no life in us Whoso eateth his flesh and drinketh his blood hath eternal life and he will raise him up at the last day For his flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink indeed He that eateth his flesh and drinketh his blood dwelleth in Christ and Christ in him As the living Father hath sent the Son and he liveth by the Father so he that eateth him shall live by him This is that bread that came down from Heaven not as the Fathers did eat Manna and are dead he that eateth this bread shall live for ever I shall here only give you some brief Directions for your private duty herein Direct 1. Understand well the proper ends to which this Sacrament was instituted by Christ and take heed that you use it not to ends for which it never was appointed The true ends are these 1. To be a solemn Commemoration of the Death and passion of Jesus Christ Mat. 26. 28. Mar. 14. 24. Luke 22. 20. to keep it as it were in the eye of the Church in his bodily absence till he come 1 Cor. 11. 24 25 26. 2. To be a solemn renewing of the Holy Covenant which was first entred in Baptism between Christ and the Receiver and in that Covenant it is on Christ's part a solemn delivery of himself first and with himself the benefits of Pardon Reconciliation Adoption and right to Life eternal Heb. 9. 15 16 17 18. 1 Cor. 10. 16 24. And on mans part it is our solemn acceptance of Christ with his Benefits upon his terms and a delivering up our selves to him as his Redeemed ones even to the Father as our reconciled Father and to the Son as our Lord and Saviour and to the Holy Spirit as our Sanctifier with Professed Thankfulness for so great a benefit 3. It is appointed to be a lively objective means by which the Spirit of Christ should work to stir up and exercise and increase the Repentance Faith Desire Love Hope Joy Thankfulness and New-Obedience of Believers by a lively Representation of the evil of sin the infinite love of God in Christ the firmness of the Covenant or Promise the greatness and sureness of the Mercy given and the Blessedness purchased and promised to us and the great obligations that are laid upon us And that herein believers might be solemnly called out to the most serious exercise of all these Graces 1 Cor. 11. 27 28 29 31. 1 Cor. 10. 16 17 21. 1 Cor. 11. 25 26. 2 Cor. 6. 4. and might be provoked and assisted to stir up themselves to this Communion with God in Christ to pray for more as through a sacrificed Christ 4. It is appointed to be the solemn Profession of Believers of their Faith and Love and Gratitude and Obedience to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and of continuing firm in the Christian Religion And a Badge of the Church before the World Acts 2. 42 46. 20. 7. 5. And it is appointed to be a sign and means of the Unity Love and Communion of Saints and their readiness to Communicate to each other The false mistaken ends which you must avoid are these 1. You must not with the Papists think that the end of it is to turn Bread into no Bread and Wine into no Wine and to make them really the true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ For if sense which telleth all Men that it is still Bread and Wine be not to be believed then we cannot believe that ever there was a Gospel or an Apostle or a Pope or a Man or any thing in the World And the Apostle expresly calleth it Bread three times in three Verses together after the Consecration 1 Cor. 11. 26 27 28. and he telleth us that the use of it is not to make the Lords Body really present but to shew the Lords Death till he come that is As a visible representing and commemorating sign to be instead of the Bodily presence till he come 2. Nor must you with the Papists use this Sacrament to sacrifice Christ again really unto the Father to propitiate him for the quick and dead and ease Souls in Purgatory and deliver them out of it For Christ having died once dieth no more and without killing him there is no sacrificing him By once offering up himself he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified and now there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin Having finished the sacrificing work on Earth he is now passed into the Heavens to appear before God for his Redeemed ones Ro. 6. 9. 1 Cor. 15. 3. 2 Cor. 5. 14 15. Heb. 9. 26. and 10. 12 26. and 9. 24. 