and more awful 
 sense to which we have just alluded. , If it is true, as 
 
/ 
 186 GUILT OF UNWORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 another Apostle has declared, that " whosoever hateth 
 his brother is a murderer ;" and if, in regard to the man 
 who even shutteth up his bowels of compassion from 
 his brother, he asks, " How dwelleth the love of God 
 in him ? " then it is manifest that the want of this love, 
 or, in other words, the existence of " enmity against 
 God," is sufficient to rank a man among the murderers 
 of the Son of God ; and that his partaking of that ordi- 
 nance in which Christ is professedly honoured, while 
 his heart is really in a state of alienation from him, and 
 rebellion against him, instead of disproving, is the very 
 thing which demonstrates and aggravates the guilt of 
 denying, betraying, and murdering "the Lord that bought 
 him," — that is, whom he professes to regard as having 
 bought him. We have the testimony of our Lord him- 
 self, indeed, that the world hated him, and therefore 
 sought to put him to death ; and on the principle which 
 he has laid down, when he said, " He that hath my 
 commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth 
 me," it is obvious that all whose hearts are averse to 
 the keeping of his commandments, must be regarded as 
 his eneonies and murderers. 
 
 It is a well-known and admitted principle, that the 
 motives by which any one is actuated are the things 
 which give a character to his actions. The actual per- 
 petration of a crime may be, in several respects, worse 
 than the sin of purposing, contriving, and attempting 
 it ; but, even in the very act of its perpetration, it is 
 the state of the criminal's mind — the state of his feel- 
 ings and purposes — which imparts to his conduct the 
 whole of its atrocity. In this view of the sul)ject, what 
 worse can be said of any man than that which is ex- 
 pressed in the striking language of Jeremiah? " Be- 
 hold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou 
 couldest,'' (Jer. iii. 5.) It is recorded of the Apostle 
 Paul, that, in his unconverted state, he had "■' made 
 havock of the church," which he himself tells us that 
 he had persecuted. He haled and committed both men 
 
OF THE lord's supper. 187 
 
 and women to prison, beating- in every synagogue them 
 that believed in Christ ; and, although he may not 
 have done this with his oivn hand, he was far from 
 thinking that, on this account, he was the less of a 
 persecutor. On the contrary, he confesses and laments, 
 *' that beyond measure he persecuted the church of God 
 and wasted it," (Gal. i. 13.) He evidently felt that 
 to be involved in the guilt of all the sufferings which 
 had been inflicted on the saints or disciples of Christ, 
 it was sufficient for him to have to say, " And when 
 they were put to death, I gave my voice against tliem^'' 
 (Acts xxvi. 10.) We know that, instead of his actual- 
 ly stoning Stephen, he only consented to that cruel 
 murder, and took charge of the raiment of them that 
 slew him ; and yet it seems to have been especially for 
 his share in that transaction that he looked on himself 
 as the chief of sinners, as it was undoubtedly to that 
 that he referred, when, in reply to the Lord who from 
 on high afterwards called him to be an Apostle, he stated 
 an objection to his being admitted to such an office. 
 *' And when the l)lood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, 
 I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, 
 and kept the raiment of them that slew him," (Acts 
 xxi. 20.) 
 
 If it be said that Paul, though he did not actually 
 put forth his own hand to stone the first Christian 
 martyr, was at least actually present with, and actually 
 assisting to, those who stoned him ; while the same can- 
 not be alleged with respect to any who now sit down 
 at a communion table — let it be remembered, that our 
 Lord himself has demonstrated the impotence and 
 groundlessness of such an objection. " Woe unto you ! " 
 said he to the Jewish lawyers, " for ye build the se- 
 pulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 
 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your 
 fathers'' TLuke xi. 47, 48.) And what forms, perhaps, 
 the most striking of all conlirmations of this view of the 
 case, is the consideration, that Paul's persecution of the 
 
188 GUILT OF UNWORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 Christians is, by the same authority, declared to be a 
 persecuting- of Christ Himself, as appears from the 
 memorable question which was addressed to the perse- 
 cutor the moment before his conversion — " Saul, Saul, 
 whvpersecutest thou me F" 
 
 But the case which we are now considering-, admits 
 of a still more striking- and apposite ilhistration. Many 
 in the multitude that was present on Mount Calvary, at 
 our Lord's crucitixion, had no opportunity of taking- an 
 active part in that transaction. His crucitixion was 
 conducted by a band of Roman soldiers, acting- under 
 the authority of the governor. Previously to this, 
 indeed, when He was examined before Caiaphas, the 
 high priest, the bystanders, who were Jews, " did spit 
 in his face, and buffeted him ; and others smote him 
 with the palms of their hands." In his actual cruci- 
 fixion, however, and the various barbarities with which 
 it was attended, the Jews had no oj)portunity of imme- 
 diately interfering. Not to speak of the numerous 
 insults and indignities which were heaped on him, it 
 was the soldiers who platted the crown of thorns and 
 pressed it on his head ; it was they who took the reed 
 which they had put into his hands in mockery of a sceptre, 
 and smote him on the head ; it was they who compelled 
 him, for part of the way, to bear his cross ; it was they 
 who afterwards affixed him to it by nails driven through 
 his hands and his feet ; and it was they who lifted him up 
 on it, as a spectacle of ignominy and of woe, and watch- 
 ed him there till he bowed his head and gave up the 
 ghost. The thousands of Jerusalem and Judah — who 
 had forsaken the solemn duties of the feast of the Pass- 
 over, that they might behold the death of that Lamb 
 of God, from which that annual sacrifice had derived all 
 its significance, although they were far from recogni- 
 sing this to be his character — had taken their station 
 around his cross ; but many of them must have been 
 at such a distance from it, that, although on the slop- 
 ing- sides of Mount Calvary, they must have been as 
 
OF THE lord's SUPPER. 189 
 
 incapable of using- any personal violence against him 
 as though they had, at that moment, been assembled on 
 a mountain of Galilee, or on the banks of the Jordan. 
 
 These circumstances, however, were far from ex- 
 empting the people of the Jews from being guilty of 
 the body and blood of the Lord. Their chief Priests 
 and Elders had delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the 
 governor ; when that individual had offered to release 
 him, the people impatiently exclaimed, " Crucify him, 
 crucify him!" And when Pilate — while prepared to 
 give, as he afterwards did give, his infamous sanction 
 to a deed which he told them was unjust — reminded 
 them of the sin of shedding innocent blood, their im- 
 pious and horrifying answer was, " His blood be on us 
 and on our children!" While Jesus hung on the 
 accursed tree, there were many of them who could not 
 get near to inflict on his sacred person any additional 
 outrage ; but they sufficiently showed how entirely they 
 approved of all that was done, and how strongly they 
 were actuated by the envy and malice through which 
 he had been delivered up, by pointing against him the 
 finger of bitter derision. " And they that passed by 
 reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou 
 that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three 
 days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come 
 down from the cross." Nor were these expressions 
 confined to the frenzied and infatuated multitude. The 
 chief priests also, with the Scribes and Elders, forgetting" 
 all the dignity of their office, all the decencies of life, 
 and all the sympathies which were due even to suffer- 
 ing malefactors, united in mocking him ! Nay, while 
 they, even at that moment, admitted that he had saved 
 others, they scoffingly upbraided him that he could not 
 save himself. True it was, in one sense, that he could 
 not ; for it was the eternal purpose of the Godhead — it 
 was according to the counsel of his own will, as well as 
 that of the Father who sent him, that he should " pour 
 out his soul unto death," and " make his soul an offering- 
 for sin." They repeated, however, the challenge to 
 
190 GUILT OF UNWORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 him to come down from the cross, and they would be- 
 lieve on him ; or, if he were not able to do that of 
 himself, they tauntingly gave him the alternative of 
 doing- it by the interposition of that God in whom they 
 impiously derided him for trusting; — as if for such a 
 one to profess that trust, had amounted to a daring 
 presumption, or an instance of enthusiastic delusion. 
 In short, he evidently could not have been the object 
 of deeper hatred, of more bitter spite, or of more relent- 
 less and rancorous persecution, than he was to those 
 very men, many of whom, in so far as their j^ersonal 
 instrumentality was concerned, had as little to do as 
 hypocrites and unbelievers in the present day, with the 
 crime of crucifying " the Prince of life" and " the Lord 
 of glory." These feelings, however, are surely suffi- 
 cient to involve both of them in the guilt of such a 
 crime. 
 
 But why need we further argue the point? The 
 charge was actually brought against the unbelieving 
 Jews as a body, in the very first discourse vvhich was 
 preached by an Apostle after the ascension of Christ and 
 the descent of the Holy Ghost. " Ye men of Israel," 
 said Peter, *' hear ye these words ; Jesus of Nazareth, 
 a man approved of God among you by miracles, and 
 wonders, and signs, which God did by him in the midst 
 of you, as ye yourselves also know. Him, being deli- 
 vered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of 
 God, yehave takeiiy and hy ivicked hands have cruci- 
 Jied and slain,'' (Acts ii. 22, 23.) Many, when they 
 had listened to that discourse, were so " pricked in their 
 hearts" — so conscience-smitten with the charge which 
 it brought home to them — that " they said unto Peter, 
 and to the rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, what 
 shall we do?" and gladly received the salvation then 
 preached to them, through him whom they formerly 
 rejected as an impostor, and put to death as a blasphe- 
 mer. The very same charge was renewed and proved 
 against the Jewish people, (although with a very dif- 
 ferent result,) by the earliest martvr, Stephen, who 
 
OF THE lord's SUPPER. 191 
 
 boldly told them, to their face, that they had always 
 resisted the Holy Ghost, and that their fathers had 
 always persecuted and slain the prophets, who had 
 *' showed before of the coming- of the Just One ; of 
 whom," said he, " ye have been now the betrayers and 
 murderers" (Acts vii. 52.) 
 
 It is evident, then, that the Scriptures distinctly 
 charge many as guilty of the death of Christ, who did 
 not and who could not take any active part in the pro- 
 ceedings by which that unparalleled enormity was per- 
 petrated. In this awful charge were involved, not only 
 those by whom that enormity was contrived and exe- 
 cuted, but all those also of the surrounding- multitude, 
 who were consenting to, approving- of, or triumphing- 
 in his death. And not only so, but all of that genera- 
 tion (whether present or not at the actual scene of his 
 crucitixion,) who hated and rejected him, and partook 
 of those feelings by which his murderers were actuated, 
 were manifestly involved in the same awful charge. 
 Nay, where these feelings still predominate in the 
 heart, where is the difference, in point of principle, be- 
 tween the ungodly and unbelieving of the present gen- 
 eration, and those of that generation of which we have 
 now been speaking ? In judging of our being- accessary 
 to his death, we have to consider, not the distance at 
 which we are placed from the tragical scene which was 
 exhibited on Calvary, or how far we are removed from 
 the times of those who were personally engaged in it, 
 but how nearly we resemble them in principle. Of 
 those, indeed, who reject his doctrines, despise his sal- 
 vation, and disclaim all subjection to his authority, 
 there may be many who, in words at least, with Pilate, 
 acknowledge his innocence, and protest against the in- 
 justice of his death ; but if the question came to be, 
 (what it was in the days of our Lord,) whether they 
 should not only give up their most rooted prejudices, 
 but forego their fondest earthly hopes, and renounce 
 those " pleasures of sin," and those cherished lusts, the 
 denial and mortification of which would be like the 
 
192 GUILT OF UNWORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 plucking- out of a right eye, or the cutting oflf of a right 
 hand, or whether they should approve of the sentence 
 "which condemned him even to the accursed death of 
 the cross — then, perhaps, it would he found, that they 
 were just as ready as the Jews to join in the vengeful 
 cry against the Holy One and the Just ! But if per- 
 sons thus living in unbelief and ungodliness, and under 
 the influence of unsubdued enmity against God, are 
 justly chargeable with the guilt of the Saviour's death, 
 surely this guilt is any thing but disproved — any thing- 
 but diminished — by treacherously and impiously sitting- 
 down to communicate at his table. Persons who com- 
 mit this impiety may not, like those who had exhibited 
 to their senses the evidence of miracles, who themselves 
 perhaps were endowed with the power of working 
 them, and who, intellectually at least, were highly en- 
 lightened by the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost 
 — have committed the sin after which it is impossible 
 to renew them to repentance ; but they have done that, 
 in consequence of which, on the principles now explain- 
 ed, it may well be said, that " they crucify the Son of 
 God afresh, and put him to an open shame." 
 
 " Search me, then, O God, and know ray heart ; try 
 me, and know my thoughts ; and see if there be any 
 wicked v/ay in me." " Examine me, O Lord, and 
 prove me ; try m.y reins and my heart." " I will wash 
 mine hands in innocency : so will I compass thine 
 altar, O Lord." (Psalm cxxxix. 23, 24 ; xxvi. 2, 6.) 
 
 in. This brings us to consider, in the third and last 
 place, the danger of those who partake unworthily of the 
 Lord's Supper. In regard to this part of the subject, 
 the Apostle says, <' For he that eateth and drinketh un- 
 worthily, eatetii anddrinheth damnation'' — or judgment 
 — " to himself, not discerning- the Lord's body." 
 
 From what has already been stated as to the heinous 
 nature of the sin here referred to, we cannot but be 
 prepared to hear that it must expose those who are 
 guilty of it, to a heavy share of the divine displeasure* 
 
OF THE lord's SUPrER. 193 
 
 The word which is here transhited damnation, or judg- 
 ment, evidently sij^nilies, in this case, not only the con^ 
 demnatory sentence which God, the righteous Judge, 
 must pronounce against those who are guilty of such a 
 sin, but the wrath ?i.\i^ punishment \v\\\i\\\i\c}ci they are 
 liable to be visited. Thus it is used by our Lord, in 
 his awful denunciations against the Scribes and Phari- 
 sees. *' Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 
 crites ! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence 
 make long prayers : therefore ye shall receive the 
 greater damnation,'^ (Matt, xxiii. 14,) that is pu7iish~ 
 ment. And while the word, in such instances, signifies 
 not only a condemnatory sentence, ov judgment, but also 
 th% punishment w\\\c\\ is implied in XhQ execution of the 
 sentence, we find that it is used, in Scripture, in refer- 
 ence both to temporal judgments and to eternal perdi- 
 tion. As to the extent of its signification in the verse 
 before us, we shall immediately inquire. 
 
 In saying that he who eats of the bread and drinks 
 of the wine in the Lord's Supper unworthily, " eateth 
 and drinketh judgment to himself," it is evident that 
 the Apostle makes use of a figurative expression. The 
 plain meaning of his language is, that the profaner of 
 this holy ordinance eats and drinks of the sacred em- 
 blems in such a manner, or in such a state of mind, as 
 must expose him to Gods righteous judgment. The 
 profanation of which he is guilty, is one which cannot 
 but be peculiarly displeasing in the sight of Him who 
 is the God of ordinances, and who has said, <'I will be 
 sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the 
 people I will be glorified," (Lev. x. 3.) It will be remem- 
 bered, in regard to the solemnity of the Passover, that 
 while the blood of the lamb then offered up to God, was to 
 be sprinkled on the lintels and side-posts of the doors of 
 the Israehtes, none of it was to be sprinkled or poured 
 on the thresholds, lest it should there be trodden under 
 foot. It will also be remembered, that if, after their eating- 
 at supper on the fiesh of the lamb, any portion of it re» 
 
 N 
 
194 GUILT OF UNWORTHILY PARTAKING 
 
 mained till the morning, it was to be carefully burned 
 with fire, to prevent its being applied to any profane or 
 common use. And it will farther be remembered, that 
 of that ordinance no stranger or uncircumcised person 
 was allowed to partake. Now, if all these regulations 
 were laid down to prevent any profanation of the ordi- 
 nance of the Jewish Passover, it may well be supposed 
 that God cannot be less jealous as to the proper obser- 
 vance of the Christian Passover — that peculiarly sacred 
 and endearing solemnity by which the other has been 
 superseded and abolished ; that solemnity which, ever 
 since the night in which it was instituted and first ob- 
 served, has been, not a type of the Saviour's death as 
 an event yet to take place, but an appropriate and af- 
 fecting memorial of it, as an event which has already 
 been accomplished, and an event by which a real and 
 complete atonement has been made for the sins of his 
 people. And well, too, may it be supposed, that a more 
 than ordinary amount of the divine displeasure must be 
 reserved for those who are guilty of profaning or abu- 
 sing the solemnity in which Christ is set forth evident- 
 ly, though emblematically, crucified among us. 
 
 But what is the judgment to which such persons 
 expose or subject themselves? What is the extent of 
 that condemnation in which they become involved ? It 
 is evident that, as " every sin deserveth God's wrath 
 and curse, both in this life and in that which is to 
 come," the sin of profaning the Lord's Supper is suffi- 
 cient, apart even from the peculiar heinousness of its 
 nature, to involve the sinner, (unless he repent,) in the 
 fearful calamity of endless perdition. We have seen, 
 moreover, that the word here used by the Apostle, is 
 applied in Scripture either to temporal or to eternal 
 punishment. Neither of these considerations, however, 
 would justify the summary conclusion, that whenever 
 any one has been guilty of profaning the Lord's Supper, 
 by partaking of it unworthily, he has committed a sin 
 which is absolutely unpardonable, and which, from the 
 
OF THE lord's supper. 195 
 
 moment of its commission, renders his eternal ruin 
 literally inevitable, or positively fixes his doom as a 
 " vessel of wrath fitted to destruction." Such an 
 impression appears to have been produced on many 
 minds by the perusal of this passage in the words of the 
 common translation. This has arisen chieflv from the 
 apparent awfulness of tlie term damnalion which is here 
 used, and which, in its modern acceptation, is used 
 exclusively in regard eilherto the condemnatory sentence 
 of the final judgment, or to the eternal punishment 
 which is its necessary consequence. Yet this word in 
 itself, instead of being thus restricted in its meaning, is 
 as general and comprehensive as the original term for 
 which it stands, being exactly equivalent to the term 
 judgment. That the sin of which we are now speaking 
 is not one which cannot be forgiven, is manifest indeed 
 from the consideration that our Lord prayed for the 
 forgiveness of those by whom he was actually crucified. 
 If even these were not incapable of being forgiven, 
 surely it cannot be imagined that those are beyond the 
 reach of pardon who have, only in a secondary sense, 
 been guilty of his body and blood. All, therefore, that 
 the Apostle really states in this passage, just amounts to 
 this, that everyonewhounvvorthily partakes of the Lord's 
 Supper, exposes himself to the heavy displeasure and 
 righteous judgment of God, which — if he be not merci- 
 fully led to repentance, and obtain forgiveness of his sin 
 through the merit of that very blood which he has pro- 
 faned — will necessarily involve him at last in all the 
 horrors of eternal perdition. 
 
 This view of the matter seems to be confirmed by 
 what the Apostle has stated in the verses immediately 
 following. In warning and admonishing the Corinthians 
 against the sin of profaning this holy ordinance, he told 
 them that it was on account of this sin, that *' many 
 among them were weak and sickly, and that many 
 slept ;" — that is, that the diseases with which God had 
 smitten them, had in various instances terminated in 
 
196 GUILT OF UNWORTHILY PAR TAKING 
 
 death. He did not authorize them, however, to conclude 
 that, in these instances, death was to be reg-arded as an 
 infaUible proof that the deceased had been entirely cut 
 off from all hope of eternal life. On the contrary, he 
 gave them to understand, that some of the most visible 
 and striking of the Lord's temporal judgments were 
 meant to deliver them from a judgment still more 
 appalling, and to make them partakers of the divine 
 holiness. " But when we are judged,'' says he, " we 
 are clmstened of the Lord, that ive should not be 
 CONDEMNED With the wovld,'' V. 32. 
 
 But while we are not at liberty to push our represen- 
 tations of the sin of profaning the Lord's Supper farther 
 than has now been shown, we think, to be the intention 
 of the inspired author, we must, on the other hand, still 
 be careful not to lose sight of the peculiar guilt and 
 heinousness by which, as we have already seen, that sin 
 is distinguished. Great and aggravated as, in every 
 instance, that sin must be, it would be, in the highest 
 degree, dishonouring to Christ and insulting to God, to 
 allege that it is one which it is beyond the power of the 
 Redeemer's blood to expiate, or to which the atoning 
 efficacy of that blood was never meant to be applied. 
 The atoning efficacy of that blood is absolutely unlimited. 
 It " cleanseth from all sin.'' And there is only one sin 
 for the forgiveness of which the merit of that blood 
 cannot and must not be pleaded — the sin against the 
 Holy Ghost ; that is, the sin of ascribing to the influence 
 and agency of the powers of darkness those glorious 
 works and eifects, especially connected with the salvation 
 of man, which were manifestly produced only by the 
 almighty and miraculous power of the Spirit of God. 
 Still, however, although the sin of unworthily partaking 
 of the Lord's Supper, is neither an inexpiable nor an 
 unpardonable sin, it is one of great enormity. It is a 
 sin in which a direct insult and profanation is committed 
 against that Saviour, who came to " redeem us from the 
 curse of the law, being made a curse for us," (Gal. iii. 
 ]"3.) It is a sixi committed ogainst him at the very 
 
OF THE lord's SUPPER. IQ^- 
 
 raornent when the sinner is pnhh'cly professing- his 
 inelfiible oblig-ations to him as the author of his redemp- 
 tion ; when he is partaking- in that very ordinance in 
 which His death is to be showed forth and g-ratefully 
 commemorated ; and when he is understood to be 
 solemnly engaging^ or renewing- his engagements to 
 devote himself to His service, and to glorify God in his 
 body, and in his spirit, which are God's. It is a sin 
 committed at the verv moment when, and in the very- 
 scene where, he is called upon to contemplate the most 
 appalling- exhibition that ever was afforded to man or 
 angels, of the guilt, malignity, and turpitude of sin, and 
 of the overwhelming'- punishment to which, by the holy 
 and righteous law of God, all who are chargeable with 
 this guilt are necessarily exposed. It is a sin committed 
 at the very moment when the sinner is professedly 
 engaged in pouring out his sorrows for the sins which 
 are past, and taking credit for cherishing that brokenness 
 and contrition of spirit, which is one of the most indis- 
 pensable requisites for his being kept from the commis- 
 sion and the dominion of sin in time to come. When 
 we think of these features and aggravations of the sin, 
 the consequences of which we have now been considering-, 
 it is impossible for us not to be struck with the memor- 
 able language of the Apostle, where he says, " He that 
 despised Moses' law died without mercy, under two or 
 three witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose 
 ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under 
 foot the son of God, and hath counted the blood of the 
 covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, 
 and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace ?" (Heb. 
 X. 28, 29,) These words may not, perhaps, have an imme- 
 diate reference to the sin of profaning the Lord's Table ; 
 but undoubtedly, the sin which they describe is one of 
 which that profanation is an instance, for in that profa- 
 nation, assuredly, the son of God is, as it were, trodden 
 underfoot, and in that his blood is counted as an unholi/ 
 thing. To guard, then, against a crime of such enormity, 
 let us often reflect on the awfulness of its punishment. 
 
