The sacrament of the Lord's Supper generally necessary to salvation : two sermons : to which is added "Baptismal regeneration"

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THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORUS SUPPER GE-
" NERALLY NECESSARY TO SALVATION."

TWO SERMONS:

TO WHICH IS ADDED,

BAPTISMAL REGENERATION,

A SERMON,

THE REV. w/hARNESS, A.M.

OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE;

Minister of the St. Pancras Parochial Chapel, in Regent-square ,
and Evening Lecturer of St. Anne's, Soho.

LONDON :
SAMPSON LOW, 42, LAMB'S CONDUIT STREET.

MDCCCXXIX.

C.RICHARDS, PRINTER,
100, ST. MARTIN'S-LANE. CH AR ING-CROSS.

/>>-

^*>

^J^ryrf*^

CONGREGATION

OF

REGENT SQUARE CHAPEL,
THESE SERMONS

ARE DEDICATED BY THEIR SINCERE FRIEND
AND MINISTER^

THE AUTHOR.

==^V

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in 2011 with funding from

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http://www.archive.org/details/sacramentoflordsOOharn

SERMON I.

This do in remembrance of me."

ST. LUKE,. 22rf Chapter, part of I9th Verse.

^-^

We are instructed by the Catechism
of our Churchy that the Sacrament of
the Lord's Supper is '^ generally neces-
" sary to salvation;" by which is meant,
that the observance of this holy rite is
absolutely necessary to the salvation of
all persons who are capable and have
the opportunity of communicating.

In the following discourses I shall
undertake to prove the scriptural truth
and justice of this position. I shall first
treat the subject independently of all its

spiritual relations, and show the obliga-
tion under which every Christian lies to
receive the Sacrament as an act to which
he is bound by a positive command of
God. I shall, afterwards, proceed to
treat the subject with a view to its spiri-
tual relations, and show^ the obligation
under which every Christian lies to re-
ceive the Sacrament, as the means divinely
appointed for applying to himself those
blessings which are offered to mankind
through the sacrifice and mediation of
the Redeemer. Every disciple of our
Lord, who voluntarily and constantly
abstains fi'om the Lord's Supper, puts
his eternal interests in imminent peril.

I. Because by his omission, he lives in
a state of habitual sin, which is incom-
patible with the accomplishment of his
salvation.

II. Because by his omission he deprives
himself of those graces of the Holy Spirit
which are indispensable to the attainment
of his salvation.

Our reflections will, in the present dis-
course, be confined to the consideration
of the first of these heads.

The Christian, who refuses to commu-
nicate, lives in a state of habitual sin,
which is incompatible with the accom-
plishment of his salvation.

No terms can be more distinct or com-
prehensive than those in which this solemn
rite was instituted. — The scriptural ac-
count of its origin as given in the col-
lected words of St. Matthew, St. Luke,
and St. Paul, is this :* — '' The Lord Jesus,

* Matthew xxvi. 26, 27,28;— Luke xxii, 19, 20j— 1 Cor. xi.
23, 24, 25, 26.

B 2

" the same night in which he was be-
" trayed^ took bread and blessed it^ and
" brake it, and gave it to his disciples,
" saying: take, eat, this is my body, which
" is given for you: this do in remem-
" brance of me. After the same manner
" also he took the cup, and gave thanks,
" and gave it to them, saying, drink all
'' of ye of this, for this is my blood of the
" New Testament, which is shed for you,
" and for many, for the remission of
" sins; this do in remembrance of me.
'' For as often as ye eat this bread and
" drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's
" death till he come." No command can
be more clear: — no language can be
more distinct or unequivocal: — A reli-
gious observance is here appointed by
the Messiah^ as a ligiirative commemo-

ration of his death : " Do this in remem-
" brance of meT It is to be performed
by all of his disciples ; " Drink all of ye
'* of this r It is to be continued to the end
of the world; for it is designed to show
forth the Lord's death till he come: that
is, till he shall appear in glory at the day
of judgment. We find then^ from these
passages of scripture, that there is an
express and peculiar law enjoined on all
the disciples of Christ: a law distinctly
stated : a law of universal and permanent
obligation : a law which it is impossible for
any individual to evade, unless he reject
the divine authority of Jesus, and deny
the right of the Redeemer to legislate
for the creatures he has redeemed.

The conduct of the Apostles proved
the reverence and the importance which
they attached to the Sacrament; and in

every Church which they established, the
Lord's Supper was instituted and cele-
brated amongst their converts as the
distinguishing rite of their religion.
Their immediate disciples scrupulously
persevered in following the instructions
of their masters, and, revering the ordi-
nance as an indispensable part of Chris-
tian worship ; " they continued steadfast"
says St. Luke, " in the Apostles' doctrine
" and fellowship, and in hreahing of bread
" and in prayers."* Among the primitive

* Acts ii. 42. — The word VQVi.^e.xe.di fellowship in this text is
Koiviovia, communion. This passage affords the first informa-
tion which we have respecting the public worship of the primi-
tive Christians. And it appears to have consisted among the
immediate followers of the Apostles, as we know that it did in
times immediately subsequent to theii-s, of these three parts —
of hearing God's word, of prayers, and of the Sacrament. The
text referred to above, may be rendered " and they were con-
" tinually engaged in hearing the instructions of the Apostles,
" and in communion and hreahing of bread, and in prayers."
According to Schleusner, the words " communion, and breaking
" of bread," are spoken by Hendiadys of the Lord's Supper.

Christians we may read of the misuse of the
Sacrament — of occasions in which the
bread and wine had been unworthily re-
ceived— of discussions whether the con-
secrated elements might or might not be
administered to infants — of exhortations
to receive them with a holy reverence — of
the frequent, even of the daily, celebra-
tion of the Lord's Supper; and of the
exclusion of offending brethren : but I
do not remember a single passage among
the early records of Christianity which
would lead us to suppose, that any indi-
vidual, who had been entered by Baptism
as a member of the Church, ever dared
to neglect the ordinance. Our elder
Fathers in the faith respected this rite
as one with which they were bound to
comply, by the submission that they
owed to the authority of the Son of

God : they were as careful to partake of
the Sacrament, as they were to obey
those holy precepts of conduct which
had been delivered to them in the Ser-
mon from the Mount; for the command
of their Lord had rendered each an
equally essential part of Christian duty :
they were as fearful of abstaining from
the Sacrament, as they were of infringing
any of the moral precepts of the Gospel ;
for they knew that each was equally
sinful as a violation of the revealed will of
their Creator. In the history of the early
ages of the Church, we may read, indeed,
that those disciples, who had rendered
themselves obnoxious to the censures of
the Church, by corruption of life, or by
heresy of opinion, were liable to excom-
munication as a punishment; but we do

not read of any, who voluntarily excom-
municated themselves.

Yet, at the present day, this is the
practice of the large majority of the
nominal disciples of the Gospel. — Such
aline of conduct is wholy unaccountable:
it appears impossible to reconcile it
with a sincere and firm conviction of the
divine authority of Jesus Christ. The
observance is easy to be performed:
there appears no obstacle to your obedi-
ence : and yet you persevere in omitting
it without any sense of shame or self-
reproach. You would, perhaps, tremble
to transgress any other point of Christian
duty; yet here your transgression is
persisted in without the slightest misgiv-
ing of conscience, and almost without
any feeling of transgression. You do

10

not fail to attend your Church. You find
yourself uneasy and distressed, if the
habitual duties of the Sabbath are inter-
rupted; yet you desert with the most
perfect carelessness that holy solemnity,
which is more peculiarly and exclusively
an office of Christian worship, and which
your Saviour has expressly instituted as
the chief rite of his religion : you would
not be guilty of any of the moral crimes
forbidden by the Gospel, of murder or
robbery, of dishonesty or falsehood, of
calumny or licentiousness ; but yet you
would desert the Sacrament, which is
equally a violation of the divine law,
without the slightest consideration of its
guilt.

And why is this? — Whence originates
this inconsistency? — Why do you not take

11

warning from that fearful declaration of
the Apostle^ which instructs us that
" if any man shall keep the whole law,
" and offend in one point, he is guilty of
'' all ?"* — But you conceive that the neg-
lect of the Sacrament cannot be a very
grievous sin; that it cannot be a crime
of so heinous a nature, as to exclude
the transgressor from the mercy of God ;
and that it must be a slight and venial
offence; because it is not attended by
any evil consequences to society. I will
for a moment admit your supposition:
I will suppose the offence to be one which
carries no evil consequences along with
it : this is not the case ; yet for the sake
of argument I will agree with you in
supposing it to be so : but my brethren

* James ii. 10.

12

it will by no means follow^ as you imagine,
that the offence of your neglect is on
that account either slight, or xenial.

And here I must demand your atten-
tion : religion acknowledges no such
thing as a slight offence. In a worldly
point of view, to the eye of the mere
moral man, conduct is capable of various
degrees of censure. Morally speaking,
sins may be considered as having a rela-
tive magnitude, and may be spoken of
as great or small, as heinous or incon-
siderable ; because, as the welfare of
mankind is the rule of conduct, we can
estimate the shade of guilt which attaches
to each, by the extent of the injury it
occasions. — But in a religious point of
view, there is no such thing as a slight
offence; because the will of God is the

13

rule of conduct, and we are equally bound,
as creatures of God, ^to live in obedience
to that will, whether it command the
first, great, universal precepts of natural
duty, or enjoin the most trifling cere-
monial observance. " It becometh us"
said the Saviour of the world, speaking
for himself and his disciples, at the hour
of his baptism, " to fulfil all righteous-
" ness/'* When he reproved the Phari-
sees for their rigid attention to the
external appointments, and their neglect
of the weightier duties, of the Mosaic
law, he did not impugn the necessity of
their strict obedience, but reproved
them for the wickedness of their omissions:

* " Our Saviour was baptised," according to the Apostolical
" Constitutions," not that he needed any purification, but that
"he might testify the truth of St. John's baptism, and Ije o.n
" example to us.^- Apos. Cons. i. vii. c. 22.

14

His words are, " these things ought ye
'' to have done^ and not to leave the others
'' undone."* They were all equally points
of religious duty, and were all equally
demanded by the written word of the
Almighty. To the faithful servant of God
who looks to religion, and religion only,
for his rules and his motives of conduct,
an offence can only appear slight from its
being an offence of accident, or inadvert-
ency; and every offence becomes enormous
which is habitually and presumptuously
committed. The will of God is the
only christian rule of action : — The Sa-
crament of the Lord's Supper is ordained
by the will of God : — -Abstaining from
the Sacrament is a violation of the will
of God : — Constant absence is habitual
violation of the will of God : — Absence

* Matt, xxiii. 23.

15

after being instructed in your duty, is
presumptuous violation of the will of
God. According therefore to the only
religious means which we possess of
estimating the extent and measure of
iniquity, the refusing to communicate,
bears with it all the characteristics of
great and aggravated guilt.

But if the neglect of the Sacrament be
not a slight oflPence, still you conceive
that it may be considered as venial by
the Almighty, because it is merely the
violation of a religious ordinance, and
appears to be unattended by any imme-
diate injury to your fellow creatures.
I do not conceive that the Scriptures
would warrant you in entertaining such
an opinion. They represent the Al-
mighty as acknowledging no rule of

16

rights but that of his written word,
and punishing the transgressors of his
moral, or ceremonial laws with an equal
and impartial severity.

This important truth is demonstrated
by innumerable examples. It was ap-
pointed from on high, that none, except
those who were of the seed of Aaron,
should offer incense in the public worship
of the Tabernacle.* To all human appre-
hension there would seem to be no
fear of injuring our neighbours by the
infringement of this ordinance ; and con-
sequently little chance, as you would sup-
pose, of exciting the vengeance of the
Almighty. So thought Korah, and Da-
than, and Abiram : — and, though they
w ere not of the appointed family, they

* Numbers xvi. 40.

17

presumed to offer incense before the
Lord : " and the ground clave asunder
" that was under them, and the earth
" opened her mouth and swallowed them
" up."* — Itwasordamedthat no man who
was not of the tribe of Levi should lay hand
upon the Ark of the Covenant; — but who
need be apprehensive of the commission
of such an offence? — Where could be
the moral criminality of such an act? —
yet, " when Uzzah put forth his hand
" to the Ark of God, and took hold of it ;
" the anger of the Lord was kindled
'' against Uzzah ; and God smote him
" there for his error, and there he died
" by the Ark of God."t Both these
offences, severely punished as they were,
infringed upon the ceremonial law alone,

^ Numbers xvi. 31. 32. f 2 Samuel vi. 6, 7.

