bestow upon all those who perform the conditions of the new Covenant God is not only pleased to make a Covenant with us and plainly to declare his readiness to perform his part but also gives us his seal and so does abundantly assure us of his own stedfastness and constancy For such is our weakness so great our unbelief that we need very great supports and an abundant assurance to buoy up our sinking and incredulous hearts And on the other hand so great is the meroy and condescension of our gracious God that he is ready to consider our frame and to give us the greater security assurance He does not only promise us the pardon of our sins in his New Covenant but he also gives us his seal to it besides That so by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us Heb. 2.18 Thus gratiously does God deal with Mankind He gives them his Covenant and his Seal too He not only gives out his decree in the expresses of his will but he signes and seals it also that we may be assured that it is unalterable as it is said the Law of the Medes and Persians in that case was Dan. 6.8 God makes a Covenant with Noah and his sons that he will no more destroy the earth by a flood but to give them still a greater assurance he sets his bow in the cloud as a token of this Covenant between himself and them Gen. 9. And when God makes a Covenant with Abraham and with his seed he does command Circumcision as a token of this Covenant between himself and them Gen. 17.11 God does not only give us his Word but his Sacrament the token of his truth This God does because he is gracious and because our wretched unbelief is so great that we need the utmost assurance And this certainly is one great end of the Sacrament that we might have alwayes with us a sure pledge of the favour and grace of God that we might not miscarry through our unbelief that we might have a full assurance that God would pardon our sins if we do on our part perform the condition of the New Covenant Our Saviours words are plain to this purpose This is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins Matth. 28.26 This Sacrament is the instrument of conveyance the Seal that gives us right and title to this great grace and mercy of God We receive in this Sacrament the Body and Blood of Christ and the benefits of his Death The pardon of our sin is here made over to us God hath given us visible pledges of his readiness to forgive our sins And because we are very jealous and suspicious very unapt to believe that such wretches as we are should be received into Gods favour he hath given us this abundant assurance He receives us to his own Table gives us under the symbols of Bread and Wine the Body and Blood of his Son who died for our sins and entertains us with this food of heaven In that God hath given us his Son and given him up to death and this death he underwent for our sins we have a great assurance that with him he will give us all things and that he is ready to pardon those sins for which our Lord hath shed his blood But then this blessed Sacrament is greatly efficacious towards the obtaining of this pardon because it is the ministery of the Death of Christ by which our pardon was procured But then we must be careful that we do not think that our pardon is procured by any inherent vertue of the outward elements of Bread and Wine or that our partaking of these alone will procure this remission of sins For the pardon of sin is procured by the blood of our Saviour and we attain not to it without a lively faith and a performing the conditions of the Gospel But if we do this we have good assurance of pardon when we partake of this Sacrament which is the Ministery of the Death of Christ But then we must have a faith in Christ that is as we eat the outward Element of Bread and drink the Wine so must our Souls receive our Lord Jesus Christ They must entertain him with all his precepts and in all his offices Our hearts must receive him as our Prophet to instruct and teach us as our Lord to rule and govern us as well as our Priest to make a satisfaction for us to the Divine Justice And as we hunger and thirst for our bodily food so we must hunger after the Spiritual provisions that Christ hath made for our Souls We must earnestly breathe after righteousness and purity of heart There must be in our Souls an hunger and a thirst they must receive and feed and not our bodies only It is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing John 6.63 As our mouth eats the outward element so faith must eat too And it is not a notion not an empty nothing that will feed a lively faith It conveys as real a supply to the Soul as the outward Elements do nourishment to the body The body receives the outward symbol the Soul the inward grace We eat and drink the Element but 't is the Soul that feeds on the thing signified and represented And therefore let not the sinner who lives in his sin and loves it think to obtain his pardon by partaking of this Sacrament This Sacrament will not avail such a man as this is for the death of Christ will profit him nothing if he lives in his sins and loves them and therefore this Sacrament can avail him nothing it being but the Annunciation of the Death of Christ and therefore it cannot save that sinner whom the death of his Lord does not avail It is a vain thing for such a sinner to take sanctuary here If there be not in our souls a principle of new Life it is not the outward Elements of Bread and Wine that will help us God is ready to forgive our sins and we may see it clearly in this Sacrament but while we love our sins we are uncapable of this grace of God 'T is the burdened and the ladened sinner that shall find this favour 'T is he that hates his sin and strives against it These are those whom Christ came to seek and save 'T is not the outward work will save us if there be not in us the grace of God There is no pardon in the Gospel for the obdurate and impenitent sinner and therefore we may not look for it in any of the exterior offices of Religion And therefore let no man deceive himself in this matter He that comes in his sins out of hopes of a pardon will be so far deceived that instead of obtaining a pardon for his former guilt he will contract
cleanse his heart He that believes it as he ought endeavours to be holy as God is holy Again the Gospel tells us that we must not swear at all Matth. 5.34 Nay more than that that we shall give an account at the day of judgement for every idle word we speak Matth. 12.36 Now certain it is that there are many who swear in their ordinary conversation and others also who forswear themselves and whose mouths are full of cursing and bitterness And who can think that such men as these are do believe the Gospel as they should do He believes aright who does practise those precepts which he professes the belief of He that does not that is an unbeliever He may profess that he knows God but in works he denies him Tit. 1.16 and they that do so the Apostle reckons among the unbelieving ver 15. Our Saviour tells us that he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life i. e. he that obeyeth the Son 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for he presently adds he that believeth not the Son or he that obeyeth not the Son as those words may well be rendred shall not see life Joh. 3.36 And when the Apostle tells us that God sware to some that they should not enter into his rest he adds that it was to them who believed not so we render the words but they might be rendred to them who obeyed not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And then he presently infers we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief Heb. 3.18 19. To believe on the name of Christ is to receive him Joh. 1.12 But if we receive him as we should we must receive him and acknowledge him in all his Offices as our Prophet Priest and King That is we must believe the truth of his Doctrine as he is our great Prophet and that Teacher who came from God and then we must obey his Precepts as he is our Lord and our King as well as expect pardon from him as he is our Priest and our Atonement We must receive him as he is offered to us in the Gospel and not only confidently expect our pardon from him but we must receive him as God hath sent him and God hath sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities Act. 3.26 Now that it is such a Faith in Christ as I have been speaking of which the Scriptures require of us in order to our eternal Salvation will appear 1. If we consider the great end of the manifestation of Jesus Christ or the great purpose for which he was sent into the World Now we must not think that Christ came into the world and did and suffered those great things which we read of him only to procure our pardon and indemnity we must not think that the only end of all this was that we might be delivered from the evil effects and bad consequents of our sins he would be certainly a welcome Saviour to the worst of mankind upon this score For provided we may enjoy our sins we are content that he should suffer for them We are very willing that he should bear the blame provided we may but have the liberty to commit the fault Though we love our sins well yet are we not fond of the sorrows which they bring with them We are willing enough that Christ should pay our scores and well pleased to live in our sins and take it kindly that Christ would die for them But certain it is that Christ appeared and suffered for us too that he might deliver us from the power and dominion as well as from the guilt of our sins He did not die for sin that we might live in it He never came to discharge us from our duty we think unworthily of our Saviour and of our Religion if we think thus He came to plant the divine life in our hearts to make us better and more like unto God Let the holy Scriptures speak in this matter His name is called Jesus because he should save his people from their sins Matth. 