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THE 
 
 COMMUNICANT'S GUIDE; 
 
 OR, 
 
 AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 J. P. K.'HENSHAW, D.D. 
 
 RECTOR OF ST. PETER'S CHURCH, BALTIMORE. 
 
 BALTIMORE: 
 
 J. N. TOY AND W. R. LUCAS. 
 
 1831. 
 
Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the 
 year 1831,by J. N. Toy and W. R. Lucas, in the Clerk's 
 office of the District Court of Maryland. 
 
 J. D. Toy, printer. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 So many volumes relating to the Lord's 
 Supper, have been published by Christians of 
 almost every denomination, that it may appear 
 presumptuous to offer another, when the neces- 
 sities of the religious public do not seem to 
 demand it, without a statement of the reasons 
 which have influenced the author's mind in pre- 
 paring the work, and of the benefits which are 
 to be hoped for from it. These, so far as the 
 following Manual is concerned, may be very 
 briefly stated. 
 
 The Author of "the Communicant's Guide" 
 has often in the course of his ministerial life, 
 been at a loss, when requested to recommend 
 to communicants or candidates for admission to 
 the Lord's Supper, some book in which they 
 might find in a condensed and succinct form, all 
 necessary instructions respecting the nature 
 and design of that holy ordinance and the re- 
 quisite qualifications for a profitable attendance 
 on it. 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 A majority of the works which have been 
 published under the titles of "Companion to the 
 Altar," and "a Week's Preparation," consist 
 almost exclusively of devotional forms, and 
 contain very little instruction. Moreover, some 
 of them, in the judgment of the present writer, 
 are, not only unprofitable, but injurious; being 
 founded upon erroneous views of the doctrines 
 of our holy religion, and calculated to foster, 
 rather than subdue, the pride, and strengthen 
 the native self-righteousness of the human 
 heart. The use of them has a tendency to pro- 
 duce a mechanical and heartless devotion, and 
 in too many instances, it is to be feared, deludes 
 the communicant into a belief that the bare 
 task of reading over the prescribed meditations 
 and prayers is a sufficient preparation for the 
 highest act of Christian worship, although the 
 tenor of his life may be sensual and worldly, 
 and he is utterly a stranger to that renovation 
 of heart without which our most specious 
 works are unacceptable to the Lord. 
 
 There are, indeed, treatises on this sacra- 
 ment, which are sound and evangelical in doc- 
 trine, and unexceptionable as to their practical 
 tendency. The works alluded to, being writ- 
 ten by foreign divines, are, it is believed, but 
 little known, and less read, in this part of our 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 country; nor are they as well adapted as might 
 be desired, to the peculiar state of things ex- 
 isting among us. The price of them, (in the 
 best editions,) would prevent the poorer mem- 
 bers of Christ's flock from purchasing them, 
 while works on the same subject, with more 
 seductive titles but of a very different charac- 
 ter, may be obtained for half the money. More- 
 over, some of them are too long, or too incon- 
 veniently divided, to be profitably perused by 
 those Christians who can only occasionally 
 redeem an hour from secular employments for 
 religious and devotional reading. 
 
 To the reasons already assigned, may be add- 
 ed the conviction of the author, that the be- 
 loved people of his charge, and many others to 
 whom he is well known, would, merely on ac- 
 count of personal acquaintance and attachment, 
 be more eager to read a work from his pen, 
 than others on the same subject which he might 
 recommend, though on the score of intrinsic 
 merit, it should have far less claim to their at- 
 tention. 
 
 The very favourable reception given to his 
 Instructions on Confirmation, which has 
 been published in other cities, and much more 
 widely circulated than his most sanguine hopes 
 had led him to anticipate, affords the writer ad- 
 1* 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 ditional encouragement in the present humble 
 attempt to promote the glory of God, and the 
 edification of his church. 
 
 To set forth in a brief and perspicuous man- 
 ner, all that it is necessary for young communi- 
 cants to know of the nature and design of the 
 blessed sacrament of the Eucharist — the requi- 
 site preparation for its due reception — the bene- 
 fits to be hoped for from it — and the degree of 
 holiness expected and required in those who 
 solemnly confess Christ at his own table — is the 
 principal object aimed at in the following pages. 
 There will also be found, in their appropriate 
 places, answers to the excuses commonly offer- 
 ed for neglecting the sacrament, — remarks upon 
 the communion service of the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church — and some directions and aids 
 for meditation and prayer. 
 
 This little volume lays no claim to novelty, 
 either as to design or execution; — nor does it 
 make any pretensions to literary merit. The 
 incessant professional engagements in the midst 
 of which it has been composed, would not ad- 
 mit of its being subjected to the labor et mora 
 HmcB. But it is confidently hoped and believed, 
 that nothing contained in it, is inconsistent with 
 sound doctrine and true godliness. He who 
 sometimes employs the weakest instruments to 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 effect his purposes, can, by his grace, make it 
 efficient in promoting the high and holy end at 
 which it aims. 
 
 May it be read with faith and prayer! And 
 if it prove the means of awakening one care- 
 less sinner, of comforting one mourner in Zion, 
 or of strengthening one believer in Jesus, the 
 author will be abundantly rewarded; and the 
 glory shall be ascribed to the Father, the Son, 
 and the Holy Ghost, the one living and true 
 God, world without end. 
 Baltimore, April 25, 1831. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Nature and Design of the Holy Eucharist. 
 
 Sect. I. — Scriptural account of its institution. . . 13 
 
 Sect. II. — The doctrine of transubstantiation con- 
 sidered 17 
 
 Sect. III. — The Lord's Supper, not a feast upon a 
 
 sacrifice 31 
 
 Sect. IV. — The Lord's Supper, a memorial of the 
 
 death of Christ as the only sacrifice for sin . 37 
 
 Meditation 47 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The benefits to be derived from a reception of the Lord's 
 Supper. 
 
 Sect. I. — Two common errors exposed .... 50 
 
 Sect. II. — The moral influence of the Lord's Sup- 
 per, as a commemorative rite 61 
 
 Sect. III. — The benefits to be derived from the 
 Lord's Supper, as a Federal or Covenant rite . 67 
 
 Sect. IV. — The benefits to be derived from the 
 Lord's Supper, considered as an act of com- 
 munion 75 
 
 Sect. V. — The- benefits to be derived from the 
 Lord's Supper, as a positive mean of grace . 83 
 
 Meditation 90 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Qualifications of Communicants. 
 
 Sect. I. — Self-examination 95 
 
 Sect. II. — Repentance and amendment oflife . . 99 
 
 Sect. III.— Faith 106 
 
 Sect. IV. — Gratitude for redeeming love . . . 112 
 
 Sect. V. — Charity for all mankind 115 
 
 Meditation 125 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The duties of Communicants; or, the obligations of the 
 Christian Profession. 
 
 Sect. I. — What is implied in a profession of Christi- 
 anity 129 
 
 Sect. II. — Some classes of insincere professors des- 
 cribed 136 
 
 Sect. III. — The Communicant's duty respecting the 
 
 means of grace 143 
 
 Sect. IV. — Christians are bound to aid in the work 
 
 of disseminating the Gospel 150 
 
 Meditation 154 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 JVotice of the Excuses commonly offered by those who 
 neglect the Lord's Supper. 
 
 Sect. I. — The guilt of neglecting this Ordinance . 157 
 Sect. II. — An answer to those who plead the neces- 
 sary business and social affections oflife as their 
 
 excuse 162 
 
 Sect. III. — The plea of too great sinfulness, an- 
 swered 166 
 
COx\TENTS. XI 
 
 Sect. IV. — The fear of incurring 1 damnation by un- 
 worthily receiving the Lord's Supper, con- 
 sidered 173 
 
 Sect. V. — The fear of dishonouring the Christian 
 
 profession, noticed 178 
 
 Meditation 181 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Remarks on "the order for the Administration of 
 the Lord's Supper, or, Holy Communion" in the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church 185 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A Prayer to be used by an individual when about to 
 
 receive the Communion for the first time . . 215 
 Forms designed to aid the devotions of a Communi- 
 cant, from an office in Bishop Taylor's "Holy 
 Living" altered. 
 
 An Act of Love 218 
 
 An Act of Desire 219 
 
 An Act of Contrition 220 
 
 An Act of Faith ib. 
 
 The Petition 221 
 
 A short Prayer after having communicated . . 222 
 
 Ejaculations 323 
 
 Meditations, by Bishop Wilson 225 
 
 Collect for the seventh Sunday after Trinity . . 227 
 
HE 
 
 WANT'S GUIDE. 
 
 THE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE NATURE AND DESIGN OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Scriptural account of its Institution. 
 
 The promotion of holiness is the grand end de- 
 signed to be effected by the pure life, meritorious 
 death, and divine precepts of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 All his actions from the cradle to the grave, were re- 
 gulated by an habitual regard to this glorious result 
 of his mission to our world. In every deed which 
 he performed, the purity and excellence of unadul- 
 terated virtue were discoverable; and his whole life 
 was a perfect, unbroken exhibition of the most fer- 
 vent love to God, and the most active benevolence 
 to man. That life was designed for our benefit. As 
 an Apostle declares, "he left us an example that we 
 should follow his steps." It was to advance the in- 
 terests of holiness that he submitted to the scoffs and 
 indignities of men; to his agony and bloody sweat 
 2 
 
14 NATURE AND DESIGN OF 
 
 in the garden; and was at last nailed to the accursed 
 tree. "He gave himself for us, that he might redeem 
 "us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a pecu- 
 liar people zealous of good works." All the moral 
 precepts of his gospel have the same holy tendency: 
 they are designed to produce in the hearts and lives 
 of men a conformity to the divine image and an 
 obedience to the divine will. But the most pure 
 and exalted precepts of morality and holiness, will 
 have but little influence upon creatures who are more 
 under the government of sense than reason; and it 
 was undoubtedly, owing to the depravity of man, 
 and in condescension to his weakness and infirmity, 
 that the Divine Redeemer instituted his sacraments, 
 in the use of which by the instrumentality of visible 
 emblems and through the avenues of sense, holy 
 principles and affections are the more easily instilled 
 into the human heart. 
 
 To the consideration of one of the two sacra- 
 ments of the Christian Church, the following pages 
 are devoted; and as it was the last institution of our 
 blessed Redeemer before he suffered, the subject 
 cannot fail to awaken an interest in the minds of all 
 who consider themselves as his followers. 
 
 Here I will present a connected view of the dif- 
 ferent accounts of the institution of the Lord's sup- 
 per contained in the New Testament. 
 
 "And, as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and 
 blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 
 
 15 
 
 and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took 
 the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to .them, say- 
 ing, Drink ye all of it: for this is my blood of the 
 new testament, which is shed for many for the remis- 
 sion of sins. 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 my Father's king- 
 dom. And when they had sung an hymn, they went 
 out into the mount of Olives." (St. Matt. xxvi. 
 26—30.) 
 
 "And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and bless- 
 ed and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, 
 eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and 
 when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and 
 they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is 
 my blood of the new testament which is shed for 
 many. Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more 
 of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it 
 new in the kingdom of God. And when they had 
 sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of 
 Olives." (St. Mark xiv. 22—26.) 
 
 "And he said unto them, With desire I have desir- 
 ed to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for 
 I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until 
 it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took 
 the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and 
 divide it among yourselves: for I say unto you, I will 
 not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom 
 
16 NATURE AND DESIGN, &C. 
 
 of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave 
 thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, 
 This is my body, which is given for you: this do in 
 remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after 
 supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my 
 blood, which is shed for you." (St. Luke xxii. 
 15—20.) 
 
 "For I have received of the Lord, that which also 
 I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus, the same 
 night in which he was betrayed, took bread: and 
 when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, 
 Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: 
 this do in remembrance of me. After the same 
 manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, 
 saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: 
 this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of 
 me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink 
 this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." 
 (1 Cor. xi. 23 — 26.) 
 
 These words contain the history of that solemn 
 and interesting transaction, the institution of the holy 
 eucharist: — and as often as christians repeat the same 
 solemnities, they "shew forth the Lord's death," and 
 this memorial or "shewing forth," must be continued 
 in the church "till he come" in the clouds of heaven 
 to judge both the quick and the dead. 
 
SECTION II. 
 The Doctrine of Transubstantiation considered. 
 
 It is the well known belief of an ancient and pow- 
 erful, but, in our judgment, corrupt and superstitious 
 church, that the ordinance of the Lord's supper is a 
 real sacrifice for sin. That the repetition of the 
 solemn words of institution by the officiating min- 
 ister, 'produces that change in the elements which 
 they call transubstantiation; — by virtue of which, 
 those elements are no longer bread and wine, but 
 verily and indeed the body and blood of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, offered up to Almighty God, by the offi- 
 ciating priest as an expiatory sacrifice. 
 
 This absurd belief, is professedly founded upon a 
 literal interpretation of the memorable words used by 
 our Saviour, when he instituted the ordinance, "this 
 is my body which is given for you, this cup is the 
 New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you," 
 But, if we even admit the propriety of the rule which 
 binds us to a literal interpretation of the words, a 
 rigid adherence to it would not support the doctrine 
 contended for. Our Saviour expressly said, "this cup 
 is the New Testament in my blood," and of course it 
 must be the cup and not the wine contained in it, 
 which must undergo the transubstantiating process. 
 
18 NATURE AND DESIGN OF 
 
 This consequence which flows most naturally from 
 the literal interpretation of our Saviour's words, in- 
 volves an absurdity which, I believe, the most bigot- 
 ed advocate of the doctrine has never been weak 
 enough to maintain. Furthermore, "if the literal 
 sense is to be adopted, then it will follow that Christ 
 ate his own body while alive, and that his disciples 
 did the same; that they devoured at night the same 
 body which was suspended upon the cross the next 
 morning; that there are as many Christs as there are 
 consecrated wafers; and a thousand other absurdities 
 equally incredible and shocking." 
 
 If we literally interpret Christ's words on that oc- 
 casion, why should we not on all others when he 
 speaks of his person or ministry? Our Saviour says, 
 "I am the good shepherd." "I am the door." "I am the 
 vine." Yet who ever thought of giving these words 
 any other than a figurative interpretation? Who ever 
 dreamt that our Saviour intended to declare more than 
 that these things were emblems or figures well calcu- 
 lated to represent or illustrate his redeeming charac- 
 ter and offices? In this sense we are to understand 
 the words employed in the institution of the holy eu- 
 charist. Our Saviour called the bread his body, and 
 the "wine his blood, in a figurative sense, because 
 they were to be the emblems or representatives of his 
 body and blood in that ordinance. And this is the 
 ordinary sacramental dialect Thus circumcision is 
 called God's covenant ,* i. e. the sign of it: also, the 
 
 * Genesis xvii. 13, 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 19 
 
 lamb is called the Lord's passover,* i. e. the sign of 
 it. The words of our Lord, thus understood, com- 
 mend themselves to our reason, and are consistent 
 with other portions of the scripture; — but, the literal 
 sense affronts our reason, destroys the nature of the 
 sacrament, and gives the lie to all our senses.f 
 
 * Exodus, xii. 11. 
 
 fOur Lord did not say, hoc est corpus meum, (this is my 
 body,) as he did not speak in the Latin tongue; though as 
 much stress has been laid upon this quotation from the 
 Vulgate version, by the Papists, as if the original of the 
 three Evangelists had been written in the Latin language. 
 Had he spoken in Latin, following the idiom of the Vul- 
 gate, he would have said, panis hie corpus meum signifcat, 
 or, symbolum est corporis mei — hoc poculum sanguinem 
 meum representat, or, symbolum est sanguinis mei: this 
 bread signifies my body; this cup represents my blood. But 
 let it be observed, that in the Hebrew, Chaldee and Chal- 
 deo-Syriak languages, there is no term which expresses 
 to mean, signify, denote, though both the Greek and Latin 
 abound with them: hence the Hebrews use a figure, and 
 say, it is, for, it signifies. So Gen. xli. 26, 27, The seven 
 kine are (i. e. represent) seven years. This is, (repre- 
 sents) the bread of affliction which our fathers ate in the 
 land of Egypt. Dan. vii. 24. The ten horns are (i. e. 
 signify) ten kings. They drank of the spiritual Rock which 
 followed them, and the Rock was (represented) Christ. 
 i Cor. x. 4. And following this Hebrew idiom, though 
 the work is written in Greek, we find, -in Rev. i. 20, the 
 seven stars are (represent) the angels of the seven 
 (Churches: and the seven candlesticks are (represent) the 
 
20 NATURE AND DESIGN OP 
 
 The author has no wish to give this little work a 
 controversial character, but it may not be amiss in 
 this connection, to present to the consideration of the 
 reader, the very ingenious and plausible argument of 
 Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, in favour of the literal 
 sense of our Lord's words; and the refutation of it 
 by a protestant writer of great acuteness and pene- 
 tration. 
 
 seven churches. The same form of speech is used in a 
 variety of places in the New Testament, where this sense 
 must necessarily be given to the word — Matt. xiii. 38, 39. 
 The field is (represents) the world: the good seed are (re- 
 present or signify) the children of the kingdom: the tares 
 are (signify) the children of the wicked one. The enemy 
 is (signifies) the devil: the harvest is (represents) the end 
 of the world: the reapers are (i. e. signify) the angels — 
 Luke viii. 9. What might this parable be? ti$ eih y\ 
 rfapcuSoXv) avry] ; what does this parable signify? — John 
 vii. 36, <ns E2TIN ovros o Xoyos; what is the significa- 
 tion of this saying — John x. 6. They understood not 
 what things they were <nva h\, what was the signifi- 
 cation of the things he had spoken to them — Acts x. 17. 
 <n av eih to o£a/xa, what this vision might be; properly 
 rendered by our translators, what this vision should mean — 
 Gal. iv. 24. For these are the two covenants: avrai yap 
 EI2IN cti S\jo £ia$7]xcu, these signify the two covenants — 
 Luke xv. 26. He asked <n eih rauTcc, what these things 
 meant: see also ch. xviii. 36. After such unequivocal 
 testimony from the sacred writings, can any person doubt 
 that, This bread is my body, has any other meaning than, 
 This represents my body? — Dr. A. Clarke. 
 
THE HOLT EUCHARIST. 21 
 
 "When Jesus Christ said, this is my body, this is 
 my blood; he was neither propounding a parable, 
 nor explaining an allegory. The words, which are 
 detached and separate from all other discourse, carry 
 their whole meaning in themselves. The business 
 in hand was the institution of a new rite, which re- 
 quired the use of simple terms; and that place in 
 scripture, is yet to be discovered, where the sign hath 
 the name of the thing signified given to it at the 
 moment of the institution of the rite, and without 
 any leading preparation.^ 
 
 Such is the imposing argument of Bossuet; and 
 which even to the mind of Warburton presented so 
 great a difficulty, that he thought he could not an- 
 swer it, but by resorting, as he has done, to the hy- 
 pothesis which represents the Lord's supper as a feast 
 upon a sacrifice. A more patient and thorough in- 
 vestigation of the point, might have enabled the Eng- 
 lish bishop to have returned the following scriptural 
 answer to the sophistical argument of the French 
 prelate, without casting any obscurity upon the simple 
 character of the christian ordinance in question. 
 
 The bishop of Meaux says, "that place in scripture 
 is yet to be discovered," &c. "Whether any such in- 
 stance has yet been observed or not, certain it is, that 
 scripture will supply us with one. The passover is an 
 instance of exactly the same nature, with that here 
 required; and the unquestionably figurative form of 
 the institution answers exactly to that of the Lord's 
 
22 NATURE AND DESIGN OF 
 
 supper figuratively understood. At the very first in- 
 stitution of it, the Lord, having instructed Moses in 
 what manner to direct the people to choose out, kill, 
 dress and eat, a lamb,* immediately declared, with- 
 out any leading preparation, 7/ is the Lord's passover; 
 and then added the reason, on account of which the 
 rite was instituted and distinguished by this name.t 
 
 "This is certainly a case in point. When the Lord 
 said, on this occasion, // is the Lord's passover, he 
 was neither propounding a parable, nor explaining an 
 allegory. The words, It is the Lord's passover, in 
 the institution of this rite, were as much detached 
 and separate from all other discourse, and did as 
 much carry their whole meaning in themselves, as 
 the words this is my body, this is my blood, did in 
 the institution of the Lord's supper. The business 
 jn hand was here likewise the institution of a new 
 rite; and if that circumstance would have required 
 the use of simple terms, as opposed to figurative, in 
 the institution of the Lord's supper; it must equally 
 have required the use of simple terms, as opposed to fi- 
 gurative, in the prior institution of the passover. And 
 evident it is, that in this instance the sign, the lamb kill- 
 ed and dressed, &c. as commanded, had the name of 
 the thing signified, the action of the Lord's passing over 
 the houses of the Israelites, given to it at the moment 
 of the institution of the rite; and as much without 
 any leading preparation, as the bread and wine had 
 
 * Exodus xii. 3 — 11. f Ibid. 11 — 14. see the passage. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 23 
 
 the name of the body and blood of Jesus given to 
 them, in the institution of the eucharist. 
 
 "Here, therefore, we have a direct and complete re- 
 futation of the argument before us, which will admit 
 of no reply. Not even the bishop of Meaux himself 
 would have allowed, much less contended, that the 
 words of the institution of the Jewish passover ought 
 to be understood, literally; though he contends for 
 disgracing the religion of Christ with all the absur- 
 dities of a real presence and transubstantiation in 
 the Lord's supper. And yet the instituting forms of 
 words in both these rites are so exactly similar, in 
 the point concerned, that the same mode of interpre- 
 tation must of necessity be applied to both. If the 
 declaratory words of the institution of the passover 
 must be figuratively understood, so must those of the 
 Lord's supper, and vice versa, if the declaratory 
 words of the institution of the Lord's supper must 
 be literally understood, so must those of the passover 
 likewise. The necessary consequence of which would 
 be, that what the Jews ate at the paschal supper, and 
 that as often as they celebrated it, was not really the 
 lamb itself, that they had killed and dressed, in the 
 manner they were commanded; but was actually the 
 Lord himself; and not only so, but it was the Lord, 
 employed at the very time in the act of passing over 
 the houses of the Israelites, and that in Egypt; and 
 smiting the first born both of man and beast in those 
 of the Egyptians. 
 
24 NATURE AND DESIGN OF 
 
 "These are such extravagant absurdities as even 
 they who contend for a real presence and transub- 
 stantiation in the Lord's supper, will by no means 
 admit the possibility of in the passover; and yet 
 the principles of the argument in question would 
 force them to receive the one as well as the other; 
 for if the Lord's supper must be understood literally, 
 because a new rite cannot be instituted in figurative 
 terms, the passover must likewise be understood lite- 
 rally for the self same reason. And if the sign 
 could not have the name of the thing signified given 
 to it at the moment of the institution, without any 
 leading preparation in the Lord's supper, neither 
 could it in the passover."* 
 
 This monstrous doctrine of transubstantiation, a be- 
 lief of which the church of Rome enforces by the 
 threat of eternal damnation against all who reject it, 
 and for a denial of which multitudes of holy men were, 
 about the period of the reformation, inhumanly burnt 
 at the stake, is not only entirely unauthorised by the 
 
 *"It is a fact worthy of remark, and such as deserves the 
 most serious reflection of all whom it concerns, that while 
 a very great proportion of the christian world have been 
 required to believe., and actually have believed a real pre- 
 sence and transubstantiation in the Lord's supper, no Jew 
 was ever yet wild enough to conceive the thought, or 
 dishonest enough to inculcate the belief, of a real presence 
 or transubstantiation in the passover." — Wm. Bell, Pre- 
 bendary of St. Peter s, Westminster. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 25 
 
 scriptures, but unsupported by the authority of the 
 early fathers of the Christian church.* 
 
 But how can the fact be accounted for, that such 
 an error should ever have crept into the church, and 
 have been so generally received in the christian world 
 for several ages prior to the reformation? Archbishop 
 Tillotson gives the following history of the introduc- 
 tion and growth of this error. 
 
 "The doctrine of the corporeal presence of Christ 
 was first started upon occasion of the dispute about 
 the worship of images, in opposition whereto the Sy- 
 nod of Constantinople, about the year 750 did argue 
 thus, that our Lord having left us no other image of 
 himself but the sacrament, in which the substance of 
 bread is the image of his body, we ought to make no 
 other image of our Lord. In answer to this argu- 
 ment, the second council of Nice, in the year 787, 
 did declare, that the sacrament, after consecration, 
 is not the image and anti-type of Christ's body and 
 blood, but is properly his body and blood. So that 
 
 * To enter at large upon the proofs of this assertion, 
 would be inconsistent with the design of the present work. 
 The reader who desires full satisfaction upon the point, 
 is referred to "Faber's Difficulties of Romanism^ a work 
 no less distinguished for the christian mildness and ur- 
 banity of the spirit which pervades it, than for the con- 
 clusiveness of the arguments it presents in support of the 
 doctrines of the reformation, as opposed to the errors of 
 the church of Rome. 
 
26 NATURE AND DESIGN OP 
 
 the corporeal presence of the body of Christ in the 
 sacrament, was first brought in to support the stupid 
 worship of images: and indeed it could never have 
 come in upon a more proper occasion, nor have been 
 applied to a fitter purpose. 
 
 "And here, I cannot but take notice, how well this 
 agrees with Bellarmine's observation,* 'that none of 
 the ancients who wrote of heresies, hath put this 
 error, (viz. of denying transubstantiation,) in his cata- 
 logue; nor did any of the ancients dispute against 
 this error for the first 600 years.' Which is very 
 true, because there could be no occasion then to dis- 
 pute against those who denied transubstantiation, 
 since, as I have shewn, this doctrine was not in be- 
 ing, unless among the Eutychian heretics, for the 
 first 600 years and more. But Bellarmine,f goes on 
 and tells us, that 'the first who called in question the 
 truth of the body of the Lord in the eucharist, were 
 the Eixovo/xcw, (the opposers of images,) after the 
 year 700, in the council of Constantinople; for these 
 said there was one image of Christ, instituted by 
 Christ himself, viz. the bread and wine in the eucha- 
 rist, which represents the body and blood of Christ. 
 Wherefore, from that time, the Greek writers often 
 admonish us that the eucharist is not the figure or 
 image of the body of the Lord, but his true body, 
 as appears from the VII Synod;' which agrees most 
 exactly with the account which I have given of the 
 
 *De Euchar: Lib. 1 ch. 2. t Ibid. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 27 
 
 first rise of this doctrine, which began with the cor- 
 poreal presence of Christ in the sacrament, and after- 
 wards proceeded to transubstantiation. 
 
 "And as this was the first occasion of introducing 
 this doctrine among the Greeks, so in the Latin or 
 Roman church, Paschasius Radbertus, first a monk, 
 and afterwards abbot of Corbey, was the first broacher 
 of it in the year 818. 
 
 "And for this, besides the evidence of history, we 
 have the acknowledgment of two very eminent persons 
 in the church of Rome, Bellarmine and Sirmondus, 
 who do in effect confess that this Paschasius was the 
 first who wrote to purpose upon this argument. Bellar- 
 mine* in these words, 'this author was the first who 
 hath seriously and copiously written concerning the 
 truth of Christ's body and blood in the eucharist.' And 
 Sirmondus,! in these, 'he so first explained the gen- 
 uine sense of the Catholic church, that he opened 
 the way to the rest who afterwards, in great numbers, 
 wrote upon the same argument.' But though Sir- 
 mondus is pleased to say, that he only first explained 
 the sense of the Catholic church in this point, yet it 
 is very plain, from the records of that age, which are 
 left to us, that this was the first time that this doc- 
 trine was broached in the Latin church; and it met 
 with great opposition in that age, as I shall have oc- 
 casion hereafter to shew. For Rabanus Maurus, 
 Archbishop of Mentz, about the year 847, reciting 
 
 *De Scriptor: Eccles, fin vita Paschasii. 
 
28 NATURE AND DESIGN OF 
 
 the very words of Paschasius, wherein he had de- 
 livered this doctrine, hath this remarkable passage 
 concerning the novelty of it. 'Some,' says he, 'of 
 late, not having a right opinion concerning the sa- 
 crament of the body and blood of our Lord, have 
 said that this is the body and blood of our Lord 
 which was born of the Virgin Mary, and in which 
 our Lord suffered upon the cross, and rose from the 
 dead: which error? says he, 'we have opposed with 
 all our might.' From whence it is plain by the tes- 
 timony of one of the greatest and most learned 
 bishops of that age, and of eminent reputation for 
 piety, that what is now the very doctrine of the 
 church of Rome concerning the sacrament, was then 
 esteemed an error, broached by some particular per- 
 sons, but was far from being the generally received 
 doctrine of that age. Can any one think it possible 
 that so eminent a person in the church, both for piety 
 and learning, could have condemned this doctrine as 
 an error and a novelty, had it been the general doc- 
 trine of the Christian church, not only in that, but in 
 former ages: and no censure passed upon him for 
 that which is now the great burning article in the 
 church of Rome, and esteemed by them, one of the 
 greatest and most pernicious heresies? 
 
 "Afterwards, in the year 1059, when Berengarius in 
 France and Germany had raised a fresh opposition 
 against this doctrine, he was compelled to recant, by 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 29 
 
 Pope Nicholas and the council at Rome," in a parti- 
 cular form of words which were prescribed by them. 
 
 "About twenty years after, in the year 1079, 
 Pope Gregory the VII, became dissatisfied with the 
 form of recantation which Nicholas and his council 
 had prescribed; and, therefore, in another council at 
 Rome, made Berengarius recant in the use of another 
 form of words, viz:* 'That the bread and wine 
 which are placed upon the alia?; are substanti- 
 ally changed into the true, and proper, and quicken- 
 ing flesh and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 after consecration, are the true body of Christ, which 
 was bom of the Virgin, and which being offered for 
 the salvation of the ivorld, did hang upon the crGSs, 
 and sits at the right hand of the Father.' 
 
 "So that from the first starting of this doctrine in 
 the second council of Nice, in the year 787, till 
 the council under Pope Gregory the VII, in the year 
 1079, it was almost three hundred years that this 
 doctrine was contested, and before it was reduced 
 to that form in which it is now settled and establish- 
 ed in the church of Rome. Here, then, is a plain 
 account of the first rise of this doctrine, and of the 
 several steps whereby it was advanced by the church 
 of Rome into an article of faith." 
 
 The authorities cited will be sufficient, it is believ- 
 ed, to satisfy the reader, that the doctrine of transub- 
 stantiation, however confidently it may be maintain- 
 
 *Waldens. Tom. i, c. 13. 
 
 3* 
 
30 NATURE AND DESIGN OF 
 
 ed, and however zealously propagated by the emis- 
 saries of a church which claims to be infallible, can 
 derive no efficient support from the pages of holy 
 writ, or from the writings of the earliest and purest 
 ages of the Christian church. 
 
 It is deemed unnecessary to shew that it is equally 
 unsupported by reason and the senses; for its most 
 zealous advocates will hardly presume to claim their 
 testimony in its favour. We may, therefore, bring 
 this section to a close, by another quotation from the 
 distinguished author, to whose labours we are already 
 so largely indebted^ "It is a most evident falsehood; 
 and there is no doctrine or proposition in the world 
 that is of itself more evidently true, than transub- 
 stantiation is evidently false: and yet, if it were pos- 
 sible to be true, it would be the most ill-natured and 
 pernicious truth in the world, because it would suf- 
 fer nothing else to be true. It is like the Roman 
 Catholic church, which will needs be the whole 
 Christian church, and will allow no other society of 
 Christians to be any part of it: so transubstantiation, 
 if it be true at all, it is all truth, and nothing else is 
 true; for it cannot be true, unless our senses and the 
 senses of all mankind be deceived about their pro- 
 per objects; and if this be true and certain, then 
 nothing else can be so; for if we be not certain of 
 what we see, we can be certain of nothing."* 
 
 * Discourse against transubstantiation, by Archbishop 
 Tillotson. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 31 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 The Lord's Supper not a Feast upon a Sacrifice. 
 
 There is another erroneous, and as I conceive, 
 dangerous view of the nature and design of the sa- 
 crament in question, which demands a passing notice: 
 J mean that which represents it to be specifically a 
 feast upon a sacrifice. There are some even among 
 professed Protestants, who believe that the Lord's 
 supper is the same among Christians in respect to 
 the Christian sacrifice, that among the Jews, the feasts 
 upon the legal sacrifices were, and among the Gen- 
 tiles the feasts of the idol sacrifices. But the incor- 
 rectness of this opinion will appear evident, when we 
 consider, that on this subject, the fundamental princi- 
 ples of the Christian religion, differ radically from the 
 fundamental principles of the religion of Jews and 
 Pagans. Among the Jews and Pagans, sacrifices were 
 offered to expiate particular offences; and all who 
 partook of the sacrificial feasts, were understood in 
 both religions, to partake of all the benefits of the 
 sacrifices themselves. Hence, partaking of those 
 feasts, was, in each religion respectively, considered 
 as an expiation of those offences for which the sa- 
 crifices were offered up, and the formal cause of 
 their being forgiven. Hence, it follows, that if the 
 Lord's supper is specifically a feast upon a sacrifice, 
 
32 NATURE AND DESIGN OF 
 
 then every one who partakes of that sacrament be- 
 comes ipso facto personally interested in the merits 
 of the sacrifice which the Lord Jesus Christ offered 
 up for the sins of men. The very action itself is virtu- 
 ally an atonement for our sins — the appointed means 
 and formal cause of their being forgiven. But this 
 consequence is absolutely unauthorised by tbe form 
 and circumstances of the institution, and utterly in- 
 consistent with the fundamental principles of the re- 
 ligion of the New Testament. That testament speaks 
 of the real and availing sacrifice for sin as having 
 been offered "once for all" — and never to be repeat- 
 ed, because infinite in its merit and everlasting in its 
 efficacy. "And every priest standeth daily ministering, 
 and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can 
 never take away sins. But this man, (Christ,) after 
 he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down 
 on the right hand of God: for by one offering, he 
 hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."* 
 
 We may challenge any one to produce a passage 
 from the gospel of Christ, which appoints any exter- 
 nal action to be the condition of our obtaining an in- 
 terest in his merits: and we might produce many, 
 if it were necessary, which prove that communicating 
 is placed on the same footing with other command- 
 ed duties and has no special promise of forgiveness 
 annexed to it; while at the same time we might 
 shew that its uniform language is, "believe on the 
 
 *Heb.x. 11, 12, 14, 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 33 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." "He that 
 believeth shall be saved, he that believeth not shall 
 be damned."* 
 
 *The famous argument of Dr. Cudworth, considered 
 by himself and others as a demonstration of the doctrine, 
 that the Lord's supper is a feast upon a sacrifice, is found- 
 ed upon the passage in St Paul's 1 Epis. to the Cor. x. 
 from 14 to 21 inclusive, omitting the 17th and 19th verses. 
 
 "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I 
 speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. 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? Behold Israel after 
 the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices, par- 
 takers of the altar? But I say, that the things which the 
 Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to 
 God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with 
 devils. 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." 
 
