O how great is the condefcending goodness of our heavenly Father to his prodigal children! These are wonders of mercy, miracles of compassion !

Some directions for Communicants when at the Lord's Table.

I WOULD have you at this time to mind that word of Solomon, Prov. xxiii. 1. “When thou fittest to eat with a ruler, confider diligently what is before thee." O communicant, confider diligently the facramental elements, and what is represented and exhibited by them. Confider the facramental promifes, and what bleflings are contained in them. Confider the facramental actions, and the gracious acts which the foul fhould put forth with them. It fhould be a bufy time, and well improven; for though it be fhort, yet you have many things to do in it, which may generally be comprehended under these two heads:

1. Remember the suitable fubjects which are to be confidered and meditated on at the table.

2. Obferve and exert the fpecial graces which are to be employed and exercifed there.

As to the first of thefe heads, I fhall mention some ~fuitable subjects of your meditation and contemplation at this time; as, 1. Chrift's death and paffion. 2. The bitterness and variety of his fufferings. 3. Chrift's willingness to undergo these fufferings for us. 4. The bleffed effects and benefits of his fufferings. 5. Chrift's free love, as the impulfive caufe of all he did and fuffered. 6. The evil of fin, which brought on his fufferings. 7. God's holiness and juftice manifefted in them. 8. The communion-feast above, represented by

this lower table.

1. Remember and meditate upon the death and paffion of our Lord Jefus Chrift. David hath a Pfalm, which he calls a Pfalm of remembrance. Pfalm.xxxviii. Here the Son of David hath a facrament, which may well be called a facrament of remembrance; for the great end >of it is to be a memorial of Chrift, its author and founder: For he said, when he inftituted it, This do, in remembrance of me; and we find thefe words used twice over, both at the delivering of the bread and of the wine, 1 Cor. xi. 24. 25. As if he had faid, Whatever 3 U 2

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you

you mind, fee that you forget not your fuffering Redeemer. Some of Chrift's works are narrated only by one evangelist, as his turning the water into wine, and fome others; fome of his works are recorded by two evangelifts, as the hiftory of Chrift's birth by Matthew and Luke; fome things are recorded by three of them, as the inftitution of the facrament of the fupper: But as for Chrift's death and paffion, it is recorded by them all four. And this is done no doubt to teach us, that though all Christ's works and actions are feriously to be remembered and thought upon, yet none fo efpecially as his death and fufferings. And, when should this be thought upon, if not at the facrament, whofe inftitution was purpofely for the remembrance thereof? O comanunicant, will ye not think of this fubject when you have Chrift crucified evidently fet forth before your eyes, in the bread broken and the wine poured out? Oh was his blessed body broken with torments, and his precious blood fhed for the remiflion of my fin: And will I not think upon him? Dear Saviour, thou biddeft me remember thee: Oh how should I ever forget thee at any time, and far lefs now when I fit at thy table! If I forget thee, O Redeemer, let my right hand forget its cunning, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. O that I could ever go out of myfelf to remember thee, and never think on thee without an extafy of wonder !

II. Think upon the bitterness of Chrift's paffion, and the variety of his fufferings, and revolve in thy thoughts the feveral steps and degrees thereof. And particularly take a view of your Redeemer's agony in the garden of Gethsemane; walk into that garden, and behold him falling to the ground under the weight of your fins, wrestling as in an agony, and fweating great drops of blood, and these bursting through all his garments, O fee how he lay, and how he bedewed and ftained the flowers of the garden round about him with his blood. Never any in the world was known to sweat in fuch a manner before, and never any fince that time. In a natural way of fpeaking, the coldness of the night, his lying on the cold ground, and the exceeding greatnefs of Chrift's fear at that time, fhould have drawn all his blood

blood inward from the outward parts of his body.O but this sweat was preternatural! He fweats without fire, and bleeds without a wound. There was no heat, no fire without him that made him fweat at that time; no, the fire was within him, even the fire of God's wrath kindled in his foul; this made the blood about his heart to boil and burst through his veins, flesh, fkin, clothes, and all together. There was no wound outward as yet given him, no fword, no fpear, no weapon as yet had touched him, and yet he bleeds: Oh, the wound was inward in his foul; deep and fearful was the gash which the fword of justice made at this time in his foul: The breach was wide as the fea, and accordingly a whole fea of wrath brake in with violence upon his foul. He falls firft upon his knees, and then upon the ground; he lies under the preffure till he is overwhelmed with his Father's wrath and his own blood. Deep called unto deep, till all these dreadful waves and billows paffed over him. He cried to his Father, he complained to difciples, he fought their fympathy and prayers; but no relief had he from that airth; he must tread the wine prefs alone.