3. Nor is it any better than odious impiety to receive the Sacrament to confirm some Confederacies or Oaths of Secresie for rebellions or other unlawful designs as the Powder-Plotters in England did 4. Nor is it any other than impious prophanation of these sacred Mysteries for the Priest to constrain or suffer notoriously ignorant and ungodly persons to receive them either to make themselves believe that they are indeed the Children of God or to be a means which ungodly men should use to make them godly or which Infidels or Impenitent persons must use to help them to Repentance and Faith in Christ For though there is that in it which may become a means of their Conversion as a Thief that stealeth a Bible or Sermon Book may be converted by it yet is it not to be used by the Receiver to that end For that were to tell God a lie as the means of their Conversion for whosoever cometh to receive a setled pardon doth thereby profess repentance as also by the words adjoyned he must do And whosoever taketh and eateth and drinketh the Bread and Wine doth actually profess thereby that he taketh and applieth Christ himself by Faith And therefore if he do neither of these he lieth openly to God and lies and false Covenants are not the appointed means of Conversion Not that the Minister is a lier in his delivery of it For he doth but conditionally seal and deliver Gods Covenant and Benefits to the Receiver to be his if he truly Repent and Believe But the Receiver himself lieth if he do not actually Repent and Believe as he there professeth to do 5. Also it is an impious prophanation of the Sacrament if any Priest for the love of filthy lucre shall give it to those that ought not to receive it that he may have his Fees or Offerings or that the Priest may have so much money that is bequeathed for the saying a Mass for such or such a Soul 6. And it is odious prophanation of the Sacrament to use it as a League or Bond of Faction to gather persons in to the party and tie them fast to it that they may depend upon the Priest and his Faction and Inerest may thereby be strengthned and he may seem to have many followers 7. And it is a dangerous abuse of it to
receive it that you may be pardoned or sanctified or saved barely by the work done or by the outward exercise alone As if God were there obliged to give you Grace while you strive not with your own hearts to stir them up to love or desire or faith or obedience by the means that are before you or as if God would pardon and save you for eating so much Bread and drinking so much Wine when the Canon biddeth you or as if the Sacrament conveyed Grace like as Charms are supposed to work by saying over so many words 8. Lastly It is no appointed end of this Sacrament that the Receiver thereby profess himself certain of the sincerity of his own Repentance and Faith For it is not managed on the ground of such certainty only by the Receiver much less by the minister that delivereth it But only he professeth that as far as he can discern by observing his own heart he is truly willing to have Christ and his benefits on the terms that they are offered and that he doth consent to the Covenant which he is there to renew Think not therefore that the Sacrament is instituted for any of these mistaken ends Direct 2. Distinctly understand the parts of the Sacrament that you may distinctly use them and not do you know not what This Sacrament containeth these three parts 1. The Consecration of the Bread and Wine which maketh it the Representative Body and Blood of Christ 2. The Representation and Commemoration of the Sacrifice of Christ 3. The Communion Or Communication by Christ and Reception by the people 1. In the Consecration the Church doth first offer the Creatures of Bread and Wine to be accepted of God to this Sacred use And God accepteth them and blesseth them to this use which he signifieth both by the words of his own Institution and by the Action of his Ministers and their Benidiction They being the Agents of God to the People in this Accepting and Blessing as they are the Agents of the People to God in offering or dedicating the Creatures to this use 2. This Consecration having a special respect to God the Father in it we acknowledge his three grand Relations 1. That he is the Creator and so the Owner of all the Creatures for we offer them to him as his own 2. That he is our Righteous Governor whose Law it was that Adam and we have broken and who required satisfaction and hath received the Sacrifice and atonement and hath dispensed with the strict and proper execution of that Law and will rule us hereafter by the Law of Grace 3. That he is our Father or Benefactor who hath freely given us a Redeemer and the Covenant of Grace whose Love and Favor we have forfeited by sin but desire hope to be reconciled by Christ 3. As Christ himself was Incarnate and true Christ before he was sacrificed to God and was sacrificed to God before that sacrifice be communicated for life and nourishment to Souls So in the Sacrament Consecration must first make the Creature to be the Flesh and Blood of Christ representative and then the sacrificing of that flesh and blood must be represented and commemorated and then the sacrificed flesh and blood communicated to the Receivers for their spiritual life II. The Commemoration chiefly but not only respecteth God the Son For he hath ordained that these