if we have gone through the service as a mere form, more anxious to be approved in the sight of our fellow-creatures than in the sight of God; we should search out the cause of our want of success; we should be deeply humbled on account of our guilt; we should confess and lament it before God, and apply anew to that blood which cleanseth from all sin; and we should resolve, through the grace of God, to be more diligent in our preparation for the time to come. If we have been enabled to communicate worthily,—that is, if we have been enabled devoutly to contemplate, by faith, Jesus Christ crucified, as the only ground of our hopes before God; if we have been enabled to look on him whom we have pierced, and to mourn after a godly sort; if we have been enabled in any degree to love him who first loved us and gave himself for us; if we have been enabled to love those who are dear to him for his sake, and to forgive our enemies because he hath forgiven us; and if we have been enabled to resolve, in the strength of divine grace, to serve him with greater diligence for the time to come; we ought to be thankful to him who is the Author of all good, and ascribe our success to the grace of God alone, and not to any thing in ourselves; and we should endeavour to make grateful returns of love and obedience, by carefully performing our vows and keeping the covenant which we have renewed. But we must ever remember, that our most worthy commnunicating is accompanied with imperfection and defilement, and that, therefore, we must apply to Jesus Christ to wash us after Supper, otherwise we can have no part in him.

We may also consider at this time, if any sin has been subdued; if any lust has been mortified; if any resolution has been strengthened; if any doubt has been resolved; if any fear has been dispelled; if any temptation has been removed; if any enemy has been overcome; if any want has been supplied; if any light has been imparted; if faith has been increased; if love has been inflamed; if hope has been animated; if the affections have been solemnised; in a word, if the Lord has manifested himself to us in another manner than he doth unto the world.

INFERENCES.

From this subject we learn,-1. The necessity of self-examination, in order to know whether or not we are in Christ. 2. That the Lord will be sanctified in them that draw near

unto him. 3. That the state of the soul deserves our most serious attention. 4. That the ordinance of the Lord's Supper is designed only for holy persons-for those who are in covenant with God. 5. The necessity of obeying the injunction of Christ, "Do this in remembrance of me." 6. The danger of approaching this ordinance without preparation— or trusting in our preparation.

OF PRAYER AS A MEANS OF GRACE-UNDER WHICH ARE CONSIDERED THE NATURE OF PRAYER, AND THE RULE OF DIRECTION AS GIVEN IN the lord's PRAYER.

Of the Nature of Prayer.

Prayer is an offering up of our desires to God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.

ANALYSIS AND PROOFS.

We are here taught,—

1. That prayer is the offering up of our desires to God. Psal. lxii. 8.-" Ye people, pour out your heart before him." 2. That prayer must be offered up for those things only which are agreeable to the will of God. 1 John v. 14.—“If we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us."

3. That prayer must be offered up in the name of Christ. John xvi. 23.-"Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you."

4. That prayer must be offered up with confession of sin. Dan. ix. 4. "I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession."

5. That prayer must be offered up with thanksgiving. Phil. iv. 6." In every thing, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God."

EXPLANATION.

Obs. 343.-Prayer is the offering up of our desires to God.

As prayer is a part of religious worship, the object whom all ought to worship, is the object to whom all ought to pray; and this object most certainly is God-God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.-Matt. iv. 10. God alone ought to be the object of prayer, because he alone can search the hearts and try the reins of the children of men; He alone is "the hearer of prayer," being every where present; and he alone can pardon sin, and fulfil the desires of all.-Psal. cxlv. 18, 19.

Prayer is here described as an offering up of our desires to God; and in this the very nature of prayer consists. When we address God, it must be in a manner very different from that in which we address our fellow-creatures. It will not do to command him; it will not do to demand of him; but we must offer up our desires to him, as the only way in which we may have our wants supplied. Petitions or supplications are here called desires; because there may be much speaking where there are no desires; and the words of the mouth, without the desires of the heart, are but empty sounds in the ears of a prayer-hearing God. And there is said to be an offering up, because prayers are spiritual sacrifices, which must be offered up to God alone.-1 Pet. ii. 5; 2 Kings xvii. 36.

