SECTION II.

The moral influence of the Lord's Supper, as a Commemorative rite.

God does not require man to serve him for naught. He has been pleased to establish an inseparable connexion between holiness and happiness; between the performance of duty on our part, and the bestowment of blessings on his. Every act of service brings with it a correspondent blessing. The experience of the faithful servants of Jehovah confirms the truth of the scriptural declaration, "the work of righteousness is peace, and the effect of it quietness and assurance for ever." 29 The disciple of Christ receives benefit, in one form or another, from doing his master's will. Whether he prays, reads the scriptures, attends upon the preaching of the gospel, resists temptation, mortifies his lusts and passions, instructs the ignorant, relieves the wants of the poor, or performs any other duty which his Lord has commanded, he finds his advantage promoted by it, and fails not, in one mode or other, to obtain a reward.

This general principle applies in all its force to the subject before us; and in the absence of any special promises to the effect, would serve to assure us, that a compliance with the command to celebrate the

Lord's supper would not fail to be productive of benefit to our souls. But there are reasons suggested by the very nature and design of the ordinance itself, sufficient to convince us that a due observance of it cannot fail to exert a highly valuable influence upon our spiritual interests.

The sacrament of the Lord's supper is a commemorative ordinance; a divinely instituted "memorial of the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the innumerable benefits procured to us by the same.” Whenever this ordinance is celebrated, "Jesus Christ is evidently set forth, as crucified among us." The mournful tragedy of his passion, is, as it were, re-enacted before our eyes. We are called upon to listen to the groans and exclamations which were forced from the innocent sufferer, in the garden and upon the cross. We are invited to walk through the gloomy shades of Gethsemane, and ascend the bloody mount of Calvary. We have a sensible and affecting representation of his body broken and his blood shed for our redemption.

How powerful must be the moral influence of this commemorative service upon every pious mind? How admirably calculated is it, to bring into exercise all the humble, devout, and grateful feelings of a Christian's heart? Cold must be that bosom, and destitute of every spiritual emotion, which can behold the touching exhibition of the agonies of our crucified Lord given in the sacrament of the altar, and not be pene

trated with humiliation and sorrow, at the remembrance of those sins of ours which caused his death, and were borne by him in his own body upon the

cross.

The celebration of this ordinance, is calculated, not only to excite the sorrows of repentance, but also to inspire us with the hope of pardon. It is a memorial, no less of God's infinite mercy, than of man's extreme sinfulness. The sacrifice of the cross, solves the great problem, "how can man become just with God?" It is the bright spot, in which the perfections of the divine nature, blaze forth in the splendour of their combined glory, and the otherwise conflicting attributes of holiness and grace, harmoniously co-operate for the accomplishment of one end. At every celebration of the Lord's Supper, Christ is "set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins. that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." In that ordinance, we, as it were, behold "the son of man lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life." He addresses to us the encouraging invitation, "look unto me and be saved." The nature of the engagement induces to a compliance with the

*Rom. iii. 25, 26.

† John iii. 14.

invitation; and the consequence is, peace and joy in believing.

"Thus while his death my sin displays

In all its blackest hue,

(Such is the mystery of grace)

It seals my pardon too."

This appointed memorial of the death of Christ, is not only admirably calculated to assist the mind in the exercise of repentance and faith, but has a powerful tendency to fill the heart with the tender emotions of gratitude. We are so constituted, that, we naturally love those who love us, and are disposed to make not only verbal acknowledgments, but grateful returns of favours to those who have conferred

benefits upon us. In the sacrament of the supper, we have a most affecting, sensible memorial of that stupendous act of divine love, which fills earth with astonishment and excites the profound adoration of heaven. We are there reminded of the wonderful fact, that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him, might not perish, but have everlasting life." That soul must be insensible to the most precious benefits, and dead to every sentiment of gratitude, which can. contemplate this astonishing liberality of divine grace, without the most tender and powerful emotions. If there is a spark of gratitude in our bosoms, surely the sacramental memorial at the altar must kindle it to a flame. Hence, it is with great propriety called

The pious

the Eucharist, or offering of thanks. believer, in approaching the ordinance which makes such an affecting exhibition of God's love, feels constrained to ask, "what shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits? I will take the cup of salvation and call upon his name: I will make my vows to him in the presence of his people." Deeply impressed with a sense of God's mercies in creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life-but, above all, in the redemption of the world by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; he exclaims, "thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!" "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, praise his holy name! Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thy sin, and healeth all thine infirmities; who saveth thy life from destruction, and crowneth thee with mercy and loving kindness!"

It is the natural tendency of this sacrament, considered merely with reference to its moral influence as a commemorative rite, to awaken in every pious communicant, those grateful sentiments which are expressed in the sublime and elevated strains of the "Gloria in excelsis," or the "Trisagium"the latter of which, is used only in the communion service of the church. And we can hardly conceive of any scene on earth, which affords a finer emblem of heaven, than that which is presented when a large number of the disciples of Christ who feel the comforts of redeem