SECT. I. The INTRODUCTION.

THOU hast here represented to thee in a little room, I think, all that is necessary to render thee a meet and profitable Receiver of the holy and comfortable Sacrament of the Body and Blood of JESUS CHRIST our Lord. And I suppose it is in such a man­ner represented, as is most fit and likely, with the Blessing of God to possess thee with all [Page 2] the Qualifications requisite to him that comes to this Sacrament, if thou wilt afford this little Book a serious and frequent perusal. If thou hast been so unhappy, and so much mistaken in thy true interest as never to have laid these things to heart before, and to have liv'd in the neglect of this blessed Ordinance; I would ad­vise, I would entreat thee often to read and study these things, till thou art familiarly ac­quainted, and deeply affected with them; that thou mayest to thy advantage come well prepared to this Sacrament. If the things here­in contained have already affected thy Heart, and had a good Influence on thy Life, and thou art a frequent Attendant on this Sacrament, it may suffice to read this Book as often as thou [...]st on the Week before thou comest to it, as a good Week's Preparation for it. And for those who communicate every Lord's Day (as I wish all Christians did) it may suffice, commonly, to retire some time on the day be­fore, or get up the sooner on the Sacrament-day, and seriously meditate on the Exercises herein propos'd, which are designd' to excite him that has an habitual fitness for this Sacrament into an actual one, & are useful for that purpose. I say commonly this may be enough for such; but yet even they also may find it necessary and use­ful sometimes, when leisure allows, to read the whole.

Because what is requisite to render a Man a meer Receiver of this Sacrament is also necessa­ry, and is sufficient to constitute a good Christian, and to bring him to Heaven: There­fore [Page 3] I have said in the Title, that the whole Method and Way of our Salvation is herein plainly declar'd. So that if any Soul be Solli­citous about that grand and most important QUESTION, What must I do to be saved? he may find it herein resolv'd. And whether this holy Sacrament may be accounted and used as a means of Conversion to a good Life or not; yet I hope, that by the Blessing of God, this little Book may be such a Means to many, if Men will but think it worth their while to do so much to their own Everlasting Happiness, as to read and consider so small a Treatise.

SECT. II. The Creation of MAN.

WHEN it is said in the first Chapter of Genesis, that God saw every thing that he, had made, and behold it was very good: This means, that the Creator, upon the review of [Page 4] his Works, was pleased and delighted herein; and that he hated nothing that he had made: For, what we hate, we wish that it were not, especially not such as it is. If therefore the Creator had hated any thing that he had made, he had made it to be such as he would not have it to be; which is not to be supposed of Infi­nite Wisdom and Goodness, and of such Power as is able to make every thing what he pleases it shall be. Mankind therefore, among the other Works of God, were made very good, and were pleasing to our Maker. Indeed he made Man a very Noble and Excellent sort of Creature, such as must be peculiarly pleasing to Himself, above all things in this lower World: As we may judge, by those words in Gen. 1.27. God created Man in his own Image. This was the peculiar Glory of Man, and that which chiefly advanced him above the Crea­tures about him. And it did principally con­sist in these things following: That as he had Faculties capable of knowing, loving, and obeying God, he was disposed to do so; He knew God to be the most Excellent Being, and did accordingly reverence and esteem him: He knew him to be the Fountain of Good, and his chief Good, and did accordingly fix the choice of his Will upon him; and valued his Favour and Love, by which he enjoy'd God as his greatest and only felicity. The [...]e was then no Error or false reasoning in his Under­standing, no perverse Choice in his Will, no Innordinacy in any of his Appetites, no Mo­tions in them contrary to his Reason. In No­thing [Page 5] was Man inclin'd to contradict his Du­ty to God, or any of the Eternal Laws of Righ­teousness. Upon this Account it was that Man was very good, and belov'd of his Maker. And being so belov'd. he liv'd in perfect Peace and Happiness: He was not encumbred with any Evil; he wanted nothing that he had oc­casion for. It appears his kind Creator would not cease doing for him, till he had provided for all his Necessities and Desires; that so he might be compleatly happy. Man then enjoy' [...] the willing and ready Service of all Creatures about him. He enjoy'd himself, and could with pleasure consider and praise God for the Noble and Excellent Nature which God had given him: He had an easy and quiet Mind, had no conflicts with himself, had no occasion to rebuke or fall out with himself. He énjoy'd then his God too, being assur'd of his Favour, and receiving the constant communications of it. He could with great delight, contemplate and praise the glorious Attributes of God; and the Divine Wisdom, Power, Righteous­ness, Goodness and Truth, were very plea [...]ant to him, while he was assur'd that all these were friendly, and would be favourable to him. This was Man's first Condition; a very excel­lent and happy one: But alas! through his own default it did not last long.

SECT. III. The first COVENANT between GOD and MAN.

IT is very probable, that all the particular Dealings of God with Man in this Condi­tion, [Page 6] are not told us in that short account which Moses gives us of the beginnings of the World. It being enough for us to know in general, what is the Spring and Source of all that Sin and Misery which is now found among Man­kind; the knowledge of which is of some Use and importance towards our getting free from both. But what is told us of the Transacti­ons between God and Man in that State, we may think we shall most truly understand, and most rightly interpret, if we guide our selves herein by the Tenour of his dealing with Mankind since that. From what is told us then of that Time, and from what appears since, we may learn, That it pleased the Crea­tor when he had made Man, and had so high­ly oblig'd him, to take upon him the Rela­tion of a Governour to his Creature, as he had the undoubted right of one; and he very just­ly thought fit to exercise a Dominion over him for his good. It was therefore, we may suppose, promised to Man, that he should en­joy the Favour of his Maker, and a perfect Happiness both of Body and Soul, upon Con­dition that he would continue in the due re­verence and love of his Maker, and obey his Commands. And it was made known to him, that he should fall from the best of his Ex­cellency, from that wherein he was so pleasing to his Maker; and from all his Happiness, if he did not continue stedfast in his Duty, and perfectly perform it, as God had enabled him to do. And this is that which is commonly called, The First COVENANT.

SECT. IV. The SACRAMENTS of That.

MOREOVER, God having made Man to consist of a Body and Soul, and knowing that it is natural to him, for the Objects of his Senses to make great Impressions, and to have a mighty Influence upon his Mind: His Wis­dom and Goodness order'd Matters so, as that his Senses might help to admonish him of his Duty, and to assure him of his Happiness in the performance of it. And this we may sup­pose was the reason and Ground of God's sepa­rating two Trees in the Garden where he had placed our first Parents, for a peculiar and un­common Use: The one call'd, The Tree of Knowlege of Good and Evil; the other call'd, The Tree of Life. These we may reckon to have been the Sacraments of the first Covenant: For in these were Spiritual things by God's appointment represented by outward and visi­ble Signs and Actions: Man was assisted to re­member his Duty and Obligations to his Maker by that Tree, call'd, The Tree of Knowledge of good and Evil: For we may suppose that the Fruit of this Tree was set apart by God whol­ly for the following purpose: Man was to take care to cultivate this Tree as well as others; but he was to offer the Fruit of it at set times solemnly and religiously to God, as a visible ac­knowledgment that he own'd him the Maker of all things, and the supreme Lord, and the Proprietor of all. This was reserved, as we [Page 8] may say, by God, to be a devoted thing, and Man's Thank-offering to him for all the rest of his Gifts. And for this reason Man was forbid to eat of it himself. For we find in later Times, it was always held a very heinous and guilty thing for Men to ear of, or use what God had separated and reserved to himself. Now for such a sensible outward performance, as the solemn offering of this Fruit to God, and the looking upon it, and using it only as a Devoted thing, was an excellent and fit means to admo­nish Mankind for ever to acknowlege their Cre­ator and Preserver as the supream Lord and Proprietor of all things; as it was a sensible Declaration that they did make this acknow­ledgment, so it was a sensible Obligation of themselves that they would continue to do so; and the more a help to them to continue it, & to answer all the Obligations which naturally result from it in the Course of their Lives.

And then the other Tree was appointed to assure Man, upon his perfect Obedience, of his Immortality and everlasting Happiness. So that whilst he continued stedfast in his Duty, he had right to take and eat the fruit of this Tree: And he might take it as God's visible and sensible pledge, and as an Instrument of Conveyance of Eternal Life and Happiness to him, in like manner, as now we have leave from God to look upon the Rain-bow, not only as the natural effect of the Sun shining up­on a falling Shower, but, as God's visible pledge and assurance to Mankind, that he will never again destroy the World with a Deluge of Wa­ter.

SECT. V. Of the Sin and Fall of MAN.

THIS Account shews the exceeding great Guilt and Wickedness of the Sin of our first parents. Their Sin was, that they did cat of the forbidden Fruit; and so they used and took to themselves what was reserved and de­voted to God: It was the bringing to a common use, that which was separated by his appoint­ment to a religious one, and was the profaning of a hallow'd or holy thing. But let it be con­sider'd a little how monstrous and vile this Sin of our first Parents was! How soon had they forgotten the mighty obligations which the Creator had so lately laid upon them! How bountiful had he been unto them! And he witheld and reserv'd but one Fruit to himseif; & this, we may say, they grudg'd & envy'd him: They would not be content with so vast a pro­vision as he had made for them, but would needs have this afforded too. The poor de­pending Creature, that deriv'd his Being, and all he had, would needs be sole proprietor and ab­solute Lord of all things on the Earth, & would acknowledge no Superiour! They had no need of this Fruit, were perfectly happy without it; & might have contined so happy, if they would have abstained from this; but they most un­reasonably despised their Happiness, and ha­zarded the losing it for the sake of the Satis­faction and Advantage which they expected from this single Fruit. The Creator indeed [Page 10] had been so good to them, they would not be lieve he would so severely punish their eating this Fruit as he had threatned to do; and so that which should have oblig'd them to be stedfast in their Duty, was most perversly turn'd into an encouragement to Sin. O vile and shameful Wickedness! Let us consider from what a vile original we all spring, and be hum­bled and ashamed.

In yielding to this foul act, they lost that Holiness and Righteousness which they had been endow'd with, and by which especially they had been pleasing to their Maker.

In this also they broke the Condition of the first Covenant, which required that they should constantly reverence and love their Creator, and obey him in all things. And the sad Conse­quence of this was, That they hereby lost the Favour of God, and forfeited all their own Happiness. They lost all right to the good things of this World; to the Obedience and Servicea­bleness of the Creatures which God had made for them. They became liable to the penalty which God had threatned to inflict, and im­mediately upon the Transgression did deserve to have been put to Death, and to be thrown into the place of everlasting punishment, pre­par'd for the Devil and his Angels.

SECT. VI. The NEW COVENANT.

AND the utmost Severity of the Threat­ning had been immediately executed in that manner upon them, we may believe, ac­cording [Page 11] as it was said, In the Day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die: If the Son God had not become a Mediator on their behalf. And he freely undertook to do whatever might be necessary to tender it consistent with the Honour of God to receive his rebellious Creatures into Favour again, to release their obligation to everlasting Punishment, and restore them to perfect Happiness. What he then undertook to do to this purpose, we may learn and conclude from what he did in the fulness of time: And that was, That he would unite himself to the Humane Nature, and would be­come Man. In that nature he would perf [...]m a perfect obedience to God the Father, that he might merit for Mankind the Happiness which was setled to be the reward of perfect Obedience. And to excuse Man from the eternal Death which he had deserved by his Sin, he undertook to suffer Death in his stead, and so to make his Death a Sacrifice for the Sin of Mankind. Thus much did he, very kindly and of his own accord, undertake to do for us; and he was accepted of the Father, and assur'd that he should, by doing thus, ob­tain the Favour for us which he desir'd. So he procur'd for Man that he should not be ut­terly cast off and thrown into endless Misery; but have other Terms of Favour appointed him: And this dispensation or Appointment, is that which is called the NEW COVENANT: And it is called the New Covenant in his Blood, because it was procur'd by his undertaking to shed his Blood in the Humane Nature as a [Page 12] Sacrifice for Sin. Upon this our first Parents were permitted to live, to enjoy, in some mea­sure, the good things of this world for a while, and had space allow'd them to make their Peace with God, to recover his Favour, and their own Happiness.

We must know, that since it was a setled Law before the Fall of Man, that he should propagate such as himself; and his posterity should be reckon'd in the same state and relati­on towards God with their Father, who began them: Therefore when the first Parents o [...] Mankind thus became polluted by their Sin, and were fallen into the state of guilty Rebels against God; all their posterity must needs come polluted into this world, as unclean things out of unclean, must be born Children of Wrath, as the Scripture speaks. We therefore have the same Task upon us which our first pa­rents had; that is, to recover the Favour of God and our Everlasting Happiness, by perform­ing now the Terms and Conditions of this Se­cond Covenant

Let us see then, what are the Duties which it requires to be perform'd on our part: and what are the Promises of it on God's part; the Blessings which it offers to make us partakers of, upon the condition of performing those Duties.

SECT. VII. On our PART.

FIRST let us take notice of our own part of this Covenant, and observe what it is that [Page 13] God requires of us, to whom the Gospel is preached, which we must do to be saved. And because all mankind are now consider'd by God as guilty and polluted Creatures; as having sin­ned, and being disposed to do wickedly; there is first required of us, That we repent and turn from Sin. In the next place, because we must return to God; it is required, That we do be­lieve all the Articles of the Christian Faith: And lastly, That we engage our selves, and en­deavour to keep God's Holy Will and Com­mandments, & walk in the same all the days of our life. But because the Heart of Man is deceit­ful and wicked, and we are so backward to do our Duty, that we are unwilling to know it; therefore it will be requisite to mention some­what particularly, the Things contain'd under these three general heads.

The first main Branch of our Duty is, that we repent and turn from sin: To which purpose we must stand at a defiance with all the causes of sin, and resolve they shall not govern us. Therefore has the Church been wont to express this Branch of our Duty thus: We must renounce the Devil, and all his works; the Pomp and Vanities of this wicked World, with all the covetous Desires of the same: And all the sinful Desires of the Flesh, so as that we will not fol­low, nor be led by them.

We must renounce the Devil and all his Works. It was by the Craft and Instigation of this Apostate Spirit, the Enemy of our Happiness, that Mankind were at first drawn into Disobedi­ence [Page 14] against God. We must resolve therefore never to have any Correspondence with him; to abhor and abstain from all those guilty ways of consulting him, or seeking his Assistance, which the ungodly World have ever practised. We must never knowingly, or willingly, obey any of his Commands, nor comply with his Temptations. We must resolve to fight against all those Spiritual Wickednesses in our selves, which he infects the humane nature with, such as Pride, Anger, Envy, Treachery, Lying, Malice, and Cruelty. Must abhor to imitate or follow him in the tempting of others to wickedness; or in the Hatred and Persecution of good men for the sake of their Goodness.

We must also renounce the Pomp and Vanities of this wicked World, and all covetous Desires of the same. That is, we must resolve and en­gage that we will not let the love of the World rule in our Hearts, which is opposite to the Love of God. We will not let our Hearts fix on the Wealth, the Pleasures, or the Dignities, and Honours here below: Nor will make the getting of them the Aim and Scope of our chief En­deavour and care; nor let the Enjoyment of them be our cheifest Delight and Satisfaction. That we will not be guided by the Customs of the World, nor follow a multitude to do evil: That our dearest Relations, or our most necessary and most useful friends and Benefactors, shall not be able to influence us against the Will of God, and the Dictates of our Conscience: That we will be ready to part with all that is dear, all is necessary to us, and which we might [Page 15] otherwise lawfully keep and enjoy, when they stand in Competition with our Love and Duty to God. And we will submit to any Inconveni­ences in the want even of necessary things, ra­ther than to do any thing to gain them, which is contrary to the Laws of Divine Love.

We must further renounce, mortifie, and aban­don all sinful Desires of the Flesh: All the irre­gular & disobedint Inclinations of our corrupt Nature must be mortified and subdued. We must chace away those fleshly Lusts which war a­gainst the Soul; the Love of slothful Ease, and Idleness, all Intemperance, and Lascivious­ness. We must forsake and abstain from all those sensual Sins, which abuse and prodigally waste God's good Creatures; which enslave the Thoughts and Faculties of the Soul to the Ap­petites of the Body; and which render the Soul unfit for the due Exercises and Operations of its Faculties; and which tend to clog and encum­ [...]er the Body with Diseases. We must renounce all these three Sources of Evil, the Devil, the World, and the Flesh, and must resolve we will not follow nor be led by them. And this is the First main Branch of our Duty under the New Covenant.

The Second is this: We must believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith. And this re­ [...]uires of us to promise and perform the Things [...]ollowing: That we will seriously apply our [...]elves, as our leisure and opportunity will al­ [...]ow us, to make the best improvement that we [...]an of the means of Divine Knowledge which the [...]rovidence of God affords us; that so we may [Page 16] gain as much of that [...]nestimable Treasure as we can: That we will not through Negligence or Hatred of the Truth be ignorant of any im­portant revealed Truth. That whatever does ap­pear to us to be revealed from God concerning himself and our way to Happiness, we will re­ceive it as a certain truth, because it comes from him who is infinite in Wisdom, & cannot be de­ceived; and is a God of Truth, and therefore cannot deceive.