If we would have our prayers accepted in the sight of God, they must be offered up in an acceptable manner, which includes a variety of things. We must pray with an "awful apprehension of the Divine majesty" upon our minds; in a language which we understand,-1 Cor. xiv. 15, 19; with a deep sense of our own unworthiness, and necessities, and wants,-Gen. xviii. 27, and xxxii. 10; Luke xv. 18, 19, and xviii. 13; with penitent, and thankful, and enlarged hearts,—— Psal. li. 17; with faith,-Heb. xi. 6; Matt. xxi. 22; Mark xi. 24; James i. 6; with sincerity,-Psal. cxlv. 18; Jer. xxix. 13; with fervency,―James v. 16; with love,—1 Tim. ii. 8; by which we are to understand an earnest desire after God's presence with us, and an unfeigned delight in him as the only satisfying portion of the soul,-Psal. Ixxiii. 25; Isa. XXV. 9; with perseverance,-Eph. vi. 18; Rom. xii. 12; Matt. xv. 22-28; and we must pray waiting upon God with humble submission to his will,-Mic. vii. 7; Matt. xxvi. 39. We may here remark, that the end for which we pray to God, is not that we may inform him of our wants, for he knows them better than we ourselves do (Psal. cxxxix. 4); not that we may alter his mind concerning us, or incline him

to any thing which he was formerly unwilling to grant, for with him there is no variableness nor shadow of turning ;but we must pray to him, because he commands, and entreats, and encourages us to do so, that he may confer upon us what we may know and believe he is most willing to bestow.2 Chron. vii. 14; Psal. cv. 4; Matt. vii. 7; Luke xviii. 1; Phil. iv. 6; Col. iv. 2; 1 Pet. i. 17; 1 John v. 14.

Obs. 344.-Prayer must be offered up for those things only which are agreeable to the will of God.

We are not to pray for the fulfilling of any sinful desires. -James iv. 3. But we may and ought to pray to God only for those things which are agreeable, to his will.-1 John v. 14, 15. We are not, however, to pray for all things which are agreeable to his secret will; for all things which come to pass, even the greatest sins, are agreeable to God's secret counsel and determination; but we may pray for all things which are agreeable to God's revealed will, or all those things which God hath promised to bestow; and these include all the spiritual and temporal mercies of which we stand in need. -John iii. 33; Matt. vi. 33; Psal. xxxiv. 10; Isa. xxxiii. 16. We must, however, prefer spiritual to temporal mercies in our prayers; for thus saith the Lord, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."-Matt. vi. 33.

Obs. 345.-Prayer must be offered up in the name of Christ, and in dependence on the assistance of the Holy Spirit.

Our desires must be offered up to God in the name of Jesus Christ. This is not merely to mention the name of Christ in the conclusion or in any other part of our prayers; but it is to mention his name by faith, depending on him alone for access to God, and for acceptance and a gracious answer to our prayers.-Eph. iii. 12.

The offering up of our desires to God in the name of Christ is absolutely necessary, because God is so holy and just, and righteous, and we are so unholy and sinful, and our prayers are at best mingled with so much imperfection and sin, that neither our persons nor our prayers can find acceptance with God, but through the merits and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ.-Rev. viii. 3, 4.

We may here remark, that Jesus Christ is the only mediator in whose name we may approach unto God; for there is

no one either in heaven or on earth who is appointed to this glorious work, or fit for it, but Jesus Christ: "There is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."— 1 Tim. ii. 5, See also John xiv. 13, 14, xv. 16, and xvi. 23; Eph. v. 20; Col. iii. 17; Heb. xiii. 15.

Our desires must also be offered up to God in dependence upon the assistance of the Holy Spirit. This is absolutely necessary in order to our praying in a right and acceptable manner. It is the Spirit, the Comforter, who helpeth our infirmities, who teacheth us all things, and bringeth all things to our remembrance-our need, and the only way in which we may be supplied; and it is he also who bringeth to mind the encouraging promises, upon which we may rest in all our approaches to God; by which we may be assured, that if we ask not amiss, we shall not be sent empty away.-Rom. viii. 26, 27.

Obs. 346.-Prayer must be offered up with confession of sin.

Confession of our sins reminds us of our true condition, as sinners by nature and by practice. On this account it is a most necessary part of prayer; for, if we would pray for mercy, we cannot do it in a right manner, without acknowledging our true state-as ill-deserving and hell-deserving creatures as utterly unworthy of the least mercy from the Lord. And it may be observed, that where there is a real sense of guilt, there will also be a most unfeigned confession of guilt.-Ezra ix. ; Dan. ix. ; and Neh. ix.

In the faith that our iniquity shall be forgiven, we must confess our original sin, which is the source of all actual transgression,-Psal. li. 5; and also all our actual sins, both of omission and commission, which are past reckoning. We must confess our sins against God, against our neighbour, and against ourselves; our sins against both tables of the Divine law; our sins in thought, in word, and in deed; and the sin which most easily besets us, for every one has some sin to which he is particularly addicted. In a word, every sin, without exception, which we know to be sin; every sin, great or small; every sin, however unknown to all around, or known only to God and to ourselves,-must be ingenuously acknowledged; for without this we shall never see our unworthiness of the least mercy, when we would address God by prayer and supplication.

Confession of sin is absolutely necessary for the following