#v> **.*£ •• /&**. /A: •pfomjj at %n\$%m. =£P£J/ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. AN AFFECTIONATE INVITATION THE HOLY COMMUNION. BEING SELECTIONS FHOM THE WORKS OF EMINENT ENGLISH DIVINES. BY BENJAMIN DORR, D. D. RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA, / P H IL ADE LPH I A : R. S. H. GEORGE, 26 SOUTH FIFTH STREET. 1843. ^6 ?T Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1843, by B. DORR, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. I King and Baird, Printers, No. 9 George Street. ADVERTISEMENT. The following selections, from the writings of distinguished divines of the Church of England, are designed principally for those persons who are absentees from the Lord's Table ; but they will be found profitable and instructive, it is believed, to the devout communicant. The Editor has been induced to prepare this little work, w 7 ith special reference to the members of his own flock, over whom the Holy Ghost has made him a Pastor, and whom he has promised "to teach, and to premonish, to feed, and pro- vide for." He therefore affectionately solicits those of them who "separate from their breth- ren, who come to feed on the banquet of that IV most heavenly food," to give these pages an attentive reading, and earnestly to consider the truths which are here so forcibly presented ; that so they may, " by God's grace, return to a bet- ter mind." His fervent prayer is, and ever shall be, that all may come to this Holy Sacrament with true penitent hearts, lively faith, and universal chari- ty ; and daily increase in God's Holy Spirit, more and more, until they come unto his ever- lasting kingdom. Philadelphia, March 22, 1843. AN EXHORTATION TO THE HOLY COMMUNION If thou wilt enter into life, keep the Commandments St. Matthew, xix. 17. AN EXHORTATION TO THE HOLY COMMUNION PART I. The object of the following tract is to point out, in humble dependence on the Divine bless- ing, and in as plain and simple a manner as pos- sible, — I. The nature and design of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. II. Our obligation to attend on this Holy In- stitution, and our sin in neglecting it. III. The preparation necessary for a suitable partaking of it. O AFFECTIONATE INVITATION I. With respect to the nature and design of the Sacrament of the Lord, I would begin with reminding you of the time, and mode, and cir- cumstances of its institution. It was instituted by Christ himself, in the same night in which He was betrayed, a few hours before He was crucified, immediately after having eaten the Passover with His disciples for the last time. Then it was that He " 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.' 9 Such was the institution of this sacrament : and that it was designed, not for the Apostles only, but for the general Church of Christ, appears, not merely from the practice of the primitive Christians under the immediate inspection and authority of the Apostles them- selves, but also from the words of St. Paul di- rectly following those which I have just cited, when he says to the Corinthians, " For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 9 show the Lord's death till He come ;"* words which plainly intimate that this institution was to remain in use till the second coming of Christ, that is, to the end of the w>rld. On reading this account of the institution, there is one reflection which forces itself strongly on our minds. Whatever might be the particu- lar object of this institution, it was surely de- signed for the benefit of those for whose use it was prescribed. Can we suppose that our kind and gracious Redeemer, whose heart was ever full of love to His people, would appoint any ordinance for their use which would not be for their good ? Would He, especially at such a time, when He was on the point of suffering the most cruel torments, and shedding His blood for them, would He then enjoin on them the ob- servance of a ceremony, which would not be highly useful, highly salutary to them ? Would He then have said to them, "Do this" if the thing to be done had not been what he well knew that it would be, for their comfort and hap- piness ? I dwell the longer on this point, be- * 1 Cor. xi. 23, 24, 25, 26. 1* 10 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION cause it is one which directly meets the fears, and scruples, and apprehensions of many per- sons, who seem to regard this blessed institution with a degree of jealousy and suspicion, as if our merciful Saviour in appointing this ordinance had laid a snare by which they might be entan- gled and injured ; as if when He had invited them to eat of His bread, and drink of His wine, He had called them to do that, which it would be safer and more prudent for them to leave un- done. Does our Divine Redeemer deserve to be thus suspected by us ? Is this a suitable re- turn for all His tenderness and love, to tell Him, when He calls us to His table, that He is only calling us to our hurt, and that it will be better for us to keep away? My Brethren, have you ever been deterred from coming to the Sacrament by any apprehension of this kind ? Let me beseech you to have more just and honourable thoughts of Him, who loved you and gave himself for you. Instead of regarding with a groundless suspicion those symbols which He gives you of His body and blood, O receive them as pledges of His love, to your great and endless comfort. But to return to our subject. From this cir- TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 11 cumstance of our Saviour having instituted this Sacrament immediately after having eaten the Passover for the last time, it seems highly pro- bable that he intended this institution, under the Christian dispensation, to take the place of that ordinance in the Jewish Church. As if He had said, " Hitherto you have been taught to com- memorate the deliverance of your nation out of the bondage of Egypt, and their preservation from the sword of the destroying angel, by kill- ing and eating the Paschal Lamb, but this deli- verance, and this preservation, have always been typical of a greater deliverance, and a more im- portant preservation, even a spiritual deliverance from sin, and a personal preservation from ever- lasting punishment. These blessings are the purchase of my blood, which I am just about to shed for the sin of the world, and which has hitherto been represented by the blood of the Paschal Lamb. Henceforth you are to com- memorate these things in another way. The blood of the true sacrifice having been once actu- ally shed, it will not be expedient that the typi- cal lamb shall any longer be slain. From this time other representations, other symbols, are 12 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION to be used. This bread which I break, repre- sents my body broken on the cross. Take and eat it in remembrance of my love and of the provision I have made for your souls. This wine represents my blood shed for your salva- tion. Drink it with a thankful recollection of the blessings and privileges which it has pur- chased for you. And while you thus eat of my body and drink of my blood, bear in mind, that I have appointed this way for your commemo- rating these things, in order that by their being thus represented to your outward senses, you may have a more lively apprehension, and a more devout and spiritual feeling of them in your hearts, and that this institution may ever remain as a pledge of my love, and as a seal of the certainty of those benefits, of which the sacrifice that you herein commemorate is the price !" From this scriptural statement of this institu- tion, surely its nature and design are sufficiently apparent. Can any institution be in itself more plain and simple ? I now proceed from what has been said, to state, — TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 13 II. Our obligation to attend on this Holy In- stitution, and our sin in neglecting it. There are many considerations which bear upon these points, and which, if duly attended to, cannot fail of making a suitable impression on our minds. Let us consider, in the first place, by Whom this ordinance was appointed, — Who it was that said, "Do this." It was Christ Himself. It was the Divine Author of our holy religion. It was He, whom we profess to believe in, to belong to, and to obey, — whom we acknowledge as our Saviour, — whom we expect to meet as our Judge. He it was who appointed this institu- tion, and has commanded all His disciples to ob- serve it. Has the command of Christ no weight with us ? Are we not bound to regard His authority? Can we justify our living in a con- stant neglect of an act which He has commanded us to perform? "If it were some great thing which we were commanded to do," some pain- ful, severe, laborious act of self-denial which Christ had enjoined, should we not do it? Would it not be our duty, as His servants and subjects, to comply with His injunctions? 14 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION Could we on any ground excuse or justify dis- obedience ? How much rather then when He saith to us, Eat of this bread, and drink of this wine? The simplicity of the command, and the ease with which it may be obeyed, greatly increase our obligation to attend on this institu- tion, and our sin in neglecting it. And how can we call ourselves disciples of Christ if we do not the things which He commands ? Let us consider again that this injunction comes to us not only as a command which we are bound in duty to obey, but in a more en- gaging and interesting form, as a request with which we are strongly urged to comply. It is a request made to us by a friend, the best friend we ever had in the world, and that friend, a dying friend, dying for us, in our stead, and for our benefit, and with his dying breath bequeathing us this pledge and token of his love, and impor- tuning us often to make use of it for his sake. Can we justify the not complying with such a request, urged by such a person, at such a time, and under such circumstances ? If some kind and dear relation, to whose affection and generosity we were deeply indebted, should TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 15 leave us a ring, or a picture, or some other me- morial of his regard, and should request us at some stated times to look upon it with a grateful remembrance of our benefactor, should we not feel this to be a request with which we were constrained to comply? Should we not be ashamed, when the stated times arrived, and we were reminded of our duty, and the memo- rial itself were produced, should we not, I ask, be ashamed to turn our eyes another way, and refuse even to look upon this token of his love ? But, my brethren, where is the difference, if when invited to the table of our Lord, we should constantly turn our back on this sacred ordi- nance, and refuse to partake of these pledges of His dying love ? Ought we not to feel shame at showing such ingratitude, such want of proper feeling towards our gracious benefactor ? With what comfort or confidence can we hope to meet Him at His coming, if we now habitually ne- glect to meet Him at His Table ? Rather, shall we not he covered w r ith confusion of face, when He shall reproachfully inquire of us, " Was this your love to your friend ? Was this your grati- tude for the blessings of redeeming mercy ? You 16 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION would not even bear me in remembrance, though I appointed you the means of doing it, and urged you to make use of them." Let us consider, in the third place, that by ab- senting ourselves from the Lord's Table, we seem, in a manner, to deny Him, and to intimate that we do not really belong to Him. Commu- nion with Him in the ordinances of his own ap- pointing, is a sign and a badge of our attachment and relation to Him. By what mark is the Christian peculiarly distinguished, but by his profession of faith and hope in Jesus Christ? At baptism he takes upon himself this profes- sion, and he is signed with the sign of the Cross in token that he shall not hereafter be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified. But if he regularly turn his back on the Holy Commu- nion, does it not seem as if he were ashamed to confess this faith ? If he acts in the same man- ner as they do who profess no faith in Christ, how does he show the difference between him- self and them ? If whenever a commander should raise his standard, and expect his soldiers to muster around it, any who had been enlisted under his banner should constantly decline at- TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 17 tending, and instead of joining the leader whom they professed to obey, should be seen at that very time among the ranks of his enemies and opposers, what opinion should we form of the fidelity and loyalty of such persons ? or by what proof could they convince us that they were really attached, and wished well to the cause of Him, whom they thus openly disowned ? Chris- tians are to show that they belong to Christ, and that all their hope is in Him, and they are to show this in the face of the world. But how do they show this, if, when bidden to His Sup- per, with one consent they make excuse, and re- fuse to come ? My brethren, when you have been going out of the church on a Sacrament Sunday, has your conscience never smitten you with the thought that you were fleeing from your post, and deserting the colours under which you had engaged manfully to fight? Have you never heard a voice in your ears, saying, " Will ye also go away ?" Let us consider, in the fourth place, the loss which we are sustaining, and the injury which we are doing to our own souls, by not frequenting the Holy Communion. That it is an institution 2 18 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION designed for the benefit of those who partake of it, we have already seen, and that it does really prove a blessing to those who rightly partake of it, we cannot doubt, when we reflect on the power and character of Him who appointed it. As an act of faith and obedience when performed as such, and accompanied with a grateful recol- lection of the mercies and promises of the Gos- pel, it must have a very salutary and beneficial effect on all who are engaged in it. The very circumstance of having the pledges of our Sa- viour's love, and the emblems of his body and blood, literally placed before our eyes, sensibly reminding us of His grace and mercy, of His death and sacrifice, and visibly assuring us of the truth and certainty of all that He hath done and suffered for our salvation, cannot but have a very strong tendency to increase our faith and confi- dence in Him, and to strengthen our resolutions of henceforth living more faithfully and closely to Him. Numbers of living Christians can tes- tify to the peace and consolation, and even joy, which they have thus felt, while partaking of this heavenly feast, and can declare how deeply their hearts have been affected, and their souls TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 19 strengthened and refreshed, at this sacred ordi- nance. Besides, every exercise of faith is an act of communion with Christ. It is by faith that a union with Him first is formed. It is by the same faith that it is afterwards maintained ; and while we ascend to Christ in faith, He de- scends to us by His Spirit, and thus we have fellowship with Him and with the Father. But to partake of this Holy Sacrament is an especial act and exercise of faith, and, consequently, es- pecial communications of the Spirit may be rea- sonably expected to accompany it. If Christ delights to meet and make glad His people in His ordinances, in what ordinance may they so certainly hope that He will visit and refesh them, will impart to them spiritual blessings, and make them glad with the light of His countenance, as in that ordinance which He has especially ap- pointed them to use for the express purpose of remembering Him and the blessings which He has purchased for them, for testifying their faith in Him, and for solemnly renewing, as it were, their covenant with Him ? But all these benefits we are voluntarily losing by absenting ourselves from this Holy Communion. Neglecting the 20 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION Lord's table, we are forsaking our own mercies. We are criminally depriving our souls of that spiritual food and sustenance which is provided for them, and consequently of spiritual health, and growth, and strength, which cannot but be sensibly affected by such a privation. I come now to speak, — III. Of the Preparation necessary for a suita- ble partaking of the Lord's Supper. By this Preparation I do not mean any parti- cular mode or course of preparation which is to be performed previously to the act of communi- cating : of such performances, the best thing I can say, is, that they are good or evil according as they are used, and according to the effects which they produce. If persons find that by any prescribed course of reading and religious exercises before they come to the Sacrament, a spirit of real devotion, of humility, piety, and charity is promoted in them, — then let them use such means so far as they have time and oppor- tunity. But if, on the contrary, the prescribed course in question is resorted to merely as a formal, superstitious service, (as, for instance, when persons will excuse themselves from TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 21 coming to the Sacrament on the alleged plea, that they have not had time to go through their Week's Preparation,) and if thus the use of it tends merely to foster a self-righteous, pharisa- ical spirit, — then it is plain that in such cases a prescribed course of preparation is evil, and does mischief instead of good. The Preparation of which I am speaking, is the preparation of the heart; that state of heart which the true Christian habitually possesses, which does not consist in mere feelings, and which qualifies him at any time for a profitable partaking of the Lord's Supper. Are persons really humbled under a sense of their sins, of their sinful nature, and sinful life ? Do they sincerely desire to be freed from the punishment, the practice, and the pollution of sin 'i Do they look to Jesus Christ as the only sacrifice for sin, by whose blood alone their sin can be washed away, and their soul cleansed ? Do they enter- tain a devout and thankful remembrance of what He has done and suffered for them 1 Do they desire, and through His grace resolve, to resist the Devil, the world, and the flesh, and to lead a righteous, sober, and godly life, a life of faith in 2* 22 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION