are all partakers of that one bread. It is from this fellowship that the supper is called communion; for this reason 'communion' means the same as 'going to the sacrament.'

You come thereto in order that the forgiveness of your sins, and the paternal love of God with all its blessings, may be sealed and confirmed to you: put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Consider why and wherefore you say to your heavenly Father in the Lord's prayer, 'Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and consider what Jesus adds, If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive

your trespasses. You would, at the sacrament, that God may have nothing against you :then consider and follow also the word of Jesus:-If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer. The Lord's Supper is a feast of reconciliation; and you partake of it unworthily, if it is not so between you and your neighbor. But you partake the most unworthily, if you not only do not consider and lay to heart what it is from which man should be redeemed and delivered by the death of Jesus, if your heart is not continually benefitted, your mind and life not sanctified more and more through every sacrament: but if you come to the supper for the purpose of purifying yourself at once from old defilement, so as to wallow afresh and more eagerly in the mire; if you follow after your fleshly lusts as before, and indeed more peacefully and securely than before, and seek only to give free course to your impure lusts and unbridled evil propensities; if that ungodly sentiment, which may be well called a birth of hell, deceive you, that by the use of the holy sacrament, the old sin which had accumulated till then is acquitted, and done away, and a licence given for the commission of new sins. O shameful dishonoring of Jesus! Most presumptuous desecration of his death! Coarsest insensibility, most dreadful and deadly coldness of heart, most stupid indifference toward the sufferings and mortal agonies of Jesus! O most shameless, dangerous and ruinous self-deception! Shall we, who look to be justified through Christ, be ourselves found sinners? Is Christ then a servant of sinners? God forbid. What shall we say then? shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism unto death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Yes, be it far, far from thee, to approach the Lord's table with such sentiments and thoughts. God preserve you, that you may never eat and drink so unworthily. You would make yourself guilty of the broken body and the shed blood of the innocent Lord. You eat and drink to your inevitable punishment. You sin wilfully; and if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. So says the same apostle in Heb. 10:26, 27.

PART THIRD.

SELF-EΧΑΜΙΝΑΤΙΟΝ.

THEREFORE let a man examine himself, and thus examined, and prepared by examination, he may eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. Let every one look to it, that he neither eat nor drink unworthily, and that he do not make himself guilty and liable to punishment, by partaking of the holy supper. Let every one inquire accordingly, how far and in what respect the sacrament may be a judgment or a blessing to him. But let a man exam

ine himself, says the apostle. He, the apostle, does not make it his business to examine the hearts, to search the inmost souls, of the different members of the great church at Corinth. He does not take it upon him to decide upon the heart's frame, upon the state of the soul of each individual. How could he? If we would judge ourselves, he says in v. 31, we should not be judged, we should have no cause to fear the judgment of God. We ourselves must know, that if our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God; and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him. Every one should inquire into and search his own heart. Only by this selfexamination and preparation, which each one should make his most sacred business, can that be promoted and attained, which ought on this occasion to be promoted and attained. The preacher, who with the members of his church that would draw near to the Lord's table, previously observes a preparation, as it is called, cannot investigate the state of the heart and the tenor of the life of every individual member. He cannot exactly and correctly investigate the prevailing emotions and