 The Apostle was here warning the Corinthians against 
 idolatry, or giving encouragement to it; and Cudworth 
 supposes this to be the purport of his reasoning. et As to 
 eat the body and blood of Christ in the Lord's supper, is 
 to be made partaker of his sacrifice offered up to God for us: 
 as to eat of the Jewish sacrifices under the law, was to par- 
 take in the legal sacrifices themselves; so to eat of things 
 offered up in sacrifice to idols, was to be made partakers 
 of the idol sacrifices; and therefore was unlawful." From 
 this view of the Apostle's argument, he draws the conclu- 
 sion, "that the Lord's supper is the same among Chris- 
 tians, in respect of the Christian sacrifice, that among the 
 
34 NATURE AND DESIGN OF 
 
 This erroneous view of the sacrament is believed 
 to be far from innocent: it is not one of those errors 
 which may be winked at, because unattended with 
 practical effects of a pernicious kind. Men of intel- 
 ligence and piety may sustain no serious injury from 
 
 Jews the feasts upon the legal sacrifices were, and among 
 the Gentiles, the feasts upon the idol sacrifices." But, 
 Mr. Bell, from whom the argument in the text is partly- 
 taken, has, with much learning and ability, exposed the 
 inconclusiveness of Cudworth's reasoning, in the follow- 
 ing terms. "Here, first it is absolutely necessary to observe, 
 that this stating of St. Paul's argument requires to have 
 the meaning of each of its propositions precisely ascertain- 
 ed, to enable us to determine whether the argument it con- 
 tains is conclusive or not: for unless the identical terms, 
 in which it is drawn up, ('being made partakers of 
 Christ's sacrifice,' and 'partaking in the legal sacri- 
 fices,' and 'being made partakers of the idol sacrifices') 
 are used to express exactly the same meaning in each of 
 the premises and the conclusion; the argument must ne- 
 cessarily prove inconclusive; or, in reality, no argument 
 at all; though by means of having its premises and conclu- 
 sion expressed in the same terms, it wears at first sight 
 the appearance of complete demonstration. 
 
 "To discover, therefore*, with certainty, whether St. 
 Paul's argument, as it is here stated by Cudworth, is re- 
 ally, as well as apparently, conclusive, we must strike out 
 the identical terms themselves, in which the premises and 
 conclusion are expressed; and substitute in their stead, 
 that precise meaning which Cudworth here designed to 
 express by them. And when we have done this, his 
 statement of St. Paul's argument, as appears from what 
 
THE HOLT EtTCHARIST. 35 
 
 it, if they have unfortunately adopted it, but we be- 
 lieve that its general reception by the multitude, 
 could hardly fail to be attended with consequences 
 highly dangerous. It would not, perhaps, be difficult 
 to point out many in different communions, who, 
 under the blinding influence of this opinion, have 
 
 he says in his three preceding paragraphs, will stand 
 thus: 
 
 " 'Therefore: As to eat the body and blood of Christ in 
 the Lord's supper, is a real communication in his death 
 and sacrifice;' that is, in the effects or benefits of it; — 
 
 " 'As to eat of the Jewish sacrifices under the law, is to 
 share in the effects or benefits of those sacrifices;' per 
 ilia sanctificari; 
 
 "'So, to eat of things offered up in sacrifice to idols 
 is,' (what?* not f to share in the effects of those idol sa- 
 crifices;" the only conclusion that can possibly be drawn 
 from these premises; but,) 'to consent with those sacri- 
 fices and be guilty of them:' that is, nothing more than 
 to be virtually guilty of an act of idolatry; and therefore, 
 to be virtually a professed idolater. 
 
 "By thus substituting, in the room of the identical terms 
 themselves, in each proposition, that meaning in which 
 Cudworth uses them in the two premises, and that very dif- 
 ferent meaning in which he uses them in the conclusion, 
 we see at once, that the conclusion by no means follows 
 from the premises, as he understood them; and in fact, 
 has no dependence upon them; and consequently that his 
 interpretation of St. Paul's method of arguing, from 
 what obtained among the Christians and the Jews, must 
 be false; because it renders the Apostle's conclusion not 
 pertinent, and his method of reasoning improper. 
 
36 NATURE AND DESIGN OP 
 
 been led virtually to substitute the ordinance of the 
 Saviour for the Saviour himself; and to believe that 
 an occasional attendance on this sacrificial feast, as 
 they suppose it to be, will exempt them from the ne- 
 cessity of habitually exercising "repentance towards 
 God, and faith in our Lord Jesus, Christ," 
 
 "In reality, St. Paul's own argument, unobscured by any 
 thing foisted into it, is as simple and plain as possible, 
 and is nothing more than this: — 'As to eat bread, and 
 drink wine with Christians, when they professedly eat 
 the one, and drink the other, as the appointed memorials 
 of the body and blood of Christ, is virtually eating and 
 drinking with the same apparent design, that they pro- 
 fessedly eat and drink with; and consequently is a virtual 
 apparent profession of Christianity; and as to eat of the 
 Jewish sacrifices with the Jews, is, for the same reason, 
 a virtual apparent profession of Judaism; so, to eat of 
 idol sacrifices with professed idolaters, is, for the same 
 •j-easons, likewise a virtual apparent profession of idolatry. 
 Wherefore, since, as I said, it is your duty as Christians 
 to flee from idolatry; and of course from all apparent pro- 
 fessions of idolatry; it must of necessity, be improper in 
 you as Christians to frequent idol feasts. Q,. E. D." 
 
 Having thus presented the portion of scripture on which 
 the hypothesis adopted by Cudworth, Warburton, Adam 
 Clarke, and other eminent men, is founded; the reader 
 must be left to form his own judgment, whether the 
 foundation is sufficient to support the superstructure. 
 Perhaps it would have been wiser in the author to have 
 passed it over without notice; but he deemed it important 
 to refer to it, as being an ingenious theory liable to be 
 abused. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 37 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 The Lord's Supper a memorial of the death of 
 Christ as the only Sacrifice for sin. 
 
 Having thus pointed out the most exceptionable 
 views that prevail among Christians respecting the 
 nature and design of the Lord's supper, we may re- 
 mark, that, that holy sacrament is essentially and sim- 
 ply commemorative and representative in its character. 
 ^Do this," said our Lord, "in remembrance of me." 
 "As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup," 
 saith St. Paul, "ye do shew forth the Lord's death." 
 How admirably calculated is it in all its parts, to an- 
 swer these interesting ends? Whenever we wit- 
 ness the administration of this blessed sacrament, we 
 should call to rnind the wonderful history of redemp- 
 tion, and fix the eye of faith upon "Jesus Christ 
 evidently set forth as crucified" for our salvation. 
 When we behold the minister of God taking the ele- 
 ments, and consecrating, and setting them apart for 
 the use of the faithful in this holy ordinance, we may 
 profitably reflect upon God's appointment of his only 
 begotten son to be our Saviour, and his setting him 
 apart to be a surety and sacrifice for his people. 
 When we behold the bread broken, and the wine 
 poured out, we have a sensible representation of the 
 passive obedience of our Lord; and we should 
 4 
 
38 NATURE AND DESIGN CF 
 
 solemnly and devoutly reflect upon those agonies 
 of soul which he underwent — those drops of pre- 
 cious blood which he shed: — those unspeakable and 
 excruciating tortures which were endured by the in- 
 nocent Lamb of God, in paying the price of our re- 
 demption, and offering -an atonement for our sins. 
 When the consecrated symbols are freely distributed 
 among the communicants, we are reminded that the 
 blessings of salvation through Christ crucified are 
 freely offered to us in th^e gospel. And the recep- 
 tion of the sacred elements, may be viewed as 
 emblematic of that lively and vigorous exercise of 
 faith, by which we "receive the atonement," and rely 
 upon the righteousness of the Saviour as constituting 
 the only foundation of our hope towards God. 
 
 The administration of the Lord's supper, therefore, 
 may be considered as virtually affording to all true 
 believers, a lively and affecting representation of the 
 stupendous event which it is designed to commemo- 
 rate. It carries them back, in imagination, to the 
 hall of judgment and the bar of Pilate; — all the af- 
 flicting scenes of the betrayal, the denial, the scourg- 
 ing, the murderous cry, are powerfully presented to 
 their recollections. And, in the view of faith, there 
 is an acting over again of the mournful tragedy of 
 Gethsemane and the cross. 
 
 But, it is not enough that we consider the Lord's 
 supper as a memorial and lively representation of the 
 sufferings and death of Christ. Many respect and 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 39 
 
 observe it in this light, who do not believe that they 
 are any more interested in, or benefited by, his 
 death, than that of Moses, Paul, John, or any other 
 inspired teacher of religion, who is entitled to grate- 
 ful remembrance as a benefactor of mankind. This 
 ordinance is not only a memorial of the fact of 
 Christ's death by crucifixion, but also, and more 
 especially, of the design of his death as a sacrifice 
 for sin, which was necessary to satisfy the claims of 
 divine justice, and procure pardon for our transgres- 
 sions. In celebrating this sacred rite of their religion, 
 Christians commemorate an event shadowed forth 
 under the sacrifices of the law, and prefigured in 
 types from the beginning of the world. They have 
 in lively remembrance, the grandest work of God, 
 which ever was, or ever will be performed upon this 
 earthly theatre: — the work of reconciling sinners 
 to himself, by the death and sufferings of his well 
 beloved and only begotten son. They do not cele- 
 brate the memory of a hero who has signalized him- 
 self in the field of blood, and gained a perishing 
 glory by the conquest of a kingdom:— but of a con- 
 queror, who spoiled the principalities and powers of 
 darkness; triumphed over death and the grave; and 
 acquired an unfading and eternal glory, by the re- 
 demption of a world. Neither do they commemo- 
 rate the death of this mighty conqueror as an event 
 in which they have no personal interest. They view 
 his bitter sufferings and cruel death as endured for 
 
40 NATURE AND DESIGN OF 
 
 their sake, and constituting an availing atonement for 
 their sins. They are fully persuaded, by rational 
 and scriptural arguments, that this infinite sacrifice 
 was necessary, to glorify the perfections of Jehovah, 
 and rescue sinners from merited perdition. 
 
 He must have read his Bible to very little purpose, 
 who has failed to perceive, that the doctrine of atone- 
 ment by sacrifice, like a golden thread, interwoven 
 with the whole texture of the volume of revelation, 
 runs through both the Old and New Testaments. 
 What constituted the essential ground of difference 
 between the sacrifice of Abel and that of Cain, caus- 
 ing the acceptance of the one and the rejection of 
 the other? The one, consisted of the fruits of the 
 earth, and would have been a proper and acceptable 
 thank-offering from an innocent worshipper; — the 
 other, was an animal slain, and the very act of pre- 
 senting it, was an acknowledgment of guilt, and of 
 the desert of death on the part of the offerer. "By 
 faith" says an Apostle, "Abel offered unto God a 
 more excellent sacrifice than Cain, whereby he ob- 
 tained testimony that he was righteous."* He sacri- 
 ficed the animal as an expression of his faith in the 
 promised Redeemer; and thereby evinced that his 
 hope of the divine favour, rested, not on his own per- 
 formances, but on the merits of the great sacrifice 
 that was to be offered up in the fulness of time. 
 What was the design of the various important animal 
 
 *Heb. xi. 4. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 41 
 
 sacrifices that were prescribed by the Mosaic law, 
 but to maintain in the church a perpetual knowledge 
 of the interesting truth, that "without shedding of 
 blood there can be no remission of sin,"* and to pre- 
 figure and shadow forth, under striking symbols, 
 that great sacrifice, by which "Christ hath perfected 
 for ever them that are sanctified?"! It is this doc- 
 trine which affords a key to all the mysteries, cere- 
 monies, and rites of the ancient ritual; — and without 
 it, the whole Levitical dispensation must appear to 
 us, as an idle, unmeaning, absurd, and burdensome 
 system. 
 
 If we look to the Prophets, we find them continu- 
 ing the same testimony to this great truth which had 
 been given by the law, and pointing to the "Lamb of 
 God, which taketh away the sin of the world." "The 
 testimony of Jesus, is the spirit of prophecy." To 
 foretell his coming, and offices, and kingdom, was the 
 chief end for which God raised up the seers of an- 
 cient times, and favoured them with visions of things 
 which should take place thereafter. And in what 
 lights do they exhibit the Messiah, but as a spiritual 
 Redeemer — a Sovereign, who should rule in the 
 hearts of men; — a High Priest, who would offer an 
 availing sacrifice for sin, and make intercession for 
 the transgressors? They foretold his incarnation; — his 
 state of humiliation and poverty; and, with minute 
 particularity, all the circumstances of his agony, suf- 
 
 *Heb. ix.22. t Ibid x. 14. 
 
 4* 
 
42 NATURE AND DESIGN OP 
 
 ferings and death. Nor do they leave us to doubt 
 that his sorrows and crucifixion were to be submitted 
 to on our behalf, and as the means of procuring our 
 pardon and salvation; as the following passages from 
 the books of Daniel and Isaiah clearly demonstrate. 
 "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and 
 upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to 
 make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for 
 iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness; — 
 and after three score and two weeks, shall Messiah 
 be cut off, but not for himself."* "He was wounded 
 for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniqui- 
 ties; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, 
 and by his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, 
 have gone astray; we have turned every one to his 
 own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniqui- 
 ty of us all." "It pleased the Lord to bruise him; 
 he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his 
 soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall 
 prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall 
 prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of 
 his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge 
 shall my righteous servant justify many: for he shall 
 bear their iniquities."! 
 
 Do we make an appeal to the New Testament? 
 There we find the precious truth which had been 
 shadowed forth under the rites and ceremonies of the 
 law, and represented with some obscurity by the 
 
 * Daniel ix. 26. f Isaiah liii. 5, 6, 10, 11. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 43 
 
 Prophets, so clearly and prominently exhibited, that 
 "he who runs may read, and the wayfaring man, 
 though a fool," need not misunderstand it. Jndeed, 
 what is the New Testament, but a history of the 
 work of redemption by the obedience and sufferings 
 of God's only begotten son-, — a development of those 
 designs of mercy and salvation, which Jehovah pur- 
 posed in himself before the foundations of the 
 world were laid? It would be easy to shew, that the 
 doctrine of pardon and justification for guilty men, 
 through the atonement and righteousness of the Di- 
 vine Redeemer, is the vital truth which pervades 
 every part of the New Testament; the very "heart's 
 blood" of the Christian system. But in consistency 
 with the limits and design of this little work, we can 
 only quote a few of the many declarations of our 
 Lord and his Apostles, in which this great doctrine is 
 distinctly and unequivocally stated, and leave them 
 to produce their effect upon the reader's mind. 
 
 "The son of man is come to seek and to save that 
 which was lost." — "The son of man came not to be 
 ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life 
 a ransom for many."* "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."! 
 
 Such was the language of our Lord himself, with 
 reference to the grand design of his mission to our 
 
 * Matt. xx. 28. f John vi. 51. 
 
44 NATURE AND DESIGN OP 
 
 world, and in anticipation of the sacrifice which he 
 was to offer upon the cross. And in what terms did 
 the Apostles, who witnessed the fulfilment of his 
 gracious designs, and were inspired by the Holy 
 Ghost to propagate his religion, speak of the same 
 wondrous theme? St. Paul in his Epistle to the Ro- 
 mans, having given a dark and revolting picture of 
 the wickedness of both Jews and Gentiles, comes 
 to the conclusion, that "all have sinned, and come 
 short of the glory of God;" so that, "by the deeds of 
 the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight." 
 And what hope does he hold out to the guilty and 
 perishing children of Adam? None except that which 
 is founded upon the atonement and obedience of 
 Christ. "Being justified freely by his grace through 
 the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God 
 hath set forth, to be a propitiation through faith 
 in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the re- 
 mission of sins that are past through the forbearance 
 of God."* Christ "was delivered for our offences, and 
 raised again for our justification." "God commendeth 
 his love towards us, in that while we were yet sin- 
 ners, Christ died for us." "If when we were ene- 
 mies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his 
 son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved 
 by his life."f "He hath made him to be sin for us, 
 who knew no sin, that we might be made the right- 
 eousness of God in him."! "Christ also hath once 
 
 *Rom. iii. 24, 25. f Ibid. iv. 25. v. 8, 10. J 2 Cor. v. 2'. 
 
THE HOLT EUCHARIST. 45 
 
 suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might 
 bring us to God."* "He gave himself for us that he 
 might redeem us from all iniquity.' 1 
 
 We may well be astonished at the blindness of 
 those, who, with the New Testament in their hands, 
 fail to perceive the truth which it so unequivocally and 
 repeatedly inculcates, that the pardon of our sins is 
 intimately connected with, and dependent upon, the 
 death of our Lord Jesus Christ. That death is uni- 
 formly represented as an expedient, devised by infi- 
 nite wisdom to satisfy the claims of justice, and 
 open a way for the exercise of mercy towards peni- 
 tent sinners. The sufferings of the son of God as 
 our surety and substitute, were designed to glorify 
 the. perfections of Jehovah^ and pay the price cf our 
 redemption from the curse of the law. His cross is 
 the luminous point, in which the apparently discor- 
 dant attributes of Deity concentrate and mingle 
 their radiance. There "mercy and truth met together, 
 righteousness and peace kissed each other." That 
 was the theatre on which was made the most affect- 
 ing exhibition of the evil of sin on the one hand, 
 and the riches of Divine mercy on the other, that 
 was ever presented for the moral improvement of an 
 admiring universe. From that field, God reaped in- 
 finite and unspeakable honours;— man, boundless 
 privileges and eternal bliss. 
 
 * 1 Peter iii. 18. 
 
46 NATURE AND DESIGN OF 
 
 The primary design of the Lord's supper, there- 
 fore, is to keep up a "continual remembrance of the 
 sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the benefits 
 which we receive thereby."* This is an essential 
 part of the institution; take away from it the idea 
 of Christ's death being a sacrifice, and you rob it of 
 all its importance, — all its interest. And it is pecu- 
 liarly proper that the highest act of Christian devo- 
 tion, should refer to the most amazing exhibition of 
 God's love to man. The grateful commemoration of the 
 "exceeding great love of our only Master and Saviour, 
 Jesus Christ, dying for us," is the most delightful ^en- 
 gagement of the church of the redeemed on earth, and 
 will constitute the highest felicity of the church of the 
 glorified in heaven, In approaching the sacramental 
 table of our Lord now, our language is, "God forbid 
 that we should glory save in the cross of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." And if we shall be so happy as to 
 surround his throne hereafter, our language will be 
 different, though the theme of our gratitude and the 
 source of our joy, will be the same: — our song will 
 then be, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to 
 redeem us by his blood.'" "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 dominion for ever and 
 ever, Amen." 
 
 * Church Catechism. 
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST; 47 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 Once more the church invites her children to the 
 sacramental supper. The Lord himself calls upon 
 poor and guilty sinners like me, to approach his table 
 and to receive the sensible pledges of his redeeming 
 love, — the consecrated symbols of his broken body 
 and shed blood. Hear, my soul ! and prepare to obey 
 his solemn command, "do this in remembrance of 
 me!" 
 
 The principal design of this holy ordinance, is, as 
 thou hast heard, to keep up a memorial of the suf- 
 ferings of Christ; — of his death as a sacrifice for sin, 
 and of the benefits which we receive thereby. O, 
 then, call to remembrance the infinite condescen- 
 sion and unspeakable sufferings of thy Lord ! Re- 
 flect, that "though he was in the form of God, and 
 thought it not robbery to be equal with God, yet, he 
 took upon him the form of a servant, and was made 
 in the likeness of sinful flesh." Think of him as 
 having voluntarily become the tenant of a manger, 
 "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." Be- 
 hold him "despised and rejected of men," — treated 
 with contempt by the powerful, and exposed to the 
 scoffs and insults of the rabble. Follow him to the 
 garden of Gethsemane: — see him prostrate upon the 
 hard surface of the ground, pouring forth suppli- 
 cations, "with strong crying and tears !" Think of 
 
48 NATURE AND DESIGN QP 
 
 that intolerable agony of soul, which forced from his 
 veins, great drops of blood, falling down to the 
 ground, and compelled him to exclaim, "Father, if it 
 be possible, let this cup pass from me !" See him ar- 
 rested — and arraigned before Pilate's bar! "He gives 
 his back to the smiters, and his cheek to them that 
 plucked out the hair." — "He is led like a lamb to the 
 slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is 
 dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." — Trace him to 
 Calvary ! behold him transfixed to the cross ! Heark- 
 en to that mysterious cry, "My God, my God, why 
 hast thou forsaken mer" "He bows his sacred head, 
 and gives up the ghost !" 
 
 ' O my soul, all these agonies were endured for 
 thy sake! Yes, precious truth ! "He was wounded for 
 my transgressions — he was bruised for my iniqui- 
 ties." O that he may behold in me the fruit of the 
 travail of his soul, and be satisfied! "What shall 
 I render unto the Lord for all his benefits? I will 
 take the cup of salvation and call upon his name. 
 I will make my vows to him, in the presence of all 
 his people." "I am not my own, but have been 
 bought with a price. I will glorify God in my body 
 and spirit which are his." O that I may feel the 
 constraining influence of the Saviour's love ! O that 
 my views may be fixed upon the cross, till my old 
 man is crucified, and the body of sin destroyed: — 
 till I am dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God 
 through Jesus Christ my Lord ! 
 
THE HOLT EUOHARIST. 49 
 
 "Behold fast streaming from the tree, 
 
 His all atoning blood ! 
 Is this the Infinite? 'tis he, 
 
 My Saviour and my God ! 
 
 For me these pangs his soul assail, 
 
 For me this death is borne; 
 My sins gave sharpness to the nail, 
 
 And pointed every thorn. 
 
 Let sin no more my soul enslave, 
 
 Break, Lord, its tyrant chain; 
 O save me, whom thou cam'st to save, 
 
 Nor bleed, nor die in vain." 
 
CHAPTER IL 
 
 THE BENEFITS TO BE DERIVED FROM A RECEPTION 
 OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 Two common errors exposed. 
 
 In considering the benefits to be derived from an 
 attendance on this divinely instituted memorial of the 
 sacrifice of the death of Christ, it is important to guard 
 against two opposite errors. The one, is that of those 
 who unduly exalt it in the scale of Christian duties, 
 and ascribe to it an influence to which it is by no 
 means entitled; — and the other, that of those who con- 
 sider it as a mere ceremony, which we may disregard 
 without sin, and habitually neglect without loss of 
 spiritual comfort and improvement. 
 
 The strong language used by some of the ancient 
 fathers and martyrs of the church, who lived in the 
 exercise of saving faith, and under the influences of 
 the Holy Spirit, in speaking of the strength and con- 
 solation which they derived from a reception of this 
 blessed sacrament, has been so perverted by a multi- 
 tude of formalists, as to delude them into the belief 
 that a bare attendance upon the ordinance would in- 
 sure to them the same blessings and comforts that it 
 
BENEFITS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 51 
 
 was the instrument of imparting to holy men of old, 
 though it be received without any of the lively faith 
 and spiritual feelings with which they were animated. 
 The writer of these pages, has seen an explana- 
 tion of the Church Catechism, published under most 
 respectable auspices, and very extensively used, in 
 which the lambs of the flock are taught that the par- 
 don of sins committed after baptism, is to be obtain- 
 ed by attending upon the Lord's supper; and, in 
 which it is more than implied, that the work of sanc- 
 tification is necessarily promoted by the same means.* 
 
 * It is most painful and humiliating, that such gross er- 
 rors as those above referred to, should be countenanced 
 in a Protestant community; but the fact that they are so, 
 though questioned by many, is too manifest to be success- 
 fully controverted. There is, however, reason to believe, 
 blessed be God! that they are rapidly passing away before 
 the spreading influence of truth, as the fogs of the night 
 are scattered by the rising luminary of day; but it is to 
 be feared, that some remnants of them may still be 
 found lingering about the mountains of Zion. To shew 
 that he is not contending with a shadow, or exposing 
 an error which has no existence, the author deems it pro- 
 per to insert here an extract from the catechism alluded 
 to in the text. 
 
 fi Q. Which is the tenth article of the creed? 
 
 A. The forgiveness of sins. 
 
 Q. Can forgiveness of sins be obtained by those to 
 whom the gospel is preached out of the Catholic Church? 
 
52 BENEFITS OF THE 
 
 What can be expected but the most confused and 
 erroneous views of the Christian system in theory, 
 and the most Pharisaic, cold-hearted formalism in 
 practice, among a people, where the certain efficacy 
 
 A. No: for it is obtained only through Jesus Christ. 
 Through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall re- 
 ceive remission of sins. (Acts x. 43.) 
 
 Q. To whom did he communicate the power of autho- 
 ritatively declaring the forgiveness of sins? 
 
 A. To his Apostles and their successors. Whose soever 
 sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose 
 soever sins ye retain, they are retained. (John xx. 23.) 
 
 Q. JBy what means do they forgive or retain sins? 
 
 A. By admitting to, or excluding from, the sacraments 
 of baptism and the holy eucharist. 
 
 Q. Does baptism cleanse us from all the actual sins we 
 have committed before it? 
 
 A. Yes: as well as from original sin. AHse and he 
 baptised and wash away thy sins. 
 
 Q. And how do we obtain the pardon of sins committed 
 after baptism? 
 
 A. By the sacrament of the eucharist. 
 
 Q. What is necessary in order to obtain the forgiveness 
 of our actual sins by these sacraments? 
 
 A. True repentance. 
 
 Q. What is repentance? 
 
 A. An hearty sorrow for sin, and an earnest and con- 
 stant endeavour, through divine grace, to forsake it." 
 
 [Extract from "A Catechism, designed as an explanation and 
 enlargement of the Church Catechism.'''' From Sidney's Press, New 
 Haven.] 
 
lord's supper. 53 
 
 of the sacraments, in all cases, is thus boldly inculcat- 
 ed by their religious teachers and guides? Where is 
 the essential difference between a nominal Protes- 
 tant relying for the pardon of sin upon the sacra- 
 ment of the altar, and a member of the Romish com- 
 munion looking for the same blessing to the ab- 
 solution of the priest? Which is the greater error, 
 to depend upon a reception of the eucharist alone, 
 for sanctification, or to rely upon the same ordinance 
 with the superadded rite of extreme unction, to fit 
 the soul for God's presence, and serve as a viaticum 
 to the joys of Paradise? — It is needless to inquire 
 which of these wretched delusions most entitles the 
 victim of them to our compassion. It is enough for 
 us to know, that they are of a kindred character; 
 both condemned by the gospel, and both ruinous to 
 the soul. 
 
 Our Lord Jesus Christ and his inspired Apostles 
 took the utmost pains to guard his disciples against 
 the fatal error, so common under the Jewish dispen- 
 sation, of relying for pardon and holiness on out- 
 ward religious duties; and to impress upon their 
 minds a vivid conviction of the essentially spiritual 
 nature of his dispensation. 
 
 What was the language of our Lord on this sub- 
 ject? "Except your righteousness shall exceed the 
 righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall 
 in nowise enter into the kingdom of Heaven." 
 The Scribes and Pharisees were strict and punc- 
 
54 BENEFITS OF THE 
 
 tilious, in complying with the prescribed ceremonies, 
 and obeying the sacred ordinances of that system 
 of religion under which they lived. And those or- 
 dinances were as much of divine institution, and en- 
 forced by divine authority, as the sacraments of the 
 Christian church. The error of the Scribes and 
 Pharisees was, not that they complied with them, 
 but, that they rested in them, as sufficient to recom- 
 mend them to God. The righteousness of the 
 christian must exceed theirs, by adding to the cere- 
 monial duties which they performed, the graces of 
 the spirit in the heart, and the fruits of moral good- 
 ness in the life. Our Lord enforced the same im- 
 portant truth when he declared, "the kingdom of 
 God is within you." Which is, as if he had said, 
 "my religion consists not in a bare compliance with 
 external rites, however sacred and interesting they 
 may be, but is, emphatically, the religion of the heart: 
 it aims to establish its dominion over the affections, 
 and transform the soul of man into the image of 
 God." 
 
 The inspired Apostles of Jesus, in all their epistles, 
 present the same views of the spiritual nature of his 
 religion. Two or three quotations from the writings 
 of St. Paul will be sufficient on this point. "In 
 Christ Jesus," or, under the gospel dispensation, 
 "neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncir- 
 cumcision, but a new creature."* "He is not a Jew, 
 
 * Galatians vi. 15. 
 
55 
 
 which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision 
 which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which 
 is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the 
 heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise 
 is not of men but of God."* Although the Apostle, 
 in the verses quoted, specifies an ordinance of the 
 Jewish church as void of efficacy, and unavailable to 
 salvation, unless accompanied in the subject of it, by 
 a renovation of heart; yet, as that ordinance was a 
 divinely instituted sign and seal of the covenant of 
 grace, and the outward rite of initiation to the bless- 
 ings and promises of that covenant, there would, 
 manifestly, be no perversion of the meaning of the 
 texts, if we substitute either of the sacraments of the 
 Christian church, in the place of circumcision; for, 
 what efficacy or privileges pertain to them as signs 
 and seals of the covenant, that did not equally be- 
 long to circumcision? The evident meaning of the 
 passages, is, that a compliance with any positive reli- 
 gious rites, will not insure pardon and salvation to 
 man without a new creation; and that, whenever the 
 new creation has taken place, the blessings of par- 
 don and salvation will not be withheld on the 
 ground that the positive rites have not been ob- 
 served. The sum of the Apostle's declaration is, 
 that a heart right with God, is the one thing needful 
 to salvation: without it, no external privileges will 
 be of any avail; and with it, no want of external 
 
 * Romans ii. 28, 29. 
 
56 BENEFITS OF THE 
 
 privileges, can hinder us from the enjoyment of the 
 blessing. 
 
 It must be evident to every careful student of the 
 scriptures, that those who believe that a change of 
 heart, or the implantation of a principle of spiritual 
 life, is inseparably connected with the administration 
 of one of the christian sacraments, and that a re- 
 newed pardon and the grace of sanctification are 
 certainly obtained by the reception of the other, 
 have sadly mistaken the genius of our holy religion, 
 and are building their hopes upon a foundation which 
 is unstable as the sand. 
 
 The mere formalist, who relies upon the bare dis- 
 charge of external duties, may indeed highly rever- 
 ence the church and her sacred institutions; but he 
 blindly expects the church to perform the offices of 
 her Divine Head, and relies upon the sacramental in- 
 struments to accomplish that work for him which 
 can be effected only by the power of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 The fact is, that no special promise of pardon or 
 sanctification can be found in the scriptures, connect- 
 ed with the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. It is an 
 ordinance intended for his own disciples. It is, in 
 one view of it, a eucharistical service, or a solemn 
 offering of thanks for pardon already obtained through 
 faith in the blood of his cross; and in another, a 
 means of increasing the principle of divine life where 
 it exists in the soul, and promoting the sanctification of 
 
lord's supper. 57 
 
 those who are already converted and adopted into 
 the family of God. 
 
 The unbelieving and unregenerate sinner can 
 derive no comfort or profit from receiving it, but 
 rather incurs the guilt of eating and drinking con- 
 demnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's 
 body. The benefit of it, depends altogether, under 
 God, upon its being received under the influence of 
 christian principles, and in the exercise of christian 
 affections. Such, beyond all question, is the doc- 
 trine of our truly scriptural church. On this interest- 
 ing subject of the efficacy of the sacraments, her lan- 
 guage is, "in such only as worthily receive the same, 
 they have a wholesome effect or operation."* "The 
 wicked, and such as be void of a lively faith, al- 
 though they do carnally press with their teeth, (as 
 St. Augustine saith) the sacrament of the body and 
 blood of Christ; yet in nowise are they partakers 
 of Christ; but rather to their condemnation, do eat 
 and drink the sign or sacrament of so great a thing."| 
 "Dearly beloved in the Lord, ye who mind to come 
 to the holy communion of the body and blood of our 
 Saviour Christ, must consider how St. Paul exhorteth 
 all persons diligently to try and examine themselves, 
 before they presume to eat of that bread and drink 
 of that cup. For as the benefit is great, if with a 
 true penitent heart and lively faith we receive that 
 holy sacrament, so is the danger great if we receive 
 
 * Article 25. f Article 29, 
 
5S BENEFITS OF THE 
 
 the same unworthily. Judge therefore yourselves, 
 brethren, that ye be not judged of the Lord: repent 
 ye truly for your sins past, have a lively and stead- 
 fast faith in Christ our Saviour; amend your lives, 
 and be in perfect charity with all men: so shall ye be 
 meet partakers of those holy mysteries. 5 '* 
 
 They, therefore, form an exaggerated and errone- 
 ous estimate of the value of this sacrament, who be- 
 lieve that it operates like a charm, and, that all who at- 
 tend upon it will be certainly benefited. The truth is, 
 that its influence is of a moral kind; that, it is merely a 
 channel through which certain blessings are commu- 
 nicated to those who are prepared to receive them 
 by possessing the essentials of the Christian charac- 
 ter, viz: repentance and faith: and, that all who par- 
 take of it without those essential qualifications, do, 
 so far from receiving benefit, only increase their guilt 
 and condemnation thereby. 
 
 The other error which it is deemed important to 
 notice, is that of those who consider this sacrament 
 as a mere ceremony, which may be neglected with- 
 out danger, and performed without benefit. 
 
 With those who reject all external ordinances and 
 ceremonies, as inconsistent with the views they have 
 adopted of the naked simplicity and refined spiritu- 
 ality of the religion of the New Testament, we have 
 no concern in the present work. The points of dif- 
 
 * Exhortation at the time of the celebration of the 
 communion . 
 
59 
 
 ference between them and us, would lead to a more 
 protracted discussion than we have time for at pre- 
 sent. And this little book is designed for the benefit 
 of those who admit that Christianity has an outward 
 form as well as an inward power. That it is intend- 
 ed, not for angels but for men. And that as man is 
 composed of a body and a soul, so the religion that 
 is calculated for his benefit and improvement, must 
 be adapted to his nature: it must also have a body 
 and a soul: it must consist of outward forms and ordi- 
 nances, as well as of inward graces and holy fruits. 
 
 It is to be lamented, however, that multitudes who 
 admit the correctness of these general views, and be- 
 long to a church which assigns to the ordinance of 
 the supper the highest rank among the positive duties 
 of religion, do, nevertheless, entirely neglect that 
 holy sacrament, without any apparent consciousness 
 of the loss of benefit, or the incurring of guilt as a 
 consequence of that neglect. 
 
 But can a person consider himself free from guilt 
 while living in the violation of any divine precept? 
 And what precept of the New Testament is plainer 
 than that which accompanied the institution of the 
 eucharist — "do this in remembrance of me?" Do 
 not they who disobey this plain commandment,' incur 
 the displeasure of its author, and betray a spirit of re- 
 bellion which would lead them to violate all the di- 
 vine precepts? Every reflecting mind must give an 
 affirmative reply to these inquiries. For "sin is a 
 
60 BENEFITS OP THE 
 
 transgression of the law," and "he that offendeth in 
 one point, is guilty of all." 
 
 Would to God that the neglecters of this holy sa- 
 crament would reflect upon the consequences of their 
 conduct ! It surely is no venial offence to violate a 
 command which may be so easily fulfilled — and was 
 given under such solemn and affecting circumstances. 
 By this one act of disobedience, they virtually incur 
 the guilt of breaking the whole law of God, and ex- 
 pose themselves to its tremendous curse. 
 