C

18

and involved no moral delinquency. But
what was the offence that changed the
character and the condition of the whole
human race? Why were our first Pa-
rents expelled from Paradise ? Not for
any crime, which was, according to our
views, obnoxious to reproach as an act
of great moral turpitude and enormity ;
but for an offence which was, as you ima-
gine the offence of abstaining from the
communion to be, morally innocent in
itself, but which the solemn interdiction
of the Almighty, had rendered religiously
guilty. But, indeed, there is a case
exactly parallel with that of abstaining
from the Lord's Supper. The Passover
was instituted among the Jews to pre-
figure that very sacrifice of Christ, which
the Sacrament was instituted to com-

19

memorate. If it was considered a slight
offence to neglect the Passover ; or if,
when neglected, the offence was one
which the Almighty had expressed him-
self inclined to pardon ; we may reason-
ably hope that the same degree of leniency
and indulgence will be shewn towards
those who disregard the Sacrament: but
if, on the contrary, we find that the
Almighty has expressed himself with
extreme severity against those who ab-
stained from the Passover ; we can
not help presuming that the same seve-
rity will be exhibited towards those who
absent themselves from the correspond-
ing, but the more perfect and holy, rite.
Now, with respect to the Jewish insti-
tution, attendance was enforced under
the sanction of the weightiest religious
c 2

4

i,'

20

penalties. Two opportunities were af-
forded for observing the feast.* The
first on the Anniversary of the departure
of the Israelites out of Egypt ; when it
was required that all, who were able,
should be present : The second, a month
afterwards, for those who had been in-
capable of attending on the appointed
day : '' but," says the Lord, speaking
through his prophet, '^ the Man that
" forbeareth to keep the Passover, even
" the same shall be cut off from among
" the people ; — because he brought not
'' the offering of the Lord in his appointed
'' season, that man shall bear his sin."f
And if such were the denunciations ut-
tered against the man who failed in his
observance of the typical ordinance;

* Numbers ix. 11. f Numbers ix. 14.

'-^^1%

21

why should we presume that a greater
degree of hnpunity will be allowed to
those who persist in the voluntary and
habitual transgression of the commemo-
rative institution.

We have then no reason for supposing
that the general neglect of the Sacra-
ment is either a slight or a venial of-
fence. But we will now proceed to con-
sider the general pretext, which assumes
that this offence is free from the guilt of
entailing any evil consequences on so-
ciety. This persuasion is, I am aware,
the chief defence by which you sustain
yourself in the known and wilful violation
of so express an article of christian
duty. Let us then consider this plea.
Now, it is quite certain that the laws of
God are always designed to promote

22

the ultimate good of his creatures ; but,
as we are not always capable of discover-
ing the particular end in view, it is our
duty to confide entirely in his wisdom ;
and, whether we can, or cannot, perceive
the design of the divine institutions, to
follow them with an humble and implicit
obedience. But, in the present instance,
it is very easy to trace, from the benefi-
cial consequences which have followed
the observance of this holy rite, the ob-
ject and end for which it was appointed ;
and it is, therefore, equally easy to point
out the injury to your fellow creatures
which must necessarily accompany your
neglect of it.

In the first place, by the institution of
the Sacrament, there was established a
certain and perpetual evidence of the

23

truth of Christianity. It has been shewn
at large by Leslie, in an argument against
the Deists* which none of that ingenious
sect has ever been able in the slightest de-
gree to shake, that there are four certain
rules, which if they are found to meet
in any matter of fact, it is impossible
that that fact should be false. The rules
are these. 1st, The fact must be such
that men may judge of it by the outward
senses of hearing and of sight. 2dly. It
must be done publicly in the face of the
world. 3dly. Some outward action
must be performed in memory of it ; —
and 4thly. Such actions or observances
must be instituted and commence from
the time that the matter of fact was
done. Now, all these rules meet in the

* Short and Easy Method with the Deida.

24

facts related in the Gospel. They were
miracles of which the senses of any man,
who saw them^ would enable him to
know that they were supernatural. They
were performed publicly in the face of
the world. The Sacraments of Baptism
and the Lord's Supper were celebrated in
perpetual memorial of them; and that,
not in after ages only, but at the very time
the miracles took place. It is not my pur-
pose to give an abstract of the volume in
which this argument in proof of the truth
of Christianity is exhibited at large, and
in a manner which I believe to be wholly
incontrovertible ; but there is a deduc-
tion from the argument which I am
anxious to enforce on your attention : — If
it be a fact, that the uninterrupted observ-
ance of the Sacrament from the days of

25

the Messiah to our own is a certain testi-
mony of the truth of Christianity to us ;
you must perceive of how great impor-
tance it is that this holy rite should be
handed down to our descendants^ and
remain as the certain testimony of the
truth to them : you must perceive that
by abstaining from the Sacrament, you
do, to the utmost of your power, endea-
vour to break the chain of proof; and
that, if your offence were universal, — a
consideration which may teach you to
appreciate the criminality of your omis-
sion,— the most conclusive, the most
immediate, and the most tangible of all
the different kinds of evidence by which
the truth of the gospel history is sup-
ported would be lost to posterity; and
Christianity deprived of one of its

26

strongest bulwarks against the attacks
of its enemies.*

* The history of the tract of Leslie above referred to, may
teach the reader how to estimate the importance and value of
the testimony derived from the existence of the Sacrament. The
anecdote which is given by Jones of Nayland came, through
Dr. Delany, from Capt. Leslie, the son of the Author. " It
was the fortune of Mr. Leslie to be acquainted with the Duke
of Leeds of that time; who observed to him, that although he
was a believer in the Christian religion, he was not satisfied
with the common modes of proving it ; that the argument was
long and complicated, so that some bad neither leisure nor
patience to follow it, and others were not able to comprehend
it; that, as it ivas the nature of all truth to be plain and simple,
if Christianity were a truth, there must he some short way of shew-
ing it to be so : and he wished Mr. Leslie would think of it. — Such
a hint to sxich a man, in the space of three days, produced
the rough draught of ' The Short and Easy Method with the
Deists;' — which he presented to the Duke, who looked it over
and said; ' I thought I was a Christian before, but I am sure
of it now : as I am indebted to you for converting me, I shall
henceforth look on you as my spiritual father.' And he acted
accordingly, for he never came into his company afterwards
without asking his blessing.'' — The Providence of God by the
institution of the Sacrament has afforded the Gospel that short
and easy proof of its truth, which it is the nature of all truth
to have, which the unbeliever might have been justified in de-
manding, but which, now that he is in possession of it, renders
him without excuse in his unbelief. The importance and value
attached to this testimony by the disciples of infidelity may 1}C

27

But the Sacrament is not only an evi-
dence of the truth of the Gospel which
you are bound to maintain^, but it also
serves to convey a most impressive lesson
of Christian doctrine. It inculcates by
emblems the great paramount doctrine
of the Atonement. That mankind are
indebted for their reconciliation with
God to that body which was given for
them, and to that blood which was shed
for their transgressions, is the chief,
essential, indispensable, article of Chris-
tian faith; and it is one, which, even in
the darkest ages, among the most ignorant

perceived in the eagerness they have shown to discover some
false fact, which was accompanied with all the marks laid down
as the infallible signs of truth by Leslie. Dr. Middleton is said
to have enquired for twenty years, with the hope of finding some
instance which might be set in opposition to the evidence of
Christianity afforded by the Sacrament, and, with all his learning,
enquired without success.

28

of Christian nations, has never been lost
sight of. But how was this momentous
truth preserved? Simply, by the univer-
sal and uninterrupted observance of the
Lord's Supper. The bread broken, the
wine poured out, the symbols of the
body and blood of Jesus, were the records
by which ignorant and benighted people
were instructed of the efficacy of his
sacrifice. The regular return of the
Sacrament was not only a festival of re-
ligious gratitude, or a rite of religious
worship, but it was an experimental
lesson of religious instruction. When
every other voice was silent, when the
book of God was concealed in a language
unintelligible to the multitude, and could
only be purchased at a price that placed
it out of the reach of the multitude.

29

the consecrated elements were as the
preachers of the faith. The memorials
of the death of Jesus handed down from
generation to generation, the holy and
mysterious import of his dying. In these
present days of light, it may be conceived
that such aids for the preservation of
the truth are no longer needed; that,
having the Gospel open before us, we may
there read, and learn, and meditate, and
adore; and that the time is come when
we may dispense with all such symbolic
aids to our religion. But, my brethren,
how do we know that our present state
of light and knowledge will continue?
How know we that barbarism and igno-
rance may not again extend itself over
the nations of Christendom? How know
we that the existence of the Holy Sacra-

30

ment may not again become the only
source of instruction^ from which the
unlettered disciple of the Redeemer may
derive his knowledge of the hope that is
in him? How know you^ that your omis-
sion of this observance^ — however slight,
or trivial, or unimportant, it may appear
to some, — may not assist in bringing
about that disuse of the institution,
which may eventually lead to a total
abandonment of the Sacramental table,
and thus prevent the stream of religious
light from reaching those darker times,
which may, possibly, if not highly pro-
bably, await our descendants.

Again, this sacred rite was designed
as a public manifestation of your own
faith in the sacrifice of Jesus. Your
attendance is a public and solemn avowal

31

of your dependance on the atonement of
your Redeemer, and not on your own
merits. By the observance of this rite,
you demonstrate that you rely on the
graces of his Spirit, and not on your own
human strength for the accomplishment
of your salvation; that you are not
merely a Christian by birth and educa-
tion, but that you are a Christian in spirit
and in truth. Now no one, who has the
slightest acquaintance with the principles
of human nature, and observed the ten-
dency of man to yield to the authority
of numbers, rather than undergo the
trouble of enquiring and judging for
himself, will fail to comprehend the
wisdom of such an institution. Mankind
are, as it were, sympathetically convin-
ced by witnessing the conviction of

32

others ; and you are called upon to exhibit
an act of faith in the celebration of the
Lord's Supper^ that those, who are un-
steady and wavering in their belief, may
be convinced by the persuasive influ-
ence of your conviction. This tendency
of human nature, which impels every
man to fly from the doubt and inse-
curity of his own private speculations,
and support his views by precedents
and authorities, is of such universal
operation, that those very unbelievers,
who pretend by the mere force of intel-
lect to have obtained an emancipation
from all popular prejudices, still have
recourse to the same means of confirming
themselves in their opinions. They en-
deavour to persuade themselves that
their sentiments are secretely the senti-

33

of you all; that you are but formalists
in religion, and hypocrites in faith, and
sceptics at the heart; that you attend
the services of religion as Deists, and
not as Christians. Your abstaining from
the Sacrament justifies these suspicions.
It confirms them in their unbelief; for,
how is it possible to suppose, that any man
can be more than an external and nomi-
nal Christian, who, when his Redeemer has
desired him to perform a simple act in
remembrance of him, refuses to declare
his remembrance by the performance of
the act ? In this point of view, then,
your desertion of the communion is inju-
rious to society. You withdraw your
signature from the public declaration of
the truth of the Gospel. You diminish
the weight of authority in its favour.

34

As far as the influence of your example
reaches, you weaken the reverence for re-
velation in the public mind, and with that
reverence the public welfare and happi-
ness must ever rise or fall.

The sin of neglecting the Sacrament
is aggravated by another consideration.
There are spiritual benefits attached to
the pious and worthy observance of this
rite. These benefits are added graces of
the Holy Spirit; the strengthening of
your virtuous resolutions ; the depression
of your violent and unrighteous disposi-
tions.— Now, it is not possible for any of
you to obtain these additions of divine
grace : — you cannot make these ap-
proaches towards the sanctification of
your soul, without benefiting, and that
most materially, the circle of your fellow

35

creatures among whom your life is spent.
The happiness of every man is so imme-
diately dependent on the virtues of those
with whom he is connected^ that your
improvement in virtue is essential to the
happiness of your relatives, your friends,
your neighbours, your superiors, and
your dependants ; consequently, by omit-
ting to avail yourself of the means of
sanctification, which the Almighty has
mercifully placed v^^ithin your reach, you
commit a real and essential injury against
those, whom your spiritual improvement
would have benefited. By neglecting
the Lord's table, you diminish the stock
of national holiness; and of national
happiness, the consequence of national
holiness. You retard the fulfilment of
your own daily prayer, that '' the will of
D 2

36

" God may be done in earth as it is in
" heaven/' by rejecting that divine assist-
ance without which you cannot have
the power of rendering your own per-
sonal share to the sum of universal
obedience.

