S. Gosnell, Printer, Little Queen Street, London.
ADVERTISEMENT
TO THE
SECOND EDITION.
The Author of the following Tract cannot hope that he has said any thing new upon this important subject; but having had occasion to consider the objections usually made by young persons, to excuse their non-attendance on this sacred ordinance, he trusts he has been able to place the answers to those objections in a new point of view, and to compress in a few pages, what his reading and memory supplied from various sources.
The Letter, as it purports to have been, was written to a gentleman, who had expressed to the Author many of the scruples here obviated; and by the strong solicitation of two or three respectable friends, who were of opinion that it was calculated to do much good, he was induced to give it a more extensive circulation. That much good has been done by the publication of this little Tract the Author has the comfort and satisfaction of knowing upon undoubted testimony. And when his Bookseller informs him, that in a period of less than nine months the whole of the first impression, consisting of three thousand copies, has been disposed of, may he not be allowed to hope that it has done much more extensive good than can possibly be known? [4a] The Author, therefore, though a Layman, and though to the clergy is more peculiarly committed the charge of bringing men to the love and obedience of Jesus Christ, trusts he is not offending against the respect and reverence due to their sacred function and ministry, if “with Christian solicitude, seizing every opportunity which his station affords him of strengthening others in genuine faith, and of upholding and advancing them in holiness,” [4b] he sends forth a second large and improved edition of a Tract, for which there has been so great a demand.
September, 1804.
AN
EARNEST EXHORTATION,
&c.
DEAR SIR,
Having made you a solemn promise upon a most important subject, I proceed to discharge it in the best manner I am able. Had not this promise been made to one whose best interests I have so much at heart, I should regret my having given it, from a conscious inability to perform it as the subject deserved. But I know you will excuse the performance, and I humbly trust that it will be attended with the desired effect.
Of the importance of the duty of receiving the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, no man, who believes, as you do, the Scriptures to be the revealed word of God, and that it is our duty to practise whatever they have expressly and positively commanded, will require any arguments to be convinced. Now, no command can be more express than that, which requires all Christians to receive the communion of the body and blood of Christ. In the institution of this holy communion, our blessed Lord says, “Take, eat, this is my body, which is given for you: this do, in remembrance of me.” And he also said, “Drink ye all of this cup, for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins; this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.” [6a] And the great Apostle of the Gentiles, in giving an account of this sacred rite to his Corinthian converts, and which he expressly states himself to have received (by tradition or communication [6b]) of the Lord, and which, as he received it, so he delivered to them, adds, “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show (or, as it is in the original, declare aloud, or proclaim) the Lord’s death till he comes.” [6c] This is the command; and it surely must be admitted to be an express injunction.
What benefits, then, may we not humbly expect to derive from our obedience to it? The same divine word has assured us, that our souls shall be thereby strengthened against the commission of future sins; and that those which we have committed, if repented of and renounced, shall be no more remembered against us: “For whosoever,” saith the Redeemer of mankind, “eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” [7a] Hear also his own tremendous declaration! HE has said, and has introduced the declaration by two asseverations of the certainty of the denunciation: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” [7b] What dangers, then, may we not apprehend, if we disobey this command! and under what awful sanctions has our Saviour bound us to the observance of it! This is a solemn and an awful warning: and it might be thought, if sad experience did not prove the contrary, that when such blessings follow the performance, and such dangers may attend the neglect of this positive duty, nothing more need be said to ensure the obedience, and awaken the fears of every one, who professes to believe in the truths of revelation. To a man of an ingenuous mind and a tender heart, the time and manner of instituting this sacred rite furnish a most powerful motive to obedience. A very short time before his death, our blessed Lord had a most affecting interview with his disciples: he confirms their faith; he prepares them for the trials they were to endure; he animates their hopes by the promise of assistance from above; and finally, commends them to his Father in strains of the most pure and sublime devotion. [8] It was in this most interesting moment, that he instituted this holy feast to be the harbinger of peace to the returning sinner, and the consolation of the faithful to the end of time: and, as an additional incitement to the performance of it, he was pleased to command, that all this should be done in remembrance of him.