Jesus Christ, and of obedience to His holy will? If such be their permanent convictions, desires, and resolutions, they have that prepara- tion of heart of which I speak, and with which they may partake, and ought to partake of the Holy Communion, whenever an op- portunity may offer. Should persons, while such is the habitual state of their heart, be sur- prised, as the Virgins were, while they slumber and sleep, with a summons to the marriage sup- per, they should not on that account decline the invitation, and exclude themselves. Having oil in their vessels, they should trim their lamps as speedily as they can, and hasten to partake of the feast, though of course, if a longer notice be given them, they will take the opportunity of more closely inspecting their wedding garment, and of more studiously seeking to have their soul in that condition which will best qualify it for meeting their Lord, and for enjoying the pro- visions of His Table. On the subject of Preparation, indeed, there is one excuse so very generally urged against coming to the Lord's Supper, that I feel it necessary to give to it a distinct and prominent notice. When TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 23 invited to communicate, persons justify a refusal, either openly or secretly, upon the ground of their unworthiness : " We cannot approach the Lord's Table, for we have no fitness for it; we are univorthy" Now, my Brethren, if the person who pleads this excuse, really pleads it under a deep feeling of genuine humility ; if he is so truly sensible of the burden and defiling nature of his sins as to condemn himself on account of them, and with the humble publican to stand afar off, and to cry for mercy, I can only say, that of all persons in the world, such a one is most fitted to draw near with faith, and to take this Holy Sacrament to his comfort. For whom are the blessings of the Gospel provided ? To whom are its promises addressed ? Is it not to the contrite in heart, the poor in spirit, the mourners for sin, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness ? Are not these the persons to whom the invitations of the Gospel are sent, and who are pressed, and urged, and in a manner compelled to accept them? And what is the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper but an exhibition of the grace and riches of the Gospel ? And who are the persons that are 24 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION welcome there, but the very persons whom the Gospel calls ? To every one then who answers this description, to every one whose conscience is tender, whose faith is weak, whose fears are great, I would freely say, "Lay aside your doubts. It is for such as you that this Table is prepared. Fear not. Talk not of your unwor- thiness. Only be willing ; only believe ; only come. You will be a welcome guest, and a meet partaker of those holy mysteries. The Lord hath already prepared your heart. O turn not away from the feast which he has provided for you." If, however, those who plead their own un- worthiness urge this plea, on the supposition that they must bring with them to the Table of the Lord some worthiness of their own, which will give them a claim, — something belonging to themselves, which will make them worthy guests at His Table, — I must tell such plainly, that they know not the first principles of Chris- tianity. No man can ever have any such wor- thiness. If any one thinks that he has or can have any thing of this kind, he is vainly puffed up in his fleshly mind, and knoweth nothing as TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 25 he ought to know. My Brethren, what you ought to bring with you is a broken and a con- trite heart. Pray to God to give you this. Re- nounce your own righteousness. Trust only in the great and manifold mercies of the Lord. Draw near to Him with a humble spirit, and He will in no wise cast you out. But those, who use this plea of unworthiness^ have sometimes another meaning. Conscious that they are living in the allowed indulgence of some sinful practices, or some unchristian tem- pers, which they have at present no intention to discontinue and subdue, they know that they are not Jit for communicating at the Lord's Table. They have light enough to see that a course of sin is incompatible with receiving the Sacrament, but they have not grace enough to break off from their sinful courses. They are determined to continue in them, and therefore, they plead, that they are not Jit to receive the Sacrament. And they plead aright. They are not Jit for this sacred ordinance. And for what religious duty are such persons Jit? Are they Jit to join in the service of the Church? Can they take a part in its confessions, petitions, and thanks 26 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION givings ? Are they fit to say the Lord's Prayer ? Can they say to God, " Our Father?" No ! The Devil is their father ; for by their own con- fession they are workers of iniquity, and, conse- quently, children of the Devil. O, my Breth- ren, if there should.be any of you, whose hearts at this moment tell you that this is your present state, think, I beseech you, how awful and perilous it is. Acknowledging yourselves unfit to come to the blessed Saviour of sinners for pardon and life, are you fit to die ? You know that you are not fit to die. You intend to repent hereafter, but you will not do it now. Now you will go on in sin against light and knowledge, against conscience and conviction. Now, when invited to Christ you will refuse to come. O beware, lest when you may desire to come, you find the door shut against you ! u Now is the ac- cepted time ; now is the day of salvation." May the Lord in His mercy grant you repent- ance unto the acknowledging of the truth, that you may recover yourselves out of the snare of the Devil, who are thus taken captive by him at his will ! TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 27 PART IL It shall now be my endeavour to remove a stumbling-block, which has often stood in the way of many devout and serious persons, who have otherwise been disposed to attend at the Table of their Lord. The. obstacle to which I allude arises from the introduction of certain ex- pressions into the Communion Service of our Church, which, taken in their plain and most obvious sense, seem to convey a meaning differ- ent from that which they are intended to convey. The minister, in the exhortation which at the time of celebrating the Holy Communion he ad- dresses to the congregation, is directed to remind them, that " 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 univorthily. For then we are guilty of the body and blood of Christ our Sa- viour ; we eat and drink our own damnation, not considering the LoroVs body/ 9 28 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION These are the expressions in question; ex- pressions which certainly, at first sight, assume a formidable appearance, and which, if interpret- ed according to the sound alone, may readily prove a stumbling-block to many sincere, but weak and uninstructed Christians. Let me then observe to you, in the first place, that these are scriptural expressions, and are taken from the eleventh chapter of St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians, in which he is speaking so much at large on the subject of this Sacrament. In en- deavouring, therefore, to obviate any occasion of stumbling which they may furnish, I will show you, first their original signification as they are used by the Apostle, and, secondly, their mean- ing as they are introduced into the Service of our Church. First, St. Paul having given an account of the institution of this Sacrament, and having said to the Corinthians, " As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come," immediately adds, " Where- fore, whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord;" and again, TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 29 in a verse after, he proceeds, " for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." The first thing to be inquired into for the understanding of these expressions, is the meaning of the term " eating and drinking un- worthily ," and for this purpose we must advert to the particular circumstance in the Corinthian Church, which, in reference to this subject, the Apostle in this chapter notices. We there find, to our great surprise, that the Corinthians, (some of them, at least, for we can- not suppose that the whole body of the Chris- tians at Corinth were equally guilty in this re- spect,) in their celebration of the Holy Commu- nion, conducted themselves in such a manner, as to incur the severe reproof of the Apostle. " When ye come together," says he, at the 20th verse of the chapter, "into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper." The way in which they kept this institution was so contrary to the design of it, so different from the way in which they ought to have kept it, and even so scandalous in itself, that they could not be cor- rectly said to keep it at all. Their eating was 3 30 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION not eating the Lord's Supper. In fact, they made a common meal of this sacred ordinance, nay, they actually turned it into an occasion of sensuality and carnal indulgence. Observe the Apostle's words : " For in eating, every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What! have ye not houses to eat and 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." When, after having thus animadverted on their disor- derly conduct, we find the Apostle immediately stating, by way of contrast, the pure, simple de- sign, and holy tendency of this institution, and then proceeding in these words, " Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup unworthily" — it is obvious that he uses this word unworthily in reference to the disor- derly and shameful conduct, on which he had been animadverting. The manner in which the Corinthians had behaved at the Lord's Table was most unworthy of the institution, and they who had thus eaten and drunken of it, had eaten and drunken unworthily. They had profaned TO THE HOLY COMMUNION* 31 this sacred ordinance by their indecent and irre- verent behaviour, " not discerning," as St. Paul says, "the Lord's body;" that is, not distin- guishing between this heavenly feast, and a com- mon entertainment; — not observing the due and respectful distinction which there was between the Sacramental Supper, which Christ had ap- pointed for the spiritual benefit of His people, and an ordinary meal in their own houses. This is clearly what St. Paul here means by the term, eating and drinking unworthily. It is eating and drinking the blessed pledges of redeeming love in a riotous and disorderly manner ; for such had been the way in which the Corinthi- ans, whom he is censuring, had eaten and drunk. And thus, he goes on to say, they were "guilty of the body and blood of Christ" and " did eat and drink their own damnation" These are the terms which require to be next ex- plained. To be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, means to be guilty of profaning them, — to be chargeable with treating them contemptu- ously, — and so with a measure of the same guilt which they incurred, who nailed His sacred 32 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION body, and shed His precious blood on the cross. So that, in fact, by thus eating and drinking un- worthily, they ate and drank their own damna- tion. By attending on this sacred ordinance in the manner described, they had exposed them- selves to the Divine wrath and punishment. No doubt this was the case. By such a profane abuse of holy things they had committed a sin, of which, as of every other sin, the wages were death. But there is no intimation whatever, that the Apostle considered this sin as unpardon- able, as an offence, however great, of which they might not savingly repent. The very con- trary, indeed, is implied throughout the whole passage ; and even the persons who had been guilty of this great indecency are exhorted to " examine themselves, and so to eat of that bread, and drink of that cup." In fact, much of the difficulty of the passage, and the trouble which it gives to tender minds, lies in the word Damnation, a sense, which the original word often bears, but which it need not necessarily bear. It is frequently rendered " Condemna- tion" a word of less formidable sound, and still more frequently "Judgment" the very word TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 33 which is here put by onr translators in the mar- gin of the Bible, and which, perhaps, in this place would have better conveyed the meaning of the Apostle ; for it is plain, as the whole con- necting passage obviously shows, that by this word Saint Paul intended chiefly to describe those temporal punishments and corrections to which the Corinthians had by their misconduct exposed themselves. What does he immediately add? — " For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." God had punished their profaneness and presumption by afflicting them with divers diseases, of which some had died. The design of these judgments, as the Apostle expressly says, was to benefit those who were afflicted with them, that by ex- amining and condemning themselves for their sinful conduct, they might escape a heavier con- demnation. " For if (says he) we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world." I hope that, from this explanation, the expres- sions in the passage where they stand, may be clearly understood. I hope it plainly appears 3* 34 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION that the Corinthians, by the irreverent and disor- derly manner in which they had come to the Lord's Table, and had behaved themselves there, had contracted a degree of guilt, which called for very deep repentance, and of which, unless they did repent, they might expect to be visited with severe corrections. Let us now see, — Secondly, the meaning of these expressions, as they are introduced into the Service of our Church. And here let me begin with remarking, that these expressions cannot have in this place ex- actly the same meaning which they have in Scripture. The compilers of our Liturgy could never have supposed that any persons in the communion of our Church, would ever be guilty of conduct precisely resembling that of the Co- rinthians,— that they would literally make a common meal of the Lord's Supper, and drink to excess at His Table. The prescribed mode of communicating, the order, the discipline, and all the circumstances of the celebration of this ordinance in our Church, exclude the probabi- lity, I might say the possibility, of such things occurring among us. Persons cannot in this TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 35 way eat and drink unworthily in onr Churches, nor, consequently, so eat and drink their own condemnation. It is plain, then, that this expression of " eat- ing and drinking unworthily," when introduced into the Service of our Church, can only be used to denote some offence resembling that of which the Corinthians were guilty. It can only refer to our acting under onr circumstances, in the same spirit in which they acted under theirs. They showed a very profane, irreve- rent spirit in their manner of coming to the Lord's Table. Thus the exhortation given to us warns us against coming in the same spirit. It warns us to beware of provoking God by coming to this sacred ordinance with a light, careless, carnal, sensual mind. It exhorts us, on the contrary, to draw near with reverence and godly fear, in a sober, serious, and humble spirit, equally removed from a superstitious dread on the one hand, and from a presumptuous indiffer- ence on the other ; while it admonishes us, from a reference to the example of the Corinthian Church, that we must stand in awe and sin not ; that God is greatly to be feared in the assembly 36 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION of His Saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are around about Him ; that if we judge ourselves we shall not be judged of the Lord ; and that if He does chasten His people in this world, it is that they may not be con- demned with the world. And now, my Brethren, have I succeeded in taking this stumbling-block out of your path ? Have I succeeded in showing you, that you have nothing really to fear from these expressions in the Service of our Church? You, I mean, (for it is to you I am speaking.) who may hitherto have felt some apprehension on this subject; who have been afraid lest you might possibly eat and drink unworthily, and so might be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, and eat and drink your own damnation. I trust you now see that such an apprehension is groundless. Your very apprehension, indeed, on the subject renders it, if I may so speak, impossible that you can do these things. The very fear which you have of doing them utterly precludes you from doing them. They who can do such things, can have no fear of this kind, otherwise they would not do them. Let me ask you, TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 37 could you come boldly, carelessly, presumptu- ously, fearlessly, to the Lord's Table ? No ; you dread nothing so much as coming in this way. But perhaps you may say, " I long, in- deed, to partake of this sacred ordinance with a humble, serious, and devout mind, but I am afraid that my mind is not so humble, serious, and devout as it ought to be. And thus, if I should go at last unworthily, what will become of me ?" Let me beseech you to lay aside such thoughts. You cannot go unworthily, while such are your desires and fears. As to your not being as humble, serious, and devout as you ought to be, that is a thing which cannot be otherwise. Paul himself would have made the same confession. I repeat what I have already said (and may it come with power and consola- tion to your soul), so long as you desire to be a humble, devout, and serious communicant, you cannot come unworthily; you have nothing to fear from those expressions which may have hitherto caused you uneasiness. You cannot offend as the Corinthians offended. You cannot act in their spirit. You need not be afraid of their judgments. 