There is yet one other consideration,
which shows that the guilt of neglecting
this holy institution is aggravated by the
injury which it occasions. Did you not,
each of you individually, add the autho-
rity of your example to the desertion of
the Sacramental table, others would be
ashamed of incurring the guilt of so im-
pious an omission. You make a precedent
to encourage them in their disobedience.
You add to the crowd who throng from our
churches, without completing their reli-
gious duties, on the days appointed for

37

the celebration of the Lord's Supper; and
give countenance to the carelessness and
omission of many who might otherwise
be brought to a consideration of the sin
they are committing, and become habitual
and devout communicants. If the majority
remained to obey the ordinance of their
Saviour, there would be a disgrace and
ignominy attached to the neglect of this
Sacrament. An universal practice of at-
tendance would gradually ensue. All, who
were of age to communicate, would re-
gularly communicate ; and that on every
day of communion.^ And so it ought

* The primitive Christians never assembled together without
the celebration of the Sacrament. In the days of St. Basil, who
commands daily communion, [Epist 219, ad Caesar.] the
Christians constantly communicated^^i'e times a week and on all
Saints days; and it may be seen from one of the Apostolical Ca-
nons, [Can. xi.], that all Christians, who came to the public as-
sembly, and heard the Holy Scriptures, and did not remain to com-

38

to be : man is by nature so imperfect, so
in love with sin, and so averse from good ;
that he cannot unite himself with his
duty by too many ties, or surround him-
self by too many barriers against trans-
gression. The constant attendance at
the Lord's Supper constrains the Chris-
tian to the habit of self examination : — it
brings him, as it were, into the frequent

municate were liable for the future to be excommunicated.* If
then the example of the primitive Christians can be considered as
being of any authority with their descendants, it would appear
that v,e ought to attend the Sacrament on every opportunity
which is oflFered us, and that the neglect of our Lord's command
in this respect cannot, under any ordinary circumstances, be
excused. Where the Sacrament is administered only once a
month, it cannot be reasonably abstained from on the plea of its too
frequent recurrence. It is sometimes urged that the Church of
England never meditated so general an attendance, and that in-
convenience would arise from such a multitude of communicants
on account of the length of time required to distribute the
elements. If such inconvenience should ever happily occur,
it is one for which a remedy might easily be discovered.

* Sec Nclscirs Cltrisliaii Sair[fire.

39

presence of the judgments of his God: —
he sees the day of Sacrament close ])e-
fore him ; and it acts as a warning to him
to abstain from offence. — It adds to the
terror of iniquity. — If he err, it compels
him to speedy repentance. — Evil is pre-
vented from growing into habit. — The
constant, periodical, observance of the
Lord's Supper restores to religion its
natural power over the conscience : It
renders vice an object of present dread:
It renders obedience an object of more
immediate interest : — and, in this respect,
no man can countenance by his example
the general and unrighteous desertion of
the Sacrament, without invalidating the
influence, and impairing the efficacy, of
Christianity itself.

But in Vy hat does this neglect of the

40

Sacrament originate? Does it not arise
from an unhealthy state of the religious af-
fections? May it not generally be traced
either to a want of Christian piety,
or to a want of Christian humility? — You
obey the laws of God in other respects ;
but why are you indifferent to this? —
Other transgressions are avoided, because
there are the penalties of this world to
be dreaded ; but the Sacrament is omitted,
because there is no other punishment to
be apprehended but the distant retribu-
tions of eternity. — In other offences, there
is the reproach of your fellow creatures,
and the censure of public opinion, and
the supercilious eye, and the loss of
favour, and the sarcastic taunt, and the
attaint of character to be encountered; —
but, in this offence, you find impunity in

41

the multitudes of the disobedient, and
the infamy of many resolves itself into
the infamy of none. — In other instances
of obedience, there is the approval of the
world to be obtained; and the desire of
admiration tends to stimulate and sustain
you in the course of duty; in this in-
stance, there is nothing to be acquired,
which possesses any value to the soul
that is defective in religious love; its
fruits have no reference to the things of
this world; they are spiritual graces
only; they consist in the remission of
your sins, — a reconciliation with your
God, — the peace of conscience, — the
communion with your Redeemer, — the
renewing and the strengthening of the
Holy Ghost: and these hallowed things,
according to the perverted views of the

42

worldly understanding, and the corrupted
sentiments of the worldly heart, are cast
aside with indifference as objects that are
undeserving your consideration.

But the neglect of the Sacrament may
also be traced to another source: to a
want of intellectual humility. We are
too conceited of our own abilities and
acquirements to submit ourselves with an
implicit obedience to the revealed will of
our Creator. I knov/ it is not thus that
the man who offends in this respect
would himself speak of his transgression;
nor is this the light in which he is accus-
tomed to regard it. He has other
arguments of evasion; and v/hen is the
heart at a loss for an excuse to defend and
palliate its criminality? With those moral
precepts of the Gospel, which are con-

43

nected with his duty to mankind, and of
which he can perceive the necessity and
the importance, he does not hesitate to
comply; or if he offend, he silently
offends, and admits the justice of the
censure, which the minister of the Gospel
passes on his transgression, without any
attempt at vindication. But it is consi-
dered that these constitute all the essen-
tial duties of a Christian, and that his
attendance at the Lord's Supper may be
omitted with impunity as a mere obser-
vance, as an act of supererogation, and
as a form which may be indifferently
complied with or rejected. — And why?
because you do not perceive the neces-
sity of attending to it. — Now, if this
defence be translated out of the fair
language in which the ingenious so-

44

phistry of the heart so often disguises it,
into its plain and natural form of ex-
pression^ what is the sentiment that it
conveys? It is this: — The Almighty has
given you a law which you will presump-
tuously scan, and measure your own fal-
lible notions of right and wrong. You will
only submit your conduct to the direc-
tion of the Omniscient as far as you can
fathom his design and comprehend his
purpose. You will be the proud and
lofty servant of your God, and only con-
descend to execute his commands when
they correspond with the views of your
own reason or experience. You will be
the disciple of the Gospel, as far as its
instructions coincide with the conclusions
of your own ethics, and fall away, when
its light would guide you to an act of

45

duty, which you do not happen to perceive
the immediate importance of. — But where
is your humility? — How does this temper
harmonize with the docility of the Chris-
tian?— How does it correspond with that
precept of the Lord your God which
directs, that " Ye shall not do, every
" man, whatsoever is right in his own
" eyes, but what thing soever I command
" you, observe to do it; thou shalt not
" add thereto nor diminish therefromr^
We have then, I think, seen, that
abstaining from the Sacrament bears
with it all the properties of sin: —
It is an offence against the law of
God; and the law of God is the only
Christian rule of action: — it is most
eminently injurious in its effects upon
society: — it originates, like every other

* Deut. xii. 8, and 32 verses.

4(5

sin, in an unhealthy and irreligious
state of the mincl and heart: — it bears
with it, therefore, all the properties and
characteristics of a grievous sin ; and we
are justified in considering my first pro-
position as distinctly proved, and may
conclude, that " the Christian, who re-
" fuses to communicate, lives in a state
^' of habitual transgression which is in-
" compatible with the accomplishment
" of his salvation."

SERMON II.

ST. LUKE, 22f/ Chapter, part of \9th Verse.

" This do in remembrance of me."

In my last discourse, I considered the
offence of abstaining from the Lord's
Supper simply as a sin of disobedience.
I, as far as possible, excluded from our
observations all the spiritual relations of
the holy Sacrament; and, regarding the
neglect of it simply as a transgression of
the divine will, endeavoured to demon-
strate, that '' the Christian, who constantly
^^ refuses his attendance at the altar, puts
" his eternal interests in the most immi-
^' nent peril, because he lives in a state of

48

" habitual sin^ Avhich is incompatible with
" the accomplishment of his salvation."

Such was the argument of our last
reflections on this important and sacred
subject. — I shall, to day, request your
attention to the importance and neces-
sity of partaking of the Lord's Supper
on other grounds. — " The Christian who
" refuses to communicate, puts his eter-
" nal interests in peril, because he
" deprives himself of those spiritual aids
" which are indispensable to the accom-
" plishment of his salvation."

This sacred rite was considered by the
divine author of our faith as so essential a
part of his religion, that we find St. Paul
was visited by a particular revelation re-
specting it. He had not been present
when the Sacrament was instituted by our

49

Lord ; but to place him on an equality
with the other Apostles^ and preclude the
existence of any deficiency or imperfec-
tion in the Churches which he might esta-
blish^ the Apostle of the Gentiles was in-
spired with a miraculous knowledge of
the circumstances and nature of this holy
ordinance. In remonstrating with the
Corinthians on their abuse of the Lord's
Supper^ his words are: '^ For I have
'^ received of the Lord, that which I
'^ also delivered unto you;"* and then,
in recapitulating the circumstances of
the intelligence which he had thus
received, not from any one who had
heard it of the Apostles, or from the Apos-
tles who were present, but miracidously

from the Lord himself, he delivers an

* 1 Cor. xi. 23.
E

50

account of the institution of the Sacra-
ment^ corresponding, in all respects, with
those which are delivered in the Gos-
pels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St.
Luke. St. Paul concludes his descrip-
tion with a sentence which declares, that
the duty of assisting at the celebration
of this rite is one of perpetual obligation ;
that it extends to all ages ; and that it
will only cease with the present economy
of the universe, at the second advent of
the Redeemer ; for says the Apostle,
*^ As often as ye eat this bread, and drink
" this cup, ye do shew forth the Lord's
'' death till he come."* The revelation
thus made to the Apostle of the Gentiles
on the subject of the Lord's Supper, I
cannot but consider as the strongest pos-

* 1 Cor. xi. 26.

51

sible proof of the great importance with
which it is regarded by the Divine Author
of our religion ; and, if we examine the
terms in which the sacred rite is men-
tioned in the New Testament, we shall very
readily comprehend the reason for which
so much importance is attached to it.
It there appears that whatever spiritual
privileges are enjoyed by us, as Chris-
tians, are dispensed by means of this
Sacrament. — Do we hope for remission of
sins through the merits of Christ's death?
It is by means of the Sacrament that that
atonement is rendered available to us. —
Do we require the assistance of his spirit
to obtain eternal life? It is by means of
the Sacrament that those graces of the
Holy Ghost are to be obtained.

It is by means of the Sacrament that
E 2

52

the atonement of Christ is rendered avail-
able to us. — The words of our Saviour
in delivering the bread to his disciples
were, " Take eat this is my body ;"* of
the wine he uses a similar expression,
'' Drink ye all of this, this is my Mood
'' of the New Testament which is shed
" for you and for many for the remis-
" sion of sins."f Now to suppose, as
many do, that the bread and wine
undergo a real change at the moment of
consecration, and are actually converted
into the body and blood of the Redeemer,
is to follow the literal meaning of his
words with a timid subjection of the un-
derstanding, which is far more creditable
to the humility, than it is to the judg-
ment of the interpreter. It is demanding

* Matt. xxvi. 26. f Matt. xxvi. 28.

53

of the faith an exertion which is beyond
the powers of faith.— The Christian's faith
may require him to believe in doctrines
that are above the reach of reason ; but it
never requires him, as is the case with
the article of transubstantiation, to re-
ceive anything as fact which his senses de-
monstrate to be false. Besides, to imagine
an actual change of substance in the sacred
elements, appears to attach a materiality
to the institution, which is very incon-
sistent with the strictly spiritual na-
ture of the religion of Jesus Christ. — •
" But, let us," says Hooker, '' give our-
'' selves to meditate what we have by the
" Sacrament, and not to dispute the man-
'' ner how. Such curious and intricate
" speculations do hinder, they abate,
" they quench such inflamed notions of

54

" delight and joy, as divine graces
" are apt to raise when extraordinarily
" they are present. The mind, there-
" fore, feeling present joy, is always
" marvellous unwilling, to admit any
" other cogitation, and in that case cast-
" eth off those disputes whereunto the
" intellectual part, at other times, easily
" draweth."* We will not then presump-

* Hooker, Bookv, c. 67. 1 cannot refrain from transcribing
the following charitable and pious observations of the great
and good Author above quoted with respect to all controversies
on the nature of the Sacrament. " Seeing that we are grown, for
" aught I can see, on all sides, at the length, to a general agree-
" ment concerning that w'hich alone is material, namely, the
" real participation of Christ, and of life in his body and
*' blood, by means of this Sacrament; wherefore should the
" world continue still distracted and rent with so manifold
" contentions, when there remaineth now no controversy, saving
" only about the subject where Christ is ? Yea, even in this
" point no side denieth, but the soul of man is the receptacle
" of Christ's presence.'' — " All things considered, and compared
" with that success which truth hath hitherto had by so bitter
" conflicts with errors on this point, shall I wish that men would
" more give themselves to meditate with silence what we have

55

tuously enquire in what manner the
graces^ communicated by means of the

" by the Sacrament, and less to dispute of the manner how !
" If any men suppose this were too great stupidity and dullness,
" let us see whether the Apostles of our Lord themselves have
" not done the like. It appeareth by many examples, that
" they of their own dispositions were very scrupulous and
" inquisitive, yea, in other cases of less importance, and less
" difficulty, always apt to move questions. How cometh it to
" pass, that so few words of so high a mystery being uttered,
" they receive with gladness the gift of Christ, and make no show
" of doubt or scruple? The reason hereof is not dark to them
** which have any thing at all observed how the powers of the
" mind are wont to stir, when that which we infinitely long for
" presenteth itself above and besides expectation." — " Since we
" all agree, that by the Sacrament Christ doth really and
" truly in us perform his promise, why do we vainly trouble our-
" selves with so fierce contentions, whether by coHsubstantiation,
" or else by fra7isubstantiation, the Sacrament itself be first
" possessed with Christ, or no ? A thing which no way can further
" or hinder us, howsoever it stand, because our participation of
" Christ in this Sacrament dependeth on the co-operation of his
*' omnipotent power which maketh it his body and blood to us ;
" whether with change or without alteration of the element,
" such as they imagine, we need not greatly to care or enquire.
" Take therefore that wherein all agree, and then consider by
" itself what cause there is why the rest in question should not
" rather be left as superfluous, than urged as necessary."

