I. The duty of self-examination.-This must be done by the light of God's Word, Isa. viii. 20, and by the aid of God's Spirit. It must be done by the soul itself regarding its spiritual state. Prayer for divine aid should always accompany it: Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24. Self-examination should have respect to the five following matters of essential importance : 1. Knowledge to discern the Lord's body. Knowledge must be scriptural: John v. 39. It must be experimental: Heb. viii. 11. 2. Faith to feed upon Christ. Faith receives Christ: John i. 12. The new life is sustained by faith upon Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us: Gal. ii. 20. 3. Repentance: Lam. iii. 40. We should be sorry for our sins, Ps. xxxviii. 18; and turn from them, Ps. cxix. 59. 4. Love to Christ: 1 John iv. 8. Love must be supreme, John xxi. 15with all the heart, and soul, and strength, and mind. 5. New obedience: Matt. xi. 29. This is the obedience of the new heart, from a new motive, and for a new end. It should be constant and universal: Matt. xxiv. 13; Ps. cxix. 6. II. The necessity of self-examination. 1. To prevent unworthy communicating, through ignorance of the nature and requirements of the ordinance. 2. To prevent judgment, or condemnation. The neglect of this duty is a sin, and therefore exposes to divine judgment. LESSONS. 1. The heart should be right with God in order to enjoy communion with him. 2. There is a great blessing promised to those who come prepared to His table. ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. "It is, however, not to be inferred from this that a man must be assured that he is a true believer before he can properly approach the Lord's table. It often happens that those who are most confident that they are Christians have the least share of Christ's spirit. And therefore we are taught in the Larger Catechism that 'Any one who doubteth of his being in Christ, or of his due preparation to the sacrament of the Lord's supper, may have true interest in Christ, though he be not assured thereof; and in God's account hath it, if he be duly affected with the apprehension of the want of it, and unfeignedly desires to be found in Christ, and to depart from iniquity: in which case (because promises are made, and this sacrament is appointed, for the relief even of weak and doubting Christians) he is to bewail his unbelief, and labour to have his doubts resolved; and by so doing, he may and ought to come to the Lord's supper, that he may be further strengthened." Philip Henry was accustomed to advise people to put to themselves, in self-examination, these three questions-What am I? What have I done? What do I want? When William IV. was Duke of Clarence, he was on one occasion on the bench at the examination of men for military service. Having put the questions, he signed the papers. A surgeon who was present remarked how well His Royal Highness wrote. The Duke said, "The fact is, when I served as midshipman-and you must know I served my regular time—I was obliged to keep a log-book; and my captain had a particular aversion to bad writing. I then acquired a habit which has been of the greatest consequence to me through life; that is, of recording the occurrences of the day, and by so doing submitting my actions to the scrutiny of self-examination. habit is a good one; I have tried and proved it.” "Know thyself," was the great counsel of a heathen sage. This "There are many false pretenders to religion," says Boston, "from off whose faces Christ will draw the mask." See Matt. vii. 22, 23; Luke xiii. 25-27. "To-morrow," said Dr. James Hamilton in his youth, "the sacrament of the Lord's supper is to be dispensed here. Oh, for the wedding garment!...... Lord, grant that in encompassing thy table my faith may be strong, my love to thee ardent, my sorrow and humiliation for sin greater than they have ever been heretofore. Open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing, till there be not room enough to receive. I have renewed my covenant with thee. Enable me to remember and keep it. May it be an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, and never to be forgotten." While the American army, under the command of Washington, lay encamped in the environs of Morristown, New Jersey, the service of the communion was to be administered in the Presbyterian church of that village. In the previous week the general visited the house of the Rev. Dr. Jones, then pastor of that church, and thus accosted him: "Doctor, I understand that the Lord's supper is to be celebrated with you next Sunday. I would learn if it accords with the canons of your Church to admit communicants of another denomination?" The doctor replied, "Most certainly. Ours is not the Presbyterian table, general, but the Lord's table; and we hence give the Lord's invitation to all his followers, of whatever name.' The general replied, "I am glad of it; that is as it ought to be. But as I was not quite sure of the fact, I thought I would ascertain it from yourself, as I propose to join with you on that occasion. Though a member of the Church of England, I have no exclusive partialities." The general was found seated with the communicants next Sabbath. "I have observed that children when they first put on new shoes are very curious to keep them clean. Scarce will they set their feet upon the ground, for fear to spoil the soles of their shoes. Yea, rather, they will wipe the leather clean with their coats; and yet, perchance, the next day they will trample with the same shoes in the mire up to the ankles. Alas! children's play is our earnest. On that day whereon we receive the sacrament we are often over-precise, but are not so careful the next, and too often (what shall I say?) go on in sin up to the ankles; yea, our sins go over our heads."T. Fuller. "O feed me daily on the living bread, Refresh me hourly with the living wine; O satisfy my famished soul with food, And quench my thirst with fruit of the eternal vine. Thy flesh is meat indeed, my God and Lord; On thee alone I feed, of thee I drink, That into this sick soul the heavenly health may pour." H. Bonar. QUEST. 98. What is prayer? ANS. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies. Ps. lxii. 8. Trust in him at all times; ye | you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in people, pour out your heart before him: my name, he will give it you. God is a refuge for us. 1 JOHN v. 14. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. MATT. xxi. 22. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. JOHN xvi. 23. And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto Ps. li. 3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 1 JOHN i. 