The Communicant's Companion

Instructions for the Right Receiving of the Lord's

Supper

Matthew Henry

Monergism Books

Published by Monergism Books

P.O. Box 491

West Linn Oregon 97068

www.monergism.com

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the

publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Contents

Introductory Essay.

To The Reader.

1. Chapter 1. The Names by Which this Ordinance is Usually

Called.

2. Chapter 2. The Nature of this Ordinance.

3. Chapter 3. An Invitation to this Ordinance.

4. Chapter 4. Helps for Self-Examination Before We Come to this

Ordinance.

5. Chapter 5. Instructions for Renewing Our Covenant with God in

Our Preparation for this Ordinance.

6. Chapter 6. Helps for Meditation and Prater in Our Preparation for

this Ordinance.

7. Chapter 7. Directions in What Frame of Spirit We Should Come

to, and Attend Upon this Ordinance.

8. Chapter 8. Some Account of the Affecting Sights that are to be

Seen by Faith in this Ordinance.

9. Chapter 9. Some Account of the Precious Benefits Which are to

be Received by Faith in this Ordinance.

10. Chapter 10. Helps for the Exciting of those Pious and Devout

Affections which should be Working in Us While We Attend this

Ordinance.

11. Chapter 11. Directions Concerning the Solemn Vows We are to

Make to God in this Ordinance.

12. Chapter 12. Directions Concerning the Frame of Our Spirits

When We Come Away from this Ordinance.

13. Chapter 13. An Exhortation to Order the Conversation Aright

After this Ordinance.

14. Chapter 14. Some Words of Comfort Which this Ordinance

Speaks to Serious Christians.

Introductory Essay.

y John Brown.

There is an important, though often an overlooked difference

between the results of human ingenuity, as embodied in the principles of

science and the institutions of civil society, and the results of divine

wisdom, as embodied in the doctrines of revelation and the ordinances of

the Christian church. Human science is the offspring of the observations

and experiments of beings limited in their faculties, and liable to error, and

admits, from this very circumstance, of constant growth, frequent

correction, and indefinite improvement. The principles of natural

philosophy are much better understood at present, not only than they were,

but than they could have been a hundred years ago; and it is highly

probable, that, before the end of another century, they will be still better

understood than they are at present: but, as the most finished work of the

human mind is necessarily imperfect, there will always be room for the

correction of mistakes, and the supply of deficiencies.

It is altogether otherwise with the doctrines of Revelation. They flow forth

absolutely pure from the fountain of knowledge and of truth. They are an

infallible statement of a portion of the mind of Him who alone hath

wisdom. Human science is like the statue, which, under the successive

strokes of the artist's chisel, from a rude unformed block, gradually assumes

a striking resemblance to "the human form divine." Revealed truth is like

our general parent, rising at once into perfect form, and beauty, and life, at

the command of his Creator.

The improvement even of the most finished statue implies no absurdity;

but the idea of mending the divine work were equally replete with impiety

and folly. Human science, being the product of fallible reason, cannot be

perfect. There must be deficiency, and there may be error; and it admits of

improvement both by correction and addition. There is room for neither in

the doctrines of revelation. Divine revelation is, from its very nature, free

from error, proceeding from him who cannot be deceived, and who cannot

deceive; and though imperfect, inasmuch as it does not extend to all

possible objects of religious knowledge, it obviously admits of addition in

no other way than by a new revelation. He who has made known to us a

portion of his mind, may, if he pleases, make known to us another portion

of it; but till he does so, the whole of our duty, in reference to the revelation

given, is to endeavor distinctly to apprehend the meaning of its various

parts, and the relations, connections, and dependencies of these various

parts, and to yield up the whole of our intellectual and active nature to its

influence. It is equally inconsistent with this duty to attempt to make

corrections on the system of revealed truth, or to make additions to it.

It would have been a happy thing for the Christian world, if the obvious

distinction which has now been pointed out, had been steadily kept in view

by the teachers of religion. The "truth as it is in Jesus" would not then have

been obscured by attempts to illustrate it; nor the dogmas of a vain

philosophy mingled with the oracles of divine wisdom, or substituted in

their room. The ingenuity, and learning, and labor, which have been often

worse than wasted, in endeavoring, by working up into a complete system

of religion and morals, such of the materials furnished by revelation, as

seemed fit for their purpose, along with such materials as they could collect

from other sources, while, without ceremony, such portions of revelation as

appeared unsuitable to their object, were overlooked or rejected,—might

have been devoted to a diligent inquiry into the meaning and connection of

the sacred oracles; and thus have discovered there, made by his hand who

made the world, what they must for ever in vain attempt to make for

themselves; and we would not have had reason to doubt, in an age when

human science has, in all its branches, attained to an unprecedented state of

improvement, whether the principles of revealed truth are not worse

understood, among those who profess to believe them, than they were

seventeen hundred years ago.

A similar distinction ought to be made between the institutions of civil

society and the ordinances of the Christian church. The principles of civil

government are at present much better understood than they were, or could

have been, in what are ordinarily called the dark ages; and it is certain,

whatever a blind reverence for antiquity may urge to the contrary, that the

social arrangements which prevail in our own country are incomparably

superior to those which existed even in the most illustrious ages of Grecian

and Roman history; and it is equally evident, whatever a partial fondness

for the institutions of our own country and age may suggest, that a much

more perfect form of social life is not only easily conceivable, but, at some

future period, is likely to be realized, than any that has yet been established

among mankind. These institutions are the result of human ingenuity, and

therefore are imperfect. There is something wanting, and something wrong

with the best of them.

But it is otherwise with the ordinances of the Christian church; for they

are the appointments of infinite wisdom. They were originally given by one

who had a perfect knowledge of the end of such institutions—the religious

and moral improvement of his people; and a perfect knowledge, too, of that

intellectual and moral constitution, for the improvement of which they are

intended,—and, like all the divine works, they are perfect, They are all of

them characterized by a beautiful simplicity, which ill accords with the

ordinary, but depraved taste of mankind for what is complicated and

difficult; but which is a leading feature in all the works and arrangements of

infinite wisdom.

It might have been expected, that the institutions of Christianity, bearing

on them the impress of supreme authority, would have been accounted too

sacred things to be tampered with by those who admitted the divine origin

of that religion. But what is there too presumptuous for man to attempt? The

same principle which led professed Christians to modify the doctrines of

Christ, led them to alter his institutions. In both cases, they flattered

themselves that they were making improvements; but what was the truth?

By their experiments on the doctrines of Christ, they, in many cases,

converted the true elixir of immortal life into a deadly poison, and, at the

very best, robbed it of its healing virtues, just in the proportion in which

they have infused into it baser ingredients: and by their experiments on the

institutions of Christ, they have rendered them utterly unfit for the purposes

they were intended to answer; and, instead of important means of religious

and moral improvement, they have made them mere vehicles of amusement

to the senses or imagination, and, in many cases, the instruments of

extensive demoralization and of fatal delusion.

No Christian ordinance has been more perverted by superstition than the

Lord's Supper; and no portion of Christian truth has been more involved in

obscurity and error than that which respects that ordinance. False opinions

and superstitious usages mutually produce and support each other. By this

malignant action and re-action, in reference to the Lord's Supper, where the

emblematical nature of the institution, and the figurative language in which

of course much of the truth respecting it was couched, afforded peculiar

facilities for misapprehension, misrepresentation, and delusion, we find,

within the course of a few centuries, the simple rite of an assembly of

Christians eating bread and drinking wine, in grateful commemoration of

the expiatory sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, converted into a splendid

and complicated ceremony; and the plain, intelligible doctrine, that in this

ordinance we are presented with an emblematical representation and

confirmation of the great principles of our religion, which, by strengthening

our belief, contributes to our spiritual improvement, gives way to a

portentous dogma, of which it is impossible to say whether it be more

absurd or impious, that, in this ordinance, the bread and the wine are, by the

mystic power of a priest's repeating the words of institution, converted into

the body, and blood, and divinity of Jesus Christ; which, after having been

offered to God by the priest, as an expiatory sacrifice for the sins of the

living and the dead, are literally eaten and drunk by the recipients. So

dangerous is it to deviate from the purity of scriptural truth, and the

simplicity of primitive usage. It is impossible to say where we will stop.

The probability is, that we will not stop till we land ourselves in the pravity

of damnable error, and in the absurdity of senseless superstition.

At the Reformation, the doctrine of transubstantiation, and the practice of

the sacrifice of the mass, were discarded by all the Protestant churches; but

there was but a partial return to the purity and simplicity of primitive

doctrine and observance. By the Lutheran church, a variety of unauthorized

rites were retained, and the doctrine of consubstantiation, or the real, though

impalpable and invisible, presence of the body and blood of Christ, along

with, and under the substance of bread and wine in the consecrated

elements, was substituted in the room of the not more absurd, and certainly

not less intelligible dogma of transubstantiation; and, although most of the

reformed churches rejected both these equally unscriptural doctrines, and

approximated much more closely to both the principles and practice of

apostolical times, yet still it cannot be denied, that, in most of their

symbolical books, there is much mystical statement, respecting the spiritual

presence of Jesus Christ in the Lord's Supper, and the manner in which

Christians participate of his body and blood when they observe it; as if

Christ's presence in this ordinance, were not essentially the same as his

presence in any other ordinance, when, by the operation of his Spirit,

through the instrumentality of the truth', he communicates to the believing

mind knowledge, and purification, and comfort;—as if "the eating Christ's

flesh, and drinking Christ's blood," in this ordinance, were something else

than that participation of those blessings procured by his sufferings and

death, which all true Christians enjoy, whenever they believe the divine

testimony respecting these sufferings and death;—and as if all the

peculiarities of this ordinance did not originate in the emblematical form in

which it brings Christian truth and its evidence before the mind.

It is obvious, that to be conducive to the spiritual improvement of those

who engage in it, the Lord's Supper must be "a rational service,"—an

exercise of the mind and of the heart: and it is equally obvious, that, for the

purpose of rendering it a rational service, it is not our business to endeavor

to invent a spiritual meaning to the emblems which are employed in it; but

to endeavor to discover the spiritual meaning, which he who appointed the

ordinances intended to be attached to these emblems. Some writers on the

nature and design of this ordinance, seem to have overlooked this; and, of

course, their works, though replete with pious fancies, are rather deficient in

such distinct, scripturally supported views, as are calculated at once to

satisfy the mind and guide the exercise of the devout Christian. It is often

treated of as an oath of allegiance—a federal transaction between God and

the communicant—an unbloody sacrifice, or a feast upon a sacrifice—and

much fruitless controversy has taken place, which of these, or whether any

of them, affords a just representation of its nature, design, and advantages.

Figurative descriptions of an emblematical ordinance do not seem

peculiarly well fitted for explaining it; and there is a considerable hazard

lest, in our following out our tropical illustrations, we end in making the

ordinance something altogether different from what Jesus Christ made it;

and as the promise of his blessing is attached only to the observance of his

institution, we shut ourselves out from the advantages we might have

enjoyed from its observance, if we do not, in simple submission to his

authority, and reliance on his Spirit, eat bread and drink wine, in believing

remembrance and religious commemoration of his expiatory sufferings and

death.

The simplest, and, to our own minds, the most satisfactory view of the

Lord's Supper which we have been able to take, is that which considers it

as, on the part of Him who instituted it, an emblematical representation and

confirmation of the grand peculiarities of the Christian institution; and, on

the part of him who observes it, an emblematical expression of a state of

mind and heart in accordance with this statement of Christian truth and its

evidence.

That there is something more in the Lord's Supper than meets the external

senses—that its emblematical elements are meant to embody Christian

doctrine, and its emblematical actions to express Christian thought and

feeling,—there can be no doubt; and in order to discover what is the

Christian truth which the instituted symbols represent, we are not left to

conjecture how such emblems may be naturally interpreted. In the

statements of our Lord, and of his inspired Apostles, we have abundant and

satisfactory information. The following is a short account of the institution

of the Lord's Supper, as narrated by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul:—"The

Lord Jesus, that night in which he was betrayed, while observing with his

apostles the Jewish passover, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he

brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body

which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.' After the same

manner he took the cup, when he had supped, and gave it to them, saying,

'This cup is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many, for the

remission of sins: drink ye all of it. This do ye as oft as ye drink it, in

remembrance of me.'" The meaning of the highly figurative phrases, "eating

Christ's flesh, and drinking Christ's blood," may be easily ascertained, from

the following quotations from one of our Lord's discourses:—"He that

believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. If any man eat

of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my

flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 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."

The apostle Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, makes the following

observations in reference to the meaning of the emblems in the Lord's

Supper:—"The cup of blessing, or thanksgiving, which we bless, or over

which we give thanks, is it not the communion—the mutual participation,

of the blood of Christ? the bread which we break, is it not the communion

—the mutual participation, of the body of Christ? for we being many, are

one bread and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread." These

passages of Scripture are the legitimate materials from which we are to

form our judgments as to the meaning of the emblems in the Lord's Supper;

and they certainly warrant us to affirm, that this ordinance is an

emblematical representation of all the grand peculiarities of the Christian

system.

Truth may be brought before the mind in two ways,—by verbal statement,

or by emblematical representation. The first is best fitted for conveying new

information; the second is admirably calculated for recalling, in a striking

manner, to the mind, information formerly presented to it. The first method

of presenting the leading truths of Christianity is adopted in the written and

spoken gospel; the second, in the Lord's Supper: and it will be found, on

examination, that that ordinance is, as it were, a miniature picture of the

same series of divine dispensations, of which we have a detailed history in

the word of the truth of the gospel.

It may be worth our while to expand this remark a little, and show how

full of Christian truth is every part of this emblematical institution. Let us

contemplate the symbolical elements and actions, and apply to our Lord and

his Apostles for their spiritual signification. In this ordinance we have bread

and wine: and of the bread, our Lord says, "This is my body;" and of the

wine, "This is my blood." These words admit but of two modes of

interpretation,—the literal, which conducts directly into all the absurdities

and blasphemies of transubstantiation; and the figurative, which represents

the bread and the wine, as emblems of the body and blood of the Redeemer;

just in the same way as the rock which supplied the Israelites with water

during their wanderings in the wilderness, is called Christ. The words

plainly imply, that he who used them had a body and blood—was a

possessor of human nature: and the elements, to a well-instructed Christian,

naturally recall the grand fundamental doctrine of the incarnation. In silent,

but expressive language, they proclaim, "The word was made flesh, and

dwelt among men: inasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and

blood, he also took part of the same. Great is the mystery of godliness: God

was manifest in the flesh."

But in the Lord's Supper we not only have bread and wine, but broken

bread and poured-out wine. Our Lord has unfolded the meaning of these

emblems also: "This is my body broken, my blood shed; my body broken,

my blood shed for you; my body broken, my blood shed for remission of

sin unto many." The broken bread and the poured-out wine are, when thus

explained, calculated to suggest to Christian minds, that the incarnate

Savior, after a life of suffering, died a violent death; that these sufferings

and this death were vicarious and expiatory, undergone in the room of

sinners, to obtain their salvation. It concentrates, as it were, the principal

statements both of the prophets and the evangelists; and, with one glance of

the eye, we see the wondrous plan of human redemption through the

mediation of the incarnate only begotten. It tells us more touchingly than

words could do, that "Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures;

that he was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities;

that in him we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of

sins; that he has given himself for us a sacrifice and an offering, and has

thus brought us unto God."

But the doctrines of the incarnation and the atonement are not the only

principles of Christian truth which are embodied in the Lord's Supper. Had

their representation been its sole object, it might have been gained by the

minister's exhibiting bread and wine; and, while he pointed to them,

proclaiming, "This is Christ's body broken; this is Christ's blood shed for

you." But this is not the Lord's Supper. In that ordinance, we have not only

broken bread and poured-out wine; but the broken bread is eaten, and the

poured-out wine is drunk. This also is replete with spiritual meaning. From

the passage above quoted from one of our Lord's discourses, it is plain, that

eating Christ's flesh and drinking Christ's blood, is significant of that

interest in his sufferings and death, which, by the divine appointment, is

connected with the belief of the truth respecting them: so that here we are

furnished with an emblematical representation of that cardinal doctrine of

Christianity, that "whosoever believeth in Christ Jesus shall not perish, but

have everlasting life." As bread and wine, though in themselves most

nutritious food, will not nourish us, unless we eat the one and drink the

other; so the expiatory sufferings and death of the incarnate Son of God,

though of themselves adequate to the salvation of the greatest sinner, will

not save us unless we believe.

But we have not yet exhausted the spiritual meaning of the emblems in

the Lord's Supper. Had it been our Lord's object merely to embody, in an

emblematical institution, the principles, "that the only-begotten of God in

human nature suffered and died in the room of sinners, to procure their

salvation; and that faith in these truths is at once absolutely necessary, and

completely sufficient to secure to the sinner an interest in this salvation;" it

is probable that the sacred rite would have been of such a nature as admitted

of performance by a single individual. But this is not the case with the

Lord's Supper. It is a social institution, and Christians must "come together

to eat the Lord's Supper." Without any explicit revelation on the subject,

knowing, as we do, from other passages of Scripture, that a very intimate

relation does subsist among all the true followers of Jesus Christ, we might

perhaps have warrantably concluded, that this mystical feast was intended

emblematically to represent their holy fellowship. But it is our wish to say

nothing in reference to the meaning of this ordinance, but what we are

distinctly taught in Scripture. Indeed, there is no necessity to have recourse

to inference. The passage already quoted from the apostle Paul is most

explicit. In partaking of the cup of blessing, there is a communion, or

mutual participation of the blood of Christ; in partaking of the broken

bread, there is a communion, or mutual participation of the body of Christ;

and the consequence of this mutual participation is, that the partakers are all

one body and one bread. The reality and the nature of that intimate relation

which subsists among all Christ's genuine followers, is there strikingly

exhibited. They are a holy society, bound together by their common faith in

the grand leading truths of Christianity, embodied in this emblematical

institution, and, by their common love to that Savior who is in it, "evidently

set forth crucified and slain."

