DUTY OF COMMUNICATING.

THE duty of every Christian person to communicate, that is, to receive the Lord's Supper, provided they are of proper age, and have been confirmed, is plain from this, that JESUS CHRIST HAS COMMANDED IT. Christians have always believed that when our Blessed Lord instituted this holy Sacrament, and said, 'Do this in remembrance of Me,' the institution and the command were intended for all His people: not only for the holy Apostles, but also for all who in their days believed and were baptized; and, afterwards, not for the bishops and clergy of the Church only, but also for all baptized Christians.

Just as under the Old Testament God appointed solemn ordinances by which people might be admitted into covenant with Him, and preserved in that covenant, viz. Circumcision and the Feast of the Passover, so under the New Testament, which is the Gospel dispensation, He has appointed two holy ordinances or SACRAMENTS for the same purpose, viz. BAPTISM and the LORD'S SUPPER: BAPTISM, by which a new life from Heaven is first given to the soul; and the LORD's SUPPER, by which

B

that better life is preserved and grows. And as no one is a Christian, nor can hope to be saved by Jesus Christ until he has been baptized; so no baptized person, who is no longer a child, can lead a Christian life and enjoy true fellowship with his Lord and Saviour, if he does not partake of that other Sacrament, which the Lord Jesus Christ ordained in memory of His most precious death. If an Israelite neglected to keep the Passover, God said, 'that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel' (Exodus xii. 19, Numbers ix. 13); equally plain it is that the Christian, who wilfully neglects this holy Sacrament, cuts himself off from the congregation of Christ's faithful people: Jesus Christ says, 'Do this in remembrance of Me,' but he does it not.

Great is the sin and great the loss of such persons. Every good Christian should pray for them that they may see how dangerous their condition is, and may have grace given them to repent. On the other hand great is the gain and great the privilege of those who set a true value on this holy Sacrament, and faithfully and rightfully partake of it. The benefit to their souls is greater than words can tell. But truly to value this holy Sacrament, and faithfully and rightfully to partake of it, this is the difficulty. To do so, as every sincere Christian

may and ought, requires much consideration, great pains, and earnest prayers. Some helps toward this may, it is hoped, be found by considering:

I. What Jesus Christ and His holy Apostles have said concerning it.

II. The necessity and the means of preparing ourselves for it.

III. How all may devoutly receive it.

IV. How to hold fast the benefits which we receive thereby.

I.

WORDS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND OF THE APOSTLE ST. PAUL CONCERNING THIS HOLY SACRAMENT.

It is well, in preparing for the Sacrament, to read sometimes the following words of Holy Scripture, and still better to read them on our knees, lifting up our hearts to heaven and saying,

O LORD JESUS CHRIST Who of Thy great love to us hath instituted this Sacrament of Thy grace, this Memorial of thy Love; help me, unworthy though I am, reverently to approach it. Enlighten my understanding, increase my faith, and what I cannot understand help me nevertheless to believe.

How can we better hope to get into our hearts true thoughts of this Holy Sacrament than by fixing in our minds the words of Jesus Christ himself and his inspired Apostle concerning it?

'JESUS said unto them, I am the Bread of Life; he

that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst.

'Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.

I am that bread of life.

'Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead.

'This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

'I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give him is My Flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us His Flesh to eat?

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.

'Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

For My flesh is meat indeed; and My blood is drink indeed; He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.

As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me.

'This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread, shall live for ever.

'And when some of His disciples said,

"This is a hard saying; who can hear it? Jesus said,