seem to me to arise from one or other of these four Heads It is either thought to be no necessary part of a Christians Duty at least not so necessary as others are or else the Meaning Use and Benefit of it is not understood or men are loth to be at the pains of disposing themselves to be worthy Communicants or lastly having sometimes Communicated they found no good by it and so left it of It is the design therefore of this small Treatise which a desire to quicken and promote Christian Piety hath brought forth to shew as briefly and plainly as I can devise First that all those who are called by the name of our Lord have a strong tye upon them to address themselves to his Holy Table and Secondly that the ends and purposes for which it is prepared are such as both invite and ingage them to come thither Thirdly to direct the Readers to an easy and familiar way of disposing themselves to do this duty with Profit and Pleasure and Lastly to furnish them with some Meditations and Devotions sutable to the Action for want of which I conceive many reap so little good from it These are the Four parts of the insuing Discourse PART I. Of the Obligations we have to Communicate For the First of these to make you sensible of the necessity and weight of this Duty there are these Six things to be considered THAT we have an express Command for it from our Lord and Master to whose service we were solemnly devoted when we were Baptized And lest there should be any room for shifting and excuses this Command is so ordered that it hath respect both to the Officers and Ministers in his Church and also to the People under their Care to the former that they might prepare this Holy Table to the other that they might come to pertake of it First he requires his Apostles Luke 22.19 to do this in remembrance of him Which words it is plain refer to what our Saviour then did who took Bread and gave thanks and brake it and gave it unto them saying this is my body which is given for you thiâ— do in remembrance of me And therefore it is as much as if he had said Do you take bread give thanks break it and give it to all my family hereafter Now if they were bound to give it then all Christians no doubt must be bound though there had been nothing more said to receive and eat it But the more to inforce the Duty they are requirâ—d so to do according as S. Paul hath declared the mind and intention of our Lord in this business and he is the only person beside S. Luke who makes mention of these words Do this in remembrance of me though two other Evangelists mention the Institution of this Sacrament He tells us 1 Cor. 11.24 that when our Lord had given thanks he brake the Bread and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you Do this in remembrance of me Here these words DO THIS immediately refer to take eat which are not in S. Luke And therefore DO THIS in his Gospel immediately refers as I said to taking bread giving thanks breaking it and giving it to them In that the Apostles and their Successors were more peculiarly concerned and none can Do this i. e. take bread give thanks break it and give it but they But in the other taking eating and drinking all Christians are concerned and are bound to do this as long as the world lasts Which appears sufficiently from the whole discourse of S. Paul to the Corinthians who were as he tells them v. 26. to shew forth the Lords death as often as they did eat that bread and drink of that Cup which the Ministers of our Lord gave to them As they were not to neglect their duty in making ready this holy food inviting the Lords people to pertake of it offering it and giving it to them so it behoved them who were called to be careful not to neglect theirs but to come and eat and drink at the Table of the Lord that by the whole action performed by both the Lords death might be declared and solemnly commemorated with Thanksgiving and Praise And to make this Command appear more weighty let me cast in two or three considerations more before I proceed any further 1. That our Lord not only gave it to the Twelve Apostles but to S. Paul also after he was added to the number From which we may clearly gather his intention of having this duty every where performed not only by the Jews but all others For when he appeared to this person and revealed his whole mind to him that he might be an Apostle and preach to the Heathen world he left not out this precept but gave him particular instructions about it For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you that the Lord Jesus the night in which he was betrayed took bread c. v. 23. 1 Cor. 11. He had not this from the Apostles nor was taught it by man but Christ himself delivered it to him as he had done to the rest of his Apostles that he might teach men to do this if they had any regard to the express Command of their dearest Lord. And it is very hard if they have not a great reverence to it considering 2. That it is the very last Commandment which he gave before his Death When he was parting with his Disciples and taking his farewel of them till he should see them again after his resurrection he left this charge with them that they should do as they had seen him do just before he went away Read the verses going before those now mentioned out of S. Luke ch 22. v. 16 17 18 c. and you will find the sense of our Saviours whole discourse to be this This is the last Supper we shall eat together in this world I shall keep no more Feasts with you till we meet in Heaven But I would have you meet often and Feast together upon my broken Body and my Blood shed for you according to the pattern which now I set before you As you see me take bread give thanks break it and give it to you so do ye This is my Will and Testament if you have any respect to the words of a dying Master and Saviour if you love me and bear me in mind when I am gone from you Do not forget to do this in remembrance of me And what he said to them we are to take as said to us for 3. S. Paul saith this is to be done till his coming again 1 Cor. 11.26 It is not a Temporary Command like those given to Moses but layes a perpetual obligation upon us till Christ who appeared to put away sin by this Sacrifice of himself which we commemorate shall appear the second time without sin unto Salvation From whence it necessarily follows that not only the
Apostles but all the Ministers of Christ to the end of the world have power to do this and that the people are bound to do their part when the Minister hath done his How they will excuse themselves from an open breach of our Saviours Commandment who do not do this in remembrance of him I cannot imagine There is nothing that he enjoyns with more solemnity and particular care than this Action and therefore the same necessity lyes upon us for the performance of it that there doth for obedience to other of his Commands If there be any difference it is such as should rather make us exceeding careful about this duty than otherwayes For It is a Command whereby our Love and Affection to Christ Jesus our ever blessed Redeemer is more than ordinarily tryed and proved there being no other reason for performing it but merely our respect to his will and pleasure To most other duties in our Religion there is something in Nature to prompt us or to shew us the reason of them That we should be just and merciful and sober and grateful c. we can derive from a Reason within our selves But this duty to which I am exciting you is one of the things for which there is no other ground but his Divine Commandment and appointment We have no other reason why we should do this but because he would have us And therefore the doing of it is a piece of pure obedience arising wholly out of our respect and affections to him and his injunctions It being indeed designed for the keeping him in Memory his appointment of it for that purpose hath added a good Reason to it Which doth mightily enforce our duty if we have any love to the Memory of so dear a Saviour and desire to perpetuate the story of so rare a Love and make it known to all succeeding generations By this it is apparent that the thing which makes most men negligent of this duty is that which if they were understanding Believers should make them most zealously affect it Natural Conscience not reproving them for not doing this as it doth for injustice cheating lying and such like sins they live securely in their neglect of it And this is the very reason why the people known by the name of Quakers have so little or rather no regard to it But if Christian Faith were planted and deeply rooted in mens hearts they would upon this very account be the more forward to do it Because it is a peculiar mark of a Christian a work proper to him alone who is moved to this not by Nature and the common light of mankind but purely by his Religion and Devotion to his Saviour For there is no piece of Divine Service in which he is interessed so much as this It is more properly Christian worship than any other All the world think their Religion binds them to pray to God to praise him and give him thanks but to acknowledge him and render thanks to him by doing this belongs only to Believers in Jesus And that was one cause I make no Question that the first Disciples of Christ made this so great a part of their Devotion which is the next consideration Primitive use and practice upon this Command of our Saviours doth very much explain his intentions and tell us the obligation of it They who were taught by the Apostles of our Lord best understood the weight of this Commandment And truly they understood it so that they did as constantly do this as they did publickly meet together to pray or hear and as oft as they did eat and drink together in token of their love and friendship Both which they did very frequently In the Church of Hierusalem every day as we read Act. 2.46 They continued daily with one accord in the Temple and breaking bread at home did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart That is after they had daily performed their common Devotions with the Jews in the Temple Service they went to their own houses to tender a more particular Service to our Saviour by doing this in remembrance of him and keeping feasts of charity for the poor and indigent At those Meales it is manifest they forgot not this 1 Cor. 11.20 21 c. Act. 20.7 11. which they took to be an exact imitation of Christ who after the Paschal Supper instituted this Holy Sacrament And that it accompanied other parts of Divine Service and Christian duties is as manifest from Act. 2.42 where you find they continued stedfastly or unweariedly in hearing the Apostolical instructions in communicating to each others necessities in breaking of bread and in Prayers The word we render continued stedfastly * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denotes both the frequency of the action and that they were not tired with it But the principal time for it seems to have been on the Lords day according to what you read in the place just now mentioned Act. 20.7 that the Disciples were assembled on the first day of the week to break bread and the Syriack translation of those words 1 Cor. 11.20 which runs thus when you meet together you do not eat and drink as becomes the day of our Lord * As if they had found in their Copy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which it is most likely was the set day on which Pliny ‖ Statâ— die â— 10. Epist 97 saith they were wont to assemble before it was light to sing a Song of praise together to Christ as God and to bind themsâ—lvâ—â— by a Sacrament not to any wickedness ha◠〈◊〉 they would not commit theft nor robâ—eâ—â— nor adulteries nor break their words nor deny any thing that was deposited with them in trust when it was demanded This done their custome he adds was to depart and to meet together again to partake of a common but innocent meale Which assembly it is plain from the Scripture was in the evening as the other was held before the morning light So that it should seem in some places they remembred our Lord by doing this ' twice in a day both morning and evening In their assemblies before day as Tertullians words are * Cap. 3. de Corona as well as in the time of meat which we know was Supper time when they held their Feasts of Charity This is sufficient to shew what a great affection they had to this duty and in what high account it was among them in that no assembly of Christians of whatsoever sort it was could pass wherein Christs death was not remembred with thanksgiving and praise And indeed it is part of the food which our Lord hath appointed for his family and which his Stewards as I have shewn you are to provide for them and give unto them It ought therefore to be thankfully received and constantly used when we are invited to it unless we mean to starve our selves and provoke our Lord by
be of mighty force to make us thoroughly good And therefore can be neglected by none that understand it but those who are unwilling to be tyed to their duty and are afraid to be ingaged to use their best diligence to keep the Commands of Christ And what such persons think of themselves I cannot tell It is like they put away all sober thoughts of other matters as they thrust by the thoughts of this But it is certain they are in a most dangerous condition They have broken their Baptismal vow and Covenant and they have no mind to repent amend their lives and be bound to keep it better hereafter They do the works of their Father the Devil and will not come and renounce them once more because they are of opinion that if they should they shall return to them Were their hearts right towards God they would be forward to come and dedicate themselves anew to him And they would not out of fear of breaking these bonds too refuse to renew their Covenant with him but in hope to be assisted by the Holy Ghost make a sincere protestation of their purposes of holy living And suppose they should be guilty of any failing afterward it would only move them to make the more hast to sue out their pardon and to bind themselves more strictly by renewed vows to their duty that at last by the help of Gods Almighty grace in the use of this and all other means they might get the mastery over their sins and perform an uniform obedience to Christs Commands There is a Fable goes among the Romanists concerning a Lord in Provence how that he being extremely sick and earnestly desiring the blessed Sacrament intreated the Priest when he brought it to him to lay it upon his Breast because he durst not eat it for fear of vomiting it up Immediately saith the Legend his breast opened and receiving into it self the Heavenly food closed its mouth again The moral of it if we please may be true in every one of us Did we but come to the Holy Table with fervent desire and great devotion of Spirit did we apply our thoughts strongly to meditate on our Saviours wondrous love and lay our hearts as I may say to his to feel how full of affection it was to us in dying for us we could not chuse but set our hearts our Wills I mean wide open to admit him for our Lord and Governor Our hearts would leap for joy to entertain such a gracious Master and they would not easily open again to any thing else that would rob him of our love and oppose it self to his Commands We should hate that which tempted us to break our faith with him The world would seem little in our eyes and we should find all our inordinate affections to it languishing and dying that we might live to him who dyed for us So S. Basil I remember describes the meaning and intention of this Sacrament * L 1. de Baptismo cap. ult What is the profit saith he of those words Do this in remembrance of me I 'le tell you That eating and drinking we may always remember him that dyed for us and rose again and so may be taught necessarily to keep before God and his Christ that Ordinance delivered by his Apostle in these words for the love of Christ constraineth us judging this that if one dyed for all then were all dead and he dyed for all that they who live should not henceforth live to themselves but to him that dyed for them and rose again He that eateth and drinketh to the indelible memory of Christ Jesus who dyed for us and rose again but doth not fulfil the reason of that memory of the Obedience of our Lord even unto death according to the aforesaid instruction of the Apostle the love of Christ constraineth us c. hath no profit at all according to the declaration of our Lord who saith that the flesh profiteth nothing He adds a great deal more to the same purpose and repeats it over again in fewer words in another place if the Book * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cap. 3. Reg. 21. be his The reason of eating the Body and drinking the Blood of Christ is for a Commemoration of his Obedience unto death that they who live should not henceforth live to themselves but to him that dyed and rose again Let us always then have this in our mind when we are making our selves ready for this holy feast that we are going to consecrate our selves again to the obedience of Christ unto the death To renew our protestations of friendship with him and confirm the Covenant that is between us Utterly to disclaim all emnities and opposition to his will and to profess our selves heartily his confederates that will never forsake him In short to promise and vow in the most sacred manner that we will henceforth live unto him and not to our selves and remain his servants in truth and fidelity for ever Let us say to him some such words as these Thou O Lord hast redeemed me by thy own most pretious blood I see the wounds thou hast received for my sake I behold how thy holy flesh was rent and torn for my sins O the Agonies O the pains and sorrows which thou hast endured for my salvation I will never willingly grieve thy heart any more Far be it from me to pierce thee again by slighting thy Commands I had rather die than wound thee by my unkind unfaithfulness to thee Rather had I be torn in pieces my self than break thy Laws and violate thy Covenant wherein I am ingag'd I forswear all confederacy with thy enemies and all opposition to thy will and pleasure I vow most sincerely that I will endeavour to live in all good Conscience towards God and towards all men So help me God as I mean to be true and faithful to thee to my lives end I have sworn Psal 119.106 112 113 c. and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous judgments I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes alway even unto the end I hate vain thoughts but thy law do I love Depart from me ye evil doers for I will keep the Commandments of my God Hold me up and I shall be safe and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually But the Obedience of Christ to the death which we here remember puts me in mind to add another consideration which we are to have in this Action that belongs to this which I have now handled It is such a Covenant wherein we stand engaged that by doing this we covenant even to die for him rather than deny him We promise to be obedient to him as he was to his Heavenly Father so that if he demand our lives to be laid down to do honour to him we cannot honestly refuse it For as we offer the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving in this Commemoration of him
he gives us the Wine of joy and gladness when the same Cup is put into our hand which our blessed Saviour drank of This is the very height of Christianity to which noble pitch we should earnestly strive by all means to arrive Every drop of our blood should be ready to be poured out for that Religion which Christ sealed with his own And indeed what better use can we make of our life than to give it for him from whom we received it and who gave his life for us And how much better is it not to live at all than to live with the mark and brand of cowards and fugitives from the Prince of life and the Lord of glory Let us say therefore when we come to the Table of the Lord O how much do we owe thee most blessed Redeemer How great is the price which thou hast paid for the ransom of us miserable sinners Tongue cannot express it nor thought conceive it What shall I render unto thee for the incomprehensible benefits thou hast bestowed upon me I can give thee no less than my self which here I resign intirely into thy hands Do thou dispose of me according to thy pleasure It is but reasonable I should follow thee whithersoever thou leadest me Though it be to thy Cross I refuse not to obey thy orders Though I should die with thee I hope I shall not in any wise deny thee For there is no better use I can make of my life than to spend it for thee I esteem all things but loss for the excellence of thy knowledg I account not my life dear unto my self Act. 20.24 so that I may finish my course with joy It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us Rom. 8.34 35 c. Who shall separate me from the love of Christ Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword as it is written for thy sake we are killed all the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter Psal 44.17 18. Though all this should come upon me yet will I not forget thee nor will I deal falsly in thy Covenant My heart shall not be turned back neither shall my steps decline from thy way Nay in all these things I shall be more than a Conqueror through him that loved me For I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come Nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And great reason there is that we should cleave to him to the very death if we consider the inestimable benefits which he by his death hath purchased for us and by this Commemoration of it confirms unto us Especially that of remission of sins through his blood which he for his part covenants to grant us if we for our part be faithful to the death For We are not to consider this Action merely as a Feast or only as a Feast upon a Sacrifice but as a Feast upon a Sacrifice for Sin Wherein we agreeing as I said to be his constant Disciples profess our belief that God hath set him forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood and he gives us a part in that propitiation and promises to be merciful to our unrighteousness and to remember our sins and iniquities no more It was not permitted to the Jews you know no not to the Priests themselves to taste of the blood of any Beast that was slain in their Sacrifices to God but it was to be poured out at the foot of the Altar after some part of it had been sprinkled thereon And as for the flesh of the Sacrifice if it was an offering for sin that was to be wholly burnt also and they were not allowed the least portion of it at any of their Feasts This is a priviledg belonging to Christians alone at the Table of the Lord where they not only eat of the Bread which represents the body or flesh of Christ but drink of the Cup which represents his Blood We have an Altar i. e. a Sacrifice whereof they had no right to eat that served the Tabernacle that is Heb. 13.10 which the Jewish Priests themselves who ministred at the Altar could not pertake of We are admitted to the injoyment of more singular priviledges than they were invested withal As we are pertakers of a better Sacrifice which is of greater efficacy and vertue than any of theirs were so God receives us into a nearer familiarity with himself and by setting before us not only the body of that Sacrifice which was offered to him but the blood also which was his own proper food plainly tells us that he intends to make us pertakers of the highest blessings even of his own joy and happiness Of which he gives us strong assurance in that he lets us pertake not only of the blood of the Sacrifice in this figure and representation but of the blood of that Sacrifice which was offered for the sins of the world This bids us rest assured of his abundant grace and not doubt of our acceptance with him to a participation of his highest favour There is nothing now to hinder it nor to make us call in question his merciful kindness toward us For we have such a token and pledg of forgiveness of our sins by this Sacrifice as the ancient people of God had not of the forgivness of their offences by the blood that was offered at Gods Altar They were not admitted to taste of that blood as we are of the blood of Jesus and so could not have that boldness and access with confidence to God which we have through the faith of him Luk. 22.20 1 Cor. 11.25 compared with Mat. 26.28 This seems to be one great secret of this Sacrament as appears from the words of S. Luke and S. Paul who tell us that this Cup which we drink of is the New Covenant in Christs blood which was shed for the remission of sins We are received by doing this into that gracious Covenant which assures us of forgiveness through his blood He gives us a right to those benefits of which that is the first which he obtained by his obedience to the death Which is the import also of the word Communion used by S. Paul to express the effect of this Sacrament 1 Cor. 10.16 The Cup of blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ In its full signification that phrase denotes not merely our being made of his Society but our having a Communication of his body and his blood unto us * So the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is rendred in other
