powder For my going aside from thee and defiling my self the wine that comforts and makes worthy Receivers fruitful in grace may be unto me as the water of Jealousie bitter within my bowels causing my belly to swell and my thigh to rot nd I may be a curse among the people His blood might be lay'd to my charge for my condemnation sealing up all my other fins instead of being sprinkled upon my Conscience to humble me for and cleanse me from all sin Behold I am vile viler then the earth but look upon me in thy Son and thou wilt love me and be well pleased with me mine only hope is in that grace and mercy made known in and thorow him I have broken thy commands but he hath fulfil'd them affronted thy Justice but he hath satisfied it deserved thy wrath but he hath endur'd it the chastisement of my peace was upon him let the merit of his righteousness be upon me and by his stripes let me be healed His Blood is my onely refuge oh let it be my Attonement or I perish eternally Wherefore didst thou shed it but to save sinners Remember not what I have done against thee but what he hath done and suffered for me Oh when I consider thy greatness and my unworthiness thy purity and my uncleanness thy glorie and my shame I am confounded and discouraged but when I consider thy mercy and wisdom bountie and goodness readiness to forgive and desire to impart thy self unto thy servants then I am encouraged to come with boldness unto thee Thou never despis'd him that call'd upon thee or forsook any that abode in thy fear It was never known that any who trusted in thee were ever confounded Oh respect not the greatness of my offences but of thy goodness though I have so often broken my part of that Covenant the Sacrament Seals yet be thou pleased to make good thine to be merciful to my unrighteousness and to remember my sins my iniquities no more Thou knowest how intolerable a thing it is to lie under thy wrath to all eternitie and therefore lovest to do miracles of mercie because thou lovest not that a sinner should perish Have mercie upon me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions wash me throughly from mine iniquities and cleanse me from all my defilements with the merit and virtue of that Blood which thou hast so abundantly shed for penitent sinners that I may with an undefiled soul eat of the purest sacrifice the Lamb slain from the beginning so I shall have no spot in me for which thou wilt judge me at thy Table or condemn me at thy Tribunal Being in Christ reconciled unto me oh give further evidences of thy fatherly affection by bestowing a double portion of thy grace upon me now thou callest me to this Ordinance and who is sufficient for these things I have neither a meet Sacrifice to offer nor a meet vessel to receive thee I know not what to say or do how to pray or receive prepare or behave my self not sufficient of my self to think any thing as of my self but my sufficiency is of thee the preparation of the heart and answer of the tongue is from thee the God the promiser the Giver of grace as well as glory that invites all to come unto thee with assurance of finding with and receiving from thee whatsoever is requisite for their refreshment support and comfort ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without monie and without price Thou preparest a table for us in this wilderness where we eat of thy own Bread and drink of thy own Cup omittest no expression of tender love to treat us as a most indulgent Father But shall the time of receiving come before thou come into my soul to stir up thy graces in me Ganst thou that so loved me who was of no worth while yet in my sins as to die for me neglect me in thee shall I whose only hope is to be saved by Christ be sent away with the guilt instead of the comfort of his Blood Oh of his fulness let me receive and grace for grace let thy Spirit help mine infirmities thy grace be sufficient for me thy strength be made perfect more eminently manifest in weakness Array me with the righteousness of the Saints put upon me the Lord Jesus let me be found having on the Wedding-garment at the Wedding-supper such a preparation of Soul as may qualifie me for it such a degree of reverence and humility saving knowledge godly sorrow renewed repentance new obedience lively faith unfeigned love joy and thankefulness holy desires self-denial sutable solemn heavenly meditations as becomes a worthy Communicant Oh thou true food of my Soul receive me who am to receive thee quicken me with thy Spirit feed me with thy Flesh satisfie me with thy Blood vouchsafe me thy Grace communicate to me thy Nature let me receive life from thee to act and live unto thee who measurest not thy gifts by our petitions or desertss but our wants and thy own mercy Earnest Supplication for Requisite Qualifications TO go to that Ordinance which requires all imaginable liveliness and activity with dull and cloudy affections will be my sin and an aggravation of it if through want of diligent endeavour to get my Soul affected and inflam'd by stirring up the graces of God in me and whither shall I go for this but unto thee the author and finisher of them how shall I do it but by thee Oh do it for me Holy Reveronce and Humility Affect my heart with an awful reverence and selfbasement upon my so near approach unto thee in this solemn Ordinance towards the greatness of thy Majestie with whom I there come to renew my Covenant towards the excellencie of thy Son whom I come to receive into my Soul towards the holiness of thy Spirit whose assiance I hope for and by whom I come there to be establisht in my Union and Communion with Christ and his Members Oh how durst I who am nothing but folly and infirmitie misery and sin shame and death presume to come so nigh for behold the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee unless thou hadst invited and commanded it If so much Sanctity Reverence and Devotion was requisite as to the Ark the Temple the receiving thy Law Oh how shall I behave my self now I go to receive thy very self or Communicate with thee that deserves not to come before thee Oh how Humble should I be who am to receive a gift of Free Grace Was he Humble that was all Purity and shall I be proud who am so defiled The high and lofty One dwells not in a haughty heart but with him that is of a contrite humble spirit not will he that humbled himself to the death be taken into a proud Soul Oh that I
may therefore have grace whereby I may serve thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear and be cloathed not only with the Righteousness but Humility of Christ be low and mean base and vile in my own eyes I am not worthy to be called thy Son make me as thy meanest servants the lowest room at thy Table give my sins thy pardon my soul thy grace my person and service thy acceptance in thy beloved and what thou dost convey seal to me by what I am to receive Without Knowledge the Heart Saving Knowledge the duty cannot be good but the Covenant thou hast made with thy people is they shall all know thee from the least to the greatest Oh let me come with knowledge of the nature necessity use and ends of the Ordinance Direct me how to behave my self at and meditate upon those Divine Mysteries that I may not be a blind offerer nor bring a blind offering but offer unto thee a living sacrifice holy acceptable reasonable service that I may receive with understanding discern the Lords Body look into the Mysteries of the Sacrament lest not knowing the meaning Ifeel not the comfort of it but be alienated estranged from thee through the ignorance that is in me That I may eat the Passeover with bitter herbs Godly Sorrow give me a deep sense of my own vileness and unworthiness take away this heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh that I may loath my self in my own sight for mine iniquities and for mine abominations be filled with shame and sorrow hatred and indignation against my self for my offending so good and gracious so loving and bountiful a Father Redeemer and Sanctifier That I may look upon him whom I have pierced and mourn for him with detestation and holy revenge against those my sins that cost him so dear were the cause as well as any other mens of his