These Articles of our Faith are summarily comprehended in that Form of sound Doctrine, which is commonly called the Apostles Creed, among which these are chief ones. That we be­lieve in God the Father, who hath made us and all the World. That we believe in God the Son, who hath redeemed us and all Mankind; which implies these things: We must believe that all Mankind are guilty before God, and ob­noxious to his Eternal Wrath and Punishment. That Jesus Christ the Son of God, died as a Sa­crfice for the Sins of Men: That he submitted to an accursed Death, as the Punishment of Sin in our stead, and to excuse us from suffering it for ever: That his Death is accepted with the Father as an Atonement for Sin, and shall re­dound to the advantage of all those who re­pent and believe on him: Who being heartily sorry for their Sins, and fallen out with them, do forsake them and turn to God; and do expect and rely upon the Merit of his Death, to find fa [...]our with God. We must believe, that as Jesus Christ died for our Sins, so he rose again for our Justification▪ Having made a full Attonement, [Page 17] he was released from the Bonds of Death: and is ascended into Heaven; and that he ever lives there to make Intercession for us; that is, to ob­tain and bestow upon wretched Mankind, all the blessed Benefits which his Death has pur­chased for them. And we must believe in God the Holy Ghost, who graciously applies all those Blessings to us, and who sanctifies us and all the Elect People of God.

Further: We also are bound and required to make our open Profession of the Religion con­tain'd in these Articles; and to own it to the World, that we are, and will be the Worshipers of the one only true and living God, by one Me­diator between God and man, the Man Christ Je­sus. And we must chuse rather to suffer any loss, or to die, than to renounce or deny our Faith. And we are bound also to lead a Life suitable to these Articles of Faith, to let them govern our Conversations as they ought to do: And our Faith must work or operate in the Exercises of Love. This is the Second main Branch of our Duty under the New Covenant.

The Third is this: That we must engage and endeavour to keep God's Holy Will and Com­mandments, and to walk in the same all the Days of our Life. And this obliges us to the Things following, That we will diligently stu­dy and learn the Will of God, as it is express'd in the Laws which he has given us; will not cavil nor dispute against our Duty, when we should perform it; will endevour to know our Duty, that we may do it. That we will love his Law, and it shall be our constant Aim and En­deavour [Page 18] to conform to it in all things: We abso­lutely bind our selves, and are bound to live in no willful, known, and presumptous Sin. That we will not deliberately and knowingly trespass a­gainst the Law of God. This Covenant indeed does not require of us to preform a perfect Obedi­ence; for that is a thing now above our power: but it binds us to endeavour a perfect Obedience; that is, not to be willingly guilty of any known Sin. There is, alas, no meer Man now, that can constantly & perfectly keep the whole Law of God but in many things we offend all: And 'tis one Blessing of the New Covenant, that it par­dons Sins (as we shall see presently) which supposes Defects in our best Obedience. There­fore also our Saviour has taught us to pray as daily for the pardon of Sin, as for our daily Bread. But this Covenant bears with none but involuntary Sins; such as we commit through Ignorance or Surprise, and for want of Consi­deration, on a sudden, when our Ignorance and Inconsideration are not wilful, nor due to the neglect of our selves. And as for known, wil­ [...], and Presumptuous Sins, and such as are de­liberately committed; they put us out of this Covenant, and lose us all right to the Favours and Blessings of it, till they are bitterly repented of, and utterly forsaken.

Thus much we must heartily & sincerely bind & engage our selves to do; and this is our part of the New Covenant. This is also called the Covenant of Grace or Favour; and we may see that it has justly that Name, in that it admits of Repentance for Sin, and accepts of that poor [Page 19] imperfect Obedience, which is all that we can now perform: And we shall see that Name fur­ther justified, in that it will appear to be one of the Blessings and Favours of it, that it affords us strength to perform our Duty.

SECT. VIII. On GOD's Part.

AND now I come to represent and shew what are the Favours and Blessings on God's Part, of this New Covenant. What he offers, and promises, and will bestow, upon our Performance of the Duties and Conditions re­quired of us. And these may be comprehended under these three rich and important Heads.

The First is a full and free Pardon of all our Sins. God will blot our Iniquities, as it were, out of his Remembrance; will forget that we were Sinners, and will treat us as righteous, Will lay aside his most just Wrath against us: and embrace us with the Arms of Mercy and Love. He that might most Righteously have de­stroy'd us with an Everlasting Destruction, will rejoyce over us to do us good. He will pardon our most numerous Sins; will pardon the great­est Offences; will pardon even our known, wilful and deliberate Sins, and our Customs of Sinning, upon our Repentance and forsaking of them. And a general Repentance and a humble Behavour towards God, will obtain the Pardon of those infirmities and involuntary Sins which we do not observe our selves to be guilty of, and cannot be perfectly free from. And having thus pardoned all our Sins, the Course [Page 20] of Mercy is free; all Obstruction of it is remov'd and we may address to God with Boldness in the Name of Jesus Christ, as to a reconciled Father; and believe him ready to afford us all that is necessary to our Salvation.

The next Favour and Blessing of this Covenant is, The restoring of the Divine Image in us in our Sanctification. If upon the Proposal of this Covenant to us we do accept of it, and are wil­ling to yeild to the Conditions it requires, and to give up our selves to a Life of Holiness and Righteousness according to the Laws of God, He will give us Spiritual strength to perform our Duty so far, as that we shall be accepted through the Mediation of Jesus Christ. If we will not undertake, we shall not be able to per­form; but if we will undertake and bind our selves to do our Duty, he will enable us to per­form it. It might seem a strange thing that God should require of us to bind our selves and undertake to do that which we cannot do of our selves, (as we do in obliging our selves to all those things fore-mentioned) if it were not that the very binding our selves to this does entitle us by the Tenour of this Covenant to Grace sufficient for us. In all the Exhortations of the Gospel to an Instance of Duty, we may reckon there is comprehended also the Offer of Divine Assistance, which shall be afforded to him who yeilds, in the purpose and desire of his Soul, to comply with those Exhortations. No Man therefore shall have ground to com­plain, that he would leave his known Sins, and do the Duties which he knows he omits, [Page 21] but cannot do so: For if a man sincerely de­sires to leave his Sins, devotes himself to his Duty, and Diligently uses the Means that may enable him to do it: That is, If he waits on God for this Grace in earnest and perseve­ring Prayer, and a due attendance on the Preach­ing of the Word and the Sacraments, that Man shall infallibly come to be able to do what he thus wills and desires. For, He that hungers and thirsts after Righteousness, shall be filled, as our Saviour says; And God will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him. It is the Favour of this New Covenant to help us to do what it requires us to do.

The last Favour and blessing of this Covenant, is an Everlasting Happiness both of Body and Soul in Heaven. We are left by it indeed sub­ject to a natural Death; to mind us of our guil­ty Rebellion against God: That we may not forget we are Sinners, and do deserve an Eternal Death: On purpose that the sence of this might quicken our desire and concern to recover the Divine Favour, and make us the more ready and willing to submit to the terms of recover­ing it. But Death shall not long have Domi­nion over us: God will not leave the Soul in Hell; that is, it shall not be always seperated from the Body; nor shall the Body be always subject to the Ignominy and Punishment of its Dissolution. Since the Sins are pardon'd which did deserve Death, the Creature shall be released from it: And our Savour's Resurection from the Dead does especially assure the Resurection of those that believe on him, He has also pro­mised [Page 22] that he will give them Eternal Life, & raise them up again at the last day. The Body, then, however scatter'd and dispers'd, and lost to all knowledge of Men, shall be gather'd together by the Wisdom of God, and be raised to Life by his Almighty Power: And it shall be raised with great advantage; It was sown a Natural Body, it shall be raised a Spiritual Body; It was sown in Corruption, but it shall be raised Immo­tal. And the Soul shall be again united to it, never to be seperated more: But both shall be taken up to dwell in a glorious happy place, where is fulness of joy, and pleasure; for ever­more: To live in the Fellowship and Communion of kind, happy, and glorious Angels: To dwell in the Presence of God, and contemplate, and praise, and love him, and rejoyce in his love for ever. This is now the whole Tenour of the New Covenant, which was procur'd for us by the precious Blood of Jesus Christ, our kind and powerful Advocate.

SECT. IX. The SACRAMENTS of this Covenant.

AND this Covenant also hath its Sacaments. God has appointed sensible Actions and Signs, in and by which it is to be made between Him and Us. In the Use of these Sacraments, we must testifie our Consent to this Covenant, and signifie, that we own our selves engag'd in it. And in the use of these must we wait for, and expect the Blessings and Favours on God's part to be afforded us. It is by these that he [Page 23] has determin'd to convey those Favours which we can at present receive, which are the Pardon of our Sins, and the Sanctification of our Natures; and also to assure that which we are to hope for, our Everlasting Happiness and Glory. These we must necessarily use, then, if Means & Opportunity be afforded us to do so, that we may be Partakers of his Favours: And in using them, we must sincerely purpose and bind our selves to the Performance of our Duty. The Sa­craments appointed to be, as we may say, The Instrument of this Covenant since the coming of Christ, which are all that nearly concern us, are Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord. These, and these only, are now generally necessary to Salvation.

By Baptism we are admitted into this Cove­nant, and make our first solemn Acceptance of it. By the Lords Supper we renew it, if it has been broken on our part by any wilful Sin▪ committed since we were baptised: Or else we therein testifie and declare our continuance still in it, and our purpose and desire to do so; if any of us have liv'd so happily since we were baptized, as never to violate or break this Cove­nant by any wilful known Sin.

It is true, when we are baptized in our Infan­cy, we are not capable expresly to intend & de­sign the performances of our part in this Cove­nant, because we cannot then understand or know it. But this Sacaament is in the pur­pose of God design'd for the Scrament of our Ad­mission into this Covenant, since the appearance of Jesus Christ in the World. And as that which [Page 24] was the Sacrament of this Admission under the Jewish Dispensation, was by God's Appointment adminstred to Children at eight days old; so the Christian Church has been wont, even from the Apostles times, to administer Baptism to In­fants, from whence it is not to be doubted but they learn to do this from the Apostles them­selves: And our Saivour gives a plain Encou­ragement to the Practice, when he says, Suffer little Children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. Our Church therefore, as without doubt it ought to do, administers Baptism to Infants that they may partake of the Blessings of the New Co­venant to their Salvation.

But because there is an Ingagement on the part of the Baptized Person implied in his re­ceiving Baptism; the Wisdom and Piety of the Church has thought fit that it should be ex­press'd too: That so the baptised Person may be better convinced afterwards, That he did thus engage himself at his Baptism. And be­cause the infant it self cannot express this, the Church has provided, that some Christian Friends should do it for us, who are also Wit­nesses that the thing is done. And they are bound to take care, that as we grow up to the Use of our Reason, we may grow also in the Knowledge of our part in this Covenant, and may come to understand what we are bound to.

And that the baptised Person himself may ratifie and confirm his baptismal Engagement, he must, when he can exercise his Reason, and [Page 25] know his part of this Covenant, readily chuse and consent to it, and solemnly renew it; and so he must make it his own Act & Deed to de­vote himself to God. This our Church has very justly ordered should be solemnly and publickly done in the recieving of Confirmati­on. A thing, alas, too much neglected, to the great Decay of Christian Piety among us: But if this were duly and generally practised, we should in all likelihood see more Persons live according to their baptismal Vow, and as be­comes Christians, than commonly do.

But this Discourse is design'd cheifly to bring Men prepar'd to the Lords Supper, that they may worthily and profitably receive that; & therefore it must not be diverted so as to in­sist long on any other Subject but what is neces­sary and serviceable to that design and end of it.

SECT. X. The LORD's SUPPER a Confirmation of this Covenant.

I SHALL now therefore bring the Discourse more close to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which has been all this while leading and aiming towards it. And I shall begin to discourse particularly of that, by shewing, That it is appointed by God as a Faederal Rite, and is to be used as such by us; As a Ceremony wherein this New Covenant between God and Man is renew'd and confirm'd. This, by a lit­le search, we shall soon find to be very evident in Holy Scripture.

[Page 26]Our Saviour himself, when he first instituted this Sacrament, speaks thus of it, as he was delivering the Cup to his Disciples, This Cup [...] the New Covenant in my Blood, Luke 22.20. For what our Translation renders Testament there, had been more exactly & properly rendred Covenant, Our Saivour's plain meaning is this: Take this Cup as the Instrument of Conveyance to you of the Divine Blessings of the Covenant of Grace, which are the inestimable Purchases of my precious Blood. Again, when our Lord says of the Bread in this Sacrament, This is my Body which is given for you; and of the Cup, This is my Blood of the New Covenant which is shed for many for the Remission of their Sins: He plainly means, That this Sacrament is intended [...]o renew to us the Blessings & Fa [...]s, which are the Purchases of his meritorious Death, & his Sacrifice which he offer'd to God in dying for us. And the Apostle Paul plainly teaches us to understand our Lord thus: For he says of the Bread this Sacrament, It is the Communion of the Body of Christ; and of the Cup, It is the Communion of the Blood of Christ, 1 Cor. 10.16. By Communion, he means the Communication of these. It is faithfully intended by God that in the Use of this Sacrament, those who are fit Receivers, shall partake of the Body and Blood of Christ; and this Bread and this Cup shall be the Communication of the Body and Blood of Christ to them: These outward Ele­ments of Broken Bread, and Wine poured out shall bring with them, to those humble and prepared Souls which receive them, this Spiri­tual [Page 27] Grace: By which means they shall be par­takers of the Blessings purchased by the break­ing or wounding of the Body, and the shedding of the blood of our Saivour, the blessings pro­cured by the valuable Sacrifice of his Death; which are the Blessings of the New Covenant fore-mention'd.

This Sacrament is ordain'd of God to be a Pledge & Conveyance of these blessings, & shall actually & infallibly be so to meet Receivers: God will ne'er be wanting to his Sacraments, nor leave them without the Efficacy he desings them for, if the Receivers be not wanting to themselves. He faithfully intends the Renewal, and Con­firmation of this Covenant with us in this Sa­crament, and will actually do it if we sincerely intend the same thing.

And that the Renewal of our part of the Covenant at this Sacrament is expected and re­quired by God, cannot chuse but be very easi­ly apprehended. When God offers good things upon Terms and Conditions, he requires the binding our selves to perform those Con­ditions, if we will partake of those good things; and our embracing the Offers he makes, implies, and ought to imply, the accepting of those Terms, and the engaging our selves to perform those Conditions. To be sure God never intends we shall be partakers of those good things, without performing those Condi­tions. When 'tis said, God gives the holy Spi­rit to them that ask him, 'tis imply'd that asking is the necessary Condition and Means of ha­ving; God gave his only begotten Son, that [Page 28] they who believe in him should not perish, but have Everlasting Life; 'Tis required Men believe as a Condition of their obtaining Everlasting Life, So when it is said, Jesus Christ is the Author of Salvation to them that obey him; and Repent that your Sins may be blotted out: These things evidently imply, that our Sins shall not be forgiven, unless we repent of them; not will the Blessed Jesus him­self be a Saviour to us, if we do not devote our selves to his Service, and give up our selves to follow his Example and Conduct. Now this being the constant Tenour of the Gospel; We must needs Conclude, that when we are offer'd to be made partakers of these Blessings in this Sacrament, it is required, that if we de­sire them, we must bind our selves to perform such Conditions.

Our receiving therefore of those things which are God's Pledges and Coveyances of those Blessings upon Conditions, is an out­ward Profession and Declaration that we bind our selves to do what is required of us! And if that outward profession be not attended with an inward and sincere Intention, it is hor­rid Hypocrisie, and makes a Man undoubted­ly guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ: He is reckoned to have abused & profaned the Bo­dy and Blood of Christ, as did the wretched Men that slew him. The receiving those Ele­ments in this Sacrament is an outward profession and Declaration that we accept of God's Co­venant, and it certainly bi [...]ds us sincerely to [Page 29] intend our performance of the Conditions of it.

The Apostle plainly gives this Instruction in 1 Cor. 10. in that he intimates the parta­king of this Sacrament to be a Rite of the same Nature and Signification with the eating of the Sacrifices which had been offer'd to any god. As the Eating of those Sacrifices therefore signified the owning him for God, to whom the Sacrifice had been made, and so the obliging of themselves to worship and obey him; and the Reliance upon that Sacri­fice to find Favour and obtain a Blessing from him; so the Eating of the Lords Supper must be reckon'd to imply and declare the same professions and engagements. This is the Eat­ing of a Sacrifice made to God, even the great Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ; and therefore must be [...]tended with Faith or a Re­liance upon that Sacrifice to find Favour with him; the owning him to be God, and the binding our selves to honour, love and obey him. For this reason it is that the Apostle forbids in that Chapter those who would par­take of this Sacrament the Eating of any Feasts upon Sacrifices whi [...] h [...] been offer'd to the Heathen Idols; which Sacrifices he says were offer'd to Devils: Ye cannot drink the Cup of the Lord and the cup of Devils▪ Ye cannot be par­takers of the Lord's Table and of the Table of Devils; says he, v. 21. Ye cannot, may mean, 'tis impossible, you should sincerely intend what is signified by both these things; that is, the owning the true God as God, and the owning [Page 30] those Devils as God, for in owning one, you do imply the renouncing of the other To be sure the true God requires, if you own him, that you do renounce all other. Or it must mean, You ought not to do thus. If you partake of the Cup and Table of the Lord, you must sin­cerely intend thereby the owning of him; and then you must not so much as seem to own those filthy Devils in eating of the Sacrifices which have been offer'd to them. Therefore he adds in the 22d Verse, That in doing thus, they did provoke the Lord to Jealousie; because they made a shew and appearance of departing from, and of renouncing him herein. The A­postle then plainly teaches us, that in receiv­ing this Sacrament, we do make profession and show of honouring and covenanting with God; and therefore that we ought really and sincere­ly to intend it.

