The best preparation for taking this sacrament, better than any or all of the books or tracts composed for this end, is to read over and over again, and often on your knees—at all events with a kneeling and praying heart—the Gospel according to St. John, till your mind is familiarised to the contemplation of Christ, the Redeemer and Mediator of mankind, yea, of every creature, as the living and self-subsisting Word, the very truth of all true being, and the very being of all enduring truth; the reality, which is the substance and unity of all reality; _the light which lighteth every man_, so that what we call reason is itself a light from that light, _lumen a luce_, as the Latin more distinctly expresses this fact. But it is not merely light, but therein is life; and it is the life of Christ, the co-eternal Son of God, that is the only true life-giving light of men. We are assured, and we believe, that Christ is God; God manifested in the flesh. As God, he must be present entire in every creature;—(for how can God, or indeed any spirit, exist in parts?)—but he is said to dwell in the regenerate, to come to them who receive him by faith in his name, that is, in his power and influence; for this is the meaning of the word “name” in Scripture when applied to God or his Christ. Where true belief exists, Christ is not only present with or among us;—for so he is in every man, even the most wicked;—but to us and for us. _That was the true light_, _which lighteth every man that cometh into the world_. _He was in the world_, _and the world was made by him_, _and the world knew him not_. _But as many as received him_, _to them gave he power to become the sons of God_, _even to them that believe in his name_; _which were born_, _not of blood_, _nor of the will of the flesh_, _nor of the will of man_, _but of God_. _And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us_. John i. 9–14. Again—_We will come unto him_, _and make our abode with him_. John xiv. 23. As truly and as really as your soul resides constitutively in your living body, personally and substantially does Christ dwell in every regenerate man.