application of your mind runs upon the World this is a State to be repented of and you must enter upon resolutions of greater care and watchfulness and fervency and having done this you may proceed to the Sacrament without making so long a trial of your selves as in the former case because neither the Church nor your Neighbour can receive any scandal thereby Now beside this part of Examination consisting in an enquiry what sins you have been guilty of or now live in there is a second part of Examination consisting in this enquiry what good you have done what resemblance there is between your life and the life of Jesus your Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus for negative righteousness is not sufficient to make a man a good Christian and though it be true that we are not bound to the highest perfection under pain of damnation yet the love of God the love of Jesus and the hopes of eternal glory do all oblige us to aim at it and therefore we ought to bemoan our non-proficiency barreness and unprofitableness I mean not absolutely such but comparatively with respect to what we should attain to And that you may do this aright demand of your selves what requital have we made our Parents What assistance have we afforded them since God has blessed us What share of what God has prosper'd us with have we given to the poor the hungry and the naked What service have we done for the comfort and support of any that have been any ways distressed After this read with a sober devotion the Beatitudes Mat. 5. and examine the state of your Souls by 'em thus am I poor in Spirit contented in the lowest state resign'd up to God both as to my undderstanding and my will filled with humble thoughts of my own endowments both natural and moral do I mourn under the sense of my past sins and my present defects and infirmities Do I weep in secrets for the sins of my people for the Desolations and Divisions of the Church of Christ for the infidelity of Jew and Gentile and in general for the dishonour God's name suffers in the World Am I of a meek and quiet Spirit peaceable and slow to anger full of humility and reverence towards all but especially my Governours and Masters studying to do my own business and to live quietly in my Station Do I hunger and thirst after righteousnes Is my Soul inflamed with a desire of saying knowledge Do I delight in the meditation of Heavenly truths Am I ravish't with the Loveliness and Beauty of works truly great and truly Christian Am I merciful do I delight to imitate my heavenly Father as far as I am able being bountiful to the needy compassionate to the distressed long suffering towards the offender gentle and easily intreated carefully studying and resolv'dly pursuing the good of all even of mine Enemies and such whose either Ingratitude to me or their aversion to their own good renders the work much more difficult Am I pure in heart Is the World crucified to me Do I account all things but dung and dross in comparison of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord Do I love my God and love my Jesus even to a thirst after a dissolution that putting off the body I may enjoy 'em in Heaven Do I in the singleness and simplicity of my heart pursue the honour of God without regard to any by-interest or corrupt affection Am I a peace-maker content to purchase it for my self or promote it amongst others by any travail or pains and by very great disadvantages to my self Do I pursue peace in the Church of Christ in the State in the Neighbour hood in the Family in my narrow capacity withal imaginable zeal Lastly Am I willing if the will of God so be to part with all and follow Christ to undergo not only reproach and contempt but if need be the spoil of all I have nay Stripes Imprisonment and Death it self These are the heights you are to labour after and though you may fall very short of 'em this Examination will serve to encrease your humility to make you more importunate for the assistance of God and more desirous of being strengthen'd and refresh't by the Holy Sacrament nay it will excite and quicken your graces in you for there is a loveliness in Virtue and therefore the oftner you seriously behold it the more you 'l be enamour'd of it When you have discover'd by this Examination the state of your Souls then proceed to bewail 'em before God thus These and many more which I cannot recollect are my sins O thou Judge of the World and these have all been repeated from time to time so that they now are grown formidable to me for their very number yet besides this how provoking are the aggravations of them that I should sin thus in defiance of the brightest revelation of thy will in contempt of thy long suffering patience and goodness in contempt of thy astonishing love manifested in my redemption by the blood of Jesus in defiance of thy great and precious promises and of all the calls of thy Spirit and of thy Providence nay O my God I have trampled under foot all my most solemn engagements and returned to