you and all that I desire of you is that you would continue in my love If you keep my Commandments you shall abide in my love Joh. 15.9 10 14. even as I have kept my Fathers Commandment and abide in his love This is the token I would have of your kindness to me Ye are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you Nothing else do I request of you but that you would not hurt your selves by sinning against my love that you would henceforth live unto me who dyed for you Come I beseech you now and assure me that you love me Renew your covenant of friendship with me By taking eating and drinking this that I give you plight me your faith that you will be ever true unto me And then I will be your security against the curse and the condemnation which you dread I will undertake for you that all your sins shall be pardoned Nay I will present you fair and beautiful before my Father as if you had been always innocent Take my word for it that I will deliver you from the wrath to come and give you the blessing of eternal life If you doubt at all of it come hither take this bread and drink this cup as sure as you now receive these your sins shall be blotted out and never remembred in the great day of judgment By these tokens I give you an interest in my death and sufferings I oblige my self by these sensible signs to perform all my promises I seal to you that gracious Covenant which was made in my blood As certainly as I dyed I assure you that you shall live for ever Only as I said do not deny me your hearty love Grant me this small request to correspond with me in sincere affection And by eating and drinking here at my Table tye your selves to be my faithful servants Then I allow you to begin now the joys of Heaven Nay I require you to rejoyce in my salvation to comfort your selves in my promises to solace your souls in the hope of my glory and to sing the Song of Angels which shall end and be completed in eternal Hallelujahs Praise ye the Lord. It is no dream and mere imagination I assure you Christian Readers no vain fancy that you entertain your selves withal if you conceive our Lord thus discoursing to you at his Table For all this is in effect pronounced by the Bread and wine which represent his pretious body and blood When they are broken and poured out before your eyes and offered to you to eat and drink in commemoration of of his death they report unto you his great love and declare the agonies and pains which he indured and give you assurance by authority from him that he will never cease to bless you and do you good And therefore you cannot better affect your hearts and raise your devotion to him in my opinion than by expounding their meaning to your selves and thinking you hear him uttering by them such words unto you as I have now mentioned And will it be possible then that you should be altogether silent and answer never a word unto him Can you find nothing to return to so kind and gracious a declaration of the bowels of his mercy towards you Or will it be hard to tell him your heart who hath so freely opened his unto you No man sure can be mute unless he be astonisht and struck dumb at the power and mightiness of his incomprehensible charity This may indeed justly strike us all with the greatest admiration and hold us a while in wondring thoughts that we should be thus beloved of God It will well become us to be amazed and lost in our thoughts to be unable to do any thing at the first hearing of all these things but only marvel that he should be so kind to such wretched sinners We cannot begin this action better than in a soul-full of thoughts not to be expressed In a silent admiration that the God of Heaven should thus graciously visit us manifesting himself in our flesh giving his Son to die for us and inventing so many ways to make us rest assured of his love towards us But when you have recovered your selves out of this passion how many other shall you feel strugling in your souls which shall first present themselves unto him Do but stay and pause a while upon every part of the foregoing words and you will find all sorts of resentments in your heart which you may cast into this order and thus address your reply unto him You may be very much ashamed that you should give him so great trouble and put him to such pains First to die and then to find out so many ways to remember you of his death and perswade you of his never dying love You may say to him in your heart O my Lord I blush to see my soul so foul that nothing less than thy pretious blood would serve to wash and cleanse it I am confounded to see thee in such a case for us who cared not how vile and base and miserable we were What have we done that we should bring thee to a Cross O what wretches were we that we should understand the love of God no better than to stand in need of such an instance of it with what confidence can we behold thee thus battered and bruised thus wounded and bloody thus full of pain and anguish as thou representest thy self unto us I am asham'd to think that we have exposed thee to such ignominy and shame I am grieved at the heart that we have made thee a man of sorrows And our infidelity O how great is it that after thou wast pleased to indure all this for us we should stand in need of such frequent remonstrances of it and be in danger to forget thee or distrust thee unless thou didst continually thus present thy self unto us and assure us of thy good will towards us O my Lord how shall I present my self before thee who am one of those that have occasioned all this care and pain this agony and passion this sweat and this blood I sigh to remember the many groans which we have made thy heart ake withal It wounds my ears to hear those words My God my God why hast thou forsaken me I am ready to ask thy pardon even that thou art come at such a rate to pardon us It is too much too much but that thou art love it self to spend all this love and kindness upon such insensible and ungrateful sinners Thus having begun to make your addresses to him you may proceed in the second place Humbly to acknowledg your unworthiness to be guests to so great a person as he is Though we cannot if we understand the nature of this feast but come with as thirsty a desire to it as the chafed Hart to the streams of water with as hungry an appetite as a poor man to a full Table or a covetous
that I may live for ever in thy love and be ready to die for thy love that I may delight to do thy will O God and be content to suffer it as the blessed Jesus did And O that I may never forget to feed on him daily by faith and love till he indeed live in me and I in him and all the powers of my soul and body be imployed by his counsels and not my own O that my life may be an exact imitation of him and express his perfections and shew forth his vertues and declare to all how much I love him Especially endue me with great humility and modesty of Spirit that I may live in a constant remembrance of thee my Creator and considering that thou art the author of every good gift may never be puffed up nor do any thing through strife and vain-glory Phil. 2.3 4 5. but in lowliness of mind esteem others better than my self O that the same mind may be in me which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and humbling himself became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross That so thou mayst exalt me in due time to glory and honour as thou hast highly exalted him and when thou shalt call me from this delightful imployment of worshipping praising and serving thee here on earth I may pass into the company of Angels and Saints whose work it is with eternal joy to glorifie thee our Creator and Redeemer Let thy way be known upon earth Psal 67.2 3. and thy saving health unto all nations Let the people praise thee O God Let all the people praise thee Let the earth rejoyce and the multitude of Isles be glad because the Lord Jesus reigneth and governs the world in righteousness and truth O that all the kingdoms of the earth may become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ That Turks Jews and all Infidels may be converted unto thee and that all who name the name of Christ in every place may depart from all iniquity Communicate especially to all Christian Kings Princes and Governors a large measure of wisdom justice and goodness That they may think it their greatest Crown and glory to be thy faithful Ministers and imitate the charity of our Lord Jesus by imploying their power in doing good to all that are under their charge O that thy Priests may be clothed with righteousness and thy Saints shout aloud for joy That the poor may be satisfied with bread the fatherless find mercy with thee the widdows be comforted and protected the disconsolate refreshed the sick eased and restored the prisoners delivered the captives redeemed the oppressed supported and relieved and all men in every estate and condition of life contented bettered and amended Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think Ephes 3.20 21. according to the power that worketh in us unto him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end Amen February The Meditation before the Sacrament THink with your self it is now a month since our Lord did me the honour to entertain me at his Table Where have I been ever since that happy time What have I been doing Have I never gone to return him thanks for that grace bestowed on me Have I been a perfect stranger to him who loves me so much who spake so kindly then unto me and gave me such assurances of his everlasting kindness O shameless ingratitude How shall I be able ever to look him in the face any more I shall sink and die under the load of such a fearful guilt But I hope the case is not altogether so bad with me Have I not sometimes reflected on his incomparable love Have I not endeavoured to preserve some memory of the benefits he hath done unto me Is there not still a little sense of them remaining in my heart I would fain incourage my self to wait again upon my Lord. Pardon me O God if I presume again to enter into thy gates with thanksgiving and into thy Courts with praise to eat of the bread which came down from Heaven to shew forth the Lords death to represent to my God the Sacrifice he made for the atonement of our sins and by vertue of it humbly to expect the continuance of his pardon to renew my Covenant with him and to receive new confirmations of the truth of his promises to me Awake Awake O my soul all thy holy thoughts thy Faith thy Love and every other grace till thou canst say with David My heart is fixed Psal 57.7 O God my heart is prepared I will sing and give praise Go and shew him how thy heart hath been wounded with the thoughts of his love how all thy sins have been bleeding to death how ready thou art to offer up thy self again in Sacrifice to him Shew him how resolved thou art to walk on still more steadily in his holy wayes to employ all the renewed strength thou shalt receive in his hearty service and to go forth in the joy of the Lord to do his will with greater freedom and cheerfulness of Spirit Then thou mayest think thou hearest that voice of wisdom which saith Prov. 9.5 Come eat of my bread and drink of the wine which I have mingled Or that of the divine Lover Eat O Friends drink yea Cam. 5.1 drink abundantly O beloved Let your soul be satisfied as with marrow and fatness Psal 63.5 and your mouth praise him with joyful lips For Christ himself saith Blessed are the poor in Spirit Matth. 5. for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth Blessed are they which do hanger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the children of God Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven As he will one day say to such Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world So now he authorizes his ministers to say come ye blessed souls receive the tokens of his love some earnests of future bliss and rejoyce in hopes of his heavenly kingdom He hath not only prepared for you a kingdom but as the Psalmist speaks in another case he hath prepared a Table for you and anoints your head wish oyl that gladness where with our royal high-Priest is crowned and makes your Cup his coelestial blessings poured on us to run over Let us go then and humbly receive that Cup of blessing to which he invites us Let us bless the Lord and
the flesh and the Devil and serve thee without fear in righteousness and holiness all the dayes of my life Hear my words O Lord consider my meditation Psal 5.1.17.1 Give ear unto my prayer that goeth not out of feigned lips And make me to know and feel that Jesus who dyed for me Rev. 1.18 is alive from the dead and liveth for evermore and that he is an eternal fountain of life and strength of comfort and refreshment to all those that by him believe in God 1 Pet. 1.21 who raised him from the dead and gave him glory that our faith and hope might be in God In his most powerful name I sue unto thee for all that is comprehended in his own holy words saying Our Father c. Meditation afterward SOmetime that day and as often as you can after reflect upon your own thoughts resolutions and vows and consider that there may be but a few dayes perhaps hours remaining before you must appear at the Tribunal of him who hath now entertained you at his Table The next sight you have of him may be upon his throne 1 Pet. 5.5 as one that is ready to judge the quick and the dead Put your soul in mind of the great account you must then give of all that you have done in the body and of your sacred actions no question as well as of the rest And therefore ask your self in the most serious manner and bid your soul tell you with what affection hath the death of the Lord been now remembred Hast thou as sincerely renounced all thy evil wayes and consecrated thy self to the life of Christ as thou hopest to be saved As God shall judge the world in righteousness art thou resolved and determined to become a new Creature and to pass the time of thy sojourning here in fear O how dreadful will he then appear to those who return with the dog to his vomit after they have eaten of this holy bread and drunk of this holy Cup who can stand before him that hath known and remembred his transcendent love and yet loved his ease his pleasure his money or any other thing better than him and his eternal life It concerns me nearly O my soul to keep him ever in my thoughts and to express him in my life That when he comes he may see himself in me and behold his own image in righteousness and true holiness fairly ingraven on my heart For many will say unto him at that day Lord Luke 13.26 27. We have eaten and drunk in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets But he will say I tell you I know you not whence you are depart from me all ye workers of iniquity Most dismal changeâ— now he invites now he saith come but then he will say depart if we come not to his Table with hearts to entertain him to suffer him to dwell in us and to be the sole disposer of all our actions God forbid that ever that terrible voice should sound in mine ears This one word DEPART from me how confounding will it be It must needs strike the stoutest soul into eternal sorrow The searcher of my heart knows that I went unfeignedly thither to give him possession of it and here again I confirm the gift Let him command what he pleases and I will obey it Let him bring his Cross along with him I will submit unto it Come poverty come reproaches come imprisonment come pains and torments come death it self rather than be so miserable as to depart from the living God Depart from me Psal 119.115 rather ye evil doers for I will keep the Commandments of my God Psal 101.2 3. I will walk within my house with a perfect heart No wicked thing will I set before mine eyes I hate the work of them that turn aside it shall not cleave to me All my delight shall be upon the Saints that are in the earth Psal 16.3 and upon such as excel in vertue And that you may preserve these good purposes let your heart be often there where they were conceived and made though your body cannot Look often back upon the Table of the Lord and say with the same holy Psalmist O when shall I come and appear again before thee 42.2 Early will I seek thee O my God Psal 63.1 2 c. my soul thirsteth for thee that I may see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary Because thy loving kindness is better than life my lips shall praise thee Thus will I bless thee while I live I will lift up my hands in thy name My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and with fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips And to furnish your soul with greater plenty of good thoughts you may often reflect upon the example which Christ hath set you in his death as well as in his life And perticularly resolve to spend this month in meditating every day upon his great CHARITY 2 Cor. 8.9 who though he was rich yet for our sakes he became poor that by his poverty we might be rich In this God commended his love to us Rom. 5.8 that while we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends Joh. 15.13 But we when we were enemies were reconciled to God by the death of his Son Rom. 5.10 and therefore shall much more be saved by his life Excite in your self hereby a great and compassionate love to all mankind especially to your Brethren with whom you are knit in one body That you may be strongly inclined to do good as occasion is offered to refresh the bowels of the poor and needy to comfort and support the feeble minded to live with all in unity and peace till your Christian friendship be perfected in endless love in the other world Remember that God is the God of peace and Christ is the Lord of peace Often meditate on the words of our Lord that it is better to give than to receive and upon these words of a good man that He is the best Merchant who layes out his time upon God and his money upon the poor The Thanksgiving and Prayer I Cast my self down before thee O Lord in the deepest humility of soul to worship and praise thee together with all the heavenly Host saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty Heaven and Earth are full of thy glorious goodness Thou art the joy of all those happy creatures above who continually behold the brightness of thy glory and thy presence and the light of thy countenance makes Heaven upon earth to us thy servants whom thou admittest thus near unto thee Glory be to God in the highest who to all other blessings hath added the gift of his dear Son and delivered him up for us all Glory be to the Son of God
feasted they confirmed the Covenant thereby made by swearing one to another early the next morning Gen. 26.31 This was a sign they intended to continue friends and had not made that league in a fit of kindness when their hearts were warm with good chear but seriously and deliberately before Almighty God Just so you find it in the History of Jacob and Laban only the Oath there went before the Sacrifice and the Feast And the consequence of this discourse is this that when the Jews therefore did eat of the Sacrifices of Thanksgiving which was Gods meat being offered or set on his Altar or Table they did express thereby that they were in Covenant with God Their feasting with him in that manner was a declaration of peace and friendship with him and they bound themselves to keep the whole Covenant made with their Fathers which every time they came to his Altar was renewed and confirmed And this we are to conceive is the meaning likewise of our eating and drinking of this Bread and of this Cup at the Table of our Lord. Our pertaking of his Sacrifice is an open declaration that we continue stedfast in the New Covenant that he hath made with us and we with him which hereby we renew and ratify It is an engaging of our faith again to him that we will remain for ever in his love A promise to keep friendship with him by never swerving from that Obedience which we have vowed to him We pass our words to him that whatsoever service we owe him shall be punctually performed That all the Articles of the holy Covenant which we made with him when we were first received into his society shall on our part be carefully and duly observed As hereby he ingages himself you shall see anon to make us pertakers of all the blessings of that Covenant so we engage to perform the duties of it And accordingly as we acquit our selves and honestly stand to the terms of our agreement with him and make it good so we must expect and no otherways to enjoy the benefits which he hath promised to the faithful If we prove not false in this Covenant of God but in the uprightness of our heart keep close to our duty then as sure as we take that Bread and that Cup into our hands as certain as we tast them with our mouths and receive them into our bodies will he give us his pardon grace and eternal life And this we do not only Covenant with him to perform but this Action looks like an Oath which we take that we will be Christs faithful Souldiers and servants to our lives end This is an ancient notion of the word Sacrament which we now use to express this Action by And thus in Pliny's time they understood the meaning of it for he tells us as you heard that Christians bound themselves at their Assemblies by a Sacrament or oath not to commit any wickedness When we come therefore to the Table of the Lord we swear fidelity to him and vow that we will be stedfast in our Covenant We take the Sacrament upon it as we ordinarily speak that we will be true to him and manfully fight under his banners against the Devil the world and the flesh And here I cannot but remember what Josephus * L. 2. de bello Jud. cap. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 writes concerning the Essens a sect among the Jews who would not admit any to their Communion nor eat with them before they had taken certain Horrible Oaths that they would worship God and observe all the rules of Justice towards men But can there be any more dreadful than this whereby we keep our Communion with Christ Is it not a most terrible thing to swear fidelity to our Lord by laying our hands as it were upon his Body and Blood nay eating and drinking that which represents him to us This lays the most powerful engagement on us and binds us in the strongest resolutions to be constant hearty and zealous in our Christian Profession of Faith and Obedience to him without which we draw upon our selves the greatest mischiefs imaginable For I must observe once more that this made it such a perillous thing to eat and drink unworthily and brought such judgments on the Corinthians 1 Cor. 11.29 30. because in all Covenants made in the presence of God and with appeals to him there is necessarily understood though it be not expressed an imprecation of divine vengeance if we do not keep them There is nothing more easy to be observed in the Leagues among the Greeks which were confirmed by Oath than such words as these * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. v. Seld. L. 2. de Sâ—nedr cap. 11. n. 3. I wish perdition to my self and my house if I transgress any of those things which I have agreed unto as I hope for all good things if I keep them inviolable And if they did not use such formal words yet it was the sense of all Nations that having Covenanted in Gods presence and made him a witness of their action his wrath was to be expected against the unfaithful which they had burthened themselves withal And therefore seeing here we do in such a sacred manner vow to God that we will be at peace with him and observe the Laws of our blessed Saviour we must remember that we load our selves with Curses and expose our selves to the Almighty's displeasure if we do not faithfully study to make good our word A consideration that ought not to deter and affright us from this holy Communion but only make us more serious in it and diligently to frequent it if we intend to be good Christians and expect to enter into the blessed society of our Saviour in Heaven It shews us the great necessity of obeying this Command of our Lord because of the security we hereby give him that all the rest of his Commands shall be better observed if we carefully observe this For who can live always in the midst of meditations of our Saviours Love and not be sensibly moved to love him above all things who can be ever thinking of his Obedience to the death and yet himself be disobedient who can indure to lose such blessings as he saith the blood of Christ was the price of How is it possible that we should continually remember him and yet quite forget our duty to him with what face can a man plead his Sacrifice and not himself be wholly offered to him what an intolerable hypocrisie is it to be continually professing our selves Christians and acknowledging him to be our Lord if we will not be governed by him and live in subjection to his Commands Nay more than that what desperate profaneness is it to promise Covenant and Vow to be his servants and to make no Conscience how we behave our selves towards our Lord and Master certainly the serious performance of this Action must needs produce other effects and