 This is a much more solemn and fearful view of 
 the neglect of the sacrament of the supper than is 
 commonly presented. It may be enlarged upon to- 
 wards the conclusion of the present volume — and in 
 the mean time, some conception of the loss sustained 
 by the neglecters of it may be formed from a con- 
 sideration of the benefits arising from a due recep- 
 tion of this holy ordinance; to which we shall, in the 
 following sections, more particularly direct the atten- 
 tion of our readers. 
 
61 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 The moral influence of the Lord's Supper, as a Com* 
 memorative rite. 
 
 God does not require man to serve him for naught. 
 He has been pleased to establish an inseparable con- 
 nexion between holiness and happiness; between the 
 performance of duty on our part, and the bestowment 
 of blessings on his. Every act of service brings with 
 it a correspondent blessing. The experience of the 
 faithful servants of Jehovah confirms the truth of the 
 scriptural declaration, "the work of righteousness is 
 peace, and the effect of it quietness and assurance 
 for ever." The disciple of Christ receives benefit, in 
 one form or another, from doing his master's will. 
 Whether he prays, reads the scriptures, attends upon 
 the preaching of the gospel, resists temptation, mor- 
 tifies his lusts and passions, instructs the ignorant, 
 relieves the wants of the poor, or performs any other 
 duty which his Lord has commanded, he finds his 
 advantage promoted by it, and fails not, in one mode 
 or other, to obtain a reward. 
 
 This general principle applies in all its force to the 
 
 subject before us; and in the absence of any special 
 
 promises to the effect, would serve to assure us, that 
 
 a compliance with the command to celebrate the 
 
 6 
 
62 BENEFITS OF THE 
 
 Lord's supper would not fail to be productive of bene- 
 fit to our souls. But there are reasons suggested by 
 the very nature and design of the ordinance itself, 
 sufficient to convince us that a due observance of it 
 cannot fail to exert a highly valuable influence upon 
 our spiritual interests. 
 
 The sacrament of the Lord's supper is a commemo- 
 rative ordinance; a divinely instituted "memorial of 
 the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the in- 
 numerable benefits procured to us by the same." 
 Whenever this ordinance is celebrated, "Jesus Christ 
 is evidently set forth, as crucified among us." The 
 mournful tragedy of his passion, is, as it were, re-en- 
 acted before our eyes. We are called upon to listen 
 to the groans and exclamations which were forced 
 from the innocent sufferer, in the garden and upon 
 the cross. We are invited to walk through the 
 gloomy shades of Gethsemane, and ascend the bloody 
 mount of Calvary. We have a sensible and affecting 
 representation of his body broken and his blood shed 
 for our redemption. 
 
 How powerful must be the moral influence of this 
 commemorative service upon every pious mind? How 
 admirably calculated is it, to bring into exercise all the 
 humble, devout, and grateful feelings of a Christian's 
 heart? Cold must be that bosom, and destitute of 
 every spiritual emotion, which can behold the touch- 
 ing exhibition of the agonies of our crucified Lord 
 given in the sacrament of the altar, and not be pene- 
 
lord's supper. 63 
 
 trated with humiliation and sorrow, at the remem- 
 brance of those sins of ours which caused his death, 
 and were borne by him in his own body upon the 
 cross. 
 
 The celebration of this ordinance, is calculated, 
 not only to excite the sorrows of repentance, but 
 also to inspire us with the hope of pardon. It is a 
 memorial, no less of God's infinite mercy, than of 
 man's extreme sinfulness. The sacrifice of the cross, 
 solves the great problem, "how can man become just 
 with God?" It is the bright spot, in which the perfec- 
 tions of the divine nature, blaze forth in the splen- 
 dour of their combined glory, and the otherwise con- 
 flicting attributes of holiness and grace, harmoniously 
 co-operate for the accomplishment of one end. At 
 every celebration of the Lord's Supper, Christ is "set 
 forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, 
 to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins 
 that are past, through the forbearance of God; to de- 
 clare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he 
 might be just, and the justifier of him which be- 
 lieveth in Jesus."* In that ordinance, we, as it were, 
 behold "the son of man lifted up, that whosoever 
 believeth on him might not perish, but have everlast- 
 ing life.""j* He addresses to us the encouraging in- 
 vitation, "look unto me and be saved." The nature 
 of the engagement induces to a compliance with the 
 
 * Rom. iii. 25, 26. f John iii. 14. 
 
64 BENEFITS OF THE 
 
 invitation; and the consequence is, peace and joy in 
 believing. 
 
 "Thus while his death my sin displays 
 
 In all its blackest hue, 
 (Such is the mystery of grace) 
 
 It seals my pardon too." 
 
 This appointed memorial of the death of Christ, 
 is not only admirably calculated to assist the mind in 
 the exercise of repentance and faith, but has a pow- 
 erful tendency to fill the heart with the tender emo- 
 tions of gratitude. We are so constituted, that, we 
 naturally love those who love us, and are disposed to 
 make not only verbal acknowledgments, but grateful 
 returns of favours to those who have conferred 
 benefits upon us. In the sacrament of the supper, 
 we have a most affecting, sensible memorial of that 
 stupendous act of divine love, which fills earth with 
 astonishment and excites the profound adoration of 
 heaven. We are there reminded of the wonderful 
 fact, that a God so loved the world that he gave his 
 only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him, 
 might not perish, but have everlasting life." That 
 soul must be insensible to the most precious benefits, 
 and dead to every sentiment of gratitude, which can 
 contemplate this astonishing liberality of divine grace, 
 without the most tender and powerful emotions. If 
 there is a spark of gratitude in our bosoms, surely 
 the sacramental memorial at the altar must kindle it 
 to a flame. Hence, it is with great propriety called 
 
lord's supper. 65 
 
 the Eucharist, or offering of thanks. The pious 
 believer, in approaching the ordinance which makes 
 such an affecting exhibition of God's love, feels con- 
 strained to ask, "what shall I render unto the Lord 
 for all his benefits? I will take the cup of salvation 
 and call upon his name: I will make my vows to 
 him in the presence of his people." Deeply im- 
 pressed with a sense of God's mercies in creation, 
 preservation, and all the blessings of this life — but, 
 above all, in the redemption of the world by our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; he exclaims, "thanks 
 be unto God for his unspeakable gift!" "Praise the 
 Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, praise his 
 holy name! Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget 
 not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thy sin, and 
 healeth all thine infirmities; who saveth thy life from 
 destruction, and crowneth thee with mercy and loving 
 kindness!" 
 
 It is the natural tendency of this sacrament, con- 
 sidered merely with reference to its moral influence 
 as a commemorative rite, to awaken in every pious 
 communicant, those grateful sentiments which are 
 expressed in the sublime and elevated strains of the 
 "Gloria in excehisf or the "Trisagium" — the lat- 
 ter of which, is used only in the communion service of 
 the church. And we can hardly conceive of any scene 
 on earth, which affords a finer emblem of heaven, than 
 that which is presented when a large number of the 
 disciples of Christ who feel the comforts of redeem- 
 6* 
 
66 BENEFITS OP THE 
 
 ing love, and are about to receive its consecrated 
 pledges, with one heart and voice exclaim, "it is very 
 meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should 
 at all times and in all places, give thanks unto thee, 
 O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty, everlasting God. 
 Therefore, with angels and archangels, and with all 
 the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy 
 glorious name; evermore praising thee and saying, 
 Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Hosts, heaven and 
 earth are full of thy glory: glory be to thee, O Lord 
 Most High! Amen."* 
 
 * Communion Service of the Prot. Ep. Ch. 
 
67 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 The benefits to be derived from the LoroVs Supper 
 as a Federal or Covenant Rite. 
 
 The benefits to be derived from a reception of 
 the Lord's supper will further appear, from a con- 
 sideration of it as a federal or covenant rite. 
 
 This sacrament, like that of baptism, is to be view- 
 ed as a sign and seal of the covenant of grace. The 
 benefits it conveys under this view will be more ap- 
 propriately considered in another place, our attention 
 is directed, at present, merely to its moral influence 
 upon us as a covenant transaction between us and 
 our God, reminding us of our engagement to him 
 and of the duties we are obligated to perform. At our 
 baptism, either in our own persons, or by our sureties, 
 we became parties to the covenant which God has 
 made with his church. On his part, "the promises of the 
 forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons 
 of God by the Holy Ghost, were visibly signed and 
 sealed."* On our part, there was a promise and vow, 
 "to renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil; — to 
 believe all the articles of the Christian faith; and to 
 continue Christ's faithful soldiers and servants to 
 our life's end."f 
 
 *27th Article of Religion. f Baptismal service. 
 
6S BENEFITS OP THE 
 
 Now, as a contract between two parties, the be- 
 stowment of the blessings promised on the part of 
 God, is manifestly suspended upon the performance 
 of the duty promised on our part. — It is therefore of 
 the highest importance, that every member of the 
 church should clearly understand the obligations im- 
 posed upon him by his baptism, and have them fre- 
 quently exhibited to his view, and pressed home upon 
 his conscience. 
 
 This is one important use of the sacrament of the 
 Lord's supper. Whenever we celebrate that ordi- 
 nance, we are solemnly reminded of our Christian 
 profession and covenant, which are then virtually re- 
 newed. It is true, we do not, in a formal manner, 
 in the precise words prescribed, repeat our baptismal 
 vow; but such a repetition is implied in the very act 
 of communicating. For, in what character is it that 
 we present ourselves before the altar of God? Is it 
 not in that of his covenant people and avowed ser- 
 vants? Do we not, in the very act of commemorat- 
 ing the death of Jesus in this solemn manner, vir- 
 tually declare, not only that all our hopes of pardon 
 are built upon the merits of his sacrifice, but that we 
 are bound, as the purchase of his blood, to glorify 
 God in our bodies and spirits which are his? Do we 
 not, as it were, give ourselves up anew to God, and 
 join ourselves to him in a perpetual covenant never 
 to be forgotten? Yes! and it is an appropriate em- 
 ployment when approaching the Lord's table, solemn- 
 
lord's StJPPER. 09 
 
 ly to review the stipulations of that covenant, the 
 duties it imposes upon us, on the one hand, and the 
 blessings which God promises to his faithful people, 
 on the other. 
 
 How can an individual seriously reflect upon the 
 fact of his espousal to the Lord: upon his vow, re- 
 corded in heaven, to "renounce the devil and all his 
 works, the pomps and vanities of the world, and the 
 sinful lusts of the flesh: to believe in God, and serve 
 him truly all the days of his life," with a view to 
 its renewal and ratification, without experiencing 
 spiritual benefit? By his own voluntary act, often 
 and solemnly repeated, he has abjured all sinful 
 courses, and dedicated himself to the glory and ser- 
 vice of the living God. Every communion season, 
 reminds him that he is thus consecrated, and obliges 
 him to renew the consecration. "I am not my own," 
 he will say; "I belong to him whom I acknowledge 
 and adore as my Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. 
 I am not of the world, even as Christ was not of the 
 world; but a member of that church which he hath 
 purchased with his precious blood. Can I partake of 
 the table of the Lord and of the table of devils? 
 Shall I dare to indulge the sins which crucified my 
 Saviour, — to love the worl(J which I have renounced, 
 to indulge any dispositions or perform any acts, 
 which will bring dishonour on his cause whom I pro- 
 fess to consider as my master, and best friend? No, 
 Lord, I am thine, entirely thine by profession, make 
 
70 BENEFITS OF THE 
 
 me thine indeed and in truth! May the solemn cove- 
 nant I am about to ratify, be ever present to my mind! 
 May the "grace which bringeth salvation," effectually, 
 "teach me to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and 
 to live soberly, righteously and godly in the present 
 evil world!" 
 
 How important, then, are the benefits arising from 
 the practical influence of this sacrament, considered 
 as an oft-repeated renewal of our covenant dedica- 
 tion to God? 
 
 To partake of the full benefits of this sacrament 
 as a Federal or Covenant rite, we must view it not 
 only as a renewal of our promises to God, but also, 
 as a renewal and ratification of his promises and 
 stipulations to us, as the other party to the cove- 
 nant. The sacraments of the Christian church 
 are signs and seals of the covenant of grace. We 
 have already considered the representative character 
 of the Lord's supper as a sign, it will be profitable 
 to glance at its confirmatory character as a seal. 
 
 The ordinary use of a seal, is well known. It is 
 employed for the ratification of any compact, bar- 
 gain or covenant, between two parties. "The sacra- 
 ment, therefore, is called a seal," says Bishop Hop- 
 kins, "because it is annexed to that bargain and co- 
 venant that God hath made with man. For herein 
 God is pleased to be so gracious to our infirmity, 
 that he hath not only passed his word, but hath also 
 confirmed his covenant by seals; that by two immu- 
 
lord's supper. 71 
 
 table things, wherein it was not possible for God to 
 lie, we might have abundant consolation. And there- 
 fore, the circumcision of Abraham, which was then 
 the sacrament of initiation, to which, in the Christian 
 church, baptism succeeded, is called c a seal of the 
 righteousness of faith.'* And the cup' in this ordi- 
 nance of the Lord's supper, is said by the Apostle to 
 be the 'Neio Testament in the blood of Christ.'f 
 Now what else can be understood by that synecdoche, 
 that the cup is the New Testament, but only that it 
 is a seal set to the New Testament; — the last will of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, and that covenant which he 
 hath ratified with us in his blood? Thus, therefore, 
 it is called a seal because it is a confirmation of the 
 covenant made between God and man; even as a 
 seal is a confirmation of any agreement between 
 man and man." 
 
 The same learned and pious divine, by way of 
 illustrating the operation and effect of the holy 
 sacrament in this view of it, makes the following 
 remarks: "The brief tenor of this covenant you 
 have expressly contained in those few words, ^He 
 that believeth — shall be saved:% And to this cove- 
 nant the sacrament is affixed as a seal. And in it, 
 there are two things that admit of sealing: 
 
 The tenor of the covenant itself, 
 
 Our propriety and interest in the mercy promised. 
 *Rom. iv. 11. f 1 Cor. xi. 25. Vide, also, Luke xxii. 20. 
 \ St. Mark xvi. 16. 
 
72 BENEFITS OP THE 
 
 "The tenor of the covenant consists in this: if I 
 believe, I shall be saved. Our interest and propriety 
 in the covenant consists in this: But I do believe, 
 and therefore, I shall be saved. 
 
 "Now each of these may be sealed unto the soul; 
 and accordingly there is a two-fold sealing: 
 
 An external sealing by the sacrament, 
 
 An internal sealing by the Spirit. 
 
 "Of these, the external sealing only, respects the 
 sacrament. For, in this ordinance, God seals unto 
 me, that if I believe on the Lord Jesus, I shall be 
 saved; and gives me a visible pledge of this promise, 
 that as sure as I eat of the sacramental bread and 
 drink of the wine, so surely upon my faith, I shall 
 inherit eternal life. And this, indeed, is the most 
 proper sealing use which the sacrament hath. 
 
 "But the internal sealing of the Spirit in our own 
 consciences, respects our peculiar right and interest 
 in this covenant For, though the sacrament seals to 
 me, that if I believe, I shall be saved; yet, it doth 
 not properly seal and attest to me, that I do believe, 
 and therefore, shall be saved. But this is the work of 
 the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of adoption, which seals 
 us up unto the day of redemption; and works in 
 the hearts of many believers a full assurance, that 
 grace is already wrought in them, and that glory 
 shall hereafter be bestowed upon them. 
 
 "And thus you see what it is, that the sacrament 
 seals to. Principally and primarily, it seals to the 
 
73 
 
 truth of the conditional covenant, as a pledge of 
 God's veracity; but secondarily, it seals also, to our 
 faith, as it is a means instituted by God for the 
 strengthening and increasing of it."* 
 
 Whenever we approach the Lord's table, we may^ 
 with the eye of faith, as it were, behold the God 
 whom we have offended, "bowing the heavens," and 
 coming down to meet us; not as we might reasonably 
 expect, arrayed, in the garments of vengeance and 
 armed with the thunders of Sinai; but clothed in 
 the robes of mercy, and holding forth the sceptre of 
 grace to every returning sinner. We may behold 
 him surrounded with the mild and attractive lustre 
 of benevolence, as "God in Christ reconciling the 
 world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto 
 them," and proclaiming "peace — peace to them that 
 are afar off and to them that are nigh" through the 
 blood of the cross. It is the feast of our reconcilia- 
 tion with God: the place of friendly meeting; the 
 point of union between our sinful souls and the 
 thrice Holy One from whom we have been alienated 
 by transgression. He who so loved the world, as to 
 give his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth 
 on him might not perish, but have everlasting life, 
 at every celebration of this sacrament, as it were, 
 makes a repeated proffer of the unspeakable gift; 
 ratifying and confirming with all the binding solem- 
 
 * Bishop Hopkins's works, 8vo. ed. 2d. vol. p. p. 439 — 442. 
 7 
 
74 BENEFITS OP THE 
 
 nity of his appointed seal, the covenant blessings 
 which he has promised to the receivers of the gift. 
 
 How great beyond description, then, are the bene- 
 fits which the true believer enjoys in the devout 
 reception of this seal of the covenant! God, on his 
 part, proffers the Lord Jesus Christ, in all the glories 
 of his redeeming offices; in all the riches of his 
 merits and grace; in all the fulness of his exceeding 
 great and precious promises. And the believer, on 
 his part, in all the humility and gratitude of a sin- 
 cerely devoted heart, says, — "I receive the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, as he is freely offered, to be my Prophet, 
 Priest, and King; I rely on his merits; I submit to 
 his grace; and I embrace his promises to be my 'por- 
 tion and heritage for ever, for they are the very joy 
 of my heart.' " Thus, this holy and interesting cove- 
 nant is publicly signed and sealed by both the con- 
 tracting parties. The Lord God receives a revenue 
 of glory from the sanctified affections and devoted 
 services of the redeemed sinner — and the redeemed 
 sinner, thus brought nigh to the Lord God in the bonds 
 of a holy covenant, receives the pure joys, and un- 
 speakable benefits which arise from the assurance of 
 faith. "Why should I longer doubt," he may say, 
 "since God has made 'an everlasting covenant with 
 me, ordered in all things, and sure?' O precious new 
 covenant! ratified by the blood of Calvary, and now 
 solemnly confirmed to me, by the instituted and ac- 
 knowledged seal of Heaven! What are its terms? 'I 
 
lord's supper. 75 
 
 WILL BE THEIR God; THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE, 
 AND THEIR SINS AND INIQUITIES WILL I REMEMBER 
 NO MORE.'"* 
 
 "God will not fail, he cannot faint, 
 Salvation's sure, and must be mine." 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 The benefits to be derived from the LonVs Supper, 
 considered as an act of Communion. 
 
 Another benefit to be derived from a reception of 
 the Lord's supper, is. the maintenance and enjoyment 
 of communion with God and his people. It is with 
 reference to this end of its institution, that the sacra- 
 ment is called the "Holy Communion." 
 
 When, in the Apostles' Creed, we profess to believe 
 in the "Holy Catholic Church, and the Communion of 
 saints," there is an acknowledgment of our faith, not 
 only in the sanctity and universality of the church, 
 but also in its unity, and the close connexion which 
 exists between the different divisions of the house- 
 hold of faith as members of the one mystical body of 
 Jesus Christ. The communion of saints, is not con- 
 fined to the church on earth; but there is a sweet and 
 mysterious fellowship, between redeemed sinners, still 
 confined in the prison of the flesh and engaged in 
 
 *Jer xxxi. 33. Heb. x. 17. 
 
76 BENEFITS OF THE 
 
 the conflicts of the spiritual warfare, and the "spirits 
 of the just made perfect," who have finished their 
 battles and won their crowns, — by virtue of their com- 
 mon union to one glorious and Divine Head, "of 
 whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." 
 
 It would, however, be highly unscriptural and ab- 
 surd to believe that all the members of the visible 
 church on earth are partakers of this blessed com- 
 munion. A mixture of good and evil, of saints and 
 sinners, is to be found in the visible church, com- 
 pared, by our Lord, to the mingled mass of wheat and 
 chaffupon a threshing floor, or the promiscuous growth 
 of grain and tares in the same field. Some members 
 of the visible church, are but dead branches of the 
 living vine; worthless as chaff or tares, and destined 
 to destruction in another world. They, of course, 
 have no vital connexion, or spiritual communion, with 
 God and his people in this world; but, notwithstand- 
 ing their professions and privileges, are "aliens from 
 the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the cove- 
 nant of promise," "dead in trespasses and sins," "hav- 
 ing no hope, and without God in the world." 
 
 The privilege of which we speak, belongs only to 
 renewed believers, who have experienced the con- 
 verting, elevating power of the gospel upon their souls. 
 They alone, have access to God in the "new and 
 living way" consecrated by the blood of Jesus. They 
 alone, in the exercise of the "Spirit of adoption," can 
 look up to him with humble confidence, and say, 
 
77 
 
 "Abba, Father!" "The heart of the wise teacheth his 
 mouth, and addeth learning unto his lips." And they 
 alone who are thus taught, can say to their fellow men, 
 "what our eyes have seen, our hands have handled," 
 and our hearts have felt, "of the word of truth, the 
 same declare we unto you, that ye also may have fel- 
 lowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the 
 Father, and with his son Jesus Christ." 
 
 The regenerated children of God, even amidst the 
 darkness and trials and sins of their earthly pilgrim- 
 age, "feel in themselves," to use the language of our 
 church, "the working of the Spirit of Christ; — draw- 
 ing up their minds to high and heavenly things." 
 There are favoured seasons, when they have the most 
 sweet and affectionate intercourse with Heaven. When, 
 in the retirement of the closet, God sometimes meets 
 them by the gracious influence of the Comforter, 
 and fills them with the joys of his presence and the 
 most precious tokens of his love; so that their closet 
 seems to be the consecrated theatre of such pleasures 
 as the world can neither give nor take away. At 
 other times, in the ordinary devotions of the sanc- 
 tuary, in the social prayer meeting, or under the 
 preaching of the gospel, the light of the divine coun- 
 tenance shines upon their souls with such overwhelm- 
 ing brightness, as to force from them the adoring ex- 
 clamation of the Patriarch: "Surely the Lord is in this 
 place; — how dreadful is this place ! this is none other 
 but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven !" 
 7* 
 
78 BENEFITS OP THE 
 
 But it is, especially, at the sacramental table, that 
 the Christian is favoured with the most delightful sea- 
 sons of communion with his God and Saviour. There, 
 the graces of faith and hope and love are in most 
 lively exercise. There, a free channel of intercourse 
 is opened between the devout worshipper and Him 
 whom his soul loveth. There, the Lord especially 
 invites us to freedom of communication and all the 
 tender intimacies of friendship. With infinite conde- 
 scension, he receives us, as accepted guests, at his 
 own table. He leads us into his "banqueting-house, 
 and his banner over us is love." He says, "Come, 
 eat, O my friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O 
 beloved!" He not only feeds us with the bread of 
 life, but "makes himself known in the breaking of 
 bread," and "manifests himself unto us as he doth not 
 unto the world." It is an experience of comforts 
 and privileges like these, that enables the devout at- 
 tendant upon the altar to exclaim: "Lord, I am abun- 
 dantly satisfied with the pleasures of thine house, 
 even of thy holy temple;" "One day in thy courts, is 
 better than a thousand" elsewhere. "I had rather be 
 a door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell 
 in the tents of wickedness." O, the blessedness of 
 communion with God! it is the enjoyment of heaven 
 upon earth; — the employment of eternity in the mo- 
 ments of time ! Happy, beyond description, are they 
 who enter into the full spirit of this ordinance, and 
 
lord's supper. 79 
 
 receive it with the proper dispositions: for they can 
 say, "truly God dwelleth in its, and we in him." 
 
 True Christians, who, by the Spirit of adoption, 
 enjoy communion with God, also enjoy fellowship 
 with each other. The holy scriptures employ a va- 
 riety of strong metaphors to describe and illustrate 
 the closeness and intimacy of the connexion which 
 subsists between them. They are compared to citi- 
 zens of the same country; sheep of the same fold; 
 servants of the same Master; members of one house- 
 hold; children of a common Parent. Nay, as if the 
 union were too close and sacred to admit even the 
 idea of individual separation, in family relation; of 
 specific difference, in generic connexion; they are 
 spoken of as branches of the same vine, members of 
 the same body. As distinct limbs of the human body 
 are animated by the same principle of life, and as 
 different branches of the vine are sustained by a com- 
 mon nourishment, and as neither of them can exist 
 in a state of separation; so all true believers in Christ 
 live in a state of inseparable, but mystical union with 
 each other, and derive all their life and nourishment 
 from him. They are animated by one Spirit, and by 
 it baptised into one body. "There is one Lord, one 
 faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who 
 is above all, and through all, and in you all." They 
 have common sympathies, common sorrows, common 
 joys. "When one member suffers, all the members 
 
SO BENEFITS OE THE 
 
 suffer with it; and when one member rejoices, all the 
 members rejoice with it." 
 
 There is, moreover, a mutual dependance subsist- 
 ing between them. "But now are there many mem- 
 bers, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto 
 the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again, the head 
 to the feet, I have no need of you." As, in the 
 human body, the several members, though called by 
 various names and performing different functions, 
 have one common life and feeling; so is it in the 
 mystical body of our Lord Jesus Christ. All are 
 united to one common Head, and receive, out of his 
 fulness, "grace for grace." The life they enjoy in 
 their souls, was first communicated to them by his 
 Spirit, and is maintained, from day to day, only by 
 "their feeding upon him in their hearts, by faith, with 
 thanksgiving." And, as they are thus one with Christ, 
 they are, of course, one with each other. 
 
 This communion of spirit which exists between 
 believers in the Son of God, like that which exists 
 between them and their common Lord, is spiritual 
 and invisible. But it is necessary, for the promotion 
 of the Saviour's glory and the accomplishment of the 
 great ends for which his church was instituted, that 
 there should be some outward acknowledgment, some 
 visible manifestation, of this communion of saints. Ac- 
 cordingly, he has instituted this sacrament of the Sup- 
 per, as one important means of increasing it, and 
 publicly exhibiting its reality to the world. It is true, 
 
lord's supper. 81 
 
 that in every social act of devotion Christians enjoy 
 fellowship with each other; but in none so eminently 
 and emphatically as in sacramental duty. At the 
 Lord's table, they not only profess, but give a sensible 
 exhibition of, their union to a common Head, and 
 with each other in him. In what strong language 
 does the Apostle of the Gentiles describe this holy 
 design and gracious influence of the highest act of 
 religious duty? "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? For we, being many, are one bread, 
 and one body: for we are all partakers of that one 
 bread."* 
 
 How close and intimate must that union be, which 
 is represented by the connexion that exists between 
 originally different kernels of wheat, ground into com- 
 mon flour, and combined together in the same loaf! 
 Surely there is, in the spiritual union of believers, a 
 fulfilment of the petition which our Lord offered up 
 for his disciples, when he prayed, "I will, O Father, 
 that they may be one, even as we are one — that they 
 all may be one: as thou, Father, art in me, and I in 
 thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world 
 may believe that thou hast sent me."*f 
 
 When Christians surround the table of the Lord, 
 they do it as children of one family; members of the 
 same mystical body. They declare their fellowship 
 
 * 1 Cor. x. 16, 17. f John, xvii. 21, 22. 
 
82 BENEFITS OF THE 
 
 with each other, as partakers of a common faith; ani- 
 mated by the same Spirit; cheered by one precious 
 hope; united to the same head, and expectants of the 
 same glorious and everlasting rest in heaven. In the 
 holy sacrament of the Eucharist, they behold one of 
 the most important means of increasing and perpe- 
 tuating the communion of saints, and enjoy a sweet 
 pledge and foretaste of the higher felicity that awaits 
 them, when they shall sit down together at "the mar- 
 riage supper of the Lamb," in heaven. Hence, our 
 church, with great propriety, teaches her children, af- 
 ter the celebration of this ordinance, to return thanks 
 to Almighty God, that he doth thereby "assure us who 
 have duly received those holy mysteries, of his favour 
 and goodness towards us; and that we are very mem- 
 bers incorporate in the mystical body of his Son, which 
 is the blessed company of all faithful people; and are 
 also heirs, through hope, of his everlasting kingdom, 
 by the merits of the most precious death and passion 
 of his dear Son." 
 
lord's supper. S3 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 The benefits to be derived from the Lord's Supper, 
 as a positive mean of grace. 
 
 I shall close this chapter upon the benefits to be 
 derived from a reception of the Lord's Supper, by a 
 brief consideration of one, which, though last men- 
 tioned in the order of time, is by no means least in 
 the scale of importance. I refer to its direct and 
 powerful agency, as a mean of grace, in increasing 
 the principle of divine life in the soul, and strength- 
 ening all the graces and virtues of the new man in 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 This is well expressed in the church catechism. 
 The question is asked, "What are the benefits whereof 
 we are partakers thereby?" that is, receiving the Lord's 
 supper. And the answer is, "The strengthening and 
 refreshing of our souls, by the body and blood of 
 Christ, as our bodies are by the bread and wineP 
 It may be needful again to remind some of my read- 
 ers, that, according to the doctrine of our church, this 
 benefit is conferred upon those communicants only, 
 who, with due preparation of heart, receive that holy 
 sacrament: that the body and blood of Christ are 
 taken, in the Supper, "after a spiritual and heavenly 
 manner;" and that "the mean whereby they are re- 
 ceived, in the Supper, is faith. But the wicked, and 
 
84 BENEFITS OF THE 
 
 such as be void of a lively faith, although they do 
 carnally and visibly press, with their teeth," as St. Au- 
 gustine saith, "the sacrament of the body and blood 
 of Christ, yet in nowise are they partakers of Christ; 
 but rather, to their condemnation, do eat and drink 
 the sign or sacrament of so great a thing."* 
 
 It may, indeed, be said, that there is no express 
 and positive promise in the New Testament that 
 pardon, or sanctification, or any other special privi- 
 lege of the children of God, shall be obtained by an 
 attendance upon this holy sacrament. But we are to 
 bear in mind, that it is designed for the benefit of 
 those who are real Christians; and, of course, already 
 pardoned, and at least partially sanctified. The benefit 
 to be derived from it, therefore, is an increase of the 
 strength and life previously communicated to, and of 
 the comfort and peace already experienced by, the 
 soul. As the Lord has threatened to inflict a punish- 
 ment upon the unworthy receiver, it is a fair and 
 necessary inference, that he will not fail to confer 
 a blessing on those who receive it worthily. This is 
 clearly implied by St. Paul, when he asks, "the cup of 
 blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of 
 the blood of Christ?" that is, the communication to 
 us of the blood of Christ; — "and the bread which 
 we break is it not the communication of the body of 
 Christ?"! 
 
 *28th and 29th Articles of religion .f 1 Cor. x. 16. 
 
85 
 
 Christ Jesus is not only the light, but he is also 
 the life of the spiritual world. By a participation of 
 the benefits of his meritorious sacrifice through faith, 
 we are delivered from that penal death to which all 
 guilty transgressors are consigned by the condemning 
 sentence of the law; and by a reception of his sanc- 
 tifying grace, we are placed in possession of the 
 powers and enabled to discharge the duties of spiritual 
 life. Until "Christ is formed in our hearts, the hope" 
 and the earnest "of glory," we remain "dead in tres- 
 passes and sins;" "alienated from the life of God;" 
 utterly destitute of holy affections and desires; and 
 liable to the agonies of the "second death." This 
 may appear a hard saying to some, and they may be 
 ready to ask, "who can bear it?" But it is abundantly 
 sanctioned by the solemn and awakening declaration 
 of our Lord, "except ye eat the flesh and drink the 
 blood of the son of man, ye have no life in you." 
 
 Many may be disposed to inquire, as the carnal 
 Jews did, "how can this man give us his flesh to 
 eat?" The question is answered, with sufficient ex- 
 plicitness, by our Lord, in the discourse to which 
 reference has been made. He clearly points out the 
 mode in which we become partakers of his flesh and 
 blood, and the unspeakable benefits which arise from 
 such participation. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
 he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am 
 that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the 
 wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which 
 8 
 
86 BENEFITS OP THE 
 
 cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat 
 thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which 
 came down from heaven: if any man eat of this 
 bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread which I 
 will give, is my flesh, which I will give for the life 
 of the world. The Jews therefore strove among 
 themselves, saying, how can this man give us his 
 flesh to eat? Then Jesus said 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."* 
 
 It is not to be supposed, that our Lord, on this 
 occasion, spake of the reception of the Holy supper; 
 because that ordinance was not then instituted: and, 
 moreover, this supposition would lead to the shock- 
 ing conclusion, that every participator of the sacra- 
 ment, however polluted his heart, or guilty his life 
 might be, would necessarily be an heir of eternal 
 bliss: and that every individual, who by providential 
 circumstances, or any other innocent cause, should 
 be unable to partake of it, however humble, penitent, 
 faithful and holy he might be, would be for ever 
 excluded from the joys of salvation. But a careful 
 examination of the context, will convince every can- 
 
 * John vi. 47—56. 
 
87 
 
 did inquirer, that the discourse is figurative, and 
 capable only of a spiritual interpretation. The fol- 
 lowing verses, selected from different parts of this 
 memorable discourse, may serve as a key to unlock 
 its mysteries, and admit us to the knowledge of these 
 "'deep things" of experimental religion. "I am the 
 bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hun- 
 ger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."* 
 "■This is the will of him that sent me, that every one 
 which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have 
 everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last 
 day."i "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that be- 
 lieveth on me hath everlasting life. "J "It is the 
 Spirit that quickeneth, the Jlesh prqfiteth nothing; 
 the words that I speak unto you. they are spirit, 
 and they are Zi/e."§ 
 
 "The substance of the instruction contained in the 
 passages of our Lord's discourse, above quoted, may, 
 perhaps, be comprised in three or four particulars. 
 1 . That salvation is from Christ alone, 'coming down 
 from heaven' to be our Saviour. 2. That it is from 
 him, in this particular way, of his 'giving himself for 
 the life of the world,' his body to be broken, and his 
 blood shed, as an atoning sacrifice for sin. 3. That 
 in order to our partaking of his salvation, we must 
 be interested in him by a living faith. 4. That the 
 communion established and carried on between the 
 soul of the believer and his Saviour, by means of this 
 
 *Johnvi.S5. jib. 40. Jib. 47. $ lb. 63. 
 
88 BENEFITS OF THE 
 
 faith, is of the most intimate and substantial kind. 
 "He dvvelleth in me, and I in him." It is such, that 
 the soul is made alive and supported in spiritual life, 
 by virtue of this its union with Christ, and continually 
 derives from him grace and strength for its support, 
 as truly as the body derives nourishment and sus- 
 tenance from its food. 
 
 When our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, speaks of 
 eating his flesh, and drinking his blood, nothing 
 more is meant, than the duty urged upon us by the 
 minister at the altar, when he delivers the consecrat- 
 ed symbols, and exhorts us to "feed upon the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, in our hearts, by faith, with thanks- 
 giving."* 
 
 It is, unquestionably, the duty and the privilege of 
 Christians, at all times, to feed upon the Saviour in 
 a spiritual manner; but many gracious souls, who 
 have long lived by faith upon the Son of God, are 
 able to testify, that, at the table of the Lord, they 
 have received most precious and liberal portions of 
 this heavenly food. The Christian, is a pilgrim, tra- 
 velling through a strange and unfriendly land, to his 
 eternal home: his Divine Leader, who has gone be- 
 fore him, has erected his Church as a house of en- 
 tertainment for his followers; and at the table which 
 the Lord's bounty has provided, the pilgrim, often 
 wearied and oppressed by the toils of his journey, 
 must strengthen his wavering faith, and refresh his 
 
 ♦Communion service. 
 
