of the holy Spirit to teach and enable us to obey we shall be abundantly convinc'd of the advantage and benefit of it to us By this means we have the same strength and nourishment convey'd unto our Souls which the outward Symbols Bread and Wine convey to our Bodies We are made one with Christ and Christ with us and nothing but our own wilful disobedience shall be ever able to part us more from him This is a true and faithful account of the Lord's Supper which I think may be fairly summ'd up in these few and plain words It is a Foederal Feast or Feast of Covenant between God and man instituted by Christ himself and perpetually to be observ'd by all Christians where by partaking of Bread and Wine in commemoration of Christ's Body given and his Blood shed for them they on their part acknowledge Christ for their Saviour and Redeemer Lord and Master and God on his part grants and confirms to them under the Symbols of Bread and Wine the Body and Blood of his Son Christ Jesus that is all the blessed effects of his Body broken and his Blood shed viz. pardon of past sins promise of eternal happiness upon future obedience of the Gospel and Grace to direct and enable them to perform this obedience And this Feast is therefore call'd the Lord's Supper because it was instituted by our Lord at Supper time From what has been said I think our obligations to receive this Holy Supper do abundantly appear For First We have here a plain command so to do Do this in nomembrance of me a command as has been already shewn you which reacheth to all Christians and will oblige them even to the end of the world So that it is meer trifling with God our Saviour and the World to call our selves Christians and yet live in a wilful neglect of this plain command of Christ Why call ye me Lord Lord saith our Saviour and do not the things which I say to what purpose do ye in words acknowledge me to be your Master and yet when I call upon you to do this plainly declare by your actions that you do not regard me Better had it been for you that you had never taken my sacred name into your mouths than that you should thus abuse and blaspheme it Be not deceived I will not be mock'd but I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sydon at the day of Judgment than for you Secondly This command of our Saviour is attended with a multitude of Circumstances which do every one of them very much add to its force and obligation and render the neglect of it more and more unpardonable For First It was his dying Command that very same night in which he instituted this Holy Supper was he betrayed into the hands of the Jews in order to be mock'd and derided buffeted and scourged and at last sacrificed upon the Cross for our sakes And can our dying Saviour require any thing of us that we will not do Can he speak and shall not his last words be minded by us What answer do ye think ye should have given him had ye heard him speaking in this manner to you My dearest Children who I love so well whose miseries I am so deeply concern'd for whose sins I am so very desirous to get a pardon for that behold I am just now going to dye an ignominious death upon the Cross for you that so by the Sacrifice of my self I may take away all your sins and make you heirs of eternal Glory My best and dearest Children dearer to me than my life itself Hearken to the last words of your dying Saviour I have but one thing more to require of you Oh let not that be neglected by you Let me intreat you with my last breath that breath which I am contented to part with for your sakes to preserve this my last Commandment inviolable I would ye not all have said Distrust us not O blessed Master we beseech thee command whatsoever thou seest good and we will cheerfully obey tho it be even to death itself Our hearts are affected with the sense of thy approaching kindness that we can no more forget thy dying words than we can refuse to accept thy dying Love Secondly It is a very easy Command take Bread and Wine bless them and then eat and drink of them â—n remembrance of me is a Commanndment as little â—rievous as our hearts could wish for so that they â—…ho neglect it have nothing to say in excuse for â—hemselves but seem to sin purely for sinnings sake â—nd this is the very height of wickedness Blessed God â—hat ever the Devil should so far get possession of mens â—earts as to keep them from doing their duty even â—…here there is no hardship in doing it How can â—hese men in reason expect that our Saviour should â—e at any pains to save them who are resolv'd they â—…ill be at none to obey him Or rather how can â—hey not expect to be made the unhappy instances of â—is wrathful displeasure who will not do even this â—mall thing to please him Thirdly This is a Command in which our obedience to â—hrist is more peculiarly try'd In most other of his â—ommands there are other obligations besides those â—f his Authority as in all moral duties obligations â—rom nature reason or the like so that it is not â—ery easy to tell by mens complyance with these â—…hether they are true Servants of Christ or no beâ—ause they may nay and it is plain they sometimes â—o comply with these Duties upon principles of â—ature or reason when yet they have no true sence â—f their obligation from Christs authority But in