Ecclesiastical Polity, Book 5, c. 67.
If that re-union of all Christian people, which every true

56

Sacrament, are conveyed ; but we will en-
quire what those graces are?— What do the
words of our Lord impart?— To receive the
terms, used in the institution of the rite,
with only such extension of meaning, as
may be warranted by scriptural prece-
dent, what would their fair interpretation
appear to be ? Simply this : — As our
Lord himself was called by John the
Baptist, '' the Lamb that taketh away
'^ the sins of the v^^orld,"* with reference
to the Lamb of the Passover, which was
the anticipative type of the sacrifice of
Jesus ; so the bread and wine, which are
the retrosi^ective symbols of the same

disciple of the Saviour so devoutly longs for, should ever
take place, it must be brought about ou the principle which
Hooker, more than two hundred years ago, laid down : on the
principle of considering essentials, and omitting the considera-
tion of all minor points.

* John i. 29.

57

sacrifice, are denominated by our Lord
his body and blood. In this sense then,
the words are figurative ; but what is
the truth that they express ? — This does
not appear a question of difficult solu-
tion.— As the Israelites, by the sacrifices
of the Mosaic law, received remission of
their sins on account of that future pro-
pitiation of Christy which those sacrifices
prefigured: so the Christian, by obser-
ving the holy institution of the Sacra-
ment, receives remission of his sins, on
account of that past propitiation of
Christ once offered, of which the Sacra-
ment, may be considered as the comme-
morative oblation. The consecrated ele-
ments, though mere bread and wine,
indeed, as received externally by the
communicant, are to his soul, spiritually.

58

and for the remission of his sins^ as the
body and the blood of Jesus Christ.
They are hallowed by the word of our
Saviour^ as the appointed instruments
by which the benefits of the great aton-
ing sacrifice are conveyed to his disciples.
For this interpretation of the words^ in
which this sacred rite was instituted^ we
do not depend on the ingenuity of any
uninspired teacher. It is taken from St.
Paul himself. From one who was super-
naturally instructed of the form, and
nature, and design of the Sacrament.
The Apostle's expressions are, '' The cup
^' of blessing which we bless, is it not
" the communion" (or does it not render
us partakers) '' of the blood of Christ ?
" the bread that we break, is it not the
" communion," (or does it not render us

59

partakers) " of the body of Christ!"* —
And who is there but has daily and
hourly need of flying for refuge from the
penalties of sin, beneath the shelter of the
Cross of Christ? Who is there, that can
stand secure in his own merits, without
feeling any want of that sacrificial propi-
tiation which the devout and sincere com-
municant acknowledges the necessity of,
and accepts with gratitude and reverence,
in the consecrated elements of the Lord's
Supper? — Even the most zealous disciple

* 1 Cor. X. 16. " The ancients held the oblation of the Eu-
" charist to be answerable in some respects to the legal sacrifices.
" They believed that our Saviour ordained the Sacrament of
" the Eucharist, as a rite of prayer and praise to God, instead
" of the manifold and bloody sacrifices of the law : that as the
" legal sacrifices were types and shadows of the great sacrifice
" on the Cross, and had a relation to Christ that was to come, '
" so the Christian sacrifice of bread and wine looks back, and
" has a relation to Christ that was crucified. There was also
" among the Jews an ancient tradition, as has been observed by
" learned men, that in the time of the Messiah, all sacrifices
" should cease but that of bread and wine.''

Nelson's Christian Sacrifice.

60

of our Saviour has many transgressions
to lament. — He may be walking "in the
" strait and narrow path/' but from the
infirmities of nature he will often stumble
there. — He may be " going on into per-
" fection ;" but it is by evidence of his
imperfection, that his progress will be
tracked. — The life of every man must
always, in some degree, be a life of error
and repentance. When the Christian has
no longer any cause to mourn over the
commission of actual sin; he will still
have to lament the neglect of opportu-
nities of virtue: and, as the justice of
God is commensurate with our transgres-
sions; he has opened in the Sacrament
the means of pardon, through the sacri-
fice of Christ, that his mercy may be
equally proportioned to our faith and
our repentance.

Gl

But the graces of the Holy Spirit also
are conveyed to us by means of the Lord's
Su]3per. — It is not only remission of
past sins, that we receive by the devout
observance of this holy rite; but also
strength to assist us in the future
discharge of our duty. It is an esta-
blished and universal article of Chris-
tian faith, that there is a strict, spi-
ritual union between the Saviour and
his Church; that all who are true mem-
bers of his religion are influenced by his
Spirit; that they are, according to our
Lord's beautiful illustration, connected
with him as the branches are with the
vine; that, as long as this holy inter-
course is continued, they '' may bring
" forth fruit;" but that, when severed
from him, "they can do nothing."* This
holy, spiritual union with Christ is

* John XV. 5.

62

begun in Baptism : " we are/' says St.
Paul, " all baptised by one Spirit:"*
but that Spirit, which we received in
baptism, must be continually renewed,
and cherished, and increased by applica-
tion to the means of grace afforded in
the Lord's Supper. The Apostle of the
Gentiles, who tells the Corinthians they
were "^ all baptized by one Spirit;" also
adds " that they have all been made to
" drink into one Spirit:* in which he
evidently refers to the Holy Cup of the
Eucharist. In the same manner, St. John
says, that " Christ cometh by water and
" blood — not by water only, but by water
" and blood :"f which means, — according

* 1 Cor. xii. 13.

\ 1 John V. 6. Our translation renders the words, " This is
" he who came by water and blood 3'' but " Ovtoc iariv 6
" sXQwi'," in the original, naturally bears the sense which I
have given above. — " This is he which cometh by water and
" blood."

63

to the most easy interpretation and
the consistent doctrine of the universal
church, — that the Spirit of Christ is con-
veyed to his disciples, not only by the
water of Baptism, but also by the conse-
crated element, the figurative blood of
Christ, received at the Lord's Supper.
In it the tree of life is restored to us ;
and the fruit is freely offered to our ac-
ceptance by which the soul may be nou-
rished to eternal existence. — '' The grace
*' which we have by the Holy Eucharist,
^' does not begin, but continue life. No
'' man therefore receiveth the Sacrament
'^ before Baptism, because no dead thing
" is capable of nourishment. That which
'^ groweth, must of necessity first live.
'' If our bodies did not daily waste, food
" to restore them, were a thing super-

64

" fluous. And it may be that the grace
" of Baptism would serve to eternal life,
" were it not that the state of our spiri-
'' tual being is daily so much hindered
" and impaired after Baptism. In that
'' life therefore, where neither body nor
" soul can decay, our souls shall as little
" require this Sacrament, as our bodies
" corporal nourishment. But as long as
" the days of our warfare last, during
" the time that we are both subject to
" diminution and capable of augmenta-
'^ tion in grace, they, who by Baptism
" have laid the foundation and attained the
'^ first beginning of a new life, have here
" their nourishment and food prescribed
" for the continuance of life in them."*
And, my brethren, if you really and sin-

* Hooker, Book v, c. 67.

05

cerely tlo design to lead a Christian
life ; that object must be effected by
Christian means.

The life of a Christian is a constant
progress towards perfection; and ha-
bitual communion constitutes the means,
by which the faithful disciple of the
Saviour is enabled to advance upon his
ascending course. Looking to his salva-
tion as the principal concern of his
existence, and anxiously endeavouring
to mould the dispositions of his soul into
a perfect resemblance of the character
of his Redeemer, the true Christian
does not suppose that these import-
ant objects can be accomplished by
a single, sudden, and instantaneous ef-
fort. He knows that they must be
effected by a slow and gradual and

()(>

continued exercise of his powers. —
He regards the returning days of Sacra-
ment as the steps by which he marks
his advancement in holiness of life. He
examines his heart before he approaches
the altar ; and^ discovering its infirmities,
resolves within himself, that, by the as-
sistance of God's spirit, from the present
Communion to the next, no emotion of
envy, no impulse of licentious passion, no
feeling of impatience or irritation, no
movement of desire towards the sin
which may be the predominant in-
firmity of his soul, shall be allowed to
occupy his thoughts or influence his
actions. He determines to struggle with
it. He resolves, that, during the interval
between Communion and Communion,
he will avoid and fly from it. — The recol-
lection of the Sacrament, at which such

()7

a holy resolution was sealed, and the
grace of the Saviour was entreated to
confirm it, remains upon the memory as
an impediment to restrain him from
transgression. — The expectation of the
Sacrament, to which he is advancing,
cheers and animates his endeavours by
presenting to his view the near prospect
of a spiritual victory, to which he is,
day by day, and hour by hour, more
nearly approaching. In the mean time,
his human and corrupt affections are
weakened by resistance. — Their aliment
has been withdrawn ; — they pine and die
away ; — while, on the other hand, the
grace of the Holy Spirit, which he has
received, is cherished and increased :
and, when the succeeding day of Sacra-
ment arrives, he returns to the presence
F 2

68

of his Lord, ^vith the talent doubled
which had been committed to his trust,
and to have that doubled talent again
restored to him ; that it may be again
improved, and again committed to his
charge.

An uncommunicating Christian may
have faith — a cold, historical, theoretical
faith ; but, that he should be making any
advance towards the sanctification of his
soul, is what I never can believe. We can
do nothing but as we maintain our com-
munion with Christ ; and an uncom-
municating Christian is a cleft and
withered branch, severed from that true
vine, " separate from which we can do
" nothing." The grace of Baptism is not
sufficient to sustain us ; unless it be re-
newed by the grace of the Sacrament.

69

The judgment of the last clay appears
too remote to influence the soul ; unless
we anticipate its date, and bring our-
selves into frequent judgment before the
tribunal of our own conscience, by the
self examination and repentance which
attend the Christian to the Communion
Table. The conquest of our evil and
wandering inclinations is too difficult,
too complicated, too gigantic an under-
taking for us ; unless we orderly and
progressively attempt the victory over
the whole body of sin, by constantly
applying to the source of spiritual
strength for the weapons that are proper
for the conflict. It is expressly stated by
our blessed Lord himself, that the sacred
elements of the Lord's Supper, are
hallowed in a most especial manner for

'A

70

this end. We read in St. John's gospel
these strong expressions of our Redeemer
on this point. — '' I am the living bread
" that came down from Heaven : — If any
" man eat of this bread, he shall live for
" ever ; and the bread that I will give,
" is my flesh, which I will give for the
'^ life of the world. — He that eateth my
'* flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth
" in me, and I in him ; as the living Father
'' has sent me, and I live by the Father :
" so he that eateth me, even he shall
•* live by me."* — If then we would ''dwell
*' in Christ," if we would that " Christ
*' should dwell in us," by a real, spiritual
union ; we possess, my brethren, in the
consecrated elements of the Lord's Sup-
per, the certain, the appointed, and the

* St. John, vi. .31, ob, .37.

71

hallowed means, by which our alliance
may be effected with the source of
spiritual holiness, and life, and light.

