Boston on the Ordinary Means

A beautiful reminder that the Word and Table are the means Christ uses to build up His people: “It is in the courts of our God where the trees of righteousness flourish, Psalm 92:13. The waters of the sanctuary are the means appointed of God, to cause His people to grow as willows by the water courses. Therefore drink in with ‘desire, the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby,’ 1 Peter 2:2. Come to these wells of salvation; not to look at them only, but to draw water out of them. The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is in a special manner appointed for these ends. It is not only a solemn public profession, and a seal of our union and communion with Christ; but it is a means of most intimate communion with Him; and strengthens our union with Him, our faith, love, repentance, and other graces, 1 Corinthians 10:16, ‘The cup of blessing, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?’ And chapter 12:13, ‘We have been all made to drink into one Spirit,’ Give yourselves unto prayer; open your mouths wide, and He will fill them. By these means the branches in Christ may be further nourished, grow up, and bring forth much fruit.”

- Thomas Boston (1676-1732), “Human Nature in its Four-Fold State of Primitive Integrity”