for which it was instituted YOU will be the more inclined to this when you consider the Ends for which this Commemoration of Christ's Death was ordained Which were such as these First to profess that you are Christians and believe that Religion which Christ hath sealed by his Bloud to be the true and onely way to Happiness and that you mean to continue in it whatsoever it costs you though it should ingage you that is to follow Him to his Cross Secondly to give thanks to God the Father for sending his onely begotten Son into the world to be the Propitiation for our Sins And to God the Son our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ for humbling himself so low as to die the death of the Cross where He offered his own Body to put away our sins by the Sacrifice of Himself And to God the Holy Ghost who hath brought us glad tidings from Heaven since our Saviour's ascension thither that having purged our sins by Himself He sate down on the right hand of the Majesty on high where He lives for evermore and is mindfull of us and of his Promises which He will certainly fulfill as we see by these Pledges He hath left us of his endless Love And therefore Thirdly you bind your selves by the remembrance of these things to be faithfull to Him and to keep that Holy Covenant wherein you are solemnly tied to be wholly His. For as the very coming to his Table naturally signifies you are of his Family and belong to Him so being there so kindly entertained by Him you stand bound to behave your selves as his Servants or rather Friends and engage so to doe Now ye are his Friends if you comply with his will in all other things as well as in this of commemorating his dying Love for your sake So He himself tells his Apostles in those memorable words XV. Joh. 13 14. where He represents to them in what consisted the greatness of his Love and the sincerity of theirs Greater love hath no man then this that a man lay down his life for his Friends Ye are my Friends if ye doe whatsoever I command you For Lastly being thus of the number of the Faithfull you have in this Holy Sacrament Communion with Christ in his Death and Passion and in the Merits of them For though the things you receive be in themselves but Bread and Wine yet by a Divine and spiritual grave they become the Body and Bloud of Christ to the Faithfull who are thereby made partakers of all the Benefits which He purchased by his Sacrifice which He made of Himself for our Sins Thus one of the Prayers after the Communion excellently instructs you that God vouchsafes to feed those who duly receive these holy Mysteries with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Bloud of his Son our Saviour Jesus Christ and doth assure you thereby of his favour and goodness and that you are very Members incorporate in the mystical Body of his Son which is the blessed Company of all Faithfull people and are also Heirs through hope of his everlasting Kingdom by the merits of the most precious Death and Passion of his dear Son I need not adde that by doing this in remembrance of Him you have Communion with all your Christian Brethren for it is already expressed and that you beg his gracious assistence that you may continue as it follows in the Prayer now mentioned in this holy Fellowship and doe all such good works as He hath prepared for us to walk in for this holy action being a Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving as it is in the Prayer going before wherein Christ's Sacrifice is commemorated it is in its own nature the most powerfull Prayer as all Sacrifices were 1 Sam. XIII 12. more powerfull then any other can be to supplicate for and to impetrate that is obtain the Divine Blessing upon us CHAP. IV. Of Preparation for it THIS may suffice one would think to excite all those who have any care of their future Salvation or present satisfacion to make it their buisiness to prepare themselves to be worthy Receivers of such great Benefits And that is not hard to doe For having learn'd your Catechism or the short Instruction in the Common-Prayer-Book to be learn'd by every person that is baptized and then seriously considered the Promise that was made at your Baptism in your name which is there explained you should in the next place take the first opportunity to have the benefit of Confirmation Wherein you both openly renew the solemn Promise and Vow made in your name at your Baptism ratifying and confirming the same in your own person and acknowledging your self bound to believe and doe all those things which your Godfathers and Godmothers then undertook for you and also by the Laying on of hands have more of the Divine Grace imparted to you to confirm and strengthen you in your Christian resolution that you may continue his for ever After this you may without any scruple look upon your self as having a right to the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Bloud And the best Preparation to it will be I. To endeavour faithfully to live according to your Baptismal Vow And for that end to call to mind every day how solemnly you did such a time in the presence of God and such a Congregation ratify and confirm that Vow and also promised that by God's grace you would always labour to observe such things as by your own confession you have assented unto They are these three First that you should renounce the Devil and all his works the pomps and vanities of this wicked world with all covetous desires of the same and the sinfull lusts of the flesh so that you will not follow nor be led by them Secondly that you should believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith And thirdly that you should keep God's holy will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of your life II. Now those Commandments which you have promised to keep you are taught afterward contain your Duty towards God and your Duty towards your Neighbour Your Duty towards God you are instructed is this To believe in Him to fear Him to love Him with all my heart with all my mind with all my soul and with all my strength to worship Him to give Him thanks to put my whole trust in Him to call upon Him to honour his holy Name and his Word and to serve him truly all the days of my life Then follows your Duty towards your Neighbour in these words as you your self are taught to confess My Duty towards my Neighbour is to love him as my self so doe to all men as I would they should doe unto me to love honour and succour my father and mother to honour and obey the King and all that are put in authority under him to submit my self to all my Governours Teachers spiritual Pastours and Masters to order my self lowly and