the commission of sin in contempt even of my repentance my vows and resolutions and canst thou have mercy upon such a wretch as I am I know I have most justly provok't thy wrath and indignation against me my sins are gone over my head as a thick cloud they are a sore burthen too heavy for me to to bear they are more in number than the hairs of my head and my heart has fail'd me but O Lord God I do earnestly repent and am heartily sorry for these my misdoings the remembrance of 'em is grievous to me the burden of 'em is intolerable I am ashamed yea even confounded under the sense of my folly and ingratitude I have consider'd thy terrour and fearfulness and trembling has taken hold upon me I have consider'd thy tender mercies and my Soul is wounded within me for having so falsly and unworthily forsaken and offended thee I have consider'd the humiliation and the sufferings of my blessed Saviour and my Soul suffers an Agony of love and shame with in me for what I have done against my dear Lord. I have consider'd the Beauty of Holiness and I loath my self for the deformity and pollutions of my sins O therefore thou who dost delight to shew mercy to repenting Sinners thou God of love and mercy have mercy upon me and O thou Lamb of God which didst shed thy blood for sinners have mercy upon me thou that takest away the sins of the World have mercy upon me and O my Heavenly Father deliver me not only from the guilt but from the power of my sin I tremble indeed at thy wrath and my soul faints within me when I think of being excluded forever from tny
attention and devout affection Enter into the Church as into the House of God and the place of his more immediate Residence In hearing attend to the great End that is that thou mayest grow thereby that some Infirmity may be cured some Virtue improv'd some fresh Resolution form'd and in a word thy Soul rais'd into a more heavenly and holy frame being return'd home as soon as thou canst find an opportunity bless God that he has spoke to thy Soul that he has affected thee by his Word and his Spirit and endeavour by a solemn Review and Consideration of those things by which thou wast most affected to fix 'em better in thy memory I should have said in thy heart and then lay all thy Desires and Resolutions in devout Prayers before God and earnestly beg and depend upon his goodness for the obtaining the one and his grace for the performing the other In the evening the last thing thou dost call thy self to an account look back on every part of the day examine thy behaviour bewail thy defects bless God for all thy spiritual Advantages of the day and thou shalt find unspeakable comfort and peace thy delight in spiritual things will encrease and thy hopes will grow up thou wilt begin to relish and anticipate the joys and long for the possession of Heaven The Duty of Prayer Another Duty we owe to God is Prayer concerning which a Servant is to observe these three or four things First you must endeavour to awaken a steady Devotion in your heart by imprinting in it a holy Reverence and awful Dread of the Divine Majesty by these or the like thoughts O God thou art the Eternal God the Almighty Lord of Heaven and Earth all things are upheld by thy Power and filled by thy Goodness at thy Rebuke the foundations of the Earth will tremble and the Heavens at the Voice of thy displeasure all the Nations upon Earth are but as the Drop of the Bucket and the Grain of the Ballance before thee Oh what then am I a poor despicable sinful and extremely small part of ' em O suffer me not to forget thy Majesty suffer me not to forget my self Or thus O just and holy God thou art the Creator and Redeemer thou art the Judge of all Mankind thou art the Searcher of the Heart and Trier of the Reins O suffer me not to be cold or careless much less hypocritical in my Addresses to thee for not only * Eccl. 16.11 mercy but wrath is with thee and as thou art mighty to forgive so art thou too to pour out displeasure O suffer me not therefore rudely and inconsiderately to stretch forth my hands towards thine Ark the place where thine Honour dwelleth lest I be smitten like Uzzah and perish in my folly Or thus O Lord thou art MY God by thee have I been holden up ever since I was born thou art my God and I will praise thee I will love thee O Lord my God for thou hast redeem'd me O Lord thou God of Truth thou Rock of my Salvation my Soul thirsteth after thee open thou my mouth that I may praise thee in the joys and transports of my Soul enflame my heart that I may cleave to thee by the Embraces of Love that I may wrestle with thee by unfeigned Faith and devout Desire and not let thee go till I have obtain'd a Blessing for still I have many Infirmities that will separate between thee and me O let me never be divided from thee Lord save me or I perish Secondly See that thou do nothing that is repugnant to thy Prayers for 't is in vain to beg of God that which thou deniest thy self nay 't is extreme Hypocrisie to importune God for that Grace which