Some Account of the Precious Benefits Which Are Received by Faith in This Ordinance

In the Lord’s Supper, we not only ‘’ show the Lord’s death,” and see what is to be seen in it, as many who, when he was upon the cross, stood afar off beholding. No; we must there be more than spectators, we must eat of the sacrifice, and “so partake of the altar.” The bread which came down from heaven was not designed merely for showbread, bread to be looked upon, but for household bread, bread to be fed upon, bread to strengthen our hearts, and wine to make them glad; and wisdom’s invitation is, “Come eat of my bread, and drink of the wine that I have mingled.” Christ’s feeding great multitudes miraculously, more than once, when he was here upon earth, was (as his other miracles) significant of the spiritual provision he makes in the everlasting gospel, for the support and satisfaction of those that leave all to follow him. If we do not all eat, and be not all filled abundantly, with the goodness of his house, it is our own fault. Let us not then straiten and starve ourselves, for the master of the feast has not stinted us; he has not only invited us, and made provision for our entertainment, but he calls to us as one that bids us hearty welcome, “Eat, O my friends: drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.”

All people are for what they can get: here is something to be got in this ordinance, if it be rigidly improved, which will turn to our account infinitely more than the “merchandise of silver, or the gain of fine gold.” Christ and all his benefits are here not only set before us, not only offered to us, but settled upon us, under certain provisos and limitations; so that a believer, who sincerely consents to the covenant, receives some of the present benefits of it in and by this ordinance, both in the comfortable experiences of communion with God in grace, and the comtbrlable expectations of the vision and fruition of God in glory.

Gospel ordinances in general, and this in particular, which is the seal of gospel promises, are wells of salvation, out of which we may draw water with joy; breasts of consolation from which we may suck and be satisfied; golden pipes, through which the oil of grace is derived from the good olive, to keep our lamps burning. We receive the grace of God herein in vain, if we take not what is here tendered, gospel blessings upon gospel terms. We are here to receive Jesus Christ the Lord, and since “with him God freely gives us all things,” we must with him by faith take what he gives; “all spiritual blessings in heavenly things by Christ Jesus.”

Here we may receive the pardon and forgiveness of our sins. This is that great blessing of the new covenant, which makes way for all other blessings, by taking down that wall of partition which separated between us and God, and hinders good things from us; it is the matter of that promise which comes in as a reason for all the rest; I will do so and so for them, “for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness.” This is that great blessing which Christ died to purchase for us; his blood was shed for many, for the remission of sins; and perhaps he intimated this to be in a special manner designed by him in his sufferings, when the first word we find recorded, that he spoke after he was nailed to the cross was, “Father forgive them,” which seems to look not only to those that had an immediate hand in his death, but to those that are remotely accessary to it, as all sinners are, though they know not what they do.

The everlasting gospel is an act of indemnity: an act of oblivion we may call it, for it is promised that our sins and iniquities he will remember no more: it is indeed an act of grace; repentance and remission of sins is by it published in Christ’s name to all nations. It is proclaimed to the rebels, that, if they will lay down their arms, acknowledge their offence, return to their allegiance, approve themselves good subjects for the future, and make the merits of him whom the Father hath appointed to be the Mediator, their plea in suing out their pardon, the oftended prince will be reconciled to them, their attainder shall be reversed, and they shall not only be restored to all the privileges of subjects, but advanced to the honours and advantages of favourites. Now it concerns us all to be able to make it out, that we are entitled to the benefit of this act, that we are qualified according to the tenor of it, for the favour intended by it; and if we be so indeed, in the Lord’s Supper we receive that pardon to us in particular, which in the gospel is proclaimed to all in general. We do here receive the atonement, as the expression is. God hath received it for the securing of his honour, and we receive it for the securing of our happiness and comfort; we claim the benefit of it, and desire to be justified and accepted of God for the sake of it.