the â—uty before us there being no obligation but Christs â—ositive institution they who perform it as they â—ught must certainly act upon a true Christian prinâ—iple viz. a sense of the obedience they owe to Christs â—ommands This then being a plain Test of our â—eing true Christians it is certainly our duty to let â—ll the world see by our compliance with it that â—…e are so and that the obligation of Christs Authoâ—ity when alone is abundantly sufficient to comâ—…and us whithersoever it pleaseth Fourthly This command is a more than ordinary Tryal of â—ur gratitude and Love to Christ because it commands â—othing but what we are bound even by the meer â—aws of Love and Gratitude to be most ready to perâ—orm For supposing Christ had had no authority to â—ommand us any thing but had only requested of us that we would perpetually observe this his Supper in commemoration of him yet considering whaâ— great unspeakably great things he had done for us we should have been most inexcusable if we should not have answer'd this his request The Laws oâ— Love and Gratitude are founded upon reason and therefore ought to have a powerful influence upon reasonable creatures and certainly all that Love and Gratitude can oblige us to we must be
that Repentance Faith and Charity are necessary qualifications for the worthy receiving of the Lord's Supper That they are the only necessary ones is very plain because they are all that is necessary to Salvation all that is necessary to give a Man a Title to all the Promises and Blessings of the Gospel and certainly more cannot be necessary to fit a Man for the Lord's Supper than to fit him for Heaven to fit him for the seal of the Promises than for the Promises themselves But here I shall be asked If this be all the preparation necessary how comes it to pass that we have so many Sermons preached and Books written about setting apart some time suppose a week for private Devotion and Examination every time before we receive the Lords Supper How comes it to pass that many very good men if they happen to be disturbed by any worldly business so that they cannot attend this their weekly preparation look upon themselves as unfit for that time to attend the holy Communion To this I answer First that I told you before that there was a preparation tho not absolutely necessary yet under some circumstances expedient and adviseable Where men have time and other opportunities it is very commendable in them to do all they can by reading the Scriptures and other good books and by prayer and other exercises of Devotion to excite and encourage to actuate and quicken all their graces and virtues that so they may appear in their best Robes at their Lord's Table This is such a piece of respect to God and our Saviour as cannot fail of being well accepted of them But then Secondly We must be careful not to carry this matter too far and make other necessary conditions of communicating worthily besides what God has made He has no where commanded us to say a certain number of prayers to fast so many days and to ask our selves just so many questions before we communicate nor doth the nature of our duty require any such thing of us And if our Spiritual Pastors have put us upon these things they have done it as a matter of prudence and good advice and not of necessity and absolute Duty at least if they have not they have gone beyond their commission and departed from the Doctrine of the Church which solemnly invites all such as do truly and earnestly repent them of their sins and are in love and charity with their neighbours and intend to lead a new life following the commandmentâ— of God and walking from henceforth in his holy ways t0 draw near with Faith and take this Holy Sacrament to their comfort without asking them whether they have made any farther preparation Lastly As for those who refrain from coming to the Lords Supper because they have been hinderd frem making this particular preparation let them be never so good and never so wise in other things yet in this I praise them not For certainly it is an argument of a weak mind and not of a sound Judgment for men to make to themselves duties which God and Reason have not made it is Superstition and not Religion for men to place their duty in little niceties and punctilio's and to overlook the weightier matters of the Law And yet this they certainly do who excuse themselves from the great and important duty of communicating purely upon account of their not having perform'd some little forms and exercises which nothing but their own fancies and other mens imprudent discourses and examples have made duties Besides they do by this means debar themselves from the great and inexpressible benefits of communicating they omit a most happy occasion of glorifying God and their Saviour and doing good to their brethren and themselves only to humour groundless scruples and unreasonable curiosities Nay even themselves at other times condemn themselves they can readily come to other Ordinances as praying hearing the word c. without any such preparation as this and yet this would be every whit as commendable here as for the Holy Sacrament We may hear and pray as well as receive unworthily and yet this they seem not to be much concern'd about which plainly shows that