death and would have cost me damnation abominating them as the scourges and thorns nails and spear thar Afflicted Crucified my dearest Saviour the Lord of Glory The day of mourning for him is at hand oh that I may then slay my most beloved lusts be revenged on them for it and for their endeavouring to rob me of my spiritual Birth-right my eternal Blessedness Let me call to mind and be truly sensible of every sin and of the evil of it and of thine and my Saviour's love manifested to me in his sufferings There where he appears most Bloody let Sin oppear most deadly that I may receive abroken bleeding Christ with a broken contrite Heart a Sacrifice thou wilt not â—espise O God prepare in me that being weary and heavy laden I may be capable of his refreshment being supled in my own tears I may be fitter to be washt in his blood And seeing thou givest thy self only to thy Disciples and Friends New Obedience work in me fresh purposes of amendment that being willing and obedient I may eat the good of the Ordinance Let there be conformity that there may be Communion let me not put that new wine into an old impure but new Heart I cannot Eat the Passeover and stay in Egypt still let me do it with my loyns girt ready to march toward the Promised Land Thou confirmest thy Covenant and expectest I restipulate with thee that I cast out and execrate the old leaven Seeing the Covenant of Grace sealed let me seal a Covenant of Obedience seeing by the merit of Christs death I am purchas'd to be thine by the power of it let me be dead to sin and both receive life and change my life let me bring a wounded heart to and carry wounded sins from thy Table dye to sin seeing Christ dyed for sin let me take him by way of surety and give up my self to him by way of surrender receive him as a Saviour and submit to him as a Prince set my self apart for thee on that Feast of Dedication Let me approach with the most sincere fixed resolutions of an intire resignation and receive such grace and strength from thee as may inable me faithfully to perform them that I may find my self in the number of those to whom my Saviour allows such special manifestations of himself by lifting up the light of his countenance upon them by intimating his good will and love unto them his fulness and righteousness for them as Shows his constant abode with them Let no prophane or unseasonable Thoughts enter into my mind while I am about that Holy Solemnity Purity let me lay aside leave behind me and be kept from all carnal earthly vain Imaginations drive away all drowsiness carelesness slothfulness idle apprehensions that I may wholly contemplate upon and give up my self unto him who sacrific'd his Soul and Body for me and come before thee with such Reverential Hungering Holy Affections as is due to the hand that reacheth to the seal that secureth to the food that strengthneth that spiritual life in us without which we can never be happy O thou that callest me unto thee let thy compassion pitty my vileness let thy mercy pardon my sinfulness let thy grace cleanse my filthiness let thy wisdom enlighten my darkness let thy strength support my weakness adorn me with the wedding garment the righteousness of thy Son and holiness of thy Spirit that all my nakedness may be covered and my great deformities hid from thine eyes pardon me by thy mercy that I may receive thy grace and fit me by thy grace that I may receive thy mercy help me so to accuse my self that thou may'st acquit me so to judge and condemn my self that thou may'st absolve me so to exercise a holy revenge upon my self that thou may'st spare me Let thy Spirit be thy Harbinger to provide entertainment for thy Son in my Soul that he may find â—t swept of sin and garnisht with grace make it day in my Soul by hopes and desires before I there receive the Sun of Righteousness Faith is thy own gift as well as Christ Faith I believe Lord help my unbelief that I may besprinkle my soul and Conscience with his blood not only look upon and remember but close in with and receive him there tendred Eat his flesh and drink his blood apply him as taking on him our nature and giving it as a ransom for sin That I may not stagger at the promise through unbelief but be strong in faith giving Glory to God being fully perswaded that what thou hast promised thou wilt perform When I see Bread and Wine upon the Table let me see Christ there as a feast in token of my reconciliation with thee and on the Cross as a Sacrifice offering up his Body and blood to thee observing the Bread broken let me see Chrirst crucified for and offering himself unto me upon the Wine pouring out let me behold how his blood was poured forth for my sins As I receive Bread and Wine for bodily sustenance
every grace of thy Holy Spirit and graciously entertain us and grant we may now so behave our selves that we may not provoke but glorifie thee be savingly partakers of the Redemption we now commemorate and be found and kept in the number of thy Redeemed Ones for ever BLessed Lord who revivest by this sacred Banquet the memory of thy inexpressible Love and of my Saviour's Sufferings inable me by Faith so to apply his Passion that healing strength and saving vertue may proceed from it the strength and sweet odour of whose Oblation is a fragrant as savingly efficatious as when first offered up unto thee Inlighten my Understanding prepare my Heart Help O help me that I may now abate nothing of those affections that are due unto Thee and my ever blessed Redeemer And let me obtain the fruits and Benefits of his Death and Passion even the remission of all my Sins and the fulness of all thy Graces O bless me and thine own institution unto me and grant that I may not increase my guilt by abusing of what thou offerest me but may receive a blessing from Thee HOly righteous Father who seest nothing in me that is truly mine but dust and ashes and which is worse sinful Flesh polluted Blood O look upon some few resemblances of thine Image some raies and beams of thy Spirit some small beginnings of thy Grace which are from thee in me and supply the defects with thy Mercy Merits and Sacrifice of thy Son Turn thine Eyes O merciful Father to his Satisfaction and Intercession who now sits at thy right Hand to the Seales of thy Covenant which lie before thee upon thy Table and to all the wants and distresses which thou seest in my Soul and take this opportunity of glorifying thy Mercy thy Son and thy Grace towards me and upon me BLessed Jesus so dispose me by thy grace and Holy Spirit to feed spiritually and really upon that Sacrifice which thou offeredst without the Gate and which this Sacrament sets before me here in thy Court that I may be admitted into that holy place which thy Sacrifice hath opened and this Sacrament invites me to And help me so to drink of this fruit of the Vine that I may drink it new in my Father's Kingdom where I shall be delighted and refreshed and converse with thee withou these tipical shadows and adumbrations When the Minister is confessing sin and praying for the efficacy of the Ordinance let your Heart concur with him and put in your particular failings with their aggravations and the mercies you in special need which he omits Prostrate your Souls in the sence of your own vileness and necessities joyn with all earnestness in his confessions and Petitions as one that knows the evil of sin and the need and worth of the Blessings he Requests And let the solemn consecration of the Bread and Wine mind thee how thy Saviour was consecrated and set apart for thy Salvation And say HOw wonderful is thy wisdom and Love O God in our Recovery and Redemption How justly mightest thou have dealt with us as with the fallen Angels and left us to perish without a Remedy Howstrangely dost thou glorifie thy Mercy over those Sins that gave thee the advantage and occasion to glorifie thy Justice Even thou our God whom we have offended and provoked eternally to ruine us hast out of thine own Treasure satisfied thine own Justice and given us a Saviour by such a Miracle of Wisdom Love and Condescension as Men and Angels shall never be able fully to comprehend So didst thou love the sinful World as to give thy onely begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life