198 IMPORTANCE OF SELF-EXAMINATION 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 «N THE DUTY AND IMPORTANCE OF SELF-EXAMINATION 
 AFTER HAVING COMMUNICATED. 
 
 Every person acquainted with the history of our 
 Lord, must be aware, that, so far as has been recorded, 
 there never was a time when he addressed to his disci- 
 ples so solemn, so prolonged, so copious, and so affec- 
 tionate a discourse, as that which he delivered imme- 
 diately after he had instituted among them, and admi- 
 nistered to them, the ordinance of his Supper. The first 
 part of that discourse was delivered to them before they 
 left the g-uest-chamber in which the ordinance had been 
 dispensed, and is recorded in the fourteenth chapter of 
 the Gospel by the Evangelist John. The last part of 
 it was delivered after they had retired with him, as is 
 supposed, to the mount of Olives, and is recorded in the 
 fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of that Evangelist. 
 There is no part of sacred Scripture, perhaps, with 
 which Christians in general are more familiar, or which 
 they are accustomed more frequently to peruse, than 
 these chapters — together with that sublime and most 
 affecting prayer which follows them, and in v/hich, after 
 praying that he himself might be glorified by the Father, 
 he prayed most copiously and fervently, not only for 
 the disciples who were, at that moment, around him, 
 hut also for all those who should afterwards believe on 
 him " through their word.'' And while all must be 
 aware how anxiously our Lord exhorted, and how affec- 
 tionately he sought to comfort his disciples, in the 
 situations to which we have now referred, it will also 
 be remembered that, after all that he had said while 
 
AFTER HAVING COMMUNICATED. 199 
 
 there, be took occasion that same night — the very night 
 in which they had partaken of his Supper — to admo- 
 nish them with the greatest earnestness and solemnity, 
 to watch and pray that they entered not into tempta- 
 tion. 
 
 Now, it is very true that one reason why our Lord 
 was so full and emphatic in his admonitions to his dis- 
 ciples at the time here alluded to was, his knowledge 
 that he was soon to be taken away from them, and that 
 they were to be subjected to the most formidable trials 
 of their principles and fortitude, after his removal. In- 
 dependently, however, of the particular trials to which 
 they were about to be subjected, in consequence of his 
 death, there was enough in their circumstances, as 
 placed in a " world" which " lieth in wickedness,'* to 
 make the maintenance of the faith and love which they 
 had so lately pledged at his table, a matter of no ordi- 
 nary difficulty. Even while seated at the Paschal sup- 
 per, he had solemnly admonished them that one of them 
 should betray him, and had thus significantly pointed 
 out the necessity of attentively inquiring and ascer- 
 taining whether, at the time, they were really in the 
 exercise of those feelings and affections toward him, 
 which it was their duty to cherish. And, when the 
 most pressing of their dangers and discouragements 
 were over, he still said to one of their number, what, 
 though specially designed for that individual, was evi- 
 dently meant as a question for the serious consideration 
 also of all the rest, '' Lovest thou me ? Lovest thou 
 me ?" 
 
 It is obvious therefore, that different, in many re- 
 spects, as our outward circumstances maybe from those 
 in which our Lord's disciples were placed, immediately 
 after the first dispensation of his Supper, there is still 
 the greatest need for our being admonished as to the 
 genuineness and activity of all the religious feelings 
 with which our participation of that holy ordinance 
 may have been attended. It has been shown, under a 
 
200 IMPORTANCE OF SELF-EXAMINATION 
 
 jDrevious chapter, that the benefits to be derived from 
 the Lord's Supper, by those who worthily partake of it, 
 consist, partly, in the increase and enlargement of those 
 holy, humble, grateful, and benevolent feelings which it 
 is so peculiarly fitted to awaken. This being the case, 
 if it was necessary that we should consider well w4ie- 
 ther it was in the exercise of these feelings that we 
 sought to approach that holy ordinance, it is not less 
 necessary, after having partaken in it, that we should 
 consider whether these feelings have there been invi- 
 gorated ; and whether, if any of them have been in a 
 feeble and languishing condition, this be ascribable to 
 any cause over which we ourselves possess at least some 
 degree of control. 
 
 1. We may consider, then, in the Jirst place, whe- 
 ther our feelings of reverence and gratitude toward 
 God were suitably aivakened, and whether they appear 
 to have been in some measure strengthened by our 
 participation in the ordinance of the Supper. We are 
 not now considering the fitness of the ordinance to 
 awaken these feelings, nor the benefits which our souls 
 must derive from their increase. This is what has been 
 done already. But we are called upon to consider the 
 important matter of fact, whether these feelings ivere 
 suitably awakened, and, as far as we can discover, sen- 
 sibly strengthened within us. Was the thought of 
 God's unspotted holiness, of his infinite righteousness, 
 and of his inflexible justice, displayed and magnified as 
 all these attributes have been in the sufiTerings and 
 death of his own dear Son, vividly presented to our minds, 
 and devoutly dwelt upon, while we were engaged in 
 the celebration of the Supper ? Did we devoutly con- 
 template his inefifable abhorrence of sin, and his unalter- 
 able determination not to suffer it to escape his right- 
 eous judgment, and contemplate, at the same time, his 
 not less ineffable and unalterable love towards the souls 
 of men, sinful as they are ? If these things have not 
 been seriously contemplated, they cannot be supposed 
 
AFTER HAVING COMMUNICATED, 201 
 
 to have deeply affected us ; but if they have been thus 
 contemplated, have they been productive in our souls 
 of any corresponding- effects ? It is not, indeed, the 
 mere strength of any emotion that will determine whe- 
 ther it be, or be not, truly gracious in its nature — that 
 is, truly the fruit of the Spirit of grace. But as it is 
 the natural tendency of every regenerate soul to grow 
 in grace, so it is natural to expect that its gracious 
 emotions should be enlivened by the distinct contem- 
 plation of those objects by which they are originally 
 inspired. If, therefore, we have either not contem- 
 plated at all those divine perfections to which allusion 
 has now been made, or if the contemplation has not 
 been productive of any suitable feelings of soul toward 
 the God of salvation, then have we the greatest reason 
 to be humbled and alarmed. If, on the other hand, 
 however, these feelings, derived from a scriptural view 
 of his perfections, have acquired, at the table of com- 
 munion, any accession of liveliness and strength, then 
 has one great end of communicating- been obtained, 
 and we have the greatest reason — still, indeed, for 
 humility — but, along with this, for gratitude and hope. 
 2. It is an important duty for us to examine, in the 
 next place, whether our participation in the Lord's 
 Supper has suitably aivakened toward Christ our feel- 
 ings of adoration, gratitude^ confidence, and love. — 
 After what has been already stated, there can be no 
 doubt that these are the feelings which the contempla- 
 tion of his character and achievements as our Redeemer, 
 and of the motives, so to speak, by which he was indu- 
 enced, is fitted to awaken ; and the question therefore is, 
 whether these feelings have actually been produced by 
 communicating at his table? Did we there feel that he was 
 made known to us, in the breaking of bread ? '' Did not 
 our hearts burn within us, while he there talked with us,'* 
 as it were, " and while he opened to us the Scriptures ?" 
 Were any suitable affections produced in our souls by 
 the thought of his amazing condescension and mysterious 
 
202 IMPORTANCE OF SELF-EXAMINATION 
 
 humiliation ? by the thought of his spotless innocence, 
 his perfect, yea infinite righteousness ? by the thought 
 of his zeal for manifesting the honour, magnifying the 
 law, and upholding the authority of God ? by the 
 thought of his holy concern at once for the avenging 
 of sin and for the deliverance of sinners from condem- 
 nation ? by the thought of all that he himself had to 
 endure, both of ignominy and of agony, in order that 
 these ends might be reconciled and accomplished ? by 
 the thought of the triumphal success with which all 
 his efforts and sufferings have been crowned ? by the 
 thought of the unlimited and unquenchable love toward 
 the souls of men, by which he still continues to be ani- 
 mated ? by the thought of all the inexhaustible fulness 
 of merit which is treasured up in him for the justifica- 
 tion of them vv'ho believe ? and by the thought of that 
 second and glorious appearing, when he shall come to 
 judge the world in righteousness, to gather his saints 
 Vrom the four winds of heaven, and to conduct them 
 into the kingdom prepared for them before the founda- 
 tion of the world ? Surely we were neither so heedless 
 as not to meditate on these things, nor so insensible as 
 not to be affected by them ? And how did they affect 
 us ? Can we say, that while we were musing on these 
 things, the fire of devotion and gratitude burned within 
 us ? Can we say that, while at the table of the Lord, 
 " our meditation of him has been sweet ? " Did we con- 
 sider well the cause that we had to love him ? Can we 
 sav, that if our feelings were not of the most rapturous 
 kind, they were, at least, most sincere, reverential, and 
 affectionate ? Can we say, that if the warmth of our 
 affections toward him was not such as it ought to have 
 been, or such as might have been expected, this was to 
 us the subject of deep humiliation and regret ? that 
 there was nothing for which we more fervently prayed 
 than that we might be enabled to love him more hearti- 
 ly ? and that we felt anxious to discover the nature, 
 and to obtain the removal, of those impediments by which 
 
AFTER HAVING COMMUNICATED. 203 
 
 our love to him was obstructed ? Did we cordially, 
 unreservedly, and thankfully accept, or renew our ac- 
 ceptance, of him as our only and all-sufficient Saviour? 
 Did we yield him the most implicit confidence, the sin- 
 cerest gratitude, and the devoutest homage of our souls ? 
 Did we experience any measure of the blessed comfort 
 of being united to him by a living faith and in a holy 
 covenant? Did the feeling of being at peace with 
 God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, make us more 
 alive to the duty of devoting ourselves more exclusive- 
 ly than ever to his service and glory ? Did we firmly 
 resolve, in an humble dependence on the aids of his 
 Spirit, to be more careful than ever to " adorn the 
 doctrines of God our Saviour," earnestly, though in- 
 wardly, entreating that he would enable us daily to 
 "die unto sin and live unto righteousness?" Sup- 
 posing that our feelings toward him were all of the 
 deepest, devoutest, and more ardent description — sup- 
 posing that, with " the children of Zion," we were "joy- 
 ful in their King" — that we delighted ourselves in the 
 Lord, and greatly rejoiced in his salvation — nay, that 
 we even ardently longed to be absent from the body and 
 present with him in his kingdom, thus anticipating the 
 blessedness which awaits his second coming — was it 
 not in these feelings that we placed our confidence, 
 instead of placing it only in Christ himself? Are we 
 sure that we did not, on accoimt of these feelings, 
 indulge any thing like self-complacency or self-gratula- 
 tion, instead of distinctly and unfeignedly regarding 
 Him as " all our salvation and all our desire?" 
 
 3. It is expedient for us, in the third p]a.ce, to inquire, 
 Whether our participation of the Lord's Supper has had 
 the eff'ect of suitabl// aivahenwg the feelings ivith which 
 we ought to regard sin ? Contrasting sin with the 
 attributes of that God of whose law it is the trans- 
 gression, and regarding it as that which he cannot but 
 hate, and that which nothing but his mercy, through 
 Jesus Christ, prevents him from punishing in the per- 
 
204 IMPORTANCE OF SELF-EXAMINATION 
 
 son of every individual sinner, — did we indeed, while 
 engaged in the service of communion, feel towards sin 
 all the horror and the hatred which it is fitted to excite ? 
 Viewing- it as the very opposite of that transcendent 
 holiness which was embodied in the living- example of 
 our adorable Redeemer, and as the cause of all those 
 unutterable and unparalleled agonies which he had to 
 endure in order to the satisfying of divine justice, did 
 it indeed stir up in our souls the liveliest emotions of 
 aversion and sorrow ? Did we experience any deep 
 feeling of self-abasement on account of it ? Were we 
 deeply impressed with the conviction that our oivn sins 
 were as hateful in the sight of God as those of others, 
 and as justly the objects of his awful displeasure ? 
 Were v/e suitably affected by the thought that our be- 
 setting and cherished sins, to which we would at one 
 time have gladly bespoken, as it vvere, so large a degree 
 of indulgence, were essentially of the same nature and 
 tendency as those which were immediately instrumental 
 in crucifying the Son of God ? Did we feel that the 
 very sins of our bosoms — the sins from which it seemed 
 hardest for us to be divorced — vvere the most certain to 
 have accomplished our everlasting ruin ? Did we feel that 
 the fondness and tenacity with which we had clung to 
 them, made it all the more astonishing, that God, in his 
 righteous retribution, had not left us to learn the dread- 
 ful effects of his displeasure with sin, — not from the re- 
 corded agonies of his own dear Son as the substitute of 
 the guilty, but from our own internal, intolerable, and 
 inexhaustible sufferings? Were such as these the feel- 
 ings which the service of communion actually awakened 
 in our souls ? And can we say that the prospect of 
 being, " through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," 
 saved from the wrath and curse due to us for sin, in- 
 stead of making us feel less grieved or afflicted on 
 account of its guilt and pollution, made us only the 
 more deeply sensible of its exceeding sinfulness and its 
 unspeakable malignity ? If these feelings towards sin 
 
AFTER HAVING COMMUNICATED. 205 
 
 have not, in some dejO^ree, been awakened in our breasts, 
 by the solemn service of which we are speaking-, we 
 have only been affording a fresh instance of the deceit- 
 fulness of sin, in presuming to show forth the death 
 which Christ endured on its account. If there we have 
 not felt that, by the cross of Christ, the world has been 
 cruciHed to us, and that we have been crucified to the 
 world — if there we have not felt that we were mortify- 
 ing- the flesh with its affections and lusts — we have vir- 
 tually been crucifying the Son of God afresh, adding to 
 our guilt, and treasuring up against our own souls a 
 larger measure of his righteous indignation. 
 
 4. It now only remains for us to examine, in the 
 fourth place, whether our participation in the Lord's 
 Supper has been attended with any suitable measure of 
 love toward our brethren. This is a feeling with re- 
 spect to the existence and excitement of which, while 
 engaged in that holy ordinance, we should have little 
 difficulty in deciding. Our fellow-communicants are 
 ordinarily the persons with whom we are accustomed 
 to meet in the common intercourse and transactions of 
 life. It is among them that our temper and principles 
 have been tried ; that our affections have been called into 
 exercise ; and that our character has been formed and 
 manifested. In the unavoidable diversity which must 
 occasionally have arisen as to our views, opinions, and 
 interests, we must have come to know what measure 
 of candour, forbearance, and generosity — of patience, 
 meekness, and humility, we have been accustomed to 
 exercise toward each other. The recollection of these 
 things — things both familiar and probably recent — can 
 scarcely fail to be, in many instances, present to our 
 minds while we encompass the same altar, and engage 
 in the same service, in thus professing our love to 
 Christ, we can scarcely help reflecting that those around 
 us are doing the same, and it is almost impossible for 
 us not to be there struck with the circumstance, if it 
 has so happened that any thing in the intercourse of 
 
206 IMPORTANCE OF SELF-EXAMINATION 
 
 ordinary life has produced some degree either of aver- 
 sion or of alienation between us. Misunderstandings 
 may arise even among the best of men, and intimacies 
 may thus unhappily be broken up ; but if such occur- 
 rences are found to impair their interest in each other's 
 spiritual welfare, to make them less ready to rejoice in 
 each other's happiness, or less ready to promote it when 
 t)pportunity is afforded — it is almost impossible that 
 this should not be felt at a communion table, and that 
 the consciousness of it should not sensibly affect the 
 exercise of that brotherly love which should nowhere 
 glow more ardently than in that situation where the 
 predominant feeling of the soul is, or ought to be, one 
 of unbounded gratitude and love to the Saviour. Tak- 
 ing, then, these considerations into view, as the best 
 means of guiding and assisting our judgment, can we 
 deliberately and confidently say, that, while placed in the 
 situation now referred to, all our resentments have been 
 extinguished — that every shade of enmity has been re- 
 moved — that every feeling of uncharitableness has been 
 subdued — and that no emotion has been experienced or 
 detected in our minds, but what was perfectly consist- 
 ent with the most " unfeigned love of the brethren ?" 
 
 By some such ])rocess of self-examination as that 
 which we have now attempted to describe, we may, with 
 some degree of accuracy, ascertain, whether our actual 
 participation in the ordinance of the Supper has been 
 attended with any suitable exercise, or any sensible 
 enlargement of those various feelings which it was 
 intended and is fitted to awaken toward God, toward 
 Christ, toward sin, and toward our Christian brethren. 
 It is not intended, by any thing that has here been 
 stated, to inculcate the idea, that the warmth of our 
 emotions during the celebration of any part of religious 
 worship, may always be taken as the measure of our 
 graces or the test of our principles. The warmth of 
 our emotions is different in different individuals, accord- 
 ing to their natural and constitutional temperament—" 
 
AFTER HAVING COMMUNICATED. 207 
 
 according- as they are lively or sedate, cheerful or 
 melancholy, open or reserved, enterprising or inactive. 
 That warmth often varies, in the same individual, at 
 different periods of life, according to the state of his 
 bodily health, and according- to the complexion either of 
 his ordinary circumstances, or of the events which have 
 recently befallen him. The thing- which it is of principal 
 importance to consider is, not the mere excitement 
 which these feelings produce in the mind, but the readi- 
 ness and determination with which it seizes on them, so 
 to speak, as principles of action — the heartiness of 
 purpose, in other words, with which it enters afresh on 
 that course of Christian conduct in which they are 
 calculated and intended to animate the believer's exer- 
 tions, as one who has been received into covenant with 
 a holy God. 
 
 In this point of view, the feelings which we may have 
 experienced during the service of communion, are in the 
 highest degree important ; and when they are not such 
 as to exert a wholesome and pov/erful influence on our 
 Christian practice, we have great reason for humiliation 
 and regret. In such instances, it is of consequence for 
 us, if possible, to ascertain the cause, or causes, why we 
 have been so little affected by the ordinance in which 
 we have been engageil. It may sometimes be discovered 
 that the reason why we have been little affected by it, 
 or affected in a way very different from that which we 
 had anticipated, consists in the circumstance, that we 
 were disposed to place too much reliance on our mere 
 feehngs, and thus to derive our comfort rather from 
 ourselves than from the God of salvation. At other 
 times, our disappointment may be traced to the vague 
 and indistinct notions v/hich we had entertained respect- 
 ing our original condition as sinners, and respecting our 
 own actual condition and state of mind at the time when 
 we were professedly seeking to enter into spiritual 
 communion " with the Father and with his Son Jesus 
 Christ i" or it may be traced to the low, inaccurate, and 
 
208 IMPORTANCE OF SELF-EXAMINATION 
 
 obscure conceptions which we have been satisfied to 
 entertain in reg-ard to the Father and the Son himself — 
 in regard to the nature and gloriousness of the Redeem- 
 er's undertaking- — in regard to the importance and 
 blessedness of the ends which he had to accompHsh — 
 and in regard to the disinterested, benevolent, and 
 gracious motives, so to speak, by which he was actuated 
 in seeking their accomplishment. One of the most 
 common causes, however, of the disappointment ivhich 
 we may have experienced in regard to our feelings during 
 the moments of communicating, is to be found in the 
 heartlessness and superficialness of our previous prepara- 
 tion. We may have remained at ease in our sins. We 
 may have thought little, and grieved less, about our 
 sins, because they happened not to be of flagrant out- 
 ward enormity ; while, as to many of our most serious 
 omissions of duty, we may scarcely have regarded them 
 as sins at all. We may have satisfied ourselves with a 
 cursory glance over the general aspect of our lives, as 
 members of society, without dwelling particularly either 
 on our presumptuous sins or our secret faults ; and 
 especially, without looking anxiously and minutely into 
 the sins which have more easily beset us, and the multi- 
 plied sins — the world of iniquity — lodged in our hearts. 
 We may have been more anxious to dismiss, than to 
 profit by the thoughts which were called up within us, 
 by the sins with which we felt ourselves to be chargeable. 
 We may have manifested a partiality for those who 
 suggested the means by which the wounds of our con- 
 science were to be speedily, but slightly, healed. In our 
 preparations for the solemn act of communicating, we 
 may have attached far more importance to the formal 
 and almost constrained exercises of a few preceding days, 
 than to the ordinary habits and relished employments 
 of previous months and years. W^e may have been more 
 disposed to compare ourselves with others, than with 
 the word of God ; and to dwell far more on the circum- 
 
AFTER HAVING COMMUNICATED. 209 
 
 stances which were suflicient to support our outward 
 respectability, than on those which were secretly felt to 
 cast a shadow, or a doubt, over the reality of our faith, 
 the genuineness of our repentance, and the spirituality 
 of our religion. 
 
