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B08260 Advice to those who never received the sacrament, or, The true penitent instructed before, at, and after the receiving the Lord's Supper with meditations suited to the several parts of that solemn ordinance, particularly with respect to Easter, Whitsuntide and Christmas, the whole written in a different method from any thing published on this subject / By a person of honour. 1697 (1697) Wing A665A; ESTC R172108 102,688 248

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our Lights may shine before men and the world may see the love of God dwelleth in us by our readiness to perform his commands but what need we of Arguments to press us to that which is so reasonable in it self which the Law of Nature teaches we ought to do But a sad experience informs us that neither the law of God nor nature is sufficient to oblige some tempers to compassion but let all such remember however serviceable their Estates are to them in this World they will turn to their destruction in the other their full Barns that have been shut at the knocking 's of the Poor will then be of no advantage nor the multitude of their riches prevail for their security both of them will turn to their reproof the rust of the one and fullness of the other will sink them into despair and exclude them to Eternity from the Happiness of God We have been taught that no one must approach this sacred Feast in bitterness of Spirit we must have love towards the Brethren and if we are in charity with all men shall more especially have bowels of compassion to those who are in want therefore let us while we have opportunity impart of our abundance and bless God for enabling us to do good to the House-hold of Saints and this coming from us so readily will be the more acceptable sacrifice for God loves a chearful giver and that our Alms ascend not alone 't is necessary we accompany them with Prayers and though we have no Angel to assure us they come up before God yet we need not doubt their acceptance for God himself has assured us with such sacrifices he is well pleased therefore let us humbly say at the giving our Alms. Blessed be thou O Lord God for all things come of thee and of thy own do I now give thee O let this Alms be an Odour of a sweet smell a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing in thy sight After the sentences are read we have nothing to do but devoutly compose our selves and joyn with Reverence to the Prayers of the Church if we consider the substance of this excellent Office we shall be freed from the interruptions which often occur in our devotions for when our minds are wholly taken up with the signification of the words we shall have less room for wandrings When the Prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church is begun let us interest our selves in that excellent form that when the Priest comes to beseech God to accept our Alms and Oblations let us in our minds humbly beg it for Jesus Christ his Sake and that together with them God would receive our Prayers for the Universal Church for we can't but enlarge our Passions and desire the good of all Mankind not only of those who confess Christ but that the Heathen may be brought into the Possession of our Saviour and agree in the Truth of his Holy Word we must desire the Well-fare of Princes because they are set over us by God for the punishment of Vice and the praise of them that do well and for the Pastors of the Church there is a great deal of reason for us to pray for them that they may duly administer this Holy Mystery and by their Example and Doctrine both save themselves and those who hear them they who are in Affliction call for our fellow-feeling and since we are all of one body we can't let any member be in disorder and neglect to procure its remedy we are passionately to desire the Health and Salvation not only of those we know want present relief but to all that are in any danger Sickness or other Distress considering it may be our condition and we must desire it with the same Ardour as if it was for our selves and since God has given us the example of good Men who are gone before us we ought to pray that we may follow their steps that so we may arrive to the same degree of Blessedness and to obtain all this more certainly we are to beg it in the name of Jesus Christ believing that God will never refuse any thing that is convenient for us when we call upon him in that most prevailing Name especially since he is our Advocate we have the assurance of his intercession and God can deny nothing to the Son of his Love After this excellent Prayer is over we are exhorted by the Minister to a more serious preparation to the Communion though 't is supposed that every one who approaches this Holy Table has considered before repented and got a competent understanding in this sacred Mystery yet it is very necessary we should attend this Exhortation and Re-examine our selves whether we are such as the Gospel requires The Church has taken care to instruct us in this Duty in such a manner that we can't easily deceive our selves she encourages us with rewards and sets before us the dreadful consequence of our carelesness or neglect We may be over aw'd in our private Examination by the Dominion of our Lusts or perhaps the love of our selves may incline us to think better than we are but when we hear God's Minister urging us to this Duty and powerfully representing those things we have prevailed with our selves to pass over and that God is immediately present