When you see the breaking of the Bread and powring out of the Wine say O Hateful Sin O wonderful Love O dreadful Justice O precious Sacrifice O merciful Saviour How gracious Lord hast thou been to Sinners How severe unto thy Son How cruel have we been unto thee and our selves How small a matter hath tempted me to that which cost so dear before it was forgiven I Cannot but here observe something very like the Sacrifice and Passion of my Dear Redeemer Thus the Bread of Life was broken Thus the Lamb of God was slain Thus his precious Blood was shed Thus his Father gave Him once to die and gives still the vertue of his Death to bless and save every one that comes unfeignedly to Him While the Minister and others are Receiving before you say WHo can sufficiently admire and adore Thee most gracious God for reconciling us unto thy self Vile sinners the Off-spring of sinful Parents thou treatest as familiar Friends as dear Children Thou mightest have brought us together hither for a Sacrifice to Thy Justice and behold one of Thine own making for us the Son of Thy Love We are unworthie of the least crum of our dailie Bread unworthie to tread upon thy Earth to breath in thy Air to lift up our Eyes to Heaven and Thou givest us Bread from Heaven libertie to tread thy Courts Thy Spirit to breath in our Hearts leave to breath ouâ— our Requests unto Thee O compassionate Father And now Since Love will chuse such unworthy Guests and Mercy be honoured upon such Sin and Misery let that Mercy that invites us makes us acceptable and graciously entertain us O Author of my Salvation and of these Mysteries that express it Object and Truth of what I am now going to receive Thou art as able to perfect me with thy Blessings out of thy Throne as thou wert to redeem me by thy Sacrifice on thy Cross O perform in me by thy Sufferings what thou doest exhibit and present By this thy Body broken give also nourishment and maintenance unto eternal life Look upon a poor Sinner at Thy Table as Thou didst on him that hung by Thy Cross and remember me now Thou art in Thy Kingdom I Am unworthy that Thou shouldst enter under my Roof much less come and sup and dwell with me but seeing it is Thy good pleasure to vouchsafe me this favour cleanse me from all my Sins that I may entertain Thee in a pure and Sanctified Heart Make this unclean Habitation that is so unfit to receive Thee a Temple for thy Self to dwell in Strengthen my Faith assist me by Thy Grace and Spirit that I may fully rely upon Thee apply Thy Sufferings unto me worthily receive Thee When the Minister gives you the Bread Think you hear Christ say to you in particular Take eat this is my Body which is broken for Thee this do in remembrance of me MY Lord and my God didst Thou offer up thy Self for me despicable forlorn wretched Sinner as well as for any other and dost Thou now give Thy Self unto me and bid me remember Thee the Redeemer of my Soul the Author the Object and Truth of this Sacrament I humbly and thankfully receive Thee with a troubled Heart that I can no better receive Thee
him a seal to the promise of pardon and eternal life though he did not testifie it by giving in extraordinary joys He looks not so much at fits of passion as at the steady bent and tenour of the Soul The truest Communion with God is to enjoy the Communication of his Graces whereby we are made conformable to him we may enjoy the saving influences of his Spirit when we cannot feel his more abundant consolations Though this Ordinance be not at present joyous yet may afterwards yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those that are conversant therein It cannot be well known what Grace we have received further measures of which are the holy Spirits accompanying those means being the great benefit we are apt to expect till we come to the exercise of it in duty and against temptation But oh how much cause have I to rejoyce in his love and goodness to render him hearty thanks who might have left me as well as others to my self for his quickning and refreshment for his satisfying me so abundantly with the fatness of his house and making me drink of the river of his pleasure especially now I find and oh that I could more and more such real benefit received by it my soul more deeply broken and humbled under the sense of sin and that become more loathsom hateful burdensom to me My heart truely thankful for what I have enjoyed and sorrowful I have enjoyed no more more strongly engaged and resolved to inward and universal holiness my Faith in Christ more encreased and setled my love to him more inflamed my Soul strengthned and emboldned to undergo any thing for him my spiritual delight and joy in him raised and lessened to other things my esteem and valuation of the Ordinance heightned my Graces in it exercised my desires after full enjoyment of God and Christ in Glory more enlarged If he were pleased to kill me he would not have received a burnt-offering and a Meat-offering at my hands neither would he have shewed me all these things nor as at this time have given me to experience such things as these Oh that I may always retain a thankful sense of all his benefits Oh how much am I beholden to thee my God I have been praising of thee but nothing to what I ought or what thou deserv'st Oh how can I cease to magnifie thee for what I am and have for the use of thy creatures and thy blessing with them for every crum much more for Christ that foundation mercy that hath all mercies folded up in him and entail'd unto him that sweetens and sanctifies every mercy for this Feast on his Body and Blood for the joys of thy house and the viands of heaven for any measure of life and affection raisedness and comfort grace and goodness Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy name While I live I will praise thee I will sing praise unto my God while I have a being and what is here wanting in thy due praise I will pay hereafter in everlasting Hallelujahs Rest not in the work done though done never so well Beware lest by spiritual pride and future negligence thou lose the things thou hast wrought Had I done all as well as was commanded me I would say I am an unprofitable servant I had done but my duty but O how short come I of it Oh let not the Lord lay to my charge my want of due preparation my coldness and indifferency distraction and unbelief my so many failings before and at the Ordinance that my heart was in no better frame that I took no more paines with it to fit it for thy self that it was no more broken for my sins when the Minister broke the Bread that when I took it I was so dull so dead and did no better reach forth the hand of Faith to lay hold on and apply Christ and his benefits so play'd the hypocrite before thee and my fellow Communicants that when the Wine was poured forth and I saw how Christ shed his Blood for sinners I scarce dropt a tear for the cause from a heart sensible of my sins and his love unto my Soul when I took and drank the Cup I did not remember him as I ought that my heart was not so seriously intent and reverent so deeply affected sutable to the importance and excellency of the duty and the Majesty of him with whom I had to do Spend some time in strengthning and confirming thy holy purposes and resolutions O that some fruit may be seen of this day till the solemnity return that the thoughts and meditations I had there may be so strongly so deeply fixed and rooted in the bottom of my heart that nothing may be able to pluck them up that I may be so sensibly possest with the perswasions that Christ is in and united to me that when a Temptation comes and knocks for enterance I may readily naturally say I am not he that I was before the property of the house is quite changed I live yet not I but Christ in me I was indeed a common Inne to entertain all-Comers but now I am become the sole Habitation of the High and Holy One he expects to be honourably treated like unto himself he will have no competitors or unclean thing in his house I cannot arise and open to you Oh how shall I treat him who hath taken up his abode with me shall I take the members of Christ and make them the members of an Harlot defile that body wherein he hath chosen to