It is deeply to be regretted, that this part of the meaning of the Lord's

Supper has been so much overlooked and forgotten, and that "the symbol of

our common Christianity" should have been almost universally converted

into "the badge and criterion of a party, a mark of discrimination applied to

distinguish the nicer shades of difference among Christians." It was not so

from the beginning. The church of Christ was originally one body: the

ordinance of the Lord's Supper is suited to such an order of things; and

however perverted from its original purpose, though, instead of the

common place of friendly meeting for all who believe the truth and love the

Savior, it has in many cases become "the line of demarcation, the

impassable boundary which separates and disjoins them," still, in its

obvious emblematical meaning, it sounds a retreat from the unnatural

divisions which prevail among the genuine followers of the Savior, by

proclaiming that they are indeed all "one in Christ Jesus."

There is just one other important principle of Christian truth which we

consider as embodied in the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is a positive

institution. It is entirely founded on the authority of Jesus Christ, as Him to

whom all power in heaven and earth belongs. It does not, like what may be

termed the moral part of our religion, necessarily arise out of the relations

in which we stand to God as the God of salvation, and to Jesus Christ as the

Redeemer of mankind, such as faith, confidence, and obedience. The sole

obligation of this ordinance arises out of its appointment by Christ. It would

have been our duty to have gratefully and devoutly remembered our

Savior's dying love, though no express command had been given us to that

effect but it would not have been our duty to have expressed this grateful

and devout recollection by the eating bread, and drinking wine, had not

Jesus Christ said, "Do this in remembrance of me." The ordinance, then,

embodies in it Christ's claims on the implicit obedience of his followers,

and holds him forth as their Lawgiver as well as their Savior.

Thus have we seen how replete with Christian truth is this emblematical

institution. It forcibly presents to the Christian's mind these great

fundamental principles of his religion, "that Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

assumed human nature, and suffered and died in the room of sinners, to

obtain their salvation; that all who believe God's testimony concerning this

method of salvation, shall be saved; that all who are thus interested in this

Christian salvation form a holy fellowship, bound together by the faith of

the same truth, and reliance on the same Savior; and that all who belong to

this Christian fellowship are bound to submit implicitly to the Savior's

authority, and to walk in all his ordinances and commandments blameless."

But the Lord's Supper contains in it an emblematical confirmation, as well

as an emblematical exhibition, of Christian doctrine. It presents to us not

only the truth, but its evidence. The Lord's Supper involves in it satisfactory

evidence of the truth of Christianity in general. It has been remarked, by

one of the most ingenious defenders of Christianity, that there can be no

reasonable doubt of the reality of any event which is of such a nature as that

men's senses can clearly and fully judge of it, which took place publicly,

and in commemoration of which public institutions were immediately

appointed, and have continued to be observed, with uninterrupted

succession, till the present time. The facts of our Lord's death and

resurrection are facts to which these characters belong. They were events,

of the reality of which, men, in the. exercise of the senses common to the

species, could clearly and fully judge—they took place publicly. In the

institution of the Lord's Supper and the Lord's day, institutions more closely

connected than seems generally to be apprehended by Christians in the

present age, we have public observances instituted in commemoration of

these events, and which we know, from the most indubitable evidence, have

been uninterruptedly observed from the period of their institution down to

our own times. It is impossible for the ingenuity of infidelity to account

satisfactorily for these facts, on any principle which does not involve in it

the truth of Christianity; and it does not seem possible to conceive of a

more simple, yet more effectual method of transmitting unimpaired the

principal evidences of the truth of Christianity, in the miraculous events

accompanying the Savior's death and resurrection, than by wrapping it up, if

I may use the expression, in the two kindred positive institutions of the

Lord's Supper and the Lord's day.

The use of the Lord's Supper, as confirming Christian truth, is however by

no means confined to this general proof of the truth of Christianity, as a

system which it involves. It not only proves that a certain system of

principles, denominated Christianity, is true and divine, but it proves that

the doctrines which it emblematically embodies, form the leading principles

of that true and divine system. It does not, like some very clear and

convincing statements of the evidences of Christianity, leave you in the

dark as to what Christianity is. And here we have much reason to admire the

"manifold wisdom" discovered in this emblematical institution. Even a

slight variation in its details would have rendered it completely unfit for

answering this most important purpose. Had our Lord merely enjoined that

his followers should frequently assemble around the same board, and eat

bread and drink wine together, the rite might have been plausibly

represented as nothing more than an exhibition of the tendency and design

of Christianity to put an end to all unfriendly divisions among mankind, and

to bind them together in the bands of fraternal affection. Had he even gone

somewhat farther, and, on appointing such an institution, proclaimed, "This

is the bread of life; he who eateth of it shall never hunger—this is the wine

of the kingdom; he that drinketh of it shall never thirst—eat, drink, and live

for ever,"—still, without doing any violence to the meaning either of the

symbols, or of the words explicatory of them, we might have been told, that

all that was meant was an emblematical representation of the tendency and

design of the doctrine of Jesus Christ, to make men good, and wise, and

happy. But it is impossible thus to give meaning to the emblems in the

Lord's Supper, as explained by our Lord, without admitting that the

incarnation and the atonement are essential parts of Christianity: and the

same evidence which proves Christianity to be divine, proves this to be

Christianity. The doctrine of salvation, through the sufferings and death of

Jesus Christ, as the substitute of sinners, is so wrought into the very

substance of this ordinance, that no ingenuity can extract it. So long as the

Lord's Supper continues in the church—so long as the words of the

institution are repeated, and the instituted symbols displayed, there never

shall be wanting in the church a clear demonstration, that the death of the

Son of God, as a sacrifice for sin, was a doctrine of the primitive age of

Christianity.

It is thus that the Lord's Supper confirms, as well as exhibits the leading

principles of Christianity; and it is thus that it answers to the description

which is often given of it as a sealing ordinance. To this denomination,

which, by the way, is not a scriptural one, very confused, and, in some

cases, dangerously mistaken ideas are attached. The covenant of mercy was

ratified, or sealed, by the blood of the Son of God, shed on Calvary; and of

this blood-shedding, the Lord's Supper is not the repetition, but the

commemoration: and as to the Lord's Supper sealing to the recipient his

individual interest in the blessings secured by that covenant, the only

scriptural idea that can be attached to these words is, that this ordinance is

fitted as an exhibition both of truth and its evidence, to confirm that faith in

the gospel, which at once connects us with the Savior, and produces the

consciousness of enjoying some, and the well-grounded hope of enjoying

all the blessings of his salvation.

The Lord's Supper, which is thus, on the part of him who instituted it, an

emblematical exhibition and confirmation of the leading principles of

Christianity, is, on the part of him who observes it, an emblematical

expression of a state of mind and of heart, accordant with this statement of

Christian truth and its evidence. And here lies one of the principal

differences between the verbal exhibition of Christian truth and evidence, in

the written or spoken gospel, and the emblematical exhibition of Christian

truth and evidence in the Lord's Supper. In both cases, it is the duty of those

to whom the exhibition is made, to meet it with a corresponding state of

thought and affection; but it is in the latter case only that a solemn

profession of such an accordance of mind and heart is made. The taking the

bread into our hands and eating it, the taking the wine into our hands and

drinking it, are the appointed emblematical method of professing our faith

of the truths represented in this ordinance; our reliance on Jesus Christ as

our own Savior, our unreserved submission to his authority, and our cordial

love to all who, through the faith of the truth, rely on this Savior, and are

interested in his salvation.

The intelligent and believing communicant responds, as it were, to the

voice of the Savior, "This is my body broken, my blood shed for many, for

the remission of sins:" "It is thy body broken, it is thy blood shed for many,

for the remission of sins. I know, and am sure, that this is a faithful saying,

that Jesus Christ, God's Son in human nature, suffered and died in the room

of sinners, to obtain their salvation, and that whosoever believeth in him

shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

But, in observing the Lord's Supper, there is more than an expression of

the belief of the gospel testimony in its general form, as embodied in this

emblematic institution; there is also a profession of personal reliance on the

Savior's sufferings and death, as the expiation of our guilt, and the price of

our salvation. This is the necessary and immediate result of the belief of the

testimony in its true extent, and is so closely connected with it, that it is not

much to be wondered at, if it has sometimes been identified with it. The

emblems, as explained by our Lord, not merely intimate in general that

Christ died for men—for sinners; but that he died for those in particular for

whom this ordinance is intended, that is, for believers:—"This is my body

broken for you, this is my blood shed for you." The state of mind and heart

corresponding to such a declaration, is a personal reliance on the Savior, a

cordial reception of his salvation; and the language of the conduct of the

believing communicant is, my Lord and my God, my Savior and my all.

In the observance of the Lord's Supper, there is also a profession of an

accordance of mind and heart with the view which the ordinance

emblematically exhibits of the unity of the body of Christ. The believing

communicant embraces, in the arms of his affections, the whole

brotherhood of believers, and the language of his conduct, in eating of the

common loaf, and drinking out of the common cup of the Christian family,

is, "I love them all in the truth, for the truth's sake which is in them, and will

abide in them for ever." The observation of the Lord's Supper does not

imply in it a profession of a complete accordance of sentiment with every

individual, or even with the religious body, along with whom we observe it.

It implies a profession of our union with them in the faith of the truth,

which the ordinance emblematically represents. It necessarily implies this,

but it implies no more.

Finally, in observing the Lord's Supper, there is plainly implied, a

profession of unreserved and implicit submission to the authority of Jesus

Christ The ordinance, as we have shown above, is a positive institution. It

involves in it an assertion of the authority of Jesus Christ over the

conscience; and the observance of the ordinance is an unequivocal

acknowledgment of this authority. The only reason why we observe it is,

that Jesus Christ has commanded us to observe it; and in observing it, we

say, "We do this just because Christ has commanded us to do it, and we are

ready to do whatever he commands us, and ask no better reason than that he

hath commanded us." When Jesus Christ puts the cup into our hands, he as

it were says, "The man in whose hand this cup is found shall be my servant

for ever;" and on taking it, we as it were respond, "Truly, O Lord, we are

thy servants—we are thy servants, thou hast loosed our bonds; thine we are,

and thee we will serve: we will walk in all thy commandments and

ordinances blameless."

This view of the Lord's Supper—as on the part of him who instituted it, an

emblematical representation and confirmation of the grand peculiarities of

the Christian institution; and on the part of him who observes it, an

emblematical expression of a state of mind and of heart in accordance with

this statement of Christian truth and its evidence—has at least this

advantage, that it is completely free of mysticism; it enables us distinctly to

see why the observance of this ordinance should be restricted to persons

possessed of a peculiar character, to explain the manner in which this

ordinance contributes to spiritual improvement, and furnishes us with a

plain, palpable rule, to, ascertain whether we may safely observe the Lord's

Supper, and to guide our devotional exercises when at the communion table.

The exclusion of all but genuine Christians from a right to observe the

Lord's Supper, is not an arbitrary arrangement: it rises out of the nature of

the case, and, like all the appointments of the God of nature and of grace, is

found characterized by wisdom, equity, and benignity. How can a grossly

ignorant person derive any advantage from observing such an ordinance as

the Lord's Supper? To a mind in some measure enlightened in the meaning

and evidence of Christian truth, the ordinance is calculated to recall and

impress the great realities of the Christian economy, and to subject the

whole of the inner man to their purifying and blissful influence. But to the

man who does not know well who Jesus Christ is, in what his mediation

consists, what made it necessary, what blessings he has procured for

mankind, and how we, as individuals, are to obtain these blessings, of what

intellectual or moral benefit can it possibly be to observe the Lord's Supper?

He eats a little bread and drinks a little wine, and profanes a divine

institution, and sinks himself deeper in guilt and delusion than ever.

The unbeliever is obviously equally unfitted for deriving spiritual

advantage from this ordinance, and indeed cannot observe it without

making a false profession—without "lying, not to men, but to God." This

remark is equally applicable to those who, instead of relying solely on Jesus

Christ crucified for salvation, are going about to establish their own

righteousness, not submitting themselves to the righteousness of God—to

those who are strangers to the love of the Christian brotherhood—and to

those who are living in the habitual neglect or violation of any of the laws

of Jesus. From the very nature of the institution, it is impossible that such

persons can engage in it without dishonoring God and injuring their own

souls; and of course that law of Christ is a holy, and just, and good one,

which forbids such persons to approach the communion table.

There is a beautiful unity of principle pervading all the various methods

adopted in the scheme of grace, for promoting man's spiritual improvement.

The truth as it is in Jesus, known, and believed, and meditated on, is the

grand instrument by which the Holy Spirit performs all his wonders in the

new creation. It is delightful to observe this principle exemplified even in

the ritual part of Christianity. There are many who seem to ascribe a sort of

magical power to the Lord's Supper. The consecrated elements, as they like

to phrase it, (and with them consecration does not refer to the Savior's

appointment, but to the mysterious effects of certain words uttered by the

officiating minister,) are considered as a species of talismans, of miraculous

efficacy in guarding the soul from the attacks of the powers of darkness.

The Lord's Supper does us good just in the same way as the gospel does us

good. In both, the truth as it is in Jesus, in its meaning and evidence, is held

forth to us; and just in the degree in which it is apprehended by us, will we

be made good and happy. It is a great mercy that the communication of

saving blessings by the Lord's Supper and other ordinances, is not confined

to those who can satisfactorily explain to their own minds the manner in

which these institutions work out their intended results. At the same time,

there is no doubt that such knowledge is of high importance, and greatly

and directly tends to promote both the holiness and comfort of the true

Christian.

These observations will be strangely misconceived, if they are considered

by any one, as intended to cast into the shade the cardinal doctrine of the

necessity of the influence of the Holy Spirit, in order to our deriving saving

advantage from the Lord's Supper. But the influence of the Holy Spirit

operates not miraculously, but according to the established laws of the

human mind; and in the Lord's Supper, it is by his fixing the mind, and

keeping it fixed on the emblematical display of Christian truth and its

evidence, that he renders the ordinance effectual to the strengthening of our

faith, and through the strengthening of our faith, to the general

improvement of our spiritual character.

The work of self-inquiry, which, from the nature of the case ought to

precede our observing the Lord's Supper, is often represented as a peculiarly

difficult and operose business; but if the above views of that ordinance be

correct, the point to be ascertained is brought within a narrow limit, and

little, except an honest wish to know the truth, should be necessary, for the

resolution of the question. If a man is ignorant of the way of salvation

through Christ Jesus, if he does not really believe that the Son of God in

human nature suffered and died, the just in the room of the unjust, that he

might bring them to God, if he does not rely on Jesus Christ, and on him

alone, for salvation, if he does not love genuine Christians, just because

they are genuine Christians, and if he habitually neglects or violates any of

the laws of Jesus Christ, in his present condition he is utterly incapacitated

from deriving any spiritual advantage from this ordinance. And on the other

hand, if a man understands and believes the testimony of God concerning

his Son, trusts in him as his only and all-sufficient Savior, loves all who

love him, and are like him, and while conscious of much wanting and much

wrong, has the testimony of his conscience, that he delights in the law of

the Lord after the inward man,—such a person ought to avail himself of

every opportunity of obeying Christ's commandment, "Do this in

remembrance of me," and may reasonably anticipate, from such obedience,

both spiritual enjoyment and improvement.

If we wish to obtain either, however, it is of importance that we keep

steadily in view the nature and design of the Lord's Supper. When engaged

in eating bread and drinking wine, in obedience to our Redeemer's

command, our great endeavor should be to yield up our minds to the native

influence of the truth and its evidence, as represented to us in the ordinance.

The business of the communicant is simple; and, were we in any good

measure what we should be, easy. It is to look to Jesus, plainly set forth,

crucified and slain—to behold the Lamb of God bearing, and bearing away

the sin of the world, and to allow these truths, so strikingly exhibited, so

powerfully confirmed, to produce that love to God and to his Son, that

penitence, humility, and resignation, that love to the brotherhood, and

benevolence to all men, that weanedness from the world, and that earnest

longing for a better one, which are their natural results. The best preparation

for comfortable, profitable communicating, is habitually to "let the word of

Christ dwell in us richly." The more thoroughly we are acquainted with

Christian truth, the more firmly we believe it, the more readily will the

instituted symbols in the Lord's Supper recall that truth and its evidence,

and, under the influence of the good Spirit, contribute the more to our

sanctification and consolation.

It is to the Bible that we have endeavored to send our readers for their

views of the nature and design of the Lord's Supper; and it is to the Bible

we would wish to send them, as furnishing them with the best of all

"Sacramental Directories," the only infallible "Guide to the Lord's Table."

