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unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." It is fitted, in like manner, to inspire us with patience under the trials and disappointments of this present life. "Be ye also patient," says St James; "stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh," (James v. 8.) It is fitted to awaken in us a holy solicitude that, when he appears, we may be like him, and ready to receive him. In this view of the matter, another apostle says, "The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: to the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints," (1 Thess. iii. 12, 13.) "And now, little children," says a third, "abide in him; that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming," (1 John ii. 28.) It is by an appeal to this most glorious and momentous event, that the apostles, in various instances, stir up the zeal and animate the hopes of believers, "teaching us, that, denying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ," (Tit. ii. 12, 13.) They teach us to regard it, however, not only as an event for which we should diligently prepare-one, in the prospect of which, we should be led carefully to consider "what manner of persons we ought to be in all holy conversation and godliness," and to be " diligent that we may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless "--but also as an event which should be the object of our desires and anticipations; "looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God." While he shall, at that day, distinguish, and enable all to "discern between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not," and while we cannot but be solemnly affected by the consideration, that "the Lord know

eth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished," (2 Pet. xi. 9,)—we are inspired with the joyful hope of then receiving from him that "crown of righteousness," "which is laid up for all them that love his appearing."

If, so far as concerns his own people, this is the great end of Christ's second coming, and if we really possess that admiration for him, that faith and confidence in him, and that love, gratitude, and devotedness toward him, for the awakening of which in our hearts, there exists such abundant cause-then, surely, we may regard that event, not with alarm, but with solemn yet joyful expectation. What are the feelings with which a grateful and devoted people contemplate the approach of the brave and patriotic leader, who, while deploring the horrors of war, has vindicated their independence, and been the means of securing to them the blessings of peace; or the feelings with which they hail the constitutional monarch, whose noblest prerogative and highest ambition is that of maintaining their rights and promoting their happiness- ruling in the fear of God?" What are the feelings with which we meet the return of a friend from a distant land, who has been eminently distinguished, not only for the high office which he has held, the great power which he has possessed, and the vast wealth which belongs to him, but for the many striking instances which he has given us, during his absence, of his unparalleled beneficence and of his still more munificent intentions? But what temporal deliverer, what gracious monarch, or what generous benefactor, should excite, by his approach, such emotions of reverential gratitude and joyful expectation, as the Lord our Redeemer? In the case of most of us, a large portion of our time, in the present state, is spent in procuring the things which are needful for the mere subsistence of the body. The pains, discomforts, and diseases to

which it is liable, engross much of our attention, and are the source of much apprehension and misery. But from all this the Saviour will come to set us free. That which was sown in corruption, dishonour, and weakness, shall, by him, be raised in incorruption, glory, and power. The Lord Jesus Christ, for whom we look, shall, at his coming, " change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself," (Philip. iii. 21.) In the present state, in like manner, we are surrounded with manifold temptations; we live in a world which "lieth in wickedness;" we are exposed to the assaults of spiritual enemies, who are both numerous and powerful; and we fall into many sins by which, while we dishonour our profession, our own peace is wounded, our consciences defiled, and our progress in holiness obstructed. But the Lord, at his coming, shall deliver us from all these evils. He shall convey us to a land of purity and blessedness—a land into which neither temptation, nor sin, nor sorrow, nor death, shall ever enter. There shall be nothing to "hurt or destroy in all his holy mountain.” We shall there be separated from all that we ought to hate, and delivered from all that we had to fear; but united for ever to all that it is our happiness to love, and surrounded by all that a glorified spirit can desire to enjoy the Lord himself being our supreme and everlasting portion. What feelings, then, but those of solemn joy and holy desire, can we, if indeed his disciples, be supposed to entertain, in the prospect of his appearing? And when at length the cry is heard, "Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him ;"-what language will be more suitable as the utterance of what is in our hearts than the language of his own blessed word, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us this is the Lord; we have waited for him,

we will be glad, and rejoice in his salvation?" (Isaiah xxv. 9.)

Such, on the whole, then, in their nature and their number, in their practical importance and their elevating effects, are the feelings which the things represented in the Lord's Supper, or there brought to our remembrance, are so admirably calculated to awaken in our minds.

CHAPTER IV.

ON THE WAY BY WHICH COMMUNICANTS OUGHT TO EXAMINE, AND MAY ASCERTAIN, WHETHER THEY POSSESS THOSE FEELINGS AND AFFECTIONS WHICH THE THINGS CONTEM

PLATED IN THE LORD'S SUPPER ARE FITTED TO AWAKEN, BY WHICH TRUE CHRISTIANS ARE DISTINGUISHED, AND WHICH ARE PECULIARLY REQUISITE AS A PREPARATION FOR PARTAKING IN THAT ORDINANCE.

HAVING now endeavoured to illustrate the various feelings which the things presented to our contemplation in the Lord's Supper are naturally fitted to awaken in our minds, it will at once be admitted, that these feelings are what all who venture to partake in this holy ordinance should be anxious to possess and studious to cultivate. Those persons must surely be regarded as in an unprepared state for partaking in it, whose feelings and affections are not in accordance with those which the ordinance itself is naturally fitted to awaken and calculated to invigorate. The special purpose for which this ordinance was instituted, as appears from the language of our Lord himself, at the moment of its institution, was that of affording to his disciples an opportunity of solemnly and affectionately remembering him. His express and positive commandment to do this, in the manner there prescribed, is one which is addressed only to those who are understood to possess this character; and they only can be supposed to have an honest and intelligible reason for calling him to their grateful remembrance, or celebrating their obligations to him for all that he has done. It is evident,

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