89 
 
 fainting soul. Living believers know, from experience, 
 that this ordinance of the supper is a means of grace, 
 which, when received in faith, is uniformly accom- 
 panied with the divine blessing. A due participation 
 of it, has ever been esteemed, in the Christian church, 
 as the most exalted act of devotion, and the most 
 estimable of all the means of grace. At his table, the 
 Lord manifests himself to his people, as he "doth not 
 unto the world;" makes himself known in the "break- 
 ing of bread;" calls all their graces into lively exer- 
 cise; and imparts to them fresh vigour and energy, 
 through the sacramental instrument which he has ap- 
 pointed for that end: so that while they eat of the 
 consecrated bread and drink of the consecrated cup, 
 their souls are fed with the bread of eternal life, and 
 exhilarated with the new and spiritual wine of the 
 kingdom of God. 
 
 It is by the influence of this spiritual nourishment 
 that the "new man" grows in grace, and daily advances 
 to "the stature of the fulness of Christ." His soul 
 prospers and is in health, only when he can say, with 
 St. Paul, "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." How often, when engaged 
 in the conflicts, self-denials, and duties of the christian 
 life, does he become "weary and faint in his mind," 
 and feel strongly tempted to abandon his hopes and 
 the service of his Master, together? But, in obedience 
 8* 
 
90 BENEFITS OF THE 
 
 to the merciful invitation, he approaches the table of 
 the Lord — it may be, with an anxious and a despond- 
 ing heart; and, while waiting upon him, in this way 
 of his appointment, he experiences a renewal of his 
 spiritual strength; he is enabled to rely upon the 
 promise, "my grace shall be sufficient for thee." He 
 "mounts up with wings as eagles;" "walks" in the 
 way of obedience without weariness, and "runs" in 
 the path to heaven with an elevated and rejoicing 
 heart. If we would be vigorous, growing, active, and 
 joyful Christians, let our daily prayer be that of the 
 primitive disciples: "Lord, evermore give us this 
 bread!" 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 The act of approaching the holy sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper, is to be considered not only as a duty, 
 but a privilege. The Divine institutor of it, not only 
 says to his disciples, "Do this in remembrance of me;" 
 but, with infinite condescension, invites them to feast 
 with him at his own table, saying, "Come, eat, O my 
 friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved!" 
 Dost thou view it in this light, O my soul? Art thou 
 glad when it is said to thee, by fellow Christians, 
 4i Come, and let us go into the house of the Lord?" 
 and doubly glad when, on the sacramental Sabbath, 
 thou nearest the King of Zion himself declare: "My 
 feast is prepared; my oxen and fatlings are killed; and 
 
lord's supper. 91 
 
 nothing is wanting but the guests to sit down: come, 
 for all things are ready!" 
 
 Devoutly meditate upon the number and greatness 
 of the benefits to be derived from an attendance upon 
 the table of the Lord. It is, as thou hast heard, not 
 only a commemorative ordinance, but such a com- 
 memoration as is admirably adapted to call into lively 
 exercise all the graces of a renovated heart. Are not 
 thy graces weak and languishing? Do they not need 
 to be revived? Come, then, and behold this affecting 
 memorial of the bitter agony and death which Jesus 
 suffered, and be bowed to the dust, in the most pro- 
 found sorrows of repentance, for those sins which 
 brought him to the bar of Pilate, and the cross of Cal- 
 vary. 
 
 Is not thy faith tremulous and wavering — often ob- 
 scured with doubts, and failing to afford fulness of 
 consolation and hope? Approach, then, the sacra- 
 ment of redemption, and behold the emblems of that 
 great sacrifice, which met all the claims of divine jus- 
 tice, and was offered up, "in the fulness of time, to 
 take away the sins of the world." "Behold the Lamb 
 of God," wounded for thy transgressions — bruised for 
 thy iniquities — that thou, through his stripes, might 
 be healed — till thy faith rises to assurance, and im- 
 parts the peace of God — even that "peace which passeth 
 all understanding, which the world can neither give 
 nor take away." 
 
92 BENEFITS OP THE 
 
 Meditate upon the surpassing kindness, the infinite 
 love of Jesus, till gratitude becomes thy ruling emo- 
 tion, and love the very element of thy being. 
 
 God meets thee, in this ordinance, as a faithful and 
 covenant-keeping God; ever willing to ratify and con- 
 firm, by the appointed seal, the promises which He 
 has made to his Church and people. Art thou ready 
 to renew thy covenant? to consecrate thyself, with all 
 thy powers and faculties, to the glory and service of 
 thy Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier? Dost thou 
 faithfully strive to remember thy promises and keep 
 thy vow? — those promises which were offered at the 
 altar, before angels and men! — that vow which has 
 been solemnly recorded in the register of Heaven! 
 Thou art a witness to thyself that thou hast chosen 
 the Lord, to serve him. Art thou now as steadfastly 
 purposed as ever to walk in his ways? Dost thou 
 still deliberately choose him to be thy God and thy 
 portion? And art thou now ready and willing to 
 give up thyself afresh to him, in a perpetual cove- 
 nant, never to be forgotten? If so, God is willing, in 
 the appointed ordinance, to make ever to thee the 
 Lord Jesus, in all the fulness of his merit, and in all 
 the riches of his grace: not only to confirm to thee 
 the promises of pardon, adoption, holiness, and glory, 
 by the outward seal of the sacrament; but, also, by the 
 inward operation of his Spirit, to seal thee as his own 
 "until the day of eternal redemption." 
 
lord's supper. 93 
 
 Dost thou find thyself sorely beset with tempta- 
 tions; — wounded by the fiery darts of the wicked 
 one; — harassed, and almost defeated, by the assaults 
 of thy spiritual enemies; — wearied with the toils of 
 thy pilgrimage; — and, through manifold infirmities, 
 "sore let and hindered, in running the race that is 
 set before thee?" Where wilt thou look for strength? 
 to whom wilt thou apply for succour? "Lord, to whom 
 shall we go but unto thee? thou hast the words of 
 eternal life." He, gracious Master! has made full pro- 
 vision for the support and comfort of all his servants. 
 He who feeds the perishing body, furnishes also abun- 
 dant nourishment for the immortal soul. At his table, 
 he provides for his people, "a feast of fat things, full 
 of marrow; of wines on the lees, well refined." He 
 who truly partakes of that spiritual feast, is refreshed, 
 under all the weariness and trials, and strengthened 
 for all the conflicts and duties, of his earthly pilgrim- 
 age. He eats of "the bread which cometh down from 
 God, out of heaven; of which, if a man eat, he shall 
 live for ever." His soul is "strengthened and refresh- 
 ed by the spiritual food of the body and blood of 
 Christ, as his body is by the bread and wine." O, 
 precious banquet! — where God himself is the enter- 
 tainer — the purchased blessings of redemption the 
 food — and faith and love the ministering servants! — 
 O, my soul! thou art honoured with an invitation to 
 be a guest at this banquet! Draw near, then, in hum- 
 ble reliance upon the divine mercy; hungering for the 
 
94 BENEFITS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 bread of life, and thirsting for the waters of salvation. 
 And, do thou, O Merciful God! grant me the assist- 
 ance of thy grace, that I may eat and drink the con- 
 secrated symbols, "in remembrance that Christ died 
 for me, and feed on him in my heart, by faith, with 
 thanksgiving." 
 
 "My God, and is thy table spread? 
 
 And does thy cup with love o'erflow? 
 Thither be all thy children led, 
 
 And let them thy sweet mercies know! 
 
 Hail, sacred feast, which Jesus makes! 
 
 Rich banquet of his flesh and blood! 
 Thrice happy he who here partakes 
 
 That sacred stream, that heavenly food!" 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE QUALIFICATIONS OF COMMUNICANTS. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 Self-examination. 
 
 We have already seen, that the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper is a most valuable mean of grace, through 
 the instrumentality of which, our souls are fed with 
 appropriate aliment, and nourished unto everlasting 
 life. But it is to be remembered, that real believers 
 only, are partakers of this spiritual food. "In such 
 only as worthily receive the same, the sacraments have 
 a wholesome effect or operation."* This ordinance 
 is strengthening and refreshing to the souls of none 
 but those who are vitally united to Christ, as the 
 branches are united to the vine. For, although, in 
 every age of the church, many who were strangers 
 to the spiritual life, have presented themselves at the 
 holy table, they have never been received as welcome 
 guests, but have ate and drank condemnation to them- 
 selves. It is the children's food, and none but the 
 "children of the kingdom" can relish it. 
 
 It is, therefore, of unspeakable importance, that 
 every one who designs to approach the sacrament, 
 
 * 25th Article of Religion. 
 
96 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 should obtain satisfactory evidence that he is possessed 
 of the qualifications which are necessary to a profita- 
 ble reception of it. 
 
 "What," then, "is required of those who come to 
 the Lord's Supper?" The admirable answer given to 
 this question, in the Church catechism, is as follows: 
 "To examine themselves whether they repent them 
 truly of their former sins, steadfastly purposing to lead 
 a new life; have a lively faith in God's mercy, through 
 Christ, with a thankful remembrance of his death; and 
 be in charity with all men." 
 
 The performance of so solemn and important an 
 act of devotion, ought not to be entered upon without 
 serious and prayerful self-examination: for, "as the 
 benefit is great, if, with a true penitent heart and 
 lively faith, we receive that holy sacrament; so is 
 the danger great, if we receive the same unworthily. 
 Judge, therefore, yourselves, brethren, that ye be not 
 judged of the Lord."* In the answer above quoted 
 from the Catechism, the church gives the instruction 
 and aid which are needful to enable her children to 
 comply with the precept of the Apostle: "Let a man 
 examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and 
 drink of that cup." 
 
 No man who realizes the unspeakable value of his 
 immortal soul; his responsibility, as a subject of the 
 divine government; the strictness of the account he 
 
 * Communion Service. 
 
OP COMMUNICANTS. 97 
 
 will be required to render at the bar of judgment; 
 the joys of heaven and the pains of hell, to the one 
 or other of which he must be for ever consigned, ac- 
 cording to the character he has formed and the deeds 
 done in the body: I say, no one, whose mind is duly 
 impressed with these momentous truths, can be in- 
 different about his spiritual state, or fail to make it, at 
 times, a subject of anxious investigation. Knowing 
 that eternal consequences are suspended upon the 
 issue, he must occasionally pause amidst the avoca- 
 tions and enjoyments of the present life, to ask — 
 What will be my fate in the life to come? Have I 
 a hope of heaven, and on what is it founded? Am I 
 a child of God — a sincere follower of Christ — a living 
 member of his Church? Do I possess the characteris- 
 tics of the righteous? Is my hope that "which maketh 
 not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad 
 in my heart by the Holy Ghost?" or, is it built upon 
 a foundation unstable as the sand? 
 
 Every serious probationer for eternity will, occa- 
 sionally, propose such queries to his conscience, with 
 the most profound solicitude. A knowledge that his 
 everlasting all is suspended upon the faithful reply, 
 will make him fear a partial investigation, or a self- 
 flattering decision. And a conviction that "the heart 
 is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked," 
 so that the prophet asks, "who can know it?" will 
 prompt him to accompany his examination with the 
 fervent prayer, "Search me, O God! and try the ground 
 9 
 
98 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 of my heart: prove me, and examine my thoughts: 
 see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me 
 in the way everlasting." 
 
 This deep and rigid self-examination into our spiri- 
 tual state and the ground of our hopes, so useful at 
 all times, is especially called for when we are about 
 to approach the table of our Redeemer, and appear 
 before God, in the character of his professed wor- 
 shippers and children. Every one who goes forward 
 to that ordinance, professes to be a disciple of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and should, therefore, seriously ex- 
 amine himself, to ascertain whether his profession is 
 sincere; whether he has the prominent marks and cha- 
 racteristics of a disciple; lest the Master of the feast, 
 when he comes in to look at the guests, should say 
 unto him: "Friend, how earnest thou in hither, not 
 having on the wedding garment?" 
 
OP COMMUNICANTS. 99 
 
 SECTION II. 
 Repentance and amendment of life. 
 
 Every disciple of Jesus is a true penitent. The first 
 head of self-examination, therefore, should be, "whe- 
 ther we truly repent of all our sins past?" And, in 
 order to ascertain this, we must inquire, whether we 
 are possessed of that humble state of mind which be- 
 comes a sinner who desires to be saved by grace? 
 Whether we have been thoroughly convinced of our 
 lost condition, as depraved creatures, and of our aw- 
 ful guilt, as transgressors of the divine law? A deep 
 and abiding conviction of native corruption and per- 
 sonal guilt, is essential to evangelical repentance: it 
 is the first symptom of restoration to spiritual life. 
 Without this, there can be no realizing sense of our 
 need of a Saviour; no earnest longings for the bless- 
 ings of redemption. "They that are whole need not 
 a physician, but they that are sick." If, therefore, we 
 are strangers to such a conviction, we may rest assured 
 that we "have no part or lot in the matter; that our 
 hearts are not right in the sight of God; but we are 
 still in the gall of bitterness, and the bond of iniquity." 
 It is impossible, in the nature of things, that we can 
 have repented of our sins, when we have not been 
 made sensible that we are sinners. It is as unreason- 
 
100 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 able as it would be to suppose, that a man had placed 
 himself under the care of a physician, taken many 
 loathsome prescriptions, and submitted to a long and 
 painful course of medical treatment, without a con- 
 viction that his body was diseased. 
 
 Something more than the partial and superficial 
 view of their own sinfulness, with which many rest satis- 
 fied, is implied in the conviction of which we speak. 
 It is by no means sufficient to be persuaded, that we 
 have, occasionally, and in some particular instances 
 of gross transgression, violated the law of God. If 
 we have correct views of the spirituality and broad 
 extent of that law, as taking cognizance of the in- 
 ward thoughts and affections of the mind, no less 
 than the outward actions of the life, we shall be per- 
 suaded, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that we have, 
 in no single instance, perfectly obeyed it, and that 
 our very best works can lay no claim to the approba- 
 tion of Him "who is of purer eyes than to behold 
 iniquity." It is not sufficient for us to be convinced, 
 or even humbly confess, that "we have left undone 
 those things which we ought to have done, and have 
 done those things which we ought not to have done;" 
 but we must go to the root of the evil, the entire de- 
 pravity of the heart, and freely acknowledge that 
 "there is no health in lis." This ingenuous con- 
 fession, will be extorted from hearts humbled in the 
 dust, when we are savingly "convinced" by the Spirit 
 and the law of God. Our confession will not be 
 
OF COMMUNICANTS. 101 
 
 confined to external acts; but we shall be led to trace 
 all the sins and enormities of our lives, as so many 
 polluted streams, up to their origin in the fountain of 
 a corrupt heart; we shall ascribe them all to their legi- 
 timate source — "the carnal mind which is enmity 
 against God, which is not subject to the law of God, 
 neither indeed can be." 
 
 A correct view of the nature and enormity of sin, 
 and of our guilt and just condemnation as sinners; 
 united with discoveries of the spotless purity of the 
 divine character, will naturally be succeeded by con- 
 trition and self-loathing. "Now mine eye seeth 
 thee," saith Job, "wherefore, I loathe and abhor my- 
 self, and repent as in dust and ashes." "Woe is me! 
 for I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips:" 
 was the mournful language of Isaiah, when his eyes 
 "beheld the King, the Lord of hosts." "I have sin- 
 ned against the Lord; against thee, thee only have I 
 sinned — create in me a clean heart, O God, and re- 
 new a right spirit within me:" was the exclamation 
 of David, when Nathan said to him, "thou art the 
 man!" and the veil of self-delusion which had pre- 
 vented an earlier discovery of his personal guilt and 
 pollution was removed. "I was alive without the 
 law once," says St. Paul, "but when the command- 
 ment came, sin revived, and I died; O wretched man 
 that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this 
 death?" 
 
 9* 
 
102 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 Similar effects are produced in all gracious souls, 
 by the influences of the Spirit, and the teachings of 
 that "schoolmaster which brings them to Christ." 
 They have low and abasing views of themselves, and 
 subscribe to the justice of that sentence which pro- 
 nounces them worthy of perdition. And the very 
 conviction that they may be justly banished from the 
 divine presence, excites them to cry mightily unto 
 God, that he would arise and have mercy upon them! 
 Convinced that the law is holy, and just, and good, 
 and that they have always refused obedience to its 
 righteous requisitions, they must "magnify the law," 
 and pronounce it "honourable;" though by so doing, 
 they must abase themselves in the dust, and acknow- 
 ledge their just desert of the severest punishment. 
 Having clear views and alarming apprehensions of 
 the wrath to which sin has exposed them; they now 
 consider it as the greatest enemy to their happiness, 
 and resolve, through grace, to forsake it utterly. 
 They not only hate sin because it renders them liable 
 to punishment; but because it is contrary to the 
 will of a holy and merciful God; because it is oppos- 
 ed to the happiness and well-being of the universe; 
 because it is infinitely vile and hateful, in its own 
 nature. 
 
 There is a wide difference between legal and evan- 
 gelical repentance; and multitudes deceive themselves 
 to their eternal ruin, by mistaking the former for the 
 latter; and relying on it, as being alone sufficient to 
 
OP COMMUNICANTS. 103 
 
 procure their pardon and salvation. Thus, the cove- 
 tous man, whose heart has been wedded to his pos- 
 sessions, who has considered wealth as the one thing 
 needful, may by some severe dispensation of Pro- 
 vidence, be led to see the vanity and unsatisfying 
 nature of the world, and resolve to wean his affections 
 from it: the libertine, who has spent a long life in 
 licentiousness and dissipation, may be led by the visita- 
 tions of disease, or the infirmities of age, to abandon 
 his vicious courses, and pour forth sighs of bitterness, 
 and tears of anguish, at the recollection of them: the 
 drunkard, alarmed by the fear of death or infamy, 
 may cast away the intoxicating cup: the profane 
 swearer, under the dread of divine judgments, may 
 drop the dialect of hell, and cease to blaspheme his 
 Maker: and, the careless sinner, who has been living 
 without God, and without hope, in the world, may 
 have his attention roused by the terrors of the law, or 
 the exhortations of the gospel, to the things which 
 belong to his peace, and perform some of the exter- 
 nal duties of religion. In all these cases, there is 
 reformation; there may be professions and appear- 
 ances of repentance; but, after all, there is no change 
 that may not be accounted for, by a reference to the 
 workings of conscience, and other natural causes. 
 Nay, there may be instances, where the operation of 
 these causes, and a fear of punishment, may produce 
 marks of repentance much more striking than in any 
 of the instances adduced/where there is,notwithstand- 
 
104 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 ing the strongest indications of inward grief^and the 
 most striking exhibitions of outward reformation, no- 
 thing but "the sorrow of the world which worketh 
 death." 
 
 Every communicant, therefore, should strictly guard 
 against relying upon a spurious, or superficial repent- 
 ance. He should strictly examine himself, to ascer- 
 tain whether he has that "godly sorrow, which work- 
 eth repentance unto salvation, never to be repented 
 of." Whether the repentance which he exercises, 
 can be accounted for by the influence of worldly 
 motives, and the fear of punishment; or whether it 
 must be ascribed to some higher influence than 
 nature furnishes; even the gracious operations of the 
 Holy Spirit? He should ask, whether he has such a 
 clear conviction of the purity of the divine nature, 
 and the beauty of holiness, on the one hand; and 
 the vileness of sin, on the other; that even, if there 
 were no judgment to come, and no hell for the 
 wicked — he would still hate the way of trans- 
 gression, and choose to walk in the path of obe- 
 dience? He should strictly inquire whether his re- 
 pentance, is that "(xsTavoia," that change of ?7iind, 
 from the love of sin to the love of holiness, which 
 the gospel requires as indispensably necessary to sal- 
 vation? Whether he "brings forth fruits worthy of 
 repentance," by "putting off the old man, which is 
 corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts, and putting 
 on the new man, which after God, is created in 
 
OF COMMUNICANTS. 105 
 
 righteousness and true holiness?" Whether he has 
 "ceased to do evil, and learned to do well?" — and is 
 "steadfastly purposed to lead a new life?" 
 
 All this is implied in that evangelical repentance, 
 which need not to be repented of; and it becomes 
 all who design to approach the holy sacrament, to 
 inquire whether they entertain the views, feelings, 
 and purposes which have been described? Whether 
 they are such penitents? Whether they do indeed 
 loathe and abhor sin, and desire, henceforth, to be 
 holy in heart and life? 
 
 It is all important, that the examination on this 
 point should be deep, thorough, and impartial. And 
 I have dw r elt the longer on it, because it is to be fear- 
 ed, that for want of this rigid scrutiny into their 
 feelings and dispositions in regard to sin, and their 
 condition as sinners, so many flatter themselves with 
 "a name to live" while they are dead; and, I trem- 
 ble while I declare it, — approach the Lord's table 
 with a lie in their mouths; confessing that "the re- 
 membrance of their transgressions is grievous unto 
 them — and the burden of their sins intolerable^ — 
 when, perhaps, they deny that they are transgressors, 
 and ridicule the idea of feeling the burden of sin! 
 God forbid, that any readers of this little volume 
 should be found at last among these deluded and 
 presumptuous characters! 
 
 If, after a careful examination, we find ourselves 
 deficient on this point; if we have not truly repent- 
 
106 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 ed of our sins past; we may rest assured, that we are 
 strangers to genuine religion. We need carry our 
 inquiries no farther, for the present: for, if we have 
 not the first requisite for an acceptable approach to 
 the Lord's table, we surely are not possessed of the 
 second, to which our attention will now be directed. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Faith. 
 
 Have we "a lively faith in GocPs mercy through 
 Christ?' 7 Our church, in this respect, and as we 
 humbly conceive, in all others, harmonises with the 
 Holy Scriptures. She first urges "repentance towards 
 God," and then, "faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 It is well known, that the Holy Scriptures repre- 
 sent faith as of the highest importance in the con- 
 cerns of religion, — as the one condition, or term, 
 upon which the blessings of salvation are suspended. 
 They tell us, that "he who cometh to God must be- 
 lieve that he is, and that he is the rewarder of all 
 those who diligently seek him;" — and that, "without 
 faith, it is impossible to please him." They declare, 
 in the most explicit and unequivocal language, "he 
 that believeth on the Son of God, hath everlasting 
 life — but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see 
 life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." Life or 
 death — salvation or perdition — heaven or hell are 
 
OP COMMUNICANTS. 107 
 
 suspended upon the answer we can give to the ques- 
 tion "dost thou believe on the Son of God?" And yet, 
 notwithstanding all this, what erroneous opinions 
 prevail in the Christian world respecting the nature 
 and offices of faith? How important, then, is it, that 
 every candidate for eternity, should ascertain what 
 that principle is, to which such momentous effects 
 and consequences are attributed in the sacred volume. 
 Faith, according to the simplest idea of it, may be 
 defined, a reliance upon testimony. Things which 
 fall under our own observation or knowledge, are not 
 properly matters of faith, but of consciousness. I 
 do not believe, I know that I exist. I do not believe, 
 I know, that fire will burn. Faith, therefore, is a be- 
 lief of things which do not fall within the range of 
 our absolute knowledge, but are supported by the 
 testimony of credible witnesses. 
 
 If it rests on human testimony merely, we may 
 call it, by way of distinction, human faith; if it rests 
 on divine testimony, we may call it a divine faith. 
 We may believe in the scripture history, and the 
 inspiration of the Bible, on the testimony of men 
 who could not be deceived as to the nature of the 
 facts which they relate, — and could have no possible 
 motive for palming a deception upon others. But, 
 our faith in all the doctrines which the scriptures con- 
 tain, rests on the veracity and faithfulness of that 
 Divine Being, by whose inspiration they were given 
 to man. 
 
108 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 A man may believe, on the ground of evidence 
 exhibited, that the Scriptures are of divine origin, 
 and yet have no operative or divine faith in the con- 
 tents of the sacred volume. And he may give his 
 speculative assent to the general truths of Christian- 
 ty, and yet be utterly destitute of every right affec- 
 tion towards God, and entirely regardless of all the 
 exercises and acts of that "holiness without which 
 no man can see the Lord." St. James informs us, 
 that the very "devils, believe and tremble." 
 
 The faith which is necessary to justification, is not 
 so much an act of the understanding as of the affec- 
 tions. "With the heart man believeth unto righte- 
 ousness." Its object, is not so much propositions 
 relating to Jesus Christ, as Jesus Christ himself. "As 
 Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even 
 so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever 
 believeth on him might not perish, but have everlast- 
 ing life." As the poor, wounded Israelites, writhing 
 with torture, and dying under the influence of the 
 venom imparted by the bite of the "fiery flying ser- 
 pents," simply by looking to the brazen serpent, erect- 
 ed in the camp, were saved from death, and had the 
 vigour and freshness of health restored to their bodies; 
 so the poor sinner, wounded by the infernal serpent, 
 and dreading the agonies of the second death, simply 
 by believing, or trusting in Jesus, is saved from guilt, 
 and has peace, and spiritual health, and salvation, im- 
 parted to his soul. This resting on Christ; this affi- 
 
OF COMMUNICANTS. 109 
 
 ance of the soul upon the Redeemer, is the faith to 
 which such extraordinary effects are ascribed in the 
 sacred volume. 
 
 The faith, therefore, which is required in all who 
 come to the Lord's table, is not a bare belief in the 
 holy scriptures; for this we may have without the least 
 degree of repentance; but it is what our church ap- 
 propriately styles, "« lively faith in GocPs mercy 
 through Christ;" which cannot exist in the soul that 
 is destitute of an unfeigned sorrow for sin, and an 
 earnest desire to be saved from its dominion and guilt. 
 It includes not only a belief in the great plan of sal- 
 vation through the merits and mediation of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, but also our hearty, personal acquies- 
 cence in that plan, from a full conviction of its expe- 
 diency and necessity. It is, in fine, that faith which gives 
 the sinner an interest in the Redeemer's righteous- 
 ness, and brings him into a state of acceptance with 
 God; which "works by love, purines the heart, and 
 overcomes the world." 
 
 The self-examination of every communicant, on 
 this point, should be deep and searching: he should 
 anxiously seek to know whether he does indeed be- 
 lieve. Not merely whether his understanding is con- 
 vinced that such a person as Jesus Christ did once 
 appear in the world and die for the benefit of man- 
 kind; but whether he cordially submits to the righteous- 
 ness, and relies upon the atonement of Christ, under 
 a full conviction that he has no merit of his own to 
 10 
 
110 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 recommend him to God. Whether he gladly and 
 humbly receives salvation, through the merits of the 
 Lord Jesus, as a free gift, without money and without 
 price. 
 
 If we are strangers to this simple reliance upon the 
 atonement of the Son of God; this renunciation of 
 every other hope, and reception of him, as "all our 
 salvation and all our desire-," what is the act of ap- 
 proaching the Lord's table but an unmeaning cere- 
 mony, or a solemn mockery? By the very act of com- 
 memorating the sacrifice of his death, in this solemn 
 mode of his appointment, we virtually profess our be- 
 lief that "there is salvation in none other," and that 
 we must rely upon his merits as the only foundation 
 of hope, or become the wretched victims of merited 
 perdition and despair. If, then, the act be performed 
 without the faith which its very nature implies, is 
 there not reason to apprehend, that the guilt of hypo- 
 critical profession is incurred? The least that can be 
 said, is, that there can be, in such a case, no "dis- 
 cerning of the Lord's body;" and the unbelieving 
 communicant, to use the language of the Apostle, is 
 "guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." 
 
 Let every communicant, then, solemnly ask, as in 
 the presence of the Searcher of hearts — Have I a 
 "lively faith in God's mercy through Christ?" "He 
 that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in 
 himself." Have I, then, this internal testimony of my 
 faith? Have I an humble and contrite heart? Do I 
 
OP COMMUNICANTS. Ill 
 
 hate sin, and love holiness? Am I conscious that I 
 build my hope of acceptance with God upon the 
 merits of the Redeemer, to the exclusion of every 
 other ground of hope? Is my faith active and lively? 
 Does it incite me to universal and cheerful obedience? 
 Is it fruitful in good works? In a word, can I per- 
 ceive so great a difference between my present and 
 former state, as to afford ample ground for the infer* 
 ence, that I am "a new creature in Christ Jesus?" 
 
 Those who can, through grace, give an affirmative 
 reply to these inquiries, do, beyond a doubt or per- 
 adventure, possess that "precious faith" which is the 
 root and source of all the graces of Christianity, and 
 of all those elevated virtues which adorn and dignify 
 the human character. And having within them this 
 bond of union to the blessed Saviour — this living 
 fountain of Christian holiness, they must, of neces- 
 sity, possess the other requisites to a profitable recep- 
 tion of the holy sacrament; namely, gratitude for re- 
 deeming love, and charity for all mankind. 
 
112 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 Gratitude for redeeming love. 
 
 The next inquiry for the communicant who would 
 acceptably approach the table of the Lord, is, have I 
 "« thankful remembrance of the death of Clirist?" 
 
 How can they refuse to be thankful whom the Lord 
 hath redeemed? If we verily believe, that, in our- 
 selves, we are guilty and condemned — deserving no- 
 thing but God's wrath and indignation: that the Son 
 of God shed his most precious blood to redeem us 
 from sin and consequent perdition: that through faith 
 in the infinite sacrifice of the cross, we are now recon- 
 ciled to Jehovah, and objects of his favour: shall we 
 not love him who hath thus loved us and given him- 
 self for us? Yes! the Christian feels the constraining 
 influence of redeeming grace; and when he surrounds 
 the heavenly board, it is difficult to determine by 
 which he is most affected and humbled — a sense of 
 his own unworthiness, or of God's infinite mercy 
 through Jesus Christ. Surely he will raise a grateful 
 song to his Deliverer, while receiving the sacramen- 
 tal pledge of his deliverance, and say, with all the 
 fervour of a sincere and devoted heart, "thanks be 
 unto God for his unspeakable gift!" 
 
OF COMMUNICANTS. 113 
 
 Nor will true gratitude expend its energies in ver- 
 bal protestations, or exhaust its resources in the cheap 
 offering of "the calves of the lips." No! it will dis- 
 play itself "not only" through our "lips, but in our 
 lives;" and, under its influence, we shall habitually 
 endeavour, through the medium of righteous action 
 and holy conversation, to "shew forth the praises of 
 Him who hath called us out of darkness into his mar- 
 vellous light." A lively sense of the mercies of re- 
 demption cannot fail to produce a grateful heart and 
 an obedient life. Those who possess it, will cheerfully 
 adopt the language of St. Paul, as expressive of their 
 feelings and purposes: — "the love of Christ con- 
 straineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died 
 for all, then were all dead; and he died for all, that 
 they which live, should not henceforth live unto them- 
 selves, but unto him which died for them, and rose 
 again." 
 
 If it is "the will of God, in Christ Jesus, concern- 
 ing us," that we should "in every thing give thanks;" 
 surely the spirit of holy thanksgiving must be required, 
 as an indispensable qualification for a profitable at- 
 tendance upon the Eucharist, Cold and insensible 
 must that heart be, which can behold the affecting 
 memorial of the dying love of Jesus, who "was wound- 
 ed for our transgressions and bruised for our iniqui- 
 ties," without any ardent emotions of gratitude. Such 
 a deficiency indicates not merely the chilling influ- 
 ence of unbelief, but a subjection to the dominion of 
 10* 
 
114 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 spiritual death. That communicant does indeed mock 
 God with a false profession, and insult him by a pro- 
 fane disregard of his most precious gifts, who receives 
 the emblems of the Redeemer's body and blood, with- 
 out offering "humble and hearty thanks for the re- 
 demption of the world by our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ; for the means of grace and the hope 
 of glory." 
 
 Let all. therefore, who would avoid the guilt of 
 "eating and drinking unworthily," seriously examine 
 themselves, to ascertain whether they esteem the 
 death of Christ for the sins of men, as the greatest 
 benefit which God could bestow, or man receive? 
 Whether their hearts fervently join in the eucharisti- 
 cat offering? And whether, after making the dedica- 
 tion of themselves prescribed in the sacramental ser- 
 vice — "Here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, 
 ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, 
 living, and holy sacrifice unto thee," they can say, 
 with unfeigned lips, "Although we are unworthy, 
 through our manifold sins, to offer unto thee any sa- 
 crifice; yet we earnestly desire thy Fatherly goodness 
 mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and 
 thanksgiving, which is our bounden duty and service; 
 not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord."* 
 
 * Communion Service. 
 
OF COMMUNICANTS. 115 
 
 SECTION V. 
 Charity for all mankind. 
 
 The last point we have to notice, on which those 
 who come to the Lord's table should examine them- 
 selves, is, "whether they be in charity with all men." 
 
 As this sacrament is emphatically a feast of charity, 
 designed to commemorate the most amazing exhibi- 
 tion of God's love to men, as well as to be an impor- 
 tant means of increasing and perpetuating the love of 
 Christ's disciples towards each other, and towards all 
 men; it would manifestly be a profanation of it, which 
 could not fail to provoke the displeasure of its Divine 
 Author, to approach it while cherishing feelings of 
 malice and revenge towards any of our fellow crea- 
 tures. Indeed, such feelings are not only plainly con- 
 demned by the precepts and example of our Saviour, 
 but utterly inconsistent with the genius of our holy 
 religion, which breathes nothing but "peace on earth, 
 good will towards men." The malicious, revengeful, 
 unforgiving man, therefore, has no claim to the 
 Christian character and privileges: he cannot even 
 acceptably use that short prayer which Jesus prescrib- 
 ed; much less can he, without the grossest impiety, 
 partake of the sacrament of peace between God and 
 his people. 
 
116 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 Can he who refuses to pardon the offences of his 
 fellow creatures, hope for forgiveness from God? Must 
 he not rather look for the aggravated punishment of 
 that servant, who, after his Lord had forgiven him an 
 immense debt, seized his fellow servant, who was in- 
 debted to him for a few pence, by the throat, saying 
 unto him, "Pay me that thou owest?" Assuredly none 
 can be accepted guests at the Lord's table, who are 
 not willing to throw the mantle of charity over the 
 faults of others, and forgive the offences of their 
 brethren, not only "until seven times, but until seven- 
 ty times seven." When about to engage in such a 
 service, if ever, we should comply with the Apostolic 
 exhortation, "let all bitterness, and wrath, and an- 
 ger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away 
 from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to 
 another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even 
 as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."* 
 
 Every communicant should comply with the direc- 
 tion of our Lord, "if thou bringest thy gift to the 
 altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath 
 aught against thee; go first, and be reconciled to thy 
 brother, and then come and offer thy gift."f Over 
 every Communion table, we may behold, as it were, 
 an inscription of the memorable direction, given, per- 
 haps, with an especial reference to this very ordi- 
 nance: "Christ, our passover is sacrificed for us, 
 
 * Eph. iv. 31, 32. f Matth. v. 23, 24, 
 
OF COMMUNICANTS. 117 
 
 therefore, let us keep the feast; not with the old 
 leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wick- 
 edness; but, with the unleavened bread of sincerity 
 and truth."* 
 
 To approach the table with an unforgiving spirit, 
 with a malicious, revengeful, or censorious temper: 
 what is this, but to despise the mercy, and provoke 
 the vengeance of the Almighty: and as it were, invite 
 him to withhold his forgiveness from us, and mete 
 out to us, miserable offenders, the same measure 
 which we mete to our offending fellow creatures? 
 ' It would be, however, a very sad and reprehensi- 
 ble mistake of the essential qualifications of the 
 Christian communicant, to suppose, that the charity 
 required, is merely of a negative character; and con- 
 sists only in freedom from a malicious or unforgiving 
 
 *Lest some should suppose, the admission that this 
 text may be applicable to the celebration of the Lord's 
 supper,[is inconsistent with the ground taken]as to its be- 
 ing a feast upon a sacrifice; I deem it proper to remark, 
 that our Lord instituted this sacrament immediately after 
 having celebrated the Paschal supper with his disciples, 
 and very probably designed it to hold the same rank in his 
 religion, which that did in the religion of the Jews. But 
 the Passover was not an expiatory sacrifice; it was merely 
 commemorative of their deliverance from Egypt, effected 
 by the interposition of God. So the Lord's Supper is 
 a solemn memorial of the greater deliverance effected for 
 Christians by the sacrifice of the Son of God. (1. Corin- 
 thians v. 7, 8.) 
 
