1 bays in Gop the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Cwwwr, biw only Son our Land, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, wuffered under Pontius Pilate, was erucified, dead, and buried: He descended into ball; the third day He rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, and with at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from whence He

shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the HOLY GHOST; the Holy Catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

THE BLESSING.

Amen.

Which is pronounced at the departure of the people, according as our Lord hath commanded in the Law.-Numb. vi. 23.

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

Whereunto is added, to remind the people of the duty of alms-giving, as it is customary upon leaving the church,

Depart in peace. Remember the poor; and the GoD of peace be with you.Amen."

We have before us a great variety, more especially of foreign liturgical forms, all more or less based on similar principles; but as we have alluded to the propriety and utility of having services adapted to special occasions, we shall give a specimen of two of these services as contained in the Liturgy of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of America. Our first extract is from the "Form for the Administration of the Lord's Supper." We begin, first of all, with the introductory exhortation, which is an excellent

one:

Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, attend to the words of the institution of the holy supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, as they are delivered by the holy Apostle Paul, 1 Cor. xi. : 23 30.

"For I have received of the Lord, that which also I 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. And 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 oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me: for as oft as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so

let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup: for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation* [judgment] to himself, not discerning the Lord's body."

That we may now celebrate the supper of the Lord to our comfort, it is above all things necessary,

* Gr. zgjua―D. Oordeel-E. Judgment, condemnation.

FIRST, Rightly to examine ourselves.

SECONDLY, To direct the Supper to that end for which Christ hath instituted the same, namely, to the remembrance of him.

(I.) In order to the right examination of ourselves :

First, Let every one consider by himself his sins and the curse due to him for them, to the end that he may abhor and humble himself before God; considering that the wrath of God against sin is so great, that, rather than it should go unpunished, he hath punished the same in his beloved Son Jesus Christ, with the bitter and shameful death of the cross.

Secondly, Let every one examine his own heart, whether he doth believe this faithful promise of God, that all his sins are forgiven him, only for the sake of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, and that the perfect righteousness of Christ is imputed and freely given to him as his own, yea, so perfectly as if he had, in his own person, satisfied for all his sins, and fulfilled all righteousness.

Thirdly, Let every one examine his own conscience, whether he hath resolved henceforth to show true thankfulness to God in his whole life, and to walk uprightly before him; and also hath an earnest purpose, from this time forth, to live in true love and peace with his neighbour.

All those who are thus minded, God will certainly receive in mercy, and count them worthy partakers at the table of his Son Jesus Christ.

On the contrary, those who do not feel this witness in their hearts, eat and drink judgment to themselves. Therefore, we also, according to the Scriptures, admonish all those who know themselves to be defiled with the following sins, to keep themselves from the table of the Lord; such as all idolators, and all who use or trust in any form of divination; all despisers of God, and of his word, and of the holy sacraments; all profane or false swearers; all Sabbath-breakers; all those who are disobedient to parents or rightful superiors, and all movers of sedition and discord; all murderers, and such as live in hatred or envy against their neighbour; all unclean persons and drunkards; all thieves and extortioners; all slanderers and liars; all covetous and miserly persons; and all who lead offensive lives. These, while they continue in such sins, shall abstain from this meat, lest their condemnation be made the heavier.

But this is not designed, dearly beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord, to deject the contrite hearts of the faithful, as if none might come to this Supper but such as are without sin; for we do not come to the Supper of the Lord, to testify thereby that we are perfect and righteous in ourselves; but, on the contrary, since we are seeking our life out of ourselves in Jesus Christ, we acknowledge by this very service that we lie in the midst of death. Therefore, notwithstanding we still find many shortcomings and miseries in ourselves, as, namely, that we have not perfect faith, and do not give ourselves to serve God with such zeal as we are bound, but have daily to strive with the weakness of our faith and evil lusts of our flesh; yet, since, by the grace of the Holy Ghost, we are sorry for these weaknesses and earnestly desire to fight against our unbelief, and to live according to all the commandments of God, we rest assured that no sin or infirmity which still, against our will, remaineth in us, can hinder us from being received of God in mercy, and so made worthy partakers of this heavenly meat and drink.

(II.) Let us now also consider to what end the Lord hath instituted his Supper, namely, that we "do this in remembrance of him." Now after this manner are we to remember him by it :

First, We must be fully persuaded in our hearts that our Lord Jesus Christ was sent of the Father into the world: Assumed our flesh and blood: Bore for us the wrath of God from the beginning of his incarnation to the end of his life upon earth; especially when the weight of our sins and of the wrath of God pressed out of him the bloody sweat in the garden, where he was bound-that our bonds might be loosed: Afterwards suffered innumerable revilings-that we might never come to shame: In his innocence was condemned to death-that we might be acquitted at the judgment seat of God; yea, suffered his blessed body to be nailed on the cross -that he might fasten thereon the handwriting of our sins: Took on him the burden of our curse, that he might fill us with his blessings; and humbled himself unto the deepest reproach and pains of hell, in body and in soul, on the tree of the cross, when he cried with a loud voice, "My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?' -that we might be made nigh unto God, and never be forsaken of him: And finally, confirmed with his death and the shedding of his blood the new and eternal testament-that covenant of grace and reconciliation—when he said, "It is finished."