Lesson therefore as He advises of becoming like little Children throughly be planted in the hearts of Children and then Knowledg in other parts of Scripture will grow up with them and Faith thus planted in humility while their hearts are tender and easy to be wrought on by this plain and familiar Precept will take deep root and increase more and more as they do in strength and stature For though at the first their Faith be but as a grain of Mustard-seed yet having in the Spring time got the start of Pride and desire of worldly wealth or greatness it will afterward flourish in all heavenly knowledge and fructify in every good word and work VI. And above all other pieces of Humility it is absolutely necessary that Children be brought up to a great reverence of God's Ministers and a high opinion of their Calling Place and Persons If Parents or Guardians would teach them to honour them as their spiritual Fathers and to look upon them as men appointed by God to take care of their best part their immortal Souls and to bring Divine blessings to them If they would tell them Children these are the men by whom you are baptized and made Christians by these you must therefore be instructed and confirmed also in Religion and assured more and more of God's blessing it would have a mighty effect upon them and dispose them for all the good they may hereafter reape by them Whereas those words of reproach or undervaluing which they now daily hear must needs have the quite contrary effect or at least for want of such Admonitions and frequent inculcating the respect honour and esteem which is due to God's Ministers they mind so little what they say that when they become capable of it they receive no benefit by them A short Prayer tor the Morning ALmighty God and most mercifull Father I most humbly bow down my self before Thee to worship thy Divine Majesty by whom I was brought into the world and have been preserved and provided for all my life long and now this last night blessed be thy Goodness protected from all Dangers and raised up in health and safety to see the light of another day I thank Thee O Lord for these and all the rest of thy Mercies especially for thy singular Love in Christ Jesus beseeching Thee to awaken and preserve in me such a lively sense thereof that I may never prove ungratefull to Him but constantly doe Him all faithfull service Particularly this day I earnestly implore the assistence of his Holy Spirit to inable me to keep those Vows that are upon me not to follow nor be led by worldly and carnal Lusts but to obey thy holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of my life Help me Good Lord in my place and condition to perform my Duty towards Thee and towards my Neighbour with such care fidelity and chearfulness that I may with some confidence present my self again before Thee in the Evening and comfortably hope for thy continued good Providence over me To which I humbly recommend thy Church and Houshold beseeching Thee to keep it in thy true Religion and to defend it evermore by thy mighty Power through Jesus Christ our Lord. In whose most blessed Name and words I still beseech Thee to be mercifull to me and to all thy people saying Our Father c. A short Prayer for the Evening I Thank Thee O Lord of Heaven and Earth that by thy mercifull Providence I am here prostrate again before Thee not onely in health and safety of body but in integrity of heart I hope and with sincere purposes to continue always thy faithfull Servant Pardon O most mercifull Father whatsoever I have done or omitted this day contrary to my resolutions and obligations Pitty my great weaknesses and accept of my honest endeavours to keep a good Conscience void of offence towards Thee and towards Man Which that I may doe every day better and better vouchsafe me the assistence of thy special Grace to strengthen me in the performance of all my Duty That where I have been wont to slip I may be more watchfull and where I have been negligent I may use the greater diligence and so continue thy Child a lively Member of Christ and an Inheritour of thy heavenly Kingdom And hear the Prayers of thy whole Church which have been made this day for every member of the same especially for our Sovereign Lord the KING for all that minister under him in holy or civil things for all that are distressed in mind body or estate beseeching Thee to dispense thy Graces and Blessings to every one of them sutable to their several necessities And be my mercifull Protectour all this night and after a refreshing Rest raise me up again in the morning with a thankfull heart to Thee for thy care over me fully resolved continually to mortify all my evil and corrupt Affections and daily to proceed in all Vertue and Godliness of living through Jesus Christ our Saviour In whose Name and words I commend my self to thy mercy saying Our Father c. A Prayer for one of riper years before the receiving of Baptism O Lord the Creatour of the World and Redeemer of Mankind I fall down before Thee to acknowledge that I am thine and to beseech Thee though I have offended Thee to receive me into thy service again Pardon good Lord all the Follies of my Childhood with all the Sins Negligences and Ignorances of my riper years Let them all be done away in that Fountaïn which Thou hast set open for us to wash in and be clean I desire to be admitted thither and intend there to devote my self intirely to Thee renouncing the Devil the World and the Flesh and resolving obediently to keep thy holy will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of my life Vouchsafe me O Lord the assistence of thy Holy Spirit that I may both seriously make and faithfully keep those holy Vows and Promises Preserve in me a perpetual remembrance of them that I may never by any Sin lose so great a Grace as Thou intendest to bestow upon me but always continue a lively Member of Christ and an Heir of his heavenly Kingdom To which I beseech Thee at last to bring me through the Merits of Christ Jesus Amen A Prayer for one that intends to be Confirmed O Most Blessed God by whose grace I was called into a state of Salvation when I was Baptized and from whom cometh every good thought desire and purpose which I have since felt in my heart Assist me I beseech Thee in the new dedication which I am going to make of my self unto Thee whose I am and resolve to be to the end of my days Fill me O Lord with such a lively sense of the honour Thou doest me in admitting me into thy Service that I may give up my self not onely with the full but with the most chearfull consent of my heart to believe and doe whatsoever Thou wouldst have me And then be pleased to confirm me in thy Grace and to strengthen me with might by thy Holy Spirit in the inner man that I may ever discern and chuse and follow those things which are acceptable in thy sight Arm me good Lord against all the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil with a will stedfastly resolved never to yield to any of them but to persist faithfully in the performance of my Vow which was made in my name when I was baptized and which I now intend with my own mouth to ratify openly before 〈◊〉 Church Whose devout Prayers I beseech