The sacrament should therefore be received with a heart thus lifting up itself to God: “Lord I am a sinner, a great sinner, I have done very foolishly; forfeited thy favour, incurred thy displeasure, and deserve to be for ever abandoned by thee. But Christ died; yea, rather is risen again, hath finished transgression, made an end of sin, made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in an everlasting righteousness; he gave his life a ransom for many, and if, for many, why not for me? In him a free and full remissiori is promised to all penitent, obedient believers; by him all that believe are justified, and to them there is no condemnation. Thou, even thou, art he that blottestout their transgressions for thine own sake, and art gracious and merciful; nay thou art faithful and just to forgive them their sins. Lord, I repent, — I believe, and take the benefit of those promises, those exceeding great and precious promises, which are to my soul as life from the dead. I flee to this city of refuge, I take hold of the horns of this altar; here I humbly receive the forgiveness of my sins, through Jesus Christ, the great propitiation, to whom I entirely owe it, and to whom I acknowledge myself infinitely indebted for it, and under the highest obligations imaginable to love him, and live to him. He is the Lord our righteousness, so accept I him; let him be made of God to me*righteousne5s, and I have enough; I am happy for, ever.”

Every time we come to the liOrd’s supper, we come to receive the remission of sins, that is,

1st, A renewed pardon of daily trespasses. — In many things we offend daily, and even he that is washed, that is in a justified state, needs to wash his feet, and blessed be God, there is a fountain opened for us to wash in, and encouragement given to pray for daily pardon as duly as we do for daily bread. We have to do with a God that multiplies pardon. Lord, the guilt of such a sin lies upon me like a heavy burden; I have lamented it, confessed it, renewed my covenants against it, and now in this ordinance 1 receive the forgiveness of that sin: and here it is said to my soul, “the Lord hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die.” Many a fault I hiive been overtaken in since I was last with the Lord at his’ table; and having repented of them, I desire to apply the blood of Christ to my soul, in a particular manner tor the forgiveness of them.

2d, A confirmed pardon of all tresspasses. — I come here to receive further assurances of the forgiveness of my sins, and further cointbrt arising from those assurances. 1 come to hear again that voice of joy and gladness, which hath made many a broken bone to rejoice — “Son, daughter, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee;” I come for the father’s kiss to a returning prodigal, which seals his pardon, so as to silence his doubts and fears. When God would by his prophets speak comfortably to Zion, thus he saith — “Thy warfare is accomplished, thine iniquity is pardoned.” And the inhabitant shall not say, “I am sick:” that is, he shall see no cause to complain of any outward calamity, if his iniquity be forgiven. O that I might here have the white stone of absolution, and my pardon written more legible! O that Christ would say to me as he did to that woman, to whom much was already forgiven, “Thy sins are forgiven!” This is what I come to receive, O let me not go away without it.

2. Here we may receive adoption of sons. The covenant of grace not only frees us from the doom of criminals, but advanceth us to the dignity of children; Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, in order to this, that “we might receive the adoption of sons.” The children’s bread given us in this ordinance is, as it were, livery and sasine.

to assure us of our adoption upon the terms of the Gospel, that if we will take God in Christ to be to us a Fatl.er, to rule and dispose of us, and to be feared and honoured by us, he will take us to be his sons and daughters. “Behold what manner of love is this!” Be astonished, O heavens, and wonder, O earth! Never was there such compassionate, such condescending love! God here seals us the grant both of the privileges of adoption, and the spirit of adoption

Here is a grant of the privileges of adoption sealed to us Here we are called the children of God, and he calls himself our Father, and encourages us to call himself so *•’ Seemeth it to you a light thing,” saith David, “to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?” And shall it not seem to us a great thing, an honour infinitely above all those which the world can pretend to confer, for us who are worms of the earth, and a generation of vipers, children of disobedience and wrath by nature, to be the adopted children of the King of kings? “This honour have all the saints.” Nor is it an empty title that is here granted us, but real advantages of unspeakable value.

