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
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
my former receiving when it left not earnest breathings for the like opportunity was it possible for me to meet with God to taste the sweetness the fulness of Christ to experience the reachings forth of my love and desires the pleasures of acting grace and not long for another meeting By thy grace I will therefore communicate with more devotion repent with greater contrition walk with more caution pray more earnestly receive with more reverence and I doubt not but I shall find my affections encrease together with the Spiritual benefit The frequent solemn exercise of our graces must needs dispose strongly to Habitual ones and hugely promote the Interest of Religion It cannot be that the Sacrament be undervalued by frequent repetitions without great unworthiness of the person setting light by and loathing spiritual Manna and an unworthy Communication for he that receives worthily encreases in the love of God and of Religion and the fires of the Altar are apt to kindle into a flame and when our Lord enters into us and we grow weary of him or less fond of his frequent entrance and perpetual cohabitation 't is an infallible sign we have or are ready to let in his Enemy no Secular object hath any pleasure in it long beyond the hope of it for the possession and enjoyment is found so empty that we grow weary of it but whatsoever is spiritual is less before we have it but in the fruition swells our desires enlarges the Appetite and makes us more receptive and forward in the Entertainment Nor is it likely they will suffer for who refuse to banquet with him They proclaim they have no portion in David no inheritance in the Son of God Oh he qualms of undesirous Communicants should justly stir up the faithful to loath it in themselves Habitual Preparation THe death of Christ in regard of his intent was a Sacrifice to God but of the Jews the greatest crueltie and murder When a prophane person comes he sheds the blood of Christ which a Believer receives and by Faith feeding on it being one with Christ makes as great satisfaction to God as if he had suffered to Eternitie This new wine must not be put into an old vessel else the wine will be spilt and the vessel perish Christ and Belial cannot cohabit he will not enter through a besmear'd door nor dwell in a nasty house Feet that walk in filthy paths are not to tread his holy place nor a heart full of rancour hatred uncharitableness to sit down at this feast of love Hands dipt in blood polluted with unlawful gains stain'd with spots of the flesh or stretched out to injure him in his members are most unfit to be reached forth to receive him in the Sacraments to handle those holy mysteries Those Teeth that grind the face of the poor to eat the bread of Angels the Mouth that 's full of rotten corrupt communication evil speaking reviling or that thirsts after the blood of our neighbour to drink the Blood of Christ Eyes gazing on vanity to look on Jesus Oh how pure ought I to keep those doors of my Soul at which the King of Glory so often enters Shall I kiss his hand with filthy lips put hallowed bread and wine into a noysom sink go to that Table as Swine to their trough in my pollution ravish contemn the grace and mercy of God tear them asunder from the conditions he hath annexed to them He will not be one with an Harlot nor seen with the same eyes His Body never saw Corruption nor will be mixed with it It lay in a Virgin Womb and Sepulchre and still resides only in Virgin Souls Devoted Consecrated set apart to his use and service His glorified body is no more capable of dishonour nor will enter into an earthly soul Unclean birds receive nothing but the Carcass of the Ordinance the Bread without the Body the Wine without the Blood both without the blessing the Elements but not the Sacraments such are guilty of his Body and Blood for reaching out their hand with purpose to receive him into a polluted soul though he withdraw himself that they cannot partake of him They disgrace their Prince by shewing it to his Statue erected for his honour and remembrance are guilty of Treason by offering Indignity to his Seal and Picture dishonour done to the Image and representation reflects upon the Original he is personally in Heaven and will be no where Sacramentally but in the Heavenly part of man he finds no rest in a heart full of vain vitious thoughts it stinks like the lake of Sodom he retires thence vexed with the unclean Conversation of the impure Inhabitants When he approaches to a soul and finds it a Cage of unclean Birds he flyes with the wings of a Dove to cleaner and whiter Habitations But if we avoid hate and have no fondness of affection for them and with complacency entertain the contrary then Christ hath washed our feet and then he invites us to his Supper The unavoidable infirmities of our lives against which we daily strive and for which we never have any kindness or affection are not spots in these feasts of Charitie but instruments of Humility and stronger invitations to come to Rites ordain'd for corroboratives gainst infirmities and for growth in the inner man But remanent affection to a sin enmitie with neighbours secular avocations to the height of care and trouble excuse not but increase mens sin and secure their misery 'T is just they graze with Goats that refuse to wash their hands that they may come to the Supper of the Lamb. The excuses wherewith they palliate their neglects of waiting upon our Lord and accepting his kindness all grow upon this bitter root of an unholy careless life loving the world and the lusts thereof the only reason is they have a mind to live as strangers to him and not to be his houshold servants and domesticks for then they might always come unto him They think they must not come so oft because to prepare themselves costs them so much time but would they spare so much as to lead a holy life and be at so much trouble as to please God in other things they would not find it so laborious to please him in this Kept they always a fear of God in their Souls they would without much pains be fit to approach with fear and reverence into his presence would they fear to do what God hath forbidden they would not fear to do what he hath commanded but while they refuse to obey him in one thing no wonder they do in another Religion concerns not our actions only but the frame and disposition of our hearts and minds and the same habitual graces are to be daily exercis'd though in a lower measure and degree Every day is to be holy to the Lord though every action in the day be not equally holy When we labour conscienciously to stand to our first Promise and