At the same time, we are disposed to think, that, when kept in their own

place, those Treatises, whether doctrinal or devotional, which pious men

have given to the world, on the Lord's Supper, may be turned to good

account by the intelligent Christian. From almost all of them, important and

useful instruction may be derived; but, perhaps, none of these Treatises

possess more excellencies, and fewer defects, than Matthew Henry's

Communicant's Companion. It is much more than a general account of the

nature and design of the Lord's Supper, and a set of rules for the observance

of that institution; it contains in it an admirable view of Christian doctrine,

experience, and duty, and is peculiarly fitted to prevent persons from taking

that insulated view of the ordinance, which, with too many, converts it into

a mere rite, a piece of "bodily service, which profits little." It is

distinguished, in a high degree, by the characteristic good qualities of the

minor works of its Author, who, on a scale of literary merit, graduated on

the principle which will regulate the judgment of the last day, would occupy

a high place among English writers. It is very plain, very pious, and very

practical. There is a simplicity, a naturalness, and a familiarity, which

renders it peculiarly delightful reading, and makes us almost fancy

ourselves enjoying the conversation of its venerable Author. With these

views of the following Treatise, we cannot but apprehend that much good

must be derived from its attentive, prayerful perusal; but the advice we

would give, as to reading this or any other human composition, is that of the

apostle—" prove all things, hold fast THAT WHICH IS GOOD."

Edinburgh, April, 1825.

To The Reader.

here humbly offer you, Christian reader, some assistance in that great

and good work, which you have to do, and are concerned to do well,

when you attend the table of your Lord; a work in which I have observed

most serious people desirous of help, and willing to use the helps they have;

which I confess was one thing that invited me to this undertaking.

I offer this service with all due deference and respect to the many

excellent performances of this kind, with which we are already blessed,

done by far better hands than mine; who yet have not so fully gathered in

this harvest, but that those who come after may gather up plentiful

gleanings, without robbing their sheaves:—"Lord, it is done as thou hast

commanded, and yet there is room;" room enough to enlarge upon a subject

so copious, and of so great a compass that it cannot be exhausted.

I do this also with a just sense of my own unworthiness, and unfitness to

bear the vessels of the Lord, and to do any service in his sanctuary. Who am

I, and what is my father's house, that I should have the honor to be "a door-

keeper in the house of my God," to show his guests the way to his table?

And that I should be employed thus to "hew wood, and draw water for the

congregation of the Lord?" I reckon it true preferment, and "by the grace of

God," his free grace, "I am what I am." It is service which is its own

recompense;—work which is its own wages. In helping to feed others, we

may feast ourselves; for our master hath provided that the mouth of the ox

be not muzzled when he treads out the corn. For my part, I would not

exchange the pleasure of converse with the Scriptures and divine things, for

all "the delights of the sons and daughters of men, and the peculiar treasures

of kings and provinces." It was a noble saying of the Marquis of Vico, "Let

their money perish with them, who esteem all the wealth of this world

worth one hour's communion with God in Jesus Christ."

In doing this, I hope I can truly say, my desire and design is to contribute

something to the faith, holiness, and joy of those who in this ordinance have

given up their names to the Lord Jesus. And if God, by his grace, will make

this endeavor in some degree serviceable to that end, I have what I wish, I

have what I aim at; and it will not be the first time that praise hath been

perfected, and strength ordained out of the mouths of babes and suckling's.

In this essay I have an eye particularly to that little handful of people

among whom I have been, in much weakness, ministering in these holy

things seventeen years; during all which time, through the good hand of our

God upon us, we have never once been disappointed of the stated

solemnities, either of our new moons, or of our Sabbaths. As I designed my

Scripture Catechism, and the other little one that followed it, to be a

present, and perhaps ere long it may prove my legacy to the young ones, the

lambs of the flock; so I recommend this to the adult, and leave it with them,

being desirous that the sheep we are charged to feed, "may go in and out,

and find pasture." And I earnestly wish, that both these may prove

successful expedients to preserve some of those things they have been

taught, from being quite forgotten; and that, after my decease, they and

theirs will have those things always in remembrance.

And lastly, I send this abroad under the protection and blessing of heaven;

with a hearty prayer to God to forgive whatever is mine, that is, what is

amiss and defective in the performance; and graciously to accept what is his

own, that is, whatever is good and profitable; hoping that, if God pardon my

defects and infirmities, my friends also will overlook them; and that, if he

favorably accept my endeavors through Christ, they also will accept them;

for truly it is the height of my ambition to approve myself, a faithful servant

to Christ and souls.

Matthew Henry,

Chester, June 21,1704

Chapter 1. The Names by Which this Ordinance is Usually Called.

n discoursing of this great and solemn ordinance, which every serious

Christian looks upon with a peculiar regard and veneration, I purpose,

as God shall enable me, to open the doctrine as well as the duty of it; it will,

therefore, be proper enough, and I hope profitable, to take some notice of

the several names by which it is known.

I. We call it the sacrament.—This is the name we commonly give it, but

improperly, because it does not distinguish it from the ordinance of baptism,

which is as much a sacrament as this; a sacrament which we have all

received, by which we are all bound, and are concerned to improve, and

live up to: but, when we call this ordinance, "the sacrament," we ought to

remind ourselves that it is a sacrament; that is, it is a sign, and it is an oath.

1. It is a sign, an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual

grace; for such sacraments are designed to be.—It is a parable to the eye;

and in it God uses similitudes, as he did of old by his servants the prophets.

In it Christ tells us earthly things, that thereby we may come to be more

familiarly acquainted, and more warmly affected, with spiritual and

heavenly things. In it Christ speaks to us in our own language, and

accommodates himself to the capacities of our present state. Man consists

of body and soul, and the soul admits impressions, and exerts its power, by

the body; here is an ordinance, therefore, which consists of body and soul

too, wherein Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are, in the

instituted elements of bread and wine, set before us, and offered to us. We

live in a world of sense, not yet in the world of spirits; and, because we

therefore find it hard to look above the things that are seen, we are directed,

in a sacrament, to look through them, to those things not seen, which are

represented by them. That things merely sensible, may not improve the

advantage they have from our present state wholly to engross our thoughts

and cares, in compassion to our infirmity, spiritual things are in this

ordinance made in a manner sensible.

Let us, therefore, rest contented with this sign which Christ hath

appointed, in which he is "evidently set forth crucified among us," and not

think it can be any honor to him, or advantage to ourselves, but, on the

contrary, a dishonor to him, and an injury to ourselves, to represent, by

images and pictures, the same things of which this ordinance was designed

to be the representation. If infinite wisdom thought this sign sufficient, and

most proper to affect the heart, and excite devotion, and stamp it

accordingly with an institution, let us acquiesce in it.

Yet let us not rest contented with the sign only, but converse by faith with

the things signified, else we receive the grace of God in this appointment in

vain; and sacraments will be to us, what parables were to them that were

willfully blind, blinding them the more. What will it avail us to have the

shadow without the substance, the letter without the spirit?

"As the body without the soul is dead," so our seeing and receiving bread

and wine, if therein we see and receive not Christ crucified, is dead also.

2. It is an oath.—That is the ancient signification of the word sacrament.

The Romans called the oath which soldiers took to be true to their general,

Sacramentum militare; and our law still uses it in this sense: dicunt super

sacramentum suum, "they say upon their oath;" so that to take the

sacrament is to take an oath, a solemn oath, by which we bind our souls

with a bond unto the Lord. It is an oath of allegiance to the Lord Jesus, by

which we engage ourselves to be his dutiful and loyal subjects,

acknowledging him to be our rightful Lord and Sovereign It is as a

freeman's oath, by which we enter ourselves members of Christ's mystical

body, and oblige ourselves to observe the laws, and seek the good of that

Jerusalem which is from above, that we may enjoy the privileges of that

great charter by which it is incorporated. An oath is an appeal to God's

knowledge of our sincerity and truth in what we assert or promise; and in

this ordinance we make such an appeal as Peter did: "Lord, thou knowest all

things, thou knowest that I love thee." An oath is an imprecation of God's

wrath upon ourselves, if we deal falsely, and willfully prevaricate; and

something of that also there is in this sacrament; for if we continue in

league with sin, while we pretend to covenant with God, "we eat and drink

judgment to ourselves."

Let us, therefore, according to the character of a virtuous man, fear this

oath; not fear to take it, for it is our duty, with all possible solemnity, to

oblige ourselves to the Lord; but fear to break it, for oaths are not to be

jested with. God hath said it, and hath sworn it by himself: "Unto me every

tongue shall swear." But he hath also said, that we must swear to him "in

truth, in judgment, and in righteousness;" and having sworn, we must

perform it. If we come to this sacrament carelessly, and inconsiderately, we

incur the guilt of rash swearing; if we go away from the sacrament, and

walk contrary to the engagements of it, we incur the guilt of false swearing.

Even natural religion teaches men to make conscience of an oath; much

more does the Christian religion teach us to make conscience of this oath, to

which God is not only a witness, but a party.

II. We call it the Lord's Supper, and very properly, for so the Scripture

calls it, (1 Cor. 11:20,) where the Apostle, reproving the irregularities that

were among the Corinthians in the administration of this ordinance, tells

them, "This is not to eat the Lord's Supper."

1. It is a supper.—A supper is a stated meal for the body; this is so for the

soul, which stands in as much need of its daily bread as the body does.

Supper was then accounted the principal meal; this ordinance is so among

Christ's friends, and in his family it is the most solemn entertainment. It is

called a supper, because it was first instituted in the evening, and at the

close of the passover-supper; which, though it tie not us always to

administer it about that time, because it Would be inconvenient for religious

assemblies; yet it signifies, 1st, That Christ now, in the end of the world, in

the declining part of its day, as the great evening sacrifice, "hath appeared to

put away sin." This glorious discovery was reserved for us, "upon whom the

ends of the world are come." 2d. That comfort in Christ is intended for

those only that dwell in God's house, and for those only that have done the

work of the day in its day, according as the duty of every day required.

They only that work with Christ, shall eat with him. 3d. That the chief

blessings of the new covenant are reserved for the evening of the day of our

life. The evening feast is a supper designed for us, when we have

"accomplished as a hireling our day," and come home at night.

2. It is the Lord's Supper, the Lord Christ's Supper.—The apostle, in his

discourse concerning this ordinance, (1 Cor. 11:23, &c.) all along calls

Christ the Lord, and seems to lay an emphasis upon it; for as the ordaining

of this sacrament was an act of his dominion, and as lord of his church, he

appointed it; so, in receiving this sacrament we own his dominion, and

acknowledge him to be our lord. This also puts an honor upon the

ordinance, and makes it look truly great; however, to a carnal eye it hath no

form nor comeliness, that it is the Supper of the Lord. The sanction of this

ordinance, is the authority of Christ; the substance of this ordinance, is the

grace of Christ. It is celebrated in obedience to him, in remembrance of

him, and for his praise. Justly is it called the Lord's Supper; for it is the

Lord Jesus that sends the invitation, makes the provision, gives the

entertainment. In it we feed upon Christ, for he is the bread of life; we feed

with Christ, for he is our beloved and our friend, and he it is that bids us

welcome to his table. In it "Christ sups with us, and we with him;" he doth

us the honor to sup with us, though he must bring his own entertainment

along with him; he gives us the happiness of supping with him upon the

dainties of heaven.

Let our eye, therefore, be to the Lord, to the Lord Christ, and to the

remembrance of his name, in this ordinance. We see nothing here, if we see

not the beauty of Christ; we taste nothing here, if we taste not the love of

Christ. The Lord must be looked upon as the Alpha and the Omega, the

beginning and the end, and all in all in this solemnity. If we receive not

Christ Jesus the Lord here, we have the supper, but not the Lord's Supper.

III. We call it the Communion, the holy communion, and fitly do we call it

so: for,

1. In this ordinance we have communion with Christ, our Head.—"Truly

our fellowship is with him." He here manifests himself to us, and gives out

to us his graces and comforts; we here set ourselves before him, and tender

him the grateful returns of love and duty. A kind correspondence between

Christ and our souls is kept up in this ordinance, such as our present state

will admit. Christ, by his word and spirit, abides in us: we by faith and love

abide in him: here, therefore, where Christ seals his word, and offers his

Spirit, and where we exercise our faith, and have our love inflamed, there is

communion between us and Christ.

This communion supposes union; this fellowship supposes friendship; for,

"can two walk together except they be agreed?" We must, therefore, in the

bond of an everlasting covenant, join ourselves to the Lord, and combine

our interest with his; and then, pursuant thereto, concern him in all the

concerns of our happiness; and concern ourselves in all the concerns of his

glory.

2. In this ordinance we have communion with the universal church, "even

with all that in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both

theirs and ours."—Hereby we profess, testify, and declare, that "we, being

many, are one bread and one body," by virtue of our common relation to our

Lord Jesus Christ; "for we are all partakers of that one bread, Christ, the

bread of life," signified and communicated in this sacramental bread. All

true Christians, though they are many, yet they are one; and we express our

consent to, and complacency in that union, by partaking of the Lord's

Supper. I say, though they are many, that is, though they are numerous, yet,

as a vast number of creatures make one world, governed by one providence,

so a vast number of Christians make one church, animated by one Spirit, the

soul of that great body. Though they are various, far distant from each other

in place, of distinct societies, different attainments, and divers

apprehensions in lesser things; yet, all meeting in Christ, they are one. They

are all incorporated in one and the same church, all interested in one and the

same covenant, all stamped with one and the same image, partakers of the

same new and divine nature, and all entitled to one and the same

inheritance. In the Lord's Supper we are "made to drink into one Spirit."

And therefore, in attending on that ordinance, we are concerned not only to

preserve, but to cultivate and improve Christian love and charity; for what

will this badge of union avail us without the unity of the Spirit?

IV. We call it the Eucharist; so the Greek church called it, and we from

them. It signifies a thanksgiving, and it is so called,

1. Because Christ in the institution of it gave thanks.—It should seem that

Christ frequently offered up his prayers in the form of thanksgivings, as,

"Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me;" and so he blessed the bread

and the cup, by giving thanks over them; as the true Melchizedek, who,

when he "brought forth bread and wine to Abraham, blessed the most high

God." Though our Savior, when he instituted the sacrament, had a full

prospect of his approaching sufferings, with all their aggravations, yet he

was not thereby indisposed for thanksgiving; for praising God is a work that

is never out of season. Though the Captain of our salvation was now but

girding on the harness, yet he gives thanks as though he had put it off, being

confident of a glorious victory: in the prospect of which, even before he

took the field, he did in this ordinance divide the spoil among his followers,

and "gave gifts unto men."

2. Because we, in the participation of it, must give thanks likewise.—It is

an ordinance of thanksgiving appointed for the joyful celebrating of the

Redeemer's praises. This sacrifice of atonement Christ himself offered once

for all, and it must not, it cannot be repeated; but sacrifices of

acknowledgment Christians must offer daily, that is, "the fruit of our lips

giving thanks to his name." The cup of salvation must be a cup of blessing,

with which, and for which, we must bless God, as the Jews were wont to do

very solemnly at the close of the passover supper; at which time Christ

chose to institute this sacrament, because he intended it for a perpetual

thanksgiving, till we come to the world of praise.

Come, therefore, and let us sing unto the Lord in this ordinance; let the

high praises of our Redeemer be in our mouths and in our hearts; would we

have the comfort, let him have the praise of the great things he has done for

us; let us remember that thanksgiving is the business of the ordinance, and

let that turn our complaints into praises; for, whatever matter of complaint

we find in ourselves, in Christ we find abundant matter for praise, and that

is the pleasant subject upon which, in this ordinance, we should dwell.

V. We call it the feast, the Christian feast.—Christ "our passover being

sacrificed for us," in this ordinance we keep the feast, (1 Cor. 5:8.) They

that communicate, are said to feast with us. This name, though not

commonly used, yet is very significant; for it is such a supper as is a feast.

Gospel preparations are frequently compared to a feast: "And in this

mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a

feast of wines on the lees; of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees

well refined." The guests are many, the invitation solemn, and the provision

rich and plentiful, and therefore fitly is called a feast of souls. "A feast is

made for laughter," so is this for spiritual joy; the wine here designed to

make glad the heart. A feast is made for free conversation, so is this for

communion between heaven and earth; in this banquet of wine the golden

scepter is held out to us, and this fair proposal made, "What is thy petition,

and it shall be granted thee?"

Let us see what kind of a feast it is.

1. It is a royal feast; "a feast like the feast of a king," that is, a magnificent

feast. It is a feast like that of king Ahasuerus; "a feast for all his servants,"

and designed, as that was, not only to show his good will to those whom he

had feasted, but to "show the riches of his glorious kingdom, and the honor

of his excellent majesty." The treasures hid in Christ, even his unsearchable

riches, are here set open, and the glories of the Redeemer illustriously

displayed. He who is King of kings, and Lord of lords, here issues out the

same order that we find him giving: "Come gather yourselves together to

the supper of the great God;" and that must needs be a great supper. The

wisest of kings introduces Wisdom herself as a queen or princess making

this feast: "Wisdom hath killed her beasts, and mingled her wine." At a

royal feast, the provision, we may be sure, is rich and noble, such as

becomes a king to give, though not such beggars as we are to expect; the

welcome also we may be sure is free and generous; Christ gives like a king.

Let us remember, that in this ordinance we sit to eat with a Ruler, with a

Ruler of rulers, and therefore "must consider diligently what is before us,"

and observe a decorum. He is a King that comes in to see the guests, and

therefore we are concerned to behave ourselves well.