The eternal God here saith it, and seals it to every true believer, Fear not, I will be a father to thee, an ever loving, ever living father; leave it to me to provide for thee; on me let all thy burdens be cast; with me let all thy cares be left, and to me let all thy requests be made known; “the young lions shall lack and suffer hunger,” but thou shalt want nothing that is good for thee, nothing that is fit for thee; my wisdom shall be thy guide, my power thy support, and “underneath thee the everlasting arms. As the tender father pities his children, so will I pity thee, and spare thee as a man spareth his son that serves him.” Thou shalt have my blessing and love, the smiles of my face, and the kisses of my mouth, and in the arms of my grace will I carry thee to glory, as the nursing father doth the sucking child. Doth any tiling grieve thee? Whither shouldst thou go with thy complaint but to thy father 1 saying to him as that child, “My head, my head; and thou shalt nnd that as one whom his mother comforteth, so will the Lord thy God comfort thee.” Doth any thing terrify thee? “Be not afraid, for I am thy God; when thou passeth thtough the rivers I will be with thee; and through the waters, they shall not overflow thee.” Art thou in doubt? Consult me, and “I will instruct thee in the way that thou shouldst go, I will guide thee with mine eye.” Acknowledge me, and I will direct thy steps. Dost thou offend? Is there foolishness bound up in thy heart ‘? Thou inust expect fatherly correction: “I will chasten thee with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; but my loving kindness will I not utterly take from thee;” thine afflictions shall not only consist with, but flow from covenant love; and but for a season, when need is, shalt thou be in heaviness.

“I will be a father to thee; and, son, thou shalt be ever with me, and all that I have is thine; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or (he world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are thine,” as far as is necessary to thine happiness; nor shall any thing ever be able to separate thee from my love. I will be a father to thee, and then Christ shall be thy elder brother, the prophet, priest, and king of the family, as the first-born among many brethren. Angels shall be thy guard; with the greatest care and tenderness shall they bear thee up in their arms, as ministering spirits charged to attend the heirs of salvation.

Providence shall be thy protector, and the disposer of all thine affairs ior the best; so that whatever happens, thou mayest be sure it shall be made to work for thy good, though as yet thou canst not see how or which way. The assurances of thy father’s love to thee in his promises and communion with him in his ordinances, shall be thy daily bread, thy continual feast, the manna that shall be rained upon thee, the water out of the rock that shall follow thee in this wilderness, till thou come to Canaan.

Now art thou a child of God, but it doth not yet appear what thou shalt be. When you was predestinated to thf adoption of sons, you was designed for the inheritance of sons; if a child, then an heir. Thy present maintenance shall be honourable, and comfortable, and such as is fit for thee in thy minority, while thou art under tutors and governors; but what is now laid out upon thee is nothing, ill comparison with what is laid up for thee; an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fades not away. If God be thy father, no less than a crown, a kingdom shall be thy portion, and heaven thy home, where thou shalt be for ever with him. In thy Father’s house there are many mansions, and one for thee, if thou be his dutiful child. It is thy Father’s good pleasure to give thee the kingdom.

Here is a grant of the Spirit of adoption sealed to us. As the giving of Christ for us was the great promise of the Old Testament, which was fulfilled in the fulness of time; so the giving of the Spirit to us is the great promise of the New Testament, and a promise that is sure to all the seed: this promise of the Father, which we have heard of Christ, we in this ordinance wait for, and it follows upon the former; for wherever God gives the privileges of children, he will give the nature and disposition of children; regeneration ahvays attends adoption, “because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts.” Great encouragement we have to ask this gift, from the relation of a Father, wherein God stands towards us: if earthly parents “know how to give good gifts to their children,” such as are needful and proper, for them, “much more shall our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.” He will give the Spirit to teach his children, and, as their tutor, to lead them into all truth, to govern his children: and, as the best of guardians, to dispose their affections, while providence disposeth their affairs for the best. His Spirit will renew and sanctify them, and make them meet for his service in this world, and his kingdom in a bettter, to be the guide of their way, and the witness of their adoption, and to seal them to the day of redemption.

