6. A memorial of Christ's death. To both the elements Christ saith, ' Do this in remembrance of me ; ' and of the whole action, ' Ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come,' 1 Cor. xi. 26. His l^assion is acted over again in figure and representation : Gal. iii. 1, ' Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you.' So that your duty there is aftectionately and with appli- cation to consider- the occasion, manner, and end of Christ's death, for the strengthening of our faith, and the preservation of our union and communion with Christ. The occasion was our fallen estate, which brought on guilt and misery, without a sense of which there is no prizing of Christ. A speculative knowledge of our sin and misery will beget only an opinionative faith in Christ ; for such as is our sense of the misery so will our reflections be on the remedy ; but a sensible, awakening knowledge of our great necessity will teach us to value Christ as a Saviour, and come heartily to him. Therefore we must come to this work with a due sense of our misery and spiritual
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indigence, feeling the burden of our sin, and hungering and thirsting after righteousness. The cause and reason of his death as a gift, or a propitiatory sacrifice, is God's free love, John iii. 16. Therefore we must come admiring God's grace and goodness to us, applying it with confidence and delight ; and out of a sense of this great love, devoting ourselves to his love and service. The manner of it : Phil, ii. 8, ' He became obedient to death, even the death of the cross.' So painful, shameful, cursed a death, to put an everlasting brand on sin. And then the end ; to propitiate God, offended with our sins : 1 John ii. 2, ' If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous ; and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but for the sins of the whole world ; ' and 1 John iv. 10, ' Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.' Therefore we must depend upon this propitiatory sacrifice, earnestly desiring to partake of the fruits thereof, namely, remission of sins and reconciliation with God, with the gift of the Spirit and ado]ition to eternal life.
7. It is a pledge of his coming. When Christ went, he left a promise with us : John xiv. 3, ' And if I go and prepare a place for }-ou, I will come again, and receive you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.' Now he would still keep the promise a- foot, that we might look for him, long for him, and wait for him. Ileason saith, He may come ; faith saith, He will come ; love, When will he come ?
8. It is a band of love : 1 Cor. xii. 13, ' And have been made all to drink into one spirit ; ' and 1 Cor. x. 17, ' For we, being many, are one bread and one body ; for we are all partakers of that one bread.' The world maketh sacraments matters of contention and division ; but saints use them otherwise, to enkindle a mutual love to one another, to pardon failings, pity miseries, lay aside grudgings, and be mutually helpful to one another ; in short, that we may get more love to God antl man.
9. To be an holy banquet or spiritual feast, or the entertainment God hath provided for his family in the house of their pilgrimage. This is evident from the nature of the work and the frequent allusions in scripture to a feast. The sacrament is a feast upon a sacrifice. A man keepeth a feast to show his affection to his guests, and to renew and increase their afiection towards him ; so God keepeth a feast of loves to beget and renew in us a sense and persuasion of his fatherly love to us in Christ, and to renew our love and cheerful obedience to him. Well, then, let us not sit down to God's feast without an appetite, nor eat and drink without sense, and taste, and joy, and gratitude to our entertainer : Ps. xxii. 26, ' The meek shall eat and be satisfied ; they shall i)raise the Lord that seek him ; your hearts shall live for ever.' I shall conclude with a few corollaries.
First corollary, If these be the ends of the sacrament, you see what need there is of preparation ; that we consider the tenor of our pro- fession, and the nature of God's covenant, the reasons and ends of Christ's death, and the hopes of glory. Alas ! without this there will be no prizing of Christ, no desire of righteousness, no hope of salva- tion, no care to please God. While men are negligent in preparation
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and examination of themselves, they provoke God whilst they handle these holy things negligently.