2. It is a marriage-feast; it is a feast made by a King, at the marriage of his

Son: so our Savior represents it, not only to speak exceeding rich and

sumptuous, and celebrated with extraordinary expressions of joy and

rejoicing, but because the covenant here sealed between Christ and his

church is a marriage-covenant, such a covenant as makes two one; a

covenant founded in the dearest love, founding the nearest relation, and

designed to be perpetual. In this ordinance, 1st, We celebrate the memorial

of the virtual espousals of the church of Christ when he died upon the cross,

to "sanctify and cleanse it, that he might present it to himself." "That was

the day of his espousals, the day of the gladness of his heart." 2d, The actual

espousals of believing souls to Christ, are here solemnized, and that

agreement ratified: "My beloved is mine, and I am his." The soul that

renounces all other lovers that stand in competition with the Lord Jesus, and

joins itself by faith and love to him only, is in this ordinance "presented as a

chaste virgin to him." 3d, A pledge and earnest of the public and complete

espousals of the church of Christ at his second coming, is here given; "then

the marriage of the Lamb comes," and we, according to his promise, hereby

declare that we look for it.

If we come to a marriage-feast, we must not come without a wedding

garment, that is, a frame of heart, and a disposition of soul agreeable to the

solemnity, conformable to the nature, and answering the intentions of the

gospel, as it is exhibited to us in this ordinance. "Holy garments, and

garments of praise," are the wedding garments: "Put on Christ, put on the

new man," these are the wedding garments. In these we must, with our

lamps in our hands, as the wise virgins, go forth, with all due observance, to

attend the royal bridegroom.

3. It is a feast of memorial, like the feast of the passover, of which it is

said, "This day shall be unto you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a

feast to the Lord,—a feast by an ordinance for ever." The deliverance of

Israel out of Egypt was a work of wonder never to be forgotten; the feast of

unleavened bread was therefore instituted to be annually observed

throughout all the ages of the Jewish church, as a solemn memorial of that

deliverance, that the truth of it being confirmed by this traditional evidence,

might never be questioned; and that the remembrance of it, being frequently

revived by this service, might never be lost. Our redemption by Christ from

sin and hell, is a greater work of wonder than that was, more worthy to be

remembered, and yet (the benefits that flow from it being spiritual) more

apt to be forgotten; this ordinance was therefore instituted, and instituted, in

the close of the passover supper, (as coming in the room of it,) to be a

standing memorial in the church, of the glorious achievements of the

Redeemer's cross; the victories obtained by it over the powers of darkness,

and the salvation wrought by it for the children of light. "Thus the Lord

hath made his wonderful works to be remembered."

4. It is a feast of dedication.—Solomon made such a feast for all Israel,

when he dedicated the temple, as his father David had done, when he

brought the ark into the tabernacle. Even the children of the captivity "kept

the dedication of the house of God with joy." In the ordinance of the Lord's

Supper, we dedicate ourselves to God as living temples; temples of the

Holy Ghost, separated from every thing that is common and profane, and

entirely devoted to the service and honor of God in Christ. To show that we

do this with cheerfulness and satisfaction, and that it may be done with an

agreeable solemnity, this feast is appointed for the doing of it, that we may,

like the people of Israel, when Solomon dismissed them from his feast of

dedication, "Go to your tents joyful, and glad of heart, for all the goodness

that the Lord hath done for David his servant, and for Israel his people."

5. It is a feast upon a sacrifice.—This, methinks, is as proper a notion of it

as any other. It was the law and custom of sacrifices, both among the Jews,

and in other nations, that when the beast offered was slain, the blood

sprinkled, the fat, and some select parts of it burnt upon the altar, and the

priest had his share out of it, then the remainder was given back to the

offerer; on which he and his family and friends feasted with joy. Hence we

read of Israel after the flesh, eating the sacrifices, and so partaking of the

altar: "Behold Israel after the flesh. Are not they which eat of the sacrifices

partakers of the altar?" That is, in token of their partaking of the benefit of

the sacrifice, and their joy therein. And this eating of the sacrifice was a

religious rite, expressive of their communion with God in and by the

sacrifice.

(1.) Jesus Christ is the great and only sacrifice, who, by being "once

offered, perfected for ever them which are sanctified;" and this offering

need never be repeated; that once was sufficient.

(2.) The Lord's Supper is a feast upon this sacrifice, m which we receive

the atonement, as the expression is: "And not only so, but we also joy in

God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the

atonement." That is, we give consent to, and take complacency in the

method which infinite wisdom has taken of justifying and saving us by the

merit and mediation of the Son of God incarnate. In feasting upon the

sacrifice, we apply the benefit of it to ourselves, and ascribe the praise of it

to God with joy and thankfulness.

6. It is a feast upon a covenant.—The covenant between Isaac and

Abimelech was made with a feast. So was that between Laban and Jacob,

and their feasting upon the sacrifices was a federal rite, in token of peace

and communion between God and his people. In the Lord's Supper we are

admitted to feast with God, in token of reconciliation between us and him

through Christ. Though we have provoked God, and been enemies to him in

our minds by wicked works, yet he thus graciously provides for us, to show

that now "he hath reconciled us to himself. His enemies hungering, he thus

feeds them; thirsting, he thus gives them drink; which if, like coals of fire

heaped upon their heads', it melts them into a compliance with the terms of

his covenant, they shall henceforth, as his own familiar friends, eat bread at

his table continually, till they come to sit down with him at his table in his

kingdom.

Chapter 2. The Nature of this Ordinance.

hen the Jews, according to God's appointment, observed the

passover yearly throughout their generations, it was supposed that

their children would ask them, "What mean you by this service?" and they

were directed what answer to give to that inquiry. The question may very

fitly be asked concerning our gospel passover. What mean we by this

service? We come together in a public and select assembly of baptized

Christians, under the conduct and presidency of a gospel minister; we take

bread and wine, sanctified by the word and prayer, and we eat and drink

together in a solemn religious manner, with an eye to a divine institution, as

our warrant and rule in so doing. This we do often; this all the churches of

Christ do, and have done in every age, from the death of Christ down to this

day; and, we doubt not, but it will continue to be done till time shall be no

more. Now, what is the true intent and meaning of this ordinance? What did

Christ design it for in the institution? And what must we aim at in the

observation of it?

It was appointed to be a commemorating ordinance, and a confessing

ordinance, and a communicating ordinance, and a covenanting ordinance.

I. The ordinance of the Lord's Supper is a commemorating ordinance.

This explanation our Lord himself gave of it, when he said, "Do this in

remembrance of me." Do it for my memorial. Do it for a remembrance of

me. In this ordinance he has recorded his name for ever, and this is his

memorial throughout all generations.

We are to do this,

1. In remembrance of the person of Christ, as an absent friend of ours.—It

is a common ceremony of friendship to lay up something in remembrance

of a friend we have valued, which we say, we keep for his sake, when he is

gone, or is at a distance; it is usual likewise to drink to one another,

remembering such a friend that is absent. Jesus Christ is our beloved and

our friend, the best friend that ever our souls had; he is now absent, he has

left the world, and is gone to the Father, and the heavens must contain him

till the time of the restitution of all things.

Now, this ordinance is appointed for a remembrance of him; We observe it

in token of this, that though the blessed Jesus be out of sight, he is not out

of mind. He that instituted this ordinance, did, as it were, engrave this on it

for a motto:—

When this you see,

Remember me.

Remember him! Is there any danger of our forgetting him? If we were not

wretchedly taken up with the world and the flesh, and strangely careless in

the concerns of our souls, we could not forget him. But, in consideration of

the treachery of our memories, this ordinance is appointed to remind us of

Christ.

Ought we not to remember, and can we ever forget such a friend as Christ

is:—a friend that is our near and dear relation; "bone of our bone, flesh of

our flesh, and not ashamed to call us brethren?" A friend in covenant with

us, who puts more honor upon us than we deserve, when he calls us his

servants, and yet is pleased to call us friends. A friend that has so

wonderfully signalized his friendship, and commended his love: he hath

done that for us which no friend we have in the world did, or could do for

us: he has laid down his life for us, when the redemption of bur souls was

grown so precious, as otherwise to have ceased for ever. Surely we must

forget ourselves if ever we forget him, since our happiness is entirely owing

to his kindness.

Ought we not to remember, and can we ever forget a friend, who, though

he be absent from us, is negotiating our affairs, and is really absent for us?

He is gone, but he is gone upon our business; as the forerunner he is for us

entered; he is gone to appear in the presence of God for us, as our agent.

Can we be unmindful of him who is always mindful of us, and who, as the

great High Priest of our profession, bears the names Of all his spiritual

Israel on his breastplate, near his heart, within the veil!

Ought we not to remember, and can we ever forget a friend, who, though

he be now absent, will be absent but a while? We see him not, but we

expect to see him shortly, when he will "come in the clouds, and every eye

shall see him;" will come to receive us to himself, to share in his joy and

glory. Shall we not be glad of any thing that helps us to remember him, who

not only remembered us once in our low estate, but, having once

remembered us, will never forget us? Shall not his name be written in

indelible characters upon the tables of our heart, who hath graven us upon

the palms of his hands? Surely we must continually remember our Judge

and Lord, when, behold, the Lord is at hand, and the Judge standeth before

the door. Thus must we show him forth till he come; for he comes quickly.

2. We are to do this in the remembrance of the death of Christ, as an

ancient favor done to us. This ordinance was instituted on the night wherein

our Master was betrayed, that night of observations, as the first passover

night is called, (Exod. 12:42. margin,) which intimates the special reference

this ordinance was to have to that which was done that night, and the day

following. In it we are "to know Christ and him crucified," to remember his

sufferings, and, in a special manner, to remember his bonds. All the saints

and all the churches could not see Christ upon the cross; therefore, in this

ordinance, that great transaction is set before us, upon which the judgment

of this world turned: "Now is the judgment of this world." Here we

remember the dying of the Lord Jesus: that is, (1.) We endeavor to preserve

the memory of it in the church, and to transmit it pure and entire through

our age, to the children which shall be born, that the remembrance of it may

be ever fresh, and may not die in our hand. That good thing which was

committed to us as a trust, we must thus carefully keep, and faithfully

deliver down, to the next generation; evidencing, that we firmly believe,

and frequently think of Christ's dying for us, and desiring that those who

should come after us may do so too.

(2.) We endeavor to revive and incite the remembrance of it in our own

hearts.—This ordinance was intended "to stir up our pure minds," (our

impure minds we have too much reason to call them,) by way of

remembrance, that, giving such an earnest heed to the things that belong to

the great salvation, as the solemnity of this ordinance calls for, we may not

at any time let them slip; or if we do, we may, in the use thereof, speedily

recover them. The instituted images of Christ crucified, are, in this

ordinance, very strong and lively, and proper to make deep impressions of

his grace and love, upon the minds that are prepared to receive them, and

such as cannot be worn out.

We see, then, what we have to do in our attendance upon this ordinance;

we must remember the sufferings of Christ there, else we do nothing.

1st. This supposes some acquaintance with Christ crucified; for we cannot

be said to remember that which we never knew.—The ignorant, therefore,

to whom the great things of the gospel are as a strange thing, with which

they are not concerned to acquaint themselves, cannot answer the intention

of this ordinance; but they offer the blind in sacrifice, not discerning the

Lord's body, and the breaking of it. It concerns us, therefore, to cry after this

knowledge, and to labor after a clearer insight into the mystery of our

redemption by the death of Christ; for, if we be ignorant of this, and rest in

false and confused notions of it, we are unworthy to wear the Christian

name, and to live in a Christian nation.

2d. It implies a serious thought and contemplation of the sufferings of

Christ, such as is fed and supplied with matter to work upon, not from a

strong fancy, but from a strong faith. Natural passions may be raised by the

power of imagination, representing the story of Christ's suffering as very

doleful and tragical; but pious and devout affections are best kindled by the

consideration of Christ's dying as a propitiation for our sins, and the Savior

of our souls; and this is the object of faith, not of fancy. We must here look

unto Jesus as he is lifted up in the gospel, take him as the word makes him,

and so behold him.

3d. The contemplation of the sufferings of Christ must make such an

impression upon the soul, as to work it into a fellowship with, and

conformity, to Christ in his sufferings. This was the knowledge and

remembrance of Christ, of which blessed Paul was ambitious to "know

Christ and the fellowship of his sufferings," and we all, by our baptism, are

in profession "planted together in the likeness of his death." Then we do this

in remembrance of Christ effectually, when we experience the death of

Christ killing sin in us, mortifying the flesh, weaning us from this present

life, weakening vicious habits and dispositions in us, and the power of

Christ's cross, both as a moral argument, and as the spring of special grace,

"crucifying us to the world, and the world to us," when, in "touching the

hem of his garment," we find, like that good woman, virtue comes out of

him to heal our souls, then we rightly remember Christ crucified.

II. It is a confessing ordinance.—If the heart believe unto righteousness,

hereby confession is made unto salvation. The Lord's Supper is one of the

peculiarities of our holy religion, by the observance of which, the professors

of it are distinguished from all others. Circumcision, which was the

initiating ordinance among the Jews, by leaving its mark in the flesh, was a

lasting badge of distinction; baptism, which succeeds it, leaves no such

indelible character on the body: but the Lord's Supper is a solemnity by

which we constantly avow the Christian name, and declare ourselves not

ashamed of the banner of the cross under which we were enlisted, but

resolve to continue Christ's faithful servants and soldiers to the end of our

lives, according to our baptismal vow.

In the ordinance of the Lord's Supper we are said to show forth the Lord's

death, 1 Cor. 11:26, that is,

1. We hereby profess our value and esteem for Christ crucified; ye show it

forth with commendation and praise: so the word sometimes signifies. The

cross of Christ was to the Jews a stumbling-block, because they expected a

Messiah in temporal pomp and power. It was to the Greeks foolishness,

because the doctrine of man's justification and salvation by it, was not

agreeable to their philosophy. The wisdom of this world, and the princes of

it, judged it absurd to expect salvation by one that died a captive; and honor

by one that died in disgrace; and turned it to the reproach of Christians, that

they were the disciples and followers of one that was hanged on a tree at

Jerusalem. They who put him to such an ignominious death, and loaded him

with all the shame they could put upon him, hoped thereby to make every

one shy of owning him, or expressing any respect for him; but the wisdom

of God so ordered it, that the cross of Christ is that which above any thing

else Christians have cause to glory in. Such are the fruits, the purchases, the

victories, the triumphs of the cross, that we have reason to call it our crown

of glory, and diadem of beauty. The politicians thought it had been the

interest of Christ's followers to have concealed their Lord's death, and that

they should have endeavored to bury it in forgetfulness; but instead of that,

they are appointed to show forth the Lord's death, and to keep it in

everlasting remembrance before angels and men.

This, then, we mean, when we receive the Lord's Supper; we thereby

solemnly declare that we do not reckon the cross of Christ any reproach to

Christianity: and that we were so far from being ashamed of it, that,

whatever constructions an unthinking, unbelieving world may put upon it,

to us it is the wisdom of God and the power of God; it is all our salvation,

and all our desire. We think never the worse of Christ's holy religion for the

ignominious death of its great Author; for we see God glorified in it, man

saved by it; then is the reproach of it rolled away for ever.

2. We hereby profess our dependence upon, and confidence in Christ

crucified. As we are not ashamed to own him, so we are not afraid to

venture our souls, and their eternal salvation with him, believing him "able

to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him;" and as willing as he

is able, and making confession of that faith. By this solemn rite we

deliberately, and of choice put ourselves under the protection of his

righteousness, the influence of his grace, and the conduct and operation of

his Holy Spirit. The concerns that lie between us and God, are of vast

consequence, our eternal weal or woe depends upon the right management

of them; now we hereby solemnly declare, that having laid them near our

own hearts in a serious care about them, we choose to lodge them in the

Redeemer's hands, by a judicious faith in him, for which we can give a

good reason. God having declared himself well pleased in him, we hereby

declare ourselves well pleased in him too; God having committed all

judgment to the Son, we. hereby commit all our judgment to him likewise,

as the sole Referee of the great cause, and the sole Trustee of the great

concern, "knowing whom we have believed, even one who is able and

faithful to keep what we have committed to him against that day," that great

day when it will be called for.

This then, we mean, when we receive the Lord's Supper; we confess that

Jesus Christ is Lord, and we own ourselves to be his subjects, and put

ourselves under his government; we confess that he is a skillful physician,

and own ourselves to be his patients, resolving to observe his prescriptions;

we confess that he is a faithful advocate, and own ourselves to be his

clients, resolving to be advised by him in every thing. In a word, in this

ordinance we profess that we are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, nor of

the cross of Christ, in which his gospel is all summed up, knowing it to be

"the power of God unto salvation to all them that believe," and having

found it so to ourselves.

III. It is a communicating ordinance: here are not only gospel truths

represented to us, and confessed by us; but gospel benefits offered to us,

and accepted by us; for it is not only a faithful saying, but well worthy of all

acceptation, that Christ Jesus died to save sinners. This is the explication

which the apostle gives of this ordinance: "The cup of blessing which we

bless," that is, which we pray to God to bless, which we bless God with and

for, and in which we hope and expect that God will bless us, it "is the

communion (or the communication) of the blood of Christ; the bread which

we break, is the communion (or communication) of the body of Christ,"

which was not only broken for us upon the cross, when it was made an

offering for sin, but is broken to us, as the children's bread is broken to the

children in the everlasting gospel, wherein it is made the food of souls.