to acquit or condemn us we are obliged to confess our Wickedness and be sorry for our sin this is the Repentance we shan't be ashamed of that will put us in a state to be reconciled with our Saviour and make us fit to receive the Body and Blood of Christ and the benefit of that is the becoming one with him and to be pertakers of his Everlasting Glory therefore when we hear the Priest exhort us Judge therefore your selves Brethren let us humbly say I confess my self a sinner and condemn my ingratitude Repent you truly of your sins past c. I repent O Lord and am sorry for my Wickedness Have a lively and steadfast Faith c. I believe O Lord help my unbelief Amend your lives c. O grant me thy Holy Spirit to amend my life Be in perfect Charity c. I forgive all Men their Trespasses Lord do thou forgive me So shall ye be meet partakers c. O make me a worthy Communicant Ye must give most humble and hearty thanks c. I adore thy infinit love to Mankind in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus who did humble thy self to the death upon the Cross c. By thy Cross and Passion sweetest Jesus deliver me He hath c. and ordained Holy Mysteries as pledges of his Love c. I remember thy exceeding Love to us miserable sinners and adore thy infinite compassion in dying for Mankind To thee therefore O Jesus with the Father and the Holy Ghost let us give as we are most bounden continual thanks submitting our selves wholy to thy holy Will and Pleasure studying to serve thee in true
Glory can intend by puzelling themselves and every Body else with their pretentions to more Reason than God has given them I can't imagine unless under the disguise of Charity to our Reason they would subvert our Religion and by pretending to bring the sublime Truths of God's Word to our understanding they would Ridicule the hidden things of God and so open a way for Atheism and Insidellity by denying first that there is any thing which our reason can't comprehend and then that there is nothing in the Scripture but what can easily be understood This is to make our Reason not the Scripture a rule of Salvation and when once our sense is to judge of these Divine Truths all of them that we can give a Mathematical Account of must be rejected And yet that there are such truths of which they can have no Idea is certain and after all they must own that either they are not to be understood and yet believed or else that they are Non-sence and contradiction which is an impudence they dare not publickly own and what would be fatal to their designs for the Socinian needs only appear in his proper Colour to make him abhor'd and rejected by all and lookt upon as an Enemy to God Religion and the common sence of Mankind But there is yet another sort who pretend an Obedience to the Gospel of Christ and yet make that easie rule of Salvation so confused and perplex'd that either they dare not or cannot give an account of their Faith Their principles if they have any are as unaccountable to themselves as to the World and they agree in nothing so much as to oppose the plain sense of the Scripture that Baptism and the Lord's Supper are positive Institutions the one to be perform'd by Water in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost and the other by Bread and Wine in remembrance of our Saviour's Death and Sufferings are as plainly and positively commanded as any one thing in the Scripture That the Apostles and primitive Christians made it their Practise is capable of the same proof as the Scriptures themselves they went about Preaching the Lord Jesus and Baptising all that believed in his Name and the condition of Salvation in those days was Faith Repentance and Baptism that to strengthen People in their Faith they meet on the first day in the Week to break Bread and St. Paul is very careful to instruct our Behaviour that we might receive the Bread of the Lord worthily Yet notwithstanding this as if an aukerd Gravity and sullenness of Behaviour were to pass for Authority they pretend by a New Light to another understanding of the Scripture and impudently prevert that Sense which the Christian Church for 1600 Years and more submitted too So unwilling are they to go to Heaven in the steps of their Fathers that they prefer every wild Enthusiastick Notion to the written Word of God and so fearful of following the Examples of Tradition that each Man sets up for a Rule to himself they have no Priests as well as no Sacraments no settled constitution of a Church and are so little observers of St. Paul's Command to do all things with Decency and Order as if he did not speak it by the Spirit but to gratifie his own Superstition they live as if the Gospel was all Privilege and no Duty are Enemies to a form in Divine Worship and in spight of the Scripture which commands Women to be in silence will needs have them for Speakers among them thus do they play at cross purposes with the Word of God and by their Obstinancy and Fantasticalness make it of none effect But there is an Argument against them which they never thought fit to answer and till they can must be thought Enemies to the Gospel of Christ An Ordinance once enjoyn'd and never repeal'd is still in force but Baptism by Water was once enjoyn'd but never repeal'd Ergo and so of the Lord's Supper and what ever else is accounted an Ordinance in the Church of God and all that lies upon us to prove is That what we assert is an Ordinance and was enjoyn'd by lawful Authority and this is what the Scriptures prove themselves and what has been strengthen'd by the