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A81387 The devout communicant exemplified, in his behaviour before, at, and after the sacrament of the Lords Supper. More practical, useful, and sutable to all the parts of that solemn ordinance than any yet extant. : In this impression is added a prayer before, and another after the sacrament; together with more particular directions and meditations for the time of receiving. Seller, Abednego, 1646?-1705. 1675 (1675) Wing D1244AB; ESTC R174542 89,361 247

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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 of● 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
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
passing by so many offences and requirin● no satisfaction from us for such insufferable wrongs but transferring the punishment from us unto his own Son who● love also was so great that he woul● bear our iniquities that we might be saved Oh how could he chuse a mo●● ●●liging way of Redeeming us that hath ●us displayed the severest Justice and ●ghest Mercy the greatest hatred of sin ●●e greatest love to sinners since by those ●equalled and unvaluable sufferings to ●hich he delivered up for us that Son ●ho is so near unto him that he is one ●ith him at once manifesting both how ●uch he hated sin which he so heavily ●nished in the person he most loved ●●d how much he loved sinners by gi●●ng up what he so loved for a ransom 〈◊〉 those that were guilty of what he so ●●ted And oh the miracle the amazing ●odigic of this Love that Heaven ●ould so condescend to Earth and that ●an should be so united to God! that ●●od should dwell in flesh and that this ●sh should be our food That the Son of ●od should love us better then his life and 〈◊〉 the meat of Worms of Sinners of Ene●es that he should make himself pre●nt to our Faith and as if he would do ●●re then die for us desires to live for ●●er in us and to be united to us Was ●●er kindness like unto this was ever ●●ch a furnace of love burning in any ●east can any heart freeze over such a fire Oh! who can abide the heat of th● love who can dwell in such flames a●● not be consumed who can abide in 〈◊〉 great sense of this love and abide in th● body what instances can parallel wh● words can be expressive what appr●hensions can commemorate what r●ptures can be sufficient for the admiratio● of this so infinite love Be thou sw●● lowed up O my Soul in this depth 〈◊〉 Divine love and hate to spend thy though any more upon other things that hast su●● a Saviour to take them up Oh! I shake I tremble am altogether confounded 〈◊〉 the approach of so great guest The Minister coming towards him Lord I am not w●● thy that thou shouldest come under 〈◊〉 roof or to eat the crums that fall fro● my own much less thy Table Oh w●● am I that I should dare with my orignally actually desiled hands to recei●● those high those holy Mysteries th● thou desirest to to come unto me be e●tertained by me what findest thou 〈◊〉 me that so much delights and invites th● to me art thou ignorant of my m●●vile beginning and original I am not ●heruhim Seraphim or of the number of ●hat Celestial Hierarchy but dust and shes polluted dust and ashes Lord ●●adst thou rather be at another mans ●cuse with dishonour then at thy own ●ith honour or if thou hast no respect ●o thine own honour if thou castest under ●ot all praise and renown if thou takest ●nto thee every vile sinner yet hast thou ●o regard to thy Greatness and Majesty Thou knowest my poverty my need my ●mpurity this poor place is a far un●eet habitation for thee Whence is this 〈◊〉 me that my Maker my Redeemer ●hould come unto mee thus favour thus ●ignifie me that thou shouldest be so ●elow thy self as to look upon so low so ●ain so miserable a thing as Man such a ●ead Dog as I am Why have I found grace in thy sight that thou shouldest take knowledge of me seeing I am a stranger Lord what am I that thou shouldest remember me be mindful of me visit me ●ast thine eye set thine heart upon me ●ome to marry thy self with me Whence ●omes it that thou who art in Heaven ●mongst them that know so well how to ●ove and serve thee shouldest vouchsafe to descend to me who know little e●●● but how to offend thee Canst thou 〈◊〉 be content to be without me Did 〈◊〉 meer love draw thee from Heaven 〈◊〉 my sake and give thy self for me to 〈◊〉 deem me from my sins and dost thou s●● give thy self to me to be the strength an● health of my Soul As if thou could● never give thy self enough or be ne●●● enough mine Oh how am I astonish●● at