THE CHRISTIAN SACRIFICE A TREATISE Shewing the Necessity End and Manner of Receiving the Holy COMMVNION TOGETHER With suitable Prayers and Meditations for every Month in the Year and the Principal Festivals in Memory of our Blessed SAVIOUR In Four PARTS Ecclus. 14.20 21. Blessed is the Man that doth Meditate good things in wisdom and that reasoneth of holy things by his understanding He that considereth her ways in his heart shall also have understanding in her secrets LONDON Printed by R. N. for R. Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred Majesty in St. Pauls Church-yard 1671. MVNIFICENTIA REGIA 1715. GEORGIVS D.G. MAG BR FR ET HIB REX F.D. J. Pine sculp TO THE READER THE Reasons that moved me to write this Book together with its design I have declared in the beginning of it and given Directions also in their proper places how to use it I have little therefore here to advise the Reader of but that I am much indebted for what I have writ in the Second Part about the Nature and End of this holy Sacrament to a Treatise called MENSA MYSTICA unto which I refer those that desire a larger discourse on that subject It is possible that I may not only have followed the sense but used also some of the expressions which you find there But if I have it is more than I know for I have not read it of many years nor had either that or any other Book on this Argument by me when I composed these Meditations And to say the truth since I comprehended as I thought what belonged to this matter I was not willing to look into any meerly lest they should hinder the free conceptions of my own mind and their very words should cleave too much to my Imagination I hope the Reader will think fit to bring the like free and unprejudiced mind to the perusal of what I have writ especially an heart seriously desirous to have holy Devotion wrought in it to our Creator and Redeemer and then neither of our pains I presume will prove unprofitable But I do not mean by Devotion only some transient thoughts and passions arising at certain seasons when we more solemnly address our selves to God our Saviour But a setled love to him disposing us to present him alway with an heart humble pure just and charitable which is the oblation that all our other Sacrifices are to prepare for him and the greatest honour that we are capable to do him For this expresses the high esteem we have of him that above all things we study to be like him and conform our selves whatsoever it cost us to his holy Nature and will This indeed glorifies him before men and all the praises we can bestow upon him without this are but words which we revoke and unsay again when we cross his Commands And for this end Christ instituted this Commemoration of the Sacrifice which he made of himself to God that we might be moved thereby to offer up our selves freely and chearfully as he did to do and suffer what our heavenly Father pleases For it is rank hypocrisie to commend and praise his obedience to the death whilst we will not imitate it but follow our own humours rather than the will of God And that is the scope of this Treatise to excite those that read it to worship the Lord with holy Worship that is saith one of the Ancients by purged thoughts and reasonings right and true opinions composed passions and quiet affections and by likeness to God in vertue to the utmost of our power They are the words of Eusebius * L. 3. Praepar Evang. cap. 13. to which you may add these of Lactantius There are two things that ought to be offered to God a Gift and a Sacrifice the Gift for ever the Sacrifice for a time and both the one and the other is incorporeal The Gift is integrity of mind the Sacrifice is praise and hymns Therefore the most excellent manner of worshipping God is praise directed to him out of the mouth of a just man ‖ L. 6. Instit Div. cap. 25. The Eucharist consists of both as you will find in this Book The help of which if the Reader will be pleased to use till he hath made himself such a thankful oblation to God he will not want a reason why I call it The Christian Sacrifice nor fail to grow in wisdom and spiritual understanding For as the Son of Syrach saith The love of the Lord passeth all things for illumination Ecclus. 25.11 he that holdeth it whereto shall he be likened The candor also of such men I know is incomparable which will make them charitably pass by the defects that they may espy in a work well intended And if there be any that shall dislike the design it self or slight my performance I shall not concern my self in their censures but rest in this as well as other cases in the judgment of the same wise man which they may do well to consider Blessed is the man whose conscience hath not condemned him Ecclus. 14.2 and who is not fallen from his hope in the Lord. 1.26 For it is an easy thing unto the Lord in the day of death to reward a man according to his wayes THE CONTENTS THe First part treats briefly of the obligations we have to Communicate Page 1. The Second shews the Ends and purposes of this Holy Action and contains Meditations or Addresses to God suitable to each p. 15. You may find the first Meditation p. 19. The Second p. 24. The Third p. 34. The Fourth p. 49. The Fifth p. 56. The Sixth p. 69. The Seventh p. 81. The Last p. 92. Directions for the use of them p. 95. A more compendious form of Devotion after receiving the Bread p. 96. After the Cup. p. 99. The Third part shews how to dispose our selves to receive with profit and pleasure p. 105. Several Meditations after the Consecration of the bread and wine and whilst the rest of the company is receiving from p. 113 to p. 134. A compendium of them p. 135. Directions how to use them p. 136. An Introduction to the last part of this Discourse p. 141. Which contains Meditations and Prayers before and after the Communion For January p. 153. For February p. 175. For March p. 199. For April p. 219. For May. p. 239. For June p. 259. For July p. 279. For August p. 299. For September p. 319. For October p. 341. For November p. 361. For December p. 381. For Christmas-day p. 399. For New years-day p. 423. For Easter-day p. 437. For Ascension-day p. 463. For Whitsunday p. 485. Imprimatur Sam. Parker R mo in Christo Patri ac Domino D no. Gilberto Archiep. Cantuar. à sac Dom. Ex Aedib Lambeth Mart. 3. 1670 1 WHEN I consider whence it is that they who otherwise frequent the Christian assemblies are generally so negligent in Communicating at the Table of the Lord the Reasons
Breaking giving and receiving of that Bread was to commemorate and more strongly imprint on their minds the whole History of our Lord Jesus Which we are not to reflect upon in an idle and ineffectual manner but with such passions as we feel when we think of the sweet conversation the good offices and the solemn departure of the dearest Friend that we ever had Whom no good natur'd man can seriously call to mind without Love Delight Gratitude and a great forwardness to fulfil his Will and Testament and to follow his admired example Now that we may be made able to do so in respect to our Lord Christ he is pleased to set before us this Holy Food which the Christian Church hath always lookt upon as a Spiritual nourishment to strengthen and encrease in us all goodness And for that purpose we are to address our selves to the Table of our Lord that by affectionate meditation on his condiscending kindness in becoming a Man for our sakes and by laying to heart the whole story of his wonderful Love from his Birth to his Grave and fixing our eyes on the glorious hopes he hath given us by rising again from the dead and ascending to the Throne of God we may feel a greater strength derived to us from him enabling us to our several duties and be enlivened to a greater freedom and chearfulness in denying all our own appetites and desires and submitting them to the Will of Christ Say therefore to your selves before you come thither some such words as these We are invited to a Feast our most Gracious Lord is the Master of it yea He himself is the cheer that is provided for us With what Humility with what thankfulness ought we to accept of his invitation Let us fit up our selves and make our souls ready to appear before him in as holy and becoming a manner as we are able Let us go with such joy as if we were called to the richest entertainment in the world Let our Meditation of him be sweet and let us be glad in the Lord * Psal 104.4 Isa 63.7 Psa 45.17 Let us mention the loving kindness of the Lord according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us And let us make his name to be remembred in all generations Let us resolve to feed on him in our hearts by Faith with Thanksgiving as his Minister exhorts us to ruminate so long upon his love till we feel our hearts burn with love to him Let us meditate on his holy life his bitter passion his bloody and shameful death his glorious Resurrection and Ascention his Power and Authority at Gods right hand the great benefits we justly expect from thence and the pretious promises he hath by these means sealed to us till we feel all the powers of our souls quickned and stirred up with a mighty heat and zeal to do the will of our ever blessed Redeemer even a new life and spirit coming into us and making us Strong in the Lord and in the power of his might Which vertue we shall certainly find flowing into us and spreading it self through our hearts if we believe and enter into a serious consideration of the more particular intention and design of this holy Feast whose general meaning I have briefly described Having surveyed therefore in your thoughts the whole Gospel of our Saviour Christ I shall proceed to shew you on what you are more principally to fasten them You must not consider this holy Action only as a Feast in remembrance of him but as a Feast upon a Sacrifice wherein you are more particularly to commemorate his Death Our blessed Lord the High-Priest of our profession was pleased himself to be offered upon the cross where he gave himself for us an offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour Ephes 5.2 A kindness that as it ought never to be forgotten so it ought to be mentioned with the highest and devoutest praises And therefore after the manner of those Feasts among the Jews and Gentiles too in which the people had some portion of the Sacrifice to entertain themselves and their friends withal he makes us pertakers of the Sacrifice which he made to God by admitting us in these representations of his body and blood to feast upon it Which Action is a grateful commemoration of his death to his everlasting praise and glory Therein we set forth that Sacrifice of his for us and signifie the thankful sense we have of his love and our high esteem of those benefits which his bloody Death hath purchased to us This we learn first from those words of our Lord and his Apostle S. Paul which teach us to do this in remembrance of him Which phrase doth not signifie our calling him to mind but our making mention of his dying love with due praises and acknowledgments which is best expressed by the word Commemorate We declare by doing this that we indeed bear that remarkable testimony of his kindness in the remembrance of a thankful heart and will endeavour to make it be remembred in the succeeding generation That this is the meaning appears more fully from a second expression of S. Paul's 1 Cor. 11.26 where he saith as often as they did this they shewed forth the Lords death till he came We declare and publish by this Action his bloody Death We proclaim and abundantly utter the memory of his great goodness which he would have made known to all by this solemn Feast till his second appearing This is the import of that word shew forth only it carries this further notion in it as appears by the use of it in the Psalms * Ps 106. â— Ps 145.4 5 6 7. That we hereby publish his mighty Acts with praise extol and magnifie his marvellous love and celebrate the Memory of those divine benefits he hath obtained for us with a desire that they may be acknowledged in the same manner to the Worlds end And here now we may consider that this Commemoration and shewing forth looks two ways towards men and towards God First We shew it forth and tell it to the world We openly declare to all those that see or know what we do that the Son of God dyed for the Children of men that he freely gave his body to be broken and his blood to be shed for our redemption We proclaim Jesus to be the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World and shew how God hath commended his love to us in that while we were sinners he gave his only begotten Son for us that we might live through him In this riches of his grace we make our boast and glory a great deal more than if we possessed the Treasures of the whole Earth Secondly And then we Commemorate also and shew forth his Death unto God the Father We set before him this free-will Offering of Jesus as a sufficient Sacrifice for the sins of the whole world We magnifie his
bounty in this invaluable blessing and make mention of this which his Son hath suffered for us as a compleat satisfaction for all our offences against him We must approach therefore to the Table of the Lord with affectionate acknowledgments of his infinite goodness extolling and praising his merciful kindness in bestowing on us so great a gift professing we will never forget the tender love of our Lord who laid down his life for us and beseeching the Father of Mercies to receive us into his grace and favour for the sake of his dear Son whose Death we shew unto him We should resolve to express the sense of our hearts in some such words as these Psal 92.1 2 3. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy name O thou most high To shew forth thy loving kindness in the morning and thy faithfulness every night For thou Lord hast made me glad through thy work I will triumph in the works of thy hand 66.16.86.13 Come and hear all ye people I will declare what the Lord hath done for our Souls For great is his mercy towards us and he hath delivered our souls from the lowest hell Glorious things are spoken of thee John 1.14 29. Colâ—ss 1.15 Joh. â— 12 O Jesus thou lover of Souls The word made flesh the Image of the invisible God the light of the world the Lamb of God that takes away its sin the first begotten from the dead the heir of all things Rev. 1.5 the Prince of the Kings of the Earth Heb. 1.3 Heb. 8.1.9.24.7 25. an high Priest who is set down on the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens who appears in the presence of God and lives for ever to make intercession for us Psal 89.6 Who in the Heaven can be compared to the Lord who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord For thou Lord art highly exalted thou art exalted far above all Gods 9â— 9 In this most powerful name O Father Almighty we humbly cast down our selves before the Throne of thy Glory Give us leave to mention before thee the Death of him who said behold I come to do thy will O God Behold O Lord the bleeding wounds of thy well-beloved in whom thou hast testified by a voice from Heaven that thou art well pleased Remember how his Body was broken for us and his Blood poured out In him we believe thou art perfectly satisfied and therefore are bold to hope that thou art reconciled to us on that account O hear his dying groans regard his Agony and Bloody sweat by his Cross and Passion let our sins be blotted out and by his glorious Resurrection and Ascension let us feel every evil affection and lust perfectly killed and crucified We have nothing to plead if he have not done enough and fulfilled all thy will But since he hath laid down his life in obedience to thee O let us by vertue of that voluntary Sacrifice which now we represent before thee obtain thy mercy and grace We cannot be content to lose our share in so great a Love And since thou hast bid us to Commemorate it we hope we shall as certainly pertake of it as we do of this Feast to which thou hast invited us Ps 79.13.145.1 2. So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever We will shew forth thy praise from generation to generation We will extol thee our God O King we will bless thy name for ever and ever Every day will we bless thee and will praise thy name for ever and ever In such Meditations as these when we shew forth the inestimable value of Christs Sacrifice we do as it were offer it unto God or rather make before him a commemoration of his Offering And in this sense the Ancient Christians did call this Sacrament a Sacrifice and every Christian they lookt upon as a Priest and a Sacrificer when he came to the Table of the Lord. Because Christ not only bad his Apostles do this in remembrance of him but S. Paul requires every one of us to do the same and to shew forth his Death till he come There is none mentions this Sacrifice more frequently than S. Chrysostome but to explain himself after he had said we do not make another Sacrifice as the high Priests of old but always the very same he adds or rather we make a Commemoration of a Sacrifice * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Heb. 10. p. 523. edic Savil. And in the very same manner Eusebius writes in his first Book of his Evangelical Demonstration Christians cannot think fit saith he to return back again to the first and weak Elements he means the Mosaical Sacrifices which were but Symbols and Images not the Truth it self ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. cap. 10. p. 37. since they celebrate every day the Commemoration of his Body and Blood and are made worthy of a better Sacrifice and ministery than the Ancients were And a little after speaking of Christs wonderful oblation and most pretious bloody Sacrifice to the Father he adds that he delivered also to us a Remembrance instead of a Sacrifice to offer up continually unto God * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 38. By which words it is manifest he took the Remembrance or Commemoration of Christs death to be that Sacrifice which we make to God And again he saith in the very next page to celebrate the remembrance or commemoration of that Sacrifice upon the Table by the Symbols or representations both of his Body and saving Blood we have received according to the ordinances of the New Testament Hither he applies those places out of the Psalms offer to God Thanksgiving Let the lifting up of our hands be as an evening Sacrifice The Sacrifices of God are a contrite Spirit c. So that they thought of no other Sacrifice in those days but that of praise and Thanksgiving together with the offering of our selves our Souls and bodies to be a reasonable holy and lively Sacrifice unto him as it is admirably expressed in our Communion Service * Prayer after all have Communicated With which the Author now mentioned perfectly agrees and delivers his mind almost in the same words We Sacrifice ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ib. pag. 40. saith he a divine venerable and most holy Sacrifice We Sacrifice after a new manner according to the New Testament a pure Sacrifice c. we both Sacrifice and offer Incense too Celebrating the remembrance of that great Sacrifice according to the Mysteries delivered by him to us and offering Thanksgiving for our Salvation by godly Hymns and Prayers to God consecrating our selves also wholly to him and to our high Priest the word devoting to him both our Souls and Bodies It would be easy to add much more to the same purpose but
this is sufficient to shew what the Sacrifice is which we make when we do this and that our Church now doth that which the Ancient did By feasting upon this Sacrifice we not only commemorate that oblation of himself with the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving but likewise offer up our selves to him to be intirely his As will appear more fully in the next consideration which is this By this Action we make a solemn Profession of the Christian Religion and declare our selves to be the Disciples and followers of Jesus to whom we joyn our selves in fellowship So much is the rational consequence of what hath been said For by eating of the Sacrifices offered at the Altar both Jews and Gentiles professed themselves to be the Worshippers and Servants of that God to whom the oblation was made And secondly it may be rationally drawn from that discourse of our Saviours with the Jews in the Sixth of S. Johns Gospel Where eating his flesh and drinking his blood v. 51 53 54 c. signify nothing else but believing * See v. 29 35.47 the word and keeping the Precepts which Christ published in our flesh and sealed with his Blood This is honestly acknowledged by a Learned Person in the Church of Rome who gives the sense of those verses in these two lines They are nourished with the flesh of Christ to eternal life who keep the sayings of Christ incarnate ‖ Carne Christi nutriuntur in vitam aeternam qui Sermones Christi incarnati servant Rigaltius in Cypr. Epist 1. Which he expresses more largely in another place The words of eternal life which Peter acknowledged our Saviour had are the Commands saith he which he gave when he was in Flesh among men For therefore he was made Flesh that in the Flesh or Body of man he might procure their Salvation and form them to eternal life Therefore the words which Christ spake in flesh the Gospel of Christ is the flesh of Christ These words this flesh this meat Christ would have us eat ruminate and digest that being nourished thereby we may profit to eternal life * Idem in Epist 55. Annot. a. Thus S. Peter understood our Lord when he answered at the end of that discourse to his Question will ye go away To whom should we go thou hast the words of eternal life v. 68. And thus Christ explains himself v. 63. where he saith his discourse was not to be understood so grosly as the Jews apprehended it but in a more spiritual and divine manner His meaning was to be conceived as if he had said unless you really receive me notwithstanding my being crucified as God speaking to you in flesh and so conform your selves to my Doctrine you cannot be saved And indeed this eating and drinking which now he call'd them unto could be nothing else but receiving him and his Doctrine for the Sacrament of his Body and Blood was not yet instituted But when it was then I make account they who did eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup in Commemoration of Christ were to look upon it as a devout Profession of that Faith in him and Obedience to him without which we cannot inherit eternal life We declare by this Action the intire assent of our minds to the Truth of all that he preached when he was in our flesh and the unfeigned consent of our Wills to be ordered and governed according to it Hence perhaps it was that this Action came to be called the Sacrament which was the ancient name for our whole Religion * As may be seen in S. Cyprian Lactanâ—ius c. in innumerable places because here we make the most solemn Profession of the Christian Religion as the Jews did of the Mosaical when they did eat before God of the Sacrifices offered on his Altar Thus much I am sure of in the third place that the whole discourse of S. Paul is to this sense when he calls the Cup of blessing which we bless the Communion of the Blood of Christ and the Bread which we break the Communion of the body of Christ 1 Cor. 10.16 That is an Holy Action whereby we declare our Society and fellowship with Christ and that we are of his Religion in opposition to all others Which we shall easily discern to be the Apostles meaning if we take but the pains to consider what it is that he goes about to prove in those eight verses from v. 14. to 22. It is nothing but this That if they did Communicate with Christ in the Cup of Blessing and Breaking of Bread then they must flee from all Idolatrous Services and not pertake in them The consequence saith he is manifest to any understanding person as I take you to be For to Communicate with him in that manner is as much as to acknowledg Jesus only to be the Lord to honour and worship him to profess that you belong to him and to joyn your selves in fellowship with him Which he proves first from the intention of the Feasts upon the Jewish Sacrifices of which whosoever did eat he thereby became of that Religion and professed to worship that God at whose Altar which Malachi calls his Table Mal. 1.7 that meat was offered in honour of him And secondly from the Religious Feasts among the Gentiles whose Sacrifices being offered to Daemons whosoever did eat of them thereby he made an acknowledgment of their Deity and that he was one of their Servants and Worshippers Which instances carry in them this general reason that the eating continually of any ones meat signifies us to be of his Family or his Friends and familiar acquaintance and so this Religious eating at their Tables and of their meat was a token and a declaration of Friendship and Society with God or with Daemons and by consequence this must be the meaning of our pertaking of the Table of the Lord. From which premisses the Apostle concluds with the greatest force of reason that all those who made this profession of being Members of Christs Body and belonging to the Christian Society or Corporation v. 17. by pertaking of Christs Table and eating of his Meat must have nothing to do with the Tables of Daemons For this would be to jumble the most contrary and inconsistent things together to worship God and Baal too to be the servants of Christ and the servants of the Devil Whereas in truth by honouring them in eating of their Sacrifices they did in effect renounce Christ And by Communicating with Christ at his Table they did re-renounce them For he came to destroy the works of the devil 1 Joh. 3.8 and Idolatry in the first place wherein that worship and service was paid to the devil which was due to God alone You must address your selves then to the Table of the Lord as the friends of Jesus Christ on purpose to profess that you believe on him and are of his Religion and mean to cleave unto him and
