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VI. Methinks, I perceive the enemy laying another fnare to fruftrate my good refolutions; the devil, fometimes, that he may deceive us the better, will transform himself into an Angel of light. He pretends to plead the caufe of God, and endeavours to stagger our faith; faying, that if now we break thofe refolutions made before receiving the Lord's Supper, and return again to our fins, he doubts whether God would ever again admit us to pardon and reconciliation; and therefore, he thinks it fafer to abstain from the holy Communion, rather than to run the hazard of being for ever excluded from the hopes of heaven. It is true Saint James tells us, † in many things we offend all; there is no man but what has his fhare, more or lefs, of human infirmities, fo that it is moft reafonable to conclude, that, in the courfe of this life, thefe will fometimes unavoidably furprife and betray us into fome fins. Against these therefore we must continually strive, and we may reasonably hope that, by God's grace and our own careful endeavours, we may every day more and more prevail against them. For,

VII. However God may think it fit, for our humiliation, and a farther trial of us, to leave us ftill exposed to fome of the common infirmities of our nature; yet, in respect of all habitual

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habitual or deliberate fins, we may affure ourfelves, that he is faithful, and will not fuffer us to be tempted above that we are able, but will with the temptation alfo make a way to efcape, that we may (if it be not our own fault). be able to bear it. Nor will he fail to draw nigh to us, whilst we continue careful to drew nigh unto him. Let us then but ftedfaftly: refolve to be hearty and industrious in doing what lies in our own power; and then, tho' our fins be as fcarlet or as red as crimson ‡ yet we need not be difcouraged for God is ready upon our repentance to make them as white as wool, or as fnow. ||

VIII. Yet at the fame time it ftands with a great deal of reason, that the greater our fins have been, and the oftener we have relapfed into them, the deeper our forrow, and the more fincere our repentance must be, in order to obtain our pardon. But fince there is a probability of pardon even in the cafe of the mostprofligate and abandoned finner, we must not make the contrary fear, fuggefted by the devil, a pretence for keeping ourselves back from any of the ordinances of God, and from a more immediate and intimate communion with him.. On the contrary, let us flee to them in the time of our temptation, as the ready means to deliver

* Cor. x. 13. James iv. 8. Ifaiah i. 18. Ibid.

liver us from all evil, and established by God to confirm us in every thing that is good.

The Hymn on Monday Evening.

A boly Refolution to approach the Lord's Table.

"T

'HE promise to my Father's love
"Shall stand for ever good :"*
He faid; and gave his foul to death.
And feal'd the grace with blood.
To this dear cov'nant of thy word
I fet my worthlefs name,

I feal th' engagement to my Lord,
And make my humble claim.

Thy light, and ftrength, and pard'ning grace,
And glory, fhall be mine;
My life, my foul, my heart, and flesh,
And all my powers are thine.

I call that legacy my own

Which Jefus did bequeath,

'Twas purchas'd with a dying groan,
And ratify'd in death.

Sweet in the mem'ry of his name,
Who blefs'd us in his will,

And to his teftament of love
Made his whole life the feal.

*Luke xvi. 17.

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Cor. i. 11. 22.

The

The Prayer on Monday Evening.

For pardon and forgiveness of those fins which deter us from approaching the Lord's Table.

MOST

OST great, moft holy, and moft glorious Lord God! I know that thou delighteft in the ways of mercy, that thou art a tender lover of fouls, and not only permitteft, but inviteft * us miferable creatures to come unto thee; therefore I am convinced of the neceffity of that holy inftitution, which thou haft ordained by thy Son our Lord, in that holy Sacrament of his fupper, whereby we are raised from the death of fin unto a life of righteoufnefs.

With humble confidence then, O Lord! I lift up my foul unto thee, befeeching thee, in thy great mercy, to look upon me, and to eafe me of the burthen of my corrupt and finful inclinations: oh! caft me not away from thy prefence, but, for the fake of my dear Redeemer, receive me graciously to thy mercy; and let the merit of his bitter death and paffion atone for all the follies and mifcarriages of my life paft: forgive, I meekly befeech thee, whatever I have done amifs this day and all my life, either against thee, my neighbour, or myself.

Oh! what am I, that I fhould prefume to fpeak unto thee, or to lift up my eyes to that

* Matthew xi. 28.

place

place of purity where thine honour dwelleth.* Oh! cleanfe me from all my fecret and unknown tranfgreffions: and, moft merciful Father, who upholdeft all things by the power of thy word, grant that I may seriously confider and reflect upon the foulness and deformity of my fin, and what dreadful threatnings thou haft denounced against it; that I. may become a true and fincere mourner for my paft fins; and, as far as it is poffible, redeem my mifpent time, by employing the remainder of my days in thy fervice, and to thy glory. O Lord! give me a new heart, new affections, and new defires, that I may love thee with more fincerity, and ferve thee with greater faithfulness than I have ever yet done; convince me of the vanity and uncertainty of all things here below; and grant that I may make thee, who art the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all thinge therein, my only joy and delight, my stay and my truft, my guide and my counfellor; and be fo delighted with the ways of thy commandments, that one day in thy fervice may be dearer to me, than a thousand spent in vanity and folly.

Grant that in the days of health and profperity I may confider my latter end, and provide for that great account, which I must one day

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