LXXVI.

SERM. eat the flesh," the sacramental flesh, "of the Son of Man, and drink His blood," His sacramental blood, "ye have no life in you;" that is, nothing but this can sustain the divine life of a Christian.

1 Cor. 10.

16.

John 15. 4.

In short, this is the only way to continue in covenant with God; that is, to be one of His family, one of His care, under His especial protection; one who has a promise of and a right to the kingdom of heaven, by virtue of this

covenant.

St. Paul styles this Sacrament THE COMMUNION OF THE BODY OF CHRIST; that is, it is that ordinance by which we have fellowship with Jesus Christ and with all His members. By this we own to all the world, that we belong to Christ. And then let us remember, that if we do not belong to Christ, we do belong to a much worse master.

"The branch," saith our Lord, "The branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine: no more can ye, except ye abide in Me." Now, can any thing render Christ more effectually present with, and united to us, than this ordinance; whereby we are made one with Christ, and Christ with us?

The paschal lamb was to the Israelites what this Sacrament is to Christians. There was no hopes of security for any Israelite, who had not the blood of the Lamb upon his door, and who did not ever after keep up the memory of his deliverance by that sacrifice. And will Christians hope for mercy without doing what Christ has ordained in memory of His death, and our much greater deliverance?

And remember this, I beseech you, for a certain truth: that generally speaking, whatever it is that hinders people from going to the Sacrament will hinder them from going to heaven. Such are these: a careless indifference for their soul's welfare; an unwillingness to look into their spiritual estate; a great love for the world and its idols, and an unwillingness to renounce them; a faint purpose of doing it some time or other.

These are too often the true causes of men's turning their backs upon this holy ordinance, or of coming to it with an indifference and indevotion which betrays the want of a true sense of the blessings which they might receive from it.

May God Almighty grant, that all who now come to partake of this holy Sacrament may receive the remission of all their past sins, be confirmed in all goodness, receive all the graces necessary for their present condition, may be filled with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and receive this holy Sacrament as a pledge, as an earnest, of a blessed resurrection, and of a life eternal, for Jesus Christ's sake, whose death we now commemorate. To Whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, dominion and power, now and for ever.

SERMON LXXVII.

A FREQUENT RECEIVING OF THE LORD'S SUPPER RECOMMENDED AND ENFORCED.

1 COR. xi. 26.

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till He come.

Ir will hardly be expected that I should say any thing upon these words, or upon this subject, that has not been said before; neither indeed is it necessary. If we can so represent the duties of Christianity, as that they may be apprehended by all sorts of hearers, and that they be often and seasonably put in mind of them, it is all that the ministers of Christ can do.

Our meeting now is in order to be instructed concerning the meaning, the nature, and ends, of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Those that have lived in the faithful use of this ordinance will not expect any further information; the rest will only hear what every Christian should know.

I am verily persuaded there is no Christian, who seriously hopes to be saved, that would ever lightly turn his back on the holy Sacrament, if he understood and considered the meaning, the necessity, and the advantage of receiving worthily; and that there is no danger of receiving unworthily, if a man does but come with an honest heart, and purposes to serve God to the best of his understanding and power.

Now, to lay this matter plainly before you, is what, by God's good blessing, I shall endeavour to do at this time. And though I am not sure that I shall satisfy every body that hears me, yet I do believe, that every person of the

most ordinary understanding, who shall seriously attend to what I am going to say, and who heartily desires to be informed concerning this duty, will be convinced of the truth of these following particulars :

First; that to receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, is one of the most necessary duties of the Christian religion. Secondly; that as the receiving of the Lord's Supper is a necessary duty, so it is one of the easiest to be understood by any person who in good earnest desires to be saved.

Thirdly; that as it is most easy to be understood, so it may be worthily and safely received by the most unlearned Christian, to his great and endless comfort.

Lastly; that therefore, generally speaking, whatever it is that hinders people from coming to the Sacrament, will likewise hinder them from going to heaven.

I. To begin with the first of these particulars: that to receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is one of the most necessary duties of the Christian religion. Now, in order to make this appear, I observe,

First, that the knowledge and remembrance of Christ's death is that on which all the other duties of Christianity depend.

The reason why we confess our sins to God, and hope for pardon, is, because we remember that "we are reconciled Rom. 5. 10. to God by the death of His Son;" and that "the blood of 1 John 1. 7. Christ cleanseth us from all sin.”

32.1

We hope for good at the hand of God, but then it is because we call to remembrance, "that He who spared not [Rom. 8. His own Son, but hath given Him up for us all, will with Him freely give us all things."

In a word; we should neither have hearts to look up to God, nor confidence to expect any thing from Him, nor grace to be thankful, but that Christ, by His death, has given us a right to do so. And therefore His death we ought ever to have before our eyes.

Secondly; the remembrance of Christ's death in the Sacrament is the only support of sinful men. It is not indeed every body that is sensible of the blessing of a Redeemer; but if once men come to consider seriously that they are sinners, and to believe in earnest that no sinner can go to

SERM. heaven, without a share in the merits of Christ, they will LXXVII. then know for a truth, that there is no rest for their souls, but by coming to Christ, and thankfully using the means of grace which He has appointed.

9; John 3. 16.]

It may be, that people may think that the death of Christ may be remembered without receiving the Lord's Supper; but they ought to consider, that there is a great deal of difference betwixt knowing that Christ died for mankind, and applying that knowledge to one's-self in particular. For the death of Christ is only a comfort to any person, so far as he can hope that He died for him; that is, so far as he knows that he hath done what Christ hath commanded him to do, in order to be pardoned.

I have seen many instances of this truth. I have seen people under great affliction of mind, doubting the pardon of their sins. And though the Gospel of Christ, and the express promises therein contained, have been laid before [1 John 1. them; namely, that "if we confess our sins, God is faithful (to His promise), and just to forgive us our sins: that all that believe in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." Yet these promises could yield them no comfort; not that they doubted the truth of them, but because God did not, for that time, vouchsafe them grace to apply these promises to themselves.

[Numb. 21. 6-9.]

The case was just thus with the people of Israel. They were stung by serpents; Moses was ordered by God to set up a serpent of brass, with a promise, that whoever in their misery should look upon it, should be healed. It was indeed a general blessing to know this; but nobody had any comfort or share in this blessing, but those that made use of the means, and went out to look upon it; they only were healed.

Why now let us apply this: we are sinners. Every man knows this for himself. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. For His sake, God has made us many great and precious promises. The holy Sacrament is the means of applying these promises to every man's own case, by remembering the death of Christ after a solemn manner, and owning Him for our Lord.

Now, whoever neglects to do what Christ hath com