1.21 It is ridiculous to say that by sins is meant no more than the punishment of them Nor can we think that Christ came into the world for no other end He would then have taken away the effect and left the cause remaining This would be to remove the less evil and to let the greater continue as if a Physician should only project how to remove or abate the symptom and take no care to suppress the disease and remove the morbifick matter which is the cause of it Certainly we think meanly of our Saviours design if we think this was all his business in the World He came to save us from our sins and they are a greater evil sure than the effects of them This is a nobler conquest than to deliver us from death And this sure was the great purpose of our blessed Saviour When God promised the Messias no less blessing was contained in that promise than this that we might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our Life Luk. 1.74 75. The Apostle certainly understood the great end for which Christ appeared He tells us that for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil 1 Joh. 3.8 And that this was one great end why our Lord laid down his life no man can deny that gives any credit to the Holy Scriptures There we are told that he gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Tit. 2.14 Again it is said that he gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil World Gal. 1.4 And that he dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again 2 Cor. 5.15 He dyed for his Church indeed but then he gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be Holy and without blemish Eph. 5.25 26 27. The same Apostle tells his Colossians that Christ hath reconciled them in the body of his flesh through death to present them holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight Col. 1.21 22. Besides what hath been said we are from the death of Christ exhorted to an Holy Life 1 Pet. 4.1 2. Rom. 6.3 4. 1 Cor. 5.7 8. Which certainly we could not so effectually have been had our Saviour only dyed for our Indemnity and to procure our pardon But since he dyed for sin that we might not live in it well may we from his death be exhorted to an Holy Life and Conversation Which if we do not lead we do then frustrate and make void the
All-sufficiency and Veracity when he is in straits and difficulties He that believes as he should when trouble comes is not dismaid for his heart is fixed trusting in the Lord. He well knows that God is faithful and therefore he quiets himself when the greatest storms arise 2. Abraham did yield himself obedient to Gods commands also how cross soever they were to flesh and blood And his doing that was an act of that Faith which he is celebrated for in the Holy Scriptures When God commands him to leave his Country his kindred and his Fathers house Gen. 12.1 He readily departs ver 4. And obeys God who had commanded him though the thing it self were so very difficult For 't is no easie thing at such an age to leave ones Country our kindred and fathers house and go to a land which we know not of But this Abraham did and it was an act of his Faith also By faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance obeyed and he went out not knowing whither he went Heb. 11.8 Again when God had given him a Son a Son of all his hopes and of his old age a Son whom he loved and his only Son too a Son of the promise and of the free Woman yet when God who gave him requires him of him he is not only willing to part with him but with his own hands to sacrifice him where God appoints him Gen. 22. And this was an act of his Faith also for so we read By faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that received the promises offered up his only begotten Son of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called Heb. 11.17 18. Such a Faith had this Father of the Faithful and such a Faith as this must we have also if we would be the Children of Abraham He hath the Faith of Abraham and he only that doth his works If our Faith be saving we shall yield our selves obedient to all the Laws of God Nothing will be so dear to us as the words of Gods mouth We shall part with every thing quietly which God commands away from us We shall obey his Precepts as well as believe his promises if our Faith be of the right stamp We shall be at Gods dispose if we be such Believers as we ought to be And our great care will be this that we resign up our will to the will of God We do but pretend to Faith if we be void of good works And then we may only be thought to be the Children of Abraham when we do his works Abraham shewed his faith by his works and so must we do also For as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also Jam. 2.26 3. It will farther appear that a saving Faith is productive of a good life if we do but diligently consider what great things the Holy Scriptures speak of Faith For it is greatly magnified in the holy writ and such things are said of it as do greatly advance it above that lazy and ineffectual faith which we please our selves with Very many and very excellent things are said to have been done by Faith Heb. 11. This made the Sacrifice of Abel more excellent in Gods sight than that of Cain 'T was by Faith that Enoch pleased God and was translated This puts Noah upon making the Ark in which a remnant of of the World were saved By Faith Moses contemns the riches and pleasures of the Egyptian Court and rather chuses to suffer affliction with Gods people This carried the Israclites through the Red Sea this threw down the Walls of Jericho and saved Rahab from that common destruction Faith subdued Kingdoms wrought Righteousness obtained Promises stopped the mouths of Lions overcame fire and sword made weakness strong turned armies to flight This put courage and resolution into the weak and prevailed against that which did oppose it Great are the works which a true and saving Faith hath done It enables both to do and suffer for the name of Christ It enables us to perform the hardest tasks of Religion It will enable us to forgive our offending brother Luk. 17.5 And to cleanse our hearts of our filthines Act. 15.9 Aye and beside all this the Apostle tells us that this is the vistory that overcometh the World even our faith 1 Joh. 5.4 And when the Apostle exhorts us to put on the whole armour of God he bids us above all to take the sheild of faith wherewith we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked Ephes 6.16 So that it is the great engine against the Devil the World and the Flesh It vanquishes our Spiritual enemies and triumphs over them It works miraculously where it is It subdues our lusts and enables us to conquer our greatest enemies And certainly then the Faith which the Scriptures speak thus greatly of is not a sluggish and lazy Faith but it does produce in us a great change of Heart and Life Our Saviour tells his Disciples that if they had faith as a grain of mustard-seed they might say to a mountain remove hence to yonder place and it shall remove and nothing should be impossible unto them Mat. 17.20 It is true indeed the first Preachers of the Gospel had the power of doing Miracles bestowed upon them such a faith had they but we have it not But yet we have a Faith still if we be the genuine followers of Christ that does enable us to do works that are miraculous also though not in the same kind with theirs Indeed they had power to do great Miracles and wonderful works in the World for the confirming that Gospel which was but newly planted among men This power is now ceased with the reason of it vid. Chrysost vol. 5. p. 274. Edit Savil. But yet a true Faith does very mighty works and such as are as pleasing to God and of themselves more advantagious to us than that power of working Miracles would have been They cast out Devils and could easily dispossess them from the bodies of men but then our Faith enables us to cast him out of our hearts They cured diseases that were bodily our Faith cleanses our Souls They could raise the dead our Faith raises us from the death of sin to the life of Righteousness They could heal Lepers give sight to the Blind restore the Lame and destroy the obstinate offenders Our saving Faith cures our leprosie of Sin opens our blind eyes enables us to walk in Gods ways and throws down the obstacles that lie in our way What was done by the first Preachers of the Gospel is done daily by every sincere Christian If they destroyed the Devil so does he They turn'd him out of his Temples he out of his heart The works of Faith now are as momentous as that of Miracles He that overcomes the world and vanquishes