reside force him out of his habitation by any impurity offend him by any noysom thoughts or unsavoury breath out of my mouth shall those hands that have received the sacred Elements work deceit those Eyes that have been filled with tears at the Lords Table be fill'd with envy those teeth that have eaten Holy Bread â—grind the face of the poor those lips that have touched the Sacramental Cup salute an Harlot the mouth that hath drunk consecrated wine be full of rotten discourse shall I be so greedy of the World as to forget to retire to converse with my Saviour shall I so perplex my self in business as to omit to pray to meditate to sing praises unto thee No I am not at my own dispose I have sworn and I will perform that I will keep thy righteous judgments and often consider how deeply I am obliged to him that hath paid my debt Oh I can never parallel his love yet let me shew my self thankful I can do nothing satisfactory but let me do something gratulatory He gave himself a sin-offering for me let me give my self a thank-offering to him offer up my self a living facrifice unto my Redeemer who offered up himself a dying Sacrifice for my Redemption Beware of Crucifying Christ afresh To them that believe he is precious now I have begun to celebrate the Marriage oh let me never throw off the
Search my Soul so to the bottom that none of my wounds may fester but be all discovered and cured consider from whence I am fallen before and since the last Communion and repent and O that I may be so sensible of my sin and misery that I may be truly apprehensive of and thankful for infinite love and mercy I dare not presume to compass thine Altar most holy Lord before I have washed my hands in Innocency and purified my heart by Repentance and Faith in the blood of my Redeemer I will now therefore call my sins to remembrance and set them in order before mine eyes and remember mine own evil ways and my doings which have not been good and loath my self in my own sight for my iniquities and for my abominations O I am not able to reckon up or remember my innumerable breaches of thy most holy Commandments The 1. By not knowing acknowledging thinking remembring chusing believing esteeming adoring loving desiring fearing obeying of trusting joying in acquainting my self with not demeaning my self towards thee as God and my God but preferring sin self Satan the world any thing before thy self The 2. By mis-apprehensions gross conceits of thee not setting my whole delight in reposing all my confidence on expecting all my happiness from addressing all my complaints prayers praises unto thee not worshipping thee as to manner and means agreeable to thy word The 3. By not acknowledging or effectually remembring and delighting to speak of thee as I have had occasion to make thy praise glorious or doing it irreverently dealing falsly in my Covenant with thee not vindicating thy Honour not grieving for thy Dishonour weariness of thy commands non-observance distrust misapplication of thy providences unthankfulness for great mercies dejection impatience under small crosses insensibleness incorrigibleness under judgments and afflictions not using thy Name Attributes Ordinances Works every thing whereby thou may'st be known as is required The 4. By unmindfulness beforehand to prevent or avoid whatsoever might distract in the duties of the Sabbath not preparing my self not resting from needless thoughts words actions mis-spending it in idleness and vanity not performing publick and private duties of Prayer Reading Hearing Examination wheting thy Law upon my heart and others contemplating thy Word and Works with that care reverence sincerity spirtualness profit delight as I ought not calling the Sabbath a Delight Holy of the Lord Honorable The 5. By not behaving my self answerable to my several Relations with all due reverence and respect to my Natural Ecclesiastical Political Parents in heart word behaviour prayer thanksgiving for Superiours covering their infirmities in love not admonishing and encouraging Inferiours in well-doing not by a grave wise holy exemplary carriage procuring glory to thee and preserving the honour and authority thou hast put upon me not regarding the dignity and worth of my Equals or rejoycing in their gifts advancement prosperity as my own The 6. By sinful anger hatred secret grudges injurious thoughts excessive passions distracting cares immoderate use of diet labour rest recreation reviling saddening provoking grieving speeches falling short in maintaining mutual Friendship and in following peace with all men sowing discord among Brethren concealing their dangers unprofitable conversation quenching suppressing holy suggestions preferring things of time before eternity or by whatsoever may tend not to the health but prejudice of my own or others Soul or Bodies not weeping with them that weep being sensless hard-hearted unaffected at publick evils and others miseries The 7. By unchaste thoughts purposes affections looks company words actions or listening to them not labouring to quench my fleshly concupisence by watching over my senses heart and ways not shunning all occasions to or acts of uncleanness in or with my self or others not keeping my bodie and soul from all filthiness of flesh and spirit but making my heart a cage of impure thoughts my mind a stie of the unclean spirit The 8. By unbecoming arts in Bargaining not dealing with others as I would men should with me not endeavouring by all just means to procure preserve and further the welfare of others as well as my own withholding good from them to whom it was due suffering Christ to stand at and go away from my door hungry cold naked succourless and when the leanness of his cheeks pleaded pitie the hardness of my heart would shew no compassion The 9. By slandering backbiting detracting reviling harsh flattering misconstruing discouraging sinister intentions words and actions listening to and spreading the faults of others not charitable in my thoughts and speeches to them not freely acknowledging their gifts and graces not readily receiving a good report but willingly admitting an evil one not discouraging tale-bearers flatterers slanderers not loving desiring rejoycing in caring for defending and upholding their good name not sorrowing for and covering their infirmities but practising or not avoiding my self or not hindring what I can in others such things as raise jealousies and suspicions procure an ill name to my self or others The 10. By self-love evil thoughts covetousness inordinate prizing and affecting distrustful distracting solicitous care and study in getting keeping or using temporal things discontent with my own estate envying and grieving at my neighbours unlawful motions and affections to things that are his And to these I have added multitudes of sins against the Gospel by not as I ought labouring to acquaint my self with it Ignorance flighting of not sufficiently esteeming admiring thankful for that infinite love in my Redemption not loving rejoycing in Christ and him Crucified relying on owning of him in all his Offices accounting all things loss and dung for him not taking that pains I ought to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings and to be made conformable to his death if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead and be made perfect as my Father in Heaven is perfect Not claiming his promises as my heritage nor esteeming them the joy of my heart and as unsearchable riches exceeding great and precious not believing prizing embracing of hoping waiting for the good of them with so much readiness and steadfastness as their excelcellency and certainty requires and applying them as I ought to this and the next life not careful they have their due effects on my Soul in making me partaker of the divine nature not dying daily to sin nor acting growing in grace and in the knowledge of Christ not thirsting after righteousness and that poor mournful meek merciful pure Spirit that shall be blessed not confessing but being ashamed of Christ before men and my relation to him not denying my self taking up my Cross and following him Not doing all things to the glory of God nor rejoycing in him always Not receiving not doing the good nor improving time mercies judgments forein perturbations national discontents and divisions irreligious confusions domestick distinguishing favours as I ought Strangeness
