II.

FAITH, OR AN APPROPRIATION OF THE BENEFITS OF THE SAVIOUR, AND OF HIS DEATH, TO OUR INDIVIDUAL CASES.

JOHN xiv. 23. If a man love me, my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

REFLECTION.

THE first subject of self-examination, preparatory to Sacramental Communion, is commonly said, in our approved standards, to be Knowledge to discern the Lord's body,-that is to say, such conceptions of the meaning of the solemnity, and of the elements used in it, as may enable the Communicant to pass, in his thoughts, from the visible signs set before him, to those great historical facts

and spiritual blessings which these elements were meant to symbolize.

The second subject of self-examination is commonly characterized as Faith, to feed upon Christ, -that is to say, considering the Saviour and his benefits as represented by bread and wine, our second subject of self-examination should be, whether we feel a desire to appropriate Christ and the benefits of his interposition to ourselves, that the spiritual and eternal interests of our nature may thereby be promoted.

Now, with respect to this appropriation, there is obviously a great want in the usual state of the thoughts and dispositions of men ;—for the history of Christ is but regarded by them as comprising certain important and wonderful facts, like others that have occurred during the past history of mankind, and they merely occasionally revert to them as pleasing or magnificent subjects of thought, when their minds are disposed to be occupied with devout meditations. Perhaps their only feeling with respect to these topics is a vague and mysterious sense of sacredness, which indisposes them for any close examination, far less for

any personal appropriation of the blessings connected with them.

But, surely, if God has sent his Son to dwell among us, in our human nature, and to sustain, like ourselves, the sorrows and humiliations of life, we may be certain, that so truly-astonishing a fact was not meant to be regarded as a mere passing subject of wonder and gratitude,-far less as solely an occasional excitement of pious and of vaguely-impressive feeling. God must have intended, that so grand a display of his condescension and love should deeply impress the heart, and be the constant theme of the meditations of every individual among mankind to whom this "great mystery of God manifested in the flesh" should ever be made known,-and that men should show the sound state of their feelings, and their fitness for being inheritors of the heavenly kingdom, by making a personal election of Christ as their Master, and of his service as their duty, during all the years of their appearance upon earth.

Surely, if Christ was appointed by God to be the sacrifice for the sins of men,-it must be the

duty of all men to look to that atonement as their only foundation of acceptance with God,-and on all occasions to plead its merits, when they feel that they have sinned, and stand in need of pardoning mercy and forgiving grace.

Surely, if God has caused his Son to institute a feast in honour of divine mercy,-a feast " of peace on earth, and good-will to men,”-it must be his intention that this mercy should not be the subject merely of a general acknowledgment on the part of the sinful individuals of our race, but should rather be to them a theme of devout and deepfelt gratitude for the most important of all blessings to their individual necessities.

This, then, is that Faith by which we feed on Christ and on his benefits, as offered to us in the Supper, by the emblems of bread and wine;-it is the appropriation to our individual cases of the Saviour and his work, that thereby we may become assured of our personal interest in him and his blessings,-or, in the words of the Catechism, that thereby "our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace may be promoted."

This is that important grace which the Servants of Christ in all ages have represented as of para

mount importance, and the necessity of which they have been constantly labouring to impress upon their hearers. But God only can give the heart this truly-good and useful direction,—and to him, therefore, will I now address myself by fervent prayer, for this sealing token of my interest in the Redeemer.

PRAYER.

Heavenly Father, who hast promised thy Holy Spirit to them that ask it, O send thy good Spirit into my heart to order aright whatever in me is wrong, to supply whatever is wanting,-to nourish whatever is feeble,—to enlighten whatever is dark, and to make me, who am now preparing to sit down at the table of the Redeemer, a Christian not in name only but in truth.

Grant me a sincere and abiding love for the character of my Redeemer, and a true sense of the suitableness of his benefits to my individual case, may my soul be animated by daily thankfulness for what he has done for my soul,-and may he thus be to me the "Chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely."