giving, and into his courts with praise. We shall thankfully approach his house, and unite our praise with that of our fellow-creatures. As often as we have opportunity, we shall not forsake the assembling ourselves together; we shall earnestly seek to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. While others sinfully abstain from the public worship of their God, we shall affirm with David, that a day in his courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

But, my companion, if with me you see the propriety, the necessity of attending the church of God, you will feel also the impropriety of presenting yourself there with mere form and thoughtlessness. The Son of Sirach hath told you, Before thou prayest, prepare thyself, and be not as one that tempteth the Lord. Tempt not his anger by a thoughtless want of devotion, or your prayers and

worship may bring down a curse, and not a blessing. Few people have the loins of their mind so girt up, as to be ready without preparation to offer a becoming sacrifice. The affairs of the world, its business, or its pleasures, are too apt to retain a firm hold, and haunt them in their most serious occupations. When then you lift up your soul unto the Lord, you must first dismiss all earthly unholy thoughts. You must use to them the language of your Saviour, Sit ye here, while I go and PRAY yonder. Your heart must be fixed, before you can sing and give praise. So will you be prepared to meet that adorable Being, who hath promised, that where two or three are gathered together in his name, there is he in the midst of them.

Another important but too much neglected duty is the reception of the Lord's Supper. Whatever benefits attend the Christian's life here,

whatever advantages he may reap hereafter, both the means of grace and the hope of glory are purchased by the death and obtained by the intercession of the holy Jesus. You must look upon him then as your truest friend and your greatest benefactor. Let me here put a question to you: If a mere mortal had greatly obliged you-if any man through the whole of life had endeavoured to assist and benefit you in every possible way--if such an one had at last endangered his own life for your sakewould you think it possible that you could deny the dying request of such an earthly friend? Apply this, I beseech you, to the case between you and your Saviour, your heavenly friend. The blessed Jesus encountered for your sake hardships and persecutions here on earth. He has redeemed you from the curse of the law, being made a curse for you; he

has borne your sins in his own body on the tree, and by his stripes you are healed. When he was on the point of offering up his life for you, in a conjuncture so affecting, he instituted the sacrament of the holy Communion. The Lord Jesus, in the same night that he was betrayed, took bread, and, giving thanks, blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is my body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me. Likewise after supper he took the cup, and, when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of this; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins: do this, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. What possible excuse can you have for neglecting so solemn a request? Not only gratitude, but interest, should urge you to compliance at all

times with the entreaty of your tender, affectionate, and almighty Friend. As your natural body may be sustained and nourished by bread and wine, so in the Sacrament is your soul fed through faith, and quickened to the heavenly and godly life. By the sacrament of Baptism you began to profess yourself a Christian; by that of the Lord's Supper you declare your continuance in that profession. And who is that hardy Christian, that would deny the necessity of his frequently doing so, to remind him of the solemn engagements he has entered into, and to enable him to perform them duly? The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ The reception of the Lord's Supper is a religious action, whereby and wherein Christ communicates