 Under the influence of any of the causes which have 
 now been mentioned, there can be nothing wonderful — r 
 however lamentable it may be — in the disappointment 
 which we may have experienced, as to the sensible 
 comfort which we looks^d for, in partaking of the Lord's 
 Supper. But the very disappointment itself, humiliating 
 as it is, is calculated to convey to us a salutary lesson, — 
 to make us inquire diligently into the real state of our 
 souls, — to make us seriously consider whether we have 
 ever, in reality, been hungering and thirsting after the 
 bread and the water of life, — and to lead us into the true 
 way, not only of obtaining, if permitted to engage in 
 that ordinance again, the fullest gratification that it can 
 be expected to afford, but of obtaining permanent rest 
 and peace to our souls. And if, on the other hand, 
 the fullest measure of that gratification has already been 
 our portion, let us consider that even this is only a means 
 to an end — the means of promoting our spiritual nourish- 
 ment and grov.th in grace — the means of perfecting 
 holiness in the fear of God — the means of enlarging our 
 desire and heightening our relish for the true bread 
 which came down from heaven — and the means of being 
 prepared to partake of that fulness of joy which is in 
 the presence of God, and of those pleasures, at bis right 
 hand, which are for evermore. 
 
210 CONDUCT WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ON THE GENERAL CONDUCT WHICH ALL WHO PARTAKE OF 
 THE lord's SUPPER SHOULD BE CAREFUL AFTERWARDS 
 TO MAINTAIN. 
 
 An attempt has been made, in a former chapter, to 
 show how important it is, that, before partaking- of the 
 Lord's Supper, communicants should carefully endeavour 
 to ascertain whether they are in the possession and 
 proper exercise of those feeling-s and dispositions by 
 which true Christians are distinguished. This careful- 
 ness in examining themselves ^e/bre communicating, is 
 so far from rendering it unnecessary to examine them- 
 selves afterwards, that it will be the very thing to 
 render them the more sensible of its peculiar necessity 
 and importance. The more attention and impartiality 
 they have employed in discharging the former of these 
 duties, the more also will they be disposed to employ 
 in discharging the latter. Nor will they content them- 
 selves with an early examination as to what took place, 
 and what they experienced while actually engaged in the 
 solemn ordinance. They will not content themselves 
 with an early and serious inquiry into the immediate 
 effects which it may have produced on their feelings, 
 views, and purposes, but will make it an object of 
 dehberate and renewed consideration, " what manner 
 of persons" they ought henceforth " to be in all holy 
 conversation and godliness." 
 
 I. 1)1 reflecting on the general conduct which all who 
 partake of the Lord's Supper should be careful afterwards 
 
SHOULD AFTERWARDS MAINTAIN^. 211 
 
 to maintain, it is important that they should consider 
 seriously ivhat is implied in the solemn act of couununi- 
 cating. That is not the less a personal act on the part 
 of each individual communicant, because many are 
 engaged in it on the same occasion and at the same 
 instant. Each individual is then specially transacting- 
 with the God of ordinances ; and although this is done 
 in public, the very publicity adds so much the more to 
 the solemnity of the transaction. And to what does the 
 transaction itself, on the part of communicants, amount? 
 It amounts to nothing less than a ^(A^mn profession 
 of faith in Christ — a public and personal acceptance, 
 by faith, of that " covenant, ordered in all things and 
 sure," which has been ratified by the blood of Him who 
 instituted this holy ordinance, and of all the precious 
 blessings of which they are here assured of being freely 
 admitted, through the faith which they thus profess in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the solemn, personal, and 
 public acceptance of the covenant in which God has 
 ■embodied all the promises of life and salvation, and of 
 which, in this most affecting ordinance, he is exhibiting 
 one of the consecrated seals. 
 
 In the very acceptance of that covenant, however, 
 which is itself an act of homage and obedience to Him. 
 who calls them to accept of it, they necessarily come 
 under the most special engagements to submit, in all 
 other respects, to the precepts which he has delivered 
 to them. In thus accepting the seals of that covenant 
 into which God has been graciously pleased to enter 
 with sinners, they formally enter into the most solemn 
 -engagement to be the Lords. In embracing all that he 
 graciously promises, they virtually declare that they 
 cordially submit to all that he requires. At the moment 
 of being sprinkled, as it were, with the blood of the 
 covenant, they are understood to adopt the language of 
 the Israelites at Sinai, <' All that the Lord hath said 
 will we do, and be obedient," (Exod. xxiv. 7.) They 
 become a peculiar people, not merely in respect to their 
 privileges, but also in respect to their responsibilities 
 
212 CONDUCT WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 and duties. It may be said to them, as it was by Joshna 
 to the professing people of God in his day, '' Ye are 
 witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen yon 
 the Lord to serve him." And their solemn and unani- 
 mous reply is that of the people, when they said, " We 
 are witnesses," (Joshua xxiv, 22.) In partaking of the 
 sacrament of the Lord's Supper, they profess not only 
 to believe in all the doctrines which he has taught, and 
 to embrace all the promises which he has held out to 
 them in his gospel, but also to submit to the authority 
 of all his precepts. They are justly understood to 
 declare, that, in seeking and expecting to find in him 
 " rest to their souls," they willingly " take his yoke 
 upon them ;" and that, while they rejoice with thank- 
 fulness in the deliverance which he brings to them, from 
 the guilt of sin and the fear of punishment, they neither 
 expect nor desire to be delivered from that obligation 
 to honour and obey him, which, far from being diminished, 
 has been greatly increased by all that he has suffered 
 and accomplished as their Substitute. They profess to 
 have been separated from the world, in which they once 
 had their conversation, even as others ; and the language 
 which they are now understood to hold is that of the 
 Psalmist where he says, " Depart from me, ye evil- 
 doers ; for I will keep the commandments of my God,^' 
 (Psalm cxix. 115.) 
 
 Bv partaking of the holy ordinance of the Supper, 
 communicants make a solemn declaration that they 
 receive and accept of Christ in all his offices of prophet, 
 priest, and king ; and as to the duties which are in- 
 volved in such a reception of him, the Scriptures in 
 various places have spoken with great plainness and 
 minuteness. Of all those who thus profess to believe- 
 in him, it is expected that they shall seek to imbibe his 
 spirit — to have the same mind in them which was also 
 in Christ Jesus; that they shall, as these Scriptures 
 
 express it, "put on Chrst," (Rom. xiii. 14; and Gal. 
 
 iii. 27 ;) and be careful in all things to imitate the 
 
SHOULD AFTERWARDS MAINTAIN. 213 
 
 ^■^ example" wliich he has left them, that they " should 
 follow his steps," (1 Pet. ii. 21.) Hence the apostle, in 
 exhorting- the Colossians, says, " As ye have therefore 
 received Christ Jesus the Lord, so 2calk ye in him — 
 rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, 
 as ye have been taught, abounding- therein with thanks- 
 givings," (Col. ii. 6, 7.) To " walk in him" implies 
 living a life of faith in him — walking under the guid- 
 ance, and after the recorded dictates of his Holy Spirit 
 — walking- " even as He walked," (1 John ii. 6.) The 
 life of everv communicant should be eminently a life of 
 faith, (GaL ii. 20 ; and 1 Tim. vi. 12.) " We walk by 
 faith," says the Apostle, " not by sight," (2 Cor. v. 7.) 
 In the exercise of the faith which we profess at a com- 
 munion table, we should live and endure as seeing Him 
 who is Invisible — looking- not at the things which are 
 seen and temporal, but at the things which are not seen 
 and eternal, (2 Cor. iv. 18 ; Heb. xi. 27.) The Apos- 
 tle reminds us likewise that " the Lord knoweth them 
 that are his," which all communicants have most solemn- 
 ly and publicly professed to be ; and having done so, he 
 hoth states and enforces the duty incumbent on them, 
 by adding-, «' And let every one that nameth the name 
 of Christ" — that is, every one who professes to believe in 
 him for salvation — "depart from iniquity,'' (2 Tim. ii. 19.) 
 That no one might he ignorant of the duties which 
 are incumbent on the disciples of Christ, they have been 
 presented to us in almost every possible light. That 
 a large share of suffering and self-denial was at first, and 
 is still required of them, is manifest from the language 
 of our Lord himself, " If any man will come after me, 
 let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and 
 follow me." *' And whosoever doth not b-ear his cross, 
 and come after me, cannot be ray disciple," (Luke ix. 
 23, and xiv. 27.) To the same effect, the A))0stle tells 
 us that " they that are Christ's have crucified the fiesh 
 with the affections and lusts," and as an instance of the 
 power of that faith which has been implanted in their 
 
214 
 
 CONDUCT WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 hearts, he afterwards exclaims, " But God forbid that I 
 should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 1)}' whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the 
 world," (Gal. v. 24, and \i. 14.) In exhorting the 
 Corinthians as to the general deportment which it be- 
 came them as professing Christians to maintain, he 
 uses these memorable and expressive words, " Only let 
 your conversation be as it becoraeth the gospel of 
 Christ," (Col. i. 7,) — the gospel of peace, and right- 
 eousness, and love ; that gospel which has for its ob- 
 ject the promotion of glory to God in the highest — the 
 establishment of peace on earth between God and men 
 — and, by the restoration of his image to their souls, 
 their final admittance into his everlasting kingdom in 
 glory. Nothing more exalted than this can be said of 
 the conduct which communicants in particular ought 
 to maintain, unless it be that which the same Apostle 
 has said in a subsequent chapter, " For our conversa- 
 tion is in heaven ; from whence also we look for the 
 Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ," (chap. iii. 20.) They 
 are bound to maintain such a conversation as though 
 heaven were already ever open to their view^ — such a 
 conversation as is exhibited in heaven itself — such a 
 conversation as though they were already in communion 
 with " the saints in light," among " the spirits of just 
 jnen made perfect," seeing as they are seen, and know- 
 ing even as also they are knowm. After so solemn an 
 acceptance of Christ and him crucified as is implied in 
 publicly accepting the sacramental seals of the covenant 
 which has been ratified by the shedding of his blood, 
 they are bound, in short, to " adorn the doctrine of 
 God our Saviour in all things," and " denying ungod- 
 liness and worldly lusts," to " live soberly, righteously, 
 and godly, in this present world," (Titus ii. 10, 12.) 
 
 11. We have next to observe, that in order to form 
 a right estimate of the general conduct which those who 
 partake of the Lord's Supper should be careful after- 
 
SHOULD AFTERWARDS MAINTAIN. 215 
 
 wards to maintain, it is necessary that they should 
 seriously consider, in particular, ivhat is imjjliedin doing 
 this in remembrance of Hi?n, and in showing forth his 
 death. Although this endearing- ordinance was specially 
 intended to be in honour and remembrance of Christ, it 
 was no less specially intended for the observance of 
 those who had the best cause, and who felt the strongest 
 desire to remember him. It was intended to afford a 
 special opportunity for his disciples, when met together 
 in his name, to make Him the subject of their most 
 solemn, adoring, and grateful contemplations, and for 
 their indulging- and cherishing- towards him all those 
 pious and peculiar affections which such contemplations 
 are fitted to awaken. All those for whom this ordi- 
 nance was peculiarly designed, and who are not only 
 invited but commanded to partake of it, are such as 
 should regard the reverential and thankful remembrance 
 of him not only as one of their most incumbent duties, 
 but as one of their most exalted privileges, and one of 
 their most delightful enjoyments. If this is the view 
 with which they engage in its celebration, then, how- 
 ever ready they may be to avail themselves of his own 
 ordinance, and of the peculiar means which it affords 
 for calling him to their devout remembrance, the very 
 feelings which make them so ready to join in its cele- 
 bration, will dispose them afterwards, and in ordinary, 
 to make him the frequent subject of their reverential 
 and affectionate meditation. They will fondly cherish 
 the remembrance of all that he has done and suffered 
 for them — of all the compassion and loving--kindness 
 that he manifested for the souls of m.en, during the 
 period of his humiliation on the earth — and of all the 
 evidence which he has afforded of the unabated and 
 everlasting love, with which, in his state of exaltation, 
 he continues to regard them. On those occasions when 
 they are invited to participate in that special solemnity 
 which he has instituted for the very purpose of endear- 
 ing himself to their remembrance, they naturally feel 
 
216 CONDUCT V.^HICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 that their hearts are drawn to him with a pecuhar ten- 
 derness and warmth of affection. It was in this way that 
 he himself evidently felt, when, immediately before its 
 institution, he said to his disciples, " With desire I have 
 desired to eat this j)assovev with you before I suffer," 
 (Luke xxii. 15.) But although on such occasions their 
 remembrance of Christ and their affections towards him 
 are peculiarly lively, it will be their study and their 
 practice, at all time:-, to live under the influence of these 
 feelings. Although on these occasions they specially 
 show forth and proclaim his death, they will be " al- 
 w^ays bearmof about in the body the dying- of the Lord 
 Jesus," (2 Cor. iv. 10.) They will make it evident 
 that they " know him, and the power of his resurrection, 
 and the fellowship of his sufferinij-s, being- made con- 
 formable to his death," (Phil. iii. 10.) The feelings of 
 devout affection towards himself with which the remem- 
 brance of him is always accompanied, will impart, as it 
 vrere, a peculiar sacredness both to the precepts which 
 he has delivered, to the example which he has set, and 
 to the promises Avhich he has bequeathed to them. 
 Every duty which they have to perform, every priva- 
 tion which they have to endure, every sacriiice which 
 they have to make, every disappointment which thev 
 have to experience, and every trial which they have to 
 sustain, they must be disposed to regard as being ap- 
 pointed by that same gracious and affectionate Master, 
 who said, in regard to the celebration of the Supper, 
 " This do in remembrance of me." 
 
 Those who partake of this holy ordinance, and pro- 
 fessedly in compliance with the express injunctions of 
 Him by whom it was instituted, give it to be under- 
 stood that to them " He is precious." They give it to 
 be understood, that it is at once their duty and their 
 delight to remember him, and publicly to proclaim the 
 unspeakable obligations under which, by his condescen- 
 sion and loving-kindness, he has placed them. They 
 wish it to be believed, that their readiness to comply 
 
SHOULD AFTERWARDS MAINTAIN. 2l7 
 
 with this particular precept of remembering- him in the 
 holy ordinance of the Supper, may justly be regarded 
 as a faithful indication of their desire to honour and 
 obey every other precept which he has addressed to 
 them. Thev know it to be implied in their conduct, 
 that they habitually and fondly cherish the remembrance 
 of their once cruciiied but now exalted Redeemer — of 
 Him who, thouL^h now absent and unseen, is yet certain 
 to return and to reveal himself in his glory. Under 
 the habitual inlluence of this feeling, they distinctly 
 intimate that the whole of their present life is to be 
 spent. In order to be convinced of any duty, it is 
 enough for them to remember, or to be assured, that it 
 is what He has required ; and in order to be convinced 
 of any sin, it is enough for them to remember, or be 
 assured, that it is what He has forbidden or condemned. 
 The most powerful arguments that can be used with 
 them, and the niost constraining- or animating motives 
 that can be made to bt-ar on them for the performance 
 of any duty, are those which are derived from the 
 thought of what Christ has said, of the spirit which 
 he evinced, or of the example which he exhilnted. 
 
 Of this we have the most delightful evidence from 
 the way in which the Apostles were accustomed to en- 
 force their exhortitions on the minds of the primitive 
 Christians. It was thus that the Apostle Paul, in 
 reminding them of the duty of labouring to support 
 the weak, showed that they ought " to remember the 
 words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more bless- 
 ed to give than to receive," (Acts xx. 35.) It was thus 
 also that, in inculcating humility, he made use of this 
 memorable allusion to the wondrous humiliation to 
 which the Saviour was pleased to stoop : " Let this 
 mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus ; who 
 being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be 
 equal with God ; but made himself of no reputation, 
 and took upon bin; the form of a servant, and was 
 made in the likeness of men ; and being found in fashion 
 
218 CONDUCT WHICH communicants 
 
 as a man, he humblerl himself, and became obedient 
 unto death, even the death of the cross," (Phihp. ii. 
 5-8.) It was in hke manner that the same apostle 
 referred to the subject, by saying, " Ye know the grace 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet 
 for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his 
 poverty might be rich," (2 Cor. viii. 9.) It was thus 
 too, that, when desirous of acting with tenderness and 
 forbearance towards some who had offended, he address- 
 ed himself to the Christian community to which they 
 belonged, and basoiight them " by the meekness and 
 gentleness of Christ," (2 Cor. x. 1,) that they would so 
 deal with regard to the offenders as to render the exer- 
 cise of righteous severity on his own part unnecessary. 
 It was thus, also, that another of the apostles, in incul- 
 cating on Christians the duty of patience, even when, 
 " for conscience towards God," they have to " endure 
 grief, suffering wrongfully," affectingly reminded them, 
 in the following words, of the example which Christ 
 has left us. " For even hereunto were ye called : be- 
 cause Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example 
 that ye should follow his steps : who did no sin, neither 
 was guile found in his mouth : who, when he was re- 
 viled, reviled not again ; when he suffered, he threatened 
 not ; but committed himself to Him that judgeth right- 
 eously," (1 Pet. ii. 21-23.) 
 
 It vvas the express intention, indeed, of Christ him- 
 self, that his words, and spirit, and example, should thus 
 be appealed to, and that the remembrance of them should 
 be fondly and habitually cherished by all his genuine 
 disciples. Not satisfied, for instance, with giving them 
 a commandment — a new commandment, That they 
 should love one another, he followed it up by an appeal 
 to his own example, saving, " As I have loved you, 
 see that ye also love one another;" and in thus remind- 
 ing them of the love with which he had loved them, he 
 rendered the appeal still more forcible and affecting by 
 directing their attention to that particular example of 
 
SHOULD AFTERWARDS MAINTAIN. 219 
 
 condescension and love, which he had exhibited in wash- 
 ing- their feet. " If I then," said he, " your Lord and 
 Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash 
 one another's feet," (John xiii. 14, 34.) Such an en- 
 dearing- exhibition of his condescension and love, was 
 calculated and intended not only to impress his com- 
 mandment more deeply on their hearts, but to keep up 
 in them a more lively and influential remembrance of 
 Himself. But if, as he evidently intended, their remem- 
 brance of him was thus to be promoted and perpe- 
 tuated by such a circumstance as the significant and 
 memorable act of condescension to which we have now 
 adverted, surely it may reasonably be expected, that a 
 similar but still more powerful effect should be produ- 
 ced, by the periodical and frequent celebration of that 
 sacred ordinance which he instituted for the declared 
 and special purpose of awakening- and enlivening, in their 
 hearts, the remembrance of his love in laying down his 
 life for their sakes — a remembrance which he requires 
 them to cherish and express, as the most suitable acknow- 
 ledgment that they can make for the very love on which 
 it delights to meditate ; and a remembrance which can- 
 not really be cherished and expressed in the ordinance 
 of the Supper, without exercising a most A\holesome- 
 and sanctifying- influence over the whole of their conduct 
 and conversation. They cannot thus remember him 
 ■without feeling- almost as though they heard him still 
 saying- to them, " As the Father hath loved me, so 
 have I loved you: continue ye in my love," (John 
 XV. 9.) 
 
 III. In order, however, to form a right estimate of 
 the general conduct which those who partake of the 
 Lord's Supper should be careful afterwards to maintain, 
 it is necessary that they should serioiislv consider, not 
 only what is implied in the solemn act of communicating-,, 
 and in particular what is implied in doing so in remem- 
 brance of Christ, but also that one of the most important 
 
220 CONDUCT WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 objects which that ordinance was intended to serve, 
 was the spiritual nourishment of those who by faith 
 partake of it. We have already, in the earlier part of 
 this treatise, pointed out the feelings and dispositions 
 which this sacred and significant ordinance is so admir- 
 ably fitted to awaken and invigorate in the minds of 
 enlightened communicants ; and we have subsequently 
 endeavoured to illustrate the principal benefits which 
 are received by those who worthily partake of this 
 Christian feast. This feast, which may, with special 
 propriety, ])e called "the Lord's Passover," was undoubt- 
 edly intended not only to keep up the remembrance of 
 the Lord himself, and in particular of his dying love, 
 but also to promote the spiritual nourishment and growth 
 in grace of all who are invited to share in it. It is a 
 feast which God prepares in his own banqueting-house, 
 and for the spiritual gratification and refreshment of his 
 own children. This is one of the important ends which 
 it was specially intended, and which, as we have already- 
 seen, it is, through the influences of his Spirit, admir- 
 ably fitted, to produce. This is what all intelligent 
 communicants themselves profess to believe ; nay, it is 
 partly on account of their having this persuasion, that 
 they evince such an anxiety regularly to partake in the 
 celebration of the ordinance. 
 