I might show that the Name of Sacrament was given to this Ordinance by the first Christ­ians, because they reckon'd the Celebrating this Supper to signifie the Binding our selves to serve and honour, love and obey and trust in God; to be his faithful Subjects and Servants. And so notorious was it, that they used it as a Ceremony of covenanting with God; that even the Heathens knew this, and therefore one of them speaking of the Christian Assemblies in his time for Worship (at which they always Celebrated this Sacrament) says; They met to­gether on a fixed Day before it was light, (this was for fear of their enemies) and did there bind themselves by an Oath or Sacrament not to [Page 31] commit any Thefts or Adulteries, nor to betray any Trust, or deal deceitfully with their Neigh­bour, and the like. They then took this Sa­crament as an Engagement to be of the Religion of Jesus, and so to perform the Terms and Con­ditions of the New Covenant: We therefore must, when we receive it, sincerely intend the Confirmation of that Covenant.

SECT. XI. An Earnest Persuasive to come to the LORD'S SUPPER.

I SHALL now insist a little upon an earnest Per­suasive to the frequent Attendance upon this Sacrament, which the woful & deplorable Neglect of these times, and the sad consequen­ces of that Neglect, do make but too necessa­ry.

Let all Men know then, that when they are come to years, and are capable to know and to renew their Vow and Covenant which they made in Baptism, they are commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ in this way to renew and confirm it. They are indispensably bound to receive this Sacrament in Confirmation of that Covenant. No Man is left at Liberty whether he will receive this Sacrament or not; but if the Providence of God affords him Means and Opportunity to do so, he is bound to prepare himself for, and receive it. If a Man any time neglects to prepare himself for it, and is there­fore unfit, and absents himself because he is un­fit: in that case he will be judged to have neg­lected [Page 32] the Sacrament it self. He that does not endeavour to be prepared, & receive it as often as Opportunity is afforded him to do it in that Congregation of Christians, which the Order of the Church and Obedience to the Governours of it does oblige him to join with; He does so often neglect and refuse it, as he thus ab­sents himself from it. But the neglect and re­fusal of this, we must know, is the neglect & refusal of the incomparble Blessings of the New Covenant; of having the pardon of our Sins renewed and Sealed; the Blessed Influen­ces of the Holy Spirit tenewed upon us; and our Title confirmed to Everlasting Blessedness, and our Hopes of it increased and strengthened; 'tis to neglect our own Interest, and to provoke the Displeasure of God, more than by any o­ther Sins, in neglecting the Offers of his Grace and Mercy.

Let all those who never mind this Sacra­ment, nor do ever prepare themselves for it, nor receive it, know, That they do therein in­timate the renouncing of their Covenant with God, and do cut themselves off from all Hopes and Expectations of the Favours and Blessings of the Covenant of Grace, till they repent of this guilty Omission of their Duty, and so come to this Sacrament prepared for it. Oh wretch­ed Creatures! They chuse to remain in a state of Damnation. To be sure a Man that has contradicted his Covenant since he was Bapti­zed, by living in any wilful Sin; if that Man does not resolve to forsake his Sin, and come to this Sacrament, and hereby bind himself to his [Page 33] Duty, he will be in the fight of God, account­ed to renounce his Christianity, to deny the Lord that bought him, to trample upon the Blood of the Covenant; the Blood of Christ, and to despise his dying Love: And as such, a Man must inevitably perish; so he will fall under the heaviest and sorest Perdition.

Whatever pretended Wishes a Man may have to forsake his Sins, whatever Regret and Re­morse for them, and whatever Resolutions he makes to forsake them, they will not be acc­epted with God, not bring him into a Title to the Favour of this Covenant, if he has Oppor­tunity and Means to Partake of this Sacrament, and refuses to do it: Because 'tis in and by this Sacrament that God expects & requires the Re­newal of this Covenant after we have broken nit: Our Repentance is not compleated accor­ding to the Will of God till this is done, if he Affords us Means and Opportunity to do this. We are not Allowed to expect that he will Ac­cept our Resolutions and Vows in any other way, when he has Appointed us this way of presenting them to Him.

Besides, Is it not a wonderful thing that Men should forget that this Sacrament is ap­pointed by God as the Means to Convey to them the strength to perform their good Vows and Resolutions? And then he that Neglects this Sacrament, lays himself under the Power and Tyranny of his Sins, by Neglecting the Mighty Help which Heaven kindly affords him against it: And he binds upon himself the Guilt of all his Sins, and as it were Seals Him­self [Page 34] to Damnation in refusing and neglecting this Ordinance, whereby he might be Sealed to the Day of Redemption.

Let all Men know, that the Wilful Neglect & Refusal of this Sacrament is a Damnable Sin of Omission, and puts every Man that is Guil­ty of it out of a State of Grace & Salvation: And they that Neglect to come to this Ordi­nance when 'tis prepared for them, may very justly Fear that God will not Bless any other to them: For what Ground have they to think He will Bless one of his Ordinances to them, while they Neglect another, or let them Ob­tain by Prayer & Hearing the Word what he Commanded them to use this Sacrament for too, that they may Obtain it; And then they that live in Neglect of this, are in great Danger Never to be Saved by any other Means of Sal­vation.

Men may perhaps think themselves very Good Christians if they keep their Church, attend the Publick Prayers, and sometimes Hear, sometimes Sleep away a Sermon: But if they Neglect this Sacrament, they must Expect God will Reject all there other Performances: He that breaks the Law, in one Point, the Scrip-says, is guilty of all; And then he that Neglects his Obedience to any one of God's Commands knowingly & willfully, will be lookt upon and treated by Almighty God as if he had Fulfill­ed none of them. Oh that Men would Seri­ously lay these things to Heart, and Consider the Terrible Danger which they put themselves into by this Neglect!

[Page 35]Let us be assured, that whatever it is that hinders us from preparing our selves, and com­ing to this Sacrament, it is a Snare & Temptati­on of the Devil the Great Adversary of our Souls: Who knows the Great and Saving Effi­cacy of this Sacrament, and therefore would not have Men use it: Who knows that if we Seriously and Frequently Attend upon this Means of our Salvation he must Despair of ever Accomplishing our Destruction. Oh let us Defeat the Malicious Designs of our Enemy, and Resist all Suggestions that would bear us off from this Practice.

Let us Consider how Kindly & Lovingly the Lord Jesus, the great Lover of Souls Invites us to it: Come unto me, says he, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Let us not give him cause to complain of us, and say, Ye will not come unto me that ye may have Life. Let us consider what noble and in­viting Entertainment he has provided for us at this heavenly Feast: He designs to enter­tain us with assurances of his Love, with the Divine Influences of his Holy Spirit, with the joyful Pledges and foretasts of Heaven? and is this what is but fit to be despised! Consider at what a costly Rate and Price he has provided us this Entertainment! Even at the Price of his own cruel Sufferings, and bitter Death, and of his most precious Blood. If we love our Souls then, and have any Concern for their Salvation, let us prepare our selves and come to this Sacra­ment as often as we can: If we have any true Love to the Lord Jesus, our best Friend, our [Page 36] kind Saviour, who loved us and laid down his Life for us; Let us earnestly desire and seek the Purchases of his Blood, and seek to be made partakers of them in that way in which he has appointed us; as we shall certainly do, if we re­ally & sincerely desire them.

SECT. XII. Of Fitness to come to this SACRAMENT.

BUT the common Pretence and Excuse that hinders Men from coming to this Sacra­ment, is, That they are not sit for it, and they are afraid of Eating & Drinking unworthily, & of incurring their own Damnation thereby. It is therefore the Design of this little Book to shew what fitness is requisite for a worthy & profita­ble Receiving of this Sacrament; and to help Men to that Fitness by the Blessing of God; which they shall not fail to obtain of him by earnest Prayer, and the serious and frequent pe­rusal of what is here presented.

And since in celebrating this Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are to renew and confirm this Covenant which we we have been speaking of between God and us? This will abundantly direct what Preparation and Fitness is requisite, that we may be meet Partakers of it to our Profit and Comfort. And it is necessary that we know what the Terms and Conditions of it are which God requires to be performed on our Parts, and what it offers and promises on God's Part. This Matter therefore has been already for that Rea­son [Page 37] distinctly and somewhat particularly repre­sented.

In the next place, we must unfeignedly and sincerely chuse and lay hold on this Covenant: It must be the hearty desire, the sincere purpose of our Souls to be engaged in it: To be bound in those happy Bonds which set our Souls at Liberty from the Bonds of Sin and Death: We must desire the Blessings, and seek the Favours of it, and readily accept and submit to the Terms and Conditions; and declare, that we will ex­pect our Salvation upon those Terms.

And also we must, certainly, be very thank­ful to the Son of God at this Memorial of his Death, since he became the Mediator of this Covenant, and has by his Death procured the Favour of New Terms of Salvation, and the offer of Peace and Reconcilement with God upon so gentle and easy Terms.

And he who has the Knowledge of this Cov­enant, and this good disposition of Mind there­upon, that Man is fit for this Sacrament, and if he comes, he shall be a welcome Guest at the Lords Table. Now as I have represented the Knowledge necessary to this, I shall go on to represent also more particularly the good Dis­position of Mind which we ought to come with. And I shall represent this in such a way as will be fit to form it in Men where it is not, or to exite and actuate it, and set it into exer­cise where it is. I shall represent it in the fol­lowing Acts or Exercises of it: Which you may take notice are a lively Description of a very meet Receiver of this Sacrament. So that [Page 38] he who would become fit for this Sacrament, must read and meditate on those things, till he finds those dispositions and Affections rai­sed in him, which are therein expressed. And he that would know or find himself fit for this Sacrament, must examine himself by them, and see whether they represent the State and Disposition of his Mind or not. And if a Man be habitually possessed with such a good State of Mind, as these things will be, I be­lieve, very agreeable to him, so they will be of use to stir up that Disposition into Excercise, and to an actual Fitness for this Sacrament; As Fire is wont to kindle fire in matter that is apt and disposed to receive it. Further, he that would behave himself rightly and duely at this Sacraments to his Comfort and Benefit, as he must have his mind then filled with such Thoughts and Affections as are here represent­ed, so the reading of these things there, if he has leisure, will be useful to possess him with such Thoughts and Affections. And lastly, he that would maintain the good Disposition of Mind which he has at the Sacrament, may very profitably for that purpose, read and meditate on these things afterwards; which will be as useful to cherish and maintain, yea, & to improve in us this Disposition of Mind, as they are to form it. All this use, I dare pre­tend, may be made of these Exercises fol­lowing

SECT. XIII. An Exercise of Thank­ful Remembrance of the Death of JESUS CHRIST.

LORD, I am not worthy to live, if I do not always remember the exceeding great Love of my Lord and only Saviour Jesus Christ in dying for me; and if I do not most affectionately consider and observe the many and incomparable Benefits, which by his pre­cious Blood shed, he hath obtained for Sinners. My soul; that thou mayst know, in some measure, the wondrous heighth, the breadth, the depth, the length of the Love of God in Christ Jesus: That thou mayst entertain the larger apprehensions of that Love, which exceeds all finite Knowledge; Thou must enlarge thy Thoughts, and take in all thou canst of these dimensions of it. Consider what a Depth of Wretchedness and Misery Jesus res­cues poor lost Mankind from! Consider what a glorious heighth of Honour and Hap­piness he designs to advance them to! Con­sider who the excellent Person is that has done all this for us! Consider what it cost him to procure for us such a Redemption! Behold the most amazing, but most pleasing prospect in the World, Redeeming Love! Dwell in the Contemplation of this; for surely it is good to be here!

As for the Condition into which thou wert sunk, it was the vilest and the most miserable [Page 40] that a Creature could fall into: It was per­fectly diserable, for thou hadst utterly lost the Favour of thy Maker the Fountain-Good, and forfeited all right, and lost all hopes of ever being happy: Thou wert become a vile Sinner, odious to the pure and holy God; and wert as contemptible as miserable: Thou wert obnoxious to the Eternal Wrath and just vengeance of the Almighty: Thou didst de­serve to be thrown into the deep Lake of Fire and Brimstone, where is eternal Woe and Sorrow, weeping and Gnashing of Teeth; where the wrath of God burns for ever, and the Fire will never be quenched; from whence there shall be no returning. Where wretched Creatures are furies to themselves, and more than double all the Torments of Hell with this tormenting Thought, that they must all endure for ever: They will know no intermissi­on or respite; they will never come to an End. This is the sad portion of Sinners: And this must all Mankind after a few Complaining Days, spent in this low mortal Life, have been thrown into; And there was no creature in Heaven or Earth could possibly have prevented his Doom; no, it could never have been avoided if Jesus had not concerned himself to help us. And he has taken away the necessity of our Destruc­tion; has rendred this Woe and Misery now an avoidable Thing; Is not this a glorious Bene­fit?

Look down, my Soul, in serious thoughts into that horrid dungeon and lake of Fire! Imagine as thou mayst well, that many wretched [Page 41] Souls are already plunged into it, who sqan­dred away the Day of Life, the precious Time allowed them of making their peace with God, and to avoid these Miseries! think thou seest them wallowing in Flames, pierced through with Fire, and in all parts themselves on a Flame! And besure, if thou couldest hear them, thou shouldest hear the most dismal Howlings, bitter Complaints; some cursing the Day that ever they were born, and all, at times, cursing themselves as causes of their own ruin. And think now if one of these despairing Souls should have an Angel sent to it, that should o­pen the Prison-doors and let him out, and send him into this world again to be in a condition and possibility of avoiding all this Misery, would he not account this a wonderful Favour! Such as he could never praise enough: Such as could never be worthily requi­ted: It is, in truth, not less than this that thou art beholden to the Love of Jesus for: It is not a less favour to be kept from this Misery, than to be de­livered from it into the state wherein thou now art.

And thou art kept from this by the tender compassionate, and most patient Love of the Lord Jesus! Long ago, if thou hadst suffered thy deserts thou hadst been thrown into this Misery: Long ago have thy Sins deserved it: It is of the Lord's Mercy that thou art not consumed. Jesus has repreived thee by his powerful Intercession: he has procured that thou art hitherto spared; yea, he has procured that thou mayst, if thou wilt, be pardoned; & [Page 42] mayst for ever be exempted from enduring those intolerable Miseries. Oh, how much art thou obliged! Say how useful, how necessary, how great is your Redeemers Love; Oh, what Love, what Praise can reach it! Oh compassionate Love, how shall I find Expressions suitable to thy kindness! Why was my Life so dear to thee! Why hast thou not suffer'd me to perish! Me, who am as unworthy of thy Favour, as I am in distress and need of it!

And does this engage thy wonder so much, my Soul? It may indeed well do so; but this alone must not detain it: There are yet more occasions for thy Admiration and Praise in the Redeemer's Love! And this thou wilt see, if thou consider what a Glorious Heighth of Ho­nour and Happiness he designs to advance poor, vile, contemptible Sinners to. Those that have render'd themselves unworthy of this Earth, and even of this low, mortal Life, he intends to advance them to Heaven, and give them E­ternal Life. Those that are unworthy of any thing that is good and comfortable, he intends to make them perfectly happy. Those that de­serve the utmost contempt of their Maker; that are fallen under the Insults and Scorn of the abject Devils, he intends for the Honour of seeing God, and dwelling in his blissful Pre­sence for ever. O rich and bounteous Love! Nothing less will serve him, but that where he is, we should also be. Think, my soul if thou canst, what Heaven is.

Think of a bright and glorious Place, where this Sun would be ashamed and even disappear, [Page 43] as now the stars do at his Rising. Think of an innumerable Company of glorious Creatures, each of them more bright than he. Think thou seest them all in Joy, all ravisht and transported with Pleasure, and thy self among them parta­king of that Joy and Pleasure. Think thou wert now in the Presence of the Fountain-Good, receiving immediately from himself the Test­imonies and Communications of infinite Love! That thou wert there, where no Fear or Sor­row can ever come! Where the Joy is pure without allay! Where the Pleasure is solid and abiding, not likely to leave thee in discontent and distast! Where the Joy and Pleasure shall never End! Oh how glad wouldst thou be to see thyself there! Thou mayst believe it is not: possible for thy Heart now to conceive the mighty Joy, which would possess thee: And to this Happiness, even to this, does the Re­deemer's Love design to bring thee. He would have thee attain this Happiness: He offers it thee on gentle Terms: He offers to guide and help thee thither, if thou wilt [...] give up thy self [...]o his kind and gracious Conduct. And is not this amazing and obliging Love!