Thee to hear for me through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer after Confirmation ALmighty and everliving God who hast vouchsafed to regenerate me by Water and the Holy Ghost and also 〈◊〉 farther certified me 〈…〉 the hands of thy Minister lately laid on me of thy Favour and gracious Goodness towards me Accept I most humbly beseech Thee of my hearty thanks for such great and undeserved Benefits and continue in me those good thoughts desires and purposes which I found then in my heart to persist in faithfull Obedience to Thee for ever For which end be pleased daily to impart unto me more and more of the Holy Spirit to preserve me in thy fear and love and to inable me to doe all the rest of my Duty not onely towards Thee but towards my Neighbour Especially to those by whom as thy Stewards thy heavenly Mysteries are conveyed to us that reverently attending to their Instructions and receiving their godly Admonitions and obediently following their Guidance and direction I may be finally owned for one of thy good and faithfull Servants at that Day when the great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls shall appear again to our Salvation To Him with Thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be eternal praises Amen They that need Prayers for other particular occasions may be furnished in a Book called the Devout Christian c. THE END The Contents Chap. I. Of the Duty pag. 1. Chap. II. Of the Necessity of this Duty p. 7. Chap. III. Of the Ends for which it was instituted p. 14. Chap. IV. Of Preparation for it p. 23. Chap. V. A Prayer for that morning when you intend to receive Which may be used any time before p. 39. Chap. VI. The manner of Receiving p. 46. Chap. VII Meditations and Prayers afterward p. 81. Chap. VIII Directions for a godly Life sutable to this holy Communion p. 99. Chap. IX Touching Doubts and Scruples p. 114. Chap. X. Directions in case of frequent Relapses into Sin p. 127. Chap. XI The Duties of Children p. 138. Chap. XII The Dutier of Servants p. 147. Chap. XIII Advices to all Young persons p. 158. Chap. XIV Directions about them that cannot reade p. 168. Chap. XV. Directions to those that can reade p. 179. Chap. XVI A necessary qualification to receive benefit by all this p. 203. A short Prayer for the Morning p. 213. A short Prayer for the Evening p. 216. A Prayer for one of riper years before the receiving of Baptism p. 221. A Prayer for one that intends to be Confirmed p. 224. A Prayer after Confirmation p. 227. The End
's He hath bought me with a price and I have devoted my self again and again unto Him Therefore I will glorify Him with body and Soul which are his Or to affect your heart the more you may put it thus O how happy am I in being ingaged to serve such a gracious Lord and Master as Christ Jesus I will never lose this Happiness by being unfaithfull to Him and unmindfull of his Love III. To keep your self stedfast in this Resolution reade seriously every day your Duty to God and your Duty to your Neighbour as they are plainly set down in the Church-CATECHISM See p 29. of this Book And say at the end of it This I have promised this I have vowed when I became a Christian this I have again confirmed and this by God's grace I will faithfully perform IV. And resolve at the same time to be watchfull all that day especially in those things wherein you observed at your last examination of your self you have been most defective and most apt to be surprised Excite your self therein to use greater diligence and set a stricter guard upon your heart carefully avoiding such places company and occasions as have been wont to indanger you And call your self to an account at night according to the Advice p. 33. of this Book V. There is no body sure so imployed but may find time for such short Exercises as these In which if they would be serious and not slubber them over too fast they would find the happy fruit of them in their hearts and lives And to make them the more effectual adde this short Prayer as oft as you can every day Almighty God who hast given thine onely Son to be unto us both a Sacrifice for Sin and also an Ensample of godly Life give me grace that I may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable 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 VI. If your buisiness be such that you cannot every day reade over your Duty to God and your Duty to your Neighbour do not fail to doe it once or twice a week And pause a while at the end of every particular saying This is my Duty this I will doe by God's grace And at the end of all to make your reading the more effectual say I heartily thank our Heavenly Father that He hath called me upon these terms into the state of Salvation and I beseech Him to give me his grace that I may continue in the same unto my life's end VII Resolve also by this means to fit your self to receive the Holy Communion as often as you can remembring that as by Baptism you are made a Member of Christ and enter into the state of Salvation so by this Communion with Him you continue in that blessed state Which they cannot justly pretend unto who constantly neglect to doe this in remembrance of Christ They give no sufficient testimony that they are of the Christian Society nor have any reason to look upon themselves as living Members of Christ and in a state of Salvation VIII And if you do not come up to your Resolution in every thing but find rather you have severall ways failed in the performance of your Duty to God and your Neighbour let not that hinder you from going to the Communion when you have opportunity But onely humble your self the more before God by unfeigned Repentance and go to strengthen your Christian Resolution by receiving the spiritual Food which Christ hath prepared for you and beseech Him to impart more spiritual strength unto you IX And if you still start back again let not that discourage you nor make you think you shall never grow better But hope in God rather that by the constant and frequent use of this and all other holy means you shall at last be stedfast and unmovable in well-doing You will never be so if you leave off to communicate but you will grow more and more careless in other things and therefore continue to doe this as Christ bids you and doe it for this end that you may tie your self faster to Him and increase in power and strength to have victory and to triumph over the Devil the World and the Flesh X. And lastly be not hindred by Doubts and Scruples wherewith many are wont to perplex and dishearten themselves from receiving the benefit of frequent Communion I have not room to consider them all in this little Book but if any person cannot in this way which I have directed satisfy his Conscience let him not fail to follow the Counsel which is given him in the Communion-Service which is to goe to his Guide or some other discreet and learned Minister of God's Word and open his grief