By the body and blood of Christ, of which this ordinance is the

communion, we are to understand all those precious benefits and privileges,

which were purchased for us by the death of Christ, and are assured to us

upon gospel terms, in the everlasting covenant.

When the sun is said to be with us, and we say we have the sun, as in the

day, or as in the summer, it is not the body and bulk of the sun that we have,

but his rays and beams are darted down upon us, and by them we receive

the light, warmth, and influence of the sun, and thus the sun is

communicated to us, according to the laws of creation: so in this ordinance

we are partakers of Christ, not of his real body and blood, (it is senseless

and absurd, unchristian and inhuman to imagine so,) but of his merits and

righteousness for our justification, his Spirit and grace for our

sanctification. We must not dream of ascending up into heaven, or of going

down to the depth, to fetch Christ into this ordinance, that we may partake

of him; no, the word is nigh thee, and Christ in the word.

Unworthy receivers, that is, those who resolve to continue in sin, because

grace has abounded, partake of the guilt of Christ's body and blood, and

have communion with those that crucified him; for, as much as in them lies,

they crucify him afresh. What they do, speaks such ill thoughts of Christ,

that we may conclude, that if they had been at Jerusalem when he was put

to death, they would have joined with those that cried, "Crucify him,

crucify him."

But humble and penitent believers partake of the blessed fruits of Christ's

death; "his body and blood" are their food, their medicine, their cordial,

their life, their all. All the riches of the gospel are virtually in them.

1. Christ and all his benefits are here communicated to us; here is not only

bread and wine set before us, to be looked at, but given to us to be eaten and

drunk; not only Christ made known to us, that we may contemplate the

mysteries of redemption, but Christ made over to us, that we may

participate of the benefits of redemption. God, in this ordinance, not only

assures us of the truth of the promise, but, according to our present case and

capacity, conveys to us, by his Spirit, the good things promised. Receive

Christ Jesus the Lord, Christ and pardon, Christ and peace, Christ and

grace, Christ and heaven; it is all your own, if you come up to the terms on

which it is offered in the gospel.

Fountains of life are here broken up, wells of salvation are here opened,

the stone rolled away from the well's mouth, and you are called upon to

come and draw water with joy. The well is deep, but this ordinance is a

bucket by which it is easy to draw: let us not forsake these living streams

for stagnant water. These are wisdom's gates, where we are appointed to

wait for wisdom's gifts; and we shall not wait in vain.

2. Christ and all his benefits are here to be received by us. If we do indeed

answer the intention of the ordinance, in receiving the bread and wine, we

accept the offer that is made us: "Lord, I take thee at thy word; be it unto

thy servant according to it." We hereby interest ourselves in Christ's

mediation between God and man, and take the benefit of it according to the

tenor of the everlasting gospel. Christ, in this ordinance, is graciously

condescending to show us the print of the nails, and the mark of the spear,

to show us his pierced hands, his pierced side, those tokens of his love and

power as a Redeemer; we, by partaking of it, comply with his intentions, we

consent to him, and close with him, saying, as Thomas did, "My Lord, and

my God!" None but Christ, none but Christ.

We do here likewise set ourselves to participate of that spiritual strength

and comfort, which, through grace, flows into the hearts of believers, from

their interest in Christ crucified. The gospel of Christ here solemnly

exhibited, is meat and drink to our souls: it is bread that strengthens man's

heart, and is the staff of life; it is wine that makes glad the heart, and revives

the spirits. Our spiritual life is supported and maintained, and the new man

enabled for its work and conflicts, by the spiritual benefits of which we here

communicate; as the natural life, and the natural body, are by our necessary

food. From the fulness that is in Christ crucified, we here derive grace for

grace, grace for gracious exercises, as the branches derive sap from the root,

and as the lamps derive oil from the olive trees; and so, like healthful grown

children, are nourished "up in the words of faith and of good doctrine," till

we all come to the perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness

of Christ. Thus it is our communion with, and communicating of, Christ's

body and blood.

IV. It is a covenanting ordinance.—This cup, our Savior tells us, (that is,

this ordinance,) is the New Testament; not only pertaining to the New

Testament, but containing it; it has the whole New Testament in it, and has

the sum and substance of it. It is, in general, an instrument by which a right

passes, and is conveyed; and a title to some good thing given. The gospel

revelation of God's grace and will, is both a testament and a covenant, and

the Lord's Supper has a reference to it as both.

1. It is the New Testament.—The everlasting gospel is Christ's last will,

by which he has given and bequeathed a great estate to his family on earth,

with certain precepts and injunctions, and under certain provisions and

limitations. This will is become of force, by the death of the Testator, and is

now unalterable; it is proved in the court of heaven, and administration

given to the blessed Spirit, who is as the executor of the will; for of him the

Testator said, "He shall receive of mine, and show it unto you." Christ,

having purchased a great estate by the merit of his death, by his testament

left it to all his poor relations, that had need enough of it, and for whom he

bought it: so that all those who can prove themselves akin to Christ, by their

being born from above, their partaking of a divine nature, and their doing

the will of God, may claim the estate by virtue of the will, and shall be sure

of a present maintenance, and a future inheritance out of it.

The Lord's Supper is the New Testament; it is not only a memorial of the

Testator's death, but it is the seal of the Testament. A true copy of it attested

by this seal and pleadable, is hereby given into the hands of every believer,

that he may have strong consolation. The general record of the New

Testament, which is common to all, is hereby made particular.

The charge given by the will is hereby applied and enforced to us. The

Testator has charged us to remember him, has charged us to follow him

whithersoever he goes; he has charged us to love one another, and the estate

he has left us is so devised, as not to give any occasion to quarrel, but rather

to be a bond of union. He has charged us to espouse his cause, serve his

interest, and concern ourselves in his concerns in the world, to seek the

welfare of the great body, and all the members of it. He has likewise

charged us to expect and prepare for his second coming: his word of

command is, "Watch." Now, in the Lord's Supper, we are reminded of this

charge, and bound afresh faithfully to observe whatsoever Christ has

commanded, as the Rechabites kept the command of their father.

The legacies left by the will, are hereby particularly consigned to us; paid

in part, and the rest secured to be paid when we come to age, even at the

time appointed by the Testator. What is left for us is not only sufficient to

answer the full intention of the will, enough for all, enough for each; but is

left in good hands, in the hands of the Spirit of truth, who will not deal

unfaithfully with us; for, as Christ tells us, "we know him." Nay, Christ

himself is risen from the dead, to be the overseer of his own will, and to see

it duly executed: so that we are in no danger of losing our legacies, unless

by our own fault. These are good securities, and upon which we may with

abundant satisfaction rely; and yet our Lord Jesus, "more abundantly to

show the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, has confirmed it

by an oath, (by a sacrament, which is his oath to us, as well as ours to him,)

that by all those immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie,

we might have strong consolation," that have ventured our all in the New

Testament.

2. It is the new covenant.—Though God is our sovereign Lord, and

owner, and we are in his hand, as the clay in the hand of the potter; yet he

condescends to deal with us about our reconciliation and happiness in the

way of a covenant, that they which are saved may be the more comforted,

and they which perish may be rendered the more inexcusable. The tenor of

this covenant is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be

saved." Salvation is the great promise of the covenant, believing in Christ

the great condition of the covenant; now, this cup is the covenant, that is, it

is the seal of the covenant. There seems to be an allusion to that solemnity,

which we read of where Moses read the book of the covenant in the

audience of the people, and the people declared their consent to it, saying,

"All that the Lord hath said we will do, and will be obedient. And then

Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it upon the people, (part of it having

before been sprinkled upon the altar,) and said, Behold the blood of the

covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words."

Thus the covenant being made by sacrifice, and the blood of the sacrifice

being sprinkled both upon the altar of God and upon the representatives of

the people, both parties did, as it were, interchangeably put their hands and

seals to the articles of agreement. So the blood of Christ having satisfied for

the breach of the covenant of innocency, and purchased a new treaty, and

being the sacrifice by which the covenant is made, is fitly called the blood

of the covenant. Having sprinkled this blood upon the altar in his

intercession, when by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place,

he does in this sacrament sprinkle it upon the people; as the apostle explains

this mystery, Heb. ix. A bargain is a bargain, though it be not sealed, but the

sealing is the ratification and perfection of it. The internal seal of the

covenant, as administered to true believers, is the spirit of promise

"whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption." But the external seals of

the covenant, as administered in the visible church, are the sacraments,

particularly this of the Lord's Supper. Sealing ordinances are appointed to

make our covenanting with God the more solemn, and consequently the

more affecting, and the impressions of it the more abiding. The covenant of

grace is a "covenant never to be forgotten." This ordinance, therefore, was

instituted to assure us, that God will never forget it, and to assist us, that we

may never forget it. It is the seal of the new covenant; that is,

1. God does in, and by this ordinance, seal to us, to be to us a God. This

article of the covenant is inclusive of all the rest; in giving himself to us to

be ours, he gives us all things, for he is God all sufficient. This is the grant,

the royal grant which the eternal God here seals, and delivers to true

believers, as his act and deed. He gives himself to them, and empowers

them to call him theirs. What God is in himself, he will be to them for their

good. His wisdom theirs, to counsel and direct them; his power theirs, to

protect and support them; his justice theirs, to justify them; his holiness

theirs, to sanctify them; his goodness theirs, to love and supply them; his

truth is the inviolable security of the promise, and his eternity the perpetuity

of their happiness. He will be to them a Father, and they shall be his sons

and daughters, dignified by the privileges of adoption, and distinguished by

the spirit of adoption. Their Maker is their husband, and he hath said, that

"he is married to them, and rejoiceth in them as the bridegroom in his

bride." The Lord is their shepherd, and the sheep of his pasture shall not

want. He is the portion of their inheritance in the other world, as well as of

their cup in this; he has prepared for them a city, and thereby "is not

ashamed to be called their God."

2. We do in and by this ordinance, seal to him to be to him a people. We

accept the relation by our voluntary choice and consent, and bind our souls

with a bond, that we will approve ourselves to him in the relation. We

hereby resign, surrender, and give up our whole selves, body, soul, and

spirit, to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, covenanting and promising,

that we will, by his strength, serve him faithfully, and walk closely with him

in all manner of gospel obedience all our days. Claiming the blessings of

the covenant, we put ourselves under the bonds of the covenant. O Lord,

truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant: wholly, and only, and for ever

thine. And this is the meaning of this service.

Chapter 3. An Invitation to this Ordinance.

lentiful and suitable provision is made in this ordinance out of the

treasures of the Redeemer's grace; and ministers, as servants, are sent

to bid to the feast, to invite those that the master of the feast has designed

for his guests, and to hasten those that are invited to this banquet of wine.

Wisdom hath sent forth her maidens on this errand, and they have words put

in their mouths—"Come, for all things are now ready." This is our message.

I. We are to tell you that all things are ready, now ready; he that hath an

ear, let him hear this: All things are now ready in the gospel-feast, that are

proper for, or will contribute to, the full satisfaction of an immortal soul,

that knows its own nature and interest, and desires to be truly and eternally

happy in the love and favor of its Creator.

All things are ready; all things requisite to a noble feast. Let us a little

improve the metaphor.

1. There is a house ready for the entertainment of the guests, the gospel

church, wisdom's house, which she hath built upon seven pillars. God hath

set up his tabernacle among men, and the place of his tent is enlarged, and

made capacious enough; so that though the table has been replenished with

guests, yet still there is room.

2. There is a table ready spread in the word and ordinances, like the table

in the temple on which the show-bread was placed, a loaf for every tribe.

The Scripture is written, the canon of it completed, and in it a full

declaration made of God's good-will towards men.

3. There is a laver ready for us to wash in. As at the marriage-feast at

Cana, there were six water-pots set for purification. Lest sense of pollutions

contracted should deter us from the participation of these comforts, behold

there is "a fountain opened," come and wash in it, that, being purged from

an evil conscience by the blood of Jesus, you may, with humble confidence,

compass God's altar.

4. There are servants ready to attend you, and those are the ministers,

whose work it is to direct you to the table, and "to give every one their

portion of meat in due season, rightly dividing the word of truth." They are

not masters of the feast, but only stewards, and "your servants for Christ's

sake."

5. There is much company already come; many have accepted the

invitation, and have found a hearty welcome: why then should your place

be empty? Let the communion of saints invite you into communion with

Christ.

6. A blessing is ready to be craved. He is ready to bless the sacrifice. The

great High Priest of our profession, ever living to intercede for us, and

attending continually to this very thing, is ready to command a blessing

upon our spiritual food.

7. The Master of the feast is ready to bid you welcome; as ready as the

father of the prodigal was to receive his repenting, returning son, whom he

saw when "he was yet a great way off." God's ear is open to hear, and his

hand open to give.

8. The provision is ready for your entertainment. 1. All things are ready:

(1.) For our justification.

—divine justice is satisfied, an everlasting righteousness is brought in, an

act of indemnity has passed the royal assent, and a throne of grace is

erected, at which all that can make it appear that they are interested in the

general act, may sue out their particular charter of pardon. There is a plea

ready, an advocate ready: "Behold, he is near that justifieth us." (2.) For our

sanctification—there is a fulness of grace in Christ, from which we may all

receive; the word of grace is ready as the means, the Spirit of grace is ready

as the author; every thing ready for the mortification of sin, the confirming

of faith, and our furtherance in holiness. (3.) For our consolation—a well of

living water is ready, if we can but see it; peace is left us for a legacy, which

we may claim if we will; promises are given us for our support, of which, if

we have not the benefit, it is our own fault. There is something in the new

covenant to obviate every grief, every challenge, every fear, if we will use

it. (4.) For our salvation ready to be revealed—angels upon the wing are

ready to convey us; Jesus, standing at the Father's right hand, is ready to

receive us; the many mansions are ready prepared for us: "All things are

ready."

2. All things are now ready, just now, for "Behold, now is the accepted

time."

1. All things are now readier than they were under the law. Grace then lay

more hid than it does now, when life and immortality are brought to so clear

a light by the gospel. Christ in a sacrament is much readier than Christ in a

sacrifice.

2. All things are now readier than they will be shortly, if we trifle away

the present season. Now the door of mercy stands open, and we are invited

to come and enter; but it will shortly be shut. Now the golden sceptre is

held out, and we are called to come and touch the top of it; but it will be

otherwise when the days of our probation are numbered and finished, and

he that now saith, "Come for a blessing," will say, "Depart with a curse."

II. We must call you to come: this is now the call, Come, come; "the Spirit

saith, Come, and the bride saith, Come." Come to Christ in the first place,

and then come to this ordinance. All things are ready, be not you unready.

This exhortation must be directed to three sorts of persons: 1. Those who

are utterly unmeet for this ordinance, must be exhorted to qualify

themselves, and then come. 2. Those who, through grace, are in some

measure meet for this ordinance, must be exhorted speedily to enter

themselves. 3. Those who have entered themselves, must be exhorted to be

constant in their attendance upon it.

1. I must apply myself to those that, by their ignorance, profaneness,

irreligion, or reigning worldliness, put a bar in their own way, and may not

be admitted to this ordinance. If these lines should fall under the eye of any

such, let them know I have a message to them from God, and I must deliver

it, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.

Dost thou live a carnal wicked life, in the service of sin and Satan,

without fear, and without God in the world? Light is come into the world,

and dost thou love darkness rather, not knowing nor desiring to know the

way of the Lord, and the judgment of thy God? Art thou a drunkard, a

swearer, a Sabbath-breaker?— Art thou an adulterer, fornicator, or unclean

person? Art thou a liar, a deceiver, a railer, or a contentious person? Art thou

a mere drudge to the world, or a slave to any base lust? Doth thy own

conscience tell thee thou art the man, or would it not tell thee so, if thou

wouldst suffer it to deal faithfully with thee?

(1.) Know then, that thou hast no part nor lot in this matter; whilst thou

continuest thus, thou art not an invited guest to this feast; the servants dare

not bid thee welcome, for they know the Master will not, but will ask thee,

"Friend, how earnest thou in hither? What hast thou to do to take God's

covenant and the seal of it into thy mouth, seeing thou hatest instruction?"

Read that scripture, and hear God speaking to thee in it: "It is not meet to

take the children's bread, and cast it to dogs." Thou art forbidden to touch

these sacred things with thine unhallowed hands: for "what communion

hath Christ with Belial?" If thou thrust thyself upon this ordinance, whilst

thou continuest under such a character, instead of doing honor to the Lord

Jesus, thou puttest a daring affront upon him, as if he were altogether such a

one as thyself; instead of deriving any true comfort to thy own soul, thou

dost but aggravate thy guilt and condemnation; thy heart will be more

hardened, thy conscience more seared, Satan's strong holds more fortified,

and thou eatest and drinkest judgment to thyself, not discerning the Lord's

body; nor puttest a difference between this bread and other bread; but

trampling under foot the blood of the covenant, as a profane and common

thing.

(2.) Know also, that thy condition is very miserable whilst thou debarrest

thyself from this ordinance, and art, as polluted, put from this priesthood.