All the Joy and Happiness of Heaven may be, my Eternal Portion if I will; and shall be so if [...]m not wanting to my self. Jesus has not been [...]or will be wanting to do all that in him lies [...]o bring me to it. He does not grudge me the [...]ighest Bliss that my Nature is capable to at­ [...]ain, or that my own kindest Wishes to my self [...]an desire. He loves me, then, as much as I can [...]ove my self, and is willing to make me as hap­py [Page 44] as I can desire to be; and more happy than [...] can conceive or imagine. Such is the Love o [...] Jesus to a Wretch, that deserves only his Hatred and Contempt.

But dost thou know, my Soul? Canst thou think who the Person is that has done these great Things for thee? I am sure, if thou hadst not been told, thou couldst never have imagi­ned it. Infinite Love indeed might be suppo­sed to be in the Son of God; but he has infi­nite Greatness, Majesty and Glory too; he i [...] exalted so far above us, that it were even Infi­nite Condescension for him to regard or concer [...] himself about the Misery which such low thing as we, had pulled upon our selves. Besides, [...] is Infinitely pure and Holy too, and has an ete [...] nal hatred of all Sin and Wickedness; and w [...] became miserable by our Sin. And he love the Father with an Infinite Love; and he mad [...] Mankind to love, and honour, and praise th [...] Father; but they have forsaken the end o [...] their Being, and turned to hate, and despise eve [...] the Good and Glorious God. And could it b [...] imagined, that ever such Persons should be redeemed then, by the Son of God?

But be astonish'd, Oh ye Heavens! Sing Prai­ses, Oh ye glorious Hosts of Angels! Produc [...] your loftiest Hymns, and help, Oh help poo [...] feeble Mortals to praise the Son of God! Fo [...] it was he that became our Mediator: He too [...] upon him the kind Office of being our Saviour It was the Son of God that did us this kindness: The Eternal, the Only-begotten Son o [...] [Page 45] God; who is the express Image of the Father's Person, and the brightness of his Glory. This Person, my Soul, whom thou must own to be the true and Eternal God, by whom the Worlds were made; who sustains all things; who is the Glory of Heaven, and the stability of Earth; who is incomprehensible in his Greatness; and to be sure, Mighty to save, is he who regarded, us in our vile Misery, and most despicable Con­dition.

Who pitied us in the Misery which we had madly pull'd upon our selves which we had deeply deserv'd! Who lov'd Sinners, the most hateful things that are! Oh the wonder! that he should retain Kindness, and think Thoughts of Love towards us after the Abuse of great creating Love; to us who are altogether unpro­fitable to him! whose Happiness is not at all necessary, nor can make any addition to his! He had been eternally happy, if we had been for ever lost and miserable: Yet he would not see us lost; he afforded his help, when all other help utterly failed us, and we must have pe­rished, if he had not helped us.

But go on, my Soul, for the way is still plea­sant, and strowed with new and various de­lights; and consider too, in what way and me­thod this glorious Person the Son of God accom­plished this great Salvation! what he under­took to do, and what to suffer, that he might save thee.

Thou must know then, that this excellent Person meditated and designed no less conde­scension, when he undertook to save thee, than [Page 46] to become man for thy sake. He intended it then, and in the fulness of time submitted to it. The word was made Flesh. The Son of God took a Humane Nature, and became the Son of David: For he was born of a Virgin, who was of the House and Family of David: A Royal Family indeed; but in this branch of it, at east, sunk into poverty and contempt. He who made the World, condescended to be made of a Woman! He who is Lord of Life and Glory, became subject to the Law that obliges Creatures! He whom the Angels account it their honour to attend and worship, made him­self of no reputation, took upon him the form of a Servant, and exposed himself to the con­tempt and scorn of Men. O Son of God, how couldst thou endure to live upon this earth so defiled with Sin, to converse with Sinneri? We must needs wonder, that when thou wert in our guilty world, thou didst not shew thy terrible hatred and resentment of the Sins of Men in sending Plagues and Desola­tions about the rebellious world. It is an amazement that thou shouldest here go about doing good! But this was thy constant prac­tice: It was glorious Love, O adorable Son of God, which brought thee down among us; and Love spake in every Word of thine; Love attended all thy steps; Love to mankind was exercised in all thy Actions. What exceeding honour, gracious Lord, hast thou done our mean Nature, in taking it into a personal Uni­on with thy self! Thus hast thou exalted it above the Angels, and abundantly vindicated [Page 47] it from the contempt of Devils; who first de­filed, and then utterly despised it: So low and mean is thy condescension, and so glorious our exaltation! Behold, my Soul, the Son of God become our brother! And as he is our brother, he does exalt us to become the Sons of God, together with him: And his Father becomes our Father. Oh, what manner of Love is this, that we should be called the Sons of God!

But this is not all the condescension of the Son of God to save mankind, that he took to him­self the humane nature: No, tho' this was much, yet he did more, much more than this. He undertook to die a Sacrifice for the Sins of men, which as God, he could not do; and therefore he became man, that he might be capable of dying: And in humbling, he hum­bled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. And here, if ever, my soul, thou wilt be lost in astonishment, in considering thy Saviours love to mankind▪ Thou wilt surely despise all things beside. Thou wilt like his great Apostle and Lover, be forced to value no knowledge but that of Christ, and him crucified; and to account all things but dross and dung, that thou mayst gain an Interest in this Love. That it may thus engage thee, consider now the death which Jesus underwent for thee.

Was it the Death of the Cross? Was my Sa­viour crucify'd? And what kind of Death was this; his Enemies, the unbelieving Jews, chose it for him, and the Heathenish Roman Soldiers executed it. And this Death was the vilest [Page 48] and the most ignominious one in the account of the Romans; such as they put none to but the most contemptible Abjects, and the basest Malefactors. And this Death was, in the ac­count of the Jewish Law, an accursed one: he was reckoned accursed of God that was hanged on a Tree. But let me consider the Indignities, the contemptuous usage which attended my Saviour's Death, and how painful and afflict­ing it must needs have been to him.

As soon as the blessed Jesus was condemned to die, he was committed to rude Soldiers who made it their sport to injure and abuse him. They stript him of his Cloaths, tied him to a Pillar and cruelly scourged him on his naked Back. Oh Jesu! I love and adore thee, whom those Wretches thus vilely abused! I grieve for thy Injuries, and am afflicted with thy pain! After this they platted a Crown of Thorns, and forced it, to make it sit fast up on his Head wounding and tearing thereby his Sacred Tem­ples; and then, my Soul, had I been there, I might have seen his own Blood running down and disguising his Blessed Face, Oh what an disguise of that Majesty and Meekness, of that venerable Sweetness, that awful goodness which had always dwelt there! They then found out some contemptible Purple Garment, and put it on him, and put a Reed in his Hand to imitate a Scepter; and then mockt him with the bowing the knee before him, and cry­ing, Hail King of the Jews. And to shew how little Honour or Reverence they intended him in this, they most disdainfully spit in his Face, [Page 49] and buffeted him about, among them, from one to another: And with out doubt, he thought himself the wittiest of the Company, who could devise the greatest Affront. Thus was he injur'd and abus'd, who came into this World on the Kind Design of saving lost Sinners: Thus was the King of Glory, the King, not of the Jews only, but of Heaven and Earth, mockt and despised by the vilest of Men.

When they had tired themselves with this barbarous Sport, and how much rather him? They put his own Cloaths on him again, and led him away to crucifie him. And on him they laid the heavy and ignominious burthen of his Cross, & he must carry a long way, the Instrument of his Shame and Death to the place of Exe­cution, but they had used him too ill before to leave him still able to carry so heavy a Load; and after he had hardly carried it a little way, he fell under it. I see, O Son of God, in this thy; Fainting under the Cross, a manifest proof that thou didst really take our Nature upon thee, with the innocent Infirmities of it: And I can­not chuse but admire and praise so wondrous a Condescension of the Almighty for our sakes▪ They who used him so cruelly before, I must needs imagine, did not exercise any Compassion to him upon this occasion. I abhor to think, how inhumanly, 'tis probable, they used him now. But they laid at last the Burden upon o­ther Shoulders; for now their Malice was in hast to be rid of him.

When he was come to the place of Cruci­fixion, they stript him of all his Cloaths, and [Page 50] exposed the fresh Wounds which the rud [...] Scourge had given him, to the cold Air. They [...]aid him upon his cross, and violently stretch­ed out his Arms, and then drove a great Na [...] through each Hand: Thu [...] fastning to the trans­verse Beam of the Cross, those blessed Hands which had been used in the working many [...] kind Miracle, but had never done any harm, and certainly deserv'd a better usage. Then they [...]ho [...]e one or two great Nails through his Feet, and fastned them to the upright Beam of the Cross; those Feet which had carried him di­ligently about his kind Business in the World▪ which was to seek and to save lost Sinners. This being done, they set the Cross upright, that he might hang upon those Nails, drove through those very sensible Parts of his Body, in exquisite Pain and Torture, and exposed to the view and scorn of the Spectators: And ma­ny of these reviled, insulted over him, and de­ [...]ided him here. It would even wound a Heart that has any tenderness to think that any one should be used so cruelly: and one could scarce forbear to feel some pity and trouble at seeing even the most odious Malefactor in such a con­dition. But this was not a Malefactor, my Soul, but as thy Sins had made him one!

This was the innocent Jesus, who had done no Iniquity, neither was Guile found in his Mouth! This was thy Lover, thy Saviour, thy Friend that hung here; and all this he endured For thee. My Soul; if thou hadst seen the lo­ving Jesus thus hanging upon these Nails, and bleeding from his Head, and from his Hands, [Page 51] and from his Feet; and heard his Enemies re­viling him there, what Resentments would'st thou have felt! Would not so sad an Object have made thy Tears keep pace at least with the drops of his most precious Blood? Would it not have made thee also smite thy Breast as some of the Spectators did? Couldst thou see this, and not feel those Wounds, and sympa­thize with those Pains he indured? When eve­ry Wound might be understood to say, Sinner, behold how I love thee: All this I endure for thee: How then should this Sacrament affect thee, which is a lively Memorial of his Death? What a deep sence of thy Saviour's Love and Sufferings should this create in thee? When he is here, as it were, evidently set forth cru­cified before thee; I see here his pale, wound­ed, bloodless, broken Body; I see his Blood poured out, & separated from it. Canst thou see this, and say, my Love is crucify'd, and think thou seest him crown'd with Thorns, All over daub'd with Dirt, and his Enemies filthy Spit­tle, and his own Blood, and not be sadly griev­ed to think he was put to endure all this by his love of thee? Oh, crucified Jesus, there was never Grief, there was never Love like thine! All this endured for me! This commands and & deserves, Oh let it cause my great Grief for, and my ardent Love to thee.

But all this which afflicted his Body, was the least part of the Sufferings he felt; he suffe­r'd more, abundantly more, then all this in the Suffering of his Soul: For I must consider fur­ther, that this Death of his was an accursed [Page 52] one in the account of the Jewish Law; that is, in the account of God himself; for it was he that had ordered and taught them to account it so; on purpose that it might foretel and signi­fie before-hand, that the Redeemer of the World should bear in his Death the Curse and Punish- which the Divine Law had justly threatned a­gainst the Sins of Men. This then must call to thy mind the Sufferings of his Soul, He was made a Curse for us, and God laid on him the Ini­quities of us all. By men was he treated as a Malefactor, and by God too. The light of his Father's Countenance, and the pleasing Aspects of his Love, which had been always the Joy of his Soul, and the Reward of all his Labours in his service, and till now had been constantly enjoy'd, was now, when he wanted it most, with­drawn; when he was under his sharp outward Sufferings, and when he was at the point of Death. And in making his Soul an Offering for Sin, he was afflicted and terrified with God's Almighty Wrath and Displeasure. This made him cry out, who was silent before, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He felt the Wrath which our Sins had deserved. O terri­ble thing! Who can concieve what he endured? We may believe no Torments can exceed those he felt in his Soul, except it be those of Hell, if they do.

Oh wounding Thought! This stabs and pierces my Soul: This tells me, It was not the cruel Jew or barbarous Roman Soldier that tormented, and killed the loving Jesus, as the vile Sinner: It is I, among the rest of Sinners, [Page 53] gave him his cruellest Wounds his sharpest Sorrows: It was I that wounded, that killed my Saviour and Friend: I shed his Life's most precious Blood. Was there ever such a thing known besides this? O Jesu, there was never any Love like thine; and there is nothing so vile, so base as a Sinner: Greater love than this hath no man; that one lay down his Life for his Friend: But thou hast laid down thine for Enemies, for those that hated thee, yea for those that killed thee: Thou art there on the Cross despised, that I might be honoured: Thou art there in Pain, that I might be at ease: Thou art there hungry and thirsty, that I might be supplyed with all good things: Thou art there accursed, that I might be blest; Thou art there deserted by thy Fathers Favour and Love, that I might enjoy the Everlasting delights of it: Thou art there dying, that I might live an everlasting Life in Joy and Glory unspeakable and eternal. O Jesu! Was I more dear to thee than thine own Life? Was I to be rather indul­ged than thine own Ease, and more to be re­spected than thine own Honour; What am I, Lord? Oh, what is Man, that thou art thus mindful of him? There was never Love like thine; none but a God could love thus! Oh a­dorable Mystery! Oh Wonder of Wonders. Thy Greatness is unsearchable, thy Love is in­comprehensible, and thy ways are past finding out! With profoundest reverence I adore thy Incomprehensible Love: I leave off to fathom what I can never reach, and will give up my self to praise and admire for ever.

SECT. XIV. An Exercise of REPENTANCE.

HAve I indeed given my kind and compassi­onate Saviour so much Grief by my Sins, and shall they give me none? Oh that my Head were Waters, and my Eyes a Fountain of Tears, to drench my filthy polluted Soul! But alas! it is not all the Tears that I am able to shed which could ever make me clean, or wash out the stain of any, the least of my Sins! Oh! I am become, it seems, so exceeding foul, and have contracted Stains of such a nature, that nothing but this precious Stream, my Saviours Life's Blood, can cleanse me! How am I fallen from the Dignity and Honour of my Creation; I was made little lower then the Angels by my bounteous Creator; but I have made my self more vile than the Beasts that perish. I was made subject to no Creature, not bound to pay any Homage or Service towards the glorious Angles, though made lower than them; but alas, I have made my self a Slave to the abject, Devil, I have refused to serve God my Maker and Friend, and have drudged for my mortal Enemy. Oh wretched Man that I am! I have sought his Service, while I have declined thine; and run after his Temptations, while I have endeavoured to evade thy Commands. Oh, I have been forward to Evil, and backward to all that is Good: I have combined with my Soul's great Enemy, to hasten and increase my Damnation.

Infinite Goodness! How unjustly, how base­ly [Page 55] art thom requited for all thy bounteous Love to Mankind! Who can conceive or ex­press the vileness, the Enormity of Sin! Which is a Contempt of thy infinite Majesty, a Rebelli­on against thy unquestionable Authority, and Abuse of thy free Goodness, a Defiance of thy Almighty Power, a denial of thy incomparable Wisdom, and an Affront to all thy Glorious Attributes: Which is contrary to that Honour and Homage whieh I owe thee as thy Creature. Wo is me that I should ever offend my Maker! So liberal and so gracious a Father! Wo is me that I should slight and affront the Love of Jesus my Redeemer, as I have done in cherish­ing those vile Sins that he came to destroy▪ Oh Jesus, at what a costly Rate hast thou lov­ed me, and merited my Love! And how loth, how slow am I to entertain the Love of thee: Thou hast loved, where thy Hatred has been deserved; and I, vile wretch, have hated him that has infinitely deserved my Love. Thy Love to me me has been a vast Condescension, and has caused thy Humility and Abasement; yet wouldest thou love the Unworthy: But my Love to thee would have been my Honour and Glory, my everlasting Advancement; yet have I been unwilling to love thee. Wo is me, I have been obstinate in Wickedness! Oh, how have I grieved the Holy Spirit, in neglecting, resisting, and opposing his good and kind Mo­tions in my Soul; turning a deaf Ear to his gentle Admonitions, and refusing to be con­verted and healed, Oh my God, in our Sins we despise thy Will, and do our own! We disown [Page 56] thee, and make Gods of our selves. In our Sins we believe the great Deceiver before the God of Truth; and follow his delusive Temp­tations, rather than thy rich and faithful Pro­mises. In our Sins we prefer Earth before Heaven, the Creature before the Creator; and reckon there is more Happiness in the enjoy­ing some of them, than in the Enjoyment of Thee, the infinite Fountain of Good.

Oh how vile, how enormous a thing is Sin! Who can sufficiently hate it! I see O Lord, in the terrible Sufferings of my Saviour, thy migh­ty Displeasure against the Sins of Men, and it terrifies me to think of it. I plainly see how odious they are to the Divine Purity; in that so worthy and great a Person, he who is so well and justly beloved of the Father, was sorely afflicted by the Father himself, when he bore the Sins of Mankind. I see thy hatred, O Lord, against my Sins; I believe it very just, and I cannot chuse but hate them too, I will hence­forth hate every false way, but thy Law will I love. I will love thy Righteousness and Ho­liness, and utterly abhor what is so contrary to it, as my Sins. I will account it my greatest Honour to conform to thee, and will abandon and be ashamed to be found in the most credi­table, or most applauded Sins in the World. Henceforth will all Sin have a most deformed and ugly Visage to my Eye; I shall never think any one charming; I shall never account any one worthy to be desired.