The Saviour has thus attached the
remissio7i of sins, and the dispensation
of his spirit, to the worthy observance
of the Sacrament, in conformity with
the infirmities of our human nature. —
Conscious that the imagination is a most
powerful agent ; he has thus addressed
it in the cause of religion : knowing that
sensible objects are apt strongly to affect
the mind ; he has sanctified them as the
means of conferring his spiritual graces :
having proved the fallibility of the hu-
man memory, and the liability of man to
forget the greatest benefits, and the se-
verest judgments; he has prescribed
this simple and easy rite to be performed

^m

72

in remembrance of him, that the world
might never lose the recollection of the
iniquity which needed an atonement,
nor of the Saviour by whose death it
was voluntarily and mercifully achieved.
The devout partaking of the Lord's
Supper, is in the Christian an act ex-
pressive of religious love, and religious
faith. Of religious love, solicitous of
improving every possible occasion of
spiritual intercourse, and of obtaining a
more near and immediate communion
with the Saviour ; of religious faith,
relying with humble confidence on the
word of revelation, and seeking salva-
tion by means of those instruments,
through which the Lord of Mercy has
declared himself willing to dispense it ;
and as the many sins of the Magdalene

73

were forgiven because she loved much ;
as that diseased person, who timidly
and silently approached the Saviour,
meditating within herself " If I can
" but touch his garment I shall be
" whole/' was healed, because her faith
had saved her ; so is the act of religious
love and faith performed by the pious
communicant, through the grace of God
and the merits of his Saviour, inseparably
connected with the remission of sins,
and the strengthening and refreshing of
the soul.

Now, that the fruits and advantages
of redemption are thus attached to the
devout participation of the Lord's Supper,
appears perfectly unquestionable, as
long as we receive the intimations of
Scripture in their plain, and clear, and

74

intelligible sense. But here originates
a very important question. Though it
be true^ that the blessings, purchased for
weak and transgressing man by the
redemption of Jesus, are conferred by
means of the consecrated elements, at
the Communion Table; and though these
blessings are indispensable to his salva-
tion, may not these indispensable bles-
sings be conveyed without the use of
the consecrated elements? To entertain
such a supposition is to render the
solemn and holy rite itself void and in-
effectual.— It is presuming, that God has
covenanted to dispense the mercies of
redemption to his creatures in one man-
ner ; but that he, indeed, designs another
mode of distribution. And whence ori-
ginates the question ? — Is it that you

75

find any impediment to receiving the
divine mercy on the terms proposed? —
or is it that you w^ill only deign to be
forgiven, and condescend to be saved,
according to your own devices, and not
according to the counsels of your God? —
But we have scriptural authority for
asserting, that the fruits of the atone-
ment are only to be obtained by the
means prescribed. I am justified in this
assertion by the words of our Saviour
himself, which, however some inter-
preters may endeavour to explain them
away, or divert their purport to other
applications, have no connected or
intelligible sense, but when viewed as
prophetically spoken of the bread and
wine received at the Lord's Supper.
The sentence, to which I refer, is taken

7()

from another part of that passage of St.
John's gospel^ to which I have before al-
luded. It contains the solemn denunciation
of our Saviour against those who abstain
from Communion : — " Verily, verily, I
'' say unto you, except ye eat the flesh
" of the Son of Man, and drink his blood,
" ye have no life in you."* — Such is our
Lord's own definitive sentence. — He de-
clares, that to receive the Sacrament is
indispensable to salvation ; — that not to
receive it is to have no life in you. —
" This, you say, is a hard saying ;
'^ who can hear itrf —So murmured some
of the disciples when the words were first
uttered by our Saviour. — And ye will not
obey. — Even so did many of our Lord's
first converts ; they were so offended

* John vi. 53. f John vi. 60.

77

with these words, that " they went back,"
says St. John, '"'and walked no more with
'' him."*

But, since it is evident, that if we
would obtain the privileges and graces
of the Gospel, we must seek them in
that holy Sacrament which Christ has in-
stituted as the means of communicating
them to us ; why is it, that so many,
who profess and call themselves Christ-
ians, and fully appreciate the blessings
which their profession opens to them,
still refuse, by abstaining from the Sa-
crament, to secure to themselves those
blessings which they so highly value,
v/hich their Redeemer mercifully offers
to them, and w^hich he graciously invites
them to receive. — With a large propor-

* John vi. 66.

78

tion of these, I apprehend, the omission
may be traced to the superstitious alarm
created by a passage in our own Com-
munion Service. The passage to which
I allude is the following : — " For as the
'' benefit is great, if with a true peni-
" tent heart and lively faith we receive
" that holy Sacrament ; (for then we spi-
" ritually eat the flesh of Christ and
" drink his blood ; then we dwell in
'^ Christ and Christ in us ; we are one
'' with Christ and Christ with us :) so is
" the danger great, if we receive the
" same unworthily, for then we are
'^ guilty of the body and blood of Christ
" our Saviour ; we eat and drink our own
^' damnation; not considering the Lord's
" body, we kindle God's wrath against
" us ; we provoke him to plague us with

79

" divers diseases and sundry kinds of
" death." — This passage is paraphrased
from a part of St. Paul's first Epistle to
the Corinthians. It is introduced in the
exhortation at the opening of the Com-
munion Service. It can, of course, have
no other meaning in that place, than
such as may be authorized by the sense
and context of the original ; and, if we
refer to the original to discover what
that meaning is, we shall find that it has
no application whatever to present times
and circumstances. The words in ques-
tion were called forth by an evil practice
which had arisen in a church that the
Apostle had himself planted, and would
most probably never have been written,
if that practice never had prevailed. — In
the early ages of Christianity, it was cus-

80

tomary^ at the celebration of the Sa-
crament to hold a common supper, or
feast of charity, to which each of the
disciples contributed according to his
means. Among the Corinthians this cus-
tom became the cause of great and ag-
gravated sin. We learn from St. Paul's
first Epistle to them, that the harmony
of these feasts was interrupted by
" divisions/'* — that " in eating one took
" his own supper before another" — that
" one was hungry and another drunken"
— that they '' despised the church of
'' God, and put the poor to shame."f In
fact, all the great principles of the Gospel
were violated. The humble were out-
raged by the contumely of the proud ;
the necessitous disregarded by the selfish
and the uncharitable ; the poor insulted

* 1 Cor. xi. 27, 30. f 1 Cor. xi. 19, 22.

81

by the rich ; — the temple of Christ pro-
faned by the excesses of the sensual; —
and these impieties, odious in any Chris-
tian person, at any moment, received addi-
tional enormity from their being practised
at the celebration of that very rite, which
our Saviour had ordained with the design
of uniting his disciples as a band of
brethren, who were equally the children
of one father, and who equally partici-
pated in the same spiritual privileges.

There is no one, I should imagine,
but will allow this to be " eating and
^' drinking unworthily ;" and some may,
perhaps, conceive that such abominable
profanation would not be too severely
punished, even though visited by the
damnation, denounced against it by the
common translation of the passage in

82

question. The Apostle is more lenient.
The word which he uses signifies punish-
ment. In the next verse he proceeds to
inform us what was the nature of the
punishment incurred by those who thus
" eat and drank unworthily." " For this
^^ cause/' he says, " many are weak and
" sickly among you, and many are dead."
— The punishment, then, which St. Paul
speaks of, was not an eternal but an edi^^ihr
\y judgment : and, in a subsequent verse,
he intimates the benevolent reason for
which even this was inflicted, that
"being chastened," that is, being cor-
rected, and so brought to repentance,
" they might not be condemned with the
" world."*
" If then," says St. Chrysostom, " you

* 1 Cor. xi. 32.

83

" approach the Sacrament, do nothing
" unworthy the Sacrament ; neither in-
" suit the humble, nor despise the hun-
** gry, nor be drunken, nor profane the
" Church."^ — These were offences com-
mitted by the Corinthians ; and which
exposed them to the judgments of the
Almighty, as receiving the sacred ele-
Taenia unworthily. — But how is it possible
for you to be guilty of any similar offence?
— How is it possible for you to incur the
peril of a similar punishment ? — It is no
longer in your power, as they did, *' to
" eat and drink your own condemnation."
I cannot imagine in what manner, under
the present wisely regulated and holy
form of administering the Lord's Supper,
any person can " eat and drink iinivor-

* Homily xxvii. on 1 Cor. xi.
G 2

84

" thily" so as to commit the sin, and be
liable to the punishment of the Corin-
thians.

But you will, perhaps, reply, that
though you cannot be unworthy in the
same manner the Corinthians were, yet,
in some other manner, you may be
equally unworthy : — Undoubtedly you
may ; but, remember, this is entering up-
on an entirely new ground. The Apostle
utters no intimation whatever with re-
gard to your being worthy, or unworthy
to receive the Sacrament ; he speaks only
of the manner in which the Sacrament is
received. — Now, between these two
things, there is the greatest possible
difference : — Every man, who has sinned,
has rendered himself unworthy of those
blessings of pardon and support, which

85

God has, in his infinite mercy, proposed
to him in the Eucharist : but still, sin-
ner as he is, he may receive these bless-
ings worthily; he receives them wor-
thily, if he receive them with faith, with
penitence, with gratitude, and with a
sincere and earnest purpose of reforma-
tion.— In fact, if we consider the subject
justly, our being unworthy is the very
reason of the institution of the Sacra-
ment ; if we had been worthy, we should
neither have required this nor any other
means of obtaining the remission of
sins, the forgiveness of God, and the
increase of our spiritual strength.

Who, then, are the persons that
ought to attend at the altar, and avail
themselves of the privileges which the
Almighty has thus mercifully vouch-

86

safed his creatures ? — And here, address-
ing myself to the most guilty part of my
congregation, I would answer, that even
in their case, I would not venture to incur
the awful responsibility of admonishing
them to remain away. — Your conscience
tells you, perhaps, that you are living in
a state of vice incompatible with the
precepts of your religion ; and you will
not endeavour to loosen from the heart
the closely rivetted fetters of your pre-
vailing sin, and attend,with faith and peni-
tence and sincere resolutions of amend-
ment, to fulfil the solemn command of
your Redeemer. You have gains to make
that are not to be sought in the direct
road of integrity; and you must secure
the wages of your iniquity, before you
can conscientiously entertain commu-

87

nion with the God of Righteousness.
You have negociations to complete,
that involve you in the many labyrinths
of artifice and deceit and cunning; and
you will not fly from the wiles of false-
hood, that you may conscientiously enter-
tain communion with the God of Truth.
You are still cherishing in the breast
the malignity against your neighbour,
which is born of envy or of revenge, of
jealousy or of pride; and you will not
cast out Satan, that you may conscien-
tiously entertain communion with the
God of Peace. You are still deeply
enamoured of the world, its pomps, its
vanities, its vrealth, its pleasures, and
its parade ; and you will not relinquish the
pursuit of the unhallowed treasures of the
earth, that you may conscientiously enter-

88

tain communion with the God of Heaven.
You are dishonoured and depraved by
inclinations wandering from your homes ;
abandoning the soul to the pollution of
that deadly sin, which peoples our peni-
tentiaries with female victims, you are
wholly engrossed in a course of licen-
tious crimes that threatens to end
in your destruction ; and you will not
separate yourself from the objects of
your forbidden attachment, that you may
conscientiously entertain communion
with the God of Purity. You are
living in habits of sin ; and you de-
termine to continue in those habits.
You confess yourself unfit to enter into
communion with your Lord and Saviour ;
and, as a point of conscience, you would
abstain from celebrating the rite which

89

your Redeemer has himself appointed,
as the solemn commemoration of his
death, and as the means of imparting to
his disciples the benefits of his dying. You
appeal, perhaps, to the minister of reli-
gion to advise you in this difficulty. — The
Gospel affords him no instructions on
the subject.-~The custom of the primitive
Church, as a disgrace, and as a punish-
ment, excluded from all communion
such presumptuous offenders as you state
yourself to be : but the Gospel reveals
to us no instructions on this subject.
We only know from it, that your spiritual
state is not a state of grace ; that if you
were to die in that state, you would
inevitably be lost for ever ; and doubt-
less, if, in that state, you were to at-
tend the Sacrament, you would profane

90

the Table and increase your condemna-
tion. But, remember, your refusing the
Sacrament is no means of impunity ;
if you desert the Table, what is the
advantage to you? — Your state is the
same ; you add another crime to the
catalogue of your offences, and by the
omission increase your condemnation.
All we know is, that God will punish sin :
which sin is liable to the severest punish-
ment, the unworthy reception, or the
voluntary reception of the Lord's Supper,
I know not, neither have I any interest
in inquiring: it is no part of my mi-
nistry to appoint the inflictions of the
condemned; neither did I ever know,
that it was any part of a Christian's duty
to compare the guilt of different crimes,
and curiously balance between them, so

91

as to secure to himself the lighter degrees
of punishment in Hell ; but I had always
imagined, on the contrary, that he was
constrained by the very principles of
his profession, to abhor every species of
offence, and to strive to be ''perfect as
" his Heavenly Fatliei^ is perfect',' with
the hope of attaining the highest emi-
nences of felicity in Heaven. The Sacra-
ment is a means of grace; and sin is
indisputably rendered more enormous
in proportion to the talents which are
given to us in vain; but, if this be a reason
for refusing to communicate ; it should
also be a reason for refusing to attend your
church, for neglecting the study of the
Holy Scriptures, for omitting your morn-
ing prayer, and for ceasing from your
evening thanksgiving. All these are

92

means of grace; and, if abused, they
tend to aggravate the guilt and enormity
of the sinner's transgression. But, if you
reject all these merciful aids to your
salvation, will you obtain a liberty of
conscience, and a privilege of sinning
with impunity? — no, far otherwise; you
change indeed the character of your
offence ; but the danger to your salvation
remains the same. — You are no longer
disobedient, but apostate. — You involve
yourself in the condemnation of the
children of Israel : and are guilty ^' of
'' blinding your eyes, and of making
" hard your hearts, lest you shoud see
" with your eyes, and understand with
'' your hearts, and be converted and live."
Whether, if you are resolved to perse-
vere in voluntary sin, you ought, or

93

ought not, to unite with the more
devout and pious disciples of the Saviour
in attending the Lord's Supper at the
appointed days of Communion, I know
not. It is a choice between such tremen-
dous and appalling evils, that I dare not
venture to determine for you. If you
consider Archbishop Tillotson's autho-
rity of any weight, his words upon the
subject are these : '' He that abstaineth
" from the Sacrament, from fear of un-
'' worthy communion, placeth himself
" in a desperate state, and does certainly
" damn himself to avoid the danger of
" damnation."