to him that by the Ministry of God's Holy Word he may receive the benefit of Absolution together with ghostly counsel and advice to the quieting of his Conscience and avoiding of all Scruple and Doubtfulness CHAP. IX Touching Doubts and Scruples IT will doe some service perhaps to well-disposed Souls if I shew how easily some of their most common Scruples may be satisfied if they will but advise with God's Ministers about them though I cannot insist upon all the causes of their Doubtfulness I will bestow this Chapter therefore upon that buisiness I. We ordinarily hear this objected to us when we tell men of their neglect of this Duty I do not delight in that nor in other holy Duties and therefore to what purpose is it to doe them The plain Answer is this If you prefer the doing of your Duty before your Pleasure or your Gain then you cannot but take a rational satisfaction if you understand your self in what you have done Nay if you consider it well you will have a high Satisfaction proportionable to the greatness of the Pleasure or the worldly Advantage which you denied for God's sake Who you must remember is satisfied in your doing what you can especially when you are tempted another way and therefore so should you be too Hoping that by constant practice of Vertue He will give you that Delight in it which you desire I am sure this is the way to get it if it be to be had II. Others complain of a great Dulness that is upon them in holy Duties which makes them have no list to them This doth not differ much from the former and therefore I shall onely adde that when you have taken all the pains with your self which I have directed in the foregoing Chapter you ought not to be troubled at your Dulness but ascribe it either to your natural Constitution or to some present Indisposition of body Neither of which is in your power to remedy but onely to submit unto and endure with patience In short let not this afflict you much less hinder your Communicating if by your receiving the Holy Communion you find that you are made more
as unto Christ Not with eye-service as men-pleasers but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart With good will doing service as unto the Lord and not unto men VI. Ephes 5 6 7. Where he four times within the compass of 3 verses puts you in mind of this that you are doing God's will and serving the Lord Christ when you are doing their buisiness which they enjoyn you If you think of this you will not goe about it heavily and discontentedly especially if you consider the motive whereby the Apostle incourages you knowing that whatsoever good thing a man doeth though in the meanest place the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free VI. Ephes 8. Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ III. Coloss 24. CHAP. XIII Advices to all Young persons I. IT is of the greatest consequence to begin well And therefore at your first setting out into the World take a special care lest you contract any evil habit especially of Idleness the bane of Youth and lest you entertain any prejudices against things before you be able to judge as we see too many have done against the Common Prayers of the Church which they abhorr they know not why merely from an early disgust they took to them before they could distinguish between good and evil II. And check your desire of Pleasure which now above all other times will intice you and of Novelty also which is comprehended in the youthfull Lusts as we render the words spoken of in 2 Tim. II. 22. unto which mankind is strangely prone in their inconsiderate age loathing ancient forms and craving new entertainment for their fancies III. Avoid Harlots as you would the Plague remembring the repeated cautions and admonitions which the Wise man gives to his Son about this matter Reade them seriously II. Prov. 18 19. V. Prov. 3 4 5. VII the whole Chapter and follow his counsels lest thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed saying How have I hated instruction and my heart despised reproof and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor inclined my ear to them that instructed me IV. In order to Chastity be exactly temperate in meat and drink Drink no wine which will adde fire to fire study hard or use your selves to labour and watchings avoid all provocations to your carnal appetite V. Take heed what Friendships you contract for Youth is prone to familiarity and thereby drawn easily into ill company VI. Reverence your Elders XIX Levit. 32. 1 Pet. V. 5 6. particularly your Tutors and Guardians who are in stead of Parents Which Reverence is to be expressed not merely by your outward Behaviour and in your Language but in desiring their Advice harkening to their Counsels enterprising nothing without their Direction and submitting to their Reprehension VII In order to which be sober-minded as S. Paul exhorts you II. Tit. 6. Whereby he means either Seriousness and the study of Discretion or Humility and Modesty Which Modesty is an exceeding great ornament of Youth an indication also of a good Mind and a hopefull blossom of excellent fruit as one of the Ancients speaks But it doth not consist merely in your Looks but in your low opinion of your selves sense of your imprudence and weakness and in a humble attention to the opinions and counsels of your Elders VIII Finally remember that Youth is like the Spring-time which will soon be over and if you onely play in it and take no care to sow good seeds of Wisedom and Piety you will lose the opportunity of making provision for a happy life Of this you are in great danger because there is nothing to which young men are more prone then to squander away their time Be serious therefore and considerate that you may not be undone by the folly of Youth which as Solomon notes inclines men so eagerly to follow their own humour in every thing that they do not love to have any check in their mirth and jollity That which will check them most is the thoughts of the future especially the remembrance as he there observes XI Eccles. 