Next, O communicants, follow your Redeemer after he was apprehended, by your meditations, and trace his fteps through the streets of Jerufalem: Think what he underwent when he was hurried from one tribunal to another. Go into the high priest's palace and to Pilate's judgment-hall, and obferve what unparalleled affronts and indignities he fuffered there, and none to take his part; he was reproached, defpised, and abandoned by all men, as if he had been the worft of men, and unworthy to breathe in the world. He was put in competition with a vile murderer for his life, and yet the murderer is preferred before him. Yea, his own chofen difciples, who had been eyes-witneffes of his miracles, and earwitneffes of his oracles, they turn their backs on him with the rest; one of them betrays him, another denies him, and all the reft forfake him. Behold how unworthy men buffet him, blindfold him, and spit on that beautiful face which angels behold with wonder. Behold how he was fcourged, dragged up and down, af

fronted

fronted and mocked a whole night on your account, as if he had been the derision of wicked men and devils. Now the devil thought, if Christ was to be the elect's furety, and was to pluck them out of his claws, he fhould pay well for them ere he got them; and therefore many a wound and buffet got he: But content is our Redeemer to take all, to get his elect free and safe. In the next place, behold how the heavy tree of the erofs was laid and fastened on the fore and bleeding fhoulders of our Saviour, and he obliged to carry it to the place of execution. Follow him in your thoughts, and fee him wrestling under the weight, when going up mount Calvary He carries it, till he can carry it no further, he is spent and founders under the load, yet defires no relief. Afcend mount Calvary, and there fee the cross laid down upon the ground, and Christ, the blessed victim, laid down upon the cross, which was a rack as well as a death; fee how he is racked and nailed to it by the bloody executioners. And then behold the curfed tree Hfted up with the Lord of glory faftened to it, and fixed on the top of mount Calvary, as a facrifice to juftice for an elect world. Behold him ranked among malefactors, and hanging betwixt two thieves. Behold his hands and feet pierced and rent with nails, his glorious head covered with a crown of thorns, and his tender fide run thro' with a fpear. See how the thorns pierce his holy head; fee how his precious blood trickles down from his many wounds; fee how his royal vifage turns pale; see how his head bows, and lies a-dying on his bleeding breaft. Is not this an affecting fight?

Again, Consider the prodigious outward darkness that was on Chrift during his paffion on the cross for feveral hours together, to fhew the horrible inward darknefs that was on his foul while the wrath of God acted against him as being the facrifice for the world's fins. We read, that while Abraham was offering his facrifice, Gen. xv. 12. the fun was going down, and an horror of great darkness fell upon him. So fared it with Chrift, while he offered himself a facrifice for us. Now, the Lord revealed his wrath from heaven against the unrighteoufnefs of the world, which was at this

time laid on Christ. Our Redeemer lay under this darknefs, to fhow that we should have fuffered the horror of darkness for ever, even that blackness of darkness, which the apoftle Jude fpeaks of. But, glory to God, the blacknefs of darknefs caufed by God's wrath for fin, was now laid on our Surety. Strange! God causeth his fun to fhine upon the juft and unjust, but on our Redeemer now it must not fine, as if, of all the unjust ones in the world, he were the most unjust, having the whole injuftice of the elect laid to his charge. Oh, fpotlefs Lamb of God! Innocent Redeemer of mankind! Moft pure and just one, that never offended against the law! And, muft thou be dealt with as the moft unjust perfon that ever breathed in the world, becaufe of the injuftice of others? Now all the powers of earth and hell were let loose against our Redeemer a all thefe lions, bulls, dogs, and unicorns, were fet up. on him to tear him And, was it not enough that earth and hell were against him, but must heaven fet itself again.ft him too, and declare its indignation by that visible fign of the horrible continued darkness. Oh, that was heavier and fharper to our Redeemer than all the reft of his fufferings: Under the rest he was filent, but now he cannot hold his peace; and therefore fends forth that formidable loud cry," My God, my God, why haft thou forfaken me?" During the continuance of these three dark hours was Chrift drinking the bitter cup; and now he comes to the bottom and bittereft. dregs of it. Now were the invenomed arrows of the Almighty piercing him in the most fenfible part; and therefore he mult cry. O how juftly then might he have cried out with Job, and with better ground too than he, Job xix. 21. "Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God nath touched me!" How truly might the hufband now have taken up the fpoufe's lamentation, Lam. i. 22. "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pafs by? Behold and fee, if there be any forrow like unto my forrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce wrath!" Do but imagine what exceffive pain and exceflive torment he

underwent