38 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION But, perhaps, it may be asked, Are there no persons, then, who eat and drink unworthily? who are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, and eat and drink their own damnation ? Yes, my Brethren, it is to be feared that there may still be such persons ; persons who, with a profane and sensual heart, presume to eat of that bread and drink of that cup ; persons who, with- out any repentance for sin, or any faith in the Saviour, fearlessly come to His Table ; persons who, retaining an unforgiving and malignant temper, intrude into this feast of holy love ; per- sons who, having no other motive for partaking of this Sacrament than a desire to please some worldly friend, profanely thrust themselves into these sacred mysteries. Such persons, it is to be feared, there still are in the Christian world ; persons who, having nothing Christian about them but the name, do yet attend this Christian ordinance, and eat and drink the pledges of the Saviour's love. And such persons do unquestionably eat and drink unworthily. They profane and pervert this holy institution, and eat and drink to their own condemnation. TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 39 But let us remember, that it is not in reference to this Sacrament alone that they act thus ; they act thus in every thing. What is there which such persons do not to their own condemnation ? My Brethren, let us come to a right understand- ing on this matter. A profane, wicked, ungodly person, in every thing which he does, must in- crease his sin and guilt. Does he come to the public worship of God ? He comes to his own condemnation ; for every thing which he hears there will rise up in judgment against him, and condemn him. Does he stay away from the House of God? He stays away to his own condemnation, for he is despising God and His ordinances. Does he utter a prayer in his own house? He utters it to his own condemnation, for he utters it formally and hypocritically, and without the heart. Does he live without prayer? He so lives to his own condemnation, for he lives without God in the world. In a word, such a man, continuing such, can do nothing but treasure up wrath against the day of wrath. For we are expressly told in the Word of God, that the " sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord." Where, then, is the wonder, that 40 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION if such persons presume to eat and drink at the Lord's Table, they should eat and drink con- demnation to themselves ? How can it be other- wise ? Until they truly repent, and do works meet for repentance- — until they flee with peni- tent hearts to the Saviour of sinners for the par- don of their sins, and for the gift of a new and holy heart, — there is, there can be, no hope for them. They are destitute of every thing which can fit them for serving God here, and for dwell- ing with Him hereafter. Blessed indeed be the riches of His grace ; if they did but feel their need, they might soon obtain a full supply for all their wants. Jesus is ready to receive, to pardon, and to bless every soul that turns to Him, even the chief of sinners. And in His name I would bid all to turn to Him. I would as- sure all who do with the heart turn to Him, that they shall be gTaciously received and welcomed. I would say to the wicked, " Forsake your way, and turn unto the Lord, for He will have mercy upon you, and to your God, for He will abun- dantly pardon." And if I have authority from the Word of God to say these things to the wicked, to those TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 41 whose hearts at present are hard and impeni- tent, — if I am permitted to assure such persons that there is mercy and pardon even for them, if they will but seek it, that God is not willing that they should perish, but waiteth to be gra- cious unto them, — what may I not say to you, my Brethren, who are of a contrite and a hum- ble spirit, and who tremble at His holy word ? What consolation, what encouragement may I not give to you? I can assure you, from the word of the Lord, that He looketh upon you, yea, with favour and delight. I can say unto you in His name, and in His own words, " Fear thou not, for I am with thee : be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will uphold thee, with the right hand of my righteousness." 4 THE LORD'S SUPPER. My God, and is thy table spread, And does thy cup with love o'erflow 1 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. Why are its bounties all in vain Before unwilling hearts display'd 1 Was not for you the victim slain 1 Are you forbid the children's bread 1 O let Thy table honoured be, And furnish'd well with joyful guests; And may each soul salvation see, That here its holy pledges tastes. Drawn by Thy quickening grace, O Lord, In countless numbers let them come ; And gather, from their Father's board, The bread that lives beyond the tomb. Nor let Thy spreading Gospel rest, Till through the world Thy truth has run ; Till with this bread all men be blest, Who see the light, or feel the sun. WHY ARE YOU NOT A COMMUNICANT? REV. JAMES DUKE COLERIDGE, L. L. D. I dare say, that he who, with an honest meaning, (although with an imperfect devotion,) doth address himself to the performance of this duty, is far more ex- cusable than he that, upon whatever score, declineth it. Dr. Isaac Barrow. WHY ARE YOU NOT A COMMUNICANT? As one of the flock committed to my care, I hope that you will suffer a word of friendly ad- monition from me without taking any offence ; for God does know that I mean only your good, in what I am about to say. You well know, in- deed, that whether my advice be regarded or not, it is still my duty, in a seasonable manner, to offer it : and that it is at the peril of my own soul, if fear or negligence keep me from remind- ing of their religious duties, any of those who are entrusted to me, who seem to be forgetful of them ; all such, whether they will hear, or whe- ther they will forbear, must be compelled to know that a minister of the Gospel is among them. Such then is my authority for addressing you, 4*, 46 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION and I would in the kindest spirit express my regret and sorrow at never having seen you at the Lord's Supper. Now, as a believer in Christ, you must know that it is your duty and your interest to do what He commands : and having read or heard the Scriptures, you must have read or heard that He did, on the night before He shed his blood on the cross, for us men and for our salvation, command all Christians to the end of time, to eat bread and drink wine at his table, in remembrance of Him.* You have, moreover, children, or servants, or both, under your care, and are bound to consider the effect of your example on them — whether they will be likely to respect Christ and his or- dinances, if they see their parents, or masters and mistresses, constantly neglect them. God, be assured, expects you to take some care of their souls as well as their bodies ; and an ac- count must one day be given, — it may be some years first, or it may be very soon ; but as sure as God is true, so surely must every one of us give an account of himself to Him ; and as your * Luke xxii. 19. TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 47 minister will be examined as to his discharge of his pastoral duties, so will heads of families be asked how they have done theirs to their child- ren and servants ; and remember, example is stronger than precept. Let me, then, ask you, why is it that you have never yet obeyed your Saviour's dying command? Is it because you think yourself unfit, unprepared, to perform so sacred a duty ? Then let me entreat you to consider in what a right preparation consists ; and not to forget, that whatever that may be, the same preparation must be made before you can hope to die in peace. After reflecting on what I read or learn from Scripture on this subject, I believe, and, therefore, declare to you, that he who has such a faith in his Saviour's merits, and such a grati- tude for what he has done for his soul, as leads him to repent of his past sins, and heartily to purpose to amend his life, at the same time for- giving from his heart all who may have injured him ; I believe that a person so disposed, may, safely and profitably for his soul, attend the Holy Communion, even though he may have been a great sinner before, and is, as we all 48 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION know, liable to commit sin again. And it is this very liability to sin, that makes it so much his duty and interest to attend this blessed ordinance ; for has not the Saviour said, " Them that come unto me I will in no wise cast out?" And where can the repentant sinner draw so near to his Saviour, as in that Sacrament of which He Himself said, " Take, ^at, this is my body, which is given for you : do this in remembrance of me. Drink ye all of this, for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you, and for many, for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me." For what, let me ask you, did our Lord shed his blood? As a propitiation for the sins of the whole world. For whom, then, did He appoint this Sacrament, in which his death is so afFect- ingly brought to our recollection? Not for saints, surely, but for sinners, those very sinners whom he came to save. And why did He ap- point it for sinners ? As an ordinance in which they, when penitent and believing, may have the pardon of their past sins sealed to them, and the grace of His Holy Spirit vouchsafed to help and support them in their Christian progress in TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 49 future, in the words of the Catechism — as a means of strengthening and refreshing their souls. A worthy partaker in the Lord's Supper can- not mean a person without sin ; for if so, no person that ever yet lived, or that shall in future live in this world (the Holy Saviour alone ex- cepted,) could partake : but Christ, who knew what was in man, his weakness and sinfulness, declared that all his followers, imperfect as they were, if conscientious and sincere, were to eat and drink in this Sacrament, and to show forth His death till He came again to judgment. So that, as our Saviour certainly never meant to ap- point an ordinance which no one should attend, it follows that sinners are they who must attend : but then they must be sinners resolving to leave off their sins, and, therefore, approaching God's table of mercy to obtain grace, and to find help in their time of need. There is a great differ- ence between being worthy to receive the bene- fits of the Lord's Supper, and receiving them after a worthy manner. The first we can never be, any more than we can deserve the least of God's mercies ; and for a man to account him- 50 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION self worthy of the Divine love and pardon, would be far more like the self-righteous Pharisee, than the humble and, therefore, justified Publican. But the last we may do, provided that we repent of our sins, heartily purpose to amend our lives, and rest our whole faith in the sacrifice of Christ for the Divine acceptance of our imperfect en- deavours. Let me implore you, then, not any longer to think you are acting a safe and right part in absenting yourself from the Holy Com- munion, an account of your unfitness. Your Saviour and your Judge calls you to this duty ; the preparation necessary is only that which you must make if you desire to have a good hope in death : and to neglect the call of Christ, lest you should obey it in an imperfect manner, is, surely, to commit one sin in order to avoid the chance of committing another. This is, in fact, mock- ing God, by making your conscience the pre- tence for disobeying Him. I will ask you, then, again, why do you not come to the Lord's Table ? Is it because you are so busily engaged in worldly affairs, in pro- viding for your family, that you have no time to attend to your religious duties, and to prepare for TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 51 this most solemn and necessary one of all ?— How is this? Are you called on by Christ to neglect your daily business and labour in order to serve Him acceptably ? Are farmers required to neglect their farms, or shopkeepers their trade, or labourers their masters' work, before they can duly attend the Lord's Supper? Did the Saviour appoint this feast of love only for those who have nothing to do but to read, and pray, and meditate ? or does the Holy Spirit in Scrip- ture any where encourage idleness in our worldly calling, under the notion that we can only, or better, thereby be properly vigilant in our spi- ritual one ? — Far otherwise. Hear the Divine Word : " If any man will not work, neither let him eat." " That ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you." And the Scripture, generally, so far from forbidding the due discharge of the duties of your calling, di- rects how they are to be performed so as to please God, viz., by doing every thing in a reli- gious spirit, so that, whether eating or drinking, things apparently the farthest removed from a religious character, all may be done to the glory 52 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION of God. Our Saviour, we are sure, never in- tended the concerns of this world to be at a stand, and every thing thrown into confusion ; which would be the case if men did not labour in their several callings. He charges men on the contrary, " not to be slothful in business," yet at the same time they must be "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." His kingdom and his righteousness must first be sought and attended to, and this may be done without neglecting your duty in that state of life in which God has placed you. And I know no preparation for the Holy Communion more suitable or more ac- ceptable than the daily discharge of that duty in a religious temper and spirit, as "unto the Lord and not unto man :" for when so performed, re- ligion will be mixed up with it: while you are attending to the concerns of this world, you will be at the same time preparing for another; and you cannot prepare for heaven without being fit to attend the Lord's Supper. If, indeed, you allow the concerns of this world so entirely to engross your attention as to leave no room for God or religion in all your thoughts, you are guilty of a great sin ; you are continually for- TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 53 getting your Maker and Preserver, and whether you attend the Communion or not, are preparing for yourself that punishment which is promised to such persons in Psalm ix. 17. The business itself must be lessened, if you cannot otherwise lessen your eagerness in attending it. But this is not necessary : for I deny that either you, or any of those in my flock, who refuse to attend the Lord's Supper, have any need to be so en- tirely taken up with the duties of their calling as not to be able to take care of their souls at the same time, and, as one principal proof of their doing so, to obey their Saviour's command in this instance. Look round on your fellow pa- rishioners, and ask yourself, whether many of those who are mindful of their duty in this re- spect, have not full as good a right to plead worldly business as an excuse for neglect as you have ? Do not, then, deceive yourself in this manner ; for though "it is an easy matter for a man to say, I will not communicate, because I am other- wise hindered with worldly business ; yet such excuses are not so easily accepted and allowed before God. They that refused the feast in the 5 54 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION Gospel (in St. Matthew, chapter xx.) because they had bought a farm, or would try their yokes of oxen, or because they were married, were not so excused, but counted unworthy of the heavenly feast." Six days, then, let the farmer or the husbandman industriously labour in his proper calling ; but let him be mindful, at the same time, and walk worthy of that higher vocation wherewith he is called, the calling of a Christian, knowing that God sees him in all his thoughts, words, and works, that a Saviour died in order to save him, and yet who will not save him, if he persists in neglecting and dis- obeying him in all his commands and ordi- nances. Thus mindful of the future, while pro- viding for the present, during the six days you will be making the best preparation for keeping holy the Sabbath day, and attending, as you are bound to do, the Holy Communion, and other means of grace which that day offers to you. Once more, then, I ask, why you persist in neglecting this holy ordinance? Is it because the duty of attendance is not as expressly and positively enjoined in Scripture, as any other Christian duty, and therefore you think that, al- TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 55 though it may be well to be a Communicant, you are not guilty of disobedience to God in not being so ? What are our Saviour's words on this occasion? (for " the word that he has spoken," I pray you to remember, " the same shall judge us at the last day.") "Take, eat, this is my body : Drink ye all of this, for this is my blood of the New Testament. Do this in remembrance of me." Is this a mere permis- sion to attend ? are we left to be at liberty to choose whether we will communicate or not, and so be without offence in refusing to do so ? or is it not, in truth, a command, a command given by our Saviour in plain language, and, therefore, at our peril to be disobeyed? "Ho- nour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." " This do in remembrance of me : for as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come." The first is a command with a pro- mise annexed ; the second is no less a command with the blessing declared, which this Sacrament is intended to commemorate. Can either be dis- obeyed without incurring the anger of the divine 56 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION Lawgiver ? The early Christians gave us no reason to suppose that they held the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper to be less binding on them than that of baptism : how necessary they held baptism you need no proof; and as to the com- munion, they are described by St. Luke as " continuing steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers :" that is, in attending to the Apos- tles' preaching, in receiving the Lord's Supper, and in praying together : the duties were equally complied with, because equally required of them by their Lord and Saviour. They are expressly mentioned as " continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house :" that is, after having preached publicly to the Jews in the temple, they retired to private houses to administer the Lord's Supper, where, alone, at that time, they could do it without in- terruption. And we are told in the Acts of the Apostles, chap, xx., that " on the first day of the week (answering to our Sunday,) when the dis- ciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them." Such was the practice of those who may be supposed best to have known TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 57 our Lord's mind : and if with them you think that baptism ought to be administered, you must think that the Lord's Supper likewise should: but how can the ministers of the Gospel admi- nister it, unless you, the people under their care, attend to receive it ? Say no more, then, that you are not as much bound to attend the Holy Communion, as to obey any other of your Saviour's commands ; for if He has been pleased to appoint a specific rite in which you are to remember gratefully his death and passion, what is it but perverseness of the worst kind to refuse to participate in that rite, and yet profess yourself his follower and disciple ? Is it, then, that, alarmed by that de- claration of St. Paul — " He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damna- tion to himself," — you think it better not to par- take of the Lord's Supper, than incur the sin and punishment of partaking of it unworthily ? If you are really so fearful on this head, I pray you to attend to better words than mine, and be con- vinced that you are in no danger of receiving un- worthily in the Apostle's meaning. " For, the unworthy receiving which he so severely cen- 5* 58 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION sures in the Corinthians, was their approaching the Lord's Table with so improper a sense of the act they were performing, that they did not discern the Lord's body ; they made no distinc- tion between the bread of the Sacrament and common food. Such at that time was the con- dition of the Corinthians, that when they met to- gether to receive the Sacrament, which in those days was usually preceded by a common feast of rich and poor together, they used the church more as a place of riot and intemperance than as the house of God."