stead of being in covenant with God, I heretofore made a covenant with sin and with death. That covenant, from henceforth, I disannul: Be it written in the volume of thy book, that henceforth I am thine! Accept of a heart which has been long estranged from thee: Receive a prodigal returning to his Father's house. If I have done iniquity in times past, I will do so no more. Lord! thou who knowest all things, thou knowest how sincerely I am resolved to serve thee. • Communicants, you have now joined yourselves in covenant to God: You have vowed unto the Most High, and I hope you shall never go back. Your hands have this day been lifted up unto the Lord, let them never afterwards be defiled with sin: Your eyes have this day beheld a crucified Redeemer, let them henceforth be turned away from beholding iniquity. "I make no doubt, Christians, that at this moment you are sincere, and in earnest to fulfil the engagements you have now come under. But ah! do you know the deceitfulness and treachery of your own souls? Set a watch, I beseech you, upon your hearts. Give them unto God; for unless he keep the house, the watchmen watch in vain. Finally, my brethren, trust always in your Saviour, for he is mighty to save. He suffered, but he overcame. The hour of his agony was also the hour of his triumph. Then he destroyed death, and him that had the power of death. The Lion of the tribe of Judah bruised the head of the serpent. He cancelled the handwriting that was against us, fixed it to his cross, and left it there as a trophy of his victory. He dismissed the Cherubim that were placed in the garden of Eden; and sheathed the flaming sword which turned every way to guard the tree of life. He hath opened the gates of heaven, and now calls upon us to follow after him, and to enter in. "As ye have received the Lord Jesus," &c. THE PSALM ciii. 8 THE Lord our God is merciful, 9 He will not chide continually, 10 With us he dealt not as we sinn'd, TABLE FOURTḥ. [Before the Service.] OMMUNICANTS! After the first celebration of the supper, our Lord looked forward to the hour of his departure, and said, "I will not hence. forth taste the fruit of the vine, until the day that I shall drink it new in the kingdom' of the Father. When we have now assembled to celebrate this supper, it becomes us, in imitation of his example, to look forward to the hour of our departure, and consider this opportunity, as perhaps the last which we shall enjoy. We recollect the brevity and uncertainty of human life. We have upon our minds the sad remembrance of friends that are departed, and of companions that are no more, who, on former occasions, sat with us at this table. Now they have gone to their rest; to the house appointed for all living. Let us then, for a while, shut out the living world, descend into the chambers of the grave, and, like the Prophet of old, take a view of the vale of death. Son of man! what dost thou behold? Dust and ashes, and desolation; dead men's bones scattered around. How still and fearful is the tomb! Who lie here in these mansions that are so sad? The handwriting is blotted out: the inscriptions are obliterated ; The land of desolation has become still more desolate: The things that were, have become as if they had never been. No trace remains of a glory that is passed, But let us take a nearer view of this house of deep forgetfulness. Fellow mortals! around you, and beneath you, are the ashes of your fathers, and the bones of your friends. The remains of those whom you once knew, and loved, are here: The companions of your youthful years: The partners of your tender hours. Now they have no more connection with the living world. But shall it always continue so? Shall they who are thus dead, never live again? Have the wise and the worthy, the great and the good, passed into utter annihilation, to exist no more? No, Communicants! I swear to you by the groans and agonies of suffering virtue; by the blood of the martyrs which is under the altar: I swear by that tomb from which your Lord arose, as the first fruits of those that sleep, and by these heavens which opened to receive him, and where in glory he now sits enthroned, that death shall not prevail in the universe of God. His reign is only for a season: You shall awake from his sleep, you shall break his bands asunder; and rise and liye again. "When Jesus arose from the grave, he proclaimed immortality to man. When Jesus ascended up on high the cloud which covered the eternal world was withdrawn the everlasting doors were thrown open, and the heaven of heavens revealed to mortal view. "In the name, and by the authority of Him who was once dead, but is now alive, I now proceed to give you the bread of life. [Service.] The Lord Jesus, that night on which he was betrayed, took bread," &c. [After the Service.] "Communicants! We mourn not for those which are asleep, as if there were no hope. We believe that Jesus died, and rose again; even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him. For the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 'I am the resurrection and the life, said our Lord : whosoever liveth, and believeth in me shall never die. Blessed immortality! to live for ever, and with Christ the Conqueror of death, and the Captain of our salvation ! I heard a voice from heaven, says St John, say. ing unto me, write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord they rest, saith the Spirit, from their labours, and their works do follow them. Loud as the sound of many waters, and of mighty thunderings, this voice comes from a multitude which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, from patriarchs, prophets, apostles, confessors, martyrs, and righteous men, who beckon from the skies, and call upon us to" come up hither." Celestial society! Ye spirits of the just made perfect, we hear your voice! You have now finished your course, you have entered into bliss, and have received the crown of glory! We now combat with flesh and blood; with sense and passion; but yours is the victory. You taste the pleasures that are pure and unalloyed: yours is the joy of paradise; the white robe, the crown, and the sceptre. At a distance we adore: you stand in the presence of God; you see him as he is; you enjoy the smile of Divinity unveiled. We behold our Saviour darkly in the symbols of this institution: you see him face to face, the Friend, the Patron, and the Redeemer of mankind! But we, too, hope to become members of the general assembly of the church of the First-born ; and that what you now are, we shall be. Hear from thy throne, O God! the desire of thy people; and carry us at last, from this table where we now sit, and from which we are about to arise, to the feast of the Lamb in heaven, which will never end! "Communicants! as ye have received the Lord "Jesus," &c.* PSALM Xxiii. 1HE Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want. TH 2 He makes me down to lie In pastures green: he leadeth me 3 My soul he doth restore again; 4 Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale, For thou art with me, and thy rod My head thou dost with oil anoint, 6 Goodness and mercy all my life And in God's house for evermore, CONCLUDING EXHORTATION FROM THE PULPIT. WY brethren and friends! our solemn work of communion is now over. It has been performed with much external decency, and seeming devotion. I presume not to judge of the heart, that is the prerogative of Almighty God. Proceeding according to the judginent of charity, I conclude * The Service of four Tables is only given here. But in general, the Tables are more numerous; sometimes extending to ten or twelve, or more. This is owing partly to the populousness of particular parishes, and partly to the smallness of churches, which of ten can admit only of Tables to accommodate thirty or forty Communicants at a time. |