they are guided in this matter more by example and fancy than Reason and Religion The summ of all is this We cannot possibly by any preparation make ourselves too pure and devout Guests for the Lords Table and therefore when we have opportunity it will highly become us by prayer and other such means to trim and deck our selves for it But still we must always remember that the great and only necessary preparation is Repentance Faith and Charity a pure innocent mind a firm and stedfast faith in Christ an ardent and impartial affection to our Brethren Without these all other preparations are vain and of no account and with these we are fit guests to receive the Lords Supper where-ever we meet it tho never so unexpectedly and without the least warning He who is possess'd of these Divine Graces is always fit without any further preparation for Death and Heaven and then undoubtedly fit for any means and ordinances of Religion whatsoever But here I shall be ask'd how a man can know hat he is thus prepar'd I answer his own mind must tell him and if he doth but consult it honestly and with sincerity it will No body but himself can inform him whether he be in temper and disposition in firm purpose and resolution to quit all his sins without the least reserve and to endeavour to the utmost of his power to live for the future as becometh the Gospel of Christ No body can tell him what he believeth what he unfeignedly acknowledgeth to be true but himself nor can any other be able to inform him whether he heartily forgiveth all men their trespasses and is ready upon all occasions to do them the most good he can No man knoweth the heart of a man but himself and he may know it if he be faithful to himself Otherwise we are in vain call'd upon in Scripture to examine ourselves to try our thoughts and consult our Consciences Well but you have formerly examin'd your self and thought your self rightly dispos'd in all these points but you found by your after-behaviour that you deceiv'd your self and therefore how shall you trust your self again I answer the more sensible you are of any mistake you have formerly made in this matter the more heedful and watchful over your self ought you to be for the future It may be your heart was in right temper before when you thought it so but you let it slide back afterwards therefore though you think you stand now take heed lest you fall It may be you were careless and remiss in examining your self before and then it is no wonder that you found your self mistaken therefore be strict and severe with thy self now that thou may'st be mistaken no more But may you venture to go to the Sacrament immediately
O Lord help thou my unbelief I believe that the blessed Jesus laid down his life for me and acknowledge with all possible thankfulness his inexpressible kindness in so doing I believe that he gave himself for me and all Mankind that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works therefore will I I endeavour to manifest my Faith by my works I believe that there is none other name under Heaven given among Men whereby they must be saved but the name of the Lord Jesus therefore in his name only I implore thy mercy increase of Faith here and of Glory hereafter Amen For Charity O Lord who hast taught us that all our doings without Charity are nothing worth send thy Holy Ghost and pour into my heart that most excellent gift of Charity the very bond of peace and of all Virtues without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee More especially now when I am going to commemorate the unspeakable love of my blessed Saviour in dying for me let me not be destitute of love towards my Brethren O let my readiness to forgive others their trespasses fit me for thy forgiveness of mine let me not be an enemy to any man lest I be thy enemy too but give me that Charity which covereth a multitude of Sins that Charity by which all Men may know me to be Christs Disciple which shall dispose me to be of a meek patient long suffering forgiving temper like him and to do good to all men as he did that Charity which shall never fail but shall go along with us into and make us fit Inhabitants for that City of Love the new Jerusalem Grant this O merciful Father for the sake of thy Son Christ Jesus through whose love alone we are encouraged to present these our requests to thee Amen A Prayer to be said in the morning before we communicate after our usual Prayers O Most gracious and ever merciful Lord God who art always wont to give more than we either desire or deserve accept I beseech thee my most humble and hearty thanks for thy great mercy in bringing me to the light of this day and thereby giving me an opportunity of meeting my dear Redeemer at his holy Table of testifying my love and gratitude to him and of communicating in all the blessed effects of his love towards me of renewing to him my Baptismal Vow of Faith and Obedience and of receiving from him fresh confirmations of the benefits made over to me in my Baptism even remission of sins grace and eternal life O that I may be careful duly to improve this happy opportunity now before me that I may eat and drink so worthily as to eat and drink my own Salvation that my sins which are many and great more especially all such as have been committed