How light soever thou mayest make of it, this is not a small portion of thy

miseries, that thou shuttest thyself out of covenant and communion with the

God that made thee; and, in effect, disclaimest any interest in the Christ that

bought thee, as if thou hadst taken the devils' words out of their mouths,

"What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?" And if thou

persist in it, so shall thy doom be; thou thyself hast decided it. If now it be

as nothing to thee, to be separated from the sheep of Christ, and excluded

from their green pastures, yet it will be something shortly, when thou shalt

accordingly have thy place among the goats, and thy lot with them for ever.

Thou thinkest it no, loss now to want the cup of blessing, because thou

preferrest the cup of drunkenness before it; but what dost thou think of the

cup of trembling, that will ere long be put into thy hand if thou repent not?

Thou hast no desire to the wine of the love of God, but rather choosest the

puddle water of sensual pleasures; but canst thou "drink of the wine of the

wrath of God," which shall be poured out without mixture in the presence

of the Lamb? Thou thinkest thyself easy and happy, that thou art not under

the bonds and checks of this ordinance; but. dost thou not see thyself

extremely miserable, whilst thou hast no right to the blessings and comforts

of this ordinance? If there were not another life after this, thou mightest

have some color for blessing thyself thus in thine own wicked way; (and

yet, if so, I should see no cause to envy thee;) but, wretched soul, "what wilt

thou do in the day of visitation?" Thou that joinest thyself with the sinners

in Zion, and choosest them for thy people, "Canst thou dwell with

devouring fire? Canst thou inhabit everlasting burnings?" May God by his

grace open thine eyes, and give thee to see thy misery and danger before it

be too late!

(3.) Yet know, that though thy condition is very sad, it is not desperate.

Thou hast space yet given thee to repent, and grace offered thee. O refuse

not that grace, slip not that opportunity! Leave thy sins, and turn unto God

in Christ; cast away from thee all thy transgressions, make thee a new heart,

begin a new life, forsake the foolish, and live to some purpose, and go in

the way of understanding: and then in wisdom's name, I am to tell thee, that

notwithstanding all thy former follies, thou art welcome to her house,

welcome to her table, freely welcome to "eat of her bread, and to drink of

the wine which she hath mingled." "Now at least, now at last, in this thy

day, know the things that belong to thy peace;" be wise for thyself, be wise

for thine own soul, and cheat not thyself into thine own ruin.

Poor sinner! I pity thee, I would gladly help thee; the Lord pity thee and

help thee! He will, if thou wilt pity thyself, and help thyself. Wilt thou be

persuaded by one that wishes thee well, to exchange the service of sin,

which is perfect slavery, for the service of God, which is perfect liberty? to

exchange the base and sordid pleasures of a sensual life, which level thee

with the beasts, for the pure and refined pleasures of a spiritual and divine

life, which will raise thee to a communion with the holy angels? I am

confident thou wilt quickly find it a blessed change. "Awake, shake thyself

from the dust, loose thyself from the bands of thy neck." Give up thyself in

sincerity to Jesus Christ, and then come and feast with him: thou shalt then

have in this ordinance the pledges of his favor, assurances of thy

reconciliation to him, and acceptance with him, and all shall be well, for it

shall end everlastingly well.

2. I must next apply myself to those, who, having a competent knowledge

in the things of God, and making a justifiable profession of Christ's holy

religion, cannot be denied admission to this ordinance, and yet deny

themselves the benefit and comfort of it. Such are hereby exhorted, without

further delay, solemnly to give up their names to the Lord Jesus, in and by

this sacrament. Hear Hezekiah's summons to the passover: "Yield

yourselves unto the Lord, give the hand unto the Lord;"—so the Hebrew

phrase is: join yourselves to him in the bond of the covenant, and then

exchange the ratifications; enter into the sanctuary. First give your own

selves unto the Lord, and then confirm the surrender by the solemnity of

this ordinance.

Let me direct this exhortation to young people that were in their infancy

baptized into the Christian faith, and have been well educated in the

knowledge of God and of his holy ways, and are now grown up to years of

discretion, are capable of understanding what they do, of discerning

between their right hand and their left in spiritual things, and of choosing

and refusing for themselves accordingly; and that have had some good

impressions made upon their souls by divine things, and some good

inclinations towards God, and Christ, and heaven: such are invited to the

table of the Lord, and called upon to come, for all things are now ready, and

it is not good to delay.

You that are young, will you now be prevailed with to be serious, and

resolved for God? You now begin to act with reason, and to put away

childish things; you are come to be capable of considering, and you are

thinking how you must live in this world. O that I could prevail with you to

think first how you may live for another world! I am not persuading you to

come rashly and carelessly to the Lord's table, as when you were little

children you went to church for fashion's sake, and because your parents

took you with them; but I am persuading you now, in the days of your

youth, from a deep conviction of your duty and interest, and a serious

concern about your souls and eternity, intelligently, deliberately, and with a

fixed resolution, to join yourselves unto the Lord in an everlasting

covenant, and then to come and seal that covenant at his table. You are now

come to the turning time of life, to those years when ordinary people fix for

their whole lives; I beg of you for Christ's sake, and for your own precious

souls' sake, that now you will turn to God, and fix for him, and set your

faces heavenwards.

Come, and let us reason together a little, and I beseech you to reason with

yourselves:

1. Are you not by baptism given up unto the Lord? Are not the vows of

God already upon you? Is not your baptism your honor? Is it not your

comfort? It is so; but you are unworthy of that honor, unworthy of that

comfort, if, when you arrive at a capacity for it, you decline doing that for

yourselves, which was done for you when you were baptized. How can you

expect that your parents' dedication of you to God then, should avail you

any thing, if you do not now make it your own act and deed? Might not

your backwardness to confirm the covenant, by this solemn taking of it

upon yourselves, be construed as an implicit renunciation of it, and be

adjudged a forfeiture of the benefit of it? I believe you would not for a

world disclaim your baptism, nor disown the obligation of it: you will not, I

am confident you will not, throw off your Christianity, nor join with those

that say, We have no part in David, or inheritance in the Son of David.

Come then and ratify your baptism; either let these articles be cancelled, or

now, that you are of age, come and seal them yourselves; either be

Christians complete, Christians by your own consent, or not Christians at

all. The matter is plain; the bonds of both the sacraments are the same: you

are under the bonds of the one, which I know you dare not renounce;

therefore, come under the bonds of the other. Consider, take advice, and

speak your minds.

2. How can you dispose of yourselves better now in the days of your

youth, than to give up yourselves to the Lord? These are your choosing

days; you are now choosing other settlements, in callings, relations, and

places of abode; why should you not now close this settlement in the

service of God, which will make all your other settlements comfortable?

Choose you, therefore, this day whom you will serve—God, or the world;

Christ, or the flesh; and be persuaded to bring the matter to a good issue;

determine the debate in that happy resolution to which the people of Israel

came, when they said, "Nay, but we will serve the Lord." Why should not

he, who is the first and the best, have the first and best of your days? Which

I am sure you cannot bestow better, and which it is both your duty and

interest to bestow thus.

3. What will you get by delaying it? You intend some time or other

solemnly to give up yourselves unto the Lord in this ordinance, and you

hope then to receive the benefit and comfort of it: but the tempter tells you,

'Tis all good in time; and you dismiss your convictions, as Felix did Paul,

with a promise, that "at a more convenient season you will send for them."

You are ready to say, as the people did, "The time is not come, the time that

the Lord's house should be built:" you think you must build your own first;

and what comes of those delays? Satan, ere you are aware, gets advantage

by them, and cheats you of all your time, by cheating you of the present

time; your hearts are in danger of being hardened, the Spirit of grace may

hereby be provoked to withdraw, and strive no more; and what will become

of you, if death surprise you before your great work be done?

4. What better provision can you make for a comfortable life in this

world, than by doing this great work betimes? You are setting out in a world

of temptations more than you think of; and how can you better arm

yourselves against them, than by coming up to that fixed resolution which

will silence the tempter, "Get thee behind me, Satan?" When Naomi saw

that Ruth was "steadfastly resolved, she left off speaking to her." The

counsel of the ungodly will not be so apt to court you to the way of sinners,

and the seat of the scornful, when you have avowed yourselves set out in

the way of God, and seated already at the table of the Lord. You are

launching forth into a stormy sea, and this will furnish you with ballast;

your way lies through a vale of tears, and therefore you have need to be

well stocked with comforts: and where can you stock yourselves better than

in this ordinance, which seals all the promises of the new covenant, and

conveys all the happiness included in them?

And now, shall I gain this point with young people? Will they be

persuaded betimes to resolve for God and heaven? "Remember thy Creator,

remember thy Redeemer in the days of thy youth;" and then it is to be

hoped thou wilt not forget them, nor will they forget thee when thou art old.

Let me address this exhortation to those whose inclinations are good, and

their conversation blameless, but their desires are weak, and their affections

cool and indifferent, and therefore they keep off from this ordinance. This is

the character of very many who are honest, but they want zeal and

resolution enough to bring them under this engagement. They can give no

tolerable reason why they do not come to the sacrament: it may be they

have bought a piece of ground, or a yoke of oxen; their hands are full of the

world, and they are too busy, they are unsettled, or not settled to their

minds, and this makes them uneasy, and they hope that therefore they may

be excused; but the true reason is, they are slothful and dilatory, and the

things that remain are ready to die; they cannot find in their hearts to take

pains, the pains they know they must take in a work of this nature; they are

not willing to be bound to that strict care and watchfulness to which this

sacrament will oblige them; they will be as they are, and make no advances;

they "have hid their hand in their bosom, and it grieves them to bring it to

their mouth again;" that is, they will not be at the pains to feed themselves.

What shall we say to rouse these sluggards; to persuade them to press

forward in their profession, forgetting the things that are behind, and not

resting in them? Hear, ye virgins, that slumber and sleep, and let your lamps

lie by neglected—hear the cry, "Behold the bridegroom cometh, (cometh in

this ordinance to espouse you to himself; stir up yourselves, and) go ye

forth to meet him." Hear, ye servants, ye slothful servants, your Master's

voice, "How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard?" Is it not high time to awake

out of sleep, and apply thyself more closely and vigorously to the business

of a Christian? Is it not far in the day with thee, perhaps the sixth hour, or

further on; and yet hast thou no appetite to this spiritual feast to which thou

art invited? Thou hast lost a great deal of time already, shouldst not thou

now think of redeeming time for thy soul and eternity? And how can that be

better done, than by improving such advantageous opportunities as

sacraments are? Hear that call to careless and trifling professors, as if thou

thyself wert called by name in it: "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from

the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."

1. Consider what an affront you put upon the Lord Jesus, while you live in

the neglect of this ordinance; you contemn his authority, who hath given

this command to all his disciples, (and among them you reckon yourselves,)

"Do this in remembrance of me." And is it nothing to live in the omission of

a known duty, and in disobedience to an express precept? Is the law of

Christ nothing with you? If you know to do good, and do it not, is it not sin?

Is not this as much an ordinance of Christ, as the word and prayer? You

would not live without them; nor would you be yourselves, or suffer your

children to be, without baptism; why then is this neglected? You arraign

Christ's wisdom: he instituted this ordinance for your spiritual good, your

strength, and nourishment; and you think you need it not, you can do as

well without it: this appointment, you think, might have been spared; that is,

you think yourselves wiser than Christ. You likewise hereby put a great

slight upon the grace and love of Christ, which has made such rich

provision for you, and given you so kind an invitation to it.

This is excellently well urged in the public form of invitation to the holy

communion, which warns those that are scandalous to keep off, in these

words: "If any of you be a blasphemer of God, a hinderer or slanderer of his

word, an adulterer, or be in malice or envy, or in any other grievous crime;

repent you of your sins, or else come not to that holy table; lest, after the

taking of that holy sacrament, the devil enter into you, as he entered into

Judas, and fill you full of all iniquities, and bring you to destruction of both

body and soul."

But the other exhortation stirs up those that are negligent, in these words:

"Ye know how grievous and unkind a thing it is, when a man hath prepared

a rich feast, decked his table with all kind of provision, so that there lacketh

nothing but the guests to sit down, and yet they who are called (without any

cause) most unthankfully refuse to come. Which of you in such a case

would not be moved? Who would not think it a great injury and wrong done

unto him? Wherefore, most dearly beloved in Christ, take ye good heed, lest

ye, withdrawing yourselves from this holy supper, provoke God's

indignation against you. It is an easy matter for a man to say, I will not

communicate, because I am otherwise hindered with worldly business; but

such excuses are not so easily accepted and allowed before God. If any man

say, I am a grievous sinner, and therefore am afraid to come; wherefore then

do you not repent and amend? When God calls you, are ye not ashamed to

say, ye will not come? When ye should return to God, will you excuse

yourselves, and say, you are not ready? Consider earnestly with yourselves,

how little such feigned excuses will avail before God. They that refused the

feast in the gospel, 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."

2. Consider what an injury you hereby do to your own souls. You know

not what you lose while you live in the neglect of this ordinance. If you be

deprived of opportunities for it, that is an affliction, but not a sin; and, in

such a case, while you lament the want of it, and keep up desires after it,

and improve the other helps yon have, you may expect that God will make

up the want some other way; though we are tied to ordinances, God is not:

but if you have opportunities for it, and yet neglect it, and when it is to be

administered, turn your back upon it, you serve your souls as you would not

serve your bodies; for you deny them their necessary food, and the soul that

is starved is as certainly murdered as the body that is stabbed, and his blood

shall be required at thy hands. "No man ever yet hated his own flesh, but

nourisheth and cherisheth it;" yet thou deniest thine own soul that which

would nourish and cherish it, and thereby showest how little thou lovest it.

If thou didst duly attend on this ordinance, and improve it aright, thou

wouldst find it of unspeakable use to thee for the strengthening of thy faith,

the exciting of holy affections in thee, and thy furtherance in every good

word and work. So that to thy neglect of it, thou hast reason to impute all

thy weakness, and all the strength and prevalency of thy temptations; all the

unsteadiness of thy resolutions, and all the unevenness of thy conversation.

How can we expect the desired end, while we persist in the neglect of the

appointed means?

Think not to say within yourselves, We are not clean, surely we are not

clean, therefore we come not to the feast. If you are not, why are you not? Is

there not a fountain opened? Have you not been many a time called to wash

you, and make you clean? You are not ready, and therefore you excuse

yourselves from coming: but is not your unreadiness your sin, and will one

sin justify you in another? Can a man's offence be his defense? You think

you are not serious enough, nor devout enough, nor regular enough, in your

conversations, to come to the sacrament; and perhaps you are not: but why

are you not? What hinders you? Is any more required to fit you for the

sacrament, than is necessary to fit you for heaven? And dare you live a day

in that condition, in which, if you die, you will be rejected and excluded as

unmeet for heaven? Be persuaded, therefore, to put on the wedding-

garment, and then come to the wedding-feast. Instead of making your

unreadiness an argument against coming to this ordinance, make the

necessity of your coming to this ordinance an argument against your

unreadiness. Say not, I am too light, airy, too much addicted to sports and

pleasures; I am linked too close in vain and carnal company, or plunged too

deep in worldly care and business, and therefore I must be excused from

attending this ordinance; for this is to make ill worse: but rather say, It is

necessary I come to the Lord's Supper, and come in a right manner; my soul

withers and languishes, dies and perishes, if I do not; and therefore I must

break off this vain and sensual course of life, which unfits me for and

indisposes me to that ordinance; I must disentangle myself from that

society, and disengage myself from that encumbrance, whatever it is, which

cools pious affections, and quenches the coal. Shake off that, whatever it is,

which comes between you and the comfort and benefit of this ordinance;

trifle no longer in a matter of such vast moment, but speedily come to that

resolution: "Depart from me, ye evil-doers, and evil doings; for I will keep

the commandment of my God."

Let me address this exhortation to those whose desires are strong towards

the Lord, and towards the remembrance of his name in this ordinance; but

they are timorous, and are kept from it by prevailing fears. This is the case

of many, who, we hope, "fear the Lord, and obey the voice of his servant,

but they walk in darkness, and have no light;" who follow Christ, but they

follow him trembling. Ask them why they do not come to this sacrament,

and they will tell you they dare not come; they are unworthy, they have no

faith, no comfort in God, no hope of heaven; and therefore, if they should

come, they should "eat and drink judgment to themselves." They find not in

themselves that fixedness of thought, the flame of pious and devout

affections, which they think should be; and, because they cannot comers

they should, they think it better to stay away. What is said for the conviction

and terror of hypocrites and presumptuous sinners, notwithstanding our care

to distinguish between the precious and the vile, they misapply to

themselves: and so the heart of the righteous is made sad, which should not

be made sad. We are commanded to "strengthen the weak hands, and

confirm the feeble knees; to say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be

strong; fear not." But wherewith shall we comfort such, whose souls many

times refuse to be comforted? If we tell them of the infinite mercy and

goodness of God, the merit and righteousness of Christ, the precious

promises of the covenant, their jealous hearts reply, All this is nothing to

them; the Lord, they think, has forgotten them, their God has forsaken them,

and utterly separated them from his people: "As vinegar upon nitre, so is he

that singeth songs to a heavy heart."

But O ye of little faith, who thus doubt, would you not be made whole?

Would you not be strengthened? Is it not a desirable thing to attain to such a

peace and serenity of mind, as that you may come with an humble, holy

boldness to this precious ordinance?