his sorrowes He did not dye for sins that we might live in them but that we might dye to them His Death is a very forcible argument against the life of our lusts and a great motive to obedience We little regard our dying Lord if we at once remember his Death and break his Lawes 2. Again our Lord at his Death gave us a very great example of forgiveness of enemies and therefore when we remember his death we have very great reason to forgive our offending brother Our blessed Lord met with great enemies and such as had the greatest reason to be his friends He that eat of his bread lift up his heel against him He was betrayed by his own Disciple delivered to death by him that pronounced him innocent scourged and mocked by a rude and heady multitude He is numbred among Transgressors who had committed no sin He was hanged on the Tree who had never tasted the forbidden Fruit. He was put to death by those whom he came to seek and to save He had done them many kindnesses whilst he was among them He healed their sick fed their hungry restored their blind dispossessed their Daemoniacks and raised their dead He offended none of their Laws He paid Caesar his Tribute took care the Priest should have his Offering observed their customs went to their Festivals and was so far from profaning their Temple that he shewed a great zeal for defending it from common uses There could be nothing said against his Doctrine nothing against his Life His enemies that bare witness against him could not agree and it was infinitely plain that he was innocent And yet his Countrymen thirst after his blood and prefer a Murderer before him They want patience when our Lord wanted none They cry out Crucifie him crucifie him And what does our Lord do he cryes out too but not for Vengeance but for Mercy Father forgive them for they know not what they do Luk. 23.34 Certainly then we should be ashamed to remember these things with malice in our hearts well may we forgive our enemies when our Lord hath forgiven his We must not dare to remember the Death of Christ and to remember our Neighbours unkindness together We may not think of revenge when our Lord shewed so much mercy We cannot rightly remember Christs Death when we do not imitate his example He taught us what we should do by what he did himself We shall look very unlike our Lord if we retain our malice and ill-will 3. If we consider that Christs Death was not only for sins but also for our sins we shall still find a greater obligation upon us to forgive one another God gave his Son to dye than which there cannot be a greater miracle of Love and if God so loved us we also ought to love one another 1 Joh. 4.11 It was for us our Saviour laid down his life and who are we Had we deserved this love were we his friends that he was at this pains and cost No surely but we were sinners and enemies and yet he laid down his life for us Rom. 5.8 10. If then Christ dyed for his enemies we ought to forgive ours and then especially we are obliged to do it when we pretend to remember the Death of Christ How can we now pull our brother by the throat for a few pence when our Lord hath forgiven us so many Talents We are very ungrateful for our Lords kindness if we are unkind to one another Did we but consider Gods mercies to us we should think our selves obliged to be merciful to one another And methinks it should be easie for us to forgive our Neighbour if we did but consider how very much we need Gods forgiveness and how far we are from deserving it If our Lords eye have been so good to us why should ours be evil to one another what miserable wretches should we be if Gods mercies to us had not been greater than ours is to one another He hath forgiven us our great scores let us not retain then our grudges to our brother For shame then let us purge out this leaven of malice when we keep this Feast Let us shew our selves kind to each other when we do remember the kindness of our Blessed Saviour Besides our brothers offences against us are small in respect to ours against God We offend against an infinite Majesty we transgress the Eternal Laws of Reason How coldly do we pray to him for the greatest Blessings How insensible are we of his many mercies How very stupid and incorrigible under his severest judgments How void of the love of him who hath loved us so much If he should mark iniquities how should we be able to stand We are not able to answer for one of a thousand But yet we hope for Mercy upon our Repentance and our Faith We expect pardon from God for all these amisses And had we not this hope we should be of all men the most miserable We have then very great reason to be reconciled to our brother when we stand in so great need that God should be reconciled unto us and when we hope for the pardon of our sins from God which we do from Christs death and at this time when we do commemorate it we have a sufficient motive to forgive our brother Especially our Saviour having said If you forgive men their trespasses your Heavenly Father will aso forgive you But if ye forgive not men their Trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses Mat. 6.14 15. 2. Another great end of this Sacrament is that Christians may be knit together in the strictest bond of Love and Charity It is as I shewed you before a Feast of Love It was designed to bring us together and to make us all of one heart And a very effectual instrument it is were it rightly understood and used to that end and purpose It would soon make us one again It would bring together those who now are separated from one another When Communions were frequent in the Church Christians loved one another and kept together But when they became more seldom selemnized then the feuds among the professors of Christianity grew also For indeed this Sacrament was intended to maintain us in Love and Charity And therefore if we do not heartily forgive our brother we do destroy also this end of its Institution It is very indecent to see men at odds that eat and drink at the same common Table But it is a great wickedness to come to this Holy Table with malice and ill-will to our brother in our hearts We must not keep this feast of love with the leaven of malice VVe cannot partake of this Sacrament but we must profess a kindness to our brother and if we mean it not we are like Judas that gave his Master good words when he was ready to betray him and shall be miserable as he was into whom the Devil and the morsel entered at
that I may be able to weep bitterly as he did It will well become us when we commemorate the death of our Saviour to be very deeply humbled for our sins which put him to death 4. When thou receivest the Bread renew your Covenant with God Consent heartily to receive thy Saviour in all his Offices of Prophet Priest and King Desire earnestly to be joyned to thy Lord in the strictest bond Resolve to give thy self up intirely to the obedience of his Holy Laws Beg of him that he would dwell in thine heart give him the full possession of thy self Tell him thou art his for the time to come and that thou dost willingly give him entrance and possession of thy whole heart Say to him Lord I do heartily and joyfully entertain thee And though I am unworthy that thou shouldest come under my roof yet since it is thy condescension to visit me a poor sinner I do most joyfully receive thee Grant that I who eat of thy Bread may never lift up my heel against thee And that though many Lords have ruled in me I may henceforth only make mention of thy name Strengthen my feeble Soul that I may perform my Vows Help me that I may now be thine and that I may continue in thy love Be thou that to my Soul which bread is to my mortal and frail Body Grant that my Soul and Body may be separate and for ever set apart to thy service suffer me not to profane and unhallow what is thus solemnly consecrated to thee I offer thee my heart Lord unite it to thy fear and service Grant it may no more run astray from thee that it may not be seduced by the deceitfulness of sin by the allurements and blandishments of this wicked world but continue constant and stedfast in thy Covenant Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right or constant spirit within me Psal 51.10 5. When we receive the Cup let us again renew our consent that Christ shall rule over us And let us particularly meditate upon the great danger of revolting and sliding back This is the blood of the New Covenant the blood of the immaculate Lamb of God which was shed for us It was an ancient custom of entring into League and Covenants by slaying of beasts and shedding their blood this was in token that he that failed to perform his part did devote himself to the like destruction Oh consider then what a wrath hangs over thy head if thou trample upon the blood of Jesus There will remain nothing but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation And therefore consider well how greatly dangerous it will be for thee to disobey thy Lord for the time to come Say thus within thy self I am now renewing my Covenant with God I do now undertake to obey the Laws of Christ and make him a solemn promise of Obedience for the time to come And that I may bind my self the faster to my Lord I take the Sacrament upon it I drink of this blood of the new Covenant So that I am now bound in a stricter bond than ever I have professed a service to him a great while I have now listed my self and as it were taken a Sacramental Oath that I will be faithful This blood of my Saviour will witness against me if I fall back and so the blood of Jesus will be upon me if I prove unfaithful And therefore O my Lord look in Mercy upon me Grant that I may not after all my other sins be guilty of the blood of Christ That I may never have the blood