is incurred, and any moment may plunge him into irremediable and endless ruin; and then say whether there may not be desires wrought in the heart, that can be well compared to hunger and thirst; and whether there be not in the salvation of Jesus Christ, that which may justly be called the bread of life, and the fountain of living waters; and whether faith in his doctrines may not nourish and support the soul, just as much as the most suitable food does the body! Bread or flesh is not more adapted to meet the necessities of the hungry, nor wine to strengthen and revive the weak, than the atonement of the incarnate Saviour is to supply the wants of the convinced, humbled, and penitent sinner. Nothing else indeed will supply his wants. Archbishop Cranmer (whose Treatise on the Sacrament is full of instruction,) justly says, "There is no kind of meat that is comfortable to the soul, but only the death of Christ's blessed body; nor any kind of drink that can quench its thirst, but only the blood-shedding of our Saviour Christ." Let us then, when we receive the Lord's Supper, spiritually feed on Christ as our all-sufficient and all-satisfying Saviour.

It is not one act of faith only that marks the Christian. The just shall live by faith. When we dwell on what Christ has done for us, and look to him for grace and strength, we receive continued supplies of spiritual food. Worldly things weaken our spiritual strength, and deaden our devout affections. Satan tempts us, and a corrupt heart leads us astray. In the midst of these dangers, it is only in proportion as we constantly come to Christ, and receive out of his fulness grace for grace, that we are strong and vigorous in the Christian life. Just as the body lives by

receiving food from day to day, and thereby increases and grows from infancy to manhood, so the soul lives by this faith in Christ, and grows from strength to strength till we come to a perfect man.

The scriptures speak very strongly of the BLESSINGS Connected with this faith in Christ. They are stated in the 6th chapter of John in many varied expressions. Without this faith we have no spiritual life; through faith we have union with Christ, support, strength, consolation, and eternal bliss. The promise of eternal life may well be peculiarly cheering and animating to us. Observe how solemnly our Lord declares, (verse 47) Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Who can calculate the magnitude of this blessing? All the glories of this world fade before it. To be happy, and that for ever! what heart can imagine all that is comprehended in everlasting life? Look only at one point in the promise, (verse 54) I will raise him up at the last day. Place only the resurrection before your eyes. The last trump is soundedthe heavens pass away with a great noise-the LORD HIMSELF descends. In this tremendous day, amid the wreck of worlds, who shall stand when HE appeareth? It is the Judge of all mankind, and who shall abide the day of his coming? Whom will he raise up and place in safety? See above, the mansion of bright and eternal glory? Behold, below, the dreary and horrible abode of never-ending woe! O Christian reader, in the day of the resurrection, what a blessing beyond all description will it be to belong to Christ, and to have his promises engaged to raise you up to life and glory! Well, whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. You

may safely build for eternity on his faithfulness. He has all power and might to fulfil his promises; all truth and willingness to perform them. O look unto Jesus, and be ye saved.

We may hitherto in this chapter appear to have departed from the direct subject of the Lord's Supper, but what has been said will tend to explain that feeding on Christ by faith, which is at once enjoined and signified by this ordinance. Though our Lord's discourse in the 6th of John has not a primary reference to his Last Supper, yet that institution points out the same actings of faith which are illustrated by the instruction in that remarkable passage. Both the literal and spiritual feeding are happily expressed together in the address to the communicant, "Take and eat this, in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving." Archbishop Cranmer very plainly and strikingly expresses the same ideas"The true eating and drinking of the body and blood of Christ is, with a constant and lively faith to believe that he gave his body and shed his blood on the cross for us, and that he does so join and incorporate himself to us, that he is our head and we his members, and flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone, having him dwelling in us, and we in him. And herein stands the whole effect and strength of this sacrament. And this faith God works inwardly in our hearts by his Holy Spirit, and confirms the same outwardly to our ears, by the hearing of his word, and to our other senses, by the eating and drinking of the sacramental bread and wine in his holy supper."

Let it be your desire, then, Christian reader, when

you receive the outward emblems of his body and blood, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and through faith, afresh to receive Christ himself as your only and your complete Saviour. Augustine denies that men can carry away from this sacrament any more than they can collect in the vessel of faith. Indeed, it is only as faith is in exercise, and as you are really looking to Christ, by and through the outward elements, that this institution will be of profit to you. It loses its whole design as to your individual good. if you are not depending by faith on the atonement of Christ, and applying afresh for an interest in his great salvation. Besides, the Lord's Supper shews us how the death of Christ is applied to our benefit. As the bread and wine represent the body and blood of our Saviour, so the eating and drinking those elements point out that act of faith by which we apply to our own benefit the merits of his death. Whenever, then, you go to this holy table, lift up the eye of faith to the crucified Redeemer, dying for your sins, come with your burden to him, and so shall you find rest unto your souls.

CHAPTER IV.

ON THE NEW COVENANT.

IN appointing the Holy Communion, we have seen, our Lord calls the cup the New Testament in his blood. We purpose in this chapter to explain the meaning of this expression, and briefly to state the nature of that dispensation, which was secured to us through the atoning sacrifice of Christ.

The term, which is here rendered Testament, is a translation of the Hebrew word, which is conmonly rendered Covenant.* We do not find that the

*There have been considerable differences of opinion respecting the meaning of the Hebrew word 2, and the Greek word Siαonkη, usually translated covenant. The author thinks that his readers will be interested in an abstract of some of the principal authorities which have fallen in his way.

On the HEBREW word 2, Simon, in his Hebrew Lexicon, gives us the term Covenant as the general meaning; and then, refering to the annexed passages, he says it denotes metonymically, a promise. (Numb. xviii. 19; 2 Sam. xxiii. 5;) a constitution or statute; (Jer. xxxiii. 20.) and a precept, (Jer. xxxiv. 15.) because these are wont to be joined to covenants; the Decalogue, (Num. x. 33. Deut. iv. 13; ix. 9-11 ;) and the sign of the Covenant. Genesis xvii. 13.

In Leigh's Critica Sacra, it is noticed, that it signifies any disposition, institution, or declaration of will, council, or promise, or any thing of that kind, whether that disposition be entered into by one, or by many; whether by the pure engagement of one, or mutual agreement and restipulation between parties.