clares that he is our's, and we by it declare to be his.-5. A stand sacrament, that is, a sign, and an oath. An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace;ing ordinance, for it is to be observed to the end of time, 1st Cor. xi, 26. It seems to be quite an indifferent thing, what bread is used in this ordinance, or what coloured wine, for Christ took that which was readiest. The eating of the bread and drinking of the wine being always connected in Christ's example, they ought never to be separated: wherever one is given, the other should not be withheld. This bread and wine are not changed into the real body and blood of Christ, but are only emblems thereof. See TRANSUBSTANTIATION. an oath, by which we bind our The subjects of this ordinance should be such as make a credible profession of the gospel: the ignorant, and those whose lives are immoral, have no right to it; nor should it ever be administered as a test of civil obedience, for this is perverting the design of it. None but true believers can approach it with profit; yet we cannot exclude any who make a credible profession, for God only is the judge of the heart, while we can only act according to outward ap As to the nature of this ordinance, we may observe, that, in participating of the bread and wine, we do not consider it as ex-pearances. piatory, but, 1. As a commemora- Much has been said respecting ting ordinance. We are here to the time of administering it. Some remember the person, love, and plead for the morning, others the death of Christ, 1st Cor. xi, 24.- afternoon, and some for the even2. A confessing ordinance. We ing; which latter, indeed, was hereby profess our esteem for the time of the first celebration Christ, and dependence upon him. of it, and is most suitable to a -3. A communicating ordinance: supper. How often it is to be obblessings of grace are here com- served, cannot be precisely ascermunicated to us.-4. A covenant-tained from scripture. Some have ing ordinance. God, in and by been for keeping it every day in this ordinance, as it were, de- the week; others four times a week; some every Lord's day; which many think is nearest the apostolic practice, Acts xx, 7.— Others have kept it three times a year, and some once a year; but the most common is once a month. It evidently appears, however, both from scripture, 1st Cor. xi, 26. and from the nature of the ordinance, that it ought to be frequent. As to the posture: Dr. Doddridge justly observes, that it is greatly to be lamented that Christians have perverted an ordinance, intended as a pledge and means of their mutual union, into an occasion of discord and contention, by laying such a disproportionate stress on the manner in which it is to be administered, and the posture in which it is to be received. As to the latter, a table posture seems most eligible, as having been used by Christ and his apostles, and being peculiarly suitable to the notion of a sacred feast; and kneeling which was never introduced into the church till transubstantiation was received, may prove an occasion of superstition. Nevertheless, provided it be not absolutely imposed as a term of communion, it will be the part of Christian candour to acquiesce in the use of it in others by whom it is preferred. It appears, that standing was at least frequently used in the Christian church, viz. always on the Lord's day, and between Easter and Whitsuntide. The manner in which this ordinance is administered, both in the church of England, and among Protestant Dissenters, is so well known, that we need say nothing of it here. We will only subjoin a few directions in what frame of mind we should attend upon this ordinance. It should be with sorrow for our past sins, and easiness and calmness of affection, free from the disorders and ruffles of passion; with a holy awe and reverence of the Divine Majesty, yet with a gracious confidence and earnest desires toward God; with raised expectation; prayer, joy, and thanksgiving, and love to all men. When coming from it we should admire the condescensions of Divine grace; watch against the snares of Satan, and the allurements of the world. Rejoice in the finished work of Christ, depend upon the gracious influence of the Spirit, that we may keep up a sense of the Divine favour, and be longing for heaven, where we hope at last to join the general assembly of the first-born. The advantages arising from the participation of the Lord's supper are numerous. 1. It is a mean of strengthening our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.-2. It affords great consolation and joy.-3. It increases love.