and of the privilege of ranking among the disciples of Christ. Whatever be their ordinary condition in life, and whatever the particular circumstances in which at any time they happen to be placed, there is something in this blessed ordinance to render it a refreshment to the souls of those who truly delight to remember Him who died for them and rose again. If they are possessed of wealth, their meeting at the same table with the poorest of saints, sheds a hallowing lustre over their affluence, while they are affectionately reminded who it is that has bestowed it. If they belong to the humbler walks of society, or are even sunk in the deepest poverty, it is a comfort to find themselves welcomed as guests at the table of the Lord, and graciously entertained as heirs of immortality. If they are in prosperity, this circumstance will serve, when they encompass God's altar, to impart additional fervour to the oblations of their gratitude. If they are labouring under adversity, this will teach them the more entirely to depend on that Saviour who had such confidence in the resources of his Godhead, even when despised and rejected of men, as to institute that very ordinance in which he knew that his people should yet rejoice in remembering him. If events have happened to them, or to their friends, which have gladdened their hearts, or led them to feel toward each other a peculiar enlargement of affection, they will delight to pour out their hearts before God, who has dealt so bountifully with them, and to reflect, that the more entirely the heart of any one of them is given to Him, the more precious must that individual be to all the friends around him. If they have been visited with personal or domestic affliction-if they have been overtaken with sore and sudden bereavements, so that their hearts are overwhelmed with grief on account of those who are not-still they find, that this endearing ordinance has a peculiar power of assuaging or mitigating their sorrows, by reminding them of Him who, in the depth of his own agonies, was not unmindful of the feelings of his friends; who has bequeathed to them the assurance that he will not leave them comfortless; and who has taught them that, in regard to those who sleep in Jesus, it becomes them not to sorrow as others who have no hope. But if, instead of the outward circumstances which often affect the comfort of Christ's genuine disciples, we direct our attention to those which are connected with their spiritual state and their religious experience, we shall still find how precious to them is the privilege of partaking in the ordinance of the Supper. If, in their intercourse with the world, they should unhappily become less alive to the evil of sin, and less attentive to the keeping of their hearts with all diligence, it is there that they may have the impression renewed and deepened. If, through the infirmities of their nature, the influence of remaining corruption, or the entanglements of worldly affairs and interests, they have been drawn into sin, or have not been sufficiently on their guard against the very appearance of evil-it is the approach or the recurrence of this sacred solemnity that is admirably fitted to make them see the importance of being daily renewed unto repentance. If they have been wavering, or in danger of wavering, under the influence of temptation, it is there that they are furnished with a fresh opportunity of staying themselves on Christ. If they have been languishing in their graces, remiss in their duties, and unfruitful in their labours, it is there that they may again seek and find a season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. If they are bowed down under the consciousness of their multiplied sins, and their very souls melted, as it were, with the poignancy of godly sorrow, it is there that they are so affectingly reminded that He who "hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows," still waits to be gracious. If they are labouring under depression of spirits, from the idea, or the painful experience, that the Lord has hid from them the light of his countenance, still it is there that they may again be enabled to exclaim, "We shall yet praise Him, who is the health of our countenance and our God." Or, has God greatly multiplied and enriched all their comforts, making their cup to run over ?-has he singularly increased and enlivened all their graces, and filled them with gladness and singleness of heart?— it is for these very reasons that they experience an enlarged desire for the good things of his house, even of his holy temple, while they there offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and call on the name of the Lord. In conclusion, it is there, more than in any other situation, that they learn to triumph over the fear and the power of death; for it is there that they contemplate, and show forth the death of Him who died that they might live-who, by this very memorial of his death, has furnished to them and to the world one of the most conclusive evidences of his resurrection from the dead —who, even in the observance of this memorial, during the whole period of his absence, is reminding them of the continuance of his love and the certainty of his return-and who, at the glorious era of his second coming, shall acknowledge and rejoice over them as partakers, with Himself, in all the honour and felicity of an endless life! THE END. EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HUGHES, PAUL'S WORK. BY JOHN JOHNSTONE, EDINBURGH. SERMONS by ROBERT GORDON, D.D., one of the INDIA & INDIA MISSIONS: Including Sketches By the same Author. MISSIONS, THE CHIEF END OF THE COMFORT IN AFFLICTION: A Series of "This is my comfort in mine affliction; for thy WORD hath quickened me. Extract from the Rev. Hugh White's (of Dublin) Meditations. |