113 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 temper. The Church uses terms according to their 
 scriptural meaning and application. And the charity 
 she requires in those who approach her ordinances, 
 is that grace which the scriptures represent as form- 
 ing the highest ornament of the Christian character; 
 which has the precedence over faith and hope; the 
 "end of the commandment, and the fulfilling of the 
 law:" "the very bond of peace and of all virtues, with- 
 out which, whosoever liveth is counted dead before 
 God." 
 
 "Meek-eyed charity" is not the offspring of unre- 
 newed nature, but is the daughter of heaven; begot- 
 ten by the power of the Holy Ghost, and baptized 
 with the blood of Jesus. This first of Christian 
 virtues, has no existence in the soul of man, till it 
 becomes the subject of regenerating grace. "He that 
 loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God; he that 
 loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love."* A 
 believing apprehension of the love of God in redeem- 
 ing us by the blood and righteousness of his only 
 begotten Son, begets in the heart, not only a senti- 
 ment of gratitude for the benefit bestowed," but a 
 corresponding feeling of benevolence. So that, the 
 love of God to us, becomes at once the motive and the 
 model of our love to our brethren. "Beloved, if God 
 so loved us, we ought also, to love one another. "| 
 And this love to the brethren, is at once the neces- 
 sary fruit, and the indispensable proof, of regenera- 
 
 *1 John iv. 7,8. f Ibid 11. 
 
OP COMMUNICANTS. 119 
 
 tion. "He that loveth him who begat, loveth him 
 also that is begotten of him — but, if any man love 
 not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love 
 God whom he hath not seen?"* By the brethren 
 whom we are required to love, we are to understand 
 first, the disciples of Christ; and, secondly, all man- 
 kind. 
 
 The children of God, constitute one family, and 
 are bound to each other by all the sacredness and 
 tenderness of the domestic relation. They have 
 common sympathies, common principles, common 
 affections, and common ends. As partakers of the 
 same faith, hope, and love, and joint heirs of the 
 same spiritual blessings and heavenly inheritance in 
 Christ Jesus; they are "of one heart and of one mind." 
 They are not only members of the same mystical 
 body of Christ, but "every one members one of an- 
 other." The mutual love of Christians, is, therefore, 
 a peculiarly tender, and powerful affection; constitut- 
 ed by stronger ties than any which earth presents, 
 and enduring beyond all the revolutions of time. It 
 differs from the charity which they entertain for their 
 fellow creatures at large, as much as the love of com- 
 placency which God feels towards those who are his 
 sanctified people, and his children by adoption and 
 grace, does, from the general benevolence which he 
 displays towards all mankind. 
 
 * 1 John v. 1. iv. 20. 
 
120 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 The christian believer considers himself as united 
 to the household of faith, by the endearing and in- 
 dissoluble bonds of redeeming love. He loves the 
 followers of Christ, not merely because they happen 
 to be his relations, or neighbours, or acquaintances; 
 nor because they have manifested a regard for, and 
 have conferred benefits upon him: nor on account of 
 their amiable dispositions or correct moral habits; 
 but simply because they are Christians: because they 
 imbibe the spirit, obey the precepts, and copy the 
 example of his Lord and Master. 
 
 His charity, is not that narrow, bigoted, sectarian 
 partiality which too often assumes its name, but, es- 
 sentially catholic, like the true church of the Redeem- 
 er. It is not confined to those believers, who happen 
 to be included within the pale of the same commu- 
 nion; but is extended to many who do not see with his 
 eyes, nor adopt every article of his creed. His good 
 sense teaches him, that, as there is among men an 
 almost endless variety of personal appearance and 
 features, and of intellectual character, without afTect- 
 ing their claim to a common nature and membership 
 in the same human family: even so, a great diversity, 
 as to sentiments and usages in unimportant things, 
 may exist among the different members of the house- 
 hold of faith, without depriving any of them of the 
 common family-likeness, or preventing them from 
 maintaining the "unity of the spirit in the bond of 
 
OP COMMUNICANTS. 121 
 
 Wherever he discovers the image of his Redeemer* 
 which constitutes the family-likeness of the children 
 of God, it will command his affections. Let him meet, 
 in any quarter of the world, or in any rank of life, a 
 man who loves Jesus; no matter what his national 
 origin, or his former condition, may have been; "no 
 matter if an Indian, or an African, sun may have burnt 
 upon him;" no matter if he have been a galley slave, 
 or a beggar; in that man he beholds and acknowledges 
 a brother, whom he is bound to "love with a pure 
 heart, fervently." He loves Christians, not because 
 they adopt all his peculiar sentiments, and pronounce 
 the "shibboleth" of his party; but because the grace 
 which adopted him into the family of God, inspired 
 him with a fellow-feeling for all who are partakers of 
 the same benefit; and taught him to wish "grace, mer- 
 cy and peace, to all those who love our Lord Jesus 
 Christ in sincerity." 
 
 Here is the test; here is the touchstone of our re- 
 ligion, by which all professions must be tried. "We 
 know that we have passed from death unto life, be- 
 cause we love the brethren; but he that loveth not 
 his brother, abideth in death."* Our blessed Lord, 
 also, established this as the badge of discipleship. "By 
 this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if 
 ye love one another."! Without this love to the dis- 
 ciples of Christ, simply because they reflect his image 
 
 * 1 John, Hi. 14. f St. John, xiii. 35. 
 
 11 
 
122 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 and copy his example, it is impossible to derive bene- 
 fit from attendance upon the Lord's Supper; because 
 there is no meetness for a participation in the "com- 
 munion of saints," or any other privilege of the family 
 of the redeemed. 
 
 But, though the charity of the pious communicant 
 begins with, and is pre-eminently exercised towards 
 "the household of faith," it does not terminate there. 
 Jt is, like the benevolence of the Deity, of which it is 
 a feeble imitation, diffusive as the light, and genial as 
 the warmth, of the sun. It is felt towards all beings 
 and things that are the legitimate objects of human 
 sympathy, and acknowledges no boundaries but the 
 limits of creation. Wherever a case of distress exists, 
 there Christian charity beholds something to call forth 
 its exertions: wherever misery is found that admits 
 of mitigation, there is the appropriate sphere of its 
 operations. The new-born Christian sees, in the 
 whole human family, beings created by divine power, 
 supported by divine munificence, and connected with 
 himself by the ties of a common nature. None of 
 them are so mean as to be unworthy of his notice; 
 none so sinful as to be without claim upon his com- 
 passion. He considers himself bound to "do good 
 unto ail men;" and strives to imitate his Heavenly 
 Father, "who makes his sun to rise on the evil and 
 on the good, and sendeth his rain on the just and on 
 the unjust." 
 
OF COMMUNICANTS. 123 
 
 If his compassionate bosom is deeply and tenderly 
 moved, on witnessing the temporal sufferings of the 
 victims of poverty and disease, so that he willingly 
 contributes,"according to his ability, to administer food 
 to the hungry, clothing to the naked, and relief to the 
 sick and afflicted; his benevolence is much more pow- 
 erfully awakened, on beholding the spiritual miseries 
 of the children of ignorance and sin, who are living 
 without God, and perishing without hope; and he 
 cheerfully contributes to supply them with the bread 
 of life, and the means of salvation. 
 
 The charitable Christian is not only free from en- 
 mity and ill-will towards every human being, but sin- 
 cerely desires to alleviate the sorrows, and promote 
 the happiness of all; not excepting even his most bit- 
 ter and implacable foes. He strives to imitate the 
 example of Him who said, "Love your enemies, bless 
 those who curse you, and pray for those who despite- 
 fully use you and persecute you." "Knowing the 
 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though he was 
 rich, yet, for our sakes, became poor, that we, through 
 his poverty, might be rich," he feels deeply interested 
 in all the benevolent operations which distinguish and 
 adorn our favoured age. The Bible, the Missionary, 
 the Sunday school, the Tract societies, and all other 
 institutions, which have for their noble object the sal- 
 vation of men, and the glory of God, find in him a 
 cordial supporter, and an ardent friend. As he has 
 "freely received" the gifts of divine bounty, so he 
 
124 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 freely distributes them for the benefit of others. To 
 do good, is not only his profession, but the very ele- 
 ment in which he lives and breathes. Nor will he 
 cease to pray, or intermit his exertions, unless death 
 deprives him of the power, while there remains a sin- 
 gle spot on earth where the Redeemer's love is un- 
 known, or his praise unsung. 
 
 This ardent, expansive, laborious benevolence, is 
 the charity of the gospel. This is the wedding gar- 
 ment in which every guest should be clothed who 
 approaches that ordinance which is the liveliest em- 
 blem that earth affords of "the marriage supper of the 
 Lamb" in heaven. 
 
 Let all communicants, then, most seriously examine 
 themselves, to ascertain whether they have charity 
 to all mankind. This grace is "the end of the com- 
 mandment, and the fulfilling of the law." It is the 
 centre and circumference, the spirit and the substance, 
 of true religion. Eminence in other attainments, will 
 make no atonement for a deficiency here. Though 
 a communicant "speak" loudly in favour of religion, 
 "with the tongues of men or angels;" though he "have 
 faith to believe all mysteries;" though he subscribe to 
 the most orthodox creeds, and be a member of the 
 purest church on earth; "though he give all his goods 
 to feed the poor, and even his body to be burned;" 
 yet if he have not charity, he is but like "sounding 
 brass or a tinkling cymbal;" and his loud professions 
 will only sink him deeper in hell ! 
 
OF COMMUNICANTS. 125 
 
 Look well to your own hearts, professed followers 
 of Jesus! Remember that "God is not," and cannot 
 be "deceived." Examine strictly, whether the charity 
 you profess, is a grace wrought in your hearts by the 
 Holy Ghost. Whether it is fervent love for the Sa- 
 viour's image, wherever and in whomsoever found. 
 Whether it is pure, active, benevolence to all mankind, 
 for his sake. You may now deceive the ministers of 
 Christ by a false profession, and they may admit you 
 to the ordinances of his house, and the external privi- 
 leges of his people. But there is ONE who seeth and 
 judgeth according to truth: and if you are destitute 
 of that "charity which is the bond of perfectness," 
 when you pass under his solemn review on the day 
 of final account, whatever may have been your pro- 
 fessions and your hopes, you will be eternally sepa- 
 rated from the company of the redeemed, and have 
 your portion with the devil and his angels. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 The interesting nature and design of the holy sa- 
 crament of the Lord's Supper, and the unspeakable 
 benefits, which it is the means of conveying to the 
 soul, have already formed the subject of my devout 
 meditations. But I am told, on authority which is 
 entitled to my highest respect, that, "as the benefit 
 is great to those who, with a true penitent heart and 
 11* 
 
126 THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 lively faith, receive that holy sacrament, so is the dan- 
 ger great, to those who receive the same unworthily." 
 How important, then, is it, that I should "examine 
 myself, before I presume to eat of that bread, and drink 
 of that cup?" O! thou Searcher of hearts, enable me 
 to do it sincerely, as in thy presence; and thoroughly, 
 by the aid of thy Spirit; that so I may be preserved 
 from all self-delusion, and, as an accepted worship- 
 per, approach thy altar! 
 
 But how dare I to hope for acceptance with Him 
 who "is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity?" My 
 heart is polluted by earthly affections, and carnal lusts: 
 my life has been stained with many actual transgres- 
 sions. O Lord! behold, I am vile: what shall I answer 
 thee? "Enter not into judgment with thy servant; 
 for in thy sight shall no man living be justified!" I 
 cannot approach thee in my own righteousness, for 
 "I am not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs 
 under thy table." But thanks be to thy name! thou 
 art the God of grace, whose property is always to 
 have mercy. Thou hast provided a better righteous- 
 ness, even that of thine only begotten Son; by which, 
 sinner as I am, I may be brought nigh to thee with 
 acceptance, if I truly repent and unfeignedly believe 
 the holy gospel. 
 
 Can I, then, offer to God "a broken and a contrite 
 heart," — the only sacrifice of a sinner which he will 
 not despise? Do I mourn with godly sorrow at the 
 remembrance of my sins? Do I hate sin, not only 
 
OP COMMUNICANTS. 127 
 
 as destructive of my hopes, but on account of its in- 
 expressible vileness, as an offence against a Being of 
 infinite purity and benevolence? And am I bringing 
 forth fruits worthy of repentance? — yielding myself 
 unto God, as one that is alive from the dead? And 
 am I steadfastly purposed to lead a new and holy life? 
 
 Do I lie, in all the lowliness of contrition and self- 
 condemnation, at the foot of the cross, lifting the eye 
 of faith to the Lamb of God which taketh away the 
 sin of the world? Have I "a lively faith in God's 
 mercy through Christ?" Does my helpless soul hang 
 on Jesus? Do I embrace him, by faith, "as made of 
 God unto me wisdom, and righteousness, and sancti- 
 fication and redemption — all my salvation, and all my 
 desire?" Yes! I can truly say, I have no hope but in 
 him. "Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief!" O! 
 how free, how full, how precious, the redemption 
 which is in Christ Jesus! 
 
 Have I a "thankful remembrance of his death?" 
 Am I daily saying: "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and 
 all that is within me praise his holy name?" Yes! 
 blessed be God! when I meditate upon the dying 
 love of Jesus, my heart overflows with joy. I would 
 call upon the whole rational creation to unite with 
 me in proclaiming the riches of his mercy, and can 
 say, in the fervour of a grateful soul, "eternity will be 
 too short to utter all his praise!" 
 
 What can I render unto the Lord for all his bene- 
 fits? Shall I rest contented with the poor acknow- 
 
12S THE QUALIFICATIONS, &C. 
 
 ledgments of the lips? No! I am steadfastly purposed 
 to keep his commandments. "And this is his com- 
 mandment, that we should love one another, as he 
 hath loved us." Do I, then, possess "charity towards 
 all mankind?" Do I love the children of God, simply 
 because they are his children? Do I choose, for my 
 companions and friends, those who are the friends of 
 Jesus — who fear God, and walk in his ways? And 
 have I a heart to feel for the temporal and spiritual 
 sufferings of all who are partakers of human nature? 
 Do I show my charity by labouring, according to my 
 ability, to supply the wants of the poor, and set for- 
 ward the salvation of men? O! how sweet is it to 
 imitate my God and Saviour by the exercise of be- 
 nevolence! Strive, O my soul, to live more habitually 
 under the influence of the Spirit, and abound, more 
 and more, in the fruits of heaven-born love. Approach 
 the table of thy Redeemer, earnestly desiring an in- 
 crease of this precious grace, and offering up thy 
 prayer for it, in the appropriate words which the 
 Church has provided for her children: "O Lord, who 
 hast taught us that all our doings without charity are 
 nothing worth, send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into 
 my heart that most excellent gift of charity, the very 
 bond of peace, and of all virtues; without which, who- 
 soever liveth is counted dead before thee: grant this 
 for thine only son Jesus Christ's sake. Amen." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE DUTIES OF COMMUNICANTS; OR, THE OBLIGA- 
 TIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 What is implied in a profession of Christianity. 
 
 In the discussion of the important subject suggest- 
 ed at the head of this chapter, it is deemed unneces- 
 sary, after what has been said in the preceding one 
 about the qualifications required in communicants, to 
 enter into a very extended and particular considera- 
 tion of the graces which should enrich the heart, 
 and the works which should adorn the life, of every 
 disciple of Christ. But it is the conviction of the 
 author, that the great ends of this treatise would 
 not be properly secured, if it should be brought to a 
 close without presenting to the consideration of its 
 readers, a few plain and solemn reflections upon the 
 obligations of the Christian profession, and the great 
 danger and guilt of neglecting to fulfil them. 
 
 What is implied in a profession of Christianity? 
 It certainly implies, that they who make it are Chris- 
 tians indeed. They who take the vows of the cove- 
 nant in Baptism; and they who renew those vows in 
 Confirmation, or come forward to the holy sacrament 
 of the Lord's Supper, profess that they believe all the 
 
130 THE DUTIES OF 
 
 articles of the Christian faith, and are seriously de- 
 termined, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to "adorn the 
 doctrine of God their Saviour, in all things." They 
 profess to have been convinced of their sinful state 
 by nature and practice; truly to repent of their 
 sins; to exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and to be so persuaded of the transient and worthless 
 nature of all worldly things, that they have firmly re- 
 solved, to consider themselves as strangers and pil- 
 grims upon earth, and set their affections on those 
 things which are above, where Jesus sitteth at the 
 right hand of God. They solemnly promise, in the 
 presence of God, angels and men, to "renounce the 
 devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory 
 of the world, and the sinful lusts of the flesh." 
 They openly avow Jesus Christ to be their Lord and 
 and master: and in a word, profess to yield them- 
 selves unto God, as those that are alive from the 
 dead, sincerely desiring to glorify him, in their bodies 
 and spirits, which are his. 
 
 All this is implied in the Christian profession. 
 There is no reservation in it. The Christian pro- 
 fesses to give himself up to God, his body and soul, with 
 all their powers and faculties; his time, and talents, 
 and influence, and wealth; all that he is, and all that 
 he has; to be employed in his service, and consecrat- 
 ed to his glory. 
 
 The sacramental vow, thus sacred and comprehen- 
 sive in its obligations, is offered at the altar of God. 
 
COMMUNICANTS. 131 
 
 It may, therefore, be considered, as the oath of alle- 
 giance taken by all the subjects of the King of Zion, 
 and just as binding upon the conscience of every indi- 
 vidual, as an oath taken in a court of justice. But 
 ah! how awfully common is the violation of it? How 
 many "hold back part of the price?" How many 
 "have a name to live, while they are dead;" and "a 
 form of godliness, while they are destitute of the 
 power thereof?" 
 
 But, in this attempt to touch the consciences, and 
 expose the guilt of the insincere, I must not "make 
 the hearts of those sad, whom the Lord has not made 
 sad," nor wound the peace of his dear children. 
 Lest, therefore, some weak and trembling, though 
 sincere disciples, should suppose that they are charg- 
 able with hypocrisy, because they have approached 
 the sacraments of the Church without a full assur- 
 ance of faith, and a thorough experience of the com- 
 forts and joys of religion: I would remark, that a 
 high degree of spiritual enjoyment, and a perfect free- 
 dom from doubts and fears, though desirable as privi- 
 leges, are by no means essential to the pious charac- 
 ter, and an honest profession of the gospel. There 
 are many humble and gracious souls, following the 
 Saviour in the way of holiness, who only dare to 
 entertain a trembling hope of acceptance, — and yet, 
 I doubt not, are known and owned by Him, as his 
 beloved disciples on earth, and will be numbered 
 among his saints in glory everlasting. 
 
132 THE DUTIES OF 
 
 Have you, Christian professors, been awakened io 
 a sense of your lost and ruined condition by nature 
 and practice? Do you loathe and abhor sin, and 
 humble yourselves before God in penitence and 
 prayer? Do you unfeignedly renounce all depend- 
 ance upon every thing you have done, or can do, 
 and place your entire reliance upon the blood and 
 righteousness of the Divine Redeemer? Do you 
 withdraw, as much as possible, from the entangling 
 cares and corrupting amusements of the world: and 
 desire, above all things, that your hearts may be sanc- 
 tified by the spirit, and your lives regulated by the 
 precepts of the gospel? Can you, appealing to the 
 Searcher of hearts, say, that you love his people and 
 his ordinances; that the supreme "desire of your soul 
 is unto him and the remembrance of his name?" 
 Are the feelings, the purposes, the desires of your 
 hearts, such as have now been described? Then may 
 you trust in the Lord,'and not be afraid. The offer- 
 ing of your souls and bodies to him, will prove accep- 
 table through the merits of Jesus Christ: and, though 
 now, you may be of a doubting and fearful spirit, 
 walking in darkness without much light; yet, if you 
 continue to attend upon the means of grace, with 
 humble and prayerful hearts, the clouds which now 
 obscure your prospects, shall soon be scattered, and 
 the sun of righteousness clearly shine upon your souls. 
 The Lord will send the Comforter to take up his 
 abode in your hearts. You shall walk in the light of 
 
COMMUNICANTS. 133 
 
 his countenance, and partake of the full joys of his 
 salvation. 
 
 Would to God that the writer of these pages and 
 all for whose benefit they are designed, were "trem- 
 blingly alive" to the solemn nature of the Christian 
 profession! We call ourselves the disciples of Jesus 
 Christ. We are members of his visible church. What, 
 then, is our relation to God, and the duties arising 
 out of it? When we were washed in the waters of 
 Baptism, and solemnly dedicated to the Father, the 
 Son, and the Holy Ghost, was there any thing re- 
 served? Was it not, professedly, a full consecration 
 of us to the Lord? When we received the si cm of 
 the cross upon our foreheads, what was the meaning 
 of that impressive ceremony? Was it not "in token 
 that, hereafter, we should not be ashamed to confess 
 the faith of Christ crucified; manfully to fight under 
 his banner against sin, the world and the devil; and 
 to continue Christ's faithful soldiers and servants unto 
 our life's end?"* Yes! all who have been baptised 
 at our altars, are marked with the "image and super- 
 scription" of the Son of God. To give themselves to 
 the service of sin and the world, is, therefore, to rob 
 the Lord of his acknowledged property, and commit 
 treason against the King of Zion. Many of us have 
 solemnly renewed and ratified our baptismal engage- 
 ments. We have, in the presence of God and his 
 Church, with our own lips, taken the oath of allegiance 
 
 * Baptismal Service. 
 12 
 
134 THE DUTIES OP 
 
 to the Prince of Peace, in the rite of Confirmation; 
 and, over the consecrated symbols of the body and 
 blood of Jesus, have repeated our vow, and "joined 
 ourselves to the Lord, in a perpetual covenant, never 
 to be forgotten." We are "witnesses to ourselves," 
 and the Lord also, before whom we stand, and his 
 Anointed, and his angels are witnesses, "that we have 
 chosen the Lord to serve him." Our vow, offered 
 at the altar, has been registered in heaven. How has 
 it been fulfilled? O! let each one answer to con- 
 science, and as in the presence of the Searcher of 
 hearts— how has it been fulfilled? 
 
 We have often said, with great solemnity, in our 
 sacramental service: "Here we offer and present unto 
 thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be 
 a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee." 
 Has our practice been in conformity to our words? 
 Do we daily feel and act as if we were not our own, 
 but belong to God? Are our hearts burning with the 
 love of Jesus, and alive to the interests of his church 
 and gospel? Are we, like the primitive disciples, 
 "walking in the fear of the Lord and the comforts of 
 the Holy Ghost?" Do we carry our Master's presence 
 with us wherever we go, and in the ordinary business 
 of life, and intercourse of society, live under the ha- 
 bitual influence of the sentiments we profess; so that 
 all with whom we associate, perceive the beauty of 
 religion, take knowledge of us that we have been with 
 Jesus, and are forced to confess, that God is with us 
 of a truth? 
 
COMMUNICANTS. 1 35 
 
 If this were the case with all professors of religion, 
 the ways of Zion would no longer mourn that few 
 come to her solemn feasts. The Saviour would no 
 more be "wounded," as he now too frequently is, "in 
 the house of his friends;" nor would his ministers be 
 compelled to utter the distressing inquiry: "Who hath 
 believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the 
 Lord revealed?" Then Zion would put on her beau- 
 tiful garments, and shine forth in the reflected glory 
 of her Lord. The gospel would have "free course 
 and be glorified." Sinners would be awakened and 
 converted; and the increasing multitude of penitents, 
 returning to God, would force us to exclaim, with ad- 
 miration and delight: "Who are these tfeat fly as the 
 clouds, and like the doves to their windows?" 
 
 But, alas! is there not reason to fear, that many take 
 the vows of the covenant upon their lips without any 
 proper sense of their nature, and without any serious 
 intention of fulfilling them? And is there not reason 
 to apprehend, that there are many others who have 
 lost "their first love;" have grown remiss and careless 
 in their Christian duties, and whose lives bring no 
 profit to the church or to the world; no comfort to 
 themselves, no glory to their God? It is my principal 
 design, in the remainder of this chapter, in the fear 
 of God, and with all faithfulness, and tenderness, and 
 solemnity, to point out several classes of this descrip- 
 tion. "May sinners in Zion be alarmed, and fearful- 
 ness surprise the hypocrites!" 
 
136 THE DUTIES OF 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Some classes of insincere professors described. 
 
 The memorable case of Ananias and Sapphira, who 
 were struck dead, in a miraculous manner, as a just 
 punishment for the awful crime of which they had 
 been guilty, in exhibiting the worst features of ava- 
 rice and pride under the assumed mask of Christian 
 charity, will serve to illustrate the guilt and danger of 
 hypocritical or insincere professions in the concerns of 
 religion. Many of the wealthy disciples of that day, 
 under the influence of pure benevolence and com- 
 passion towards their indigent brethren, disposed of 
 their substance, and cast the avails into the public 
 fund, for the support of the persecuted community of 
 Christians. Ananias, who, with the spirit of Judas, 
 had gained admission to the church, was ambitious 
 not to be excelled by any in a reputation for liberality. 
 He accordingly went and sold his possessions, "kept 
 back part of the price," and offered the remainder to 
 the Apostles, accompanied by a solemn asseveration 
 that it was the entire proceeds of the sale. His wife, 
 also, was privy to the transaction, and accessory to the 
 fraud. It was a base imposition upon the church, and 
 an impious attempt to deceive the Holy Ghost. Their 
 miraculous and infamous death was richly deserved 
 and calculated to act as a salutary warning against 
 
COMMUNICANTS. 137 
 
 hypocritical professions, to all succeeding generations. 
 To every class of insincere professors, now to be no- 
 ticed, the expostulation of Peter to Ananias may be 
 addressed: "Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie 
 to the Holy Ghost, and keep back part of the price?"* 
 A Christian profession, as has been shown, implies 
 the full and unreserved surrender of ourselves, our 
 souls and bodies, all that we are, and all that we have, 
 to the glory and service of the living God. It in- 
 cludes, of course, a profession of true repentance for 
 sin. "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at 
 hand," was the first sermon preached by our Lord, 
 and also by his illustrious precursor. It is the first 
 duty of a sinner; without which there can be no faith, 
 and, consequently, no salvation. "Except ye repent, 
 ye must all perish." But what is repentance? The 
 very lowest definition that can be given of it, as an 
 evangelical grace, is, hatred of sin — godly sorrow for 
 having committed it, and an earnest desire to be de- 
 livered from its guilt and dominion. 
 
 What, then, shall we think of that professor of re- 
 ligion who lives in the habit of sin? I mean not, the 
 individual who finds sin dwelling in him, polluting 
 his thoughts and affections, though he mourns over 
 its influence and earnestly struggles against its power; 
 for such was the case with St. Pajul, Job, Isaiah, and 
 other saints of the Most High: but I mean, one who 
 
 * Acts v. 1—11. 
 
13S THE DUTIES OF 
 
 lives in the wilful omission of acknowledged duty, 
 and the habitual commission of what he knows to be 
 forbidden. He professes to abhor whatever is offen- 
 sive to God, and opposed to his commandments; and 
 yet, he harbours iniquity in his bosom; "rolls sin as 
 a sweet morsel under his tongue;" and lives, from 
 day to day, in the neglect of commanded duties, 
 and the practice of forbidden sins. Surely we can 
 have no hesitation in pronouncing upon the hypo- 
 crisy of this man's character. He is, as manifestly 
 the child of Satan, — the servant of corruption, as if 
 the name of hypocrite was written upon his forehead. 
 He has made a profession of religion, to cloak some 
 unworthy design; — in compliance with custom; to 
 gain a good reputation, or, from some other motive 
 equally criminal and base. He has perjured himself 
 at the altar, and "lied not unto men, but unto God." 
 Another class of professors, involved in the same 
 condemnation, is made up of those, who endeavour 
 to combine the service of the flesh with that of the 
 spirit, — and freely indulge in the gay pleasures and 
 sinful dissipation of the world, as if they believed such 
 indulgence to be perfectly consistent with the hope 
 of heaven. They live as the rest of the world live; 
 the devotees of fashion, extravagance and pleasure. 
 They are governed by the same maxims, animated 
 by the same motives, engaged in the same practices, 
 as those who make no pretensions to piety, but scoff 
 at the doctrines, and contemn the ordinances of our 
 
COMMUNICANTS. 139 
 
 holy religion. They call Christ "Lord, Lord, but do 
 not the things which he says." They honour him 
 with a bended knee, and an occasional compliment 
 from the lips, when they are in his sanctuary; but 
 they withhold the homage of an affectionate heart 
 and an obedient life. They occasionally approach 
 the sacrament, and go through a "week's preparation" 
 for it: but no sooner is the apparently sacred engage- 
 ment over, than they mingle once more in all the gay 
 and fascinating, but guilty pleasures of a corrupt 
 world. Those who lately withdrew from scenes of 
 amusement to prepare for communion with God, and 
 with a sanctimonious parade of humility and devo- 
 tion, bowed before his altar, may now be seen in the 
 ball room, at the card table, or in the theatre; with 
 nothing to distinguish them from the thoughtless and 
 guilty crowd who are carelessly rushing on in the 
 broad road to destruction. 
 
 Such a class is to be found in the ranks of those pro- 
 fessing Christianity. But are they true Christians? Are 
 they real followers of the Son of God? Do they ex- 
 hibit any marks of the self-denial, spirituality of mind, 
 devotion to God, and heavenly affections, which the 
 gospel represents to be the leading characteristics of 
 the disciples of Christ? What saith the scriptures? 
 "She that liveth in pleasure, is dead while she liveth." 
 "Be not conformed to this world* but be ye trans- 
 formed by the renewing of your mind." "If any 
 man love the world, the love of the Father is not in 
 
140 THE DUTIES OP 
 
 him." "Know ye not, ye adulterers and adulteresses, 
 that the friendship of this world is enmity with 
 God?" Those professed Christians, therefore, who 
 live under the dominion of "the things that are in the 
 world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, 
 and the pride of life;" who are running the giddy 
 round of pleasure, and enjoying the sinful amuse- 
 ments and dissipations of the age, "are not of the 
 Father, but of the world." They cannot be the ob- 
 jects of divine favour, nor living and useful members 
 of the church. Judging by the gospel standard, they 
 are no more Christians than they are Archangels. 
 They are "spots in the feasts of charity;" "clouds 
 without water;" "dead branches of the vine." Though 
 they speak with affected abhorrence of hypocrisy, we 
 cannot fail to perceive that they are chargeable with 
 it. Will the most enlarged charity, permit us to be- 
 lieve, that there is any sincerity in their professions, 
 when they promise "to renounce the pomps and vani- 
 ties of the world?" No! they attempt to practise a 
 deception upon the Holy Ghost. They "lie not unto 
 men, but unto God." 
 
 There is another, and it is to be apprehended, 
 very numerous class, chargeable with the guilt under 
 consideration. A class composed of all those who 
 profess to be the servants of Christ, and yet, make 
 but a partial surrender of themselves to him and his 
 service. Ananias professed to have given up all, 
 and yet kept back part of the price. This was the 
 
COMMUNICANTS. 141 
 
 crime which led to the fearful punishment he receiv- 
 ed. Religion also has its price. What is it? It fa, the 
 soul and the body; the payment of all that we are, and 
 all that we have, to the Lord; as a small tribute of grati- 
 tude for his numerous mercies, and especially for the 
 unspeakable mercies of redemption by the blood of 
 Jesus. The solemn requisition of God upon every hu- 
 man being is, "Son, give me thy heart!" He demands the 
 full and unreserved dedication of our best affections, 
 our most exalted powers, our most perfect services, to 
 the work of religion. Without this, no one can be, 
 id the full sense of the term, a Christian; or entitled 
 to the comforts and inheritance which the gospel pro- 
 mises to the followers of our blessed Redeemer. 
 
 But, alas! how many are there who "keep back 
 part of the price?" They desire salvation; they long 
 to have the pardon of sin, and the blessing of adop- 
 tion; the privileges of God's children in this world, 
 and the joys which await them in the world to come. 
 But they are unwilling to make the sacrifices which 
 God requires from his people. There is some ava- 
 ricious principle, some darling lust, some favourite 
 pleasure, some idolized object, or possession, which 
 they cannot part with. God demands the abandon- 
 ment of all sin; but they cling to the beloved idol, 
 and say, "spare it, is it not a little one?" This for- 
 bidden object they wish to retain, and yet partake of 
 all the privileges and joys of the faithful and devot- 
 ed servants of Jehovah. They make a mental reser- 
 
142 THE DUTIES OF 
 
 vation in favour of the particular object of their re- 
 gard, whatever it may be; and yet, do not hesitate to 
 take the vows of the covenant upon their lips and 
 profess to give themselves to the Lord, in obedience 
 to his commandment. 
 
 Ah! miserable delusion! God will not accept of 
 divided affections. He is a jealous God, and will not 
 consent to give part of his glory to another. He has 
 the most sacred and powerful claims upon all that we 
 can offer him. Has he been half-hearted in the be- 
 stowment of his blessings upon us? Was the Lord 
 Jesus half-hearted, when he gave himself up to igno- 
 miny, and sufferings, and death, for our redemption? 
 And dare we make stinted, and half-hearted returns 
 for God's unutterable gifts? Can we hope to deceive 
 him by a partial devotion? No! he searches the 
 hearts, and tries the reins of the children of men. 
 And if we will not permit him to reign in our souls, 
 without a rival; if we call ourselves his servants, when 
 we design to serve him only partially; if we hold 
 back a part of the price, when we pretend to give 
 the whole; we "lie to the Holy Ghost," and bring 
 the tremendous guilt of hypocrisy upon our souls. 
 
 To every such individual we may say, in the lan- 
 guage of St. Peter, "why hath Satan filled thine heart 
 to lie to the Holy Ghost, and keep back part of the 
 price? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine 
 heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." 
 It was under satanic influence, that Ananias attempt- 
 
COMMUNICANTS. 143 
 
 ed to practise a fraud upon the Apostles of the 
 Church; and without reference to the malign agency 
 of the great and subtle deceiver, we cannot well con- 
 ceive, how men should be led to play the hypocrite 
 as the different classes of professors do, which have 
 now been noticed. What an awful exhibition does 
 it afford of the glaring folly, and desperate wicked- 
 ness of men? They attempt to deceive Omniscience; 
 to trifle with Him, who holds the thunderbolts in his 
 hand, and by one stroke of his justice, can "dash 
 them in pieces, like a potter's vessel!" 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 The communicant's duty respecting the means of 
 grace. 
 