An earnest of this grant of the Spirit to all believers in this ordinance, Christ gave, when, in his first visit he made to his disciples after his resurrection, having showed them his hands and his side, his pierced hands, his pierced side (which in effect he doth to us in this sacrament,) he breathed on them, and said unto them, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” What he said to them, he saith to his disciples, making them an offer of this inestimable gift, and bestovying it effectually on all believers, who are all “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” Receive then the Holy Ghost, in the receiving of this bread and wine, the graces of the Spirit, as bread to strengthen the heart, his comfort, as wine to make it glad. Be willing and desirous to receive the Holy Ghost, let the soul and all its powers be put under his operations and influences:” Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and then this King of Glory shall come in, to all that invite him and will bid him welcome.

“But will God in very deed thus dwell with men, with such men upon the earth f And shall they become temples of the Holy Ghost? Shall he come upon them? Shall the power of the Highest overshadow them? Shall Christ be formed in me a holy thing? Say then, my soul, say as the blessed virgin did, here I am, “be it unto me according to thy word.” I acknowledge myself unworthy the being of a man, having so often acted like a brute, much more unworthy the dignity of a son; I have been an undutil’ul, rebellious prodigal; I deserve to be turned out of doors, abandoned and disinherited, and forbidden my Father’s house and table. But who shall set bounds to innnite mercy, and to the compassions of the Everlasting Father? If, notwithstanding this, he will yet again take me into his family, and clothe me with the best robe, though it is too great a favour for me to receive, who am a child of disobedience; yet it is not too great for him to give, who is the Father of mercies. To thee therefore, O Gol, I give up myself, and I will “from this cry unto thee, my Father, thou art the guide of my youth.” Though I deserve not to be owned as a hired servant, I desire and hope to be owned as an adopted son. Be it unto thy servant according to thy promise!

:3. Here we may receive peace and satisfaction in our minds. — This is one of the precious legacies Christ hath left to all his followers, and it is here in this ordinance paid, or secured to be paid, to all those that are ready and willing to receive it: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you;” such a peace as the world can neither give nor take away. This is the repose of the soul in God, our reconciliation to ourselves, arising from the sense of our reconciliation to God, the conscience being thus fully purged from dead works, which not only defile but disturb and disquiet us. When the “Spirit is poured out on high, then the work of righteousness is peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance ibr ever.” The guilt of sin lays the foundation of trouble and uneasiness; where that is removed by pardoning mercy, there is ground for peace; but there must be a farther act of the divine grace to put us in the actual possession of that peace; when he who alone can open the ear to comfort, as well as discipline, makes us to hear joy and gladness, then the storm ceaseth, and there is a calm. The mind that was disturbed with the dread of God’s wrath, is quieted with the tokens of his favour and love.

This we should have in our eye at the Lords table: here I am waiting to hear what God the Lord will speak, and hoping that he, who speaks peace to his people and to his saints, will speak that peace to me who make it the top of my ambition to ansuer the character, and have the lot of his people and saints. This peace we may here expect to receive for two reasons.

Because this ordinance is a seal of the promise of peace; in it God assures us that his thoughts towards us are thoughts of peace, and then ours towards ourselves may be so. We are here among his people, whom he hath promised to bless with peace, and v;e may apply that promise to ourselves, plead it, and humbly claim the benefit of it. This is that rest to the soul which our Master hath promised to all those that come to him, and take his yoke upon thera, and this promise, among the rest, is here ratified, as yea and amen in Christ.

The covenant of grace is indeed a covenant of peace, in the ever blessed soil of which “light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart.” And this covenant of peace is that which eternal truth hath said, shall never be removed, but shall stand firm as a rock, when the “everlasting mountains shall melt,” like wax, and the “perpetual hills shall bow.” Hath God so far consulted my present repose, as well as my future bless, that he hath provided not only for the satisfaction of his own justice, but for the satisfaction of my conscience; and shall I indulge my own disturbance, and refuse to be comforted?

No; welcome the promised peace, the cahn so long wished for, the desired haven of a troubled spirit, tossed with tempest. Come, my soul, and take possession of this Canaan; by faith enter into this rest, and let not thine own unbelief exclude thee. If the God of peace himself speak peace, though with a still small voice, let that silence the most noisy and clamorous objections of doubts and fears; and, if he give quietness, let not them make trouble.