But when I consider, O Lord, the course of my past Life; when I look into thy Commands, [Page 57] and compare with them my Thoughts, and Words, and Actions, Oh what a mortifying View does this Examination present me! Oh wretched Creature, I am confounded, I am fil­led with Indignation against my self, when I see how much I have had to do with this vile, this odious thing! Wo is me, and how many are my Transgressions! They are, alas, more in number than the Hairs of my Head, and my Heart even fails me when I review them. I have sin­ned in every Age of my Life, ever since I could know or chuse my Actions! Oh wretched Crea­ture, how early did I begin to Sin against thee! How many have been the unheeded Actions of my Life! The most of which, I much fear, have been wicked, since they proceeded from one so prone to do Evil as I. And how many more must the Sins of my words in all likeli­hood have been, especially while I did not set any watch upon my Tongue, nor keep the door of my Lips. And when I think how easie and abundantly the light Mind multiplies thoughts, I tremble to think how my vain, foolish, vici­ous Mind has multiplied Trangressions too. Lord, who can understand his Errors! I am a­mazed at the Number of my Sins: I have sinned, alas, against thee in every Circumstance and Condition of my Life. I have sinned in every Relation towards Men; not doing that Honour, not paying that Justice, not exercising that charity to my Neighbour which I ought. I can view none of thy Commands, but it calls to mind many Sins I have been guilty of. Very often have I repeated the same Sins; returning to [Page 58] them, as the Dog to the filthiness of his vomit; and, as the Swine wallowing in the mire. I have sinned against thy Law, and against the Gospel: Oh, how cold reception have I given to the Offers of thy Grace and Mercy! How have I neglected the great Salvation! Trampled upon the Blood of the Covenant, and despised my Saviour's dying redeeming Love! Oh how ma­ny of other Mens Sins have I been guilty of! By my ill Example; by giving them needless and unjust Provocation; by tempting and al­luring them to Sin; by assisting what I ought to have hindred; by conniving where I ought have bestowed reproofs; and by countenancing and abbetting what I ought to have corrected and discouraged. I cannot, alas, pretend to have done any good Action without a Mixture of Evil in it: My best Works need the Blood of Christ to cleanse them, and make them fit to be presented unto thee: And indeed I want that Blood to wash even the Tears of my Re­pentance. What a mighty Charge am I able to draw up against my self! [Here thou may'st particularly mention those Sins thou art sensible of] But thou, O Lord, knowest me better than I do my self; and I dread to think how much more thou canst add to the heaviest Charge that I can bring against my self.

I have been so vile as to Sin deliberately a­gainst thee; to do Evil, knowing that I did Evil. I have been easily induced to Sin; the slightest Temptations have prevailed with me; I have been, alas, accustomed to do Evil. O Lord, thou hast exercised wonderful Patience [Page 59] and Forbearance towards me in a long train and course of sin [...]ing; and I have been so base and ungrateful as to encourage my self to transgress by that Patience which should have led me to Repentance.

O wretched and vile Creature that I am, I have greatly sinned, I am become exceeding guilty! What shall I say unto thee; Oh thou preserver of Men. I will lay myself down in the Dust before thee. I am at thy Mercy, O Lord, and must own that I have deserved the utmost severity of thy Wrath. In the sad Suf­ferings of Jesus I see what my Sins have deserv­ed. I see in his Contempt how I have deserv­ed to be despised. I see in his Thirst upon the Cross how I have deserved the want of all things comfortable. I see in his Agony, and by his Groans under the Divine Wrath, what Displeasure and Punishment I have deserved to suffer. I see in his accursed Death that I have deserved to die, and be Eternally accursed and cast out of the Divine Favour. O Lord, I am unworthy, utterly unworthy to breath in this Air of thine, to inhabit this Earth; to enjoy this chearful Light. I am less than the least of all thy Mercies. I must judge, I must con­demn my self, I must own thou wert just, and I should have but my deserts, if I were now shut up in gloomy darkness; if I were now wrapt in everlasting Flames; if I were feeling the Torments of the never-dying Worm, and of endless bitter Despair.

Lord, I will punish, I will take vengeance on my self for my Sins. I will lead a life of Mor­tification [Page 60] rather than Indulgence; I will never allow again any high or admiring Thoughts of my self. It shall always keep me humble, to think how great disparagement and vileness I have contracted! To consider my self a Sinner, and that there is Imperfection and Sin mixed with the best of my Actions.

But, O Lord, I beseech thee do not thou en­ter into Judgment with thy Servant, for in thy fight shall no man living be Justified. Oh deal not with me after my Sins; neither reward me after my Iniquities. Blessed is the Man whose Iniquity is forgiven, whose Sin is covered. Spare me, good Lord; spare thy Creature whom thou hast redeemed with thy most pre­cious Blood! Oh spare the miserable Wretch that confesses his Faults; restore thou him that is penitent. Pity thou him that is con­trite: Revive the Spirit of the humble; chear the contrite Heart: A broken and a contrite Heart, O God thou wilt not despise. Give me, then, the joy of thy Salvation; uphold me with thy free Spirit: Then will I teach Transgressors thy ways, and Sinners shall be converted unto thee. Open thou my Lips, O Lord, & my Mouth shall shew forth thy Praise.

SECT. XV. An Exercise of good Resolutions.

OH Crucified Jesus! Great Martyr of Love! I cannot chuse but acknowledge, and ad­mire and praise the exceeding Greatness of thy [Page 61] [...]ying Love! Much it is, O Lord, that I reckon [...]y self beholden to thee: and what, O what [...]hall I render unto the Lord for all his Kind­ [...]ess and Benefits! Lord, when I ransack my [...]ore, I am ashamed, I am utterly abasht to find [...]ow poor it is. Oh, what can a Creature re­ [...]urn to his Maker? What can I give, that [...]ave nothing to give? who am nothing but [...]hat I derived from thee? Thy Goodness in­ [...]eed is such, that thou requirest no more than [...]e are able to render, and with that thou art [...]ell pleased: But that, O Lord, is so little [...]hat I cannot be satisfied with it. O let thy [...]ulness of all Excellent Grace, thy Fulness of [...]ove fill me with all true Excellency and Love, [...]hat I may be the better and the worthier Gift to thee.

Dearest Jesu! For the Love of thee I readily [...]enounce all the flattering Vanities of this World, all the most necessary Enjoyments of it, [...]hat I may steadily honour and enjoy thee: I [...]ccount all things but Loss and Dung, & will [...]ot count my Life dear, that I may finish my Course of Duty with Joy, and may win Christ.

But especially, O Lord, for love of thee I [...]o here utterly renounce, abdicate and abhor [...] my most darling Sins. And it grieves me [...]hat I should ever be so base as to entertain any Rivals of the Loving Jesus in my Heart. O Lord, I hate them so much the more now, by how much the more I have formerly loved them. I will utterly cast them out of my Heart; no [...]ore shall they harbour there; no longer will [Page 62] I entertain, no longer cherish those thine Ene­mies. What! Can I be kind to the bloody Crucifiers of my Lord! See, my Soul; see these Murderers all daubed with the Blood of [...]hy Saviour. Away from me ye hateful Things: We will now instantly part, never, I hope, to meet again, never to be accquainted more. Be gone without delay; I will thrust you out of my Soul; you have no right to abide here. Jesus alone has right to possess and rule me. Away vile Envy, I cannot endure the sight of thee: Be gone my Covetousness: My Malice I hate thee: My Sensuality I will starve thee:, My Pride I will humble thee; My Idleness thou hast made me so much work to do, that I am resolved, I see it absolutely necessary, to banish thee forever from me. All my Lusts & vile Affections be gone; ye shall have no more kind usage here; do not expect it.

Jesus has all my Love, I have none for you, I am all his, I am no more for ye. Be gone, ye hateful Tyrants of my Soul. Jesus, a kind and gracious Master, imposes gentle Tasks, but you lay heavy burdens upon me: His Yoke is easie, and his Burden light; but your Commands are rigorous and intolerable. Jesus has shown me great and wondrous Love: Ye promise me much satisfaction and kindness, but perform nothing. No, ye have cheated and deceived me: Ye have robbed me of my Peace, robbed me of my Dignity, and Glory, and which is more, ye have robbed me of the Favour of my God. What can you do for me, if you should do all that you promise, which is never to be [Page 63] expected, that is comparable with what he can do for me; what he is willing, and has faith­fully promised to do for me, if I will but hate and forsake you; or with what Jesus has al­ready done to testifie his Good-will and Kind­ness to me. Jesus made himself of no Reputa­tion for my sake, and that he might advance me to the Highest Honour: But ye would ex­pose me to the utmost Contempt of God, An­gels and Devils: Jesus has died for me that I might live for ever, but ye would kill me; Je­sus rules to save, but you to destroy. His Rewards are Eternal Life and Happiness, but your Wages is Death and Misery everlasting. When I come to die, what fruit, what comfort can I expect from you? Alas, all that you could ever gain will leave me then, if it be not gone before, and I must go a poor, naked, friendless Stranger into the Eternal World; yea, for your sakes I must, if I do not cast you off, appear a hated guilty Rebel before my Lord and Judge, and be exposed to all the Terrours of Divine Wrath. But the Love of Jesus will not then forsake me: Neither Tribulation, Distress, Per­secution, nor Death it self shall ever seperate me from the Love of Jesus if I will but be di­vorced from you. And Jesus is King of the other World, and will send his kind Angels to receive my departing Soul, out of the mean Tabernacle of my Body, and to conduct it to a glorious Mansion: To welcome it from the Miseries of this sinful World, to congratulate my happy Victory over you my Enemies, and carry me in Triumph to a Place of Bliss, and [Page 64] to be with Christ. Can I then so much abandon my Reason, so much mistake my Interest, as to have any more to do with you.

Oh Lord, the great Redeemer have Mercy upon me, and deliver me from these tyrannous Masters. Thy Service is perfect freedom; in keeping thy Commands there is greater Re­ward. Set my Soul, I pray, at liberty to run the ways of thy Commandments. As for these thine Enemies and mine, bring them forth and let them be slain before thee: Root them per­fectly out of my Heart. Let them from hence­forth be in a decaying languishing Condition, never thrive more, and quickly die. I will never be satisfied till I see them utterly depri­ved of all Motion, Sense and Life. Oh Jesu, thy Cross, thy Nails. thy Spear are due to these: Let them from thence receive many mortal Wounds, that thou mayest never be displeased, nor I troubled or disparaged with them any more.

O crucified Love, thou hast prevented me by thy Love, and infinitely exceeded all that I can return: But I will learn of thee to love, and follow thee as well as I can. Thou hast given thy self for me on the Cross, and givest thy self to me in this Sacrament: Behold, O Lord I offer my self to thee, my whole self, I offer and bring thee all the Faculties of my Soul, all the Members of my Body· I offer my Senses and my Passions: I offer all my Thoughts, my Words, and my Actions,: I offer all my Designs and Endeavours: All the Labours of my worldly Calling: all the Adorations of [Page 65] my Worship and Devotions. I offer thee all my Possessions in the World; all the Persons that I can command and influence to worship, honour and serve thee. I offer thee all the Days of my Life; I offer thee my Death when thou wilt please to require it; and both li­ving and dying I desire to be thine. I desire to be intirely thine. Oh how dearly hast thou bought this poor Gift! Never was so great a Price, beside this, paid for any Creature. I will live to my Love that dyed for me. I will henceforth look upon my self as a devoted consecrated thing, and will ever endeavour to remain so, and to carry my self as such. I will never be willingly employ'd but as thou com­mandest and as thou allowest. Lord, for thy sake I will love thy Law, and it shall be my meditation all the day. I will love thy Com­mandments above Gold, and all false ways I will utterly abhor. Dearer shall thy Com­mandments be to me than thousands of Gold and Silver, and sweeter than Honey from the Comb. I will love nothing but what Thou lovest, and will hate whatever is displeasing to thee.

I am heartily grieved, O Lord, that I have ever loved any thing but thee, while I neglected to love thee. I am heartily ashamed to think that I should place no Affection, where all I could offer is but due, and bestow all where little or none is due. Especially does it vex and grieve me that I should be so monstrously ungrateful and mistaken, as to love any thing more than the loving Jesus. Hereafter dearest [Page 66] Lord, I purpose to love nothing but far below thee, and for thy sake whatever I do love: And what is most like thee, or most serviceable to thy Honour and Glory, shall have the most of my Love.

Henceforth it shall be my honour that I am a Servant of Jesus; it shall be my delight and pleasure to be a Lover of Jesus; it shall be my most valued Wealth that he is mine, and I am his. Whom have I in heaven but thee, O Lord, and there is none in Earth that I can desire in comparison to thee. And therefore nothing can be so sweet to me; nothing can afford me so much satisfaction and joy, as to be able to say of thee, My beloved is mine and I am his. For me to be thine, O Jesu, is my Honour, my Security, my Peace and Happiness everlasting. For thee to be mine is health to my Soul, strength to do thy Commandments; it is Joy unspeakable and full of Glory; it is Heaven on earth, and the Heaven of Heaven; It is Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption to me, O rich and bouuteous Love. I am thine, O Lord, with all my Soul, that thou mayst be mine. Oh how much shall I gain by giving my self to thee; I shall gain myself, and be saved from everlasting Perdition, and I shall gain everlasting happiness in the enjoyment of thee.

I am thine, O Jesu; save me, I have sought thy Precepts, Lord, sanctifie me wholly, that in Body, Soul and Spirit, I may be thine: Take a full possession of me for the future; and let not any other Lord have dominion over me. [Page 67] O Lord, I have sworn and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous Judgments. I purpose to be stedfast unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, as knowing that my labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. I am thine, dispose of me as thou pleasest: I will bear thy Yoke, I will not decline thy Cross, I will not despise thy shame: The reproach of Christ shall be to me greater riches than the prosperity of this World. Let but thy Grace be sufficient for me, and then call me to what thou ple [...]est: I can do all things through Christ's strength­ning of me. Lord, I shall not, I hope, fear or decline to suffer for thy sake: No: though I should die for thee, I purpose not to deny thee. But, alas, it troubles me to think how weak and vain all my resolutions are, and how soon they will come to nothing without thy conti­nual support and assistance. This troubles me; but it is my comfort, that thy Grace is easily obtained; it may be now had for asking of it: O shield me with thy Grace against all tempta­tions: Hold up my goings in thy word, that my footsteps slip not: Guide thou me by thy counsel, till thou hast brought me to thy glory.

SECT. XVI. An Exercise of FAITH.

I Believe there is only one true and living God; who is the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost; an infinite, eternal, perfect being; the Maker and Preserver, Owner and Governour of all things. Who has right to the Homage, Worship and Obedience of Mankind: Who [Page 68] has laid upon us his Laws, and takes notice of our Behaviour; that his eyes behold all the Dwellers upon Earth, and try the children of men; That he is always nigh to every one of us, for it is in him that we live, move, and have our being. I believe, O Lord, that thou art, and art a Rewarder of those that diligently seek thee: Thou hast appointed a day wherein thou wilt judge the World in Righteousness, and render to every man according to his works: That those who are found wicked in that Day shall go away into everlasting Punishment, but the righteous into Life Eternal.

But I believe also, that to the Lord our God belong Mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelted against him, if in the way of his ap­pointment we seek his pardoning Mercy. Thou hast, O Lord, blessed be thy Name, proclaim­ed thy self a God, forgiving Iniquity, Trans­gression and Sin: And declarest, that thou de­sirest not the Death of a Sinner, but had rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live. O wonderful condescension and goodness! O how sweet is thy mercy! How glorious and great! The exceeding vileness, and the unrea­sonableness of our Sins, do magnifie thy Mercy beyond all comprehension and praise. Favour and Forgiveness to a base Sinner, is that the Sinner could not expect till thou hadst decla­red it should be obtained, and didst graciously offer it.

When we here sunk into the most abject misery by a most vile rebellion against thee; had rendred our selves obnoxious to thy Eter­nal [Page 69] Hatred and Wrath, and deserved to follow the Apostate Angels in their Fate and Damna­tion, as we had followed them in rebellion▪ Then did thy infinite Wisdom contrive how to shew us favour in a way consistent with thine own honour: Thou didst find out a way to spare us, and to punish our Sins; to glorify thy Justice in taking vengeance on our inventi­ons, and thy Mercy in saving the wretched Sinners: And God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him, shall not perish but have everlasting Life. Thou gavest, O Father, thine only begotten Son to the condescension and meanness of ta­king our Nature upon him; and to die a Sacri­fice for our Sins; and on him thy well beloved Son, didst thou lay the iniquities of us all. And in his death thou hast received a full, per­fect and sufficient Sacrifice, Oblation and Sa­tisfaction for the Sins of the whole world. Thou hast laid our help on one that is mighty, and able to save to the utmost all that come unto God by him. We adore thy incompre­hensible Goodness and Compassion to Sinners! Thou art abundant, O God, in Goodness and Truth!