places Gal. 6.6 Phil. 4.15 of which we pertake by eating this bread and drinking this Cup in remembrance of his death for the remission of sin And so we beseech our merciful Father in the Prayer of Consecration which our Church prescribes that we receiving these his Creatures of bread and wine according to his Son our Saviours holy institution in remembrance of his death and Passion may be pertakers of his most blessed body and blood For after the bread and wine are deputed by holy prayer to God to be used for a Commemoration of Christs death though they do not cease to be what they were before yet they begin to be something which they were not before this Consecration That is they become now to us visible signs of an inward and spiritual grace and do not merely figure to us the breaking of Christs body and the shedding of his blood but are a pledg of that inward and spiritual grace which they represent What that grace is we are taught in our Catechism when it tells us that it is the body and blood of Christ which are verily and indeed received of the faithful in the Lords Supper That is they have a real part and portion given them in the death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus whose body was broken and blood shed for remission of sins They truly and indeed pertake of the vertue of his bloody Sacrifice whereby he hath obtained an eternal redemption for us This is the meaning sure of pertaking of his body and blood which are here communicated Because this bread and wine do not become his body and blood by ceasing to be bread and wine but by tendring them to us as a spiritual grace Their efficacy therefore and vertue by the divine favour is made ours All the effects and benefits of his passion are imparted to us In short there is nothing which the body and blood of Christ can be to the spirits of men but by these tokens he exhibits it to us and gives us an interest in it This is spiritually to eat his flesh and drink his blood as both our Church and the ancient speak Our souls intertain and feast themselves upon his Sacrifice being really made pertakers of whatsoever his body and blood can do for them Which S. Gregory Nazianzen meant I should think when he saith that these oblations are the Communication of the Incarnation of God and of the sufferings of God * in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tom. 2. Jamb 15. How doth he communicate to us his Incarnation but by giving us the fruits and benefits of it and so he communicates to us his broken body and his blood that was shed We pertake of both in the same manner We are admitted to participate of the secret of the sufferings of Christ as he speaks in another place ‡ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orat. 40. and by means of this Sacrament are vested in the merit of them And thus indeed the bread and wine are changed not by abolishing their substance but by turning them to this divine use to which they are deputed by prayer according to Christs institution to tender to us the spiritual grace of the body and blood of our Saviour The principal part of which grace is remission of sin For sin being done away death the fruit of sin is abolished he graciously restores us to the priviledg of immortality which we had lost and in order to it assures us he will not fail to communicate the grace of his holy spirit to assist and further us in our way to everlasting bliss We may be satisfied that he will send a living vertue into our spirits to quicken excite and strengthen us to do according to our Vows and ingagements that so we may continue in his love as he continued in his Fathers love by keeping his Commandments For this is the nature and office of all Sacramental pledges to assure us of the good will of God and of his truth in fulfilling his gracious promises He ingages to be faithful to us by giving them as we ingage our selves to be faithful to him by receiving them God bids us believe that we shall be accepted in his beloved nay he puts us in possession of all that which the Gospel promises and the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross obtained to us mercy grace and peace remission of sin the power of the Holy Ghost and eternal life Thus the prayer of Consecration runs in the ancient Liturgies into which though many things are foisted sutable to the conceits of later times yet they contain sundry expressions of Christian devotion worthy of those who are called the Authors of them Bless this Bread and this wine saith that ascribed to S. Chrysostom make it to be the body and blood of thy Son c. that it may be to all that pertake of it for the washing of the Soul the forgiveness of sin the communication of the Holy Spirit c. And a little after Make us worthy to pertake of thy heavenly and dreadful mysteries of this holy and spiritual Table with a pure Conscience for the remission of sin the pardon of our offences the communication of the Holy Spirit the inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven and confidence before thee not for judgment or condemnation In that also which goes under the name of S. James to mention no more we find these words Be merciful to us O God according to thy great mercy and send upon us and upon these gifts thy Holy Spirit that it may sanctifie and make this bread the holy body of thy Christ and this Cup the pretious blood of thy Christ that they may be to all those who receive them for the remission of sin and for eternal life the sanctification of body and soul the bringing forth the fruit of good works and the establishing of thy holy Catholick and Apostolick Church which thou hast founded upon the ROCK OF FAITH that the gates of hell may not prevail against it c. The meaning of which words make this Bread the Body of thy Christ c. are so well expounded in the Service of the Roman Church by the addition only of these two words TO VS as if their forefathers had studied to prevent that gross conceit which now they have entertained * Our Writers have shewn often enough that the fancy of transubstantiation is not countenanced by the service of that Church which teaches it For the Prayer there concerning the Bread and wine is that they may become to us the body and blood of thy wel-beloved Son our Lord Jesus Christ God doth not make them so in themselves by changing their substance but unto us by their change from the common to this Spiritual use Nor doth the prayer now mentioned for the Holy Spirit to come and sanctifie them and make them his body to us c. suggest any such thing as a change of their substance For the ancient writers
clearly discern that I may touch on this by the way that he did not believe the Wine in this Sacrament was turned in substance into the blood of Christ but only in representation and use For it begun to be his blood when it was offered to God just as the water begun to be the people and flock of Christ He uses the same words of both And therefore if we say he thought the wine was changed from its own nature into the very substance of Christs blood we may as well say he believed the water to be changed from being water and to be made the very substance of his Church or people In the like manner we may discourse concerning the bread which in his opinion is so made Christs body that it is also the body of the Church For that is represented he saith together with Christ by the flour and water made into one Bread But not to trouble our selves any further with disputes let us therefore when we pertake of the Table of the Lord think that as thereby we are made one with Christ so we are joyned in the closest Union one with another And let us remember when we are making our selves ready for this heavenly Feast that as we are going to commemorate the dearest love of our Lord and to profess our love to him so to engage our selves to the heartiest love towards all the members of the same body to enter into a Covenant one with another as well as with him by eating of the same bread and drinking of the same Cup that we will never fall out any more much less hate maligne or do despite and injuries one to another but live for ever in the peace of God in unity and godly love O that this holy use of this Sacrament were more seriously regarded and laid to heart It would make a marvellous change in the face of Christs Church if all that pertake of his Table did cordially embrace as loving friends and resolve to remain in an inseparable affection For Love or Brotherly charity is the fulfilling of the Law and would certainly secure all thoses duties which we owe to our Neighbour as S. Paul shews Rom. 13.8 9 10. If our hearts were filled with it we should not only be preserved from doing of him harm but it would make us do him good By giving and communicating to his necessities * Which is joyned with breakinâ— br◠〈…〉 us â—ship and by forgiving him and passing by his injuries trespasses and offences under which two heads are comprehended all the offices of brotherly charity We have our Saviours word for it that if this heavenly vertue were but planted in our breasts all other Christian vertues would presently shine in us and adorn our souls For he compares this loving and kind disposition free from all base selfishness and covetous desires which look only at their own particular profit to the eye in our head which when it is clear and pure the whole body is full of light Matth. 6.22 And therefore the oftner we come to the Lords Table with this end among other in our aim the better Christians we shall grow We shall preserve this light that is in us from growing dim and renewing our friendship at this feast to which the Lord invites both high and low rich and poor we shall neither despise nor envy nor bear ill will nor be hard hearted one to another any more Nay our light will so shine before men that they seeing our good works will glorify our Father which is in Heaven It is a maxim I observe among Politicians that a great person or Governor should Feast or entertain but seldom upon some special occasions because it is uncertain whether he shall procure by it favour or envy Some may think themselves neglected and others think themselves disparaged who are not able to give the same entertainment But our Lord upon the quite contrary reasons invites us frequently to his house and Table because he invites all and makes no difference upon account of mens outward estates and expects nothing at all again but that all his Guests would love one another with a sincere heart and unfeigned affection The great he would ingage not to scorn the meaner sort and the meaner sort not to envy the great He would oblige the rich to be merciful and liberal and the poor to be thankful and contented The weak in knowledge not to judg the strong and the strong not to despise the weak but all to live together as loving Brethren and members of the same body That so they may have the same care one for another And whether one member suffer all the members may suffer with it or one member rejoyce all the rest may rejoyce with it And whatsoever differences may arise he conjures them by all that is sacred and dear to them that they fall not out nor make any quarrels much less divide and separate themselves one from another or do any thing that may spoil the harmony and consent of their affections together with the comfort of their lives and the beauty of his Church O how good Psal 133.1 4. how pleasant it is should every one say when he is at this feast for Brethren to dwell together in Vnity Heaven and Earth are pleased with this happy agreement and sweet accord Here the Lord commandeth a blessing even life for evermore Never will I make any jars in this heavenly consort Nothing but love nothing but Love shall possess that heart in which thou O Lord of love art pleased to inhabit I willingly enter into these holy bonds of friendship and peace I ty my self here inseparably to all my Brethren I embrace them all in every place with an open and inlarged heart I will ever endeavour to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and will love not in word nor tongue but in deed and in truth And O that we could see that holy Spirit which gathered so many Nations and tongues and people of sundry sorts into one body of the Church descending once more to joyn together all Christian hearts Come holy Ghost and draw us all to unity concord and peace That as there is one Lord and one spirit and one Baptism Ephes 4.3.4 5. Act. 4.32 and one hope of our calling so the multitude of believers may be of one heart and of one soul O blessed Jesus who when thou ascendedst up on high gavest gifts to men yea to the rebellious also renew thy ancient bounty to thine Universal Church Visit our minds and inspire us with heavenly grace that we may be like minded Phil. 2.2 having the same love being of one accord and one mind That so at last there may be but one voice also that we may all speak the same thing 1 Cor. 1.20 and that there be no divisions among us but that we be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in
ever And hath redeemed us from our enemies for his mercy endureth for ever I will praise thee with my whole heart the high praises of God shall be in my mouth Who hath raised up a mighty Salvation for us Rom 8.32 and hath not spared his own Son but delivered him up for us all Heb. 9.12 Who hath obtained for us an eternal redemption 2 Pet. 1.3 and given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledg of him that hath called us by a glorious power Bless the Lord O my soul Psal 103.1 c. and all that is within me bless his holy name Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits Who forgiveth all thy iniquities and healeth all thy diseases Who redeemeth thy life from destruction and crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies Psa 111.1 I will praise the Lord with my whole heart in the assembly of the upright and in the Congregation While I live will I praise the Lord 146.2 I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being 145.21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever Thus I am come to a conclusion of the second part of my Discourse concerning the Nature End and Use of this Holy Sacrament The sum of what hath been said is this It is an holy Feast in commemoration of our Lord Christ especially of his Death In which we for our part make a solemn profession of his Religion and tie our selves in the strictest Covenant to follow him unto the death and to live in love and charity with all our Christian Brethren And he for his part makes a representation of his dying love to us and confirms the continuance of it giving us pledges that he will make us heirs of all the blessings which were the purchase of his body broken and blood shed for us So that when the Minister gives the Bread and the Cup to us we should think that Christ by him gives us tokens and assurances of his continued and everlasting love and kindness And when we take eat and drink that which he gives us we should look upon it as expressing our consent to continue his faithful Disciples in hope of that eternal life which God that cannot lie hath promised to us In short the whole Action is the renewing of a Covenant between Christ and us He by giving we by receiving ingage our selves to perform our mutual promises He his promises of giving us pardon power to do well and immortal bliss And we our promises of loving God with all our heart and soul and strength and our neighbor as our selves All which we are to reflect upon with the greatest love to God and our Saviour with thanksgiving blessing and praise and with an humble confidence that it shall be to us according to his word To promote which ends I have concluded every particular Head of this discourse with a brief Meditation which may be used in this manner The First of them may serve to excite our devout affections before we go to Church or when we have placed our selves conveniently just before the Communion begin or while the company are making their oblations to God The Second will be proper immediately after the Consecration while the Minister is receiving himself and giving the Communion to the other Ministers that may be there present with him The other Six half of them may be used after we have received the Bread and the other half after we have received the Cup. Or if any desire a more compendious form of Devotion wherein to lift up their Souls to God immediately after their receiving they may reserve those till they retire from the Holy Table to their seats again and in this manner address themselves to him just after the receiving of the Bread 2 Cor. 1.3 Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.3 the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead Col. 1.22.13 14. Who hath reconciled us in the body of his flesh through death to present us holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight Blessed be God who hath delivered us from the kingdom of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son In whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of our sins I love thee O Lord I love thee I devote my self most unfeignedly unto thee I will ever cleave unto thee and unto all my Brethren with setled purpose of heart Search me O God and know my heart Psal 139.23 24. try me and know my thoughts See if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting Yea Psal 23 4 6. though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me Thy power and thy care of thy flock they comfort me Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life 34â— and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live I will sing praise to my God while I have my being My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. 67.3 And let all the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men 107.21 22. Let them Sacrifice the Sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoycing 117.2 For his merciful kindness is ever more and more towards us and his truth endureth for ever Praise ye the Lord. Or thus Lord Psal 8.3 4. what is man that thou art so mindful of him or the son of man that thou thus visitest him Thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels and crowned him with glory and with honour Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands and hast put all things under his feet Many O Lord my God Psal 40.5 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 Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not Heb. 10.5 But a body hast thou prepared for thy Son Jesus Who hath done thy will O God and made himself an offering for sin and made us one body with himself Blessing and honour and glory and power be unto thee O Lord God Almighty and unto thy Son for ever and ever I offer up my self intirely both Soul and body unto thee I consecrate my self here most faithfully to thy Service Psal
man to an heap of gold yet still we must remember that we are but beggers and those desires must be temper'd with much modesty lowliness and humility of Spirit Though our Lord say to us as David to Mephibosheth 2 Sam. 9.7 thou shalt eat bread at my Table continually thou shalt alwayes feast with me yet it becomes us to bow down our selves and say as he there did what is thy servant that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am It is too high a favour to sup with thee since I am not worthy to pick up the crums that fall from thy Table The least offal of thy common mercies is too good for me how shall I dare to approach to this fulness of heavenly blessings to which thou invitest me I have sinned I have sinned and am not worthy to be called thy son or to bear thee company In my very best attire I am so ragged that I am ashamed to see my self and therefore how shall I appear before thee O my Lord I come merely in obedience to thy call I should not have presumed to appear in thy presence but that thou hast hidden me And been affraid to be seen in this condition but that I was more afraid not to be seen here at all My comfort is that you will not be angry with us when we obey thee nor be offended that we shew our selves ready to execute thy commands And here You may call to remembrance those sins which are the cause of your fear and brought our Saviour to his Cross Excite in your heart an unfeigned sorrow and grief that he hath been so affronted and wrong'd by you and all the world Declare freely the sense of your heart to him and let him know by an humble and ingenuous confession how the case stands with you Say to him O my Lord thou dost but call to mind by this remembrance of thy dying for us the foulness and polution of all mankind All our iniquities stare me in the face as the people gazed and stared on thee I see our deformities by seeing thee thus vilely and despitefully used It was our covetousness that stript thee naked Our pride that crown'd thee with thorns Our intemperance that gave thee gall and vinegar to drink Our contempt of Religion that put upon thee all those scoffs and taunts Our coldness in devotion which put thee into that agony and sweat Our want of love to God that made thee hated and rejected of men I see as in a glass now that I look upon thy blood the abominable state of sinful men which never seemed so foul as now How shall one of that wicked race be bold to look up unto thee especially since that I have known thy love I have so little valued it and sinned even against thy pretious blood * Here you may remember your particular offences Canst thou indure to enter into familiarity with such a soul as this that here presents it self unto thee may I hope to be admitted into thy holy fellowship and to dwell with thee I abhor I loath I am weary of my self desiring nothing more than to be made like to thee in purity and holiness in truth and justice in love and charity in lowliness and humility in meekness and patience in compassion and forgiveness in intire resignation to the will of God From hence Proceed to stir up in your selves the greatest hatred against your sins and all the wickedness that hath overspread the world Which nothing can so effectually demonstrate to be odious and intollerable as this that it hath made the nature of man capable to act such a villany as to put to death after a most shameful manner the most innocent and harmless nay the most loving and kind the most obliging and charitable person that ever was Continue your addresses to him and represent your extreamest detestation of that covetousness and worldly mindedness that pride and vain glory that ambition and love of the praise of men that envy and ill will that wrath and bitterness of spirit that hippocrisy and partiality which betrayed and killed him the Prince of life Shew him how much you abhor these and all that is evil resolving to cleave to that which is good Destroy O Lord may you say all these thine enemies and root them perfectly out of my heart Pierce through all these evil affections by a stroke from thy cross and passion I have brought them to be slain by thine hand for they are too strong for mine If there be any life remaining in them O that they may be quite mortified and never able to stir any more They are offensive to me as well as unto thee Would I might never see them more but crucified and dead Would I might never behold them unless it be drowned in thy blood And then Excite in your heart the mightiest sense of his love which as it is never to be forgotten so here it is more particularly to be pondered and affectionately commemorated You may say to him O my Lord was manner of love is this wherewith thou hast loved us that we should be called the sons of God! How great was thy goodness which brought thee down from Heaven and made thee one of us And was it not enough that thou shouldest come to dwell among us in the likeness of sinful flesh but thou wouldest also lay down thy life for us Would nothing serve to testifie the height of thy affection to us unless thou sufferedst the death of the Cross to redeem us O Love O the infinite riches of thy grace For a Friend one might be content to die but what should make thee so in love with enemies with the very worst of enemies with Idolaters with us Gentiles who were without God in the world Yea with us who now that we know the greatness of thy love have so little or no love to thee What am I O Lord that thou shouldest command me to love thee Nay shouldest take such a course to deserve my love What am I to thee that thou shouldest so much desire me And now thus graciously visit me and come to entertain me What made thee being in Heaven with them who know so well how to love and serve thee descend to us who know so ill how to do either couldst thou not be satisfied unless we enjoy thee nor be contented to be without us who have such low thoughts of thee and of thy love Is it possible that thou shouldst still continue it to such ill-natur'd and insensible wretches Art thou still desirous of our friendship and come to give us new assurances of thy grace by making us pertakers of thy body and blood O how pretious are thy thoughts to us how great is the sum of them I can do no less most blessed Saviour than set my soul wide open to thee and accept thy kindness with the most inlarged affection of my heart How glad should I be
if it were a thousand times larger to correspond with such a love How happy should I think my self if I could think of nothing and delight in nothing but only thee O that a perfect image of thee in all divine vertues may be formed in me and be ever dearer to me than life it self that I may live no longer but thou O blessed Jesus mayest live in me And the life which I now live in the flesh Cal. 2. â—â— I may live by the faith of thee the son of God who lovedst me and gavest thy self for me And then Feeling the flames of his love in your heart it will be a fit time to offer up your self intirely in the greatest devotion to his Service Pray him to accept of a poor Sacrifice now at your hand Though it be worth nothing at all yet intreat him to receive it since it is the oblation of the heartiest affection to him Say to him O sweet Saviour 1 Joh. 4.16 I have known and believed the love that thou hast to us I see here the excessive greatness of thy dying love No heart is able to hide it self from the heat thereof One cannot come near it and not be made like the whole burnt-offerings to the Lord. Never was any thing bought so dearly as this sinful soul Never was so great a price paid for any creature as thou hast laid down for my sake If I was as big as the highest Angel I should be an oblation too little for thee The flames of those heavenly fires are not strong enough wherewith to offer to thee But that I may be just for it is no more I humbly lay my self here at thy Altar and present thee with all I have I Sacrifice soul and body without any reserve to thy holy will and pleasure though I must be beholden to thy great love and not my own to procure acceptance for me I know how vile and unworthy I am that thou shouldst have any respect to my oblation All that I can say is that I offer my self for this end that I may be made better and so have every day more and more to return unto thee For that purpose ingage your selves in a covenant to him that you will never rob him any more of that which you have so solemnly offered to him I look O Lord may you say upon my self as an holy and devoted thing I have consecrated my self to thy service and so I will ever remain Never will I be so sacrilegious as to employ my self to any other uses but only thine Thou hast been pleased to make me thy Temple and therefore I will not willingly suffer thy holy place to be defiled I am sealed to thy self and have thy mark upon me I will never consent my soul should be broken up by any temptation and stoln away from thee I promise thee my faithful obedience I bind my self by these presents in a firm and everlasting tye of duty to thee I am not my own but bought with a price 1 Cor. 6.20 Therefore will I glorifie God in my body and in my Spirit which are Gods I will love the Lord my God with all my mind and with all my heart and with all my soul and all my strength And my Neighbour as my self And then Humbly beg leave of him that you may believe in his Name for the remission of sin Continue to say to him since thou hast so graciously dyed for me since thou hast invited me hither to represent thy death and sufferings to me and assure me of thy love since thou hast bidden me to commemorate it at this holy Feast be not angry if I call thee my Lord and my God Suffer me to claim an interest in the Merits of thy pretious blood which was shed to be a propitiation for the sins of the whole world Look on me O thou that sittest at the right hand of God with the favour thou bearest to thy people Joyn thy powerful intercession with my humble suits to the Father of mercies that for thy sake I may be accepted with him I believe thou appearest in the presence of God for us and as we shew forth thy Sacrifice of thy self here on earth presentest it in the most high and holy place before the mercy seat Bless me O Lord from that throne of thy glory and raise up such a holy hope in thee as if I heard that voice founding from thence I am thy Salvation And here Beg of him his mighty grace to confirm you in your resolution that so you may alway maintain in your soul this hope of his pardoning love Since thou O Lord may you say to him art so forward to do us good to bestow thy blessings unasked to die for us when we desired it not to institute this feast which we never expected to send thy Ministers to call us to it let me take the boldness now to ask something of thee O do not deny me the continuance of thine almighty grace Take not thy holy Spirit from me but let it be my constant companion my guide my helper my comforter for ever Is it not the purchase of thy blood Is it not thy own promise hast thou not received it of the Father and art thou not possessed of it and of glory and power to bestow it on us Thou thy self hast told us that it shall be given to those that ask it and that because thou livest we shall live also O do not lose what thou hast done already for want of doing something more Psa 138.8 Perfect that which concerneth me and forsake not the work of thy own hands Hold me up and I shall be safe 119.117 133.58 and I will have respect to thy statutes continually Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquitie have dominion over me I intreat thy favour with my whole heart be merciful unto me according to thy word Now because there must alway be some mirth and joy at a feast conclude all in praises to our Lord and rejoyce in his holy Name As he said to his Disciples when he washed their feet Joh. 13.12 so think you hear him speaking to you now Know ye what I have done to you Are you sensible what grace it is that I have bestowed on you Do you know what I did for you upon the cross and what I have done unto you at my Table O dear Lord that a man could but understand and conceive what thou hast done for us It would melt and dissolve our hearts and make them burst out into the highest expressions of joy and gladness All that is within us would be roused up to bless thy holy Name We should be fill'd with triumph and exaltation of Spirit in thy love and the very furthermost parts of our soul would feel that it is a most blessed thing to be thy servants All the Musick and Songs and Melody that the feasts of sensual men are