But there is a class of my congre-
gation with regard to whom I have no
hesitation in speaking wdth confidence
and decision. You are unworthy — you

94

say — conscious of offence — desirous of
improvement; but, as yet, have found
yourselves too weak to contend success-
fully with the powers of darkness, and
incapable of casting off the fetters of the
sins that hold you. — If this be your
spiritual condition: — If you have only
touched upon the first limits of conver-
sion:— If there be but this germ of grace
opening in the soul: — If you have but
now begun to find your offences burthen-
some ; and to feel a sorrow for your past
transgressions^ and a desire of reform,
where would you fly for refuge but to the
Cross of Christ? — It was for you that the
bodv of Jesus was bruised; it was for
you that his blood was shed. — Why, my
brethren, there has been a sad misap-
prehension here. — You are not unworthy

95

— You are worthy communicants. — The
invitation that summons the congrega-
tion to the Sacrament^ more particu-
larly addresses itself to you. — You are
sinking beneath the oppression of your
oifences; and is it not those '' that
" travail and are heavy laden" whom
your Redeemer solicits to come unto
him? — You are desirous of forgiveness ;
and where is it to be obtained but by
the atonement and mediation of the
Messiah? — You are anxious to possess
yourself of strength to emancipate the
soul from the passions that enslave
it; and to what aids shall man, in his
weakness, have recourse, but to those
invigorating influences of the Holy Spirit
which are given by Jesus Christ; and

which are sufficient for us; and which
the sacred elements of bread and wine
are the appointed instruments of dispen-
sing to his disciples.

My brethren, I have been thus earnest
in attempting to point out to you the
necessity of attending the Sacrament,
because, as I firmly believe, and as I
hope some of you may be convinced,
the crime of omitting it must inevitably
class you among the many who will be
rejected, rather than among the "few
" who will be chosen." — The omission
is, as we have seen, living in a state of
habitual sin, incompatible with the ac-
complishment of our salvation. — It is
refusing those spiritual graces which
are indispensable to the accomplishment
of our salvation.

97

I conclude in the words of Bishop
Taylor; " All Christian people must
" come; they indeed, that are in the
*' state of sin, must not come so, but
" yet they must come; first they must
"quit their state of death, and then
" partake of the bread of life. They
" that are at enmity with their neigh-
" hours, must come, that is no excuse
" for their not coming; only they must
" not bring their enmity along with
" them, but leave it, and then come.
" They that have variety of secular
" employment must come, only they
'' must leave their secular thoughts and
" affections behind them, and then come,
" and converse with God. If any man
'* be well grown in grace, he must needs
" come, because he is excellently dis-

H

08

*' posed to so holy a feast; but he that
" is in the infancy of piety, had need to
" come, that so he may grow in grace.
" The strong must come, lest they
" become weak; and the weak, that
" they may become strong. The sick
" must come to be cured, the healthful
" to be preserved. They that have lei-
" sure must come, because they have
" no excuse; they that have no leisure,
" must come hither, that by so excellent
'' religion they may sanctify their busi-
" ness. — The penitent sinners must come,
*' that they may be justified; and they
" that are justified, that they may be
"' justified still. — They that have fears,
" and great reverence of these mysteries,
" and think no preparation to be suffi-
" cient, must receive, that they may learn

;)9

" how to receive the more worthily;
" and they that have a less degree of
" reverence, must come often, to have it
" heightened : that as those creatures
" that live amongst the snows of the
" mountains, turn white from their food
" and conversation with such perpetual
" whitenesses; so our souls may be
" transformed into the similitude and
" union with Christ by our perpetual
" feeding on him, and conversation, not
" only in his courts, but in his very
" heart, and most secret affections, and
*' incomparable purities."*

Taylor's Works, 8vo. edit. vol. iv. p. 274.
H 2

SERMON III.

TITUS 2>d Chapter, part of 6th Verse.

"According to his mercy he saved us by the washing of
" regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."

In conformity with the suggestion of
my text and other passages of Scripture,*
the Church of England maintains, that
that effect upon the soul, which is called
" being born of God," or '' being born
" again," or " being regenerate," is the
covenanted grace of the Sacrament of
Baptism. In unison with these view^s,
the minister of religion, when the infant
is presented at the font, first prays
to the Almighty to '' wash and sanctify

* St. John, iii. 3, 7:— 1 Pet. ii. 23.— 1 Cor. xii. 13.—
Acts ii. 28.

102

" the child with the Holy Ghost, and
" to give his Holy Spirit to him, that
" he may be born again;" and then having
baptised him with water, according to
the institution of Jesus Christ, " in the
'^ name of the Father, and the Son, and
" the Holy Ghost," authoritatively pro-
nounces, that the blessing which he had
prayed for has been conferred, and calls
on the congregation to unite with him
in thanksgiving to Almighty God ; " be-
" cause he had been pleased to regene-
" rate the infant with his Holy Spirit."
— By these citations from the form ap-
pointed by our Church, we are plainly
taught, that the learned and pious men,
to whose care the composition of our
sacramental offices was entrusted, had
no notion that any separation or distinc-

103

tion could be imagined between the
rite of Baptism, and the grace of regene-
ration. In their minds they were one
and the same thing. It is manifest,
that they conceived them to be, as our
catechism teaches, the two parts of one
Sacrament, of which water was the
outward visible sign, and regeneration
the inward spiritual grace. If any other
doctrine be taught respecting this Sacra-
ment; if any attempt be made, to sup-
pose a division between baptism and
the grace that hallows it ; if the outward
sign be desecrated, and the rite degraded
into a mere idle ceremony, by instruct-
ing men to look for an after regeneration,
distinct and separate from that which
Baptism is supposed to confer; it, at all
events, is evident^ that such lessons are

104

opposite to the views entertained by the
authors of our Church offices, and con-
tradictory to the hopes, with which w^e
were admitted among the disciples of
the religion of Christ. From what quar-
ter such derogatory tenets may be pro-
mulgated is, my brethren, very immaterial
to us; but it is most material for us to
ascertain, that our church is right in its
views; that its opponents are in error;
that our religious confidence is well
founded; and that the Sacrament of
Baptism really is, as my text affirms,
" the washing of regeneration and
" renewing of the Holy Ghost." It is
most material for us to be assured, that
the Priest, who by his holy office and
ministry dedicated us to Christ at the
font, did not ineiFectually offer up his

105

prayers for a blessing which had no
connection with the ceremony, nor return
an empty thanksgiving to God for a
grace which had never been communi-
cated. As baptised persons, and as
members of the Church of England, it
is most material for us to know, that
the first, essential Sacrament of our
religion is not a vain observance, and
an empty formality; that it really has
conveyed to us, that new hirtli which is
indispensable to salvation, and that they,
who, at the present day, would disjoin
the rite from its spiritual effects, are
blindly attempting to put asunder what
God had inseparably joined.

To convince you on this point will be
the object of my present discourse.
In considering the subject, I shall, ^r*/.

10(>

explain the nature of baptismal regene-
ration:— I shall, secondly, produce the
evidences in proof of baptismal regene-
ration;— I shall, thirdly, require your at-
tention to some reflections that naturally
arise out of the proof of the doctrine.

And, first, of the nature of Baptismal
Regeneration. — What the Church of
England inculcates in her Articles and
expresses in her Baptismal Service on the
subject of that new birth or regeneration
which we receive at the font, is simply
this : — As the child, at his first or natural
birth, is endowed with the principle of
animal life, so it is maintained, that, in his
second birth, he is infused, by the grace
of the Holy Spirit, with a principle of
spiritual life. At his first birth, the child
receives those faculties of body and

107

mind, which, if properly fostered and
cultivated, will enable him to provide
for the exigencies of his mortal existence
upon earth. At his second birth, he re-
ceives that portion of the Holy Spirit
^^ which by nature he cannot have;"*
and which, if cherished and improved
by those religious means that the Al-
mighty has appointed, — such as prayer,
the study of the Word of God, obedience
to the Divine commandments, and atten-
tion to the ordinances and sacraments
of religion, — will enable him " to work
'' out his salvation," and attain a state of
everlasting happiness in heaven. Rege-
neration, according to our acceptation
of the Word, is the beginning of our spi-
ritual life ; it is the first receiving that

* Exordium to the Baptismal Service.

108

Spirit of Christ, which, according to St.
Paul, is resident ''in every disciple except
'' he be reprobate,"* and which it is the
Christian's duty to increase and foster. —
Such is the sense in which the term was
invariably received by the whole Christ-
ian Church, for sixteen hundred years ;
and, if we were only to refer to the plain
and natural signification of the word as
the test to prove the truth of our opi-
nions, we might, from that test alone,
conclude that our opinion was correct.
The term 7'e generation, or new hirth,
must necessarily imply, the commence-
ment of a new state ; and if any expositor
should represent it as meaning anything
more than this, he may very reasonably
be suspected of an error in theology ;

* 2 Cor. xiii. o.

100

for he is certainly guilty of a solecism
in language.

Now, this regeneration — this new birth
— this first grace of the Holy Spirit, we
maintain to be really and inseparably
connected with the Sacrament of Bap-
tism. This Sacrament '''doth challenge
" to itself the inchoation of those graces,
"the consummation whereof dependeth
" on mysteries ensuing. We receive
" Jesus Christ in Baptism once, as the
" first beginner ; in the Eucharist often,
" as being by continual degrees, the fi-
" nisher of our life."*

Having thus briefly explained the na-
ture of Baptismal Regeneration, I now
proceed, secondly, to shew the evidences
on which our view of it is maintained.

* HOOKEK, E<rl. Polity, Book v. cli. 57.

no

And here I must first premise, that
the inseparable connection which sub-
sists between the Sacrament of Baptism
and the grace of regeneration, was in-
sisted on by every writer of every age
and every nation of Christendom, till
long after the Reformation. — But it is
not to the authority of a tradition, how-
ever uniform and venerable, or of
Fathers of the Church, however learned
and pious, that we are willing to submit
our faith on so important an article of
religion. We have recourse to the
only pure and certain source of informa-
tion. We apply to the Word of Christ
and to the writings of his Evangelists.
We consent to be directed by no inferior
testimony. And, here, it does appear
to me perfectly impossible for any man.

Ill

whose mind is not prejudiced by system,
or perverted by the dreams and specula-
tions of a minute philosophy, to resist
upon this subject the powerful, the con-
clusive, and the wisely guarded evidence
of Scripture. — " Verily, verily, I say
" unto you," said our Lord to Nicode-
mus, " except a man be born again of
" water and of the Spirit, he cannot
" enter into the kingdom of God : "* and
anticipating the false doctrine of those,
who in the new birth of Baptism would
separate between the element and the
grace, — the water which is the sign, and
the accompanying spirit which that wa-
ter signifies, — the wisdom of Providence
has so arranged the circumstances under
which the Sacrament was instituted, as

* John iii. 5.

112

to afford an historical demonstration of
their holy, and inviolable union ; and we
receive, at the same time, the announce-
ment of the truth, and the argument for
the refutation of error.