open my mouth wide that thou may'st fill it As the Hart panteth after the water-brook so let ray soul pant after thee O God The Evening Close AND now oh gracious God leave me not to the dulness the deadness the hardness the impenitency the unbelief â—he barrenness the earthliness the impoâ—â—ency the distraction of my own Heart Oh enrich the Ordinance with thy own â—resence While the King sitteth at his Taâ—le let my Spikenard send forth the smell â—hereof Descend into my heart by the exâ—â—tations of thy grace and influences of thy by and let me ascend unto thee by the exâ—â—cise of grace pious addresses Awake â—â—ou North wind and come thou South â—ow upon my Garden that the Spices â—â—ereof may flow out Make every grace 〈◊〉 my soul lively active fragrant by the â—eathings inspirations of thy Holy Spiâ—â—t O abide with me because it draweth â—wards the time of receiving what do I there thou be not there If thy presence go not â—â—ong with me carry me not hence Let Christ â—â—pear unto and be known of me in breaking of Bread let me carry away not only Bread but Light Life and Health that with open face beholding as in a glass the glory the love the mercy and goodness of the Lord I may be changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. O let me remember and do thou remember what thy Son hath suffered that I may be thankful and thou so sensibly gracious unto me that I maâ— taste and see how good the Lord is I am altogether unworthy of my desires 〈◊〉 but what thou dost for any is not becausâ— they are worthy but because it pleaseth thâ—â— to do for thine what they ask of thee according to thy will With what confidence go we to Market with money in our hand we doubt not returning withouâ— our errand Oh we would come as confidently expecting the giving out of gracâ— to us as if we were able to putchase it for thou hast bid us come buy Wine anâ— Milk without money and without price and hast promis'd and art more willing 〈◊〉 give the spirit to them that ask it thâ—â— Parents Bread to their Children whiâ—â— they cannot deny whatever shift thâ—â— make for it our love to our Children 〈◊〉 but hatred our compassion hardness our bowels rocks in comparison of thine to thine why then wilt thou not hear me Turnest thou a deaf ear to me Canst thou deny me Did any of the seed of Jacob seek thy face in vain Who ever approacht to this over-flowing Fountain of sweetness but carried away some drops â—or sat by so great a flame and receiv'd not some warmth from it why then lyes my Soul so cold so frozen so dead before thee O wilt thou not relieve a hungry beggar wilt thou not grant the request of an â—mportunate Petitioner Shall I go away â—mpty from an inexhaustible Treasure Hungry from a Feast Dry from a Fountain Cold from the Sun Sad and comâ—ortless from a Feast of Love Oh! â—ake it a type and earnest of our Eternal â—anquet Feed me to that by Faith and Love and seal me to it in Spirit and Conâ—ience let me enjoy thy lightsom reviâ—â—ng company in this state of absence and â—bscurity Away my Soul from this â—â—rk deceitful vexing world love not â—â—y Disease thy Fetters thy Calamities â—yn not with those that take up their rest 〈◊〉 this side Heaven saying it is good to be here Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the Tents of Kedar that I remain in this sinful polluting place among a strange people and am kept so long from my Fathers House Oh that I had wings like a Dove then would I slie away and be at rest lo then would I wander far off as legs and wings could carry me and remain in the wilderness I would live in the solitariest place of the Earth for my greater freedom from sin and enjoyment of my God This flattering vexing world should soon see me quit it my base heart should soon be 〈◊〉 of me rather than undergo their uncessant troubles I would hasten my escapâ— from the windy storm and tempest Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death 〈◊〉 Which so oft troubles grieves and over-clouds me distracts hinders me allureâ— and intangles me When shall I have done trifling and dallying roving and repining fretting and disputing Wheâ—â— shall I onely talk and walk with thee be composed and fixed Spiritual anâ— Heavenly love chuse and obey thee delight rejoyce joy and glory in thee Oh when wilt thou unloose the cords of this tottering Tent When shall this Mud-wall crumble into dust When shall my earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved When shall I be carried to those eternal mansions Why is his Chariot so long in coming Why tarry the wheels of his Chariot Hath he not sped Hath he not divided his gifts Hath he not obtained his purchase Hath he not prepared a place for me Shall I ever be at home in the bodie and absent from the Lord Make haste O thou whom my soul loveth and come in glorie as thou first camest in humilitie and conform them to thy self in glorie whom thou makest conformable to thy sufferings and humility Keep up our faith our hope and our love by the exercise of them let us have our Conversation with thee in Heaven and daily vouchsafe us some beams of thy directing consolatorie light in this our darkness and be not as a stranger to thy scattered Flock thy disconsolate Spouse in this distant state this desolate Wilderness O shew thy self more clearly to us testifie to our Souls that thou art our Head and Saviour that we abide in thee by the Spirit which thou hast given us abiding and overcoming in us and as thy Agent preparing us for eternal Life Let not our darkness nor thy strangeness feed our odious unbelief nor my corrupt habits choak or smother my new resolutions and sweet meditations These weak wavering thoughts these faint desires these sickly affections in my Soul will not live a night unless my gracious God interpose his Power preserve and cherish them Oh seeing thou hast given me to bestow some small pains on my Heart and to conceive some good hopes let them not be dasht in pieces in so short a moment spread the wings of thy goodness over me and maintain that which not I but thy Spirit hath wrought in me let me find all when I awake let me still be with thee O blessed Trinity to whom be ascribed Kingdom Power and Glory now and for ever Amen The Communion Morning Dress AH where am I what do I all the Children of the Bride-chamber are â—p and ready and I slumbring in my Bed Tell me ye Fairest what made you up so early and drest so soon Aâ—â—as our Lord was up before us all â—e call'd us up by
Spiritual life from him that I have of Temporal life from my â—ood and so eat his Body and drink his Blood receive digest and improve â—eed upon and Spiritually apply Christ â—s incarnate and in his sufferings that 〈◊〉 may find refreshment and sweetness â—uickening strength and life from him and may live by him and in him and he in me Oh that by the power of thy spirit accompanying the Ordinance I may partake yet more and more of a new and divine nature that I may find strength and vigour diffused through my whole man and receive some communication of that light and life which Christ came into the world that his People might have and that they might have it more abundantly Oh that his Death and Resurrection may have their power and efficacie upon me crucifying my lusts and passions and raising me up to all the acts of the Spiritual life Oh that something may be done this day against my pride and passion worldliness and carnalitie hipocrisie and uncharitableness doubtings and unbelief distrustful fears and discontents backwardness and indisposition to listlesness dulness and distraction in Dutie Oh that I may find my heart thereby drawn nearer to and carried out with more unweariedness and chearfulness in thy Service Let me come from thence with my pardon sealed my corruptions subdued my graces quickened strengthened and confirmed my heart enlarged my soul refreshed and encouraged to run the waies of thy Commandments and so inseparablie united to thee that no Temptation may be ever able to dissolve the â—union but that being begun here