Thy Mercy is over all thy works: In Mercy thou hast great delight: We remember the glorious Exercises of it: We know, O Lord thou canst pardon the greatest Offences; for thou hast pardon'd very great Sinners: David was forgiven his base Murder and Adultery; Ma­nasseh his horrid Idolatry, and filling Jerusa­lem with innocent Blood; The vile Adulteress [Page 70] Mary Magdalen; The Apostle Peter, who de­nied and disowned thee with an Oath; the fu­rious Saul, who blasphemed thee himself, and being exceedingly mad against thee, compelled others to blaspheme: All these are Monuments of thy glorious forgiving Mercy. O what comfortable, what joyful hopes have we in such Goodness!

We know, that having given us thy Son, thou wilt not deny us any thing that is necessa­ry to our Salvation: But if we ask, we shall receive; if we seek, we shall find; if we knock it shall be opened to us. On that ransome which my Saviour has paid for me, and on all thy gracious promises which for his sake thou hast made, I do wholly and firmly rely. With an humble confidence, O Lord, that we may find favour wïth thee, we remember before thee in this Sacrament the bleeding Wounds of thy dear Son and his precious Death, our rich Sacrifice for Sin. We remember before thee, and present unto thee, him whom thou hast set forth to be a propitiation thro' Faith in his Blood. And in his Name, relying upon the value and acceptance of his Sacrifice. I, thy poor unworthy Servant, humbly present my self before the Throne of thy Grace to seek thy favour, begging leave that I may claim thy gracious promises, which in him are Yea, and in him Amen: And that I may now entertain and delight my self with the glorious Hopes which they afford. I desire, I hope that thou wilt fully forgive my manifold and great Transgressions. I desire, I hope that thou wilt [Page 71] give me thy holy Spirit, which thou hast promised to give to them that ask thee. O grant me that Spirit to cleanse me from all unrighteousness, to purifie my polluted Soul; to take away all the filthy stains of my Sins; to strengthen my weakness in Temptations; to be my support and comforter under Dis­couragements and Afflictions; to assist me in all my Duties; to guide my way and secure my perseverance to the end. Thou, O Lord, who searchest the hearts, and tryest the reins of Men, well knowest, wherein my greatest weakness lies; Lord strengthen me in parti­cular, I beseech thee, against mine own Ini­quity. I desire, I hope thou wilt graciously keep me unspotted from the world: Keep me from following any of the Errors and Vices that shall ever be in Vogue with the giddy and wicked Multitude. I desire, I hope, that thou wilt mercifully defend me against the Wiles & Devices of my Soul's great Adversary the Devil. I humbly commit my self to thy gra­cious keeping, Oh faithful Creator.

I desire, I hope, O Lord, that thou wilt bless me with health, and with a competent provision of what is needful for me of the good things of this World; and defend me, if it please thee, from poverty, dependance and con­tempt. Give me neither poverty nor riches, but feed me with food convenient for me. I know, O Lord, Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards; that Sin entering into this World, has brought misery and affliction with it; and that our folly and perverseness [Page 72] commonly needs such discipline to make us wise and good. I desire to submit to whatever it shall please thee to order for me; to say always after the example of my Saviour, Lord, not my Will, but thine be done. I hope thou wilt deal with me according to thy Mercy, and lay upon me no more than thou wilt inable me to bear. I believe thou mayst do me great good by my afflictions; I pray thee sanctify them all to the promoting my Soul's health, and my everlasting happiness: And give me, I pray thee, an humble resignation, and an in­vincible patience, that I may neither despise the chastning of the Lord, nor faint when I am rebuked of him: Let me always incourage my self with this assurance, that these light afflictions, which are but for a moment, if they be patiently born, shall work for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory. I desire, I hope thou wilt direct and enable me so to pass thro' things Temporal, as that I may not finally lose the things Eternal. That by thy conduct and guidance I may at last arrive safe­ly to that happy World where the weary are at rest [...]here the wicked cease from troubling, where sorrow and sighing, and pain and vexa­tion, and fear and care shall all be banished; all tears shall be forever wiped from our eyes, and we shall enjoy thee, and all that we can desire in perfect Bliss, and eternal Safety and Quiet.

This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save Sinners. Lord, I receive it; [Page 73] Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief, I believe O Jesu, thou art Christ the Son of the living God, that should come into the World. O tender and condescending Love, how dear is that blessed Name to me! Jesus my Saviour; O how full of sweetness is it, as a rich perfume! Thy Name is as oyntment poured forth! O be thou ever Jesus to me. To thee, O Lord, I fly as a refuge from the just wrath of God I have deserved; as able to conquer all my spiritual Enemies; as willing to receive into thy protection all that come unto thee. Oh Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon my poor Soul; grant me thy peace. Thou invitest those that are weary and heavy laden to come unto thee: Behold, Lord, I come, let me find rest to my Soul.

I come to partake of the happiness of being united to thee in this Sacrament. I believe, O Lord, the Truth of all thy promises, and the vertue and power of all thine Ordinances: And that the Bread we break, and the Cup we drink in this Sacrament, are not bear Signs, but real Instruments of conveyance, and the communi­cations of thy Body and Blood; I come then, that I may receive thy Body and Blood; may be interested in the Merits of thy passion; that I may partake of thy Spirit, and be intituled to the Heavenly Inheritance, which thou hast purchased for poor lost Sinners. I come to make a thankful remembrance of thy Death, which thou didst kindly submit to for the advantage of Mankind: And by thy Death I hope to have Life everlasting.

[Page 74]I gladly embrace, O Lord, the offers of thy Gospel. I desire thee to subdue in me all my rebellious Lusts and vile Affections, and as a King to rule over me, I will account it my honour to be thy meanest subject. I desire thee to afford me thy heavenly Instructions; teach me as a Prophet, and make me wise to Salva­tion thro' Faith that is in thee. I desire thee to interceed for me as a Priest in the vertue of thy most valuable Sacrifice; and to bestow upon me the large Blessings which thou hast purchased for sinners. I believe, O Lord, thou hast died for our sins and art risen again for our Justification, I desire thy death may ut­terly crucifie and kill all my sins; and that thy Resurrection may revive my hopes. By thy Resurrection I desire, I hope for mine: By thy Ascension into Heaven, I desire thee to draw my heart and affections from this vain empty World, to the hearty love and earnest desire of heavenly things: And I hope thou wilt raise me up at the last day, and bring me to be where thou art, and give me an everlast­ing Life. I take this Sacrament as a pledge of thy everlasting Love; as the evidence of Love already shown me, and the earnest and assurance of yet greater communications to come.

My Soul thirsts for God, even for the living God: Oh when shall I come and appear before God! When shall I see thy Face, O dear Jesus, without a veil; be kiss'd with the Kisses of thy Mouth, enjoy thy self immediately? When shall these short and faint glimpses of thy Glo­ry be exchanged for a full abiding sight of [Page 75] [...]hee? When shall I leave not only to visit, [...]ut to dwell with thee, and to receive, not [...]ansient tasts, but drink large draughts of [...]elight and joy from an infinite fountain of liss and joy: For in thy presence is fulness of [...]oy, and at thy right hand are pleasures for ever­ [...]ore. Oh, how I long that this my weary [...]ilgrimage were done: That I were absent [...]rom the Body, that I might be present with the Lord▪ That I might have no necessary di­version, dearest Jesu, from perpetual contem­plating, praising, loving and enjoying thee. For this, however, I do wait; This I do thro' thy merits, and from thy infinite love expect; and that expectation shall encou­rage me to labour in thy Service, to bear thy Cross, and to follow thee whithersoever thou shalt call me.

SECT. XVII. An Exercise of CHARITY.

O Jesu, thou art infinite Love! I cannot but with great delight and wonder con­template thee; and when I do so, I feel a pleasing constraint upon me to love. I must account this a most excellent and divine Qua­lification, which is so eminent in thee: I must reckon it my greatest honour to be conformed to the Son of God; and therefore I must ut­terly dislike and hate my self for any defect of Love I find in my self. Besides, when I think how much I am loved; how much th [...] [...] and bounteous Love has given, and h [...] [...] [Page 76] it has forgiven to me, I am forc'd to account my self base and extreamly unworthy of this, if I do not love much.

I will put on, then, the most extensive Charity that I can: I will wish well, and do good to all men as far as I have power, and as oft as I have opportunity to do it: I will love my Neighbour as my self; and account him my Neighbour who has any need of my kindness, and to whom I have it in my power to do any office of kindness, whosoever he be. Thou, O blessed Jesu, hast loved the most un­worthy Wretches! I then, will account none unworthy of my love and good will. Thou hast loved those that were infinitely below thee, and hast mightily condescended to do them kindness. I will never account it below me therefore to do an Office of kindness to my meanest Neighbour; but rather the greater the condescension is in the doing it, the more I will value the opportunity of showing therein the greater likeness and gratitude to thee. Thou, Lord, hast loved those that are alto­gether unprofitable to thee; and from whom thou canst never receive a parallel return of Love: I will be ashamed, then, as I most justly may, to bestow no Benefits but where I have received, or expect to receive some.

Thou, O Jesu, hast loved even thine Ene­mies, and prayed for those that despitefully used and persecuted thee: And this is a glo­rious pattern which I intend by the assistance of thy Grace, to imitate. As for all that have injur'd me by word or deed, O Lord, I [Page 77] forgive them, and I pray thee to forgive them. I am more sorry for their Error and Sin, than I am at any loss or damage, which is come, or may come to me by their injury: Lord have mercy upon their Souls; forgive my enemies, persecutors and slanderers, and turn their hearts. I desire no harm to any that are my enemies, if any be so: Nor will I rejoyce over them when they fall, but rather grieve to see it; much less will I ever seek their harm or mischief. And I purpose on the contrary, notwithstanding all their unkindness, to do them all the good Offices which I can; consistently with a due care of my own safety, and with other obliga­tions and duties to thee, or to others of my Neighbours. I purpose to study, and seek to do them good: To return blessing for cursing, respect for contempt, and good for evil: That I may, if it be possible, overcome evil with good.

As it is the character of Charity, not to be forward to think evil, I will take care that no uncharitable Jealousies or Suspicions of my Neighbour may represent him my enemy who is not so: I will take care not to interpret a mistake into a malicious design; or that which is intended as a kindness into an injury: But will always endeavour to take all his words and actions in the best sense, and put the best interpretation upon them all that I can: Espe­cially will I do thus by the Magistrate, as be­ing bound to it by the obligation to reverence and honour him, as well as by the Laws of Charity; and because it is necessary and useful [Page 78] to the publick peace and welfare, and so is in its effects a Charity to others of my Neighbours too.

I thank thee, O Lord, for all the kindness of my friends, and for those that have done me any good: I pray thee, O bounteous Love, abundantly to requite them in this world and the next; in temporal and eternal Blessings continue or encrease their store and worldly prosperity, if it may be good for them; and especially bless them with Spiritual Blessings in heavenly things. I will endeavour as far as lies in my power, in what I can do for their outward estate, or for their Souls, always to express a most grateful sense of their kindness. I will not despise the love of the meanest per­son, much rather will I thakfully resent the condescending favours of those that are above one.

I make my humble supplications to thee now, O Lord, at a good time, for all Mankind: I recommend to thy infinite Mercy all Jews, Turks and Infidels. Oh let them that sit in darkness see thy marvellous light, and be turned from the power of Satan unto God: That the earth might be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as waters cover the sea. Let thy Gospel of Holiness, Peace and Love. O Jesu, [...]n and be glorified, from the rising of the Sun unto the going down of the same.

With great trouble and concern, O Lord, I consider how much of the wretched world lies in wickedness! O how sad a thought is it, [Page 79] that such a Saviour shou'd be offer'd to men, and so few receive him! How sad is it to think, that so many thousands of Souls, for whom Christ died, are likely to go down in­to the dismal Caves of Hell! That so many who might be eternally happy, and praise thee for ever, will destroy & throw themselves into everlasting Misery: Rivers of Waters run down mine eyes, because men make void thy law: A Law so rich in Love, and so condescending in Grace. I am troubled, O Lord, because they do not love thee, and because they will destroy themselves: Because they affront and rebel against thy most obliging Goodness, and neglect so great Salvation as it offers them.

O that I could save many precious souls from their destruction; Oh that I could pluck them as brands out of the burning! As far as I am able, and as becomes me to do in my place and station, I will endeavour to cure the epidemical wickedness of the times I live in: I will earnestly endeavour to keep those that are under my authority and power, and that are of my neighbourhood and acquaintance, and whom I can have any influence over from going down to everlasting perdition. I will follow all that I may with advice and coun­sel; and those that I may not pretend to ad­vise, I will endeavour to intreat, that they would be saved: And those whom I ought [...] do this to, I will reprove and correct for any wickedness that I observe in them. I will propagate, as well as I can, the saving know­ledge, and the love of thee among the ignorant [Page 80] and Careless, and those whom their Poverty hinders from providing for themselves; by giving among them, according to my Ability, such means of their Instruction and Reformati­on as thy Favour has afforded the Publick.

I am greatly troubled and concern'd at the Miseries and Calamities which I hear of or see in the World: That thy Creatures whom thou didst make, that thou mightest love them, and that they might be happy, should pull upon themselves so much Misery from thy just Wrath, and deserv'd Vengeance. Oh how sad is it to think of Thousands of Peo­ple going down alive into the Pit, swallow'd up by sudden Earthquakes, and in a moment snatch'd hence into Eternity, without any time to prepare for their Departure. How it grieves me to think of the sad Effects of pi­ning Famine in some Places; of infectious and pestilential Diseases in others. It wounds my Soul to consider the woful Calamities and De­solations that attend horrid Wars! Oh how deplorable a thing is it that Men should seek to spill the Blood of Men, and give the Car­casses of their own Kind for a Prey to Birds and wild Beasts. Lord, rebuke the proud Di­sturbers of the World, abate their Pride, as­swage their Malice, and confound their De­vices. Grant that Wars may cease in all Lands, and gentle Love and happy Peace abound! Prosper, good Lord, those that endeavour for a just and safe Peace, that they may attain it: and scatter thou the People that delight in War. Oh that thy Judgments which are abroad in [Page 81] the Earth, might make the Inhabitants of the World to learn Righteousness, and turn them­selves to thee who hast smitten them, that thou mayst heal them.

As a Member of thy blessed Church I am particularly concern'd for the Tranquility and peace, and the true Spiritual Glory and prosper­ity of that. O Lord, purge out of thy Church whatever does displease thee, and is destructive to the Souls of men. Purge out of it whatever is an Offence to those without: Possess all Christ­ians with this, that they are oblig'd to Endea­vour that their carriage may adorn & recommend their Religion in the sight of the Infidels; and to take care their Light may so shine before Men, that they seeing their good works, may Glo­rifie their Father which is in Heaven. Purge thy Church, we pray thee, from all false Doctrines and Heresies; from profaness and Persecution; from Superstition and Cruelty; from Envy, Ha­tred, Malice, and all uncharitableness. Bring in­to the way of truth all such as have erred, and are deceivied: Raise up them that are fallen; con­firm, and strengthen those that stand in Piety and Vertue, and Profession of the Truth, Com­fort those Parts of thy Church that mourn, and are opprest under a barbarous Persecution: And let thine own Right Hand, and Holy Arm, in thy due time, give them a mighty Salvation.

O God of Love, O Prince of Peace, and God of Order, we pray thee, let thy Gospel pro­mote these good things in thy Church. Grant that there may be no hurting nor destroying in all thy Holy Mountain: That all the Members [Page 82] of the Church, as Members of the same Body, and of one another, may have a Cordial Affec­tion to each other: Carrying themselves with all lowliness and Meekness to each other; and with long suffering, for bearing one another in Love. Grant that as there is but one Lord Je­sus Christ, whom we all pretend to Love and Reverence, as there is but one true Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may all with one Mind and one Mouth glorifie thee our God. Grant that every Member of the Church may so know and keep its proper Place, that there may be no Shcism in the Body.

O Jesu, King of Love, sill with thy kind and gentle Spirit all Christian Kings, Princes, and Governours. Let no proud wrath, no malicious Envy, no greedy Covetousness, no turbulen Ambition reign in any of them: Grant that they all, knowing whose Ministers they are, may above all things seek thy Hon­our and Glory: And that they may study to preserve the People committed to their Care in Wealth, Peace and Godliness. That they may truly and indifferently administer Justice to the Punishment of Wickedness and Vice, and and to the Maintainance of thy true Religion and Vertue.

Especially, O Lord, we intreat thee to regard with peculiar Favour, thy Servant GEORGE, our most Gracious King. Let thy Wisdom direct him in all his Administrations; thy Al­mighty Pov [...] promote his good Designs, that under him we may be Godly and Quietly go­vern'd. Let thy bounteous Goodness shower [Page 83] upon him abundantly all Personal Blessings, for his Body, and for his Soul, to his long Pros­perity in this Life, and his everlasting Happi­ness in the next. Since by his Wisdom and Care, by his Love to thee and Goodness to us, with thy Blessing upon his Endeavours, we en­joy the happy Liberty of thy House, and these thy blessed Ordinances, to the Joy and Com­fort of our Souls, we will never fail to remem­ber him in all our Prayers and Supplications unto thee.

