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THE

CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE.

AUGUST, 1832.

Keligious Communications.

LECTURES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM OF THE WESTMINSTER AS

find that after Simon, the sorcerer, was baptized, an inspired apostle

SEMBLY OF DIVINES-ADDRESSED declared, "that his heart was not

TO YOUTH.

LECTURE LXIX.

The subject of the sacraments, on the consideration of which we are now to enter, is introduced in our Catechism at the 91st question; the answer to which is as follows "The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them."

The chief design of this answer is to guard against erroneous apprehensions relative to the sacraments; especially those which are entertained and taught in the Roman Catholick communion. That corrupt church maintains two gross errors, in regard to these sacred ordinances. The first error is, that the sacraments have an inherent efficacy in themselves, to convey saving grace to those who partake of them; so that they who receive the external elements are, by the very act of reception, placed in a state of salvation. This is a dogma not only without any support from scripture, but one which facts, contained in the sacred records, directly contradict. We Ch. Adv.-VOL. X.

right in the sight of God;" that he had "neither part nor lot" in the saving benefits of the gospel; but was still" in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." And in regard to the sacrament of the Lord's supper, we know that in the primitive Corinthian church, a number of those who had partaken of the symbols of the broken body and shed blood of the Redeemer, so far from being placed in a state of salvation by the act, had most grievously sinned in that very act; and were visited in consequence with temporal judgments to bring them to repentance; "that being chastened of the Lord, they might not be condemned with the world." In addition to this palpable evidence from the volume of inspiration, our own observation testifies, that there is a melancholy number of the recipients, not only of the sacrament of baptism, but alas! of the Lord's supper also, whose lives afford no indication that they are, or ever were, in a state of salvation; and the test of our Saviour himself is, "by their fruits ye shall know them."

But as our Catechism teaches, that the sacraments are not efficacious to salvation from any virtue inherent in them; so it also affirms, 2 T

that their benefit is not derived "from him that doth administer them;" and thus the second error of the Roman church, to which I have referred, is combatted. The Papists maintain, that the efficacy of the sacraments depends on the will of the priest who dispenses them; and is communicated, or withheld, just as he intends or purposes, at the time of the administration-They have efficacy if he wills it; they have no efficacy if he does not will it. This is truly a shocking absurdity. It supposes that the eternal welfare of the soul of one individual, may be effected by a single mental act of another individual-the latter a sinful and capricious being, as well as the former. It goes on the supposition, too, that there may be a mock exhibition of the most, sacred rites of the Christian church-an exhibition of them in which the administrator intends they shall be useless, and actually renders them so by his voluntary choice. But beside all this, if the preposterous dogma in question were true, no mortal who receives the sacraments could possibly know with entire certainty whether he would be benefitted by them or not; for we can never be perfectly ascertained of any one's intentions except our own. To search the heart is the prerogative of God only; and whatever assurances an administering priest might give, they might still be deceptive; and he who holds that he might administer the sacraments deceptively, does much to invalidate any declarations he may make that, in any particular instance, he has administered them truly; that is, with an intention that they should benefit the recipient.

The Popish doctrine of transubstantiation, is also gainsayed and condemned in the answer we consider, when it is said that the sacramental elements have no inherent "virtue in them." The

Romanists hold that after the consecrating prayer of the priest, the bread and wine in the Lord's supper are changed in their substance, and become the real body and blood of Christ, which accordingly are eaten and drank by every communicant. They pretend to ground this most extraordinary dogma on the words of the institution-"Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for youThis is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many; drink ye all of it." The Papists contend that this language is to be taken literally, and that consequently the sacramental elements of the Eucharist, as often as it is administered, become the real body and blood of Christ. Protestants maintain that the language is metaphorical, and that the elements after consecration, or being set apart to a sacred use, still retain all their natural properties of bread and wine, and nothing more. Volumes have been written on this controversy; but the whole merits of it lie within a very narrow compass, being nothing more than the proper answer to the question, ought the words of the institution to be taken literally or figuratively? We say, they ought to be taken figuratively, because-1. On the contrary supposition, the primitive disciples of Christ, to whom he himself administered this ordinance, ate his body and drank his blood while he was yet alive. 2. Not only, on the Popish supposition, is there an incessant repetition of the same miracle, but it is such a miracle as has no parallel in the whole bible. In all other miracles, the evidence of their truth and reality, is the testimony of the senses of those who witnessed them. But here is a miracle, in which all the senses of the witnesses directly contradict what they are required to believe-The very test of miracles is thus destroyed.