of my Saviour to answer for Then will my case be worse than that of the Jews who Crucified him but yet knew him not to be the Lord of Glory But I know him and am dedicated to his service My sin for the future will be of a deeper dye Grant Lord that I may not be guilty of the blood of Christ that I may not put him to death that came to save my life that his innocent blood may not cry to Heaven against me and be laid to my charge What a wretched Creature shall I be if my Saviour shall be my Accuser Thus may we meditate when we receive the Cup. And indeed it will be a very seasonable meditation we shall be very wicked indeed if we do now return to our sins and evil wonts when we have not only eat the flesh but drank the blood of Christ The blood of Christ was shed for our remission and our pardon but how sad will it be with us if it be laid to our charge if that blood from whence we expect our pardon shall cry for vengeance against us There is a saying among the Jews Vi. Buxtorf Lexicon Talmud in voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is used proverbially Wo be to that man whose advocate becomes his accuser And 't is very applicable to the matter in hand Our Lord is our Advocate 1 Joh. 2.1 but if we refuse to obey his Precepts he becomes our Accuser and our Judge The blood of Jesus pleads for us if we continue obedient to his Precepts but if we trample on his blood it will speak no better things than the blood of Abel and certain it is that Abels blood called to Heaven against him that shed it And how miserable is that man who instead of receiving pardon from Christs blood receives a greater guilt from it and falls under that curse which the Jews called on themselves when they said His blood be upon us and our children 6. This will be a very fit season to intercede with God for others we shall do well to pray at this time for the whole Church of God and particularly for that part of it which is planted among us especially for all Christian Kings and Governours who do greatly need our Prayers and may very justly expect them also And here we shall do well while we are attending upon this service to pray for our friends and relatives and for those who have desired our prayers This is a Feast of love and a greater expression of our love to our brother we cannot give than to intercede earnestly for his Soul and as we are alwayes obliged to do it so are we more particularly bound to do it at this time when we commemorate the great love of our dying Saviour which he expressed to the Souls of men And we shall do well at this time to send up Ejaculations to God for them Nor must we forget to pray for those who are our enemies without a cause This our Saviour did when he was upon the Cross and when we remember his Agonies we must not forget to do as he did Let us heartily pray for them that God would forgive their sins and that he would turn their hearts We are obliged to this both by the precept and by the example of our dearest Lord Nor may we expect pardon for
his Corinthians of the danger of unworthy receiving 1 Cor. 11.27 presently puts them upon examining themselves and then upon eating this Bread and drinking this cup ver 28. We may die by a famine as well as by a surfet by not partaking at all as well as by partaking amiss He in the parable that came to the Marriage-feast without the Wedding-garment was cast into outer darkness Matth. 22.13 But then for those that were invited and would not come at all the Lord said that none of those men should taste of his Supper Luke 14.24 He that comes unworthily runs into a great danger and so does he that does not come at all There is but one way of escaping the danger and that is by calling in Gods help and a diligent preparing and fitting our selves Which we have great reason to do now 3. Because we do at this time make a very solemn approach to God We are going to his Table to be his guests to eat and drink with him And certainly we had need prepare our selves most diligently did we but rightly consider this When we go to the Table of a great man we do trim and spruce up our selves It will well become us to come hither with clean hearts when we consider that God hath an all-seeing eye and that he cannot endure to behold iniquity God will be sanctified by us or upon us It is no trifling and small matter that we are now about We make a very near approach unto God and had need therefore purge our hearts of our uncleanness lest God make a breach upon us We had need prepare to meet the Lord and sanctifie him in our hearts Let us not dare to trifle in a matter of so great weight nor to go about to mock God and impose upon him before whom all things are naked and open Nor let us by any means dare to serve God at all adventures and do such a work as this is negligently and deceitfully If we do God will be very far from accepting us or our service Wherefore draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you Cleanse your hands ye sinners and purifie your hearts ye double-minded Jam. 4.8 Here is before us life and death let us quit our selves like men girding up the Joyns of our mind and imploring the aid of Heaven that our Souls may live No less than the life of our precious Souls is concerned in this matter As we do order this affair we may either live or die Now certainly these things that have been named above will be sufficient to awaken us and provoke us to diligence if they be but believed and considered throughly Having shewed the necessity of preparing our selves I come now to shew how this must be done And first I shall shew what preparations we are to make before we do partake Secondly what behaviour will become us when we do receive Thirdly what we must do after we have received CHAP. IV. I Shall now shew what preparations we are to make in order to our worthy receiving of this Sacrament And here I might premise that in general and holy life is a very good preparative to this service Were our whole life a life of Religion we should be always in a good readiness for this service That which fits us to die fits us to receive this Sacrament of the Lords Supper And certainly and holy life is the best preparative for death and therefore it must needs be very useful and necessary to our worthy partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ He that is fit to receive the Sacrament is fit to die and he that is fit to die is fit to receive the Sacrament one and the same preparation serves for both And if an holy life be a good preparative to death it must be so for the blessed Sacrament also But then though an holy life make a man habitually prepared for death yet there are for all that several things advisable to the dying man upon his sick-bed in order to his actual preparation for his departure hence And so it is in this Sacrament though an holy life be a good preparative yet it is but an habitual one and it is requisite that he that leads an holy life should notwithstanding that make an actual preparation before he make his approach to this holy Table And what we are to do in order to that I shall now shew 1. It is very requisite we should set some time apart for this work that we should sequester selves from our worldly affairs and business and be at leisure to attend upon the great concernment of our Souls But when we are alone we must be greatly careful that our worldly thoughts do not thrust in upon us and divert or distract us We must do as Abraham did when he sacrificed and the fowls came down upon his Sacrifice he drove them away Gen. 15.11 We must send away our worldly thoughts and cares at this time that they may not disturb and hinder us but that we may altogether attend upon that more weighty concern which we are about If we do not this we may when we are alone be as much in the World as we are at any other time And therefore we shall do well not only to set some time apart from our worldly occasions but when we have done that we must obstinately resolve that no worldly thought shall get entrance into our hearts at that time We shall be sure to be sollicited by our vain thoughts then but we must call in the aid of God and use our utmost diligence to keep them out We must empty our selves of these buyers and sellers we must overturn their Tables of exchange and with a great zeal whip these thieves out of Gods Temple This perhaps we may think a matter of some difficulty but there is nothing greatly difficult to him that is resolved nothing can be so to him that humbly and fervently implores the grace and aid of God Besides it is for the life of our Souls that we do this And if we loved our Souls as well as we do our Estates or Bodies and I might say our sins we should not find any difficulty in this matter For for the sake of these things we can spend many days and not complain and therefore have no reason to think much of spending now and then a day in consulting the interest of our immortal Souls And sure I am there are no portions of our time better spent than those we spend in the diligent service of God and about the securing the eternal interest of our Souls We shall one day wish that some of those hours which now we carelesly spend in doing nothing or in doing amiss which we spend in impertinent visits or in riot and drunkenness had been spent in our Closets in fervent prayer to Almighty God and in caring for our pretious Souls If ever we would have our Souls do well we must
