haps in none at all times; and they may deceive us, not being joined with the things now mentioned: whereas, thefe latter are of fuch a nature, that in cafe we find them in ourfelves, we cannot be mistaken in arguing from them to our own advantage.

In regard to the thoughts and medita tions that are moft proper at the Lord's table, fome help and direction may be had from what hath been offered in the preceding difcourfe,* and ftill more froni the holy fcripture, provided in the courfe of our reading we remark fuch paffages, and endeavour to imprint them on our minds and memories, as will very natu rally bear to be applied to the facrament of the fupper, and be of ufe to feed the flame of devotion while we are partaking of it.

5. There feems to be no great occafion for any diftinct rules concerning our be haviour after the holy communion. For what fhould our behaviour be afterwards, but the fame as it ought to be before, and at all other times, that is, uniformly holy and good? A fancy that we are obliged to greater ftri&tnefs the next day,

'The devotional exercises were not in the first edition of this discourse.

or following week, after a facrament, than we are when it hath been longer paft, may be of ill confequence: and will certainly be fo, if we think the more strict we are before and after a facrament, the lefs care of our behaviour we are obliged to in the time between. A life of Chrif tian piety, being the end defigned to be promoted by every duty of divine worfhip, particularly by the Lord's fupper, is what we are to be concerned for, and not to trust occasional heats and starts in religion.

6. We here fee the advantage of fre quent communions, and the answer to the common objection against them. The advantage is, That thefe frequent communions tend to promote our progrefs in the Chriftian life; the objection against

will lofe the.communions, if frequent,

folemnity. But I very much doubt that in this cafe people deceive themselves with a wrong notion of folemnity. Dothey mean, that they fhall not come with that unaccountable awe and dread upon their minds? And what if they do not, as long as they are ferious & devout? We fhould think it very odd reafoning fhould we hear men take up a refolution not to worship God all the week long in their

I

families or clofets, to the end the duties of God's worthip may be the more folemn when performed in his own houfe and on his own day. And yet the cafes are not altogether unlike. An habitual ferioufhefs and fervour of fpirit is undoubtedly, in the nature of things, to be expected from the frequent returns of holy duties, and not from long Intermiffions of them: and the more habitually ferious we are, fo much the better, and in fo much the better preparation fhall we be to wait upon God in every ordinance. Let us not therefore of choice take up with very rare commu nions; or, where circumftances will admit of it, be againft having them more frequently. If we communicate feldom, because we cannot communicate oftener, we must be contented, and do as well as we can; but by no means be the better pleafed with our fituation in this refpect, and think we have more reverence for the Lord's fupper than some have, for no other reafon than that we do not come to it so often. In a word, let us ftudy how to make this and every duty of religion profitable to the building us up in holinefs and comfort through faith unto falvation.

TREATISE

ON THE

Obligation of the Profeffors of Chriftianity to Celebrate the LORD'S SUPPER; with an Anfover to the Principal Excufes for neglecting

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HAVING in the foregoing treatise ex plained the nature and defign of the Lord's fupper, becaufe, notwithstanding the ap parent excellency and obligation of this inftitution of our Saviour, too many, by profeflion Chriftians, indulge themfelves in the neglect of it, I shall distinctly con fider the obligation lying upon the difciples of Chrift to communicate in the fa crament of the Lord's fupper, and fome of the principal reafons which hinder the molt from complying with this obliga

tion.

That you may clearly apprehend the obligation lying upon the difciples of Chrift to communicate in the facrament

of the Lord's fupper, I would offer the following confiderations to your serious and moft impartial thoughts.

1. Confider the expreffness of the command. Can any words be more plain and direct than those which we meet with, in the account given of this institution by the Evangelift Luke, This do in remembrance of me? (a) There might have been a little more room to queftion, whether this was not a temporary command, a command to continue in force only while the Apof tles lived, there being none present but the Apostles when this facrament was inftituted, if the very reafon or ground of the command did not fhow the contrary: The bread and wine in the facrament fig. nify the body and blood of Chrift, his body broken, and his blood fhed, for the remiffion of fins and unless any one will fay, that we have not the fame concern in the death of Chrift, and the atonement for fin made by it, as the first Christians, the argument from hence will, I think, be unanswerable, that the facrifice of Chrift being intended alike for the benefit of all ages, and the covenant of grace thereby con. firmed extending to all, the inftitution of the fupper, which was defigned to lead the (a) Luke xxii. 19.