Arguments and Practise of the Church down to this day So that if there is any such thing as Unbelievers false Teachers and denyers of the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles we may find them in this wretched Sect of pretenders to Christianity But now among these who have no knowledge of the Truth or hold it in Unrighteousness or put Godliness into a Form to draw the ridicule and scorn of the World it s no wonder to meet with them Debauch'd or fill'd with Pride Conceit and Devillishness or Deceitful trusting in themselves Hypocrites turning the truth of God into a lie But that we who are Born in a Nation where the true Religion is Established by Law and have all the Advantages which God can give us to make us Happy Our Church teaching us the form of sound Words once deliver'd to the Saints and makes the Word of God her Rule of Faith the Example of the Apostles and Primitive Fathers her Guide and her constitution such as Decency directs that we in the midst of such assistances should fail of the end of Creation and in the spight of God's Grace and Mercy deprive our selves of everlasting Happiness by living in Disobedience to this Church in contradiction to the word of God and in defiance of what our reason tells us is both our interest and duty Whence is this hardness of heart that Men forget they were Baptised and live as if they never heard of Religion Let us all put the Question to our selves and see whether one Reason of this Stupidity and Wickedness is not from our Neglect in the Education of those committed to our Charge We are dedicated to God and Religion as soon as Born according to the command of our Saviour but since most of us are borought to the Church when through our tender Years we are not capable to judge nor perform what is required of us The Church according to an Ancient Prescription has appointed Sureties in our behalf they solemnly Engage for us till we come to an Age that we are able to take care of our selves Whence is it then that notwithstanding this Prudent care of the Church so few are bred up to those Pious Rules prescribed in our Baptism and how many less when they come to Age think themselves bound to perform what was vow'd in their Names Do they who are God-fathers perform their part Do they endeavor early to instruct their Children and inform them to what advantages they are Born that they promised by them who are their Sureties to perform their duty to God and their Neighbour that now they are able they are to be accountable for their own Actions and take upon them that Solemn Engagement to
they had never felt before vigorous as a mighty wind chearing as the morning light inflaming their hearts with zeal and filling their mouths with Anthems indited with the Languages of all the World O wonderfull Change their Ignorance is turned into Learning their mistakes into infallibility their fear into courage their weakness into strength their sorrow into joy and they in a moment made able to confound the Arts and conquer the Oppositions of the Heathen world and maugre all the divices of Satan to set up the Kingdom of the Lord Christ and shall we not praise thee for these miraculous dispensations by which the gospel was made known even to us in the most utmost corners and last of times yes Holy Jesus we will also meet thee with one accord at thy table not doubting but thou would give us the measures of thy Spirit there if our duty or our necessity did require it it is enough to us that thou knowest our need more than will supply them we dare not ask lest thou wilt not give thou hast given us thy self wherefore we believe thou wilt not deny us thy Spirit without which we can have no Intrest in thee nor benefit from thee We come not gracious Lord with the carnal Jews to devour thy Flesh but to partake of thy Spirit which only giveth life the flesh profiteth nothing behold thy Spirit hath converted Millions Let me therefore together with thy precious Body receive here such proportions of thy holy Spirit as may suppress my evil Affections revive my dead heart comfort my dejected mind and turn my ignorance into knowledge my knowledge into practice and make that practice so sweet and easie that this may be a day of joy to me also solemnized in the white Garments of Sanctification and rejoycing and finally let not this Heavenly Inspiration be only expressed in Ecstasies and only fervours this day but let thy Spirit rest upon me and dwell in me for ever so shall I always have cause to bless thee for so incomparable a gift Methinks I feel already the force thereof bearing down my corruptions and the bright beams driving the mists of Sin and Error I find its flames warming my heart with Zeal and charity and its quickning power opening my sealed lips to shew forth thy praise A Meditation for the Communion on Trinity Sunday O Admirable mystery to be adored in the profoundest silence by the contemplation thereof when I am struck with amazement I can learn humility and discover mine own Ignorance and I have the opportunity of exercising a Nobler faith than if I could comprehend it with my shallow reasonings and imperfect demonstrations the Trinity in Unity and the Unity in Trinity hath been derided by the Heathens and endeavoured to be perplexed by the Wits of all kind of Hereticks but it sufficeth me Blessed Jesus that thou hast revealed it and thy Holy Church divided into many other things hath universally agreed in thy great Truth and I am the more confirmed in it because I learn by it to worship with a regular devotion from hence I