Imatges de pàgina
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which even carries with it delight in the performance, and pleasure in the execution of it; do this only in remembrance of me; now and then affemble yourselves together, and partake of this feaft of love which I have prepared for you do this, as if he had faid to us, if I have deferved any thing at your hands, if whilft upon earth, my pleasure and my business was to go about doing good to you; if in heaven, I am now interceding for you, do not utterly forget your benefactor; do not lay afide all thoughts of your friend and mediator; do not grudge a little time to converfe with me; remember me, and I will not forget, will not leave nor forfake you; forgive each other before come to this table, and when you rife from it go home with cheerfulness, and be kind to, and love one another.

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Thus we may fuppofe him graciously condefcending to reafon with us; this is the utmost extent of his request, and shall we dare deny a compliance with it? This do, fays our Saviour, in remembrance of me. Amongst all those refined and delicate fenfations which delight the generous and grateful mind, there is not one more produtive of inward joy and fatif faction, than the pleafing recollection of thofe benefits which have been conferred on us by our friends with what joy do we reflect on the gift, and on the giver, and with what pleafure do we place before our eyes every minute circumftance, every motion and gefture that accompanied it! what then should be our praise and thanksgiving, what should be our joy and

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pleasure in calling to mind in the holy facrament, the amazing beneficence, goodnefs, and condefcenfion of our Divine Benefactor, whom in his folemn office we affemble to commemorate! Is all that we ever received at the hands of others, to be compared with that love which he expreffed, or with those bleffings which he bestowed upon us?

But befides the first and great defign of the Holy Sacrament, namely, the commemoration of our Saviour's life, his fufferings and death, which must fill every grateful heart with an adoration of his goodnefs, and a veneration for his laws; there are alfo numberless advantages flowing to mankind from this divine inftitution; and among others, this is by no means the leaft, or most inconfiderable; namely, that if performed as it ought to be performed, it muft of neceffity tend to create mutual harmony, love, and affection among men: we fee every day what great and useful defigns have been carried on even by very fmall focieties of men, whofe views and interefts have been the fame, and who have heartily united to ferve and fupport each other: the conditions we have required in every worthy communicant, are the previous laying afide all ftrife and envying, all jealoufies, quarrels, and animofities: If any man fay he loves God and hateth his brother, he is a liar: And again, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift; and doubtless neither our gifts nor we ourselves, fhall be favourably received at the altar, unless

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we first banifh malice and hatred from our hearts, and fill them with love and charity.

The bleffed Sacrament therefore fhould be looked on by every worthy communicant, as the bond of unity; the extenfive chain of love, which links us to our fellow Chriftians, and which fhould naturally remind us of that general relation which we bear to each other, and which fhould be conftantly and steadily difplaying itself in acts of mutual love, charity, and beneficence. The Rubrick prefatory to the order of adminiftration of the Holy Sacrament, points out to us the exact duty both of prieft and people in this particular; the minifter is there, we fee, invested with power to inquire into the character and behaviour of all thofe who would communicate, and to exhort them, if they have been guilty of any flagrant and confpicuous crimes, to repent and amend before they prefume to eat of that bread, and drink of that cup; he is there empowered alfo, to prevent thofe between whom he perceiveth malice and hatred to reign, "to be partakers of that holy communion: were he now to perform this pious office, to exert this power, it might perhaps prove beneficial to fociety in general, and advantageous to every particular member of it; it might be a means of preventing all thofe cruel divifions which feparate families, break friendship, and unloose the bonds of peace; it might promote private happinefs, by reconciling friends and brethren, and preferve public tranquillity, by ending difputes amicably, without tedious and unprofi

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table law-fuits: fo true, and fo inconteftable is

that in all nations where true Chriftian religion is established, that aid and support which is by the ftate afforded to the church, is amply repaid by thofe reciprocal benefits which accrue to it from that fupport: fince the belt way to ensure obedience to human laws, is to enforce the divine. For were we punctually to perform the commandments of God, the ordinances of men would be almost unneceffary, and our huge large body of laws, which has fwelled to fo enormous a bulk, might then be reduced to a very narrow compafs.

With regard to the intrinfic excellency of this inftitution, I fhall here beg leave to observe, that it hath by a kind of interfering providence, kept up and maintained its dignity and folemnity in fpite of all oppofition, and even in an age when scarce any any other part of our religion has escaped the ridicule of fcoffers: there is fomething, to which indeed we are indebted partly to the great reformers of our church, in the manner of the celebration of it, which inspires an awe and veneration even in the most profligate and abandoned: it has indeed been faid, (and what that is falfe and impious has not been faid?) by the enemies of our holy religion, that thofe vho frequent the table of the Lord, are hypocrites and diffemblers, that they are equally bafe, corrupt, and uncharitable after, as they were before the performance of this duty; but this is an affertion without proof, or foundation; for furely we may venture to affirm, and experience juf

tifies it, that fuch as do frequently attend the holy communion, are very feldom convicted by the world of any flagrant crimes, are very feldom men of bad lives or characters. Weakneffes and imperfections we are all liable to, but that a man can often receive the blessed facrament, repent of any known fins, and yet continue to commit thofe fins; his confcience every time reproaching, him as it must do for fuch behaviour, is an inftance of complicated, of continued impiety, it is uncharitable to fuppose any man capable of; and it is withal moft ridiculous and abfurd, because no worldly views could influence him to act thus, as every man at this time, and in this nation, is left, perhaps too much fo, at liberty in this point; and in an age wherein piety is fo little regarded or esteemed, and the want of it fo little cenfured, the mere affectation of it could anfwer no end or purpose whatever.

But further, men from the various and neceffary diftinctions of life, from rank, fortune, and profeffion, are feparated from each other, and there are fome degrees of life which always keep them fo: that is to fay, the very high and very low and hence arifes this misfortune, that the great are the proud and infolent, the poor mean and miferable; the former triumph and opprefs, the latter fink and defpair; the one think themselves above divine notice, the other look on themselves as beneath it; extremes thefe, both equally derogatory to the fupreme power and goodness.

Here then is an inftitution, which, like that great leveller we all muft feel, throws down

diftinction;

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