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verance from sin and death: a memorial made before God, to plead with him the meritorious sacrifice and death of his dear Son for the forgiveness of our sins, and all other benefits of Christ's passion. The Eucharist being, as its name imports, a sacrifice of thanksgiving, the bread and wine after they have been offered or given to God, and blessed and sanctified by his holy Spirit, are returned by the hand of his minister to be eaten by the faithful, as a feast upon the sacrifice; both, to denote their being at peace and favour with God, being thus fed at his table, and eating of his food, and also, to convey to the worthy receivers all the benefits and blessings of Christ's natural body and blood, which were offered and slain. for their redemption.

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The church tells us, that the benefits whereof we are partakers in the Lord's Supper are the strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the body and blood of Christ, as our bodies are by the bread and wine. As bread and wine, considered only as natural food, strengthen and refresh our bodies; so, this bread and wine, considered and taken, as memorials of the body and blood of Christ our master, tend to the improvement and health of our souls. In this ordinance our souls are strengthened by the most solemn exercise. of our faith; by the most lively acts of gra

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d See Bishop Seabury's excellent Discourse on the holy Eu charist.

titude and love, and especially by that supers natural grace which we receive from this spiritual food. Our souls are also refreshed in this holy sacrament by the comfortable assurance given us of GOD's favor and gracious goodness towards us: that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of his Son, which is the blessed company of all faithful people; and also heirs through hope of his everlasting kingdom, by the merits of the most precious death and passion of his dear Sonb

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We are taught by the church, that it is required of those who come to the Lord's Supper to examine themselves, whether they repent them truly of their former sins, stedfastly purposing to lead a new life, have a lively faith in GOD's mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of his death, and be in charity with all men. All persons are to examine into the state of their souls before they come to the Lord's Supper; because without repentance we are not capable of that pardon which is here offered us: nor can any but believers

e He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth me, and I in him.-John vi. 56.

f He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things.Rom. viii. 32.

g For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.-Eph. v. 30.

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.-1 John v. 11.

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¿ Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.-1 Cor. v. 8.

discern the Lord's body in this sacrament, or reap any spiritual advantage from receiving it.

The Lord's Supper is not designed for the nourishment of the body, but for the refreshment of the soul; and therefore the soul must be put in a proper disposition to receive it, and feed upon it. It is a lively representation of Christ's dying for the sins of mankind; and therefore to answer the end of the institution, the soul must be possessed, with a just sense of the sufferings of Christ and his love to mankind, and also with a humble and lively faith and hope and trust in his merits. It is an office of praise and thanksgiving for the greatest deliverance and blessing that ever was vouchsafed to men, or that mankind are capable of receiving, namely, the redeeming us from eternal death, and restoring us to the favour of God, and making us partakers of everlasting life; and therefore, to celebrate it aright, the soul must come prepared with a due sense, both of the extreme misery of our condition without a redeemer, and also, of the blessings and benefits to which we are entitled through Christ. It is also a memorial of our deliverance from the power of sin, and is the means by which we become partakers of the Spirit of God; and we should therefore bring with us to this or

I said therefore, unto you, That ye shall die in your sins; for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.-Jobr viii. 24.

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dinance not only a willingness, but a desire to be delivered from the power of our sins, an earnest longing for the assistance of God's grace to subdue them, with firm resolutions to improve his grace to that end. In this holy ordinance, we behold the supreme claim which Christ has to our homage and obedience, since he bought us with the price of his own blood; and therefore we cannot partake of this ordinance aright, without a just sense of our obligations to serve and obey him as our Lord and Master, and without resigning ourselves to his holy will. The holy Sacrament, under the most impressive and affecting emblems, sets before us the covenant of mercy and pardon, to which God is pleased to admit mankind, on condition of their repentance and amendment; and hence arises the indispensible necessity of repenting of our past sins, and entering into resolutions of obedience for the future, as often as we come to renew this covenant in the sacrament of Christ's body and blood. In this holy Supper we hold communion with our fellow Christians, as brethren, and members of the same body under Christ our head; and hence it follows, that love, and unity, must be necessary dispositions for a right participation of this holy ordinance.

There are some people who suppose that the peril of unworthy receiving is so great, that

The peril of receiving the Lord's Supper unworthily is heightened in the apprehensions of some persons, by the declara

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they had better stay away, than run the hazard thereof. The danger indeed is great to them who will presume to eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, rashly and unadvisedly :m But their guilt is not less, their situation not less hazardous, who persist in disobedience to the last and dying command of their dearest saviour," and reject his invitation to so many great and spiritual advantages, upon pretence of that danger, which it is in their own power to avoid. Our safety therefore consists in resolv

tion of St. Paul, (1 Cor. xi. 29.) He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself. But it is to be observed, that the word DAMNATION does not signify eternal condemnation, but (as it is translated in the margin of the Bible) temporal judgment. And the unworthy receiving, for which the Corinthians were afflicted with temporal judgments, such as sickness and death, (ver. 30.) consisted in their making no distinction between the Lord's Supper and a common meal.—They did not discern the Lord's Body, (ver. 29.)—They abused and profaned this solemn institution by gluttony and drunkenness, (ver. 21, 22.) and by contentious and factious behaviour, (ver. 18.) Christians in the present day, therefore, unless they in the same way with the Corinthians, contemnn and profane the Lord's Supper, cannot be guilty of that unworthy receiving mentioned by St. Paul, for which the Corinthians sustained, not eternal condemnation, but, temporal judgment.

m Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. For this cause inany are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.-1 Cor. xi.27, 30.

n For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: This is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.-1 Cor. xi 23, 24.

o Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.-Matt. xi. 28..

p For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.— 1 Cor. xi. 31.

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