meforever; wash away all my fins in that fountain which thou haft opened for fin and uncleanness, that nothing may interpofe between thy mercy and my poor foul. Lay not to my charge, Omoft 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 me always mindful that thou art every-where present and privy to my moft fecret thoughts; that I may never dare to do any thing but what is pleafing in thy fight.

Poffels me, O Lord, with a lively fenfe of the frailty of my life, the certainty of a judgment to come, the unspeakable 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 fin which are but for a feafon, before that everlasting fulness of joy, † which is in thy presence for evermore; but that duly confidering the vaft difproportion there is betwixt this life and my eternal ftate, I may live as becomes the gospel of Chrift, working out my' falvation with the greatest care and cir

* Pfalm.cxix. 9.)

† Pfalm.xvi, 11.

cum

cumfpection; that when the great and terrible day of the Lord fall come, I may be admitted to the inheritance of the faints in light, thro' the merits and for the fake of my bleffed Saviour and redeemer, Jefus Chrift, in whose bleffed name I entreat thee to accept, O Lord, this eyening facrifice of my unfeigned praises, which I now offer up to thy divine majesty, for thy great and manifold mercies vouchfafed unto me; and more particularly for the mercies of the day paft; for preferving me in health and safety; for providing fo plentifully for me, and continuing to me the enjoyment of fo many comforts. And,

I most humbly befeech 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 pleased 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; thro' the merits and for the fake of the same thy beloved fon, Jesus Christ our Lord, who has taught us when we pray to fay, Our Father,

&c.

The

The Meditation onThursday Morning. Being the second 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. Jam. iv. 8. Nce more the goodness of God, O my

I.

foul! has brought us to the beginning of this day. Let us then fhew our thankfulness by continuing thofe holy refolutions we made before we laid down to reft. I say those refolutions I have often made before, and have as often broke thro'; but if I fhould be fo wicked as to break through them hereafter,what must I do then? must we go no more to that holy table? yes we must still repent and be converted, and we shall be again accepted. For this facrament of the Lord's fupper 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 which 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 absent from this our duty is of the devil. For the facrament of the Lord's fupper is not a converting, but a confirming ordinance, intended to

pre

preserve and increase that spiritual 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 goodnefs, for the ftrengthening and refreshing of our fouls in all holiness and virtue: And,

2. They that are taught of God, know that our fouls, by this facrament, are fortified and ftrengthened with grace, wifdom, courage and all other fpiritual gifts, to keep us thro' faith

unto falvation.

3. Both the comfort and benefit of it are great: the comfort, of it, because it does not only reprefent to us the exceeding love of our Saviour, in giving his body to be broken, and his blood to be fhed for us; but it likewife feals to us all those bleffings and benefits which are purchased and procured for us by his death and paffion, viz. the pardon of fin, and power againft it. The benefit of frequent communion is alfo of as great advantage; because hereby we are confirmed in all grace and goodness, and our refolutions 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

our paffions, and by fpiritualizing our affections: in a wo it is the likelieft method to make the bode temple of the Holy Ghost, and to prepare the foul for the enjoyment of God to all eternity. And therefore,

4. Altho' if at any time thro' ignorance, furprise, or the violence of any other temptation, we should fall into thofe very fins which we have repented of and vowed against, when we were at the laft facrament, yet these relapfes fhould not make us afraid of coming again, fince we have always the benefit of repentance allowed us: if after a relapfe we repent and renew our refolutions with a hearty grief and contrition of spirit, we are made whole as before.

5. It is not the commiffion of this or that great fin that will utterly exclude us from God's mercy and forgivenefs, for then, indeed, no perfon could escape damnation, because there is not a juft man upon earth that doeth good and finneth not. But it is our living and dying without repentance and amendment, that brings God's wrath and vengeance upon us. And as his mercies are not limited, he will not only pardon us once or twice, but always upon

* Ecclef. vii 20.

our