knowingly and wilfully such as Here mention those wilful sins if there are any such which thou knowest thy self to have been guilty of may be forgiven me and that henceforward whither I live I may live unto thee or whither I dye I may dye unto thee that so living or dying I may be ever thine And the same mercies which I beg for my self I beg likewise for all my fellow Christians more particularly those who shall this day any where partake in the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ O let not one of their precious Souls perish who seem to be so near to the Kingdom of Heaven but do thou by thy Grace so assist and direct strengthen and support them now and evermore in doing thy will and working out their own Salvation that in the end they may obtain everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A short Prayer to be said after that which we commonly say at our first coming into the Church GRant O blessed Jesu that the nearer I draw to thy Table the nearer I may likewise draw to thee in purity of heart and affections in strength and liveliness of Faith in fervency and extensiveness of Charity That so being of the same mind which was in thee and thinking believing and doing as becometh thy Disciple I may be meet to be partaker of those pledges of thy favour which thou now offerest at thy holy Table to all thy faithful Servants and of those Joys in another world which thou in thy mercy hast prepared for them Amen Just before we receive HEar those Prayers O Lord which have been offer'd up by thy Congregation and for the sake of thy well beloved Son Jesus Christ suffer us to draw nigh unto thee and to hope for thy mercy In his name alone it is that I a most vile wretch and miserable Sinner am bold to call thee Father and to intreat thy favour and forgiveness O let his merits answer for my unworthiness let his death preserve me from dying let his Body and Blood preserve my Body and Soul unto everlasting life Amen Immediately after receiving the Bread O Merciful Lord Grant I beseech thee that by virtue of thy dear Son's Body given for me and represented to me by this Bread I may become acceptable in thy sight obtain thy pardon and peace thy grace and assistance thy everlasting happiness and glory And do thou O Lord so fill my heart with thankfulness for the inestimable benefits of my Saviour's death and passion that I may be ready to do any thing even to lay down my life for him and that loving nothing more than him he may vouchsafe to think me worthy of him and to crown me with eternal Glory in his Kingdom Amen Immediately after receiving the Wine I Thank thee from the bottom of my heart O gracious God that thou hast redeemed us to thy self by the blood of thy Son O let me evermore bear in mind thy inexpressible kindness and condescension in so doing and shew forth my sense of them in a sincere universal and constant obedience to thee That so the Lord Jesus may be indeed the Author of Salvation to me and I being wash'd and cleans'd from all my sins in his Blood may appear pure and spotless before thee and be admitted to partake of those rivers of pleasure which are at thy right hand for evermore Amen When you return to your Seat GRant O blessed Lord that I and all those who meet together this day under pretence of commemorating thy death may so effectually remember it as for ever after to hate those sins which were the occasion of it so effectually remember it as constantly to love and adore thee for it so effectually remember it as to use our utmost endeavours to imitate and transcribe it so effectually remember it as to remember that we are thine bought with the price of thy Blood and are therefore bound to serve thee with our Bodies and Spirits which are thine Amen A Prayer to be used the evening after communicating with our other Devotions ACcept O Blessed Lord accept my
in any of Gods Ordinances it being downright Hypocrisie and a meer mocking of God to declare ourselves his Servants by communicating in these outward Rites of his Religion when yet at the same time we are not inwardly disposed at all to serve him in the most important parts of our duty living Righteously soberly and godlily in thiâ— present world And therefore we find the Scriptures â—…nstantly representing God as one that abhorreth and abominateth the service of the wicked and resents their prayess and sacrifices their incense and solemn meeting as abomination and iniquity Much less can a wicked man be fit to join in this holy Ordinance of the Lord's Supper for the end of this being to lament and bewail those sins which were the occasion of our blessed Lord's death and to rejoice in that victory which our Lord by his death obtain'd over sin he must certainly be a very unfit man to do this who still taketh part with sin sheweth a favour and liking to it and instead of being Servant to Christ is indeed the Servant of sin Besides we know the Lord's Supper is a covenanting ordinance wherein we are to engage our selves to the service of Christ and God upon supposition of such our engagement is to make over to us all the benefits of Christ's death and passion remission of Sins Grace to enable us to live according to the Rules of the Gospel and eternal Salvation upon our so living But now the wicked man is utterly unqualified