Moreover, That we may firmly believe that we belong to this covenant of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ hath ordained this Holy Supper, and said, "This do ye in remembrance of me;" that is, "As often as ye eat of this bread and drink of this cup, you shall thereby, as by a sure memorial and pledge, be persuaded of this my hearty love and faithfulness towards you, that whereas otherwise you should have suffered eternal death, I have given my body to the death of the cross, and have shed my blood for you; and with my crucified body and my shed blood,do nourish your hungry and thirsty souls to everlasting life as surely as this bread is broken before your eyes and this cup is given to you, and you eat and drink the same in remembrance of me."

From this institution of the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, we see that he directs our faith, and trusts to his perfect sacrifice, once offered on the cross, as the only ground of our salvation, since by that sacrifice he is become to our hungry and thirsty souls, the true meat and drink of life eternal. For by his death he hath taken away the cause of our eternal death and misery, namely, sin, and obtained for us the life-giving Spirit, that by the same, which dwelleth in Christ as the head, and in us as his members, we may have true communion with him, and be made partakers of all his blessings of life eternal, righteousness, and glory: And furthermore, that, by the same Spirit, we may, as the members of one body, be united in true brotherly love," For we, being many, are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread." For, as out of many grains one meal is ground and one bread baked, and out of many berries being pressed together one wine floweth and mixeth itself together, so all we who, by true faith, are incorporated into Christ shall, by brotherly love, be one body for the sake of Christ, our beloved Saviour, who hath first so exceedingly loved us; and this we shall show towards one another, not only in word but also in very deed.

The Prayer.

That we may obtain all this, Let us humble ourselves before God, and with true faith implore his grace.

O most merciful God and father! we beseech thee that in this Supper, in which we celebrate the glorious remembrance of the bitter death of thy beloved Son Jesus Christ, thou wilt so work in our hearts by thy Holy Spirit; That we, with true confidence, may more and more give ourselves up unto thy beloved Son Jesus Christ, so that our burdened and fainting hearts may, through the power of the Holy Ghost,

20

se fed and efreshed it is The Judy mu dod—yes, with amser. The hd und nan. hat my leavenly : Eat ve may enceforth ive, nos in our sins, auc Je in is má ven him. mais e me partakers the new und verlasting rivesant of grace; und hat ve mar 10 10 3 on it or ever be our gracious Father, Jever more moaning our ins ma is ad providing is, is by jeloved children må heirs, vitù di tings necessary is veil or Le your is the soul.

* Grant is also hy grace, that we may meerfully akce upon is our cross, leny ourselves, confess or Savior, and in ul miniations, with piited lewis, expect our Lord Jesus Christ fom heaven, where he will make our mortai joules ike anto his most glorious body, mi nike us oe or ever with himself. And wilt hon also, by this holy Supper, strengthen is n the late ma mioubted Christian faith, whereof we make confession with our mouths mi leirs, saying

I believe in God the Father £mighty, Muter of terren mi arth ind a Jesus Christ is my Son our Lart; chu ons "inceived my he Ey Phust, burn of the Virgin Mary, sufred under Pintius Pilate, cas rucțied, ivni, ina nuried, he descended into hell: the tairi way he se gain from the word, he ascended into heaven, and sitteth in the right und of God the Father Limvynig: _rm thence he shall come to judige the mick and the lead.

I believe in the Hiy Grost; the wiy Catholic Church : the communion of saints; the forpizeness of was: the resurrection of the body, vui the life ever lasting.

Amen.

Prayer.

That we may now be fed with the true heavenly bread, Christ Jesus, let us not cleave with our hearts unto the external bread and wine, but Et them up on high to heaven, where Christ Jesus is car Advocate at the right hand of his Father, whither all the articles of our faith do lead us; not deabting, that, drough the working of the Holy Ghost, we shall be fed and refreshed with his body and blood, as surely as we receive the holy bread and wine in remembrance of him.

Hereto assist us, the Almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, through his Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Service.

In breaking and distributing the bread, the minister shall say :— The bread which we break, is the communion of the body of Christ.

And when he giveth the cup:—

The cup of blessing, which we bless, is the communion of the blood of Christ. During the communion a psalm may be devoutly sung, or a chapter may be read, in remembrance of the death of Christ, as the 53d chapter of Isaiah, the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th chapters of John or the like.

After the communion the minister shall say :

Beloved in the Lord, since the Lord hath now fed our souls at his table, let us therefore jointly praise his holy name with thanksgiving, and every one say in his heart thus:

Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.

It is recommended that the ancient custom of repeating the creed audibly, by the communicants, be restored.