in grace â—it may be perfected in glorie How painful and intoâ—â—erable is the obscuring and interrupting of our Vnion and Communion with Christ our Heaven upon Earth To maintain and increase evidence and enjoy Union and Communion with Christ and him crucified Therein we enjoy his person and all sweet Relations to it his death and all the saving fruits priviledges and influences of it To maintain and encrease evidence and enjoy it I receive the Cup of Blessing which we bless the Communion of the Blood of Christ and the Bread which we break the Communion of the Bodie of Christ to my soul my Faith yea even to my outward Senses signifies seals and instrumentally exhibits my Spiritual Communion with Christ and his Death Thereby I partake of and am strengthned in this Fellowship with him as really as I partake of that Bread and Cup. Oh that he being united to me in these holy Mysteries may comfort rule and direct me in all my ways and his Spirit turn me into the same quality and likeliness Oh that I may there find him whom my soul loveth There are the signs but where the body and blood of my Saviour the Lamb for a sacrifice I go not for the bread and wine but to see Jesus What are the Elements without thy presence Oh what wilt thoâ— give me if I go from thy Table Christless Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth afford expressions of his tender affection and reconciliation to my soul for thy love is better then wine If we forsake Communion with our Fellow-members To maintain and increase Spiritual Union and Communion with Christs Members how can we maintain it with ouâ— Head What need theâ— have I especially noâ— when so many divisions and disagreements of and to that end I come to the Ordinance which tends so much to uniâ—â— and knit together the disjoynted Members of Christ for we being many aâ—â— one Bread and one Body for we aâ—â— partakers of that one Bread and hereby profess to be one and to walk as Fellow-members in Christ with all christian love and tenderness towards one another Oh let my heart be enlarged towards them my delight in them for their relation to thee and thy Image upon them sympathize with have a fellow-feeling of interest my self in their several states and occasions rejoycing with those that rejoyce and weeping with those that weep Seeing thou hast so loved us let me be perfectly reconciled to every man and every spark of anger envy and malice be utterly extinguished remembering he that comes in hatred is a Judas to Christ and a Cain to his Brother Through the death of Christ my sins are pardoned To Commemorate Christs death my reconciliation with God obtained his curse removed the Enemies of my Salvation subdued my eternal Salvation and Inheritance my deliverance from worse then Egyptian Bondage procured the new Covenant established all my mercies purchased conveyed and sanctified yet how unthankful for insensible forgetful of it am I so greatly ungrateful as to burie in oblivion the greatest expression of his infinite love in honour of him to make a solemn rehearsal of his famous Acts to speak of the glorious honour oâ— His Majestie and to talk of his Power I come unto this lasting Monument and Memorial to shew forth his death till he come Oh let me celebrate it with an affectionate fiducial thankful obediential remembrance with a ravished heart filled with a gracious composition of joy and sorrow love and admiration with such resentments as befit so strange an object that I may desire rejoyce mourn and tremble be in such a mixture of passions as may even imitate the confusion that was in the world at his sufferings make such deep and lasting impressions thereof on my soul as if this was the very day he suffered Let me not conclude I have received Christ till I have remembred him so as to affect my heart with love to him desire after him faith and joy in him sorrow for my sins the cause of his suffering Let me think of it as an history to beget my knowledge as a Gospel to beget my Faith as an example to provoke my patience as a benefit to procure my happiness Oh that I may so remember him at his Table on his Cross that he may not forget me on his Throne in his Kingdom Lift up my mind from the contemplation of him as he hung upon the Tree to him as he sits now in Glorie at thy right hand making intercession for me presenting to thee the invaluable merits of his death to appease thee for the sins I commit daily against thee Oh set me as a seal upon thy heart as a seal upon thy arm that I may be never forgotten always remembred preserved kept safely by thee and let me set thee as a seal upon my heart as a seal on my arm receive thy image and impression of thy love keep it thankfully continually on my heart and testifie it in my life By reason of my infirmities carelesness sins To have my personal claim and title to the new Covenant cleared how apt am I to doubt the pardon of them and my interest in thy love The streams of corruption rising up in me interrupt the light and lustre of my future possession and suggest matter of diffidence and anxietie that my hopes hitherto have been
and blood oh my soul drowned not his affections to us his Compassion brake through his passion in the same night which was so full of anguish and dolor to his Soul wherein he was betray'd when death was in sight and all those unspeakable fears and sorrows terrors and sufferings were ready to invade him when his Disciples were readie to betray forsake deny him injuries from men readie to load him and the Justice of God upon sin to be demonstrated on him he then even forgot his own misereies to remember and dispense his meries to us and provide this Banquet for us continually to present himself to us lest after he had endured so much for us we should forget or distrust his love unto us Oh how was he burned between two fires the fire of his Affections to us and that of his Afflictions for us At that time wherein men were designing the greatest cruelty against him was he bestowing the greatest courtesie and gift on us himself leaving us a Legacie a pledge at parting of his dearest love stronger then death that held him on the cross to finish our Salvation when death could not hold him in the grave Before he gave himself to be crucified for us he provides an ordinance the means of his communicating himself to us he gives us in the Sacrament what he did and gave prepared and purchased for us on the cross Oh the infinite love of God that he would give his own Son and of Christ that he would so graciously come and save us and leave us those remembrances and tokens of his love that he should die for us when he was on earth be so mindful of and nourish us with himself now he is in Heaven Oh wonderful misterie that the Bodie of Christ now reigning in Heaven should be laid upon the Table that the Author of life should become the Bread of life that under the broken form of bread and wine whole Christ should be conveyed to everie Believer His Personal Union is with the single nature but his Mystical with every Believer This Sacrament is the representative of the Substance the sign of a Covenant the seal of a Purchase the figure of a Body the witness of our Faith the earnest of our Hope the presence of things distant the sight of things absent the taste of things unconceivable the knowledge of things that are past knowledge a seal of our Saviours engraving whose superscription is Christ's loving us whose Image is Christ dying for us whose deed is Christs New Testament confirmed to us in the sign we have the Image in the seal the benefit of Christ's Body in the sign we see in the seal we by Faith receive him The Bread and Wine are but the dishes in which this Feast not of the belly but mind is served up not the Feast it self Faith eats not the Bread but the breaking of it drinks not the Wine but the pouring of it forth The eating Christs flesh and drinking his blood is nothing else but an act of Faith terminated upon him as our Mediator and Redeemer The participation of his Body and Blood for strength and refreshment sweet to Faith as meat and drink is to hunger could not be better shadow'd forth then by the staff of Bread and Wine comprising all sorts of Spiritual provision for our inner man