service begins upon thy knees use these ejaculations 1. This is the day which the Lord hath made I will be joyful and glad in it 2. He hath redeemed my soul from death my eyes from tears and my feet from falling 3. Thou shalt prepare a Table before me against them that trouble me thou hast anointed my head with Oyl my Cup shall be full 4. But surely thy loving kindness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever 5. I will wash my hands in innocency O Lord and so will I go to thine Altar 6. That I may shew the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wondrous works 7. Lord I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place were thine honour dwelleth 8. O shut not up my soul with the sinners nor my life with the Blood thirsty 9. My foot stand th right I will prase the Lord in the great congregation A Meditation to be used at the Lords Table when there are many Communicants O What a Heavenly sight is this to behold such an Assembly of Christians meeting with one accord at this great mystery how joyful a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity and to worship the Almighty in Spirit and in Truth I feel my heart is more raised and my devotion kindled by their zeal and all lukew armness is passed away my spirits are refresht and have taken new life by seeing such an appearance in the House of God II. This is the perfection of Religion to seek Gods Face while he may be found and to call upon him while he is near which none of us can do too often to have him in remembrance who so oft remembred us here we receive spiritual things and taste and see how good the Lord is which food O Lord I beseech thee let me never want but give it me as my dayly bread for Jesus Christ his sake my only Saviour and Redeemer Amen A Prayer before the Sacrament O Dear Saviour how excellent is thy goodness and loving kindness to me and to all thy Creatures thou art pleased O Lord to vouchsafe me this opportunity in the waiting upon thee in thy solemn Ordinance where thou dost communicate unto me thy precious Body and Blood and dost give me that interest in thee and peace which the World cannot give nor none can take away this is that treasure which moths cannot corrupt nor thieves break through and steal II. O then where my treasure is let my heart be there also away fond World and all the vanities thereof for the God of holiness hath touched my heart I do now purpose to return from my evil ways and as long as I live to renew those purposes daily O then dear Lord fit me I beseech thee for thy self that I may receive with that joy and spiritual comfort this thy body that was broken and thy precious Blood which was shed for me whereby I may partake of all the benefits of thy bitter Death and Passion and become one with thee in receiving all that either my soul doth need or desire for thy alone sake my only Saviour and Redeemer Amen When the Minister is saying the Offertory use this Meditation at thy offering thy Alms. O Almighty God what I offer is but what thou lentest me here for a time and what I now give to my poor Brethren thou hast promised to repay it but I have received more at thy all-merciful hands than my heart and tongue can ever express O that I could have given ten thousand Talents instead of this poor mite my charity thou hast no need of but for as much as I have done it to my poor Brethren whose souls thou hast redeemed with thy most precious Blood thou ownest it to be done to thy self O what can I give thee O Lord or render unto thee for all the EÃ rthly comforts and benefits I have received from thee I can give thee nothing but what is thy own and no Earthly thing can bear proportion with thy Majesty therefore in all humility I resign my soul up into thy hands who art my faithful Creator and who sent thy Son to save me a lost sinner to whom be all praise honor and glory now and for ever Amen Then say after the Minister the Prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church militant here on Earth and be very attentive to the exhortation which follows beginning with these words Dearly beloved in the Lord. Then hearken diligently to the invitation and when the Minister expresses these words draw near with faith and take this Holy Sacramint then use these Ejaculations 1. I am unworthy O Lord to appear before thee 2. But thou art able to save them to the uttermost that come unto thee and doth live for ever to make intercession with God the Father for us 3. No Man cometh unto thee except the Father draw him and thou wilt raise him up at the last day 4. O have compassion upon my penitent soul who draws near to thy throne of grace that I may obtain mercy and find grace to help me in time of need Then joyn with all your heart with the Minister in the general consession absolution and sentences lifting up your heart unto the Lord blessing and praising his holy name in these Ejaculations 1. The Lord is on my side I will not fear what man can do unto me 2. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put any confidence in man 3. The Lord is my strength and my song and is become my salvation 4. I shall not dye but live and declare the works of the Lord. 5. This is the gate of the Lord the righteous shall enter into it 6. Thou art my God and I will thank thee thou art my God and I will praise thee 7. I will lift up my heart and my hands unto thee O thou that dwellest in the Heavens 8. My help standeth in the name of the Lord which hath made Heaven and Earth 9. The Lord hath done great things for me whereof I rejoyce 10. Therefore with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of Heaven I will laud and glorifie thy glorious name evermore praising thee saying holy holy holy Lord God of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of thy glory Glory be to thee O Lord most high Amen Then joyn with the Minister in the address which begins thus We do not presume to come to this thy Holy Table O merciful Lord c. At the time of the Consecration fix your eye upon the Elements and at the actions of the Ministers in ordering the Bread and Wine we ought joyfully and thankfully to meditate after this manner O Who can but admire and wonder that the Son of God should become food to the Souls of Men and to humble himself so low as to be represented by bread which is the poor mans food though necessary