consecrated Representations should in their manner and measure supply the room of his bodily presence while his body is in Heaven And that thus as it were in effigy in representation he might be still Crucified before the Churches eyes and they might be affected as if they had seen him on the Cross And that by Faith and Prayer they might as it were offer him up to God that is Might shew the Father that sacrifice once made for sin in which they trust and for which it is that they expect all the acceptance of their persons with God and hope for audience when they beg for mercy and offer up prayer or praise to him III. In the Communication though the Sacrament have respect to the Father as the principal Giver and to the Son as both the Gift and Giver yet hath it a special respect to the Holy Ghost as being that spirit given in the flesh and Blood which quickeneth Souls without which the Flesh will profit nothing And whose operations must convey and apply Christs saving benefits to us John 6. 63. 7. 39. These three being the parts of the Sacrament in whole as comprehending that sacred Action and participation which is essential to it The Material parts called the Relate and Correlate are 1. Substantial and Qualitative 2. Active and Passive 1. The first are the Bread and Wine as signs and the Body and Blood of Christ with his Graces and Benefits as the things signified and given The second are the Actions of Breaking Pouring out and Delivering on the Ministers part after the Conscration and the Taking Eating and Drinking by the Receivers as the sign And the signified is the Crucifying or Sacrificing of Christ and the Delivering himself with his Benefits to the Believer and the Receivers thankful Accepting and using the said gift To these add the Relative Form and the Ends and you have the definition of this Sacrament Direct 3. Look upon the minister as the Agent or Officer of Christ who is Commissioned by him to seal and deliver to you the Covenant and its benefits And take the Bread and Wine as if you heard Christ himself saying to you Take my Body and Blood and the Pardon and Grace which is thereby purchased It is a great help in the Application to have mercy and pardon brought us by the hand of a Commissioned Officer of Christ Direct 4. In your preparation before-hand take heed of these two extreams 1. That you come not prophanely and carelesly with common hearts as to a common work For God will be sanctified in them that draw near to him Levit. 10. 3. And they that eat and drink unworthily not discerning the Lords Body from common Bread but eating as if it were a common meal do eat death to themselves instead of life 2. Take heed lest your mistakes of the nature of this Sacrament should possess you with such fears of unworthy receiving and the following dangers as may quite discompose and unfit your Souls for the joyful exercises of Faith and Love and Praise and Thanksgiving to which you are invited Many that are scrupulous of receiving it in any save a feasting gesture are too little careful and scrupulous of receiving it in any save a feasting frame of mind The first extream is caused by prophanness and negligence or by gross ignorance of the nature of the Sacramental work The latter extream is frequently caused as followeth 1. By setting this Sacrament at a greater distance from other parts of God's worship than there is cause So that the excess of Reverence doth overwhelm the minds
help your Humiliation and Repentance you bring thither a loaden miserable Soul to receive a pardon and relief And you see before you the Sacrificed Son of God who made his soul an offering for sin and became a Curse for us to save us who were accursed 2. To draw out your desires you have the most excellent gifts and the most needful mercies presented to you that this world is capable of Even the pardon of sin the Love of God the Spirit of Grace and the hopes of Glory and Christ himself with whom all this is given 3. To exercise your Faith you have Christ here first represented as crucified before your eyes and then with his benefits freely given you and offered to your acceptance with a Command that you refuse him not 4. To exercise your delight and gladness you have this Saviour and this Salvation tendered to you and all that your souls can well desire set before you 5. To exercise your Thankfulness what could do more than so great a Gift so dearly purchased so surely sealed and so freely offered 6. To exercise your Love to God in Christ you have the fullest manifestation of his attractive Love even offered to your eyes and taste and heart that a soul on earth can reasonably expect in such wonderful condescension that the greatness and strangness of it surpasseth a natural mans belief 7. To exercise your hopes of life eternal you have the price of it here set before you you have the Gift of it here