hearts Christians indeed. If we are not, how are

we prepared to be judged by him to whom all judgment has been committed by the Father?

PREPARATION FOR THE SERVICE.

It is obviously necessary for a due and becoming performance of this service, that the communicant should have clear and satisfactory ideas respecting the nature,—the object,—and value of the service in which he purposes to engage.

But still more necessary is it, that his heart and affections should be right,-that he should feel the sinfulness of his own nature,-and be aware of the great love of God in sending Jesus Christ his Son to be the propitiation for sins,—that he should thankfully accept the offer of pardon which is made in the Gospel, through Christ, to those who sincerely repent of their iniquities,-that he should break off every unholy habit which he knows to have clung to him during the days that are past, and sincerely adopt the resolution of new obedience in all time to come,—and, finally, that he

should cherish a spirit of love to the whole human race, and be willing to be reconciled to any with whom he may have lived in enmity.

For cherishing these dispositions, the time preceding the participation of this service ought to be a season of comparative seclusion from the world, in so far as such seclusion and self-examination are not inconsistent with the discharge of any active and social duty;-it should be a season devoted to devout reading of the Holy Scriptures, and to a solemn review of all that Christ Jesus, our Redeemer, has done for us;-it should, in the last place, be a season of earnest and continued prayer, -that God may command his blessing from on high, and that his spirit may prepare us for doing, in an acceptable manner, so solemn and honourable a duty.

The qualifications, then, we ought to seek after, for a due participation of this ceremony, are-knowledge, faith, repentance, love, and new obedience. And the means appointed for the obtaining of these qualifications are-seclusion from the world for the purpose of serious self-examination,-careful reading of the Holy Scriptures, chiefly of those passages which relate, either in prophecy or in nar

rative, to the humiliation and death of Christ,— and humble, earnest, and continued prayer for the sanctifying and strengthening influences of the Divine Spirit.

BENEFITS TO BE EXPECTED FROM THE SERVICE.

It is folly to look for rapturous emotions, or any preternatural manifestations of divine love, however earnestly we may prepare ourselves, or with whatever care we may advance to the actual celebration of this ceremony.

But we are entitled to expect blessings of a substantial and most satisfying kind, if we do our service with becoming preparation,-and follow out the vow we there profess to have taken. We have then reason to expect that we shall enjoy the satisfaction and serenity of mind which result from the consciousness of having done a great religious duty, -that our views of the divine economy, and of the purpose of Christ's assuming human nature, shall be extended and brightened,—that our purposes of new obedience shall be confirmed and realized, that our love to the whole intelligent

family of the Creator shall be augmented,―and that our assurance of a blessed immortality shall be gradually advanced to a joy unspeakable and full of glory.

These are blessings of the truest and purest kind, and there is no presumption in any communicant's expectation, that in his case, if he has complied with the requisitions necessary for attaining them, they shall be fully bestowed.

Such honour, and such privileges, have all God's saints, for Christ Jesus his Son's sake. Amen.