of an ungrateful world was so mindful of your good and comfort to arm establish and refresh you and will you neglect dis-esteem contemn it doth not the benefit of my passion without your desert plead for the constant meditation of it without your scandal The frequent faithful remembrance of what I did and suffered for you is my chief request and your only requital and yet do you distaste what I â—mbraced and endure not to think of what I refused not to endure loath you the cup of Salvation that cost me a cup of Astonishment Have I left the Glory of my Father to be cloathed with and dwell in flesh Led a life of suffering undergone a shameful painful accursed death rose again ascended prepared mansions taken possession for you where I plead your cause and will come ere long to absolve you before all the world and with whom you shall be for ever Have I given such costly evidences of my love unto you and love you not to do this in remembrance of me Do But for thee dear Saviour I had been for ever undone for thee then and for thy sake what is it that I should not do Thy desires are my Injunctions there 's Authority enough in thy love to do thy pleasure Since thou would have no nature but mine I will have no will but thine When once signified by command upon my obligation I should upon my Fealty to thee the King of the Church and Soveraign as well as Saviour of my Soul I ought I may I must not dispute nor delay I dare not but must Do else how must I be look'd upon when the King commands all his loving Subjects to take the Oath of Allegiance and I stay away and refuse Do I not publickly disown him for my Soveraign who hath enjoyn'd the Celebration of this as an evidence and symbol of my Relation to and communion with him Is not this appointed for a memorial of his death whereby he delivered his people and destroyed their enemies transcendently to us what the Passeover was to the Jews and the neglect of it more provoking yet the man that is unclean and is not in a journey and forbeareth to keep the Passeover at the time appointed when he might and ought eat it even the same soul shall be cut off from his people because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season that man shall bear his sin There 's a punishment annexed to the neglect as well as ill performance of it he that eats irreverently is guilty of prophaning the Lords Body and he that eats not of despising it and of preferring his lusts before him the one eats damnation to himself and the other by not eating judges himself to be in a damnable State 'T is dangerous staying in that condition wherein we judge our selves unmeet society for Christ if I cannot partake of his Supper here how can I think my self fit to feast with him in Heaven or hope to look on his face with comfort there and take no pleasure to behold remember come near have any thing to do with him here will not his presence be most terrible then to whom his memory is no way delightful now Am I troubled for neglect of other duties and not of this when Christs Items at the last day are made up of sins of omission Dare I pick and chuse when whosoever shall keep the whole Law yet offend in one point is guilty of all This Not to climb a Cross or undergo a bitter passion for thy sake I should not think much to do that who hast done so much more for me Not to be had to a Scaffold but to come to thy Table not to go to Slaughter but a Feast not to Bleed or Burn but to Eat and Drink and that not Bread of Affliction or Water of Adversity which flags the Spirit but such Bread and Wine as confirms and comforts my Heart Not a Mourners Bread Tears or a Martyrs Cup Blood but a Saviours fare Blessed Wine and Bread yea in them what both is and makes blessed his body and blood meat and drink bread of life and well of life that both joys my heart and saves my soul Didst thou on the Cross drink Vinegar made infinitely more tart by my sins for me and shall not I at thy Table drink Wine for my self made infinitely sweeter with the blood it conveys Didst thou drink a Cup of wrath and shall not I drink the cup of Blessing Eat the bread of affliction and shall not I eat the bread of life suffer thy passion and shall not I enjoy it Didst thou stretch out thy hands on the Cross and shall mine be withered and shrunk towards thy Table Hadst thou bid me do some great thing for procuring so great a good that there had been between the service and reward no disproportion should I not endeavour'd to do it how much more when thou bidst me eat and live I am not saved but by thy Body I shall be damned without thy Blood Didst thou offer them for me on the Cross and shall I not take the pledge from thee at thy Supper Dost thou give me a Title to them and shall I bar my self of possession rob my self of thy mercy and my right of no less then the price of my Redemption Dost thou give me the purchase in thy Blood and shall I deny my self the Seal in thy Church Dare I be guilty of so great a Robbery and Rebellion to violate thy will and seal to steal at once thy Bread and Cup and Scepter against thy express Will and Testament to take the Bread and Cup out of my own hand and the Scepter out of thine to deprive my soul of thy Body and Blood and thee of thy Authority by thy grace I will never but observe as thou appointest If this be thy command O Saviour I am a Rebel as much to my good as thy Law a damned Rebel if I do not this In Remembrance I blush Lord to see my self need thy memento Have I a room for the trash of the world and none for thee memory for what I list and none for what I should O thou that hast so done thy marvellous works that they ought to be had in everlasting remembrance whose name is wonderful and all thy works as thy name and this above all thy works can I ever forget thee can I forget my self so much that breaths not a moment on Earth or out of Hell without thee If I forget thee O Saviour let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth If I remember not thee let my right hand forget her cunning Sure that harp had never known the tune of joy nor hand to do with harp hadst not thou put a world all out in order again and set all in tune And is that all when I owe a thousand lives unto thee to require not my Body but my Mind to say Remember not to Dye