* " When ye come to- gether in one place," saith the indignant Apos- tle, " this is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For, in eating, every one takes before other his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunk- en. What ! ha\ 3 ye not houses to eat and drink in — or despise ye the Church of God? What shall I say to you ? Shall I praise you in this ? I praise you not." Such is the remonstrance of St. Paul ; and it is upon such unworthy, irre- verent, and profane partakers in the Lord's Sup- per as those whom he thus describes, that he * From Bishop Mant's Sermon on the Lord's Supper. TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 59 pronounces that formidable censure. But, surely, you, who are so fearful of coming to the Holy Communion, can be in no clanger of treating it with such profanation as this. But even on such unworthy partakers as were these Corinthians, the Apostle did not denounce eternal damnation, as you may perhaps suppose. For the word which he used was not intended by him to signify damnation, but judgment from God, some temporal punishment, as sickness or death : and that this is his meaning, and not the one which creates so much alarm, is evident from his saying directly afterwards, that when we are thus "judged," punished in this world, " we are chastened of the Lord, that v/e may not be condemned," not be sentenced to eternal misery in the next world. So you will observe, that you are in no danger, as the Communion is now administered, of committing the very sin so justly censured in the Corinthians : nor if you were, are the pains of hell threatened by the Apostle in this passage of Scripture for so doing. If you ask, who then is an unworthy partaker at this day ? I reply, shortly, that person who is so ignorant that he knows not for what pur- 60 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION pose he approaches the Lord's Table, and who takes no pains to be instructed, as well as he who is a dissipated, careless liver, or an habitual hardened sinner, resolving not to leave off his sins : and such a person may be assured that neither is he fit to attend the Communion, nor to meet death : if he continues thus, and is not converted, his state is desperate indeed. In conversing with different members of my congregation respecting this solemn duty, I have sometimes heard it insinuated, rather than openly alleged as an excuse for their neglect, that many who do attend had better stay away, because they are so far from being better Christians after- wards, that they riot in their sins with as little compunction as before, and are not perhaps as religiously disposed and behaved as they who abstain from the Communion. I have heard this, I repeat, insinuated, rather than boldly avowed ; for at the very instant, it must have passed across the mind of the person, What have I to do with my neighbour's conduct? Shall I have to answer for him, or for myself? The truth is, this sitting in judgment on our neighbour's religious character is at all times a TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 61 very dangerous proceeding : but in the instance before us, the person may be asked this plain question, Whether he can for an instant believe that when at the last day he stands convicted be- fore his Judge, of neglecting the Communion, it will be sufficient for him to say, I stayed away from the Lord's Supper, because my neighbour did not appear to me to be better for attending : I have uniformly neglected Christ's last and po- sitive command, which I was continually warn- ed, and very well knew it was my duty to obey, because my neighbour profaned and abused it : in a word, I have made his unworthy perform- ance of a duty, a reason for my total neglect of it? That any one should dare to attend the Communion of Christ's Body and Blood with an unbelieving and impenitent heart, is without doubt an exceeding wickedness : but still one man's unworthily partaking will be no excuse for another's not partaking at all. The sin of others should rather act as a spur to our own piety. It has occasionally been said to me by those who appear to have turned their minds to the subject, and who acknowledge the seriousness of 62 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION it, that they think it safest to stay away from the Lord's Supper, because if they commit sin after having communicated, their sin will on that ac- count be more sinful, and their salvation more in danger. Now there can be no doubt that the more and the stronger the resolutions we make against sin, and still relapse into it, the more have we reason to fear the fate of those who know the will of God, but do it not : because we are thus acting against that clear light, and that better knowledge of our duty, which we prove ourselves to have, by being communicants; but in this case, the Sacrament has no other effect, than any other strong resolution against sin would have : and, therefore, if this is a good reason for not communicating, we should never make any resolution against sin. Can we think that Christians may sin with greater freedom and safety by abstaining from the Com- munion ? Is sin of a less guilty nature, if the Communion be not received ? No one in his senses can suppose it. The Sacrament binds us only to what as Christians we were bound be- fore. And, therefore, they who do not come to the Lord's Table from the hope, that the punish- TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 63 ment of their sins will be slighter on that ac- count, are grievously deceiving themselves, and are actually trifling with their salvation. I have now examined those excuses for not attending the Communion which may probably have appeared to you to have some weight in justifying your neglect, and I have examined them very briefly, in the hope that you will find time on Sunday evenings to read what I have said ; which if you do attentively and impar- tially,! am persuaded you will see how groundless they are; that they proceed, in fact, almost alto- gether from the fatal carelessness about religious matters, too natural to mankind ; and, therefore, how utterly insufficient they must be for your security at the last day. But you will here perhaps say, Enough has been alleged to show that I am w 7 rong in not communicating : now let me be convinced of the positive necessity that exists for my being a communicant : — why am I so urgently called on to be so ? what are the benefits which I shall receive thereby ? — Now, respecting anything that is proposed to us for our compliance, the question that should natu- rally and properly arise is, Is it consistent with 64 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION our duty and our interest? If it be the former, we shall, if rightly disposed, instantly conclude that it must be the latter, and shall hasten to show our belief that it is so, by a suitable prac- tice. Is it, then, your duty to be a communi- cant? If the express command of your Lord and Saviour, given, too, on the night before He suffered death for your sake, can make it a duty, you have already seen that it is ; and that no one injunction of the very many which He gave, and which are laid down in the Gospels and Epis- tles, is more positive, more binding on you, than this one of eating bread and drinking wine at his table in remembrance of Him. Is it your interest to be a communicant ? To this it would be suf- ficient to answer as above, that because it is your duty, it must be your interest ; inasmuch as Christ himself has said, " If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." The proof of our love of the Saviour is the keeping his commandments ; and the fruit of keeping his commandments is, that our heavenly Father will love us, and his divine light and grace will ever be present to TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 65 comfort, guide, and strengthen us. And if this is true of religious obedience in general, how pre-eminently is the gracious promise fulfilled to the devout attendant at the Lord's Table ! For if the argument which I have before used, be well grounded, that we are not expected to be perfect and strong-grown Christians before we partake of the Divine mysteries of the Commu- nion, but that it is enough that we earnestly desire and strenuously endeavour to be such, and so manifest our faith by repenting of and forsaking our sins: if this be so, as my study of God's words leads me to believe it is, we shall find the frequent use of the Holy Communion to be the most effectual means to that purpose. We are here in a vale of tears : where shall we seek for comfort, but from the source of all joy and satisfaction? We are surrounded with a multitude of temptations : where shall we find strength to resist them, but in this Divine ar- moury? We are loaded with many imperfec- tions,. and sometimes by negligence or surprise fall a prey to the tempter : what so proper to wash away our stain, (what else can do it?) as that precious, inestimable blood, which was shed 6 66 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION for that end and purpose? Our Saviour has told us, that "his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed;" that is, that his flesh and blood, " which are verily and indeed," in a spiritual manner, " taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper," are for " the strengthening and refreshing of our souls, as our bodies are strengthened and refreshed by the bread and wine." When we are brought by the Divine mercy to a sense of our sins, and our souls are pierced with an unfeigned sorrow for having committed them ; what surer method have we of procuring our pardon from God, than by showing forth the Lord's death, by re- presenting his bitter passion to the Father, that so He would for his sake, according to the tenor of his covenant in Him, be favourable to us miserable sinners ? We all know, by fatal ex- perience, how unable we are of ourselves to do any thing that is good ; but this heavenly ban- quet is the food and nourishment of our souls ; it gives new life and vigour to our pious resolu- tions, and conveys power and strength to per- form our duty. There the penitent believer has the pardon of his past sins sealed, and fresh grace TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 67 bestowed to enable him to continue Christ's for ever, to increase more and more in holiness until he comes to God's everlasting kingdom : the work of mercy which was begun in Baptism, is in fact continued in the Lord's Supper, until it receives its full completion in the kingdom of Heaven. These, then, are the benefits of being a sincere communicant ; and great as they are, they are far greater in proportion to the fre- quency of your communion. The observation of nearly nineteen years, during which I have been called on as a parish priest to attend many hundreds of sick and dying persons, enables me to declare — and I entreat you not to disregard this fact — that a very great drawback from the spiritual comfort of the Communion, arising from doubt, fear, and remorse, has been felt and expressed by those who, having known their duty for many years, have yet become commu- nicants for the first time on their death beds ; the sting of conscience for a long-continued dis- obedience in so important a part of a Christian's duty cannot at once be got rid of. Whereas, blessed, oh ! inexpressibly blessed are they, who, having habitually in the days of health, conscien- 68 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION tiously and sincerely, however imperfectly, obeyed their Saviour's command, can at the hour of death have recourse to it for the last time with increased confidence, and say, " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." And now, my friend, on the supposition that you have read thus far, and have set your heart to a serious consideration of this sacred ordi- nance, if through the Divine blessing you should be led to acknowledge the benefits of attending, the danger of neglecting it, and therefore to form the resolution of doing your duty as a Christian should ; do not suffer yourself, I conjure you, to be led away by a too common infirmity of human nature, and put ofT the performance of this godly resolution ; do not imitate the self- convicted judge — "Go thy way for this time: when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." It is by yielding to this delusion of the great enemy of mankind, the trusting to a future time to do that for which no time is so proper as the present, that so many poor souls make ship- wreck of their salvation. Although past the spring-time of life, you - are yet, perhaps, in TO THE HOLY COMMUNION, 69 sound health, and looking forward to the enjoy- ment of many years : or if not altogether free from bodily ailing, your complaints are not at present dangerous, and are of such a nature as promise to give you a sufficient warning ere they become so : and is it thus, let me first ask you, that you show your gratitude to God for giving you health, by refusing to obey the last command of his only-begotten Son? or can it be right, think you, so to turn a deaf ear to the admonition, which along continuance of bodily disorder and weakness is calculated to afford, as not to commemorate the offering up of that body and blood, of which, if we spiritually partake not, we have no life in us.* If you are in health, devote the first fruits of your strength to the Divine Giver thereof, and let not the hour of sickness be the first time of your obeying the last command of your God and Saviour; and if you are reminded, by some long-continuing weakness, of the perishable nature of your body, be thereby reminded at the same time, that this malady is sent you by God as a medicine to * John vi. 53. 6* 70 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION cure the far greater malady of your soul ; and if you are not thus brought to walk in all the ordi- nances of the Lord blameless, you have all the bitterness of the draught, without any of its healing properties. But, strong and vigorous as you now are, have you any assurance of your continuing so ? or have you been promised such a notice of an approaching change as will give you time to buy oil for your lamp, and to pre- pare to meet your Lord ? Full well you know that you must answer "nay," to both these questions ; and, if so, what a fearful risk you run ! In what peril do you leave your soul ! You are content to leave to a most uncertain chance your ability of complying with that which is rightly called, " generally necessary to your salvation," that is, to the salvation of all Christians who have the means of knowing and performing their duty in this respect. If, when afflicted with some dangerous bodily disease, a physician should visit you, and after inquiring into and ascertaining the causes and nature of your illness, should prescribe such and such a plan to be pursued, and such remedies to be taken for restoring you to health, would you TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 71 not, if you had faith in his skill, follow his ad- vice, and take his medicines, and acknowledge, moreover, that you would have no right to look for a cure if you did not? Now Jesus Christ is the physician of your soul. He came into the world to cure its diseases. And besides the pre- cepts and doctrines laid down in his Gospel for your practice and belief, which may be called his regimen, He has ordered bread and wine in the Communion, to be frequently administered as a sovereign medicine, if properly taken, for the recovery of us his diseased patients. But you will go on months and years, delaying to comply with his directions, and trusting to some future opportunity, which you have no assurance of ever having; and thus, perhaps, die, without ever, in spite of repeated exhortations and in- vitations, having fulfilled this great and solemn duty. I will suppose, however, what you may deem a more favourable case, that, after a long conti- nuance of health, you should be visited with an illness which, though likely to lead to a fatal termination, is unattended with any violent pain of body, or loss of senses ; and which, therefore, 72 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION leaves you the power of listening to your minis- ter's instruction, and of receiving, after all, the blessed Sacrament at his hands. And as there is a chance of this (in your opinion) satisfactory settlement of your spiritual concerns, a chance which you think yourself justified in expecting by seeing some of your neighbours so fortunate, you are content to take