At his table, they are brought into a closer union with all his faithful members; they meet together, as fellow-travellers, to be refreshed with those heavenly cordials, while they are joyfully passing onward to the Jerusalem above they hold communion with each other, while they partake alike of those sacred mysteteries; and " the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses them from all sin: " "for we being many," says the Apostle, "are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread.""

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The remainder of our discourse shall be employed in pressing you, my brethren, to a due attendance on the Lord's Supper. Sacred and profitable as this ordinance is, it is too frequently neglected by many who call themselves Christians.

Some are ready to excuse themselves by saying, that they are unfit to receive it. But whence does this unfitness arise! Are they unwilling to give up the pleasures of sin; or are they so much engrossed by worldly cares, that they can find neither time nor inclination to obey the command of their dying Lord? But can such persons expect to be owned by

Christ among his faithful disciples? If you are not prepared to partake of this Sacrament, surely you are not prepared to depart into another world; and if you die without repentance, and without faith in Christ, where he is, ye can never come.

But how shall we know, it may be asked, when we are duly qualified? You are then qualified when you sincerely repent of all your sins, and turn unto God with full purpose of heart; when you earnestly desire pardon and the remission of your sins through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ; when you desire to approach to his table under an abiding sense of your great weakness and depravity; when you "hunger and thirst after righteousness," and seek his grace to the strengthening and refreshing of your souls: when you long after the presence of Christ, and use the outward means as signs of spiritual blessings, and as pledges of his love, "to your great and endless comfort."*

If you come to the Lord's table with this disposition, and with these views, you will never come amiss: whether you are old or young, rich or poor, he will graciously receive you. Wait not till you are perfect, for that

t Matt. v.

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* Communion Service.

will never be; but come as humble penitents, and as helpless yet thankful believers. Let not the pleasures of this world, nor the deceitfulness of sin, hide from your view the unsearchable riches of Christ, nor deprive you of that peace which passeth all understanding, and of a foretaste of those joys which will never end.

Perhaps some will allege as an excuse, that they are afraid of eating and drinking unworthily, lest they should expose themselves to a sorer punishment: "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily," says the Apostle, "eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.""-We must here observe that the word for damnation in the original language, means rather some temporal judgment, or condemnation.

The Corinthians had been guilty of great disorders in commemorating the Lord's death. "For this cause," saith the Apostle, " many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep; 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."* We must not come to the Lord's table irreverently "1 Cor. xi. 29.

* 1 Cor. xi. 30-32.

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and lightly, but with due consideration and earnest prayers. "Let a man examine himself," says the Apostle, "and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup," Let this be a more solemn season for self-examination, that each person may better understand his errors, and may seek that purifying grace which will cleanse him from every secret fault. Nothing disqualifies us from attending at the Lord's Table, but impenitence and unbelief; and these, if persisted in, will prove our ruin. That man, who by impenitence and unbelief, renders himself unfit to partake of these sacred mysteries, forfeits all relation to Christ, and is unfit to die.

Let us all then be desirous of coming to the Lord's Table, to partake of these elements of Christ's body and blood, with broken and contrite hearts, lamenting and bewailing our numerous transgressions, that we may be "fed with the crumbs which fall from our master's table: " that we may spiritually eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood; "that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and that our souls may be washed through his most precious blood, from all the guilty stains and defilements of sin; and that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us."* Let us *Communion Service.

y 1 Cor. xi. 28.

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there give up ourselves entirely to the service of God, and always act as the followers of Christ, that as we communicate with all the faithful in the benefits of his passion, so we may yield unto him our whole hearts, our souls and bodies, to be "a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable by him, which is our most reasonable service."*

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Thus, while we "taste of the powers of the world to come," we shall learn "not to be conformed to this world, but shall be transformed, by the renewing of our minds, that we may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." This Sacrament is designed as an effectual means of grace, and is adapted for the strengthening and refreshing of our souls by a figurative representation of the body and blood of Christ; and by leading us to Him it greatly tends to our comfort and to Him support, during our journey through life. Come, therefore, I beseech you, (this day,) unto Christ by means of this holy Sacrament, and receive Him into your hearts by faith, for 941 He is the bread of life. Our Lord saith of himself, "I am the bread of life: He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that L believeth on me shall never thirst."

*Rom. xii. 1. Heb. vi. 5. Rom, xii.-2.

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