am the more confirmed I am taught to pray to the Father in the Name of the Son through the assistance of the Holy Ghost and as long as I live will I praise thee and magnife thee in this manner I will bless thee particularly at this Holy Feast for so excellent a revelation for this Ordinance it self contains many things above my understanding and its all mystery the Trinity is the Article and thy Sacrament the Rite which do distinguish thy true Riligion from all the sects in the World wherefore by observing this Rite I do embrace this Faith and upon the representation of thy death I do profess to live in it and die for it resolving never to have other Lords when I find the Father giving the Son giving and the Holy Ghost dispensing that Gift unto my Soul in this sacred Communion it shall be a greater confirmation to my faith in divine Mystery than can be acquired from the most curious search into it However I am resolved my Reason shall vail to thy word and I will be content to stay for a full apprehension of this sublime truth till I am advanced to a State of Angelick perfection and come to hehold the glories of the true God till then I will bless thee for what I know and believe more than I can conceive and I will worship the same Majesty which the Heavenly Choir doth in these Addresses THE Church has now done her part and leaves us to discharge the rest she has told us the benefits and forewarned us of the danger let it be upon our own Heads if we have drunk Christ's Blood unworthily therefore let us as soon as possible retire and examine our behaviour during the Celebration of these Holy Mysteries How our thoughts were employed and how earnest our longings were after this Bread of Heaven whether we had duly examined our selves before and repented as we ought in what part soever of these things we have done amiss let us ask pardon and endeavour to come more prepared the next time This will show that we are sincere with God and don 't come out of custom but for his Grace and Mercy and let us take every opportunity to ask that for Christ is now come very near us therefore let us lay before him all our wants that so we may be fill'd with his Heavenly Benediction let us not lose a minute on this day but be earnest in all manner of supplication for we must not leave our Devotions with the Church that would be setting open the door indeed that Satan might enter into us but I hardly believe they who have had their hearts kindled at the Altar can suffer them to grow cold before they get home therefore let us retire before Dinner and after we have thus seriously reflected upon what we have been doing let us add to our thoughts the following Meditation A Meditation before Dinner WHen I compare thy acts with mine Holy Jesus I am exceedingly ashamed to behold so a vast a disproportion thou givest me thy Merits and Graces thy Life and Love at present and hast promised to me thy Kingdom in reversion and I have scarce return'd this with the intire devotion of one half hour O how little is my obdurate Heart affected with the sence of my own Guilt the fears of thy Divine Wrath or apprehensions of thy sufferings yet Lord I desire and did endeavour to praise thee so that I hope thou wilt consider my infirmities with much compassion and measure my services not by the exactness of my performance but by the sincerity of my wishes so shall I be accepted before thy Heavenly Father and by the mercy of that acceptance be obliged to thee for ever O Most merciful Lord God I am amazed at the mighty favours which thou hast shew'd to me a sinful wretched Creature I cannot but acknowledge thy
Holiness and Righteousness all the days of our Life Amen The Priest proceeds now to a more immediate invitation and to show us that we ought to think highly of these things calls only those who have such quallifications as he just before told us was absolutely necessary and that we might not come rashly puts it to us again ye that do truly Repent c. But to heighten our esteem and make us more in earnest with our selves let us imagine we hear Christ himself inviting us for 't is the Minister in his stead calling us to Repentance Confession and Humility of Soul these are the Garments wherewith we ought to be cloathed and he that comes without them does but mock God and we have heard the dreadful effect of that presumption 't is provoking him to plague us with Diseases and sundry kinds of Death we kindle God's wrath against us and his indignation will last to Eternity But that the Terrors of the Lord might fright away none but the impenitent the Church assures us all they who come with Faith and Repentance may take the Holy Sacrament to their comfort and accordingly exhorts them to draw near to testifie their sincerity by an humble Confession and to remove all suspicion of Hypocrisy commands that it be done upon our Knees with contrition They who hope for Pardon can expect it upon no other Terms therefore we ought to be very circumspect that we don't call upon God with our Lips when our Hearts is far from him the Sacrifice of such Fools only work their Destruction Don't let us look upon it as matter of form only that we are to tell God Almighty a sad story of our selves and yet in such a manner as if we were not concern'd for the Sin nor God for the punishment of it But when we come to that part of the Confession acknowledging our Offences by Thought Word and Deed let us reflect on some of those Transgressions we have repeated most and have most cause to repent of let us think of them with sorrow and detestation