Because this ordinance is an instituted means of obtaininsT the peace promised. As the sacrifice was ordained to make atonement for the soul, so the feast upon the sacrifice was intended for the satisfaction of the soul, concerning the atonement made, to remove that amazement and terror which arose from the consciousness of guilt. This ordinance is a feast appointed for that purpose. God doth here not only assure us of the truth of his promise to us, but gives us an opportunity of solemnizing our engagements to him, and sealing to be his, which is appointed not to satisfy him (he that knows all things, knows if we love him,) but to satisfy ourselves, that, thus taking hold of the hope set before us, v*e may have strong consolation. The blood of Christ is in this ordinance sprinkled upon the conscience, to pacify that, having been already sprinkled upon the mercy seat, to make atonement there, so making the comers thereunto perfect.

When the Lord Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, the first word he said to them was “Peace be unto you;” and he saith the sa ne to us in this ordinance. Peace be unto this house, pe.ice to this heart. But the disciples of Christ, like those that are apt to be terrified “and affrighted, supposing that they had seen a spirit,” or apparition, fearing that it is but all a delusion, it is too good news to be true; what have they to do with peace, think they, while their corruptions, follies, and infirmities are so many? But Christ, by this sacrament, checks those fears; as these, “Why are ye troubled; and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet!” There is that in the marks of the nails, which is sufficient to stop the mouth of unbelief, and to heal the wounds of a broken and contrite spirit. There is merit enough in Christ, though in us there is nothing but meanness and unworthiness. Such considerations this ordinance offers as has often been found effectual, by the grace of God, to create the fruit of the lips, peace, and to restore comfort to the mourners. In it Christ saith again, “Peace be unto you,”’ as he did unto the disciples. And sometimes a mighty power had gone along with that word to lay a storm, as it did with that, (Mark iv. 39.) Peace, be still; so that the soul so calmed, so quieted, hath gone away, and said with wonder, “What manner of man is this, for even the winds and the seas obey him?”

4. Here we may receive supplies of grace. — Jesus Christ is, in this ordinance, made of God, to all believers, not only righteousness, but sanctification; so we must receive him; and having received him, so we must walk in him. It is certain we have as much need of the influences of the Spirit to furnish us for our duties, as we have of the merit of Christ to atone for our sins; and as much need of divine grace, to carry on the good work, as to begin it. We are in ourselves not only ungodly, but without strength, impotent in that which is good, and inclined to that which is evil; and, in the Lord alone have we both righteousness and strength. If, therefore, we have it in him, hither we must come, to have it from him; for gospel ordinances, and this particularly, are the means of grace, and the ordinary vehicle in which grace is conveyed to the souls of believers. Though God is not tied to them, we are, and must attend with an expectation to receive grace from God by them, and an entire submission of soul to the operation and conduct of that grace. This ordinance is as the pool of Bethesda, which our v.’eak and impotent souls must lie down by, waiting for the moving of the waters, as those that know there is a healing virtue in them which we may experience benefit by, as well as others. Here, therefore, we must set ourselves, expecting and desiring the effectual workings of God’s free grace in us, attending at wisdom’s gates for wisdom’s ^ifts, and endeavouring to improve the ordinance to this end.

From the fulness that is in Jesus Christ, in whom “it pleased the Father that all fulness should dv’ell,” we are here waiting to receive grace for grace, that is, “abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness.” Where there is true grace, there is need of more, for the best are. sanctified but in part: and tJiere is a desire of more forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forth to those which are before, pressing towards perfection; and there is a promise of more, for to him that hath shall be given; and “he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.” Therefore, in a sense of our own necessities, and a dependence on God’s promises, we must by faith receive and apply to ourselves the grace offered us. “What things soever we desire,” according to the w ill of God, “if we believe that we receive them,” our Saviour hath told us, “we shall have them.” According to thy faith, be it unto thee.

Reach forth a hand of faith, therefore, and receive the prom.ised grace, both for the confirming of gracious habits, and for the quickening of gracious acts.