it, and, meanwhile, turn a deaf ear to all exhortation to the contrary. And this you do because you think the call of duty will be thus satisfied, a whole life of diso- bedience thus compounded for; the Communion once received will be available to your salvation although received at the eleventh hour, and the service offered be as acceptable to God as if you had regularly paid it in the days of health. But this you may be assured is an error, and a very fearful one. God's word forbids that they who for many years have known their duty in this respect, and done it not, who, ready to fall into the grave, and only because they are ready to fall into the grave, for the first time partake in the Sacrament, should have any right to expect that spiritual comfort in the ordinance, which will surely be theirs who, for the last time, at TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 73 the hour of death, have recourse to that which has been their constant support through life. To such it will bring pardon and peace ; but for the others, God's ministers can only hope and pray that it may not be too late, that the mercy so often and for so many years despised, may yet be obtained, and that the Lord's death, which they have never before shown forth, may yet avail to the pardon of this among their other sins. This, however, is a far, very far different state from that in which you, my friend, would wish to be when you come to die ; for thus to offer up that which costs you nothing, thus to serve the Lord when you can do nothing else, thus to dedicate to Him the poor remains of that strength of which the first fruits should have been His : what is it but seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness, not as your first, not even as your second consideration, but as the very last ? And can you think yourself safe, in spite of repeated warnings, and in spite of know- ing your duty in this respect, as you must do, so to hazard your soul ? The Sacrament of Bap- tism, being the Sacrament of introduction into the Gospel covenant, is of course not to be re- 74 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION peated: the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper being the standing memorial of that sacrifice which is the seal of the covenant, is to be re- peated, is to be partaken of by us until the Lord come again to judgment : but how little anxious to remember to commemorate that sacrifice by which alone we live, do they show themselves who do not, until their eyes are almost closing on this world, have recourse to that rite which Christ himself appointed as commemorative of it ! and how can they expect to benefit by the sacrifice itself, who, in so important a point, persist in disobeying Him, who was himself at once the great High-Priest, the Offerer, and the Lamb, without blemish and without spot, that was offered? Consider, then, I entreat you, my friend, all these things with the seriousness they merit; k< set your heart unto all the words which I tes- tify among you this day, which ye shall com- mand your children to observe, to do all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you ; because it is your life."* And remember, • Deut. xxxii. 46, 47. TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 75 you are not among those who can truly plead ignorance of their duty in this respect, or who never have been warned or admonished about it. Read, then, attentively the twenty-sixth chapter of St. Matthew, the twenty-second chapter of St. Luke, the sixth chapter of St. John, the eleventh chapter of the first epistle to the Corin- thians, and finally, as a most valuable and scrip- tural commentary on them all, the Communion Service of our Church. Pray, fervently pray, for God's enlightening grace, that you may see the things that belong to your peace ; and for His assisting and strengthening grace, that you may be disposed and enabled to do them before they are hidden from your eyes. And while as your minister I cease not, night and morning, to pray for the Divine blessing on this and every other endeavour to teach and lead you into the good and the right way, I at the same time most earnestly request you, if what I have said is not sufficiently plain, or if any scruples yet remain which I have not alluded to, or succeeded in re- moving, to come to me at any hour most conve- venient to yourself, and candidly state them in private. 76 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION As a conclusion to the whole, weigh well this very simple, very short statement of the case : Christ has died to save me ; but as one condition of my receiving that salvation, He has enjoined on me a positive, easy, and beneficial duty ; I have been told of this, repeatedly exhorted, ear- nestly entreated to fulfil it: but I have uniformly and through my whole life neglected it; what then must be my hopes from a Judge supremely just, who has declared, "If ye love me, keep my commandments ?" Thus will the case stand with you at the hour of death, if you persist in refusing to receive the Lord's Supper. But how ought it to stand? Christ, the King of Glory, did humble himself even to the death upon the cross, for me a miserable sinner, who lay in darkness and the shadow of death, that He might make me a child of God, and exalt me to everlasting life : He has instituted and ordained holy mysteries as pledges of his love, and for a continual remembrance of his death, to my great and endless comfort ; I will therefore be neither monstrously ungrateful to Him, nor wanting to my own interest, but will hasten to lay hold of these blessed pledges, and will do as He has TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 77 commanded me. " What reward shall I give unto the Lord for all the benefits that he hath done unto me ? I will receive the cup of salva- tion, and call upon the name of the Lord." HOLY COMMUNION. And are we now brought near to God, Who once at distance stood? And, to effect this glorious change, Did Jesus shed His blood 1 Oh for a song of ardent praise, To bear our souls above ! What should allay our lively hope, Or damp our flaming love 1 Then let us join the heavenly choirs, To praise our heavenly King ! Oh may that love which spread this board, Inspire us while we sing — " Glory to God in highest strains, And to the earth be peace; Good will from Heaven to men is come, And let it never cease," AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HOLY COMMUNION REV. SAMUEL WILBERFORCE, M. A. ARCHDEACON OF SURREY. AS OFTEN AS YE EAT THIS BREAD, AND DRINK THIS CUP, YE DO SHOW THE LORD'S DEATH TILL HE COME. — 1 COR. XI 26, INTRODUCTION TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. As a matter of mere abstract reasoning, there can be little difference amongst members of the Church as to the importance of a regular attend- ance at the table of the Lord ; or little doubt, that they who habitually, and of settled purpose, ne- glect that holy rite, must be set down with those who live in any other wilful sin, whether of omission or commission. The unhappy logic which can relax the obligation of that plain and affectionate command, " Do this in remembrance of me," can as easily explain away any other of the laws of God. Yet this is only one amongst many instances which show the little worth of 7* 82 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION abstract acknowledgments of duty. Men live by a different rule — by the law of their own habits, and of the tone of life around them ; and that this is in direct opposition to the theoretical admission of the universal duty of communicat- ing, is but too clear on all sides. How many may be found in every church, who rise with utter unconcern to quit the half-concluded ser- vice, when they know that they shall soon be bidden to " draw near with faith, and take that holy sacrament to their comfort !" It seems never to cost them a thought — it is a settled principle, on which they may act without the trouble of a separate process of deliberation. The feast is not for them. Yet how would this decent multitude endure the address which in the old times of the Church they could not have escaped? — " Ye that cannot communicate, walk off and begone. Let no . . . infidel be present ; no heterodox person ; no heretic."* On this temper of the times no thoughtful Christian can look without pain ; for though * Apostol. Constitut. lib. viii. cap. 12; quoted by Bing- ham, Antiq. b. xiii. cap. 1. TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 83 there may have been some increase in the num- ber of communicants, it has undoubtedly kept no due relation to the increase of apparent piety amongst us. The complaint may still be made, "How insignificant is the proportion of that little company, which, when the bulk of the con- gregation has retired, and the doors are closed, thankfully gather round the table of the Lord, to commemorate the Saviour's meritorious cross and passion ; and in this little company, how small is the number of the young! — where are the lambs of the fold ?"* If, then, the evil be admitted, it is of no little moment to inquire into the causes which have helped it forward. Now, amongst the foremost of these appear to be two widely spread miscon- ceptions, which, seeming at first sight destruc- tive of each other, do in fact combine to bring about the same result. One of these, beginning with paying a seeming reverence to the holy rite, would represent it as too great and holy to be approached by ordinary Christians. Those * Charge of the Lord Bishop of Winchester for 1837, p. 23. 84 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION whom matured age, and long-established habits, or greater spirituality of mind, seem to mark as belonging to the higher classes in the Christian school, may safely draw near and rejoice in their privilege ; but for those who are still compassed about with temptation, still weak in faith, and not sure of themselves, they had better wait, lest, by a premature reception of the holy sacra- ment, they do but increase the guilt of their after-offences, if not " eat and drink their own damnation." This is one of the most common grounds for living in the absolute neglect of the holy office. The young think themselves too giddy, the middle-aged too full of occupation, the poor too full of cares, the rich too full of busi- ness ; professional employments keep the men, the trials of a family the women ; and so, by common consent, they stay away from commu- nion, thinking that they are but treating with due reverence so great a mystery. It is much to be feared that, in many cases, the tone of our min- istry has rather tended to help on than check this error. We have grown to connive at such excuses, in our desire to keep the table of the Lord free from unfaithful worshippers. We TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 85 hear, in common language, the number of " the congregation," not of the communicants, at any church. The man who does communicate is marked as doing something more than others, rather than the non-communicant as doing less. We suffer ordinary Christians to attend week by week, and even year by year, upon our min- istry, and never come to the communion ; instead of feeling it a monstrous thing, and plainly show- ing that we feel it such. Yet, what can be more injurious to a minis- try ? for it is, in fact, yielding to that universal temptation of putting off all serious care about religion to a "more convenient season." It is allowing that men may be Christians, and may profit by the hearing of God's word, though they cannot bring themselves to that true devotedness of heart and life which would warrant their ha- bitual presence at the holy table. The first working of this error may be often traced to the time of confirmation. That holy rite is intended by the Church to admit the catechumen to the class of full-grown Chris- tians, and to all the privileges of believers. Of these the chiefest and most evident is a partak- bb AFFECTIONATE INVITATION ing of this holy feast. But from this the young are apt to shrink. Confirmation has been a step, and for the present they are contented with it ; after a while, they look forward to communi- cating as another. " Let us," is their language, "have time to try our sincerity, to see whether we act up to our vows ; and then hereafter we may take our places at the holy table." How thin a veil is this to cover self-dependanee, and an unfaithful estimation of the eucharist as the distinction of a class rather than a means of grace ! Now this is the natural temptation of the young ; but then, alas, how often is it aided, and not checked, by parents and sponsors ! How often do they, longing earnestly to see more evi- dent marks of the working of God's blessed Spirit on the hearts of those committed to them, encourage them in putting off communion until they are better fitted for it ! And so this precious opportunity is lost. For in many cases this is the turning point. If the confirmed catechumen seals his vows at the holy table, and seeks for a living might in communion with his Lord, he " goes on thence from strength to strength, until he appears before his God in Zion." But if he TO THE HOLY GOMMUNION. 87 postpones communicating, and waits to become litter, the Spirit of the Lord ceases to strive with him, his better feelings die away, he falls under the power of some temptation, and perhaps never more regains that state of promise which he had reached at confirmation. The other error which, from a very different quarter, helps on this evil, is of a subtler form. Here the duty of communicating is really allow- ed ; but fears are expressed lest by strongly press- ing it on men, you should engender something of formality, if not fall at last amongst the snares of Romanist delusions. " Certainly it is a duty ; but why put it so prominently forward ? you will make men think that all religion consists in at- tending the sacrament." Such is no unfrequent language ; yet what is this but the deadly error of attacking formalism by removing forms instead of infusing spirit? It is pulling down the scaf- folding because its work is not accomplished ; it is cutting off the limbs lest men should confound them with the inner principle of life ; it is to encourage men in staying away from commu- nion altogether, instead of striving to bring them to it in a more faithful and earnest spirit. This 88 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION is a fruit of the low and degenerate mysticism which is every where abroad ; which, setting out by seeking to promote the essence and inner life of piety, ends by destroying its very exist- ence; which tears down, in its misguided zeal, those necessary stays on which the tender shoots of holy affections must be long trained and helped to mount to heaven. It is, in fact, the error of the earlier mystic, without his redeeming features of abstraction from the world, and intense devotion. How much healthier is the tone of that true-hearted man, who from his cell in Saxony raised his voice indeed against the errors of the Popish system, but who could not bear the jargon which teaches us to attain high ends by throwing off the only means of reaching them ! With homely earnestness he charges on the devil the delusion, which, continually crying, " Spirit ! spirit ! spirit ! destroys the while all roads, bridges, scaling-lad- ders, and paths, by which the Spirit can enter; namely, the visible order established by God in holy baptism, in outward forms, and in his own word." And here is the secret link between these TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 89 seemingly discordant errors. Each of them ob- scures that great characteristic of the rite, that it is an especial means of grace. This leads those who fall into the first, to look at it mainly as a badge, or a profession, and so to " fence the table" against the weak and trembling, and make attendance at it the privilege of a peculiar class. This leads the others to speak little of it ; to deem it rather a comfort and privilege attendant on the spiritual life, than a chief means of its support; and so to press rather the direct attainment of that inner frame of feelings, which they deem solely important, forgetting that this is to be ac- quired through the use of outward means. If, then, we would promote a due attendance at the Holy Supper, we must set ourselves firmly against both these delusions ; we must, on all occasions, press home the truth, that to commu- nicate is the privilege and the duty of every Christian ; that it is meant not for one class, but for all. Having first removed the mistaken fears with which the change of language has invested the term "damnation," we must go on to press on men that none " can eat and drink their own judgment " except the wantonly careless, or the 8 90 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION wilfully profane ; whilst all who stay away com- mit each separate time a separate sin ; that the mournful probability of our falling into after-sins of infirmity, is no reason why we should absent ourselves, and so increase the danger and dimin- ish the power of resistance ; that Christ our Lord hath bidden all attend — the weak, the trembling, the faint-hearted; and that He cer- tainly, who so loved men as to shed his precious blood for them, could intend, in this invitation, no trap for weak believers, no snare for tender consciences ; that nothing but the wilful practice of known and habitual sin can turn that holy food into poison, and so be a sufficient reason for abstaining from it. To this, too, must be added a clear picture of the loss which men incur by thus passing on themselves a needless sen- tence of voluntary excommunication. As in the holy eucharist, more than in any other way, is the death of our Master showed forth " until He come;" so certainly in it, more than by any other means, is communion with our only Saviour to be gained, and those gifts of grace secured, whereby alone we can forsake sin, or grow in holiness of life. Let every doubtful soul weigh TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 91 well this thought : Whither would it go for par- don for the past, for grace for the future, save unto the Lord Jesus? and where shall it go by a straighter or a surer road than by that which He hath here provided ? In every such case, no doubt, there must be a struggle : the sense of guilt would always drive us from our Lord ; but is not this to be driven to perdition ? And is there not here His gracious voice bidding us to come? "Were it not so," says St. Bernard, "what should I do when I heard the Lord's