ye have an eternal covenant of grace with God," as the form of baptism speaks. 4. Give heed and observe, when baptism is administered. We must not then hurry out of the church, nor suffer our eyes to wander. Something divine is transacted, a child is surrendered in covenant to God, and sealed in his name. We must therefore listen attentively to what is proposed and asked by the servant of the Lord in his name: we must also unite in hearty prayer with the congregation: think then that ye were baptized in the same manner, and for what end the Lord obliged himself to you, and ye to him. Ye would then renew your baptism frequently, and obtain new grace, and vigor, so that your "hearts would, like Jehoshaphat's, be lifted up in the ways of the Lord," 2 Chron. xvii. 6. 5. Be much and heartily exercised about the baptism of your children. Let it not be a matter of indifference to you whom ye select to be witnesses for your children; but seek virtuous and devout persons, who know what they do, and will earnestly study the spiritual welfare of your children. Do not present your child until ye have besought the Lord for it, and then dedicate it to the Lord, and give it up to him, as Hannah gave her son Samuel, 1 Sam. i. 27, 28. Enter sincerely and with a perfect heart into your engagement to the Lord for your child; but fulfil also your promises, by separating your child from the world, and by keeping it separated, "bringing it up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Thus Paul admonisheth you, Eph. vi. 4, and Solomon, Prov. xxii. 6, and thus the saints also acted, as Abraham, Gen. xviii. 19, David, Prov. iv. 3, 4, the mother and grandmother of Timothy, 2 Tim. i. 5, iii. 15. Fathers, are not your children your own flesh and blood? Mothers, have ye not borne them in your bowels? do ye not love them heartily? do ye not design all that ye have for them? is not the least evil that befalls them, intolerable to you? would ye then bring them up for hell, and not for heaven? Ye may not neglect this duty; neither may ye, who have appeared as witnesses for this or that child; for ye have all solemnly obligated yourselves thereto. 6. Children, who are so far advanced that ye can in some measure understand the divine mysteries, and know what is good or evil for you, begin in your early life, to know and to seek the Lord: "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, of which ye shall say, I have no pleasure in them," as Solomon saith to you, Eccl. xii. 1. So Abijah, the son of Jeroboam acted, Obadiah, Ahab's steward, David, Jeremiah, John the baptist, Timothy, and others. Nothing can be more pleasant to children, than "to bear the yoke of the Lord in their youth" Lam. iii. 27. Ye will surely not hasten to destruction? Ye are obliged by your baptism to serve the Lord; therefore obey your parents; beware of youthful lusts, separate yourselves from thoughtless children; attend upon preaching and catechising, and assure yourselves that ye never will repent of it. Thus ye might, with David, solicit the Lord to show you favour in your afflictions, and in your old age. Read Psalm xxii. 10, 11. Ixxi. 17, 18. We should thus, agreeably to the words of Paul, Eph. iv. 13, "Come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" that we might, as he saith farther, 1 Cor. xiii. 11, 12, "put away childish things, and no longer see through a glass darkly, but face to face; and no longer know in part, but even as we ate known. Amen. THE NATURE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER EXPLAINED. XXVIII. LORD'S DAY. 1 Cor. xi. 23-26. For I have received of the Lord, that which I also delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread: and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner he also took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. Q. 75. How art thou admonished and assured in the Lord's Supper, that thou art a partaker of that one sacrifice of Christ, accomplished on the cross and of all his benefits? A. Thus, that Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread, and to drink of this cup in remembrance of him; adding these promises: first, that his body was offered and broken on the cross for me, and his blood shed for me, as certainly as I see with my eyes, the bread of the Lord broken for me, and the oup communicated to me: and further, that he feeds and nourishes my soul to everlasting life, with his crucified body and shed blood, as assuredly as I receive from the hands of the minister, and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, as certain signs of the body and blood of Christ. Q. 76. What is it then to eat the crucified body, and drink the shed blood of Christ? A. It is not only to embrace with a believing heart all the sufferings and death of Christ, and thereby to obtain the pardon of sin, and life eternal; but also, besides that, to become more and more united to his sacred body by the Holy Ghost, who dwells both in Christ and in us; so that we, though Christ is in heaven, and we on earth, are notwithstanding, "Flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone ;" and that we live and are governed for ever by one Spirit, as members of the same body are by one soul. Q. 77. Where has Christ promised, that he will as certainly feed and nourish believers with his body and blood, as they eat of this broken bread, and drink of this cup? A. In the institution of the supper, which is thus expressed : "The Lord Jesus in the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of me: after the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood; this do ye as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come." This promise is repeated by the holy apostle Paul, where he says, "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 For we being many, are one communion of the body of Christ? bread and one body; because we are all partakers of that one bread." As it is necessary that a man should be born, in order that he may exist, so it is also necessary that he should be daily nourished, that he may continue in existence. No man exists necessarily nor from eternity, nor of himself by his essence; he must have his be Thus also he ginning from another, which he obtains by his birth. cannot continue in existence of himself, nor cause himself to exist in future; a higher efficient than himself must cause him to exist in fu "prea ture; if he shall continue to exist. It is God indeed who " serves man and beast," as David saith, Psalm xxxvi. 6. The Lord could indeed do this immediately, but it pleaseth him of his goodness to do it by means, and by daily food: man hath thus time. after time a new refreshment, and a repeated experience of the kindness of God. This is necessary for the body; but as the soul, alienated from the life of God, cannot live, unless she be born again, so she cannot remain alive unless she continually receive spiritual food: therefore the Lord, willing to finish the good work which is begun in her, affords her also daily food: he promiseth her that he will guide her continually and satisfy her," Isaiah lviii. 11. To this end be gives her not only the good things of his covenant, "satisfies her with the goodness of his house, even of his holy temple," as David trusted that he would do, Psalm lxv. 4, causes her "to eat that which is good, to delight herself in fatness," as he offers her, Isa, lv. 2, that he may "strengthen the heart with grace," according to Heb. xiii. 9, but he gives her also his word, and the sacrament of the sup per, by which that delicious food is served up to her, and received by her in its proper savour and relish; for "the cup is the communion of the blood of Christ, an dthe bread is the communion of his body," as Paul speaks, 1 Cor. x. 16. By which he therefore enjoins on us to eat his body, and drink his blood, as that faithful man delivers in the text, agreeably to the institution of Christ. We have seen on a former occasion how the Lord seals regeneration to his people, we must now show how he nourishes them by the seal of the supper. This is an important doctrine, and it is therefore considered with exactnes by the instructor, in four particulars : I. He explains the proper nature of the supper in this Lord's day. II. He refutes the errour of transubstantiation and of the mass, Q. 78, 79, 80. III. He shows who are, and who are not partakers of the supper, Q. 81. IV. And he then defends the supper by the keys of the kingdom of heaven, Q. 82, 83, 84. In order to explain the nature of the Lord's supper, we will unfold, I. the name and parts, II. the ends, and III. the circumstances of it. 1. This sacrament is called "the breaking of bread," Acts ii. 42. xx. 7. "the table of the Lord," 1 Cor. x. 21. "the communion of |