Pour down an Abundance of thy Spirit, we pray thee, O gracious Jesu, upon all Bishops and Pastors of thy Church. Replenish them with all right and sound Knowledge, and a true Understanding of thy Word. Oh let not their Hearts be governed, or their Actions be guided by the Designs of Covetousness or Ambition: but do thou possess and rule them by a great Zeal for thy Glory, and for thy great Design, the Salvation of Souls: Grant that they may by their Holy Doctrine, and answerable Lives, be mightily successful in turning many to Righteousness; and that they may save them­selves, and many of those that are committed to their Charge.

Since my Goodness, O Lord, extends not to thee; and thou art above the receiving of any Advantage by the best returns that I can make for all thy Bounty to me: It shall be my Charge and Care to requite thy Kindness upon thy Ser­vants to whom I may be profitable. I will love them, O Lord, that love thee, and do all the Good I can, to those especially that are [Page 84] of the Houshold of Faith: I will gladly relieve the Necessities of thy Servants which are made known to me; will feed the Hungry, cloath the Naked, instruct the Ignorant, reduce the Wandring, visit the sick and Imprisoned, com­fort and help the Weak-hearted, and vindicate and assist, the Fatherless and Widows in their Distress, according as I have Opportunity and Power to do so. And give me, I beseech thee, O loving Jesu, a just and large Notion of the Houshold of Faith, that I may not confine this my Charity within too narrow bounds. Let me always be afraid of restraining it within too narrow Limits, never of extending it too far among Christians.

I love thee, O Lord Jesus, for making so sweet and pleasant a thing as Charity my Duty, and do account even this an Instance of thy Charity to me. If there be any other Exer­cise of this Divine Vertue, O Lord, which I have not thought of, I desire thee, the gteat Fountain of Love, to admonish me of it, and always to dispose me to it. Grant that in the pleasing Exercise of Love I may pass the Time of my sojourning here in this malicious, mi­serable World; till I come at length to that happy One. Where sincere, abundant and unal­terable Love, and Joy, and Glory dwell for ever.

SECT. XVIII. Prayers for Pre­paration.

I. O God of Love, Father of all Mercies, and Giver of every good an perfect Gift: It [Page 85] is thy command, and I reckon it a kind and a just One, that I should celebrate this Sacrament in Remembrance of the Death and Sacrifice of thy dear Son, our only Saviour and Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ; to make me thankful for his Love, and for the Benefits of his Passion and Death, and that I might be made a partaker of those incomparable Benefits: Thou hast command­ed me in this way to renew my Covenant with thee; to declare my self thy Creature and Ser­vant, and bind my self to continue thy faithful Servant, and to live as becomes one that had his Being from thee. O Lord, I must acknowledge it is but too necessary for me to renew the Obliga­tions which I am so apt to transgress. I am therefore heartily willing: I desire to strengthen the Bands of Love, that they may hold me the faster to my Duty. I would never be exempted from the Yoke of thy Service! Oh do not thou cast me out of it for the sake of Jesus Christ. And I am willing to remember my dear Saviour's dying Love, to be deeply affected with it, and therefore to use so lively a Representation of his Death, as he has provided in this Sacrament. I must indeed own my self infinitely unworthy of so great a good, but yet cannot chuse but be ear­nestly desirous, O Lord, to partake abundantly in the Merits and Benefits of my Saviour's Death: There is nothing so dear to me as to have all mine Iniquities pardoned; and to recover thy Favour. To enjoy the excellent Graces of thy Holy Spirit, and be consecrated for a Sacred Temple to him: To receive Earnests and Pledges, yea and Foretasts of my future Joy and Happiness: all which are [Page 86] the matchless Blessings he has purchased for me, and which thou hast directed thy Church to seek and partake of in and by this Sacrament. All this I humbly seek and crave, through the Merits of Jesus Christ my Lord, to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Glory, World without end. Amen.

II. Almighty and most merciful God, I bless thee for this Sacrament, and would come to it with a hungring and thirsting Soul. But alas, how shall I, a poor mean Creature, approach thy Majesty! How shall I a guilty polluted Sinner, dare to approach thy Purity and Holiness! O Lord, I am infinitely unworthy to come so near thee: Yet it seems, thou dost not regard my un­worthiness, else thou wouldst never have invited me. Thou invitest poor sinful Creatures in gene­ral to this Feast; thy Guests can be none but such: if all therefore that are unworthy to come, should absent themselves, none of us would be there; and thy vast and kind Preparations would be in vain; I come therefore, most gracious God, in Obedience to thy Command and Invitations. But I will come with the lowliest Reverence and Hu­mility; for thou hast regard unto the lowly: I will come as a returning Prodigal, for thou art willing to receive such. I will come, hoping in thy infinite Mercy; for there is Mercy with thee, through Jesus Christ. My great Concern, O Lord, is that I may be in some good measure fit to approach thee, though I can never be worthy; and that I may have and exercise those Qualifi­cations in my attendance on thee which are suit­able to this Sacrament, and which thou requirest. [Page 87] I have therefore earnestly endeavour'd to find those Qualifications in my self: But alas, O Lord, I dare not trust to my own Examinati­ons or Endeavours. Do thou, O Heart-searching God, examine and try me: do thou, I pray thee, prepare me. I fly to thy Grace and Blessed In­fluence; Lord, give me, I pray, what thou requi­rest to be in me. It is my great Encouragement to make this Request, that I know I ask herein what thou art willing to give. Thou, Lord, art always more ready to hear, than we to pray; and art wont to give more than either we desire or de­serve. Thou knowest I cannot have these Quali­fications but from thee: Since therefore thou hast commanded me to come possess'd with them, I am sure thou art willing to give them. Thou art desirous we should come prepar'd, and suitable Guests to this heavenly Entertainment; art de­sirous to see thy House fill'd with such. Fill me then, good Lord, and many other Souls, with those Graces which it becomes us to appro [...]ach thee with, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Medi­ator and Advocate. Amen.

III. O Lord of instnite Bounty and Power, I humbly pray thee, give me a sincere and unfeigned Repentance for all my Sins: Oh let the Remembrance of them be grievous unto me, the Burden and Influence of their Power intolerable. Possess me with a hearty shame and Sorrow, for that I have so basely and unworthily af­fronted thy infinite Majesty, and put my kind Saviour to so much grief and suffering to save me. Possess me with [...]n earnest hatred of what is so displeasing to thee as my Sins justly are; that I may earnestly and steadi­ly endeavour to cast them from me. Turn thou my foolish Heart from the Love of all Sin, to the Love of thee, Do thou, O Lord, who best knowest all the dark [Page 88] Corners of my Heart, discover to me every lurking se­cret Evil, which I have not been able by my Examina­tion to observe; and let it now be brought forth and slain before thee.

Increase in me, O good Lord, I humbly pray, a lively Faith in thy Mercy, through the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ. Help me firmly to believe thy readi­ness to receive and pardon Sinners that repent and re­turn to thee: To rely with all Assurance on the Sacrifice and Atonement of thy Son's precious Death: Raise in me the comfortable Hopes of all Mercy and Favour up­on that sure Foundation; and grant me to rejoyce in hopes of seeing thy Glory.

Oh that my Heart may be all on a Flame of Divine Love, even a whole Burnt-offering, when I remember and consider my Saviour's dying Love to Sinners. Es­pecially when I see him in this Sacrament, as it were evidently set forth Crucified before me. When I see there his broken Body, and his Blood poured out; and consi­der that all this he suffer'd for me. Oh let such a sight affect me, as it ought to do, beyond all expressions. Oh let it transform me into Love. Let it make such strong and lasting impressions upon me, that I may ev­er afterwards be under the sweet and mighty influences of Love; always be guided by the Laws, and aiming at the Ends of Love. Let Love and Thankfulness to him be greatly employing my Soul when I am at this Sacra­ment, and be from henceforth the great Concern and Business, the very Form and Character of my whole Life for ever.

And since my Love cannot redound to his Advan­tage, make it flow abundantly upon those that love him. Give me a free Heart and Hand, and Power to do much good to them. According to my Power I pur­pose to exercise my Charity towards them, and towards all Men, in thought, Word, and Deed at this Sacra­ment, I pray that the Memorial of my dear Saviour's Love, may effectually inspire me to do so; And I pur­pose, and desire, and pray, that thou wilt be pleased to enable me to abound in Love and good Works towards all men, through the whole Course of my Life.

[Page 89]Put, I beseech thee, O Lord, my Soul in all respects into such a posture as becomes the Remembrance of a crucified Saviour, that I may be well pleasing and ac­cepted with thee; that thou mayst delight over me to do me good; that I may have Communion with thee to the Joy and comfort of my Soul, to the increase of Spiri­tual Strength, to the securing of my Perseverance in Holiness and Righteousness all my [...]ays. All which I humbly ask in the Name of Jesus Christ, and further [...]rave whatever is comprehended in his most absolute Form of Prayer, saying,

Our Father which art in Heaven, &c. Amen.

SECT. XIX. Directions for a devou [...] Behaviour at the COMMUNION.

THanks be to God we have so good Provi­sion made by our Church for the Admi­nistration of this blessed Sacrament; that any good Soul may receive it with great Devotion and Comfort, who will but seriously attend to what is appointed to be said and done in that Administration; as indeed many such Souls: accustomed to it, have found by very Comfort­able Experience: Upon which account it were much to be desired, and very advisable that those who are wont to attend this way but once in a Year, when they enter into an of­fice, would perswade themseves to come more frequently to it, that they might do so with the more comfort and advantage to their Souls when that occasion requires them to do it: For the whole business is so order'd, that 'tis very apt and fit to stir up in us the lively and vigorous Exercise of all those Graces which [Page 90] are required to attend it. So that the best Ad­vice which can be given for our due and pro­fitable Behaviour at the Holy Communion is this: That the Communicant do very closely attend to what is order'd to be said and done by him that Ministers, or by the Communicant himself, while they are upon this duty.

But because the Communicants, especially where the Number is great, (as I wish it were every where) will have some spaces wherein they may employ themselves in some private Ejaculations and Devotions; I shall not think it contrary to the proposed Brevity of this Book to afford them some such Devout Prayers and Ejaculations as they may use; and I shall put them in their proper Places. But these must be [...]monly very short, that they may not be diverted from joining with the Publick Office.

To begin then, where we usually begin this Administration.

When He that Ministers is reading those Sentences of Holy Scripture, which are design'd to Exhort and Encourage the making our Of­ferings to Almighty God: While you have your Offering in your hand, or when you have given it, say,

O Lord of Heaven and Earth, Maker and Owner of all Things! All that I hvae and am is from Thee, & all is Thine. Thou dost give, and thou hast right to take and use what thou pleasest of it: I humbly present This according to my Ability; as an Acknowledgement of thy right in me, and in all that I have; and of thy Bounty in giving it. I present, and I humbly intreat Thee to accept This as a token and Pledge of the Dedi­cation of my self, and all that I have, to serve and honour Thee. Sprinkle me, O Lord Jesus, and this my [Page 91] duty with thy precious Blood, and obtain for me, by thy Merits, a great Encrease of all Spiritual Gifts and Graces to thy Glory and my Salvation. Amen.

When the Offerings are all receiv'd and set upon the Altar: He that Ministers proceeds to make Intercessions to God for the Whole State of Christ's Church Militant here on earth: In which it becomes every Devout Soul, as a liv­ing Member of than Church, to join with him with very hearty Affections.

After this He proceeds to the immediate Exhortation, which is design'd to deter all those from drawing near to this Holy Ordi­nance, who are conscious to Themselves that they have been negligent to prepare for it; & who live in any known Sin. And then it goes on to Encourage those Humble Penitents, and Faithful Souls, who have been careful to pre­pare Themselves; and to excite in them those Dispositions with which they ought to come. It will be very proper for the Communicant, while the Minister is reading this, to join with Him, [...]nd to turn it into a Prayer.

In the next Place you are to join with the Minister with Humility and true Godly Sor­row in a Confession of Sins, and to receive by Him Gods Absolution.

To the Sentences of Holy Scripture which He next recites to encourage our Faith and Hope in God, it may be proper to make in your Hearts some such Answers as these,

To those Words of our Saviour, Come unto [...]e, &c.

Answer. Behold, O Lord, I come: Jesus thou [Page 92] Son of David, have Mercy upon me.

To those Words, God so loved the World, &c.

Answer. O Father of Mercies, have Mercy upon me, and give me that Faith in thy Son, that I may not Perish, but have Everlasting Life.

To the Words of St. Paul, This is a true Say­ing, &c,

Answer. Lord, I believe the truth of this, & thankfully embrace so Important a Truth: O Christ, save me, one of the Chiefest of Sinners.

To the words of St. John, If any Man sin, &c.

Answer. Be thou, O Jesus the Righteous, my Powerful Advocate with the Father: O Father, accept of his Death as a Propitiation for my Sins.

To what the Minister says next, you are to make the Answers directed, and to join with Him in the Praises and Prayers following

After the Bread and Wine is by Prayer of Consecration set apart to represent the Body and Blood of Christ; and the Ministers are re­ceiving, you must look upon the Elements with an Holy, Awful Reverence, and sadly call to mind the Scourging, the Buffetings, the Crown of Thorns, the cruel Nails and spear which wounded and bruised, which tore and kill'd the Loving Jesus: You may remember the more terrible Sufferings and sharp Agonies of his Soul; which he endur'd especially when He made his Life an Offering for Sin. And you should call to mind it was for your Sins that gave Him all these Sufferings and Griefs; that yet He endur'd them for your Advantage And he was Scourged, that by His stripes you [Page 93] might be healed; He shed His Blood to ran­some you from Hell and Misery; and died, that He might obtain for you Everlasting Life and Happiness. And while the rest of the Compa­ny are receiving, if they are a good Number, you will have leisure, and may very profitably entertain yourself with reading over the fore­going Exercises of thankful Remembrance, Faith, &c. And in reading them, you may Exercise those Graces as you ought to do. If there will not be time to repeat them all, you may do well to chuse some such a one or more of them as is most suitable to the present state, and disposition of your mind. For the Devout Soul may be at one time more taken up in Admiration & praise of the dying Love of Jesus Christ: At another time it may be especially possest with a deep Humiliation and Repentance; at another time it may be eleva­ted with the Hopes and Joys of believing; Or engag'd in making Earnest Resolutions of Love, Obedience, and Gratitude to the Great Re­deemer: Or in Exercises of Charity to the Mi­serable World; And your Entertainment at this spare time may be chosen accordingly. Only this must be advised, in relation to this matter, That you should make Observation of you [...] self, whether you do not too com­monly fix your Meditations upon one and the same of these Exercises, and so neglect the rest: For this must no [...] be allow'd; But you must constrain your [...]lf, if need be, to use sometimes one, and sometimes another of these, that so you may at times Exercise every Grace, and by the Exercise encrease in all.

[Page 94]When you go to Receive, and see the Mini­ster approaching with the Sacred Bread, which represents the broken body of our Lord, look on it, and say:

Behold, my Soul, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the Sins of the World. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive Power, and Riches, and Wisdom, and Strength, and Honour, and Glory, and Blessing. Oh come Lord [...]s, take possession of my Soul, and dwell Thou for ever with me; that I may be the more fit for such a Happiness, transform me into thy Likeness, by the re­newing of my Mind. Open ye everlasting Doors of my Heart, that the King of Glory may come in.

When He delivers it to you, join with Him, and say:

The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for me, preserve my Body and Soul unto Everlasting Life.

And as you are eating it, say within yourself:

O Jesu, Thou art the Living, and Life-giving Bread, which cometh down from Heaven; which, whosoever eateth, he shall live for ever. Thy Flesh is Meat in­deed, and thy Blood is Drink indeed: On Thee my hun­gry Soul shall feed, by my Faith, with hearty Thankful­ness. Let me taste and find, that thou, Lord, art Gracious; Thou that fillest the Hungry with good things, replenish me abundantly with thy Grace. Oh let this Divine and Spiritual Food afford me much Spi­ritual Strength and Refreshment.

When he delivers the Cup, Join with Him, and say:

The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for me, preserve my Body and Soul unto Everlasting Life.

And when you have drank it, say:

Thy Love, O King of Saints, is better than Wine. As the Apple-tree among the Trees of the Wood▪ so is my [Page 95] Beloved among the Sons: We will remember thy Love more than Wine: The remembrance of thy wondrous [...]ve shall be the frequent and the most pleasant Enter­tainment of my Life: Thy Love, O Jesu, shall comfort me in my Sorrows; shall strengthen me in my weakness; shall quicken and cure my Sloth: and Backwardness to my Duty: Oh let thy Love even transform me into Love. Amen.

