614 PRACTICAL USES. OF CHRIST'S ATONEMENT. apostle Paul; 1 Cor. xi. 29. where he teaches the Corinthians this ordinance,- assures them, As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do skew the Lord's death till he come. Our blessed Lord has not given us such a peculiar memorial of any of his other actions or offices as he has of his priesthood and sacrifice. Reflection. " And'shall I not do honour to the memory of my dying Saviour ? Shall I refuse to remember my great High- priest, and his propitiation for sin, in the way and manner in which he has enjoined me ? Do I not trust in the death of Christ for my salvation, and shall I not glory in his cross, and profess it before the world ? Do I not stand in daily need of this bread of life which was broken for my sake, and shall I reject the me- morials of his broken body, when his flesh and spirit were made an offering for my guilt : Do not hope for forgiveness through his blood, and shall I not drink this cup of reconciliation which he has mingled !. I have learned by the gospel, the excellency and virtue of the propitiation of Christ, to cancel my iniquities, and shall I not receive this propitiation in all the methods of his . own apppointment ? Shall I dare to say, it is enough for me to read it in the bible, and to hear it in the ministry of the word, and to meditate on it in private, when my Lord has given me an express command to receive it also in those emblems and sensible figures of, bread and wine, and has sanctified them for this very purpose? Is this a kind return to him that died for me ? 00 Blessed Redeemer, forgive all my omissions, my delays any careless or slothful neglects of this holy ordinance of thine, and all my sinftil indifferency about it. O scatter all my doubts, banish all my excuses, and bring me to thy holy table as a peni- tent and humble disciple, as a worthy and joyful receiver ; there let me join with my fellow christians and remember thy dying love." X. We may use this doctrine as our most effectual defence against the terrors of dying ; and as our joyful hope of a blessed resurrection. The atonement of - Christ is a divine support in the agonies of death. At such a season a thousand past iniquities will some -, times crowd in upon the memory, and fill the soul with horror, and perhaps Satan the accuser makes a dreadful assault upon the conscience at the same time, and torments the spirit with painful agonies : But the most formidable terrors, the sharpest agonies find a relief here, the very sting of death is taken away by the death of Christ ; 1 Cor. xv. 56. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin to condemn us is the law of God: but thanks be,to God through Christ Jesus, who bath answered the
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