thou dost manifestly resist or incapacitate thy self for by thy actions if God or his Prophet bid thee wash and be clean 't is mere presumption to expect the Cure of thy Leprosie without the use of the means prescrib'd Thirdly Mark the Issue and Return of thy Prayers that thou mayest be thankful as thou hast been importunate for a Blessing or if thou receive it not that thou mayest correct and reform what is amiss it may be thy Prayer wants Sincerity or it wants Faith or there is a Babylonish Garment and a Wedge of Gold hid in thy Tent some darling Lust conceal'd in thy bosom or thy Petition it self is a foolish Lust or wanton Passion and 't is well if it bring not down a Curse instead of a Blessing As to your Prayer I think it matters not much whether it be a form or a sudden Effusion provided it have in it a steady Faith and humble Devotion which is the Life and Soul of Prayer But as far as I am able to see good forms fitted to their necessities are most useful for Servants because mental Prayer e're it can be such as it ought requires good ability solemn preparation or at least an habitual exaltation of mind and takes up much time Particular Forms suited to particular occasions I have endeavour'd to provide in this Treatise for general ones Morning and Evening you may use these which follow A Prayer for the Morning O Lord my God thou hast preserv'd me this night which might have been my last and for this my Soul blesses thee Thou hast given me another day O give me Grace too to spend it so as if it were to be my last O let it not increase my guilt and the number of my sins but enable me to work in it the work for which thou hast sent me into the World for the night cometh wherein I cannot work The number of my sins is great enough already they would sink my Soul down to Hell if the blessed Jesus had not loved me and given himself for me and if thy Mercy were not as thy Majesty that is Infinite for I have forgotten thee too too often though thou hast given me my Being and hast provided for me when there was none other to help me I have forgotten thee though thou gavest me thine own Son to redeem me not only to free me from the punishment due to my sins but also to procure for me Life Eternal I have fear'd the displeasure of man whose breath is in his Nostrils more than I have fear'd thine O thou just and holy Judge of Mankind I have been more solicitous for the Bread that perishes than for thy Favour which is better than the Life it self and oh well were it for me if I had only omitted my Duty towards thee or perform'd it lifelesly or sluggishly but woe is me I have despis'd thy Goodness and Long-suffering I have harden'd my heart against thy Commandments I have dealt proudly and presumptuously and have done wickedly here mention those sins which most burden thy Conscience if thou hast any such and particularly those of thy Service and yet after all this vain and sensless Creature that I am I have repin'd
and murmur'd at thy Providence been discontent in my Condition and complain'd of thy Dealings towards me 'T is true O my God that thou of thine infinite goodness hast convinc'd my Conscience of sin affected my Soul with a sorrow for it and wrought in me Resolutions of amendment but oh how many have been my falls how many and grievous have been my Relapses how negligent have I been of the Covenant of my God! Oh how soon have the tears of my Repentance dried up how soon has the flame of my Devotion and Love slackened and even gone out O God thou holy God thou Witness of all my actions and Judge of all my thoughts and affections what would become of me if thou shouldest enter into strict Judgment with me how should I stand before thy Tribunal cover'd with the guilt and shame of so many sins But O thou God of Mercy O thou God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ I know that thou art always ready to pardon poor Penitents Lord I repent increase thou my Repentance trouble has taken hold of me my Soul is cast down and disquieted within me I am asham'd yea even confounded for I do bear the Reproach of the folly and ingratitude of my sins O be thou reconciled to me pardon me I beseech thee by the Merits and Intercession by the Agony and Passion and by all the painful Sufferings of thy Son pardon me O pardon me I beseech thee by thine own boundless goodness by those tender Mercies and Compassion which thou art wont to exercise towards Repenting sinners And Lord not only pardon my sins but deliver me I beseech thee from the Dominion and Power of 'em O assist me to break off those Chains of carnal Lusts and worldly Cares in which I have been held bound I have a false deceitful heart O give me Sincerity and Truth have a sluggish and drowsie body O enkindle in me fervency of spirit I am conscious to my self of great weakness and fraily O do thou confirm and strengthen me who alone canst make me a clean heart O O God and renew a right spirit within me give me a true Faith and enflame my heart with a holy Love that I may