this inconceivable love oh that I we● able to comprehend it Oh that I had 〈◊〉 thousand hearts to correspond with i● oh stay my gracious Lord for the ●●mcasure of my love till thou hast ma●● me able to do nothing else but love the● But since thou art pleased to come an● offer thy self to me my soul thirsteth 〈◊〉 thee I humbly stretch out my hands u●to thee my longing gasping desires a● after thee I open my heart with a● humble thankfulness to receive thee n●ver to be separated from thee for ever 〈◊〉 adhere unto thee Oh enter in and st●● with me satisfie my soul with thy sel● say This day is Salvation come unto t● house Oh be not now offended at th● loathsom sights in a soul so sick and diea●e● ●ased so full of filth of rottenness and ●orruption into which thou art entering Do not disdain me for those many Mala●ies but come and cure me The Bread SEE my soul thy Saviour in the Minister and the benefits that come by ●im in the Bread and Wine believing ●hose with himself are given thee by him ●●s really as the Elements by his Embassa●our saying Take eat this is my Body which is broken for you by Faith re●eive apply appropriate me unto thy ●elf This Bread consecrated by me is ●he Sacrament of my Body offered as an Expiatory Sacrifice for you Hereby I ●mpute my righteousness impart my lo●ing kindness make over and give un●o you my whole self God and Man as Mediator in my Blood and Merits Gra●es and Spirit Virtue and Benefits Obe●ience Satisfaction Expiation Doings ●nd Sufferings in all I have am or have ●urchased for you I make yours by gift ●nd you by Faith as truly as if put into your very hand and mouth Mine were the pains the sufferings of Death yours the benefit mine the stripes yours the balm mine the thorns yours the Crown These are the holes in my hands and side the blood that issued from them yours the price mine yours the purchase See here in my wounds your safety in my stripes your healing in my anguish your peace in my Cross your Triumph I came out of my Fathers bosom that thou mightest lie in Abrahams Own me for thy Lord who have thus bought thee out of slavery accept me for thy Redeemer who have paid so dearly for thee follow me in the way I have shewen thee that I may bring thee to him I have reconciled to thee Do this in and for a remembrance of me who what for whom why for what end with what mind I suffered what I have done for yon and am unto you Dear Saviour biddest thou me Remember thee How should I forget thee how can I but remember but celebrate thee But oh that I could more affectionately
more constantly more effectually remember thee With all the passionate affections of a Heart full of love to wholly in love with thee with all zealous desires to glorifie thee with all fervent longings after thee always to remember thee never to forget thee Oh that the fire of love would now kindle and burn in my Soul boil up even run over with love unto thee Oh that I had the flames of a Seraphim the voice of an Angel to sing thy praise Oh that I could go out of my self when I remember thee and never think of thee without an Extasie forget and quit all the world to live upon thee The thoughts of what thou hast done is able to break an heart of Marble with love to turn a Rock into a Fountain of tears to unloose the tongue of the dumb that they may sound forth thy loving kindness Oh after all his foregoing sufferings feest thou him not my Soul fastened to the Cross conflicting with his Fathers wrath groaning under the weight and burthen of our Sins Look how his whole Body is stretched and tentered his Hands and Feet bored through his precious Blood trickles down and how miserably the Thorns pierce his holy Head See how his Looks are changed his Cheeks pale his Bloud going his Neck too weak to support his Head which lies a dying on his bleeding Breast Look how he shakes and stirs his dying Limbs what gasps and sighs he fetches as if his Soul was strugling to get out Hear you not his dying groans the taunts of the Jews yea the groans of the Earth under the weight of his Cross See the Sun blushing under a veil of darkness to behold the Son of Righteousness under an Eclipse Can oh can my bosom hold now I see the innocent Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world a bleeding Victim on the purple Alter of Death This this my Soul might have been the day that thou mightest have been the Malefactor and have drunk the cup of the fierceness of Gods wrath but there is he that hath done it for thee He harboured no grief of his own but is acquainted with the just and