 Now, let them just keep this circumstance steadily in 
 view — let them just remember that this holy ordinance 
 was specially meant to promote in their souls the growth 
 of all the graces of the Spirit. Surely, by partaking in 
 it, they must be understood as engaging, in an humble 
 dependence on the blessing of Him who appointed it, 
 that they will thereafter, in the ordinary tenor of their 
 lives, diligently seek the promotion of the same precious 
 and important object. To act consistently with the 
 part which they have taken in such a solemnity, it is 
 surely indispensable that they should live in the diligent 
 observance of the apostolic exhortation, " But grow in 
 grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour 
 
SHOULD afterwauds maintain. 221 
 
 Jesus Christ," (2 Pet. iii. 18.) The participation of 
 the Lord's Supper is only one means, although one of 
 the most precious, for promoting- the spiritual improve- 
 ment and comfort of his people; and it is impossible 
 that any of them should really possess a just idea of 
 its value, without, at the same time, evincing- a corre- 
 sponding- regard for all the more ordinary means and 
 institutions by which their graces may be strengthened 
 and matured, and by which they may, at length, bs 
 made perfect in holiness. It is impossible that any of 
 them should feel a sincere and enlightened concern as 
 to that growth in grace — that spiritual improvement, 
 which the solemn ordinance of the Supper is so specially 
 fitted to promote, without being habitually attentive 
 to all those other, though more ordinary, means which 
 have been appointed and consecrated for the promotion 
 of the same important end. To that high and holy 
 ordinance they can have access only after intervals more 
 or less considerable ; while most of them may have access 
 to the public ministrations of the gospel every Lord's 
 day ; and all of them, to the private reading of the Scrip- 
 tures, to meditation, and to prayer, every day of the 
 week. These more ordinary means of spiritual edifi- 
 cation and comfort, by being more frequent, may also 
 be regarded as more familiar ; but they are not there- 
 fore to be esteemed as less important. On the con- 
 trary, the daily recourse which professing Christians are 
 commanded to have to their diligent cultivation, aifords 
 the strongest evidence of the high importance which 
 has been assigned to them by the God of ordinances. 
 That God has intended the nourishment of our bodies 
 to depend more on the use of the simplest daily bread 
 than on the delicacy or sumptuousness of an occasional 
 feast ; and, with similar wisdom, he has made the 
 nourishment of our souls, or of the graces which his 
 Spirit has planted within them, dependent rather on the 
 cultivation of daily communion with Himself, than on 
 the enjoyment of those loftiest and most aniraating^ 
 
222 CONDUCT WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 solemnities of our holy religion, which, however regu- 
 lar, are necessarily less frequent in their periodical 
 return. 
 
 For the full enjoyment, indeed, of these most affect- 
 ing^ and refreshing solemnities, there is no preparation 
 so suitable, or so effectual, as the habitual fellowship 
 which true Christians will seek to maintain with Him by 
 means of the more common ordinances of his sanctuary, 
 and by means of those private and personal exercises of 
 religion, to which a portion of every day should be 
 <levoted. There can be no real desire, and therefore no 
 real capacity, for enjoying spiritual communion with 
 Christ at his table, and no reason whatever for expect- 
 ing- his presence or his blessing there, if there is no 
 desire manifested for communion with him in the ordi- 
 nary exercises of his worship. The more attentive that 
 liis people are to the cultivation of fellowship with him 
 in either of these ways, the more attentive will they, at 
 the same time, be, to the cultivation of it in the other. 
 Without the fellowship of daily prayer — and such prayer 
 as proceeds from a longing, a believing, a contrite, and a 
 grateful soul — there can be no real fellowship with him 
 in the solemn festival in which they venture to approach 
 his altar. There can be no supplies of spiritual nourish- 
 ment, without a daily application to Him who alone 
 " hath the words of eternal life," and who is the Author 
 of " every good and every perfect gift." Prayer, to 
 adopt a Scripture metaphor, is " the golden pipe" 
 through which the pure oil is to be conveyed from the 
 heavenly fountain to the lamp of each of the living- 
 graces within the believer's soul. Every man of God 
 must be eminently a man of prayer. To walk with 
 God, he must walk as Christ also walked, and that was 
 in the way of deep, habitual, and fervent devotion. 
 Where there is no relish for prayer, and especially for 
 secret prayer, there can be no true relish for communion, 
 with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. The soul 
 .that truly feeds on Christ at his table, cannot live with- 
 
SHOULD AFTERWARDS MAINTAIN. 223 
 
 out prayer. While it continues in the body, it will 
 always have something- to desire, and it will always be 
 putting- its desires into the form of petitions at the foot- 
 stool of Divine g-race. Prayer must never be disconti- 
 nued, till, in the exercise of this very privilege, the soul 
 shall be transported into that blissful region where 
 prayer will be superseded by the actual fulfilment of 
 every desire which it previously had to express. Prayer 
 ascends from the soul of the expiring Christian, even 
 after it has ceased to be formed on his lips. It con- 
 stitutes, in his case, the last conscious effort of mor- 
 tality. While he lives he calls on Him who hath heard 
 bis voice and his supplications. He ceases to pray — but 
 it is only at the moment when he is made fully a 
 " partaker of Christ." Prayer must at last be abo- 
 lished ; but not till the moment when the soul obtains 
 the answer of its last request, by being " absent from the 
 body and present with the Lord." The very moment of 
 prayer's extinction, becomes that of its most glorious 
 triumph. Its prevalence is never so overpoweringlv 
 realized as at the very instant when it is for ever ex- 
 changed for the raptures of adoration, gratitude, and 
 praise, awakened by the soul's introduction " into the 
 everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 Such is a summary view of the leading considerations 
 which must be taken into view, if we would form an\ 
 thing like a just estimate of the general conduct whicli 
 all who partake of the Lord's Supper should be careful 
 afterwards to maintain. When we reflect on the nature 
 of the leading objects which they are understood to have 
 in view in partaking of this ordinance — on the general 
 professions which they there so solemnly make — and on 
 the sacred engagements into w hich they there so expli- 
 citly and publicly enter — it is impossible for us not to 
 perceive what manner of persons they ought afterwards 
 to be in all holy conversation and godliness. It is not 
 enough, however, to point out the general considerations 
 
224 CONDUCT WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 by which they ought to be influenced, and the general 
 conduct which, under the intluence of these considera- 
 tions, they ought carefully to maintain. It is necessary 
 that ue should point out and illustrate the general 
 conduct which they are bound and expected to maintain, 
 in all the particular relations and circumstances in which 
 they may happen to be placed. 
 
 1, Let us, then, in the first place, direct our atten- 
 tion to the general conduct which communicants ought 
 to maintain, in regard to the world from icliich they 
 have been j^rofessedbj separated. Those who publicly 
 profess to have accepted of Christ, profess, at the same 
 time, to have been separated from the world. Of his 
 genuine disciples, Christ himself says, " that he has 
 chosen them out of the world," (John xv. 19 ;) and they 
 are again and again exhorted, in every possible way, to 
 demonstrate that they are keeping themselves distinct 
 from it. " Love ?iot the world," says Saint John, 
 *' neither the things that are in the world. If any man 
 love the world, the love of the Father is not in him/' 
 (I John ii. 13.) They are reminded by another Apos- 
 tle, that " pure religion and undefiled" — namely, that 
 of the gospel, which they have professedly embraced — . 
 consists partly " in keeping themselves unspotted from 
 the world," (James i. 27.) But another of the Apos- 
 tles goes still farther, and beseeches them " not to be 
 co7i/ormed to this world," (Rom. xii. 2.) He exhorts 
 them, in another place, to '* have no fellowship with the 
 unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them/' 
 (Eph. V. 11.) He was aware that it was impossible for 
 them altogether to avoid the company of some who, as 
 the votaries of the world, continued to " have their 
 conversation in the lusts of the flesh ;" for he remarked, 
 that, if they were in no instance, and on no account to 
 have intercourse with such persons, " then must they 
 needs go out of the world," (1 Cor. v. 10.) He gave 
 them to understand, however, that if they could not 
 entirely avoid the society of those who belonged to the 
 
SHOULD AFTERWARDS MAINTAIN. 225 
 
 world of the unbelieving- and iing-odly, they should be 
 all the more careful to show that they had no sympathy 
 with their principles, and no participation in their 
 ungodly deeds. He exhorted them, as professing Chris- 
 tians, to " abstain'' not only from that which was really 
 and in itself evil, but " from all appearance of evil," 
 (1 Thess. v. 22.) " Let not," said he, " your good be 
 evil spoken of," (Rom. xiv. 16.) Instead of " giving 
 any occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme," 
 (2 Sam. xii. 14,) their conduct should be such, " that 
 whereas they speak evil of them, as of evil-doers, they 
 may be ashamed who falsely accuse their good conv^er- 
 sation in Christ," (1 Peter iii. 16.) 
 
 This leads us to remark, that those who have publicly 
 avouched themselves to be Christ's, should study to 
 maintain such a conduct as not only shows that they 
 *^ have escaped the pollutions of the world," but as is 
 fitted to extort its respect, and to promote its improve- 
 ment. They are not to content themselves with the 
 distinction, glorious as it is, of being " blameless and 
 harmless, the sons of God without rebuke," but they 
 are to " shine as lights in the world,'' (Philip, ii. 13.} 
 They are to " show themselves patterns of good works," 
 as well as " sound speech that cannot be condemned ; 
 that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, 
 having no evil to say of them," (Tit. ii. 7, 8.) They 
 are exhorted to " walk honestly" — and to " walk in 
 wisdom" — " toward them that are without," (1 Thess. 
 iv. 12, and Col. iv. 5 ;) that is, toward those who do 
 not belong to the Christian community. Christ him- 
 self said to his disciples, " Ye are the salt of the earth" — 
 " Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on 
 a hill cannot be hid. ' " Let your light so shine before 
 men, that they may see your good works, and glorify 
 your Father which is in heaven," (Matt, v. 13, 14, 16.) 
 They are represented as " the epistles" — living epistles 
 — " of Christ," "known and read of all men," (2 Cor. 
 iii. 2, 3.) " The boldness," devotedness, and consis- 
 p 
 
226 CONDUCT WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 tency of the first disciples were such, that the '' rulers 
 of tiie people and elders of Israel," especially when 
 *' they perceived that they were unlearned and ig:norant 
 men," " marvelled ; and they took notice of them that 
 they had been with Jesus," (Acts iv. 13.) Not only, 
 however, did they excite the astonishment of the rulers ; 
 they won the admiration and conciliated the favour of 
 multitudes among the people. " They continued stead- 
 fastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in 
 breaking- of bread, and in prayers. And continuinu- 
 daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread 
 from house to house, they did eat their meat with g-lad- 
 ness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having 
 favour with all the people," (Acts ii. 42, 46, 47.) It 
 was thus that the primitive Christians not only kept 
 themselves uncorrupted by the world, but exhibited an 
 example which was admirably calculated to improve its 
 morals, and to recommend that gospel of which they 
 were at once the disciples and the ornaments. It is 
 thus, in like manner, that the Author of the gospel has 
 a right to expect that all who have encompassed his 
 table and partaken of the holy ordinance of his Supper, 
 will be habitually careful to adorn the doctrines of Cjod 
 their Saviour, and, seeing they are " bought with a 
 price," to " glorify God in their body and in their 
 spirit, which are God's." They should hold themselves 
 solemnly bound, not only " as much as lieth in them," 
 to " live peaceably with all men," but, after the example 
 of their blessed Lord, they should be ready to relieve 
 their distresses, and to "c/o good unto all men, as they 
 have opportunity," whether in respect to their souls, 
 or in respect to their bodies. They should neither 
 conceal the sentiments which they entertain in regard 
 to the sins of worldly men, nor, on the other hand, 
 speak of them with harshness or exaggeration. They 
 should avoid all uncharitableness in the construction 
 which they put on their conduct, and, in the exercise 
 of pity towards them on account of their delusions and 
 
SHOULD AFTERWARDS MAINTAIN. 227 
 
 their vices, they should carefully avoid every thing like 
 the arrogance of self-rii2:hteous superiority. 
 
 2. But let us 7ie.i't direct our attention to the general 
 conduct which communicants ought to maintain in 
 regard to their Christian brethren^ and to the church 
 of which they are members. It is the duty and distinc- 
 tion of all the true disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, to 
 love one another. This is his commandment to them ; 
 and by nothing so much as by their obedience to this, 
 can it be certainly known that they are his disciples. 
 Both in approaching the table of the Lord, and after 
 retiring from it, they should be able to adopt the 
 language of the Psalmist, '' I have not sat with vain 
 persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers ;" (Psalm 
 xxvi. 4.) And they should be no less able to say with 
 hira, <' I am a companion of all them that fear thee, O 
 Lord, and of them that keep thy precepts,'' (Psalm 
 cxix. 63.) If ever they have truly had " fellowship 
 with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ," 
 then will they be able habitually to say, " We have 
 fellowship one with another," (1 John i. 3, 7.) They 
 will live under the practical influence of the precept, 
 ** Love as brethren;" and " Let brotherly love con- 
 tinue," (I Peter iii. 8; and Heb. xiii. 1.) They will 
 study to obey the exhortation, " Be ye kind one to 
 another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as 
 God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye 
 t'nerefore followers of God, as dear children ; and walk 
 in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given 
 himself for us an oftering and a sacrifice to God, for 
 a sweet-smelling savour," (Eph. iv. 32; and v. 1, 2.) 
 They will take much " sweet counsel together." They 
 will seek the peace of Zion as one of the best and most 
 indispensable means of promoting her prosperity. They 
 will pray and endeavour to " stand fast in one spirit, 
 with one mind, striving together for the faith of 
 the gospel," (Philip, i. 27.) Instead of violating or 
 impairing their kindly affections toward each other, 
 
228 CONDUCT WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 by such a contest, they " will consider one another, to 
 provoke unto love, and to good works," (Heb. x. 24.) 
 From their conduct toward one another, we may 
 easily infer what will be their conduct in regard to the 
 Church, as a spiritual commu7iitij, and as a Divine 
 institution for spreading the knowledge, manifesting 
 the glory, and promoting the worship of God. The 
 comfort, edification, and happiness which they at all 
 times derive from each other's society, will be particu- 
 larly felt when they meet together in the observance of 
 public ordinances. They will not account the Sabbath 
 *' a w^eariness." They will " not forsake the assembling 
 of themselves together, as the manner of some is ;" but, 
 on the contrary, they will think that " a day in God's 
 courts is better than a thousand" " in the tents of 
 wickedness," or in the scenes of worldly pleasure. 
 Their love to one another will naturally be enlivened 
 by uniting in the worship and listening to the words 
 of Him who has so highly commended his love to them 
 all ; and the more that their brotherly love is enlivened, 
 the more susceptible will they be of the raptures of his 
 worship, and the more acceptable as his worshippers. 
 By every competent means, and in particular by their 
 prayers, they will become the fellow-labourers of those 
 who have been solemnly intrusted with the duty of 
 publicly preaching the gospel of peace. The more that 
 its power is felt over their own hearts, the more will 
 they abound in prayer for the faithfulness, encourage- 
 ment; and success of those through whose ministrations 
 they are accustomed to hear it ; and for its being con- 
 veyed and proclaimed, with similar efficacy, to the souls 
 of multitudes who are perishing "for lack of know- 
 ledge." In their conscientious preference for the 
 peculiar view's, forms, and usages of the particular deno- 
 mination of professing Christians with which they are 
 connected, they will be careful not to overlook those 
 great principles, by the maintenance of which the 
 unity of the Church at large may be preserved and 
 
SHOULD AFTERWARDS MAINTAIN. 229 
 
 promoted, notwithstanding" all such diversities. They 
 will cherish a deep and abidinj^ impression, that no 
 religious community can expect to enjoy any lasting 
 prosperity, unless it manifests a sacred and lofty con- 
 cern for the general harmony and welfare of the 
 Christian commonwealth — for " the unity of the faith,'* 
 and for " the edifying of the body of Christ," (Eph. 
 iv. 12, 13.) Certain diversities are, at present, per- 
 haps unavoidable ; but all who truly love the Lord 
 Jesus will be solicitous to prevent them from leading- 
 to useless or hurtful divisions ; and, without any formal 
 and premature attempt to sweep them away, they will 
 wisely consider the propriety and the duty of being 
 more and more assiduous and devoted in upholding and 
 disseminating- these grand fundamental doctrines of the 
 gospel, by the progress and general prevalence of 
 which, this most desirable object shall eventually be 
 accomplished. 
 
 3. It is necessary, however, in the third place, that 
 we should direct our attention to the general conduct 
 which communicants ought to maintain, m regard to 
 the relative duties of social and domestic life. It is 
 quite possible that many who have uniformly maintained 
 a most irreproachable deportment toward their Chris- 
 tian brethren, in so far as regards their intercourse with 
 each other as members of the same religious community, 
 and who have, on all occasions, exhibited the most 
 exemplary attention to the public ordinances of the 
 gospel, may nevertheless be chargeable with a lamen- 
 table disregard of some of the most important duties 
 that they have to discharge, either toward the public, 
 toward their more immediate neighbours, or toward 
 the members of their own families. It is not only in 
 the ordinances of religion, or in those assemblages 
 which are held for religious purposes, that the principles 
 of genuine religion require to be exercised and displayed. 
 If the feelings which are called forth by these ordinances 
 are really spiritual in their nature, they w'ill be found 
 
230 CONDUCT WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 invariably to strengthen every principle of duty, and to 
 shed a hallowing- influence over the temper, speech, and 
 deportment of men, in all the relations, and all the 
 intercourse of human life. There are many persons, 
 however, among professing Christians, who, while they 
 feel a certain interest and even enjoyment in religious 
 ordinances, and take a conspicuous part in religious 
 enterprif^es, are in no small danger of forgetting that 
 they have to carry the spirit of religion itself into the 
 sanctuary of the family circle, and that there they 
 ought not only to keep up the seemly usages of religious 
 ■worship, but to cherish and display all the charms and 
 charities, all the courteousness and heavenly-minded- 
 ness of a truly religious character. Although they may 
 come to the house of God as his people come, and may sit 
 before him as his people sit, and hear his words; although 
 they may be regular in their attendance, serious in their 
 deportment during the whole of the public service, and 
 not a little affected by many of the representations and 
 appeals which are made to them by the ambassadors of 
 the gospel ; yet is there reason to fear, that when they 
 come into collision -with the daily annoyances, vexa- 
 tions, and trials of ordinary life, they may be in danger 
 of giving vv-ay to various irregularities of feeling and 
 temper, which it is far easier to explain than to justify. 
 They may be in danger of giving way to wrath, ill- 
 humour, IVetfulness, or caprice, and of gratifying them- 
 selves v/ith various indulgences which, neither in their 
 extent, nor perhaps in their nature, are at all consistent 
 with the strict proprieties of Christian deportment, or 
 the regulating and controlling influence of Christian 
 pr.inciple. 
 
 Now, these are things which all who have partaken 
 of the Lord's Supper must be careful to avoid. What- 
 ever be the relations of life which they occupy — what- 
 ever the public or private station in which they are 
 placed, they are carefully to consider what manner of 
 persons He would have them to be; and to reflect that 
 
SHOULD AFTERWAB-DS MAINTAIN. 231 
 
 both his honour and their own happiness are deeply- 
 concerned, not only in the faithfulness with which their 
 outward duties are discharged, but also in the spirit and 
 temper which are displayed in the most private scenes 
 of intercourse with their fellow-creatures. They must 
 studiously endeavour to maintain "a conversation such as 
 becometh the gospel," whether they be parents or chil- 
 dren ; husbands or wives ; brothers or sisters ; relatives 
 or friends; masters or servants; magistrates or subjects; 
 ministers or people; rich or poor; neighbours or stran- 
 gers ; fellow-countrymen or foreigners. In all these 
 relations, the intercourse which they have with one 
 another must be characterised by humanity and justice ; 
 by integrity and candour ; by good-will and kindly affec- 
 tion ; by iidelity and truth; by meekness and gentle- 
 ness. It is thus only that men can know them to be 
 Christ's disciples, or that they themselves can experi- 
 ence how good and how pleasant a thing it is for them 
 to live for the benefit of one another — to " live not unto 
 themselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose 
 again." 
 
 4. We come now to direct our attention, in the 
 fourth and last place, to the conduct which communi- 
 cants ought to maintain, ^?^- regard to their 'personal 
 and secret duties. To some of these we have already 
 adverted, when speaking of the Lord's Supper as an 
 ordinance intended to promote the spiritual nourishment 
 of those who partake of it. Independently, however, 
 of tiiis object, a conscientious and habitual attention to 
 the personal and secret duties which are required of 
 communicants, is in itself, and ought to be in their 
 estimation, a matter of the utmost importance. Without 
 such an attention to secret duties, there is no likelihood, 
 nor even possibility,that eitherpublic or domestic duties 
 will be adequately performed ; and, in this case, the 
 honour of Christ and the interests of religion must be 
 seriously injured. If communicants, therefore, would 
 seek to promote either their own spiritual improvement, 
 
232 co^'DucT which communicants 
 
 or the welfare of that spiritual kingdom to which they 
 profess to belong-, it is necessary that they should apply 
 themselves with the greatest diligence to the discharge 
 of their secret duties. The fidelity and relish with which 
 these duties are discharged, afford the true means of 
 estimating the real amount of spiritual life which exists 
 in the soul, — just as the degree of heat which is indi- 
 cated by an instrument placed in the shade affords the 
 true means of estimating the amount of heat which is 
 diffused through the whole body of the surrounding 
 air. 
 
 What these duties are, it is not difficult to determine. 
 Among the first of them may be mentioned that of 
 self-examination, as indispensable to that thorough 
 knowledge of one's own heart and life, and imperfec- 
 tions and necessities, without which nothing effectual 
 can be attempted, and no suitable plan adopted, for the 
 promotion of one's own improvement. This self- 
 examination, however, cannot be properly conducted, 
 neither can this self-knowledge be attained, with- 
 out a diligent and daily exam'mation, at the same 
 time, of the Hoi// Scriptures, which were given by in- 
 spiration of Him who knows what is in man, and in 
 which we are furnished with a key to all the intricacies 
 and windings of the human heart. And then, this self- 
 knowledge is not more important than tvatchfulness 
 as to the state of the heart, after it has once been ascer- 
 tained. The vessels of tbe sanctuary must not only be 
 examined, but kept constantly clean and fit for daily 
 use. A person in delicate health, or one recovering 
 from sickness, is careful to notice his state and progress 
 from day to day. Communicants, in like manner, are 
 especially bound to keep their hearts with all diligence, 
 and to be on their guard against the entrance and in- 
 dulgence of evil thoughts, and of all those corrupt 
 affections " which war against the soul." In order, 
 however, to the right performance of this duty, it is 
 necessary that, in their most secret retirements, they 
 
SHOULD AFTERWARDS MAINTAIN. 233 
 
 should live under the abiding impression of God's invisi- 
 ble presence — that " all thinj;s are naked and opened 
 unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do'* — 
 that " his eyes are over thera '' continually — that he 
 "searcheth the heart, and trieth the reins of the chil- 
 dren of men " — and that he will one day " bring- every 
 work into judgment, with every secret thing-, whether 
 it be good, or whether it be evil, (Eccl. xii. 14.) 
 
