As a covenantal meal given by King Jesus to His subjects, the Lord’s Supper plays a vital role in the life of the church. In this remarkable anthology, the Puritans help us understand the spiritual significance of the Lord’s Supper and give encouraging counsel on how to receive it with reverence and joy.

Contents

1. The Passover: Its Significance, and the Analogy between It and Christ Our Passover by Richard Vines
2. The Lord’s Supper Is a Federal Ordinance: Implying a Covenant Transaction between God and Us, and Supposing a Renewal of Solemn Vows to be the Lord’s by Edmund Calamy
3. The Express Renewal of Our Christian Vows: Every Time We Come to the Holy Communion, and Directions about the Right Management of It by Edmund Calamy
4. It Is Every Christian’s Indispensable Duty to Partake of the Lord’s Supper by William Wadsworth
5. Self-Examination by Joseph Alleine
6. The Fruit and Benefit of Worthy Receiving by Richard Vines
7. The Mystery of the Lord’s Supper by Thomas Watson

Endorsements

“If a child were to ask you what the Lord’s Supper means and why you take it, how well prepared are you to give an answer? With their typical thoroughness, the Puritans open the Bible to teach us the significance of the Supper. In so doing, they lead us into the wonders of God’s covenant. It is amazing but true: undeserving sinners feed by faith on Jesus Christ.”

—Paul M. Smalley, coeditor of Feasting with Christ: Meditations on the Lord’s Supper

About the Authors

Richard Vines

Vines was born about 1600 in Leicestershire and studied at Magdalen College, Cambridge. He was a Presbyterian member of the Westminster Assembly and was one of the preparers of the Confession of Faith. He was minister at St. Clement's Danes, London, and later at St. Lawrence Jewry. He died in 1655.

Edmund Calamy

This Edmund Calamy was the grandson of the earlier Puritan Edmund Calamy (1600–1666). He was born in 1673 and was educated at the University of Utrecht. In 1700 he began to preach to the nonconformists and in 1703 took charge of a congregation in Westminster. He was responsible for Calamy’s Non-Conformist’s Memorial, which was the basis for Benjamin Brook's Lives of the Puritans. He died in 1732.

Thomas Wadsworth

Thomas Wadsworth was born in Southwark in 1630 and was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge. In 1652 he was appointed minister of Newington Butts and later at St. Lawrence Poutney. He died on October 28, 1676.

Joseph Alleine

Joseph Alleine was born in 1634 at Devizes and baptized on April 8. He began his studies at Lincoln College, Oxford, but was later moved to Corpus Christi College. He was one of the ejected ministers of 1662 and was imprisoned several times for preaching unlawfully. He died on November 17, 1668, while in jail for preaching the gospel. His powerful book A Sure Guide to Heaven is published by the Banner of Truth.

Thomas Watson

Thomas Watson graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, nursery of the Puritans. He pastored for many years at St. Stephen's Walbrook in London. His writings are among the most popular of all the Puritan pastors. Soli Deo Gloria has published many of his scarcest works.