delight my self in thy Commandments that I may walk before thee in uprightness and fear diligently seeking thee constantly depending upon thee chearfully submitting to thy Will and doing the Duty of my place in singleness of heart as knowing that I shall be accountable to thee as well for those Duties which I owe Man as for those which are more immediately to be paid to thee O Lord keep me that my foot stray not out of the path of Justice O Lord keep me that I offend not with my Tongue and after I have done all O Lord suffer me not to fall short of my Reward through my pride or ingratitude but make me always thankful always humble neither defrauding thee of the Praise due to thine infinite Bounty and Mercy nor Man of the Thanks due to him for any act of kindness or charity towards me help me O my God to walk thus that my Soul may enjoy a true Liberty that my Life may be full of comfort my Death of peace and my Eternity of glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. And O my God bless not me only but this whole Family thou that art the God of Love the God of Peace sow in all our hearts the seeds of unfeigned Charity that we may all enjoy the comfort of a mutual Affection and of a mutual Assistance and Aid in our several places and Lord possess every Soul of this Family with a just sense of our Duty towards God and Man that all of us may be living Members of thy blessed Son and being protected by thy Providence directed by thy Word and assisted by the Influence of thy Spirit we may all at last meet in the Family of Heaven where we shall adore and praise thee love and enjoy thee to all Eternity through Jesus Christ our Lord. A Prayer for the Evening O My God my Strength and the Rock of my Salvation the Day is past and the Evening is come O give me grace to remember that this Life will one time be past and Death will come that I may live so that my work may be then finisht as 't is this day and I may have nothing else to do but go to my Rest where I shall be invested with Liberty and Glory Eternal Eternal O blessed Wages of a short Lifes service how does my Soul praise thee O Lord in Transports and even Extasies thou hast called me indeed to be a Servant but thou hast called me too to be a Son thou hast not indeed given me any great portion of the Wealth or Honour of this Life but thou hast given me the blessed Jesus to be my Redeemer and thy holy Spirit to be my Sanctifier O do but ever continue thus to me the Light of thy Countenance thy Grace and thy Truth and I shall never think my self to stand in need of any thing that the World admires but O my God how often are these my Comforts abated nay even interrupted how often is this blessed this chearful Light obscur'd and orecast by my infirmities and sins my sins the only causes that keep good things from me my sins the only real troubles of my Life Thus O my God though I renew'd my Covenant with thee but this morning though I devoted my self to thee vowing Obedience to thee and faithfulness to my Master yet have I prevaricated my Duty here mention the Errours and Infirmities of the day past have mercy upon me O Lord have mercy upon me and forgive me these and all other my offences and give me grace to keep my self upon my watch and guard against them Enable me sincerely to endeavour to repair and reform 'em as much as in me lies that I may every day grow and increase in goodness and be so much the fiter for Death the nearer I do every day approach to it and whenever it comes let it find me O Lord with my Loyns girt and my Lamp burning in a disposition and frame of spirit fit to die possessed with an unshaken Faith with an humble Resignation and Submission of Mind with a holy Contempt of Earth and a devout Love of Heaven In the mean time thou keeper of Israel thou who never slumbrest nor sleepest watch over me and this whole Family protecting and delivering us in our coming in and going out particularly let thine Angels pitch their Tents about us this night let us lie down securely and let our sleep be sweet to us for thou Lord shalt make us dwell in safety Amen Amen Blessed Jesus If any one expects from me Directions here for Mental or Extemporary Prayers I must tell 'em freely that little less than a Volume much bigger than I purpose this is sufficient for such an undertaking What I have to say in a word here