among worse as well as died among â—hieves Blessedness is made not earth â—nely but wo to bring earth from wo to â—lessedness Behold him now O my soul hanging â—pon the Cross and thy sins putting him â—nto that gore saying Weep not for me â—hat endures it but weep for your selves â—hat causes it read in me the cruelty of â—our sins see how barbarously they have â—sed me how miserably I am torn and wounded by you how many thorns in this Crown of thorns are your sins how my blood with my warmest love runs out to fetch you home to God Oh my head my side my hands and my feet Look through these gaping wounds into my heart pierc'd first by love and then by a spear for you Was ever any sorrow or love like unto mine Can I do more then die for you Will you not be perswaded what an evil and bitter thing sin is unto me Do you not see how it rakes into my side and tears my very heart how greedily it sucks my blood Behold the pits it diggeth the very print of its nails see the very place where it hath thrust its spear Canst thou hug and embrace bloody Parricides shew any kindness to so deadly an enemy harbour them that have used me thus You say You are my friends will you not take my part against them Have not all these wounds mouths enough to persvvade you to fall out vvith sin Would you have me used thus again Could you find in your heart to see me once more upon a Gibbet Will you tear open my wounds crucifie me afresh Else why can you not be prevail'd with by this sight Why do you not spit in the face of your sins do all the despight you can unto revenge me perfectly upon them â—ail them unto my Cross if you would have me embrace you O how ought my Adamantine heart to rend in pieces when all thy tortures and grones are for are from us And yet as if once were not sufficient how often do we joyn with those that crucifie thee afresh By hypocrisie we bend the knee with ludibrious devotion saying Hail King of the Jews By presumption we put a Reed in thy hand We smite and buffet thee with the works of darkness saying Prophesie who smote thee By Prophaneness we spit in thy face the filth of our rotten hearts By Sacriledge we cast lots for thy garments By Schism we divide thy seamless Coat which the rude Soldiers did not By popularity we wash our hands as innocent and to please men condemn thee By unhallowed cups we give thee gall to drink By Superstition betray thee vvith a kiss and despise thee vvith seeming honour By Apostacy deny forswear thee By Heresie rack and disjoynt thee By the roareâ— laughs and scoffs oaths and blasphemies tear and rend thee By any common sin we prefer Barabba before thee O weâ—â— thy pains so light that we must every day redouble them Is this the kindness the entertainment thou deservest the recompence of thine inestimable love thus cruelly to vex and wound thee O how can we hope to find Redemption by thy Blood while we continue by our horrid crimes to make new gashes in thy side to rub thy wounds afresh and cause them to stream anew that were even closed up before an act more Jewish then the Jews Oh! I sigh unto thee for want of grief for thy grievous sufferings Oh that I could turn my self into tears that I might wash the wounds I have made seeing thou diedst for my sins how ought I to despise my self who have so cruelly offended and tormented thee the very party whose offences have brought those miserable torments and death upon thee Oh how must this needs irreconcile and engage me to pursue them to death that in the eye of all the world brought so great shame and pain and amazement on the Lord of Life and Glory Come along with me Oh ye vile ye sinful passions and corrupt affections into his presence if ye dare live so long and there receive your mortal wound from him Methinks you should begin to die at the very thoughts of a dying Redeemer and swoun away at the sight of yonder Blood and not stay till you come to his Cross but give up the Ghost before you see but the image his death do you not feel the power of it afar off doth not his pierced side pierce your heart before you behold it Oh ye bloody things what have ye done what wounds have you made in the Bodie of my Lord lay your necks quietly on the block prepare your selves for death which is approaching nay never struggle nor resist think not to live any longer for I have vow'd you in sacrifice to him And now what remains Ends in going but that I renew a quick and lively sense of the ends of this Rite and of mine in going and what lies hid under the Ceremonie Oh my Soul whither art thou going What is that Table which I see yonder spread for us and what is thy chief design in going to it what means that broken bread that is provided for vvhat end vvas that body Crucified do men use to drink a cup of Blood Oh let me knovv the bottom of this mysterie let me enter into this secret and my ovvn heart's Renouncing my own Righteousness and Preparation in his name merits mediation strength and righteousness in obedience to thy command and thy follovvers practice to renevv my Covenant vvith thee to commemorate and be affected vvith his death to ovvn and encrease my Spiritual Union and Communion vvith him and his members to further my joy in the Holy Ghost peace of Conscience and hopes of Eternal Life for the nourishment of my Soul to get povver against my sins to act and excite and strengthen my graces to make fresh applications of his blood to have the Covenant of Grace vvith all its blessings sealed unto me I go unto thy Table O stir up in me thirsting desires after strong expectations to receive these blessed ends and benefits and do thou make them good unto me Oh how weak To strengthen my Inner man how imperfect are my Graces I see and know but in part so love obey believe but in part Oh how many temptations adversaries difficulties assault me How seldom have I a will to do good and when I would do good evil is present with me All I have â—an or am is from thee so due unto thee but all still unworthy of thee yet how heart-bound is that little all of service I do thee I pray as if afraid to be heard bear as if unwilling to be saved communicate as if loth to receive thee serve thee as if I would not please thee To that end I go to the Lords Supper sutable and sufficient to nourish my inner man where â—re rendred most familiarly and effectually his Flesh and Blood meat and drink indeed Oh that I may have such â—xpectations of
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
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