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. PHIL. iv. 6. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. I. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God. 1. God is the only object of worship: Matt. iv. 10. 2. He only can hear and answer prayer: 1 Kings viii. 39. 3. Prayer is more of the heart than the lips: Ps. lxii. 8; Matt. xv. 8. II. Prayer must be offered for things agreeable to the will of God: 1 John v. 14. The promises are God's will, and may be pleaded. His will is best for our souls. III. Prayer must be offered in the name of Christ.—He himself has taught this: John xiv. 13. He is our Propitiation for sin : 1 John ii. 2. He is also our Intercessor: 1 John ii. 1. This is a very great privilege in prayer. IV. Prayer must be accompanied by the confession of sin: Dan. ix. 4.—This acknowledges our true state, as sinners by nature and by practice, and our unworthiness of God's blessing; and it also honours him as the righteous Lord. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins: " 1 John i. 8. This is exemplified in the case of David: Ps. xxxii. V. Prayer must be accompanied with thanksgiving.-Every favour of God deserves thanks. His mercy towards sinners specially calls for gratitude. LESSONS. 1. Prayer is a becoming duty of all. 2. It is the cry of children to their Father in heaven. 3. A prayerless soul is a Christless soul, and a Christless soul is a graceless soul, and a graceless soul is a hopeless soul. ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. "We have the living God himself assuring us that he is prepared to accept, and consider, and answer prayer; and we have the Son of God himself come down from the bosom of the Father, the appointed medium of communication betwixt heaven and earth-we have the Intercessor himself declaring that no petition passes through his hand but it brings back its blessing; and further assurances than these should scarcely be needful to make the man who is conscious of sincerity in prayer secure of an answer. But further assurance is given. It should be enough that we have historic evidence that the Lord has promised to answer prayer; but, over and above, we have historic evidence that, times almost unnumbered, he has answered it. In the lives of Abraham and Abraham's servant, of Lot, of Jacob, of Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Manoah, and Samson, of Hannah and of Samuel, of David the king and Solomon his son, Hezekiah and Manasseh, of the prophets Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel; then again in the history of the apostles and the early Church, we have abundant evidence that, whatever may have become of our own, others have directed prevailing supplications to the Heavenly Majesty, and that singular mercies have been from time to time bestowed in answer to believing prayer.”— Dr. James Hamilton. Lord Bolingbroke once asked the Countess of Huntingdon how she reconciled prayer to God for particular blessings with absolute resignation to the divine will. "Very easily," said her ladyship: "just as if I were to offer a petition to a monarch of whose kindness and wisdom I had the highest opinion. In such a case my language would be-I wish you to bestow on me such or such a favour; but your majesty knows better than I how far it would be agreeable to you, or right in itself, to grant my desire. I therefore content myself with humbly presenting my petition, and leave the event of it entirely to you." "I am bound to acknowledge," said Sir Fowell Buxton, "that I have always found that my prayers have been heard and answered.. Not that in every instance, though in almost every instance, I have received what I asked for; I neither expect nor wish that. I always qualify my petitions by adding, provided that what I ask is for my real good, and according to the will of God. I understand literally the injunction, 'Be careful for nothing, but in every thing......make your requests known unto God.' I cannot but notice how amply these prayers have been met." "I am persuaded that I ought to confess my sins more. I think I ought to confess sin the moment I see it to be sin: whether I am in company or in study, my soul ought to cast a glance of abhorrence at the sin. If I go on with the study, bearing the sin unconfessed, I go on with a burdened conscience, and add sin to sin."-Rev. R. M. M‘Cheyne. "Come, my soul, thy suit prepare; Jesus loves to answer prayer; "Thou art coming to a King; Large petitions with thee bring; For his grace and power are such, None can ever ask too much."-John Newton. QUEST. 99. What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer? ANS. The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The Lord's Prayer. MATT. vi. 9. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, etc. LUKE xi. 1. Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. ROM. viii. 26. We know not what we should pray for as we ought. JOHN XV. 7. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. HOSEA xiv. 2. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously. I. We need a rule to direct us in prayer.-God is so great and glorious, we know not how to approach him: Eccles. v. 2. We are so guilty, so sinful, that we need to be invited to engage in prayer, and taught how to do so: Hosea xiv. 2; Matt. vi. 9; Luke xviii. 13. II. The rule given to direct us. 1. The whole Word of God is of use in this. It is the revelation of God's will. It contains promises and encouragements. It is full of examples of prayer: Ps. xli.; Dan. ix. This was taught the disciples by Christ himself 2. The Lord's Prayer. when they asked for guidance. It is a pattern, not a liturgy. The apostles prayed freely, as Acts i. 24, 25; iv. 24-30. 3. This prayer consists of three parts, Preface, Petitions, Doxology. LESSONS. 1. God's great goodness in teaching us how to pray. 2. The Holy Spirit is promised to aid us. 3. The sin of neglecting to pray. ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. "Nothing shows so strikingly that God is willing to hear and answer prayer as the provision he has made for its acceptable and effectual presentation. However worthless the suppliant, he may present his petition in the name of God's beloved Son; and however dim his ideas and powerless his expressions, he may obtain as the instigator of his desires and the guide of his devotion none other than the Spirit of God......Jacob's prayer did more to propitiate Esau than Jacob's present. Eliezer's petition, as he knelt by the camel's side, did more to prosper his embassy than his own and his master's precautions. And Hezekiah's intercession rescued Jerusalem when its walls |