the true Penitent forbears his sin because he finds in his Soul an antipathy against it and not only because it is forbidden Such a Repentance as this must we find in our Souls before we can be fit to partake of these holy Mysteries And well it will become us to be greatly humbled for our sins and to abhor them when we do commemorate the death of our Lord and Saviour For he died for sin and endured the shame and sorrow of the Cross that he might no longer abide in us And if we come with our sins to this holy Table we do crucifie our Lord afresh we do trample upon his precious blood and count it a common and unholy thing 5. To what hath been said this must be added that when by our sin we have not only offended God but also injured and wronged our neighbour we are strictly and indispensably obliged to make him restitution as well as to beg the forgiveness of God We can expect no pardon from God if we do not make amends to our neighbour whom we have wronged If the wicked restore the pledge and give again that he had robbed c he shall surely live and not die Ezek. 33.15 But then if he do not this or sincerely resolve to do it assoon as he is able to do it he shall surely die and not live And his partaking of this holy Table shall be so far from saving him from the anger of God that it will encrease his guilt and add to his sin Let no man think that God will hear him if he do not make his brother amends for the wrong he hath done him Herodot Clio. We have a story in our Books of one Halyattes that his Soldiers did set on fire the Corn of the Milesians and that the fire by the violence of the wind caught hold of the Temple of Minerva and burnt it down It happened sometime after this that Halyattes falls sick and sends to the Oracle to know what would be the success of his disease but the Messengers were told by the Oracle that they must not expect any answer till the Temple which they had burnt were first repaired Most certain it is that we shall have no return of our prayers from Heaven when we confess and beg the pardon of our sin unless we do first make restitution where we have wronged our brother It cannot be thought we have repented if we do not restore There is no sacrifice will expiate our crime if we do not also make restitution Under the Law of Moses he that had wronged his brother was obliged indeed to bring a sacrifice for his atonement but then at the same time he was obliged to make a full restitution to his neighbour whom he had wrong'd and to add also a fifth part to the principal before he could be forgiven Levit. 6. He that wronged his neighbour was by that Law sometimes liable to restore double v. Maimon Hal. Shevuoth c. 8. Exod. 22.4.9 Sometimes times four and five fold ver 1. where the Trespasser was convicted But then where the offender became penitent and confessed his sin v. L' empereur in Bava Kam C. 7. S. 1. yet in this case he was obliged to make restitution to add a fifth part v. Jomd c. 8. Mishn 9. Shulchan Aruch H. Jom Kippu and to bring his offering Numb 5.7 His Repentance nor his offering would not serve his turn unless he also made amends to his neighbour whom he had wronged Nay the day of expiation as the Jews teach us would not avail to take away the guilt which we contracted by doing wrong to our brother And we must remember that we are obliged to make restitution not only where we have done an open and forcible injury As the robber and thief and violent oppressor are bound to restore what they have wrong'd their brother of by their violent injustice But we are also obliged to restore what we have by any means unjustly got the possession of And there are more ways than one by which we may become guilty of injustice He that overreaches and out-wits his brother in a bargain he that in his trading deals fraudulently and insincerely he that hides and conceals from his neighbour his just rights and dues such men as these are obliged to make restitution as well as open the robber and the thief There are indeed very many things which the Laws of the Land do not take notice of which yet we are obliged to in the Court of Conscience And we are before we do receive this Sacrament very severely to examine our own Consciences Whether in our dealings with men we have done as we would be done by and have not detained and with-held our neighbours due from him Indeed we are come to that pass that we are not afraid of doing an unjust action if we can but do it cautelously and slily Nay we are ready to rejoyce when we have cunningly circumvented our brother and men look upon it as but a little fault if any at all when they do craftily circumvent even him that attends upon holy things But certain it is whoever does wrong his brother and him that Ministers at Gods Altar he deceives himself most and must never look for pardon from God till he have repented of his sin and made restitution for the wrong he hath done And what hath been said hitherto of the necessity of making restitution must not only be understood of the wrong we have done to our neighbour as to his goods and estate but of all other wrongs whatsoever And particularly of that wrong we have done to his name and credit We ought to judge the best of all men and to make the most charitable construction of all the actions of our neighbour And therefore if we have done otherwise we are obliged to Repentance and to restitution for the wrong which we have done If we have openly slandered our brother or more closely and slily undermined his credit and good name we are obliged in this case to make as far as we are able a reparation That is we are obliged to unsay what we have said and by our words do him honour as we have endeavoured before to do him a discredit In a word we are bound to make him such an amends as we are able or such as may satisfie him to whom we have done the wrong And when we have done this we must humble our selves greatly in the sight of God for this sin and be very careful that we sin no more Thus must we cleanse and purge our Souls before we dare to come to this holy Table We must purge out our old leaven that we may be a new lump Otherwise we shall meet with death there where we might else have found Life And we ought therefore to be very careful and solicitous lest we should by our remisness and hypocrisie expose our selves to the greatest curse As we love our
few men so stupid but something or other does awaken them to a sense of things and yet these men remain very bad and sensless still We call that man a lunatick or mad-man who yet hath many lucid intervals when he can use his reason And him we judg a Fool or Natural as we call them who is generally so in all his words and actions tho sometimes he may speak good sense and make very smart replies upon us A Fever retains its name though it do sometimes intermit and be not one continual paroxysm There must be a great change in the blood before it be quite removed 'T is so in the case that is before us there must not only be an intermission of our sins and sinful affections but an extinction of them before we can be said to be new Creatures And that we are which we are most generally in the course of our conversations 4. It is therefore adviseable that before we do Communicate we make som experiments upon our selves Let us try how we can resist a temptation and how we can overcome it Let us inure our selves by degrees to overcome our inordinate affections Suppose that we are given to some excess of anger or intemperance or the like Let us try our selves sometime before how we can master our selves And it will not be hard to do it if we do it gradually and alwayes call in to our assistance the Divine aid If we be given to anger and impatience let us try first how we can bear the evils and disappointments of a day which it will be no hard matter to do Then let us take out a greater time and use our selves by degrees to bear the yoke If we find that we get the mastery then may we expect a very great aid by communicating as well as a great encouragement to communicate frequently The Jews we commanded to keep the day of expiation Joina c. 8. Miâ—hm 4. cum notis Bartenor then they were to afflict their Souls and thought themselves obliged to fast but yet they tell us that they did not with-hold meat and drink from little Children all at once but they did by degrees wont them to the observation of that solemnity so that the child that was wont to eat at the fourth hour received his meat at the fifth or sixth according to his strength and thus they did use them for a year or two before they took upon them the observation of this and the other precepts And this course we shall do well to take with our Souls Who may do well by degrees to wont them to obedience and not to venture upon Communicating whereby we are most solemnly obliged to obey all the precepts of Christ before we have had some proof of our obedience 5. It is also very adviseable that at this time we do more particularly design the destroying that lust which does most constantly annoy us and easily beset us We have our peculiar lusts and follies to which we are addicted Some sins there are that are frequent temptations to us and do greatly molest and trouble us It will be wisdom at this time to set our selves mainly against that sin Where we are weakest we shall do well to set the strongest guard and watch Our bodies are not more naturally prone to their peculiar distempers than our Souls are to their particular follies And