Haweis, Thomas
The Communicant's Spiritual Companion (Haweis)
In The Communicant’s Spiritual Companion, Thomas Haweis (surname rhymes with “pause”) has provided us with a practical and heart-searching manual for determining who is a worthy participant of the Lord’s Supper. After helpfully considering what a sacrament is, Haweis outlines the twin dangers of either neglecting or thoughtlessly partaking of this ordinance. As Haweis makes clear, a participant who profits from the Lord’s Table is one who has “found acceptance with God through the righteousness of the Savior, and . . . experienced the mighty power of His grace on their souls.”
Having established who a worthy participant is, Haweis next gives valuable directions regarding what should be considered before, during, and after Communion. In two concluding chapters, Haweis offers various models of prayer for the Christian who struggles with it and then provides brief meditations on key select passages of Scripture. In short, the design of The Communicant’s Spiritual Companion is to strengthen the Christian through an examination of the Lord’s Supper, prayer, and the Word, three essential means of grace.
Table of Contents:
Preface
- The Nature of a Sacrament
- An Invitation to the Communion
- Self-Examination, a necessary duty before we come to the Lord’s Supper
- Considerations proper at the Time of the Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
- Directions for the Communicant’s daily Walk with God after receiving the Lord’s Supper
- Directions for Prayer
- Meditation
Subjects for Meditation
Conclusion
Author
Thomas Haweis (1734–1820) was one of the leading ministers of the eighteenth-century evangelical revival within the Church of England, chaplain to the Countess of Huntingdon, and one of the founding fathers of the London Missionary Society.
Endorsement
“The aim of this rich and searching little book by eighteenth-century Anglican minister Thomas Haweis is to awaken in us a serious concern for eternity and a genuine interest in the means of grace. It not only points us to Jesus as the only hope for sin-sick souls, but will help you better understand and appreciate the Lord's Supper, which seals to us the blessings of His covenant of grace. Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest!” — Lee Gatiss, director of church society and adjunct lecturer in church history at Wales Evangelical School of Theology