132. Prayer in consecrating the Elements.

Prayer in consecrating the Elements.

We thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for all thy inexpressible, all thy inconceivable goodness to the children of men. Thou didst form the first human body of “dust of the ground,” and thou didst breathe into man the breath of life, and he became a living soul, capable of knowing, of admiring, of loving, and of enjoying the glorious excellencies of the Divine Nature. Under thy creative benediction he increased, and multiplied, and replenished the earth. But man that was in honor continued not. Sin entered into the world, and death by sin has passed upon all men. Nevertheless, God who is rich in mercy, pitied and spared and said, “Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom.” To guilty man, driven out from paradise, a door of grace opened, a dawn of hope arose. That dawning light, that day-spring from on high, through thy favor, waxed brighter and brighter, till it reached meridian splendor. The fulness of time came, when “God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets,” was pleased to speak “unto us by his Son, the heir of all things;” who “made the worlds, being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power.” But he “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” He was “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief:” and “being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the, death of the cross,” and “when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” “Which things the angels desire to look into;” let our souls rejoice and adore. To thee, voluntarily humbled, to thee, highly exalted Savior, our knees shall bow: that name which is above every name out tongue shall confess: “the love of Christ constraineth us:” “we love him: because he first loved us.” And what proof, blessed Lord, what proof of love art thou this day demanding of thine infinitely indebted creatures? Not to suffer the loss of all things, not to go to prison and to death for thee, not to give our body to be burnt, not to give but to receive: “Take and eat, Take and drink, Do this in remembrance of Me.” Of a truth thy commandments are not grievous; thy yoke is easy, and thy burden is light. Draw us, we will run after thee; these are cords of a man, these are bands of love. We hear the command and we obey. We present our bodies a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service. We devote the superior powers of our immortal spirits to the contemplation of the great mystery of godliness, that we “may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, and that we may “be filled with all the fulness of God.”

We employ, risen and exalted Redeemer, we employ these elements of bread and wine as a memorial of thy dying love, because, in the near prospect of death, thou wert pleased, by giving thanks over them, to set them apart to this sacred purpose. We would, after thy example, look up to our Father in heaven, and give thanks for all the blessings which they commemorate, for redemption through the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of free sovereign grace; for the abolishing of death, and for all the exceedingly great and precious promises, and the glorious prospects of life and immortality brought to light by the gospel. In thy name we solemnly separate, from a common to a hallowed use, so much of this bread and of this wine as we are now to employ in commemorating the death of Christ, his body broken, and his blood shed as a propitiation for the sin of the world.--And over these sacred symbols we again solemnly dedicate ourselves unto thee, to be disposed of by thy providence, to be governed by thy laws, to be guided by thy spirit, to be accepted through thy intercession. Thee having not seen we love; in thee, though now we see thee not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory; receiving the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls. In thy presence we become witnesses to each other, and we call angels and men to witness that we subscribe with our hand unto the Lord, in trembling hope that our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, among the living in the heavenly Jerusalem. And in this blessed hope we would, with one heart and voice, ascribe to God in Christ the kingdom, and the power and the glory, now, and for evermore. Amen.