For your help, then, take these two cautions:—1. Judge not amiss

concerning yourselves. As it is a damning mistake, common among the

children of men, to think their spiritual state and condition to be good, when

it is very bad; for "there is that maketh himself rich, and yet hath

nothing,"—so it is a disquieting mistake, common among the children of

God, to think their spiritual state and condition to be bad, when it is very

good; for "there is that maketh himself poor, and yet hath great riches." But

it is a mistake which, I hope, by the grace of God, may be rectified: and

though a full assurance is rarely attained to, and we ought always to keep up

a godly jealousy over ourselves, and a holy fear, lest we seem to come

short; yet such good hope through grace, as will enable us to rejoice in God,

and go on cheerfully in our work and duty, is what we should aim at, and

labor after, and of which we ought not to deny ourselves the comfort, when

God by his grace has given us cause for it: wherever there is such a serious

concern about the soul and another world, as produces a holy fear, even that

gives ground for a lively hope.

You think you have no grace, because you are not yet perfect; but why

should you look for that on earth, which is to be had in heaven only? A

child will at length be a man, though as yet he "think as a child, and speak

as a child." Blessed Paul himself had not yet attained, nor was already

perfect. Gold in the ore is truly valuable, though it be not yet re. fined from

its dross. "Despise not the day of small things," for God does not. Deny not

that power and grace which has brought you out of the land of Egypt,

though you be not yet come to Canaan.

You think you have no grace, because you have not that sensible joy and

comfort which you would have; but those are spiritually enlightened who

see their own deformity, as well as those that see Christ's beauty. "The child

that cries, is as sure alive as the child that laughs." Complaints of spiritual

burdens are the language of the new nature, as well as praises for spiritual

blessings.

Drooping soul, thou art under grace, and not under the law; and therefore

judge of thyself by the measures of grace, and not by those of the law. Thou

hast to do with one that is willing to make the best of thee, and will accept

the willingness of the spirit, and pardon the weakness of our flesh. Take thy

work before thee, therefore, and let not the penitent, humble sense of thy

own follies and corruptions eclipse the evidence of God's graces in thee, nor

let the diffidence of thyself shake thy confidence in Christ. Thank God for

what he has done for thee: let him have the praise of it, and then thou shalt

have the joy of it. And this is certain, either thou hast an interest in Christ,

or thou mayest have. If thou doubt, therefore, whether Christ be thine, put

the matter out of doubt, by a present consent to him: I take Christ to be

mine, wholly, only, and for ever mine: Christ upon his own terms, Christ

upon any terms.

2. Judge not amiss concerning this ordinance. It was instituted for your

comfort, let it not be a terror to you; it was instituted for your satisfaction,

let it not be your amazement. Most of the messages from heaven which we

meet with in Scripture, delivered by angels, began with "Fear not;" and

particularly that to the women who attended Christ's sepulcher: "Fear not

ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus." And do not you seek him? Be not afraid

then. Chide yourselves out of these disquieting fears, which steal away your

spear and your cruse of water, rob you both of your strength and of your

comfort.

You say you are unworthy to come; so were all that ever came, not worthy

to be called children, nor to eat of the children's bread: in yourselves there is

no worthiness; but is there none in Christ? Is not he worthy, and is not he

yours? Have you not chosen him? Appear therefore before God in him. Let

faith in his mediation silence all your fears; and dismiss their clamors with

that—"But thou shalt answer, Lord, for me."

You say you dare not come, lest you should eat and drink judgment to

yourselves; but ordinarily those that most fear that, are least in danger of it.

That dreadful word was not intended to drive men from the sacrament, but

to drive them from their sins. Can you not say, through grace you hate sin,

you strive against it, you earnestly desire to be delivered from it? Then

certainly your league with it is broken; though the Canaanites be in the

land, you do not make marriages with them. Come then and seal the

covenant with God, and you shall be so far from eating and drinking

judgment to yourselves, that you shall eat and drink life and comfort to

yourselves.

You dare not come to this sacrament; yet you dare pray, you dare hear the

word. I know you dare not neglect either the one or the other; and what is

the sacrament but the doing the same thing by a visible sign, which is and

ought to be done in effect by the word and prayer? Nor ought we to put

such an amazing distance between this and other ordinances. If we pray in

hypocrisy, our prayers are an abomination; if we hear the word and reject it,

it is a savor of death unto death: shall we therefore not pray, not hear? God

forbid. Commanded duty must be done: appointed means must be used: and

that which unfits and hinders us must be removed, and we must in sincerity

give up ourselves to serve God; do as well as we can, and be sorry we can

do no better: and then, having a High Priest, who is touched with the feeling

of our infirmities, we may come boldly to the throne of grace, and to this

table of grace.

You say your faith is weak, pious affections are cool and low, your

resolutions unsteady, and therefore you keep away from this ordinance.

That is as if a man should say, he is sick, and therefore he will take no

physic; he is empty, and therefore will take no food; he is faint, and

therefore he will take no cordials. This ordinance was appointed chiefly for

the relief of such as you are; for the strengthening of faith, the inflaming of

holy love, and the confirming of good resolutions: in God's name, therefore,

use it for these purposes; pine not away in thy weakness, while God has

ordained thee strength; perish not for hunger, while there is bread enough in

thy father's house, and to spare; die not for thirst, while there is a well of

water by thee.

III. This chapter must conclude with an exhortation to those who have

given up their name to the Lord in this ordinance, and have sometimes

sealed their covenant with God in it, but they come very seldom to it, and

allow themselves in the neglect and omission of it. Frequent opportunities

they have for it, stated meals provided for them, the table spread and

furnished. Others come, and they are invited; but time after time they let it

slip, and turn their backs upon it, framing to themselves some sorry excuse

or other to shift it off. I desire such to consider seriously, 1. How powerful

the engagements are which we lie under, to be frequent and constant in our

attendance on the Lord in this ordinance. It is plainly intimated in the

institution, that the solemnity is oft to be repeated; for it is said, "Do this, as

oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." Baptism is to be administered but

once, because it is the door of admission, and we are but once to enter in by

that door: but the Lord's Supper is the table in Christ's family, at which we

are to eat bread continually. The law of Moses prescribed how oft the

passover must be celebrated, under very severe penalties; but the gospel

being a dispensation of a greater love and liberty, only appoints us to

observe its passover oft, and then leaves it to our own ingenuity and pious

affections to fix the time, and determine how oft. If a deliverance out of

Egypt merited an annual commemoration, surely our redemption by Christ

merits a more frequent one, especially since we need not go up to Jerusalem

to do it. If this tree of life, which bears more than twelve manner of fruits,

yieldeth her fruit to us every month, I know not why we should neglect it

any month. Where there is the truth of grace, this ordinance ought to be

improved, which, by virtue of divine appointment, has a moral influence

upon our growth in grace. The great Master of the family would have none

of his family missing at meal-time.

While we are often sinning, we have need to be often receiving the seal of

our pardon; because, though the sacrifice be perfect, and "able to perfect for

ever them which are sanctified," so that that needs never to be repeated; yet

the application of it being imperfect, has need to be often made afresh. The

worshippers, though once purged, having still consciences of sin in this

defective state, must oft have recourse to the fountain opened for the

purging of their consciences, from the pollutions contracted daily by dead

works, to serve the living God. Even he that is washed thus, needs to wash

his feet, or he cannot be easy.

While we are often in temptation, we have need to be often renewing our

covenants with God, and fetching strength from heaven for our spiritual

conflicts. Frequent fresh recruits and fresh supplies, are necessary for those

that are so closely besieged, and are so vigorously attacked, by a potent

adversary. He improves all advantages against us, therefore it is our wisdom

not to neglect any advantage against him, and particularly this ordinance.

While we are often laboring under great coldness and deadness of

affection towards divine things, we need oft to use those means which are

proper to kindle that holy fire, and keep it burning. We find, by sad

experience, that our coal from the altar is soon quenched, our thoughts grow

flat and low, and unconcerned about the other world, by being so much

conversant with this; we have therefore need to be often celebrating the

memorial of Christ's death and sufferings, than which nothing can be more

affecting to a Christian, nor more proper to raise and refine the thoughts; it

is a subject that more than once has made the disciples' hearts to bum within

them.

Much of our communion with God is kept up by the renewing of our

covenant with him, and the frequent interchanging of solemn assurances. It

is not superfluous, but highly serviceable, both to our holiness and our

comfort, oft to present ourselves to God as living sacrifices, alive from the

dead. It is a token of Christ's favor to us, and must not he slighted, that he

not only admits, but invites us oft to repeat this solemnity, and is ready

again to seal to us, if we be but ready to seal to him. Jonathan, therefore

"caused David to swear again, because he loved him." And an honest mind

will not startle at assurances.

2. Consider how poor the excuses are with which men commonly justify

themselves in this neglect. They let slip many an opportunity of attending

upon the Lord in this ordinance, and why do they?

Perhaps they are so full of worldly business, that they have neither time

nor heart for that close application to the work of a sacrament which they

know is requisite: the shop must be attended, accounts must be kept, debts

owing them must be got in, and debts they owe must be paid; it may be,

some affair of more than ordinary difficulty and importance is upon their

hands, of which they are in care about the issue, and till that be over, they

think it not amiss to withdraw from the Lord's Supper. And is this thy

excuse? Weigh it in the balances of the sanctuary then, and consider, is any

business more necessary than the doing of thy duty to God, and the working

out of thine own salvation? Thou art careful and troubled about many

things; but is not this the one thing needful, to which every thing else

should be obliged to give way? Dost thou not think thy worldly business

would prosper and succeed the better for thy care about the main matter? If

it were left whilst thou comest hither to worship, mightest thou not return to

it with greater hope to speed in it? And dost thou not spare time from thy

business for things of much less moment than this? Thou wilt find time, as

busy as thou art, to eat and drink, and sleep, and converse with thy friends;

and is not the nourishment of thy soul, its repose in God, and communion

with him, much more necessary? I dare say, thou wilt own it is.

If indeed thou canst not allow so much time for solemn secret worship in

preparation for this ordinance, and reflection upon it, as others do, and as

thou thyself sometime hast done, and wouldst do, yet let not that keep thee

from the ordinance; thy heart may be in heaven, when thy hands are about

the world; and a serious Christian may, through God's assistance, do a great

deal of work in a little time. If the hours that should be thus employed, be

trifled away in that which is idle and impertinent, it is our sin; but if they be

forced out of our hands by necessary and unavoidable avocations, it is but

our affliction, and ought not to hinder us from the ordinance. The less time

we have for preparation, the more close and intent we should be in the

ordinance itself, and so make up the loss. A welcome guest never comes

unseasonably to one that always keeps a good house.

But if, indeed, thy heart is so set upon the world, so filled with the cares

of it, and so eager in the pursuits of it, that thou hast no mind to the

comforts of this ordinance, no spirit nor life for the business of it,—surely

thou hast left thy first love, and thou hast most need of all to come to this

ordinance for the recovery of the ground thou hast lost. Dost thou think that

the inordinacy of thine affections to the world, will be a passable excuse for

the coldness of thine affections to the Lord Jesus? Make haste, and get this

matter mended, and conclude, that thy worldly business then becomes a

snare to thee, and thy concern about it is excessive and inordinate, and an ill

symptom, when it prevails to keep thee back from this ordinance.

Perhaps some unhappy quarrels, with some relations or with neighbors,

some vexatious law-suit they are engaged in, or some hot words that have

passed, are pleaded as an excuse for withdrawing from the communion.

They are not in charity with others, or others are not in charity with them;

and they have been told, and it is undoubtedly true, that it is better to stay

away than come in malice; but then the malice is so far from being an

excuse for the staying away, that really the staying away is an aggravation

of the malice. The law in this case is very express: If thy brother has ought

against thee, that is, if thy conscience tell thee that thou art the party

offending, do not therefore leave the altar, but leave thy gift before the altar,

as a pawn for thy return, and go first and be reconciled to thy brother, by

confessing thy fault, begging his pardon, and making satisfaction for the

wrong done, and then be sure to come and offer thy gift. But, on the other

hand, if thou have ought against any, if thou be the party offended, then

forgive. Lay aside all uncharitable thoughts, angry resentments, and desire

of revenge, and be in readiness to confirm and evidence your love to those

that have injured you; and then, if they will not be reconciled to you, yet

your being reconciled to them, is sufficient to remove that bar in your way

to this ordinance. In short, strife and contention, as far as it is our fault,

must be truly repented of, and the sincerity of our repentance evidenced by

amendment of life, and then it needs not hinder us; as far as it is our cross, it

must be patiently borne, and we must not be disturbed in our minds by it,

and then it need not hinder us. And that law-suit which cannot be carried on

without malice and hatred of our brother, had better be let fall, whatever we

lose. Law is costly indeed, when it is followed at the expense of love and

charity.

3. If the true reason of your absenting yourselves so often from the Lord's

Supper be, that you are not willing to take that pains with your own hearts,

and to lay that restraint upon yourselves both before and after, which you

know you must if you come; if, indeed, you are not willing to have your

thoughts so closely fixed, your consciences so strictly examined, and your

engagements against sin so strongly confirmed, as they will be by this

ordinance; if this be your case, you have reason to fear that "the things

which remain are ready to die, and your works are not found filled up

before God." It is a sad sign of spiritual decay, and it is time for thee to

"remember whence thou art fallen, and to repent, and do thy first works."

Time was, when thou hadst a dear love to this ordinance, when thou

longedst for the returns of it, and it was to thee "more than thy necessary

food: such was the kindness of thy youth, such the love of thine espousals;"

but it is otherwise now. Do you now sit loose to it? Are you indifferent

whether you enjoy the benefit of it or not? Can you live contentedly without

it? You have reason to fear lest you are of those that are drawing back to

perdition. Having "begun in the spirit, will you now end in the flesh?" What

iniquity have you found in this ordinance, that you have thus forsaken it?

Has it been "as a barren wilderness to you, or as waters that fail?" If ever it

were so, was it not your own fault? Return, therefore, ye backsliding

children, be persuaded to return; return to God, return to your duty, to this

duty; be close and constant to it, as you were formerly; for I dare say, "then

it was better with you than now."

Those that, by the grace of God, do still keep up a love for this ordinance,

should contrive their affairs so, as if possible not to miss any of their stated

opportunities for it. Thomas, by being once absent from a meeting of the

disciples, lost that joyful sight of Christ which the rest then had. It is good

to have a nail in God's holy place. Blessed are they that dwell in his house;

not those that turn aside to tarry but for a night, but those that take it for

their home, their rest for ever.

Yet, if God prevent our enjoyment of an expected opportunity of this kind;

though we must lament it as an afflictive disappointment, yet we may

comfort ourselves with this, that though God has tied us to ordinances, he

has not tied himself to them, but by his grace can make providences work

for the good of our souls. It is better to be, like David, under a forced

absence from God's altar, and have our hearts there, than to be, like Doeg,

present under a force, "detained before the Lord," and the heart going after

covetousness. It is better to be lamenting and longing in the want of

ordinances, than loathing in the fulness of them.

Chapter 4. Helps for SelfExamination Before We Come to this Ordinance.

ow earnest soever we are in pressing people to join themselves to the

Lord in this ordinance, we would not have them to be "rash with

their mouth, nor hasty to utter any thing before God." It must be done, but it

must be done with great caution and consideration. Bounds must be set

about the mount on which God will descend, and we must address ourselves

to solemn services with a solemn pause. It is not enough that we seek God

in a due ordinance, but we must "seek him in a due order," that is, we must

"stir up ourselves to take hold on him." "Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel."

Those that labor under such an habitual indisposition to communion with

God, and are liable to so many actual discomposure's, as we are conscious

of to ourselves, have need to take pains with their heart, and should, with a

very serious thought and steady resolution, engage them to approach unto

God.

Now, the duty most expressly required in our preparation for the

ordinance of the Lord's Supper, is that of self-examination. The apostle,

when he would rectify the abuses which had sullied the beauty of this

sacrament in the church of Corinth, prescribes this great duty as necessary

to the due management of it, and a preservative against sharing in the guilt

of such corruptions. "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of

that bread, and drink of that cup." He that desires the Lord's Supper, desires

a good work; but let these also first be proved, let them prove their own

selves, and so let them come; so, upon that condition, and with that

preparation; as, "I will wash my hands in innocency, so will I compass thine

altar." In this method we must proceed.

"Let a man examine himself." The word signifies either to prove, or to

approve, and appoints such an approbation of ourselves, as is the result of a

strict and close probation; and such a probation of ourselves as issues in a

comfortable approbation according to the tenor of the new covenant. It is so

to prove ourselves, as to approve ourselves to God in our integrity. "Lord,

thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee;" so as to appeal to

God's inquiry, "Examine me, O Lord, and prove me."

To examine ourselves is to discourse with our own hearts; it is to converse

with ourselves; a very rational, needful, and improving piece of

conversation. When we go about this work we must retire from the world,

"sit alone, and keep silence;" we must retire into our own bosoms, and

consider ourselves, reflect upon ourselves, inquire concerning ourselves,

enter into a solemn conference with our own souls, and be anxious

concerning their state. Those who are ignorant and cannot do this, or

careless and secure, and will not do it, are unmeet for this ordinance.

I shall illustrate this by some similitudes.

