Majesty and us thy Creatures the work of thy hands Between thy infinite power and our weakness thy Wisdom and our Folly thy Eternal Being and our Mortal Frame But Lord we have set our selves at a greater distance from thee by our sin and wickedness We do humbly acknowledge the corruption of our nature and the many rebellions of our lives We have sinned against Heaven and before thee in thought word and deed We have been prophane Contemners of thy Majesty and of thy Holy Laws We have also sinned against our Brother and our own Souls by omitting what we ought to have done and committing what we ought not We have rebelled against light despised thy Mercies and thy Judgments broken our own vows and promises neglected thy means of grace and opportunities of becoming better Our iniquities are multiplyed and our sins are very great We confess them O Lord with shame and with sorrow with detestation and loathing We are vile in our own eyes as we have rendred our selves vile in thine We pray thee to be merciful unto us in the free pardon of our sins for the sake of thy Dear Son and our alone Saviour Jesus Christ who came not to call the righteous but sinners to Repentance And we pray thee to renew our natures and to write thy Laws upon our hearts Help us to live righteously soberly and Godly in this present World Make us humble and meek patient and contented and work in us all the graces of thy Holy Spirit Preserve in us a sense of our dependance upon thee and of our great Obligations to thee Help us that we may love thee with all our heart and that we may universally obey and cheerfully submit to thy holy will Save and defend us from all sin and danger from malice and ill will from covetousness and sensuality from pride and vanity and from all the deceits of the world the crafts of the Devil and lusts of the Flesh Direct us O Lord in all our difficulties supply our wants support us under our troubles enable us against our temptations prosper our honest endeavours and above all things purifie and cleanse our thoughts Prepare us for death and judgment and let the thoughts thereof awaken us to a great care and study to approve our selves unto thee in well doing Bless thy whole Church these Kingdoms to which we belong And bless with thy choicest Blessings our Sovereign Lord the King Defend him against all his enemies Let his dayes be many and his Reign prosperous Bless him in his Royal Relations in his Counsellors and his Counsels Bless all the Governours and Teachers of thy Church grant them such a measure of thy Grace and Divine Wisdom that they may by their Doctrine and by their examples gain many souls unto thee Help all that are in trouble sorrow need sickness or any other adversity Give them patience under their troubles a sanctified use of them and in thy good time a deliverance from them Be merciful to our Friends and forgive our Enemies and accept or our humble acknowledgment for thy preservations of us this last night and for all thy mercies to us And we pray thee to take us into thy protection this day and to keep us in perfect peace and all we beg for the sake of Jesus Christ who hath taught us to say Our Father c. An Evening Prayer for a Family MOst gratious and merciful Lord God from whom descendeth every good and perfect gift and our most merciful Father in Jesus Christ we offer up to thy Divine Majesty our unfeigned Praise and Thanksgiving for all thy mercies towards us Thou didst make us at first and hast ever since sustained the work of thine own hands Thou hast given us thy Son to dye for us and hast admitted us into thy Church and given us assurance of pardon upon our Repentance and sincere obedience of thy holy precepts Thou art pleased to lengthen out to us the time of Repentance and to move us to it by thy word and by thy Spirit by thy mercies and thy judgments Out of a deep sense of thy mercies and our own unworthiness we appear before thee at this time We are ashamed of our vile ingratitude We have sinned O Lord and done very wickedly Be merciful unto us O Lord and pardon us for Jesus Christ his sake Instruct us O Lord in all the particulars of our duty and give us true wisdom who hast promised to give wisdom and upbraidest not Be with us under every Tryal and temptation and suffer us not to be tempted above what we shall be able Take care we pray thee of our affairs and more and more direct us into thy truth Defend us against all our Enemies but especially against our spiritual ones Suffer us not to be drawn away from thee by the blandishments of the world by carnal desires the cunning of the Devil or the deceitfulness of sin Work in us thy good will and pleasure and discharge our minds of all things that are displeasing to thee of all ill will and discontent wrath and bitterness pride and vain conceits of our selves and render us charitable holy pure in heart patient and Heavenly minded Be with us at the hour of death dispose us for it and deliver us from the slavish fear of it and make us all willing and fit to dye when ever thou shalt call us hence Bless O Lord all the race of Mankind