9. of the account they must make And therefore I conclude with that advice Rejoyce O young man in thy youth c. But know that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment CHAP. XIV Directions about them that cannot reade I. AS for those who cannot reade themselves which in our days are but few blessed be God in comparison with former Ages their Masters or their Mistresses or their Fellow-servants or some good Neighbour or Relation are desired to be so charitable as to reade to them their duty about this matter shewing them the necessity and the ends of it and praying them to mark and observe what is read II. Or if their Memories be very weak tell them in short that they are bound by their Vow in Baptism to doe God's will and keep his Commandments and that this is one of his Commandments that they should commemorate his Love by coming unto the Holy Communion which will help them to doe the rest of his will better III. Reade to them also their Baptismal Vow together with their Duty to God and their Duty to their Neighbour as it is laid down in the Catechism and ask them if they intend to doe all this by God's gracious assistence IV. If they consent to it tell them they ought to go and receive Confirmation as was said before and then go to the Holy Communion to thank God for calling them into this state of Salvation by Jesus Christ and for working such a good will in them and to promise Him that they will continue his faithfull Servants to their lives end V. And let them know that if they can doe no more at the Holy Communion but onely give God thanks heartily for sending his Son to die for them and devote themselves unto Him in resolution of sincere Obedience it will be acceptable to Him and in time they will understand more and doe this Duty better VI. Therefore teach them that the thoughts of their imperfections and ignorance ought not to discourage them from coming to the Communion for the very doing of that which Christ commands I mean the Minister's taking Bread and Wine blessing them breaking the one and pouring out the other giving them to his people and their receiving these in remembrance of his Death and Passion is a thing in it self gratefull to Him And if they know thus much and with honest hearts give thanks to God and promise Him to be his faithfull Servants He will take it kindly and increase his Graces in their hearts VII And that He may tell them that since they cannot reade they must be the more diligent in attending to what is read in the Church or in private and to the Sermons they hear preached laying
Sermon on the Mount recorded in the V. VI. and VII Chapters of Saint Matthew Reade these at least once a week VIII Then follow the Acts of the Apostles which abundantly declare their authority by whose Ministry we have received the Gospel and bid us attend to their Instructions which are left us in their Epistles as the words of men divinely inspired And in these content your selves with those parts of them which are most easy and plain and of general use and concernment and meddle not presently with those which are hard and obscure and which relate to some particular cases which now are not so well known as to make their sense apparent to every one For it is a very ill sign when you stand puzzling your selves about some dark passages in the Apostolical Writings when there are plain ones in abundance to exercise your thoughts I will direct you to some that will be fittest for your Meditation In the Epistle to the Romans reade often the XII and XIII Chapters with the XIII of the first to the Corinthians the IV. V. VI. to the Ephesians III. and IV. to the Colossians IV. and V. of the first to the Thessalonians and to omit others the I. II. X. XI XII XIII of the Epistle to the Hebrews the whole Epistles of Saint James and of Saint Peter And when you reade them let it be with a design to grow better rather then more knowing And then think you grow better when you are made more humble more sensible of God's love and your own undeservings more thankfull more meek and patient more submissive to God's Providence and to your Governours whether civil or spiritual private or publick IX When you are thus disposed by these and such like Christian Vertues you may venture to reade the harder parts of Scripture and not be in danger to wrest them as those doe who are settled upon no principles to your own destruction For then you will not be forward to frame a sense of those places out of your own head but confess your ignorance and look upon them as containing things not necessary to be known for all necessary things are plainly set down and perhaps some of those very things about which you trouble your selves are else-where delivered in clearer words As you may be satisfied if you take the next opportunity to consult with those whose lips are to preserve knowledge Which is the best way to be resolved in such cases X. As for other good Books besides the Scripture you may find some time to reade them And the less you have on other days spend the Lord's days and other Holy days the more seriously in this work When I would advise you to reade V. VI. and VII of Saint Matthew with some part of the Whole Duty of Man And when you have made some proficiency in knowledg reade Dr. Hammond's PRACTICAL CATECHISM where you will find that Sermon of Christ's upon the Mount expounded XI But whatsoever godly Book you reade whether the Holy Scriptures or any other be sure you indeavour to come away bettered by the reading of them For if you get no good by them that very thing will incline you at last to slight and neglect them as many do we see the hearing of good Sermons because they do not perceive that they or others are at all the better for them but after much hearing there is little doeing of God's will But this the Scripture it self foretold and hath exactly described such people as are ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth 2 Tim. III. 5 6 7. and intended hereby to breed in every one of us a due caution least we be of that unprofitable number Which you must prevent by being more serious attentive and diligent in reading holy Books for that end for which they were writ and hearing Sermons not for fashion sake but that you may be taught or remembred of your Duty and excited or directed to doe it with greater care and constancy XII And if you meet with the very same thing over and over again either in reading or hearing do not therefore nauseate it or grow weary of it or pass it by hastily and carelesly But rather look upon it as a very usefull Truth of which you have great need because it comes so often in your way and thankfully acknowledging that God is very kind to you in putting you so frequently in mind of that which is so necessary to your Salvation give the greater heed to it and ponder it with such seriousness as a thing of that moment deserves CHAP. XVI A necessary qualification to receive benefit by all this IF every one had so much Humility and such a hearty desire to be truly good wrought in their Souls betime they would reade and hear God's word to better purpose I. Therefore Parents should above all things instill this into their Children very early how necessary it is and how much it becomes them to be humble and that by no means they grow conceited of their own parts or understanding but be desirous to learn of every one with simplicity and meekness without any other design but to know their Duty II. This we may be sure would dispose them to receive benefit by the Holy Scriptures and by all other good instructions For it is the very qualification which Christ requires to make a person fit to be one of his Disciples that He first become like a little Child XVIII Matth. 