Previously to the commencement of
our Saviour's ministry, we read in the
gospel, that St. John appeared, ^"^bap-
" tizing with water unto repentance."*
This was a baptism which was not a
Sacrament. It was a simple form, and
innocent ceremony, required as expres-
sive of the change, which had taken
place in the mind of the penitent, but was
hallowed by no holy influence from
above. The Baptism of John was pre-
cisely such, as some teachers would
represent our present Christian Bap-

* Matthew iii. 5.

113

tism to be. But^ as if this observance
had only been practised among the dis-
ciples of John, for the sake of magnify-
ing the Baptism of the Saviour ; as if it
had been only instituted for the sake of
drawing a distinct line between any or-
dinary symbol of purification, and the
rite which Jesus w^as subsequently to
appoint ; as if it had been only adopted
for the sake of shewing by a fair exam-
ple and a striking comparison, the dif-
ference between a mere outward cere-
mony, and the Christian Sacrament of
regeneration ; we find the forerunner of
our Saviour undervaluing his own minis-
try, speaking slightingly of his own ordi-
nance, and declaring that he " indeed
" baptized with water to repentance, but
" that the mightier one who came after
I

114

" him, should baptize with the Holy
" Ghost."* The Baptism of Jesus then
was, according to the clear statement of
St. John, to be accompanied with the
Holy Ghost. And here again, my bre-
thren, it is most worthy of admiration,
to observe the precautions adopted by
the wisdom of Providence to obviate the
possibility of any misapprehension on
this important subject, in the minds of
those, who are willing to receive the
intimations of Scripture with humility,
according to their plain and natural
signification. Jesus was " to baptize
" with the Holy Ghost." Now had Jesus
himself baptised, it might have been
supposed, that the grace accompanying
the rite was not inherent in the Sacra-

* Matt. iii. 11.

115

ment, but emanating from the holiness
of the individual by whom it was ad-
ministered. The spiritual benefit might,
in that case, have been considered as a
mere temporary effect of the ceremony,
and limited to those whom Jesus had
himself admitted as members of his
Church : but to guard against every
chance of such a misconstruction, our
Lord indeed instituted a Baptism. He
directed his apostles " to go and teach"
(or make disciples among) '' all nations,
'^ baptising them in the name of the Fa-
" ther,andthe Son, and the Holy Ghost."*
But we are expressly told by the apos-
tles, that '^ Jesus himself baptised not,
" but his disciples."f It was, then, con-
cerning the Baptism which our Saviour

* Matt, xxviii. 19. f Johniv. 2.

I 2

116

instituted, and which he commanded his
apostles to exercise among all nations,
that John the Baptist spoke, when he
said that the '' mightier who came after
" him, should baptize with the Holy
" Ghost." In this light the Sacrament
w^as viewed and set forth by the apos-
tles. '^ Repent and be baptized in the
" name of Christ," said St. Peter to the
converts on the day of pentecost, " and
*^ ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
" Ghost."* In the same manner we find
St. Paul declaring that "as many as
" have been baptised unto Christ, have
'' put on Christ,"f and that " by one Spi-
" rit we are all baptised mio one body." J
All Christians are indiscriminately told
" that " they are the temple of the living

* Acts ii. 38. f Oal.iii. 27. + 1 Cor. xii. 13.

117

" God."* And in what manner were all
the disciples of Christ thus universally
sanctified by his Spirit, but by their par-
ticipating in the common rite of Bap-
tism, in that holy Sacrament, which
" saves by the washings of regeneration,
" and the renewing of the Holy Ghost?"
Among all the passages relating to
Christian Baptism, which are met with
in the New Testament, it would be dif-
ficult to find one which does not contain
some allusion to the spiritual grace that
accompanies and hallows the observance.
But there is a passage in the Acts of the
Apostles which may serve to shew, more
convincingly, perhaps, than almost any
other, the inseparable connection which
the first teachers of our religion con-

* 2 Cor. vi. 16.

118

ceived to subsist between the outward
sign and the inward grace of Baptism.
When St. Paul was preaching at Ephe-
sus, he met there certain converts to
the faith.* In the course of his conver-
sation with them, he enquires, '' whether
" they had received the Holy Ghost?"
Their answer is : '' We have not so
" much as heard whether there be any
" Holy Ghost." Astonished at this reply
from persons whom he supposed to be
disciples of Jesus, and, as such, admitted
by the appointed rite of initiation to
the privileges of the Christian Church,
he demands, " Unto what then were ye
" baptized?" evidently implying by the
question, that all who were baptized,
according to the form prescribed by our

* Acts xix. 1—7.

119

Redeemer, " unto the Father, the Son,
" and the Holy Ghost," received with
their Baptism the inward illuminations of
the Spirit. The converts answer that
they had only been admitted "unto
*' John's Baptism." On hearing this, the
surprise of the apostle ceases : he at once
comprehends the reason of their unre-
generate state ; and he proceeds to in-
struct them of the difference subsisting
between the two forms of Baptism.
" Then," said St. Paul, " John verily
" baptized with the Baptism of repent-
" ance, saying unto the people, that they
'^ should believe on him which should
" come after him, that is, in Christ
'' Jesus." The Ephesian converts no
sooner *' heard this, than they were bap-
" tized in the name of the Lord Jesus ;

120

" and when Paul laid his hands upon
" them, the Holy Ghost came on them."
But, indeed, the very words which our
Saviour has appointed to be used con-
tain a proof and an assurance, that the
gift of the Spirit, which constitutes re-
generation, is the covenanted and in-
separable grace of Baptism. We are
" baptized in the name of the Father, the
" Son, and the Holy Ghost ;" of the Fa-
ther, whose forgiveness is sealed to us
in that Sacrament ; of the Son, by whose
sacrifice, and for whose merits that for-
giveness is granted ; of the Holy Ghost,
by whom we are sanctified : but unless
that sanctification is a real, and invariable
part of the Sacrament, the name of the
Holy Ghost is taken in vain ; and, with
whatever reason the two first persons of
the Blessed Trinity are named in the

121

celebration of it, the third title is intro-
duced as an empty form, and as a vain
expletive, which has no proper, or im-
mediate, or necessary connection with
the rite.

It appears then, not only from the
clear declaration of Scripture but from
the examples of Scripture History, that
that gift of the Holy Ghost, which con-
stitutes regeneration, is, wherever Bap-
tism is rightly administered and received,
the covenanted, the promised and the
inseparable grace that accompanies the
rite.*

* The primitive Christians considered all persons who were
regularly baptised, as regenerated, because they were admitted
into the visible Church or kingdom of God, and therefore to be
looked upon as justified persons, who had received the Spirit
at the same time. St. Augustine, speaking of Simon Magus,
says, " Simon ille Magus "natus erat ex aqua et spiritu,"
" though," adds [Bishop Gleig, ^'probably at the time of his
" Baptism, and certainly soon after it, he was in the gall of
" bitterness and bond of iniquity."

122

There are persons who cannot trust the
letter of revelation, when it ascribes so
great a benefit to so simple a rite. They
will not believe, that the sprinkling of a
little water on the infant, can be ef-
fectual, through the mercy of his God
and his Redeemer, for conferring the
grace of the Holy Spirit to his soul.
Like Naaman, the Syrian, they cannot
believe that the moral leprosy can thus
be cleansed. " Had the Lord commanded
" them to do some great thing, they surely
" would have done it ;" but they pause,
— they hesitate, — they doubt of the ef-
ficacy of the ordinance, when it is heard,
that nothing more is required of them,
than to be baptized and be clean. I
grant that this is a mystery — a high and
important mystery — a mystery of mercy.

But, my brethren, the Almighty never
requires his creatures to grant their con-
sent to any point of religion so dark, but
so momentous in its nature, as that of
Baptismal Regeneration, without af-
fording the most satisfactory evidence
in support and corroboration of his word.
Whenever the Saviour has demanded
our belief to any article of faith, which
was beyond the scope and investigation
of our reason, he has always accompanied
his instruction with some miraculous
evidence which might afford a sensible
proof of the truth of his instruction. It
was, for instance, in his power to remit
the sins of the penitent ; but what argu-
ment did he use to persuade mankind of
the existence of his authority in this
respect, and induce them to rely on him

124

for their reception into a state of grace ?
He healed the sick in the presence of the
multitude. He performed a superna-
tural cure on a disease of the body^
in which the spectators could witness
the previous malady and the subsequent
deliverance ; that they might believe in
the reality of his power to heal those dis-
eases of the soul^ where both the malady
and the deliverance were beyond the
reach of their observation.* Again,
when he required our consent to the
great gospel doctrine of the resurrec-
tion of the body from the dead : he was
not satisfied with merely revealing to us
the truth and demanding our belief of it
on the unsupported assertion of his word;
but he confirmed the lesson by arising

* Matt. ix. 2 — 8.

1-25

himself from tlie grave, " as the first
" fruits of them that slept;" he certified
the fact by the testimony of many credi-
ble and disinterested witnesses; and he
has thus addressed to us the mystery
of the resurrection, not as a mere specu-
lative doctrine of theology, but as an
incident of certain and authentic history.
In all things the Lord is desirous, " that
" we should be able to give a reason for
" the faith which is in us :" and as, in
the points which I have mentioned, he
has granted miraculous testimony to
confirm the article of faith demanded;
so has he also mercifully granted the
same testimony to secure our faith in
the article of baptismal regeneration.
In the first ages of the Church, as we
read in the Acts of the Apostles, the

126

miraculous graces of the Holy Spirit,
such as the "gift of tongues/' or the
" faculty of prophesy," or " the working
" of miracles," were not unfrequently
received by the converts on their admis-
sion to this sacred rite, not indeed as the
special and appointed grace of the Sacra-
ment, but as the outward sign, that the
grace which is special and appointed
was conferred. Even in primitive times,
these extraordinary graces were not the
constant accompaniments of Baptism ; as
we do not find that they were bestowed
on any of the three thousand converts
who were admitted into the Church, after
the preaching of St. Peter on the day of
Pentecost. They appear to have been given
so frequently as to afford all classes of
Christians a certain miraculous demon-

127

tration that " the renewing of the Holy
Ghost" was, indeed, the grace of Baptism ;
though they were so frequently withheld,
as to instruct them that such supernatu-
ral gifts were not to be expected as the
ordinary and covenanted graces of the
Sacrament. '' Jesus Christ" says St.
John, '' Cometh by water and blood ; not
" by water only but by water and blood :
" and it is the spirit that beareth
" witness, because the spirit is truth."*
That is, the Spirit of Jesus Christ is
received by his disciples in the holy sacra-
ments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper
which he has established ; and that Spirit,
*' which is truth" itself, and whose
testimony cannot be questioned, '^ bears
'^ witness" in miraculous effects to the
reality of his being thus received. " All

* 1 John V. 6.

128

'' men" according to St. Chrysostom,
" who believed and were baptised, were
" sanctified by the Holy Ghost; hut since
" this gift was invisible, a sensible jiroof
'' was given of its power , and men either
" spake with tongues, or prophesied, or
*' wrought miracles."* This conspicu-
ous testimony is now withdrawn ; it re-
mained only with the apostles and their
immediate disciples : it continued long
enough to convince mankind of the
high, spiritual importance of the Sacra-
ments ; and it gradually ceased after that
conviction vv^as fully established in the
Church. But the past existence of those
miraculous graces among the elder bre-
thren of the faith ought to satisfy us,
as well as it satisfied them, of the ex-

* See Bloomfield's Crit. Dig. vol. vi. p. 552.

129

istence of those ordinary graces in the
Sacraments, in proof of which, the mira-
culous graces were originally superadded
as the certain, external signs.