will one day be Make me O Lord remember that I am always in thy sight and that thou dost ponder all my Paths that I may be fully convinc'd that both my Temporal and Eternal Interest depends upon the Conscientious performance of my Duty that so I may not be seduc'd or discourag'd by any Temptations whatever but still looking up to God and having regard to the recompence of Reward I may run with patience the Race that is set before me Amen Blessed Jesus So be it PART III. The Necessity of Communicating Concerning the Sacraments of the Lords Supper there are two things which Servants are to be Instructed in First Their Obligation to Receive it as often as they can have an opportunity Secondly What Preparation is necessary to it CHAP. I. The Servants Obligation to Receive the Sacrament General Obligations THE Obligations to Commemorate the Death of our blessed Lord which arise from the consideration of his great Love in dying for us and the great benefits we are made partakers of in that Holy Communion and from the need we stand in of the Grace and Mercy that is conveyed and sealed to us in this Sacrament these and such like are Universal Obligations and equally concern all Mankind the Servant as well as the Master the Poor as well as the Rich for the Son of God has died for all alike Mercy to pardon us and Grace to assist us is tender'd to all alike and all do alike stand in need of both And of this sort of Obligation is the command of Christ and the practice of the Primitive Church and the nature of the Duty as 't is the renewing of our Covenant all these do oblige all Men alike to frequent Communion for no sort of Men were excepted in the command of our Saviour no Rank of Men were excluded in the practice of the Church and since 't is a publick owning of our Covenant it seems to me that it cannot be utterly neglected much less contemn'd without Relinquishing the Communion of Saints Renouncing the Faith and falling almost into the guilt of open Apostacy All these Arguments and Motives to the frequent use of the Sacrament do as strongly bind and forcibly press Servants as any other sort of People whatever Obligations peculiar to Servants But besides these there are some considerations which may more peculiarly concern Servants than others and which seem to render the neglect of this Duty more inexcusable in them than in any others As First As they enjoy not the pleasures which Men of plentiful Fortunes do so neither are they distracted by the cares which Masters of Families may reasonably be supposed to be Nor are they engag'd in so many contentions as the many designs and interests of their Superiours do necessarily expose them to they live if it be not their own fault by constant Rules they have all the advantages of retirement in the midst of the World lying under no pressing Temptation either to care or contest or sensuality So that unless they be extreamly careless of their Souls unless they be extreamly insensible of the love of Jesus they must live in an habitual preparation for the Sacrament or at least they can have no tolerable excuse for the neglect of it It deserves well to be further consider'd that the great stress of business which lies upon many Masters of Families in their Trades and Imployments lies not alike upon them or if it do it may indispose and incapacitate the Master for the Communion and yet not the Servant 'T is the Masters choice but the Servants necessity that puts him upon it 't is often the Masters Ambition and Covetousness but 't is the Servants Obedience and Faithfulness that engages him so that the weight of business which may be the Masters fault is the Servants Duty and therefore tho' it keep the one it must not the other from the Sacrament for 't is impossible that any one should be made unfit for the Communion by doing his Duty 'T is true to advance a little further that the love of Jesus in dying for us was equal towards all for all were subject to the punishment of sin but if there were any difference the obligation would be greater on the poor and mean in one respect than on the rich Because such do need the support and comfort which they derive from this Blood not only to uphold 'em against the terrour of another Life but also under the troubles of this and certainly the more low and mean any mans State in this present World is the more unpardonable in him is the love of this Life or the neglect of another for the less pleasure we enjoy from without the more natural is it to seek the pleasures of Religion the pleasures of Faith the pleasures of the mind from all which it necessarily follows that a Servants coldness towards his blessed Lord and Master has something less of excuse in it than any other Mans For in what Heart shall the blessed Jesus find an Entertainment in what Soul shall he find place to dwell unless in that which has no Temptation to love the World Where should the love of Heaven the love of Jesus and the love of Virtue take deeper Root than in that Heart which hath rationally no Foundation no place to raise any other hopes on that are considerable Where might our dear Lord expect sooner to be receiv'd with open Arms and the whole Heart than by these who have no other Friend no other Patron to trust to According to this discourse this was the success the real issue of things in the first times The Poor had the Gospel Preach't unto 'em that 〈◊〉 these generally speaking were the only Men which were affected and wrought upon by the Preaching of the Gospel But now ah now The times are inverted the Servant and the mean Man appears as much more stupid and negligent in the things of another Life as he has less share than others in this they