 It is charitably to be hoped, that there are few so 
 "blinded by the god of this world," and "led captive 
 by Satan at his will," as to be guilty of deliberate and 
 wilful hypocrisy in a religious profession. But they 
 know little of that heart which "is deceitful above all 
 things, and desperately wicked," who do not feel the 
 need of beseeching God to keep them even from this 
 presumptuous sin. 
 
 There are, however, others besides wilful hypo- 
 crites, who "keep back part of the price;" and are 
 thus chargeable, in some sense, with dissimulation be- 
 
144 THE DUTIES OP 
 
 fore God. And here, let all professors, who read this 
 volume, pause, and look well into their own state. 
 Let them examine themselves, and that, "not lightly, 
 and after the manner of dissemblers with God." Let 
 each one pray, "search me, O God, and know the ground 
 of my heart; prove me, and examine my thoughts; see 
 if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in 
 the way everlasting." 
 
 When we join ourselves in covenant with God, and 
 his church; — "subscribe with our hands unto the Lord, 
 and surname ourselves by the name of Israel;" we 
 promise to "follow the Good Shepherd, whithersoever 
 he goeth," and especially, into the "green pastures," 
 and beside the "still waters," which he has provided 
 for the nourishment and refreshment of his flock. 
 We engage "to walk in all the commandments and 
 ordinances of the Lord, blameless." We virtually 
 bind ourselves to comply with all the positive duties 
 of religion, and means of grace; whether private or 
 public, personal or social. Are there no professors 
 of religion who neglect any of these means? Is there 
 no reader of these pages, who, in this respect, "keeps 
 back part of the price?" 
 
 In boundless condescension and love, God invites 
 us to come to the throne of grace, that we may "ob- 
 tain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." 
 Our blessed Saviour directs us to "enter into our 
 closet and shut the door, and pray to our Father who 
 seeth in secret;" and says, that "our Father who 
 
COMMUNICANTS. 145 
 
 seeth in secret, shall reward us openly." Every in- 
 telligent Christian will acknowledge, that secret prayer 
 is the main spring of all personal religion; and that, 
 without it, the "life of God 1 ' cannot be maintained 
 in the soul. Do you, then, let me ask, daily retire 
 for the purpose of secret devotion? Do you daily 
 read a portion of that blessed volume which testifies 
 of Jesus, and opens up the path of heaven to the 
 view of the believing soul? Do you, not merely as a 
 matter of form, bend the knee; but, humble your sinful 
 souls before the mercy seat, and pour out the sighs 
 and confessions of a contrite spirit — and the earnest 
 desires of a heart longing for communion with God? 
 Is the place of your retirement consecrated by the 
 memory of many sighs, and tears, and vows? Is it 
 often blessed with the presence of the Comforter? so 
 that you esteem it as a kind of audience-chamber 
 for the Deity; — as it were, the vestibule of heaven? 
 Do you walk closely and humbly with your God? Do 
 you frequently exult in the experience of His 
 favour, which is life; and his loving-kindness, which 
 is better than life? Or, are you, in a state of dark- 
 ness, and alienation from the fountain of spiritual 
 life and joy, forced to exclaim, "Oh, that it were 
 with me as in days that are past!" 
 
 "Where is the blessedness I knew, 
 When first I saw the Lord? 
 Where is the soul-refreshing view 
 Of Jesus and his word?" 
 13 
 
146 THE DUTIES OP 
 
 Ah! if we have lost the light of God's countenance 
 and the joys of his salvation, we must seek them 
 again in our closets. There we must weep, and 
 strive, and pray, till the "Holy Dove," the "messenger 
 of rest," returns, with healing, and refreshment, and 
 comfort on his wings. 
 
 Are there no heads of families, who "keep back a 
 part of the price?" When you presented yourselves 
 at the altar, and offered your vow of fealty to the King 
 of heaven, was it a solitary, personal, selfish vow, that 
 aimed only at your own interest and salvation? Or, 
 was it the resolution of Joshua, "as for me and my 
 house, we will serve the Lord?" Has not God made 
 you a Priest in your household? Does He not re- 
 quire you, in this capacity, to present the daily sacri- 
 fice upon the domestic altar, and "train up your chil- 
 dren in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?" 
 
 If there be, then, a Christian household unsanctiri- 
 ed by the daily offering of domestic devotion, is it 
 not an anomaly in the religious world? Is the head 
 of that household, keeping the vow which he has of- 
 fered to God, and adorning the religion he profes- 
 ses? — Is he looking forward to the day of judgment 
 with a hope of saying, amidst the solemnities of the 
 final trial, "here am I, Lord, and the children whom 
 thou hast given me?" Or, is he not, rather, exposing 
 himself and those who ought to be dear to him as his 
 own life, to the "wrath" that will be "poured out 
 upon the families which call not on God's name?" If 
 
COMMUNICANTS. 147 
 
 his children grow up in the iove of the world and its 
 vanities; with indifference or contempt for religion; 
 and at last die without faith in Christ, or the hope 
 of the gospel; — may he not behold in this, the 
 wretched fruit of his own unfaithfulness; and charge 
 himself with the guilt of being accessory to their per- 
 dition? 
 
 Are we regular in our attendance upon social and 
 public means of grace, as distinguished from those 
 which are personal and domestic? 
 
 The professor of religion virtually avows that he 
 considers God's service to be "perfect freedom;" his 
 highest privilege, as well as his bounden duty. He 
 professes that "one day in God's service, is better," 
 in his estimation, "than a thousand" spent in vanity 
 and sin. That, he "had rather be a door-keeper in 
 the house of God, than to dwell in the richest tents 
 of wickedness." How solemnly, then, is he bound, 
 to "remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy," to 
 enter the sanctuary whenever its doors are thrown 
 open for his admission, to listen with meekness to 
 the preached word, and assemble with his Christian 
 brethren of the same communion, whenever two or 
 three meet together in the name of Jesus, to sing his 
 praise, and claim his promised blessing? When we 
 gave ourselves up to be the disciples of Jesus, was there 
 any reservation? Did we promise to attend church 
 only when the sun shone brightly, and other outward 
 circumstances were peculiarly inviting? to be present 
 
148 THE DUTIES OF 
 
 only in the former part of the day, and not to engage 
 in the offering of the evening-sacrifice? Did we bind 
 ourselves to be present at the lecture, or social prayer 
 meeting, only when it perfectly suited our conveni- 
 ence, and involved not the slightest interference with 
 our worldly business, domestic avocations, or social 
 pleasures? Was this the nature of our engagement? 
 Or, was it, to "follow the Lord fully;" to deny our- 
 selves, and take up our cross, and follow Jesus 
 whithersoever he goeth; to permit nothing to inter- 
 fere with our duty to Him, and the interests of our 
 souls? 
 
 Alas! what multitudes are there, who either mis- 
 understand the nature of the Christian covenant, or 
 u keep back part of the price?" May God bring 
 them to a better mind! 
 
 That most precious mean of grace which has 
 formed the principal subject of this volume, at every 
 celebration of it exhibits, by their neglect of it, the 
 inattention of multitudes to their plighted vows, and 
 carries a mournful addition to the record of guilt in 
 the register of heaven. 
 
 Every returning month, the table of the Lord is 
 spread before us, and we are invited to join in the 
 most sublime act of Christian devotion by partaking 
 of the consecrated memorials of that great sacrifice 
 which was offered up for us on the cross. But how 
 many of those who have been baptized into the faith 
 of Jesus, turn their backs upon his table and refuse 
 
COMMUNICANTS. 149 
 
 to unite in this appointed commemoration of his 
 death? And among these neglecters are thousands 
 of whom the church had reason to hope better things. 
 Where are those in our different congregations who 
 have stood before the altar, and with their own lips 
 avowed their determination to lead a Christian life, 
 when receiving the imposition of Episcopal hands to 
 confirm them in the faith which they professed? 
 Have they all united in sacramental communion with 
 the faithful? Do we see them all walking in visible 
 fellowship with the people of God? "They have 
 well said all that they have spoken; O that there 
 were such a heart in them!" Why should they not 
 enjoy all the privileges connected with their pro- 
 fession? Why should they "keep back part of the 
 price?" Ah! let them "remember Lot's wife!" Let 
 them remember the alarming declaration of our 
 Lord, "no man having put his hand to the plough 
 and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." 
 Let them ponder the memorable saying of the wise 
 man, "when thou vowest a vow to God, defer not to 
 pay it; it is better not to vow, than that thou shouldst 
 vow and not pay!" 
 
 13' 
 
150 THE DUTIES OF 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Christians are bound to aid in the work of dissemi- 
 nating the Gospel. 
 
 Those "keep back part of the price," and are un- 
 faithful to their religious vows, who do not contribute 
 of their substance, and by their personal efforts, to 
 the support of the Church and the spread of the 
 Gospel 
 
 We live in a favoured age. The Lord is carrying 
 forward a great work upon earth. He is preparing 
 the way for the conversion of the nations. This 
 work is to be accomplished by the agency of his 
 Church. To enter at large upon the duties of Chris- 
 tians as connected with the present state of the 
 world, and aspect of the missionary enterprise, would 
 lead to a more extended discussion than our present 
 limits will admit; and is rendered unnecessary by 
 the arguments and appeals on the subject that are 
 constantly issuing from the pulpit and the press. 
 But I cannot close this address to those who profess 
 and call themselves Christians, without at least a 
 cursory hint upon this paramount duty. 
 
 In the warfare in which the Church is now en- 
 gaged against the vices and superstitions of the world, 
 sustained by the principalities and powers of dark- 
 ness, every enlisted soldier of the cross must be 
 
COMMUNICANTS. 151 
 
 found at his post, manfully fighting under his ac- 
 knowledged banner, and with his appropriate weapons. 
 All professors of religion should dread the fate of 
 Meroz and its guilty inhabitants, who were "bitterly 
 cursed" in the name of Jehovah, "because they came 
 not to the help of the Lord; to the help of the Lord 
 against the mighty." 
 
 Those who cannot go forth themselves to meet the 
 enemy and bear the brunt of the battle, must con- 
 tribute to send out those who are willing to sacri- 
 fice their lives to the cause; and aid in furnishing 
 them with those means of usefulness, and that divine 
 panoply, which will prove "mighty through God to 
 the pulling down of strong holds," and subduing all 
 opposition to the obedience of faith. Every one 
 must do something according to his ability. The 
 rich must give their hundreds and their thousands, 
 and the "poor widows" must cast in their "mites," to 
 the treasury of the Lord. Interest in the spread of 
 the gospel abroad, should increase our efforts for the 
 advancement of religion at home. Every one should 
 strive to do what he can for the honour of Christ and 
 the salvation of souls. None are so poor, or weak, or 
 insignificant, that they cannot aid the cause; — if in 
 no other way, by the influence of their example and 
 their prayers. And if there are any calling them- 
 selves Christians, who oppose this glorious work, or 
 even look upon it with apathy; we may say to them, 
 "wherefore do ye keep back part of the price?" 
 
152 THE DUTIES OP 
 
 Your conduct is hostile to your profession. You 
 "lie not unto men, but unto God!" 
 
 And now, before closing the subject, let him who 
 writes, and all who read these pages, inquire whether 
 they are free from the guilt of dissembling in the con- 
 cerns of religion? Are none of us chargeable with at- 
 tempting to practise a deception upon the Holy Ghost,— 
 or upon those who administer the ordinances of the 
 Church in his name and by his authority? Do we realize 
 the dread responsibility of our station as professed disci- 
 ples of Jesus Christ? Do we know that the character of 
 religion is dependent in some measure on our deport- 
 ment, and that according to our conformity or non- 
 conformity to the precepts and spirit of the Gospel, 
 we shall be "a savour of life unto life, or, of death 
 unto death," to the souls of our fellow men? How 
 cheering, how encouraging the thought, that, if we 
 are zealous and faithful, we shall be instruments of 
 glorifying our Master and saving immortal souls! But, 
 on the other hand, how tremendously awful the re- 
 flection, that, if we are unfaithful, and lukewarm, and 
 inconsistent, we shall prove a burden and disgrace to 
 the church of God, and a stumbling-block in the way 
 of sinners, over which multitudes will stumble and 
 fall, and plunge headlong into perdition! 
 
 O! let every professing Christian realize the truth, 
 that, the success of the Gospel and the prosperity of 
 religion, depend in some degree upon himself. That 
 he must prove a blessing, or a curse, to the church of 
 
COMMUNICANTS. 153 
 
 God. That, he must be a tree which the Lord hath plant- 
 ed, fruitful in the works of righteousness; or, a "barren 
 fig-tree," cumbering the ground, and fit only to be cut 
 down and cast into the fire. He will either be em- 
 ployed in the hands of God as a light to guide others 
 in the way to heaven; or, used as a tool of Satan to 
 lure miserable victims into the path-way of everlast- 
 ing death! 
 
 I have thus, in obedience to the divine command, 
 "blown the trumpet in Zion, and sounded an alarm 
 in God's holy mountain." I have cried — "woe to them 
 that are at ease in Zion!" I know not for whose 
 benefit the alarm is sounded; nor is it for me to say 
 to whom the message is applicable. There is ONE 
 who knoweth and judgeth. I have "drawn the bow 
 at a venture," and pray God to give speed to the ar- 
 row and direct its aim! 
 
154 THE DUTIES OF 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 It is a highly profitable employment for me often 
 to reflect upon the nature of my Christian profession, 
 and the momentous obligations arising out of it. 
 Dedicated by Baptism to the Father, Son and Holy 
 Ghost; — Confirmed by the imposition of hands, when 
 with my own lips I took upon myself the obligations 
 of the Christian covenant; and virtually dedicated 
 anew whenever I have approached the Sacramental 
 table; it would be an act of injustice and impiety to 
 forget that "I am not my own,-' — but belong to God; 
 and, am bound, by the most solemn and interesting 
 engagements, "to glorify him in my body and spirit, 
 which are his." 
 
 Do I, then, strive habitually and zealously to serve 
 my Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier? Do I mortify 
 the passions and lusts, and abstain from the practices, 
 which are offensive in his sight? Do I cultivate 
 and cherish all those affections and habits which he 
 has required of his people? and uniformly labour to 
 "adorn the doctrine of God my Saviour in all things?" 
 
 O my soul! how often dost thou perceive in thyself 
 a strange mixture of good and evil! of heavenly 
 desires and earthly affections! — purposes of virtue and 
 tendencies to vice! How often has there been an in- 
 constancy and vacillation in my Christian course, cal- 
 culated to dishonour the Gospel, and place a stumb- 
 ling-block in the way of sinners? May I not, with 
 
COMMUNICANTS. 155 
 
 propriety, adopt the language of the Apostle: "I find a 
 law in my members warring against the law of my 
 mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin 
 and death: O wretched man that I am! who shall de- 
 liver me from the body of this death?" 
 
 When I reflect upon the lukewarmness of my 
 spirit; the imperfection of my best services; my wan- 
 dering affections and thoughts in devotional exercises; 
 the little I have done for the glory of God and the 
 salvation of men; — have I not reason to fear and 
 tremble, lest I should be found to have "kept back 
 part of the price," and made an insincere profession 
 at the altar? "Enter not into judgment with thy ser- 
 vant, O Lord! for in thy sight shall no one living be 
 justified." Pardon my deficiencies and sins! Cleanse 
 them away by the precious blood of Jesus! Sanctify 
 me by the grace of the Holy Ghost! May I hence- 
 forth, give up myself, soul, body and spirit, without 
 reserve, to thee! 
 
 May my every affection be placed on heavenly 
 things; my every power and faculty consecrated to 
 the service of my God ! May I live with a wise re- 
 ference to the judgment in all things; and be in a 
 state of habitual preparation for my last account ! 
 May no cares of the world distract my mind; no 
 pleasures allure me from the path of duty! May I 
 never resign my soul to spiritual slumber, or inglori- 
 ous repose, but prove faithful to my vows, till my 
 "warfare is accomplished," and my crown is won! O, 
 
156 DUTIES OP COMMUNICANTS. 
 
 for a heart to "watch and pray, that I enter not into 
 temptation!" May I have "my loins girded about with 
 truth, and my lamp trimmed and burning, and be 
 like the servant who waits for the coming of his 
 Lord;" so that, when he cometh, I may hear from 
 his lips, the approving sentence, "well done, good and 
 faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!" 
 
 "A charge to keep I have, 
 
 A God to glorify; 
 A never-dying soul to save, 
 
 And fit it for the sky. 
 
 From youth to hoary age, 
 
 My calling to fulfil: 
 O may it all my powers engage 
 
 To do my Master's will. 
 
 Arm me with jealous care, 
 
 As in thy sight to live, 
 And O, thy servant, Lord, prepare 
 
 A strict account to give. 
 
 Help me to watch and pray, 
 
 And on thyself rely; 
 Assur'd if I my trust betray, 
 
 I shall for ever die." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 NOTICE OF THE EXCUSES COMMONLY OFFERED BY 
 THOSE WHO NEGLECT THE LORD' S SUPPER. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 The guilt of neglecting this ordinance. 
 
 The very general neglect of the Holy Eucharist, 
 forms a frequent topic of admonition and reproof on 
 the part of the ministers of Christ, and awakens 
 strong feelings of solicitude and grief in the bosoms 
 of all his friends. A melancholy spectacle is pre- 
 sented in Christian churches, on sacramental Sab- 
 baths, when the great majority of those who attend 
 in the character of worshippers, though earnestly and 
 atfectionately invited to approach the feast of Zion, 
 most unthankfully refuse to come; — turn their backs 
 upon the altar, and withdraw from the company of 
 their brethren who "feed upon the spiritual banquet 
 of that most heavenly food." 
 
 In the number of these neglecters there are many 
 who acknowledge the binding nature of the divine 
 commandment in reference to it, and are conscious 
 that they live in the habitual neglect of an important 
 duty. They are convinced that it has been regard- 
 ed as a valuable mean of grace in all ages of the 
 Christian Church; and yet, either from disregard of 
 14 
 
158 COMMON EXCUSES 
 
 the Saviour's authority, or, a doubt whether compli- 
 ance with his will would be of any service, or, from 
 some more culpable cause, they have never yet ap- 
 proached the table and commemorated his dying 
 love. What is such habitual disobedience but rebel- 
 lion against the Great Head of the Church? Is it not 
 making themselves wiser than God? and virtually 
 saying} "the table of the Lord is contemptible?" 
 
 Is not this a fair interpretation of the conduct of 
 those who never approach the altar of God? And 
 may not the same be said of those who being blessed 
 with health and frequent opportunities, communicate 
 only occasionally, but generally withdraw from the 
 church while the faithful are engaged in that holiest 
 and highest service of the Christian sanctuary? Would 
 to God that all neglecters of this ordinance, whether 
 habitual or occasional, might be convinced of the 
 sin with which they are chargeable! As one who 
 "longs after them all in the bowels of Jesus Christ," 
 whose "heart's desire and prayer to God for them is, 
 that they may be saved;" I would, earnestly and af- 
 fectionately, expostulate with them on this deeply in- 
 teresting subject. 
 
 There are some of you, who have been blessed 
 with pious parents, and nurtured in the very lap of 
 Christianity. You were taught with your earliest 
 accents to lisp the praises of your Creator. You 
 have for years sat under the "droppings of the sanctu- 
 ary." Sabbath after Sabbath, you have listened to the 
 
ANSWERED. 159 
 
 precepts of the law, and the promises of the gospel. 
 You call Christ your Lord and Master. You have 
 heard the wonderful story of his redeeming love, fre- 
 quently repeated, and presented in all the various and 
 affecting lights of which it is susceptible. You have 
 been told of his "agony and bloody sweat; his cross 
 and passion; his precious death and burial." You 
 have often travelled in thought through the drea- 
 ry shades of Gethsemane; have paused on the hill of 
 Calvary, to mingle your tears with the blood of the suf- 
 fering victim; and, taking a passing view of the glo- 
 ries which surrounded the opened tomb of the Son 
 of God, you have followed him to the heavenly 
 throne whither he ascended, where "he ever liveth to 
 make intercession for us," — and from whence he pours 
 down gifts upon the rebellious and guilty children of 
 men. You bow the knee in token of your submis- 
 sion and worship, and acknowledge that the wonders 
 of his love surpass man^s understanding; that the 
 blessings of his religion are infinitely superior to all 
 worldly possessions and enjoyments; and, that with- 
 out an interest in his merits, you must sink into end- 
 less woe. And yet, — glaring inconsistency! — you have 
 never commemorated the death which alone can give 
 you life, nor gratefully acknowledged the Saviour's 
 love in the way of his appointment. If he had asked 
 some great thing of you, would you not have done it? 
 If he had enjoined a painful duty, would you not 
 have performed it? If he had demanded a tedious 
 
160 COMMON EXCUSES 
 
 penance, or a heavy sacrifice, would you not cheer- 
 fully have submitted? How much rather, then, when 
 he saith, "do this in remembrance of me? 1 ' 
 
 Remember, be entreated to remember, that your 
 opportunities of obeying this command will soon 
 have passed away. Sabbaths and communion sea- 
 sons, the commands, and invitations, and offers of the 
 gospel, will soon be over with you for ever. That 
 Master, who died for our sins; who often spreads his 
 table before us and invites us to approach it, will soon 
 call upon us in a different manner, to bear our part in 
 a very different solemnity; he will summon us with 
 iv the shout of the archangel and the trump of God," 
 to stand before his bar, and render an account of the 
 deeds done in the body, whether they be good, or 
 whether they be evil. What will be our doom on that 
 great day of Christ's second appearing? Will they 
 who have refused to honour him upon earth, expect 
 to be honoured by him then? Will they who have 
 turned their backs upon the sacramental table here, 
 be welcomed to the marriage supper of the Lamb 
 hereafter? Can they, who knowing that it w T as their 
 duty to confess him before men, have neglected to 
 do it, hope that he will confess them before his Fa- 
 ther and the holy angels 5 The mind is unwilling to 
 dwell upon the thought of their future destiny; but 
 the Saviour himself has left us no room to doubt 
 what its awful nature will be. Whosoever shall 
 
ANSWERED. 161 
 
 DENY ME BEFORE MEN, HIM WILL I ALSO DENY BE- 
 FORE my Father which is in heaven.* 
 
 A deceitful and corrupt heart is ever ready to fur- 
 nish us with excuses for the neglect of duty; and is 
 especially fertile in producing very specious and plau- 
 sible ones to quiet the consciences of those nominal 
 Christians who absent themselves from the Lord's 
 table. But are they such excuses as the Master of 
 the feast will admit? Such as God will approve? 
 Such as will stand valid in the day when the secrets 
 of men shall be judged according to the principles 
 of the gospel? Let us examine a few of them, and 
 see whether they will abide the test even of the fee- 
 ble trial to which we can subject them. 
 
 * St. Matt. x. 32. 
 
 I A" 
 
162 COMMON EXCUSES 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 An ansiver to those who plead the necessary business 
 and social affections of life as their excuse. 
 
 In the parable of the man who made a great sup- 
 per and bade many, in which our Lord illustrates the 
 wickedness and folly of the Jews in rejecting the 
 blessings of the gospel, the excuses offered by the 
 guests who were first invited, are substantially the 
 same with those which are offered in this day by per- 
 sons who neglect the blessed sacrament of the Lord's 
 supper. The "buying a farm, and wishing to see it;" 
 the "purchasing of a yoke of oxen, and the necessi- 
 ty of trying them-," and the "marrying of a wife;" are 
 but so many manifestations of that worldly spirit 
 which is hostile to the service of God. And so there 
 are many in our day, who plead their earthly connex- 
 ions and attachments, or their engagedness in world- 
 ly business, as an excuse for neglecting the duties of 
 religion. 
 
 But is this a plea which has any virtue in it? Can 
 it stand before the scrutiny of reason? or, for one 
 moment, abide the judgment of the great God? To 
 give any validity to such an excuse, it must in the 
 first place be proved, that the Divine Author of our 
 holy religion has proscribed the indulgence of natural 
 affection towards our wives and children, and other 
 
ANSWERED. 163 
 
 friends, as inconsistent with love to himself; and re- 
 quired us to forego all engagements in the ordinary 
 business of the world, as incompatible with works of 
 piety and virtue. But is this the fact? Does he re- 
 quire his followers to be hermits and misanthropes? 
 This unnatural requisition, has been made by some 
 mistaken and superstitious devotees; but it is no less 
 at variance with the genius and precepts of the gos- 
 pel, than with the sensibilities and affections which 
 its Divine Author has implanted in our bosoms. The 
 love of kindred, — the exercise of domestic affections, 
 and the faithful performance of all social duties, can- 
 not be displeasing to Him who "wept" at the grave 
 of Lazarus his "friend," and who, amidst the awful 
 scene of the crucifixion, said with so much tender- 
 ness to his mother — "woman, behold thy son:" and to 
 the disciple — "behold thy mother!" The exercise of 
 love to our earthly friends, when regulated and re- 
 strained by the spirit of religion, and subordinated to 
 the love of God, is an important part of the duty we 
 have to perform. It is only those who permit it to 
 transcend its appropriate limits, by loving father or 
 mother, wife, or children, "more than Christ," who are 
 pronounced to be unworthy of him. 
 
 The same general principle applies, in all its force, 
 to the business of the world. Religion is designed 
 to control our passions and regulate our conduct in 
 the social state where Providence has placed us, and 
 as inhabitants of a world where our wants can be 
 
164 COMMON EXCUSES 
 
 supplied only by a divine blessing upon our industry 
 and exertions. It is, therefore, made our duty to be 
 "diligent in business," no less than "fervent in spirit 
 serving the Lord." We are permitted to use this 
 world so as not to abuse it. And engagedness in 
 any lawful and honest worldly occupation, becomes 
 sinful, only when it is permitted to call forth our 
 interest and engross our attention so supremely as 
 to prevent our living like "strangers and pilgrims 
 upon the earth," whose treasure is in heaven, and 
 whose "affections are placed on those things which 
 are above, where Jesus sitteth at the right hand of 
 God." 
 
 In the estimation of those who are properly in- 
 structed as to what the Christian religion requires, the 
 man who "begs to be excused" from attending the 
 Lord's table on account of his engagement in the 
 business and connexions of the world, virtually con- 
 fesses, that he prefers earth to heaven, and is under 
 the dominion of that "love of the world which is en- 
 mity against God." He desires to be excused, not 
 only from attending the sacrament, but from exercis- 
 ing any of the affections and performing any of the 
 duties of true religion. He begs to be excused from 
 loving God supremely, from working out his salvation 
 with fear and trembling, from setting his affections on 
 spiritual and heavenly objects, and from doing any 
 thing to serve and glorify that Holy and gracious One 
 who laid down his life for the redemption of sinners. 
 
ANSWERED. 165 
 
 Are there any of the readers of this volume who 
 strive to pacify conscience and excuse themselves 
 for a neglect of the duties of religion, by pleading 
 the engrossing nature of their worldly engagements 
 and earthly affections? Let them pause, and ask, will 
 this excuse avail before God? When summoned to 
 his bar, shall we dare to plead, "Lord, we were so 
 much engrossed by the cares of business, that we had 
 no time left for the works of piety! We were so en- 
 gaged in providing for the wants of our perishing 
 bodies, that we could bestow no attention upon the 
 interests of our immortal souls! Our hearts were so 
 filled with love to our earthly friends, that we had no 
 room left in them for love to thee, the Father of our 
 spirits; for gratitude and devotion to thee, the Re- 
 deemer and Sanctifier of our sinful nature!" Say, 
 would any dare to plead thus, before the Judge of 
 quick and dead? If any had the impious temerity to 
 do it, what answer might they reasonably expect? 
 Would not the Judge say to them, as in a voice of 
 thunder, "ye have loved the world, and must perish 
 with the world!" "I have called, but ye refused; I 
 have stretched out my hand, but ye did not regard it; 
 ye rejected all my counsel, and would none of my 
 reproof: I will therefore laugh at your calamity, and 
 mock, now that your fear has come: ye shall eat the 
 fruit of your own ways, and perish in your own de- 
 vices!" You have, in time, trampled upon the offers 
 of my love; you shall, through eternity, experience 
 the severity of my wrath! 
 
166 
 
 COMMON EXCUSES 
 
 SECTION III. 
 The plea of too great sinfulness ansivered. 
 
 There are others who plead their sinfulness as an 
 excuse for not receiving the sacrament of the Lord's 
 supper. They say, "we are too wicked to think of 
 performing a duty so sacred. We are often harassed 
 with evil thoughts; our angry passions and carnal 
 lusts are sometimes strongly excited. We often speak 
 unguardedly with our tongues, and occasionally do 
 things which are opposed to the precepts of the gos- 
 pel, and inconsistent with a profession of religion. 
 We fear, therefore, that to approach the table, would 
 be to add to our guilt, and increase our condemna- 
 tion." 
 
 This is an excuse which it may be considered diffi- 
 cult to answer, because it is offered by persons of 
 very opposite characters. It is a plea which belongs 
 in common to the bold and worldly-minded trans- 
 gressor, and the timid, self-condemning penitent. 
 And cannot safely be replied to, without making a 
 proper discrimination between them. 
 
 It may be asserted as a general truth which cannot 
 be controverted, that, the Christian religion, including 
 not only its doctrines and promises, but also its ordi- 
 nances and institutions, is designed for the benefit of 
 sinners. Jesus Christ came "not to call the righteous, 
 
ANSWERED. 167 
 
 but sinners to repentance." Those only who feel 
 themselves to be sinners, guilty and perishing, will 
 duly appreciate him in his saving offices., or receive 
 his Gospel as glad tidings of great joy. The more 
 Christians know of themselves, the more ready are 
 they to acknowledge the deep corruption of their 
 hearts, and their manifold sins of omission and com- 
 mission. They realize their daily need of the appli- 
 cation of the blood of atonement, to cleanse them 
 from guilt, and of the grace of the Holy Spirit, to 
 subdue their passions and purify their affections. 
 Whenever they address the throne of grace, it is as 
 sinners, pleading for mercy to pardon, and grace to 
 help in every time of need. Whenever they ap- 
 proach the sacramental table, it is, as sinners, who 
 but for an interest in the great sacrifice and spotless 
 righteousness of the Son of God, must perish without 
 hope. And when they are about to enter the eternal 
 world, and take possession of their heavenly inheri- 
 tance, it will be with feelings of contrition in their 
 hearts, and a prayer for mercy upon their lips. If it 
 be true, therefore, that Christians are saved as sinners, 
 from first to last, it necessarily follows, that the bare 
 fact of our sinfulness, will not unfit us for the com- 
 munion, or any other religious duty. 
 
 There is, however, another incontrovertible truth, 
 which must be stated in connexion with this subject. 
 The Gospel is a system of holiness, no less than of 
 grace. It holds out no encouragement, or hope, to those 
 
168 COMMON EXCUSES 
 
 who love their sins and wilfully continue in them. 
 Jt commands "all men, every where, to repent." Jt 
 assures us, that "except we repent, we must all 
 perish.'" The impenitent cannot enter into the 
 kingdom of God. The Lord views them as his 
 "enemies;" and "has a controversy with them," 
 which will never terminate till they bow to the 
 sceptre of his grace, or are "broken in pieces with 
 the rod" of his justice. "If I regard iniquity in my 
 heart, the Lord will not hear me." "The sacrifices 
 of the wicked," that is, of the impenitent and obsti- 
 nate sinner, "are an abomination to the Lord." 
 
 Those, therefore, who plead their sinfulness as an 
 excuse for neglecting the sacrament, and yet live in 
 sin from day to day without repentance, and without 
 earnest prayer for pardoning mercy and sanctifying 
 grace; do impiously plead that as an impediment in 
 the way of duty, which they are constantly and wil- 
 fully increasing. They offer as an apology for one 
 sin, the acknowledgment that they are daily guilty of 
 thousands. They beg to be excused from the per- 
 formance of one duty, on the ground that they live 
 in the neglect of all duties; and that "their hearts are 
 fully set in them to do evil!" 
 
 The Church does not invite you to come with 
 your impenitent and rebellious hearts to the feast of 
 reconciliation and love; but she asks, "wherefore do 
 ye not repent and amend?''' The umvorthiness 
 which you plead, being wilful and voluntary, is the 
 
ANSWERED. 169 
 
 greatest aggravation of your crime. If you are not 
 fit to communicate, are you fit to pray? No! 
 "though you should spread out your hands, God 
 would not regard them — though you should make 
 many prayers, he would not hear them." "Wash you; 
 make you clean; cease to do evil; learn to do well;" 
 or else presume not to come to the holy table. If 
 you are not prepared to communicate, are you pre- 
 pared to die? No! as impenitent sinners, "the wrath 
 of God even now abideth upon you," and if death, 
 to which you are every moment liable, overtakes you 
 in your present state, that wrath will come upon you 
 to the uttermost. 
 
 To the excuses of the impenitent and unbelieving, 
 we have no reply to offer with a view of soothing 
 their consciences, and inducing them in their unre- 
 newed state to present themselves as guests at the 
 table of the Lord. No! they require, not a partial 
 reformation of outward habits, only, but a radical 
 change of heart, before they can be prepared for the 
 acceptable discharge of this duty. By the insincere 
 performance of religious acts, the unconverted are 
 only adding sin to sin, and "treasuring up wrath 
 against the day of wrath and revelation of the 
 righteous judgment of God." We solemnly remind 
 them that they "must be born again." We earnest- 
 ly exhort them to "repent and be converted, that 
 their sins may be blotted out." This is their appro- 
 priate work; their bounden duty; and until this is 
 15 
 
170 COMMON EXCUSES 
 
 done, they cannot acceptably serve God on earth, or 
 be prepared for admission to his kingdom in heaven* 
 But there are some humble and contrite souls, 
 who are kept back from sacramental communion, and 
 deny themselves one of the most precious privileges 
 of Christianity, under the influence of mistaken 
 views of the qualifications required in communicants. 
 It would be our delight to remove the scruples of 
 these sincere but trembling disciples, and minis- 
 ter consolation to these "mourners in Zion." Their 
 excuse is not an affected, but an ingenuous sense 
 of unworthiness, deeply felt, and sincerely lamented. 
 They look upon the privileges of attending on God's 
 ordinances, and enjoying the blessedness of his 
 people, not with indifference, — but as infinitely more 
 desirable than all the possessions and pleasures of 
 this world: but they have such clear views of "the 
 plague of their own hearts," and such a humbling 
 consciousness of the deficiencies of their best works, 
 that they consider it presumption to believe that 
 those privileges and that blessedness may be theirs. 
 They ask, as in the language of the poet, 
 
 "But may a poor bewilder'd soul 
 
 Sinful and weak as mine, 
 Presume to lift a trembling eye 
 
 To blessings so divine?" 
 
