An Earnest Exhortation to a Frequent Reception of the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper

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.

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.

Supposing we derived no benefit to ourselves from this Sacrament, as the means of grace, what heart that is not dead to every virtuous feeling, could refuse to comply with this command, as a mere act of gratitude to such a Saviour! to Him, who was moved with such compassion for the sons of men, as to leave the glories of Heaven, and to take our nature upon him, to make satisfaction in that nature for our sins?  It was at that awful moment, when, as Man, his soul was exceedingly sorrowful, on account of the heavy burden of our sins, then lying upon him, that our dying Saviour graciously bequeathed this holy ordinance, to distinguish all his faithful followers, requiring them and all, who expect any benefit from his death, to commemorate it after the manner which he has ordained.  When it is recollected, that all this happened the very night before our gracious and affectionate Redeemer was bruised for our iniquities, and expired upon the cross for our transgressions, can any Christian profess that he loves his Saviour, and that he is grateful for his bitter sufferings, and yet wantonly and continually turn his back upon this sacred feast, instituted at a time and under circumstances so peculiarly affecting?

But as I am addressing one, who professes to be a Christian, I expect to be told, that you know that Christ has given this command, that you are assured of the benefits to be derived from obedience, and aware of the punishment denounced against disobedience.  If you know all these things, do, my dear friend, consider, that to know what is right, and wilfully and repeatedly to err against that knowledge, is the very highest pitch of criminality: and let me conjure you also to remember, who it is that has said, that the servant who knew his Lord’s will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.

I am willing, however, to believe that you have hitherto been restrained from attending the holy altar, from an apprehension that your life has not been answerable to what you conceive it ought to be, in order to a worthy reception of the body and blood of Christ: and you stifle the suggestions of your conscience with flattering hopes, that you may live to be more worthy, and that you may yet have, after your course of life shall have become more conformable to the dictates of the Gospel, many opportunities of communicating.

This is the difficulty I undertook to obviate; and always supposing myself to be addressing a Christian, I think I shall find it no difficult task.  Let us examine this matter, and begin with the hopes you have expressed, that you shall yet have many opportunities of worthily communicating.  I trust that you will have many; but what will be the dreadful consequence, should you die before you have embraced any of those which have been presented to you, of giving this testimony of your obedience, love, and gratitude, and wholly destitute of those graces and blessings which the devout performance of this duty is so well calculated to produce and to secure?  You must also, I should hope sorrowfully, recollect how many opportunities have already been graciously vouchsafed to you, how many invitations (at least twelve or fifteen in every year) [10] have been given, which you have hitherto neglected; and considering how much is to be done in a short time, for the attainment of heaven, the best of us have no opportunities to spare; for who can tell but the next may be the last afforded to us?

If the sacred rite now insisted upon, were merely commemorative of the death of our beloved and crucified Saviour, such a plea as this, must still subject those who urge it, to the charge of base ingratitude: but when it is considered, as it truly is, as the best means of grace bestowed by a merciful God upon a sinful world, the continued neglect of it must also brand us with the grossest stupidity, folly, and self-destruction.

As to the plea of unworthiness: are you therefore, because you are unworthy, as all are in many respects, to abstain altogether from receiving?  Certainly not.  You are commanded, having first considered the nature, object, and end of this holy Sacrament, to examine yourself, whether you are desirous to perform the will of God, and to render him an acceptable service; and so to communicate.  If you thus consider it, you may have faults, you may fall into error; but this Sacrament is the appointed method, by which you may hope to obtain pardon for your faults, and grace to guard you against error for the time to come.  If you say, you are a great sinner, and are afraid to come; I answer, Even the greatest sinner, if he is really sorry for the past, and intends to lead a new life, cannot any where expect to plead for mercy, through the merits of Christ, better than at his altar, and in the manner which he has graciously appointed.  In short, he that cometh not at all, is in a no less dangerous state, than he who cometh unworthily; that is, who comes, resolving to continue in his sin; the former, because he uses not his best remedy against sin; the latter, because he abuses it; and both, while in that state, must fall short of the glory of God.