ratifie and confirm every Article of these Indentures and do actually deliver into thy hand this glorious Charter with all its Royalties and Priviledges as your own for ever Amen Hallelujah Oh be it unto thy servant according to thy Word But who am I and what is my Fathers house that thou hast brought me hither What shall thy servant say unto thee I am silenced with wonder and must sit down in astonishment for I cannot utter the least tittle of thy praise Oh what meaneth the height of this strange love that the Lord of all should enter into Covenant with his dust and take in to his bosom the viperous brood that have so often spit their venom in his face I am not worthy to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord how much less to be one with thee and to be made partaker of those blessed priviledges setled upon thy Sons but for thy goodness sake and according to thine own heart hast thou done this even so Father because it seemed good unto thee Wonder oh Heavens and be moved oh Earth at this great thing Rejoyce oh Angels shout oh Seraphims strike up ye Celestial Quires help Heaven and Earth sing unto the Lord oh ye his Saints prepare an Epithalamium oh all ye Friends of the Bridegroom be ready with the Marriage song for Heaven and Earth God and Man are reconciled a Covenant of Peace entered and sealed Jehovah hath betrothed himself to his hopeless Captives and owns the Marriage before all the world he is become one with us and we with him he hath bequeathed to us Heaven and Earth with the fulness thereof and kept back left us nothing to ask at his hands but what he hath already freely granted Oh had I the tongues of Men and Angels all were too little for my single turn the whole Quire is not sufficient to utter his praise And will the Lord be mine hath he laid aside the controversie and concluded a peace will he receive his Rebel to mercy and open his door to his Prodigal I will bow my self before his footstool and say Oh Lord I have heard thy words and do here lay hold on thy Covenant I subscribe to thy Conditions and close with my Mediator I accept thy kindness I adventure my self upon thy fidelity and trust my whole happiness here hereafter upon thy promises Oh my God I subject my whole Soul unto thee Oh my Rock in thee will I build all my hopes and confidence Oh staff of my life strength of my Soul Life of my Joys and the joy of my Life I will sit and sing under thy shadow with great delight and glory in thy Salvation I here take thee at thy word thou God of Truth thou requirest but my consent and acceptance and here thou hast it in token whereof I receive this pledge thou hast left me believing thou wilt establish for ever thy word unto thy servant and do as thou hast said In this blood of thine oh Saviour I believe I receive it as mine I thirstily drink down and heartily apply with a comfortable expectation of all those blessed benefits purchased secured sealed by it I am more loathsom and abominable then the croaking Toad or most venomous Serpent but This Blood was shed to make me pretious before thee which I durst not have thought but that I hear thee say since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honourable and I have loved thee And oh how truely mayst thou call us a dear e precious people who are bought with that Blood a drop of which is of worth to purchase Heaven and Earth I owe the suffering of the penalty due for breaking thy Law violating thy Covenant and wronging thy Justice But was not this Blood shed for our good and in our stead hath not our surety made full satisfaction undergone the curse of our sins born them all in his own Body upon the tree endur'd as much as they deserved as thy Justice demanded was he not once offered up to bear the sins of many became he not subject to the Law for us 〈◊〉 our nature and representatively in our stead setting us right with reconciling us again to thee hath he not made satisfaction for the injury we had done thee as our Judge and performed that service we owed thee as our Maker Is not â—he Creditor satisfied when the debt is â—aid will thy Justice suffer thee to deâ—and the same debt twice of the surety â—nd debtor is not thy wrath appeased â—ith him made so miserable a spectable 〈◊〉 dear unto thee is not the least drachm â—f this Blood of God of greater value then Sea of mine of value to ransom as â—any worlds of men as men in this a â—ufficient satisfaction for all my sins an â—ll-sufficient price for my redemption â—eing justified freely by his Grace through â—he Redemption that is in Jesus Christ â—hom God hath set forth to be apropitiaâ—â—on through Faith in his blood to declare â—â—is righteousness for the remission of sins â—hat are past through the forbearance of God to declare I say his righteousness â—hat he might be just and the justifier of â—im that believeth in Jesus If we confess â—ur sins he is faithful and just to forgive â—â—s our sins and to cleanse us from all unâ—â—gh teousness I am guilty of many hainous sins aâ—ainst love and light mercies and Judgâ—ents my own conscience and the â—â—ght of nature and without shedding of â—ood is no remission But here is that which procures it for and seals the promise of it to us to the praise of the glory of thy grace thou hast made us accepted in the Beloved once in the end of the world he hath appeared to put away sin by the Sacrifice of himself in whom we have Redemption through his Blood even the forgiveness of sins Thy word assures it to all that take him for their Saviour which I find my self by thy grace enabled and thou hast bound thy wâ—â—â— with thy oath and to both added thy Sacraments as seals this threefold cord cannot be broken At the day of Judgment thou wilt own thy hand and seal anâ— solemnly acquit me whom thou noâ— pardonest by thy deed of gift the Gospel there is no condemnation to them that aâ— in Christ Jesus I am naturally and by evil works at 〈◊〉 distance from at enmity with thee an 〈◊〉 my unto thee But God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself hâ—â— Blood was given to make an Atonemeâ—â— for our souls thy wrath is turned from 〈◊〉 thou art become propitious to believer Christ our Passeover is Sacrificed for us the propitiation Propitiatory Sacrificeâ— â—or our sins that thou mightest pass over â—nd look upon us with a pleasing aspect â—â—e satisfied for sin and pacified to sinners â—n expiated and thou appeased and we 〈◊〉 well ingratiated brought into favour â—f enemies made friends as pardoned â—aving made up the breach and made â—eace through the blood