3. There is no good to be done upon him in Christ's School unless he first learn to be humble subject to his Teachers simple hearted and without guile contented with a little heartily in love with those that take care of him And when he is thus freed from pride ambition desire of Riches or any thing else but onely of Knowledge as little Children naturally are till the seeds of those vices be stirred up in them by others he will be a fit soil to receive Christ's heavenly Doctrine III. And doubtless he had reason to say it who told this Nation long ago that it is for want of acquainting Childhood and Youth with such plain Rules as this which the Scripture it self delivers for our right understanding it that the Scripture either seems obscure and difficult to them or that they mistake it where it seems evident IV. For when they grow to mens estate or are engaged in worldly buisiness or come to honour before they be acquainted with the Holy Scripture and especially these plain directions which it gives us for our profiting by it one of these three things is the consequence of it The seeming difficulty of the Scripture either makes them to seek for other Rules which they apprehend more easy or 2. not to care for any Rule of Faith at all or else 3. to transform this which God hath given for the renewing his image in them into the nature of their corrupt affections V. Let this
A help to Communicants Ingredere ut Proficias A BOOK FOR BEGINNERS Or a Help to Young Communicants THAT They may be fitted for the Holy Communion and receive it with profit By S. Patrick D. P. Printed for R. Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred Majesty 1680. To the READER THere is no Advice more wholesome or more necessary then that of Solomon in the conclusion of his Meditations upon the Vanity of all things under the Sun Remember thy CREATOR in the days of thy youth Which may serve in stead of a Preface to this little Book especially if I change one word and make it run thus Remember thy SAVIOUR in the days of thy youth Be sensible that is how much thou art indebted to Him and do not forget it but carry this always in thy mind that as thou didst receive thy being from Him so thou art bought with a great price and therefore ought'st to glorify God with Body and Soul which are His. 1 Cor. VI. 20. And doe this betime in thy best days before thou art tainted and corrupted by Vice and wickedness Into which dangerous ways if thou art so unhappy as to have entred be advised and leave them presently Betake thy self without any delay to the service of God and let no buisiness much less any vain pleasure hinder thee from acquainting thy self with the Duty thou owest Him or from performing it seriously Particularly that duty which He hath commanded thee to doe in Remembrance of Him The Nature the Necessity and the Ends of which together with the manner of doing it I lay before thee in the following pages Wherein I shall treat onely of such things as are most easy and obvious to every capacity hoping by God's blessing they will be usefull to such as will set themselves to consider them They that would have larger Instructions and Helps may find them in the Christian Sacrifice CHAP. I. Of the Duty WHEN God's Minister declares as he is required to do that he intends on such a day to administer the most comfortable Sacrament of Christ's Body and Bloud and invites you to it beseeching you to dispose your selves religiously and devoutly for it you must consider that it is your duty to prepare your selves to come and partake of so great a Blessing and not to think it enough that you have been present at Divine Service and heard the Sermon and then may turn your back on the Table of the Lord. Which is a very great disrespect to Him and forgetfulness of Him and cannot be excused so easily as mens naughty hearts incline them to believe For though God's Goodness is such that He prefers works of Mercy to your Neighbours before Sacrifice to Himself when one of them must be omitted yet He doth not make the same allowance for your Worldly buisiness which well may be let alone till another time much less for your vain Pleasures or Recreations which never ought to hinder or put by this or any other holy Duty in the season proper for it Come therefore as oft as you are invited and when God's Minister after Sermon ended goes up to the Holy Table to prepare this Heavenly food for you that is to consecrate Bread broken and Wine poured out that it may represent the Death of Christ to you and to give it you saying Take eat and drink this in remembrance of Christ do you stay in God's House and draw near unto his Table and thankfully receive it from him for that end for which he gives it in commemoration of Christ's Death and Passion upon the Cross for your sake It is the duty of God's Minister to set the Bread and Wine apart to present them unto God to break the one and pour out the other to bless them and to give them unto you And then it is your duty to look upon this Bread and Wine thus blessed as representing Christ unto you and accordingly to receive them not as mere Bread and Wine but as things deputed by Christ to be in stead of His Body and Bloud and to communicate them to worthy Receivers CHAP. II. Of the Necessity of this Duty TO doe thus you are ingaged First by the express Commandment of our Lord Christ which you find four times recorded in the New Testament by the three first Evangelists Saint Matthew XXVI 26 27. Saint Mark XIV 22 23. Saint Luke XXII 19 20 and by Saint Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthians XI 23 24 25. All which places especially the last you will doe well to reade seriously And then consider Secondly that there is the greater regard to be had to this Commandment Doe this in remembrance of me which Saint Paul saith he received of the Lord because it was his last and dying Commandment in the night when He was betrayed just before the day of his Passion We are wont in other cases to be inclined to remember and carefully perform the last desire of a dying Friend and therefore what other account can we give of it if we live in a neglect of this Duty so solemnly enjoyned but that we are strangers or at best very cold in our love to Him which you had need to quicken because Thirdly your care in this Duty will be a means to make you observe the rest of his Commandments better which now alas are little regarded because little or no regard is had to this last Commandment which our Lord seems to have added when He left the world for the security of all the other that He had delivered before For the doing this hath a mighty power in it to stir up the love of Christ in our hearts And the love of Christ constraineth us as S. Paul teaches 2 Cor. V. 14 15. because we thus judge that if one died for all then were all dead And that He died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto Him that died for them and rose again Doe this therefore in remembrance of Him which is such an efficacious means to make you always doe well Yea more then this Lastly it will be a means to make you observe his Commandments with love and delight which if they be wanting your Obedience will be little worth For without Love all that you doe will not be acceptable to Christ and unless you delight in what you doe it will not be acceptable to your selves But neither of these will be wanting if you religiously frequent this Holy Sacrament where He is represented to you as desirous to save you though it were by dying for you saying when this was first propounded to Him Lo I come I delight to doe thy will O God How can you then refrain when you think of this from expressing the same affection and the same joy when it is so much easier for you to doe God's will then it was for Him to suffer such things as he did in obedience to it CHAP. III. Of the Ends