 It is under this deep and solemn impression that com- 
 municants, after having- partaken of the Lord's Supper, 
 are habitually to attend to the duty of self-examina- 
 tion, and to the duty of spending- some portion of every 
 day in the study of the Holy Scriptures. This latter 
 duty they are to practise, not merely for the purpose 
 of obtaining a more thorough knowledge of their own 
 hearts, but also for the purpose of more fully acquaint- 
 ing themselves with God — with the revealed counsels 
 of his will — and with the exceeding riches of his grace. 
 Nor are the Scriptures to be only searched and read. 
 They are to be the subject of much serious and pro- 
 found meditation. This is to form another of those 
 employments in secret, in which communicants are 
 habitually to engage. They are to meditate on His 
 perfections, as displayed both in his works and in his 
 word, and, in particular, as set forth in that glorious 
 plan of salvation, to which, in all its parts, their 
 thoughts are so affectingly directed in the ordinance 
 of the Supper. They are to meditate, moreover, on 
 the personal interest which they themselves seek after, 
 or actually possess, in a plan so glorious ; and on all 
 the loving-kindness and tender mercy that He has, in 
 numberless instances, manifested to them individually. 
 We need scarcely add, that all these secret exercises 
 are to be accompanied and consecrated hy frequent and 
 fervent prayer . Without this, none of the others can 
 be successfully or profital)ly conducted. It is as indis- 
 pensable to the right discharge of these, as we have 
 ■already seen it to be to the growth of all the Christian 
 
234 CONDUCT WHICH COMMUNICANTS 
 
 graces — which, indeed, are inseparably connected with 
 the various secret duties to which we have now been 
 adverting. Communicants can never be inattentive 
 to the duty of prayinoc to God in secret, without acting- 
 inconsistently with the profession which they have 
 made by seating- themselves at a communion table, and 
 without neglecting one of the most important means 
 by which the holy ordinance in which they were there 
 engaged, is rendered conducive to their spiritual im- 
 provement and comfort. 
 
 Having, in these several ways, endeavoured to point 
 out the general conduct which those who partake of 
 the Lord's Supper should be careful afterwards to 
 maintain, it is obvious to remark how salutary the ex- 
 hibition of such a conduct must be to the interests, not 
 only of the individuals themselves, but also of the whole 
 Christian commonwealth, and indeed of the w^orld at 
 large ; and that an opposite conduct must, to all these 
 parties, be, in an equal degree, prejudicial. That com- 
 municants may be stirred up to greater diligence and 
 zeal in such a life of faith, and holiness, and comfort, 
 as that which has here been described and recommended, 
 it will be profitable to them often to look back on the 
 feelings which they experienced, and on the resolutions 
 which they formed or ratified, during the actual service 
 of communion. Should they, on such a review, dis- 
 cover that they have, in any degree, fallen from their 
 steadfastness, and from the high standard which they 
 had proposed to themselves, of Christian excellence 
 and devotedness, the discovery, while it is certainly 
 fitted to fill them with humility and godly sorrow, 
 is also fitted to stir them up to fresh activity, and to 
 make them betake themselves to the discharge of all 
 their duties, and to the fulfilment of all their pious en- 
 gagements, w-ith an ardour and fixedness of purpose, so 
 much the greater than before, in proportion to the feel- 
 ing of more entire dependence which they have been 
 led to entertain on the supporting, directing, and sane- 
 
SHOULD AFTERWARDS MAINTAIN, 235 
 
 tifying- influences of that " God who worketh in them 
 both to will and to do of his g'ood pleasure." To encou- 
 rage them in the arduous and important duties to which 
 they are called, and to prevent them from being over- 
 come by the formidable opposition which they may still 
 have to encounter, it will, moreover, be expedient and 
 necessary for them, not only to reflect that they are 
 encompassed with " so great a cloud of witnesses," as 
 those who have already, through faith, overcome the 
 world, and obtained the promised inheritance of eternal 
 life, but to be constantly in the habit of " looking unto 
 Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith ; who, for 
 the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, 
 despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand 
 of the throne of God," (Heb. xii. 1, 2.) And, finally, 
 to encourage them in the work which their divine 
 Master has assigned to them, let them often look for- 
 ward to the certainty and glory of his second coming, 
 when, being made " like him," they " shall see him as 
 he is ;" when they shall not only behold, but be made 
 partakers of his glory ; and when they shall not only 
 be admitted into his fellowship, but shall participate in 
 the fulness of his joy," (Rev. iii. 21.) 
 
2^6 
 
 DUTY AND DESIRABLENESS 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ON THE DUTY AND DESIRABLENESS OF A FREQUENT 
 CELEBRATION OF THE LORD's SUPPER. 
 
 It cannot admit of a reasonable doubt, that the ob- 
 •servance of the Lord's Supper is a duty of perpetual 
 obHgation. This appears to be as unquestionable as 
 that it was original!}'' instituted by our Lord himself — 
 that its future observance was enjoined by his express 
 commandment — or that it was designed to be observed in 
 remembrance of Him, and, in particular, to show forth 
 his death. " For as often," says the apostle, " as ye eat 
 this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's 
 death till he come." 
 
 But while this passage is of itself sufficient to esta- 
 blish the perpetual obligation of the ordinance, there is 
 not either in this or in any other passage, any express 
 precept, or even any general direction, as to the Jre- 
 quency with which it ought to be observed. It is suf- 
 ficiently evident, however, from a careful examination 
 of various passages in the Book of the Acts, and in 
 some of the epistles, that, among the primitive Chris- 
 tians, the celebration of this holy ordinance loas an 
 event of very frequent occurrence. We have a proof 
 of this, among the very first notices which the pen of 
 inspiration has left us with respect to the character 
 and usages of these early converts to the faith of the 
 gospel. We are informed that, after the miraculous 
 outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, 
 the effect produced through the preaching of the 
 <apostle Peter was such, that to the Church " there were 
 
OF FREQUENT COMiMUNION. 237 
 
 added about three thousand souls ;" and in describing- 
 the state of the Christians immediately after this, and 
 before giving- the narrative of any of the subsequent 
 events, the sacred historian tells us that " they conti- 
 nued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellow- 
 ship, and in breaking- of bread, and in prayers," (Acts 
 ii. 42.) 
 
 Now, it seems almost impossible not to suppose that 
 these words — especially when taken in connexion with 
 the verses whi^h follow — were intended to delineate 
 the general character of the primitive Christians during 
 the very first weeks of their history. When it is stated, 
 therefore, that even then they continued steadfastly in 
 the Apostles' doctrine, and in hrcaking of bread, the 
 conclusion naturally is, that this was a thing which was 
 of frequent occurrence. The question, indeed, still 
 arises. What teas the thing to which this expression 
 was intended to refer? There can be no doubt that 
 this, or some equivalent expression is, in various in- 
 stances, employed in reference to the solemn and pecu- 
 liar ordinance of the Supper — as will be manifest from 
 several texts which have already been quoted. There 
 are other instances, it is true, in which the expression 
 may more naturally be understood to refer to an ordinary 
 meal, or to the exercise and interchange of ordinary hos- 
 pitality. These two things, however, seem to he sepa- 
 rately alluded to in the passage now under review. In 
 one of the concluding verses, the Christians are spoken 
 of as " breaking bread yVom house to house;'' and other 
 particulars are recorded as to their social usages and 
 deportment. But, in the first-mentioned verse, the 
 breaking of bread is spoken of in connexion with their 
 steadfasi7iess m the Apostles' doctrine and in prayers ^ 
 and it may therefore be most naturally understood in, 
 reference to that holy ordinance of which, outwardly, 
 the breaking of bread is so conspicuous a part. If this 
 reasoning be correct, then it must necessarily follow, on 
 the ground already stated, that, among the primitiye 
 
238 DUTY AND DESIRABLENESS 
 
 Christians, the ordinance of the Supper was of very 
 frequent cele})ration. 
 
 The same conclusion may be derived from other con- 
 siderations. The statements which the Apostle makes 
 respecting- this ordinance, and the reproofs which he 
 administers in regard to the abuses which, even in his 
 day, began to be committed at the times of its celebra- 
 tion, (see 1 Cor. x. 14-17, x. 17-28,) seem distinctly 
 to imply that it was very frequently observed. As to 
 the particular periods, however, which elapsed between 
 one celebration and another, no precise information is 
 to be found in the sacred writings. There is one pass- 
 age in which mention is made of its taking- place on 
 *' the first day of the week," — that day on which, as is 
 agreed on all hands, the Apostles and brethren used to 
 assemble together for the purposes of ordinary religious 
 worship. " And upon the first day of the week, when 
 the disciples came" (or the disciples having come) 
 '' together to break bread, Paul preached unto them," 
 — (Acts XX. 7-12.) — Now, as the hreahing of bread 
 on that occasion, in connexion with ordinary worship, 
 is not spoken of as any thing peculiar or unusual, there 
 is no small plausibiUty in the supposition, that in some 
 churches at least, it was customary, at that time, to 
 celebrate the ordinance of the Supper every Lord's 
 day. We have no evidence that, in the apostolic 
 times, this was the invariable practice in all the churches, 
 or in the churches in general ; and certainly we find 
 no express precept or general direction to intimate 
 that such a practice was to be regarded, either then or 
 afterwards, as an incumbent duty. It is not unimport- 
 ant, however, to know, that this doss appear to have 
 been the practice in some of the apostolic churches ; and 
 that nothing is to be found to prove that it was not the 
 practice in many others, or in the generality. It is a 
 fact, moreover, established by the testimony of the pri- 
 mitive Fathers — although, of course, the fact does not 
 involve any obligation to adopt a similar practice— 
 
OF FREQUENT COMMUNION. 239 
 
 that, in the ages immediately subsequent to the times 
 of the Apostles, this ordinance was dispensed once every 
 week, and sometimes oftener. 
 
 Such frequency in the celebration of the ordinance, 
 might, under particular circumstances, be highly ex- 
 pedient and eminently conducive to edification ; although 
 the want of an express injunction on the subject, leads 
 us to infer that it has not seemed good to Infinite Wis- 
 dom to render this, under all circumstances, incumbent 
 on the churches of Christ. Such frequency, unless 
 arising from a high degree of spirituulitjj among the 
 members of the Christian community, or at least ac- 
 companied with it, would lead either to profanation or 
 neglect, rather than "to the use of edifying." The 
 general existence of much spirituality of mind among 
 the primitive Christians, was unquestionably one rea- 
 son why the Lord's Supper was so frequently observed 
 as, in many places at least, to be associated with the 
 public religious exercises of every Sabbath ; and an- 
 other probably was, that being frequently exposed to 
 persecution — that being often in jeopardy of their 
 lives every hour, and expecting in a few days, perhaps, 
 to terminate a life of persecution by a death of martyr- 
 dom — it was natural for them to seek to fortify and 
 encourage their minds by a devout commemoration of 
 Him who died for them and rose again, and to prepare 
 themselves for a sudden separation from their brethren 
 on earth, by once more having communion with them 
 at the table of their common Lord. Under circum- 
 stances of such hourly uncertainty and such impending 
 danger, and in a state of such peculiar familiarity of 
 mind with the things which are not seen but eternal, 
 the frequent, if not indeed the weekly, celebration of the 
 Supper, was a thing recommended to them by consi- 
 derations which must have had all the eflect of an 
 authoritative precept. Let a similar spirituality of mind 
 be again awakened in the Church, and a similar desire 
 will be felt, a similar expediency created, and similar 
 
240 DUTY AND DESIRABLENESS 
 
 arrangements and provisions made, for the frequent 
 observance of this high and holy solemnity. We do 
 not deny that the frequent observance of the ordinance 
 itself, as an especial means of grace, may be eminently 
 conducive to that very spirituality of which we have 
 been speaking ; but still, we hold that it is useless for 
 the Church, in matters of this kind, to go ahead of the 
 spiritual attainments of her members, and that it were 
 reversing the natural and scriptural order of things, to 
 make the dispensation of this sealing ordinance more 
 frequent than the spiritual desires of these members in 
 general might enable them to relish or lead them to 
 improve. Experience has repeatedly shown, that, under 
 such circumstances, the very frequent recurrence of the 
 ordinance, would induce so many to neglect it, that, in 
 reality, fewer might, after all, partake of it than under 
 a different practice; while no more security might be 
 found in the one case than in the other, for the exclu- 
 sion of the unworthy and presumptuous. It seems, too, 
 to be any thing but expedient to have the dispensation 
 so frequent as eventually to be regarded, perhaps, as an 
 excuse for the neglect or superficial performance of the 
 important duty of special self-examination. The duty 
 of self-examination is one to which we should carefully 
 and at all times attend ; but every man is expressly 
 enjoined specially to examine himself before 'partak- 
 ing of THE Lord's Supper, and nothing should be 
 done which, in ordinary circumstances, would have a 
 tendency to diminish the feeling of importance which 
 ought to be attached to the particular duty here incul- 
 cated. 
 
 On these grounds, while we hold this ordinance to 
 have been, in the apostolic age, of very frequent cele- 
 bration, and while we hold that, whenever the spiritu- 
 ality of the Church is such as to require it, and circum- 
 stances are such as to render it practicable, the same 
 thing should still be provided for, — we are clearly of 
 opinion that the frequency of its celebration should 
 
OF FREQUEXT COMMUNION. 241 
 
 never be such, as to outrun the rehgious desires and 
 attainments of the generahty of those who are to be 
 admitted to it, or such as would have a tendency to 
 defeat some of the very ends for which its observance 
 has been expressly enjoined. It is satisfactory to ob- 
 serve, that the view which has here been presented on 
 
 this subject, is in perfect correspondence with the gen- 
 eral statement which is to be found in the Directory 
 for PuVilic Worship, as agreed upon by the Westmin- 
 ster Assembly, as approved by the General Assembly 
 of the Church of Scotland. " The Communion, or 
 Supper of the Lord," says that Directory, *' \'s, frequent- 
 ly to be celebrated ; but liow often, may be considered 
 and determined by the ministers and other church- 
 governors of each congregation, as they shall find most 
 convenient for the comfort and edification of the people 
 committed to their charge.' 
 
 There have been some, however, who, instead of 
 approving of this view of the matter, have been of 
 opinion that the Lord's Supper, like the Jewish Pass- 
 over, ought to be celebrated only once every year. 
 That the Passover lamb was a type of Christ is de- 
 monstrated by the language of the Apostle, where he 
 says, " For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for 
 us," (1 Cor. V. 7.) The annual sacrifice and feast 
 of the Jewish passover, while it served as a memorial 
 of the glorious deliverance of the Israelites from the 
 hardships of Egyptian bondage, served also as a type of 
 the comirig Saviour, who was to be the Author of a 
 far more illustrious redemption. The type, however, 
 was superseded, when He to whom it pointed had 
 actually come and been put to death, as " the Lamb of 
 God, which taheth away the sin of the world." The 
 moment that the real sacrifice for sin was offered up, 
 the typical sacrifice was, of necessity, abolished, and 
 with it the Passover Supper, which had, from its first 
 institution, been celebrated the same evening, and as 
 part of the same solemnity. This latter part of the 
 Q 
 
42i DUTY AND DESIRABLENESS 
 
 solemnity, indeed, was more formally abolished oy the 
 circumstance, that no sooner had our Lord and his dis- 
 ciples partaken of it, on the night in which he was 
 betrayed, than he proceeded to institute and dispense 
 His Own Supper, as the ordinance which then came into 
 its place, and by which it was, for ever after, to be 
 superseded or done away. These circumstances have 
 appeared to some to intimate that the Lord's Supper, 
 having thus come so precisely into the place of the 
 Passover Supper, ought to be celebrated just with the 
 same frequency as the latter had been. This, however, 
 does not necessarily follow. It does not follow that 
 the memorial of his death ought not to be celebrated 
 with greater frequency than that which had been only a 
 type of it. Because a solemn annual exhibition of the 
 type had been deemed sufficient, in connexion with 
 other prophetic and typical intimations, to keep alive 
 the hope of believers in the Saviour that was to come, 
 it does not follow, that the solemn ordinance, the prin- 
 cipal object of which was, to call forth their devout, 
 affectionate, and grateful remembrance of him, as a 
 Saviour who had actually come and purchased for them 
 eternal redemption — is not to be more frequently cele- 
 brated. There is evidently a greater fulness and clear- 
 ness in the ordinances as well as the discoveries of the 
 New Testament than in those of the preceding dispensa- 
 tion. In commemoration of our Lord's resurrection 
 from the dead, the Sabbath has been changed from the 
 seventh to the iirst day of the week, and is now to be 
 peculiarly honoured and kept holy, under the new and 
 appropriate designation of " the Lord's Day." And, 
 although it is the event of his resurrection which has 
 demon stirited both the reality of his Godhead, and the 
 efficacy of his death as an atonement for sin, yet who 
 does not perceive that it is his death itself, thus shown 
 to be efficacious, which claims, from all who believe in 
 him, the homage of a frequent, most reverential, and 
 most grateful remembrance ? And who will hesitate 
 
OF FREQUENT COMMUNION. 243 
 
 to admit, that, provided we are really spiritual in our 
 character, and suitably affected in our existing- frames 
 of mind, and provided outward circumstances allow, 
 there is no way in which we can so acceptably or pro- 
 fitably remember Him, as in the sublime and endearing- 
 ordinance which he has instituted for this very pur- 
 pose ? 
 
 All things considered, then, there appears to be the 
 best reason for abiding by the doctrine which has been 
 already laid down on this subject, as accordant at once 
 with a comprehensive and accurate interpretation of 
 the Holy Scriptures, and with the sentiments and autho- 
 rity of those human standards, professedly derived from 
 Scripture, which are peculiarly entitled to our respect 
 and confidence. The doctrine, expressed in general 
 terms, is this : That the Lord's Supper is an ordinance 
 which ought to be frequently celebrated, and that it is 
 the duty of all those especially who bear rule, or pos- 
 sess influence in the Church, to use their endeavours 
 that soundness of views, blamelessness of life, and 
 spirituality of mind may be so greatly increased among- 
 her members as that its celebration may, wdth honour 
 to Christ, with advantage to the cause of his gospel, 
 and with special benefit to the souls of communicants 
 themselves, be made to approach, and at length per- 
 haps to reach, the same degree both of fervour and of 
 frequency that seems to have distinguished the most 
 favoured churches in the times of the Apostles. 
 
 There are many duties which even professing Chris- 
 tians are not at all times in a fit state properly to dis- 
 charg-e ; but, although in such circumstances it would 
 not be safe or justifiable to undertake them, this 
 state of things, if occasioned by themselves, will not 
 exempt them from the charge of guilt in having- to 
 leave these duties unperformed. The duty of celebrat- 
 ing- the Lord's Supper is one which ought to be ob- 
 served frequently ; because, not to speak of the benefits 
 which it was designed to convey to the souls of com- 
 
244 DUTY AND DESIRABLENESS 
 
 municants themselves, it was specially enjoined for the 
 purpose of expressing and recording their grateful 
 remembrance of Him by whom it was instituted ; and 
 also for the purpose of publicly proclaiming- and holding 
 up his death to the attentive consideration of the world, 
 as an event in v.hich its highest interests are involved, 
 — as the death of One who is " mighty to save," and 
 whose blood was shed for '• the healing of the nations." 
 This being the case, the obligation of its frequent ob-^ 
 servance is one which cannot be cancelled, even although 
 many of his professed disciples unhappily be in the 
 woiul condition in which they cannot partake of it, 
 without incurring the guilt of a still greater sin than 
 that of neglecting this holy ordinance. 
 
 If such is the duty of frequently celebrating and par- 
 taking of the Lord's Supper, then surely it is highly de- 
 sirahle that this duty v/ere generally and faithfully ob- 
 served, and that there were nothing, either in the charac- 
 ter or circumstances of professing Christians, to render its 
 frequent dispensation among them a matter of doubtful 
 expediency. So long as this is the case, religion must 
 1)6 admitted to be in a languishing condition ; all their 
 graces, but especially their faith and love, must be un- 
 derstood to be destitute of the vigour and the warmth 
 which they ought to possess. It would be unwarrant- 
 able, as well as uncharitable, to allege, that profcf;sing 
 Christians cannot, at any time, be in a state to partake 
 of this ordinance worthily and profitably, unless they 
 are in a state of such eminent spirituality of affection 
 as, from the impulse of this spirituality itself, to unite 
 in desiring to have the opportunity and the privilege 
 of its very frequent celebration. But, assuredly, we 
 may venture to affirm, that where such a desire does 
 not pervade the Christian community, or at least a 
 large proportion of its members, the celebration of the 
 ordinance, when it does take place, cannot be expected 
 to afford that high enjoyment, or to produce those 
 powerful effects, either immediate or subsequent, on 
 
OF FREQUENT COMMUNIOX. 245 
 
 the hearts, and consciences, and purpo?es of the com- 
 miiiiicants, which the Scriptures so distinctly lead us 
 to regard as the certain and hlessed results of real, and 
 spiritual, and intimate fellowship with Christ, in that 
 most solemn and affecting- of his ordinances. If the 
 frequent celebration of the Lord's Supper be in itself 
 a duty, although the precise degree of its frequency has 
 not been authoritatively declared, then ought it to be a 
 subject of the deepest regret if the majority, of professing 
 Christians in any community should be found in such 
 a state, as either not to desire, or not to be prepared 
 for the observance of that sacred duty. If the mere 
 cbligation of frequent communicating be admitted, then 
 this circumstance alone is sufficient to demonstrate its 
 ♦desirableness, and to fill every pious mind with regret, 
 that there should be so many of those on whom the 
 obligation lies, who either content themselves with ob- 
 serving it very seldom, or who, were they in their pre- 
 sent state of mind to partake of the ordinance more 
 frequently, would not only utterly fail to realize the 
 benefits which it was intended to impart, but subject 
 themselves to the heavy displeasure of that very Saviour 
 whom they, in so doing, were professing to honour. 
 