Now, observing, as I do, your great anxiety to do all the good to your fellow-creatures, that you have it in your power to perform; and believing that you thus act from no worldly or ostentatious motives, but in obedience to the will of God, the only true and solid principle of action in the breast of a sincere Christian; and observing also, that you attend the public services of religion, at least one day in a week; I am convinced that you cannot live in the habits of vice, or in the unrestrained indulgence of any wilful sin.  If I am right, and you have only been subject to occasional lapses from a virtuous course of life, the effect of a sudden surprise, or violent temptation, that is the very reason why you should come to the Lord’s table; because if you earnestly desire to conquer that vice, whatever it be, which most easily besets you, and come with an honest heart, and sincere purposes of amendment; it is our comfort, in the midst of our imperfections, that our God expects no more from us, than he will enable us to perform; and that even as a father pitieth his own children, so will the Lord be merciful unto them that fear him; for he knoweth whereof we are made, he remembereth that we are but dust. [13a]  But while he is thus merciful and gracious, he does expect this; that we be sincere in what we profess, and that we go to him for help by those ways and ordinances, which he has mercifully vouchsafed to afford us, as our comfort in this life, and our guide to everlasting happiness.  Still, I hear you persist in expressing your fears, lest, after having received this blessed food, you should relapse into sin.  Probably you may; and so have the best of men that have lived before you.  But I am convinced of this (supposing you not to be an habitual sinner), that the oftener you attend this holy Sacrament, purposing to amend your life, and to walk from thenceforth in God’s holy ways, though you should still occasionally fall, the less and less frequent will those relapses be, till they altogether cease; [13b] and be assured, that he who, with pious diffidence, forces himself, as it were, to approach that table in obedience to God’s will, and because he finds that, without it, he is unable to cleanse his way, is better prepared than he is aware of.  Come unto me all ye that travail, and are heavy laden (with the burden of your sins), and I will give you rest, [14] is Christ’s gracious invitation and promise to sinners.  And if you desire to be relieved from such occasional relapses, you ought, undoubtedly, to obey this merciful call; for the denunciations against the unworthy reception of this Sacrament, apply to those, who, at the moment of receiving, not only have not forsaken their sins, but are continuing in the wilful and habitual commission of known sins.