with a resolution to forsake them and a passionate desire to be freed from the Evil of them let our Hearts go along with our Prayers and they are such as will inform us of our condition and being affectionately repeated will teach us to be humble and contrite and that will render us capable of the pardon which follows to be pronounced by the Priest 'T is impossible to prescribe Rules for our thoughts in the time of Absolution we have a hundred Idea's at once in our Minds the Soul is full with Transport Rejoycing and Humilliation we have so much to say that we are confounded in our selves we know not how to bless God enough are affraid of our wickedness and astonished at his goodness there is no re-presenting the Passions of a Soul in this Religious Agony nor how prevailing the confused sighs of a ravish'd sinner are to our merciful God They who are most sensible of their sins can best tell what a boundless joy arises at the thoughts of their forgiveness But lest we should have any mistrust because of our sins the Church has collected some comfortable assurances from the Gospel for 't is no wonder we receive our Pardon doubting and trembling we have need of infallible Authority to perswade us of the truth of these things when our fear had so cast us down that we almost were brought to believe that God had utterly forsaken us we can now cry with chearfulness blessed be God that has not so turned his mercy from us but has sent his Son Jesus Christ to call us to Repentance therefore when we hear the Priest say Come unto me c. Let us humbly say I come unto thee O Jesus ease me of my Burthen so God loved the World c. I believe Lord save me or I perish this is a true saying c. Mercy sweet Jesus I am a miserable sinner If any man sin O thou great advocate of my Soul I bless thee and all that is within me shall praise thy Holy Name Certainly our affections are so moved that we shall be zealous to lift up our hearts with joy and gladness and now confess 't is meet and right to give thanks to which purpose let us summons our strongest affections that we may with Angels and Arch-angels magnifie the glorious Name of God most High If it be upon any particular Feast as Christmas or Easter there is greater reason to strain our selves to the highest Note to give thanks for those particular Blessings We are now approaching nearer to these Holy Mysteries and must express the greater Reverence and before we tast how gracious the Lord is confess our unworthiness to receive him into our Habitation This we can't do in better Words than the Church has provided for us therefore we are to joyn heartily in the following form and beg that our sinful Bodies may be made clean by his Body that being so prepared our Souls may be made fit to receive the Lord of Glory After this excellent Prayer is over let us look towards the Holy Table and whilst the Priest is ordering the Elements Meditate and be astonished at the transcending love of Christ let us lose our selves in contemplation of that Divine Mystery that Heaven should so condescend to Earth and Man be united to God that God should take upon him our Flesh die for us upon Earth and nourish us now he is in Heaven Let us represent to our Faith the intollerable sufferings of our dying Lord his whole Passion upon Mount Calvary and the Agonies of that unknown Sorrow there Imagine we behold him stretch'd upon the Cross and see the Blood issuing from his wounded side Behold him grapling with the fury of an incensed God and all the furies of the Powers of Darkness and this to redeem us from the Horrors of Hell which were due to us for Sin and Wickedness Sure the consideration of these things will create an odiousness of sin which was so great that nothing but the Blood of God could expiate we shall be sensible of our unworthiness and adore withall the forces of our Soul that love surpassing knowledge and beg of our crucified Redeemer to inspire us with holy Zeal that our now softned Souls may Eccho Hallelujahs and all that is within us may sing Eternally to God the Father who contrived this glorious Redemption to God the Son who effected it and to God the Holy Ghost who gives us the benefit thereof Let us now return with the Priest and earnestly beg of our merciful God that the Elements may really become what they represent After we have performed that with Devotion let us leave the rest to God and the Priest and rising from our Knees at the Consecration look toward the Holy Table devoutly attending every Word and Action for all is Mystery and deserves a particular Meditation let us imagine we hear our Saviour consecrating and that
Expectations It was the Observation of a great Man That the more exact he was in keeping the Sabbath his Affairs met with the greater Success in the following Week Whether every Body would be thus happy I can't resolve but am sure there can be no Danger in the Trial and if we fail once it may succeed the next However there is sufficient Reward in it self for we shall have the Satisfaction of doing our Duty and that we can't effect more exactly than by a devout Meditation when alone and a serious Attention when at Church They who have Families are to instruct their Houshold in their Duty and see they discharge it by giving good Examples and Instructions and seeing they follow them for when all is done the effectual Preachers are Parents and Masters Ministers may give the best Counsel and preach the greatest Truths but 't is they must see it has its proper Effect in their own Lives and Conversations and in those that