Before we leave this part of our reflec-
tions ; in which I trust it has been made
sufficiently clear by scriptural authority,
and example, that the illumination of
the Holy Ghost is the appointed grace
of Baptism; I must say one word re-
specting the Baptism of Infants. That
they are fit recipients of the benefits of
this Sacrament, appears from these con-
siderations. It is certain that our Saviour
never limited his command to the Apos-
tles to any particular age, or class of
persons. In obedience to his command
we read, that the Apostles baptized whole
households and families; and it is no

130

where said, that the infants of those
families were excepted. We know, that
in the age, immediately subsequent to
that of the Apostles, and when their prac-
tice and authority were still remembered
in the Church, infants were universally
baptized. If it had been designed by
our Lord, that infants should be excluded
from the benefits and privileges of the
ordinance ; he v/ould necessarily have
intimated his intention : for as the Sacra-
ment was intended to correspond with
and supersede the rite of circumcision,
which was always performed on infants
at the eighth day ; and as it was adopted
from the Jewish custom of baptizing
heathen proselytes, according to which,
whenever the parents conformed to the
religion of Moses, the children, however

131

young, were baptized and admitted as
proselytes with the parents; unless the
Apostles had received some express
prohibition to the contrary, they would
have been directed by a venerable cus-
tom, by their early sentiments, by their
national prepossessions, and by all they
had seen and heard from previously
established institutions, to admit infants
with their converted parents to the
Christian Baptism. And that the chil-
dren of Christan parents are M recipients
of the Sacrament, requires to my mind,
no further proof, than the words of St.
Peter in a passage to which I have
before alluded. In addressing the mul-
titude on the day of his first Sermon,
he calls on them to be baptized that
they may '' receive the Holy Ghost ;"
K 2

132

of which, he affirms, " the promise is to
" them and to their children :"* and there-
fore for a Christian parent to withhold
his infant from the Sacrament of Bap-
tism, is withholding him from that source
of spiritual strength, w^hich the Almighty
has mercifully appointed for his salva-
tion, and graciously promised to vouch-
safe.

I must lastly require your attention
to some reflections which naturally arise
from the proof of the doctrine of Baptis-
mal Regeneration.

And, first, we may observe the consist-
ency which exists between the mode
adopted by the Almighty in communi-
cating the graces of the Holy Spirit to
the soul, and the ordinary courses of

* Acts ii. 33, 39.

133

his providence. In the external and
sensible operations of the Creator, we
perceive the slight beginning, the gra-
dual development, the progressive in-
crease, and the slow and orderly attain-
ment of maturity. The dawn breaks upon
the darkness; the light flows onward
from its source; and the day-spring, by
slow and regular degrees, kindles into
the glowing effulgence of the noon. The
seed is committed to the earth; it takes
root in the richness of the soil; it is
fostered by the genial influences of air
and sun and shower; and by steady
but imperceptible growth, the plant
advances to the perfection of its height
and strength and beauty. The admira-
ble endowments of our intellectual na-
ture at first lie hidden in the obscurity

134

of the infant soul; but clay by day, and
hour by hour, according to a regular
and appointed law of Providence, their
energies are evolved ; their powers are
matured ; and they become complete in
the ability to plan, and in the vigour
to achieve. And in the same manner,—
as if the Creator had determined that
no discrepancy, no irregularity, no dis-
proportion should be perceptible in the
issues of his counsels, — we are taught
that the Almighty has determined to
dispense the aids and illuminations of
the Holy Spirit to the soul, in strict
analogy with all the other efforts of his
wisdom and his power. He has pre-
scribed to the progress of our sanctifi-
cation the same laws, which he has
prescribed for the progress of our human

135

faculties. The gift of the Holy Spirit
is inspired in infancy, as another power
of our being. It is granted, as an energy
superadded to the common properties
of fallen and corrupted human nature.
With the waters of our Baptism, the
grace of regeneration^ the seed of the
Holy Ghost, the principle of a higher
existence is committed to the soul; it
grows up with us as an innate impres-
sion of our being; it is " as the wind
'' of heaven, blowing where it listeth,
" and we hear the sound thereof, but
" we know not whence it cometh;" it
is as an inward light, demonstrating to
us the beauty of virtue, and the de-
formity of vice; it is as an emphatic
counsellor, prompting us to perseverance
in the paths of duty; it is as a smiling

136

comforter, consoling us under every un-
merited reverse by the mild approval of
the conscience; it is as a certain guide,
pointing out to us the course of right in
every moral emergency ; it is a heavenly
tempered sword, with which we may
successfully contend against the mani-
fold temptations that assail us; it is as
a rigid monitor, that silently, but inces-
santly, remonstrates against every omis-
sion or violation of our Christian service.
We feel '^ the spirit striving against the
" flesh;" and, if we are guided by it, if we
live to it, if we fulfil our baptismal
covenant ; that germ of grace is fostered
and increased, till we are no longer as
" new horn," but '^ have put on the new
man:'' till we are not only regenerate,
but confirmed in grace: till the promise

137

of Jesus to the woman of Samaria
becomes fulfilled to us ; and the water
of Baptism, " which he hath given us,
" is, as a well of living water, springing
" up to everlasting life."

By thus connecting the grace of the
Holy Spirit with the simple rite of
Baptism, the Redeemer has wisely pro-
vided an antidote against all those wild
and injurious dreams of enthusiasm,
which have almost universally arisen
among the disciples of the Gospel, when-
ever they have refused their consent to
the true, scriptural doctrine of Baptismal
Regeneration. Man is informed by his
sense of moral weakness, that divine co-
operation is indispensable to assist him
in subduing the passions of his original
nature, in sanctifying the heart, and in

138

'^ making his calling and election sure."
if, indeed^ this important truth were
not declared to him by his consciousness
of infirmity; it would not be possible
for him to read the volume of the New
Testament and remain in ignorance of
the fact. As long as the believer trusts
to his Baptism as the, source of spiritual
life, all is well: he strives to improve
that spiritual talent which was then
committed to his trust ; and he fears lest
it should be impaired by any act of
voluntary transgression : but the moment
he is taught to look on Baptism as a
mere empty rite; to unhallow the cere-
mony; to expect a new birth of the
Holy Ghost independent of the Sacra-
ment to which the Saviour has allied
the blessing; from that moment all his

189

faculties become bewildered: the order
of his mind is distm'bed: his imagina-
tion is let loose from its legitimate
restraints: he is no longer attentive to
his duty, that he may grow in grace;
but awaiting the moment, when that
grace shall begin to act : he no longer ap-
plies himself to tiie appointed instruments
of spiritual support; but is idly looking
for the overpowering illumination which
shall render all such holy instruments
unnecessary to him. He is watching,
with an aching sensibility, with a
feverish anxiety, every emotion of his
frame ; in the hope of welcoming the
sensible regeneration of his soul. A
morbid state of thought and feeling is
engendered. Religion ceases to act as
the favouring gale that wafts the bark in

140

safety to its destination^ and proves
the destructive tempest that arrests
and shatters it upon its course. The
Gospel is no longer the balast that
steadies the understanding, but the
v^eight that sinks it. And then, perhaps,
there follows the derangement of the
intellect ; the maniac sorrow, that origi-
nates in the intense and painful energy
of continually defeated hope; the wild
hallucinations of the self-elected Saint ;
or the groundless terrors that haunt
the victim of religious despondency:
and, if a certain coarser fibre, a certain
rigid frame of character, should last out
the wearing and destructive action of
enthusiasm; if the fanatic should at
length conceive, that his wishes have
been prospered with success; how dif-
ferent in its effects is that false persua-

141

sion of the divine gift which the dehided
man receives from his imagination, from
that true grace of the Holy Spirit which
is communicated by the institution of
the Saviour. He fancies, perhaps, in
some sudden elevation of his animal
spirits, in some incongruous vision of the
night, or in some unaccustomed emotion
or sensation within him, that he has
received the long desired, the anxiously
expected privilege of regeneration ; but
how different is " the Spirit, that beareth
'' witness with his Spirit," from the pure,
the calm and the holy Spirit of the Gospel.
His fanatical new hirtJi, appearing to
elevate him among mankind by a partial
interference of Providence in his favour,
instead of being distinguished by the
fruits of gentleness, meekness, temper-

14-2

ance, is marked only by the opposite
characteristics of presumption, con-
tumely and pride. And, while it bears
false witness to the heart of the deluded
man, that he is "the child of God;" to
every dispassionate, unprejudiced and
rational observer, it bears an opposite
testimony; and is contemplated with a
melancholy eye, as another proof of
man's perilous openness to self delusion,
and of his liability to fall away from
communion with his God, even while
he fancies himself m.ost confirmed in the
possession, and most zealous in the cul-
tivation of the graces of the Holy Spirit.
But, my brethren, there is a most
serious, practical reflection to be derived
from the article we have this day con-
sidered. In Baptism we have been

14:3

admitted as the children of God; have
we performed om' duty with the dili-
gence of children to a munificent and
tender father ? — We were reconciled
to him through faith in the atonement
of Jesus; have we evinced a proportion-
ate degree of gratitute to him, " who so
" loved us that he gave his only Son for
" our redemption?"— We were new born,
regenerate by the Holy Spirit, rendered
capable of performing the duties of our
Christian profession, endowed \\ith that
supernatural strength which would ena-
able us to resist every temptation of
Satan and the world, " for" says St. Paul,
^' stronger is he that is in us, than he
'' that is in the world." — How have we
used that privilege? — Have we fought
manfully the good fight of faith? — Have

144

we exercised with diligence, and preserved
by continual application to the fountain of
grace, the heavenly tempered weapon,with
which, as the first fruits of their love, our
God and our Redeemer have blest us in
our Baptism? — Oh! my brethren, it is a
most important talent, which our hea-
venly Master has intrusted to our care : —
It must not be neglected:- — It is ability
to conquer ; if w^e retain it in our
grasp : — It is the origin of all the
fruits of holiness ; if we hold our posi-
tion, as branches of that true vine into
which we have been engrafted, and
separate from which we can do nothing.
But, if we neglect the gift; that gift
will be withdrawn : — if we omit to obey
its dictates; they will cease to plead
with us: — if we resist the Spirit, the

145

Spirit will be quenched and extinguished
in the soul. Not all the ten, who were
cleansed of the leprosy by the miracle
of our Saviour's mercy, "returned to
" give glory to God;"* and not all who
are cleansed by the Sacrament of Bap-
tism, answer the merciful purpose of their
regeneration. But, oh ! how bitter shall
their condemnation be, — recovered from
a lost estate, and self-destroyed ; — purified
and self-polluted ; — elected by the mer-
cy of the Almighty, and reprobate by
their own ingratitude ; — chosen and
hallowed as the children of God, and
wilfully reverting to the slavery of sin
and Satan. Most miserable, my breth-
ren, shall the eternal state of such men
be. Our Saviour's baptism is of a

* Luke xvii. 11, et seq.
L

146

double nature. '' He baptiseth with the
" Holy Ghost, and with fire ;"* which, ac-
cording to the interpretation of Ter-
tuUian, means, that, while '^ the baptism
'' of the Holy Ghosf is to all his dis-
ciples whose faith is sincere and steadfast;
there is an after '' baptism of fire" for
those whose faith is feigned and unstable,
and who are therefore baptized, not to sal-
vation, but to judgment. All who are bap-
tized are his ; but " his fan is in his hand,
" and he will thoroughly purge his floor,
" and gather his wheat into the garner ;
" but he will burn up the chaff with un-
" quenchable fire." — '' Know ye not,"
says St. Paul, " that ye are the Temple
" of God, and that the Spirit of God

* Matthew iii. 11. — T eriwW. <1e Baptismo. See Bishop Key's
Eccl. Hist, M. p. 434.

147

" dwelleth in you ? If any man defile the
" Temple of God, him shall God destroy."*
Let not such be our desperate condition.
Let us renew the grace we have re-
ceived day by day; let us not neglect
the holy privileges that have been com-
municated to us; let us apply to our-
selves the admonition of St. Paul, and "stir
" up the gift that is in us." As we are
born again, let us put off the old man with
his deeds ; and, as by the grace of the Holy
Spirit we are endowed with the ability
of doing, let us " put on the new man,
" which after God, is created in right-
" eousness and true holiness." Let us
" grow in grace" by sincere devotion to
the will of God ; by living as constantly
in his sight; by resisting the sugges-

* 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17.

148

tioiis of the flesh ; by following the
suggestions of the spirit only ; by
study of the word of God ; by attend-
ance on the rites and ordinances of his
religion ; by constant prayer ; by frequent
self examination ; by separating the heart
from worldly and perishable things ; and
by attaching it, more and more, to the
everlasting treasures of Heaven. Let
us cherish the germ of the Holy Spirit,
which was bestowed upon us in our Bap-
tism, that the course of our sojourn
upon earth may not be marked by the
sad remembrances of trials and of failure,
of sin and of repentance, of recovery and
relapse; but may be bright as an Angel's
flight, a course of progressive sanctifica-
tion, a treading in the footsteps of the
Saviour, a diligent imitation of his exam-

149

pie, a studious adaptation of our character
and our disposition ''to the mind that was
" in him :" till, from being the new horn
sons of God, we gradually attain that state,
which the rich language of the Apostle of
the Gentiles only can adequately pour-
tray: — " The measure of the stature of
'' the fullness of Christ."

THE END.

C. Richards, Printer, 100, St Martin's Lane, Charing Cross.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

The Connexion of Christianity with Human
Happiness. 2 vols. 8vo. I65.

Schism. Two Sermons. 8vo. 45. 6d.