your knees God speak those words and said I am the Lord thy God thou shalt have none other Gods but me Lord have mercy upon me and incline my heart to keep this Law Self examination by the first Commandment If I have not absolutely denied Gods being or in a gross manner renounced him by Apostacy yet Have I not been angry with the Almighty murmuring and complaining against him in an adversity or trouble which he hath been pleased to lay upon me as though he were not both just and merciful Have I had such a confidence and trust in God as I ought to have had together with such a strength and consolation as ordinarily a lively confidence brings with it Have I not put all my confidence in the world and on the things which belong to it fearing man who can only kill the body more than God who can cast both Soul and Body into everlasting torments Have I not denyed my Maker by refusing to wait on him in his holy ordinances or if I have been there have I not been guilty of irreverence and cold devotion Lord have mercy upon me and pardon the breach of this Commandment II. Commandment Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing which is in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath or in the water under the Earth thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God and visit the sins of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love me and keep my Commandments Lord have mercy upon me and incline my heart to keep this Law Self examination by the II. Commandment Though I have not set up a graven Image nor fallen down to worship any yet Have I not been troubled with the Fool in my heart in laying up treasures which a 〈…〉 liable to Corruption and idolizing the vain pomps and vanities of this wicked world by covetousness which is I do latry If I have abhorred Idols have I not been guilty of Sacrilege robbing of God in his Tithes and Offerings not extending my charity to the poor as I ought to do but fixing my mind more on the Creature then on the Creator Have I not made a God of my belly by luxuriousness indulging my self with carnal delights and sensual appetites and have been hurried away by every wind of Doctrin Lord have mercy upon me and pardon the breach of this Commandment Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain Lord have mercy upon me and incline my heart to keep this Law Self examination by the III. Commandment If I have not blasphemously profaned Gods nâ—mâ— yet Have I not taken his holy name in my mouth with much irreverence and jestingly and scoffingly abused his holy ordinances Have I not taken many false Oaths and Protestations and have been guilty of too frequent and customary swearing cursing by the dreadful name of God which is only to be mentioned for blessing and adoration Have I been careful to keep those lawful Oaths I have taken as my Baptismal vow or any other Oath which was administred lawfully to me without being guilty of the breach of them Have I not neglected to call upon that name whereby alone I must receive salvation and have turned the grace of God into wantonness to the destruction of my own Soul Lord have mercy upon me and pardon the breach of this commandment IV. Commandment Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day six days shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt do no manner of work thou and thy Son and thy Daughter thy Man servant and thy Maid-servant thy Cattle and the Stranger that is within thy Gates For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it Lord have mercy upon me and incline my heart to keep this Law Self examination by the IV. Commandment If I have not actually ossiciated on that day my worldly calling or employment yet Did I spend my time in the House of God as I ought to do to praise him for all his mercies bestowed upon me Have not I omitted Prayers and Sermons and followed my own idle imaginations not caring at all for the Church but being weary of the Lords day like those in Amos 8. 5. who ask when will the Sabbath be gone that we may set forth Wheat Have I not invented ways to draw others from the service and worship of God by vain sports and idle discourses not remembring to praise God on this day for the Creation and joyful Resurrection Have I at home instructed my Family as I ought to do but on the contrary have neglected those duties of prayers reading and meditation Lord have mercy upon me and pardon the breach of this Commandment V. Commandment Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy days may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee Lord have mercy upon me and incline my heart to keep this Law Self examination by the V. Commandment If I have not grosly abused my parents by cursing or swearing at them yet Have I not spoken meanly and lightly of my superiors and instead of obeying them have made it my study to oppose and contradict them Have I not been undutiful to them in several respects as not hearkning to their Counsel not taking their reprooss with meekness and humility but have despised and mocked them refusing to practice their exhortations not remembring the words of the wise Man Pro. 30. 