let the world be filled with the knowledge of thee and thy Son Christ as the waters cover the Sea Be gracious to thy whole Church and especially to that part of it planted in these Kingdoms Bless the Kings Majesty and let his Crown flourish upon his Head and let no weapon formed against him prosper Bless all his Relations and teach his Senators wisdom And bless all that are to govern and teach thy Church make them successful in their labours and grant they may consider the account they must one day give Pity the sick and weak the poor and needy the Widowes and Fatherless and all that mourn or are broken in heart Be merciful unto them according to their several necessities Bless our Friends and grant us Grace to forgive our enemies as heartily as we do desire forgiveness of thee our Heavenly Father We pray thee to defend us this night from every thing that is evil and do more for us than we can ask or think for Jesus Christ his sake in whose name and words we continue to Pray Our Father c. FINIS
glory that he might shew us the way to it And by his sufferings and death hath become the Author of Eternal salvation unto all them that obey him Heb. 5.9 Indeed God wrought many deliverances for his people the Jews by the hands of his servants Moses and Joshuah and the Judges and Kings of Israel but all these together did not work so great a deliverance as our Blessed Saviour did when he made his soul an offering for sin when he despised the Cross and the shame of it and wrought an Eternal Redemption for us They delivered Gods People from their ill Neighbours our Saviour hath delivered us from our sins and from the evil men our selves They delivered them from Tyrants he hath delivered us from the power of the devil and from an eternal slavery They saved their bodies from slavery and bondage Our Saviour saves our souls from sin and death They fought for their people our Saviour suffered and dyed They delivered them for a time our Saviour for ever They saved the Jews but our Lord is the Saviour of mankind Jacob in his last words to his sons tells them what shall befal them in the last dayes and when he comes to Dan he tells him â—e shall be a serpent by the way an Adder in the path that biteth the horse heels so that his rider shall fall backward Gen. 49.17 This the Jews understand to be foretold of that great deliverance which Sampson of this Tribe of Dan should be an instrument of who wrought a great deliverance of his people from the Philistines V. Targ. Hierosol Jonath in locum But then Jacob presently adds in the next words I have waited for thy salvation O Lord v. 18. The meaning of which words according to the same Jews is this as if Jacob when he had foreseen the deliverances which should be wrought by Gideon and Sampson had said thus I do not expect the deliverance of Gideon and Sampson which will be but a temporal deliverance but thy salvation O Lord is that which I expect for thine is an eternal salvation They were indeed deliverers of Gods people but none of them could do that which our Saviour does who saves his people from their sins Mat. 1.21 And blâ—sseth us in turning away every one of us from our iniquities Acts 3.26 So great a salvation hath our Saviour wrought for us so great a love hath he shewed in laying down his life for us that it ought never to be forgotten as long as the World endures And that it might never be forgotten our Saviour hath appointed the Sacrament of the Lords Supper to be a standing memorial of his great love in dying for us Do this says he in remembrance of me We are indeed ready to receive mercies and also very ready to forget that they are bestowed upon us And therefore God hath taken this care that we might never forget them He did so with the Jews who were a very unthankful people and very prone to forget him that had done so many kindnesses for them Lest that people should forget their Creator God appointed the Sabbath-day to be observed in memory of the Creation of the World Exod. 20.11 When he brought the Israelites out of Egypt he ordains the Passe-over in memory of that deliverance Exod. 12. And besides that he obliges them severely to observe that feast and frequently by his servants puts them in mind of that deliverance and over and above appoints the Sabbath-day also which was at first commanded upon another score as a weekly remembrancer of that great deliverance Deut. 5.15 But he that delivered them out of Egypt did also carry them through the Wilderness and in memory of that mercy in redeeming them from the travels and pilgrimage of the desert he appoints an Anniversary feast viz. the feast of Tabernacles Lev. 23.43 Other Festivals there were and divers memorials of the mercies of God shewed to that people and to their fathers They who were so apt to forget Gods mercies were provided with such services as should put them fairly in mind of them God hath done thus mercifully with us also He hath not only given his Son to die for us than which there cannot be a greater mercy but he hath ordained this Sacrament as a perpetual memorial of so great a love