sealed to you and you have that Saviour represented to you in his suffering who is now there reigning that you may remember him as expectants of his Glorious coming to judge the world and glorifie you with himself 8. To exercise your self-denyal and resolution for suffering and contempt of the world and fleshly pleasures you have before you both the greatest example and obligation that ever could be offered to the world when you see and receive a Crucified Christ that so strangely denyed himself for you and set so little by the world and flesh 9. To exercise your love to Brethren yea and Enemies you have his example before your eyes that loved you to the death when you were Enemies And you have his holy servants before your eyes who are amiable in him through the workings of his Spirit and on whom he will have you shew your love to himself 10. And to excite your Resolution for future odedience you see his double Title to the Government of you as Creator and as Redeemer and you feel the obligations of Mercy and Gratitude and you are to renew a Covenant with him to that end even openly where all the Churches are witnesses So that you see here are powerful object before you to draw out all these Graces and that they are all but such as the work requireth you then to exercise III. But that you may be the readier when it cometh to practice I shall as it were lead you by the hand through all the parts of the administration tell you when and how to exercise every grace and those that are to be joyned together I shall take together that needless distinctness do not trouble you 1. When you are called up and going to the Table of the Lord exercise your Humility Desire and Thankfulness and say in your hearts What Lord dost thou call such a wretch as I What! me that have so oft despised thy mercy and wilfully offended thee and preferred the filth of this world and the pleasures of the flesh before thee Alas it is thy wrath in Hell that is my due But if love will choose such an unworthy guest and Mercy will be honoured upon such sin and misery I come Lord at thy call I gladly come Let thy will be done and let that mercy which inviteth me make me acceptable and graciously entertain me and let me not come without the wedding Garment nor unreverently rush on holy things nor turn thy mercies to my bane 2. When the Minister is confessing sin prostrate your very souls in the sense of your unworthiness and let your particular sins be in your eye with their hainous aggravations The whole need not the Physician but the sick But here I need not put words into your mouths or minds because the Minister goeth before you and your hearts must concurr with his Confessions and put in also the secret sins which he omitteth 3. When you look on the Bread and Wine which is provided and offered for this holy use remember that it is the Creator of all things on whom you live whose Laws you did offend and say in your hearts O Lord how great is my offence who have broken the Laws of him that made me and on whom the whole Creation doth depend I had my Being from thee and my daily Bread and should I have requited thee with disobedience Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son 4. When the words of the Institution are read and the Bread and Wine are solemnly consecrated by separating them to that sacred use and the acceptance and blessing of God is desired admire the mercy that prepared us a Redeemer and say O God how wonderful is thy wisdom and thy love How strangely dost thou glorifie thy mercy over sin that gave advantage to glorifie thy justice Even thou our God whom we have offended hast out of thy own Treasury satisfied thy own justice and given us a Saviour by such a Miracle of Wisdom Love and Condescention as men or Angels shall never be able fully to comprehend so didst thou love the sinful world as to give thy Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life O thou that hast prepared us so full a remedy and so pretious a gift sanctifie these Creatures to be the Representative Body and Blood of Christ and prepare my heart for so great a gift and so high and holy and honourable a work 5. When you behold the Consecrated Bread and Wine discern the Lords Body and reverence it as the Reprsentative Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and take heed of Prophaning it by looking on it as common Bread and VVine Though it be not Transubstantiate but still is very Bread and VVine in its Natural being yet it is Christs Body and Blood in representation and effect Look on it as the consecrated Bread of life which with the quickning Spirit must nourish you to life eternal 6. When you see the Breaking of the Bread and the Pouring out of the VVine let Repentance and Love and Desire and Thankfulness thus work within you O wondrous Love O hateful sin How merciful Lord hast thou been to sinners how cruel have we been to our selves thee Could Love stoop lower Could God be merciful at a dearer rate Could my sin have done a more horrid deed than put to death the Son of God How small a