17. The eye that mockeâ—h his Father and despiseth to obey his Mother the Reavens of the valleys shall pick it out and the young Eagles shall eat it Have not I wisht my Parents death out of greediness of gaining their possessions when rich and have I not when they were poor been so unnatural as to turn my back upon their necessities Lord have mercy upon me and pardon the breach of this Commandment VI. Commandment Thou shalt do no Murther Lord have mercy upon me and incline my heart to keep this Law Self examination by the VI. Commandment If I have not actually committed Murther yet Have I not drawn many to intemperance and other vices which cause diseases or bring death or have I not made strife among men by which means they have engaged themselves in quarrelling and in the encounter come off maimed or killed Have I not out of malice and revenge strove to shorten many ones life or have I not taken a delight to grind the face of the poor making them work of necessity for that which can never maintain their
Members of my Body which thou hast giv'n me for thy Service and ought to have been instruments of holiness I have daily made weapons of iniquity mine understanding which should daily have delighted in thee and thy law hath been daily busied in the search of sin mine affections which I should have wholly fixt upon thee the highest holiest and most happy object in whom is alsufficiency have been foolishly and falsly bestowed on the emptiness and vanity of the Creature in which I have found nothing else but shortness and uncertainty falshood and flattery weariness and misery Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not wisely nor timely considered that the grace of repentance is thy heavenly Gift and ought to be early begg'd of thee by Prayers and Tears but have sinfully imagin'd it in mine own power to repent when I would when I have been neither sure of time to ask it of hope to obtain it grace to receive it or of mercy to enjoy it Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not only turned thy grace into wantonness but even thy choicest of thy gifts bestowed on me into wickedness by being spiritually proud of my endowments so that while I have pharisaically seemed in mine own eyes to be much better than others I have in thy â—ight been far worse and have thereby lost the blessed presence of thy holy Spirit who resisteth the proud and givest grace to the humble Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not daily and duly as I ought examined my Soul by each particular of thy Commandments that so my Conscience might be throughly convinced of my sins and I thereby with holy fear might heartily bewail them utterly forsake them perfectly hate them and together with thy Justice condemn my self for them but have only looked on them with a carnal eye as common spectacles of mans misery and proper objects of thy Mercy from whence it is that I have not died unto sin daily as I ought that this my sorrowing for sin hath been but superficial my hope of thy pardon deceitful and even my very mortification to sin exceeding sinful Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have readily remembred that there is no condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus but sinfully forgotten that it is to those only which walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit thus have I wretchedly put of the punishment of sin from the guilt of it and am thereby become guilty of thy double punishment that for the committing of evil and this for denying thee in Christ to be the rewarder only of good Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have willingly believed that it is the blood of God which cleanseth me from all iniquity and that if I believe in thee although I were dead yet shall I live and that if I live and believe in thee I shall never die but I have wilfully forgotten that by my daily sinning I have daily trampled on thy precious blood and am therefore dead while I live and may therefore justly fear that without mercy I must live in endless torments when I am dead Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have sometimes promised the general amendment of my own evil ways by my thorough Mortification to Sin and Sanctification to Righteousness in my more frequent watchings fastings Prayings holy strivings against my corruptions and holy hungrings for thy heavenly graces but all these to my Souls grief were soon forgotten by me and my sinful affections instead of drawing nearer to thee alienated every day more and more from thee Lord be merciful to be a sinner I have missed many happy opportunities of going to thy holy Table under the false pretences of unfitness to receive want of Charity to forgive and of Faith to believe whereas these sinful wants which have all proceeded from my want of grace ought much rather to have been graciously repair'd with earnest prayers and truly repented of with daily tears Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not so freely and so fully forgiven and forgotten those injuries which man hath offer'd unto me as I ought to have done but have too often come unto thy holy Table with reproach in my mouth and malice in my heart Thus O Lord have I had sinfully to do with malice