and Faith is to the Soul what Natural hear is to the body by virtue of which the Nutritive Faculty turns the food into nourishment They present and confirm Christ to us as the most needful beneficial and perfect nourishment of the New man as Bread and Wine are such unto the Body i. e. that Christ crucified preserves us from Eternal death and is unto us the Fountain of Spiritual and Eternal life Believe and thou hast eaten Christ is present with but not in the Bread and Wine but to the faithful Receiver not in the Elements but to the Communicants not water but washing with it is Baptism not Bread and wine on the Table are a Sacrament but eating and drinking them which if they be acts of Faith the hand and mouth of the soul the Bread and Wine as really convey and unite whole Christ with the vital influences that proceed from him to the Soul as the hand doth them to the mouth or the mouth to the stomach Whatsoever we may expect of bodily strength or reparation from Bread and Wine we may expect from Christ for our Soul life maintained grace quickened deadness enlivened resolutions enabled hope erected faith strengthened lusts subdued which is consequent upon our union with Christ and interest in the Covenant renewed and ratified to his people by Christs death and sealed to them in the Sacrament In the Word we have a promise here a pawn or pledge of him Lift up your heads therefore O ye gates of my Soul and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors and the King of Glorie shall come in And be assured such additions of grace as thou art fitted for and Infinite Wisdom sees meet to deal out shall be conferred upon thee Fear not I charge thee do not faint let not thy weakness thy povertie thy inabilitie discourage thee all have not Talents alike a Faith richly embroidered with love and delight is not given to all and expected onely from those to whom it is given Be thy attire whole sincere clean and white free from spots of the flesh and Spirit though not so perfumed with heaven as thy Brethren thou wilt be welcome Thy God and Saviour will not ask How camest thou hither not having on a Wedding-garment he knows thy heart and sees thou hast it He will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoking Flax till he send forth judgment unto victorys What manner of guests were those he commanded to be brought in to the Wedding Supper but such as were found in the streets and lanes the Hedges and high wayes the poor and the maimed the lame the halt and the blind hunger-starved forlorn undone lost wretches Oh blessed is the man whom thou chusest and causest to approach unto thee that they may dwell in thy Courts We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy House even of thy holy Temple At the Lords Table WHat shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits I will take the cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto him now in the presence of all his people Come forth oh my graces stir up your selves stand ye lively and active before the Lord. Awake my Faith and see the Attonement of my sins in the broken body of my Saviour the price paying the ransom laid down the thing in doing Awake Repentance and hear the strong cries and see the doleful Agonies of him that bore our chastisements Awake my Memory and call to mind that Egypt wherein I was and the Blood of the Passover which removed the Destroying Angel from my Soul Now
sins oh that none of you might escape here that ye may all lye bleeding as so many Sacrifices at the Altar of my Lord oh let them now feel the weight and sharpness of thy Cross here let them be slain at thy foot that I may not carry away one of them alive How can my Heart refrain from tears of sorrow and joy to think of its unkindness and of his strange love what heart can be so hard as without pain to think we love him no more who put himself to such pains for us Oh how am I troubled that my heart should be so cold when his was so hot with love as to send forth its life-blood for my Redemption and yet when I consider that in this stream of blood my sinful Soul is washed and that by his stripes I am healed that instead of sin and death and Hell deserved Righteousness and life and Heaven is purchased how can I chuse but rejoyce in his love and hope he will accept of my poor acknowledgement who so pardons as might even melt the hardest heart and for ever silence and satisfie it by the love of God and sufficiency of the Sacrifice Oh how am I ravished therewith I am justified by Faith and at peace with God the flames of Hell shall never touch me Death is swallowed up in victory I am consigned to a blessed immortality But oh my Lord I take the boldness to complain unto thee and expostulate with thee how sayest thou that thou lovest me if thou discover thy self no more unto me if I have no more love unto thee no more life from thee if I be so barren and unfruitful towards thee so dull and cold in thy service so unwilling to execute thy commands so weak and unable against assaults if thou be with me who can be against me what can be too hard for me what cannot be done by me through thee O! since it is thy pleasure to be so familiar with me if thou lovest me so much fulfil in me all the good pleasure of thy will and the work of Faith with power Oh let the merit of Christ's death free me from the guilt upon me and his Spirit cleanse me from the stains within me Let holiness to the Lord be written upon my whole Soul and Body that they may be a delectable habitation for thee unite my heart unto thee transform me altogether in thee I put my self out of my own power I accept of and close with thee as my Maker and Preserver Lord and Sovereign Priest and Prophet King and Captain Head and Husband to be ordered disposed provided for by thee I give my hearty consent that thou shouldest dwell within me as the alone Prince of my soul the possession of it I for ever surrender up unto thee I cease to be my own I renounce the Devil the World and the Flesh I profess my acceptance of submission to to place my happiness in and to resign my self wholly unto thee to be provided for disposed of led saved by theē Oh how am I pleased with my choice that I have parted with my self and am become thine How am I beholden to thee that I may give my self unto thee that thou hast brought me into the Bond of the Covenant Oh come dear Redeemer to the price of thy own blood cease thine own and save me assist and strengthen me feed and preserve me never leave me nor forsake me The Cup. COme my beloved now I have drunk thy Cup of wrath pledge me in this Cup of Salvation for which I pierc'd my side I drew this wine on purpose for thee when I trod the wine-press of my Fathers wrath alone This Cup is the New Testament in my blood is a pledge of signifies and represents by representation is my bloud in which the New Testament between God and Man is founded and established confirmed and ratified and by which remission of sins and all other consequent blessings of the New Covenant are purchased It s glorious liberties and immunities I hereby sign and seal unto you a full release and discharge from all your debts from the house of bondage sin the grave and hell Here I deliver yon your Protection from all your Enemies will I save you from the Arrests of the Law from the powers of darkness from the victory of the world from the curse of the Cross none shall prove too hard for you all shall work good unto you I hereby confer upon and instate you in all its royal priviledges and prerogatives behold I give my self to you to be your God and instead of all relations I will be a Friend and Physician a Shepherd Sovereign and Husband unto you to espouse your interest to counsel and heal you to feed and comfort you to watch over and defend you Lo I make over my self to you in all my Essential perfections mine omnipotency shall be your guard my omnisciency your overseer my omnipresence your companion my mercy your store my wisdom your counsellor my justice your revenger and rewarder my holiness a fountain of grace unto you my sovereignty to be commanded by you my infiniteness and all-sufficiency the lot and extent of your inheritance my Faithfulness unchangeableness the rock of your rest