And as among the Jews those services which God required were very proper remembrancers and monitors of the mercies they had received so it is in the case that is before us Their Sabbath which did succeed their six days labour put them in mind of Gods creating the World and ceasing from those works Their Pass-over brought to their mind the mercies of God in their Redemption from Egypt Their feast of Tabernacles plainly shewed them the estate of their Fathers in the Wilderness And so the Sacrament of the Lords Supper does after a lively manner represent unto us the Death of our Blessed Saviour He died indeed a great while since and at a place far remote from us there could be but few that were eye-witnesses of what was then and there done but few in proportion with those that would be concerned in his death And therefore God out of his great mercy to us hath ordained this service that what we could not see done at first we might see repeated in the Sacrament afterwards Here we have Christ crucifyed represented to us The Bread and Wine put us in mind of his Body and Blood And when we see the Bread broken and the Wine poured forth we are taught to remember the Passion of our Lord how his body was broken and bruised and his blood was shed for us God would have us lift up our hearts from these symbols and signs to that which is signified and represented by them And if we do so we may by our Faith see Christ crucified before our eyes And that which was done so long ago and so far off will be anew represented unto us The Apostle tells his Galatians that before their eyes Jesus Christ had been evidently set forth and crucified among them Gal. 3.1 Yet certain it is that Jesus Christ was crucifyed at Jerusalem a place very far remote from the Country of the Galatians But yet he that was crucified at Jerusalem may well be said to have been evidently set forth before the eyes of the Galatians Vers Syriac and crucified among them also i. e. Jesus Christ crucified was as it were painted and most lively represented unto them They did not see him indeed hanging on the Cross at Jerusalem but yet by the preaching of the Gospel and celebration of this Sacrament they might behold Christ crucified and that which was done at so great a distance would by these means become as if it had been done before their eyes But it is not a bare historical remembrance that will serve our turn neither It is no hard thing to be able to remember the history of the passion of our
Blessed Saviour But our remembrance of it must be 1. Affectionate and vigorous as we remember the death of a dear friend that died and died in our quarrel and defence who at once shed his blood for us and for the truth How passionately can we rehearse the praises and preserve the memory of such an one as this 'T was thus with our dearest Lord he fell a Sacrifice at once for the testimony of the truth and for the sake of our precious Souls He died that he might rescue us from eternal misery and death And this we must remember when we do remember the death of our Blessed Lord. 2. With all thankfulness to God for so unspeakable a mercy Let us awaken our Psaltery and Harp all our powers and faculties and all that is within us to praise his holy name Let us have our hymn of praise Matth. 26.30 'T is an heavenly feast we are going to and who goes to a feast with a sad countenance or heart Let us be filled with the spirit Speaking to our selves in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs and making melody in our hearts to the Lord Ephes 5.18 19. We are Gods guests at this time and God loves we should be chearful and rejoyce He would have the Jews so in their Festivals Deut. 16.11 14. And certainly we have more reason to be so than they God having provided some better thing for us Heb. 11.40 This Sacrament is an Eucharist or service of praise and as such was observed by the first Christians Who breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart praising God and having favour with all the people Act. 2.46 47. 3. It must be such a remembrance as works in us a detestation against our sins which put our Blessed Saviour to death Coâ—â—â—â—ve you saw him hang upon the Cross and saw the nails pierce his hands and feet that you heard him cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And that you saw the blood he sweat and the thorns he wore That you saw the Sun darkened the Dead arise and the rocky Earth rend in pieces certainly if your hearts were not more hard than the rocks you would relent especially when you consider that all this was for your sins and that he died that you might live 'T was thy Covetousness that betrayed him Thy Iust that made him bleed Thy unbelief and wickedness that loaded Him with the Cross that crowned Him with thorns that nailed his hands and pierced his side and filled his Soul with horror and amazement This should work in us a great indignation against our Sins as that which crucified our dearest Lord. Should a tender Mother lose a Child by a knife or some other instrument that is but the occasion of its death Surely