that stood in so grea need of mercy and by refusing to forgive my brother upon Earth may justly fear to be denied forgiveness by thee in heav'n Lord be merciful to me a sinner From these my sinful inconsiderations undue preparations ungracious absentings and more ungodly frequentings of thy blessed Table have proceeded these my declinings in grace and decayings in goodness so that without thy rich mercy unto me in Christ whose precious blood thou hast spilt for me and by this thy blessed Seal confirm'd unto me I may justly fear I have received unworthily and thereby eaten and drank unto my self mine own damnation Lord be merciful to me a sinner A Prayer after Confession of sins to Almighty God I. ALmighty God I have sinned and I desire to repent I am heavy laden with the burthen of my sins and can find none on earth to releive me to thee therefore O thou father of mercies and God of all consolations who invitest weary Souls to come unto thee and easiest them when they are come do I apply my self for mercy and forgiveness O thou blessed fountain of eternal good who hast freely given me thine only Son to dye for me and in him thy self to be for ever reconciled to me who desirest not the death of me a miserable sinner but rather that I should repent and live have mercy upon me O thou blessed Shepherd of my Soul who aimest to seek and to save those that were lost that findest all whom thou seekest and looseth none of those whom thou hast found have mercy upon me O thou sacred and for ever blessed spirit who visitest and cherishest the drooping Souls of thine Elect assist and comfort me Lord save me or I perish Lord help me or I faint Lord seek me or I am lost for ever II. With all humility of soul I humbly acknowledg that I have too long sinfully depended on the vain shadows and deceitful shews of mine own imperfect holiness and have too sinfully neglected the improvements of thy heavenly graces whereby I have too long deluded my own Soul with hopes of my heavenly assurance and have then thought my self to be spiritually rich when in thy sight I have been wretchedly poor sinfully blind wilfully naked distressedly miserable III. Lord open thou mine eyes by thy precious Eye-salve of thy Sacred Word that I may clearly see the sadness of my mine own condition in these my sad mistakes by this the great deceit of my own deluding heart enrich my poverty with the gifts and graces of thy holy Spirit cover my nakedness with the precious robes of Christs righteousness swallow up this my
secret and unknown Errors of my sinful life past and graciously prevent the failings of that to Come IV. Make me truly and sincerely holy and to imbrace it neither for fear of punishment nor hope of reward but purely for thy sake who art holiness it self O let me never think my self holy enough but press still forward in thy holy Race until at last I have attained unto that full measure of holiness which by thy gracious Acceptation of it in Christ will End in Endless happiness Bless these my holy desires with happy performances for his sake whose perfect Righteousness thou both graciously acceptest for me and willingly imputest to me Amen Meditations for Saturday Morning on the Holy Sacrament NOw to keep the Soul in an even temper we must observe these following directions first for the best ordering our lives as to the safety and peace of our Souls be the more servent the more importunate in your Prayers when your lusts are most eager and vehement in their desires for this we have St. Pauls example for our imitation when he proportions the vehemency of his devotion to the violence of his temptation and by how much the messenger of Satan 2 Cor. 12. 9. Doth the more furiously reiterate his buffetings the more zealously doth he renew his Prayers and at length he receives this comfortable answer to his sorrowful complaint my grace is sufficient for thee sufficient to cure thy wound and to pardon thy guilt sufficient to strengthen thy weakness and to perfect thy deliverance II. Secondly entertain we no parley no treaty with our lusts have no commerce or company with them silence their suggestions or if they will needs be suggesting give them not the ear lest they make that the passage to the heart we betray our selves to sin whensoever we treat with our lusts conference with them is the way to be ensnared by them we must flie sin as a Serpent not let in the head lest it draw in its body not yield to the first motion lest we be engaged in its full Commission III. Thirdly set we up the law of spirit and life in our hearts Rom. 8. 2. and by how much the law of sin will be stirring in our thoughts by so much the more let this royal law of Christs Spirit and life bear sway in our souls and to that end especially now in the solemnity of the Blessed Eucharist renew we our purposes our vows our Covenants renew we our self denyal our total resignation thereby to obtain a further quickning in grace a further strengthning of the inward Man and all by a nearer Communion of Christ in his fulness thus this Holy Sacrament shall seal unto our hearts the comfort of this assurance that he will never leave us nor forsake us IV. Let us offer up to God the Sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit which sorrow of contrition must be like that of one Mourning for the dead a funeral sorrow the deepest of Mournings like that of one Mourning for her only Son the saddest of Funerals and for our sins deep humiliation is 〈◊〉 necessary whereby we confess the guâ—lt of our sins bewail the bitterness of distress deprecating Gods wrath and