distinguish this festival, and what ought to be contemplated in it; the death of Jesus ought to be placed before the eyes of those who partake of it. So he says who instituted it: Behold, I break this bread, and give it you; take ye it, and eat it. The bread must be given away; it does not, and cannot remain just as it is, if it is to give nourishment, strength, and power. So will this my body be given up, broken, and destroyed by death, so that it may be a sacrifice for you. Behold, this wine is poured out and given away. Take and drink; it does not and cannot remain just as it is, if it is to cheer, animate, refresh and revive. So will my blood be shed through the sacrifice of my body, whereby the new covenant is perfected, in which you, who come to God through me, shall be free from that, from which the covenant of law could not make men free; and in which you shall come into possession of all those things to which men, as sinners, could make no claim. My blood shall ratify and seal the covenant of grace and life, in which every thing shall be restored and replaced which sin has taken away, and

corrupted and destroyed. Let this be certain and present with you, as often as you thus eat and drink in remembrance of me.

Thus, then, we see in the holy supper with infallible clearness, what shall be effected, prepared, made certain and granted through the death and sacrifice of Jesus, for those who will cleave to him. Bread is my body, said he, which is given for you. Wine is my blood which is shed for the forgiveness of sins. We all know that bread is the most common and indispensable sustenance of men.

Wine is generally known as a means of strengthening, animating and reviving. Hence Jesus, who could never misapply or mistake a word, called his body bread, and his blood wine. Should his sacrifice on the cross be something of that kind for men, it is impossible to doubt, that they shall thereby receive something which nourishes, and strengthens, and supports, which cheers, and quickens, and revives, which serves for the sustenance, and activity, and well-being of the outward man, and the earthly life.

Now when the disciples of Jesus, according

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to the will and example of their teacher, strove to be what they should be, and observed, in this and that point, that they had not attained to what they would; that they ofttimes became and did the very opposite of what they ought to be and to do; that they stumbled and fell when their sad and tearful eyes looked at offences of which they had incurred the guilt; when the actual, or apparent, evil consequences of these offences stood in clear light before the afflicted soul; or when they felt intolerable coldness and deadness in their whole being; or when they were oppressed, troubled, weary, and heavy laden; when their inmost soul hungered and thirsted after life and nourishment from above; did they then do too much, when they made use of the supper as a means of strengthening, animating and reviving; aye, when they confidently expected by means of this supper all that was indispensable to them, as bread is to the hungry, and a refreshing and enlivening draught to the thirsty? No; if through the death of Jesus man were not to have something which is to the wants of his nature what genuine, invigorating bread is to

the hungry, and refreshing, cheering wine, is to the thirsty, then Jesus would not have made bread and wine the memorials and emblems of his death. As certainly as you appease your hunger, and find yourself nourished and strengthened by the food which you take, though you can neither know, nor conceive how, and in what way this food nourishes, strengthens, and supports us; as certainly as you quench your thirst, and feel yourself revived by a fresh and refreshing draught, though you are unable to comprehend how it comes to pass that we are so revived by it; so certain it is, that, through the death of Jesus, that which you seek in him will be for your strengthening and reviving, however this strengthening and reviving may be brought about, and however it may be connected with his death. Behold, this is said and sealed by the bread and wine, in the supper.

The supper likewise says, and assures, that Jesus makes it difficult for no one to participate in the blessings of his love, and the benefits of his death. Simple as are the means of strengthening and reviving which he employs

as emblems of his body, so simple and natural is also the mode of partaking, and receiving. Those who knew not whither they must go, if they would hear the words of eternal life, were there assembled around him; they saw what he offered; they heard what he said; and they reached out their hands to meet his; they took what he gave them, they ate and drank. Here too, as in baptism, that which is offered is inexpressibly important, and necessary, and salutary; and nothing easier than the mode of reception, the condition of partaking. These gifts were nowhere to be purchased at any price. Behold, the only purchaser of these gifts, who has purchased them at the dearest price, who freely offers them! Whoever would have it, has but to go to him, and receive from him, what he offers.

But indeed it naturally depends on that desire to have. Think you not, that Jesus well knew and considered that just such a memorial of his love and foresight would be right welcome and desirable to his disciples? that just such a bequeathed pledge of love, especially when their eyes saw him no more on