 This leads us, however, to remark, that the desira- 
 hleness of a frequent celebration of the Lord's Supper 
 appears, not merely from the consideration of its being 
 a dutij, but also from the consideration of its several 
 advantages, when the ordinance is celebrated in a 
 devout and acceptable manner. 
 
 1. Its frequent celebration is desirable, Z>^caz«5e zY Z5 
 . of advantage to the cause of Christ in the world. It is 
 to this, in part, that the apostle alludes when he says, 
 " As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye 
 do show " or publicly preach, " the Lord's death till he 
 come." As often as Christians publicly celebrate this 
 ordinance, they Jire acting, so the word implies, as eva7i- 
 t/elists for Christ. In this ordinance, by the people no 
 less than their ministers, he is " preached unto the 
 
246 DUTY AND DESIRABLENESS 
 
 Gentiles." His altar is openly erected in the midst of an 
 unbelieving world ; and he is there pointed to as " the 
 Lamb of God ivhich taketh away the sin of the world." 
 There are many who cannot read, or will not search those 
 Scriptures which testify of Him, and there are many more 
 who will not come to hear the word which is preached; 
 hut if their attention happen to be drawn to the public 
 celebration of the Supper, as in many instances it is 
 likely to be, when that celebration is frequent, they 
 can scarcely help being struck with the circumstance, 
 that so many of the most enlightened, irreproachable, 
 and benevolent persons in the community or neigh- 
 bourhood to which they belong, are to be found among 
 the followers of Christ. It was Himself who said, that 
 when he was lifted up on the cross, he would draw all 
 men to him ; and a similar effect was contemplated by 
 the institution and frequent celebration of this ordi- 
 nance. It is not only a standing memorial of his love 
 to his people, but a standing testimony through them 
 to the world, for the certainty of those glorious facts 
 on which the truth of his gospel rests. It connects the 
 events of his death and resurrection with the history of 
 every successive period in his Church. From the ac- 
 count which is given of it in the Scripture record itself, 
 it is impossible that it ever could have been introduced 
 at any other date than that of the event which it chiefly 
 commemorates; and it could not have been introduced 
 at that era, nor been continued afterwards, unless that 
 event had been known to have happened, and its 
 importance had been demonstrated by his resurrec- 
 tion from the dead. While comm.unicants, by the cele- 
 bration of this ordinance, are expressing their firm 
 belief in these momentous truths, they are perpetuating, 
 exhibiting, and strengthening their evidence to future 
 generations. They are declaring before the world, in 
 language the most significant, that they are staking — 
 fearlessly staking, the whole interests of their souls 
 through eternity, on the love, and power, and faithfulness 
 
OF FREQUENT COMMUNION. 247 
 
 of that crucified Redeemer whom they are commanded 
 thus to remember till he come ag-ain. This, therefore, is 
 a solemnity which is well calculated to make an impres- 
 sion on the minds of all around them — to be the means 
 of winning- souls to Him who alone "hath the words 
 of eternal life," and of convincing- them that, besides 
 that of Jesus, " there is none other name under heaven 
 given among- men, whereby we must be saved." In 
 this view of it, what can be of greater advantage than 
 the frequent celebration of the Lord's Supper? 
 
 2. The frequent celebration of this ordinance is 
 desirable, because it is of advantage to the Church, 
 and to all classes of the Christian community. This 
 ordinance forms one of the most striking- peculiarities 
 by which the Church is distinguished from the world, 
 out of which it has been gathered. Although, alas! 
 all who take part in its celebration have not really 
 ceased to be conformed to the world, yet they openly 
 profess to have renounced it for Christ ; and by joining 
 in such a solemnity they call on the world, and on one 
 another, to take notice of the part which they have 
 chosen, and the pledges into which they have entered. 
 This is calculated to keep them in remembrance of the 
 distinctions which they should be careful to maintain, 
 and to place them at all times under a certain degree, 
 at least, of wholesome restraint. It furnishes occa- 
 sion, as often as it recurs, for those solemn and special 
 inquiries which they are exhorted to make into the 
 state of their souls, as persons v*ho have publicly en- 
 tered into covenant with God, and who, at the same 
 time, are reminded of the peculiar relation in which 
 they stand to one another, as children of the same 
 Father, as servants of the same Master, and as joint 
 partakers of the same hopes and privileges. By the 
 frequent and solemn observance of this ordinance, the 
 Church enjoys the advantage of investing parents with 
 a larger share of influence and respectability in the 
 estimation of their children, and consequently with a 
 
24^8 DUTY AND DESIRABLENESS 
 
 larger power of awakening their interest and engaging 
 their aflPections on religious subjects. And while this 
 is the case, the former are made to feel a deeper re- 
 sponsi!)ility as to the conduct which they exhibit before 
 their children in private life, and a more solemn con- 
 cern that, as they grow up, they may be induced to take 
 on themselves those special obligations which, in the 
 sacrament of baptism, were early contracted and rati- 
 fied on their behalf- By the same means, too, the 
 Church enjoys the advantage of bringing into the most 
 sacred and endearing fellowship persons of different 
 ranks, conditions, and accomplishments — persons who, 
 on other subjects, may be of opposite views and inte- 
 rests. The nature of the fellowship which they enjoy 
 with each other, and with their common Lord, during 
 the celebration of his Supper, is such as is calcu- 
 lated, either to make them forget all their differences 
 on minor subjects, and all their diversities of earthly 
 condition, or to bring all these things to their proper 
 level in the estimation of the worshippers. In enter- 
 ing into the most solemn transactions vvith God, and 
 having their minds occupied with the devout contem- 
 plation of the things wbich belong to their everlasting 
 peace, they are not only doing that which tends to 
 uphold the unity of the faith, and to promote the 
 peace, and honour, and enlargement of the Church, 
 but to strengthen the hands, and encourage the hearts, 
 and advance the salvation, of all her various members. 
 
 3. But this suggests to us another and concluding 
 remark on this subject — That the frequent celebration 
 of the Lord's Supper is desirable, because it is of ad- 
 vantage especially to tlie commiLnicants themselves. — 
 We have already endeavoured, in a previous chapter, 
 to point out the several benelits which are received by 
 those who worthily partake of this holy ordinance ; 
 and these it is not necessary again to specify or illus- 
 trate. But, referring to what has there been advanced, 
 it is suflicient for us here to consider the higher mea- 
 
OF FREQUENT COMMUNION. 249 
 
 sure of those benefits that may be expected from a fre- 
 quent participation of the ordinance, on the supposi- 
 tion, of course, that it is partaken of in a worthy 
 manner, and in a tnily devotional spirit. On this 
 supposition, the frequent celebration of the Supper 
 will contribute to deepen their impressions of the Sa- 
 viour's death, and to hallow him more and more in 
 their remembrance. It will produce in them a corre- 
 sponding- impression as to the guilt, malignity, and 
 hatefulness of sin ; as to the accursedness of its domi- 
 nion, and the dreadfulness of its penalties. It will 
 thus contribute to the depth of their godly sorrow 
 — to the mortilying- of all their sinful affections — 
 to the increase and liveliness of all their graces. It 
 will prepare them for higher and higher degrees of 
 spiritual fellowship with Christ himself; and, in pro- 
 portion as they grow in their resemblance to him, and 
 in meetness for so exalted a fellowship, it will make 
 them more capable of relishing each other's society, 
 and of promoting the happiness in which they share. 
 It will make them feel that, if there be peace on earth, 
 it is that which is enjoyed by the friends and followers 
 of Christ; and that, if they would ultimately be made 
 partakers of the ineriable blessedness which is enjoyed 
 by those whose communion is already around the eter- 
 nal throne, there is nothing more important for them 
 than to be diligent in the exercise, and cultivation, of 
 all those affections to which such scope is afforded by 
 the sanctifying and elevated employments of the table 
 of the Lord. 
 
 In these employments they have fellowship not only 
 with Him and with one another, but, though more re- 
 motely, with all in every place who truly call on his 
 name. Nay, they form a connecting link between 
 heaven and earth. They already resemble, both in 
 character, employment, and privileges, those who have 
 entered into his rest. They can claim kindred with 
 Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, who are now in the 
 
250 DUTY OF FREQUENT COMMUNION. 
 
 kingdom of glory. If really partakers of a living faith, 
 they form part of that great spiritual community the 
 whole of which is united to Christ, and claims Him for 
 its Head — although one portion of it is still on earth 
 and the other enjoying his more immediate presence 
 in heaven. " Of him the whole family in heaven and 
 earth is named," (Eph. iii. 15.) The members of 
 each have been born of the same Spirit, and are united 
 to the same Saviour. They have all been made par- 
 takers of the same nature, and He has become a par- 
 taker of theirs, " for which cause he is not ashamed to 
 call them brethren." Tiiey are all alike the purchase 
 of his blood — all alike dependent on his life-giving 
 energy — all alike the trophies of his grace — and all alike 
 the heirs of an inheritance which is " incorruptible 
 and undedled, and that fadeth not away." As one with 
 Christ, they are also, in regard to one another, pos- 
 sessed of a oneness of soul and heart. The saints on 
 earth can say of Him whom the saints in heaven re- 
 joice in beholding and adoring — " We are the members 
 of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones," (Eph. v. 
 30.) They claim him as their " Advocate with the 
 Father." They are aware that '' there is joy in heaven 
 over every sinner that repenteth ;" and they are equally- 
 persuaded that that joy is renewed every time that, in 
 the spirit of penitence and love, they unite in doing 
 homage to Christ by the commemoration of his death. 
 They have not, as yet, any adequate conception of the 
 beatific exercises of "the saints in light;" but they are 
 sure that they are such as they themselves desire and 
 are partly prepared to enjoy. They have already, in 
 one sense, their "conversation in heaven." To conclude, 
 they feel that they can already join with the brethren 
 around the throne in singing the new song, and saying, 
 — " Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our 
 sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests 
 unto God and his Father ; to him be glory and domin- 
 ion for ever and ever. Amen," (Rev. i. 5, 6.) 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 251 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ON THE COMMUNION WHICH THE SAINTS SHALL HEREAFTER 
 HAVE WITH CHRIST IN THE KINGDOM OF GLORY. 
 
 The Scriptures distinctly give us to understand, that, 
 by celebratini^- the holy ordinance of the Supper, we are 
 required publicly to " show the Lord's death till he 
 come." In all his ordinances, but especially in this, he 
 has promised to be with us by his Spirit, although the 
 very object which we have in observing it — namely, 
 that of remembering him — plainly implies that he is 
 personally absent. The words which we have now 
 quoted amount to an intimation, not only that he will 
 come again, but that, when this glorious event takes 
 place, there will no longer be any need for keeping up 
 the celebration of this particular ordinance. We have 
 no reason, however, to suppose, that, because thi& 
 delightful ordinance, admirably adapted as it is to the 
 present circumstances of his believing people, is then 
 to be abolished — our communion with him is then also 
 to cease. It is, at present, the medium of the most 
 intimate and endearing fellowship that we can enjoy 
 with Him " whom having not seen we love ; and in 
 whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we 
 rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." But 
 its termination, when it shall take place, will be occa- 
 sioned by circumstances which will bring us into nearer, 
 and holier, and sublimer communion with him than any 
 which we can ever have previously experienced. 
 
 To this glorious and animating fact, many manifest 
 and pointed allusions are made in various passages of 
 
2a2 COMMUNION Vv'ITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 
 
 Scripture ; and what makes these aUusions the more 
 remarkable is the circumstance, that, while the sacred 
 ordinance at present prepared for the Church on earth, 
 is then to be superseded, the more intimate and spiritual 
 communion which the saints are then to enjoy v/ith 
 Him who has already gone before, to prepare a place for 
 them in the heavenly mansions, is still spoken of, in 
 most of the instances, under the similitude of a supper 
 or a fmst. " Corn and wine," or " bread and wine," 
 are, in Scripture, the well-known emblems of comfort 
 and gladness. It is " wine which cheereth God and 
 man," (Judges ix. 13.) It is "bread which streng-th- 
 eneth, and wine which maketh glad the heart of man," 
 (Psal. civ. 15.) And these are the emblems which are 
 employed, not only in the Lord's Supper, but which, 
 immediately after its institution, were introduced by 
 him in spealdng- of the future privileges and enjoyments 
 of his kingdom. " But I say unto you, I will not drink 
 henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when 
 I drink it new with you in the kingdom of the Father," 
 (Matt. xxvi. 29.) These words may be understood to 
 refer, in part, to the spiritual communion which he was 
 to have with his genuine disciples after the establish- 
 ment, and during the glorious periods, of the gospel 
 kingdom on earth. We find, however, from another 
 part of the sacred narrative, that, on the same occasion, 
 he made use of other expressions, which seem to show 
 that in both, he also, and perhaps especially, referred 
 to the more exalted communion to which they were to 
 be admitted in the kingdom of glory. " And I appoint 
 unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto 
 me'; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my king- 
 dom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of 
 Israel," (Luke xxii. 29, 30.) We find, in like manner, 
 that in the book of Revelation, he saith, by the Spirit, 
 " To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree 
 of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God," 
 (Rev. ii. 7, 17.) And again, " To him that overcometh 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 253 
 
 will I give to eat of the bidden manna." Now, althongh 
 Christ has eLsewhere called himself " the bread of life," 
 lid " the livir.f;- bread which came down from heaven," 
 John vi. 35, 51,) — and although, even in this present 
 t ate, all who believe in him are represented as partak- 
 n g- of that bread, — yet, from some of the expressions 
 which are used, it is manifest that the fellowship and 
 participation to which he here alludes, are such as are 
 especially to be enjoyed in the heavenly kingdom. 
 
 There are other two passages, however, from which 
 it is still more obvious that the fellowship of the saints 
 with Christ is not to cease v.ith the ordinances and pri- 
 vileges of the Church on earth. Having previously- 
 stated that the patriarclis, confessing " that they were 
 strangers and pilgrims on the earth," had died in the 
 faith, desire, and expectation of " a better country, that 
 is, an heavenly," — the inspired penman reminds those 
 among their descendants v.ho had been converted to 
 the belief of the gospel, that they had been called, and 
 might be regarded as having actually, because they 
 should ultimately, " come unto Mount Zion, and unto 
 the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem > 
 and to an innumerable com.pany of angels ; to the 
 general assembly and church of the first-born, which 
 are vrritten in heaven; and to God, the Judge of all; 
 and to the spirits of just men made perfect ; and to 
 Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant ; and to the 
 blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than 
 that of Abel," (Heb. xii. 22, 24.) This passage puts 
 it altogether beyond a doubt that, in the life which is 
 to come, those who really have had communion with 
 the Saviour in the blessed ordinances of his Church 
 belov.-, shall then be admitted to the privilege of a com- 
 munion v/ith the Godhead, and with the glorious and 
 glorified spirits around the throne, which will be inef- 
 fably more perfect and rapturous than any that they 
 could previously have enjoyed. The other passage to 
 which we alluded, is one in which the same celestial 
 
25^4 COMMUNION WITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 
 
 communion is presented to the contemplation of be- 
 lievers, in language not less intelligible and sublime 
 — and language which again connects the enjoyment 
 " of the saints in light " with the idea of a feast. 
 Toward the conclusion of the book of Rerelation, the 
 Apostle tells us that he " heard the voice of a great 
 multitude, as of the voice of many waters, and as the 
 voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia ! for the 
 Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and 
 rejoice, and give honour to him : for the marriage of 
 the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself 
 ready. And to her was granted that she should be 
 arrayed in fine linen, clean and white : for the fine 
 linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto 
 me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto 
 the marriage-supper of the Lamb," (Rev. xix. 6, 9.) 
 Now, it is readily admitted, that, in this passage, allu- 
 sion is made to the glory and felicity of the Church in 
 the latter days, when immense multitudes shall be 
 brought to the knowledge and belief of the truth ; — 
 when the Church, being greatly purified from error, 
 and divisions, and offences — from all antichristian cor- 
 ruption in doctrine, discipline, worship, and practice — 
 shall joyfully and devoutly remember the day of her 
 espousals to her Lord ; when he shall publicly own and 
 honour her as his beloved — the object of his special 
 delight ; and when, in her spiritual character and privi- 
 leges, she shall bear the nearest resemblance to the 
 society of heaven itself. All this, however, can be 
 regarded only as a prelude to that blessed state of hea- 
 venly communion which shall be introduced when the 
 Church, which the Saviour " has purchased with his 
 own blood," shall have its union with him gloriously 
 completed ; and when he shall " present it to Himself 
 a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any 
 such thing," (Eph. v. 27.) 
 
 These passages, then, and the considerations which 
 they naturally suggest, make it abundantly evident that 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 255 
 
 communion between Christ and bis people, far from 
 terminating- when the period shall arrive for doing- away 
 with the observance of the holy ordinance of the Sup- 
 per, shall then, on the contrary, become more intimate 
 and endearing, as well as more uninterrupted and sub- 
 lime, than during the most pure and prosperous times 
 of sublunary worship. It will be observed, as already 
 hinted, that in several, or indeed the g-reater number of 
 these passages, the fellowship with which the saints are 
 honoured, is represented and alluded to under emblems 
 which are fitted to convey the most lively idea of the 
 peculiar intimacy, cordiality, and fulness of those enjoy- 
 ments to which they shall be admitted by Him who is 
 the King of saints. He shall receive them into his 
 banqueting- house — his Father's house of many man- 
 sions. He who, at the institution of the Supper, had 
 permitted one of his disciples to lean on his sacred 
 bosom — shall then admit every one of them to still 
 more amazing- and beatific manifestations of his love. 
 He will manifest his glory and receive the adorations 
 of all the sons of God, by manifesting the concern which 
 he feels in the happiness of all whom he has redeemed by 
 his blood, justified by his righteousness, and sanctified 
 by his Spirit. He will exalt their felicity by making- 
 them sensible every moment that it is drawn immedi- 
 ately /rom himself. '' Sing, O daughter of Zion ; shout 
 O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O 
 daughter of Jerusalem. — In that day, it shall be said to 
 Jerusalem, Fear thou not : — The Lord thy God in the 
 midst of thee is mighty ; he will save, he will rejoice 
 over thee with joy ; he will rest in his love ; he will 
 joy over thee with singing-," (Zeph. iii. 14, 16, 17.) 
 
 But while we have thus such abundant evidence as 
 to the certainty, and the surpassing- blessedness, of that 
 communion which the ransomed of the Lord shall en- 
 joy with him in the kingdom of glory, it is as proper 
 as it must be edifying, for us to consider what the 
 Scriptures have revealed, in regard to the various kinds 
 
256 COiMMUNION WITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 
 
 and sources of enjoyment which that communion im- 
 
 phes. 
 
 1. It implies that the j/ shall be with Him— for ever 
 
 with Him. — The communion which saints have with 
 the Lord during the life which now is, is one which is 
 maintained through the medium of his word and other 
 ordinances ; and, in connexion with these, throug-h the 
 g-racious influences of his Holy Spirit. But that which 
 is to he afforded to them hereafter, is to be of a more 
 direct and personal description. They are not only- 
 appointed to be "presented faultless before the pre- 
 sence of his glory," (Jude 24,) but when he shall come 
 in his own glory, and " in the glory of his Father," 
 they shall appear with him, or " be caught up, to 
 raeet the Lord in the air: and so shall they ever be 
 with the Lord," (1 Thess. iv. 17.) In the memorable 
 discourse which he addressed to his disciples immedi- 
 ately after the institution of the Supper, he assured 
 them that, though he was about to leave them, he was 
 going to prepare a place for them, and that he would 
 come again, and receive them to himself, in order, said 
 he, " that where I am there ye may be also," (John 
 xiv. 3.) In the not less memorable intercessory prayer 
 which followed that discourse, he offered up a special 
 petition for their being at length put in possession of 
 the exalted privilege of which he had previously assured 
 them. " Father, I will that they also whom thou hast 
 given me, be with me where I am," (John, xvii. 24.) 
 The dying injunction which he gave to his disciples 
 was, " This do in remembrance of me ;" and the most 
 important entreaty that the penitent malefactor had to 
 address to Him whose grace had enabled him to glory 
 in his cross, was, " Lord, remember me when thou 
 comest into thy kingdom." From this it appears, that 
 a distinguishing feature in the connexion which at pre- 
 sent subsists between Christ and his people, is — the 
 cherished remembrance of each other. I'he answer, 
 however, which the penitent malefactor received;, was 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 257 
 
 such as not only to assure us that those who are 
 Christ's shall never, during- all the period of their con- 
 tinuance on the earth, cease to be objects of his gra- 
 cious and aifectionate remembrance, but to intimate to 
 us, that no sooner are they " absent from the body," 
 than they are " present with the Lord." " And Jesus 
 said unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou 
 be with me in paradise," (Luke xxxiii. 42, 43.) 
 
