namely the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross for our redemption; who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. It is worthy of remark, that on the very day of the year, and as some think on the very hour of the day, on which the paschal lamb was slain by the Israelites as a memorial of their having been delivered from the hand of the destroying angel, Jesus, our Redeemer, expired on the cross.*

We are led to consider the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, as an atonement for sin by the very words of the institution; "This is my body, which is given for you;" and of the wine; "This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins." The wine is an emblem of the new covenant in the Redeemer's blood, by the shedding of which, that covenant of grace was ratified and confirmed. The bread and wine are therefore to be received by every member of the church to represent their receiving and applying the blessings of redemption, or in other words, receiving the Lord Jesus Christ, and by faith, partaking of his body and blood for their spiritual sustenance. The Lord's Supper may, therefore, be considered as a sign and seal of the covenant of grace to all who believe and repent.

What is professed by those who partake of the Lord's Supper?

We hereby publicly avow ourselves to be the disciples of a crucified master, and that we will not be ashamed to confess him before men, but fight, as good soldiers under his banner, to our life's end. We promise to follow his example, to be crucified to the world, to deny

• See Dr. Newcombe, Wall, Waterland, Cudworth, and Toin ard's Greek Harmony, &c. for the various opinions.

+ If the above view be correct, it would seem wrong to speak of this sacrament as being "the Christian sacrifice. Is it not rather the memorial of it than the sacrifice itself?

ves, and take up our cross. We promise, like o do the will of God, to go about doing good, to e and love our enemies, to return good for evil, to with those who weep, as well as rejoice with those ejoice, to bind up the broken hearted, and relieve istressed, to "visit the fatherless, and the widow ir affliction, and to keep ourselves unspotted from orld." We own him, not only as a teacher sent God, to be our instructor and guide; but we confide a as our Almighty friend and Saviour; rely upon crifice; and commit ourselves to him, to be reed, sanctified and saved.

attending the Lord's Supper, we publicly profess our In the efficacy of the Saviour's death to put away our cordial approbation of that method of salvation God hath appointed, and our thankful acceptance divine mercy through the Redeemer. We express earty compliance with all the requisitions of the e law, that we repent of sin, and believe in the Jesus Christ; that we obey his gospel and devote Ives to God, through the Mediator, to be his for

By partaking of the Lord's Supper, in a social er, with the members of Christ's Church, we proour sincere love to them as brethren, and our detertion to perform all the duties of this relation; and, y, that if we are not faithful to this covenant, we justly incur all the punishment which it was ded to avert. Such was the nature of covenants eninto by the ancients on great occasions. They an animal, and after dividing it, placed it on two site altars. The parties then walked in the space een the parts divided, signifying that if they should e unfaithful to this treaty, thus solemnly contracted, would consent to be torn asunder, and consumed this animal. Blessed be God, we live under a new better covenant, in which the blood of sprinkling keth better things." "If any man sin we have an ocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; he is the propiation for our sins." But if we habity and perseveringly fall away from the dispositions

and duties required of our high vocation, we crucify to ourselves the Son of God, and put him to an open shame; and must expect a punishment commensurate to the dig aity and value of those privileges which we despise. "He that despised Moses's law died without mercy. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite to the spirit of grace?"

The Qualifications necessary to the participation of this Ordinance.

In answer to the question "what is required of those who come to the Lord's Supper?" the catechism replies, "To examine themselves, whether they repent them truly of their former sins, steadfastly purposing to lead a new life; have a lively faith in God's mercy, through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of his death; and be in charity with all men." They and they only, "who truly and earnestly repent them of their sins, and are in love and charity with their neighbours, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways, may draw near, and take this holy sacrament to their comfort." "The wicked, and such as be void of a lively faith, although they do carnally and visibly press with their teeth, as St. Augustine saith) the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ; yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ; but rather to their condemnation, do eat and drink the sign or sacrament of so great a thing." Arti

cle XXIX.

The use of all the ordinances is to quicken and animate us in the divine life. Christ, who is our head and life, communicates to us, through these as through channels, his enlivening and sanctifying influence. He compares himself to the vine, and us to the branches. Now

•Exhortation in the communion service. †John xv. 1 to 6th verse.

this metaphor denotes the union which subsists between Christ and his people, and suggests to us, that as the sap and vegetative power flows from the main body of the plant to its various branches, so do the graces and influences of the Spirit flow from Christ to every branch which is truly grafted on him. "And as the branch can.

not bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, says our Lord, "except ye abide in me." Now if this metaphor afford a just idea of the relation which subsists between Christ and his people, there must be a bond of union, without which all our doings will be nothing worth. There must be a principle by which he abides in us, and we in him, or else we shall be "cast forth as a branch that is withered." This bond, this principle of union, must be faith. It is this which brings down Christ from above, and unites us to him in that mystic "life which is hid with Christ in God." Repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ are requisite to our salvation, and consequently to our right use of the sacraments. It is "by faith the just do live." "Faith is the mouth of the soul, by which it partakes of the heavenly meat full of immortality, dealt out to us by means of the Holy Ghost."

Faith then is necessary to enable us to derive any benefit from the Lord's Supper; and in order to its being effectual, it must be "a lively faith," and in order to its being a lively faith, it must be accompanied with repentance, a full purpose of amendment, and charity to all mankind. The soul, like the branch, may have within it a principle of life, and yet be so embarassed by a load of extraneous matter, as to bear no fruit, to receive no improvement, and scarcely to manifest that it is alive. Thus many Christians, who are in the main believing and sincere, but who are living in the omission of duty, in the indulgence of wrong dispositions, and perhaps in the commission of some known sin, bring a load upon their consciences, which embarasses the life

*John xv. 4. †John xv. 6.

#Romans i. 17.

and spirit of their religion, and leaves them almost dead before the throne of grace. The Holy Spirit would seek to enter into the avenues of the heart, but every space is occupied; and the whole moral mass, disordered and overwhelmed, so counteracts the economy of grace, that instead of improvement and consolation in the sacred exercises of religion, they only treasure up to themselves wrath against that day, when the divine patience, grieved and exhausted, shall pronounce to every such individual, “Let no fruit grow on thee for

"In this is our Father glorified that we bear much fruit." And in this way only shall we preserve the power, with the form of godliness. Let us then ever pray for more of that divine influence which quickens and animates our souls; let us prepare the way of the Lord, and remove all obstructions; let mountains and hills be brought low, and every valley be exalted; let the rough places be made plain, and the crooked be made straight; and then there will be free access for him to come and abide in us. Our sacramental occasions will then be joyful occasions, and, excited thereby to lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, we shall, with patience, run the race that is set before us, until we come to partake of the marriage supper of the Lamb.

The Benefits of the Lord's Supper.

The benefits which the faithful receive in the Lord's Supper, are, "the strengthening and refreshing of our souls, by the body and blood of Christ, as our bodies are by the bread and wine."

This ordinance is one of the instituted means of obtaining supplies of divine grace for our Christian warfare. The intimate relation of Christians to their Lord and Saviour, and their dependence on him, are strongly represented in Scripture. Their vital union to him, as was observed, is like that of the branch to the root; or

*Matt. xxi. 19.

†John xv. 8.

+Catechism.