she would not endure to see that instrument in her sight If we loved our Saviour we should hate our sins which made him bleed and bow his head Since 't is a most certain truth that he that commits sin does more displease i. e. does that which is more against the mind and will of Christ than Judas that betrayed him and those that hanged him upon his Cross And therefore as you pity your Saviour add not to his sorrows as you have any compassion to Him add not to the bitterness of his Soul Bring not with you instruments of crâ—â—lty when you pretend to remember his love â—e shewed in his death But think thâ—◠〈◊〉 that if God did not spare his Son that 〈◊〉 might not go unpunished that he will mucâ— less spare you who go on in your sins and love them III. Another great end of this Sacrament is that Christians might by it be united together in the strictest bond of love and charity It is indeed a feast of love and that which does not only joyn us to God but firmly cements us also to one another This indeed is the great Commandement of our Blessed Saviour that we should love one another as He hath loved us John 15.12 Nay he hath made this the mark by which his followers shall be known from the rest of the World By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have love one to another Joh. 13.35 And in the early days of Christianity the Heathen World took notice how the Christians loved one another Nay the Holy Scriptures tell us that in the beginning of Christianity The multitude of them that believed were of one Heart and of one Soul Act. 4.32 And they shewed their love to one another by making all things common that there might be no lack and wants among them Acts 2.44 45. But then 't is added when it was that they loved one another thus greatly viz. While they continuing daily with one accord in the Temple and breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart verse 46. Whiles there were frequent Communions in the Church of God there did remain a fervent Charity among Christians But when they were but seldome celebrated Charity also grew cold For indeed this Sacrament was appointed for the keeping up a fervent charity among the followers of Jesus And very plain methinks are the words of the Apostle to this purpose We being many are one bread and one body for we are all partakers of that one bread 1 Cor. 10.17 i. e. We that partake of this Heavenly feast are by that made one we are of one kind and 〈◊〉 just as Bread and Wine though they be made up of several grains and grapes yet are made up together into one similar body all whose parts are homogeneous and of the same sort or kind so we that are Christians tho as men we differ from one another and have our several affections and designs distinct from each other yet for all this by the death of our Saviour and by the participation of the Sacrament of our Lords Supper we are made one we are reconciled to the same designs and interests acted by the same Spirit and by this Sacrament united into one Spiritual body However we are other wise divided it is the intention of this Sacrament to make us One. And therefore the Ancients called the Eucharist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. a Collection or gathering together into one those who were otherwise divided The partaking of this Feast makes the partakers of one mind and heart where they do receive it worthily What is said of Pilate and Herod when our Saviour was about to suffer That they were the same day made friends together who before had been at enmity between themselves Luke 23.12 The same is true of all true Christians that do aright partake of this Sacrament of the death of Christ they are now united and reconciled and made of one heart and mind And this seems to be the great design of the Eucharist to unite Christians together in the closest bond of unity and
that I may be able to weep bitterly as he did It will well become us when we commemorate the death of our Saviour to be very deeply humbled for our sins which put him to death 4. When thou receivest the Bread renew your Covenant with God Consent heartily to receive thy Saviour in all his Offices of Prophet Priest and King Desire earnestly to be joyned to thy Lord in the strictest bond Resolve to give thy self up intirely to the obedience of his Holy Laws Beg of him that he would dwell in thine heart give him the full possession of thy self Tell him thou art his for the time to come and that thou dost willingly give him entrance and possession of thy whole heart Say to him Lord I do heartily and joyfully entertain thee And though I am unworthy that thou shouldest come under my roof yet since it is thy condescension to visit me a poor sinner I do most joyfully receive thee Grant that I who eat of thy Bread may never lift up my heel against thee And that though many Lords have ruled in me I may henceforth only make mention of thy name Strengthen my feeble Soul that I may perform my Vows Help me that I may now be thine and that I may continue in thy love Be thou that to my Soul which bread is to my mortal and frail