seem to be sunk as much beneath the Virtue as Fortune of their Superiours and being freed from the Cares and Emulations from the Ambition and Designs of those above 'em their Souls seem to be grown so unactive so thoughtless so dark that they carry not one Meditation beyond the works of their hands like him in Ecclesiasticus * Chap. 38.25 How can he get wisdom that holdeth the plough and that glorieth in the goad that driveth Oxen and is occupied in their Labours and whose talk is of Bullocks For shame shew your selves men and convince us that you have Rational and Immortal Souls let me intreat you consider how great a dignity you are advanced to how great an honour you are vouchsafed by God in being invited by him to this feast you do here more nearly approach God you are feasted and entertain'd by him as his Children you are united in the closest Ties and Bonds with your dear Lord and
and fear a state of darkness and affliction a state of wrath and death death eternal death and shall I be so fond of this state as to continue in it after thy Son has shed his blood to redeem me from it Shall I despise this Redemption and not hasten to be partaker of his Blood and all the benefits of his death and passion O my God and my Father it was an act of the most tender mercy in thee to offer up thy Son to death for me Ah what Ingratitude must I be guilty of towards thee what cruelty towards my self if I neglect this great salvation if I renounce or at least forget my Saviour and exclude my self from any Interest in his death O blessed Jesus didst thou by thy one painful oblation of thy self upon the Cross make a full perfect sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the sins of the whole World and can there be any thing more dear to me than the memory of this thy love more worthy of my remembrance than the redemption of the whole Word Redemption ah blessed word What happiness what Heaven doth it import to be redeem'd by Christ is to be translated out of darkness into a marvelous light out of the Regions and shadows of death into the glory of the Sons of God out of a state of bondage into the most perfect liberty out of a state of wrath into a state of Love and Mercy out of a state of Dread and Terrour into a state of Peace and Joy and Hope or at least into a capacity of all this and doth not all this deserve that I should ever commemorate this thy Redemption of me and of the World with devout joys with humble transports and the most grateful passion Didst thou need O my Blessed Saviour to institute and in thy Holy Gospel command me to continue a perpetual memory of that thy precious death until thy coming again lest I should forget it Ah wretched nature Ah wretched state Can there be any temptations that can betray me into so vile a baseness Can the love of the World a false deceitful World make me forget thee thy Agonies thy Wounds thy Death thy Love Ah my dear Saviour can it be so hard a matter to keep my remembrance and love of thee awake alive that thou shouldst need to command me thus to commemorate thy death in the lively symbols and representations of it and to enforce thy command by putting me in mind of thy coming again Methinks without all this my love for thee should have been so bright and flaming that I should have despised all things as dung and dross in comparison of thee and have desired to have known nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified methinks I should have lived in the devout contemplation of thy great excellent actions and thy great sufferings till I had been weary of this World and of this body of this poor Beggarly and Imperfect state and have long'd for my Dissolution and Entrance into thy presence this thy love deserv'd from me even though I had been encompassed with the pleasures and crown'd with the honours of this World how inexcusable then must I be who am one of the meanest of the people who have no allurements no temptations in my Fortune if I forget thee and forsake thee Ah! how shall I stand before thee when thou comest again How shall I behold thee in the glory of thy Father and on this tribunal if I should now forget thy sufferings for me forget thy love of me and neglect thy last thy dying commands the highest token of thy passion for me shewing how solicitous thou wast lest I should lose the benefit of thy blood when thou hadst shed it ah with what not shame and blushes but horrour and amazement would my guilty Soul be covered at thy appearance but this shall never be my Crime this shall never be my state never shall my Soul be guilty of such ingratitude to the Tender Mercys of my God or the tender love of my Saviour No my sorrows overflow me my heart is wounded within me that I have forgot thee so long already that I have remembred thee so seldom that I have turn'd my back so often upon that Holy Sacrament wherein thy passion ought to have been commemorated by me O pardon pardon blessed Lord thy unkind thy unfaithful Disciple I come to thee I come to confess thee