deadly griefs of others he takes our sorrows on him to bestow upon us his joy he sorrows for us that hath neither cause nor likelihood to sorrow for himself What but Gods implacable vengeance could inflict What but his all-sufficient patience could endure What but mans heinous sins deserve such his sad and wrathfull dolors Ah sinful wretches 't is our doings that he suffers our evil but his smart our trespass his punishment His breast is made a large receptable for our cares his back a common prop unto our load he was delivered for our offences he was slain but not for himself he bore our grief and carried our sorrows he was wounded for our trangressions bruised for our iniquities for the transgressions of his people was he smitten Why then are we angry with rail against the Jews and complain not of find no fault with our selves greatlier guilty they were the instruments we the procurers of his sufferings their sins practis'd ours provoked his death we pity his abus'd innocency but think not of our unworthiness and desert bewail the event and redress not the cause we have as great enmity against his Image as they against his Person they grieved him in his Body we in his Spirit and make his wounds bleed afresh he takes it as heinously we should despise him now as that they persecuted him then they were but our Executioners to inflict these punishments our sins deserved and Gods justice imposed on him 'T was thy Sins O my Soul were the associates to crucifie him thy hypocrisie was the kiss that betrayed him thy pride and covetousness the Thorns that crowned him thy oppression and cruelty the nails that pierced him thy unbelief and apostacy the spear that gored him thy Idolatry superstition Juke warmness the knee that mockt him thy contempt of Religion the spittle that defiled him thy anger and bitterness the vinegar and gall that distasted him thy scarlet sins the crimson that dishonoured him my drinking iniquity like water made him drink a Cup of wrath my forsaking my Father made him forsaken of his all the members of his body were objects of such cruelty because mine instruments of iniquity Oh I am the merit of thy sorrow I am the stroke of thy grief I am the fault of thy killing I am the desert of thy death I am the offence of thy revenge I am the grievousness of thy passion I am the cause of thy torment Oh wonderful condition of censure Oh ineffable disposition of the misery the unjust sins and the just is punished the guilty transgresses and the guiltless is stricken the impious offends and the pious condemn'd what the bad deserves the good suffers what the servant perpetrates the Lord pays what man commits God undergoes Whither oh Son of God whither descends thy Humility Whither flameth thy Charity whither proceedeth thy Pity whither encreaseth thy Benignity whither reacheth thy Love whither cometh thy Compass●on I have been proud thou hast been humbled I have done unjustly thou art punished I have dealt heinously thou art revengefully smitten I have committed the fault thou art tortured How much do I owe thee most Blessed Redeemer how great is the price thou hast paid for me miserable Sinner Oh I blush to see my Soul so foul and loathsom that nothing less then thy precious blood serves to wash and cleanse it I am confounded to see thee in such a case for us who cared not how vile how base how miserable we were Oh how was that justice injured that could not rest appeased in Punishment but rigour how odious and intolerable is every sin which required no cheaper blood for a Sacrifice then that of the Son of God and which not suffering only but extremity must expiate how heinous was the commission since even the remission was so grievous That made such a breach between God and us as requir'd such sufferings of the Lord of Glory wretch that I am to cost my God so dear I am not worthy for which he should have suffered the least care or trouble much less the torments of Soul and Body And yet what mean I to be so treacherous unto him How have I broken his commands and my vows even since the last Communion Oh can I Kiss the nails hug the spear desire that which is the blood of him that lost his life Can I account that light which made his Soul heavy unto death Can that be my joy which made him a wan of sorrow sweet to me which was so bitter to him shall those sins not be forsaken by me that made him forsaken of God or live in me that would not suffer him to live in the world Oh can I endure my Lord should be evermore disgusted and affronted oh how is my heart provoked and incens'd against ye my