But another argument on this subject overpowers me with its weight; and I trust, my dear friend, it will produce a similar effect on you.  I know you would be greatly shocked, as I should be, to be told, that we were unfit to approach our Maker, in the ordinary devotions of the closet, or to join our fellow Christians in the daily service of the church.  And yet it is your duty and mine to consider (what is most certainly true), that every act of religion, whether public or private, requires the same dispositions of mind, namely, repentance of past sins, and purposes of future amendment, as the celebration of the Sacrament.  No man is fit to approach the throne of God in that divine form of prayer which Christ himself hath taught us, or in any other, if he is then living in habitual violation of his laws; for that is to pray with his lips, while his heart is far from God; and this we know is declared to be mockery in his sight.  Praying unworthily, that is, without reverence and godly fear, and whilst we live in the love and habitual indulgence of any known and deliberate sin, will be equally offensive to the eye of spotless Purity, as unworthily communicating.  If this reflection were duly attended to, men would discover, that the common excuses alleged for non-attendance at the altar, if pursued through all their consequences, would necessarily lead to the casting off every branch of social and private worship. [15]  Do not imagine that I seek to depreciate this sacred ordinance, or to lessen the reverence due to it; for I readily admit, that whoever is determined to indulge in the practice of known sins, and to persevere in a wicked course of life, ought not to come to the table of the Lord: but I most earnestly entreat you (if you are such a one, as I trust you are not) to consider the danger of your state: to such a one I say, If you are not fit to receive the Sacrament, you are not fit to pray; and, oh horrible thought! you are not fit to die.  So far am I from depreciating this blessed institution, that I wish it to be universally regarded, and resorted to by all Christians, as the best means of grace, and a pledge to assure us of God’s favour to his people: but I am also desirous to convince you, that reverence and respect are equally required, and a general good life and virtuous conduct are no less essential to the right performance of those ordinary duties of prayer and praise, which by too many are performed in compliance with custom, and regarded as mere matters of course; whereas there is not one of these duties, the due performance of which (I repeat this idea for its importance) does not require the same sorrow for past sins, the same steadfast purposes of amendment, the same faith in Christ, and the same charity to men, as communicating at the holy table.  No man is, or can be, accepted by God, in the performance of any of these duties, who is not fit to come to the other.  No man, who has a just sense of the nature of this holy Sacrament, who has sincerely repented of his past sins, who is desirous of leading a good life, and in general does so, can ever be unprepared for the Lord’s Supper; no man, who leads a bad life, can ever come properly prepared to that, or to any other Christian ordinance whatever.  As to previous, special preparation, this is all well, and ought never to be omitted, where men have opportunities for it; and it is quite clear that we cannot take too much pains in self-examination, or in raising our affections to God.  But to think that by these preparations alone we are, and that without them we cannot be prepared, is a grievous and dangerous error.  Even our preparatory, or our ordinary prayers, if we hold fast any darling sin, or adhere to any habitual vice, are an abomination and a mockery of God.  Prayers, when added to a general good life, are, indeed, an admirable preparation; and nothing can be depended upon as a security against vice, but a frequent and reverent reception of the Holy Sacrament, and endeavouring to live every day, as if we were daily to communicate.  This is the true, this is the only preparation; and he that with such impressions communicates, though at a minute’s warning, will never be rejected by Him, who was touched with a feeling of our infirmities.  On the contrary, such a man will find this holy rite to be, what its all-bountiful Author intended it should be to all faithful Christians, a support and a comfort in every situation of life; it will confirm his faith and good resolutions, elevate his hopes, and increase his charity; it will bring to his mind assurances of forgiveness and acceptance, in that tremendous hour, when we are taught most earnestly to pray that no pains of death may make us fall from God: it will enable him to support those pains with Christian fortitude, because he will feel that they are to be his introduction to eternal joy.

A great master in the art of holy living, the most excellent and pious Bishop Jeremy Taylor, has, in so pointed and convincing a manner, enforced this duty upon all descriptions of Christians, and his reasoning so strongly confirms what I have already advanced, that I cannot deny myself the pleasure of transcribing the passage.

“All Christian people must come to this holy supper.  They, indeed, that are in a state of sin must not come so, but yet they must come; first, they must quit their state of death, and then partake of the bread of life.  They that are at enmity with their neighbours must come, that is no excuse for their not coming; only they must not bring their enmity along with them, but leave it, and then come.  They that have a variety of secular employments must come; only they must leave their secular thoughts and affections behind them, and then come and converse with God.  If any man be well grown in grace, he must needs come; because he is excellently disposed to so holy a feast: but he that is but in the infancy of piety had need to come, that so he may grow in grace.  The strong must come, lest they become weak; and the weak, that they may become strong.  The sick must come to be cured, the healthful to be preserved.  They that have leisure must come, because they have no excuse; they that have no leisure must come hither, that by so excellent an act of religion they may sanctify their business.  The penitent sinners must come, that they may be justified; and they that are justified, that they may be justified still.” [19]

Such are the arguments, my dear Sir, by which I have convinced myself of the absolute duty of frequent and regular communion; and so far am I now from considering the attendance upon the holy altar as a burden, which one cannot but fear is the case with too many, I am sensible, that to be permitted to perform this duty is a high and inestimable privilege, as well as a duty.  I have now, therefore, myself arrived at this determination, never to turn my back upon the holy table, when it is prepared for my reception.  From this practice I have derived a peace of mind, a steadiness of motives to good conduct, and a consolation under the pressure, both of sorrow for the loss of friends, and of frequent pain and bodily infirmity; which by the grace of God, I trust, no worldly considerations could now induce me to relinquish or forego, by a contrary conduct.