for both parts of this Covenant For how shall he engage himself to the service of Christ who is not resolv'd to forsake his Sins Or what Title can he possibly have to the benefits of Christ's death who will not perform that obedience which is a necessary condition of his coming at them so that such a person can have nothing to do at the Lord's Supper he is not concern'd in the business of it and therefore if he does come to it must be look'd upon as an intruder and one that purposely designeth to provoke and affront God Unto the wicked God saith what hast thou to do to declare my statutes or that thou shouldst take my Covenant in thy mouth seeing thou hatest to be reform'd and castest my words behind thee Secondly As to Faith without this the Scripture tells us it is impossible to please God For he that cometh to God he that draweth near to him in any of his ordinances must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him God is not to be put off with outward professions and pretences 〈◊〉 be worshipp'd only with our Lips while our hearts are far from him but he is a God of the Heart a searcher of our Reins and a tryer of our most inward thoughts and therefore it will be better for us not to worship him at all than not to worship him in earnest never to pretend by any outward signs to believe in him than not to believe as we pretend And indeed can any thing possibly be more absurd and ridiculous as well as blasphemous and provoking than for those to pretend to commemorate Christ's dying for us who do not believe one tittle of it For those to acknowledge him the Saviour of the World the Lord and Judge of it who say in their hearts it is no such thing This is certainly either to question God's Omniscience or his regard to sincerity or else to defy his Power and therefore sure we cannot think this an acceptable service to him Besides are not all the Blessings of the Gospel which we hope to have confirm'd to us in the Lord's Supper promised to Believers only or can we think that the inestimable benefits of Christ's death are to be had at so cheap a rate that there is no need either of believing any thing of them or so much as being thankful for them no certainly the Gospel is the power of God unto Salvation unto every one that believeth and to none else to him that believeth with a lively Faith not a Faith without works which St. James tells us is dead and aboundeth therein with thanksgiving To what purpose then but to aggravate his condemnation shall that man dare to come to the Lord's Supper in expectation of the Blessings of the Gospel who is so far from abounding in Faith with Thanksgiving that he has neither Faith nor Thanksgiving Lastly As to Charity this is upon many accounts a necessary qualification for our worthy receiving the Lord's Supper For First It cannot be supposed that any man can be fit to commemorate the great Love and kindness of our blessed Lord in dying for us who is not so far affected with it as to endeavour all he can to transcribe and imitate it How great things soever we may say in commendation of it how much soever we may in words extol it we shall not be accepted of God it we in our Actions blaspheme it And it is in truth no less than to call our Saviour Fool in dying for us when we were his Enemies to think that we are not obliged to love forgive and help one another Either his Love to us had no good grounds and reasons for it or if it had and we think so we ought to shew that we do so by letting the same grounds and reasons influence our Love Secondly Without Charity one of the great ends of our meeting at the Lord's Supper will be defeated which is to propagate Love and Charity amongst Christians Thirdly Without this the Scripture assures us all our Services all our Gifts and Graces will stand for nothing in the sight of God Though we speak with the Tongues of Men and of Angels and have not Charity we are become as sounding Brass or a tinkling Cymbal And though we have the Gift of Prophecy and understand all Mysteries and all Knowledge and though we have all Faith so that we could remove Mountains and have not Charity we are nothing Fourthly Without this we are uncapable of receiving any benefit from the Lord's Supper for remission of sins which must first be obtain'd before we can hope for any other mercy from God is promised only to the charitable If ye forgive men their Trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if you forgive not men their Trespasses neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses Lastly Our blessed Lord has commanded us not to dare to bring any ill will or enmity along with us when we come to his Supper nay farther if we are come to it and find that we have unawares brought any to go away and lay them aside before we presume to partake of it If thou bring thy Gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee Leave there thy Gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift Thus much is I think sufficient to prove
