'Tis he whofe bloody fweat did fend His pray'r to God on high, And now, thro' him, our God will hear His righteoufnefs is gone before, For thofe whofe feet fhall ftray no more, So in his praise I'll spend my breath, With pray'rs, and thanks, and tears. I'll to his gates with fongs of joy, Let then my heart for ever fing Chrift's death, God's love and grace! Let the whole Church addrefs their King With joy and fongs of praise. Sinners rejoice, and faints be glad! Chrift's death falvation brought, Which in the fupper of the Lord, The *Matthew-xxii. 10, 14. The Prayer on Friday Morning. For a thankful remembrance of the death of Chrift. M5 OST holy and almighty God, our heavenly Father, who of thy tender mercy didft give thy only Son, Jefus Chrift, to fuffer death upon the cross for our redemption, and haft instituted and ordained holy mysteries as pledges of his love, and for a continual remembrance of his death and paffion, to our great and endlefs comfort. Behold, I do moft affectionately, and with all the powers of my foul and body, return my moft hearty praise and thanksgiving for thy great mercy and compaffion to me and all mankind in fending thy only Son into the world to redeem us from fin and mifery, and by his meritorious death and paffion to purchase for us eternal life. Grant, O Lord, that I may always moft gratefully remember this exceeding love of my only Saviour Jefus Chrift, thus dying for me; and work in me all fuch holy and heavenly affections, as may difpofe my heart to be a worthy gueft at that holy table, prépared for the continual remembrance of the facrifice of the death of Chrift, and of thofe benefits which we receive thereby. Praife the Lord, O my foul, and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thy fin, and healeth all thy infirmities, who faveth thy life from from deftruction, and crowneth thee with mercy and loving kindness. I thy humble fervant entirely defire thy fatherly goodnefs mercifully to accept this my facrifice of praife and thanksgiving; most humbly befeeching thee to grant, that by the merits and death of thy only Son Jefus Chrift, and through faith in his blood, I and all thy whole Church may obtain remiffion of our fins, and all the other benefits of his paffion. And here I offer and prefent unto thee, O Lord, my foul and body, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively facrifice unto thee; humbly befeeching thee, that!, and all who are partakers of the holy Communion, may be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction. And although I am unworthy, through my manifold fins, to offer unto thee any facrifice, yet I beseech thee to accept this my bounden duty and service: not weighing my merits, but pardoning my offences, through Jefus Christ our Lord; by whom and with whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghoft, all honour and glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world without end. Amen. The Meditation for Friday Evening. Upon Univerfal Charity. Above all these things put on Charity, which is the bond of perfection. Coloff. ii. 4. I. Ο MY Soul! our thankfulness cannot be heightened, but by the reviving in our minds the memory of the benefits we have received; and we are very properly led to these when we are celebrating the great inftance of God's love to mankind, in his Son Jefus Christ. Our charity to all others can never be more effectually improved, or inflamed, than when we take our obligations to it from the love of God to ourselves, fhewn in. the commemoration of the death of Christ ; and from our being all united in one body under him our head. II. Thou knoweft that faith without cha rity is dead; and as I am but duft and ashes, thou must quicken me, or I fhall not be able to profit any thing from all thefe good refolutions thou haft brought me to. III. Hitherto we have been fetting ourselves right towards God; but I am told this is not all, we must proceed further, and enquire how the heart stands towards our neighbour, fince we are exprefsly forbidden to offer up any gift or oblation unto God, if our hearts are leavened with malice, hatred, or revenge. For, as Chrift prefers mercy before facrifice, we must forgive all manner of injuries, before before we prefume to eat of that bread, or to drink of that cup. And it is exprefsly faid, that our prayers are not accepted, nor our pardon fealed in Heaven, until fuch time as we forgive men their trefpaffes; fo that we can never be welcome or worthy guests at this heavenly feaft, where Jefus the Saviour of penitents and the Prince of Peace is fpiritually prefent, unlefs our repentance reconcile us to God, and our charity to all mankind. Wherefore we are told that it is requifite to be in cha rity with all men.* Flesh and blood think this a hard leffon. Tell me then, fhould my friend prove falfe, injurious, and endeavour to undo me; muft I ftill truft him, love him, and favour him as I used to do? fhould he feek to take away my eftate, to hurt my reputation, or affault my perfon; muft I endure this patiently, and feek no remedy, but treat him ftill in the friendly manner I used to do? IV. I remember, thou haft told me how christianity obliges us to hate no man; to do no man any injury; to feek no revenge;† nor to take any, tho' it might be done with fecrefy and fafety: nay, that it obliges us to pray to God for the forgiveness of fuch, as may have injured us in the highest measure, and obliges us to deny them nothing that is due to justice, in humanity, and mercy: fo that V. Their See the last exhortation in the Communion. + Matth. v. 44. |