Imatges de pàgina
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degree, efcaped the pollutions of this wicked world.

Bleffed be thou, O God, who by thy grace, and by the voice of thy church, haft called me to repentance: discover to me, O thou fearcher of hearts, the vaft charge that is againft me, that I may know and confefs, and forfake the many fins I have fallen into. Give me that true repentance to which thou haft promiled mercy and pardon, that I may amend what I have done amifs, and that iniquity may not be my ruin. And, O bleffed advocate, who ever liveft to make interceffion for me, I put my caufe into thy hands; let thy blood and merits plead for me, and by thy mighty interceffion procure for me the pardon of my past offences, that thou mayft fay unto me, as thou didst unto the penitent in the gofpel--Thy fins are forgiven-fo that I may go with a quiet confcience to thy holy table, and at laft be received into the glorious prefence for evermore. Amen.

See the concluding prayer and blessing on pages 38 and 39.

The

The Meditation for Thursday Morning*. Upon our sanctification, whereby we are made worthy to come to the holy sucrament.

Except a man be born of water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born. of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit, is spirit. John ¡¡¡ 5, 6.

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Onfider, O my foul, the mercies of thy God; confider the wonders he has wrought for the children of men. The eternal Father created us out of nothing, and fet us in the way to everlafting happiness. The eternal Son came down from Heaven to feek us when we had loft ourselves. The eternal Spirit brings us grace to fanctify us, and gives ús ftrength to walk in that holy way. Thus every perfon of the facred Trinity has freely contributed his peculiar bleising; and altogether, as one co-infinite goodnefs, have graciously agreed to com-. plete our happiness.

2. Come, then, let us humbly implore the Divine Grace to make us worthy to addrefs our Sanctifier; who from the Father and the Son eternally proceeds, and with the Father and the Son must be equally worshiped and glorified. He infufes into man the breath of life, and brings him forth in the fecond birth; a birth

* Here you may observe the directions given on page 3.

birth that makes men heirs of heaven, and gives us a title to everlafting happiness.

3. Arife, therefore, O my foul, and intercede for pity upon the unhappy flate of fallen mankind, which neither nature nor law could bring to perfection. For though they under the law were trained up in a fet form of difcipline, which grew and fpread into a public religion, and was. uniformly profeffed by a whole nation; yet they had but weak conceits of the kingdom of heaven, and imperfect means to bring them thither: and as to thofe high and fupernatural myfteries, that fo glorioufly exalt the Chriftian faith, they all were blind or in the dark, and dangeroufly expofed to the effects of their own ignorance, wanting thofe clear and powerful motives to love their God; God having provided fome better thing for us, that they without us fhould not be made perfect, Heb. xi. 40. Nevertheless, this prepared them for the times of grace; fo that if any riper fouls came forward to the birth, there wanted fpirit to bring them forth; but fend out thy Spirit, O Lord, and they fhall be created, and from the death of fin, be railed to the life of holiness: fend out thy Spirit, and renew the face of the earth; and our weeds and thorns fhall be turned into a paradife,through Jefus Chrift.

4. Let us adore that bleffed Spirit, who beftoweth his favours as he pleafeth; and the more he hath given, ftill the more he giveth! O Holy Ghoft, fit and difpofe me, thy fervant, firft to entertain thee, and then graciously vouchfafe to defcend into my heart; and make me, the more I receive of thee, ftill defire to receive thee more; till 1 fhall afcend to thofe fatisfying joys above, where all my faculties fhall be enlarged, where they fhall be filled with fulness itfelf, and overflow. with a torrent of pleasure for evermore; where they shall be fatisfied with the plenteoufness of the boule: and thou shalt give them drink of thy pleafures, as out of the river: for with thee is the well of life, and in thy light fball we fee light. Pfalm xxxvi. 8, &c.

But, O ungrateful man! was it not enough to receive of our God all we have and are? was it not enough that the Son of God fhould come down, and live to teach thee, and die to redeem thee? was not all this enough to make thee love him? and love is all he aimed at, and was all that man needed. I must confefs to thee, O merciful Lord, I will confefs to thee our deplorable condition. Such was, alas! the corruption of human nature, and fo many and ftrong the temptations round about us, that without this thy laft mira

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miraculous favour of fending the Holy Ghost to guide and quicken us, we should have fill remained in our old dull ftate; flow to understand, and flower to obey.

A prayer on Thursday Morning for our sanctification, preparatory to a worthy receiving of the holy sacra.

ment.

Whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Rom. viii. 30.

Ternally bleffed and infinitely glo

rious Lord God and Saviour, who keepeft mercy for thoufands, and forgiveft the iniquities of all thy truly penitent returning finners; 1 prefent myfelf this morning before thee, acknowledging my manifold fins, in hopes of obtaining thy gracious favour, and of becoming a partaker of the moft holy facrament. But, O my God, I do not prefume to come to that great feaft of thy body and blood, upon the least opinion of my own worthinefs; for, when I reflect on my finful life, I am even afraid to come, left I should eat and drink my own damnation.

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But when I confider thy infinite mercies unto mankind, and thy own words, calling all men without exception; and knowing that thy crucified body is not only food to nourish but phyfic to cure, 1, that am but duft and afhes, beg leave to come to thy holy table, and with my imperfect faith to feed upon fome crumbs of the bread of life.

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