was slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing Oh come Lord Jesus take possession of my Soul and dwell Thou for ever with me that I may be the more fit for such a Happiness transform me into thy Likeness by the renewing of my Mind Open ye everlasting Doors of my Heart that the King of Glory may come in When He delivers it to you join with Him and say The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for me preserve my Body and Soul unto Everlasting Life And as you are eating it say within your self O Jesu Thou art the Living and Life giving Bread which cometh down from Heaven which whosoever eateth he shall live for ever Thy Flesh is Meat indeed and thy Blood is Drink indeed On Thee my hungry Soul shall feed by my Faith with hearty Thankfulness Let me tast and find that Thou Lord art Gracious Thou that fillest the Hungry with good things replenish me abundantly with thy Grace Oh let this Divine and Spiritual Food afford me much Spiritual Strength and Refreshment When He delivers the Cup join with Him and say The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for me preserve my Body and Soul unto Everlasting Life And when you have drank it say Thy Love O King of Saints is better than Wine As the Apple-tree among the Trees of the Wood so is my Beloved among the Sons We will remember thy Love more than Wine The Remembrance of thy wondrous Love shall be the frequent and the most pleasant Entertainment of my Life Thy Love O Jesu shall comfort me in my Sorrows shall strengthen me in my Weakness shall quicken and cure my Sloth and Backwardness to my Duty Oh let thy Love even transform me into Love Amen O Father of Mercies and of our Lord Jesus Christ whom thou hast set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood behold I beseech Thee this precious Sacrifice of thy Son Behold it I pray Thee and turn away from me thy poor feeble Creature all the Wrath and Vengeance which my Sins have deserv'd This is that on which I firmly and solely rely to find favour with Thee and this is that in which I know Thou art well-pleased Oh Father of Mercies have Mercy upon me Deal always with thy Servant according to thy Mercy And teach me thy Statutes that I may hereafter serve and please Thee in Newness of Life And I humbly hope and desire to be accepted with Thee through the Merits and Mediation of thy beloved Son who died for our Sins and rose again for our Justification is now set down at thy right hand and ever lives to make Intercession for us Amen Taking notice of the Sacrament deliver'd to others you may thus improve it Jesus the rich and bounteous Lover has good things in store for as many as come unto Him Jesus is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him Of his Fulness do all we receive and Grace for Grace See my Soul see here thy Master's Bounty and Love See Him here giving even Himself to His Friends My Soul if Jesus so lov'd us all we ought also to love one another This Commandment has He left us that He who loves God should love his Brother also Study then what Offices of Love and Kindness it may lie in thy Power to do to any of these thy fellow Communicants and resolve upon it for the Kind Jesus will take it as even done to Him If thou love Him truly thou must needs love those whom He loves Thou must pity them in all their Distresses Spiritual and Temporal whom He has pitied in their Misery at so costly a Rate Thou must learn to forgive those whom He forgives Thou must be liberal according to thy Power and their Necessities to those whom thou seest the Objects of his Bounteous Love And especially thou must charge thy self not to Hate not to do any Despite or Injury to any of these for even that too would He take as done to Himself Thou must not despise any of these for their mean Condition in this World He may have made the poor of this World rich in Faith Thou must not envy nor grudge at any of them whom the Providence of God has favour'd more than He has done Thee in the Blessings of this World Thou must take heed always that thy Carriage be not a Scandal and Occasion of Sin to any of these that thou destroy not Him whom Christ died for And blessed be thy Name O Lord for these sweet and pleasant Laws I willingly bind my self O Jesu to Observe these thy Laws of Love Oh thou great Pattern of Love learn me to Love O Kindest Jesu thy Body was broken and is divided amongst us to unite us to Thee and to one another Let it be amongst us a Common Incentive of Mutual Charity Let it be in its Effects Unity of Spirit among us a Bond of Peace and all Righteousness of Life in our Carriage one towards another O Thou the Great Fountain of Love pour it abundantly into my Heart and into the Hearts of all thy Faithfull People That we may abound in Love one towards another and by thus bearing thy Glorious Character and Likeness in Love may show to all Men that we are indeed thy Disciples Amen When all have Communicated and the Minister begins the Prayers that remain you are to leave off all private Devotions and to join with Him and the Congregation to the End After He has pronounced the Blessing you may privately say To Him that loved us and wash'd us from