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miferable, in a future world: make your fouls your first care. You are fallen creatures, tranfgreffors of God's law, and as fuch you are expofed to the wrath of God: awake to a fenfe of your danger; flee from the wrath to come. A Redeemer has appeared, died and rifen, that he may deliver you from that wrath, and bring you to glory and happiness in heaven Flee for refuge to him, and lay hold on the hope which he has

fet before you.

That you may obtain falvation through him, commit yourselves to him by faith; renounce fin by repentance; feek the grace of the spirit by prayer and attendance on all appointed means; watch against fin and against the temptations which await you; be not conformed to the world, but prove what is the acceptable will of God be not weary in well doing, for in due season you

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will reap, if you faint not. That you may be quickened in your duty and in the work of your falvation, think much on death and the judgment to come. "Hear the conclufion of the whole matter; Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

SERMON III.

Youth invited to the Lord's Supper.

EXODUS xii, 26, 27.

And it fhall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean you by this fervice? that ye fhall fay, It is the facrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Ifrael in Egypt, when he Imote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.

WHEN God felected the feed of Abra

ham for a people to himself, he prescribed to them the form of worship, which he would accept. Among the various ordinances which he inftituted, a principal one was that of the paffover. The inftitution, occafion and defign of this ordinance are related in the chapter where our text is.

The great Jehovah was now about to deliver his chofen people from their long and grievous oppreffions in Egypt. This deliverance he determined to effect in a manner which should demonftrate his power and fupremacy in distinction from the pagan divinities. To perpetuate the remembrance of this great falvation, he instituted the paffover, to be observed by the Ifraelites on that folemn night, when he fent forth his angel to deftroy all the first-born in the Egyptian houses, and thus fubdued the ftubborn fpirit of the Egyptian king, to dismiss this afflicted people.

The inftructions concerning the festival were thefe. On the tenth day of the month Nifan, which answered in part to our March, and was thence forward to be the first month of their ecclefiaftical year, every family of Ifrael, or, if one family was too small, two neighbouring families joining together, were to take a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, and shut it up until the fourteenth day, and then flay it in the evening. In the blood of the lamb they were to dip a bunch of hyffop, and sprinkle with it the doors of every house where the lamb was eaten, and to continue in the houfe until the morning. This was the condition of their exemption from the judgment, which, in that night, was to fall on the Egyptians. This lamb was to be dreffed whole; not a bone of it was to be broken; it was to be roafted with fire, and eaten all at once, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; and if any part was left, it was to be burnt with fire; and they were to eat it in the posture and habit of pilgrims, with their girdles around their loins, their fhoes on their feet, and their ftaves in their hands.

After the Jews were fettled in the land of promife, fome of these circumstances were omitted, and others were added. The firft paffover was celebrated in their own houses: after the order of divine worship was settled, all the males were to appear before God in Jerufalem. The firft paffover was eaten in a standing pofture: but it appears, by our Saviour's example, that it was afterward eaten in the more eafy pofture of guests fitting around a table. In the first inftitution there is no mention made of the use of wine but this in future time was added to the folemnity. To this there are fome allufions in the book of Pfalms; VOL. V.

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and there is exprefs mention of it in our Lord's celebration of the feftival.

To commemorate the deliverance of the Ifrael ites from Egypt was the primary defign of the paffover, and to this defign the circumftances of the feftival were pertinently adapted. The facri fice was a lamb without blemish to fignify their obligation to innocence and holinefs of life. It was fet apart from the reft of the flock, to denote that they were a peculiar people unto God. As the most expeditious manner of preparation, it was roafted with fire, to fignify that they were to bold themselves in readinefs for an immediate departure. The whole was eaten by them, or confumed with fire, that no part of it might be profaned by the Egyptians. It was eaten in the pofture of travellers, to indicate their expectation of orders to begin their march. It was feasoned with bitter herbs, in memory of their cruel bondage and in thankfulnefs for their deliverance. The bread eaten with it was made without leaven, in recognition of their fudden emigration, which allowed them no time for the ufual method of preparing their bread.

This feftival, however, had a farther and more important design, which was to lead the thoughts of the Jews to Jefus Chrift, and to the great redemption effected by his death. Hence the apoftles call him our passover the lamb of God-a lamb flain from the foundation of the world-a lamb without blemish and without fpot. The order, that not a bone of the pafchal lamb fhould be broken, is faid to have been fulfilled in Chrift, whofe bones, contrary to the common ufage, were left unbroken at his crucifixion. His blood is called the blood of Sprinkling in allufion to the fprinkling of the blood of the paffover. And Chriftians are directed to

keep the gospel feaft, with the unleavened bread of fincerity and truth.

The Jewish paffover, then, was an ordinance of much the fame nature and defign as the Chrif tian fupper. The former had the fame intention with refpect to the Jews, as the latter has with refpect to Chriftians, which is to lead their minds to the Saviour. The chief difference is, that the paffover prefigured his future death; the supper commemorates his death already paft. This was inftituted at the time when that was abolished, and doubtless fucceeded in its place.

Our divine Lord, knowing, that the time of his death was at hand, faid to his difciples, "With defire I have defired to eat this paffover with you before I fuffer." As it was the laft paffover which he should ever see on earth, and the haft that ever ought to be celebrated, he felt a peculiar folicitude to attend it with his difciples; and his defire probably was increased by the confideration, that this would be a favorable opportunity to institute his commemorative fupper.

At the stated feafon for the celebration of the paffover, he forefaw, that he fhould be in the hands of his enemies; he therefore folemnized it the day before. And as foon as he and his difciples had done eating of the pafchal fupper, he inAtituted his own. He took fome of the bread which was on the table, and, having confecrated it by prayer, brake it and gave it to his difciples. And then he took fome of the wine prepared for the paffover, and, in like manner, bleffed that, and diftributed it among them. On this occafion, he inftructed them, that the bread and the wine were fymbols of his body broken, and of his blood poured forth to procure pardon for finners, and to ratify the promises of the covenant.

And

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