matter hath tempted me to that which must cost so dear before it was forgiven How dear payed my Saviour for that which I might have avoided at a very cheap rate At how low a price have I valued his Blood when I have sinned and sinned again for nothing This is my doing My sins were the Thorns the Nails the Spear Can a Murderer of Christ be a small offender O dreadful justice It was I and such other sinners that deserved to bear the punishment who were guilty of the sin and to have been fewel for the unquenchable flames for ever O pretious Sacrifice O hateful sin O gracious Saviour how can mans dull and narrow heart be duly affected with such transcendent things or Heaven make its due impression upon an inch of flesh Shall I ever again have a dull apprehension of such Love Or ever have a favourable thought of sin Or ever have a fearless thought of justice O break or melt this hardened heart that it may be somewhat conformed to my crucified Lord The tears of Love and true Repentance are easier than the flames from which I am redeemed O hide me in these wounds and wash me in this pretious blood This is the Sacrifice in which I trust This is the Righteousness by which I must be justified and saved from the Curse of thy violated Law As thou hast accepted this O Father for the world upon the Cross Behold it till on the behalf of sinners and hear his Blood that cryeth unto thee for mercy to the miserable and pardon us and accept us as thy Reconciled Children for the sake of this Crucified Christ alone We can offer thee no other Sacrifice for sin and we need no other 7. When the Minister applyeth himself to God by prayer for the efficacy of this Sacrament that in it he will give us Christ and his benefits and pardon and justifie us and accept us as his reconciled Children joyn heartily and earnestly in these requests as one that knoweth the need and worth of such a mercy 8. When the Minister delivereth you the consecrated Bread and Wine look upon him as the messenger of Christ and hear him as if Christ by him said to you Take this my broken body and blood and feed â—â— it to everlasting life and take with it no sealed Covenant and therein the sealed testimony of my love and the sealed pardon oâ— your sins and a sealed gift of life eternal so be it you unfeignedly consent unto my Covenant and give up your selves to me â—â— my redeemed ones Even as in delivering the possession of House or Lands the deliverer giveth a Key and a Twig and a Turf and saith I deliver you this house and I deliver you this Land So doth the Minister by Christ's Authority deliver you Christ and pardon and title to eternal life Here is an Image of a sacrificed Christ of Gods own appointing which you may lawfully use And more than an Image even an investing Instrument by which these highest mercies are solemnly delivered to you in the name of Christ Let your hearts therefore say with Ioy and Thankfulness with Faith and Love O matchless bounty of the eternal God! what a gift is this and unto what unworthy sinners and will God stoop so low to man and come so near him and thus reconcile his worthless enemies Will he freely pardon all that I have done and take me into his family and love and feed me with the flesh and blood of Christ I believe Lord help mine unbelief I humbly and thankfully accept thy gifts Open thou my heart that I may yet more joyfully and thankfully accept them Seeing God will glorifie his Love and mercy by such incomprehensible gifts as these behold Lord a wretch that needeth all this mercy And seeing it is the offer of thy Grace and Covenant my Soul doth gladly take thee for my God and Father for my Saviour and my Sanctifier And here I give my up self unto thee as thy Created Redeemed and I hope Regenerate one as thy Own thy Subject and thy Child to be saved and Sanctified by thee to be beloved by thee and to Love thee to everlasting O seal up this Covenant and pardon by the Spirit which thou sealest and deliverest to me in thy Sacrament that without reserve I may be entirely and for ever thine 9. When you see the Communicants receiving with you let your very hearts be united to the Saints in love and say How goodly are thy Tents O Jacob How amiable is the Family of the Lord How good and pleasant is the unity of Bretheren How dear to me are the pretious numbers of my Lord though they have yet all their spots and weaknesses which he pardoneth and so must we My goodness O Lord extendeth not unto thee but unto thy Saints the excellent ones on earth in whom is my delight What portion of my estate thou requirest I willingly give unto the poor and if I have wronged any man I am willing to restore it And seeing thou hast â—â—oved me an enemy and forgiven me so great a debt I heartily forgive those that have done me wrong and love my enemies O keep me in thy Family all my days for â— day in thy Court is better than a Thousand and the door-keepers in thy house are happier than the most prosperous of the wicked Numb 24. 