 Yes! contrite, broken-hearted sinner, these bless- 
 ings, rich and inestimable as they appear, are design- 
 ed for such as thee. "God taketh the poor out of 
 
ANSWERED. 171 
 
 the dust, that he may set him with princes, even with 
 the princes of his people." Thou hungerest and 
 thirstest after righteousness; and the promise is, 
 "thou shalt be filled." All the blessings of salvation," 
 so dearly purchased by the blood of Jesus, are free- 
 ly offered to thy acceptance, because thou feelest thy 
 need of them. The invitation is, "ho! every one that 
 thirsteth, come ye to the waters; buy wine and milk 
 without money and without price." "Come unto me, 
 all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest." Thou thirstest for the waters of salvation; 
 go to the living fountain, and drink a full supply. 
 Thou art weary and heavy laden with the burden of 
 sin; recline upon the Saviour by faith, and thou shalt 
 find that present peace which is the earnest and fore- 
 taste of everlasting rest. Thou hast nothing to 
 carry with thee to the table of thy Lord to procure a 
 favourable reception; and, blessed be his name! "all 
 the fitness he requireth, is, to feel thy need of him," 
 Go, just as thou art, humbled and mourning under 
 a sense of sin, and rest assured thou shalt be com- 
 forted. Go, saying, "Father, I have sinned against 
 heaven, and in thy sight, and am not worthy to be cal- 
 led thy son." He will "bring forth the best robe, and 
 put it on thee, and will put a ring on thy hand" as a 
 token of love, "and shoes on thy feet;" and thou shalt 
 be "glad," with the angels and saints who will rejoice 
 at thy gracious reception. Go, renouncing thy own 
 righteousness, and making mention of Christ's right- 
 
172 COMMON EXCUSES 
 
 eousness, even of his only, — and thou shalt be joy- 
 fully welcomed to all the privileges of the household 
 of faith. 
 
 "Come, freely come, by sin opprest, 
 On Jesus cast thy weighty load; 
 
 In him thy refuge find, thy rest, 
 Safe in the mercy of thy God: 
 
 Thy God's thy Saviour! glorious word! 
 
 O hear, believe, and bless the Lord! 
 
 As spring, the winter, day the night, 
 
 Peace, sorrow's gloom shall chase away; 
 
 And smiling joy, a seraph bright, 
 
 Shall tend thy steps, and near thee stay, 
 
 Whilst glory weaves th' immortal crown, 
 
 And waits to claim thee for her own." 
 
ANSWERED. 173 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 The fear of incurring damnation by unworthily 
 receiving the Lord's Supper, considered. 
 
 There are some, who have all the essentials of the 
 Christian character, and might approach the Lord's 
 table with profit and acceptance, but are kept back by 
 a misapprehension of the awful language employed by 
 the Apostle Paul in addressing the careless members 
 of the church at Corinth. "Whosoever shall eat this 
 bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall 
 be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But 
 let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that 
 bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and 
 drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation 
 to himself, not discerning the Lord's body."* 
 
 It seems necessary to a proper understanding of 
 these words, that we should glance at the state of the 
 Corinthian Church at the time when this Epistle was 
 addressed to its members. It is manifest that they had 
 lost much of the simplicity and purity required by their 
 profession. They were divided into jarring sects 
 and factions. "One said, I am of Paul, and another, 
 I of Apollos, and a third, I of Cephas, and a fourth, 
 I of Christ."-)- They were so regardless of the disci- 
 pline which is essential to the purity of the Church, 
 
 * 1 Cor. 11. 27—29, f 1 Cor. 1. 12. 
 15* 
 
174 COMMON EXCUSES 
 
 that they permitted some who had been guilty of the 
 grossest crimes, to continue in its communion, and 
 enjoy all its privileges.* Indeed, they had become 
 so exceedingly corrupt and carnal, that even the most 
 sacred and important ordinance of Christianity, had, 
 in their hands, degenerated into an ordinary worldly 
 feast. "When ye come together, therefore, into one 
 place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in 
 eating, every one taketh before other his own sup- 
 per; and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 
 What! have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or 
 despise ye the Church of God, and shame them that 
 have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise 
 you in this? I praise you not."f The sin of the Co- 
 rinthians in reference to the Lord's Supper, condemn- 
 ed by the Apostle, consisted in their eating the bread 
 and drinking the cup, without discerning the Lord's 
 body-X They received it as a common meal, and 
 not as the divinely instituted memorial of the sacri- 
 fice of Christ. If we are not mistaken in our views 
 of the particular nature of their offence, it was one 
 of no ordinary character. It was an awful profana- 
 tion of a religious rite, which richly deserved the 
 sentence pronounced, even in the ordinary accep- 
 tation of the terms. 
 
 But, even here, we are called upon to admire the 
 goodness no less than the severity of God: and 
 
 * 1 Cor. 5. 1—7. | 1 Cor. 11.20,21. \ Ibid. 29 v. 
 
ANSWERED. 175 
 
 to behold his judgments tempered with mercy. Pro- 
 voking as the crimes of the Corinthians must have 
 been to him, he did not consign them over to eternal 
 damnation; but, as the original word may, and ought 
 to be translated, he visited them with judgment. 
 This judgment consisted of temporal afflictions. 
 "For this cause, many are weak and sickly among 
 you, and many sleep."* And for what purpose were 
 those afflictions sent? As temporal afflictions are 
 commonly employed by divine providence to chastise 
 sin, and lead sinners to repentance, it is fair to pre- 
 sume that such was their design in the instance al- 
 luded to: and that the sinning Corinthians were 
 "delivered over to Satan for the destruction of the 
 flesh, that their spirits might be saved in the day of 
 the Lord Jesus:"f Or, in the words which the Apos- 
 tle employed with an especial reference to the case; 
 they "were chastened of the Lord, that they should 
 not be condemned with the world."J 
 
 The alarming passage, therefore, when rightly in- 
 terpreted and understood, affords no ground for the 
 extravagant fears which it has sometimes occasioned 
 in the minds of the timid and conscientious. There 
 is not the slightest probability that a duly instructed 
 Christian of this day will fall into the gross error 
 which prevailed in the Church of Corinth in an age 
 of great ignorance and sensuality. 
 
 *lCor. 11. SO. f 1 Cor. 5. 5. J 1 Cor. 11. 32. 
 
176 COMMON EXCUSES 
 
 But still, some of the nicely scrupulous may ask, 
 "why does the Church, in her exhortations in the 
 communion service, dwell so much upon the impor- 
 tance of "worthily" receiving the holy sacrament, 
 and "the great danger of receiving the same unwor- 
 thily?" A few words on this point, will be sufficient. 
 There is a great difference between being worthy to 
 receive the sacrament, and worthily receiving it. The 
 only difficulty arises from the sense in which the 
 words worthily and unworthily are employed by the 
 Church. That she does not use them in the com- 
 monly received sense, as implying the presence or 
 the absence of merit in the attendants upon her ser- 
 vices, will be manifest if we look at the collect for 
 Ash-Wednesday. "Almighty and everlasting God, 
 who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost for- 
 give the sins of all those who are penitent, create and 
 make in us, new and contrite hearts, that we worthily 
 lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretch- 
 edness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, 
 perfect remission and forgiveness, through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord." Now, surely the Church is not 
 guilty of the absurdity of teaching her children to 
 speak of themselves in the presence of the heart- 
 searching God, as meritorious sinners: or, of their 
 confessions of sin and lamentations of wretchedness, 
 as having any thing in them to merit, or be worthy 
 of, the divine forgiveness. She simply uses the word 
 worthily, as expressive of what "is suited to" our 
 
ANSWERED. 177 
 
 condition and character; which is a legitimate, though 
 now almost obsolete, meaning of the term. She 
 teaches us to pray that we may suitably lament our 
 sins, and acknowledge our wretchedness. 
 
 So, when she "speaks of "worthily" receiving the 
 holy communion, she simply means suitably receiv- 
 ing it; or, in other words, receiving it with those views 
 and feelings which become us as penitent sinners, 
 who have no hope but in the mercy of God, and the 
 merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. All who go to the 
 Lord's table v\ith impenitent, unbelieving, and carnal 
 hearts, incur the guilt of "eating and drinking un- 
 worthily." But they who go there with "a true pen- 
 itent heart, and lively faith: with gratitude for God's 
 mercy through Christ, and love to all mankind," do 
 "worthily receive the most precious food of the body 
 and blood of Jesus." 
 
178 COMMON EXCUSES 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 The fear of dishonouring the Christian profession, 
 noticed. 
 
 Does any reader of these pages say, "my principal 
 difficulties are removed: the blessed sacrament has 
 been stripped of the greatest terrors with which my 
 imagination had invested it: I know that it is my du- 
 ty to receive it, and feel condemned whenever I ne- 
 glect to do so: I do sincerely repent of my sins, be- 
 lieve in Jesus, and desire to follow him in newness of 
 life: I am almost resolved to go to the Lord's table, 
 and join myself to his people in a perpetual cove- 
 nant; it would be my greatest pleasure to do so, but 
 — I am such a weak and erring creature, that I fear 
 I shoidd afterwards fall away from God, and bring 
 dishonour upon the Christian cause, as well as ruin 
 upon my guilty soul?" 
 
 O, how great is the inconsistency and folly of the 
 human mind! You have a distressing conviction of 
 your weakness, and yet refuse to go to the strong for 
 strength! You lament your own proneness to sin, 
 and yet will not apply to Him who alone can subdue 
 your corruptions and cleanse away your sins! You 
 have a great fear of dishonouring the gospel after 
 having received the sacrament; but have you not 
 more reason to fear and tremble on account of the sin 
 
ANSWERED. 179 
 
 you are constantly committing by habitual disobedi- 
 ence to the solemn dying commandment of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ? 
 
 If you are a frail, sinful, perishing creature, "to 
 whom can you go but unto Him? He alone has the 
 words of eternal life." — You are certain that you 
 commit sin in neglecting the communion, and yet 
 you continue to neglect it, through a fear that you 
 may commit sin after receiving it! But will you not 
 be less likely to fall into sin, when restrained from 
 the commission of it by sacramental vows and en- 
 gagements, than before? Yes! after you have gone 
 to the Lord's table, publicly professed his name, and 
 attached yourself to his people; — You will feel very 
 differently from what you now do. The remem- 
 brance of those sacred acts and associations, will 
 constantly remind you that you belong to God; will 
 prompt you habitually to watch and pray that you be 
 not led into temptation; and powerfully stimulate 
 your efforts to adorn the doctrine of God your Sa- 
 viour in all things. 
 
 You dread the idea of apostacy; and it is right to 
 distrust your own heart, and refuse to rely upon your 
 own strength. But you forget who it is that has said 
 "my strength shall be made perfect in thy weakness: 
 as thy day is, so shall thy strength be." — Have not 
 thousands and tens of thousands, in all ages of the 
 Church, lived as becometh the Gospel, and died in 
 the triumphs of faith? And will not the same grace 
 
ISO COMMON EXCUSES 
 
 be sufficient for you, which wrought so effectually in 
 them? Yes! Jesus is able and willing "to save unto 
 the uttermost all that come unto God by him.-' 
 Rely then upon his promises. Go to his table, con- 
 secrating yourself to him, and you shall find "mercy" 
 to pardon, and "grace to help in every time of need." 
 You should have no doubt, that He who has 
 merit to procure the forgiveness of all your past sins, 
 has grace enough to strengthen you for all your future 
 duties. If you rely upon him by faith, he will ena- 
 ble you to "go from strength to strength" on your 
 way to the heavenly "Zion." He will cause your 
 "path to shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect 
 day." He will "keep you from falling, and present 
 you faultless before the presence of his Father's 
 glory, with exceeding joy." 
 
ANSWERED. 181 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 Again and again, has the gracious Redeemer invit- 
 ed me to come to his table, for the purpose of com- 
 memorating his dying love and receiving the tokens 
 of his mercy. But alas! how often have I most un- 
 thankfully refused his invitation? How ready has my 
 sinful heart been to suggest excuses for treating his 
 kind offer with neglect, and disobeying his most 
 righteous command? I have pleaded the love of my 
 friends, and my engagedness in the necessary business 
 of the world. But, how futile the plea? For, a gra- 
 cious God, allows, nay requires me, to cherish a rea- 
 sonable affection to my kindred, and to "use the world 
 as not abusing it." Any engagements or affections, 
 therefore, which interfere with my duty to him, prove 
 only that I am a rebellious and disobedient sinner; 
 and instead of being offered as an excuse for my 
 neglect, should lead me to cry for mercy, and pray 
 "create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a 
 right spirit within me!" 
 
 1 have offered as an excuse, my own unworthiness: 
 my fear of eating and drinking damnation to myself; 
 and a dread of living inconsistently with a Christian 
 profession, and bringing disgrace upon the cause of 
 religion. These excuses are indeed plausible, and 
 have the appearance of humility; but, O my soul, how 
 do they appear to Him who searcheth the heart? 
 16 
 
182 COMMON EXCUSES 
 
 Will they avail thee when thou art summoned before 
 the bar of God? 
 
 I am indeed unworthy of the least of all God's 
 mercies, much more of the distinguished honour of 
 going as a guest to his table, and receiving the sym- 
 bols of the Redeemer's body and blood. I am a 
 poor, weak, guilty, hell-deserving sinner. But is it 
 not "a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, 
 that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, 
 of whom I am chief?" [s not the Gospel, with all 
 its promises; the Church, with all its ordinances; de- 
 signed for the benefit of sinners? Do not the most 
 sincere and devoted servants of God, even when sur- 
 rounding his table and receiving renewed assurances 
 of his love, confess that they have "sinned against 
 him in thought, word and deed, most justly provoking 
 his wrath and indignation?" It is manifest, therefore, 
 that, to receive "worthily" means only, to receive 
 with the repentance, and faith, and other graces, 
 which are suited to sinners looking for mercy and 
 acceptance through the merits of the Saviour. 
 
 To beg to be excused, therefore, on the plea of 
 unworthiness, is to seal the sentence of my condem- 
 nation. It is to confess that I have not the feelings 
 which are suited to my condition as a sinner: — that 
 I have no repentance for sin; no reliance upon the 
 merits of the Redeemer; no disposition to serve God. 
 It is to offer as an excuse for neglect of duty, an un- 
 humbled and impenitent heart. To make an avowal 
 
ANSWERED. 183 
 
 that I am still determined to rebel against the Lord's 
 authority, and disobey his laws! 
 
 Such, O my soul, are the excuses with which 
 conscience has hitherto been lulled, when stripped 
 q[ their plausible disguises, and exposed to view in 
 all their real weakness and deformity. "J am asham- 
 ed, yea, confounded before God," that I have so fre- 
 quently dared to rely upon them. But henceforth, I 
 abandon them for ever; knowing, that when I stand 
 before the bar of judgment, they can afford me no 
 protection, but will leave me in the speechlessness of 
 conscious guilt, before my Maker. 
 
 I yield to the force of reason, and the influences 
 of grace! Henceforth, J will serve the Lord! Sin- 
 ner as I am, deserving nothing but indignation and 
 wrath, I will, with an humble and penitent heart, 
 trust in the merits of Him who died for sinners. 
 Lord! I surrender. I lay down the weapons of my 
 rebellion. I give myself up to thee, to be washed 
 in the blood of the atonement, and sanctified by the 
 spirit of grace. "I will wash my hands in innocency, 
 and so will I compass thine altar, O Lord!" I will 
 go forward to thy table without fear of condemnation, 
 because I rely upon that precious "blood which 
 cleanseth from all sin." I will go without fear of 
 disgracing my profession, because thy "strength shall 
 be made perfect in my weakness," and "thy grace 
 shall be sufficient for me." I will go without fear 
 of final apostacy, because my soul rests upon the 
 
184 COMMON EXCUSES ANSWERED. 
 
 promise of being "kept by the power of God through 
 faith unto salvation." 
 
 Henceforth, "/ am the Lord's." Henceforth, I 
 will "follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." 
 Henceforth, my back shall be turned upon the world, 
 my face shall be directed Zion-ward, and the noble 
 resolution of St. Paul shall be mine: — "This one thing 
 I do; forgetting the things which are behind, and 
 reaching forward to those which are before, I press 
 towards the mark, for the prize of my high calling of 
 God in Christ Jesus." 
 
 "Awake my soul, stretch every nerve, 
 
 And press with vigour on, 
 A heavenly race demands thy zeal, 
 
 And an immortal crown. 
 
 A cloud of witnesses around, 
 
 Hold thee in full survey; 
 Forget the steps already trod, 
 
 And onward urge thy way. 
 
 'Tis God's all-animating voice, 
 
 That calls thee from on high; 
 'Tis his own hand presents the prize 
 
 To thine uplifted eye. 
 
 Then, wake, my soul, stretch every nerve, 
 
 And press with vigour on; 
 A heavenly race demands thy zeal, 
 
 And an immortal crown." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 REMARKS ON "THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRA- 
 TION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR, HOLY COMMU- 
 NION," IN THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 Among the many causes of gratitude to Almighty 
 God which distinguish our lot as Protestant Episco- 
 palians, it is not one of the least, that we are fa- 
 voured with a scriptural and established Liturgy; 
 which is entitled to the warmest commendation, not 
 only as a directory for public worship, but, also, as a 
 standard and preservative of sound doctrine. 
 
 The Prayer-Book has been beautifully and appro- 
 priately styled, "the daughter of the Bible;" and, pro- 
 bably, there is no other work of human composition 
 which has embodied so much of the substance and 
 spirit of the heavenly Oracles. Extracts from the Bible, 
 in the form of Gospels, Epistles, and Psalter, consti- 
 tute the greater part of the volume: — and throughout 
 the collects and prayers, the spirit of the Divine Word 
 breathes, and glows, and animates the whole. What 
 can be more chaste and spiritual, than its devotional 
 services? What more humble and meek, than its 
 penitential confessions? What more fervent and 
 comprehensive, than its acts of intercession? What 
 more full, ardent, and seraphic, than its adorations 
 16* 
 
186 REMARKS ON THE 
 
 and thanksgivings? How many of the followers of 
 Christ in this day, have felt their hearts glow with 
 heavenly ardour — as if touched with a live coal from 
 the altar, — and experienced the sublime delights of 
 spiritual communion, in the use of those prayers and 
 praises in which saints and martyrs of every age, 
 have poured forth their devotions to the Lord? And 
 eternity only can disclose the multitude of instances, 
 in which the use of them has alleviated the pains of 
 disease, assuaged the fears of the mariner amidst the 
 terrors of the ocean, cheered the desolations of the 
 prison, and softened the bed of death. 
 
 The Liturgy is entitled to veneration, not only 
 as a devotional work, but as a compend of sound 
 Christian theology. All the fundamental and impor- 
 tant doctrines of the gospel are interwoven through- 
 out its various offices; and while our congregations 
 statedly use it, they will be secured against the intro- 
 duction of gross and flagrant heresy. 
 
 It is well known, that, in the Presbyterian churches 
 in England, the established church of the same de- 
 nomination in Scotland, and among the descendants 
 of the Puritans in New England, an extensive influ- 
 ence has been acquired by those who "deny the Lord 
 that bought them, and count the blood of the covenant 
 an unholy," or at least, useless thing. And what 
 cause shall be assigned for this lamentable defection 
 and degeneracy? In the opinion of the Rev. Dr« 
 Claudius Buchanan — an opinion, which none who 
 
COMMUNION SERVICE. 187 
 
 know the character of that pious and "catholic man will 
 ascribe to the influence of bigotry — it is chiefly owing 
 to the want of a sound and evangelical Liturgy. In- 
 deed, it is now acknowledged by many pious clergy- 
 men and others, of these different denominations, that 
 the want of an orthodox and established formulary of 
 worship, has opened a wide door for the admission 
 of the most beguiling and pernicious heresies into 
 their communions; — and that ours, forms an impreg- 
 nable bulwark against them. 
 
 What would have been the state of our branch of 
 the Christian church, had we been destitute of a fixed, 
 sound, and spiritual Liturgy, God only knows. It has 
 always preserved us from the open and avowed re- 
 jection of orthodox doctrine. And in former times, 
 when the Pelagian and other heresies, have been dealt 
 out from some of our pulpits, evangelical prayers and 
 scriptural instructions, as a sure antidote to the evil, 
 continued to be administered from the desk. The 
 pure flame which was first lighted up by Christ and 
 his Apostles, — and again rekindled at the reformation, 
 has continued to burn in our Prayer-Book, unquench- 
 ed by the floods of heresy and false philosophy; and 
 has, in successive ages, illuminated the path of many 
 a traveller on his way to the heavenly Zion. We be- 
 lieve that the Liturgy is, under God, next to the 
 Bible, the standard around which many of the sol- 
 diers of the cross, who now disregard it, will one 
 day rally; next to the Bible, we believe it is the ark 
 
188 REMARKS ON THE 
 
 in which the truth as it is in Jesus will be preserved 
 to the end of time. 
 
 Every office in our Liturgy is excellent in its kind, 
 and may lay claim to as great a freedom from error 
 as'is consistent with the acknowledged fact, that its au- 
 thors were uninspired men, subject to the infirmities 
 of our common nature. But the "order for the admin- 
 istration of'the Lord's Supper," is a complete service 
 in itself. Here we may find the excellencies of the 
 ancient Liturgies condensed.* It contains instruction 
 
 *"As to the primitive and original form of administra- 
 tion, since it does not appear that our Saviour prescrib- 
 ed any particular method, most churches took the liberty 
 to compose Liturgies for themselves; which, perhaps, be- 
 ing only the forms used by the founders of each church, 
 a little altered and enlarged, were, in honour of those 
 founders, distinguished by their names. For thus the 
 Liturgies of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Rome, have 
 been always called St. James's, St. Mark's, and St. Cle- 
 ment's. But, however, none of these being received as 
 of divine institution, therefore St. Basil and St. Chrysos- 
 tom, St. Ambrose and St. Gregory, in after-ages each 
 of them composed a Liturgy of their own. And so the 
 excellent compilers of our Common Prayer, following 
 their example, no otherwise confined themselves to the 
 Liturgies that were before them, than out of them all to 
 extract an office for themselves: and which, indeed, they 
 performed with so exact a judgment and happy success, 
 that it is hard to determine, whether they more endea- 
 voured the advancement of devotion, or the imitation of 
 pure antiquity." — Wheatly on the Common Prayer* 
 
COMMUNION SERVICE. 189 
 
 as to the most important graces and duties of the 
 Christian; acts of humiliation and confession; forms 
 of supplication for ourselves, and intercession for 
 others; solemn professions of faith in the great doc- 
 trines of our holy religion, — and the most fervent 
 ascriptions of thanksgiving and praise, for all the 
 mercies we have received, whether temporal or 
 spiritual. 
 
 If all the rest of the Prayer-Book were lost, yet, 
 if this office were preserved, every thing would be 
 retained that is essential to public worship. 
 
 So admirably adapted is this service to its designed 
 end, that we might easily deduce from it, all that is 
 necessary to be known respecting the nature of the 
 Lord's Supper, the benefits to be expected from it, 
 the qualifications required in its recipients, and the 
 obligations which it imposes upon them. There 
 could not, perhaps, be a more useful treatise on the 
 sacrament, than a judicious and spiritual commentary 
 upon this valuable office. But the preceding pages 
 have been so much enriched by copious extracts 
 from it, that we must forego the pleasure and benefit 
 of a particular analysis, and content ourselves by 
 giving, in this concluding chapter, a cursory glance at 
 its different parts.* 
 
 * The general usage of modern days, is to introduce 
 this service as a component part of the Morning Prayer, 
 on communion days; and in many churches, a part of it is 
 thus used on all Sundays and holy days. But originally, 
 
190 REMARKS ON THE 
 
 The Church requires her children at all times, and 
 especially when about to enter upon any important 
 engagement, to realize their own ignorance and 
 
 it was a distinct service, and used at a different time from 
 the Morning Prayer. It is worthy of reflection on the 
 part of the authorities of the church, whether the blend- 
 ing of separate services, each complete in itself, into one, 
 does not extend our morning worship to an unreasonable 
 length; and thus, increase the difficulty of winning those 
 who are now aliens from our communion, and at the same 
 time, lead many of our own members (the aged, the ill- 
 firm and others,) to view that as a penance, which should 
 be to them a source of satisfaction and delight? If there 
 should be a return to primitive practice in this respect, 
 might we not reasonably hope, that our church would 
 more rapidly "enlarge the place of her habitation,'" and 
 that the comfort and edification of her members would 
 be promoted thereby? 
 
 Wheatly says — "the offices are still as distinct as ever, 
 and ought still to be read at different times. A custom 
 which Bishop Overall says, was observed in his time, in 
 York and Chichester;* and the same practice, Mr. Johnson 
 tells us, prevailed at Canterbury, long since the restora- 
 tion, as it did very lately, if it does not still, at the cathe- 
 dral of Worcester. It is certain, that the communion 
 office still every where retains the old name of the 
 second service; and Bishop Overall, just now mentioned, 
 imputes it to the negligence of ministers, and the care- 
 lessness of people, that they are ever huddled together 
 into one office."— -Wheatly— -page 260. Oxford ed. 1810. 
 
 *See Dr. Nichols's additional notes, page 36. 
 
COMMUNION SERVICE. 191 
 
 "weakness, and implore light and succour from above. 
 Accordingly, this service is commenced upon our 
 knees: and we are first required (the Lord's prayer 
 having been previously used in the morning prayer,) 
 to beseech "Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are 
 open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets 
 are hid," that he would "cleanse the thoughts of our 
 hearts by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit; that we 
 may perfectly love him, and worthily magnify his 
 holy name." 
 
 How important is it, that we should enter into the 
 spirit of this affecting prayer! So manifold are 
 our infirmities, so deep our corruptions, so fickle our 
 minds, and so inconstant our purposes of good; that 
 unless the thoughts of our hearts are cleansed by 
 the inspiration of the Spirit, we can present nothing 
 to God but an offering of pollution: and unless Ho 
 works in us to will and to do of his good pleasure, 
 even the glowing sentences of devotion contained in 
 this service, will come freezing from our lips; and 
 our participation in the sacrament of the altar, will 
 be but a lifeless piece of formality, and increase the 
 already accumulated load of our transgressions. 
 This feeling of dependence on the Holy Ghost, as 
 the author of all good thoughts, holy affections, and 
 righteous works, with which we commence the ser- 
 vice, should be kept up till its close: for without it,^ 
 we cannot hope for communion with God: without it, 
 we cannot possibly partake of the privileges of the 
 
192 REMARKS ON THE 
 
 true "circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, 
 rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in 
 the flesh." 
 
 We are next called upon to listen to the ten 
 commandments, which the officiating minister, 
 like another Moses, pronounces in our hearing, in 
 the name and by the authority of Almighty God. 
 The moral law, which is a transcript of the divine 
 perfections, and a summary of the divine will, still 
 performs the important office of a "school master to 
 bring us to Christ." It is the most powerful instru- 
 ment which the Holy Spirit employs in "convincing 
 men of sin," and making them flee for refuge to the 
 hope set before them in the gospel. While the 
 different precepts are read, distinctly and solemnly, 
 we should feel as if Jehovah himself were address- 
 ing to us the great things of his law. And if holy 
 Moses at Sinai, said, "1 exceedingly fear and quake," 
 how should our guilty souls tremble in the presence 
 of that pure Lawgiver, whose will we have so often, 
 so deliberately transgressed! How profoundly should 
 we meditate upon the spirituality, and broad extent 
 of the commandments! with what self-abhorrence 
 and regret, should we call to mind our numerous 
 transgressions in thought, word, and deed! How 
 fervently should we pray — "Lord have mercy upon 
 us, and incline our hearts to keep this law!" 
 
 Then is given that admirable summary of the 
 commandments, in which He, "who came not to 
 
COMMUNION SERVICE. 193 
 
 destroy the law, but to fulfil," teaches us that it is 
 comprised in one word, — Love. Every pious heart 
 should here offer up some such ejaculation as this, 
 u O that the wonderful act of God's love in the re- 
 demption of sinners by Jesus Christ, may constrain 
 me to love Him supremely, and my fellow creatures 
 for his sake!" 
 
 Immediately after this, follows a most appropriate 
 prayer that God would "direct, sanctify and govern, 
 both our hearts and bodies, in the way of his laws, 
 and in the works of his commandments — and pre- 
 serve us in body and soul, both here and ever.'* 
 The Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, for the day, are 
 then read,' and afterwards, the sermon is delivered. 
 These, I shall pass over with this one remark: we 
 should listen with profound attention, reverence, and 
 faith, to the truths of the gospel, whether read or 
 expounded by the ministers of Jesus, and pray that 
 they may be accompanied with power, and that we 
 may "receive with meekness that engrafted word 
 which is able to save our souls." 
 
 We come, next, to that part of the office which is 
 more immediately connected with the administration 
 of the holy sacrament. And it seems peculiarly pro- 
 per, that the disciples of Christ in celebrating this 
 memorial of the most amazing act of God's love to 
 man, should begin it with an exercise of love, and give 
 proof of their discipleship, by charity to their poorer 
 brethren. This, accordingly, we are required to do. 
 17 
 
194 REMARKS ON THE 
 
 while the Minister reads several sentences of 
 scripture, which in the clearest manner, and by 
 the most affecting motives, teach us to "do good unto 
 all men: and especially unto them that are of the 
 household of faith." 
 
 The primitive Christians were in the habit of lay- 
 ing by on every Lord's-day, as God had prospered 
 them, a portion of their substance to be used in holy 
 charity, and "out of their deep poverty, the riches of 
 their liberality abounded." But, alas! how many com- 
 municants in modern days, give but a stinted offer- 
 ing at the monthly sacramental collections! It is 
 true, there are various calls made upon their charity 
 at other times, which were unknown to the early dis- 
 ciples; but they should, notwithstanding, shew at 
 every communion season, that they are disposed, not 
 only to remember, but also, to imitate "the grace of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, who though he was rich, yet 
 for our sakes became poor, that we through his po- 
 verty, might be rich." 
 
 It may be, that in many congregations, a small gift 
 from each communicant will be sufficient to supply 
 the wants of the poor belonging to it. But this, 
 though a primary, is, by no means the exclusive ob- 
 ject of the contribution. The Rubric, speaks of 
 "alms for the poor, and other devotions of the peo- 
 ple." If the amount collected be more than suffi- 
 cient for the first named object, the balance may be 
 very properly and usefully employed in the distribu- 
 
COMMUNION SERVICE. 195 
 
 tion of Bibles, prayer-books, tracts and other useful 
 publications, among the needy; or, be thrown as a 
 consecrated offering into the treasury of the Mission- 
 ary, or some kindred society. Let each communi- 
 cant, therefore, while the sentences of the "Offerto- 
 ry" are read, reflect upon this interesting depart- 
 ment of Christian duty, and seek for the same com- 
 mendation which was passed upon Cornelius: "thy 
 prayers and thine alms, are come up for a memorial 
 before God." 
 
 The "prayer for the whole state of Christ's 
 church militant," which follows the offertory, is 
 one of the most noble and comprehensive forms of 
 devotion ever composed. As we have just before 
 manifested our charity for the indigent members of 
 the household of faith, we do now, in the use of this 
 sublime prayer, exhibit our love for the whole human 
 family, by making intercessions for all men. We 
 offer up our prayers, not only for our fellow worship- 
 pers of the same congregation, but for the widely 
 scattered members of "the Universal Church" — that 
 "all who confess God's holy name, may agree in the 
 truth of his holy word, and live in unity and godly 
 love." We intercede, not only in behalf of those in 
 authority over us, but of "all Christian rulers;" that 
 God would "so direct and dispose their hearts, that 
 they may truly and impartially administer justice, to 
 the punishment of wickedness and vice, and the main- 
 tenance of true religion and virtue." We offer up 
 
196 REMARKS ON THE 
 
 our earnest petitions, not only for those who watch for 
 our souls, and are over us in the Lord; but for "all 
 Bishops and other Ministers" of the gospel of every 
 name; that God would "give them grace to set forth 
 his true and lively word, and rightly and duly admin- 
 ister his holy sacraments." Nor do we forget to im- 
 plore "comfort and succour for all those who, in this 
 transitory life, are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, 
 or any other adversity — and to bless God's holy name 
 for all his servants departed this life in his faith and 
 fear; beseeching him to give us grace so to follow 
 their good examples, that with them we may be par- 
 takers of his heavenly kingdom." 
 
 In the offering up of this prayer, there should be, 
 on the part of every communicant, the most lively ex- 
 ercise of devotion and charity. The Church here 
 imitates the intercession of our Great High Priest; and 
 all her Ministers and members should seek for a large 
 portion of the spirit by which he is animated in 
 pleading our cause before the throne of his Heaven- 
 ly Father. 
 
 At the close of this admirable prayer, the commu- 
 nicants should rise from their knees, and, in a stand- 
 ing or sitting posture, reverently listen to the ex- 
 hortation which the officiating Minister, in the 
 name of the Master of the feast, then addresses to all 
 who propose to come to the holy communion. 
 
 The principal design of this exhortation is, to guard 
 the table against the intrusion of unworthy guests, and 
 
COMMUNION SERVICE. 197 
 
 enforce the Apostolic exhortation, Het a man exam- 
 ine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and 
 drink of that cup." While it is being read, each 
 communicant (who, it is to be presumed, however, 
 has previously more carefully done it,) should now 
 briefly summon himself to trial again, and inquire as 
 in the presence of the Searcher of hearts, whether he 
 has the repentance, faith, gratitude and love, which 
 are necessary to a profitable reception of this holy or- 
 dinance. 
 
 If our hearts condemn us not, and conscience 
 bears witness that our self-inquisition has been sin- 
 cere, we may listen with gratitude and joy to the 
 following invitation: "Ye who do truly and earnest- 
 ly repent you of your sins, and are in love and chari- 
 ty with your neighbours, and intend to lead a new- 
 life, following the commandments of God, and walk- 
 ing from henceforth in his holy ways; draiv near 
 with faith, and take this Holy Sacrament to your 
 comfort." 
 
 This invitation, though spoken by the minister, is 
 delivered in the name of his Master, and therefore, 
 should be listened to as if coming from Christ him- 
 self. Who, on hearing it, can fail to exclaim — "be- 
 hold, what manner of love is this?" Every commu- 
 nicant should say in his heart, u O blessed Jesus! how 
 great is thy mercy — how infinite thy condescension — 
 in asking me to appear as a guest at thy table! It is 
 a distinction which angels might envy: — and shall I 
 17* 
 
198 REMARKS ON THE 
 
 dare to decline it? No, Lord, I accept it with cheer- 
 fulness and gratitude! 'I will go unto the altar of 
 God: unto God, my exceeding joy!' " 
 
 But what are we, and what is our father's house, 
 that the Lord should confer such honour upon us? 
 Wherewith shall we come before the Lord, and bow 
 ourselves before the high God? Is there any thing 
 in us to entitle us to this privilege? Shall we proudly 
 think ourselves worthy to draw nigh to God in this 
 way of his appointment? Assuredly not. Every proud 
 and self-righteous feeling should be banished from 
 our minds. We must offer "the sacrifice of a broken 
 and contrite heart;" and "make our humble confes- 
 sion to Almighty God, devoutly kneeling." 
 
 "Since Christ's sufferings are here commemorated, 
 it is very reasonable we should confess our sins, 
 which were the causes of them: and since we hope 
 to have our pardon sealed, we ought first, with shame 
 and sorrow, to own our transgressions, for his honour 
 who so freely forgives them; which the congregation 
 here does in words so apposite and pathetical, that if 
 their repentance be answerable to the form, it is im- 
 possible it should ever be more hearty and sincere." 
 