 The time is coming, then, when not only " the taber- 
 nacle of God shall be with men," in respect of ordi- 
 nances, and when, in this respect, " He shall dwell with 
 them, and they shall be his people," but when they 
 shall be received into a kingdom which has been " pre- 
 pared for them from the foundation of the world." 
 Then shall believers sit with Christ in his kingdom. 
 How ineffable the felicity of being thus with the Lord I 
 They have often felt the delight of meeting with him 
 in his ordinances ; of holding fellowship with him by 
 his word, meditation, and prayer ; and they have often 
 lamented the privation of being shut out from the pri- 
 vileges of ordinary worship, or longed for the return of 
 their solemn seasons, even ''as the hart panteth after the 
 water brooks." Even in regard to such scenes and op- 
 portunities of communion as these, they have often been 
 ready to exclaim, with the most ardent of the three 
 disciples on the mount of transfiguration, " Master, it 
 is good for us to be here !" or with the awe-struck and 
 adoring patriarch after the glorious vision which he 
 had beheld at Bethel, " This is none other but the 
 house of God, and this is the gate of heaven," (Gen. 
 xxviii. 17.) But if such were the feelings produced in 
 the soul even by these mere glimpses of the Divine 
 glory, so to speak, and by these partial and transient 
 manifestations of the Divine presence, how unspeakably- 
 overpowering must be the feelings of wonder and de- 
 h'ght which the saints in heaven shall experience in 
 the uninterrupted fellowship of Him in whom "dwelleth 
 all the fulness of the Godhead bodily I" (Col. ii. 9.) 
 B 
 
258 COMMUNION WITH CIIPJST HEREAFTER.. 
 
 2. This leads us to observe, in the next place, that 
 the communion which the saints shall have with Christ 
 in heaven, implies, not only that they shall be with him 
 and dwell with him, but that they shall behold, and 
 partake of\ his glory. This is the very object which 
 he mentioned as that which he had in view when he 
 prayed the Father that they might be with him. " I 
 desire,'* said he, " that they also may be with me where 
 I am ; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast 
 given me." This cannot be understood in reference to 
 the glory of his divine essence. That essence dwells in 
 light vv'hich is inaccessible and full of glory. When 
 Moses besought Jehovah to shov/ him his glory, he 
 received for answer, " Thou canst not see my face : 
 for there shall no man see me and live." The Lord, 
 however, said to him at the same time, " I will make 
 all my goodness pass before thee, and I v/ill proclaim 
 the name of the Lord before thee,' (Exod. xxxiii. IS- 
 20.) This accordingly was done, when " the Lord 
 passed by before him, and proclaimed. The Lord, the 
 Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and 
 abundant in goodness and truth ; keeping mercy for 
 thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and 
 sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty," (Exod. 
 xxxiv. 6, 7.) From the nature of this proclamation, 
 it would appear, that the only manifestation of the 
 divine glory which the saints could endure, or which 
 would be really conducive to their happiness, is one 
 which lirings fully and affectingly into view all those 
 moral attributes and perfections of the Godhead, which 
 have been put forth into harmonious operation in the 
 adorable work of redemption, — together, however, with 
 those transcendent honours which have been bestowed 
 on Christ, in the character of Redeemer. It is to this 
 that the Apostle alludes, when he speaks of " the 
 sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow," 
 .(1 Pet. i. 1 1, 21,) and of God's having raised him up 
 from the dead and given hira glory. The disciples 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 259 
 
 could not support the brightness of his glory which 
 burst on them when he was transfigured before them. 
 But the saints in heaven have themselves been made 
 saints in light, and, like Moses and Elias, shall appear 
 with Him in his glory. They shall be enabled, not only 
 to see and to sustain, but to enjoy all that shall be 
 unfolded to them of its excellent brightness. Nay, they 
 shall not only see it, but shall partake of it, They are 
 all of them, as well as the Apostle, " partakers of the 
 glory that shall be revealed," (1 Pet. v. 1.) Having, in 
 some sense, been " crucified with Christ," they shall 
 '^ be also glorified together." As it is only through 
 Him that they shall have been " prepared " and " brought 
 unto glory," so shall He then " be glorified in his saints." 
 They shall then " see face to face ; and know even as 
 also they are known," (1 Cor. xiii. 12.) They shall 
 not only behold the homage M-hich is paid to him by 
 angels and archangels, but shall feel that they them- 
 selves are no longer, in regard to their sufferings, but 
 in regard to their honour and their felicity, made " a 
 spectacle to angels." They shall be conscious that the 
 perfections of the Godhead have, in their case, been, 
 displayed in a manner more illustrious than in the case 
 ofanyotherorder of hisintelligent creatures — that theirs 
 is the only nature v/hich he has condescended to take 
 into personal union with his ov/n ; that " the Church," 
 consisting of those whom he has redeemed, constitutes 
 as it were " his body, the fulness of Him that filleth 
 all in all ;" and that one of the subiiraest things that 
 can now be known of God is — " the riches of the glory 
 of his inheritance in the saints," (Eph. i. 18-23.) 
 
 3. But this suggests to us another particular implied 
 in the communion which the saints shall have with 
 Christ in heaven. They shall he like Him — perfectly 
 conformed to his image. This is represented as neces- 
 sarily connected with their beholding his glory, or seeing 
 him as he is. It is partly the cause, and partly the 
 effect, of thus beholding him. Without being made, in 
 
260 COMMUNION WITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 
 
 some sense, partakers of his nature, it would be as 
 impossible for them to form any just conception of it, 
 as it is for one of the lower animals to form any concep- 
 tion of the peculiar faculties and affections of the nature 
 of man. All intelligent creatures, even those who, as 
 his enemies, are excluded from his presence, may be 
 made to see him, and compelled to look — with terror to 
 look, on some of the awful displays of his power, his 
 wisdom, and his justice; but this is not to see him as 
 he is. In order to see him as he is, he must be seen as 
 saints alone can see him. None but they, for instance, 
 can " be able to comprehend what is the breadth, and 
 length, and depth, and height, and to know the love 
 of Christ, which passeth knowledge," (Eph. iii. 18, 19.) 
 But then, while none can really, in the true and most 
 comprehensive sense, see, ov enjoy ^ Christ,without having 
 been made, in some degree, like him, it is not less 
 certain, on the other hand, that the sight of him, and 
 such a sight of him as that which is obtained on enter- 
 ing into the presence of his glory, is the illustrious 
 means, if one may so speak, by which the saints are 
 perfected in his likeness. 
 
 They are made like him, both in their bodies and in 
 their souls. Having been " planted together in the 
 likeness of his death, they shall also be in the likeness 
 of his resurrection," (Rom. vi. 3.) The apostle ex- 
 pressly declares that "our Saviour, the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, shall," at his coming, " change our vile body, 
 that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body," 
 (Philip, iii. 21.) It was once a weak, vile, natural, and 
 corruptible body ; it shall then be clothed with power,, 
 and constituted a glorious, spiritual, and incorruptible 
 body. It shall never again be invaded with sickness 
 or disease ; and its members shall never again be made 
 *' the instruments of unrighteousness unto sin." The 
 busy brain shall never again be employed in the devis- 
 ing of iniquity. The heart shall never again be elated 
 with vanity, inflamed with hatred, or maddened with 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 261 
 
 revenge. The eye shall never ag-ain be full of lust, or 
 pride, or covetousness. The tong'ue shall never ag-ain 
 be employed in the lang-uage of profaneness, in the 
 practice of deceit, in the circulation of slander, or in the 
 service of strife and bitterness. The hands shall never 
 ag-ain be eng-aged in dishonesty or violence. The feet 
 shall never again be swift to shed blood, or to go on 
 the errands of wickedness. Thoroughly conformed, 
 however, as the bodies of the saints shall be to the glo- 
 rious body of the Saviour, that conformity will not be 
 more perfect than the conformity of their souls to his 
 moral image. So decided was the change which took 
 place at the time of their being born of his Spirit, that 
 they were, even then, constituted new creatures. Still, 
 that change was only the commencement of a work 
 which, though constantly in progress, shall not be per- 
 fected " until the day of Jesus Christ." In regard to 
 that period, indeed, believers may say with the apostle, 
 " But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the 
 glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, 
 from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord," 
 (2Cor.iii.l8.) That, indeed, isamostaraazingandblessed 
 change. Delivered as the hearts of believers must already 
 be, from that *' enmity against God" by which they were 
 originally held in possession, there is still, during the 
 whole of their present intercourse with the world, so 
 much of indwelling sin and of inherent corruption, that 
 a farther and more thorough change is necessary to 
 prepare them for that high and heavenly communion, 
 with the Saviour, into which they are at last to be 
 introduced. And such a change shall assuredly be 
 accomplished. The time shall come when not a vain 
 thought, a vile imagination, an evil purpose, nor an 
 unholy desire, shall lodge within them ; when God 
 shall be in all their thoughts ; and when, according to 
 their own nature, they shall be holy as He was holy, 
 and perfect as Fie was perfect ! Then, indeed, shall 
 they " behold his face in righteousness." Then, in- 
 
262 COMMUNION WITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 
 
 deed, shall they awake to " see," and to " be satisfied 
 with his likeness," (Psal. xvii. 15;) for then shall his 
 likeness be perfected in their souls. Then shall they 
 be the fit olijects of the Saviour's complacency and 
 intimate friendship. Then shall He dwell in their affec- 
 tions, and they in his. Then shall he " present them 
 holy, and unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight." 
 Then, indeed, shall he have praise in his work, and 
 rejoice in saying to the Eternal Father, " Behold I 
 and the children whom God hath given me," (Heb. 
 ii. 13.) 
 
 4. The communion which the saints have with 
 Christ in heaven, implies that their joy shall he full. 
 The necessity of this will be apparent from the parti- 
 culars which have already been illustrated. It has, how- 
 ever, been made the subject of distinct and special de- 
 claration in the word of God. " Let the children of 
 Zion be joyful in their king, (Psal. cxlix. 2 ;) " In thy 
 presence is fulness of joy ; at thy right hand there are 
 pleasures for evermore," (Psal. xvi. 1 1.) Both his joy 
 in them and their joy in Kim shall be full. There shall 
 he a fulness not only in the joy which he possessed in 
 seeing and in having made them what they are, but in 
 the joy which he has imparted to them — all the springs 
 of which they shall feel to be continually in Him who 
 is also the fountain of life. Even during the life of 
 faith, which they spent on earth, their "joy was un- 
 speakable and full of glory" — that is, full of the hopes 
 of what it remained for their state of communion v^ith 
 him in glor}^, completely to realize. In his presence 
 and fellowship, they shall be in the full possession ai 
 all those joys, the mere prospect of which was sufficient 
 to cheer and to comfort them, amidst the deepest affiic- 
 tions and the most painful disappointments of their 
 earthly pilgrimage. The realities of their glorified state 
 shall not only equal, but greatly transcend all their ex- 
 pectations — being such, indeed, as even imagination 
 itself had not been able to conceive. It may have been 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 2G3 
 
 their lot that, through much tribuhition, they have en- 
 tered into the kingdom ; but, amidst the felicities of 
 that kingdom, all the tribulation which they had pre- 
 viously endured, shall either be entirely foi-gotten, or 
 shall be remembered only to enhance the " enjoyments 
 which have at length become their everlasting portion." 
 Yes ; this is truly its character. Their previous enjoy- 
 ments, even when they seemed to be most complete in 
 their measure, were still most uncertain in their dura- 
 tion. When the cup of earthly pleasure was full to 
 overflowing, it was always in danger of being, in a 
 moment, dashed from their lips. When the tide of 
 prosperity appeared to have become not only full but 
 stationary, it was, even then, about to subside, although 
 for a few moments its ebbing- might not be perceptible-. 
 But one grand recommendation of the enjoyments into 
 which they shall be introduced in the heavenly world-, 
 arises from the blessed assurance that these shall be 
 inexhaustilile and uninterrupted. They shall not only 
 drink of that which is " living- water," (Isaiah xlviii. 18,) 
 hut of water v.hich forms a pure and ceaseless river — 
 a river "proceeding out of the throne of God and ot 
 the Lamb," (Rev. xxii. 1.) 
 
 5. The communion which the saints have with 
 Christ in heaven, implies that they shallfor ever reign 
 with Him. " If vv'e suffer with him," says the apostle, 
 <' we shall also reign with him," (2 Tim. ii. 12.) In 
 like manner, it is declared by the Saviour himself — 
 " Verily, I say unto you. That ye which have followed 
 me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit 
 in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve 
 thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel," (Matt. xix. 
 28.) This langutjge, it is true, was immediately ad- 
 dressed to his twelve Apostles, and it may signify, in 
 part, that they should be specially concerned in passing 
 judgment on those tribes who had first enjoyed the 
 benefit of their ministry, and had notwithstanding 
 been guilty of rejecting the gospel which they preached. 
 
264 COMMUNION WITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 
 
 The Apostle Paul, however, when addressing- himself 
 to a body of ordinary Christians, says, " Do ye not 
 know that the saints shall judge the world ?" — " Know 
 ye not that we shall judge the angels ?" (1 Cor. vi. 2, 
 3.) From all this it appears, that the saints shall be 
 specially honoured and dignified by being associated 
 with Christ in the judgment of the world — in the judg- 
 ment, not only of ungodly men, but also of rebellious 
 angels. Not that all judgment has not been really 
 committed to the Son ; but such is the intimate union 
 and fellowship between the saints, and Him who, in 
 their nature, is to occupy the throne of judgment, that, 
 even in this august and solemn work, they are account- 
 ed as 07ie ivith Him. Accordingly, we find it expressly 
 declared by the Redeemer himself, on a very solemn 
 occasion, even after he had entered into the kingdom 
 of glory, and with reference, not to his Apostles alone, 
 but with reference to every true believer, " To him 
 that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my 
 throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with 
 my Father in his throne," (Rev. iii. 21.) What in- 
 conceivable honour and felicity must the saints possess, 
 in being thus associated with the Son of God in exer- 
 cising some of the highest functions of his sovereignty, 
 and in vindicating and manifesting at once the right- 
 eousness and the grace of Jehovah, before an assem- 
 bled universe ! 
 
 6. But to conclude. The communion which the 
 saints have with Christ in heaven implies that they 
 shall he unceasingly engaged iti adoring and serving 
 Him. Although partakers of his glory, and exalted to 
 share the honours and prerogatives of his throne, they 
 can never cease to be his adoring worshippers and de- 
 voted servants. During their trials and sufferings on 
 earth, angels were made to minister to them as heirs 
 of salvation ; but when they shall have attained to this 
 glorious inheritance, although they shall appear in a 
 nearer relation to Christ than do the angels, they shall 
 
COMMUNION WITH CHRIST HEREAFTER. 265 
 
 not be less ready to " do his commandments, hearken- 
 ing to the voice of his word," (Psal. civ. 20.) They 
 have been made " kings and priests unto God," but 
 they are not less ready than the angels of God to 
 *' worship Him." The whole change which they have 
 undergone in their souls, and spirits, and bodies, was 
 intended for the very purpose of fitting and disposing 
 them for the service of Him after whose image they 
 have been gloriously renewed. That mighty and glo- 
 rious change would have failed to confer on them any 
 adequate happiness, if it had left them without an op- 
 portunity of demonstrating their gratitude and love by 
 acts of obedience. Their fellowship with him must be 
 of the most exquisite and endearing nature. They 
 must be nearer to him, and far worthier of his com- 
 placency than when, soon after the first dispensation 
 of his Supper, he said to the disciples.. " Henceforth I 
 call you not servants, but I have called you friends ;" 
 and yet their very nearness and dearness to him must 
 make it the highest of their enjoyments to " do his 
 pleasure." While they were yet on earth, they were 
 constrained and delighted to say, " Whether we live, 
 we live unto the Lord ; and whether we die, we die 
 unto the Lord : whether we live therefore, or die, we 
 are the Lord's," (Rom. xiv. 8.) Death, instead of 
 making any change, in this respect, on their sentiments 
 and feelings, shall only enlarge both their desires, their 
 capacities, and their opportunities of showing, by their 
 devotedness to his will, how truly, and peculiarly, and 
 exclusively they are his. " This honour have all his 
 saints," (Psal. cxlix. 9.) In this consists both their 
 nearest fellowship and their highest felicity. " There- 
 fore they are before the throne of God, and serve him 
 day and night in his temple : and He that sitteth on the 
 throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger 
 no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall the 
 6un light on them, nor any heat ; for the Lamb which 
 
266 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall 
 lead them unto living fountains of waters : and God 
 shall wipe away all tears from their eyes," (Rev. vii. 
 15-17.) 
 
 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Such is a faint view of that heavenly communion 
 by which the ordinance of the Lord's Supper is at last 
 to be superseded. We need neither wonder nor regret, 
 that, " when that which is perfect is come, then that 
 which is in part shall be done away," (1 Cor. xiiic 10.) 
 It is one of the noblest uses, and one of the highest 
 honours, of this delightful and holy ordinance, that, by 
 bringing the people of God into the most intimate and 
 endearing, though spiritual, fellowship with their ab- 
 sent Lord, and, by contributing to render them more 
 thoroughly conformable to his blessed image, its de- 
 vout and frequent celebration is admirably calculated to 
 prepare them for the fullest glories and the most eleva- 
 ted enjoyments of that heat^fic communion. The one 
 is at once an emblem, and, to believers, an earnest of 
 the other. By the benefits and enjoyments which the 
 Lord's Supper itself affords, and by the still higher 
 enjoyments of which, to the worthy communicant, it 
 becomes the pledge, it serves to cheer and refresh the 
 mind under all the sorrows and trials of this present 
 life, to hallow and enhance all its comforts, and to im- 
 part to it fresh animation and vigour for the discharge 
 of every duty. In proportion as the disciples of Christ 
 are prepared to sit down and partake of the endearing 
 ordinance in which they are called upon to remember 
 and celebrate his death, with all the inestimable bene- 
 lits which he thus has purchased for them — they are 
 
CONXLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 2G7 
 
 also prepared for sitting clown \vith him at the mar- 
 riage-supper of the Lamb, and for enjoying- all the 
 blessedness of his fellowship in the kingdom of glory. 
 
 Whether, then, they consider their present improve- 
 ment and comfort, or their future exaltation and hap- 
 piness, it becomes them to use the greatest watchful- 
 ness and diligence in preparing, as often as a convenient 
 opportunity is afforded them, to engage in the solemn 
 ordinance of the Supper. In this ordinance they are 
 furnished afresh with the means of receiving more en- 
 larged and affecting views of their own sinfulness and 
 lielplessness — of the infinite holiness, justice, g-oodness, 
 and truth of that God with whom they have to do — 
 of the suitableness, ability, and readiness of Jesus Christ 
 to save those to the uttermost who come unto God by 
 Him — of the ample provisions and absolute security of 
 that well-ordered covenant of which Christ is the Me- 
 diator — of the richness, abundance, and entire freeness 
 of those sources of spiritual nourishment and consolation, 
 ■which are opened up to them through his atonement 
 and intercession — of the blessed intimacy of that union 
 ■which is formed between him and the souls of those 
 ■who receive and rest on him for salvation — of the un- 
 reservedness with which they surrender themselves to 
 liis authority, and devote themselves to his service — 
 of the cordiality of that friendship, and the precious- 
 ness of that harmony which should be maintained among- 
 all who are his disciples — of the honour and felicity of 
 spiritual fellowship with him while they are still on 
 earth — and of the glorious prospect of far higher honour 
 and felicity, when he shall come again and receive them 
 into the sensible glories and the seraphic communion 
 of the New Jerusalem, the city of the living God I 
 Fitted, as the ordinance of the Supper is, to open up to 
 them such sublime and afiecting- views as these, it can- 
 not fail to be regarded with the greatest interest, and 
 to be approached with the utmost solemnity, by all who 
 Lave a just idea of its nature, design, and obligation, 
 
263 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 and of the privileg-e of ranking- among- the disciples of 
 Christ. 
 
 Whatever be their ordinary condition in life, and 
 whatever the particular circunnstances in which at any- 
 time they happen to be placed, there is something- in 
 this blessed ordinance to render it a refreshment to the 
 souls of those who truly delight to remember Him who 
 died for them and rose again. If they are possessed 
 of wealth, their meeting- at the same table with the 
 poorest of saints, sheds a hallowing lustre over their 
 affluence, while they are affectionately reminded who 
 it is that has bestowed it. If they belong- to the 
 humbler walks of society, or are even sunk in the 
 deepest poverty, it is a comfort to find themselves wel- 
 comed as g-uests at the table of the Lord, and graciously 
 entertained as heirs of immortality. If they are in 
 prosperity, this circumstance will serve, when they 
 encompass God's altar, to impart additional fervour to 
 the oblations of their gratitude. If they are labouring- 
 under adversity, this will teach them the more entirely 
 to depend on that Saviour who had such confidence in 
 the resources of his Godhead, even when despised and 
 rejected of men, as to institute that very ordinance in 
 which he knew that his people should yet rejoice in re- 
 membering him. If events have happened to them, or 
 to their friends, which have gladdened their hearts, or led 
 them to feel toward each other a peculiar enlargement of 
 affection, they will delig-ht to pour out their hearts 
 before God, who has dealt so bountifully with them, 
 and to reflect, that the more entirely the heart of any 
 one of them is given to Him, the more precious must 
 that individual be to all the friends around him. If 
 they have been visited with personal or domestic afflic- 
 tion — if they have been overtaken with sore and sudden 
 bereavements, so that their hearts are overwhelmed 
 with grief on account of those who are not — still they 
 find, that this endearing ordinance has a peculiar power 
 of assuaging or mitigating- their sorrows, by reminding- 
 
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 269 
 
 them of Hira who, in the depth of his own agonies, was 
 not unmindful of the feelings of his friends; wlio has 
 bequeathed to them the assurance that he will not leave 
 them comfortless ; and who has taught them that, in 
 regard to those who sleep in Jesus, it becomes them 
 not to sorrow as others who have no hope. 
 