divine Nature Art thou going to make a new resignation of thy self to him to be made one Spirit with him never any more to depart from him Then think how the Bride-groom will welcome thee how our Saviour I mean will declare and set forth his love to thee and give thee assurances that his mercy indureth for ever and bid thee rejoyce and be exceeding glad in what he hath done already and in the hopes thou hast of what he will do hereafter And here you may call to mind how the word was made flesh and dwelt among us how he manifested forth his glory by his wonderful works how he taught us the way to eternal life and at last was betrayed and delivered into the hands of sinful men and was crucified and dyed for us with all the rest that concerns the knowledg of Christ That so you may have it more ready in your thoughts when you come to his Table to do this in Commemoration of him In this manner also you may bewail the sins of your former life sue for a pardon of what is past and beseech the grace of his holy Spirit to assist your resolutions of well doing for the time to come The Prayer O Eternal and most blessed God the fountain of being and bliss infinite in perfection and highly exalted above all our words or thoughts I am astonished at the thoughts of the brightness of thy glory and justly afraid to present my self before so great and holy a Majesty Even that abundant grace which invites me to thee abashes me too when I reflect upon my shameful ingratitude to such undeserved love It becomes me to ly down in dejection of Spirit and mournful silence rather than confidently to lift up mine eyes towards Heaven to speak unto thee But since thou art so rich in Mercy as to require repenting sinners to draw nigh to the Throne of Grace I prostrate my self in the humblest reverence before the searcher of all hearts Not to excuse thou knowest but to aggravate my faults to acknowledg the justice and equity of thy Laws to condemn my self for opposing thy Soveraign authority and to vow to thee the most sincere and hearty obedience for the rest of my life I have done so much evil and so little good been so eager in the pursuit of the things of this world and so cold and unconcern'd many times about those of eternity so unmindful of my promises unthankful for thy benefits and unfruitful in the knowledg of the Lord Jesus that it is a wonder of thy patience that I am still alive and not cut down like a barren tree that cumbers the ground For ever adored be thy sparing Mercy which hath born so long with an unprofitable servant who hath so many ways offended in thought word and deed against thy divine Majesty * Here reckon up those perticular sins you are conscious of I have not given thee that honour worship and service which I owe to my Almighty Creator Nor laid to heart as I ought thine infinite love in Christ my Redeemer Nor duly followed the godly motions of thy holy Spirit which thou hast sent to renew and sanctifie my affections and draw me to thine obedience I have not lived according to the faith which I continually confess But behaved my self too oft as if I dreaded not the threatnings and valued not the promises of my Lord Christ as if I feared not his vengeance nor cared for his glorious rewards and as if he would not come to judg the world and render to all men according to their works The stupid insensibleness of mine heart even now that I remember these things brings new accusations against me It testifies that I know not as I ought the terror of the Lord but am apt rashly to mention thy Name without an awful and considerate regard to thy infinite greatness power and holiness before which I approach I am no more worthy to be called thy servant much less to present thee with any offering or receive the least of thy blessings Nothing but shame and confusion of face belong to me and it is only of thy tender mercy that I am not lamenting those follies in weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth which I speak of now with so little grief and bitterness of Spirit Mercy Mercy still more Mercy good Lord I most humbly beseech thee O that a greater fear and dread of thee may now fall down mightily upon me and overspread me O that I may feel such a strong sense of thine incomprehensible Majesty pressing upon my heart that may bear down all other thoughts and sink me low and make me abhor my self in thy sight I know the Sacrifices of the Lord are a broken Spirit a broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise And Jesus hath also offered himself a sacrifice for us in whom thou hast declared that thou art well pleased For Jesus his sake dispose me now to offer unto thee that acceptable Sacrifice And give me grace ever to fear thee and to walk humbly with thee to preserve a tender sense of my duty toward thee and conscientiously to obey thee that so by vertue of his Sacrifice of himself all my sins may be done away and remembred no more Blessed be God that I have any hope of that great mercy Blessed be God who by him hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through his grace By him I will offer up to thee continually the sacrifice of praise giving thanks to thy Name Yea the mercies of thee my God move me to present my body a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto thee which is my reasonable service I dedicate my self absolutely to thy obedience I vow that I will never willingly depart from thy precepts Assist and strengthen me mercifully with thy grace that I may perform my vows and never be so unreasonable as to return to those sins which are the burden of my heart and grieve thy holy Spirit which rent the flesh and shed the blood of the Lord Jesus and which I have so often and so solemnly protested against And now that I am going to thine holy Table to commemorate the Sacrifice of my Saviour to give thee farther testimonies of my love to thee and receive new tokens of thy love to me O Lord vouchsafe to make thy self powerfully present to my mind Represent thy self and thy Son Jesus so lively to my thoughts in all thy wisdom power goodness holiness and truth that I may never forget thee any more but most seriously reverence thee and love thee and rejoyce in thee and trust thee and obey thee all the dayes of my life Imprint the very image of thy Son upon me that I may carry him ever in mine heart and have his life and death continually before mine eyes and in all things conform my self to his will and fashion my self after his holy example Come Lord Jesus and possess thy self of my whole
recommend my self unto thy merciful kindness saying Our Father c. The Meditation afterward WHen you have leisure to retire alone by your self you may say to your self as the people did when they beheld the sick man at our Saviours word take up his bed and walk Luke 5.26 I have seen strange things to day I have seen the marvellous love of Heaven to us sinful dust and ashes I have seen how the Son of God dyed for the love of us how the blessed Jesus was hanged and bled upon a Cross for our Salvation I have beheld him presenting himself unto me and offering to make me pertaker of all his benefits With what affections did I meet and receive his strange love Did not my heart burn within me when he opened the Counsels of his heart to me Did it not melt and dissolve into love when he shewed me how passionately he loved me Did I not offer my self both soul and body to him and promise to be his faithful servant Did I not remember that I was his already and renew my vows to cleave unto him in loyal obedience O what a transforming sight was it to behold Jesus who was made a little lower than Angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour and promising by patient continuance in well doing to lift me up also at last unto glory Lord what is man that thou takest knowledg of him Psal 144. â— or the Son of man that thou makest account of him How is it possible to forget this love or my own ingagements For what pleasures shall I leave these of Communion with God and my gracious Master Christ Jesus You offer too little all ye flattering temptations upon earth that would draw my affections from so great an happiness There can be nothing comparable to being beloved of the undoubted Lord of Heaven and earth One thing have I desired of the Lord Psal 27.4 that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple This is sufficient to indear an holy life unto me that I may be always fit to be one of his guests to feast with him at his Table to be filled with his comforts and live in hope to live with him in endless joys And could 〈◊〉 but see what things he hath prepared for those that love him the height of his glory the attendance of his Ministers the pleasures that are at his right hand there would be more spirit in me This little that I have seen makes me say 1 King 10.8 Happy are those thy servants that stand continually before thee Psal 65.4.84.3 Blessed are they whom thou hast chosen and caused to approach unto thee that they may dwell in thy heavenly courts they will still be praising thee I will never foregoe the beginnings of this bliss For a day in thy Courts is better than a thousand I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness For the Lord God is a Sun and shield Psal 84.10 11 1â— the Lord will give grace and glory no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly O Lord of Hosts blessed is the man that trusteth in thee And here it will be fit to remember how every deliberate sin after such fresh experiences of Gods goodness new obligations from him and new resolutions and vows to him will be of a more crimson die and a bloodier nature And therefore you must be sober and watch unto prayer And remember withal on the other side that every good action will be the more acceptable when it proceeds out of mere love to our Master Jesus who hath loved us so much And therefore always indeavor to quicken the one by reflecting upon the other More particularly you may resolve to meditate all the Month following upon the great MEEKNESS of the Lord Jesus Who was dumb as a sheep before the sheerers Isa 53.7 and as a Lamb that is brought to the slaughter He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth When he was reviled â— Pet. 2.23 he reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously And so labour to tread in his steps and to imitate him in this lovely grace To speak evil of no man to be no brawlers but gentle shewing all meekness unto all men For we our selves also were sometimes foolish Tit. 3.3 2. and disobedient and deceived c. This vertue the Apostles there and in other places * 1 Pet. â— 15. require us to exercise especially toward Rulers and Governours And S. Peter recommends this to Wives as the most handsome and becoming attire even the ornament of a meek and quiet Spirit 1 Pet. 3.4 which is in the sight of God of great price The Thanksgiving and Prayeâ— PRaised be God Let all â—â—â—â—tures in Heaven and Earth praise the name of the Lord. For his name alone is excellent his glory is above earth and heaven Glory be to thee O God most high the Creator of all the Father of mercies who openest thy hand and fillest every living thing with good Blessed be thy name O Son of the Father the ever blessed Jesus to whom I humbly bow my self as the Image of God the brightness of his glory the redeemer of our souls the Mediator of our peace and our intercessor at the right hand of the Majesty on high O thou holy Spirit of grace the Almighty power of God inspire my heart that I may know that I may acknowledg that I may love delight in obey and praise the Lord our God from henceforth and for ever Thanks be to the eternal goodness for the everlasting Gospel for the constant services of thy Ministers for the happy Communion of Saints for all the comforts of food and health and peace and friends above all for the death resurrection ascention and exaltation of our Lord Jesus for all the fruits of them and for the earnests and pledges I have received of forgiveness of sins and immortal life One day is too short to recount thy Mercies While I live I shall never be able to find out how much thou hast already loved me how many blessings thou hast loaded me withal since I came into this world And yet in the careful improvement of these thou intendest to bring me to higher and endless felicity O that the remembrance of what I have seen and felt of thy love may always cleave unto my mind and that I may every day see and be made sensible of more That the powerful operation of it in my heart may defend me against all the allurements of the world and the flesh and nothing may be able to intice me from my duty nor be hard and difficult to do for thy mighty love Incline
and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledg This shall put gladness in my heart more than in the time when their corn and wine encreased For thine are riches and power and honour and pleasure and they whom thou lovest can want nothing that is good Psal 5.12 Thou Lord wilt bless the righteous with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield 22.26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied they shall praise the Lord that seek him your heart shall live for ever The Prayer O Lord who fillest all things and delightest to pour out thy blessings upon all thy works especially into humble spirits who empty themselves of all their own desires that they may be filled with thy holy truth Behold a poor soul that opens it self to thy bounteous goodness though with much shame and confusion of face when I remember how much of thy grace I have refused or in vain received Thou hast sent me I acknowledg unasked innumerable benefits and I have found thee in my very heart when I sought not after thee Often have I felt holy thoughts springing up in my mind and pious affections carrying my heart away from all these earthly vanities Many godly purposes hast thou wrought in me and made me to taste how happy a thing it is to love thee and be beloved of thee O God thou hast taught me from my youth Psa 71.17 and early instructed me in the knowledg of thy truth Thou hast prevented all my desires and secretly disposed my will to chuse the ways of vertue and piety Hitherto I have declared thy wondrous works and every day brings along with it new testimonies of thy most fatherly care and providence But all this only reproaches me for my shameful negligence ingratitude and unfruitfulness in the knowledg of the Lord Jesus and makes me despair of receiving any more of thy grace unless thou wilt magnifie the riches of it in thy patient and long-suffering charity towards me Thou hast required us to put on bowels of mercy kindness condescention Coloss 3. forbearing and forgiving one another if any man have a quarrel against any And hast taught us such charity as is kind and suffereth long â— Cor. 13. and beareth all things And therefore I am incouraged to fly unto thee and to hope in thee who hast made thy self the pattern of tenderness and compassion to us in Christ Jesus There is something of thy self likewise still remaining in me I feel my heart inclining towards thee desiring to have a more lively knowledg of thee and to be made thoroughly good and perfectly like thee Which emboldens me the more to wait upon thee and to open my heart for new communications of thy holy spirit to me O thou who givest food to all flesh who satisfyest the cravings of every living thing deny not the desires of an immortal soul which hungers and thirsts to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit Ephes 5.9 in all goodness and righteousness and truth It is not thy pardon only which I crave and humbly hope for through thy mercy in Christ Jesus But a power from above continually to assist the holy resolutions thou hast wrought in me to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Tit. 2.12 I have chosen O Lord the way of truth thy judgments have I laid before me Psal 119.30.10 â—â— 38 Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee I have gone astray but now I will meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways I will delight my self in thy statutes Psal 17.5 I will not forget thy word With my whole heart do I seek thee O let me not wander from thy Commandments But stablish thy word unto thy servant who is devoted to thy fear Hold up my goings in thy paths that my foosteps slip not And give me leave good Lord to approach to thy Table and there to dedicate my self again unto thee and receive fresh tokens of thy grace and favour towards me I am not worthy I confess to be seen in thy sacred presence But since thou hast wrought in me a will to please thee in all things I desire that I may humbly appear and profess it before thee and wait upon thee for a power to do according to the purposes of my heart O thou who searchest the hearts and knowest what is in man deal with me according to the sincerity of my soul And open mine eyes that I may see it if there be any evil way in me any pride any covetousness any impurity any hatred or uncharitableness For I renounce them all and unseignedly resolve to do justly and to love mercy Mic. 6.8 and to walk humbly with my God Ps 19.14 Let these words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer And when I come to thy holy Table may I feel that thou hast accepted them by inspiring me with stronger purposes to continue in thy obedience and lifting me up to an higher degree of love to thee and my blessed Saviour Raise me O Lord so high that I may be out of the reach of the temptations of the world and the Devil or at least they may never be able to draw me down to follow any sinful lusts and desires Dan 9.19 O Lord hear O Lord forgive O Lord hearken and do according to thy infinite mercies declared in Christ Jesus and the most comprehensive meaning of his own holy words in which he hath taught us to pray saying Our Father c. A Meditation afterward THE next time thou visitest thy soul ask it if it observed well that glorious person who feasted thee at his Table and marked the kind and gracious words which he spake unto thee by the representation of his broken body and blood that was shed for thy sake Alas wilt thou say I should not have been here if I had had a clear view of his glories He would have carried me to heaven with him if my heart had been possessed with the fulness of his love My eyes are too weak to behold his perfections my thoughts too narrow to comprehend the unsearchable riches of his grace But hast thou not seen something of him Did not many of his beauteous graces shine fairly in thine eyes Did he not even force upon thee some sense of his wondrous goodness and charity And hath he not put himself by sensible tokens into thy very hands nay entred into thine heart and told thee that he hath desired it for his habitation Where is he then what hast thou done with him are the thoughts of him vanished already out of thy mind Doth the love of him languish and die thus soon in thy breast Art thou content to let him go and see him
no more till the same solemnity come about again How wilt thou be able then to appear before him at that time with what face wilt thou look upon him whom thou slightest so much as to love any company better than his Will it not confound thee to think that thou art but a stranger to him though thou hast been so often with him and that he can find nothing of himself in thee no not after so many professions of the greatest love and friendship to him O let him see that he hath not bestowed himself on one that knows not how to value so divine a guest Preserve an everlasting memory of his dying love Never fail to thank him for it every day with the greatest passion thou art able to excite Look on him seriously and study to be like him Never take off thine eyes from his beauties till all his lovely qualities be imprinted on thy heart Imitate his humility and great condescention to us of low estate Learn of him to be meek and lowly in heart â—atch 11.20 〈◊〉 5.2 â— Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour Purifie thy self 1 Joh. 3.3 even as he is pure Heb. 13.5 Let thy conversation be without covetousness Psal 37.3 and be content with such things as thou hast Trust in the Lord and do good make him thy hope and thy portion That as long as thou livest Christ Jesus may be seen among men O what a goodly sight would it be to behold our Lord still walking up and down in the world To see the loving the peaceable the meek the merciful the holy Jesus again upon the earth Do thou resolve to be that blessed man in whom he shall appear Let not his Image and likeness be lost whilst thou art in being and labour to leave it upon others when thou art dead and gone Particularly thou mayst resolve all this month to meditate often on the PATIENCE of our Lord under ah the rude affronts and cruel pains he endured from his enemies and the great dulness untowardness and slowness to believe which he found in his Disciples That so Patience may have its perfect work in thee to the end thou mayst be perfect and entire Jam. 1.4 wanting nothing For we have need of Patience Heb. 10.36 that after we have done the will of God we may receive the promise Rest in the Lord therefore and wait patiently for him Psal 37.7 fret not thy self because of him who prospereth in his way because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass Resolve not to be discouraged in thy Christian course whatsoever it be that thou art to do or suffer Warn them that are unruly â— Tâ—â—ss 5.14 comfort the feeble minded support the weak be patient toward all men Remembring that this is the character of those who received the heavenly seed with honest and good hearts Luke 8.15 that they brought forth fruit with patience And we know that the fruit of patience is experience Rom. 5.3 4. and experience worketh hope and hope maketh not ashamed The Thanksgiving and Prayer ALL thy works praise thee O Lord they proclaim thy greatness thy wisdom thy power and goodness throughout the world There is no place in heaven or earth where their voice is not heard But the mouths of rational creatures ought most to be filled with thy praises whom thou hast made to understand the wisdome and majesty of all thy works We our selves O Lord are fearfully and wonderfully made Thou hast adorned mankind with most noble perfections and given us dominion over the works of thy hands And after we had despised this honour which thou didst us chusing to become like the beasts that perish thou wast pleased to do us a greater and to demonstrate an infinite wisdom power and charity in our recovery by Christ Jesus I bless thee O God for that abundant grace and for that part and portion which thou hast given me in it That thou wast pleased to come so lovingly and dwell among us and appear in the likeness of sinful flesh to what can I ascribe it but thine incomprehensible love and readiness to do us good I most heartily thank thee that thou wouldt so mercifully comfort us by thy divine presence among us and incourage us to hope in thee that wouldst not destroy us And that thou hast proclaimed as much by thine eternal Word and bidden us to hope in thy mercy Above all that thou hast assured us by his Death and Passion that thou wilt pardon our sins and by his Resurrection that thou wilt bestow on us eternal life There is no end O Lord of thy loving kindness For thou continuest to give us new assurances and tokens of thy good will towards us and hast now entertained me at thine own Table with his most pretious body and blood It is too little O God of all grace to give thee my self if I had any more to give All that I can do is again and again to give my self to thee And as I have at thine Altar offered my whole soul and body to be employed according to thy holy will and pleasure so I continue here to renew my devotion to thee and to oblige my self by repeated vows to be thy servant I hope I shall never suffer thy love to slip out of my mind nor forget the promises wherein I stand ingaged to thee Yea that thou in thine abundant goodness wilt always accompany me by thy holy spirit which our Lord hath bid me expect from thee to preserve alive his memory in my heart that I may ever be a follower of him in poverty of Spirit in meekness in mercifulness in purity of heart in peaceableness and studying to be quiet 2 Thess 3.5 And the Lord direct my heart to the love of God and the patient waiting for Christ That I may endure all the troubles of this life with a composed constant spirit and never repine at any thing that befalls me That I may chearfully suffer for righteousness sake and taking up my Cross Heb. 12.1 2. run with patience the race that is set before me looking unto Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of thy throne of glory Rom. 15.5 6 7. Now the God of patience and consolatiâ—â— grant us all to be like minded one towards another according to Christ Jesus That aâ—â— Christian people may with one mind aâ—â— one mouth glorifie thee our God and receivâ—â— one another as Christ also received us unâ—â— thy glory Unite our hearts in love and charity and give us grace to follow afteâ— those things which make for peace Rom. 14. â—â— and thing wherewith one may edifie another O that the power of all
who were his Creatures sinful Creatures with his own blood Surely we do not believe this How joyful how thankful should we be how holily how purely should we live if we thought our selves so nearly related to him What faith what hope should we place in him How confidently should we trust our selves and all we have with him How willingly should we resign our selves to his pleasure who hath not thought this too much to do for us And how contentedly should we want what he pleases not to give who hath done us such an honour as to marry us to himself If he had taken hold of the Nature of Angels and laid down that life that pretious life which was spent for us for their redemption how much would those heavenly creatures have loved him And yet now that he is desirous of our little love he cannot have it O my soul what is become of that love which thou lately professedst to him I thought the last time we were at his Table that thou wast mightily sensible of his love and wouldst never cease to love him Didst thou not protest that nothing was so dear unto thee as thy Saviour and his Commands and pretious promises That thou hadst rather lose thy life than lose his favour And didst thou not resolve that thou wouldst preserve it as thy life by all the acts of love to God and man O how easily do we forget the greatest benefits How apt are we to pay him only with liberal promises If he had not made us this new invitation to his Table it is possible we might have forgotten that we have any obligations to him But this sweet voice of thy Saviour which calls upon thee saying come do this in remembrance of me how doth it awaken and revive that love which sometime I felt in my heart to him Thanks be to his goodness for this new opportunity to acknowledg his love and to profess my own I hope in time I shall love him to the height of my desires and by these frequent remembrances of him become perfectly like him Though very unworthy therefore of this new favour who have been so unmindful of the old I will go into his house and present my self at his Altar if it be but to declare that I belong to him and am not willing to lose his blessing I will shew him at least that I do not quite forget him and have a mind to become a better Christian But how is it possible that I should see the representation of his mighty love that I should behold his pains and agonies for my sake and do no more than tell him that I keep him in mind and intend to obey him I cannot chuse but vow my self intirely to him I must bind my self in the most sacred Covenant to keep his Commands I can do no less than assure him again that I love righteousness and hate iniquity and will chuse death rather than to displease him Nay I will resolve never to cease to renew these vows and multiply my ingagements and then at last sure I shall become stedfast in his Covenant Psa 112.1 and delight my self greatly in his Commandments Psal 119.167 48 44 162 127 72. My soul shall keep thy testimonies and love them exceedingly My hands also will I lift up unto thy Commandments which I have loved and I will meditate in thy statutes So shall I keep thy Law continually for ever and ever I will rejoyce at thy word as one that findeth great spoil And love thy Commandments above gold yea above fine gold The law of thy mouth shall be dearer unto me than thousands of gold and silver Let us go my soul and thank him heartily as for other benefits of his passion so for these hopes I have of becoming so perfectly in love with him that I shall exactly resemble him Ps 42.11 Hope in God for thou shalt yet praise him who is the health of thy countenance and thy God If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me But verily God hath heard me Psal 66.18 19 20. he hath attended to the voice of my prayer Blessed be God which hath not turned away my prayer nor his mercy from me The Prayer before O Most high and Holy one who canst not be comprehended by our shallow thoughts nor by any other thing but only thy self Though inconceivably beneath thine infinite Majesty and also a miserable sinner I make bold in the name of the Lord Jesus who is my hope with humble reverence to prostrate my self before thee Acknowledging that thou art my Maker my Lord and Soveraign and that I being the work of thy hands must needs be thy servant and subject Yea thou hast given me leave every day to call thee Father and ownest me for thy child With what fear and astonishment with what grief and sorrow doth it become me to ly in thy presence How heavily have I condemned my self by these acknowledgments For I have not always honoured and served thee as my Creator nor loved and delighted in thee as my most gracious Father nor obeyed and submitted to thee in all things as my Soveraign Lord and Master I have too oft rebelled against thine Almighty power and authority and spurned against the bowels of thy love and broken thy most holy Laws and violated that faith which I professed in my Baptism and have many times since plighted unto thee Thine Almighty mercy accuses me The passion and torment the death and resurrection the threatnings and promises all the love of my dear Saviour condemns me and so do the mighty works and the gracious inspirations of the Holy Ghost And yet I have no whither to fly nothing to trust unto but that Almighty mercy the passion and love of our Lord the power and grace of the Holy Ghost How shall I hope for pardon from that love which I have offended and look for mercy from those tender mercies which I have too much slighted With what confidence can I expect a remedy from that power which I have resisted O the long-suffering and patience of my God! O the infiniteness of thy mercy and the pretiousness of that blood that can wash away so many transgressions against it self I adore thee I thank thee O God who hast set forth Christ Jesus to be a propitiation Rom. 3.25 through faith in his blood By his Cross and Passion Good Lord I hope to be delivered and wait on thy mercy for the power of his holy Spirit to wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity Psal 51. and cleanse me from my sin Assist me thereby I most humbly beseech thee to purifie my self from all filthiness both of the flesh and of the Spirit 2 Cor. 7.1 to purge my mind my affections my passions from whatsoever is offensive to thy pure eyes who canst not approve of iniquity For I would have no uncleanness no inordinate affection Col. 3.5 8. no
evil concupiscence and covetousness no anger wrath malice or evil speaking to be found any more within me And now that I am about to remember the death of Jesus help me to mortifie all these more perfectly and to hate them worse than death Behold O Lord I abandon all worldly lusts My soul is open and I have emptied my heart to receive the fulness of thy grace Take an absolute possession of me rule in me by thy laws guide me by thy counsels fill me with thy love satisfie me with the comfort of thy promises and refresh me with thy divine joys that I may have a great delight to be thy faithful and obedient servant O that I may feel at thy Table the liveliest apprehensions awakened in me of what thou hast done for my soul Hold my thoughts close unto thee inspire me with devout Meditations strengthen and increase in me all good resolutions and inable me to bring them to good effect I know thou never failest those that heartily seek thee Our Saviour hath bid us ask and we shall receive seek and we shall find knock and it shall be opened to us Fulfil then O Gracious Lord all my petitions so give unto thy servant what he humbly asks let him that seeks find open the gate to him that knocks that I may be made partaker of Christs most blessed body and blood And feeling the comforts of holy fellowship and friendship with him and studying to maintain it by a pure and blameless life I may now and ever triumph in thy Salvation and sing thy praises in thy Church on earth and among thy Saints and Angels in heaven giving honour blessing power and dominion unto thee O Father Almighty and unto thy Son Christ Jesus to all Eternity Amen Our Father which art c. A Meditation afterward DOst thou mind O my Soul whaâ— thou sayest when every day thou callest God Father thy Father which is in Heaven How happy art thou if thou art beloved of God Almighty So beloved that the Lord of Heaven and Earth is thy Father What is there that thou canst desire what canst thou long for beyond this How well satisfied and contented shouldst thou be in the poorest condition how well assured that all shall be well with thee if thou art sure of this one thing that he is thy Father And what should make thee doubt of it though so great an honour Where hast thou been now what hast thou been doing Hast thou not been with Jesus Hast thou not professed thy self a Christian â— Joh. 1.3 And truly their fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ He hath shown thee the love which God bears to thee He hath bidden thee by those tokens rest assured that he will never cease to love thee For he hath given himself to thee and thou hast given thy self to him The Covenant of friendship and eternal love hath been renewed between us Thou hast made oath again of fidelity to him and he hath sworn in his holiness that he will not take his loving kindness from thee nor suffer his faithfulness to fail O how rich is he that possesses God and is heir of his immortal glory How chary should we be of this inestimable wealth How void should we be of all other cares but only this to preserve the love of our heavenly Father What should covetousness do in that heart which enjoys such a Treasure What should ambition what should vain-glory do in him that can boast of the honour of having God for his Father Need he fear that he shall want who is so well provided Should he murmur or repine who hath such fulness Is there any cause of anger if our Father be not angry Shall we be uncharitable to any who partake of such great charity Watch O my Soul and walk circumspectly that thou lose not such exceeding abundant grace as this which is bestowed on thee Go forth in this new strength and comfort which thou hast received and perfect thy conquests over the world the flesh and the Devil and resolve that nothing shall separate thee from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Well mayest thou stand to this resolution if thou remembrest that he is thy Father For what is it that hath tempted thee and drawn thy heart at any time from him Nothing but a little short pleasure Nothing but a vain and many times foolish breath of a mortal man whose breath is in his nostrils and must shortly die and all his thoughts perish Nothing but that which the Moth can corrupt or the rust consume or a Thief despoil us of Nothing but a fading beauty which sickness or time will certainly bring to decay What are all these to the pleasure of pleasing God to the commendation and praise which comes from unerring and eternal wisdom to the durable riches honour and beauty which our heavenly Father will give us for our portion Our hopes in him now are infinitely better than any thing else The love of such a Father is more worth than all that the whole World can do for us Value thy self highly then upon this account and never call him Father more but with the greatest joy and contentment of heart Be careful for nothing Phil. 4.6 7 but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let thy requests be made known unto him Look often into thy heart and ask if he be there and say it is enough God is my Father in this will I rejoyce The peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep my heart and mind through Christ Jesus And here you may resolve all this month to meditate often upon the great FAITH and confidence which he reposed in his heavenly Father and expressed when he died saying Father Luke 23.46 into thy hands I commend my Spirit He trusted himself with him that he should have a blessed resurrection His flesh rested in hope Acts 2.26.31 that he would not leave his soul in hell neither suffer his holy one to see corruption Though he was then scorned abused made the vilest of men and shamefully put to death upon a Gibbet yet he took Gods word for it that he should rise and reign and be glorified eternally triumphing over all his enemies Hell and Death it self Do thou labour to imitate him in this holy Faith both for all the things of this life and of that which is to come Form thy self to an habitual trust in Gods careful Providence and precious Promises and commit thy self unto him in well doing Take care of that only and leave all the rest with an assured confidence to him Let thy conversation be without covetousness be content with such things as thou hast Heb. 13.5 6. for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee So that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man can do unto me This is the
Merciful Father the Fountain of all life and happiness who bountifully communicatest thy blessings and every where overflowest in thy mercies to all thy creatures More especially to the sons of men who are surrounded with an Ocean of them the bounds of which we cannot see and the depth whereof we cannot fathom And the more thirsty any Souls are and humbly desirous to receive them the more it pleases thee to pour out thy mercies upon them the more thou delightest in the issues of thy bounteous goodness to them I thine unworthy servant encompassed about with thy salvation come to make my humble acknowledgments and such returns of love and dutiful affection as I am able to thy Divine Majesty If I had the Spirits of all Creatures united in me I could not conceive or worthily express thy loving kindness Who hast raised me out of Nothing to an excellent degree of being indued me with reason and wisdom instructed me in the Christian faith and therein let me see such things as eye never saw 1 Cor. 2.9 ear never heard Psal 68.18 nor did it enter into the heart of man to conceive that the Lord God should dwell among us Ephes 1.20.21 and our Nature be exalted at his right hand far above all Angels Principalities and Powers and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come Blessed be the infinite wisdom and goodness of God which sent his Son Jesus born of a woman to die for us and to be a propitiation for our sins and by means of death hath crowned him with glory and honour that we might have a blessed hope of glory honour and immortality together with himself I ought to be overwhelmed with the thoughts of thy mercies which I cannot comprehend The great load of them The exceeding great load of them ought to press my heart continually to send them all back again in eternal love and obedience Accept good Lord I beseech thee of such poor expressions of them as I have now made unto thee and of my vows at thy holy Table to render unto thee better There thou hast been pleased to give me a sweet remembrance of thy past loving kindness and assurance of the future Bestow upon me likewise such a wise and considering heart that I may sink my thoughts deeper and deeper into the vast Sea of thy mercies and think my self happy when I am filled with such a great sense of them that all my thoughts desires and actions are under the power of Heavenly love O that the love of God my Saviour may be ever admirable in mine eyes that I may delight to think of thy love to speak of thy love and to imitate thy love so that all inordinate affections may die in me and I may perform most ready and easie obedience to all thy commands Thou hast laid also great ingagements upon me in that whilest thou makest this extraordinary provision for my Soul thou hast not neglected my Body but taken care that a world of good things should serve my needs and pleasure continually O that my heart were but duly sensible of all thy goodness I know then that I could not deny thee any thing thou desirest who hast opened thy hand so liberally to me even beyond my desires I could not but trust thee and resign my will wholly to thee and be contented with what thou orderest for me and in every thing give thanks which is thy will in Christ Jesus concerning me All that I have and can do is too little to give thee I can love thee but a little and therefore I desire that all the world would love thee and worship thee and glorifie thy name For thou art great and dost wondrous things Psal 86.10 thou art God alone O that all the Kings of the Earth would praise thee O Lord. Yea 138.4 5. that they would sing in the ways of the Lord for great is the glory of the Lord. That they may think it their greatest honour to be the Subjects of our Saviour and their greatest security to obey him and observe his Laws That being intrusted with thy divine power they may imploy it to right those that suffer wrong to ease the oppressed of their burdens supply the wants of the poor defend the fatherless and widow and comfort all mankind in their miseries I recommend this Church and Kingdom our Sovereign and all his Subjects to thy most powerful Protection beseeching thee to endue us all with thy Heavenly grace to dispose us to love thy true Religion and to be zealous of good works that our Lord and Master may be honoured by us and all men may know we are his Disciples by our loving one another Now to the most High God Dan. 4.34 35. who liveth for ever whose dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom from generation to generation before whom all the inhabitants of the Earth are reputed as Nothing and he doth according to his will in the Army of Heaven and among the inhabitants of the Earth be blessing and honour and praise rendred by me and by all Creatures now and eternally Amen August The Meditation before DOTH it not seem long my soul since thou wast at the Table of the Lord With what thoughts with what affections then dost thou receive this new invitation to it See what joy what delight it raises in thy heart that thou mayst know whether indeed thou lovest him or no. His love is so great that one would think it should never slip out of thy mind Our Lord hath done such great things for us that we may be tempted sooner not to believe them than to forget them But this is one piece of the greatness of that love that it hath taken care it should be alway remembered He hath not thought it enough to die for us but he hath left us a representation of it and a command to shew forth his death until he come What dost thou think of that command Is it a burden to thee to yield obedience to it Dost thou unwillingly hear the motion to go and do this in remembrance of him What Is it a sad thing to think of declaring the goodness of the Lord To magnifie the love of God our Saviour To celebrate his praises To profess our selves his servants and to ingage to him our fidelity Doth it make thee sigh to think of going to receive the tokens of his love To represent the death and satisfaction of Christ Jesus for thy sins To wait on God for the pardon of them And to be put in assured hope of immortal life Thou art not such a stranger sure to thy own happiness but knowest better things even things that accompany salvation Give glory therefore to the Lord that he calls thee again so graciously to shew forth his death Let him know that thou meanest to obey him to attend him at his holy Table and thank
resolution to all the rest and made choice of him again for my only Master how careful ought I to be that I prove not a false Disciple Hast thou never read or heard of an holy man who never used the name of Jesus but he immediately added not without the appearance of singular pleasure MY MASTER This was his glory this he thought the highest honour on Earth that he served such a Master Let this be one of thy thoughts every day Let it work in thy mind till the sense of these words be ingraven on thy heart My Master JESVS Consider that when thou wast baptized thou wast dedicated to his holy service That if thou hast owned confirmed that Sacred Covenant thou hast renounced all other Masters the Devil the World and the Flesh and professed thou wouldst be a Servant of Jesus And every time thou hast been at his Table thou hast done this over again and protested thou wilt have no other Master but only him Is there any cause dost thou think to repent of thy choice of following his service Is it not a great preferment to be one of his family who is Lord of Heaven and Earth the Heir of all things the Prince of all the Kings of the Earth the Lord of Life and the King of Glory Dost thou not profess in thy daily Prayers that his service is perfect freedom Can any reward their servants like to the blessed and only Potentate who only hath immortality Do any servants in the world serve in such hopes or enjoy such promises or receive such earnests as he is pleased to bestow on his Is not death the wages of sin but the gift of God eternal life What servants are admitted to such familiarity with their Lord as thou art at his Table Who are entertained with such a Feast or live upon such delights as they that receive his Body and Bloud And yet how zealous how diligent how forward are they to do their Masters will who serve only for the wages of unrighteousness How proud is a man of the honour to follow the Court of an Earthly Prince But if he should be advanced to eat continually at his Table the world would envy his too great happiness What a shame will it prove then if thou art not fervent in spirit serving the Lord If thou dost not think thy self honoured enough and art not well contented in any condition who followest such a glorious Master Thou wilt not pardon thy self if thou art unfaithful to him or disgracest his service by murmuring repining dejection of spirit or any other unworthy behaviour toward him For what Master ever merited so much at his Servants hands We have heard of Servants that have died for their Masters but where did we ever read or hear of a Master that freely died even for his rebellious Servants The business was Jesus would purchase us to himself by his own Bloud and make us if we have but any good nature in us to be most entirely devoted to his chearful obedience Ask thy self therefore every morning whose Servant am I What did I promise my Master such a day If I call him Lord and Master why do not I do the things that he saith And shall I go about my Masters business with a drooping countenance and an heavy heart Shall I sigh when I hear his voice though he bid me deny my self and take up my Cross and follow him Shall any of his Commandments seem grievous to me after so many so solemn professions of love to him God forbid that I should cast such reproach upon him I have not so learned Christ Jesus whose I am and whom I serve who hath said Joh. 12.26 If any man serve me him will my Father honour Can there be words of greater grace than these God be thanked Rom. 6.17 18. that I was the servant of sin but have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered me It is a favour to be the servant of righteousness I ought to account it an honour to receive his commands and to study to do his will on Earth as it is done in Heaven How comfortably then shall I live how comfortably shall I die How will it make my heart leap for joy to hear that voice of his Matth. 25.21 Well done thou good and faithful servant enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Here you may resolve to meditate all this Month how our Lord and Master himself took upon him the form of a SERVANT and being found in fashion like one of us became obedient unto Death Phil. 2.7 8. even the Death of the Cross That absolute OBEDIENCE of his you should set always before your eyes for a pattern that you may not live as if you were ashamed of his service or thought any thing below you or too mean to submit unto which he requires at your hands Never suffer your reputation your ease your wealth no nor life it self to stand in competition with his commands But presently remember that though he were a Son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered Heb. 5.8 9. And being made perfect he became the Author of Eternal Salvation unto all them that obey him And remember again that The Disciple is not above his Master Luk. 6.40 but every one that is perfect shall be as his Master The Thanksgiving and Prayer afterward FOr ever hallowed be thy great Name O Father of mercies the God of love the fountain of all good and blessedness All the heavenly host delight continually to praise thee They never cease to ascribe wisdom power dominion riches honour and glory unto thee who livest for ever O how great is thy goodness who invitest us that dwell in houses of clay to bear them company in their praises and thanksgivings They can add nothing at all unto thy fulness but it is our happiness to spend our days here in loving thee in speaking good of thy Name in doing thee honour and service and to pass the life of the other world in the perfection of admiration love thanksgiving and obedience to thee Psal 126.3 who hast done such great things for us of which we are glad Blessed be the Name of God our Father who hath raised us out of Nothing and hath not appointed us unto wrath 1 Thess 5.9 but to obtain Salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ And of God our Saviour who hath redeemed us from the hands of all our enemies and purchased us with a great price unto himself And of God our Sanctifier strength and assister the God of our Salvation who keeps us every moment from ruine and destruction I thank thee O Lord of Heaven and Earth for that liberal portion which thou hast given me thine unworthy servant in thy grace and favour For the knowledge of thy holy Gospel which hath brought life and immortality to light For all the good instructions I have received
