your determinate resolution, my dear brethren? Then make the transaction as solemn and explicit as you can, and follow me; I say, let all, white and black, old and young, follow me, while I speak for you: "Lord, here is a poor sinner, thy creature, redeemed by the blood of thy Son, that has long been a slave to other masters, and withheld from thee thy just and dear-bought property; here, Lord, I would now, freely and without reserve, devote and surrender myself, my soul and body, and my all to thee, to be universally and for ever thine. And let the omnipotent God, let angels and men be witness to the engagement." Do you, my dear brethren, heartily consent to this formula? Then the contract is ready for sealing; therefore let us rise and crowd round the table of our Lord, and there annex our solemn seals, and acknowledge it as our act and deed. O! happy day! if we should be prepared to use this sacred ordinance for this purpose! Come, ye servants of the Lord, take a refreshment to strengthen you for your Master's work. Come, ye redeemed slaves, commemorate the price of your redemption. Come, see how your Master loved you, and how much he suffered for you: and O! let his love constrain you to live not to yourselves, but to him that died for you, and rose again; rose again to plead your cause, and prepare a place for you in heaven, the region of immortal life and glory! But if any of you refuse to comply with the proposal, or, which is much the same, are careless and indifferent about giving yourselves up to God, not forming any express determination one way or other, heaven and earth will bear witness against you, that your refusal is not owing to your not knowing God's claim upon you I have asserted it this day, in the presence of God and his people; and if you still refuse to acknowledge it, I denounce unto you, that you shall surely perish, shall perish by the hand of divine justice, as wilful rebels against the highest authority, and as insolently and ungratefully denying the Lord that bought them. Think on your dreadful doom, and let your hearts meditate terror, till you be delivered from it by a voluntary surrender of yourselves to God, through Jesus Christ, your Redeemer. And now what account could such of you as have refused your com pliance, give of the transactions of this day, even to one of your fellow-creatures? Suppose one should ask you upon your return home, "What were you doing today?" You must answer, "I was engaged in a treaty with the Proprietor of the universe, and the Redeemer that bought me with his blood, about becoming his servant, and acknowledging his right in me." "Well, and what was the issue? Certainly you did not dare to refuse. Certainly you are now the willing servant of God."—" No, I refused, and so the treaty broke up."O thou monster! Could you bear the dreadful narrative? Would not every one that heard it gaze and stare at you with horror, and ask in consternation, Were you not afraid? Had you no regard for your own welfare! Alas! what will you do with yourself now? What rock or mountain can you find to hide your devoted head? How will you answer for your refusal in the great and terrible day of the Lord?' SERMON XXXII. THE CHRISTIAN FEAST. 1 COR. v. 8.-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. As we have the agreeable prospect of celebrating the Lord's supper on the next Lord's day, we cannot spend this day to better purpose than preparing for it. And no preparative can be of more importance than a right knowledge of the end and design of that solemn ordinance, and the qualifications necessary in those that would worthily partake of it. To this I would devote the present discourse and so important a design certainly demands the attention of all, especially of such of you as intend to join in the participation of the sacred supper. Though my text may be taken in a larger latitude, yet it is justly supposed to have a particular reference to this institution, which has the same place under the gospeldispensation which the passover had under the law. St. Paul had very naturally glided into the style of the Jewish law concerning the paschal supper, in the directions he had been giving concerning a scandalous member of the Corinthian Church: and he carries on the metaphor with a beautiful uniformity, when he comes to speak of the gospel-dispensation, and particularly of the Lord's supper. He had directed the Church of Corinth to cast the offender out of their communion, while he continued impenitent, because if they should tolerate such a corrupt member among them, it would tend to corrupt the whole society. Wickedness is of a spreading, infectious nature, and the indulgence of it in one instance may oc casion extensive mischief; for, says he, Know ye not that leaven ferments and diffuses itself, till at length it has leavened the whole lump? Just so one corrupt member in a church may spread a contagion through the whole. Therefore purge out the old leaven; cast out this scandalous offender, and labor also to purge your Church, and your own hearts from all corruption, that ye may be as a new, solid, and pure lump: for ye are more strongly bound to keep yourselves morally pure, and to guard your Church against infection, than the Jews were to abstain from all things mixed with leaven at the feast of the passover; for though