For the inkitution itself. We fhould bear upon our minds, that the king is prefent at his own entertainment, "Who is "greatly to be feared in the affemblies of his faints, and to be "had in reverence of them that are about him." Let us come before him in the celebration of this facrament, with "reverence and godly fear."

Thirdly, we should attend upon this duty with hungering and thirsting defires. "The defires of our fouls must be towards "the Lord and the remembrance of his name." To have communion with God, and to defire none upon earth befides him, is a sweet and comfortable state of mind. It brings heaven as it were into this world. And a special bleffing is pronounced upon all fuch. "Bleffed are they who hunger and "thirst after righteoufnefs for they fhall be filled." Let our defires be enlarged to-day. Let us feel fuch exercises as poffeffed the Pfalmift when he said, "I ftretch forth my hands "unto the; my foul thirfteth after thee, as a thirty land. O "God, thou art my God, early will I feek thee; my foul thirft"eth for thee; my felh longeth for thee,-to fee thy power and "thy glory,-that my foul may be fatisfied as with marrow "and fatnefs." Blefed feelings, blessed spiritual breathings, and blessed experiences. O that ours may be of a fimilar nature, and that all the defires of our hearts may be gratified at this.feafon.

Fourthly, let us approach this ordinance with elevated and exalted expectations. That faith in the beloved which enlarges the defires also raises hopes, and matures them like Abrahanı's to an holy confidence. You are not led to day to fummer brooks, which disappoint the weary traveller, and as it is faid in Job, "Confumed out of their place." But this ordinance directs you to living fountains, which iffae forth unfailing ftreams to everlasting life.-Let each communicant fay to his foul; Draw near to the table of love, thy Redeemer has inftiputed the feast, and he has promised for thee, "abudently above

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what thou canft afk or think." Remember, O chriftain, your Saviour gives liberally and upbraids not, he gives like a king. yea, like a God, all things richly to enjoy.

However you may bow, your heads at his table, let your hearts afcend to heaven and all its glories, with full and affured expectation that all these will be yours and that forever. Remember the provifion in this fealt is Chrift, his atonement, his righteoufnefs, and all his benefits. What can you wish, expect and hope for that will not be granted? Remember all is yours, earth is yours, life and death are yours, thirgs prefent and things to come are yours, heaven is yours, and to comprehend all poffible bleffings in one word, "God is yours." Surely you are not fit for the table of the Lord, if your fouls can ex,pect or wish for more.

Laftly, would we attend this divine inftitution to our comfort and edification, and in a worthy and acceptable manner, it must be performed in the exercises of faith, love, humility, repentance, and, in purposes of future obedience.

Faith is an effential grace of the christain life. We must hereby look unto Chrift at all times, live upon him, deriving influence and communications from him, and depend upon him for spiritual ftrength for the right performance of every duty, and in a particular manner to look unto him that he would enable us to keep this feaft, that his death may be showa forth, his glory, and our own peace and happinefs promoted. When we receive the facred elements, let our hearts reft on the trength of the Lord for affiftance that we may present and confecrate ourselves to him, a living, holy and acceptable facrifice. By faith let us live, by faith let us die, by faith let us obferve the holy communion, until we shall enter into the pere-co amunion,of the celestial regions.

The exercifes of divine love are of the higheft confequence in every matter of a religious nature. Without love no reli gion. Without love no worthy participation of the facred fupper. Without love no union to Chrift-no favour of God'

no peace of confcience--no well grounded hope of eternal. glory. Did Chrift love his church in fuch a manner, and to fuch a degree, as to shed his most precious blood, and expire n the cross, on Calvary's hill, and fhall not a flame of fupreme love be kindled in our fouls to him ?--Shall we behold him exhibited in this ordinance in all the agonies and fufferings of his dying love, his body broken and his bloodpoured forth, and fhall not our fouls, while we fit around: bis table, afcend on the wings of ardent affection to him?