1st, Let us here receive grace for the confirming of gracious habits, that they may be more deeply rooted. We are conscious to ourselves of great weakness in grace: it is like a grain of mustard seed, as a bruised reed, and smoking flax; we are weak in our knowledge, and apt to mistake; weak in our affections, and apt to cool; weak in our resolutions, and apt to waver. How weak is my heart! But here is bread that strengthens man’s heart, signifying that grace of God, which confirms the principles, and invigorates the powers of the spiritual and divine life in the .souls of the faithful. Come, my soul, come eat of this bread, and it shall strengthen thee: though perhaps thou mayest not be immediately sensible of this strength received, the improvement of habits is not suddenly discerned; yet, through this grace, thou shalt find hereafter, that thy path hath been like the shining light, which shineth more and more.

We find there is much lacking in our faith, in our love, in every grace; here, therefore, we must desire and hope, and prepare to receive from Christ such gifts of the Holy Ghost as will be mighty, through God, to increase our faith, that its discoveries of divine things may be more clear and distinct, and its assurances of the truth of them more certain and confident; that its consent to the covenant may be more free and resolved, and its complacency in the covenant more sweet and delightful. And that which thus increaseth our faith will be effectual to inflame our love, and make that strong as death in its desires towards God, and resolutions for him. We must here wait to be strengthened with all might, by his Spirit in the inner man, unto all patience in suffering for him, and diligence in doing for him, and both with joy fulness. We here put ourselves under the happy influence of that great and glorious povv’ef, which worketh mightily in them that believe.

2d, Let us here receive grace for the quickening of gra-Crious acts, that they may be more strongly exerted: we come to this throne of grace, this mercy seat, this table of our God, that here we may not only obtain mercy to pardon, but may find “grace to help in every time of need,” grace to excite us, to direct us in, and thoroughly furnish us for every good word and work, according as the duty of every day requires. It was a very encouraging word which Christ said to Paul, when he prayed for the removal of that messenger of Satan which was sent to buffet liira: “My grace is sufficient for thee;” and all true believers may take the comfort of it: what was said to him is said to every person, whatever the exigence of the case is; they that commit themselves to the grace of God, with a sincere resolution, in every thing to submit to the conduct and government of that grace, shall be enabled to do all things, throufrh Christ strenofthenincr them.

3d, Let a lively faith here descend to particulars, and receive this grace with application to the various occurrences of the Christian life. When I go about any duty of solemn worship, I find I am not sufficient of myself for it, not so much as to think one good thought of myself, much less such a chain of good thoughts as is necessary to an acceptable prayer, to the profitable reading and hearing of the word, and the right sanctification of a Lord’s day; but all our sufficiency for these services is of God, and of his grace. That grace I here receive according to the promise, and will always go forth, and go on in tlic strength of it.

When an opportunity offers itself of doing good to others, to their bodies, by relieving’their necessities, or contributing any way to their comfort and support; or to their souls by seasonable advice, instruction, reproof, or other good discourse; we must depend on this grace for ability to do it prudently, faithfully, and successfully, and so as to be accepted of God in it. I find I want wisdom for these and such like services, and for the ordering of all my affairs; and whither shall I go for it but to wisdom’s feasts, whose preparations are not only good for food, and pleasant to the eye, but greatly to be desired to make one wise. Here therefore I receive ‘’ Christ Jesus the Lord, as made of God unto me wisdom;” wisdom dwelling with prudence; wisdom to understand my way, that wisdom which in every doubtful case is profitable to direct. Having many a time prayed Solomon’s prayer, for a wise and understanding heart, I here receive the sealed grant in answer to it: “wisdom and knowledge are given thee,” so much as shall be sufficient for thee in thy place and station, to guide theo m glorifying God, so as that thou mayest not come short of enjoying him.

When we are assaulted with temptations to sin, we find how weak and ineffectual our resistance hath often been: here, therefore, we receive grace to fortify us against all those assaults, that we may not be foiled and overcome by them. All that in this sacrament list themselves under the banner of the Captain of our salvation, and engage themselves as his faithful soldiers in a holy war against the world, the flesh, and the devil, may here be furnished with the whole armour of God, and that power of his might, as it is called, wherewith they shall be able to stand and withstand in the evil day. I now receive from God and his grace, strength against such a sin that hath oft prevailed over me, such temptation that hath oft been too hard for me; “now therefore, O God, strengthen thy hands.” Through God I shall do valiantly.

