abominations," according to the promise of the Lord, Ezek. xxxvi. 31. Yea, this humiliation qualifies them for and renders them capable of the grace which is sealed in the supper; for "the poor in spirit, and they who mourn are pronounced blessed," Matt. v. 3, 4. The Lord promiseth to "look upon" such in his kindness, Isaiah Ivii 15, 18. lxvi. 2.

: 2. This sorrow for sin is of itself not sufficient, it doth not of itself make any person better, nor worthy in the sight of the Lord. Adam, Cain and Judas had great sorrow, but it drove them to despair, and from the Lord; there must then be also "a trust, that our sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ; and that our remaining infirmities are covered by his passion and death." This trust is saving faith. We have explained largely enough on the seventh Lord's day in what manner we trust in this saving faith, that our sins are pardoned for the sake of Christ. The lowest degree of faith, that active and restless desire after Christ, and after the forgiveness of sins, and so a trust that we shall be justified, can give us a right to the supper, since those who hunger and thirst are invited to the benefits of Christ, and have the promise, that they shall be filled, Isaiah lv. 1, Mat. v. 9. Luke i. 53 That the instructor doth not require here the highest degree of trust appears from his speaking also of weak believers," who earnestly desire to have their faith more and more strengthened." It is the nature of the spiritual life, that it inclines to grow. It is the cry of the weak, "Lord I believe; help thou mine unbelief," Mark ix. 24. "Increase our faith," Luke xvii. 5. And such have a right to this rich feast, because it is a feast, which strengthens their faith, according to what we have taught on the twenty fifth Lord's day; yet a person, who hath a full trust and faith, that all his sins are forgiven for the sake ofhrist's sufferings, is qualified to partake of the supper to greater advantage, inasmuch as he is able to draw near, as one who is entitled, with more confidence, hath more power to discern the body of the Lord, and to receive the signs, as seals of the forgiveness of his sins.

3. That it may nevertheless appear, that this trust is not a vain imagination, the instructor requireth also "a desire to live a more holy life." Believers when they attend to themselves, see with displeasure their continual backslidings, and therefore their souls are restlessly desirous to amend their lives, yea, even to be perfect; for although believers know that they cannot be altogether perfect in this life, nevertheless, since they are conscious, that they can be more perfect, than they are, therefore they "follow after perfection, and reach after it, that they may apprehend it," with Paul, Philip,

iii. 12, 14. This desire is necessary in order to draw near the table, because we shall otherwise "partake of the Lord's table, and the table of devils," which, according to the text may not be done; we may not draw near to God any other way, much less in such a solemn manner. See Isaiah i. 12-15. By making use of the seal of the covenant we declare not only that the Lord is our God, but also that we are his people, "who must keep all his commandments," Deut. xxvi. 17, 18. Yea, the sacraments are means to pro mote sanctification, Eph. v. 26, and the signs oblige us to "show forth the death of the Lord till he come." 1 Cor. xi. 26, which we cannot do, unless we amend our lives.

The Lord's supper being instituted for such only, those surely have no right to it, who do not possess these qualifications, to wit, all hypocrites, or dissemblers, who appear better than they are in themselves and in private: they will display a form of godliness by a fait profession, conversing with the godly, and making a great boasting and ado concerning their delight in holiness, but they deny the power of it in private; they crave no more than the name, that they are godly persons, and they aim only at promoting their own interest; but when they are examined, and cannot retain the name any longer, nor gain aught by walking in the narrow way, they will then forsake their religious course, yea, they will even oppose godliness and the godly. But these are not the only persons, who must abstain from the Lord's supper, but "all those likewise, who do not turn to God with sincere hearts," as all ignorant persons, all who cleave to any sin wilfully and wittingly and do not strive against it: those also who do not pursue more than a civil honesty, and an outward devotion, or who do indeed something more than others, that they may depend on what they do, but have never yet had a discovery of their sins, do not seek their salvation in Christ with an anxious concern, and do not pursue a faith, that worketh by love.

It is true, many venture to mingle with the guests at the table without a wedding garment; but like a lawless whore, they wrest the marriage pledge out of the hand of the bridegroom Christ: they cannot receive the supper aright, nor discern the body of the Lord, and "to those defiled and unbelieving persons nothing is pure; but both their mind and conscience is defiled," Titus i. 15. "To the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do, to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?" Psalm 1. 16. "They eat and drink judgment to themselves," saith Paul, 1 Cor. xi. 29. They aggravate their condemnation, yea, God inflicts sickness and death upon them; he did thus to the Corinthians, 1 Cor.

xi. 30. Is this matter of wonder? when they receive the supp unworthily, they render themselves "guilty of the body and blood of the Lord," as the apostle saith, 1 Cor. x. 17. "They crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame," according to Heb. vi. 6. Surely not because they pollute and profane the flesh and blood of Christ with their mouths, as the Papists and Lutherans imagine on account of transubstantiation and consubstantiation, which we have confuted before; but because, when they suffer the kindness and love of Christ in his sufferings to be sealed to them, they de clare that he is a companion of wicked men, and was justly punish ed as an evil doer.