 But if, instead of the outward circumstances which 
 often affect the comfort of Christ's genuine disciples, 
 we direct our attention to those which are connected 
 with their spiritual state and their religious experience, 
 we shall still find how precious to them is the privilege 
 of partaking in the ordinance of the Supper. If, in their 
 intercourse with the world, they should unhappily be- 
 come less alive to the evil of sin, and less attentive to 
 the keeping of their hearts with all diligence, it is there 
 that they may have the impression renewed and deep- 
 ened. If, through the infirmities of their nature, the 
 influence of remaining corruption, or the entanglements 
 of worldly affairs and interests, they have been drawn 
 into sin, or have not been sufficiently on their guard 
 against the very appearance of evil — it is the approach 
 or the recurrence of this sacred solemnity that is ad- 
 mirably fitted to make them see the importance of 
 being daily renewed unto repentance. If they have 
 been wavering, or in danger of wavering, under the in- 
 fluence of temptation, it is there that they are furnish- 
 ed with a fresh opportunity of staying themselves on 
 Christ. If they have been languishing in their graces, 
 remiss in their duties, and unfruitful in their labours, 
 it is there that they may again seek and find a season 
 of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. If they 
 are bowed down under the consciousness of their multi- 
 plied sins, and their very souls melted, as it were, with 
 the poignancy of godly sorrow, it is there that they are so 
 affectingly reminded that He who "hath borne our griefs, 
 and carriedour sorrows," still waits tobe gracious. If they 
 are labouring under depression of s])irits, from the idea, 
 or the painful experience, that the Lord has hid from 
 
'270 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 them the light of his countenance, still it is there that 
 they may again be enabled to exclaim, " We shall yet 
 praise Him, who is the health of our countenance and 
 our God." Or, has God greatly multiplied and enriched 
 all their comforts, making their cup to run over? — has 
 he singularly increased and enlivened all their graces, 
 and filled them with gladness and singleness of heart? — 
 it is for these very reasons that they experience an 
 enlarged desire for the good things of his house, even 
 of his holy temple, while they there offer the sacrifice 
 of thanksgiving, and call on the name of the Lord. In 
 conclusion, it is there, more than in any other situation, 
 that they learn to triumph over the fear and the power 
 of death ; for it is there that they contemplate, and 
 show forth the death of Him who died that they might 
 iive — who, by this very memorial of his death, has 
 furnished to them and to the world one of the most 
 conclusive evidences of his resurrection from the dead 
 — who, even in the observance of this memorial, during 
 the whole period of his absence, is reminding them of 
 the continuance of his love and the certainty of his 
 return — and who, at the glorious era of his second 
 coming, shall acknowledge and rejoice over them as 
 partakers, with Himself, in all the honour and felicity 
 of an endless life ! 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 REN, A. M., ^Minister of the North Church, Greenock. 
 2 vols. 12mo. 10s. cloth. 
 
 [Each Volume is complete in itself, and may be had 
 separately, price 5s.] 
 " We call the attention of ministers and elders to the high 
 claims which these Annals present to their liberal patronage. 
 We can assure them that they will derive from their peru- 
 sal much curious and valuable information. They "will, be- 
 sides, be led, as it were, behind the scenes, while they will 
 feel themselves placed, at the same time, in the midst of suc- 
 cessive Assemblies, hearing the debates, and conversing with 
 the speakers." — Christian Instructor. 
 
 JOHN JOHNSTONE, HUNTER SQUARE, EDINBURGH. 
 
CHURCH HISTORY. 
 
 MANNERS AND TRIALS OF THE PRIMI- 
 TIVE CHRISTIANS. By the Rev. Robert Jamieson, 
 Minister of Currie. Second Edition, fcap. 8vo. 5s. cloth. 
 
 " Mr Jamieson has consulted the authorities necessary to 
 have enabled him to perform his task in an efficient way, and 
 his work is one well calculated for a course as popular as the 
 ' Pilgrim's Progress.' The extraordinary nature of the facts, 
 and the extent and variety of the matter, cannot fail to make 
 a deep impression on the minds of every class of readers, and 
 his volume a fireside and family favourite." — Literary Gazette. 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS; carefully 
 
 Compiled from authentic sources, and their Customs Illus- 
 trated from Modern Travels. With Engravings. By the 
 late William Brown, D. D., Minister of Eskdalemuir. 
 Second Edition, 2 vols. 8vo. 12s. cloth. 
 
 " \Mioever cashes to understand the connection between 
 the Old and New Testament, or, in other words, to realize 
 the Jewish Economy as the li^'ing harbinger of the Gospel 
 Dispensation, will do well to study Dr Brown's learned and 
 elaborate work. It is, in one word, an encyclopaedia of 
 Jewish antiquities, which will not, with propriety, admit 
 either of enlargement or diminution." — Christian Repository. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE COVENANTERS IN 
 
 SCOTLAND. By William Si me, Esq., Author of the 
 "Histories of the Reformation," "Christian Church," 
 " Waldenses." Dedicated, by permission, to the Rev. Dr 
 M'Crie. 2 vols. 18mo. 7s. cloth. 
 
 " We cordially recommend this work, expressing the hope 
 that parents will put it into the hands of their children, that 
 the ministers of the Presbyterian Churches will urge an 
 acquaintance with it upon the candidates for admission to 
 membership, and that the friends of pure and undefiled 
 religion and civil liberty generally, will promote its circu- 
 lation." — The Covenanter. 
 
 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. By the late George Hill, 
 D.D., Principal of St Marj-'s College, St Andrews. With 
 Appendix and Notes. By Alexander Hill, D.D., 
 Professor of Divinity in the University of Glasgow. Third 
 Edition, 12mo. 3s. ^^. cloth. 
 
 JOHN JOHNSTONE, HUNTBR SQUARE, EDINBCRGH. 
 
MISSIONS. 
 
 INDIA AND INDIA MISSIONS; including 
 
 Sketches of the Gigantic System of Hinduism, both in 
 
 Theory and Practice ; also, Notices of some of the Principal 
 
 Agencies employed in conducting the process of Indian 
 
 Evangelization, &c. By Alexakdeb Duff, D.D., Church 
 
 of Scotland Mission, Calcutta. Second Edition, 12s. cloth. 
 
 " * India and India Missions ' will take a high place in 
 
 the Christian Literature, not merely of the day but of the 
 
 age, and gi-eatly extend the missionary spirit and zeal of the 
 
 country." — Guardian. 
 
 By the same Author. 
 
 I. MISSIONS THE CHIEF END OF THE CHRISTIAN 
 CHURCH ; also, the Qualifications, Duties, and Trials of 
 an Indian Missionary. Fourth Edition, fcap, 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 " We recommend it to universal perusal. It is saying little 
 
 to say that it is fii'st-rate, for nothing more enlightened, ar- 
 dent, eloquent, heart-stirring, can be produced. We entreat 
 every minister and elder of the Church, as well as Christians 
 generally, to make a point of possessing themselves of a 
 copy." — Scottish Guardian. 
 
 II. BOMBAY IN APRIL 1840, with Special Reference to 
 the Church of Scotland's Mission there. 8vo. 6d. 
 
 III. FEMALE EDUCATION IN INDIA ; being the Sub- 
 stance of an Address delivered at the First Annual Meeting 
 of the Scottish Ladies' Association, in connection with the 
 Church of Scotland, for the Promotion of Female Education 
 in India. Second Edition, Svo. 6d. 
 
 IV. FAREWELL ADDRESS on the Subject of the Church 
 of Scotland's India Mission ; delivered before the General 
 Assembly of the Church, May 1839. Third Edition, 
 Svo. Is. 
 
 V. NEW ERA OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND 
 ENGLISH LITERATURE in INDIA ; or, an Exposition 
 of the late Governor-General of India's last Act, relative 
 to the Promotion of European Literature and Science, 
 through the medium of the English Language, amongst 
 the Natives of that Populous and Extensive Province of 
 the British Empire. Svo. 8d. 
 
 VI. THE MUTUAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 
 OF PASTOR AND PEOPLE ; a Sermon, preached on 
 Sabbath, September 4, 1836, in the South Parish Church, 
 Aberdeen. Second Edition, Svo. Is. 
 
 JOHN JOHNSTONE, HUNTER SQUARE, EDINBURGH. 
 
CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 
 
 DR duff's works — Continued. 
 
 VII. The CHURCH of SCOTLAND'S INDIA MISSION ; 
 or, a Brief Exposition of the Principles on which that 
 Tklissiou has been conducted in Calcutta. Second Edition, 
 8vo. 6d. 
 
 VIII. A VINDICATION OF THE CHURCH OF SCOT- 
 LAND'S INDIA MISSIONS. Second Edition, 8vo. 6d. 
 
 IX. EXTRACT OF A LETTER RESPECTING THE 
 WRECK OF THE LADY HOLLAND, East Indiaman, 
 in which Vessel the Rev. Dr Duff was a Passenger. 8vo. 6d. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE EXTENSION 
 
 AND PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SCOTTISH 
 CHURCH IN INDIA, and on the Mission of the Church 
 of Scotland in that country. By the Rev. Joseph Lau- 
 rie, D.D., Senior Chaplain of St Andrew's Church, Bom- 
 bay. 8vo. Is. 
 
 GKRISTZAN EVIDENCES. 
 
 MESSIAH THE PRINCE ; or, The Mediatorial 
 
 Dominion of Jesus Christ. By the Rev. William Sym- 
 ington, D.D., Glasgow. Second Edition, foolscap Svo. 
 5s. cloth. 
 
 " The characteristics of this work are clearness of state- 
 ment, methodical distinctness of arrangement, solidity of ar- 
 gument -without show, and a remarkable tact in appropriate 
 scriptural quotation and reference." — Christian Instructor. 
 
 A DEMONSTRATION OF THE TRUE AND 
 
 ETERNAL DIVINITY of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. 
 By DioNYSius Van de Wynpersse, D.D., late Professor 
 of Philosophy, Mathematics, and Astronomy at Leyden. 
 Second Edition, translated from the Dutch ; containing 
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 William L. Alexander, A.M. ISmo. 2s. 6d. cloth. 
 " Among the works (on the person of Christ) which are 
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 and learning, to sound judgment, fair reasoning, and Chris- 
 tian temper, a high place is due to Dr Van Wynpersse's 
 Essay on the Divinity of Jesus Christ." — Pye Smith's Script. 
 Test.y vol. i. p. 4. 
 
 JOHN JOHNSTONE, HUNTER SQUARE, EDINBUEGH. 
 
8 CHRISTIAN EVlDExNCES. 
 
 A SHORT AND EASY METHOD WITH THE 
 
 DEISTS, wherein the Certainty of the Christian Religion 
 is Demonstrated, by Infallible Proofs, from Four Rules. 
 By the Rev. Charles Leslie, A.M. A New Edition, 
 with an Introductory Essay by David Russell, D.D., 
 Dundee. 18mo. 2s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 A BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE EVIDENCES 
 
 OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. By Archibald 
 Alexander,D.D., Professor of Theologyin the Theological 
 Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, United States, A.M. 
 r2nio. Is. cloth. 
 
 " The small volume which bears the above title, may be 
 considered as valuable a treatise on this all-important topic, 
 as has issued from the press for many years ; and we may 
 venture to assert, that men who have hitherto felt a total 
 indifference on the subject of religion, by reading this little 
 Essay with attention, must irresistibly feel a degree of con- 
 viction of its divine tiiith which he will find difficult to shake 
 off." — Glasgow Courier. 
 
 THE NATURE, REALITY, AND EFFI- 
 CACY OF THE ATONEMENT. By the Rev. Daniel 
 Dewar, D.D., Principal of Marischal College and Univer- 
 sity, Aberdeen. Second Edition, 12mo. 7s. 6d. boards. 
 " This Volume contains a masterly defence of the orthodox 
 faith on this momentous subject. We can with confidence 
 recommend it to Students of Divinity, to perplexed inquirers, 
 and to private Christians in general, as a candid, elaborate, 
 and spirited defence of the tmth as it is in Jesus." — Evan- 
 gelical Magazine. 
 
 AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE GENERAL 
 
 EVIDENCE ESTABLISHING THE REALITY OF 
 CHRIST'S RESURRECTION. By George Cook, D.D., 
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 of St Andrews. Second Edition, 12mo. 4s. cloth. 
 " The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a fact ; our resur- 
 rection is a doctrine. Admit the fact, and the doctrine can- 
 not be denied. The ascension of Jesus Christ is another 
 fact ; his return from thence to j udge the world is a doctrine ; 
 if the fact be true, the doctrine must be so likewise. For, 
 argues the apostle, if the doctrine be not true, the fact must 
 be false ; if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised." — 
 Jones of Nayland. 
 
 JOHN JOHNSTONE, HUNTER SQUARE, EDINBURGH. 
 
ON AFFLICTION. i) 
 
 AN INQUIRY INTO THE BOOKS OF THE 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT. By the late John Cook, D.D., 
 Professor of Divinity in St Mary's College, St Andrews. 
 8vo. 9s. boards. 
 
 CHllISTIAN THEOLOGY; or, A Connected 
 
 View of the Scheme of Christianity. By the Rev. James 
 EsDAii.E, D.D., Perth. 8vo. 5s. cloth. 
 
 GRACE AND TRUTH ; or, the Glory and Full- 
 
 ness of the Redeemer displayed ; in an Attempt to Illus- 
 trate and Enforce the Most Remarkable Types, Figures 
 and Allegories of the Old Testament. By the late Rev. 
 William M'Ewen, Minister of the Gospel, Dundee. 
 18mo. 2s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 By the same Author, 
 SELECT ESSAYS upon DOCTRINAL and PRACTICAL 
 SUBJECTS. New edition, 12mo. 3s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 SCRIPTURE CHRONOLOGY, in accordance 
 
 with the Hebrew Text ; wherein the Dates given of the 
 leading events, between the Creation and the Birth of 
 Christ, are clearly and satisfactorily proved to be the true 
 Dates. By James Macfarlajje, Perth. 12mo. 2s. 6d. cloth. 
 '•* This Work is well calculated to throw light upon many 
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 desirous of tracing the series of events which connect the 
 origin of our species with the period of man's redemption." — 
 Dr Anderson^ Professor of Natural Philosophy , St Andrews. 
 
 ON AFFI.ICTION-. 
 
 THE AFFLICTED^S REFUGE; or, Prayers 
 
 Adapted to Various Circumstances of Distress. Foolscap 
 
 Svo. 2s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 " To the afflicted, and the mourners in Zion, we recom- 
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 fervour, connected with su'ch diction as their ideas desire to 
 give them utterance." — Orthodox Presbyterian. 
 
 JOHN JOHNSTONK, HTNTER SQUARE. EDINBURGH. 
 
10 UN AFFLiUTlUiN. 
 
 COMFORT IN AFFLICTION ; A Series of 
 
 Meditations. By the Rev. James Buchanan, one of the 
 Ministers of the High Church, Edinburgh. Ninth Edi- 
 tion, foolscap 8vo. 3s. 6d. cloth, lettered. 
 " See this subject (* Blessed Results of Affliction) treated with 
 peculiar force of argument, and felicity of expression — strong 
 in scriptural statements of divine truth, and rich in scriptural 
 sources of divine consolation — in a most valuable work, en- 
 titled ' Comfort in Affliction : by the liev. James 
 Buchanan, North Leith,' — which I would affectionately re- 
 commend to every Christian mourner who desires to drink 
 freely of the refreshing streams which the Fountain of all 
 Comfort — the Word of God, supplies ; for it is from this sacred 
 source the pious and talented author of this excellent work 
 derives ' Comfort in Affliction,' which his pages so eloqxiently 
 and attractively set forth." — Extract from the Bev. Hugh White's 
 (of Dublin) Meditations. 
 
 By the same Author, 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF AFFLICTION; A Prac- 
 tical Sequel to a Series of Meditations, entitled " Comfort 
 in Affliction." Fourth Edition, foolscap 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 " By the mere man of taste Mr Buchanan has been appre- 
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 expression ; by the divine he has been admired for the depth 
 and soundness of his theology ; and by the Christian, but more 
 especially by the afflicted Christian, he has been valued, nay 
 loved, for the light and comfort which he has been made 
 instrumental in pouring upon his disturbed mind, and into 
 his troubled spirit." — Scottish Guardian. 
 
 SORROWING YET REJOICINa; or, Narra- 
 
 tive of Recent Successive Bereavements in a Clergyman's 
 
 Family. By the Rev. Alex. Beith, Stirling. Fourth 
 
 Edition, Is. 6d. cloth. 
 
 " It is written with the utmost simplicity, and is pervaded 
 throughout by a tone of the most evangelical devotion. Its 
 tale is told in language the most scriptural and touching, 
 whilst it gives an index to the happy and composed state of 
 the author's own feelings, amid the most trying, and, to na- 
 ture, overwhelming bereavements. It is peculiarly valuable, 
 as presenting the most striking examples of the work and 
 power of grace on the youthful and the infant mind, and the 
 process by which Jesus sanctifies and purifies the souls of the 
 lambs of his flock, before they are taken to be with him in 
 glory." — Guardian. 
 
 JOHN JOHNSTONE, HUNTER SQUARE, EDINBURGH. 
 
PRACTICAL RELIGION. H 
 
 CHRISTIAN FIDELITY IN THE HOUSE 
 
 OF MOURNING. By the Rev. David Mitchell, 
 PuIteneytowTi, Wick. 18mo. Is. 6'd. cloth. 
 
 FRACTICAZ. BSLXaZOIT. 
 
 CARDIPHONIA ; or, Utterance of the Heart, 
 
 in the Course of a Real Correspondence. By the Rev. 
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 Russell, D.D., Dundee. Foolscap 8vo. 4s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 JBy the same Author. 
 TWENTY-FIVE LETTERS. Never before Published. 18mo. 
 
 Is. 6d. cloth. 
 
 " It would be quite superfluous to say a word in commen- 
 dation of the character, usefulness, or piety of that extraor- 
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 description, and too much admired and venerated to need 
 eulogy. The letters now for the first time pubhshed, were 
 addressed to a father and son of the name of Jones, respect- 
 able merchants in Hull, and members of the Independent 
 Church. They bear the genuine impress of the strong, mas- 
 culine mind of Newton, and exhibit much of that self-abase- 
 ment and humility which pervade his other wi'itings." — 
 Orthodox Presbyterian. 
 
 ESSENTIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR 
 
 YOUNG CHRISTIANS WHEN ENTERING ON 
 THE ACTIVE PERIOD OF LIFE. Adapted for 
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 " The strain of warm and tmafifected piety which runs 
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 I. THE GOOD SERVANT, and other Tracts ; or, Exam- 
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 IL THE APPRENTICE'S M O N I T OR ; containing 
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 III. SIX LECTURES TO CHILDREN. 6d. 
 
 JOHN JOHNSTONE, HUNTER SQUARE, EDINBURGH. 
 
12 PRACTICAL RELIGION. 
 
 TJHE WORLD^S RELIGION, as contrasted 
 
 with Genuine Christianity. By Lady Colqcjhoun, 
 daughter of the late Right Hon. Sir John Sinclair, Bart. 
 Second Edition, foolscap 8vo. 3s. 6d. cloth. 
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 the clearest marks of being derived from a throne of gi-ace.' 
 The last work which he read, if I mistake not, was * The 
 World's Religion ;' and he prized it highly, for insisting so 
 much iipon the inward, peculiar experiences of the Christian, 
 — his feeding upon the * hidden manna,' and his possessing 
 the white stone,' and * the new name, which no man knoweth, 
 save he that receiveth it.' " — Memoir of Reo. B. Phin of Wick. 
 By ilie same Author. 
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 II. IMPRESSIONS OF THE HEART, re ative to the 
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 INWARD REVIVAL; or, Motives and Hin- 
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 James Marshall, Tolbooth Church, Edinburgh. Fool- 
 scap 8vo. 4s. 6d. cloth, 
 
 *' We have perused Mr Marshall's book with much satis- 
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 it as a refreshing draught to the soul that is thirsting for the 
 water of life." — Christian Instructor. 
 
 THE FOUNDATION of CHRISTIAN HOPE; 
 
 being a Plain and Impartial Inquiry after a Safe Ground 
 of Confidence for a Sinful Creature at the Bar of God. 
 By the Rev. Edward Craig, A.M., of St Edmund Hall, 
 Oxou. Fifth ]^^dition, 32mo. Is. cloth. 
 By the same Author. 
 CHRISTIAN CIRCUMSPECTION ; a brief View of the 
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 JOHN JOHNSTONE, HUNTER SQUARE, EDINBURGH. 
 
LORDS SUPPER. 13 
 
 SERMONS by Robert Gordon, D.D., one of tko 
 
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 SERMONS AND MINOR THEOLOGICAL 
 
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 LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE SACRAMENTS OF 
 
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 REMEMBRANCE REMEMBERED; being the 
 
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 Simpson, A.M., Minister of Leith Wynd Church, Edin- 
 burgh. 18mo. Is. Gd. cloth. 
 
 JOHN JOHNSTONE. HPNTER SQIURF.. EDINBURCH. 
 
14 NARRATIVES AND MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 A, MEMORIAL concerning Personal and Family 
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 ners ; wherein also the Nature of Personal Covenanting 
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 i7AKiiATnrz:s Arn> sszsc!:z.z.aiti:ous. 
 THE MINISTER'S FAMILY. By the Rev. W. 
 
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 BIBLE NARRATIVES FOR THE YOUNG. 
 
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 JOHN JOHNSTONK, HUNTER SQUARE, EDINBURnH. 
 
CATECHISMS, ETC., FOR SUNDAY SCHOOLS. 15 
 
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16 PERIODICALS. 
 
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