When we are burdened v*’ith affliction, we find it hard to bear up: we faint in the day of adversity, which is a sign our strength is small; we grieve too much, and are full of fears in a day of trouble, our hearts many a time are ready to fail us; hither therefore we come to receive grace sufficient for our support under the calamities of this present time, that, whatever we lose, we may not lose our comfort, and whatever we suffer we may not sink. Grace to enable us, whatever happens, to keep possession of our own souls, by keeping up our hope and joy in God; that, when flesh and heart fail, we may find God the strength of heart; and if he be so, “as the day is, so shall thy strength be.” Such assurances are here given to all believers of God’s presence with them in all their afflictions, and the concurrence of all for their good, that, being thus encouraged, they have all the reason in the world to say, Welcome the will of God; nothing can come amiss.

We know not how we may be called on to bear our testimony to the truths and ways of God in suffering for righteousness’ sake; we are bid to count upon them, and to prepare for them. We must in this ordinance faithfully promise, that however we may be tried, we will never forsake Christ, nor turn from following after him; though we should die with him, yet will we not deny him. But we have no reason to confide in any strength of our own, for the making good of this promise; nor can we pretend to such a degree of resolution, steadiness, and presence of mind, as will enable us to encounter the difficulties we may meet with. Peter, when he shamed himself, warned us to take heed lest we fall, when we think we stand. Here, therefore, we must receive strength for such trials, that we may overcome them by the blood of the Lamb, and by not loving our lives unto the death, and that the prospect of none of these things may move us.

4th, How near our great change may be we cannot tell, perhaps nearer than we imagine: we are not sure that we shall live to see another opportunity of this kind; but this we are sure of, that it is a serious thing to die: it is a work we never did, and when we come to do it, we shall need a strength we never had. In this sacrament, therefore, from the death of Christ, we must fetch in grace to prepare us for death, and to carry us safely and comfortably through that dark and dismal valley. I depend not only on the providence of God, to order the circumstances of my removal hence for the best to me, but upon the grace of God to take cut the sting of death, and then to reconcile me it) the stroke of death, and to enable me to meet death’s harbinger, and bear its agonies, not only with the constancy and patience that becomes a wise man, but with the hope and joy that becomes a good Christian.

5. Here we may receive the earnests of eternal bliss and joy. — Heaven is the crown and centre of all the promises, and the perfection of all the good contained in them; all the blessings of the new covenant have a tendency to this, and are in order to it. Are we predestinated? It is to the inheritance of sons. Called 1 It is to his kingdom and glory. Sanctified? It is that we may be made meet for the inheritance, and wrought to the self-same thing. This, therefore, we should have in our eye, in our covenant and communion with God; that eternal life which God that cannot lie promiseth. We must receive the Spirit in his graces and comforts, as the earnest of our inheritance. They that deal with God, must deal upon trust, for a happiness in reversion, a recompense of reward to come; must forsake the world in sight and present, for a world out of sight and future. All believers consent to this; they lay up their treasure in heaven, and hope for what they see not. This they depend upon; and in prospect of it they are willing to labour and suffer, to deny themselves, and take up their cross, knowing that heaven will make amends for all: though they may be losers for Christ, they shall not be losers by him in the end; this is the bargain. In the Lord’s supper Christ gives us earnest upon this bargain, and what we receive there, we receive as earnest. An earnest not only confirms the bargain and secures the performance of it, but is itself part of payment, though but a small part in comparison with the full sum.