belong to them If this were industriously practised what Encouragement would it be to the Ministers to labour more abundantly for the Salvation of their Flock And how should we all rejoice in the Day of the Lord that they had neither run nor labour'd in vain In short Our Communion on this Day ought to be free from Lightness or Vanity not in Worldly Affairs nor Relations of foolish Stories and as little as possible in common Talk no unnecessary Visit nor any where but when we have an Opportunity of doing good This ought to be our constant Care to apply our selves wholly to God and Religion and avoid every thing as much as possible that would take up our Thoughts on any thing else This is truly to sanctifie the Sabbath And they who can thus observe it will find the Benefit even an Everlasting Rest to their Souls in Heaven After we have dined let us retire again and when we have rais'd our Affections by a serious Contemplation let us say A Prayer after Dinner O Thou All-seeing and most holy God! I have been admitted to make my Oblation of Praises and my self unto thee and am infinitely concern'd that thou shouldst accept me therein not for any Merit in me but for thine own Mercy sake O my God thou knowest I have been polluted with Sin undutiful to thy Commands unfaithful to my Promises and confederate with thine Enemies yea even in the time of these holy Mysteries so obdurate and confused that I might justly fear lest my Wretchedness should make my Sacrifice an Abomination I blush that I am not fitter I lament that I should bring so many Defilements where the Purity of an Angel is scarce sufficient But I take Sanctuary in thy more obliging Condescentions and because I am so unworthy will endeavour to esteem my self as vile as really I am in thy sight Oh do not look upon the Defects of a wretched Sinner but remember thine own Mercies and accept what thou hast required of me and so shall thy Favour be more illustrious because it is bestow'd upon so evil and undeserving a Creature and the Sense of my Unworthiness shall enlarge my Thankfulness and make me praise thee more than if I had approached thee with all Perfections It is a mighty Favour to me O God that thou hast made Bread to grow out of the Earth to nourish my mortal Body But Oh! how far hast thou transcended that Mercy in giving me the Bread of Life from Heaven to feed my immortal Soul Whom was there in Heaven or Earth that I could have wish'd for in comparison of Jesus Christ O my Soul bless thou the Lord I went not to gaze or taste of the outward part but to satisfie my Soul by laying hold of the Merits of my Crucified Saviour yet I have receiv'd the Elements and thou hast made them to me that which I needed and desired even the Body and Blood of thy Son Oh how it fills my Soul with Joy to see thy Sacred Majesty appeas'd But O merciful God I tremble in Expectation of those furious Assaults which will be made upon me by my Enemies from whom I am withdrawn O God thou knowest how often I have return'd to Folly But if thou pleasest to plant thy Grace within me and send thy Blessing upon me I will not fear the Powers of Darkness I have receiv'd that Heavenly Food which is the Means of conveying this Grace unto me I know by this Coelestial Remedy many of thy Servants have been dreadful to the Powers of Darkness and thou didst never cast off an humble Soul Oh bless then this Life-giving Mystery unto me that I may find such Power Strength and Resolution flowing from thence that I may stand firm to the Purposes I have made Sweetest Saviour I am now thy Servant Oh deliver me from Anger Malice and Intemperance from Pride Lust and Covetousness and all the Furies which use to torture me O mark me for thine own and deny me not that Grace which is necessary to make me thine I 'm sure in thee all Fulness of Grace dwells and let it now overflow that I may receive of thy Fulness and then shall I always perform my Vows Gracious God I have beheld the Efficacious Sacrifice which thy Son hath offered for us I have remembred it blessed be thy Name for it though not so highly as I am oblig'd for the Benefits are inestimable There is no Want of Merit in Jesus to deserve nor of Mercy in thee to bestow Remission Oh let there not want in me nor in any for whom Christ died grace to accept this Pardon Behold Lord how I struggle under a load of guilt but I have receiv'd that which is an effectual remedy who was ever reconciled to thee but by Jesus or who was ever so much thy Enemy but this Holy Sacrifice has made their Peace and shall it be ineffectual only to me Dear Father let me find the Effecacy thereof in my self and then I shall be engaged to praise thee more and more for this great Salvation through Jesus Christ Our Father c. The Grace of our Lord Jesus c. HAving thus renewed our desires and fired Souls with an ardent love of Christ let us prepare again to meet the assembly of Saints that we may worship God together and give thanks to his Name that we may receive new instructions for the amendment of our Lives and the confirmation of our Faith that we may inlarge our desires after Heaven and see the pleasures of the Habitation of the Lord. At our return home 't will be necessary that we give up our selves to a serious Meditation of our actions this day if our heart condemn us not then have we confidence towards God if otherwise let us humbly beg Pardon Let us be earnest in this Examination for 't is of great moment to be very circumspect now don 't let us cry Peace when 't is far from us and fancy we are reconciled to God when we