duct towards others, and increasing in our attention to our duties as parents or children, masters or servants, husbands or wives, brothers or sisters'; whether our conversation be, on the whole, more as it becometh the Gospel of Christ; whether, in short, we are desiring more communion with God on earth, and are longing for the full enjoyment of him in heaven1. In this examination you must be careful to act with uprightness, as in the presence of God; you must pray for God's Holy Spirit to enlighten your minds and direct your judgments; you must beware of a proud and self-dependent spirit; you must not aim at establishing your own righteousness, but at attaining a knowledge of your actual state as professed believers in Christ, in order to your spiritual improvement when you partake of the instituted Supper of the Lord. You must not yield to despondency at the discovery of your own sinfulness, but be led by that discovery to a more sincere repentance and a more entire dependence on the promises of God made to you in the Holy Sacrament. The great end of self-examination is, that you may obtain an acquaintance with your

selves, in order that you may be able the better to advance in the faith, love, and obedience of a real Christian.

9. You must cultivate habits of meditation and prayer. Every other qualification must be connected with the exercises of fervent devotion.

Our MEDITATIONS should be fixed on all the topics to which our examination of ourselves was directed, that we may thus be suitably affected with every subject of our inquiry, and have it impressed on our hearts. Cold speculation will never benefit a Christian.

He must meditate as

well as inquire, feel as well as know.

Our thoughts should likewise be turned to those parts of the Holy Scriptures which are most suitable to the sacred feast we are about to keep. The history of our Saviour's passion is eminently calculated to move all the best feelings of the heart 3. The last discourse of our Lord with his disciples, concluding with his intercessory prayer, John, xiv. xv. xvi. and xvii. is likewise admirably adapted to the same end. Many of the predictions in the Old Testament, relating to the life, sufferings, and death of the Messiah, the prosperity of his kingdom, and the glory of his church, and which form, in particular, so large a part of the prophecies

3 Matt. xxvi. xxvii. &c.

of Isaiah, may be advantageously used for a similar purpose. The devotional parts of Scripture, especially the holy and fervent language of the Book of Psalms, are so obviously important in this view, that I need only mention them.

Besides the Holy Scriptures, our meditations should be directed to the Communion Service of our Church, which is excellently calculated to be a guide and help to our devotions. I could scarcely mention any one method more likely to be useful to us in preparing for the Lord's Supper, than that of a frequent and close consideration of this service; which, for simplicity and spirituality, for dignity and wisdom, for comprehensive views of the Sacrament, and fervent and elevated expressions of piety in celebrating it, has always appeared to me to stand unrivalled among human compositions.

To meditation must be added persevering and earnest prayer. We can expect no benefit whatever from any means of grace without serious and humble application to God. We are always to pray and not to faint. The Sacrament of Christ's body and blood is profitable only to the faithful. It does not operate necessarily. It is merely an instrument in the hands of God of communicating grace to the heart. And accordingly, the measure of grace we actually re

+ Chapters xl. to lxvi.

1

ceive will commonly bear some proportion to our diligence in imploring that grace from the Holy Spirit of God our Saviour.

We must pray before we approach the altar of our Saviour, that he would enable us to repent of our sins, to believe his blessed promises, to examine ourselves aright, to renew our covenant with God, to dedicate ourselves unreservedly to his service.

We must pray whilst we are engaged in the sacred celebration, that our Saviour, who instituted the feast, would vouchsafe to be really present with us; that when we view the consecrated elements of bread and wine, we may discern the body and blood of Christ which were offered up on the cross for our sins, may remember his sufferings and his love, may rejoice in his redemption, and may be truly thankful for all his unspeakable, benefits; that when we receive the elements into our mouths, we may feed by faith on the body and blood of Christ to the life of our souls, may repose our whole trust in his infinite merits, may "spiritually eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God," may be united to Christ as members of his body, and may be animated with ardent love to his name, holy abhorrence of sin, sacred delight in his service, and fixed resolutions to live to his glory.

We must pray after we have partaken of the

Holy Communion, that God would endue us with his Holy Spirit, that we may remember our obligations, keep our vows, observe the commandments of our God, and be strengthened to walk religiously in the discharge of every duty.

In mentioning so many topics of meditation, as well as in the enumeration I have made of the points for self-examination, I by no means wish to require an attention to all of them from every person. Some parts of them may very properly be the subject of our consideration at one time, and other parts at another, as our opportunities and circumstances may allow. The devotional habit is that which forms the qualification.

10. You must unite holy expectation of God's blessing, on your receiving the Lord's Supper, with reverence and fear. All the other parts of our preparation will be essentially defective unless we add to them the combined feelings of joyful anticipation and sacred awe. We cannot raise our thoughts too high when we are to approach that institution which is the pledge of our Saviour's love, the memorial of his death, the visible representation of his passion, the seal of his covenant, the assurance of his grace. We cannot expect too much of his tenderness, mercy, and truth. We cannot conceive too warmly of the unspeakable love of Christ, in