I cannot do better than close what I have to say upon this most interesting subject, with the conclusion of a sermon, of one, [20] who is as bright a luminary of our venerable church at this day, as the pious and most excellent Prelate, whose works I have lately quoted, was in the seventeenth century.  I quote from a sermon preached on this subject, at the Magdalen Chapel; and if there be any thing in what the devout preacher has said, applicable to your own case, I trust your good sense will make and improve the application.

“I wish, in conclusion,” says this energetic and pious divine, “to draw your attention to a circumstance of importance, which particularly offers itself to our notice, both from the subject before us, and the place in which we now are.  They who minister at the altar, are witnesses of a truth much to be lamented, that very few of our sex, in comparison with the other, ever are partakers of the Lord’s Supper; and much it is to be feared, that a determination to proceed in the deliberate commission of that deadly sin, which fills this house [21] with woe, is by many made a reason for neglecting the indispensable duty of receiving the Holy Sacrament; and they vainly imagine, that, by not partaking of it, they may sin with a greater chance of impunity.  They assume, moreover, a kind of merit to themselves in abstaining from it, as if it indicated a laudable fear of eating and drinking unworthily.  Alas! how much are they mistaken! for let us consider a little.  The Scriptures, that is, the law by which we are all to be judged at the last day, expressly forbid fornication as a sin, which, if persevered in, without repentance, will certainly exclude us from the kingdom of Heaven; and they also command the receiving of the Holy Sacrament, as a means of obtaining grace and salvation:—whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, saith our Saviour, hath eternal life.  Now imagine, for illustration, that you had a child, in a state improper to appear before his parents from want, let us say, of cleanliness in his person; and imagine also, that he is admonished to make himself ready that he may attend his duty; suppose he replies, that he is not in a fit state, that he will not prepare himself, and therefore he cannot perform the duty enjoined: would you in this case look upon him as excusable? or would you not rather regard him as deserving double blame, who knowing what is right, insolently refuses to perform it, and dares to plead one offence, as a reason for committing another?  It is the same with respect to yourselves.  Your souls, in the sight of God, are covered with impurity; and he exhorts you to cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, that you may take this holy Sacrament to your comfort; and can you be so weak as to suppose, that your wickedness in the former point will be diminished because you refuse to listen to your Redeemer in the latter?  If there are any here, to whom what I have now said, is in any degree applicable; let me entreat them to break off instantly that fellowship, with which Christ can have no agreement.  Let them remember, that to reject the blood of the covenant, because they are unworthy, through the habitual commission of any known sin, is to render that unworthiness still greater: whilst, on the contrary, to forsake their sins, that they may seek acceptance with their Redeemer, is to render that acceptance sure.”

I here quit this subject with these most forcible arguments of my excellent friend; and though you may think I have said too much, yet if the result shall be, after a careful and attentive perusal, that you shall become a regular attendant at the Lord’s Table, where I shall have much comfort in meeting you, your labour in reading, and mine in writing, will be rewarded by the production of much solid fruit, and, I trust, endless satisfaction to us both.

With anxious concern for your present and eternal happiness,

I remain, dear Sir, &c.

LAICUS.

Note.—I have been much urged by a valuable friend, to recommend some book of preparation for this holy rite.  But where there are so many good books, it is difficult to fix upon any one, to the exclusion of others.  My objection to most of these works is, that they are too long, and many people of weak consciences imagine, that unless they have gone through the whole course of devotion, therein prescribed, they are not fit to approach the holy altar.  This is, in my opinion, an unhappy mistake, and cannot be too soon eradicated.  But were I to give a preference to any books, my own choice would be fixed upon Bishop Wilson’s work, and The Companion to the Altar (and of these two prefer the latter), which used, and ought always, to be bound up with the Book of Common Prayer.  The Companion to the Altar is excellent, founded upon the Church Catechism, and the prayers are complete, without being tedious or enthusiastic.  And if any one wishes to lengthen his devotions, there is, at the end of each preparatory prayer, a reference to appropriate Psalms—and they, to use the words of the late pious Mr. Jones, of Nayland, as applied by him to Bishop Horne’s beautiful Commentary on these sacred Songs, will never cease to be the companion of the devout, till the devotion of earth shall end in the hallelujahs of Heaven.