imploring his mercy for a full and free pardon of our sins A Prayer for Saturday Morning on the Holy Sacrament O Thou blessed Fountain of Eternal sweetness who art infinitely sweeter to my weary soul than all earthly enjoyments in whose presence is the fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore forgive the follies and infirmities of me thy sinful servant who have foolishly preferred these transitory drops of insufficient joys which have been wearisome and burthensome unto me to those thy rivers of Eternal pleasures in which thy Blessed Saints do sweetly bathe their happy Souls where everlasting jâ—y is on their heads and thine Eternal comforts in their hearts II. Lord open mine eyes now at last that I may clearly see the vanity of the Creature and the fulness sweetness and all sufficiency of Christ withdraw mine affections from the World and fix them wholly upon thee and thy Kingdom Lord sanctifie my heart to believe that there is no true sweetness but in goodness and that there can be no true goodness in that pleasure which is not subordinate to this sweetness which alone is in thee my Lord and Saviour the comfort of all Earthly Comforts and Heavenly Consolations III. Almighty God when I look upon thee out of Christ as thou art in thy self I can there see nothing else but destruction to my body and amazement to my soul in thine essence light inaccessible unto which no mortal eye can approach in thine attributes terrour unutterable from which no Creature can escape thy wisdom trying my corrupt heart and searching my sinful veins thy Justice most severe fearful in the pronunciation dreadful in the Execution thy truth admitting no alteration no judgment pronounced by thee but most precisely fulfilled yet such O Lord hath the folly of my false heart been that I have sinfully depended on thy mercy in Christ without either faith to receive thee hope to enjoy thee or love to delight in thee IV. Lord whither wilt thou suffer me to stray from thee How long Lord wilt thou leave me in this sleep of sin Lord seek me thy stray sheep or I am lost for ever open my sinful eyes that I sleep not in death make me wisely to remember that then only there is mercy with thee when thou art truly feared grant therefore dear Father for thy mercy sake that I may no longer dally with my precious soul by this my security in sin but sorely upon thy mercy as to have a filial fear of thy justice and from security in sin good Lord deliver me Amen Meditations for Saturday Evening on the most Holy Sacrament O Thou great Creator of Heaven and Earth I am ashamed of my self to see in what a posture I am in at this present I am cast down when I look into my self and make enquiry into my own unworthiness I cannot but behold my own vileness and baseness but thou O Lord dost receive sinners else how dare I approach to thy Holy Table thou art he that sayest come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and that the whole have no need of a Physician but they that are sick O Lord I am weary and heavy laden and come unto thee for ease and refreshment I am sick of sin be thou my Physician and my Medicine I am wounded hungry and weak be thou my soveraign balsome nourishment and strength I am sorrowful poor and foolish be thou my comfort enrich me and enlighten me I am fall of dross unclean and dead do thou refine me purifie me and quicken me with thy Heavenly grace unto salvation II. O that I were now with an humble heart at the Holy Table of my Lord there are all mercies conveyed and sealed all graces are
God in the eternal life and happiness of my body and soul which consists in my union with and fruition of God in heaven for ever which is effected by the Spirit and grace of God through the merits of Jesus Christ drawing my soul through faith in the Son of God made Man to himself who by the evil of sin both original depravation and actual Commissions am removed at an infinite distance from the love of God the fountain of happiness and placed in a state of Guilt liable to the justice and wrath of God and by consequence to eternal misery and Damnation II. A State not more miserable in it self than unavoidable by me unless the free grace immense goodness of the Almighty which brings sinners to repentance had prevented both my desert and desire by an eternal purpose of offering pardon life and salvation to sinful mankind which good pleasure and purpose in himself God hath clearly revealed according to the divers dispensations of his wisdom and providence even from the first promise of Christ made to the first sinners to the personal coming of the Son of God into the World to bear the Name and Office of the Saviour of Sinners and hath fully accomplisht and clearly reveal'd unto Mankind this undeniable truth of the eternal purpose of God to give pardon life and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ his only Son who became Man and died for the sins of the World and so satisfied the Justice of God for them that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life III. That great saying and most comfortable Truth Preached by Christ witnessed by the Apostles Dictated by the Spirit of God written by the Evangelists Confirmed by many Miracles delivered by the Church by constant Tradition and believed on in all ages this God requires me to believe as a certain and infallible truth in it self and by faith it becomes to me saving and comfortable It brings my soul to see by the law it s own sinful and desperate estate it calls me off from my self and all Creatures and assures me of immortal happiness for ever