-4. It has a tendency to enlighten our minds in the mystery of godliness.-5. It gives us an utter aversion to all kinds of sin, and occasions a hearty grief for it.-6. It has a tendency to excite and strengthen all holy desires in us.-7. It renews our obligations to our Lord and Master.-8. It binds the souls of Christians one to another. See Case's Sermons, ser. 7; and Hen ry, Earle, Doolittle, Grove, and benevolence, which is an inclination Robertson, on the Lord's Supper; to seek the happiness or welfare Dr. Owen's, Charnock's, Dr: Cud- of any being.-3. Love of comworth's, Mr. Willet's, Dr. Wor- placence, which arises from the thington's, Dr. Watts's, Bishop consideration of any object agreeWarburton's, Bishop Cleaver's, and able to us, and calculated to afford Dr. Bell's, Pieces on the Subject. us pleasure. A variety of other treatises, explanatory of the nature and design of the Lord's supper, may be seen almost in any catalogue. LOVE TO GOD is a divine principle implanted in the mind by the Holy Spirit, whereby we reverence, esteem, desire, and delight in Him as the chief good. It includes a knowledge of his natural excellences, Psal. viii, 1. and a consideration of his goodness to us, 1st John iv, 19. Nor can these two ideas, I think, be well se argue that genuine love to God should arise only from a sense of his amiableness, yet I think it will be difficult to conceive how it can exist, abstracted from the idea of his relative goodness. The passage last referred to is to the point, LOT is a mutual agreement to determine an uncertain event, no other ways determinable, by an appeal to the providence of God, on casting or throwing something. This is a decisory lot, Prov. xvi, 33. Prov. xviii, 18. The matter,parated; for, however some may therefore, to be determined, in order to avoid guilt, should be important, and no other possible way left to determine it; and the manner of making the appeal solemn | and grave, if we would escape the guilt of taking the name of God in vain. Wantonly, without necessi-and the representation given us of ty, and in a ludicrous manner, to the praises of the saints in heaven make this appeal, must be therefore accord with the same sentiment: highly blameable. And if thus Thou art worthy, for thou hast the decisory lot, when wantonly redeemed us by thy blood," Rev. and unnecessarily employed, bev, 9. See SELF-LOVE."Love criminal, equally, if not more so, must the divinatory lot be, which is employed for discovering the will of God: this, being no mean of God's appointment, must be superstitious, and the height of presumption. LOVE consists in approbation of, and inclination towards an object that appears to us as good. It has been distinguished into, 1. Love of esteem, which arises from the mere consideration of some excellency in an object, and belongs either to persons or things.-2. Love of to God is a subject," says bishop Porteus, "which concerns us to enquire carefully into the true nature of. And it concerns us the more, because it has been unhappily brought into disrepute by the extravagant conceits of a few devout enthusiasts concerning it. Of these, some have treated the love of God in so refined a way, and carried it to such heights of seraphic ecstacy and rapture, that common minds must for ever despair either of following or understanding them; whilst others have delicate terms as are much better suited to the grossness of earthly passion than the purity of spiritual affection. "But the accidental excesses of this holy sentiment can be no just argument against its general excellence and utility. described it in such warm and in- || of our actions, 1st Cor. xi, 31.— 3. In delighting in communion with him, 1st John i, 3.—4. In grief under the hidings of his face, Job xxiii, 2.-5. In relinquishing all that stands in opposition to his will, Phil. iii, 8-6. In regard to his house, worship, and ordinances, Ps. lxxxiv.—7. In love for his truth and people, Ps. cxix. John xiii, 35.-8. By confidence in his promises, Ps. lxxi, 1.—And, lastly, by obedience to his word, John xiv, 15. 1st John ii, 3. See Gill's Body of Div., p. 94, vol. iii, oct.; Watts's Discourses on Love to God; Scott's Serm., ser. Bellamy on Relig., p. 2, and Signs of Counterfeit Love, p. 82; Bishop Porteus's Serm., vol. i, ser-、 mon 1. . 