of his Cross by â—im to reconcile all things to himself we â—â—at were sometimes Aliens and Enemies â—ow thou hast reconril'd in the body of his â—â—esh through death to present us holy unâ—â—lameable unreproveable in thy sight â—e who sometimes were far off are made â—igh by the blood of Christ for he is our â—eace our peace-maker who hath made â—oth one broken down the middle wall â—f partition betwen us by whom we have â—â—so now received the Attonement Lord I am in worse than Egyptian â—ondage a captive to Satan a slave 〈◊〉 my Lusts destitute of grace and eveâ—â— good thing But is not here a sufâ—cient price laid down for my ransom â—nd all things pertaining to life and godliâ—ess hath he not obtained eternal reâ—emption for us who came to give who â—â—ve himself a ransom for many for all Hath he not delivered redeemed bought me quite out of the hands-of Justice out of the power of Sin and Satan If while we were yet sinners Christ died for us much more then being now justified by hiâ— Blood shall we be saved from wratâ— through him For Sin he condemned siâ— in the flesh overcame death and destroyed him that had the power of death eveâ— the Devil I beg of thee and rely upon theâ—â—for supplies of my soul-pressing wants grace and peace comfort more love untâ— thee and fear of thee and. I ask no morâ— then what he hath bought for me who hatâ— not onely purchased me with his owâ— blood but all good things by the redundancy of his Merit after satisfactioâ— made unto thee for our debt I have no righteousness of my own but what is as filthy rags but thou haâ— made him to be sin for us who knew 〈◊〉 sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him we are clothed witâ— him and appear in thy sight as parts anâ— portions of himself the fulness of him thâ—â— filleth all in all Oh! impute not thâ— guilt but the merit of his blood unto mâ—â— behold me in him whom thou hast appointed between thee and sinners whose righteousness in every point answers thy Justice and whose sufferings are sufficient to satisfie the penalty of all my sins Oh ballance them against mine iniquities and the excess and proportion of virtue in his obedience against the malignity and unpleasingness of my disobedience they will so far exceed in weight and worth that thou wilt in justice rather pour forth thy mercy upon me and accept me into favour for the one then hold me still in displeasure for the other And oh thou who without grudging bore my burthen when thou stoodst at the Bar of Accusation when thou shalt sit in the seat of Judgment wilt thou stick to seal my pardon Where thy self hath paid the debt thy justice cannot deny to sign the Acquittance nor thy tender love suffer thee to condemn or reject a member of thy body a part of thy self Thou that sufferedst for me here and pleadest for me now cannot forget to be gracious to me then The Law Satan and my sins no only stop my mouth that I cannot plead my own Cause but they plead against me and cry unto thee for vengeance Buâ— is not this Blood as a visible prayer iâ— every wound as so many mouths opeâ— interceding to thee for pardon and mercy for me saying behold the travel 〈◊〉 my Soul the purchase of my blood thâ— fruit of my Agonies for him I wepâ— and sweat bled and dyed he hath sinned but I have satisfied he departeâ— for a season that thou shouldest receive him for ever not as a servant only buâ— brother unto me both in the flesh and in the Lord for mine and thy own sake therefore if thou account me thy beloved Son receive him as my self in whom thou art well-pleased if he have wronged thee or owes thee ought put it on my account I will repay it I will answer for him I Jesus have ratified and confirmed it with my own Blood his surety came not out of Prison untill he had paid the uttermost farthing Behold Oh Lord the bleeding wounds of thy own Son remember how his body was broken think upon his precious blood shed for us let us dye if he hath not made a full satisfaction we desire not to be pardoned if he hath not paid our debt But canst thou behold him and not be well-pleased with us canst thou look upon his body and blood which we present to thee and turn thy face from us Oh let us prevail in the vertue of his Sacrifice for the Graces and Blessings we need Take pity have mercy upon us for his sake whom we now desire to hold up between thy anger and our Souls and hide not thy self from us unless thou canst from him whom we bring with us unto thee While we are remembring him at his Table he is remembring us at his Father's right hand I am not only guilty but polluted sin hath as well defiled as it would damn me But oh remember who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood of virtue and Spirit to purifie me as value and merit to pacifie thee To this Fountain which thou hast set open I bring my polluted Soul and what hinders but that I may wash and be clean be purged from the filth as well as pardon'd for and saved from the guilt of all my sins for the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sins Oh how often is my Soul cast down within me my omissions and Commissions my sins and duties as I perform them discomfort me I am ashamed of and blush to see them my petitions for pardon stand in need of pardon my tears of washing my best performances are provocations and help to fill up the measure of my sins but for the Priest that offers the Altar that sanctifies all my services the sweet incense he offers with our prayers His Priesthood is for ever available and effectual for us Here is wine sweetned with the love of God perfumed with the divine nature that chears the heart of God by way of satisfaction and the heart of Man by way of pacification that makes peace in Heaven and within us and all our Sacrifices wellpleasing unto thee who dealst not with us according to our frailties but state in our Advocate who when he had by himself purged our sins sate down on the Right hand of the Majesty on high and ever lives to make intercession for us If thy grace prevented us before Repentance that we might return shall it not much more prevent Repenting sinners that we may not perish how canst thou but love them that love thee seeing thou loved us when we hated thee Oh my stony unrelenting heart how unaffected am I with my own vileness and thy goodness the evil of sin and excellency of grace the worth of my Soul and death of my Saviour but the blood of Christ is able to soften and