certainly if we can destroy these fiercer enemies we shall not need fear the other assailants And therefore let us especially set our selves against those lusts that do very often solicite and importune us For as it is great wisdom to consider where we are weak and easily overcome so is it no less wisdom to raise up all our force and strength to defend our selves against those spiritual enemies which do most easily prevail upon us 6. Let us endeavour to put our selves into such a preparation as we would be found in when we are to die For certainly we are not fit to Communicate if we are not fit to dye The same preparation is required for a Communion which is for our death And many devout persons have very wisely at once disposed themselves for the receiving this Sacrament and their dissolution also v. Calvin Epist 99. Now certain it is that though we trifle in our lives yet we become serious when we come to die Then we do recollect our selves and very severely examine our own Consciences Then we pray very earnestly give very earnest attention to Gods word and very seriously heed what we are about And did we as verily believe that we should forthwith resign up our Souls unto God we should be very careful to put them in a readiness for so great a change It will well become us at this time to consider in what condition we would be found when our Lord calls us hence and then to endeavour to our utmost that we may with no less diligence dispose our selves for this service than if we were presently to give up the ghost Thus if we do we shall not trifle in our preparations but shall most carefully examine our hearts and most earnestly call in the Divine aid and assistance CHAP. XI I Proceed now to shew how we are to behave our selves when we do Communicate And of that I shall speak in the following Severals 1. First of all we are to take care that our hearts be lifted up to the Lord as we are exhorted by the man of God Let us not suffer our thoughts to remain upon low and earthly things Forget your worldly concerns and interests Remember what an holy and solemn service you are about Attend now upon this very thing When your worldly and trifling thoughts would thrust in upon you presently repell and beat them back Tell them you are employed about greater matters that they must stand off now while you worship your Lord that your Souls are the houses of prayer and not a den of such thieves Suffer not these busie intruders to have any entrance or countenance from you By no means yield to any of their importunities Your Souls must ascend up to Heaven now and forget all earthly things Your otherwise lawful thoughts you must now account profane They must by no means come near when you are thus employed We must do now as was done at the giving of the Law bounds were set that nothing might approach the Mount under the severest penalty Exod. 19. We must do so now we make this solemn approach unto God we must be greatly careful that no evil or earthly thought draw nigh and if they do we must severely chastise them and beat them back And as then 't was forbidden to suffer either man or beast to touch that Mount so we must here beware not only of our beastly and carnal thoughts but also of all other thoughts though at another time not unbecoming man-kind which would disturb our devotion and draw us aside from the contemplation of what we
then taken And methinks we should be perswaded to fit our selves for death it being so much our interest to be prepared for it And though we cannot be perswaded to receive the Sacrament yet sure we cannot but judge it our duty and our interest also to make our selves fit for it He that is fit to dye is fit to receive also and who would not labour hard to be fit to die that knows his time here cannot be long but may be exceeding short Be not then so cruel to your own souls as to be unprepared for death this makes you liable to not only a great sorrow but an everlasting sorrow also Before I leave this matter I would know of him that makes this excuse that he is not fit whether he speak as he think Do you really judge your selves unfit For it is possible that a man may make this excuse and yet have a great opinion of himself and judge better of himself than other men who do receive this Sacrament and do it as they should And therefore let me put it to thy Conscience dost thou really judg thy self to be unfit If thou doest then tell me what effect this hath upon thee Art thou greatly humbled under this condition Dost thou strive whatever thou canst to prepare thy self Is it that which you greatly labour for Are you willing to take as much pains in the case as you do for your bodies or estates If you do not strive to become better when do you think you shall be fit Put these things home to your Consciences And I doubt not but that if you be sincere and do not dissemble with God you may be fitted and prepared for this service Object 2. Secondly there are others excuse themselves from this service upon a prudential account as they esteem it And thus it is they understand by the Apostle that they eat and drink damnation to themselves if they do it unworthily and therefore they conclude it the safer course not to receive it at all By this means they think they avoid the danger of unworthy receiving and take the most secure course in not receiving at all This I fear is the ground that too many rest upon who do forbear to eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup. In answer to this pretence I shall not need to say much especially if what hath been said before be duly considered But yet something I shall say to it And Answ First I must tell you that though this may be thought a safe and prudential course yet it is far from being so For what prudence is it to run from one extream to another and to neglect the mean which we ought to aim at We shall not need to forbear nor yet to receive unworthily Why do we not prepare our selves and receive as we ought Shall we call it a prudential course to run away from the Laws of Christ Or shall he be thought a wise man that runs from one danger into another that is as great This is as if a Man should flee from a Lion and a Bear should meet him or a Serpent bite him that I may use the words of the Prophet Amos 5.19 'T is like the prudence of the sinner in other things He is apt to run into extreams Thus he does frequently do When he should possess himself of a well-grounded hope he either presumes or else despairs when he should be patient he is stupid and senseless or else he is querulous and murmuring When he should do good with his riches and relieve the poor he either profusely spends them upon his lusts or else is penurious and covetous And when he should hear the word of God and keep it he either will not hear it or will not keep it And as he shews great folly in all these things so he does in the case before us For whereas he is required to receive this Sacrament worthily he instead of that either receives it amiss or else will not receive at all Which is so far from being prudently done that it is indeed an argument of great folly and he that takes such a course is far from being safe He that does thus runs indeed from a great mischief but he runs into another There is a rock on each hand that he may split upon he dies if he eat unworthily and so he does if he carelesly neglect to eat at all He that eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks damnation to himself There 's death there but then we are told by truth it self Except ye eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood ye have no life in you Joh. 6.53 There 's a death that meets us also We may meet with death from a surfeit and so we may from a famine and too long an abstinence He were a very ridiculous man who because he is forbidden meat by his Physician in a Paroxysm of his Fever or under the operation of a Purgative Medicine should thereupon resolve to eat no more By this means he will not only starve his disease but starve himself also Besides at this rate we might avoid the other precepts of Religion as well as this The Jew might have eluded Gods commands that obliged him to obedience under this pretext that he feared he should not do what God required aright There is danger in hearing Gods Word carelesly shall we therefore chuse not to hear it all We may displease God in our prayers if we pray not as we should shall we therefore fore not pray at all We may give alms amiss shall we therefore shut our bowels upon the poor We may keep a fast for evil ends shall we therefore keep none at all There are some that come to Church and do it from an ill principle and do thereby increase their condemnation shall we therefore stay at home Some preach Christ out of ill will shall I not therefore preach any more Sure whatever we may judg here is little prudence shewn For all this while it ought to be considered that we do not contract our guilt by receiving but by receiving unworthily And therefore if we shewed our selves wise we should do it by making our selves fit for this service and not by forbearing it altogether If we took this course we should avoid all the danger and not only that but greatly advantage our own Souls Whereas now we run our selves upon a great curfe If we come and are unfit we are accursed and so we are if we do not come at all I shall end that which I had to say to this pretence with the words of a late Writer Mr. Daniel Rogers Treat of the Sacraments part 2. pag. 211. who was well known not long since in these parts And his words upon this occasion are these If scanty coming be a sin what a fearful premunire then run they into that refuse at all to come And presently afterwards he denounces terror to all profane Esau's
least spark of goodness you will find it shine and glow and spread it self to your infinite joy and contentment of heart Among all the various degrees and conditions of Christian people there will none be found that come hither with sincere affection to do this in remembrance of their Saviour but may go away rejoycing loaded with many Divine benefits Heads of Self-Examination by which we may be directed to find out what sins we are particularly to repent of either before the Sacrament or at any other time which we set apart for Repentance and Humiliation of our selves Wherein are laid before us the several duties we owe to God our Neighbour and our Selves To God FAith or belief of his Word A well grounded Hope in his Mercy Love and Fear of Him above all Trust in him Submission to Him Honour to His Holy Name Word Appointments Thankfulness Worship Repentance To our Neighbour in General Justice which requires a doing by him in all respects as we would be done by and forbids all injury whether it be by drawing him into Sin endangering his Life depriving him of his Peace invading his Bed his Goods or good Name and forbids all Envy and Malice and Covetous desires of what belongs to Him and Charity by which we wish well to him and are disposed to assist and help him In Particular To our Superiors Reverence and hearty Obdience and Submission to our Equals unfained Friendship and Kindness To our Inferiors Gentleness Mercy and a great care of their Souls To our Selves Humility Meekness Consideration Content Diligence and Watchfulness over our Selves Chastity or purity of Heart and Life Temperance in Eating and Drinking Moderation in our Sleep or Rest and Recreations and in our Garb and Expences Hy these Heads we may examine our selves And we must particularly confess wherein we have failed and we must not onl confess the sin but the circumstances of aggravation with which it was attended Of which see the first chapter of this Book And as we must confess with shame and sorrow so we must come to the Sacrament with express resolutions to forsake these sins for the time to come A Prayer before the Sacrament O Most Glorious and for ever Blessed Lord God Thou art and there is none like unto thee in Heaven or in Earth thy Wisdom is infinite thy Power irresistible and thou art of purer eyes than to behold the least iniquity with approbation It is of thy unspeakable Mercy that I am not long ago consumed I blush and am ashamed when I lift up my eyes unto thy Divine Majesty I do in all humble reverence prostrate my self before thee and implore thy gracious favour in the name and Mediation of Jesus Christ the Righteous who ever lives to make intercession for those who come unto God by him I do acknowledge thy many mercies towards me I received my being and my breath from thee I have ever since I came into being been sustained by thee Thou hast preserved mine eyes from tears my feet from falling and my Soul from death My Life and Health my Liberty and all the comforts of my life are intirely owing to thy gracious goodness and bounty But above all thou art to be acknowledged for thine inestimable Love in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ for the means of Grace and hope of Glory Thou hast given thy Son to dye for me revealed thy gentle and holy Laws to direct and guide me promised thy Spirit to assist me propounded Eternal Life to encourage my endeavours I have been received into thy Church by Baptism and promised and professed obedience to thy holy Laws But notwithstanding all these obligations to sincere and universal obedience I have many wayes offended against thy Divine Majesty I have not honoured thee as my Creator nor loved thee as my Father nor obeyed thee as my Soveraign Lord and Master And whereas I have been very sensible of the kindness shewed my by my fellow Creatures I have had but very little sense of the innumerable and underserved favours which thou hast heaped upon me from time to time I have sinned against thee in thought word and deed I have sinned greatly and deserve the death which by my wickedness I have pursued I am guilty after the clearest light and knowledge Here make a particular confession of sin after the most indearing mercies and favours after the most solemn Vows and promises of obedience and the most awakening Judgments I have sinned under sufficient means of Grace and after many experiences of the evil of departing from thee I have contemned and despised thy divine Majesty and suffered my self by an easie and small temptation to be drawn away from thee the fountain of my Life and Happiness and the great lover of Souls O Lord look down from heaven with an eye of pity and compassion upon me a wretched sinner I am less then the least of thy mercies and am vile in my own eyes I beg thy pardon and forgiveness for Christ his sake who came into the World to seek and save that which was lost In a deep sense of the wickedness of my former life and the hainous nature of my offences I approach unto thy Divine Majesty with full purpose of amendment of Life I trust in thy mercy O Lord through Christ Jesus and do with all possible thankfulness keep in memory his precious death And being very sensible how much I stand in need of thy mercy and forgiveness of all my sins and the circumstances of aggravation which have attended them I do declare that I do forgive all my Enemies and that I come before thee with sincere and universal Charity to all mankind Search me O Lord and try my heart and lead me into the way Everlasting I am coming to thy Holy Table to renew the Covenant with thee which I have broken I am unworthy of the Crumbs which fall from thence But most gracious Lord look upon me in Christ Jesus Help me that I may attend upon thee without distraction Work in me all those holy and heavenly dispositions which may render me fit for this service Grant that I may come before thee with lowly thoughts of my self and the most raised apprehensions of thy love in Christ Jesus strengthen my weak Faith perfect my Repentance confirm my resolutions of amendment and enlarge my Charity grant that I may receive Christ Jesus my Lord and that I may walk in him That I may partake of the benefits of his death and of the fruits of his intercession at thy right hand I most humbly beseech thee not only to pardon all my past sins and to speak peace to my Soul but that thou wouldest renew my nature and write thy laws upon my heart Englighten my dark mind rectifie my crooked will sanctifie my depraved affections and purifie all the thoughts and intentions of my Heart and grant that for the time to come I may forsake
every evil way and purifie my self as thou art pure Keep me O Lord for the time to come from every thing that is hurtful to me and displeasing to thee From the excesses both of care and fear from snares and great perplexities from carnal desires and brutish inclinations from covetousness and hatred from envy and pride from vanity and dissimulation murmuring and discontent And make me stedfast in justice and charity in humility and meekness in purity of heart and heavenly mindedness and sincere devotion And to these Holy ends vouch safe me the presence of thy Spirit and power of thy grace and endue me with heavenly Wisdom and all this I beg for the sake and in the Mediation of Jesus Christ Our Father which art c. Ejaculations to be used at the Lords Supper THE Lord hath done great things for me whereof I am glad If thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities O Lord who shall stand But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayst be feared He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Much more then being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him For if when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son Much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his Life At the Receiving of the Bread THou hast said O Blessed Jesus I am the living Bread which came down from heaven If any man eat of this Bread he shall live for ever Be it unto thy Servant according to thy Word in which thou hast caused me to trust Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my Life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever Many O Lord my God are thy wonderful works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us ward They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee If I would declare and speak of them they are more than can be numbred I am thine O Lord I devote my self to thee O save thy Servant who trusteth in thee I have enclined my heart to perform thy statutes alway even unto the end Depart from me ye evil doers for I will keep the Commandments of my God At the Receiving of the Cup. O Blessed Saviour let thy Blood purge my Conscience from dead works to serve the living God Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Blood I will not henceforth live unto my self but unto him who dyed for me and rose again Blessed be the Lord my God who only doeth wondrous things And blessed be his glorious name for ever and let the whole Earth be filled with his Glory Amen and Amen After Receiving BLessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead To an inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Perfect that which concerneth me and forsake not the work of thine own hands I intreat thy favour with my whole heart Be merciful unto me according to thy word I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous Judgements O hold thou up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not A Prayer after the Receiving the Sacrament BLessed be thy glorious name O Lord for all thy unspeakable mercies to me and to all the World I adore and magnifie thee for thy great goodness in giving thy Son to dye for me and making me partaker of his most pretious Body and Blood O Lord what is man that thou thus regardest him And what am I a vile and wretched sinner that thou shouldst be thus favourable to me Thou hast been pleased to admit me to renew that Covenant with thee which I had broken and to give me assurance of thy readiness to pardon so vile and great a sinner as I have been I have received the pledges of thy love and been admitted to thy holy Table I have there devoted my self again unto thee my Soul and Body all my powers and faculties I have vowed obedience to thee and after the most solemn manner consecrated my self to thy service Thou art a God that knowest the heart and art not to be mocked I tremble when I consider thy infinite power wisdom and holiness Let these thoughts beget in my Soul a great fear of thy Holy name a great care to do thy will Grant I may not for the future turn the grace of thee my God into wantonness and that I may not receive the Grace of God in vain There is nothing hid from thee Thou knowest my weakness and infirmities and the temptations with which I am assaulted and to which I have too often yielded I am surrounded with snares and my spiritual Enemies are powerful and active O Lord help thy Servant and grant that I may both resist and vanquish them by the aid of thy Holy Spirit Keep the possession of my Soul which I have unfeignedly surrendred up unto thee Unite my heart O Lord to fear thy name and grant that I may spend the remainder of my time in obedience to thee and in acts of Charity to my brethren Create a clean heart O Lord and renew a right Spirit within me Forsake me not O Lord if thou leave me I perish Guide me by thy Counsel and at last receive me to thy glory I do greatly desire the Salvation of mankind and humbly commend to thee this Church and Kingdom the Kings Majesty and all our Superiors in Church and State humbly intreating thee to direct and guide them all into those holy wayes that are pleasing to thee and beneficial to those who are under their charge and influence And work in the minds of all Christians an unfeigned Charity a peaceable temper patience and exemplary meekness and all the other fruits of thy Holy Spirit And grant me thy heavenly grace that I may so use things temporal that I may not miss of thy Eternal Bliss for the sake of Jesus Christ my onely Mediator and Advocate Amen A Morning Prayer for a Family O Almighty and Eternal Lord God the great Creator of Heaven and Earth and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ look down from Heaven with pity and compassion upon thy servants who humbly cast ourselves down before thee in a great sense of thy mercies and our own misery There is an infinite distance between Thy Glorious
Majesty and us thy Creatures the work of thy hands Between thy infinite power and our weakness thy Wisdom and our Folly thy Eternal Being and our Mortal Frame But Lord we have set our selves at a greater distance from thee by our sin and wickedness We do humbly acknowledge the corruption of our nature and the many rebellions of our lives We have sinned against Heaven and before thee in thought word and deed We have been prophane Contemners of thy Majesty and of thy Holy Laws We have also sinned against our Brother and our own Souls by omitting what we ought to have done and committing what we ought not We have rebelled against light despised thy Mercies and thy Judgments broken our own vows and promises neglected thy means of grace and opportunities of becoming better Our iniquities are multiplyed and our sins are very great We confess them O Lord with shame and with sorrow with detestation and loathing We are vile in our own eyes as we have rendred our selves vile in thine We pray thee to be merciful unto us in the free pardon of our sins for the sake of thy Dear Son and our alone Saviour Jesus Christ who came not to call the righteous but sinners to Repentance And we pray thee to renew our natures and to write thy Laws upon our hearts Help us to live righteously soberly and Godly in this present World Make us humble and meek patient and contented and work in us all the graces of thy Holy Spirit Preserve in us a sense of our dependance upon thee and of our great Obligations to thee Help us that we may love thee with all our heart and that we may universally obey and cheerfully submit to thy holy will Save and defend us from all sin and danger from malice and ill will from covetousness and sensuality from pride and vanity and from all the deceits of the world the crafts of the Devil and lusts of the Flesh Direct us O Lord in all our difficulties supply our wants support us under our troubles enable us against our temptations prosper our honest endeavours and above all things purifie and cleanse our thoughts Prepare us for death and judgment and let the thoughts thereof awaken us to a great care and study to approve our selves unto thee in well doing Bless thy whole Church these Kingdoms to which we belong And bless with thy choicest Blessings our Sovereign Lord the King Defend him against all his enemies Let his dayes be many and his Reign prosperous Bless him in his Royal Relations in his Counsellors and his Counsels Bless all the Governours and Teachers of thy Church grant them such a measure of thy Grace and Divine Wisdom that they may by their Doctrine and by their examples gain many souls unto thee Help all that are in trouble sorrow need sickness or any other adversity Give them patience under their troubles a sanctified use of them and in thy good time a deliverance from them Be merciful to our Friends and forgive our Enemies and accept or our humble acknowledgment for thy preservations of us this last night and for all thy mercies to us And we pray thee to take us into thy protection this day and to keep us in perfect peace and all we beg for the sake of Jesus Christ who hath taught us to say Our Father c. An Evening Prayer for a Family MOst gratious and merciful Lord God from whom descendeth every good and perfect gift and our most merciful Father in Jesus Christ we offer up to thy Divine Majesty our unfeigned Praise and Thanksgiving for all thy mercies towards us Thou didst make us at first and hast ever since sustained the work of thine own hands Thou hast given us thy Son to dye for us and hast admitted us into thy Church and given us assurance of pardon upon our Repentance and sincere obedience of thy holy precepts Thou art pleased to lengthen out to us the time of Repentance and to move us to it by thy word and by thy Spirit by thy mercies and thy judgments Out of a deep sense of thy mercies and our own unworthiness we appear before thee at this time We are ashamed of our vile ingratitude We have sinned O Lord and done very wickedly Be merciful unto us O Lord and pardon us for Jesus Christ his sake Instruct us O Lord in all the particulars of our duty and give us true wisdom who hast promised to give wisdom and upbraidest not Be with us under every Tryal and temptation and suffer us not to be tempted above what we shall be able Take care we pray thee of our affairs and more and more direct us into thy truth Defend us against all our Enemies but especially against our spiritual ones Suffer us not to be drawn away from thee by the blandishments of the world by carnal desires the cunning of the Devil or the deceitfulness of sin Work in us thy good will and pleasure and discharge our minds of all things that are displeasing to thee of all ill will and discontent wrath and bitterness pride and vain conceits of our selves and render us charitable holy pure in heart patient and Heavenly minded Be with us at the hour of death dispose us for it and deliver us from the slavish fear of it and make us all willing and fit to dye when ever thou shalt call us hence Bless O Lord all the race of Mankind let the world be filled with the knowledge of thee and thy Son Christ as the waters cover the Sea Be gracious to thy whole Church and especially to that part of it planted in these Kingdoms Bless the Kings Majesty and let his Crown flourish upon his Head and let no weapon formed against him prosper Bless all his Relations and teach his Senators wisdom And bless all that are to govern and teach thy Church make them successful in their labours and grant they may consider the account they must one day give Pity the sick and weak the poor and needy the Widowes and Fatherless and all that mourn or are broken in heart Be merciful unto them according to their several necessities Bless our Friends and grant us Grace to forgive our enemies as heartily as we do desire forgiveness of thee our Heavenly Father We pray thee to defend us this night from every thing that is evil and do more for us than we can ask or think for Jesus Christ his sake in whose name and words we continue to Pray Our Father c. FINIS