I come to worship thee in the troubles and desires of a broken Spirit a contrite passion a restor'd Faith and a Revived affection O receive me cover'd with my tears and with my shame but ravish't with thy love too henceforth O my Saviour I will live with thee nothing shall divide thee from me not Business nor Interest not Relations nor Friends not the sluggishness of the body nor distractions of the World not life nor death it self I will live with thee in devout Prayers and Holy Meditations and with an impatient passion I will hast to meet thee in the Holy Sacrament which thou hast appointed as the representation of thy death the pledge of thy love in the symbols oif thy extraordinary presence And O blessed God who of thy tender mercy didst give thy Son to suffer death upon the Cross for my Redemption out of the same tender mercy assist me with thy grace that I may commemorate that his death with that Faith and humble gratitude that I may be made partaker of the Redemption wrought by it help me so to approach these Holy mysteries so to receive these Elements of Bread and Wine that I may be made partaker of the most precious body and blood of my Saviour that so being wash't from my sins by his blood united and incorporated with him by Faith and Love I may be strengthen'd and supported govern'd and protected by him while I am in the body and may meet him at his coming again with unspeakable rejoycing and be acknowledg'd by him as his Faithful Disciple and Follower Amen Amen for the sake of the same my crucifi'd Redeemer and Saviour Christ Jesus A Devout Exercise of Faith Repentance Love and Hope by way of Preparation for the Sacrament FIrst The Exercise of Faith The former Exhortation of our Church to the Receiving of the Sacrament lays down the design of Communion in these few but full words The most comfortable Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ is to be receiv'd in remembrance of his meritorious Cross and Passion whereby alone we obtain remission of our sins and are made partakers of the Kingdom of Heaven On which you may thus comment Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief I believe that thou the Son of God didst take upon thee the form of a Servant and wast made in the likeness of Men and being found in fashion as a Man didst humble thy self and becamest obedient unto death even the death of the Cross I believe that by that thy painful Death painful
presence but I do also loath and detest my sin O deliver me from it aid me by thy blessed Spirit that I may conquer and subdue all my corrupt affections O let that Spirit which was in Jesus be in me also that the life of Jesus may be seen in all my actions and the image of Jesus may be form'd in my Soul and my conversation may be in Heaven and here O Lord I offer up and devote to thee even my Soul and my body resolving to live a life of Devotion a life of Justice and Charity a life of Meekness and Humility a life of Industry and Watchfulness a life of Purity and Sobriety O Lord strengthen me O Lord establish me by the might of thy Spirit by the power of thy Word by the protection of thy Povidence that I may persevere and be faithful unto the end and so obtain a Crown of Righteousness through Jesus Chirst our Lord. 3dly The Exercise of Charity O my my God thou hast taught me by thy holy Word that thou art love that he only who dwelleth in love dwelleth in thee and accordingly I do find that thou art long-suffering and merciful that thou fillest even the Wicked and thine Enemies with thy goodness and O my blessed Savour and Redeemer I find that in this also thou art the express Image of thy Father and the brightness of his glory for thou camest from Heaven to Earth to die for thine Enemies to reconcile man to God first and then to reconcile and endear us all to one another and has taught us that we cannot be thy Disciples unless we love one another I do therefore most readily forgive all those that have wronged me either by word or deed I do from my heart readily pardon all those who have or do wish me evil or who endeavour or design me any I do earnestly desire to be the Child of my Heavenly Father and the Disciple of my dear Master in this point and therefore being jealous lest my reconciliation should not be sincere or perfect enough I do firmly purpose upon every opportunity to express my Charity towards mine Enemies my acts of Love and Kindness and lest after all I should not be zealous enough to promote that Love and Unity which is so dear and acceptable to my God and my Saviour lest I should not throughly coppy out the Divine pattern that is set me I will not only with unfeigned Humility and Affliction of Soul confess my offence make reparation and beg pardon for any wrong I have done others but I will wooe and importune those who have wrong'd me into a reconciliation For how well must this become me when God himself courts and beseeches the sinner and the Son of God Preach't and Prayed and Wept and Died for those who were irreconcileably set