from thy Ministers and the tender care * You may mention these and others if you have had this benefit religious education of my Parents Tutors and Governours For all seasonable reproofs wholsom counsels good admonitions and every truth I have received from my Friends or Enemies For the pious examples and good conversation of any of my Neighbours for all holy opportunities and the leisure I have to attend upon this heavenly employment For thy merciful chastisements and thy wonderful deliverances For all the good Books thou hast brought to my hands and the good advice which I have any way received For all my Benefactors all those that love me and pray for me And above all for thy gracious inspirations from above the holy thoughts thou hast put into my mind and the pious desires and purposes thou hast stirr'd up in my heart with all the furtherances helps and assistances thou hast vouchsafed me in my way to Heaven particularly now at this holy Feast where thou hast made me know and feel how good thou art beyond the compass of all our thoughts What shall I return unto thee for all thy love What shall I give unto my Lord who hath given himself for me I have given thee my whole self and now devoted all the powers of my soul and body to thy service that all my thoughts my words my desires my passions and actions may be disposed according to thy will and not my own And I think my self happy O blessed Jesus in the choice I have made of thee for my Lord and Master I rejoyce in the disposal I have made of my self to thy service and obedience For a world I would not revoke my consent to be absolutely ruled and governed by thee as long as I live Sin shall not reign in my mortal body Rom. 6.12 that I should obey it in the lusts thereof But here I come again to yield my self unto thee my God and to profess thy service to be the most perfect freedom and the noblest employment To beseech thy pardon for all mine unfaithfulness and the constant power of thy Holy Spirit to assist me in the doing thy will here on Earth as it is done in Heaven that all my resolutions may be persevering my endeavours successful and my obedience perfect and compleat in all things Lord Jesus do what thou pleasest in me and what thou pleasest with me Truly I am thy servant I am thy servant and I will make my boast continually in this that I serve the Lord Christ May I but ever love thee and stedfastly cleave unto thee and chearfully obey thee and faithfully live to honour thee I desire nothing else Come prosperity or adversity come sickness or health life or death so that I may but glorifie thee and be made conformable to thee and bear thine image in holiness here and in glory hereafter And let all the Earth stand in awe of thee thou Lord and Ruler of the whole world Let the hearts of all people submit themselves to thy Kingdom and Authority Psal 45.3 4. In thy Majesty ride on prosperously O thou most mighty because of truth and meekness and righteousness till all thine enemies fall under thee and think themselves happy in thy most just and merciful government I commend thine own family to thy gracious and powerful protection and this part of it especially in these Kingdoms That we thy servants being hurt by no persecutions may evermore give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church and triumph in thy praise saying Psal 48.14 This God is our God for ever and ever he will be our guide even unto Death Now unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Bloud and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father Rev. 1.5 6 to him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen September The Meditation before the Sacrament SHall we not be too bold in going so oft to the Table of the Lord May we not offend him by our forwardness to approach into his presence No sure not if love carry us thither and accompany us there And who can want that who knows and considers how forward he was to do that which we remember When he came to offer himself a Sacrifice for us he saith Lo I come Psal 40.7 8. in the volume of the book it is written of me I delight to do thy will O God And when he eat the last meal with his Disciples he said again Luk. 22.15 with desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer Behold what a hearty vehemence there was in his love what an ardor in his desire to be made an offering for us and to be remembred by us With what love should we commemorate his dying love with what desire should our souls approach to his holy Table in remembrance of him who took such content in dying for us and was so desirous to institute this holy feast for a perpetual remembrance of his death With the same joy that children use to welcome a Festival with such an hunger and thirst as a labouring man goes to his supper ought we to go to the Supper of the Lord that we may chear and refresh our souls with the memory of our Master and only Saviour with praises and joyful thanksgivings with the love of God and of our Brethren with the hopes of his Mercy here and eternally Awake awake then thy Faith call up thy love quicken thy desires excite all that is within thee to bless the Lord and speak good of his name Say with a great joy Lo I come according to thy command and delight to do thy will O God With desire I have desired to do this in remembrance of my Lord to declare thy mighty acts and shew forth the greatness of thy love to profess my self thy servant and to glory in the holy name of my Master Jesus to offer up my self unto thee an oblation of love to renew my covenant with thee and with all my Brethren to give thee thanks that I am one of thy family and for all the benefits I received and thou hast still in store for thy faithful servants But who is able to tell how much he hath done already for us Or find out all that he designs unto us Who can praise him according to his excellent kindness and his wonderful works for the children of men The thoughts of Angels are not wide enough to comprehend them And if we had their spirits and could love him and acknowledg him with their inlarged affection it would be too little a present to make unto him O give thanks therefore unto the Lord for he is gracious for his mercy endureth for ever O give thanks unto him who is so desirous of us such narrow souls such little hearts that can hold so little love unto him Let us go to him and desire that he would
preserved pure and undefiled as the Temples of the Holy Ghost it may be my constant guide strength and comfort and lead me safely through all the difficulties and dangers of this world the enticements of the flesh and the crafts and subtilties of the Devil to a place of peace and safety in the regions above where I may for ever dwell in thy love and sing thy praise O that all the people did praise thee O God that all the people did praise thee That the whole Earth were filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea and all those that know thee did walk worthy of thee as children of the light and of the day having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness Bless thy Church planted in these Islands that we may not receive in vain that grace bringing Salvation 2 Cor. 6.1 Tit. 2.11 12. which hath appeared to us teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world But from the highest to the lowest have grace Heb. 12.28 whereby we may serve thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear Comfort all my Friends forgive all my Enemies relieve those that are in any misery draw all sinners to repentance and help all good men to perfect holiness in thy fear that at last with one consent we may all unite our hearts and tongues in thy everlasting praises Now the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God 2 Cor. 13. ult and the Communion of the Holy Ghost be with us all Amen November The Meditation before WIth what wonder and admiration do we entertain those things which are strange and unusual The very news of them carries great numbers to see them and the sight of them fixes their eyes on them as if they could never have enough of them Behold here the wonder of wonders which thou art called to see and seed thine eyes and heart withal God is come to dwell in Flesh This flesh is made a sacrifice for the sins of the world And he invites thee now to a Feast upon that Sacrifice that thou mayest dwell in him and he in thee O marvellous love what eyes ever saw such a sight as the Son of God dying on a Cross The only begotten of the Father bleeding as a malefactor The glorious King of Heaven laying down his life freely for his own subjects Rebels I should have called them and enemies to him Where are all my thoughts Where is my admiration What is become of my love Whither are all my desires gone It will be a new wonder if they do not all assemble themselves together at the commemoration of such love which doth me the grace to make me partaker of that Body and Bloud which was so offered up to God Strange that my thoughts should be so heavy and my affections so cold that my hunger and thirst should be no more excited at the very motion to go to the house of God to make a thankful remembrance of his death We think the Angels lead an happy life in their blessed employment of giving continual Praises to God why do I not go then with a more forward joy into the Courts of the Lord to do this in remembrance of Christ which those Heavenly creatures do not do For he hath not taken hold of the nature of Angels Heb. 2.16 but of the seed of Abraham for whom he hath prepared also this Sacred food of which they never tasted Vnto which of the Angels said he at any time thou art my Son Heb. 1.5 13 this day have I begotten thee or sit thou at my right hand till I make thine enemies thy foot-stool Art thou not desirous of honour and greedy of gainful preferment Art thou not prone to seek great things for thy self What greater honour or dignity can there be than to be so nearly related to the Lord of all to be members of him that is Head of all Principalities and Powers Behold the treasures of grace and glory which he offers thee and by these signs of his Body and Bloud would make over to thee Is not Love the very life and Soul of the World Is it not the â—oy and satisfaction of hearts Behold here the worthiest object of it that ever was See how he would fill and possess thy whole Soul with perfect contentment And lest thou shouldest be so unhappy as not to dwell in love see how he would engage thee by these bonds in which thou â—rt going to tye thy self to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart soul and strength and thy neighbour as thy self How doth he comply with thy most natural inclinations How doth he study to gratifie thee in thy most noble desires Call up thy best and purest thoughts Strain thy self to the heighth of admiration Endeavour to forget all other things and only to look at present upon Jesus If any thing can make thee love God it must be his love If any thing can make thee hate sin it must be this Sacrifice for it If any thing can make thee willing and obedient â—it must be his obedience to the death Think then when thou comest into his presence that thou seest him hanging on his Cross Think thou seest him spreading out his arms and resigning himself to the will of God That thou beholdest hiâ— gaping wounds and the Bloud trickâ—ling down his Sacred body That thou hearest him cry unto thee Did I not love thee when I bled to death for thee Did I not love thee when I endured this painâ— and sorrow to redeem thee Could I do more than give my self to deliver thee from death and open the Kingdom of Heaven and Eternal life And then what heart iâ— there that need be taught what it should say and what it should do on this occasion Who can refrain himself from giving blessing and praise and glory in the highest to him Who can want thanks to render him for such invaluable benefits Oâ— find in his heart to deny him his serviceâ— Nay who would not rejoyce to think oâ— serving one that hath merited thus of him and intends to reward his duty with that very glory which the Father hath given him Our Lord cannot but expect to see thy mind fraught with Heavenly thoughts and a most high esteem of him thy hearâ— mighty full of love and vows and resolutions ready to be presented to him thy will bowing and submitting it self wholly to his disposal And to all such he saith by his Ministers Come to my Supper for all things are ready Come and take this holy Sacrament to your comfort Rejoyce with me and be exceeding glad for I love you and will love you to the end The Prayer before O Most holy Lord of Heaven and earth the greatest and most desirable good the only rest and satisfaction of our souls Whom to know is the beginning of life whom
to love purely is our perfection upon earth whom to possess in an unchangeable wisdom charity and purity is heaven it self It was thy great goodness to make us to know thee and â—ove thee and be like unto thee And a greater to sue unto us and intreat for our affections But it is the greatest of all a miracle of thy love that thou hast sent such a person as thy Son Jesus to beseech us and to add mighty importunities to his intreaties that we would do that which we ought to be desirous to be admitted to do as the greatest happiness we are capable of Lord what is man that thou art thus kind unto him we are very little things hugely below so much of thy notice We are naturally infirm and crazed in our bodies And our understandings are short sighted our reasonings weak and childish our passions easily disordered our resolutions inconstant and by sin we have made our selves worse and turned these into greater mischiefs So that if thou hadst been pleased to shew but a little pitty and compassion to us and not suffered us to become extreamly miserable what could we have expected more from thy goodness But that thou shouldest design to advancâ— such piteous and wretched things a we are who know not how to valuâ— and esteem thy benefits to the statâ— and dignity of thy children to makâ— us like thy self in righteousness goodness and truth and at last to give us a blessed immortality in soul and body O how astonishing is this love which thou hast shewn to us in the Son of thy love the Lord Jesus I am ashamed to think that this grace hath waited so long upon me and been no better entertained and improved That my apprehensions of it are still so dull my reasonings of so little force to constrain my whole soul unmoveably to love thee and delight in thee and to live to thee for ever I most humbly flee to that grace which hath abounded thus towards me for the pardon which it hath promised to those who yield themselves to be governed by it O let not thy unwearied goodness be provoked yet to cast off the care of me But continue to hold before mine eyes thy love in Christ Jesus and the great glory which he hath purchased for us till my heart be overcome and subdued perfectly to his obedience That I may abandon every evil way which is inconsistent with the enjoyment of his favour and happiness and it may be the very business of my life to purifie my self as thou art pure from all inordinate cares and fears from sensual lusts and bruitish passions from anger and hatred envy and malice pride and vanity falseness and dissimulation murmuring and discontent and whatsoever is opposite to thy blessed Nature and Will declared by Christ Jesus O that the Faith of Christ which thou hast already planted in my heart may take a deeper root that as I believe him to be the Lord of all who died for me and bought me with a price and is risen again to be the author of eternal Salvation to those that obey him and will come to judg the quick and the dead so I may constantly reverence him and religiously keep his holy Commands and stedfastly trust him and make him my hope and love his appearing that I may be found of him then in peace And now that I am going to make him my renewed acknowledgments and devote my self to his holy obedience Lord fill me with such worthy thoughts affections and resolutions that I may know that I love him and may rejoyce in hope of his eternal love unto me O that nothing may interpose when I am at thy Table to hinder the effect of these holy desires that no cloud may arise in my mind to obscure my sight of his love no vain thought to draw me aside from meditating on his death and passion for my sake but I may be carried then and alwayes with a strong and irresistable inclination to do his will Let my prayer come before thee Ps 141.2 as the incense and the lifting up of my hands as the evening Sacrifice Hear me O Lord Psal 143.1 â— and give ear to the voice of my supplications in thy faithfulness answer me and in thy righteousness And enter not into judgment with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Our Father c. The Meditation afterward WHAT our Saviour said to the people concerning John the Baptist may be imitated by thee with a small alteration Luke 7.24 c. What went you out for to see a reed shaken with the wind a thing of no moment But what went you out for to see a man clothed in soft raiment Some worldly pomp and bravery behold these are in kings Courts But what went you out for to see a Prophet Yea I say unto you and much more than a Prophet For among those that are born of women there is not a greater Prophet than John the Baptist Where hast thou been mayest thou say to thy self At an ordinary meal or a common entertainment What wentest 〈…〉 out to receive a piece of bread and 〈◊〉 cup of wine that we have in our 〈◊〉 houses Or what wentest thou from 〈◊〉 to see a dumb shew a silent gray 〈◊〉 company of serious faces Those w◠〈◊〉 see in them that mourn for any dead friend Or what wentest thou out for to see Bread broken and wine poured out in a solemn and holy manner by the appointment of Christ Jesus Yea and much more than so Christ himself the Son of the blessed under those signs and figures of his death This is he of whom it is written behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world Verily there is none born of women like unto him the only begotten Son of God the heir of all things And thou hast been at his Table thou hast beheld the astonishing love of God in delivering him up to suffer for thee thou hast received the pledges of his dearest love and the earnests of all those goods that he possesses Couldst thou see no beauty in him that thou shouldst desire him Nor taste no pleasure in having friendship with him Is it nothing to partake of the merits of his sufferings To be made the Son of the King of Heaven and the heir of his love by being made partaker of his divine nature and disposition Where were thine eyes then What were thy thoughts doing None ever believed and considered this love that God bears to us who was not moved and inflamed by it to love him above all things For the Creator and Possessor of Heaven and earth to love thee what a word is that Who can hear it and not be at once both amazed and transported Especially when he loves thee so much as to send his own Son unto thee yea his only Son the Son of his love who hath so loved thee as to spend
keep my body inâ—eâ—perance soberness and chastity Not to coâ—â— nor desire other mens goods but to learn aâ—â— labour truly to get mine own living and to 〈◊〉 my duty in that state of life unto which it shâ—â— please God to call me I desire also the good of all mankind that they may partake of the knowledge of the Lord and enjoy the fruits of his Death and Resurrection especially that all Christian people may walk worthy of the Lord who hath called them to his Heavenly Kingdom And particularly all Kings Princes and Governours may be as careful to observe his Laws as they are desirous others should observe theirs That they may remember the honour thou cast done them in exalting them so â—igh to the end they may imitate thee 〈◊〉 doing good to all below them Purge out of thy Church every thing â—hat dishonours the Religion of our Lord and endangers Souls Unite â—ll the members of it in the profession of the true Faith and in sincere Charity that the poor may be relieved the sick comforted the fatherless and widows visited in their affliction sinners â—eclaimed the obstinate softned and all that are in unbelief brought into the â—â—ock of Jesus Christ And grant unto us all that havâ— Communicated together this day thaâ— peace which passeth all understanding humility meekness obedience fortâ—tude contentedness patience longinâ— desires after Heaven and willingneâ—â— to die that we may rest in an hoâ—â— Hope and have a blessed Resurrectioâ— with the just Amen December The Meditation before the Sacrament NEed I be told after a whole years service at least of my blessed Master Jesus what that duty is I am now going to perform unto him Am I not preparing my self according to his command to make a solemn commemoration before God Angels and Men of his unheard of love in dying for us To make a profession of my sincere love and affection to him To engage to him my fidelity To renew the Covenant that is between us To open my heart to him and to confirm to him the most absolute possession of my Soul and Body To wait on him for his continued grace and that I may feel the â—ower of his Death and Resurrection To â—â—ow him my willingness even to take up â—is Cross and to be his Disciple and follower to the very death To testifie the â—ove I bear unto and the Communion I desire to hold with all the Christians that â—re throughout the world To exalt the â—ame of the Lord and to speak his praises who would give his Son for us and who hath condescended to a treaty of peace with us and upon such easie terms to become friends with us yea reward us and do great things for us O how sweet is the remembrance of these blessings How happy am I that he will not let me forget them But with a continued kindness invites me again to this delightful employment I will go and give him thanks for all his benefits and for this among the rest that he hath made me so often partaker of his blessed Body and Bloud and now gives me a new opportunity to celebrate in this manner the memory of his love And O that my heart were lifted higher than ever after so long acquaintance with him in admiration of his grace in faith in love in joy in praise and thanksgiving in strong and vehement desires and in cordial resolutions to be his devout and faithful Disciple O that the hearts of all men else who shall approach his Table may be disposed to the like zeal and fervent affection to his service and so many Souls as there are then present so many living Sacrifices there may be to God so many wills resigned into his hands with ardent love That so those holy Spirits which the Apostle tells us were present in their Christian assemblies may be invited to come into ours And beholding nothing but what is reverend serious pure and full of true devotion they may be excited to rejoyce and praise God together with us for our sincere affection to his Religion And they may make report among their Heavenly company above that Christian piety is still remaining in the world and that we have made a great increase in growth in it this year by our frequent remembrance of the Lord Jesus which may stir them up all to bless the great and glorious name of our God which is exalted above all blessing and praise The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens and his Kingdom ruleth over all Psal 103. Bless the Lord ye Angels of his Bless him all his hosts Bless him all ye works of his in all places of his dominion Bless the Lord O my Soul Stir up thy self to bless the name of God our Saviour who hath not cast us out of his sight when we threw off our obedience to him but sent his Son to gather us again to him to invite us by precious promises to endear himself to us by shedding his heart bloud for us to open the gate of Paradise again and restore us to immortality to make us equal with the Angels and rank us among the eldest sons of glory Let us go and if it be possible excite a greater love in our heart toward him than ever we felt before Let us offer up our selves to him with a stronger flame of devotion which may always burn and rise up higher and higher till it touch heaven and lift us up thither where our Saviour is in the high and holy place God blessed for ever Amen The Prayer before ETernal God whose omnipotent word brought me and this whole world of creatures into being Out of the fulness of whose goodness we are all fed and maintained and by whose rich and abundant grace it is that our souls are not in a desperate and forsaken condition but may approach with some confidence to thee our Maker who in thy Son hast revealed thy self unto us a most merciful Father I fall down before thee in an humble reverence to perform that Religious duty which I owe thee as thy creature and much more as thy redeemed one through the purchase thou hast made of us by the blood of Jesus I admire adore and love all that I know of thee I extol and praise thy wisdom thy bounty thy holiness and truth which endureth for ever I acknowledg my self beholden to thee beyond all my words or conceptions either I reproach my self for my base ingratitude and all the wrongs I have done thee I confess the justice of thy proceedings shouldst thou strip me of all those good things thou hast bestowed on me I give thee the glory of thy ineffable and never enough to be valued love in thy Son Christ I disclaim all opposition to thy will as base unjust and unaccountable I vow to thee my intire service and obedience and approve all thy Commandments as righteous wise and good I lay new bonds upon my self to keep and