5. Psal 133. 15. 4. 16. 2 3. Luke 19. 8. Psal 84. 10. 10. When the Minister returneth Thanks and Praise to God stir up your Souls to the greatest alacrity and suppose you saw the Heavenly Hosts of Saints and Angels praising the same God in the presence of his Glory and think with your selves that you belong to the same Family and society as they and are learning their work and must shortly arrive at their perfection Strive therefore to imitate them in Love and Joy and let your very souls be poured out in Praises and Thanksgiving And when you have the next â—iesure for your private thoughts as when the Minister is exhorting you to your duty exercise your love and thanks and Faith and hope and self-denyal and Resolution for future obedience in some such breathings of your Souls as these O my gracious God thou hast surpassed all humane comprehension in thy Love Is this thy usage of unworthy prodigals I feared lest thy wrath as a consuming fire would have devoured such a guilty Soul and thou wouldest have charged upon me all my folly But while I condemned my self thou hast forgiven justified me and surprized me with the sweetest embracements of thy love I see now that thy thoughts are above our thoughts and thy ways above our ways and thy love excelleth the love of man even more than the Heavens are above the earth With how dear a price hast thou Redeemed a wretch that deserved thy everlasting vengeance with how pretious and sweet a Feast hast thou entertained me who deserved to be cast out with
where where are they I saw them by me but just now I said them by my heart before I went to bed Oh what was I so long a reasoning about Oh what long and many threds did my reason spin even now but to make these twines to tye up my joy and to raise up my love and to hang my Heavenly delight upon But ah I fear this envious world hath with her vanities stollen them away or hid them from me or the envious Devil or unbelief have been ravelling or snarling of them that now I am as far to seek as ever Whither O whither shall I go to find them out Now will the Bridegroom come and I am not ready I cannot dare not go to day Now will my Lord be angry and ask me why I came not and I have no answer to make him And if I go undrest he will ask me where is my Weding-garment and then I shall be speechless Ah foollsh simple heart that thou shouldst take no more care but to let these thoughts of earth so intangle themselves with thy so pure and heavenly contemplations Now how to get them loose again thou knowest not this thou mightest by heed and care have prevented but now what help Lord I have sinned O holy Father pardon this time and I will take more heed Oh come and unty my thoughts from this earth and come and dress me up as best pleaseth thee Come be not discouraged Oh my Soul Let but thy attire of Grace be whole that is sincere thy God and so thy Saviour will accept thee Though thy garments are not so much perfumed with Heaven as thy brethrens are but yet if they are but white and free from the spots of flesh and spirit thou wilt be looked on and liked of well enough Thy Lord doth know that all have not Talents alike and where he gives but a little he expects but little A faith that it richly embroidered over with love and delight is not given to all and is not expected from any but from those to whom it is given Thou hast an honest willing serious heart that thinks it doth despise and trample under feet the nearest dearest pleasures profits and glories in the world in compare with him that gave himself to death for thee and hadst rather anger flesh and blood the dartest friends and all the world than him by sinning against him in the least If this be true fear not thou hast thy Weding-garment on thou art well clad as mean so ever as it is it is such a one as Heaven gave thee and such a one as thy dear Redeemer can and will embrace thee in The Presence-Chamber Fear not O my soul I charge thee do not faint Let not thy weakness and the poverty of thy grace discourage thee â—ee how thy Lord draws nigh Fear not I say he will not ask thee Friend how camest thou hither not having on thy Wedding garment He sees thy heart and sees thou hast it on Oh he comes and it is out to whisper thee a welcome in thine ear it is but to fall about thy neck and kiss thy be-tear'd cheeks and bid thee a kind welcome to thy bleeding Lord. Soul Oh did I think to be thus much made of I thought he would not have minded me but I did no sooner appear and set my feet within the doors but he ran to meet me he took