Imatges de pàgina
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down before thee, at this time, to prefent my prayers and fupplications before the throne of grace, admire and adore the incomprehenfible perfections of thy nature, and gratefully acknowledge thy marvellous and undeferved goodness to me and all creatures.

I have nothing, O Lord, but what I received from thee; thou gavest me my being, and didft make me in a capacity to know, and ferve, and enjoy thee for ever. And out of the fame infinite bounty and goodness, thou haft continued to me the being which thou at first gaveft me, and haft delivered me from a multitude of evils, which might have juftly befallen me, and beftowed mercies and favours both upon my foul and body more than I can number.

O Lord, I now do not only with great fhame and confufion of face confefs and bewail the finfulness and vanity of my whole life, but I do fteadfaftly refolve and purpose (through the affiftance of thy grace and Holy Spirit directing me) to renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the finful lufts of the flesh. Be pleased, O Lord, to ftrengthen and confirm these good refolutions in me. And I heartily thank thee, O heavenly Father,

for

for calling me to the state of falvation through Jefus Chrift, my Saviour, who died for my fins, and rofe again for my juftification; and I humbly befeech thee, for his fake, to give me grace to continue in the fame unto my life's end.

Oh! that I could fay I had made returns to thee, my God, in any measure. fuitable to the benefits which I have re ceived from thee: but, alas! I must with fhame acknowledge, that I have been guilty of great ingratitude toward thee, the fountain of all good; I have been an unprofitable and unworthy fervant, and have neither loved thee, ferved thee, nor obeyed thee, as I ought to have done; therefore it is owing to thy infinite goodnefs, that I have now an opportnnity of humbling myself before thee.

O let thy goodness and forbearance lead me, O Lord, to a true and unfeigned repentance of all my fins; and for the fake of thy beloved Son, (in whom alone thou art well pleafed,) ipare me, O good Lord, fpare me, and be not angry with me for ever; wath 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, O moft merciful God! the fins which I have this day committed;

mitted; 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 prefent and privy to my moft fecret thoughts; that I may never dare to do any thing but what is pleasing in thy fight.

Poffefs me, O Lord, with a lively sense 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 earneft fet about the great work of my falvation, and never be fo foolish as to prefer the pleafures of fin, which are but for a feason, before that everlafting fulness of joy, which is in thy prefence for evermore; but that duly confidering the vast disproportion there is between this life and my eternal ftate, I may live as becomes the gofpel of Chrift, working out my falvation with the greatest care and circumfpection; that when the great and terrible day of the Lord fhall come, I may be admitted to the inheritance of the faints in light, through the merits of my Saviour, Jefus Chrift. In whose blessed name I entreat thee to accept, O gracious Lord, my evening facrifice of unfeigned praises,

praifes, which I now offer up to thy di vine majefty, 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 fafety; for providing fo plentifully for me, and continuing to me the enjoy ment of fo many comforts. And I most humbly befeech thee to continue thy mercy and goodness toward 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; through the merits and for the fake of the fame thy beloved Son Jefus Chrift our Lord, who has taught us, when we pray, to fay,

Our Father, &c.

The Meditation for Thursday Morning. Being the fecond part of the meditation upon a firm pur pofe of amendment and a new life.

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw ngh to you. Humble yourselves in the fight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. James iv. 8. 10.

ONCE

I. NCE more the goodnefs of God, my foul! has brought us to the beginning of this day. Let us then show

our

our thankfulness by continuing those holy refolutions we made before we laid down to reft. I fay those resolutions I have often made before, and have as often broke through; but should I be fo wicked as to break through them hereafter, what muft I do then? muft we go no more to that holy table? yes, we must ftill repent and be converted, and we fhall 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 muft 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 abfent 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 preserve and increase that fpiritual life and grace, which we received at our baptism: so that when we come to the holy communion, we come thither for fresh fupplies of grace and goodness, 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 for

tified

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