 In the use of this most appropriate and solemn 
 form, our souls should be prostrated in the lowest 
 self-abasement, and penetrated with the deepest con- 
 trition. "Every tongue," also should "confess to 
 God." How greatly would it add to the solemnity 
 of this service, if the whole body of communicants, 
 
COMMUNION SERVICE. 199 
 
 bowed as a company of transgressors before God, 
 would audibly "acknowledge and bewail their mani- 
 fold sins and wickedness, which they from time to 
 time most grievously have committed, by thought, 
 word, and deed, against the Divine Majesty; provok- 
 ing most justly his wrath and indignation!" How 
 striking would be the effect, if they could be heard 
 unitedly protesting, "we do earnestly repent, and are 
 heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remem- 
 brance of them is grievous unto us; the burthen of 
 them is intolerable!" How would it appear like tak- 
 ing the kingdom of heaven by a holy "violence" 
 which nothing could resist, to hear a large company 
 of penitent believers "lifting up their voices with 
 one accord^" uttering the pathetic cry — "Have mer- 
 cy upon us! Have mercy upon us, most mer- 
 ciful Father! for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's 
 sake, forgive us all that is past; and grant that we 
 may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness 
 of life, to the honour and glory of thy name, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!" 
 
 While the body of communicants remain upon 
 their knees, the Presbyter, (or Bishop, if he be pre- 
 sent,) who has just united with them in the same 
 penitential confession, rises to pronounce the abso- 
 lution. 
 
 To prevent any misconception, which may arise 
 from the name given to this form in the daily ser- 
 vice, (though not so called in the office for the com- 
 
200 REMARKS ON THE 
 
 munion,) it may be needful to remark, that our 
 Church has no sympathy or fellowship with that of 
 Rome, in the doctrine of sacerdotal absolution. Her 
 doctrine is, that "to God only it appertained to for- 
 give sins." The first form of absolution in the daily 
 service, simply states the fact that "Almighty God, 
 who desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather 
 that he may turn from his wickedness and live, hath 
 given power and commandment to his ministers to 
 declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent, 
 the absolution and remission of their sins." 
 
 Then, the official declaration is made. "He, (God,) 
 pardoneth and absolveth all those who truly repent, 
 and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel." And the 
 form closes with an exhortation: "Wherefore, let us 
 beseech him to grant us true repentance, and his 
 Holy Spirit," &c. It is, so far as we can perceive, 
 only a formal statement of the terms on which par- 
 don is offered in the gospel; or, at most, an authorita- 
 tive announcement of the fact that all who repent 
 and believe are pardoned. 
 
 The form used in the communion service, is 
 nothing more, in our humble judgment, than a 
 solemn prayer offered up by the officiating Presbyter 
 on behalf of the people, who are supposed to have 
 made the confession in which they have just united, 
 with sincere penitence and faith. To this, accord- 
 ingly, the people are required to say, Amen! And 
 this they should do heartily; thereby showing their 
 
COMMUNION SERVICE. 201 
 
 concurrence in the act, and their earnest desire that 
 God would hear and answer the petitions which his 
 ministering servant has presented in their behalf. 
 
 If it be consolatory to humble penitents, to listen 
 to the declarations and prayers of him who is their 
 "servant for Jesus's sake;" how much greater must be 
 their consolation, when he directs their attention to 
 Jesus himself; saying: "hear what comfortable 
 words our Saviour Christ saith unto all who truly 
 turn to him." 
 
 Every ear should be opened to hear the gracious 
 language of the Redeemer: for the words that he 
 speaks unto us, "they are spirit and they are life." 
 
 "Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy 
 laden, and I will refresh you. (St. Matt. xi. 28.) 
 
 "So God loved the world, that he gave his only 
 begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him, 
 should not perish, but have everlasting life." (St. 
 John, iii. 16.) 
 
 Well, indeed, may these be called "comfortable 
 words." That they may prove so to us, we should 
 consider ourselves individually addressed, and apply 
 them to our hearts. Every communicant may find 
 it profitable to say, mentally: — "compassionate Jesus! 
 behold with pity the sorrows of my heart: weary and 
 heavy laden with the burden of sin and the trials of 
 life, I come unto thee: O grant me the refreshment 
 and rest which thou hast promised! Everlasting 
 thanks be to thee, O merciful Father, for thy infinite 
 
202 REMARKS ON THE 
 
 love in giving thy Son to die for a rebellious world! 
 C I believe — help thou mine unbelief!' So strengthen 
 my faith that I may derive from it the joyful as- 
 surance that I shall not perish, but have everlasting 
 life!" 
 
 Next, we are called upon to hear what St. Paul 
 saith. "This is a true saying, and worthy of all men 
 to be received, that Christ Jesus came into the world 
 to save sinners." (1 Tim. i. 15.) When this pre- 
 cious declaration is announced, the communicant 
 may mentally say, "Lord Jesus! I have just confessed 
 myself to be a vile and worthless sinner: my iniquities 
 have been numerous; my offences aggravated: but 
 this true and faithful saying of thine Apostle, assures 
 me that I am one of those for whose salvation thou 
 didst come into the world: save me, then, I beseech 
 thee, by the merit of thy blood, and the power of 
 thy grace!" 
 
 The last of these comforting sentences, is quoted 
 from St. John. "If any man sin, we have an Advo- 
 cate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and 
 he is the propitiation for our sins." (1 John, ii. 1, 2.) 
 O, how unspeakable is the consolation we may derive 
 from the fact here declared, that Jesus Christ, who 
 offered an atonement for our sins, ever liveth to plead 
 our cause in the presence of his Father! Let every 
 communicant, amidst the infirmities and sins with 
 which he is daily chargeable, rely upon the advocacy 
 of this prevailing Intercessor, and pray — "blessed 
 
COMMUNION SERVICE. 203 
 
 Jesus, plead my cause at the right hand of the Ma- 
 jesty on high!" 
 
 "In ev'ry dark, distressful hour, 
 
 When sin and satan join their pow'r; 
 
 Let this dear hope repel the dart, 
 That Jesus bears us on his heart. 
 
 Great Advocate, Almighty Friend, 
 On him our humble hopes depend; 
 
 Our cause can never, never fail, 
 For Jesus pleads, and must prevail." 
 
 "After we have exercised our charity, repentance 
 and faith, the next part of the office is thanksgiving, 
 which is so considerable a part of our present duty, 
 that it hath given name to the whole, and caused it 
 to be called the Eucharist, or Sacrifice of praise. 
 And here we begin with the lauds and anthem, 
 which, together with most of the remaining part of 
 the office, are purely primitive, near as old as 
 Christianity itself, being to be found almost verbatim 
 amongst the ancient writers.* Having, therefore, 
 exercised our faith upon the foregoing sentences, 
 and so got above this world, we are now ready to go 
 into the other, and to join with the glorified saints 
 and angels, in praising and adoring that God who 
 hath done so great things for us. In order to this, 
 the Minister calls upon us to lift up our hearts, viz. 
 
 * Const. Apost. 1. 8. 12. Liturg. S. Jacob, S. Chrysost. 
 S. Basil, Cyril, Catech. Mystag. 5. 
 
204 REMARKS ON THE 
 
 by a most quick and lively faith in the most high 
 God, the supreme governor of the whole world; 
 which being ready to do, we immediately answer, 
 we lift them up unto the Lord; and so casting off 
 all thoughts of the world, turn our minds to God 
 alone. 
 
 "And our hearts being now all elevated together, 
 and in a right posture to celebrate the praises of God, 
 the Minister invites us to join with him in doing it, 
 saying, let us give thanks unto our Lord God: which 
 the people having consented to and approved of, by 
 saying, it is meet and right so to do; he turns him- 
 self to the Lord's table and acknowledgeth to the 
 Divine Majesty — it is very meet, right, and our 
 bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in 
 all places, give thanks unto thee, Lord> {Holy 
 Father] Almighty, everlasting GodP 
 
 How can any Christian fail to give a warm re- 
 sponse to this suitable acknowledgment, by calling 
 upon his soul and all that is within him, to laud 
 and bless God's holy name! If the Lord's redeemed 
 ones should hold their peace upon such an occasion, 
 surely, "the stones would cry out!" 
 
 "The Minister, now looking upon himself and the 
 rest of the congregation, as communicants with the 
 Church triumphant; and all of us apprehending our- 
 selves, by faith, as in the midst of that blessed 
 society; we join with them in singing forth the praises 
 of the most high God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; 
 
COMMUNION SERVICE. 205 
 
 saying Therefore with Angels, and Arch- 
 angels, AND WITH ALL THE COMPANY OF HEAVEN, 
 WE LAUD AND MAGNIFY THY GLORIOUS NAME; EVER- 
 MORE PRAISING THEE AND SAYING, HoLY, HOLY, 
 
 holy, Lord God of Hosts: heaven and earth 
 are full of thy glory; glory be to thee, o 
 Lord most high. Amen." 
 
 That the Angels are present in worshipping assem- 
 blies, and especially at the celebration of the Holy 
 Communion, has been a generally received opinion 
 among Christians.* "For since Jesus by his death 
 has united heaven and earth, it is fit that, in this 
 commemoration of his passion, we should begin to 
 unite our voices with the heavenly choir, with whom 
 we hope to praise him to all eternity. For which 
 end, the Christians of the very first ages took this 
 Hymn into their office for the sacrament, being of 
 divine original,! and from the word Holy thrice re- 
 peated in it, called by the Greeks rpitfa^iov, the 
 Trisagium, or thrice Holy. "J 
 
 The Proper Prefaces which follow, have been 
 provided that we may, when receiving the sacrament 
 on a Festival, in addition to the general eucharistical 
 offering, present our special thanks to God for the 
 mercy commemorated at that season. 
 
 In the prayer which is directed to be said by the 
 
 * 1 Cor. xi- 10. Chrys. in Eph. Horn. 3. Tom. iii. p. 778. 
 f Isaiah 6. 3. +Wheatly. 
 
 18 
 
206 . REMARKS ON THE 
 
 Minister "in the name of all who shall receive the 
 Communion," there is a renewed call for the exer- 
 cise of the same feelings of humiliation which have 
 been previously expressed in the confession, accom- 
 panied by the most ardent desire for communion 
 with Christ. With what cordial humility should we 
 join in the acknowledgment: "we are not worthy so 
 much as to gather up the crumbs tinder thy tablet" 
 With what holy importunity should we concur in the 
 petition: "Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to 
 eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to 
 drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made 
 clean by his body, and our souls washed through his 
 most precious blood, and that we may evermore 
 dwell in him, and he in us! Jlmen." 
 
 The officiating Minister, having "so ordered the 
 bread and wine, that he may with the more readiness 
 and decency break the bread before the people, and 
 take the cup into his hands;" then offers up the 
 prayer of consecration, consisting of three parts — 
 the words of Institution, the Oblation, and the Invo- 
 cation. 
 
 Of this prayer, which is used by the Minister 
 alone, we may safely remark, that it is perfect in its 
 kind, and most admirably adapted to its end. While 
 it is said, the people should fix the eye of faith upon 
 the divine Institutor of this blessed memorial, and 
 mentally join in the petitions, intercessions, and 
 thanksgivings, contained in it; and especially in the 
 
COMMUNION SERVICE. 207 
 
 consecration of "themselves, their souls, and bodies, 
 to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice unto" God, 
 which it avows on the part of all who are present at 
 the solemnity. 
 
 All things being now so done that the sacrament 
 may be "duly ministered according to Christ's ordi- 
 nance, in all those things that of necessity are requi- 
 site to the same;" the communicants unite in singing 
 a hymn, or part of a hymn, that by the soothing in- 
 fluence of devotional music, they may be prepared, 
 with more perfect tranquility and self-possession, to 
 engage in the solemn act of receiving the consecra- 
 ted symbols.* 
 
 While the Minister and others are receiving the 
 sacrament, every communicant may employ the time 
 in devout exercises like the following: 
 
 "I thank thee, O Jesus, for this instance of thy chari- 
 ty for sinners: I do indeed confess, that I am one of 
 that wretched number; and do beseech thee, to receive 
 
 * In many churches, a confusion, inconsistent with the 
 solemnity of the engagement, is occasioned by the com- 
 municants leaving the chancel immediately after having 
 received the elements, and others going up to it at the 
 same time. This may be avoided by requiring those who 
 form the first company of recipients, to remain kneeling 
 at the altar till all of them have partaken — and then sing- 
 ing a verse cf a hymn while this company is returning to 
 their pews, and another coming forward to occupy their 
 places. And so between every successive company, till 
 all have received. 
 
208 REMARKS ON THE 
 
 me, though a very unworthy guest, that I may eat 
 at thy table, and be partaker of thy favours. 
 
 "That I am invited to thy table, is not because I 
 am worthy, but because thou, O God, art infinitely 
 good and kind. Pity my infirmities, which are known 
 to thee, and accept of my imperfect obedience to 
 this command. I acknowledge my unworthiness: 
 I place all my hopes in thy mercy and promises in 
 Jesus Christ: I sincerely purpose to lead a christian 
 life, and to use all diligence to make my calling and 
 election sure: With these purposes I go to thine 
 altar, trusting in thy goodness for the pardon of defects, 
 and for an increase of all those graces that are neces- 
 sary to make me more worthy to eat of that bread, 
 and drink of that cup."* 
 
 The delivery of the elements to the people, fol- 
 lows; and the form of words by which it is accom- 
 panied, is of the most solemn and affecting kind. 
 At giving the bread, the Minister says, "The body of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, 
 preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life: 
 Take and eat this, in remembrance that Christ died 
 for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith-, with 
 thanksgiving." At the close of the petition con- 
 tained in the former part of the sentence, the com- 
 municant may mentally ejaculate: "Amen — so be it! 
 Merciful God, may 1 receive thy Son, and with him, 
 eternal life!" And at the close of the direction 
 
 * Bishop Wilson. 
 
COMMUNION SERVICE. 209 
 
 given in the latter part; "blessed Jesus! I do grateful- 
 ly remember thy dying love: O, for a lively faith 
 to realize my personal interest in thy merits, and feed 
 upon thee as the appropriate nourishment of my soul!" 
 The bread should be received in the open and naked 
 hand, as an indication of our receiving Christ into 
 our hearts by faith. 
 
 When delivering the cup, the Minister says: "the 
 blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for 
 thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting 
 life: drink this in remembrance that Christ's blood 
 was shed for thee, and be thankful." Here, the re- 
 cipient may again ejaculate: "Amen! May my soul 
 be washed in the fountain opened for sin and un- 
 cleanness. May the precious blood of the everlast- 
 ing covenant be sprinkled upon my conscience, 
 cleansing me from dead works, that I may serve the 
 living God in this world — and in the world to come, 
 join in the heavenly song to Him who loved us and 
 washed us from our sins in his own blood — be glory 
 and dominion for ever and ever, Amen! n * 
 
 * Among the things essential to this saerament must 
 certainly be included "the breaking of bread,'' which is the 
 name given to the ordinance in some passages of the New 
 Testament; and, the receiving of the wine as our Lord 
 commanded: "drink ye all of this." With what propriety 
 then can it be said, that the Lord's Supper is celebrated 
 in the Church of Rome, while an unbroken wafer is given, 
 and the cup altogether withheld from the Laity? 
 18* 
 
210 REMARKS ON THE 
 
 Every communicant after having returned from the 
 holy table to his seat, should offer up fervent thanks 
 to God for the privilege he has enjoyed; and keep his 
 mind profitably exercised, while others are partaking, 
 by reading portions of Scripture; meditating upon 
 the mercies of redemption; and imploring blessings 
 for himself, the Ministers of Jesus, the whole compa- 
 ny of believers, and the world at large. 
 
 When all have communicated, we again assume 
 the attitude of supplication, and as with one heart and 
 voice, repeat the Lord's Pmayer. 
 
 This divine form, being always appropriate, has a 
 place in every distinct office of the Church; and 
 never can it be more suitably used, than when, after 
 having received in this sealing ordinance fresh evi- 
 dence of our adoption, we are enabled to say with filial 
 confidence — "Our Father ivho art in Heaven," fyc. 
 
 Then follows the concluding thanksgiving: and 
 assuredly, now if ever, we shall experience the emo- 
 tions of a grateful heart. This form expresses the 
 highest feelings of Christian confidence and joy. In 
 it, we bless God, that in the rite which we have 
 just celebrated, he has "assured us of his favour and 
 goodness towards us, and that we are very members 
 incorporate in the mystical body of his Son, which is 
 the blessed company of all faithful people; and are 
 also heirs through hope, of his everlasting kingdom." 
 Are we indeed raised to such honours, and partakers 
 of such privileges, in virtue of our "high calling of 
 
COMMUNION SERVICE. 211 
 
 God in Christ Jesus?" Can we, then, love him with 
 too much ardour? or serve him with too much fideli- 
 ty? How earnestly should we say, "we most humbly 
 beseech thee, O Heavenly Father, so to assist us with 
 thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellow- 
 ship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepar- 
 ed for us to walk in, through Jesus Christ our Lord; to 
 whom with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour 
 and glory, world without end! Amen." 
 
 In imitation of our Lord, who after the institution 
 of this ordinance sang a hymn with his disciples, we 
 now join in singing or saying, that sublime hymn, "the 
 Gloria in Excelsis; or, some proper hymn from the 
 selection." No comment that I could make would 
 serve to give to those who are in the habit of using 
 it, a more vivid conception of the inimitable beauties 
 of this divine song. It would be like an attempt to 
 improve the tints of the rainbow with earthly colours. 
 I therefore abandon it in despair; presuming only to 
 offer this one remark: if there are some parts of it, 
 which the humblest sinner upon earth would find ap- 
 propriate to his feelings; there are others, which the 
 loftiest spirit in heaven would not find unsuitable to 
 his enraptured acts of adoration. 
 
 In bringing this work to a conclusion, the author 
 can indulge no better hope, and offer no better prayer 
 in behalf of its readers, than that they may all enter into 
 the spirit of the various parts of that admirable ser- 
 vice which has now passed under our review. For, 
 
212 REMARKS, &C. 
 
 this is to hope that they may be Christians "indeed 
 and in truth:" this is to pray that they may ever live 
 in the enjoyment of the blessings enumerated in the 
 benediction with which it concludes: — The peace 
 of God, which passeth all understanding, 
 keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge 
 and love of god, and of his son jesus christ 
 our Lord! And the blessing of God Almigh- 
 ty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, 
 be amongst you, and remain with you always. 
 Amen. 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS 
 
 "O thou by whom we come to God, 
 The life, the truth, the way, 
 
 The path of prayer thyself hast trod; 
 Lord, teach us how to pray!" 
 
PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS. 
 
 A PRAYER 
 
 To be used by an individual when about to receive 
 the Communion for the first time. 
 
 "Eternal and ever-blessed God! I desire to 
 present myself before thee, with the deepest humili- 
 ation and abasement of soul, sensible how unworthy 
 such a sinful worm is to appear before the holy Ma- 
 jesty of heaven, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, 
 and especially on such an occasion as this," when I 
 am about to renew the covenant-dedication of my- 
 self to thee over the consecrated memorials of the 
 Redeemer's body and blood. "But the plan is of 
 thine own devising. Thine infinite condescension 
 hath offered it by thy dear Son, and thy grace hath 
 inclined my heart to accept it." 
 
 I thank thee, O merciful God! that T was born in a 
 Christian land, and received by Baptism into thy 
 holy Church; that from the earliest days of childhood, 
 I have been favoured with the instructions of the 
 gospel, and other means of grace. Thou hast fol- 
 lowed me with the precepts of wisdom, the invita- 
 tions of mercy, the entreaties of love! But, O Lord! 
 
216 PRAYERS AND 
 
 with what base ingratitude have I requited thy good- 
 ness! How grievously have I rebelled against thy 
 laws! How obstinately have J resisted the influences 
 of thy Spirit! It is of thy mercies alone, that I have 
 not long ago been consumed; and because thy com- 
 passions fail not. 
 
 "I come, therefore, acknowledging myself to have 
 been a great offender; smiting upon my breast, and 
 saying with the humble publican, 4 God be merciful 
 to me a sinner!' I come, invited by the name of thy 
 Son, and wholly trusting in his perfect righteousness; 
 entreating that for his sake, thou wilt be merciful to 
 my unrighteousness, and wilt no more remember my 
 sins. Receive, I beseech thee, thy revolted creature, 
 who is now convinced of thy right to him, and de- 
 sires nothing so much as that he may be thine. 
 
 "This day, do I, with the utmost solemnity, sur- 
 render myself to thee. I renounce all former lords 
 that have had dominion over me; and I consecrate 
 to thee, all that I am, and all that I have; the facul- 
 ties of my mind, the members of my body, my world- 
 ly possessions, my time, and my influence over 
 others; to be all used entirely for thy glory, and 
 resolutely employed in obedience to thy commands, 
 as long as thou continuest me in life; with an ardent 
 desire and humble resolution, to continue thine 
 through all the endless ages of eternity; ever hold- 
 ing myself in an attentive posture to observe the 
 first intimations of thy will, and ready to spring for- 
 
MEDITATIONS. 217 
 
 ward with zeal and joy, to the immediate execution 
 of it. 
 
 "Use me, O Lord, I beseech thee, as an instrument 
 of thy service! Number me among thy peculiar 
 people! Let me be washed in the blood of thy dear 
 Son! Let me be clothed with his righteousness! 
 Let me be sanctified by his Spirit! Transform me 
 more and more, into his image! Impart to me, 
 through him, all needful influences of thy purifying, 
 cheering, and comforting Spirit! And let my life be 
 spent under those influences, and in the light of thy 
 gracious countenance, as my Father and my God!" 
 
 Enable me, O Lord! this day, and at all other 
 times, when I approach thy table, to renew my cove- 
 nant with great solemnity, and unreserved devotion! 
 Receiving thy holy ordinance with a penitent, be- 
 lieving, and grateful heart, may I enjoy the benefits 
 of that sacrifice which it is intended to commemorate! 
 Lead me into thy banqueting-house, and may thy 
 banner over me be love! May I enjoy the pleasures 
 of thy house, even of thy holy temple! May my 
 soul be so strengthened by the spiritual food of the 
 body and blood of Jesus, that I may faithfully dis- 
 charge the duties, and meekly bear the afflictions of 
 life! 
 
 "And when the solemn hour of death comes, may 
 
 I remember thy covenant, 'well ordered in all 
 
 things and sure, as all my salvation and all my desire,' 
 
 though every hope and enjoyment is perishing; and 
 
 19 
 
218 PRAYERS AND 
 
 do thou, Lord! remember it too. Look down 
 with pity, O my heavenly Father, on thy languishing^ 
 dying child! Embrace me in thine everlasting arms! 
 Put strength and confidence into my departing spirit, 
 and receive it to the abodes of them that sleep in 
 Jesus, peacefully and joyfully to wait the accom- 
 plishment of thy great promise to all thy people, 
 even that of a glorious resurrection, and of eternal 
 happiness in thine heavenly presence." Hear, in 
 heaven, thy holy habitation, and when thou hearest, 
 answer according to thy promise in the covenant of 
 grace, through Jesus the great Mediator of it; to 
 whom with thee, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, the 
 one living and true God, be everlasting praises. 
 Amen!* 
 
 FORMS 
 
 Designed to aid the devotions of a Communicant, from an 
 office in "Taylor's Holy Living" altered. 
 
 An Act of Love. 
 
 O Most gracious and eternal God ! the helper of 
 the helpless, the comforter of the comfortless, the 
 hope of the afflicted, and the Saviour of all those 
 who trust in thee; I bless and glorify thy name, and 
 adore thy goodness, that thou dost, once more, afford 
 me an opportunity of holding communion with thee 
 
 * Doddridge's abridged form of self-dedication, altered. 
 
MEDITATIONS. 219 
 
 and thy people, in the way of thine appointment. O 
 Lord ! take away from me all love for the sinful vani- 
 ties of the world ! Let not my affections be set on 
 things below, but may they rise to those things which 
 are above; to the seat of God, the regions of glory, 
 and the inheritance of the saints! May I hunger and 
 thirst for the bread of life and the waters of salvation! 
 May I rise superior to all earthly attachments, and 
 have the "love of God shed abroad in my heart by 
 the Holy Ghost," through Jesus Christ, my Lord. 
 Amen. 
 
 An Act of Desire. 
 
 O blessed Jesus! thou hast used many efforts to 
 save me, thou hast given thy blood to redeem me, thy 
 Holy Spirit to sanctify me, thy life for my example, 
 thy word for my rule, thy promises for my comfort, 
 and thy grace for my salvation. And as if this were 
 not enough, O, boundless mercy! thou dost present 
 thyself as a petitioner at the door of my heart, say- 
 ing: "behold! I stand at the door and knock; if any 
 man will hear my voice, and open the door, I will 
 come into him, and sup with him, and he with me." 
 O, now come, Lord Jesus! come quickly! My heart 
 is open for thy admission! I would fain entertain 
 thee, not as a transient guest, but as a permanent in- 
 habitant! Enter in, and take possession, and dwell 
 with me for ever; that I may also dwell in the heart 
 of my dearest Lord, which was opened for me with 
 a spear and love. 
 
220 PRAYERS AND 
 
 An Act of Contrition. 
 
 O holy and merciful Saviour! Thou wilt find the 
 heart to which I have invited thee, distracted with 
 worldly cares and desires, cheated by the vanities of 
 time, and averse to holy affections and engagements. 
 Lord, have mercy upon me! O Christ, pity me! for 
 this heart of mine is the seat of impurity. It is full 
 of passion and prejudice, evil principles, and evil 
 habits, peevish and disobedient, lustful and intempe- 
 rate, "deceitful above all things, and desperately 
 wicked." Hear, this my humble confession, most 
 merciful God! "I am ashamed, yea confounded," at 
 the knowledge of my vileness! I do sincerely hate 
 my sins, and am full of indignation against myself, 
 that I have been so ungrateful for thy favours, so dis- 
 obedient to thy laws. Thanks be to thy name! thou 
 hast no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but would 
 rather, that he should turn from his way and live. 
 "Turn thou me, O good Lord! and so shall I be 
 turned." "Create in me, a clean heart, O God! and 
 renew a right spirit within me." 
 
 An Act of Faith. 
 
 Hopeless indeed, would my condition be, and I 
 should be as miserable as I have made myself sinful, 
 if thou, O Blessed Jesus! hadst not taken my nature 
 upon thee, that thou mightest suffer for my sins, "the 
 just for the unjust," to bring me to God. But thou 
 hast redeemed me with thy most precious blood ! 
 
MEDITATIONS. 221 
 
 Thou didst "bear my sins in thine own body upon 
 the tree." I cling to thy cross, therefore, with a lively 
 faith! I take refuge in thy merits, as the only place of 
 security from wrath. Lord ! I am as sure thou didst 
 the great work of redemption for me and all man- 
 kind, as that I am alive. This is my hope, the 
 strength of my spirit, my joy and my confidence. 
 Keep me evermore, I beseech thee, in this faith! 
 Never let the spirit of unbelief enter into me, and 
 take me from this rock! Here I will dwell, for I have 
 a delight therein. Here I will live, and here I desire 
 to die. 
 
 The Petition. 
 
 O adorable Jesus! my Lord and Saviour, whose 
 blood purchased my peace, and with whose right- 
 eousness I desire to be covered as with a robe; — thou 
 art the Priest, and the sacrifice; the Master of the 
 feast, and the feast itself; the physician of my soul, 
 the light of mine eyes, and the purifier of my stains; 
 enter my heart, I beseech thee, in the power of thy 
 grace, and cast out all its impurities! Claim me as 
 thy purchased possession! Reign in me without a 
 rival! And let, me, henceforth, acknowledge and 
 love thee, as the only sovereign of my soul ! 
 
 "I will wash my hands in innocency," even in the 
 lood of the immaculate Lamb, "and so will I com- 
 pass thine altar, O Lord!" Grant me full preparation! 
 May I partake of the Holy Sacrament with a penitent, 
 IS* 
 
222 PRAYERS AND 
 
 believing, grateful, and loving heart! Let me receive 
 it with deep reverence, a holy relish, and great ef- 
 fect! Let it prove to me indeed the communion of 
 thy body and blood, O blessed Jesus! and a pledge 
 of fellowship with all the sanctified on earth, and all 
 the glorified in heaven, as well as with the Eternal 
 Father, and the Holy Spirit; to whom, with Thee, 
 be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen. 
 
 Ji short prayer after having communicated. 
 
 O Lord God! blessed be thy holy name for the pri- 
 vilege I have enjoyed, in being permitted to renew 
 my covenant with thee, and commemorate the death 
 of Jesus in the way of his own appointment. May I 
 ever remember the obligations into which I have en- 
 tered on my part, and the promises which thou hast 
 been graciously pleased to make on thine! And O 
 thou, the blessed and eternal High Priest! let the sa- 
 crifice of the cross, which thou didst once offer for 
 the sins of the whole world, and which thou dost, 
 now and always, represent in heaven to the Father by 
 thy never-ceasing intercession, and which, this day, 
 has been exhibited on thy holy table sacramentally, 
 obtain pardon and peace, hope and comfort, strength 
 and salvation for my guilty soul! Let me feel assured, 
 henceforth, that "I am the Lord's," that thou dwellest 
 in me, and I in thee! And 0, teach me so to walk, 
 
MEDITATIONS. 223 
 
 that I may never dishonour thy cause, nor stain the 
 holy robe with which thou hast covered my soul! 
 Suffer me never to break the holy vows which / have 
 made and thou hast sealed; nor lose sight of my in- 
 heritance, my privilege of being a co-heir with Jesus, 
 the hope of which has now been confirmed. Love 
 me, O God, with the love which thou bearest unto 
 thy chosen, and grant me thy salvation! Make me to 
 serve thee in the communion of saints, in the cultiva- 
 tion of all Christian virtues, and in the performance 
 of all good works. And as I have "put on Christ," 
 grant, O merciful God! that 1 may live by faith in 
 him, obey his laws, and strive to promote his glory in 
 this world; so that in the last day, I may be found, 
 having on the wedding garment, bearing in my body 
 and soul the marks of the Lord Jesus, and prepared 
 to enter into his joy, and partake of his glories for- 
 ever and ever: hear, and answer me, O God, for his 
 precious name's sake! Amen. 
 
 Ejaculations, that may be used after Communion. 
 Lord, if I had lived innocently, I could not have 
 deserved to receive the crumbs that fall from thy ta- 
 ble. How great is thy mercy, then, in having per- 
 mitted me, sinner as I am, to feast upon the bread of 
 saints, the wine of angels, the true manna from 
 heaven! 
 
224 PRAYERS AND 
 
 O! when shall I go from this dark glass, from this 
 veil of sacraments, to the vision of thy eternal charity; 
 from feeding upon the symbols of thy body and blood, 
 to the marriage supper of the Lamb! 
 
 Let not my sins crucify the Lord of life again! Let 
 it never be said concerning me, the hand of him that 
 betrayeth me is on the table. 
 
 O, that I might love thee as well as ever any crea- 
 ture loved thee! let me think of nothing but thee, 
 desire nothing but thee, enjoy nothing but thee! 
 
 O Jesus! be a Jesus unto me! Thou art all things 
 unto me. The '"'chief among ten thousands, and al- 
 together lovely." Let nothing ever please me but 
 what savours of thee, and of thy precious name 
 which is as sweet "ointment poured forth." "Thanks 
 be to God for his unspeakable gift!" even the gift of 
 his only begotten Son, who is "made unto me wisdom, 
 and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemp- 
 tion." 
 
 He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 
 Amen. 
 
MEDITATIONS. 225 
 
 MEDITATIONS, BY BISHOP WILSON. 
 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the 
 
 LAW, BEING MADE A CURSE FOR US." G(tl. ill. 13. 
 
 Blessed God, how great was our misery! how great 
 thy mercy! when nothing could save us from ruin 
 but the death of thy Son! I see by this, how hateful 
 sin is to thee. Make it so to me, I beseech thee! 
 May I never natter myself that thy mercy will spare 
 me, if I continue in sin, when thou sparedst not thy 
 own Son when he put himself in the place of sinners! 
 May I never provoke thy justice! May I never forget 
 thy mercies, and what thy Son has done for us! 
 
 "No MAN CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS. Ye CANNOT SERVE 
 
 God and Mammon." — Matt, vi, 24. 
 
 May I never set up any rival, O God, with thee in 
 the possession of my heart! May I never attempt to 
 reconcile thy service with that world which is enmity 
 with thee! Give me, I beseech thee, the eyes of faith, 
 that I may see the world what in truth it is. The 
 danger of its riches, the folly of its pleasures, the 
 multitude of its snares, the power of its temptations, 
 its deadly poison, and the certain danger of its draw- 
 ing my heart from the love of thee. 
 
 "If we deny him, he also willdenyus." — 2 Tim- ii. 12. 
 
 How many deny thee, O Jesus, without thought, 
 
 and without dread! Do they know what they do, 
 
226 PRAYERS AND 
 
 who lightly turn their backs upon this ordinance? 
 who make a mock of sin which cost thee thy life? 
 who are ashamed of thee and thy gospel, out of re- 
 gard to men? who by their unchristian lives do re- 
 nounce thy service? Do they consider what it is to 
 be denied by thee? that it is to have no interest in 
 thy death, thy merits, and mediation? Gracious God, 
 deliver me from this dreadful sin and Judgment! 
 
 "Peter said, though I should die with thee, yet 
 will I not deny thee." — Matt. xxvi. 35. 
 
 Preserve me, gracious Lord, from a presumptuous 
 opinion of, and dependence on my own strength, 
 without the aids of thy grace. Let me see in this 
 sad instance, my weakness without thy assistance, 
 and my ruin without thy help! 
 
 "And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter; and 
 Peter remembered the words of Christ; and 
 went out and wept bitterly." — Luke, xxii. 61,62. 
 
 O Jesus, look upon me with the same eye of com- 
 passion, whenever I shall do amiss, that I may see my 
 fault, and forthwith return to my duty! Let this in- 
 stance of thy mercy be our comfort, since so great 
 and repeated a crime did not exclude this penitent 
 from thy mercy; but let not this make us fearless of 
 offending thee, lest we never repent. 
 
MEDITATIONS. 227 
 
 "Then entered satan into Judas, and he communed 
 with the chief priests, how he might betray him 
 unto them: and they covenanted to give him 
 money." — Luke, xxii. 3 — 5. 
 
 If I should provoke thee, O God, by resisting thy 
 Holy Spirit, to leave me to my own natural corruption 
 and to the power of Satan, I see in this wretched man 
 what wickedness I am capable of. Lord God! aban- 
 don me not to my own courses. Shut my heart to 
 that covetousness which was the root of so great a 
 sin! Keep me from presumptuous sins, lest they get 
 dominion over me, and secure me under the conduct 
 of thy Holy Spirit, for Jesus Christ's sake." 
 
 Collect for the seventh Sunday after Trinity. 
 "Lord of all power and might, who art the 
 author and giver of all good things', graft in 
 our hearts the love of thy name, increase in 
 us true religion, nourish us with all good- 
 ness, and of thy great mercy, keep us in the 
 same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. J2men. r 
 
 THE END. 
 
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