fice of the christian church. Accordingly, the oblation, which is the highest, most solemn, and proper act of christian worship, is then immediately made. Continuing his prayer, the priest intercedes with the Almighty Father, to send upon them (the bread and wine) the Holy Spirit, to sanctify and bless them, and make the bread the body, and the cup the blood of Christ-his spiritual lifegiving body and blood in power and virtue; that, to all the faithful, they may be effectual to all spiritual purposes. Nor does he cease his prayer and oblation, till he has interceded for the whole catholic church, and all the members of it; concluding all in the name and through the merit of Jesus Christ the Saviour. The eucharist being, as its name imports, a sacrifice of thanksgiving, the bread and wine, after they have been offered or given to God, and blessed and sanctified by his Holy Spirit, are returned by the hand of his minister to be eaten by the faithful, as a feast upon the sacrifice--the priest first partaking of them himself, and then distributing them to the communicants; to denote their being at peace and in favour with God, being thus fed at his table, and eating of his food; and also to convey to the worthy receivers all the benefits and blessings of Christ's natural body and blood, which were offered and slain for their redemption. For this reason, the eucharist is also called the communion of the body and blood of Christ; not only because, by communing together, we declare our mutual love and good will, and our unity in the church and faith of Christ; but also, because, in that holy ordinance, we communicate with God through Christ the Mediator, by first offering, or giving to him. the sacred symbols of the body and blood of his dear Son, and then receiving them again, blessed and sanctified by his Holy Spirit, to feast upon at his table, for the refreshment of our souls; for the increase of our faith and hope; for the pardon of our sins; for the renewing of our minds in holiness, by the operation of the Holy Ghost; and for a principle of immortality to our bodies, as well as to our souls. From this consideration, the necessity of frequently communicating in the Holy Eucharist evidently appears. It is the highest act of christian worship; a direct acknowledgment of God's sovereignty and dominion over us, and over all his creatures. It is the memorial of the passion and death of our dear Redeemer, made before the Almighty Father, to render him propitious to us, by pleading with him the meritorious sufferings of his beloved Son, when he made his soul an offering for sin. It is a sensible pledge of God's love to us, who, as he hath given his Son to die for us, so hath he given his precious body and blood, in the holy eucharist, to be our spiritual food and sustenance: And as the bread of this world, frequently taken, is necessary to keep the body in health and vigour; so is this bread of God, frequently received, necessary to preserve the soul in spiritual health, and keep the divine life of faith and holiness from becoming extinct in us. It may be expected, I should say something of the qualifications which make us worthy communicants. But this is a point so particularly treated in most of the books upon this subject, that I shall content myself with mentioning the principal of them. 1. The first qualification is baptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, administered by a person duly authorised by commission from Christ to act in the name of God. For the church being the mystical body of Christ, we can have no right to communicate with him the head of that body, till we are duly made members of it. And as admission into Christ's church is entering into covenant with God, no person can make that covenant on God's part, but he who is commissioned to transact in God's name. 2. Confirmation by a bishop of the catholic church. Because that principle of spiritual life is thereby implanted in us, which the holy eucharist is intended to nourish and bring to maturity. 3. That all those who are come to sufficient age have a competent knowledge of the sacred mystery. This VOL. F. W knowledge is called by St. Paul, the discerning of the Lord's body; and means, more particularly, the distinguishing this sacrifice from common food, as being the body and blood of Christ in power and effect. And this knowledge will shew itself in our receiving the holy mysteries with suitable devotion and reverence; with lively faith, and thankfulness to God, and with sincere love to mankind. 4. That we have kept our baptism undefiled, or have cleansed ourselves by sincere repentance. In many things we sin daily through the unavoidable weakness of nature; but, by the merciful terms of the gospel, sins of infirmi. ty defile not our baptism; that is, they do not break and disannul our baptismal covenant. God is graciously pleased to pass them over for Christ's sake, and will not bring them into judgment against us, provided we do not willingly live in them, but are sorry for them, and watch, and strive, and pray earnestly and constantly against them. But gross, wilful, and habitual sins are of a different nature. They put us out of God's favour, and disqualify us for the holy eucharist, till, by true and real repentance, we have humbled ourselves under them, and brought ourselves to a hatred and detestation of them; lest, by eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ unworthily, we become hardened in iniquity, and bring the judgments of God upon us in this world, and fall under his condem. nation in the world to come. DISCOURSE VII. OBSERVATIONS ON THE HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. GEN. ii. 2, 3. And on the seventh day God ended his work, which he had made : And he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it ; because that in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and made. IT needs no deep research into human nature to convince a reasonable man, that we are made capable of religion; and, consequently, that we are intended to be religious creatures. But this intention cannot be answered, unless some part of our time be employed on religious subjects, and in religious offices. Were men left to themselves to determine how often, and at what time, they would perform their religious duties, it is probable, that by the generality, they would not be performed at all. That there should be some stated times for religious assemblies, is therefore reasonable, because otherwise there could be no social worship: And, it is equally reasonable, that there should be some law to oblige men to observe those stated times, and to improve them properly; because the appointment of the time, without a law to enforce its observance, would answer no purpose; it would in effect be no appointment. That he who made man should best know what is proper for him, can admit of no doubt : Nor can it be doubt ed that he has authority to bind him to the observance of such institutions, as he shall please to enjoin him. That he has determined how often, and has fixed the time when we shall perform the duty of public worship, is evident from the text: 'God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.' That the sanctification of persons, places, and things, means their being set apart for holy purposes, and to be employed in the service of God the Creator, may be easily proved from scripture. The priests under the law, and the apostles under the gospel, were taken from among men, and sanctified, that is, set apart, to minister for men in things pertaining to God. This was also the case of all the successors of the first priests under the law, and is the case of all the successors of the apostles under the gospel, from the time of their appointment to this day. Particular animals, selected from others, and set apart, to be employed in sacrifice to God, were thereby sanctified: And this, probably, was the origin of the distinction between clean and unclean beasts, which took place even before the flood. Places and things are sanctified by being separated from common uses, that they may be employed only in the worship and service of God. By parity of reason, the blessing and sanctifying of the seventh day means its being set apart, or separated from common uses, and secular business, and devoted to the purposes of religion; that is, to the worship and service of God the Creator. It is true, some learned and pious men have supposed that the text was spoken by way of anticipation; and that the observation of the Sabbath was not actually in force, till two thousand years after; namely, upon the exit of the Israelites out of Egypt. But the words of the text are so precise, and so determinately express the time and reason of the institution - God finished the work of crea. tion in six days, and on the seventh rested from his work, that is, ceased to produce any more creatures...that I do not see, how that sense of them can be admitted, without doing great violence to the sacred books. |