III. But may those, to whom the oversight of the church is intrusted, admit persons, who do not possess the abovementioned qualifications in truth? no, they must prohibit them. But how will any man be infallibly certain, that another possesses truth in the inward parts? This is not given to any man; the Lord reserves it to himself. Perhaps it will be said, the person who is admitted, must exhibit a certain evidence, that he hath truly experienced an inward change? But what shall that evidence be? that he can show the time of his new birth? I conceive this to be impossible, because, he doth not know the moment, when he became alive from the dead; he can indeed say when he was convinced, but that is not always spiritual life; or shall his evidence be, that he speaks of spiritual things in a spiritual manner, and heartily from experience, that he holds with the most excellent of the pious, and that he walks in every respect unblamably before all men? Who of the most exact and most scrupulous dealers with souls in matters of this nature hath not often found himself deceived here ? and hath he not sometimes suspected persons, who had not either the ability, or the confidence to make themselves known, yea, who despised themselves? one hath more of the gift of discerning spirits than another: my colleagues will reject a person, whom I receive, and they will receive one whom I reject. If then such manifest evidences be the proper rules, according to which the overseers of the church must admit a person to the Lord's supper, or exclude him, there must then necessarily arise strife, discord, confusion and every evil work, Christ must be divided, and his coat, which is without seam, must be rent.

Shall we then admit every person without distinction? is there no certain standard, according to which the overseers of the church must proceed in this matter? God forbid. We think that an overseer of the church, in order to administer the Lord's supper to a person without scruple, and without being perplexed and embarrass

ed with many anxious thoughts, ought only to inquire whether the communicant make a proper confession of his sins, of his faith in Christ, and of his purpose to amend his life, and whether his conversation be agreeable to his confession: "But those, who by their confession and life declare themselves to be infidels and ungodly, must not be admitted to this supper." Whether they do in their confession err from the fundamental doctrines of the faith, or whether their conversation be scandalous and offensive; for if we admit such, "the covenant of God will be profaned," because we then suffer the seals of the covenant, and so the covenant of God, to be profaned. Yea, then "the wrath of God will be kindled against the whole congregation." It fared thus with the Corinthians, who conducted in a most slovenly manner with respect to the supper, when many of them were punished with weakness, sickness, and the sleep of death, 1 Cor. xi. 17-34. "And therefore it is the duty af the Christian church, according to the appointment of Christ and of his apostles, to exclude such persons by the keys of the kingdom of heaven, till they show amendment of life." But of this we must speak on the next Lord's day.

APPLICATION.

It will be necessary to impress what hath been said on our minds, in order that we may improve it, and particularly in the first place with respect to the Popish mass, and then with respect to the right partakers of the supper. When ye, hearers, consider what hath been said concerning the mass, must ye not then,

1. Justify our separation from the church of Rome? had not our fathers sufficient reasons for departing out of Babylon? they perceived indeed that the mass was a mystery of iniquity. How could they remain with a people, who would compel them, even by the most intolerable tortures, to deny the only sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and thus the only ground of our salvation, and to practise the most accursed idolatry? And though it were even so, that the Papists would have permitted our fathers to disapprove of this abomination, and to maintain a different opinion in their own minds, might they then have continued in that synagogue of Satan? "Could they drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils? could they be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils?" as the text speaks.

When the Lord by the power of his Spirit, and the marvellous en lightening of his truth, caused them to hear from Rev. xviii. 4, the "voice, saying, Come out of Babylon, my people, that ye be not par takers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues," could they then yet remain in her? And verily we did not separate from her wantonly, nor too hastily; for "we would have healed Babylon, but we could not heal her," and therefore we "forsook" her, according to Jer. li. 9. "God's two witnesses prophesied a thousand, two hundred and threescore days: but the beast, which came up out of the bottomless pit, slew them in all the martyrs; but God put in the reformation of the church, "a spirit of life into them, so that they stand upon their feet," in order to bear a constant testimony against the beast, and "they have ascended up to heaven in the presence of their enemies," being exalted above their enemies, by a heavenly state of the church. See this foretold, Rev. xi. Who must not praise the Lord that he hath broken our yoke, and bursten our bonds; that he hath brought forth the truth and light out of darkness; yea, without extraordinary grace, this would have been impossible.

I often wonder how our reformers, who were from their birth educated in the church of Rome, were presently able to exhibit the truth in all its lustre, and were endued with so much valour, that they could withstand and weaken the great power of the Romish beast. How ought we, with "the four and twenty elders, to fall down upon our faces, to worship God, and say, We thank thee, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned?" Surely we ought all of us to beware of returning to that people, or of exercising communion with them, which is not unavoidable, either in the dedication of their churches, thronged with professed knaves, and those who esteem the world above all besides; or by going to see that abominable massworship; or by contracting marriages with the menservants, or womenservants of Baal; or by taking servants of them; "Flee from idolatry," saith Paul, vrs. 15, preceding our text. Yea, the magistrates ought to bestir themselves to banish that abomination out of their jurisdictions: persecution, and a forcing of conscience ought never to be commended; but we might discountenance the abomination of the mass, without rendering ourselves guilty of forcing conscience. We find that as soon as the godly kings had ascended the throne of David, they suppressed the worship of idols.