3. There is no need of understanding the words literally. Figura tive expressions, as strong as the language here, are frequent in the Holy Scriptures. God is called a Rock; and in the very discourse that precedes the sacred supper, Christ had said, "I am the vine; ye are the branches." And elsewhere in the New Testament, he is called a foundation, a head, a body, a corner stone, a rock, and other appellations in the highest degree figurative; but the import of which is obvious and uncontroverted. 4. In the particular and connected statement of the institution given by the apostle Paul, 1 Cor. 23-29, and which he declares he received by a special revelation from Christ himself, it is remarkable that after the consecration, which is recorded in the 24th, 25th, and 26th verses, one of the elements is still expressly and repeatedly called bread, and the cup is mentioned without the least intimation of a change in the nature of its contents.

I shall close these remarks on the Popish absurdities relative to the sacrament of the supper, with remarking, that although, in regard to the wine in this sacrament, an express command is given, "drink ye all of it;" yet the Romish priesthood allow none but themselves to drink of it. They refuse it entirely to the laity; to whom, in fact, they never administer more than half of this sacra

ment.

After stating, negatively, on what the efficacy of the sacraments does not depend, the answer before us affirms, that they become effectual means of salvation "only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them." But to enlarge on this part of the answer, would only be to anticipate what is more fully set forth in the following answers, which we shall have occasion to consider in their

proper place and order. I shall here, therefore, only add the following excellent remarks of Fisher. He says, "We may learn from the necessity of Christ's blessing, and of the Spirit's working, in order to the efficacy of the sacraments, that our whole dependence for the blessing, whether upon ourselves, when we partake of the sacrament of the supper, or upon our children, when we are sponsors for them in baptism, should be on Christ alone, and on the saving influences and operations of his Spirit, held forth in the promise, to accompany his own institutions: and therefore our partaking of these solemn ordinances, dispensed by some ministers, to the slighting of them as dispensed by others, equally sound and faithful, though perhaps in our esteem somewhat inferior in outward gifts, says upon the matter, that the efficacy of the sacraments depends, some how upon the administrator, and not on the blessing of Christ alone, quite contrary to the mind of the Spirit of God, 1 Cor. iii. 7. 'So then, neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.""

Let us now proceed to the next answer in our Catechism, in which we have a definition of a sacrament as follows:-"A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ, wherein by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed and applied to believers."

The tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the Paradise of Eden, have usually been considered as sacraments of the covenant of works. The definition before us is not sufficiently comprehensive, and was not intended, to include these. It is confined to the sacraments of the new covenant, or the covenant of grace;

so called because it succeeded to the covenant of works, which was broken by our first parents when

they lost their innocence, by eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree.

The word sacrament, is derived from the Latin word sacramentum, used by the Romans to express the oath which their soldiers took to be true and faithful to their prince or commander, pledging them solemnly not to desert his standard. It is used in the Christian church, not only to signify something that is sacred, but likewise a solemn engagement to be the Lord's. It is called a holy ordinance in the answer before us, because it is designed to promote holiness in those who receive it, and because they are, by profession, a holy or peculiar people.

As Christ is the head of the church, and has the sole power and authority to enact laws and appoint ordinances for the government and benefit of his people, it is essentially necessary to the validity of a sacrament, that it be instituted by his express command. Hence we find the apostle Paul, when reproving the Corinthian church for the abuse of the sacramental supper, is explicit on this point. Referring to the introduction of this sacred rite among them by himself, he says-"I have received of the Lord, that which also I delivered unto you."