assistance which we there received than we had before and consequently a more inexcusable sin than it would have been before but that it should be unpardonable is what can never be proved For First It is certain from our Saviours own words that all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men So that unless sinning after Communicating be the sin against the Holy Ghost which I think was never yet pretended we need not fear its being forgiven us upon our sincere repentance for it and endeavouring to be more careful for the future But Secondly Did not St Peter after receiving the Communion nay and immediately after too commit sin and that too one of the greatest sins that he could possibly be guilty of the denying his Lord and Master and yet no body doubts but that upon his sorrow and repentance this was entirely forgiven him And ought not this example to be a great encouragement to all such as are so unhappy to sin as he did upon repentance like his to hope for a pardon like his too However Lastly The consideration of this aggravating circumstance of our sins ought to make us extremely cautious and fearful of sinning after the Communion for no wise man will venture himself into an eminent danger meerly because there is a possibility of his escaping out of it Thirdly Others think to excuse themselves by saying that they have already perhaps often too been partakers of the Lord's Supper and been so far from receiving those benefits from it which we pretend are to be had there that they have not found any benefit at all by it and therefore they cannot conceive to what purpose they should give themselves the trouble of coming to it any more To which I answer First That generally speaking this is not true it being plain from experience that most men even the worst of Men too gain this sensible advantage by communicating that for some time both before and after they are more serious more thoughtful and keep themselves within stricter bounds of Temperance and Sobriety than they us'd to do at other times And this is a very considerable advantage and has very often prov'd the happy occasion of mens looking into and examining their own lives of their finding fault with and becoming sick of themselves and of their seeking a remedy for their sickness in a thorough Repentance and Reformation Secondly If men do not find these benefits which we assure them of in the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ it must be wholly their own fault for God is faithful who hath promised and will infallibly make good his part of the Covenant to all those who are careful to make good theirs So that this objection so far as it is true is an objection only against our selves it can be no reason for our absenting from the Holy Communion but it may and ought to be a powerful reason for our taking care to come so prepared that we may be fit to receive the blessings there offered by God to us Thirdly Men are apt to judge of the effects of their receiving the Communion before according to the nature of things they can possibly appear God's Grace tho' it works in a supernatural manner yet it attends the natural motion of mens own endeavours works and keeps equal pace along with them And therefore our reason will tell us that it must take up some time to watch and observe the effects of it The conversion of a Sinner and perfection of a Saint are not things to be wrought in a moment there are a great many little steps and degrees to be taken and gain'd which are almost insensible at least do not become remarkable till they have been often added one to another And therefore we must wait with patience and keep on doing our own business and then in time we need not fear but the works of the Lord will be made perfect in us We can no more argue that we do not grow in Grace because we do not see every small increase of such our growth than that we do not grow in bodily stature for the same reason But Lastly Supposing no benefits at all were to accrue to us from our receiving the Lord's Supper What then Are we to obey none of our Saviour's Commandments but such as we are to be gainers by Is it not enough that he has plainly enjoin'd us to do this Are not his Power and Authority sufficient grounds and motives for our obedience Moreover are we never to minister to the glory and honour of God and our Saviour but where we can at the same time minister to our own profits too This methinks is strange Doctrine especially in a Christian's mouth who promised at his Baptism without reserve to keep all God's Commandments and to walk in the same unto his lives end Fourthly Another Objection comes from those men who do not care to communicate with ill men who they see constantly flock to the Lords Table much less to receive the communion from the hands of an ill Minister as it may sometimes happen But this I hope to shew to be rather an affected niceness and squeamishness than well-grounded Wisdom and Religion For First as to Lay Communicants supposing them to be ill men which yet Charity especially such Charity as a man ought to bring with him to the Communion commandeth you to be well assured of before you suppose it yet what is that to you are you bound to answer for their unworthiness in receiving or for the sins they shall be guilty of after are you afraid that they are infectious and that you shall catch their sins of them only by looking on them or kneeling by them if not what means this foolish nicety these groundless scruples would it not become you better when you meet such men at the Lords Table to hope that they are now