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and I humbly befeech thee, for his fake, to give me grace to continue in the fame unto my life's end.

Oh! that I could fay I had made returns to thee, my God, in any meafure fuitable to the benefits which I have received from thee, But, alas! I muft with fhame acknowledge, that I have been guilty of great ingratitude towards thee, the fountain of all good; I have been an unprofitable and unworthy fervant, and have neither loved, ferved, or obeyed thee, as I ought to have done; therefore it is owing to thy infinite goodness, that I have now an opportunity of humbling myself before thee.

O let thy goodness and forbearance lead me, O Lord, to a true and unfeigned repentance of all my fins; and for the fake of thy belov ed Son, (in whom alone thou art well pleas ed)* fpare me, O Lord, fpare me, and be not angry with me for ever; wash away all my fins, in that fountain, which thou haft opened for fin and uncleannefs, that nothing may interpofe between thy mercy and my poor foul. Lay not to my charge, O moft merciful God! the fins which I have this day committed; and not only pardon them, but give me grace from henceforward entirely to leave and forfake them, and to amend my life according to thy holy word. +

Make

*Matt. iii. 17.

+ Pfalm cxix. 9.

Make me always mindful that thou art every where prefent, and privy to my most secret thoughts; that I may never dare to do any thing but what is pleafing in thy fight.

*

Poffefs me, O Lord, with a lively fenfe of that frailty of my life, the certainly of a judgment to come, the unfpeakable glories of Heaven, and the most dreadful torments of Hell; that I may in good earnest set about the great work of my falvation, and never be fo foolish as to prefer the pleasures of Sin, which are but for a feafon, before that everlasting fulness of joy, which is in thy prefence for evermore? but that duly confidering the vast difproportion there is betwixt this life and my eternal state, I may live as becomes the Gospel of Chrift, working out my falvation. with the greatest care and circumfpection; that when the great and terrible day of the Lord fhall come, I may be admitted to the inheritance of the Saints in light, through the merits and for the fake of my blessed Saviour and Redeemer, Jefus Chrift, in whofe blessed name I entreat thee to accept, Q Lord, this evening facrifice of my unfeigned praises, which I now offer up to thy divine majefty, for thy great and manifold mercies vouchfafed unto me; and more particularly for the mercies of the day paft; for preferv

Pfalm xvi, 11.

ing

ing me in health and fafety, for providing fo plentifully for me, and continuing to me the enjoyment of fo many comforts. And,

I most humbly beseech thee to continue thy mercy and goodness towards me, and all that belong to me. Defend us this night from all dangers both of foul and body; grant us quiet and refreshing fleep and if thou art pleafed to add another day to our lives, give us grace to employ it in fuch a manner, as may be well, pleafing in thy fight; through the merits and for the fake of thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who has taught us when we pray to fay, Our Father, &c.

The Meditation on

Thursday Morning.

Being the fecond part of the Meditation upon a firm purpose of amendment, and a new life.

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Ja nes iv. 8.

I.

NCF more the goodness of God, O my foul! haft brought us to the beginning of another day. Let us then thew our thankfulness by continuing those holy resolutions which we made before we laid down to reft. I fay, thofe refolutions I have often

made

made before, and have as often, I fear, broke through; which if I fhould be fo wicked as to violate hereafter, what must I do then? muft we go no more to that holy table? yes, we must still repent and be converted, and we fhall be again accepted. For this Sacrament of the Lord's Supper doth not require perfect obedience in all our addreffes to the holy altar; or, that none must come but fuch as are in a finless state of perfection; because there is no man that liveth and finneth not for, who can fay, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my fin? and therefore whatever perfuadeth us to neglect or abfent from this our duty is of the Devil. For the facrament of the Lord's Supper is not a converting, but a confirming, ordinance, intended to preferve and increafe that fpiritual life and grace, which we received at our Baptifm: fo that when we come to the holy Communion, we come thither for fresh fupplies of grace and goodness, for the ftrengthening and refreshing our fouls in all holinefs and virtue and,

II. They that are taught of God, know that our fouls, by this facrament, are fortified and ftrengthened with grace, wisdom, courage, and all other fpiritual gifts, to keep us through faith unto falvation.

III. Both the comfort and benefit of it are great; the comfort of it, because it does not

only

only reprefent to us the exceeding love of our Saviour, in giving his body to be broken, and his blood to be shed for us; but likewife feals to us all thofe bleffings and benefits, which are purchased and procured for us by his death and paffion, viz. the pardon of fin, and power against it. The benefit of frequent Communion is alfo of as great advantage; becaufe hereby we are confirmed in all grace and goodnefs; our refolution to live in obedience and conformity to God's laws are ftrengthened; and the grace of God's Holy Spirit, to do his will, is hereby conveyed to us: it is the fovereign remedy against all temptations, by mortifying our paffions, and by fpiritualizing our affections in a word, it is the likeliest method to make the body the temple of the Holy Ghoft, and to prepare the foul for the enjoyment of God to all eternity. And therefore,

IV. Although if at any time, through ignorance, furprife, or the violence of any other temptation, we fhould fall into thofe very fins, which we have repented of and vowed againft, when we were laft at the facrament, yet thefe relapses should not make us afraid of coming again, fince we have always the benefit of repentance allowed to us if after a relapfe we repent and renew our resolutions with a hearty grief and contrition of fpirit, we are made whole as before.

V. It

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