approach — should I not fly as Adam did, who fled from His face, and yet escaped not ? Should not I despair when I heard that He was coming, whose law I have so broken, whose patience I have so abused, to whose kindness I have proved so oft ungrateful ? But what stay could be greater than that of His own word of consolation ? Wherefore, He says himself that ' The Son came not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.' Now, then, I draw near with confidence, I pray with filial trust; for why should I fear, when the Saviour hath come into my house ? against Him only have I sinned; what He hath pardoned 92 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION needs must be forgiven. ' Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?' " * Nor need the harassing remains of sin, so that we truly strive against them, keep us from our remedy. Here it is that we are in a special manner, and after a heavenly sort, to be made one with Christ our Lord, and to receive there- fore of His strength. The very provision of so great a medicine may assure us of our cure ; for "no wise physician would consume his costliest drugs upon a hopeless case."t And if we refuse the remedy, how can we escape the sentence of the slothful servant ? Surely the Christian man, who lets his fear of offending keep him from the holy table, fills up, more than any one beside, that fearful character. Surely, above all men, he declares that he " knew his Lord to be a hard man, reaping where he had not sowed;" and that therefore "he was afraid, and went and digged in the earth," to hide the talent where- with he had been entrusted. And if vain fears may not keep us from the * S. Bernard. Serm. in Epiph. Dom. i. § 3. ■f- S. Bernard. Serm. in Nativ. iii. § 5. TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 93 holy eucharist, surely still less may an empty apprehension of formality teach us to think lightly of it. Means indeed are nothing in them- selves, but they are the way to God; and as we have no right to choose some and neglect others — to hope, for instance, that prayer or medita- tion, or God's word, can be blessed to him who refuses communion, — so, if we did choose, what could we choose before this holy feast? Surely it and Christian baptism bear a peculiar charac- ter amongst the other means of grace. Is it not, in an especial sense, the Christian's privilege ? is it not the aptest showing forth of the Lord's death — the meetest instrument for our commu- nion with Him ? It were no true sacrament, if there were not in it greater blessings than in any of the ordinary means and opportunities of grace which men may at their will appoint, or at their discretion intermit. How, otherwise, would it differ from times of especial devotion, from sea- sons of especial prayer? and if it differs not, what is its essence as a sacrament? Because, then, its very nature has been overthrown in the idolatrous abuse to which the Romanists pervert it, let not Christian men fall into another error, 8* 94 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION and lower down into a mere commemorative rite that which Christ hath given them for a higher purpose. " For we take not baptism nor the eucharist for bare resemblances or memorials of things absent, neither for naked signs and testi- monies, assuring us of grace received before, but (as they are indeed and in verity) for means effectual, whereby God, when we take the sacra- ment, delivereth into our hands that grace avail- able unto eternal life, which grace the sacraments represent or signify We receive Christ Jesus in the eucharist often, as being, by con- tinued degrees, the finisher of our life ... we receive Him, imparting therein himself."* Let no man, therefore, hope to maintain with- in himself the inner life of piety, whilst he ne- glects these evident means of sustaining it; for " it is not ordinarily Cod's will to bestow the grace of sacraments on any but by the sacra- ments."! It is by them that Christ "deriveth unto every several member of His church that saving grace which He originally is." The true guard against formality is no undervaluing of sacraments ; it is the continual remembrance * Hooker, Eccles. Pol. b. v. § 57. § Id., ib. TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 95 that the " grace which men receive by them, they receive it from God, and not from them. For that of sacraments, the very same is true which Solomon's wisdom observeth in the bra- zen serpent: 'he that turned towards it was not healed by the thing he saw, but by Thee, O Saviour of all.' " * And to those who desire to approach the eucharist with such a diligent and earnest faith, this little volumet may (with God's blessing) render some assistance. It diners from most works of the kind, in being wholly gathered from the writings of old divines of the English Church ; and thus secures the presence of that raciness and strength which are so rare in mo- dern books of devotion. Who has not felt this difference ? Who can turn from the writings of St. Augustin, St. Bernard, or of Hooker and Leigh ton, to most of this day, without remem- bering the sacred words, " No man having drunk old wine straightway desireth new : for he saith, The old is better ?" But this is not all : we must live with those * Hooker, Eccles. Pol., b. v. § 57. j- Wilberforce's Eucharistica is here referred to ; an ad- mirable manual for communicants. — Editor. 96 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION around us ; to the contagion of their errors we are always exposed. These we must meet with in some measure, even in our teachers ; for their minds will, more or less, be tinged with the pre- valent opinions of the day. They, therefore, who would be in any measure free from this evil, must often retire from their immediate equals, to converse with men of other times. We must think their thoughts ; we must look at truth with them, and see it in other lights and colours than those which have rested always on our own path: and this applies, with especial force at this time, to the subject of the eucharist. Dis- cussion and division have been rife amongst us, and they have done their common work of evil ; for as men contend, they strengthen their own views, and grow to look on others with a readier and more morbid exclusiveness. Each party sees strongly some portion of the truth; and, in their zeal for it, too commonly forget that partial truth is amongst the most pernicious forms of error. At such a time, the voice of the great and holy dead is of peculiar value. They are free from our contentions ; and the harmony and grandeur which dwell on their passionless TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 97 and even judgments remind us of the peacefulness with which their spirits now embrace truth and one another in Paradise ; and their voice will be heard, as from the depth of an oracle, above the strife and din of our jarring tumults. To converse, then, in these pages for a while with such, the reader is invited : not that it is always needful to go through a long course of preparation before partaking of the eucharist; on the contrary, the Christian man should al- ways be ready to approach it, nor ever turn away merely because he has no such peculiar opportunity of leisure ; but that when he has opportunity and leisure, he may be aided in turning them to good account. And for those that can command it, what time can be laid out to better purpose, or gather in a richer harvest? The gifts of God, indeed, are poured upon us freely ; but, as His ordinary rule, it is those who seek that find. He that has truly watched and prayed, that has cleansed his soul with an un- feigned humiliation, and trimmed the fires of love, and zeal, and devotion, before he drew near to the holy table, may expect, of God's mercy, to find the greatest refreshment there, to enjoy 98 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION, ETC. the nearest communion with his Lord and Saviour, and to go away the most enriched with grace. For " to him that hath shall be given :" and though we can by prayer and labour earn nothing for our- selves, we must pray and labour, if we would receive any thing from Him. And those who do thus labour shall receive. They may not, indeed, at the time perceive their own inward profiting. It may be that God may try their faith, by suffer- ing them for a while to lack the present refresh- ment of sensible joy ; but not a whit the less cer- tain is their gain. We must not judge of the presence or the absence of God's most Holy Spirit by the ebb or flowing of our own ever- shifting tide of feeling. We must not strive to work up ourselves to that joy which we desire. This were indeed to " walk by sight;" and our new life is " to be hid with Christ in God." We have the sure words of Christ : let them sink into our hearts ; let us believe, not wrangle about them : " 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." YOUNG PERSONS INVITED TO THE L ORD'S TABLE BY THE REV. EDWARD BERENS, M, A. ARCHDEACON OF BERKS, This do in remembrance of me. St. Luke, xxii. 19. If ye love me, keep my Commandments, St. John, xiv. 15. I love them that love me, and those that seek me EARLY SHALL FIND ME. Prov. viii. 17. YOUNG PERSONS INVITED TO THE LORD'S TABLE. Among the many and various pleas which are advanced, in vindication of neglect of the Lord's Supper, one of the most prevalent is the plea of youth. Very many young persons, who in other respects are religiously disposed, absent themselves from the Lord's Table almost as a matter of course. They thus acquire a habit of neglecting, without compunction, their Redeemer's dying command: the habit gains strength as they advance in years ; and perhaps they never receive this Holy Sacrament, or re- 9 102 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION ceive it only on their death-bed. — It is very de- sirable to do away so dangerous a delusion. It is the judgment of our Church, that all per- sons who are old enough to be confirmed, — all persons who have come to years of discretion, — are old enough to receive the Lord's Supper ; and that, consequently, they cannot neglect it without being guilty of sin, — the sin of omitting a known duty. In most foreign countries, which profess the Christian religion, young persons are in the habit of communicating from an early age. In this country, however, a mistaken notion too generally prevails, that this Sacrament is intend- ed only for the more advanced in years, and that for a young person to partake of it is a danger- ous presumption. Not satisfied with abstaining from it themselves, some people endeavour to dissuade others ; and perhaps blame and judge those who comply with the Lord's dying injunc- tion. The whole of this conduct is founded in mistake, and proceeds from not properly consi- dering and understanding either the nature of the Christian Religion in general, or that of this Sa- crament in particular. It appears to be the design and the spirit of TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 103 religion, that we should be dedicated to God — should belong to God — before the world or the devil have taken possession of us. As God di- rected the children of his chosen people to be entered into covenant with him at eight days old, so, from the earliest time, it has been the practice of the Church of Christ to baptize the children of Christian parents in infancy, and thus to make them subjects of God's spiritual kingdom. Under the Old Dispensation it was said, that out of the mouths of babes and suck- lings God hath ordained strength, or perfected praise ; and under the New we are told, that our Lord said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not. As children have been dedicated to Christ in baptism, so, as their minds and understandings begin to open, they are to be imbued with such religious truths as are most easy of comprehen- sion, and carefully taught which be the first principles of the oracles of God. As the mind advances, they should advance in knowledge ; and at the age of fifteen or sixteen years, they may fairly be supposed to be sufficiently in- structed in all things that a Christian ought to 104 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION know and believe for his soul's health. They are then quite old enough to understand the ac- count given of the Lord's Supper in the Cate- chism and in the Communion Service ; they are then quite old enough to perceive, that there is the same reason for their communicating now, that there was for their being baptized when children : and that they cannot neglect to com- municate, without disobedience to the authority of Jesus Christ. They are old enough to under- stand the chief truths of the Christian religion, which are summed up and represented in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The death of Christ for our sins is particularly shown forth and represented in the Lord's Supper ; of which all are old enough to partake, who are old enough to understand the danger and the punishment of sin, and the greatness of the redemption effected for us by the death of the Son of God. I am confident that there is no one who does not acknowledge the justice and the propriety of complying with the advice of Solomon, to re- member our Creator in the days of our youth. And shall not those who are in the days of their youth remember their Redeemer also ? And if TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 105 they remember him at all, shall they refuse to remember him in the way which he himself ap- pointed, when he gave the bread and the wine, and said expressly, This do in remembrance of me! Can the young hope to be saved in any other way than by the death of Christ? And can they hope to be saved by that death, if they refuse to commemorate it, — to show it forth, — in the way which the Lord hath commanded : which they themselves know, and acknowledge, that He hath commanded ! And what reason can they pretend for refusing to communicate ? Surely, not that young peo- ple do well, while they continue young, to fol- low the bent of their own will, and to enjoy themselves as they can, without troubling them- selves with thinking of religion. None of you, I am persuaded, can think this. God hath given no one, — no one whatever, whether young, or old, a licence to sin. If a young man, in the high spirits and confident presumption of youth, chooses to walk after the ways of his own heart, in whatever sin his wayward will may choose, he is solemnly warned, that for all these things God will bring him into judgment. We have 9* 106 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION been enlisted as the soldiers of Jesus Christ, and all, whether old or young, must " fight man- fully under his banner, against sin, the world, and the devil." If we hope to succeed, we must humbly seek for fresh supplies of strength and vigour in that ordinance which was appointed on purpose for the strengthening and refreshing of our souls. Neither can any of yon be so unwise as to say, " we will enjoy ourselves now, and it will be time enough to think of religion, and of the Sacrament, when we begin to grow old." You know well that you may not live to grow old : for what is your life ? it is even a vapour tvhich appearethfor a little while, and then vanisheth away ! We none of us know what shall be on the morrow ; and if we venture to put off the time for thinking seriously of religion, the delay may be the ruin of our souls for ever. But, perhaps, some may be disposed to think, that receiving the Lord's Supper is so solemn and serious a thing, as to be inconsistent with the cheerfulness and joyous spirits of youth. Reli- gion, certainly, is no enemy to a well-regulated cheerfulness, and is far from recommending or TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 107 encouraging a gloomy and melancholy deport- ment. And as in religion in general, so in the Lord's Supper, which is the highest office of religion, there is nothing inconsistent with a proper cheerfulness. It is true, that religion allows nobody, whether young or old, to be thoughtless and inconsiderate ; and young peo- ple, long before they attain the age which I have mentioned, ought to be in the habit of consider- ing their ways ; of considering themselves as in the constant presence of God ; of wisely con- sidering their latter end ; of considering what is likely to be their situation in the world to come. But such consideration is compatible with a well- regulated cheerfulness, and is also a main part of the proper preparation for the Lord's Supper. Or do any think that young people should not come to the Lord's Supper, on account of the peculiar temptations to which, at their age, they may be exposed ? It is true, generally speaking, that every age, as well as every state and condition of life, has peculiar temptations belonging to it. There are some sins which more easily beset the young, and others which more particularly assail the 108 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION more advanced in years. No age, however, is attacked by any temptations but such as are com- mon to men; and all of every age are bound manfully to strive against temptation, in hum- ble reliance on the help of God, and in full con- fidence, — weak though they are in themselves, — that they can do all things through Christ strengthening them ; and that he will with the temptation also make a way to escape, so that they may be able to bear and to overcome it. If all who are exposed to temptations to sin were to stay away from the Lord's Supper, none could partake of it ; for, as I have said, all are exposed to some temptation or other. But this very con- sideration furnishes an additional argument why both young and old should draw near to this sacred rite, in order that they may receive fresh supplies of spiritual strength, and be the better enabled to contend with the manifold temptations that we all daily meet with. I apprehend that many young people stay away from the Lord's Supper, not because they feel that they have any good reason to give for their absence, but because they think that persons of their own age seldom partake of it. Let such persons re- TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 109 member, that their conduct ought to be governed by the will and the word of God, and not by the example of others, whether those others are many or few. Let them remember, that they must not follow a multitude to do evil, and that it is evil to disobey the dying command of their Saviour, and to turn their backs on the Lord's Table. Rather let them resolve, instead of following the