that feast is no more to be observed, yet that which was signified by the paschal Lamb is now come to pass: Christ our passover is sacrificed for us, and the ordinance of his supper is appointed as a sacred feast, in commemoration of him, and our deliverance by him, as the passover was commemorative of the deliverance from Egypt, and the destroying angel. And this is the stronger reason for the more purity of particular persons and congregations under the gospel, than there could be for ceremonial purity under the law. "Therefore," says he, "let us keep this evangelical feast, not with old leaven," not with those corrupt dispositions which we once indulged, and which, like leaven, soured our nature, and fermented through our frame; "neither with the leaven of malice, or any kind of wickedness;" but renouncing our old temper and practice, and with hearts universally sanctified, and full of love and good will to all mankind, let us religiously celebrate this gospel feast with those dispositions which were signified by the unleavened bread, namely, sincerity and truth. It was the practice of the Jews, when the passover was approaching, to search every corner of their houses with lighted candles, that they might be sure there was no leaven to be found under their roofs. The apostle probably alludes to that practice, and exhorts Christians to a like care in searching and purging their hearts, and the churches to which they belong, that they may be pure and fit for partaking of so holy an ordinance. My design is to show you the principal ends of the institution of the Lord's supper: and as I go along, to delineate the character of those who are fit to attend upon it; for by knowing the former, we may easily know the latter. The Lord's supper partakes of the general nature of those divine institutions which are called sacraments: in this, That it is intended to represent things spiritual by material emblems or signs which affect our senses, and thereby enlarge our ideas and impress our hearts in the present state of flesh and blood." As we have not only rational minds, but also animal bodies endowed with senses, God has wisely adapted his institutions to the make of human nature, and called in the assistance of our eyes,* and our ears, to help our conceptions of divine things, and to affect our minds with them. And this method is agreeable to the nature of mankind; God has been pleased to use it in every age, and under every dispensation of religion. The tree of life was the sacrament of the first covenant; a sensible confirmation to Adam that he should obtain eternal life by his obedience. The rainbow was appointed as a confirmation of the covenant with Noah, that the world should no more perish by a deluge; and we have not only the assurance of the divine promise, but we may receive the confirmation through our eyes by beholding that illustrious sign in the clouds. Čircumcision and the Passover were noted sacraments of the covenant of grace, under the Jewish dispensation; and Baptism and the Lord's Supper are appointed in VOL. II. Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem, 9 their room, and answer the like ends under the gospel. In all these ordinances God consults our weakness, and, as I observed, makes our bodily senses helpful to the devotions of our minds. Indeed this method of representing and confirming things by sensible signs and significant actions is so natural and expressive, that men have used it in all ages in their transactions with one another. It was remarkably in use among the ancients; and it is not quite laid aside in our age, which does not abound in such methods of representation. In our age and country it is usual to confirm contracts by annexing seals to an instrument of writing; to confirm an agreement by shaking hands; to signify love by a kiss, and complaisance by bowing; and we sometimes give some token as a memorial to a parting friend. I mention these low and familiar instances that I may, if possible, give some just ideas of a sacrament to the meanest capacity. It partakes of the general nature of these significant signs and actions, and it is intended, like them, to strike our senses; and through that medium to instruct or affect our minds: and such a sign, such a seal, such a significant action is the Lord's Supper in particular. Having made this remark upon its general nature, I now go on to show the particular ends of its institution. And, I. This ordinance was intended as a memorial of the sufferings of Christ for his people. That this is its immediate and principal design we learn from the words of the blessed Jesus at its first institution. This do in remembrance of me. That we are to remember him particularly and principally as suffering for our sins, is evident from his words in distributing the elements, This is my body which is broken for you. Here a moving emphasis is laid upon his body's being broken; broken, crushed, and mangled with an endless variety of sufferings. So again, This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you. Hence it is evident this ordinance was appointed as a memorial of a suffering Savior; and it is under this notion that we are particularly to remember him. We are to show forth the Lord's death, says the apostle; his death which was the consummation of his sufferings, till he come |