him who hath saved us and called us with an Holy Calling quickened us who were dead in trespasses and sins opened our Eyes bowed our Wills spiritualiz'd our Affections changed us from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that we might receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by Faith in Jesus Christ To him who forgives our iniquities covers our sins justifies the ungodly healeth all our diseases imputeth not our trespasses but his Righteousness unto us redeemeth our life from death and destruction crowneth us with loving-kindness and tender mercies To him who hath adopted us and looks upon us and provides for us and deals with us as Sons Heirs of God and Coheirs with Christ Fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God To him who hath not lately begun or will suddenly cease is neither inconstant or mutable in his Affections but from everlasting continues and will to eternity persevere immutable in his intentions to do us good that hath delivered doth deliver and will deliver and never leave us nor forsake us To him whom no ingratitude undutifull carriage or disobedience of ours could one minute wholly remove or divert from his steady purpose of caring for us who regards us though we do not attend to him procures our welfare though we neglect his concerns imploys his restless thoughts extends his watchful eye exerts his powerfull arm is always mindfull and busie to do us good watches over us when we sleep remembers us when we forget our selves in whom t is infinite condescension to think of us placed so far beneath his thoughts to value us dust and dirt and inconsiderable nothings not to despise and hate us so really despicable and unworthy To him that is as merciful and gracious as liberal and munificent that not only bestows on us more gifts but pardons us more debts then we live minutes that with infinite patience endures not only our manifold infirmities imperfections but our petulant follies and obstinate perverseness careless neglects wilful miscarriages trecherous infidelities who puts up the exceeding many outrageous affronts injuries and contumelies continually offered to his supreme Majesty by us base worms whom he hath always under his feet and can crush to nothing at his pleasure To him that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God his Father a note the Angels cannot sing who have many strains of praise we are unacquainted with To him that is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding great joy To him that vouchsafes us hearts and abilities to wait upon free access unto a constant intercourse and familiar acquaintance with himself to esteem and style us his friends and children to invite us frequently and entertain us so kindly with these incomparable delightful delicacies of spiritual repast with an affection as great as our fare is costly yea to invite us often at our home and if we admit to abide and dwell with us indulging us the enjoyment of that presence wherein the life of all joy and happiness consists and to behold the light of his all-chearing countenance To him who giveth freely and upbraideth no man with former unkindnesses and neglects of his love we are heartily ashamed of who calls us neither very frequently nor over strictly to account who exacts of us no impossibity no difficult burthen or costly return being satisfied with the chearful acceptance of his favours the hearty acknowledgments of his goodness the sincere performance of such duties to which our own welfare comfort advantage rightly apprehended would otherwise abundantly dispose us To him whose Benefits to acknowâ—edge is the greatest Benefit of all to be â—nabled to thank him who deserves our â—â—eatest thanks to be sensible of whose â—eneficence to meditate on whose goodâ—ess to admire whose excellencies to â—elebrate whose praise is Heaven it self â—he life of Angels the quintessence of Joy â—he supreme pitch of Beatitude To him â—hose benefits are immensely great innuâ—â—â—â—ably many inexpressibly good and â—â—recious be Glory Majesty and Dominion â—â—w and for ever And oh thou the blessed Fountain of all â—ercy and goodness Inspire our hearts â—ith thy Heavenly Grace and thereby inâ—ble us rightly to apprehend diligently to â—onsider faithfully to remmeber worthily 〈◊〉 esteem to be thankfully affected with 〈◊〉 render all due acknowledgment praise â—â—ve and thankful obedience for this and 〈◊〉 thy great and manifold favours and â—â—nefits confer'd upon us And blessed 〈◊〉 the Lord God of Israel from everlastâ—â—g to everlasting and blessed be his Gloâ—â—ous name for ever and let the whole â—arth be filled with his Glory and let all 〈◊〉 People say Amen Going Home O How great a Lord hath my Soul entertain'd How glorious a guest doâ—â— thou now harbour How pleasant a Companion how faithful a Friend hast thoâ— now taken in How dear a Husband doâ—â— thou now enjoy Oh the inestimable benefits receiv'd in these high and holy Misteries what am I O Lord or what is iâ— me that thou shouldest do this great honour and Glory unto me and reveal 〈◊〉 thy heart and love which is secret unto others he might have prepared torment but behold priviledges for me I am unworthy to touch the threshold of thâ— house and thou hast taken me to thâ— Table not worthy to stand among thâ— servants and thou hast made me sit witâ— my Saviour not worthy to fall dowâ— before thy foot-stool and thou hast smilâ— upon come in to me and made my heaâ—â— thy Throne while others eat the breaâ— of violence and drink the wine of deceiâ— what am I that I should eat the body anâ— drink the blood of thy own Son I aâ— not worthy to eat the bread of men anâ— thou hast given me the bread of Angels What they admire I have receiv'd whom they adore I have entertain'd their mirror is my meat Christ and they are two I and my Saviour are one oh unspeakable mystery oh incomparable mercy This is he who came from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah whom we have seen glorious in his apparel travelling in the greatness of his strength returning in triumph from the slaughter and conquest of all his and our enemies mighty to save us from our sins that were mighty to condemn And he hath on his vesture the title is conspicuous and on his thigh the place of strength King of Kings and Lord of Lords Wherefore art thou red in thy apparel and thy garments like him that treadeth the wine fat I have trodden the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of God and of the people there was none with me I have discomfited my peoples enemies and trodden them down like grapes in a wine-press their blood is sprinkled upon my garments and I have stain'd all my garments Oh I beheld his blood streaming down through the