mee in his arms he brought me hither and set me here Is this a house or is it a Palace Is this a Court for Princes or for Angels Never did place more ravish me into amazement than this place Beautiful are thy gates O Zion O how pleasant is the habitation of the most high Is it the place or the company that strikes me into astonishment Now I can say most feelingly say with David My delights are with the Saints of the most high and the most excellent of the earth Their poverty their disgrace their contempt amongst whom they live do not puzzle my quick-ey'd Faith these are the Kings Daughters that are all glorious within their garments are of needle work imbroidered over with pure gold fine-spun gold These O these how poor and mean soever they are or may seem to be these shall sit with Christ to Judge the World Oh! how my soul is ravished with delight to see and look on those with whom I shall live for ever If they are so lovely now what will they be hereafter when our God shall take them and scowr off their rust and wash their Garments bright in the Sun-shine of his countenance and change those mortal and corruptible bodies into immortal and glorious ones and set them upon Thrones about himself and lade their heads with Crowns of massy gold and when I shall hear them warbling out the everlasting Praises of the Lamb whose Body and Blood we shall sit down to feed on Communion-Plate Never was Gold or Silver graced thus before To bring this Body and this Blood to us is more than to Crown Kings or be made Rings For Star-like Diamonds to glitter in The Bread Welcome Fairest take and eat 't is the sweetest dainties dearest morsel Heaven can afford thee Welcome my Dear to the Table of my Lord. Welcome a thousand times I bid thee yea welcomer than thine own heart can wish Take eat this morsel it cost my life it 's a portion thy Father sent unto thee by me and bid me remember thee of his love to thee He bids thee remember a Fathers love Ay a Saviours He hath a heart to give thee and so have I. Take this in earnest of them both in one Take freely if thou wert not welcome I would have told thee I would have asked thee for thy Weding-Garment knew I not thy heart or if I were uncertain of thy love I would have scorn'd thee as unworrhy of my presence did I know thou lovest any thing above me I would have hid my face and never have spoke thee a welcome so feelingly and kindly to thy soul Tell me O tell me dost thou not love me I know thou dost and above Father or Mother Wife or Child Lands or Living or Credit I know thou dost And wilt thou not take the Cross and sollow me I know thou wilt I see and know the labour of thy love I remember the pains and travel of thy soul I saw thee follow me on thy knees in tears and begged my life rather than thy life I know thy heart I saw it bleeding before my Throne I took it in my arms and bound it up and in that breast I remember I put it up again I saw thee when no eye saw thee I heard thee and had compassion on thy groanings whilst thou wert complaining that I had shut out thy prayers I will remember since thy heart did first fall sick with love since the time thy flesh began to die and since thou laidst thy self in the grave down by me and wert willing to
hear to my confusion Depart from me I know thee not thou worker of iniquity Thou mayest justly tell me thou hast no pleasure in me nor wilt receive an Offering at my hand But with thee there is abundant mercy And my Advocate Jesus Christ the Righteous is the Propitiation for my sins who bare them in his Body on the Cross and made himself an Offering for them that he might put them away by the Sacrifice of himself have mercy upon me and wash me in his blood cloath me with his Righteousness take away my iniquities and let them not be my ruine forgive them and remember them no more O thou that delightest not in the death of sinners heal my back-slidings love me freely and say unto my soul that thou art my salvation Thou wilt in no wise cast out them that come unto thee receive me graciously to the Feast thou hast prepared for me cause me to hunger and thirst after Christ and his Righteousness that I may be satisfied Let his flesh and blood be to me meat and drink indeed and his Spirit be in me a well of living water springing up to everlasting life Give me to know thy Love in Christ which passeth knowledge Though I have not seen him let me love him And though now I see him not yet believing let me rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory though I am unworthy of the crumbs that fall from thy Table yet feed me with the Bread of Life and speak and seal up Peace to my sinful wounded soul Soften my heart that is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin mortifie the flesh and strengthen me with might in the inward man that I may live and glorifie thy Grace through Jesus Christ our only Saviour In whose words I conclude saying Our Father c. A Prayer after the Receiving of the Holy Communion MOST Glorious God how wonderful is thy Power and Wisdom thy Holiness and Justice thy Love and Mercy in this work of our Redemption by the Incarnation Life Death Resurrection Intercession and Dominion of thy Son No power or wisdom in Heaven or Earth could have delivered me but thine The Angels desire to pry into this Mystery the Heavenly Host do celebrate it with praises saying Glory be to God in the Highest on Earth peace good will towards men The whole Creation shall proclaim thy praises blessing honour glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and honour and glory for he haeth redeemed us to God by his blood and made us Kings and Priests unto our God Where sin abounded grace hath abounded much more And hast thou indeed forgiven me so great a debt by so precious a Ransom Wilt thou indeed give me to reign with Christ in Glory and see thy face and love thee and be beloved of thee for ever Yea Lord thou hast forgiven me and thou wilt glorifie me for thou art faithful that hast promised With the blood of thy Son with the Sacrament and with thy Spirit thou hast sealed up to me these precious promises And shall I not love thee that hast thus loved me Shall I not love thy Servants and forgive my Neighbours their little debt After all this shall I again forsake thee and deal falsly in thy Covenant God forbid O! set my affections on the things above where Christ sitteth at thy right hand Let me no more mind earthly things but let my Conversation be in Heaven from whence I expect my Saviour to come and change me into the likeness of his glory Teach me to do thy will O God! and to follow him who is the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that do obey him Order my stops by thy Word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me Let me not hence-forth live unto my self but unto him who died for me and rose again Let me have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but reprove them And let my light so shine before men that they may glorifie thee In simplicity and godly sincerity and not in fleshly wisdom let me have my Conversation in the world O that my ways were so directed that I might keep thy Statutes Though Satan will be desirous again to sist me and seek as a roaring Lion to devour strengthen me to stand against his Wiles and shortly bruise him under my feet Accept me O Lord who resign my self unto thee as thine own and with my thanks and praise present my self a living Sacrifice to be acceptable through Christ. Useful for thine honour Being made free from sin and become thy Servant let me have my fruit unto holiness and the End Everlasting Life Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour In whose words I farther pray Our Father c. A Divine Soliloquy O My Soul thou hast been feasted with the Son of God at his Table upon his Flesh and Blood in preparation for the Feast of Endless Glory thou hast seen there represented what sin deserveth what Christ suffered what wonderful Love the God of infinite goodness hath exprest to thee Thou hast had Communion with the Saints thou hast renewed thy Covenant of Faith and thankful Obedience unto Christ Thou hast received his renewed Covenant of Pardon Grace and Glory to thee O carry hence the lively sense of these great and excellent things upon thy heart Remember O my Soul thou camest not to that holy Table only to injoy the mercy of an hour but that which may spring up to endless Joy Thou camest not only to do the duty of an hour but to promise that which thou must perform while thou livest on Earth Remember daily especially when Temptations to unbelief and sinful heaviness assault thee what pledges of Love thou hast received Remember daily especially when Flesh and Devil and World would draw thy heart again from God and temptations to sin are laid before thee what Bonds God and thy own Consent have laid upon thee Remember O my Soul if thou art a Penitent Believer thou art now forgiven and washed in the Blood of Christ O! go your way and sin no more no more thro' wilfulness and strive against your sins of weakness Wallow no more in the Mire and return not to thy Vomit Let the exceeding Love of Christ constrain thee having such Promises as 2 Cor. 6. 17 18. O cleanse thy self from all filthiness of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God Amen Hymns suited to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper To be sung in the common Tunes A Hymn for the Sacrament HYMN I. I. A New and well composed Song With raptures fill'd of Love And extasies of Joy let 's tune Unto our Lord above Awake my drowsie sleepy Soul Awake dull heavy heart And all my faculties and powers Joyn in and bear a part II. Let judgment weigh the argument Let fancy it adorn Let memory