“You are therefore called to this memorial by love to Christ, and a consequent desire to obey his affecting command. If you find grace to partake in a right spirit, you will derive special benefits. You will, in the exercise of faith upon the Redeemer, here strikingly represented, feed upon his body and blood, not in any gross sense, but as receiving and applying to yourself Christ crucified and all the benefits of his death.

This sacrament thus becomes one of the means of salvation, not from any power in itself, but by the operation of the Holy Ghost and the blessing of Christ. The approach which you contemplate is, then, one of the most solemn acts of your life, and is not to be attempted without much reflection, inquiry, and prayer.” — James W. Alexander, Plain Words to a Young Communicant (1854), pp. 16-17