Besides faith and love, we ought to draw near to this ordi mance in humility, godly forrow and evangelical repentance. The greater nearness to God, the more we are exalted in privilig es, the more we will feel our unworthine's, and the deeper will be our abafemeat before him. Angels veil their faces in his prefence; Abraham proftrated himself on the ground; and David fat down aftonished when the Most High conferred honors upon him, and cried out, "Who am I, O

Lord God, and what is mine houfe, that thou haft brought "me hitherto ?" True repentance and a Godly forrow becomes as at this facred board. Here we should look on him whom we have pierced by our fins, and mourn as he that mourns for an only be gotten fon, and bewail ourfelves in bitterness, as he who is in bitterness for a first born child. Here, tears of repentance, love, gratitude and pleasure ought freely to flow. -And all our graces and exercises ought to be accompanied with purposes and firm refolutions of future and perfevering obedience. Our resolutions ought to be fuch as to exclude all future revocation. He who puts his hand to the plough, must not look back. The Ifraelite who has paffed the red sea must never long for the flesh pots of Egypt. Our cars must be nai

led to the door pofts of the temple of the Lord with full purpofes of heart to be his fervants forever. Let the glory of God be our chief end, his unerring word our rule, the blood of the lamb our fupport and confolation, the Holy Ghoft our guide, counfellor and director, and this refreshing ordinance, the covenant of grace, and its promifes, be unto us the bread of life and the water of life, till we thall be introduced to the felicities of the celeftial state.

Various and important are the ufes of inftruction, reproof, comfort and direction which flow from this fubject, of which I must now only hint at a few.

First, we ought to lament the awful proneness of our hearts" to neglect God and forget the bleffed Saviour. This is matter of deep contrition, mourning and forrow. O that our heads were waters and our eyes a fountain of tears, that we might weep day and night over our failings, infirmities and forgetfulness.

Secondly, let our fouls blefs the Lord for the wonders of his patience, forbearance and long fuffering. Tho' we are apt to be unmindful of him who agonized in the garden, he coninually and unremittingly remembers us. Our remembrance often intermits, but his never flumbers, nor fleeps. Wherefore let our fouls blefs the Lord, and refolve no more to for get his benefits,

Thirdly, how acceptable to Chrift is the approach of his dear people to his fupper, in an holy, believing, humble and affectionate remembrance of him, in all his fufferings, humiliation and exaltation. He rejoices over them in an extacy delight, faying, "I am come into my garden, my fifter, my "spouse; I have gathered my myrrh with my fpice; I have

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"caten. my honey comb with my honey: I have drunk my "wine with my milk; eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink a "bundantly, O beloved."

A brief fentence of counsel shall relieve your attention at prefent.-Let us attend this folemn duty of our holy religion for the reafons and in the manner which has now been delineated. You will find herein, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost and an increase of grace. If you never remembered Chrift in a proper manner before, let this be the day in which this blessed work will begin. It is never too late to begin in well doing. Gather in every wandering thought; compofe your fouls into a fpirit of devotion; let a reverential awe of a prefent Saviour, in all his wounds, bleeding at every pore, polefs your hearts; hunger, thirst and long after great measures of holiness; raife your hopes, elevate your expecta tions, and with faith, love, humility, repentance of fin and purposes of new obedience, take the holy fymbols and remember God your Saviour. Remember him in his life, remember his agony in the garden, remember his cruel mockings in the High Priest's hall, his tremendous fcourgings when the plowers plowed upon his back and made long and deep their furrows; remember him on the crofs, when fufpended between heaven and earth, and forfaken by both; his friends and difciples forfook him; his God hid his face from him; a darkness invol• ved the world, fuch as never was before, nor fince, and the final diffolution of nature will hardly create fuch another. The fun ceafed to fhine, the moon had no rays, all nature was convulfed; earthquakes broke up the marble tombs; the dead flarted into life; the veil of the temple of God rended afunder, and in this awful crifes, in the laft ftruggle of atonement for man, he cries, "My God, my God, why haft thou "forfaken me ?"

Now fhall we not remember this bleffed and dying Saviour?