our Sins in his own Blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father To Him with the Father and the Holy Ghost be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen Then rising from your Knees kindly and courteously salute your Fellow Communicants at the parting of the Congregation Some Private Devotions at Home after the Communion SECT XX. A Meditation on the Communion OH my Soul seriously consider how thou hast been honour'd how thou hast been entertain'd in the House of God this Day Thou hast been a Guest to the King of Saints the Lord of Life and Glory Divine Love has been thy Heavenly Entertainment and Man did eat Angel's Food Thy Saviour thy Friend has brought Thee into his Banqueting-House his Banner over Thee was Love Thou canst not surely very soon forget the Pleasures of this Feast Has it not left behind it a very pleasing relish Has it not put thy Mouth quite out of tast towards the things of this World It is very fit that it should do so It would become Thee for some time after this to account this World's best Delights to be but four and infipid and certainly if thou meditate upon the good Entertainment thou hast had it will be so Jesus the Glorious Son of God was Master of the Feast thou
the Day of Redemption Let all Men know that the wilfull neglect and refusal of this Sacrament is a damnable Sin of Omission and puts every Man that is guilty of it out of a state of Grace and Salvation And they that neglect to come to this Ordinance when 't is prepar'd for them may very justly fear that God will not bless any other to them For what ground have they to think he will bless one of his Ordinances to them while they neglect another or let them obtain by Prayer and Hearing the Word what he has Commanded them to use this Sacrament for too that they might obtain it And then they that live in neglect of this are in great danger never to be saved by any other means of Salvation Men may perhaps think themselves very good if they keep their Church attend the publick Prayers and sometimes hear sometimes sleep away a Sermon But if they neglect this Sacrament they must expect God will reject all their other performances He that breaks the Law in one point the Scripture says is guilty of all And then he that neglects his Obedience to any one of God's Commands knowingly and wilfully will be lookt upon and treated by Almighty God as if he fulfill'd none of them Oh that Men would seriously lay these things to Heart and consider the terrible Danger which they put themselves into by this Neglect Let us be assur'd that what-ever it is that hinders us from preparing our selves and coming to this Sacrament it is a Snare and Temptation of the Devil the great Adversary of our Souls Who knows the great and saving Efficacy of this Sacrament and therefore would not have Men use it Who knows that if we seriously and frequently attend upon this Means of our Salvation he must despair of ever accomplishing our Destruction Oh let us defeat the malicious design of our Enemy and resist all Suggestions that would beat us off from this practice Let us consider how kindly and lovingly the Lord Jesus the great Lover of Souls invites us to it Come unto me says he all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest Let us not give him cause to complain of us and say Ye will not come unto me that ye might have Life Let us consider what noble and inviting Entertainment he has provided for us at this Heavenly Feast He designs to entertain us with assurances of his Love with the Divine Influences of his Holy Spirit with the joyfull pledges and fore-tasts of Heaven and is this what is but fit to be despised Consider at what a costly rate and price He has provided us this Entertainment Even at the price of his own cruel Sufferings and bitter Death and of his most precious Blood If we love our Souls then and have any concern for their Salvation let us prepare our selves and come to this Sacrament as often as we can If we have any true Love to the Lord Jesus our best Friend our kind Saviour who lov'd us and laid down his Life for us Let us earnestly desire and seek the Purchases of his Blood and seek to be made partakers of them in that way in which he has appointed us to do so as we shall certainly do if we really and sincerely desire them I must not insist too long upon this matter If what I have said cannot persuade any unwilling Soul to prepare and come to this Sacrament I would wish that I could but obtain so much of such an one as to read and consider a short Discourse to this purpose written by His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury call'd A Persuasive to frequent Communion There he should see the most subtle Insinuations which the Adversary can suggest to with-hold him from his Interest and Duty in this Case utterly baffled and confuted And as there is reason to believe that Discourse has prevail'd upon many so there is reason to expect both from that success and from the strength of it that none can consider it well but it must prevail with him SECT XII Of Fitness to come to this Sacrament BUT the common pretence and excuse that hinders Men from coming to this Sacrament