beginning to repent and amend and to wish and pray that it may be so ought you not rather to embrace and welcom them with joy thither as the Angels do a repenting sinner and to lay hold of this occasion of encouraging them to love thy self and other good men as that which may afterwards prove a likely means of making them love that Religion to which thou and they owe all their goodness This certainly would be the properest behaviour at this feast of Love this Charity of thine to them would nearest resemble that of thy Lord to thee But you will say perhaps that the thoughts of that extreme danger which they incur by coming unworthily to the Lords Table and their cold and indifferent behaviour there discompose thy thought and deaden thy devotions Be it so yet this is no thy fault but theirs so far as they are the necessary occasion of it But surely it will be no hard matter for thee to divert thy thoughts from them at
unfeign'd thanks for thy great mercy in admitting me this day to the sweet and comfortable communion of the Body and Blood of Christ and for all those benefits which I there receiv'd Enable me for the future to live worthy of them to make good all the promises and vows I there made and to continue stedfast in that Repentance Faith and Charity which I there profess'd Marvellous was thy love in sending thy Son to dye for us and particularly great has it been towards me in that it has caus'd me to be born in a Christian Country where I had early and easy opportunities of knowing the Christian Religion and that too in its utmost purity and simplicity and have long been protected and maintain'd in the free and undisturb'd exercise of it Oh that my behaviour may prove answerable to these mercies that I may use all these happy opportunities which many other poor Souls want as one that is truly sensible of the advantage of them that I may grow in Grace and the knowledge of Christ Jesus and abound in every good word and work to the praise and glory of God I know O Lord that if we sin wilfully after that we have receiv'd the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins but a certain looking for of judgment and fiery indignation O let me constantly carry this in my thoughts and seriously reflect upon it that so I may not be of them who draw back unto perdition but of them that believe to the saving of the Soul I pray likewise that all my fellow Christians may sincerely perform that covenant which they have this day made to thee that they may cease to do evil and learn to do well that they may be strong in the faith of Christ and love one another as he hath lov'd them that so thy honour may be effectually promoted the Salvation of all men farther'd thy Sons Kingdom enlarg'd and his coming hastened to the inexpressible comfort and eternal joy of all those who having sincerely obey'd the Gospel of Christ here shall evermore rejoyce in the blessed fruits and rewards of their Obedience in Heaven Grant this O merciful Father for the sake of thy well-beloved Son Christ Jesus to whom with thy self and thy Eternally blessed Spirit three persons but one God be all Honour and Glory Might Majesty and Dominion from this time henceforth and for evermore Amen The End Books Printed for Thomas Speed over against Jonathan's Coffee-House in Exchange Alley in Cornhil 1700. THE Duties of the Closet Being an earnest Exhortation to private Devotion Part 1. the second Edition Price 1 s. 6 d. The Great Duty of Communicating Explain'd and Enforc'd the Objections against it answered and the necessary Preparation for it stated With Devotions to be us'd Before At and After the Lord's Supper By the Author of The Duties of the Closet Price 3 d. but 20 s. a hundred to those who give them away A Sermon Preach'd before the King at White-hall November 5. 1696. On Job Ch. 5. Ver. 12. The second Edition Price 6 d. A Sermon Preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord-Mayor and Aldermen at Guild-Hall Chappel On Sunday the 11th of April 1697. On Prov. 14. ver 34. Price 6 d. Christianity best propagated by the good lives of Christians A Sermon preach'd before the Gentlemen Educated at Merchant Taylors School at St Mary le Bow January 16 1699. On Matth. 5. ver 16. Price 6 d. These by Sir William Dawes Baronet D. D. and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty A Sermon at the Funeral of Mrs. Elizabeth Fisher Sister to the Honourable Sir Will. Dawes Bar. D. D. And Wife to the Reverend Dr. Peter Fisher Preach'd at Bennington in Hertfordshire June the 2d 1698. By William Milner Vicar of Shephal in Hertfordshire Price 6 d. Of the Happiness of the Saints in Heaven A Sermon preach'd before the Queen at White-Hall October 12 1690. By Will. Beveridge D. D. Rector of St. Peter Cornhil The fourth Edition Price 6 d. Conversation in Heaven in two parts Part I Being Devotions consisting of Meditations and Prayerâ— on several Considerable Subjects in practical Divinity Written for the raising the decay'd Spirit oâ— Piety Part II. Being Sacramental Devotions consisting of Meditations and Prayers Preparatory unto a worthy Receiving of the Holy Communion As also Meditationâ— and Prayers suited to every Part of Administring and Receiving it By Lawrence Smith L. L. D. 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