Christian: “Sir, if it be no interruption to your studies, I would be glad to be resolved of several doubts, that arise in my mind, about receiving the blessed sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.”
Minister: “I shall be very glad to contribute anything for removing these scruples which may disturb you upon that account: therefore, pray go on.”
Christian: “Sir, I have heard many sermons, and read several discourses, which do much urge and declare the necessity of communicating in this blessed ordinance; and yet I durst never presume to join therein.”
Minister: “Have you then hitherto lived in the neglect of this important duty?”
Christian: “To speak freely, Sir, I never yet did communicate therein all my life; because I have much questioned, whether I were worthy to receive that blessed and holy seal, to the glory of God, and my own edification and comfort; since I never truly understood the institution, nature, administration, and ends of it, nor the qualifications of those who are to be partakers thereof, according to the appointment of Jesus Christ.”
Minister: “Well then, I hope, if these things be plainly opened to you, it may conduce to satisfy your scruples.”
Christian: “Sir, I shall receive your instructions with thankfulness, and if my heart deceive me not, shall rejoice in the light and knowledge that I may gain thereby.”
Minister: “Let us then, first, enquire into the qualifications of a sincere Christian in general; and secondly, of the qualifications of such Christians as are meet to partake of the Lord’s supper; for they are distinct, and sometimes separate.”
Christian: “I hope, in doing this, you will much help me to judge of my present state and condition God-ward. And now, in the first place, pray inform me, how I may know if I am a sincere Christian.”
Minister: “All true believers, among other graces, have such a knowledge of God in Christ, as works by love, and stirs up in them an earnest study of the will of God, and a sincere endeavour to live in the faith, knowledge, and practice of it.”
Christian: “Sir, I cannot boast of my knowledge; yet, by the grace of God shewed to me, those conceptions which I have of God in Christ, have, I hope, so far prevailed upon me, that to live in the knowledge, love, and enjoyment of Him, and to have my all devoted to His will and praise, is all the heaven that I desire in this world, and a great part of that which I hope for in the world to come.”
Minister: “These are good signs of a real and renewed change in your soul, and so doubtless have wrought good dispositions in you: of which you have had evidence in your heart, and have made it appear in your life and actions.”
Christian: “I would be loth to flatter myself; but yet I hope, that I find some delight in the Word of God, both read and preached: and do seriously meditate thereon, that I may ‘grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord’. And though I am sometimes tempted with vile and vain thoughts, yet I endeavour to stifle them, and my heart rises against them. I thank God, I strive to resist the first motions to sin, and avoid all occasions of evil; and I am never more uneasy, than when I happen into the company of profane and ill people, having a hatred to lying, obscene and filthy discourses, swearing, cursing, and all dishonourable reflections upon God and godliness. I make conscience of taking up a slander against my neighbour; and to be just, and to do good to all, according to my ability; and ‘to walk in all the commandments of the Lord, blameless’.”
Minister: “If these be the fruits and effects of your faith, it is not a dead faith; yet we must not rest upon our own works, or righteousness, for justification, merit, or satisfaction; because it will be derogatory to the merits and righteousness of Jesus Christ, and dangerous to our own souls.”
Christian: “Sir, I know right well, there is no justification, but by the blood of Jesus; neither dare I trust to my own righteousness, but to His only, for the pardon and remission of my sins. And if by grace I am enabled to bring forth any fruit meet for a gospel faith, repentance, and love; these I bless God for, as a part of my duty and happiness, and desire to look on them as proofs of faith, (if they are worthy to be such) and no otherwise.”
Minister: “This is well. But do you find your soul always in a good frame and temper, without haltings, slips or excursions?”
Christian: “Sir, I dare not say that I do: for I must with sorrow acknowledge, that at times my thoughts are polluted, my words are unsavoury without edification, my actions not adorning the doctrine of the gospel of God my Saviour; but such as I fear may prove a grief and snare to others. My spiritual relish of God’s Word is very insipid, and its authority not so sensibly powerful; so that I am unready to anything that is good, even like a dead man, as if my religion had no life nor soul in it.”
Minister: “Well: but when you thus fall into sin, or fail in your duty, what do you think of yourself and ways? How are you affected therewith?”
Christian: “When I am in this deplorable condition, my soul is much disturbed, my joy and peace of conscience are gone; but when I am a little roused out of this sinful lethargy, my heart is then melted with sorrow for my folly and miscarriage, and I address myself to God with the greatest fear and shame, humbly imploring Him to renew a right Spirit within me.”
Minister: “Well, friend, if your conscience confirms what your tongue has uttered, you have expressed enough to evidence the sincerity of your obedience to God, and that you are a sound believer, and a sincere convert. And I hope you have faith also in Jesus Christ the Mediator; without a due respect to Whom our faith and good affections will not deserve the name of being truly evangelical and saving.”
