SERMON VII. The Nature, End and Defign of the Holy Communion. I COR. xi. 25, latter part. drink it, in remembrance of me. T HE due Obfervance of this SER M. 1. A fixing SER M. 1. A fixing and imprinting in our VII. minds more laftingly, the remembrance of his Death and Paffion; as a Motive to Obedience. 2. A commemorating his Death in an humble Acknowledgement, of its being the only Ground of our Hope of Pardon. 3. A declaring publickly to the World, our Faith in him and indeavouring to continue down the Memory of his Love to to all generations. 4. A returning Thanks to God with the greatest Joy, and highest expreffions of Gratitude, for his unfpeakable Mercy in fending his Son into the World for the redemption of Mankind. 5. A confirming on our part, our Covenant with God; a thankful acceptance of those conditions of Pardon he has offered and an acknowledging and renewing our Obligations to obey him. us; AND these I have already difcourfed upon. Lafly, (and to conclude what I have to offer on this Head;) Doing this in remembrance of Chrift, is a Profeffion of our our Communion one with another, and a SERM. strong Obligation to mutual Love, Charity VII. and Good-will. A PRINCIPAL part of the defign of this whole ft Epiftle of St Paul to the Corinthians, is to fhow the Neceffity of Love and Unity among Chriftians; and all that he difcourfes particularly in the 10th and 11th chapters concerning the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, chiefly with intent to draw Arguments from the nature and defign of that Holy Institution, to fhow the unreasonableness and unchriftiannefs of Animofities and Divifions among themselves. themselves. With This he begins the Epiftle, ch. i. ver. 10. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jefus Christ, that ye all speak the fame thing, and that there be no divifions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the fame mind and in the fame judgment. His meaning is not, that Chriftians are bound to be, or to pretend to be, in all things of the fame opinion. For to be so, is impoffible; and to pretend to be fo, is hypocrify. But his meaning is, that notwith Standing أي VII. as SER M.ftanding all fuch differences of opinion, are abfolutely unavoidable, yet, by mutual forbearance, meeknefs and charity, they fhould be as free from ftrife and contention, as if they were really in all refpects of One Mind. This exhortation, he carries on thro' the whole Body of his Difcourfe, ch. iii. ver. 3. Whereas there is among you envying and ftrife and divifions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? To This, all his discourse concerning the Communion, ch. x. has refpect; For, we being many, are one Bread and one Body; for we are all partakers of that one Bread, ver. 17. With regard to This more especially it is, that in the xith chapter he paffes fo fevere a cenfure on those who eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily. For fo he introduces his difcourfe, ver. 18. a little before the Text; First of all, when ye come together in the Church, I hear that there be divifions among you, and I partly. believe it. And by the help of this obfervation, the connexion of the Apostle's discourse in these two chapters will appear very easy, which otherwise may feem feem fomewhat difficult to be understood. SER M. In the tenth chapter, the divifions refer- VII. red to, are fuch as arofe among the Corinthians upon the queftion concerning the lawfulness of eating things offered unto Idols. That an Idol was nothing in the World, and that the good creatures of God could receive no defilement from the vanity and fuperftition of men, the Apostle knew and plainly enough declared: But leaft Offense should be given to weaker brethren, who could not fo clearly distinguish; he exhorts them to forbear joining themselves with fuch affemblies of Gentiles, as might make them feem (at least to the weaker brethren) to be partakers of the Heathen Idolatry. For, faith be, in like manner as a man's receiving the communion with Chriftians, is a publick declaration of his being a Christian himself, and as a Man's partaking of the Sacrifices at the Altars of the Ifraelites, is openly prefeffing himself to be a few by religion; So for a Christian to eat of things facrificed to Idols, though he has in himself that |