Body Grant that my Soul and Body may be separate and for ever set apart to thy service suffer me not to profane and unhallow what is thus solemnly consecrated to thee I offer thee my heart Lord unite it to thy fear and service Grant it may no more run astray from thee that it may not be seduced by the deceitfulness of sin by the allurements and blandishments of this wicked world but continue constant and stedfast in thy Covenant Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right or constant spirit within me Psal 51.10 5. When we receive the Cup let us again renew our consent that Christ shall rule over us And let us particularly meditate upon the great danger of revolting and sliding back This is the blood of the New Covenant the blood of the immaculate Lamb of God which was shed for us It was an ancient custom of entring into League and Covenants by slaying of beasts and shedding their blood this was in token that he that failed to perform his part did devote himself to the like destruction Oh consider then what a wrath hangs over thy head if thou trample upon the blood of Jesus There will remain nothing but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation And therefore consider well how greatly dangerous it will be for thee to disobey thy Lord for the time to come Say thus within thy self I am now renewing my Covenant with God I do now undertake to obey the Laws of Christ and make him a solemn promise of Obedience for the time to come And that I may bind my self the faster to my Lord I take the Sacrament upon it I drink of this blood of the new Covenant So that I am now bound in a stricter bond than ever I have professed a service to him a great while I have now listed my self and as it were taken a Sacramental Oath that I will be faithful This blood of my Saviour will witness against me if I fall back and so the blood of Jesus will be upon me if I prove unfaithful And therefore O my Lord look in Mercy upon me Grant that I may not after all my other sins be guilty of the blood of Christ That I may never have the blood of my Saviour to answer for Then will my case be worse than that of the Jews who Crucified him but yet knew him not to be the Lord of Glory But I know him and am dedicated to his service My sin for the future will be of a deeper dye Grant Lord that I may not be guilty of the blood of Christ that I may not put him to death that came to save my life that his innocent blood may not cry to Heaven against me and be laid to my charge What a wretched Creature shall I be if my Saviour shall be my Accuser Thus may we meditate when we receive the Cup. And indeed it will be a very seasonable meditation we shall be very wicked indeed if we do now return to our sins and evil wonts when we have not only eat the flesh but drank the blood of Christ The blood of Christ was shed for our remission and our pardon but how sad will it be with us if it be laid to our charge if that blood from whence we expect our pardon shall cry for vengeance against us There is a saying among the Jews Vi. Buxtorf Lexicon Talmud in voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is used proverbially Wo be to that man whose advocate becomes his accuser And 't is very applicable to the matter in hand Our Lord is our Advocate 1 Joh. 2.1 but if we refuse to obey his Precepts he becomes our Accuser and our Judge The blood of Jesus pleads for us if we continue obedient to his Precepts but if we trample on his blood it will speak no better things than the blood of Abel and certain it is that Abels blood called to Heaven against him that shed it And how miserable is that man who instead of receiving pardon from Christs blood receives a greater guilt from it and falls under that curse which the Jews called on themselves when they said His blood be upon us and our children 6. This will be a very fit season to intercede with God for others we shall do well to pray at this time for the whole Church of God and particularly for that part of it which is planted among us especially for all Christian Kings and Governours who do greatly need our Prayers and may very justly expect them also And here we shall do well while we are attending upon this service to pray for our friends and relatives and for those who have desired our prayers This is a Feast of love and a greater expression of our love to our brother we cannot give than to intercede earnestly for his Soul and as we are alwayes obliged to do it so are we more particularly bound to do it at this time when we commemorate the great love of our dying Saviour which he expressed to the Souls of men And we shall do well at this time to send up Ejaculations to God for them Nor must we forget to pray for those who are our enemies without a cause This our Saviour did when he was upon the Cross and when we remember his Agonies we must not forget to do as he did Let us heartily pray for them that God would forgive their sins and that he would turn their hearts We are obliged to this both by the precept and by the example of our dearest Lord Nor may we expect pardon for