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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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under any idea of its operating as a viaticum , but simply as a seasonable mode of expressing the sick person ' s thanks to Almighty God , for having enjoyed the privileges of the gospel , and his or
her humble confidence in its promises and bjgp&s * I have often before thought , Mr . Editor , of troubling you with a copy of the few prefatory observations which I have been in the habit of
addressing to my sick friends on such occasions v with a view to obtain ^ from some of your correspondents , their sentiments upon the general propriety of the- practice ,.. The remarks of your Ealaud
correspondent have again brought the subject to my mind * and have led me to request a place in your useful Miscellany , for the following thoughts ; I am , & < %
V , F . Introductory Address on the A dm ' ntst ration of the Lord's Supper to a Sick Persen . Christian Friends , The consolations and prospects of the gospel are peculiarly suited to the circumstances of the sick . When the soul
begins to have a sort of sensible experience , on how slight foundation it holds whatever depends on the present world , it naturally becomes anxious to resort to the only sure foundation on which it can build its hopes of a better . Mankind , in the prospect of so important a change , have in all ages been solicitous to obtain information on this
important point . But Nature alone gives little satisfaction : at the most , it offers a few encouraging presumptions and resemblances , which may lead the mind to hope that the Creator and Governor of the world will not desert his
creatures in the hour of their greatest need . What nature , however , has left in comparative darkness , is brought to light by the gospel . Here we see Jesus , the most excellent and best beloved of the great family of God , sent upon the gracious errand of publishing salvation to a guilty and a doubting world ; of assuring mankind , ( what from nature
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they had not dare 4 to expect , ) that God , their gracious Father and Friend , was ready to pardon their sins upon repentance , to accept their sincere , though imperfect obedience , and to reward their patient continuance in well-doing with glory , honour and immortality . The truth of this mission of merciful favour the blessed Jesus completely established ,
by the excellence of his doctrines , the purity of his life , the number of his miracles , the constancy of his death , and , particularly , by the glory of his resurrection ; by which he became a pattern of the resurrection of his followers from , the dead , and a pledge of the certain accomplishment of . his promises to his faithful and obedient servants .
These great truths are of infinite importance toman , in every stage of h £$ existence ; in prosperity and adversity , in health and in sickness , in life and in death , this glorious prospect is enough to supply him with animating motives , to a virtuous activity , a patient acquir escence , or a supporting hope , according to the variety of circumstances and
, But of more especial value is Christianity to the sick . When we begin to experience the loss of creature-comforts , and the vanity of earthly supports , the comforts and supports to be derived from
the contemplation of the love of God in Christ Jesus , and all the modes of having recourse to these comforts , and of expressing our satisfaction in the contemplation of this love , are then peculiarly seasonable .
Of these the communion of the Lord ' s supper , that last . legacy of our beloved Master , bequeathed to his disciples under circumstances of peculiar interest , in the near prospect of his sufferings and death , and with a spirit full of affectionate tenderness , not only for those friends whom he was then shortly to leave , Luc < for all those who should afterwards
believe on him through their word , " that is , for all Christians in all succeeding ages , —appears to claim our particular attention , as applicable , more than any other , to the case of those , whose circumstances resemble his in so many respects .
It has not , indeed , " been customary , among all Christians , to have recourse to this ordinance , in the case of tick persons ; because in some churches it nas , in such cases , been very much abused . But the abuse of any thing is
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A Sacramental Address . 18 S
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1810, page 183, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2403/page/23/
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