Answer when you think of the Third thing your Fidelity to him saying I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous Judgments I have inclined my heart to perform thy Statutes always even unto the end CXIX Psal 106.112 It is reasonable that whatsoever I doe in word or deed I should doe all in the Name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by Him III. Coloss 17. IV. And when you think lastly of having Communion with Him say What greater Happiness can I wish then to be one with Christ and to be made partaker with Him in the Merits of his Death whereby I am sure that I shall partake with Him in the glory of his Resurrection By this I know that I dwell in Him and He in me because He hath given me of his Spirit O make me Blessed Lord more and more one with Thee by making me more perfectly of the same mind spirit and disposition with Thee A Prayer at home on that day If you be by such means as these duly affected with our Saviour's Love towards you the remembrance of it will not presently slip out of your mind nor will you be willing to part with it And while it continues there it will make all your Christian Duty easy and delightfull and it will be a hard matter to persuade you to offend Him Do not fail therefore to endeavour to preserve it by affecting your heart again with such thoughts as these repeating some time or other on that day the foregoing Meditations and adding this Prayer I can never thank Thee enough O Father of mercies and God of all comfort for the innumerable benefits I have received from thy bounty And therefore ought to take all opportunities to bless Thee and to speak good of thy Name especially now that I have newly tasted how gracious Thou art in giving thy onely Son our Saviour Jesus Christ not onely to die for us but also to be our spiritual food and sustenance in that Sacrament which I have this day received When I think onely what a kindness it is that I have my daily bread and never want things convenient for the support and comfort of this present life I find that I am indebted to Thee upon that account exceedingly above all that I can express But that Thou art pleased to admit me to thy own Table and there entertain me with the blessed hope of being with my Saviour where He is and rejoycing with Him for ever Lord how much doth it surpass the highest of my thoughts and with what delight and satisfaction ought it to fill my heart Possess me I beseech Thee most mercifull Father with such a lively sense of this Love that I may never forget how happy I am in being so nearly related to Christ Jesus But always account it such an honour to be one of his Servants that I may constantly and chearfully obey Him and delight in this and all other Duties of a Christian life It is a great favour I ought to be sensible that I may have the liberty alway to resort unto Him as my most gracious Lord and Master and enjoy Him not onely in the publick Offices of Religion but here at home in these private addresses unto Him 0 that by all such means I may grow more like Him and carry away such a resemblance of his Holiness Goodness Humility Meekness and Patience that every body may see I have been with Jesus O that there may be such a pious sense of his Love and such devout affections towards Him left in my heart that I may not content my self merely with my daily Prayers much less with these present expressions of Love to Him but it may he my constant care every day to approve my self unto Him so faithfully in all well-doing that I may not be afraid to appear again before Him at the next invitation I have to his Table And let the hearts of all those who have this day devoutly attended on thy service be joyfull and glad in Thee Help us all to keep our selves pure and undefiled and to walk so steddily in the fear of God and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost that others seeing our good conversation in Christ may be in love with Religion and glorify Thee our heavenly Father Have mercy also as we have this day most humbly prayed upon the whole Church And so rule the heart of thy chosen Servant CHARLES our King and Governour that in all his thoughts words and works he may ever seek thy honour and glory and study to preserve thy people committed to his charge in wealth peace and godliness And grant also unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ's Religion that they may eschew those things that are contrary to their Profession and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same for thy dear Sons sake Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen If this seem too long here follows a shorter I prostrate my self here again before Thee O Lord of Heaven and Earth to bless and praise Thee for all thy Mercies towards me especially for those which Thou hast this day bestowed on me I would not be so ungratefull as presently to forget such a wonderfull Grace as Thou hast vouchsafed me but desire most earnestly to have a lasting remembrance of it in my heart provoking me to love and to good works And for that end I now renew my humble supplications unto Thee that Thou wilt constantly excite and assist me by thy Holy Spirit to walk worthy of my high and heavenly calling in Christ Jesus by such a sober righteous and godly life adorning his Doctrine in all things that He may own me for his good and faithfull Servant at that great Day when we shall see Him not in these shadows and figures of Him but face to face And have mercy upon thy whole Church Whose Prayers I beseech Thee to hear for every Member of the same more especially for our Sovereign and all that are in authority under him that by their pious care and watchfulness thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. VIII Directions for a godly Life sutable to this holy Communion I. TAKE some time every day to call to mind how much you stand engaged to our Saviour Christ first by your Baptismal Vow secondly by your solemn Ratification of it at your Confirmation and thirdly by your renewing it lately at the Holy Communion when you professed how much you were indebted to Him both upon the account of his offering Himself upon the Cross for you and of his giving Himself there again to you II. If these three come into your mind as soon as you awake in the morning it will be a great security to you And to make your self more sensible of your obligation you may begin the day with this Reflection I am not my own but the Lord