wedding Garment stain it by any pollution or seek after other lovers eat his Bread and lift up the heel against him take the Cup and betray my interest in him after I have receiv'd him cast him out of my heart live in that for which he died As the Sacrament is a memorial of Christ Crucifyed for sin let it be a remembrance to me of abhorring crucifying abstaining from it Else I hold on Satan's side seek to keep him on his throne do those things which Christ is more unwilling I should then he was to suffer all the indignities and torments the Jews inflicted he was willing to dye by their hands rather then any inconveniency should fall upon me then sin and Satan should reign over and keep possession in me he was not troubled so much to dye as he was to see me live in sin for he dyed that I might cease from sin And do I dispute when a temptation is presented whether Christ or Barrabbas shall be preferred my lusts denyed or my Lord Crucifyed that which would murther my Soul deserve to be spared or he that suffered to save it Oh how sad that he who seems to deifie Christ in the Eucharist should vilifie him in his members that such who pretend to eat and drink Christ's Body and Blood at the Church should eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence in their own houses that they should be so devout at the Sacrament as if they believed God to be in the Bread and in their lives so prophane as if they believed not God to be in Heaven Abandon and Crucifie all sin more then ever I have put off my coate of corruption how shall I put it on I have washed my feet in the blood of the Lamb how shall I defile them the Lord hath spoken peace unto me let me not return again to folly Hath he taken off my former burthen and cast it on the back of his dear Son and shall I lay more load upon him hath he loved me and washed me from my sins in his own blood and shall I with the dog return to the vomit with the sow that is washed to her wallowing in mire shall I take poyson after Physick make the Table of the Lord contemptible Hath he been so gracious to me as to vouchsafe and seal me a pardon of all my sins and shall I so abuse his goodness so turn his grace into wantonness as to run afresh on his score is not this to account the blood of the Covenant wherewith I am sanctified an unholy thing may I not fear his anger will kindle against me and that he will no more have mercy on me Oh let not those hands that were reach'd forth to receive Christ be stretched out to oppression and violence but be hence forth sacred and do no deed that may offend thee nor those lips that have touched those holy Mysteries be defiled with the Devils drivel filthy communication but be hallow'd from all words that may displease thee Oh let my Soul which by thy Sacrament is made so happy as to be so near to be never so wretched as to think any thing too dear for such a Saviour Let nothing make me leave my first love who for love of me left his Father and country Heaven and glory to espouse me Frequently consider the engagement thou hast hereby laid upon thy self No space of time can wear it off to the same strictness all our days as this though we had but this one opportunity to receive The Bonds my Soul is entered into will never be cancell'd God forgets not his promises nor my breaches though I may the matter is now out of my hands I cannot revoke this gift of my self to God indeed I have given nothing but what was his own before after these vows there is no enquiry to be made whether they should be kept This day I have avouched the Lord to be my God to walk in his ways and to keep his statutes and he hath avouched me to be one of his people I have taken Christ for my Lord and Husband to live in love and obedience to him as I hope to be saved by him Tempt me not therefore from my loyalty and allegeance the vows of God are upon me seald at the Sacrament and recorded in Heaven not one of my Fellow Communicants but are witnesses with and to God that they saw me personally publickly own and renew my Covenant with him for my Oath sake and those that sat with me I will not do this evill and sin against God Shall I alienate and pollute the heart so solemnly devoted to him break those bands asunder and fetch the Sacrifice away from the Altar tyed with such strong cords of Oaths and Covenants must I not expect to bring fire along with it to provoke God to a severe revenge of the mocks and scorns I put upon him shall I so horribly prophane his name and make my self such a forsworn perjur'd wretch Is it a light thing to break an Oath made solemnly with God shall he escape that doth such things or shall he break the Covenant and be delivered As I live saith the Lord surely my Oath which he hath despised and my Covenant which he hath broken even it I will recompense on his own head I am sure he will be true to his promises and shall I fall under his threatnings by being false to mine If a good man keep his Oaths and promises with men to his own hurt much more ought be those to God for his own good Walk on in the strength of this spiritual Food till thou comest to perfection Oh that I may still drink of the Spiritual Rock find the efficacy vertue and benefit of the Sacrament follow and stream after me while I travel in this Wilderness O that I may be stronger and stronger in all Graces more active and exacter in all Spiritual Duties hear more heedfully pray more fervently receive more believingly keep the Sabbath more exactly watch over my heart and ways more diligently be more humble and pious towards God more just and righteous to man more sober and temperate towards my self that I may walk worthy of Christ of the Covenant of the Sacrament Kingdom Gospel and Grace of God of my Birth and Breeding oh that my present deportment may be answerable to my future preferment that there may be some proportion between my frequent receiving and growing in Grace that I may shew forth his death till he come in respect of its influence on my Soul Delight in Spiritual fellowship with Christ's Members Oh that I may now bury all envy malice hatred uncharitableness and as Christ love my enemies but especially those that are partakers of the same benefits with me O that that sentence may still run in my mind If God so loved us we ought also to love one another Oh that I may shake off all ungodly society have my heart linked
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