pity us because thou art he who was dead And thou wilt never cease to pity and help us because thou art he that liveth â—â—m 6.9 and being raised from the dead dieth no more death hath no more dominion over thee Because thou wast dead and tempted in all things like unto us thou art sensible of our infirmities and able to succour us in all the trials of life and death And because thou livest thou canst make thy death become powerful and effectual to us thou canst make good all thy own promises and put us in possession of the purchased inheritance 1 Pet. 1.3 Blessed be God which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto such a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead Death is swallowed up in victory O death where is thy sting O grave 1 Cor. 15.54 55. where is thy victory Thanks be to God who hath not appointed us to wrath 1 Thess 5.9 10. but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who dyed for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live with him Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus 2 Cor. 4.14 Jude 24. and shall present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy The Prayer before O Most mighty Lord of heaven and earth the Father of Spirits the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ whose name is ever hallowed by an innumerable company of Holy ones that are always burning with love to thee and praising thy most beauteous perfections thy incomprehensible wisdom goodness righteousness and truth The Sun shineth not before the brightness of thy Majesty The Angels are unclean in compare with the purity of thy holiness What are we O Lord that thou wilt look down from the habitation of thy holiness upon us what manner of love is this wherewith thou hast loved us in sending thy Son down among us and designing to take us up unto thy self that we may joyn with that holy fellowship of Angels and Saints to love and praise thee for ever We are the off-spring of rebellious parents that have been transgressors from the beginning Who have dishonoured our nature despised or undervalued thy grace in the Lord Jesus resisted or coldly entertained thy holy Spirit and loved these little things here below more than that eternal happiness which Jesus hath revealed by his resurrection from the dead We are not worthy of the crumbs that fall from thy Table which thou hast spread for all creatures or of the least drop of thy mercies We are not worthy to lick the dust before thee because we deserve not to live and breath any longer in this world And yet thou lettest us live in hope that we shall live with thee and thou givest us leave to breath forth our souls towards thee and hast thy self spread a new Table for us and furnished it with the richest of thy blessings and invitest me most graciously among the rest to come now and feast with thee and eat of the bread of life which came down from heaven and is able to nourish me to eternal life I would fain O Lord approach into thy holy presence there and behold the wonders of thy love But I am covered with shame and blushing because of my ingratitude unto thee I cannot with any confidence open my eyes towards thee till I have some sense in my heart that thou art willing to cover my sins and hide thy face from mine iniquities Which I cannot reasonably hope for till I find them loathsome grievous and hateful to me more than death it self I ought to hang down my head in heaviness of spirit till a sense that my heart is throughly changed and renewed give me liberty to look up unto thee saying Thy will O Lord be done Possess thy self of my soul for I absolutely submit my thoughts desires and passions to be ruled and governed by thee in all things And what is it else O my God that I long for What doth my soul thirst after But that I may know thee more Ephes 1.19 20. and the greatness of thy power to us ward which wrought in Christ when it raised him from the dead and set him at thy right hand in heavenly places and that I may be overcome and perfectly subdued by this mighty love and that I may be transformed into thy image and live according to the sense I have of thy most adorable perfections O that I may wholly follow the guidance of thy wisdom and submit to thy soveraign Authority and be obedient to all thy righteous and good laws reverencing and fearing thy majesty approving my inward thoughts and desires to thine all-seeing eye depending on thy al-sufficiency hoping in thy omnipotent goodness trusting to thy true and faithful word delighting and rejoycing continually in thy Fatherly love and care of me who hast brought me into being and preserved me from ruin Eph. 3.6 and made me partaker of thy promise in Christ the beginning and first born from the dead in whom it pleased thee that all fulness should dwell Col. 1.18 19. I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledg of Christ Jesus my Lord that I may be found in him and have the righteousness which is by Faith Ph l. 3.8 9 10. that I may know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection of the dead Begin now good Lord to raise up my heart above all these perishing things to those joyes where thou art exalted Make me feel that thou art an high Priest after the power of an endless life still ready and able to assist and succour all those that come to God by thee O that my eyes might be so fixed on the high and holy place into which thou art entred that some little glimps of thy glory may breakforth upon me and I may see the treasures and riches of thy kingdom and what is the hope of my calling that so I may be confirmed in my resolutions grow strong in the Faith and be more fervent in my desires more vehement and earnest in my endeavours unwearied in my pains impregnable against all temptations chearful under all difficulties and discouragements Phil. 3.13 14. and that forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before I may press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Into thy hands both now and ever Psal â—â— 5 I commit my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of truth I confide entirely in his Almighty and eternal love to whom thou hast given all power in heaven and in earth Matth. 28.18 I wait on thee who hast not thought thy immortality too much to bestow on us for
hands the Earth stands fast by thy appointment and every thing keeps the course wherein thou hast set it with admirable constancy Thou governest all things without any trouble because at once thou knowest and canst do what thou pleasest and thou dost all things with the greatest reason justice mercy and pleasure to thy self Man was raised by thee out of the dust of Earth and thou didst inspire him with a wise and understanding Spirit and placedst him in a Paradise surrounded with thy blessings and Lord over the work of thy hands And when he had degraded himself and forfeited by his disobedience his garden of pleasure thou didst not leave him without a remedy but openedst the way for him into the Paradise above Thou didst send thy holy Prophets and messengers in all ages to thy people and in the fulness of time thine own dear Son the brightness of thy glory whom thou hast made Heir of all things and to whom thou hast graciously committed the care of us Blessed be thy unspeakable goodness who hast made him in all things like unto us sin only excepted so that we know and are sure that he will take care of us and pity us and relieve us I adore thy unparalell'd love in giving him to die that he might make expiation for our sins and that he hath overcome death by his rising again and is set down at thy right hand because he was obedient to the death From thence we have received the gift of the Holy Ghost thanks be to thy Grace to confirm us in the belief of his Resurrection and of all his promises by signs and wonders and mighty deeds and to give us power to perform our duty towards thee and towards all men Thou hast spread this Gospel of Salvation into the furthermost parts of the Earth and the light of it hath long shone upon this Kingdom where I live I was born into this light as well as into the light of the Sun and had early assurances given me of thy love In my very infancy I was devoted to thee and all the engagements I was capable of laid upon me to be happy by being a faithful Disciple of Christ Jesus Thou hast not failed since to breath on me by thy Holy Spirit and to move me to my duty that I might be able to make the answer of a good Conscience towards thee 1 Pet. 3 21. and so be saved by his his Resurrection from the dead Many happy opportunities hast thou put into my hands to improve my self in Christian wisdom and vertue and engaged me to thee in many solemn vows only to seek the glory honour and immortality which Christ hath brought to light by patient continuance in well-doing I have now received the pledges of it and commemorated his love in dying for us and thy love in raising him to life again that he might perfect our Salvation and assure us he hath obtained an eternal redemption and comfort us against the fears of death and take care of us for ever and receive the power and glory thou promisedst him that he may be able to bless us and do us all good O how hath thy love abounded in Christ Jesus Besides a world of outward blessings which thy bounteous hand hath poured on me and still continues merely out of thy goodness and liberality How can I praise thee for all thy mercies to all mankind who cannot comprehend all those which thou hast bestowed on my self alone None can understand how much we are beholden to thee but those that know what thy Son Jesus was and what the blessing of the Holy Ghost and what the Resurrection of the dead and the unsearchable riches of thy Kingdom and Glory are Accept blessed Lord of such acknowledgments as I am able to make thee Accept of my whole self which I yield up unto thee with love unfeigned Thou whose infinite understanding pierceth into the greatest depths and secrets knowest that I love thee Do even what thou pleasest with me for it is but just and reasonable that I should not live unto my self henceforth but unto him that died for me and rose again I am twice thy Creature Thou hast given me life a second time by Christ Jesus through whom thou hast created me to good works in hope of a blessed Resurrection from the dead Inspire me good Lord with such a strong and lasting sense of thy love that I may alway live in sincere obedience to him and never forfeit the new title thou hast given me to life immortal But believing the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead I may most heartily acknowledg him to be the Lord and stedfastly believe his Doctrine obeying his commands hoping in his promises and fearing his threatnings and endeavouring thereby to prepare my self in all purity and holiness of life for the joys of the World to come And * The words of the Church Catechism explaining the Lords Prayer I desire my Lord God our Heavenly Father who is the giver of all goodness to send his grace unto me and to all people that we may worship him serve him and obey him as we ought to do And that he will send us all things that be needful both for our Souls and Bodies and be merciful to us and forgive us our sins and that it will please him to save and defend us in all dangers ghostly and bodily and that he will keep us from all sin and wickedness and from our ghostly enemy and from everlasting death Which I trust he will do of his mercy and goodness through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen Now the God of peace Heb 13.20 21. that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Bloud of the everlasting Covenant Make us perfect in every good work to do his will working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen This short acknowledgment may be used sometime that Week Acts 4.24 25. LOrd thou art God which hast made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all that in them is who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said Psal 2.7 8. Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And I will give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy possession Thy word is true from the beginning Psal 119.160.89.90 For ever O Lord thy word is setled in Heaven Thy faithfulness is unto all generations For thou hast sent thy holy Child Jesus Rom. 1.4 and declared him to be the Son of God with power by the Resurrection from the dead Though he was Crucified through weakness 2 Cor. 13.4 yet he liveth by the power of God Thou wouldest not let thy holy one see corruption Acts 2.27 28. But hast made known to him the ways of life and made him full of joy with thy
Soul only but most bountifully providest for my Body too not only thy Son but a great number of thy Creatures losing their lives continually to preserve mine There is all reason that I should serve thee with unwearied diligence who hast made so many things constantly to serve me And here I present my self again before thee to tender thee my hearty service to beseech thy acceptance of the vows and promises I have already made to thee and to express my hope in thy mercy for power from on high to assist and further my pious desires and resolutions I believe in thee O God through Christ Jesus who hast raised him up from the dead 1 Pet. 1.21 and given him glory that our faith and hope might be in thee our God I live in a full perswasion that thou designest to make me everlastingly happy and therefore humbly look to receive from thy Divine bounty the communication of thy Holy Spirit to help me to fit and prepare my self for such a glorious state with Christ in the Heavens That there my thoughts and my heart may be where my hopes are treasured up and all things may seem little and mean in compare with the glory to be revealed and I may think my self exceeding high and great in the humility meekness goodness patience and contentedness of the Lord Jesus and in the holy hope he hath given me of Eternal life Preserve in my mind a constant sense of that blessed hope as incomparably beyond all possessions on Earth that so I may walk worthy of my High and Heavenly calling chearfully doing and suffering thy will and believing that thou who hast done so much for us as to advance our nature to such glory in the Heavens will take care of us while we are here on Earth and conduct us by humble submission to thee and patient continuance in well-doing to that place whither Jesus the fore-runner is entred for us Psal 98.4 And let all the Earth make a joyful noise unto the Lord make a loud noise and rejoyce 97.1 and sing praise For the Lord Jesus reigneth 29.10 He sitteth King for ever Let them praise his great and holy name For the Kinds strength loveth judgment 99.3 4. he doth establish equity He executeth judgment and righteousness in the Earth Psal 5.11 And let all those that love him be joyful in him Rejoyce in the Lord 97.11 12. ye righteous and give thanks to the memorial of his holiness For light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself 2 Th ss 2.16 17. and God even our Father which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace Comfort our hearts and establish us in every good word and work Amen Whitsunday The Meditation before O Holy Spirit of grace what news is this that thou blessest our ears withall What glad tidings are these that thou art come to tell us What means the sound of so many various tongues the gifts of prophecy of wisdom of knowledge of faith and miracles with all the rest which thou dividedst severally to every man as thou wouldest Doth Jesus yet live hath he indeed conquered the grave and is he exalted at the right hand of God and invested with all power in Heaven and Earth It is enough I will go then and see him when I die That word is no longer dreadful to me I am not afraid of the King of terrors since Jesus lives and is the Lord and King of all Witness the Holy Ghost the Comforter which he hath sent down from the Throne of his glory to assure us that he not only lives but reigns in Majesty and Power and is mindful of us and of his promises Those fiery tongues that came with the noise as of a might rushing wind tell me that he is able to transport us when he pleases in fiery Chariots unto Heaven I hear them call my thoughts up thither Heb. 2.9 and bid me see Jesus who was made a little lower than the Angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour and scattering his royal gifts among his servants I am thy servant O blessed Jesus Psal 119.125 135. make thy face to shine upon me Let thy mercies come also unto me O Lord even thy salvation according to thy word Ver. 41 49 Remember the word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope That WHERE I AM Joh. 12.26 THERE SHALL ALSO MY SERVANT BE. What words of grace and life are these It is enough O thou that dwellest in the Heavens that I be there where thou art Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel Psa 73.24 and afterward receive me to glory And till I go to see that glory which the Father hath given thee I will go and see the representations thou hast left us of thy self and receive the pawns and pledges of thy Eternal love I will go and remember thy obedience to the death for which cause thou art highly exalted and made most blessed for ever 21.6 And O that the Holy Spirit of grace which fell on the Apostles on the day of Pentecost would fill my heart with a sense of that love and swell my Soul with a full apprehension of all the blessings that it contains that so I may burst forth into thy praises as they did and speak the wondrous works of God Acts 2.11 Marvellous are thy works O Lord Ps 139.14 and that my Soul knows right well I see by the light of the Holy Ghost sent down on them that Jesus indeed was the Son of God holy and without fault that all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth in him bodily Coloss 2.9 that he hath made peace by the bloud of his Cross and reconciled Heaven and Earth Coloss 1.20 that he is ascended up far above all Heavens Ephes 4.10 Ephes 2.6 that he might fill all things and that thou O Lord hast raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus I see what a powerful Advocate we have in the Court of Heaven Joh. 17.2 and that thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give Eternal Life to as many as thou hast given him I see that all thy promises in him are yea and in him Amen 2 Cor. 1.20 22. by whom thou hast also sealed us and given us the earnest of the Spirit One tongue is too little to speak the praises of the Lord. I will go therefore into the Assemblies of thy people that they may magnifie the Lord with me Psal 34.3 and we may exalt his name together I will declare the exceeding greatness of his love and the superlative bounty of Heaven in sending him to die for us Yea My Soul shall make her boast in the Lord Psal 34.2 and glory in his
him too But with what blushing should we look there upon that love which we have sometime slighted With what hatred upon those sins which murdered the Lord of life With what joy should we think of the hope there is that they may be pardoned And how should we stand admiring at that wise goodness which made that blood which sinners shed to be the expiation for their sins Sure we do not believe these things or else we shall begin already to feel our heart burn with love to him and ready to offer it self in Sacrifice before we come to his Altar Excite thy Faith that it may stir up thy Love and that may carry all the passions of thy heart along with it to him Shew him that the desire of thy heart is to the remembrance of his Name that thy care is to please him thy fear to offend him thy joy to do his will and thy sorrow that thou canst do no more for him Let it be a great comfort to thee that he knows thy sincerity and sees into the very secrets of thy heart how affectionately thou studiest to be like him what a pleasure it is when thou canst stedfastly think of him how it grieves thee when thy thoughts are broken thy affections heavy and dull and thy power falls so short of thy will and desires And be assured that he pitties thee that notwithstanding this he will kindly entertain thee and receive the poorest oblation thou art able to make him at his Table Eat and be satisfied and bless the name of the Lord. He hath invited thee he expects thee he loves to see thee there and will make thee know that he loves thee and delights to do thee good Let us go my soul and declare before Angels and men that we are Christians and mean to live and die in his holy Religion And let us now take shame to our selves that we have at any time contradicted our belief Let us acknowledg the breach of that Faith into which we were baptized and declare before we go how great a trouble it is to us that we love him no more and how desirous we are and fully resolved to love him better and better The Prayer before O Eternal God the Lord of life of grace peace and all our comforts It is of thy great mercies alone that I am not consumed or that I lie not now groaning on a bed of sickness but am invited to feast at thy holy Table I might have distasted and loathed even the ordinary food of my body and thou continuest an opportunity and some appetite to receive the pretious food of my soul The grave might have been my dwelling the worms my companions and I been turned into rottenness and corruption but now I am going to thy house to be the companion of thy people and to communicate with thee and my blessed Saviour that I may be nourished to a blessed immortality This is nothing else but thy marvellous Mercy and because thy compassions fail not For I have too many ways violated thy holy Laws broken thy covenant resisted thy grace and unvalued thy eternal life Thou hast adopted me early for thy child sown the immortal seed of thy word in my heart sent thy holy Spirit to further its growth and increase to that never dying happiness and bliss But how little have I recovered of thy image in wisdom righteousness and holiness which hath been miserably defaced How coldly have I sometimes entertained the motions of thy holy Spirit And been barren and unfruitful in the knowledg of Jesus Christ How often have I heard of that great and dreadful day of reckoning and been prone to follow the little pleasures of this life as if I lookt neither for joy nor misery in the other world That Faith which should save me might justly condemn me and Jesus my most compassionate Redeemer without infinite mercy become only a severe Judge towards me Adored be thy patience and long-suffering to sinners For ever magnified be that Grace which gives me the least hope in thee and presents me with another opportunity of humbling my self before thee of intreating thy favour of deprecating thy displeasure and vowing my self again to thy service which I have covenanted to pay thee O merciful God have mercy upon me have mercy upon me according to the multitude of thy mercies in Christ Jesus blot out all my iniquities I have not offended thee beyond the heighth and depth and length and breadth of thine incomprehensible love in him declared to us And there is still remaining in my heart some esteem of that love and an inclination to love thee above all things with an hearty desire to be purified and sanctified throughout both in body and in soul and spirit Though not by works of righteousness which I have done yet by thy mercy I hope to be saved through the washing of regeneration and more perfect renewing of the holy-Ghost That renewing vertue from above I most humbly wait for and earnestly desire to be more abundantly poured on me Deal with me according to my unfeigned resolutions to study to purifie my self even as thou art pure to walk before thee hereafter in all sobriety righteousness humility meekness peaceableness charity indeavouring to perfect holiness in thy fear Vouchsafe me some earnests of this grace when I present my self before thee to commemorate the death of thy Son Jesus who was wounded for our iniquities and bruised for our transgressions That my heart may be deeply wounded with a sense of sin and hate the very thought of every evil way and chuse to endure any misery rather than offend thy dearest love again O that I might then feel my thoughts carried away from this world that I could think then of nothing but thee and the dying love of my sweetest Saviour and the greatness of that love which I owe to him that died for me Replenish my soul with holy thoughts lift me up in heavenly meditations and fill me with a multitude of devout affections that I may be able hereafter to do and suffer all things for his sake and never forget how good he is and how good I have resolved to be Without thee I cannot ascend up unto thee and therefore I look for thy holy inspirations to accompany me in all my Meditations and prayers and praises and thanksgivings and resolutions That attending upon this sacred service with love and zeal and delight and devotion of spirit there may be an happy meeting between me and my Saviour and such an inseparable Union contracted as may be at last consummated in eternal Love and Joy in his heavenly Kingdom To which I humbly hope to be brought by thy infinite Mercies in him who hath taught me to call thee Father and to say when I pray Our Father which art in c. The Meditation afterward SEeing it hath pleased my Lord to tye me to himself by one bond more and I have added a new