example of others to do evil, to endeavour, by their own good example, to lead others to do well. In this instance, as in others, let them wish and endeavour so to let their light shine before men, that they may see their good works, and glorify their Father which is in heaven. We are all of us much the creatures of habit, which becomes in some sort a second nature. So much is this the case, that many men speak of any particular place, or object, or custom, as seeming quite natural to them, when they mean that they have been long accustomed or habitu- ated to it. Hence arises the great consequence of acquiring good habits, and of avoiding bad habits, especially in our early years. It is no- thing but habit that keeps many persons from 110 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION partaking of the Lord's Supper. They do not partake of it now, because they never did partake of it formerly, because they have acquired the habit of absenting themselves. Let young per- sons take heed how they thus acquire a habit of neglecting the dying injunction of their Lord ; and let them endeavour in this, as in all other instances, to acquire the habit of ready and uni- form and constant obedience to the will of God. Let it not be supposed that I would invite or encourage any one to partake of this holy ordi- nance who is not properly prepared for it. Cer- tainly, no persons, whether young or old, should approach the Lord's table, unless they sincerely believe the chief articles of the Christian faith, and truly repent of their past sins, steadfastly purposing, in humble reliance on Divine grace, to lead a better life for the time to come. But such repentance and faith are necessary to the salvation, to the safety, of every Christian of the age which I have mentioned, whether he receives the Lord's Supper or not; and one great reason why I am anxious that young persons should be- come regular communicants, is, because I am anxious that they should often examine into the TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. HI sincerity both of their faith and of their repentance, and that their religious impressions should thus be rendered more strong and lively, at the same time that their souls are strengthened and refresh- ed by partaking of the body and blood of Christ. Let me beg you to remember, as I have just said, that no Christian who has arrived at the age of reason can hope to be saved, except he repent, and believe the Gospel : and that every one, generally speaking, who is old enough to repent and believe, — every one who is old enough to fear and to serve God, — every one that is old enough seriously to wish for salvation, and to understand the terms on which salvation is offer- ed, — every one that is old enough to wish and endeavour, in good earnest, to go to heaven rather than to hell — is old enough also to par- take of the Lord's Supper. THE YOUNG DISCIPLE. Youth, when devoted to the Lord, Is pleasing in his eyes ; A flower, though offer' d in the bud, Is no vain sacrifice. 'Tis easier far if we begin To fear the Lord betimes ; For sinners who grow old in sin Are hardened by their crimes. It saves us from a thousand snares To mind religion young ; Grace will preserve our following years, And make our virtue strong. To thee, almighty God, to thee, Our hearts we now resign ; 'Twill please us to look back and see That our whole lives were thine. THE OBJECTIONS WHICH ARE SOMETIMES RAISED CONCERNING THE LORD'S SUPPER. BY DANIEL WILSON, D. D., BISHOP OF CALCUTTA. 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. St. John, vi. 53 — 55. THE OBJECTIONS WHICH ARE SOMETIMES RAISED CONCERNING THE LORD'S SUPPER. I consider this branch of the inquiry* a& pecu- liarly important : and I would wish to enter upon it with all the tenderness and affection which the apprehensions of many sincere Chris- tians so much require. The difficulties on this subject are either those which arise in the breasts chiefly of young peo- ple, who are desirous, under deep impressions of the importance of spiritual religion, to par- * This tract is taken from Bishop Wilson's " Address to young persons previous to receiving the Lord's Sup- per," and forms the conclusion of that excellent work. Editor. 116 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION take of so high a privilege ; or those which oc- casionally harass the minds of persons who are in the habit of conscientiously discharging this part of their duty as Christians. 1. The difficulties which arise in the minds of those ivho are sincerely in earnest about re- ligion, on the subject of first receiving the Lord's Supper, may probably be excited, First, by the enumeration I have made of the qualifi- cations of those who receive the Holy Sacra- ment. Many may apprehend that they do not possess all these qualifications, or not in the de- gree which I have described. But let the hum- ble penitent know, that if he exercises these various dispositions and habits, as to the main particulars of them, though only in a weak and imperfect manner, he may be prepared for com- ing as a young but sincere disciple to the Table of his Saviour. If he heartily desires to be abased for sin, if he anxiously seeks after the blessings of Christ's atonement, and if willing to dedicate himself to the service of God, he may be encouraged to celebrate that Sacrament which is one appointed means of increasing in him all the graces of God's Holy Spirit. These TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 117 graces in a young person cannot be expected to be so advanced as in a Christian of considerable standing in religion ; but this want of maturity is so far from being a reason against partaking of the Holy Communion, that it is a strong argu- ment for joining in it. "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." If there be life, feeling, desire, solicitude, for the blessings of salvation, these are all that is ne- cessary in the first instance, in order to derive consolation and strength from the blessed body and blood of Christ. A similar reply may be offered, Secondly, to those who fear whether they are in a state of grace and acceptance with God. Such appre- hensions will long attend the best efforts of a young Christian. And if he is not to partake of the Communion till they are wholly dispelled, he will probably have long to wait. Some fears as to our character and prospects will, and even ought, to follow us whilst we are in a scene of contention and sorrow. But surely these fears should be controlled by the cheering promises and invitations of the adorable Saviour. " He caste th out none who come to him."* "He is 10* 118 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION able to save to the uttermost." " His blood cleanseth from all sin." Can the fearful inquirer doubt of his having some evidences of a renewed state of mind, when he is trembling on account of sin, abhorring himself, earnestly praying for divine grace, seeking for the way of salvation in Christ Jesus, and forsaking every known evil ? Do not his fears, his anxiety, his alarm, all bear testimony to the influences of God's grace in his heart ? Phil. ii. 12. And should the remaining apprehensions which alarm him keep him from the very Sacrament which is the seal of salva- tion, the earnest of forgiveness, the means of en- lightening and establishing his heart ? A third difficulty, connected with the two former, arises from the dread of being found at last to have been only hypocrites before God. A more fearful state than that of hypocrisy can scarcely be conceived. But is it very likely that those should be really hypocrites who are alarmed at the very possibility of being such characters ? Is it not more probable that they mistake the conflict of the evil passions still re- maining in their minds with the calls of duty and the leadings of grace, Rom. vii. 14, 24, for the TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 119 base pretences of the false Christian ? Nay, does not the anxiety which they discover of taking nothing for granted, of examining their state to the bottom, of comparing their spirit and conduct with the rule of God's word, of solicit- ing instruction from ministers and friends, of seizing every opportunity of ascertaining the real principles by which they are governed, of avoiding hypocrisy as a most fatal delusion, and of imploring the grace and Spirit of God to lead them into the full knowledge of themselves, suf- ficiently testify that they are upright in their hearts before God ? And should they not be encouraged to receive the Lord's Supper, that they may be enabled more steadily to resist every approach to dissimulation, and may bind themselves by stronger ties to an unreserved obe- dience to God ? Others may, Fourthly, dread the possibility of eating and drinking damnation unto them- selves, in partaking of the Lord's Supper. This fear has agitated many sincere minds. It has arisen from the language of the Apostle, " He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself." lCor. xi. 29. 120 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION But it is evident that the Apostle did not here mean eternal damnation, from the explana- tion which he immediately adds, ver. 30, "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." The temporal judgments of God then, as consequent upon a wilful abuse of the Lord's Supper, are decidedly intended. Accordingly, the w r ord damnation here means, as it is given in the margin of our Bibles, judg- ment, which is indeed the Apostle's own expli- cation, in verses 31, 32. " For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world ;" which undoubtedly means, that if we would examine ourselves we should not be punished. But when we are thus punished, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned of the world. The apprehension then of eating and drinking our own eternal damnation has no foundation whatever in this passage of Holy Writ. Let not therefore any be terrified with the apprehension, that any pe- culiar punishment is annexed to our eating and drinking unworthily, more than may be feared TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 121 from any other offence against God. Every sin exposes to eternal death, and therefore this amongst the number ; but " he that confesseth and forsaketh" this, supposing him indeed to have committed it, as well as any other trans- gression, shall most undoubtedly " find mercy." But still, Fifthly, the dread "of eating and drinking unworthily'" may rest on the mind. If our fears on this head arise from an apprehen- sion that we are not in a state deserving to par- take of this holy Sacrament, they spring entirely from an erroneous sentiment. No one in this view is worthy of receiving so great a blessing. But the expression of the apostle refers to a suitable, fit, becoming state of mind in partaking of the holy Eucharist. This is evident from the inter- pretation which he himself gives, " He that eat- eth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation unto himself, not discerning the Lord's body" not perceiving by faith the body and blood of Christ, not distinguishing between the consecrated elements of his body and blood and ordinary food, and therefore not being in a state of mind suitable for the sacred service. Nor is this use of the word uncommon. A 122 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION criminal who has forfeited his life to the laws of his country, is wholly unworthy of the kindness of a benevolent visitor ; and yet if he listen to the admonitions of such an instructor with meek- ness and contrition, if he welcome the truth which is placed before him, and appear desirous to profit by it, he may properly be said to have received them worthily. Every notion of merit must be carefully excluded from our views of the Lord's Supper. " We are accounted right- eous before God only for the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not for our own works and deservings." Art. XL Our worthiness for this Sacrament is that meetness and suitableness which consists in right ideas of the institution, humble renunciation of our own righteousness, earnest prayers for an interest in the atonement of Christ, and hearty desires to be devoted to his service. It is the fitness of a contrite sinner for receiving the memorials of the blessings of salvation. Some may be deterred from approaching the altar of their Saviour, Sixthly, by a fear lest they should not be able to keep the vows which they undertake. This is indeed a matter of se^ TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 123 rious consideration, and may well awaken all your watchfulness and activity ; but it can assu- redly be no reason why you should not bind yourself by those vows, which you are called upon by every motive to undertake, and which the grace of God can assist you to perform. If you were invited to make an unlawful, or unne- cessary, or presumptuous, or doubtful vow, you might properly hesitate ; but when the engage- ments of the Lord's Supper are merely those of an entire separation from sin, and a hearty reso- lution to obey God, you cannot with any show of reason decline them. An honest mind will not shrink from giving assurances ; especially when God has promised the supply of all needful grace to fulfil them, when the very giving them is a natural means of fixing our uncertain hearts in the service of God, and when the sacrament which seals our obligations is the means of con- veying the grace and strength for carrying them into effect. Others may be perplexed, Seventhly, With fears lest difficulties should present themselves on the part of persons with whom they are closely connected. We are timorous in what is 124 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION good. We apprehend perhaps an opposition to our purposes of joining the Communion of the Church of Christ from those around us. The child, the servant, the sister, the wife, may be alarmed by the fear of those relatives or other superiors whom they are required to love and obey. Or they may be delaying their own par- ticipation of the Sacrament, under the hope of inducing the individuals in question to join with them in the solemn duty. I need not observe what extreme caution over our own spirit is ne- cessary in the discharge of any one duty, when it appears to militate with another. But at the same time we must remember that we are to "obey God rather than man." We may per- haps properly suspend for some little time the execution even of so good a purpose, if there be a reasonable prospect of uniting those, whom we are bound to consult on so many other occasions, in it. But there is great danger in such delibe- rations of that " fear of man which bringeth a snare." The words of our Redeemer must therefore be ever present with us. "He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 125 more than me is not worthy of me." Nor should we forget that we are never warranted in omitting a positive religious duty, by any calcu- lation of temporal inconveniences ; not to say in how many instances it may please God to bless our firm and open profession of his truth, to the spiritual benefit of the very individuals whom we have been so long anxious to conciliate. Lastly, many may be disposed to say, We dare not approach so awful and important a mystery as the Lord's Supper. An indescriba- ble alarm rests on some minds, especially those of young persons, respecting the Eucharist. A holy reverence should indeed always fill our hearts when we celebrate the most solemn of re- ligious duties ; yet we must beware of an over- whelming and therefore an excessive apprehen- sion. Jesus Christ is the tender and gracious shep- herd ; he feeds his flock with all care and affec- tion. He will not " break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax." He presents himself in the Sacrament, not in the terrors of the Judge, but in the condescension and love of the Saviour. Why, then, should you not believe his promises, and trust his grace, connected as they are with 11 126 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION the most express invitation and command to cele- brate this feast in remembrance of Him ? You dare to pray, you venture to hear the word of God preached, you are bold enough to supplicate pardon and grace at the footstool of your Sa- viour. These duties you do not think yourselves justified by any excuses from neglecting. Why then should you dread to do that with regard to the Sacrament, which you constantly do as to the word of God and prayer? The same blessings are exhibited in the Lord's Supper, as you have already most earnestly sought. Come then, with composure of spirit, and supplicate that pardon and strength, in receiving the body and blood of Christ, which you have so often im- plored in the use of the other means of spiritual improvement. "Fear not; only believe." I pass on, Secondly, to the objections on the subject of the Lord's Supper which occasionally perplex those who are in the habit of conscien- tiously discharging this part of their duty as Christians, These may sometimes arise in the minds of Christians : First, from the idea that they have not found the benefit they expected from cele- TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 127 brating these holy mysteries. . This difficulty may possibly have been created by your expect- ing some impressions or effects not authorised by the word of God, or by your looking for these consequences in a manner or degree be- yond the real rule of Scripture. Or you may have mistaken an occasional depression of the animal spirits for desertion. Or it may be you have neglected the ordinary means, either pre- paratory to the Lord's Supper, or following upon it, with which God usually connects any important or permanent benefit. Or you have at some times been blessed with such elevated and holy emotions of heart at the Lord's Table, as have led you to conceive yourselves wholly des- titute of any advantage under more calm and sedate exercises of devotion. But, whatever may have been the particular cause of the diffi- culty you feel, let it never for one instant deter you from persevering in a regular attendance on the Holy Communion. The promises of God can never fail. Jesus Christ is the same yester- day, to-day, and for ever. Pray only for more faith, implore of God a corrected and enlarged judgment, wait on him for the fulfilment of his 128 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION own word, look up to the blessed Saviour for his presence in the receiving of the consecrated me- morials of his love, and you shall