by adhering and relying upon Christ and that free grace of God in him and through him bestowed upon my soul IV. This faith and trust in the free Grace through Jesus Christ as it is first wrought by the word of God and his holy Spirit in my soul which is the beginning of this spiritual and eternal life so that it may be further nourished and strengthened to a farther degree of comfort and assurance God hath out of a wonderful Indulgence to our weakness and difficulty of believing annexed to his word these holy Sacraments as visible and most manifest Seals of this Covenant of Grace and Mercy that the soul might in no sort doubt of it nor be discouraged at the sight of it 's own sin and unworthiness when it sees the love of God and its pardon confirmed and assured to it by all its senses and his Saviour the great worker and teacher of this salvation by these sensible means lively set forth in his death and sufferings and himself with all his merits personally offered and conveighed to its self in particulars V. This then is the End to which this holy Sacrament as other means of grace is especially directed that it may be to the souls spiritual life of such efficacy as Food is to the Temporal life of our Bodies a means to maintain life to encrease strength and inward comfort to enable holy actions and cheerful obedience to assure our hopes and affiance in the great truth of God for the pardon of sins and bestowing the Son of God Jesus Christ our great Redeemer who is the Fountain and conveigher of life through these Conduits of the outward means to the penitent and believing soul Secondly The Author by whom it was Instituted I. Was the Lord Jesus Christ the Saviour of the World who being the Lord of power and the Jesus of Mercy is both able and wiling to make this holy Ordinance the means of that Mercy and Grace which he promiseth to us which means are effectual to this supernatural end not by any proportion of innate vertue or Physical efficacy of themselves as food hath to our temporal life by the common rule and ordination of Providence but by a Spiritual Divine and most Mysterious appointment Instituted by our God and Saviour himself whose Authority only could Institute and whose power only can make effectual his Institution by uniting earthly sensible so small and unproportionable means to so heavenly spiritual and excellent an End II. So that in this great mystery though reason assures us in the general assent that the Omnipotency of God can make effectual whatever means he pleaseth in his wisdom to ordain to an end though never so unproportionable yet for the particular demonstrating of the matter of efficiency whereby such means do certainly convey to us so great an end and benefit Reason is quite dazl'd and blind having no ground to fasten upon but devolving all the work of this holy mystery to faith which relies upon the truth power and love of the Institutor Jesus Christ who while he was yet on Earth by a Corporal and Natural presence conversing with men but chiefly with his choice and Domestick Company the Twelve Apostles a little before his death Instituted this Sacred Mystery after his last Supper which he made with them III. By the evidence of this Sacrament exhibiting himself to them and all beliving souls in such an extraordinary and eminent degree of comfort and personal assurance as might greatly establish their faith and hearts in the near and dismal Times of his sufferings shortly ensuing and after his Ascention might be a continual memorial and Seal of the Covenant of Grace established in the death of Christ a support of the faith of Belivers a lively token pledge of his spiritual presence with his Church during his bodily absence till his second coming as also a badge of the profession of the Christian Religion and that mutual love and charity of Believers who are all united by faith to one and the same Saviour of whom they are all partakers in this one Sacrament as well of the invisible Grace as the outward and visible signs the bread and wine Thirdly The outward Means suitable to this end I. The choice of which familiar signs made by our Saviour for the outward means discovered a wonderful wisdom and no less love and condescention to his Church while he made choice of such things for the Representation of his greatest Grace and our comfort as best sitting this staâ—e of Senses and Infirmity such as for the Community may be had of all Nations and in all Countries either by native Commodities as in most or by cheap and easy Commerce with others whose abundance may spare though where the proper species of bread and wine cannot be had those means of nourishment
and favour of God detaining my mind in such degrees of ignorance as may render my sin less odious to me and make me less sensible of my misery and want of Mercy hardning and consirming my will against those Pious and Good motions by which the Spirit of God oftentimes attempts to soften it to an ingenuous submission to God and his Will disordering my affections and diverting them from those right Objects which Reason and Religion propound and my own Conscience cannot but approve VI. Which makes my sin out of measure sinful and dangerous so that in the shame and confusion which this sight of it self casts upon my Soul I have enough to do to see and weigh my own unworthiness and fill my Conscience with that fear of the Wrath of God and horror of Eternal Judgment which I confess might justly punish all my sins with despair and it as the greatest of all sins with Damnation And beyond these thoughts I could noâ— I durst