Christian: “Through grace, I desire to acknowledge and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ upon the terms on which He is offered in the gospel; to believe all His doctrines, as my Teacher and Guide; to trust and depend upon Him, as the ‘High-priest of our profession, Who makes atonement by His sacrifice and intercession’. And I desire to submit to His government, as Lord and King of His church.”
Minister: “These are very considerable attainments, and include the substance of saving faith. But are you sensible how you arrived to this good disposition and frame of mind? Do you imagine it was natural to you, or the result of the improvement of your natural reason, powers, or faculties?”
Christian: “Oh, Sir, I dare by no means ascribe that to nature, which is only the effect of divine grace. If I have any measure of sanctification, it is only by the gift and grace of God; for I have had too much experience, that by nature I am alive to vanity and sin; but dead and lifeless to God, and to all real goodness; that I am darkness; folly possesseth my soul; I am at enmity with God, and altogether unable to will, or to do what is pleasing in His eyes; having a great contrariety in my heart to the way of salvation proposed in the gospel of Christ.”
Minister: “And have you taken up strong resolutions, that, by the help of God, and the assistance of His blessed Spirit, you will endeavour to persevere in the faith and practice which you have now declared, to your life’s end?”
Christian: “Sir, there is nothing that I more dread than apostatising, or relaxing in my duty and profession, and that I should have a backsliding heart from the Lord; and I earnestly watch and pray against every symptom and degree thereof.”
Minister: “Do you think, that by your own strength and ability, you have power to persevere and continue in the faith and obedience of the gospel, against the many temptations and corruptions that assault us, and the lamentable miscarriages of those who seemed pillars in the house of God?”
Christian: “I have no confidence in my own ability, Sir, I assure you; but do wholly rely on the Rock that is higher than I; even upon Him Who hath promised, that He will perfect a good work begun to the day of Christ. I rest upon Him, Who is the Author and Finisher of our faith; I beg His Holy Spirit, to instruct, guide, assist, and comfort me. And I earnestly desire and purpose, (by the grace of God) to expect those aids, in a constant and universal attendance upon God in His ordinances, with an honest, humble, and believing heart.”
Minister: “These are all plain evidences of the saving grace of God: which I beseech the Lord may always continue, and grow in your heart; that so you may have a full assurance of His love, Who hath dealt so graciously with you.”
Christian: “The Lord grant, that in the sense of His love to my soul, that I may walk worthy of His grace. And now, Sir, by what has been said, do you think I may presume to feed on Jesus Christ at His table, and receive that blessed seal of my Redeemer’s love?”
Minister: “You know that I told you, that a man may be a true Christian, and yet may not be fit to partake of this holy ordinance: because he may believe unto salvation, and yet be so ignorant of this mystery, as not to be able to make a due application of it to his own soul.”
Christian: “Ah, Sir, I would willingly be informed, what is necessary to be done by a sound believer, in order to the partaking of this blessed ordinance?”
Minister: “First, He must consider, that the elements of and matter of this ordinance, are not common bread and wine after consecration, but set apart to a holy use, and so to be received with an holy understanding and fear. And therefore the Corinthians were blamed by the Apostle, for their ignorance and irreverence, 1 Cor. 11. Again, that these elements, so blessed and set apart by Christ’s appointment, do represent a crucified Redeemer; and we are to partake of them with love, as a memorial of His death; and with faith, as the seal of the promise, and the means appointed by God, to convey the benefits of Christ crucified to the soul.”
Christian: “Sir, these considerations raise up my desire to come to the Lord’s table, which I hope to be a partaker of, with the same sentiments that you have now laid before me; and that I shall feast mine eyes on that lovely object, which is so full of love; and that my eye will so deeply affect my heart toward my holy Redeemer, that I may meet with my blessed Lord in all the ways of His appointment.”
Minister: “Again; you ought to set your soul upon self-examination, that so you may be sensible of your wants and defects, and come to Christ for a supply of the graces of His Holy Spirit; that you may exercise faith, love, repentance, and all other graces, with such warmth and vigour, that Jesus Christ may delight in you, and you in Him; and there may be a mutual and joyful renewing of your covenant of love and obedience to your blessed Saviour.”
Christian: “Sir, we cannot suppose that there should be the actings and exercises of grace, where the habits are wanting, no more than there can be motion without life: but it is usually said, that the holy Sacrament is a quickening, cherishing, comforting, and confirming ordinance.”
Minister: “No doubt but the worthy prepared receivers of this blessed banquet, have by a due participation found their love inflamed, their faith strengthened, their obedience confirmed, their humility increased; so that they have appeared vile in their own sight, and have had an utter detestation of all sin, and an earnest expectation and desire after the glorious appearance of their blessed Lord and Redeemer.”
Christian: “Sir, since the benefits and blessings are so great, it makes me the more earnestly long to be a communicant in these sacred mysteries.”