continual danger of falling into the fire or water or other mischief Make this your own case for your frequent falling into Sin notwithstanding your resolutions and ingagements is far more dreadfull and dangerous and no means ought to be refused for a cure of so great an evil CHAP. XI The Duties of Children THIS Book being intended for Beginners and such as may be supposed to have least knowledge of their Duty I shall conclude it with a few Advices to Children to poor Servants and to all sorts of Young people The Duty of Children is comprehended in two words to honour and to obey their Parents Therefore remember I. First It is your Duty to Honour your Parents which is the first of all the Commandments of the Second Table And consists 1. In an Esteem of them as your Superiours and greatest Benefactours because under God they were the Authours of your Being and took care of your Education when you could not look after your selves 2. In a reverent Behaviour towards them even when they do not perform their Duty but provoke you to wrath by their peevish crosness 3. In requiting their Love by supplying their necessities if they fall into a low condition and you be able to support them Reade I Tim. V. 4. XV. Matt. 5 6. 4. In bearing with their Infirmities either of body or mind especially in their old age or declining years II. Secondly Obey your Parents VI. Ephes 1. so as to be subject to them II. Luk. 51. That is 1. Be subject to their good Instructions and Admonitions to which you ought to listen diligently 2. To their Commands when they bid you doe any thing that is not contrary to the Divine Commandments 3. To their Corrections also for your faults to which you ought reverently to submit XII Hebr. 9. 4. And to their Directions also about the choice of your Calling if you have not a natural aversation to it 5. But especially in the buisiness of Marriage in which Parents have always had a right to dispose of their Children Not indeed to force them to marry one whom they cannot love but to oblige them to endeavour to love those whom they recommend to their choice And when you cannot bring your self to a compliance with their desires in that point you must with due reverence and respect dissent from them and humbly beseech them to press you no farther If they will not harken to your repeated requests you are not bound or rather you are bound not to follow their directions in such a case But on the other side do not marry any body else without their consent unless they be so unreasonable that they will let you marry none at all and you find a necessity of it to prevent your being led away contrary to your Vow in Baptism by fleshly Lusts In that case repair to the Magistrate or your Minister who are common Parents and let them deal with them and if they cannot prevail I have no more to say about your Obedience in this particular use your liberty prudently and with good advice of Friends and due respect to your Parents But as the Common-Prayer-Book exhorts you in the Office of Matrimony do not enterprise nor take in hand such a weighty thing as Marriage unadvisedly lightly or wantonly meerly to satisfy carnal lusts and appetites like brute Beasts that have no understanding but reverently discreetly advisedly and in the fear of God duly considering for what ends it was ordained and then you cannot doe amiss Be carefull in the performance of these Duties and God before whom such things are good and acceptable will give you his Blessing Reade III. Ecclesiasticus beginning unto v. 17. CHAP. XII The Duties of Servants THough Servants be not now mere Slaves and Bondmen as they were in the Apostles days yet they are in a state of subjection and are tied to such Obedience as we find enjoyned in the Apostolical Writings even for this reason because they are now in a far better condition Harken therefore to your Duty as it is plainly set forth in the Holy Scripture And remember I. First of all that you are bound to study to please your Masters and Mistresses by doing as they bid you in their buisiness wherein they imploy you II. Titus 9. A branch of which is as you will find in that place not to contradict them and stand disputing with them Much less ought you to I be saucy and irreverent in your Answers or in your Behaviour towards them 1 Tim. VI. 1. II. Remember also to be Faithfull in your trust and never to deceive them in the smallest matter but be sure to shew all good fidelity as the Apostle there teaches you II. Tit. 10. III. Part of which Fidelity is to be diligent in your buisiness and to dispatch it as soon as you can and to be solicitous also to doe your work well which S. Peter and S. Paul seem to mean when they bid you serve them with all fear 1 Pet. II. 18. and with fear and trembling VI. Ephes 5. IV. And both this Diligence and Solicitude and Trustiness must be performed not onely when they have their eye upon you but when their back is turned and they are absent from you VI. Ephes 6. III. Coloss 22. If you gad abroad or slacken your labour and care when they are not at home or do not see you you do not serve them as Christians that study to please God but as vile Slaves and Men-pleasers that mind nothing but to avoid their anger V. Be content also with your Allowance and submit to such Restraints as they lay upon you which seems to be included in the Apostolical Precept before mentioned II. Tit. 10. For more then this you ought to take their hard Words nay and Corrections patiently I cannot say but you may seek a remedy from your Governours and theirs if they abuse you but a Blow that does no hurt much more an angry Chiding should not seem any great matter to you But you had better bear it saying nothing or meekly praying them to spare you then increase their wrath by answering again angrily Howsoever all ill words are utterly unlawfull Reade 1 Pet. II. 18. VI. The Apostles also would have you to serve them with good will VI. Ephes 7. and whatsoever you doe to doe it heartily III. Coloss 23. One note of which is when you go about your buisiness chearfully and do not grumble at your work much less grumble at this that you are Servants and not as good as those whom you serve It is very uncomfortable to your Masters as well as your selves when you go about your work with a discontented spirit and a sour heart lowring and pouting as we speak which proceeds from hence that you forget you are serving the Lord when you are diligent in their buisiness and look upon your selves onely as Servants of Men. This the Apostles correct when they bid you be obedient to your Masters