kind are restored to the Favour of God, and put into a Way and State of Salvation; God having for his Son's Sake, promised to pardon all such as shall repent and forsake their Sins, and bring forth Fruits meet for Repentance; as also to give his Holy Spirit to all such as shall sincerely desire him-And, lastly, to make them eternally happy after Death, if during this short State of Trial, which is designed to mend our corrupt and disordered Nature, they endeavoured to observe the Rules which he has given them, and which are absolutely necessary to make them capable of Heaven and Happiness.

Stop here awhile-and adore the inf nite Goodness of God, who did not overlook lost Mankind, but sent his Son to redeem us.

He might in strict Justice have required Men to have lived up to the Law of Nature and Reason given in the State of Innocence, on Pain of being for ever sepa rated from his Presence; But, instead of that, He has been graciously pleased to accept of our sincere though imperfect Obedience, and of our sincere Repentance, when we have done amiss, and return to our duty.

Consider

Consider this seriously:-And you cannot but express your Thankfulness after some such manner as this:

THE PRAYER.

BLESSED be God for ever for this instance of his Love to fallen Mankind, in committing the miserable Case of his unhappy Creatures to no less a Person than his own Son!-We are not worthy of all the Mercies which thou hast shewed thy Servants.-Grant, O God, that this wonderful Love may not be lost upon me; But that knowing my sad Condition by Nature, I may be truly convinced of the Necessity and Blessing of a Redeemer; and that I may, with a Heart full of Grati tude, join with thy Church in giving our devoutest Thanks to Thee, and in keeping up the Rememembrance of what thy blessed Son has done and suffered for us: to whom with Thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour, Praise, and Thanksgiving,

for ever and ever. Amen.

SECT.

SECT. II.

The End and Institution of the LORD'S SUPPER.

ST. Paul concludes his first Epistle to the Corinthians with this remarkable Direction:-If any man love not the Lord Jesus, let him be Anathema, Maranatha ; that is,-Let him be separated from your Communion, as one under the Displeasure of God, and, without a timely Repentance, in no possibility of being saved: Nothing being more grievous in the Sight of God, than for a Sinner to slight the greatest Instance of his Mercy that was ever offered to Man, as well as the only Means of his Salvation.

To prevent this, and to hinder Sinners from forgetting (which they are but too apt to do) this Token of God's infinite Love, and to fix the Love of Jesus Christ more surely in our Hearts and Memory, he himself hath taken Care, that his Love and Mercy, should throughout all Generations be remembered; he did therefore ordain this Sacrament as a Memorial of our Redemption, and of his Love for us;

as

as a Pledge to assure us of it and as an outward Means and Sign of testifying, as well as increasing our Love to him.

The holy Apostles of Christ, who were present when he first administered this Sacrament, gave us the following Account of its End and Institution:

They signify to us in the first Place, that this Sacrament was ordained by Christ the same Night in which he was betrayed; and after they had observed the Passover, which had been ordained to preserve the Memory of their great Deliverance from the Bondage in Egypt, and which did prefigure, and was a prophecy of a much greater Deliverance, which Jesus Christ was to be the Author of, not only for them but for all Mankind: and which Prophecy was surprisingly fulfilled by that People, without knowing what they were doing, when they crucified Jesus Christ, the true Paschal Lamb, the very same Month, the very same Day of the Month, and the same Hour of the Day, that the Paschal Lamb was first ordained to be sacrificed.

very

Now, after the Paschal Supper, as the Apostles relate it Jesus Christ took Bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to his Disciples, saying, Take, eat: This

is

is my Body, which is given for you: This do in Remembrance of me. He took also the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, Drink ye all of This; for this is my Blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for you, and for many, for the Remission of of Sins: This do, as oft as ye shall drink it, is Remembrance of Me: for as oft as ye shall eat this Bread, and drink this Cup, ye do shew the Lord's Death till he come.

In Obedience therefore to this Command of Jesus Christ, who has delivered us from a much greater Bondage than that of Egypt-The Christian Church keeps up the Memory of his Love, his Sacrifice, and his Sufferings, and Death, after this solemn Manner:

First, as an Acknowledgment, that our Lives, and that all we eat or drink to preserve them, are owing to the Bounty of God, we present upon his Table, by the Hands of his own Minister, a Portion of his Crestures, the best we have for the Support and Comfort of our natural Life, namely, Bread and Wine.—After this the Bread and Wine are consecrated, the Bread, is broken, and the Wine poured out, to represent the Death of Christ whose Body was. breken, and whose Blood was shed for us.

Then