is That they are not fit for it And they are afraid of Eating and Drinking unworthily and of incurring their own Damnation thereby It is therefore the design of this little Book to show what Fitness is requisite for a worthy and profitable Receiving of this Sacrament and to help Men to that Fitness by the Blessing of God which they shall not fail to obtain of Him by Earnest Prayer and the serious and frequent perusal of what is here presented And since in Celebrating this Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ we are to renew and confirm this Covenant which we have been speaking of between God and us This will abundantly direct us what Preparation and Fitness is requisite that we may be meet Partakers of it to our profit and comfort And it is necessary that we know what the Terms and Conditions of it are which God requires to be perform'd on our parts and what it offers and promises on God's part This matter therefore has been already for that reason distinctly and somewhat particularly represented In the next place we must unfeignedly and sincerely chuse and lay hold on this Covenant It must be the hearty desire the sincere purpose of our Souls to be engag'd in it To be bound in these happy Bonds which set our Souls at liberty from the Bonds of Sin and Death We must desire the Blessings and seek the Favours of it and readily accept and submit to the Terms and Conditions and declare that we will expect our Salvation upon those Terms And also we must certainly be very thankfull to the Son of God at this Memorial of his Death since He became the Mediatour of this Covenant and has by his Death procur'd the favour of new Terms of Salvation and the Offer of Peace and Reconcilement with God upon so gentle and easie terms And he who has that Knowledge of this Covenant and this good disposition of Mind thereupon that Man is fit for this Sacrament and if he comes he shall be a welcome Guest at the Lord's Table Now as I have represented the Knowledge necessary to this I shall go on to represent also more particularly the good Disposition of Mind which we ought to come with And I shall represent this in such a way as will be fit to form it in Men where it is not or to excite and actuate it and set it into Exercise where it is I shall represent it in the following Acts or Exercises of it Which you may take notice are a lively Description of a very meet Receiver of this Sacrament So that he who would become fit for this Sacrament must read and meditate on those things till he finds those Dispositions and Affections rais'd in him which are therein
this which afflicted his Body was the least part of the Sufferings He felt He suffer'd more abundantly more than all this in the Sufferings of his Soul For I must consider further that this Death of His was an Accursed one in the account of the Jewish Law that is in the account of God Himself for it was He that had order'd and taught them to account it so on purpose that it might fore-tell and signifie before-hand That the Redeemer of the World should bear in his Death the Curse and Punishment which the Divine Law had justly threatned against the Sins of Men. This then must call to thy Mind the mighty Sufferings of His Soul He was made a Curse for us and God laid on Him the Iniquities of us all By Men was He treated as a Malefactour and by God too The Light of his Father's Countenance and the pleasing Aspects of his Love which had been always the Joy of his Soul and the Reward of all his Labours in his Service and till now had been constantly enjoy'd was now when He wanted it most withdrawn when He was under His sharp outward Sufferings and when He was at the point of Death And in making his Soul an Offering for Sin He was afficted and terrified with God's Almighty Wrath and Displeasure This made Him cry out who was silent before My God my God why hast thou forsaken me He felt the Wrath which our Sins had deserved Oh terrible thing Who can conceive what He endur'd We may believe no Torments can exceed those He felt in his Soul except it be those of Hell if they do Oh wounding Thought This stabs and pierces my Soul This tells me It was not so much the Cruel Jew or Barbarous Roman Souldier that tormented and kill'd the loving Jesus as the vile Sinner It was I among the rest of Sinners that gave Him his cruellest Wounds his sharpest Sorrows It was I that wounded that kill'd my Saviour and Friend I shed his Life's most precious Blood Was there ever such a thing known besides this O Jesu there was never any Love like thine and there is nothing so vile so base as a Sinner Greater Love than this hath no Man that one lay down his Life for his Friend But thou hast laid down thine for Enemies for those that hated thee yea for those that kill'd thee Thou art there on the Cross despised that I might be honour'd Thou art there in pain that I might be at ease Thou art there hungry and thirsty that I might be supplied with all good things Thou art there accursed that I might be blest Thou art there deserted by the Father's Favour and Love that I might enjoy the Everlasting delights of it Thou art there dying that I might live an Everlasting life in