THE END.

S. Gosnell, Printer, Little Queen Street, London.

[4a]  A seventh edition being now called for within about eight years from the first publication, the Author has the satisfaction of knowing that eighteen thousand copies of this Tract have been dispersed within that period, each edition having consisted of three thousand copies.

[4b]  See Gisborn’s Serm. vol. ii. p. 192.

[6a]  See the institution of the Sacrament, St. Matt. chap. xxvi. and St. Luke, chap. xxii.

[6b]  See Parkhurst’s Greek Lexicon on the verb Παραλαμβανω.

[6c]  1 Corinth. chap. xi. ver. 26.

[7a]  St. John, chap. vi. ver. 54.

[7b]  St. John, chap. vi. ver. 53.

[8]  This divine prayer occupies the 17th chapter of St. John’s Gospel; but the Christian reader will do well to peruse the whole of the heavenly discourse which preceded it, and which is contained in the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th chapters of the Gospel of the beloved disciple, St. John.

[10]  I could wish that these invitations were given by some of our clergy, in a more solemn and earnest manner than at all times prevails, and that the whole Exhortation were read, as it is in many churches in the north of England.  I should think, also, it would be attended with a very happy effect, which, indeed, I have known to be produced by it, if notice of the Sacrament were sometimes given by reading the second Exhortation, addressed “to those who are negligent to come to the Holy Communion;” the use of which, I am afraid, the state of most congregations in this country will fully warrant.  And if, after using either of these Exhortations, the kind and affectionate Pastor would in the course of his sermon pathetically and earnestly entreat his congregation to attend the ensuing Sacrament, to which they have just been invited, as they value their soul’s health, occasionally explaining any difficulty or scruple that may be likely to affect ordinary or young minds upon a part of the first Exhortation, I am confident the happiest effects would frequently follow.

[13a]  Psalm ciii. ver. 13, 14.

[13b]  I cannot here deny myself the pleasure of inserting in a note, a passage I have lately met with in Mr. Archdeacon Daubeny’s Guide to the Church (a work which ought to be diligently perused by every affectionate and dutiful son of the venerable and apostolic church of England), and which peculiarly applies to our present subject: “It is a remark that has long since been made, that no man who prays can long continue a sinner; for either his praying will make him leave off sinning, or his sinning will make him leave off praying.” [13c]  Apply this to that more solemn office or prayer and thanksgiving which is used in the administration of the Holy Sacrament, let a man pray the prayers of our Church, and devoutly attend her Sacraments, being in charity with all men, and we may venture to predict, that religion will soon get the mastery over such a man’s worldly and sinful dispositions, and that, through the merits and atonement of Christ, his salvation is secure.

[13c]  Guide to the Church, 2d edit. vol. i. p. 202.

[14]  St. Matth. chap. xi. ver. 28.

[15]  In a prayer of preparation, by the pious and excellent Bishop Kenn, in his Manual, which has fallen in my way, since I wrote the above, I find this passage: “If thou, Lord, shouldst be extreme to mark what I have done amiss, alas, alas, I am then unfit, not only to communicate, but to say even my daily prayers: I know, Lord, that if I should stay till I am worthy to come, I should then never come; and, therefore, though I am unworthy of so unspeakable a mercy, yet I come to beg thy grace to make me worthy, or, at least, such as thou wilt accept.”—Since the third edition of this tract was published, I have met with an excellent sermon of Dr. Benjamin Calamy on this subject, who draws a very sensible distinction between unworthy receivers, and receiving unworthily.  Unworthy receivers the best of men ever must be, but it does not follow that the Holy Sacrament is therefore received unworthily.

[19]  Taylor’s Art of Holy Living, chap. iv. sect. 10.

[20]  The now worthy Dean of Canterbury and Rector of St. James’s Westminster, the Rev. Gerrard Andrewes, D.D.

[21]  The Magdalen Hospital.