SERMON X. ON THE LITURGY. FOURTH PART. I CORINTHIANS XIV. PART OF V. 15. I will pray with the understanding also. I X. SHOULD now, if I proceeded regularly in $ERM. this subject, take into consideration those parts of our evening service, which differ from the morning, and after that explain to you the Litany; but as the celebration of the Lord's supper is approaching, I rather choose to postpone these for the present, and beg your attention, while I discourse on our communion service. It is called the communion service, because, in a part X. SERM. a part of it, we partake together of the sacrament of Christ's body and blood, the meaning of the word 'communion' being "a partaking together." The beginning of it, which we use, when we do not celebrate the Lord's supper, goes by the same name. It opens with the Lord's Prayer, which appears peculiarly proper, when we are entering on so solemn an office. After this follows an old and excellent collect, in which we pray to God, to whom the hearts of all men are open, and their desires, their imaginations, and their wishes, known-to cleanse, to purify, to make virtuous, the thoughts of ours, by the inspiration of his holy spirit, that is, by breathing into us such good dispositions, that we may, as perfectly as human nature will permit, love him, and worthily magnify his holy name; fitly, properly, both in our conversations and our lives, shew the sense that we entertain of his goodness. The ten com mand X. mandments, which were delivered by God to SER M. Moses, for the use of the Jews, and which, from their great excellence, are binding on Christians also, are now recited by the minister; the people, between each of them, on their knees, begging mercy of God for those of them which they may have transgressed, and beseeching him to incline their hearts to obey them more perfectly in future. After them follows a prayer for the king; it being his authority, which is one great support of these commandments, and they again contributing, by their influence on the conduct of men, to support his authority. In this prayer we beseech of God so to rule the king's heart, that he, from being sensible that he is God's minister, or ser vant, may make it his first study to promote God's glory, which he cannot more effectually do, than by enforcing the ob servance SERM. servance of the above ten commandments, X. and himself setting an example of it in his own behaviour; we petition, likewise, that we, and all other his subjects, duly considering, remembering as we ought, that his authority is derived from God, that is, that he reigns by God's permission, may faithfully serve, honour, and obey him, in God, and for God, according to his blessed word and ordinance, that is, in obedience to God's commands in scripture, such as, Honour the king; let every soul be sub"ject to the higher powers," and other texts of this tenor. We now repeat again the collect for the day, and after it the minister reads two portions of scripture, usually from the New Testament, the first taken generally from the epistles, the latter always from the gospels; the collect, for the most part, relates to these portions from scripture, and entreats of God to grant us some Christian grace, which is |