In our larger Catechism we are taught, that "there are two parts of a sacrament; the one an outward and sensible sign, used according to Christ's appointment; the other an inward and spiritual grace thereby signified." The outward and sensible signs-so called because they are perceptible by our outward sense of seeing, tasting, and feeling -have no natural resemblance to the things which they symbolize. They owe their significance entirely to the divine institution; yet the divine wisdom is manifest in the appointment of the sensible emblems, since between them and the spiritual benefits signified, there

is a beautiful analogy, as we shall have occasion more fully to show in a subsequent lecture.

"Christ and the benefits of the new covenant," constitute " the inward and spiritual grace" conveyed to believers in the sacraments; for to believers, and to them only, as the answer before us states, the benefits of the new covenant "are represented, sealed, and applied." None but a true believer, one who possesses and exercises genuine faith in Christ, can have those spiritual views of him, and that perception of the benefits to be derived from union and communion with him, which these holy ordinances are calculated and were intended to exhibit to the eye of faith. But by every such believer, when faith is in exercise, Christ and his benefits-summed up in grace here and glory hereafterare discerned in a most lively, glorious, and delightful manner, in the sacramental signs. Nor are they merely seen and admired, they are also sealed and applied.-They ure sealed, because, as a seal ratifies and confirms a contract or legal instrument, so it is one of the uses of the sacramental signs, solemnly and formally to ratify and seal to believers, on the part of Christ, all the benefits of the new covenant, procured for them by his precious blood. These benefits are also actually applied to believers, in the use of the sacraments; that is, there is a present experience and enjoyment of these benefits. Probably there are few of the people of God who would not be ready to testify, that some of their sacramental seasons have been those in which their graces were in the most delightful exercise, their communion with Christ and his people the most sensible, and their assured hope and expectation of the heavenly inheritance the most lively, strong, and satisfying.

The END or design of the sacraments, according to our Confession of Faith, is, "to represent Christ and his benefits, and to confirm our interest in him; as also to put a visible difference between those that belong unto the church, and the rest of the world; and solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ, according to his word." Our Larger Catechism teaches, that the proper recipients of the sacraments are, "those who are within the covenant of grace," and that those are to be reckoned as within this covenant "who profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him; and that infants descended from parents, either both, or one of them, professing faith in Christ, and obedience to him, are, in that respect, within the covenant."

In closing this lecture, let me for a moment call your special attention, my young friends, to the love of the Lord Jesus, as it appears in the wise, and condescending, and abundant provision, which he has made for the edification and comfort of his redeemed people the members of his mystical body. Not only has he given them his holy word, contained in the Scriptures of truth, "which are able to make wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus; and which are profitable for doctrine for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness;" but he has also given them the sacraments of the New Testament, in which the blessings of his gracious covenant are, as it were, epitomised and addressed to their outward senses-ordinances in which he holds the sweetest communion with them, and they with him and with each other, and by which he seals his promises to them, and takes, on their part, the corresponding pledge of their fidelity to him, and devotion to his service and glory.

THE THRONE OF GRACE.

We have lately been reading, with more pleasure than we can easily express, the sermons of the Rev. Robert Traill, on "the throne of grace." Prefixed to the volume

of his works which contains these sermons-thirteen in number-is a short "account of the life and character of the author." It appears that he was a Scotchman by birth, the son of a minister of the gospel "distinguished for his fidelity and zeal in discharging the duties of his functions." Our author was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and appears to have been a ripe scholar. His father having been banished, in the persecution which the Scottish church endured, by the attempt in the reign of Charles the second to render Episcopacy the national religion of Scotland, this son, after being licensed to preach-privately it would seem-" by a meeting of the non-conformist ministers of the Presbyterian persuasion," was also compelled to flee his country, in consequence of a proclamation being issued to apprehend him. He found a passage to Holland, joined his father there, and "was employed for some time in assisting Nethenus, professor of Divinity in the University of Utrecht, in the publication of Rutherford's Examen Arminianismi." After it became safe for him to return to Britain," he was for many years pastor of a Protestant dissenting congregation in London; in which station he laboured with great diligence, zeal and success. Here it was that he published his l'indication of the Protestant Doctrine of Justification, prompted thereto by his zeal for that distinguishing doctrine of the reformation; and his sermons on the throne of grace, and the Lord's prayer, at the earnest desire of many who heard him-He died in

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