Joy and Glory unspeakable and Eternal Oh Jesu Was I more dear to thee than thine own Life Was I to be rather indulg'd than thine own Ease and more to be respected than thine own Honour What am I Lord Oh what is Man that thou art thus mindfull of him There was never Love like thine None but a God could love thus Oh Adorable Mystery Oh Wonder of Wonders Thy Greatness is unsearchable thy Love is incomprehensible and thy Ways are past finding out With profoundest Reverence I Adore thy Incomprehensible Love I leave off to fathom what I can never reach and will give up my self to Praise and Admire for ever SECT XIV An Exercise of Repentance HAve I indeed given my kind and compassionate Saviour so much Grief by my Sins and shall they give me none Oh that my Head were Waters and my Eyes a Fountain of Tears to drench my filthy polluted Soul But alas it is not all the Tears that I am able to shed which could ever make me clean or wash out the stain of any the least of my Sins Oh I am become it seems so exceeding foul and have contracted stains of such a nature that nothing but this precious stream my Saviour's life's Blood can cleanse me How am I fallen from the Dignity and Honour of my Creation I was made little lower than the Angels by my Bounteous Creatour but I have made my self more vile than the Beasts that perish I was made subject to no Creature not bound to pay any Homage or Service towards the Glorious Angels though made lower than them but alas I have made my self a slave to the abject Devil I have refused to serve God my Maker and Friend and have drudg'd for my mortal Enemy Oh wretched Man that I am I have sought his Service while I have declin'd thine and run after his Temptations while I have endeavour'd to evade thy Commands Oh I have been forward to do Evil and backward to all that is Good I have combin'd with my Soul 's great Enemy to hasten and encrease my Damnation Infinite Goodness How unjustly how basely art thou requited for all thy bounteous Love to Mankind Who can conceive or express the Vileness the Enormity of Sin Which is a Contempt of thy infinite Majesty a Rebellion against thy unquestionable Authority an Abuse of thy free Goodness a Defiance of thy Almighty Power a Denial of thy incomparable Wisdom and an Affront to all thy glorious Attributes Which is contrary to that Honour and Homage which I owe thee as thy Creature Wo is me that I should ever offend my Maker so liberal and so gracious a Father Wo is me that I should slight and affront the Love of Jesus my Redeemer as I have done it in cherishing those vile Sins that He came to destroy O Jesu at what a costly rate hast thou lov'd me and merited my Love And how loth how slow am I to entertain the Love of thee Thou hast Loved where thy Hatred has been deserv'd and I vile wretch have hated Him that has infinitely deserv'd my Love Thy Love to me has been a vast Condescension and has caused thy Humility and Abasement yet wouldest thou love the Unworthy But my Love to thee would have been my Honour and Glory my Everlasting Advancement yet have I been unwilling to love thee Wo is me I have been obstinate in Wickedness Oh how have I griev'd the Holy Spirit in neglecting resisting and opposing his good and kind Motions in my Soul turning a deaf Ear to his gentle Admonitions and refusing to be converted and healed Oh my God in our Sins we despise thy Will and do our own We disown thee and make Gods of our selves In our Sins we believe the great Deceiver before the God of Truth and follow his delusive Temptations rather than thy rich and faithfull Promises In our Sins we preferr Earth before Heaven the Creature before the Creatour and reckon there is more Happiness in the Enjoying some of them than in the Enjoyment of Thee the Infinite Fountain of Good Oh how vile how enormous a thing is Sin Who can sufficiently hate it I see O Lord in the terrible
it into a Prayer thus O God that searchest the Hearts and triest the Reins of Men and who hast commanded us to come to the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ Thou knowest I have diligently Examin'd my self before I would presume to eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup and have endeavour'd that I might with a true penitent Heart and lively Faith receive this Holy Sacrament that so I may to my great Benefit and Consolation spiritually eat the Flesh of Christ herein and drink his Blood that I may be one with Christ and Christ with Me And that I might not receive the same unworthily nor which I dread to speak be guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ my Saviour and so eat and drink my own Damnation not considering the Lord's Body That I might not kindle thy Wrath against me but find favour in thy sight That I might not provoke Thee to plague me with Temporal Afflictions but obtain the continuance of such Comforts as I enjoy and the bestowing of such as Thou seest most convenient for me That I might not provoke Thee to cut me off by an untimely Death I have according to the direction of thy Apostle seriously judg'd my self Do not thou enter into Judgment with thy Servant O Lord for in thy sight shall no Man living be justified I