been led virtually to substitute the ordinance of the Saviour for the Saviour himself; and to believe that an occasional attendance on this sacrificial feast, as they suppose it to be, will exempt them from the necessity of habitually exercising "repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ."

"In reality, St. Paul's own argument, unobscured by any thing foisted into it, is as simple and plain as possible, and is nothing more than this:-'As to eat bread, and drink wine with Christians, when they professedly eat the one, and drink the other, as the appointed memorials of the body and blood of Christ, is virtually eating and drinking with the same apparent design, that they professedly eat and drink with; and consequently is a virtual apparent profession of Christianity; and as to eat of the Jewish sacrifices with the Jews, is, for the same reason, a virtual apparent profession of Judaism; so, to eat of idol sacrifices with professed idolaters, is, for the same reasons, likewise a virtual apparent profession of idolatry. Wherefore, since, as I said, it is your duty as Christians to flee from idolatry; and of course from all apparent professions of idolatry; it must of necessity, be improper in you as Christians to frequent idol feasts. Q. E. D.”

Having thus presented the portion of scripture on which the hypothesis adopted by Cudworth, Warburton, Adam Clarke, and other eminent men, is founded; the reader must be left to form his own judgment, whether the foundation is sufficient to support the superstructure. Perhaps it would have been wiser in the author to have passed it over without notice; but he deemed it important to refer to it, as being an ingenious theory liable to be abused.

SECTION IV.

The Lord's Supper a memorial of the death of Christ as the only Sacrifice for sin.

HAVING thus pointed out the most exceptionable views that prevail among Christians respecting the nature and design of the Lord's supper, we may remark, that, that holy sacrament is essentially and simply commemorative and representative in its character. "Do this," said our Lord, "in remembrance of me." "As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup," saith St. Paul, "ye do shew forth the Lord's death." How admirably calculated is it in all its parts, to answer these interesting ends? Whenever we witness the administration of this blessed sacrament, we should call to mind the wonderful history of redemption, and fix the eye of faith upon "Jesus Christ evidently set forth as crucified" for our salvation. When we behold the minister of God taking the elements, and consecrating, and setting them apart for the use of the faithful in this holy ordinance, we may profitably reflect upon God's appointment of his only begotten son to be our Saviour, and his setting him. apart to be a surety and sacrifice for his people. When we behold the bread broken, and the wine poured out, we have a sensible representation of the passive obedience of our Lord; and we should

solemnly and devoutly reflect upon those agonies of soul which he underwent-those drops of precious blood which he shed:-those unspeakable and excruciating tortures which were endured by the innocent Lamb of God, in paying the price of our redemption, and offering an atonement for our sins. When the consecrated symbols are freely distributed among the communicants, we are reminded that the blessings of salvation through Christ crucified are freely offered to us in the gospel. And the reception of the sacred elements, may be viewed as emblematic of that lively and vigorous exercise of faith, by which we "receive the atonement," and rely upon the righteousness of the Saviour as constituting the only foundation of our hope towards God.

The administration of the Lord's supper, therefore, may be considered as virtually affording to all true believers, a lively and affecting representation of the stupendous event which it is designed to commemo

rate.

It carries them back, in imagination, to the hall of judgment and the bar of Pilate;-all the afflicting scenes of the betrayal, the denial, the scourging, the murderous cry, are powerfully presented to their recollections. And, in the view of faith, there is an acting over again of the mournful tragedy of Gethsemane and the cross.

But, it is not enough that we consider the Lord's supper as a memorial and lively representation of the sufferings and death of Christ. Many respect and

observe it in this light, who do not believe that they are any more interested in, or benefited by, his death, than that of Moses, Paul, John, or any other inspired teacher of religion, who is entitled to grateful remembrance as a benefactor of mankind. This ordinance is not only a memorial of the fact of Christ's death by crucifixion, but also, and more especially, of the design of his death as a sacrifice for sin, which was necessary to satisfy the claims of divine justice, and procure pardon for our transgressions. In celebrating this sacred rite of their religion, Christians commemorate an event shadowed forth under the sacrifices of the law, and prefigured in types from the beginning of the world. They have in lively remembrance, the grandest work of God, which ever was, or ever will be performed upon this earthly theatre: the work of reconciling sinners to himself, by the death and sufferings of his well beloved and only begotten son. They do not celebrate the memory of a hero who has signalized himself in the field of blood, and gained a perishing glory by the conquest of a kingdom:—but of a conqueror, who spoiled the principalities and powers of darkness; triumphed over death and the grave; and acquired an unfading and eternal glory, by the redemption of a world. Neither do they commemo→ rate the death of this mighty conqueror as an event in which they have no personal interest. They view his bitter sufferings and cruel death as endured for

their sake, and constituting an availing atonement for their sins. They are fully persuaded, by rational and scriptural arguments, that this infinite sacrifice was necessary, to glorify the perfections of Jehovah, and rescue sinners from merited perdition.

He must have read his Bible to very little purpose, who has failed to perceive, that the doctrine of atonement by sacrifice, like a golden thread, interwoven with the whole texture of the volume of revelation, runs through both the Old and New Testaments. What constituted the essential ground of difference between the sacrifice of Abel and that of Cain, causing the acceptance of the one and the rejection of the other? The one, consisted of the fruits of the earth, and would have been a proper and acceptable thank-offering from an innocent worshipper;-the other, was an animal slain, and the very act of presenting it, was an acknowledgment of guilt, and of the desert of death on the part of the offerer. "By faith," says an Apostle, "Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, whereby he obtained testimony that he was righteous."* He sacrificed the animal as an expression of his faith in the promised Redeemer; and thereby evinced that his hope of the divine favour, rested, not on his own performances, but on the merits of the great sacrifice that was to be offered up in the fulness of time. What was the design of the various important animal

*Heb. xi. 4.