14; LOVE, BROTHERLY, is affection to our neighbours, and es "We know that even friendship itself has sometimes been abused to the most unworthy purposes, and led men to the commission of the most atrocious crimes. Shall we, therefore, utterly discard that generous passion, and consider it as nothing more than the unnatural fervour of a romantic imagination? Every heart revolts against so wild a thought! and why, then, must we suffer the love of God to be banished out of the world, because it has been sometimes improperly represented or indiscreet-pecially to the saints, prompting us ly exercised? It is not either from to every act of kindness toward the visionary mystic, the sensual them. It does not, indeed, consist fanatic, or the frantic zealot, but merely in pity to and relief of from the plain word of God, that others, 1st Cor. xiii. in love to our we are to take our ideas of this di- benefactors only, and those who are vine sentiment. There we find it related to us, Matt. v, 46, 47. described in all its native purity It must flow from love to God, and simplicity. The marks by and extend to all mankind; yea, which it is there distinguished con- we are required by the highest tain nothing enthusiastic or ex- authority to love even our enetravagant." It may be considered, mies, Matt. v, 44. not so as to 1. As sincere, Matt. xxii, 36, 38. countenance them in their evil -2. Constant, Rom. viii.-3. actions, but to forgive the injuries Universal of all his attributes, they have done to us. Love to commandments, ordinances, &c. good men, also, must be particu4. Progressive, 1st Thess. v, larly cultivated, for it is the com12. 2d Thess. i, 3. Eph. iii; 19.-mand of Christ, John. xiii, 34. 5. Superlative, Lam. iii, 24.-6. they belong to the same Father Eternal, Romans viii. This love and family, Gal. vi, 10; we heremanifests itself, 1. In a desire by give proof of our discipleship, to be like God.-2. In mak- John xiii, 35. The example of ing his glory the supreme end Christ should allure us to it, 1st John iii, 16. It is creative of a|| Ex. xix, 4.-6. In his actual convariety of pleasing sensations, and duct towards them; in supporting prevents a thousand evils: it is the them in life, blessing them in greatest of all graces, 1st Cor. xiii, death, and bringing them to glory, 13. Answers the end of the law, Rom. viii, 30, &c. Rom. vi, 23. 1st Tim. i, 6; resembles the inha- The properties of this love may bitants of a better world, and be considered as, 1. Everlasting, without it every other attainment Jer. xxxi, 3. Eph. i, 4.-2. Imis of no avail, 1st Cor. xiii. This mutable, Mal. iii, 6. Zeph. iii, 17. love should shew itself by praying-3. Free; neither the sufferings for our brethren, Eph. vi, 18; bearing one another's burdens, by assisting and relieving each other, Gal. vi, 2. By forbearing with another, Col. iii, 13. By reproving and admonishing in the spirit of meekness, Prov. xxvii, 5, 6. By establishing each other in the truth; by conversation, exhortation, and stirring up one another to the several duties of religion, both public and private, Jude 20, 21. Heb. x, 24, 25. See CHA RITY. LOVE OF GOD, is either his natural delight in that which is good, Isa. lxi, 8. or that especial affection he bears to his people, 1st John iv, 19. Not that he possesses the passion of love as we do; but it implies his absolute purpose and will to deliver, bless, and save his people. The love of God to his people appears in his all-wise designs and plans for their happiness, Eph. iii, 10.-2. In the choice of them, and determination to sanctify and glorify them, 2d Thes. ii, 13.-3. In the gift of his Son to die for them, and redeem them from sin, death, and hell, Rom. v, 9. John iii, 16.-4. In the revelation of his will, and the declaration of his promises to them, 2d Peter i, 4.-5. In the awful punishment of their enemies, of Christ nor the merits of men are the cause, but his own good pleasure, John iii, 16.-4. Great and unspeakable, Eph. ii, 4, 6. Eph. iii, 19. Psal. xxxvi, 7. LOVE, Family of. A sect that arose in Holland, in the sixteenth century, founded by Henry Nicholas, a Westphalian. He maintained that he had a commission from heaven to teach men that the essence of religion consisted in the feelings of Divine love; that all other theological tenets, whether they related to objects of faith or modes of worship, were of no sort of moment; and, consequently, that it was a matter of the most perfect indifference what opinions Christians entertained concerning the Divine nature, provided their hearts burned with the pure and sacred flame of piety and love. LOVE OF THE WORLD. See WORld. LOVE FEASTS. See AgapÆ. LOW CHURCHMEN, those who disapproved of the schism made in the church by the non-jurors, and who distinguished themselves by their moderation towards Dissenters, and were less ardent in extending the limits of ecclesiastical authority. See HIGH CHURCHMEN. |