The Meditation: Wednesday Morning* On the resurrection, as a means to excité a due vene ration for the holy sacrament. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven,' neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Cor. v. 8. 1. Come now, my foul, and let us fing to our Lord a pfalm of joy ; fing praises to the God of our falvation; fing with a loud and cheerful voice; fing with a glad and thankful heart; fay to the weak of fpirit, be ftrong; fay to the forrowful, be of good comfort; tell all the world this foul-reviving truth, and may their hearts within them leap with joy to hear it. For, 2. The Lord of life is rifen again, and hath clothed himself with immortal glory. He made the angels meffengers of his victory, and vouchfafed even himself to bring us the joyful news. O my foul, adorn thyfelf with the garment of gladness, prepare thy most triumphant hymns to go forth to meet this great returning Conqueror. 3. His warfare is now accomplished, and he hath paffed through the fcorn and cruelty of men; the malice and rage of devils; the juft, but severe anger of God; yea Here you may observe the directions given on page 3. yea the fhadow of death, and the regions of eternal horror; and after all this, thy furety is fet at liberty for he hath paid thy debts, and cancelled all thofe difinal bonds by which thou wert forfeited to eternal ruin. Bleffed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord. 4. We receive thee, dearest Saviour, as born to us a fecond time, and this thall be thy birth-day alfo, the nativity of thy empire, thy reftoration to a ftate of immortality. Thy former birth did how thee to be the Son of man, but this declares thee to be the Son of God; and now we know that thou our Redeemer liveft, for thou haft told us, I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold I am alive for evermore. 5. The ways of thy mercy are unfearchable, O thou wife contriver of all our happiness! and thy wifdom is infinite, who didft invent them to convince thy followers into this bleft belief, and fettle in their hearts a firm ground of hope; for, thou didst not only appear to the holy women in their return from the fepulchre, and openedit their eyes to know and adore thee; but thou didft purpofely overtake, in, their journey, two of thy difciples, that were difcourfing of thee, and madeft their hearts, burn within them to hear thee. Thou didft condefcend to eat before them, and invite them to touch thy facred body. How didft thou sweetly invite the incredulous Thomas to thrust his hand into thy fide, and haft thence taken occafion, from his hardnefs to believe, to facilitate the faith of thy church in these after-ages. 6. Therefore, O my foul, being thus pre-inftructed in this great mystery of our faith, by the revelation of Jefus Chrift, make it the principal fubject of thy ftudies, and the daily entertainment of thy moft ferious thoughts. Draw me, O deareft Lord, from the world and myself, that I be not entangled with any earthly defires. Draw me after thee, with a fure hope of eternal blifs, that I may run with delight in the way of thy commands, and efpecially to thy holy table. Draw me up finally to thee and thy throne of glory, that I may fee thy face, and rejoice with thee for ever in thy kingdom. Amen. A confession of sins on Wednesday Morning, preparatory to receiving the holy sacrament. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John i. 8, 9. Moft mighty God! how fhall I, a poor miferable finner, who am all over fin and pollution, dare to speak unto thee? thee? O Lord, when I look back on my paft life, I am aftonished at thy mercy and long-fuffering towards me; and am fenfible, if I had been rewarded according to my mifdeeds, that I had long before this been condemned to endless mifery and torments. And left I drop this opportunity of repentance, I flee unto thee and cry, Lord, be merciful unto me a finner! I have been a rebellious and difobedient finner, a contemner of thy laws, and one of those wretched fools, that have made a mock at fin, and would not hearken to reproof; my mind has been overfpread with blindness, ignorance, and folly, and almoft every power and faculty of my foul has been corrupted and defaced. But now as thou haft vouchfafed me this light of thy fpirit to fee mine infirmities, I flee unto thee, the author of my comfort, and fay, Lord, be merciful unto me a fin ner! How have I preferred a life of folly and madness, of extravagance and diforder; a life that hath yielded me fhame and much remorfe, forrow and affliction, before the peace, and pleasure, and ferenity of a fober, virtuous, and religious converfation! how have I preferred the pleasures and profits of this world to the ways of virtue and religion! but now I repent, and fay, Lord, be merciful unto me a finner! O Lord! I dare not plead, that I have fpent any one day of my life folely to thy honour and glory; but how many days, nay, years, have I fpent in the fervice of fin, how many are my lufts, and how great my intemperance? how oft have I profaned thy fabbaths, abused thy facred name, ridiculed thy holy word, defpifed thy minifters, and made a jeft of all that is ferious? but now I flee unto thee by this holy facrament, and cry, Lord, be merciful unto me a finner! If I have been proud and envious, paffionate and angry, full of hatred, malice," and revenge; if I have been guilty of flandering and abufing, injuring and defrauding of my neighbour; of lewd actions and obfcene difcourfes; of profane and filthy jefts, and of frequent curfing, fwearing, and lying: O Lord, be merciful unto me a finner! More particularly, O Lord, I do moft forrowfully confefs, and lament before thee, to whom all things are naked and open, that I have moft grievously offended thee by [Here name particulars.] Lord! what fcandal have I brought to religion; what dishonour to thy name; what reproach to the Chriftian profef fion, by thefe my wicked and finful practices; all which I furely truft fhall be for |