obtain all, and more than all, the blessings I have mentioned ; you shall find that Christ's " flesh is meat in- deed, and his blood is drink indeed." Some Christians may inquire, Secondly, ivhe- ther they should continue to approach the Table of their Saviour when their consciences are bur- dened ivith the guilt of some particular sin. To this the answer is obvious, because one end of receiving the body and blood of Christ is to ob- tain the very blessings of pardon and peace of conscience, which the objection supposes to be most wanted. If, indeed, unhappily, we have committed some aggravated offence against God, and the ordinary period of our partaking of the Eucharist be near, it may be expedient to abstain for that season from the Lord's Supper : but this abstinence must be with the express intention of more humbly confessing our sins before God, that we may be prepared with sincere penitence and faith to renew the covenant we have violated, and apply again for that seal of pardon and re- conciliation which we so much need. In other TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 129 cases which may occur of our consciences being burdened with the remembrance of particular sins, our duty clearly is to renounce and forsake those sins with unfeigned abhorrence, and then to partake of the body and blood of Christ, that we may be strengthened in our vigorous resist- ance of them. But others may further doubt, Thirdly, whe- ther, when they are in a declining state of reli- gious feelings, they may not be committing a greater sin by receiving the Communion, than by omitting it for a time altogether. To this I reply, to adopt the sentiments of an able divine, that the omission of the Lord's Supper is itself a sin in a Christian who has been in the habit of receiving it, and a greater sin than communicating with whatever imperfection. It is true it is our duty to forbear sin, that is, all those actions which are sins in their own kind and nature ; but not those actions which may become sins by some accident, or the defect of some circumstances. In this case, the accidental evil is to be avoided, or the defect amended, and not the act to be omitted. Now receiving the Sacrament is of itself, and in its own nature good, and becomes 11* 130 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION sinful from some adherent corruption, which brings a defilement upon it. Our concern, there- fore, is, to aim at the removal of this defilement, which weakens and pollutes our act of duty, and not to cease from the duty itself. I might specify various other objections which may disturb the consciences of Christians with regard to the Holy Communion ; but I forbear, as those which I have answered may serve to suggest suitable replies in similar cases. It may, however, be proper here to mention, that objections are sometimes raised against par- taking of the Lord's Supper, upon grounds very different from any of those which I have as yet adverted to. The cases I have considered are those of persons sincerely in earnest about spiri- tual religion. But objections are also made by those who betray, by the very nature of them, a totally wrong state of mind. Many persons, when invited to prepare for this important duty, will at once admit that they are not in a fit state for performing it, and yet will remain for years apparently quite unconcerned about that entire change of heart and character, which they are aware is necessary to their TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 131 rightly receiving the Lord's Supper. Others will meet every exhortation addressed to them on the subject, by replying, that they are not prepared to make that separation from the amusements and pursuits of the world to which the Sacrament would bind them. It is not uncommon, moreover, to hear it affirmed by some, that they do not consider the duty so essential to salvation as we endeavour to repre- sent it : whilst too many imagine that the hurry and engagements of their families is an ade- quate reason for declining a compliance with our Saviour's command. Others likewise, though living in the commission of known sin, will satisfy themselves in continuing it, by the wretched pretence that they do not receive the Holy Communion. Many, lastly, either defer attending to the subject, under the distant and slender hope of becoming better and more fit for celebrating the Eucharist hereafter ; or rashly and superstitiously suppose, that receiving the Communion on a dying bed will be some se- curity for the admission of their souls into the happiness of heaven. To these, and various like statements, one 132 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION answer must be given. They all proceed from minds fixed on the love and practice of sin, and unawakened to a proper feeling of the nature and importance of religion. The duty of all such objectors is twofold : first, to repent and believe the Gospel; and, secondly, thus repenting and believing, to prepare for celebrating, in an hum- ble and spiritual manner, the most blessed mys- teries of the body and blood of Christ. A merely external participation of the Sacrament, in a for- mal, ignorant, and superstitious state of mind, can indeed only increase the guilt of those who so profane the Redeemer's holy institution. No one is to be encouraged to such a profanation. Those who, with the objectors before us, con- sider their religious duties as in some way me- ritorious before God, and regard the Sacrament as a finish to their other performances, are funda- mentally wrong. They must be directed to fer- vent prayer to God, for spiritual illumination, for contrition of heart for sin ; for real faith in the sacrifice of the death of Christ, for a new spirit and a right conduct. Till they have thus entered in earnest on the duties of religion generally, in vain will they inquire as to the particular duty TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 133 of receiving the Lord's Supper. They must become in some measure true Christians be- fore they can celebrate the Christian's most sacred festival. They must learn to know, and value, and love the Saviour, before they can ap- proach his table. They must have spiritual life, before they can offer up spiritual sacrifices. But this leads me to consider, in the last place, The Obligations we are under to a regular partaking of the LorcVs Supper. I need say less on this topic after the various points which I have already considered, because every thing which has been offered with respect to the Institution of the Sacrament, the Design of it, and the Blessings to be derived from it, im- mediately tends to enforce the obligation under which we lie to a constant receiving of it. It may be sufficient to notice that the obligation rests, 1 . On the express command of our Saviour Christ. His words were, " Do this in remem- brance of me ;" words delivered when he was about to undergo the most bitter anguish of his 134 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION passion, and which therefore should move the love, as well as ensure the obedience, of those who profess to be his disciples. The command is besides the more obligatory, as it rests on the ground not of ^natural duty, but of positive insti- tution ; and accordingly the observation of it is a more direct acknowledgment of the authority of Christ, and the neglect of it is more immediately connected with a marked contempt of his power and grace. Add to this, that it was the last mandate of a dying friend, and that friend our Redeemer and Lord ; circumstances which, even in ordinary cases of human affection, give a sanctity to an injunction, and which should much more do so with respect to the blessed Saviour of our souls. The command also is one which the Apostle Paul has largely enforced and explained far beyond any other similar topic, a fact which evidently shows the high import- ance we should attach to the institution. The simplicity of the rite, in opposition to the bur- densome ceremonies of the Mosaic Law, whilst it increases the facility of complying with the duty, augments its obligation. To all which, TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 135 when we further subjoin that the Christian Church has in every age fulfilled this their Lord's command, and has thus given all the encouragement of prescription and example to the conscientious performance of the duty, it will appear, I think, beyond all dispute, that it is indispensably binding on every Christian. But the obligation to this duty is not less ap- parent if we take into view, 2. The benefit of our own souls. Every motive to be derived from the value of the soul of man, and the importance of spiritual religion for his present and future happiness, is united in the case of this blessed Sacrament. The due and humble participation of it brings with it un- speakable blessings ; the omission of it, where it is wilful, is inconsistent with a state of grace and acceptance with God. All the obligation, then, that can rest on an accountable being to consult his highest interests, and on a sinner under a dispensation of grace to avail himself of the offers of Divine mercy, enforces the neces- sity of partaking of that Sacrament which is the seal and bond of all the blessings of salvation, 136 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION and is the means of conveying to us strength and support here, and preserving us to everlasting life hereafter. Sincerely therefore would I hope that all into whose hands this Address may fall, will be con- vinced of the obligation under which they lie to partake in a suitable manner of the Lord's Supper. It remains only that, to promote this end still further, I enforce, in conclusion, the obligation I have explained. I. On those who may be living in sin and negligence of religion, for the purpose of ex- horting them to repent and to turn to God. Let such remember, that whilst they are unfit for the Holy Communion, as at present they undoubtedly are, they are equally unfit to die, and appear before God in judgment. Let them call to mind that the same state of heart which would lead them to living faith in the Son of God, would prepare them for celebrating the memorials of his death. Their continuance, then, in habits of sin brings on them, not only the immediate guilt of the acts of provocation which they commit against God, but also that TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 137 mediate and remote criminality which is con- nected with their renouncing virtually their holy profession, disallowing the dedication made of them to God in baptism, and remaining unfit to celebrate those mysteries of religion, which are absolutely essential to the name of a sincere Christian. Every one, in fact, who was in infancy admitted to the Sacrament of Baptism, and there devoted to the love and service of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and who, being now arrived at years of discretion, lives in a course of life which incapacitates him for participating aright in the Communion of Jesus Christ, does virtually " trample under foot the Son of God, counts the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an un- holy thing, and does despite to the Spirit of grace." The fearful state of such a person I need not describe. When he leaves the temple of God where the mysteries of Christ are about to be celebrated, he turns away from " Him that speaketh from Heaven ;" he declares that 46 he has no part nor lot in the matter," "he judges himself unworthy of eternal life." Let me af- fectionately call on such to consider their ways, 12 138 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION to hear the voice of mercy, to yield themselves unto God, and to submit to the sceptre of Christ. Then will the Church welcome them to this Holy Supper ; then will the Saviour feed them with his precious body and blood; then shall they know the blessedness and peace which spring from pardon and acceptance with God, and the strength and consolation which are de- rived from that Sacrament which is the means of building them up to eternal life. II. Allow me next to press the obligation of receiving the Holy Eucharist on those who are hesitating as to the course they should pursue. You have been devoted to God in the Sacrament of Baptism ; you have been blessed perhaps with much religious instruction ; you have some good impressions on your mind towards God ; your lives and conduct are amiable and respectable ; but yet you delay the time of publicly devoting yourselves to Christ at his holy institution ; you " halt between two opinions." Oh ! let me be- seech you to "choose this day whom you will serve." Let me urge on your consciences the duty of deciding for God. Let me remind you, that the nearer you seem to Heaven, if at last TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 139 you should fall short of it, the more lamentable will be the event. Let me tell you, that he that is " not with Christ is against him, and he that gathereth not with him, scattereth abroad." Oh ! "remember now your Creator in the days of your youth ; enter seriously on the consideration of the Lord's Supper; implore fervently the grace you require for partaking of it in a suitable state of mind ; seal your covenant with God ; confess your Saviour publicly before men ; join yourselves fully to his mystical body ; and doubt not of receiving your Saviour's grace at his Table to enable you to fulfil your vows. Thus shall you look back in future life on the season when you first approached the Holy Commu- nion, as a time ever to be recorded with devout thankfulness to the God of your salvation." Lastly, Let me urge the obligation of receiv- ing the Lord's Supper on those who are in the habit of performing this duty, with the view of exhorting them to a more regular and consci- entious discharge of it. Too many are defec- tive in these respects. Let me invite such to entertain an increasing esteem of this institution, and never to rest satisfied without receiving 140 AFFECTIONATE INVITATION, ETC. some distinct, and practical, and abiding advan- tage from it. Let no opportunity of joining in this celebration be willingly omitted. Rather look forward with anticipation and joy to the seasons as they approach. Cultivate that high value and love for it, which will always bear some proportion to your love to the Saviour who instituted the Sacrament, and who never ceases to bless it. Be diligent in seeking the presence and grace of God in your preparation for it, as well as in the discharge of the duties to which, from time to time, it binds you. And may God grant that the writer of these lines, and the readers of them, may ever continue united to the mystical body of Christ, may be nourished in the union of that body by the most precious food provided at the Supper of the Lord our Redeemer, and may be so strengthened and nourished by that and the other means of grace, that they may be preserved, by the power and mercy of their Saviour and the influence of his Spirit, through the various temptations of this life, till at length they attain to everlasting salvation. BISHOP IIDDLETON, It is a subject of deep regret that so many are found to excuse themselves from the Table of their Redeemer. Some are unfit to appear there, as perhaps they themselves allege; and while they lay great stress upon the sin of re- ceiving the Sacrament unworthily, forget that they are guilty of the greater sin of not re- nouncing the course of life in which alone their unworthiness consists ; while others seem to consider this Sacrament as something which is left to their option, whether they will receive it or reject it : and yet our Church has pronounced, that both the sacraments are " generally necessa- ry to salvation," meaning no doubt, where they may be had. Both, indeed, are intimately con- nected with the great object of the Gospel dis- pensation, " the remission of sins." It was for this end that St. Peter called upon the people to be baptized (Acts, ii. 38) ; and our Saviour, when at the institution of the other Sacrament, 142 He gave the cup to his disciples, declared it to be his "blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins;" (Matt. xxvi. 28) ; and it is hardly possible to understand otherwise than in relation to the same Sacrament, though not then instituted, that most awful saying of our Saviour, " 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." (John, vi. 53.) It must not, indeed, be taken to mean the mere act of eating and drink- ing the sacred elements, but the spiritual use and application of it ; in which, however, the act is supposed. But independently of these conside- rations, it may be enough for you to know, that this Sacrament was ordained by Christ himself, as a standing memorial of the one Great Sacri- fice for sin. It cannot, therefore, be innocent, or even a matter of little moment, that any man shall deliberately refuse to bear testimony to the merits and efficacy of that Sacrifice, in the manner prescribed. It is, in truth, however it may be meant, little less than a denial of the Lord that bought him. (2 Peter, ii. 1.) BISHOP BEVERIDGE. We have only one Saviour in the world, and He hath instituted only one Sacrament to put us always in mind of Him ; and yet that people, that Christians, should slight that ! what shall I say? I know not how to express their folly and ingratitude, much less the dismal conse- quences of it. But how to remedy it, I know not. I have done what I could ; I have taken all occasions to convince you of your sin and danger in neglecting this blessed Sacrament, and to persuade you to a more frequent receiving of it; but I see nothing will do, indeed nothing can do it, but the almighty power of God, whom I therefore beseech, of His infinite mercy, to open men's eyes, that they may see the things that belong to their everlasting peace, before they be hid from them. And then, I am sure, this Sacrament would be as much frequented as it hath been hitherto neglected. Wherefore, my brethren, you had need look 144 about you. Christ, your Saviour, hath expressly commanded you often to receive this Sacrament of His body and blood in remembrance of Him. And therefore, you, who never yet received it, have lived all this while in the wilful breach of a known law ; and, by consequence, in a wilful and known sin : and you who receive it but sel- dom, do not fully obey or come up to the law, which plainly requires you to do it often. THE END. Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: Sept. 2005 PreservationTechnologies A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-2111