have repented my past Sins and do repent of them I have endeavour'd to be possest of a lively and stedfast Faith in Christ my Saviour Lord encrease my Faith I resolve to amend by the Assistance of thy Grace what-ever Evil I shall be convinced of in my Life And I heartily seek thy Favour upon this just and reasonable Condition of being in Charity with all Men. O Lord I forgive let me be forgiven And after all I most humbly pray Thee who alone canst do it to make me a meet partaker of these Holy Mysteries Above all I give most humble and hearty Thanks to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of our Saviour Christ both God and Man Who did humble Himself even to the Death upon the Cross for us miserable Sinners Who lay in Darkness and the shadow of Death that He might make us the Children of God and Exalt us to Everlasting Life I desire at this time with all Thankfulness to remember the Exceeding great Love of our Master and only Saviour in his thus Dying for us and the Innumerable Benefits which by his precious Blood-shedding He hath obtain'd to us I heartily give Him thanks too for that He hath further shown his Love to wretched Sinners in his Instituting and Ordaining Holy Mysteries for Pledges of his Love that we might have the move full Assurance of it and for a continual Remembrance of his Death to our Great and Endless Comfort To Him therefore with the Father and the Holy Ghost I gave as I am most bounden continual Thanks submitting my self wholly to his Holy will and Pleasure and purposing that I will study to serve Him in true Holiness and Righteousness all the Days of my Life Amen In the next place you are to join with the Minister with all Humility and true Godly Sorrow in a Confession of Sins and to receive by Him God's Absolution To the Sentences of Holy Scripture which He next recites to encourage our Faith and Hope in God it may be proper to make in your Hearts some such Answers as these To those Words of our Saviour Come unto me c. Answer Behold O Lord I come Jesus thou Son of David have Mercy upon me To those Words God so loved the World c. Answer O Father of Mercies have Mercy upon me and give me that Faith in thy Son that I may not Perish but have Everlasting Life To the Words of St. Paul This is a true Saying c. Answer Lord I believe the Truth of this and thankfully embrace so Important a Truth O Christ save me one of the chiefest of Sinners To the Words of St. John If any Man sin c. Answer Be Thou O Jesus the Righteous my Powerfull Advocate with the Father O Father accept of his Death as a Propitiation for my Sins To what the Minister says next you are to make the Answers directed and to join with Him in the Praises and Prayers following After that the Bread and Wine is by the Prayer of Consecration set apart to represent the Body and Blood of Christ and while the Ministers are receiving you must look upon the Elements with an Holy Awfull Reverence and sadly call to Mind the Scourging the Buffetings the Crown of Thorns the cruel Nails and Spear which wounded and bruised which tore and kill'd the Loving Jesus You may remember the more terrible Sufferings and sharp Agonies of his Soul which He endur'd especially when He made his Life an Offering for Sin And you should call to mind it was your Sins that gave Him all these Sufferings and Griefs that yet He endur'd them for your Advantage And He was Scourg'd that by His stripes you might be healed He shed His Blood to ransome you from Hell and Misery and died that He might obtain for you Everlasting Life and Happiness And while the rest of the Company are receiving if they are a good Number you will have leisure and may very profitably entertain your self with reading over the foregoing Exercises of Thankfull Remembrance Faith c. And in reading them you may Exercise those Graces as you ought to do If there will not be time to repeat them all you may do well to chuse some such a one or more of them as is most suitable to the present State and disposition of your Mind For the Devout Soul may be at one time more taken up in Admiration and Praise of the Dying Love of Jesus Christ At another time it may be especially possest with a deep Humiliation and Repentance at another time it may be elevated with the Hopes and Joys of Believing Or engag'd in making Earnest Resolutions of Love Obedience and Gratitude to the Great Redeemer Or in Exercises of Charity to the miserable and sinfull World And your Entertainment at this spare time may be chosen accordingly Only this must be advised in relation to this matter That you should make Observation of your self whether you do not too commonly fix your Meditations upon one and the same of these Exercises and so neglect the rest For this must not be allow'd But you must constrain your self if need be to use sometimes one and sometimes another of these that so you may at times Exercise every Grace and by the Exercise encrease in all When you go to Receive and see the Minister approaching with the Sacred Bread which represents the broken Body of our Lord look on it and say Behold my Soul the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the World Worthy is the Lamb that