mollifie the most obdurate sinner Oh that I could feel the vertue and power of it dissolving this rock into a fountain of tears a relenting frame a heart of flesh My lusts and Corruptions are many and mighty too strong for me but not for thy self As in the first Adam's sin man died legally so in the second Adam's death sin died virtually He suffered to save his people from their sins that himself and not sin should have dominion over us Shall not that blood mortifie my pride worldliness inordinate affections which shall subdue the whole body of sin shall I reproach or make void his death unto my own Soul or by continuance in sin that brought so great a punishment on so great a person be a greater enemy to him then the Jews were How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein knowing this that our Old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin Oh that I may henceforth find and reckon my self to be dead unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord Oh how am I tempted and assaulted that I am sometimes ready to say I shall one day fall by my spiritual enemies but Faith gives us a share in the victories of Christ having spoyled all Principalities and Powers he made a shew of them openly triumphing over them as our enemies in on the Cross his triumphant Chariot took away from them all possibility to hurt though they assault us still we are assured of an absolute victory The accuser of the Brethren is cast down which accused them before God day and night and they overcome by the Blood of the Lamb that hath quenched the flames of divine fury and all our enemies are reconciled or subdued Ah my Lord how often doth sin and the world deadden my heart and affections towards thee O how dull how indisposed that I cannot pray with life nor be lively in thy service but this blood was shed to set Prisoners free and is the life of all our duties graces and comforts Oh that its power and efficacy may quicken and enliven me may put vivacity and activity in me that I may pray and hear receive meditate and discourse of spiritual things with freedom and liberty liveliness and chearfulness Oh that I may no more as I have too too often disbelieve or question the promises of this life or that to come For this Blood ratifies and confirms the Covenant of grace not only purchased but assures us of all good things Christ's Will and Testament wherein he hath bequeathed such precious legacies to his people is now of force for a Testament is of force after the Testator is dead Oh how ought it to affect me for the betraying of innocent Blood he was holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners in his hands no wickedness in his heart no sin no guile found in his mouth I and my brethren are guilty but for this spotless Lamb what hath he done and where there is no sin thou inflictest no punishment But he was numbred with the Transgressors surely then the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all for the transgression of my people was he smitten by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many for he shall bear their iniquities Oh! I take thee at thy word and do believe all my sins with all thine Elects were imputed to our surety and the wages of sin inflicted on him that we might be fully acquitted and discharged I am guilty of many aggravated sins and am the greatest of sinners but with thee is plenteous redemption through Christ Jesus who shed his Blood not because we were Righteous but to make us So of infinite vertue and merit as sufficient for me as if none else were justified or saved by it He is able to save to the utmost all that come unto thee by him Oh how small how imperfect are my Graces how cold my Love how weak my Faith How faint my desires after thee but the least degree of Grace is the fruit of this Blood Oh that I may find it's efficacy perfecting that good work thou hast begun in me from strengh to strength till grace be consummated â—n Glory Through the Blood of the Eternal Covenant make me perfect in every good work to do thy will working in me that which is well-pleasing in thy sight Oh what trifles disturb my charitable affections how interrupted and inconstant my love to those who by one spirit are all baptized into one body but Christ hath reconciled us in one body by the Cross having slain the enmity thereby Oh that henceforth I may be of one heart with his Disciples and love them as he hath loved us Our God is a Consuming Fire which I cannot but dread having so much fuel about me and within me but in thy Son I see flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone who gave himself for us And shall the sentence of thy judgment disannul the merit of his sufferings of his satisfaction Didst thou not punish him that thou mightest spare us is it not as great a necessity of thy Satisfied Justice to spare the sinner as it was of thy offended Justice to punish the sin Thou art not only reconcilable but desirous to become our friend Oh how comfortable are those words of thine to my guilty Soul the Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgement to the Son his first coming was in the flesh when he took on him our nature his second in the spirit when he imparted unto us of his spirit his third will be in power when he shall communicate to us his glory his first was to redeem his second to comfort his third will be to reward us If we be careful not to offend he will not be extreme to mark what we do amiss He will proceed not according to the Law which requires an absolute obedience without sin and will condemn all that have been guilty of any sin but according to the Gospel which admits of repentance for the forgiveness of sin and will condemn none but the unbelieving and impenitent sinner Damnation is denounced not for breaking the Law but rejecting the Gospel He is faithful because he hath promised and just because his Son hath purchas'd forgiveness The same sentence shall be pronounced as is past already in the Gospel Whosoever be-believes in him shall not perish but have ever-everlasting life Sin hath shut us out of paradise but â—e blood of Christ hath opened the Kingâ—om of Heaven to all believers It gives us â—ere a right and hereafter an admission â—â—rough this Red Sea we enter into the â—eavenly Canaan and for this cause he 〈◊〉 the Mediator of the New Testament â—hat by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under â—he first Testament they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance And he that