1. We must examine ourselves, as metal is examined by the touchstone

whether it be right or counterfeit. We have a show of religion; but are we

what we seem to be? Are we current coin, or only washed over, as "a

potsherd covered with silver dross?" Hypocrites are reprobate silver. True

Christians, when they are tried, come forth as gold. The word of God is the

touchstone by which we must try ourselves. Can I through grace answer the

characters which the Scriptures give of those whom Christ will own and

save? It is true, the best coin has an alloy which will be allowed for in this

state of imperfection; but the question is, Is it sterling,—is it standard?

Though I am conscious to myself there are remainders of a baser metal, yet

is love to God the predominant principle? Are the interests of Christ the

prevailing interests in my soul, above those of the world and the flesh? I

bear God's image and superscription: Is it of God's own stamping? Is it

upon an honest and good heart? It is a matter of great consequence, and in

which it is very common but very dangerous to be imposed upon, and

therefore we have need to be jealous over ourselves. When we are bid to try

the spirits, it is supposed we must begin with our own, and try them first.

2. We must examine ourselves, "as a malefactor is examined by the

magistrate," that we may find out what we have done amiss. We are all

criminals; that is readily acknowledged by each of us, because it is owned

to be the common character: "All have sinned, and come short of the glory

of God." We are all prisoners to the divine justice, from the arrests of which

we cannot escape, and to the processes of which we lie obnoxious: being

thus in custody, that we may not be judged by the Lord, we are commanded

to judge ourselves. We must inquire into the particular crimes we have been

guilty of, and their circumstances, that we may discover more sins, and

more of the evil of them, than at first we were aware of. Dig into the wall as

Ezekiel did, and see the secret abominations of your own hearts; look

further, as he did, and you will see more and greater. The heart is deceitful,

and has many devices, many evasions to shift convictions; we have

therefore need to be very particular and strict in examining them, and to

give them that charge which Joshua gave to Achan, when he had him under

examination: "Give glory unto the God of Israel, and make a confession

unto him; tell me now what thou hast done, hide it not from me."

3. We must examine ourselves, as a copy is examined by the original to

find out the errata, that they may be corrected. As Christians, we profess to

be "the epistles of Christ," to have his law and love transcribed into our

hearts and lives; but we are concerned to inquire, whether it be a true copy,

by comparing ourselves with the gospel of Christ, whether our affections

and conversation be conformable to it, and such as become it. How far do I

agree with it, and where are the disagreements? What mistakes are there?

What blots and what omissions? That what has been amiss may be

pardoned, and what is amiss may be rectified. In this examination faith

must read the original, and then let conscience read the copy, and be sure

that it read true, because there will shortly be a review.

4. We must examine ourselves, as a candidate is examined that stands for

preferment. Inquiry is made into his fitness for the preferment he stands for;

we are candidates for heaven, the highest preferment, to be to our God

kings and priests. We stand for a place at the wedding-feast: Have we on the

wedding-garment? Are we made meet for the inheritance? What knowledge

have we? What grace? Are we skilled in the mystery we make profession

of? What improvement have we made in the school of Christ? What

proficiency in divine learning? What testimonials have we to produce? Can

we show the seal of the Spirit of promise? If not, we shall not be welcome.

5. We must examine ourselves, as a wife is examined of her consent to the

levying of a fine for the confirming of a covenant. It is a common usage of

the law. A covenant is to be ratified between God and our souls in the Lord's

Supper: Do we freely and cheerfully consent to that covenant, not merely

through the constraint of natural conscience, but because it is a covenant

highly reasonable in itself, and unspeakably advantageous to us? Am I

willing to make this surrender of myself unto the Lord? Am I freely willing,

not because I cannot help it, but because I cannot better dispose of myself?

We must examine ourselves as Joshua examined the people, whether they

would choose to serve the Lord or not; and the product of the inquiry must

be a fixed resolution, like theirs, "Nay, but we will serve the Lord."

6. We must examine ourselves, as a way-faring man is examined

concerning his business. Our trifling hearts have need to be examined as

vagrants, whence they come, whither they go, and what they would have.

We are coming to a great ordinance, and are concerned to inquire what is

our end in coming? What brings us thither? Is it only custom or company

that draws us to this duty? or is it a spiritual appetite to the dainties of

heaven? Our hearts must be catechized, as Elijah was: "What dost thou

here, Elijah?" That we may give a good account to God of the sincerity of

our intentions in our approaches to him, we ought, before we come, to call

ourselves to an account concerning them.

More particularly, to examine ourselves, is to put serious questions to

ourselves, and to our own hearts; and to prosecute them till a full and true

answer be given to them. These six questions (among others,) are good for

each of us to put to ourselves in our preparation to the Lord's Supper, both

at our admission, and in our after approaches to it: "What am I? What have

I done? What am I doing? What progress do I make? What do I want? and,

What shall I resolve to do?"

I. Inquire, What am I?—It needs no inquiry, but it calls for serious

consideration, that I am a reasonable creature, lower than the angels, higher

than the brutes, capable of knowing, serving, and glorifying God in this

world, and of seeing and enjoying him in a better. I am made for my

Creator, and am accountable to him. God grant I have not such a noble and

excellent being in vain! But here this question has another meaning. All the

children of men, by the fall of the first Adam, are become sinners; some of

the children of men, by the grace of the second Adam, are become saints:

some remain in a state of nature, others are brought into a state of grace:

some are sanctified, others unsanctified. This is a distinction which divides

all mankind, and which will last when all other divisions and subdivisions

shall be no more: for according to this will the everlasting state be

determined. Now, when I ask, What am I? the meaning is, To which of

these two do I belong? Am I in the favor of God, or under his wrath and

curse? Am I a servant of God, or a slave to the world and the flesh? Look

forward and ask, Whither am I going? To heaven or hell? If I should die this

night, (and I am not sure to live till tomorrow,) whither would death bring

me? Where would death lodge me? In endless light, or in utter darkness?

Am I in the narrow way that leads to life, or in the broad way that leads to

destruction? I am called a Christian, but am I a Christian, indeed? Have I a

nature answerable to the name? It highly concerns us all to be strict and

impartial in this inquiry. What will it avail us to deceive ourselves? God

cannot be imposed upon, though men may. It is undoubtedly true, if we be

not saints on earth, we shall never be saints in heaven. It is not a small thing

about which I am now persuading thee to inquire: no, it is thy life, thy

precious life, the life of thy soul, thine eternal life, which depends upon it.

Multitudes have been deceived in this matter, whose way seemed right, but

the end of it proved the ways of death; and after they had long flattered

themselves in their own eyes, they perished at last, with a lie in their right

hand. We also are in danger of being deceived, and therefore have need to

be jealous over ourselves with a godly jealousy; and being told that many

who eat and drink in Christ's presence, will be disowned and rejected by

him in the great day, we have each of us more reason to suspect ourselves

than the disciples had, and to ask, "Lord, is it I?"

But it especially concerns us to insist upon this inquiry, when we draw

near to God in the Lord's Supper. It is children's bread that is there

prepared: Am I a child? If not, I have no part nor lot in the matter. I am

there to seal a covenant with God; but, if I never made the covenant, never

in sincerity consented to it, I shall put the seal to a blank, nay, to a curse.

Therefore, that I may discover, in some measure, what my spiritual state

is, let me seriously inquire,

1. What choice have I made?—Have I chosen God's favor for my felicity

and satisfaction, or the pleasures of sense, and the wealth of this world?

Since I came to be capable of acting for myself, and discerning between my

right hand and my left, have I made religion my deliberate choice? Have I

chosen God for my portion, Christ for my master, the Scripture 'for my rule,

holiness for my way, and heaven for my home and everlasting rest? If not,

how can I expect to have what I never chose? If my covenant with the

world and the flesh (which certainly amounts to a covenant with death, and

an agreement with hell,) be still in force, and never yet broken, never yet

disannulled, what have I to do to take God's covenant, and the seal of it into

my mouth? But if I have refused Satan's offers of the kingdoms of this

world, and the glory of them, and given the preference to the gospel offer of

a kingdom in the other world, and the glory of that, I have reason to bless

the Lord who gave me that counsel, and to hope that he, who hath directed

me to choose the way of truth, will enable me to "stick to his testimonies."

2. What change have I experienced?—When I ask, Am I a child of wrath, or

a child of love? I must remember that I was by nature a child of wrath.

Now, can I witness to a change? Though I cannot exactly tell the time and

manner, and the steps of that change, yet "one thing I know, that whereas I

was blind, now I see." Though, in many respects, it is still bad with me, yet

thanks be to God, it is better with me than it has been. Time was, when I

minded nothing but sport and pleasure, or nothing but the business of this

world; when I never seriously thought of God and Christ, and my soul and

another world: but now it is otherwise; now I see a reality in invisible

things. I find an alteration in my care and concern; and now I ask more

solicitously, "What shall I do to be saved?" than ever I asked, "What shall I

eat, or what shall I drink, or wherewithal shall I be clothed?" Time was,

when this vain and carnal heart of mine had no relish at all of holy

ordinances, took no delight in them, called them a task and a weariness. But

now it is otherwise; I love to be alone with God, and though I bring little to

pass, yet I love to be doing in his service. If I have, indeed, experienced

such a change as this; if this blessed turn be given to the bent of my soul,

grace, free grace, must have the glory of it, and I may take the comfort of it.

But if I have not found any such work wrought in my heart; if I am still

what I was by nature, vain, and carnal, and careless: if Jordan runs still in

the old channel, and was never yet driven back before the ark of the

covenant; I have reason to suspect the worst by myself. If all go one way

without struggle or opposition, it is to be feared it is not the right way.

3. What is the bent of my affections?—The affections are the pulse of the

soul. If we would know its state, we must observe how that pulse beats.

How do I stand affected to sin? Do I dread it as most dangerous, loathe it as

most odious, and complain of it as most grievous? Or do I make a light

matter of it, "as the madman that casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, and

saith, Am not I in sport?" Which lies heavier, the burden of sin, or the

burden of affliction; and of which am I most desirous to be eased? What

think I of Christ? How do I stand affected to him? Do I love him, and prize

him as the fairest among ten thousand? Or hath he in mine eyes no form nor

comeliness, and is he no more than another beloved? How do I stand

affected to the word and ordinances? Are God's tabernacles amiable with

me, or are they despicable? Am I in God's service, as in my element, as one

that calls it a delight? Or am I in it as under confinement, and as one that

calls it a drudgery? How do I stand affected to good people? Do I love the

image of Christ wherever I see it, though it be in rags, or though not in my

own color? Do I honor them that fear the Lord, and choose his people for

my people, in all conditions? Or do I prefer the gaieties of the world before

the beauties of holiness? How do I stand affected to this world? Is it under

my feet, where it should be; or in my heart, where Christ should be? Do I

value it, and love it, and seek it with a prevailing concern? Or do I look

upon it with a holy contempt and indifference? Which have the greater

command over me, and which, in my account, have the most powerful and

attractive charms; those riches, honors, and pleasures that are worldly, or

those that are spiritual and divine? How do I stand affected to the other

world? Do I dread eternal misery in a world of spirits, more than the

greatest temporal calamities here in this world of sense? Do I desire eternal

happiness in a future state, more than the highest contentment's and

satisfactions to which this present state can pretend? Or are the things of the

other world, though sure and near, looked upon as doubtful and distant, and

consequently little? By a close prosecution of such inquiries as these, with a

charge to conscience, in God's name, to make a true answer to them, we

may come to know our own selves.

4. What is the course and tenor of our conversations?—The tree is known

by its fruits. Do I work the works of the flesh, or bring forth the fruits of the

Spirit? The apostle gives us instances of both. Be not deceived yourselves,

neither let any man deceive you: "He that doth righteousness, is righteous."

And the surest mark of uprightness is, "keeping ourselves from our own

iniquity." Do I allow myself in any known sin, under the cloak of a visible

profession? Dare I, upon any provocation, swear or curse, or profane God's

holy name, and therein speak the language of his enemies?

Dare I, upon any allurement to please my appetite, or please my company,

drink to excess, and sacrifice my reason, honor, and conscience, to that base

and brutish lust? Dare I defile a living temple of the Holy Ghost by

adultery, fornication, uncleanness, or any act of lasciviousness? Dare I tell a

lie for my gain or reputation? Dare I go beyond or defraud my brother in

any matter, cheat those I deal with, or oppress those I have advantage

against? Dare I deny relief to the poor that really need it, when it is in the

power of my hand to give it? Dare I bear malice to any, and study revenge?

If so, I must know that these are not the spots of God's children. If this be

the life I live, I am certainly a stranger to the life of God. But if, upon

search, my own heart tells me that I keep myself pure from these pollutions,

and "herein exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence,

both towards God and towards man;" if I have respect to all God's

commandments, and make it my daily care in every thing to frame my life

according to them, and to keep in the fear of God every day, and all the day

long; and wherein I find I am defective, and come short of my duty, I repent

of it, and am more watchful and diligent for the future: I have reason to

hope, that though I have not yet attained, neither am already perfect, yet

there is a good work begun in me, which shall be performed unto the day of

Christ.

Thus we must examine our spiritual state; and, that the trial may come to

an issue, we must earnestly pray to God to discover us to ourselves, and

must be willing to know the truth of our case: and the result must be this:—

1. If we find cause to fear that our spiritual state is bad, and that we are

yet unsanctified and unregenerate, we must give all diligence to get the

matter mended. If our state be not good, yet, thanks be to God, it may be

made good: "There is hope in Israel concerning this thing." Rest not,

therefore, in thy former faint purposes and feeble efforts; but consider more

seriously than ever the concerns of thy soul. Pray more seriously than ever

for the sanctifying grace of God; put forth thyself more vigorously than

ever to improve that grace; resolve more firmly than ever to live a holy life,

and depend more closely than ever upon the merit and strength of Jesus

Christ, and I hope thou wilt soon experience a blessed change.

2. If we find cause to hope that our spiritual state is good, we must take

the comfort of it, and give God the praise, and not hearken to the tempter

when he would disturb our peace, and hinder our progress, by calling it in

question. Though we must always abase ourselves, and be jealous over

ourselves, yet we must not derogate from the honor of God's grace, nor

deny its work in us. God keep us all, both from deceiving ourselves with

groundless hopes, and from disquieting ourselves with groundless fears.

II. Inquire, What have I done?—We come to the ordinance of the Lord's

Supper, to receive the remission of our sins, according to the tenor of the

new covenant. Now, one thing required of us, in order to peace and pardon,

is, that we confess our sins. If we do that, "God is faithful and just to

forgive them." But if we cover them, we cannot prosper. Not that we can,

by our confessions, inform God of any thing he did not know before, as

earthly princes are informed by the confessions of criminals; but thus we

must give glory to God, and take shame to ourselves, and strengthen our

own guard against sin for the future. In the confession of sin, it is requisite

that we be particular; the high priest, on the day of atonement, must

confess, over the scapegoat, "all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and

all their transgressions in all their sins." It is not enough to say, as Saul, "I

have sinned;" but we must say, as David, "I have sinned, and done this

evil;" as Achan, "I have sinned, and thus and thus have I done." A broken

heart will thereby be more broken, and better prepared to be bound up; a

burdened conscience will thereby be eased, as David's was when he said, "I

will confess." Commonly, the more particular and free we are in confessing

our sins to God, the more comfort we have in the sense of the pardon:

deceit lies in generals.

It is therefore necessary, in order to a particular confession of sin, that we

"search and try our ways;" that we examine our consciences, look over their

records, examine the actions of our past life, and seriously call to mind

wherein we have offended God in any thing. The putting of this question is

spoken of as the first step towards repentance: "No man repented him of his

wickedness, saying, What have I done?" For want of this inquiry duly

made, when men are called to return, they baffle the call with that careless

question, "Wherein shall we return?" Let us therefore set ourselves to look

back, and remember our faults this day: it is better to be minded of them

now, when the remembrance of them will open to us a door of hope, than be

minded of them in hell, where sin remembered will aggravate an endless

despair.

We ought to be often calling ourselves to an account: in the close of every

day, of every week, the day's work, the week's work should be reviewed. It

is one of the richest of Pythagoras' golden verses, wherein, though a

heathen, he advises his pupil, every night before he sleeps, to go over the

actions of the day, and revolve them three times in his mind, asking himself

seriously these questions:—" Wherein have I transgressed? What have I

done? What duty hath been omitted?" The oftener it is done, the easier it is

done: even reckonings make long friends. But it is especially necessary that

it be done before a sacrament: former reflections made, ought then to be

repeated; and with a particular exactness we must consider what our ways

have been since we were last renewing our covenants with God at his table,

that we may be humbled for the follies to which we have returned since

God spoke peace to us, and may be more particular and steady in our

resolutions for the future.

To give some assistance in this inquiry, I shall instance some heads of it.

Let the interrogatories be such as these:—I. How have I employed my

thoughts? Has God been in all my thoughts?—It is well if he has been in

any. When I awake, am I still with him? Or am I not still with the world and

the flesh? When I should have been contemplating the glory of God, the

love of Christ, and the great things of the other world, has not my heart

been with the fool's eyes in the ends of the earth, "following after lying

vanities, and forsaking mine own mercies?" How seldom have I thought

seriously, and with any fixedness, on spiritual and divine things? I set

myself sometimes to meditate, but I soon break off abruptly, and this

treacherous heart starts aside like a broken bow, and nothing that is good is

brought to any head; but how have vain and vile thoughts lodged within me,

gone out and come in with me, lain down and risen up with me, and

crowded out good thoughts? Has not the "imagination of the thoughts of my

heart" been evil, only evil, and that continually?