against him To be us'd by such as are conscious of Undutifulness towards their Governours and O my God I do now call to mind how unkindly how unchristianly I have behaved my self towards those who are my Governours in Church and State I have often made false slanderous and spightful reflections upon 'em and have aided and countenanced others in the like I cannot make to them a Personal Acknowledgment of my offences nor sue to 'em in particular for the pardon of 'em Here therefore before thee my God and my Judge whom I have hereby offended I do confess and bewail my sin and folly humbly imploring thy pardon and the assistance of thy Grace that I may henceforth walk in Christian Charity towards those who are my Governours thy Ministers for my good not only forbearing all Disloyalty Disobedience Malice and Uncharitableness my self but also discountenancing and opposing it in all others as far as in me lies O thou God of Love fill me with thy Divine Spirit fill me with Brotherly Affection and with a Fervent Zeal for the good of my Neighbour nor suffer me ever to be wanting according to my capacity to increase the happiness of the Prosperous and the Pious or to relieve the misery of the Afflicted and the Sinner But O my God whilst I pray for a Spirit of Love towards my Neighbour I must not forget to beg and beg earnestly that by the same Spirit thou wouldst shed abroad the Love of thee my God in my Heart O Let me ever remember the great things which thou hast done for me O Let me ever think upon the Patience and Long-suffering which thou hast exercised towards me above all let my Soul ever adore and love and bless thee that thou hast given thine own Son out of thy Bosom to die for me and for all Mankind that whoever believed on him might not perish but have Everlasting Life And O let me ever love and glorifie that Son of thy Bosom who hast loved me and given himself for me and washt me from my sins in his own Blood and O may I ever express this my Love by a frequent Commemoration of it by Devout Addresses to thee my God by a Devout Zeal for thy Glory and the propagation of the Kingdom of my Saviour Amen Amen Fourthly The Exercise of Hope After all these reflections which I have made upon my sinfulness and the Divine goodness upon my guilt and the atonement and satisfaction wrought by the Blood of Jesus I find that as the consideration of the one begets sorrow so doth the consideration of the other beget hope in me and I find the trouble of my Soul clear up into Christian Peace and Comfort My past sins indeed and my present unworthiness fill me with grief and shame and reproach of Conscience but there are other things that lift me up from the Earth that wipe away my Tears and remove the Garments of my mourning and fill my Soul with chearfulness and delightsome expectations such are these when I consider the Divine Nature I am assured that God delights not in the death of a Sinner but delights in exercising Loving-kindness Righteousness and Mercy upon Earth When I consider the death of Jesus I am well assured that it is a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for my sins and the sins of the whole World when I lastly consider the tenour of the Gospel-Covenant as 't is publisht to the World by the Son of God and his Followers I find contain'd in it pardon of sins to all repenting and believing Sinners without Restriction without Limitation without Exception of any Person or Reservation of any case * Math. 11.28 Come unto me all that travail and are heavy laden and I will refresh you * John 3.16 So God loved the World that he gave his only Begotten Son to the end that all that believe in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life * 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a true saying and worthy of all Men to be received That Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners * 1 John 2.1 If any Man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins And now I lift up my Heart O Lord unto thee I approach near thee and Sacrifice to thee in the joy of hope and thankfulness For tho' I do not presume to come to this thy Table trusting in my own Righteousness yet I do firmly trust in the multitude of thy Mercies I know I am not of my self worthy to gather up the Crumbs under thy Table yet I do with all know that the Son of God has died for Sinners and that thou art the same Lord whose property is ever to have Mercy I do not therefore doubt but I shall be a welcome and acceptable tho' in my self an unworthy Guest to this Table and being assisted by thy Grace shall so eat the Flesh of thy Son Jesus Christ and drink his Blood that my sinful Body shall be made clean by his Body and my Soul washed through his most precious Blood and I shall evermore dwell in him and he in me Amen Amen Aug. 5. 1685. Imprimatur Liber cui Titulus The Duty of Servants c. H. Maurice R mo D no. W mo Arch po Cant. a sacris â—INIS There is lately published by the same Author a Book intituled An Enqutry after Happiness c.