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 ●he Creditor satisfied when the debt is ●aid will thy Justice suffer thee to de●and the same debt twice of the surety ●nd debtor is not thy wrath appeased ●ith him made so miserable a spectable 〈◊〉 dear unto thee is not the least drachm ●f this Blood of God of greater value then Sea of mine of value to ransom as ●any worlds of men as men in this a ●ufficient satisfaction for all my sins an ●ll-sufficient price for my redemption ●eing justified freely by his Grace through ●he Redemption that is in Jesus Christ ●hom God hath set forth to be apropitia●●on through Faith in his blood to declare ●●is righteousness for the remission of sins ●hat are past through the forbearance of God to declare I say his righteousness ●hat he might be just and the justifier of ●im that believeth in Jesus If we confess ●ur sins he is faithful and just to forgive ●●s our sins and to cleanse us from all un●●gh teousness I am guilty of many hainous sins a●ainst love and light mercies and Judg●ents my own conscience and the ●●ght of nature and without shedding of ●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 w●●● 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 an● solemnly acquit me whom thou no● pardonest by thy deed of gift the Gospel there is no condemnation to them that a● 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 h●● Blood was given to make an Atoneme●● for our souls thy wrath is turned from 〈◊〉 thou art become propitious to believer Christ our Passeover is Sacrificed for us the propitiation Propitiatory Sacrifice● ●or our sins that thou mightest pass over ●nd look upon us with a pleasing aspect ●●e satisfied for sin and pacified to sinners ●n expiated and thou appeased and we 〈◊〉 well ingratiated brought into favour ●f enemies made friends as pardoned ●aving made up the breach and made ●eace through the blood
of his Cross by ●im to reconcile all things to himself we ●●at were sometimes Aliens and Enemies ●ow thou hast reconril'd in the body of his ●●esh through death to present us holy un●●lameable unreproveable in thy sight ●e who sometimes were far off are made ●igh by the blood of Christ for he is our ●eace our peace-maker who hath made ●oth one broken down the middle wall ●f partition betwen us by whom we have ●●so now received the Attonement Lord I am in worse than Egyptian ●ondage a captive to Satan a slave 〈◊〉 my Lusts destitute of grace and eve●● good thing But is not here a suf●cient price laid down for my ransom ●nd all things pertaining to life and godli●ess hath he not obtained eternal re●emption for us who came to give who ●●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 hi● Blood shall we be saved from wrat● through him For Sin he condemned si● in the flesh overcame death and destroyed him that had the power of death eve● the Devil I beg of thee and rely upon the●●for supplies of my soul-pressing wants grace and peace comfort more love unt● thee and fear of thee and. I ask no mor● then what he hath bought for me who hat● not onely purchased me with his ow● blood but all good things by the redundancy of his Merit after satisfactio● made unto thee for our debt I have no righteousness of my own but what is as filthy rags but thou ha● made him to be sin for us who knew 〈◊〉 sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him we are clothed wit● him and appear in thy sight as parts an● portions of himself the fulness of him th●● filleth all in all Oh! impute not th● guilt but the merit of his blood unto m●● 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 Bu● is not this Blood as a visible prayer i● every wound as so many mouths ope● interceding to thee for pardon and mercy for me saying behold the travel 〈◊〉 my Soul the purchase of my blood th● fruit of my Agonies for him I wep● and sweat bled and dyed he hath sinned but I have satisfied he departe● for a season that thou shouldest receive him for ever not as a servant only bu● 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
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 ●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 ●e blood of Christ hath opened the King●om of Heaven to all believers It gives us ●ere a right and hereafter an admission ●●rough this Red Sea we enter into the ●eavenly Canaan and for this cause he 〈◊〉 the Mediator of the New Testament ●hat by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under ●he first Testament they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance And he that