not go in this gulfe of sin and the apprehensions of my misery should I sink not daring to send up the least thought to Heaven for a better Estate nor apply my self to the means of any Use or Happiness VII If I did not see by a Divine and Glorious Light of Truth a Hand of Mercy and means of recovery and Salvation stretched out to me and assuring me by the unerring and undeceiveable veracity of God and the infallibility of his Promises that his Thoughts are thoughts of Mercy and Pardon to sinful Mankind that he hath graciously found a way of satisfying his Justice and taking off the Guilt and Punishment of our sins from our Souls by the sufferings of Jesus Christ God and Man transferring the Guilt and punishment of our sins to him and imputing the Merits of his Righteousness to us upon condition we believe on him and cast our Souls how sinful soever they be into the Arms of his Mercy and by the serious apprehension of this infinite Love and Goodness be won from the Love of sin to Repentance and Amendment of Life Upon this Truth and Grace revealed by God to his Church and my Soul in particular I lay hold and cast my self with all the Guilt and Burden of my sins what aggravations soever for number or quality they admit being assured that they are infinitely less than the Mercies of God and Merits of Jesus Christ This wonderful Truth of God which I dare not I cannot deny this Mercy which above all things I need adds new Mercy to my dead and languishing Soul this represents God to me in the face of Jesus Christ as the highest Good most to be desired loved and admired VIII This shews me my sin in the true colours of ingratitude vileness end unworthiness against that Mercy which offers Pardon for my sin against a Saviour who hath died for me This stirs up a hatred and resolution against sin out of a principal love and apprehension of a wonderful desert and obligation of love and unspeakable Kindness to me that as I have the greatest cause that can be to be humbled in the sight of my sin and self so that the surest ground that can be whereon to settle my Faith and Comfort is the Truth and Mercy of God which by the Word Spirit and Son of God is assured to me that although by my sin I have highly displeased and dishonoured God Almighty yet by my trust and believing in his Truth and Promises of Pardon and Salvation through Jesus Christ I shall greatly please and honour him giving him the Glory of his Grace and Mercy by sealling to his Truth which to question or deny or not to believe is to make all my other sins unpardonable and add a sin of a higher nature than any I have yet committed that is unbelief or giving God the lye and its inseperable companion impenitency IX Won therefore and melted by this great certain and preventive Kindness and Love of God which in no sort I could deserve yet cannot deny or doubt of I grow dayly to see more clearly and embrace more firmly affectionately the Goodness of God to my Soul and from thence to a more tender sense and greater detestation of sin not so much now daring to sin as not willing to sin denying the motions and occasions to sin not so much out of fear of punishment as a love to please and an extream secret shame of returning evil to such wonderful Goodness abhorring sin not so much for the evil which follows it as for the evil which is in it and deformity and vileness of it which I see by the glymps of that Beauty and Loveliness which I discover in Holiness and Vertue the Image of God the highest Ornament and Happiness of the Creature X. Thus in some degrees freed from the Fear and Love of my sin Holy desires and good affections as followers of the Sun's Accession in the Spring begin to arise in my heart and though they suffer a great allay by the Earth of the Body in which the Soul is planted yet they assure me that the Spirit of God hath moved upon that Chaos the deadness and barrenness of my Soul and by a secret but most effectual influence hath made me a New Creature by ingrafting me into the Tree of Life Jesus Christ and washing me in that pure Fountain of his Blood which was shed for the Remission of my sins Thus now I desire nothing more than daily to attain a fuller Sight and Capacity of this admired Mercy that as my knowledge in the Greatness and Truth of it increaseth so my Faith in the applying of it may be strengthened my Affections in the thankful return of my self may be enflamed my Charity and Virtue towards others may be excited glad to have occasions really to express my Love Pity and Forgiveness of others that grateful Sense I have of God's Love to me in Christ XI And that the whole course of my Life may be so ordered as becomes one who is united to the Son of God not only by the Community of the humane Nature but by the efficacy of the same Holy Spirit and raised to the hopes of the same Glory and Happiness that now nothing is more acceptable to me than to meditate of this great Mystery of man's Salvation nothing more delightful than the thoughts of God reconciled to me in Jesus Christ nothing more welcom than the use of those means by which God doth further confirm and assure this Mercy and Truth to my Soul whose many failings though they often shake my confidence and obscure my comfort yet the sight of the Promises and the seals of the Sacrament annexed to them in which I behold Jesus Christ crucified does again establish my heart and assure me that the All-powerful Love and Grace of God will not be overcome by the sin and wickedness of man but will effectually repair the breaches of my dayly infirmities and satisfie the doubtings of