and security my eternity the date of your happiness I will be yours in all my personal relations a Father unto you what would my Children have of your Fathers instruction and probation protection and provision care and ear bread and rod heart and house pity and compassion I here assure you my Son and Spirit I give you to cloath and teach you assist and comfort you intercede in and for you sanctifie and save you with my self I give you all things mine Angels for your guardians and attendants my Word and Ordinances Ministers and providences for your guide and good Whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the World or life or death or things present or things to come all are yours And that you may know I am in earnest lo I establish my Covenant with yon ordered in all things and sure written in the blood founded in the all-sufficient merits of your surety in whom I am well-pleased whose death made this Testament unchangeable for ever so that your name can never be blotted out nor your inheritance alienated nor your legacies diminished nothing can be altered I here solemnly deliver it to you as my Act and Deed sealed with the Oath and Blood of God who engages here his own Body for security Come ye blessed fear not the donation is free and full I have received a ransom and expect only you believe know and accept of your own blessedness Here are the conveyances see the seals take the writings behold the blood of the Covenant receive the instruments of your salvation This I give you as a pledge of my love and of the truth of all I have promised I hereby plight you my troth and set to my hand
my Duty walked unanswerable to those multiplied obligations laid upon me broken all thy holy Commandments by many and great transgressions made and judged my self unworthy of everlasting life * Here mention your particular failings so that nothing might remain unto me but a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation to devour me But thou delightest in mercy and not in the death of a sinner art not willing any should perish but that all should come to repentance Oh take not counsel of thy just indignation but of thy native goodness thy satisfi'd justice Wilt thou destroy him that presents himself to be punished and thy Son to have satisfied that desires not to live unless it be by the benefit of thy mercy and his sufferings Wilt thou not spare me for thy Son who sparedst not thy Son for me Is there not enough in his Merits and Sacrifice to expiate all my sins and to justifie my person in thy sight O suffer not thy self to be deprived of the glory of my forgiveness and salvation as well as of my creation and redemption Save me whom thou hast hitherto spared and forgive me eternal death which I have so often merited by my great offences Bury them all in the bottomless Ocean of thy own Mercy and forgetfulness and my Saviours Blood lay them upon him who is able to bear them and cloath me with his righteousness that is able to cover me Oh free me from the guilt and stain the power and penalty the reign and dominion of sin that nothing may separate me from thy love nor from the sensible discoveries of it at thy Table That I may be a meet and worthy Receiver accept me into thy favour let thy mercy pardon my sins thy grace sanctifie my soul thy goodness supply my wants thy merits inrich my poverty thy precious blood wash away all my spots thy Holy Spirit prepare and direct and assist me Take away my filthy garments my spiritual filthiness and cloath me with the best robe the Lord our righteousness Oh think me worthy for his sake and make me worthy for thy mercy-sake Deal not with me according to my deserts but thy great goodness and my great necessity Let me so remember my sins that thou mayest forget them set them so before my face that thou mayest cast them behind thy back Give me such a lively steadfast Faith in Christ for forgiveness that thou mayest seal it up unto my soul Let me love him and all his members with a pure heart fervently at thy holy Communion and ever after without dissimulation So enlarge my Soul with spiritual affections and desires that it may even break for the longings it hath unto that Ordinance and unto thy Testimonies at all times Remove far from me all blindness of mind hardness of heart unrelenting affections deadness and indisposedness earthliness and distraction irreverence unbecoming apprehensions whatsoever may hinder the blessing and efficacy of that soul-nourishing refreshing Ordinance thy gracious presence my eternal salvation Create in me an understanding heavenly clean heart O God and renew an humble contrite right spirit within me prepared for thee Oh be not as a stranger unto me hide not thy self from me lift up the light of thy countenance upon me Let me feel the comfortable breathings of thy Holie Spirit in my Soul at thy Ordinance sanctifie it to me and me to receive it acceptably with due preparation and apprehensions reverence and humility repentance and faith love and charity joy and thankfulness a deep sense of thy inexpressible love and my own unworthiness And oh that all of us who this day approach thy Table may so eat his flesh which he hath given for the life of the World that we may live for ever and so drink his blood that it may be to us for remission of sins Meet us not in our selves in thy justice as a consuming fire but a reconciled Father in thy righteous and beloved Son whom thou gavest who gave himself for us when we were thy enemies Let us depart thence more under the power of thy love and grace and under greater resolutions and abilities to do thee faithful service all our dayes through Jesus Christ our Sacrifice and Redemption Hope and Confidence Surety and Advocate the Food and Health the Life and Salvation of our Souls who hath taught us when we pray to say Our Father c. As soon as ever the Sermon is ended look towards the Lords Table and say within your selves THis Sacrament I am going to is a standing Memorial of my Saviour's Passion wherein he once offered up Himself to God and a Sign of that nourishing and strengthning Grace which he now offers to me under the notion of Food It is the true meanes and instrument of conveying on me those Blessings and signifies that which by its proper Institution it represents In the making and ordering of those Elements see consider O my Soul the heavy Blows and Bruises the Pressures Piercings Pains and Sufferings of thy Saviour from his Father and wicked men The malice and violence of his Murderers crucified Him as a Malefactor and the fierie wrath of God made him a Burnt Sacrifice and under both these Sufferings He is become to me Meat indeed and Drink indeed the stay and support the comfort refreshment and life of my Soul nourishing and preserving it to eternal life That Bread and Wine could never sustain and nourish me if the one had not fallen into the Earth under the Sickle the Flail the Mill-stone and the Fire the other under the Hook and the Press of the Husbandman nothing less then the Cross the Wounds the Death of my Lord my God of his dearest Son made me a Saviour and by this Sacrament assures me I shall be kept up and fed with a supplie of all necessarie Blessings as certainlie as he gives me to taste that Bread and Wine the ordinarie meanes for preserving my life and strength Whilest we condemned Creatures were passing on to our Execution the Son of God looked upon us and took our Condemnation upon Himself and under it died in our stead Thus by the death and satisfaction of this Sacrifice Justice gave way to my Release God the Father forgave my Sin and God the Son procured my Life Then fall upon your Knees with all imaginable Reverence and say LEt the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my Redeemer Most gracious God who of thy great goodness hast ordained this Ordinance for a continual Remembrance ofâ— hat ever prevailing Sacrifice which thy infinite Wisdom and Love hast appointed and accepted upon the Cross for us vile helpless wretched Sinners make us truely sensible of all our offences against thee and of his Love and Sufferings for us and accept us in Him to the Praise of thy Grace Rebuke all unseasonable thoughts and imaginations stir up and act in us