O Father of Mercies, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom thou hast set forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his Blood, behold, I beseeth thee, this precious Sacrifice of thy Son! Behold it, I pray thee, and turn away from me, thy poor feeble Creature, all the wrath and Vengeance which my Sins have deserv'd. This is that on which I firmly and solely rely to find favour with thee; and this is that in which I know thou art well pleased: O Father of Mercies, have Mercy upon me. Deal always with thy servant according to thy Mercy; and teach me thy Statutes, that I may here­after serve and please thee in Newness of Life: And I humbly hope and desire to be accepted with thee, thro' the merits and mediation of thy beloved Son, who died for our Sins, and rose again for our Justifi­cation; is now set down at thy right hand, and ever lives to make Intercession for us. Amen.

Taking notice of the Sacrament delivered to others you may thus improve it.

Jesus, the rich and bounteous Lover, has good things in store for as many as come unto them: Jesus is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. Of his fulness do we all receive, and Grace for Grace. See, my Soul! see here thy Master's Bounty and Love! See Him here giving even Himself to His Friends.

My Soul, if Jesus so lov'd us all, we ought al­so to love one another. This Commandment has He left us, that He, who loves God, should [Page 96] love his Brother also. Study, then, what Of­fices of Love and Kindness it may lie in thy Power to do to any of these thy fellow Com­municants, and resolve upon it, for the kind Jesus will take it as even done to him. If thou love him truly, thou must needs love those whom he loves: Thou must pity them in all their Distresses, Spiritual and Temporal, whom he has pitied in their misery at so costly [...] [...]ate: Thou must learn to forgive those whom he forgives: Thou must be liberal according to thy power, and their necessities, to those whom thou seest the objects of his boun­teous Love. And especially thou must charge thy self not to hate, not to do any despite or injury to any of these; for even that too wou'd he take as done to himself: Thou must not despise any of these for their mean Condition in this world: He may have made the poor of this world rich in Faith: Thou must not envy nor grudge at any of them whom the provi­dence of God has favour'd more than he has done thee in the blessings of this world. Thou must take heed always that thy carriage be not a scandal and occasion of Sin to any of these; that thou destroy not him whom Christ died for. And blessed be thy name, O Lord, for these sweet and pleasant Laws. I willingly bind my self, O Jesu, to observe these thy Laws of Love. Oh thou great pattern of Love, learn me to love.

O kindest Jesu, thy Body was broken, and is divided amongst us to unite us to thee, and to one another. Let it be among us a com­mon [Page 97] incentive of mutual Charity: Let it be in its effects, unity of spirit among us, a bond of peace, and all righteousness of life in our car­riage one towards another. O thou the great fountain of Love, pour it abundantly into my heart, and into the hearts of all thy faithful people; that we may abound in love one to­wards another; and by thus bearing thy glo­rious Character and Likeness, in Love, may show to all men that we are indeed thy Di­sciples. Amen.

When all have communicated, and the Mi­nister begins the Prayers that remain, you are to leave off all private Devotions, a [...]d to join with him and the Congregation to the end.

After he has pronounced the blessing, you may privately say:

To him that loved us, and wash'd us from our Sins in his own Blood, and hath made us King's and Priests unto God & his Father: To h [...]m with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be Glory and Dominion for ever, and ever. Amen.

Then rising from your knees, kindly and courteously salute your fellow-communicants, at the parting of the Congregation.

Private Devotions after the Communion.

SECT. XX. A Meditation on the COMMUNION, to be used at Church or at Home.

OH my Soul, seriously consider how thou hast been honour'd, how thou hast been [Page 98] entertain'd in the house of God this day? Thou hast been a guest to the King of Saints, the Lord of Life and Glory: Divine Love has been thy heavenly entertainment, and Man did eat Angels food. Thy Saviour, thy Friend has brought thee into his banquetting house, his banner over thee was Love. Thou canst not surely very soon forget the pleasures of this Feast: Has it not left behind it a very pleasing relish? Has it not put thy mouth quite out of taste towards the things of this world? It is very fit that it should be so: It would be­come thee for some time after this, to account this world's delights sour and insipid; and certainly if thou meditate upon the good en­tertainment thou hast had, it will be so.

Jesus, the glorious Son of God, was Master of the Feast thou hast been at so lately, and he was himself the Feast, Jesus prepar'd it out of love to thee. And because his great love could not (as we may easily imagine) provide any thing better, he provided Himself to be thy rich and costly entertainment. He has feasted thee with his Body and Blood. He has, in giving thee that Bread and Wine, which was by the Minister according to his appoint­ment, consecrated and set apart to represent his broken Body, and his Blood shed for mankind, made the partaker of the Spiritual Blessings and Benefits of his Death and Passion. O how great things has he then bestowed on thee! Where canst thou find again such entertainment? What enjoyments of this poor world could afford it? And if he has given thee never so [Page 99] much of this poor world, he has he [...] in gi [...] thee that which is of infinitely great [...] [...] And if he has given thee but little of th [...] world, thou hast no reason to complain of him who has been so free, so bounteous to thee [...]o much better things. Say then to him, Oh, how plenteous, how rich is thy goodness, Lord, which thou hast in reserve for those that fear thee, and that hope in thy mercy!

He has treated thee with the pardon of all thy Sins, however numerous, however heinous [...]d guilty. Canst thou forbear to admire and [...] so great a Favour? Is it not wondrous that [...] vast a debt should be so freely forgiven [...] Does not this forgiveness restore thee [...] the almighty favour and love of God? And [...] thee le [...] to [...]k, and ground to expect [...]o [...] [...] heaven, all that is good for [...] and [...] to thy Salvation? Oh say [...], Bless the Lord, On my Soul: All that [...] praise his holy Name; who hath [...] my life [...]m destruction, who forgi­ [...] [...] [...]y S [...]s: Who crowneth me with loving [...]ness and tender mercies: O blessed [...] th [...] man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is cove [...]'d: Blessed, O Lord Jesus, [...] the man that put [...] [...]n his trail in thee.

He hath b [...]stow'd on thee, my soul, his Ho­ [...] Spirit to dwell with, and to sanctify thee, to [...] thee with all Gra [...]es: [...]o heal all the distemp [...]s of thy Soul, thy [...]sy, shameful distemp [...] to make th [...] tolerable and plea­sant [...] thy self, and [...]iable and well pleasing to him. O happy Souls, that are the Temples [Page 100] of this Holy Spirit! Where he dwells all things shall be in a beautiful Order; all things com­posed and calm, and peaceful; all full of joy: There is a peace which the world cannot give, and a joy unspeakable and full of glory. In them heaven dwells already; they shall be ac­quainted with its incomparable felicities here on earth; and are seal'd hereby to the day of Redemption.

Thy Loving Lord, then, has given thee at this Feast, too, the Pledges and Earnests of fu­ [...]ure Glory and Blessedness. He has even uni­ted thee to himself after a wonderful man­ner; he looks on thee as a Member of his own Body; has made thee Partaker in his Death, and intends thee to partake in his Resurrection. He will not leave thy Soul in Hell, nor suffer thy dead Body to lie always under Dissolution. He will shew thee the Path of Life, and thou shalt dwell at his right Hand, where are Pleasures for evermore. Thou shalt dwell in his Presence, where is fulness of Joy.

Oh how like a God has thy Glorious and kind Saviour entertained thee! None could e­ver bestow such things on thee but he. Thou hast been treated as a Favourite of Heaven, who canst not chuse but acknowledge thy self a poor, vile and contemptible Sinner. All these blessings and favours he hath confer'd upon thee, and given thee in this Sacrament sensible pledges and tokens of them; tho' thou art un­worthy of the very meanest and commonest of his gifts to mankind. Assure thy self, it was not for any merit or worthiness in thee, that he [Page 101] has been so bountiful, but of his own free mo­tion: There is nothing of debt in his love, but thou must look upon it as altogether obligation.

And now, my Soul, thou must consider too the mighty obligation he has laid upon thee. Thou art able to promise, to do nothing in re­turn for his love, but what he has infinitely oblig'd thee to. Should such a love as this ever be forgotten; or rather shouldst thou not resolve that thou wilt always retain a grateful sense of it? And that such a love should be the greatest joy and the sweetest delight of thy life: That such a love should make an entire conquest of thee; and make thee subject to the pleasant laws of it, thro' the whole course of thy Life. Thou canst not sure, for shame, think of a less return, than to give up thy self to him; to live to him that died for thee; to study and love what will please him, and do it in all things. No; thou canst not think of any thing less than of being his servant, who has bought thee with so great a price: Who has ransom'd thee from hell and everlast­ing misery, and that by his own cruel sufferings and accursed death.

And will it ever become thee, thinkest thou, after thou hast consider'd the cruellest sufferings of Jesus for thy sake, to shrink or murmur at sufferings, or guiltily decline them? Wilt thou pretend to be a follower, a disciple of Jesus, and yet not be able to endure any thing grievous or inconvenient▪ Has he suffer'd very grievous things for thee, worse by far [Page 102] than thou art able, or will ever be call'd to suffer for his sake? And wilt thou suffer no­thing for him? Was his way to heaven in­cumbred with sharp thorns, and will it become thee to murmur if thine be not strow'd with roses? Was the great and glorious Jesus de­spis'd in the world, and must thou be mighti­ly respected and honourd'd? Was Jesus, the Son of David, (a rich and mighty King) mean and poor, and will nothing serve thee but to be vastly and superfluously rich? For shame, my Soul! These desires cannot become thee. It is enough for the disciple to be as his master; and surely 'tis an honour that the servant be as his Lord, If thou wilt be a follower of Jesus, thou must expect, as the world hated him, saw no form or comeliness in him; so it will hate, and it will scorn thee: It will not see any thing to admire in thee. Consider the sufferings of Jesus and harden thy self; learn from him to despise the inconveniencies of this life; learn to despise its allurements. From his indifferency towards it, 'tis thy duty and honour to be very indifferent too. And [...]his, as all thy duty, thou wilt find pleasant upon the tryal of it, and a reward to thy self. This will give thee an invincible composure and peace of mind, a happy command and en­joyment of thy self, under all the vicissitudes and changes of this mutable, uncertain World.

Consider further, my Soul; has he blest thee with the pardon of all thy Sins? and does not this oblige thee to take the utmost care that thou sin no more? Know, he that had much [Page 103] forgiven him, should love much; and love will not let thee do any thing willingly, that is so displeasing and hateful to the kind and holy Jesus, as the least Sin would be. Consider, thy sins were pardon'd to oblige thee to for­sake them for ever; and this does greatly oblige thee to it: It were horrid and mon­strous ingratitude then, if the pardon of what is past should encourage thee to begin a new score. O abhor the thoughts of this, and reckon thou art oblig'd to live with great care of thy self, to take great heed to thy ways, to shun even the appearances of evil, to abhor and avoid all temptations to wickedness.

Consider, my Soul, the Holy Spirit is come to dwell with thee; to consecrate thee to be a sacred Temple to himself! O divine guest! O how great is thy honour and thy happiness! Wilt thou not let him know, that thou dost account it both? Wilt thou not study to be easy to such a guest? To shew him the greatest respects? Know then, that he must rule in thy heart; he must be, not in compli­ment only, but in reality master of the house. He is honourable enough, surely, to have such re­spect done him: And it will be thy advantage to give it him. And thou must take care, that thou never admit thy lusts and vile affec­tions again: He will not dwell with such vile company; if thou wouldst retain the hap­piness of his presence, they must be for ever banish'd from thy Soul: And sure it would be very easy for thee to see, 'tis not fit that they should be allow'd so much as a competition with him.

[Page 104]Consider too, how it becomes a Soul to live that is design'd an Inhabitant of Heaven; that is already made free of the New Jerusa­lem, which is above. Should you not now conform your manners to that bright company? Should you not consider what a kind of life they liv'd when they were here on earth; and set your self to follow them, as they were followers of Jesus? The vertues which were so eminent in their lives, must also shine in yours. They were not many of them Empe­rors, and Kings, and Queens on earth, because that Fortune, shall I say, or rather that Burden, falls to the shares of but few among mankind: Neither were they, it may be, many of them vastly rich, and more than they needed to be: But, which is better, and of more advantage to themselves than either of these, they were poor in spirit; they were humble and meek; they were temperate and sober; they were very good and merciful; all their zeal and concern was to advance the glory of God. These are the steps thou must tread in; this the way thou must follow, to follow them to bliss; thou canst not come to their end in any contrary way: Thou must not be conform'd to this World, but be transform'd by the renewing of thy mind.

Thou must not eagerly hunt after the plea­sures, the wealth, and the preferments of this world. It would become thee to be ever very indifferent towards them, as having already tasted and enjoy'd far better things than they: What is capable to afford thee incomparably [Page 105] more pleasure and satisfaction: And especially would this become thee, as being intituled to far better things: To more durable and useful riches, more solid and lasting pleasures, and to far higher dignities and preferments. These the Saviour and Friend has given thee pledges and assurances of at this Sacrament; and these he will bestow at the last day to those that love and fear him.

For thou mayest expect that this Jesus, whose humble sufferings and death thou hast now commemorated, will come again in Glo­ry, with the Host of glorious Angels attending them, to judge both the Quick and the Dead. He will come to take vengeance in flames of fire, on them that obey not his Gospel. And will come to reward all his faithful Servants, to be glorified and admir'd for his bounty and rewards to all them that believe. Oh consider well, my Soul, that awful, certain Day! and such as thou wouldst then be found, endeavour now to be; if this life be diligently employ'd in thy master's work, the performance of those duties which belong to thy station, and calling, and relations; he will then say to thee▪ Well done good and faithful servant, enter thou into thy master's Joy. It will be more to thy advantage, then, to have denied thy self now for thy master's honour and service, than to have indulg'd and pleas'd thy self in all things; it will be of greatest advantage to thee, the [...] to be found to have been sober, and temperate, and good, and religious: When all the honours and all the favour and applause of that Da [...] [Page 106] will be given to such; and no other diffe­ [...]ences among men shall be regarded, but their differences in these things. Be sure, my Soul, [...]t will not then repent thee, whatever it does [...]ow cost to gain the rewards and honour of [...]hat Day. Resolve firmly then for a good and holy Life; be never weary of well doing, for here is an everlasting rest which shall receive thee at the end of it, and the time before thou wilt reach it is but short. Be not dis­ [...]ouraged by any difficulties thou mayst meet with; if thou wilt boldly strive, thou shall overcome them all, thro' Christ strengthening thee: To whom with the Father and the Ho­ly Ghost, One ever blessed God, be all Ho­nour and Glory, World without End. Amen.

SECT. XXI. Prayers for a suitable CONVERSATION.

I. O God, the Strength of all them that put their Trust in thee; mercifully accept my Prayers; and because through the Weakness of our mortal Na­ture, we can do no good thing without thee, grant me the help of thy Grace, that in keeping thy Command­ments I may please thee both in Will and Deed, through Jesus Christ our Lord: Amen.

II. O Lord, the Fountain of all Power and Might, grant, I beseech thee, to me thy Servant, Grace, to withstand the Temptations of the World, the Flesh, & the Devil; and with a pure Heart and Mind to follow and serve thee, the only true and living God; and let me be accepted with thee in all my Service, through Je­sus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[Page 107] III. O Almighty God, who alone canst order the un­ruly Wills and Affections of Sinful Men, grant unto me thy Servant, that I may Love the things which thou commandest, and Desire those glorious things which thou dost promise; that so among the sundry and manifold Changes of this World, my Heart may surely there be fixed, where true Joys are to be found, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

IV. LOrd of all Power and Might, who art the Au­thor and giver of all good Things: graft in my Heart the Love of thy Name; encrease in me true Religion; nourish me in all Goodness, and of thy great Mercy keep me in the same through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

V. O Lord, who hast taught us, that all our Do­ings, without Charity are nothing worth: Send thy holy Spirit, I beseech thee, and pour into my heart that most excellent gift of Charity, the very Bond of Peace, and of all Vertues; without which, whosoever liveth, is dead before thee. Grant this for thy only Son Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

VI. ALmighty God, who hast given thy only Son to be unto us both a Sacrifice for Sin, and also an Example of Godly Life; give me Grace that I may always most thankfully accept that his innestimable Benefit, and also daily endeavour my self to follow the blessed steps of his most holy Life, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

VII. GRant, I beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as I do believe thy only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to have ascended into the Hea­vens; so I may also in heart and mind thither as­cend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, One God, World without End. Amen.

[Page 108] VIII. MAY the Peace of God, which passeth all Understanding, keep my heart and mine in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, and the Blessing of God Al­mighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be upon me, and remain with me always. Amen.

IX. GLory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost: As it was in the Begin­ning, is now, and ever shall be, World without End. Amen.

SECT. XXII. Prayers of Recollection.

THese contain the Sum of this Book, and are made fit to be used after the reading any parts of it in the Family or Closet.

[Insert this when this Prayer is used in the Morning.]

We give thanks to the God of all Mercies for the safe Protection, the quiet and Comfortable Rest of the last Night: We devote this day and all our Lives to thy Ser­vice, in the Duties which thou givest us to do; assist us mercifully, O Lord, in all, and accept us in Jesus Christ.

[Insert this when this Prayer is used at Night.]

Enlighten our dark Souls we beseech thee, O Lord, with all the Knowledge that is necessary to our Salva­ [...]eon: Fill us with devout Affections, and let thy Love always possess and rule us: Be thou, we pray, our Pro­tections this Night from all the Perils and Dangers of it.

Our Father which, &c.