"life of the world. 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."

Another advantage enjoyed by the worthy receivers of the Lord's supper, is the confirmation of their union with Jesus Christ, and a more intimate communion with God. The sacrament is the nearest approach to God that we can make on this side the grave in it he is not only essentially present, as he is in every place, and graciously present, as he is in all the assemblies of his saints, but here he is present in an especial manner, he is even present, in some respect, to the senses of the worshippers. For though we shall not be so impious and absurd as to say that the outward elements are converted into the real body and blood of Christ, yet there can be no doubt that they who rightly discern the Lord, elevate their thoughts from the bread and wine to that divine being whom they represent and signify. They see him who is invisible. They feel that solemn awe which the presence of divinity inspires. They are filled with that holy rapture which Jacob felt when he awoke from a

dream wherein he had been favoured with heavenly manifestations: "How awful is this

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place! surely the Lord is here, and I knew "it not; this is none other than the house of 'God, and this is the gate of heaven." In like manner frequent participation of the holy sacrament tends to unite us more closely to our Redeemer. For, as the bread and wine which we eat and drink become our own, and are incorporated with our bodies, so, if, in a spiritual and metaphorical sense, we feed upon Christ by faith, he is, as it were, formed within us; we imbibe his spirit, we copy his example, we derive life, and nourishment, and strength from him; we become united to him as the wife is to the husband, we become flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone. "He that "eateth my flesh and drinketh by blood," saith our Lord, "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."

A farther advantage, inseparably attached to the worthy receiving of the Lord's supper, is the communication of the Holy Spirit. The bread and wine are no more than the outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual

grace; and these signs were ordained by Christ himself, as the means by which we receive this grace, and as pledges to assure us of its fulness: what our daily food is to our bodies, that the grace of God is to our souls. As the former contributes to increase our stature, and to repair the decays of nature, so does the latter contribute to make us grow in grace and knowledge, to proceed from one degree of holiness to another, till we come to the stature of perfect men, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. This communication of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, is universally represented in scripture as a feast to the soul, as the mean by which the Christian life is maintained, revived and invigor ated. It is also, invariably, promised to those who are found in the way of duty, who seek it in the ordinances of God's appointment, who, clothed with the wedding garment, partake of that sumptuous banquet, that feast of fat things, of wines on the lees well refined, which is provided for us in the sacrament of the supper. To prove this we need not search with much diligence the volume of revelation, the language of which is every where express to this purpose. It will be sufficient to appeal

to every devout worshipper, and ask whether, at the table of the Lord, he has not actually felt the gracious presence of the Divinity, and the rich communications of his grace? While you handle the emblems of your Saviour's broken body and shed blood, has not your sorrow for your past sins and failings been wonderfully awakened and increased? has not your faith been strengthened and confirmed? has not your love to God glowed with a stronger flame? have not your minds been refreshed and comforted? have not the clouds of ignorance and doubt been dispelled? have not pious thoughts and virtuous resolutions sprung up within you? has not your wish been, that, you could continue for ever in such delightful company and exercise? and have you not arisen from this table more fortified against temptation, more vigorous for the discharge of your duty, more joyful in your own minds, more elevated above the vain pursuits of earth, and more desirous of the exercises and joys of heaven?

This leads me to observe, in the last place, that, the worthy partakers of the Lord's supper, enjoy peace of mind, in this life, and the comfortable assurance of happiness in the

future.

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My peace I leave with you," says our Lord; my peace I give unto you; not "as the world giveth, give I unto you." This solemn approach unto God diffuses over the mind a calm serenity of temper, a dignified superiority to the world and all its enjoyments, to which the children of the earth are strangers. As the blood sprinkled on the lintels and the door-posts of the Israelites freed them from all apprehension of the visits of the destroying angel, so the sacrament of the supper gives rest to the weary and heavy laden, speaks peace to the troubled conscience, and silences the accusations of the guilty, by signifying and sealing the application of Christ's blood to our soul. It teaches us to look upon ourselves as the sons of God, and therefore to consider all the calamities and afflictions of life as the merciful chastisements of a kind father. It teaches them that they are the friends of the most high, and therefore they need fear no evil. It teaches them to consider themselves as candidates for heaven, and therefore to keep on their way rejoicing, undisturbed by the hopes or fears, the successes or disappointments of this transitory life. It even disarms death of its sting, for it shews our Lord