We here receive the earnest of our inheritance; that is. We here receive the assurance of it. The royal grant of it is here sealed and delivered by the King of kings. God here saith to me as he did to Abraham, “Lift up thine eyes now, and look from the place where thou art.” Take a view of the heavenly Canaan, that land which eternally flows with better things than milk and honey, — Immanuel’s land. Open an eye of faith, and behold the pleasures and glories of that world, as they are described in Scripture, such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard; and know of a surety that all the land which thou seest, and that which is infinitely more and better than thou canst conceive, to thee will I give it, to thee forever. “Fear not, little flock,” fear not ye little ones of the flock, ^’ it is3/our Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Follow Christ and serve him, and you shall be for ever with him; continue with him now in his temptations, and you shall shortly share with him in his glories. Only be faithful unto death, and the crown of life is as sure to you, as if it were already upon your heads. Here is livery and sasine upon the deed. Take this and eat it, take this and drink it: in token of this, “I will be to thee a God;” that is, a perfect and everlasting happiness, such as shall answer the vast extent and compass of that great word. “But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city.”

Come now, my soul, and accept the security offered. The inheritance secured is unspeakably rich and invaluable; the losses and sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with it; the title is good, it is a purchased possession, he that grants it hath power over all liesh, that he should give eternal life. The assurances are unquestionably valid, not only the word and oath, but the writing and seal of the eternal God, in the Scriptures and sacraments: here is that, my soul, which thou mayest venture thyself upon, and venture thine all for; do it then, do it with a holy boldness. Lay hold on eternal life, lay fast hold on it, and keep thy hold. Look up, my soul, look as high as heaven, the highest heaven; look forward my soul, look as far forward as eternity, and let eternrd life, eternal joy, eternal glory, be thine aim in thy religion, and resolve to take up with nothing short of these. God hath been willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, and therefore hath thus confirmed it, so as to leave no room for doubting, that by all these ‘’ immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, wdio have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us.” Take him at his word then, and build thy hope upon it. Be not faithless, but believing; be not careless, but industrious. Here is a hpppiiess worth strivie;:: for; “run with patience the race that is set before us,” with this prize in thine eye.,

We receive the foretastes of it. — We have in this ordinance, not only a ratification of the promise of the heavenly Canaan, but a pattern or specimen given us of the fruits of that land, like the bunch of grapes which was brought from the valley of Eshcol to the Israelites in the wilderness: a view given us of that land of promise, like that which Moses had of the land of Canaan from the top of Pisgah. As the law was a type and figure of the Messiah’s kingdom on earth, so the gospel is of this kingdom in heaven; both are as” shadows of good things to come,’* like the map of a rich and large country in a sheet of paper Our future happiness is, in this sacrament, not only sealed to us, but shown to us; and we here taste something of the pleasures of that better country. In this ordinance we have a sight of Christ, he is evidently set forth before us; and what is heaven, but to see him as he is, and to be forever beholding his glory? We are here receiving the pledges and tokens of Christ’s love to us, and returnhig the protestations and expressions of our love to him; and what is heaven but an eternal interchanging of love between a holy God and holy souls? We are here praising and blessing the Redeemer, celebrating his honour, and giving him the glory of his achievements: and what is that but the work of heaven? It is what the inhabitants of that world are doing now, and what we hope to be doing with them to eternity. We are here in spiritual communion with all the saints coming in faith, hope, and love to the general assembly and church of the first-born; and what is heaven but that in perfection? In a word, heaven is a feast, and so is this; only this is a running banquet, that is an everlasting feast.

Come, my soul, and see a door here opened in heaven; look in at that door now, by which thou hopest to enter shortly. Let this ordinance do something of the work of heaven upon thee, God having provided in it something of the pleasures of heaven for thee. Heaven will for ever part between thee and sin; let this ordinance, therefore, set thee at a greater distance from it. Heaven will fill thee with the love of God; in this ordinance, therefore, let that love be shed abroad in thine heart. In heaven thou shalt enter into the joy of thy Lord; let that joy now enter into thee, aiul be thy strength and thy song. Heaven will be periect holiness; let this ordinance make thee more holy, and more conformable to the image of the holy Jesus; heaven will be everlasting rest; here, therefore, return to God as thy rest, O my soul, and repose thyself in him. Let every sacrament be to thee a heaven upon earth, and each of these days of the Son of man, as one of the days of heaven.